2nd In A Lifetime Trip - Fun In The Oven That Is Florida! LIVE (ISH)

[princess-momo]

So, travel day was eventful! We drove down to Manchester (only 317 miles! 😲 ) The night before our Thomas Cook flight and were a bag of nerves. Arriving to the airport on travel day; I have never felt more uncertainty than that in my current 33years of living! I'd hate to think how the poor crew were feeling 😢

We were sat at the departure lounge with no real clue on if our flight would even go ahead (Thomas Cook 11.55 flight) we were aware of all the meetings and goings on so my wee brain was going crazy (doesn't help the anxiety!) Looked on the Manchester airport app and no Thomas Cook flights were here! Oh man I panicked big time! ... But eventually (11am) our flight gate popped up and so that was one less hurdle to pass now. Next up, boarding the plane and actually getting into the air.

In my head I was thinking if we get off the ground they can't possibly ask us to turn around can they?! So once we were airborne I felt a load of stress fall away.

Flight was fantastic. Crew were fantastic and very professional despite the impending doom of loosing their jobs. In all honesty I rate that flight higher than our last virgin flight. So much cleaner, nice food and it felt less cramped but that's maybe me trying not to feel claustrophobic 😆.

Touch down was 45 mins earlier than expected, got through security pretty darn quick but bags took what seemed like forever! (It was probably 30 mins ha) after making it to the main airport building and seeing signs for Disney magic express, you just can't help but smile. We were back!

Aboard the magic express and of to AKL we went...

This hotel is stunning! We are in one of the new renovated rooms and it's very clean and spacious feeling. LOADS of storage and although our balcony is a bit on the rubbish side, there is still plenty room out there to sit and take in the Florida heat (we can also see the giraffes in the savanna but it's a bit of an obstructed view)

Food at the Mara and a little nose around the resort before bed. I went out like a light. So damn tired!

Tomorrow is typhoon Lagoon 😄

[princess-momo]

FULL FIRST DAY

Water park day to ease us in... Was a nice warm 31°c today; perfect for a water park! We were awake at about 4.30 (well, I was anyways!) Woke to the news of Thomas Cook ☹️ panic stations! That was quickly rectified after phoning our insurance so we are now going to enjoy ourselves!

Breakfast down at mara again (sorry, didn't take a pic!) Then back up to the room for suncream wipe down then we can head out.

Now; back in '17 to get to the water parks you needed to do A bus change (springs for typhoon Lagoon, animal kingdom for blizzard beach.) Well, that's not the case any more. Direct buses again but they only run every 30 minutes or so. It was about a 10 minute wait from when we arrived so it was fine. We got on the shuttle (sensational 6 bus , goofy) and got there at around 10.30 🙂

Done misadventure falls and a few others before grabbing some arctic dots (these were yummy, and 1 SC) before heading back to the hotel. I'll be honest, I wasn't feeling well which was a shame. Chilled for a little in the room and before we know it it's near dinner. We had reservations at rainforest cafe at animal kingdom so made our way there. Food was yum! Couldn't manage dessert though so took it away with us haha. The wee man was getting super tired so we headed back to the hotel and he was out like a light bless.

Nice slow start to the holidays but tomorrow is animal kingdom, and if you have read my pre-trip report we have an otter experience arranged for our daughter. She doesn't know about it but I made her ears for the occasion 😄

----X----

Credits at the end of first full day;

Steps; 12,089

[Kat11]

Great start!

Do you have any idea how you’ll be getting home yet? I’m glad to hear that you are sorted with that and can relax about it all. Such a shame about TC ☹️ but at least you got there just in time! 😃 We flew with them in October last year and I really like the brand.

Following along.

Kat

[princess-momo]

It looks like flight info is being released around 72h before departure so won't find out until near the end of our trip. It seems flight times are staying the same if not pretty close to their original so that's always good 🙂 now we can enjoy!

Currently just finished our tusker house breakfast and now trying to walk it off 🤣🤣

[margyloveswdw]

Great start! Hope you were feeling ok again on the next day.

[Connorsmummy]

Sounds like a great start to your holiday.

Such a shame about TC, but go and enjoy your holiday 😁

[princess-momo]

So, our day started off at 7.00am. got up, suncreamed up (me and my OH have been using ultrasun sports gel factor 30 and it's been awesome. Kids have factor 50 ultrasun) and we were out the door to the bus for about 8. Loving bus arrival and estimated journey time on MDE now. so useful for people planning to get somewhere for the first time and not sure on how long it'll take.

Anyway, off to animal kingdom for our tusker house breakfast. Food was fab as always but we only had Mickey come around to our table. The kids weren't too bothered but not seeing the rest.

