More Splitsville than Nashville - April 2017 - Day 10 - Shopping, Cali Grill & Fantasia Gardens

[Redrach1903]

Day 9 is here

Saturday 22nd April

Today we woke up at 7.20am. The longest we had slept yet and a long lie by Florida standards. I did my usual morning routine of putting on the coffee and tea, catching up on my Instagram notifications (cos I'm a holiday spammer, soz) and caught up on my WhatsApp messages. Aberdeen were playing Hibs that day and Emma had sent me a photo of Abi wearing her wee Dons outfit that I bought her. TOO CUTE!



Once the tea and coffee was ready we sat outside to enjoy them and the beautiful morning. Just absolute perfection.



The agenda for this morning was shopping, but we waited to hear what the final score was with the Dons before leaving. They won 3-2 It was 9.10am when we finally left and the first stop was the PGA Superstore at Bayhill Plaza. For any golfers reading (probably not many) this is located just off Turkey Lake Road and Chris credits it with being the best golf store in the world. The way I feel when I walk down Main Street USA is how Chris feels when he walks in here





I left him to it and went for a look in Ross's next door where I got a couple of outfits for Abi and tops for Lily (our other niece). For anyone who hasn't been in a Ross's before, I can only liken it to TK Maxx, but slightly less chaotic and messy. I hate TK Maxx. Shopping shouldn’t be that much hard work.









As a bonus, here is Abi wearing the wee yellow butterfly outfit. I think it's my fave one Cute as a button



I then had a walk around the complex, but there was not much else to keep me occupied. Not unless I wanted crafting supplies, to take my (non-existent) dog to the spa or get some waxing done. Not today thank you. So I sat outside lapping up the sun for a wee while before toddling back to the PGA store to see how Chris was getting on. I found him trying out putters. Again. I'm pretty sure he bought a new putter last year!



I took some more photos of the store while I waited for him to finish doing his thing.







Chris insisted I take a photo of these trolleys. I still have no idea why, but I obliged nonetheless!



He then said I needed to take photos from the outside to show just how big it is. Yes dear…..





There. Now do you see how big it is? Do ya? do ya? DO YA? In the end he left with a new putter and a t-shirt. $266 for both! I've written nutter beside the cost in my notes which sums it up perfectly.

We left Bayhill Plaza at 10.35 and headed for the Premium Outlets, the I Drive ones. I'll recite my moan from last year – they really need to change the name of one of them to avoid confusing simple people like myself Anyway, we arrived at one of them at 10.55 (joking, I knew where we were, honest) and parked in the overflow bitty to the right. We find it is a far more pleasant experience to do that and walk over rather than manic circling of the closer car park stalking people to see if they are leaving!





You might have noticed it is now nearly 11am and not one crumb had passed our lips , so it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that our first destination was the food court!



I seem to remember us discussing the Chinese that I had last year and how good it was, so I'm confused as to why we both ended up with a Subway! Perhaps we thought 11am was an unacceptable time of day for Chinese? Oh well, Subway is always a winner! We both had 6 inch combos and the total was $14.76.



After our hunger was satisfied we agreed, as always, to go off on our own and meet back up later. The first stop for me was naturally the Character Warehouse! I bought two outfits for Abi, a t-shirt for Jake and a pair of shorts I had been eyeing up last year, but was too cheap to spend $35 on! I got them for $10. Winning





I love these shorts and wear them rather frequently round the house



Total spent in Disney's Character Warehouse was $40.43.

Next up I went to the Tommy Hilfiger kids store and got 2 t-shirts for Jake, a dress for Abi and a top for Abi.







Total spent in TH kids was $40.43.

Next up was Bath and Body Works.



A newish discovery for me and now a firm favourite. Chris works in Oman and there is one in Muscat, so he brings home the soaps every so often. With that (and my luggage weight) in mind, I only went for hand sanitizers and hand creams. Total spent $21.30.



After that I walked round, strenuously avoiding eye contact with all the folk in the middle selling various potions, lotions and god knows what else (LEAVE ME TO SHOP IN PEACE), in search of Nestle Tollhouse. These, in my humble opinion, are the best cookies in the world



I spotted another #usanumberone opportunity



As always in here, there was a deal of some kind on and today it was 5 cookies for the price of 3. It would have been rude not to! I got 2 chocolate chip, 1 double chocolate, 1 oatmeal & raisin and 1 M&M cookie.

