Days 8, 9 and 10 FINALLY added! - TwoGoTo Cabana Bay March 2022 – We Spent How Much?!

[twogoto]

💰Spends: $1067.52

So it looks like I was extremely bad at taking photos today again - sorry!

Bad weather and storms were forecast all day today so we planned a trip to Mall at Millenia. It opened at 11am so we got a Lyft there at 10:45ish – cost was $10.87. We hadn’t had anything to eat so started off at Starbucks with a coffee each (Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew for OH, Blonde Vanilla Latte for me) and one of their sausage, egg & cheddar muffins each. These are like a non-greasy version of McDonald’s McMuffins and so much tastier. OH also wanted a packet of the Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans to try later. Total for this was $23.59 and I paid using my pre-loaded card on the Starbucks app so I could earn points/“stars” (these rack up so quickly and their points system is loads better than ours in the UK where all you can get is free drinks). I’ll add a screenshot here!

We sat in the food court to eat these and then headed to some of the nearby shops – OH came in Bath & Body Works with me where he actually found something for himself! He usually lasts two minutes and then says the smell is too strong so goes outside to wait for me lol. I had an email for $3.75 room sprays (I’d paid $22 for 3 I think the other day) and the $3.50 hand soaps offer was still on, plus 5 sanitisers for $8. I picked up a good mixture of everything as well as a shower gel from their Easter range which smells amazing. I had to restrain myself as the hand soaps I bought the other day weighed 2kg alone and though we brought an empty case, it’s hard to tell how much we’ve bought already weight-wise! This came to $89.73 but a chunk of that was OH’s aftershave.

We then split up so he could go in H&M while I went in Sephora (again). More damage done here – $204.48 to be precise. Ouch. So much money for things that fit in such a tiny little bag!

We timed this perfectly as both were done at the same time – OH had bought a t-shirt and some socks (this guy can’t go anywhere without buying socks) for $26.60.

We headed into Macy’s and took the escalator to the ground floor level where I browsed the makeup and handbags before going to sit outside and wait for OH. He picked up a pair of Levis in Macy’s, total was $74.02.

He also got a pair of trainers and a t-shirt from Foot Locker for $175.73.

We walked along to Apple where we were both looking for new phone cases (ours aren’t official apple ones and won’t work with the wireless chargers) and watch straps. I wanted one of the metal straps that would look dressier with certain outfits and OH wanted a khaki green band for his. I picked out a coral coloured phone case and OH went for black, but it looks more navy. The prices are the same in $ as in £ back home, so there’s a little bit of a saving. Total was $272.66.

We were both feeling peckish by now and noticed a Shake Shack when we drove in – we usually go to the one on iDrive so had missed it this trip so far. This was a bit of a farce to get to – we walked to the end of the car park but there was no crossing and/or pavement on the other side of the road so it took a while to get across safely – I feel like cars come at you from all directions here!

Burgers and fries with a drink each (which were both part of their specials and awful – we should’ve stuck with water!). The burgers were delicious and just the right size. This was $33.58 in total.

Bellies filled again (all we seem to do is shop and eat), we walked back into the Mall through the Neiman Marcus entrance and out of the other side. We popped in Urban Outfitters and Bloomingdale’s but didn’t buy anything, and exited at the back of Bloomingdale’s. The plan was to go to Ulta as we’d been to one nearby on a previous trip, and Google said it was just a five minute walk. This was a lie – it took at least double that! We had to walk along past Ikea and cut past a few other things, and finally got there to realise this Ulta has shut down and is no longer there! Oh well. OH wanted to go in Nordstrom Rack which is here, so I followed him in and sat down near the shoes as my feet were killing. He was gone about 40 minutes and came back with MORE BLOOMING SOCKS, only to say “I’ve found these I really want but I can’t be bothered to queue”. I told him over my dead body were we leaving empty handed and ordered him to get in the queue and buy his special socks. He’s obsessed! To be fair, they were $17ish per pack of three and we’d seen the same ones for $59 at Disney Springs, so I’ll let him off with this one. He got two packs and a bottle of water, cost was $38.64.