After getting to the point of looking 8month on with a food baby! We wondered down to Pandora. This place always takes your breath away. It's so pretty! We were killing time before our daughter got to meet the otter keepers 😁

11am rolled around and we were met at the otter grotto by 2 keepers. We were completely surprised when we were invited back to the otter enclosure and got to see the otters get their 2nd breakfast! They kept sticking their wee hands out the cage and the mumma otter was rearranging the furniture haha! Wee girl was so excited seeing the otters so close! The keepers loved her ears too and even took a picture of them to show the other keepers 😁

After this we headed up towards expedition Everest... Wee boy got all the way to the front of the line but changed his mind... So looked like I was going this one solo. I didn't manage to get on in 2017 but this year I'm so glad I did! Loved it. Didn't realise the g-force on this. Felt like an elephant sitting on my head haha the ride photo is pretty funny too. I'm all arm pit!

We done it's tough to be a bug and the kids HATED it. Like, crying and clutching me like they were about to tumble to their doom. They were being little mentalists though; funny seeing other parents going through the same thing. We headed over to dinosaur but Daugher complained the whole time saying she didn't like it, didn't want to go on, it's scary etc etc... Well her tune totally changed after she got off. She even wanted to go on again but it was almost time for flight of passage

5.20 rolls in and we got in the queue. Man I didn't know what to expect from this ride but oh man it's stunning. I was lost for words. Kids really enjoyed it too. Thankfully I've fastpassed for our 2nd animal kingdom day next week hehe.

So now I'm currently sitting in bed after having another yummy flat bread pizza while the kids and their dad are at the pool.

Rest day tomorrow; yummy Boma breakfast and then the springs and Artsmiths for dinner. Yum yum yum!

Steps: 15,000

[princess-momo]

Although today was meant to be a rest day, that didn't stop me waking up at 6am again... I had ordered essentials (hahahaha 🤣 well when I say that I mean pop tarts and candy corn) from Walmart for them to be delivered to our bell services. Wake up to find 'your order has been cancelled' email. Gave it another go and used an app on my phone generate a us mobile no. for the form but within 5 minutes they cancelled... Again 😭 no body weight of candy corn!

We headed down to Boma for breakfast and it was fantastic! Food was all piping hot and none of it was soggy or felt like it had been there any length of time. The kids had a good helping (I think P ate her body weight in strawberries,haha ) the Simba waffles were yum too. Boma serves up foods you'd not likely find anywhere else so adventurous eaters will love it (but fussy eaters are all good too)
After filling out bellies to the point of no return we headed up to the room to let our breaky digest a little... In this time we decided we'll just jump in a Lyft to Walmart instead (this could be dangerous haha) the nearest Walmart to us is literally 5 minutes up the road so our Lyft cost $6. We were going to be $10 delivery so it kinda worked out well.

This place is huge! Tonnes of rows and they stock almost everything you'd ever want.
I had my shopping list (but you all know that you NEVER just buy what's on it) so we were off! Kids ended up picking some toys they wanted with their $ so those got added to the trolley. We got what we originally came for with maybe a few in needed extras 🤣 a box of goldfish crackers and a box of pop tarts the size of my head- yes please!

We did do sensible purchases too like a crate of water for the room and some cleaning stuff for the shower.

Afternoon was a lazy afternoon at the pool while we cooked in the 34°c (but real feel 36°c) heat. I was almost melted after 1h (can't sit at the pool, I just Cook) so OH stayed with the kids (who were having a ball in the pool) while I went for a solo jaunt around our hotel.

Now, I would highly suggest putting a request for near the lobby because man, it's some trek to the far corners of the Jambo house resort. Felt like id walked for ages!
This is what we see when we come out our room...

We had Chef Artsmiths for dinner so, after the kids had burnt themselves out (yes!) We headed off to the springs at around 6pm. Reservations weren't until 7.30pm so it gave us time to pick up our $200 gift card. I seen a sparkly spirit jersey with my name on it; don't worry. I'm coming back for you, haha.

Chef Artsmiths: yum yum and yum! They don't lie when they say the mashed potatoes are creamy. They were awesome. I had an art burger and the chocolate cake. Despite doing my best, that whole slice of cake was not getting in my belly 😔 so rich and tasty. OH ordered a blue moon drink and it was delicious! It's a bit tart and very sweet but it's really nice. I stuck with boring sprite 🤣

After eating the plan was to have a wonder around the springs but the kids were beat after the pool so we got them 'home' showered and in to bed.

All in all, a really nice chill day... Tomorrow is Magic Kingdom 😁

----x----

Steps; 10342

[Connorsmummy]

Loving your report, we are going to AKL in May next year, Everything looks amazing 😉

What time did you head to boma?

[princess-momo]

We were booked for 8.35am. if there's anything you want to see/know about AKL let me know and I'll try my best to help you out so you're prepared for your trip ☺️