I had a look in Carters next which is a baby/kids clothing store and got Abi a pair of cute dungarees and a dress for Lily.





I was kind of bored by this point. I really am a crap girl when it comes to shopping, I need to be in the mood for it or I need to be looking for something specific. So I went to one of the wee food trucks and got myself a diet coke and sat in the sun with that and gobbled up one of my cookies. So damn good.



I wanted to see if I could get a couple of Pandora charms from the place I went last year (Jared Galleria) and was happy to see they had a sale on. I picked two charms; a turtle and one with a butterfly design. I am not sure why, but butterflies remind me of my Mum. These cost $95 in total.



I suddenly remembered that Dad had asked to pick him up some more Sketchers. He bought a pair when he was over for our wedding and finds them the comfiest trainers known to man! I tried to get into a spot with Wi-Fi so I could WhatsApp call him as I wasn’t sure what colour he wanted. I couldn’t hear him very well, so I just sent him a quick message and told him to confirm his size and what colour he wanted. He finally got back to me (my Dad isn’t the quickest texter, bless him) and said he wasn’t fussed what colour, so I went and chose him a pair I thought he would like. Job done! They were $49.99. A whole lot cheaper than back home!

It was 1.30pm by now and time to go and meet Chris. He had bought himself 3 t-shirts from PacSun and a few pairs of jeans from Levis.

We left at 1.43pm exactly and the car was stifling! The original plan for this afternoon was to head to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours before our ADR at California Grill, but I decided we should ditch that plan because I was gonna go the MK the next day while Chris was golfing and I also didn’t want to rush to get ready! I despise being rushed! Chris was happy with the new plan, so we headed for home. Once we were through the gates Chris decided I should have a shot of driving and jumped out the car. I really don’t like driving in the states, but I could handle this tiny journey. Chris's face disagrees



We arrived home unscathed at 2.30pm. Go me! I was nice and offered Chris one of my remaining four cookies (I'm all heart). He went for the M&M one.



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[Redrach1903]

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We decided to have a walk down to the pier. Chris took his fishing rod. On the way we noticed just how dry everything was looking. We had yet to see any rain and it was starting to show! Even though the sky looks gloomy in the below photo, we still didn’t get a downpour.



You can see how far up the water normally is. Florida really needed some of the wet stuff. But not yet please!



Chris got his rod all set up and we started chatting to an English chap who was down fishing too. He was very friendly and was telling us that they used to own a villa here, but sold it as they didn’t make any money from it. He also told us that a black bear was once spotted at Sunset Lakes and that quite often the racoons are taken away and most likely killed as they are viewed as pests. Noooooo! Don’t touch Ricky!





I went to have a seat on the bench (which was rather hot on my bum) and this little dude decided to join me.





While Chris and the other guy chatted fishing tactics, I went looking for wildlife. I found some turtles and a duck.







Chris didn’t manage to catch anything, but he did get a few nibbles. There was one particular big fish that kept coming for the bait, but it didn’t hook on. The other guy did catch something though and it had a huge gob!



On our way back to the villa we saw a teeny weeny cutie pie baby racoon! I named him Roofus and I decided he is Ricky's little brother!



Once we were back at the villa we lazed about for a bit before showering and readying for the evening ahead! We were both really looking forward to California Grill! We were ready to leave at 5.55pm, but first – photos. Since we'd gotten a bit spruced up and all! Posey posey!









And a car selfie



The plan was to head to the Grand Floridian first and check out the much talked about Easter egg display.





However, when we got there we were informed there was no parking due to a high school prom being held for 380 kids! Wow! My senior ball was definitely not up to scratch haha! So, with that we about turned and headed straight for the Contemporary. On our way, we passed Shades of Green (Disney golf complex) and we spoke about staying at a MK resort one day. Chris said, and I quote, you can do your Peter Pan sh*t and I can go golfing. Haha! Charming!



We somehow took a wrong turn on our way to the Contemporary, so had exit the MK and come back in. Whoopsie. We eventually got parked at 6.37pm and were in row TE39. I have no idea why I feel the need to share that, but you're having it anyway

Excited!