We decided we’d go to a Publix nearby but when we were looking on Uber and Lyft the prices were silly – $34 for a five minute ride. Eventually it refreshed and we managed to get a fare of $17.99 via Lyft to go to the Publix at “The Grove”. We weren’t familiar with this area and it definitely wasn’t as nice as the Dr Philip’s one, but it did the job.

We spent $84.01 here on another two subs to see us a couple of meals, and other things I seem to have not bothered taking a photo of! I have found the receipt and alongside the subs we got some waters, capri suns and snapple drinks, two single iced coffee drinks, two boxes of cereal, two boxes of belvitas, two lunchables, a reeses bar and some porridge I wanted to take home (don’t judge, the flavour sounded amazing!). I think I would be able to get all of that at home for much less!

The heavens opened as we were waiting for the ride back to the hotel.

Another Lyft back to Cabana Bay cost $14.99 and we had half of a sub each for dinner in the room. I think we just had an early night and went to sleep as I can’t seem to remember going anywhere else!

[twogoto]

💰Spends: $546.86

Today we’d planned on a pool day as I thought I had an appointment at 5:30pm, but luckily I double checked and my appointment turned out to be at 1:30pm instead (I’d got the timings mixed up).

We had a slow morning getting ready and then got a Lyft to Owl’s Attic at Corrine Drive, where I was later getting ‘zapped’ by Carla Poma jewellery! The Lyft cost us $18.05. I’d heard people say you can get them cheaper if you schedule in advance but when I tried it was coming up at $38, so I’m glad I didn’t bother in the end! That said, our driver wasn’t the best and we were very glad to get there alive!

We arrived at about 12pm but had an hour and a half to spare before my appointment so walked across the road where we were banking on getting some Gideon’s cookies! I’m not sure if lots of people know about this location, it’s very small and hidden inside a hall with lots of other delicious food stalls – but there is ZERO queue which I’ll take any day over the 3 hour queue that there often is at Disney. We really wanted to try these but are never at Disney Springs for long enough to use the virtual queue.

We chose one each - a standard chocolate chip one for me and a triple chocolate one for OH. Total was $14.70 for the two cookies. We decided we’d save them for later rather than eating them now and headed back across the road to a place called Sugar Dough that we’d seen online and fancied for ‘brunch’.

OMG - this place is amazing. We’d come back here just to go there and to Gideons – it would be totally worth the trip. If you’ve got a car and you’re not paying for Ubers, it’s a no-brainer IMO. We paid $23.52 including tip (though there’s no table service here, it was one of those tills that asks you on the screen what you want to tip so I always feel obliged when they’re watching – do you tip in this instance too?). For that, we got two coffees and the best breakfast pastries we’ve ever ever had. I got an iced tiger sugar latte (yum) and OH got an iced dalgona. For the pastries, I had a strawberry & Nutella cruffin and OH had an UBE cruffin - both were so delicious. We sat outside and ate them before popping back in to tell them how fabulous they were!

It was after 1pm by the time we were finished so we walked down to Owl’s Attic (only a few doors away) and browsed the shop before my appointment time. This was a super cool vintage shop with lots of unique pieces, from clothing to homeware. Carla Poma (look her up on Instagram!) has a pop-up here now and again for welded ‘forever’ bracelets. I’d heard about her through and Elle & Mimi Florida vlog and instantly wanted one! They’re literally welded to your wrist so you can’t get them off unless you cut them off.

I spent a long time deciding on which jewellery to go for. Prices range from $45 for sterling silver and gold fill to $125+ for 14K gold and white gold. I eventually decided to get two as bracelets on the same wrist from the white gold selection. One was $125 and the other was $175. I’d already paid a $20 deposit online when I booked the appointment so this came off the price. Total to pay today was $298.20. A day-early 30th birthday present to me from me - I love them!

OH bought a t-shirt in here and a patch to add on to a plain hoody at home for $37.28.

Once we were done we walked back along to Sugar Dough to pick up two more cruffins for breakfast tomorrow as we knew we wouldn’t be back here, and OH thought it would be a better birthday breakfast than cereal in the room - agreed! Cost was $11.13 with tip and the staff were so pleased and thankful we’d came back!

We originally booked a Lyft to go back but it said the driver was 2 minutes away and stayed like that for around 10 minutes, so in the end we cancelled. I logged on to Uber and again it wouldn’t work with Revolut, but I did get it work using our regular Monzo bank account so booked with this. It was $21.11 back to Cabana Bay.

After a quick rest and the rest of yesterday’s Publix subs followed by half a Gideon’s cookie each (delicious and I totally understand the 3 hour queues now!), we got an Uber to Universal where we headed in and grabbed a bottle of water ($3.50), then went straight to catch the last Bourne show of the day. We really enjoyed this! I won’t spoil it but it’s so clever!

We wanted to catch the Mardi Gras parade so popped to get a cocktail each (I can’t remember what we chose) and also a twisted tater each - we bought another Food & Beverage card for $120 to give us another $150 of credit. We used these to pay and found a spot to watch the parade.

We don’t usually do parades but this was amazing and so much fun catching beads! I’d love to get a spot on one of the floats if we could. Good fun and very enjoyable.

Once it was over we went to get a pack of beignets which were delicious – we shared these as you get four. Paid with the Food & Beverage card again.

Hogwarts Express was showing as a 40 minute wait so we got in the queue to get the train over to IOA. Touring Plans said it would only be 25 mins but it was definitely at least 40! The train ride was great and much quicker than I remembered it too. We were going to go on Velocicoaster but there was a long wait so we decided to leave it again and just had a wander around, admiring the theming.

We were knackered so got the bus back to CB again which was just as quick and easy as before. I think I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow!

[twogoto]

💰Spends: $424.95

Woke up super early today - 6:20am the Volcano Bay music had me up again! I scrolled through my phone for about an hour and half before OH woke up. Today was my 30th birthday!

We’d booked Volcano Bay’s Premium Seating as a treat for the day – this cost around $200 but we’d pre-paid it before we arrived. Breakfast was the delicious cruffins we’d bought yesterday.

We went into Volcano Bay at 9:30am and were the second party arriving for premium seating so got our pick of the beds. We asked if any didn’t get the sun all day and she told us that there were only two that were shaded all day – the rest were in full sun. We wanted the sun so that was all good for us (though it did get very hot later in the day).

We decided to finally get round to riding the aqua coaster so went and tapped in for that – it was showing as a 10 minute wait so we did a quick lap round the fast lazy river first. We were the only people in it so this was great! Our tapu tapu’s soon buzzed so we went back to join the coaster queue.

OMG I’d forgotten how fast this goes. It was terrifying but so much fun. I screamed the entire way around but loved every minute and must do it again before we go home! Fantastic ride.

My throat was dry from all the screaming so we headed back to the loungers and ordered two cocktails – we didn’t realise you could order cocktails via the mobile app at this point so the server who comes to the sunbeds just took our order and went off with our card to process payment. I don’t love it when this happens as your card is out of sight for so long - just something we're not used to in the UK! These were $35 with tip. For some reason they show as Bayliner Diner on our Revolut app which makes things confusing when it comes to writing up this report!

These fit nicely within the lock box between the two sunbeds so we didn’t have to finish them all in one go and could pop them in here to avoid knocking them over/sand blowing in them which was great. I nursed mine for quite a while!

We kept going between the sunbeds and lazy river/pool/fearless river as usual.

Lunch was a bit of a nightmare – when we checked in to the premium seating area the girl said to let them know if it didn’t ask us for a table number on mobile ordering. When we tried to order lunch, it didn’t, so I called someone over before proceeding with the order. He just told me to click order and said he’d go and get it from the restaurant in the park. He kept coming back every ten minutes for the best part of an hour re-checking my order and saying he couldn’t find it but was going to check somewhere else and so on. I don’t think he usually worked this section as it turned out later that we were actually ordering from the wrong part of the app – you can’t order from the mobile order restaurants listed, but only from the menu listed under ‘VB Premium Seating’. Two staff members had gone through the app on my phone and couldn’t find the VB Premium Seating option so in the end we just said we’d sort ourselves out. She said that they’d call the restaurant we’d mobile ordered from to cancel it and that we wouldn’t be charged (spoiler: she didn’t and we were!).