Bay Lake Tower. One day. One day…..





He's smiling, but inside he's thinking "put the damn camera down woman"




Monorail shots. Cos why change the habit of a life time? I remember our first trip to WDW in 1997 and my mind just being blown by a train going through a hotel. I still think its pretty cool actually!





As we entered we saw a few Easter eggs on display. All was not lost on the Easter egg mission today then!





Since we were early (our ADR wasn’t until 7.30pm), we headed out the back for a stroll.









We spotted a hacky sack game and had a few goes. I mostly sucked, Chris had much better luck! It was good fun though!

















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[Redrach1903]

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We then went inside and had a look in the two main gift shops (Fantasia and Bayview Gifts). I bought Lily a cute necklace.





I waved to the driver of the Monorail



We then came across Fantasia Market where I spotted these rather excellent bottles of wine





One more Monorail shot for good measure. Actually, I'm totally lying. There's at least one more later.



At 7.20 we went to find the check in desk for California Grill. Excited face!





We were directed to the fancy lift and taken up by a CM along with a few other guests. She was asking where we were from and was telling us all about a Scottish CM that she made friends with that had worked at Epcot. When we stepped out the lift we both felt the wow factor. Even though the blinds were half down, we could see the view was outstanding.



Wine. All the wine.



We didn’t have to wait to be seated and were shown straight to our table. We didn’t get a window seat, but the view was still stunning, we could see the castle Our server was Simo from Morocco and straight away he noticed my necklace which says Rachael in Arabic. Chris can speak some Arabic so he was chatting away to him which Simo seemed really chuffed with. Chris is good like that, he makes the effort to learn languages and cultures of wherever he works. I am far too lazy for that, so I'll just stick to working in Aberdeen . We went straight outside to take photos. It was just beautiful out there looking over the Magic Kingdom. I was so happy that we got a nice clear evening, I don’t think it would have been the same on a dark rainy night!













Once I eventually tore myself away from gazing at the view (Chris had already gone back in), I went back to our table.







The sun was now beginning to set, so the blinds were opened fully and we could see the view in full from our table. Wonderful. I was a bit jealous of the folks by the window though!



While we were perusing the menu, Simo delivered our bread basket Hallelujah! I do love a bread basket. The butter was so lovely and salty, just delish!





To drink I had an old fashioned blackberry lemonade cocktail and a diet coke. Chris had a Harp beer.





While we waited for our mains we went back outside. I recently read HappyHaunt1000's report and when they went to California Grill he said he took a ridiculous amount of photos because he couldn’t get over how beautiful the sky looked. That is exactly how we felt. It was gorgeous and every time we looked at the window it had changed and I had to go back out with the camera. Haha!



Someone very kindly offered to take our photo. It didn’t turn out that great, but it was lovely of them nonetheless!



More beautiful sunset photos…







I was back at the table for all of five minutes when I noticed that the sun was just about down and it was a stunning fiery red. I just had to nip back out with the camera again













When I came back our main courses had been delivered

Chris had the Oak-fired Choice Angus Filet of Beef served with Black Truffle Risotto, Grilled Asparagus and Cabernet Wine Sauce. Apologies for the blurry photo!



I was happy to see Chicken Breast was on the menu! It wasn’t showing online at the time. I am fussy. It's full description is Amish Farms Chicken Breast (Boneless, Pan-seared)served with Vegetable Fricassee, Marcona Almond and Sherry-Chicken Jus.



The food was all very very tasty. My chicken was the most tender, juicy chicken I have ever tasted and I loved whatever the puree was on the side. Chris loved his too, even the risotto! He's not normally a fan of it! He did say he could have done with a bit more though. My portion was definitely more generous than his. Maybe some fries on the side would have done the trick!

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[Redrach1903]

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Once our mains were devoured it was back outside for more photos as the sky had changed yet again. I just couldn't stop snapping, it was some sight.







Told you I'd sneak in a few more Monorail photos….









Back inside again, we decided we had room for pudding! I had the Almond Tart



And Chris had the Chocolate Pudding Cake



Mine was lovely and light! Yum! Chris said his was more like a mousse than a cake, but he enjoyed it nonetheless. We asked for the bill and held our breaths as it was delivered….. DUN DUN DUN!