When they handed my phone back to me I scrolled down and found the VB Premium Seating bit myself so we placed our order through there and it was brought to our sunbeds quite quickly with an offer of free dessert as an apology for the mix up and hassle. We didn’t really fancy one so didn’t bother but it was a nice gesture.

I’d ordered a pork belly flatbread and fries and OH ordered a chicken wrap with fries. They were both OK - OH didn’t like the chicken (it looked and tasted more like pork) so picked that out and just kept the veg in. The fries were very good. Cost was $39.36.

After lunch settled we dipped back in and out of the pool and tried to tap back in for the water coaster but it was a 175 minute wait and we didn’t think we’d still be here then. We tapped in just in case but didn’t end up riding it. We bought a water and a can of Heineken from one of the stands on the way back to the beds for a total cost of $20.65.

I was starting to get a bit of a headache and OH was too hot so we went back up to the room at around 5pm so we could get ready for tonight without rushing. We were heading to Flying Fish at Disney’s Boardwalk, both new places to us!

Our reservation wasn’t until 9:15pm as that was the only time available when we’d booked weeks ago. We got an Uber here at a cost of $20.36. The traffic was heavy and we got there slightly later at about 9:25pm.

We already knew what we wanted to order here after seeing one of Paging Mr Morrow’s vlogs when it first re-opened.

OH had an Old Fashioned to drink and I had some kind of Rum Punch cocktail – both delicious.

The bread that came out was interesting and not our favourite – I’m sure the server said it had lumps of potato skins inside the dough (?) It tasted a bit strange but we tried a piece each.

Starters were amazing. I had the slow roasted pork belly which came with apple slaw and a potato croquette-type thing, and was coated in a cherry ‘gastrique’. This was so good and came close to the best starter I’ve ever had (a meal in Cyprus last year takes first spot). OH had the shrimp cocktail which was listed as ‘blood orange, horseradish and black Cyprus sea salt’. He said this takes first spot as best starter for him. It looked very tasty (and fancy - I had the sad thing we get as prawn cocktail at home in my mind!).

We both went for the char-crusted New York strip steak for mains which came with Mille-feuille potato gratin, coloured cauliflower and bernaise sauce (which I left off mine). We added a lobster tail each.

The steak was amazing but much bigger than we’d expected. OH couldn’t stop raving about the potato, which was also very tasty - as was the cauliflower. The lobster tails were quite chewy and very bland – the ones we had at Longhorn’s were much better. In hindsight we shouldn’t have bothered ordering them as this meal was huge and neither of us came close to finishing it. I would’ve taken the waiter up on his offer to package it up but knew we’d struggle to cut the steak with our plastic cutlery back in the room lol.

Total was $246.02 plus tip so we left $290. No room for dessert! Service was very good and attentive and the boardwalk was a lovely setting. We had a little walk around before getting an Uber back to the hotel.

Our Uber back cost $19.58 and the driver was very full on. She did not stop talking and had to swerve a few times as she kept taking her eyes off the road to look at us in the rear view mirror. Bit scary - this was turning out to be a theme ! As soon as we got in the car she asked what our star signs were and spent the next 20 minutes telling us what they meant… apparently being an Aires means you have a big forehead, lots of energy and like my men to know I can drop them whenever I want to... and OH has a big bum and wide hips as he’s a Sagittarius! Lol! She was very funny and barely took a breath. She kept telling us how she was 50 but everyone says she looks 30 () and had this almost too-accessible gallery of photos on her phone where she only needed to tap one thing to show us photos of her ‘boyfriend’, like the whole thing was pre-loaded as part of her script. He was a real hunk but we were both pretty sure it was a photo of the gardener off Desperate Housewives! It was absolutely bizarre but she was a lovely lady – and I felt like I was in a Mellissa McCarthy movie at times. The most bizarre Uber ride we’ve had yet but it gave us a chuckle and we’ll never forget it lol. You definitely get some characters out here!

All her Uber reviews sounded like they'd had the same experience, would love to hear if any Dibbers have had the pleasure!

Thankfully despite the swerving, we got back safe and sound at around midnight.

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