Yes, it is expensive, but we both thought it was worth it. The food was lovely and the setting couldn’t be beat. We’d definitely come back! We left a good tip for Simo ($30) and then went outside to secure a spot for Wishes



We saw the Electrical Water Pageant go by.







Just before Wishes started a couple nearby got engaged Everyone was cheering, it was so cute. It turned out that the other folk in their party had been in on the whole thing. Bless her, she was so surprised! Not as good as Chris’s proposal though, obviously

And then it began. The music was piped in perfectly and it was quite a moment. Knowing it was one of the last time’s I would see Wishes made it even more special. Also, seeing it from way up here really highlights how far away the fireworks are from the castle. They look so close when you are stood in the park!



























And finally, a failed finale shot!



I took a short video too. For anyone mourning the loss of Wishes, I apologise if this makes you cry!



We really loved watching Wishes from up there. I wrote in my notes “happy heart”. I think that sums it up.

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[Redrach1903]

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We were back in the car at 9.25pm and after such an epic night we weren’t ready to go home, so we went to see if the Fantasia Gardens Mini Golf was still open. When we parked up we saw a heap of emergency vehicles and lot’s of commotion. It looked like there was a prom or something going on in that Hippo hall place!



For anyone who hasn’t been, there are 2 courses here. Fairways and Fantasia Gardens. We decided to go with whichever one had the shortest wait as it looked quite busy. Much to Chris’s delight Fairways had the shorter wait time (5 minutes v 20 minutes)! However, we then realised that Chris didn’t have his Magic Band with him. Thankfully the CM took pity on us and let us both in for free anyway! I was actually surprised any of us got in for free as it used to only be free before 4pm? Not that we were complaining of course

It turned out we were the last people permitted on the course that night. The family in front of us consisted of a Dad and his two sons. The Dad was an absolute [bad word that rhymes with mooshbag]. He was rude to the CM before going on to the course. I can’t remember the exact conversation, but he snapped at him “well GOOD for you!” and stormed off. Wow. He was taking the whole thing so seriously too, taking ages and “coaching” his sons who looked like they’d rather be anywhere else. Because of this we always had at least a 5 minute wait at each hole. Proper golf etiquette is to let folk through if you are holding them up, but noooooooo. Not Mr Mooshbag.

Anyway, we had fun! Chris absolutely loves this course as it’s like a proper mini golf course!



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Hidden Mickey









See this bridge? Chris rested his golf club against it as we were waiting for Mr Mooshbag and family to hurry the f up and it fell through the gap and into the water So funny! He managed to fish it out eventually. I was absolutely no help as I stood back watching and laughing….











Chris won! I know you are probably shocked by this!





Hehehe. I love this photo!



It was 11.20pm by the time we left and we were home a short 15 minutes later. We saw Ricky Racoon again, but it was too dark to get a photo. Worry not though, he’ll be back I think we had a cup of tea and were in bed by midnight.

Steps today – 14,488 (6.32 miles)

Thanks for reading! Tomorrow Chris golfs, I indulge in some solo MK time and we go back to DHS for the Star Wars Dessert Party. Can it live up to last year’s experience?

Day 11 is here

[abiknox]

Fab day again. Love all the kids clothes. I was buying loads on our recent trip too.

Dinner looks amazing, well done Chris for his Arabic, that's impressive!

That gorgeous baby racoon! Love him 😀

[Zomax25]

What a lovely chilled day. Love the golf shop photos (ha, not really!). Thanks for sharing.

[thefourDs]

Loved reading this! Another lovely day! Those sunset photos are absolutely amazing.

I think you should be my kids honoury aunty! I'd love for someone to buy them such gorgeous clothes!

[dixonsontour]

Stunning California grill photos. Your baby niece is gorgeous not surprised you buy all the cute outfits.

[Floridaagogo]

Finally... a photo of the trollies in the golf shop.the nights I've lain awake wondering what they look like 😀😀😀😆😆 it is never too early for Chinese food.i swear if somebody woke me at 3am with a chicken chow mein in bed I would have a good go at it 😆😆