Aimee and Lauren's Split Year Split Stay Part 2- Disney August 2016- Day 17- Going Home :(

[xAimeex]

Hi and welcome to the last day of my 2016 trip report! I know it’s a little late considering the trip was almost a year and a half ago now! I’ve always said I’ll never abandon a trip report and I’m so glad I haven’t this time! I’ll admit that I did consider it for a brief moment when photobucket decided to ruin most of the pictures unless their users paid $400 for the privilege of posting photos on third party sites! Thankfully though photobucket have seen the light and decided to release everyone’s photos again for a much more reasonable price so the photos from day 4-8 should be showing again.

I’m not going to do a highs and lows for this trip even though there really were so many highs! I really want to get on with my next report now! I’ve decided to go straight in to our October Disney trip from 2017 rather than our February 2017 Universal trip as I actually hadn’t planned to do a report for that one but I did take notes so I may write it up one day.

The October report will be called 19 Years Later!

I feel like I’ve lost my way with this report along the way as so much has changed in my personal life (which is a good thing) and I know I’ve stopped replying to comments over the course of the report and I’m really sorry for that and also really grateful to the people who still comment and read along and haven’t given up on it! I know with some days being posted so far apart it has probably felt a little disjointed, that’s certainly how it was writing it as I’d forgotten what I’d already posted in previous days so if I’ve repeated myself at all, that’s why!

In terms of word count this is my longest report to date! The word document is 151,267 words long and 977 pages! Picture links account for some of that but I'm guessing its still around 140,000 words long which is kind of crazy!

Thank you again for reading along and commenting, I really do appreciate it! Now let’s get on with ending this report!




Day 17- Monday 30th August 2016- Epcot, Stormalong Bay and Time to go Home .

After an incredible 16 nights we'd finally reached the last day. We really had had such an amazing trip and it felt sad that it was coming to an end but we had made so many incredible memories we couldn't wait to look back at all the photos etc when we got home!


We all woke up at 7:30 when the alarm went off. Lauren and I got ready as we were heading to Epcot this morning!


First we had to finish packing everything up as we were taking our cases down to Bell services first so that Mum and Dad only had their stuff to worry about once we had to be out of the room.


Dad remembered at this point that we hadn't had a tragical express voucher for the ride back to the airport.


I had booked us on to it online separately as we were at a different resort to where we'd been dropped off at the start of the trip.


Normally they leave the voucher on the door the morning of your last full day but I guess as we hadn't arrived until half 10 the day before we'd been missed.


Dad got dressed and went down to the concierge desk to sort it so that Lauren and I could finish getting ready!


He came back with a confirmation for the 3:35 bus!


This gave us a decent amount of park time with enough left to make use of the pool before leaving!


We dragged our suitcases back along the long corridors and into the lift!

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Do you know what this report hasn’t had enough of? Carpet photos

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Cute little seating area


It was quiet over at bell services so we left our bags and I put the slip to collect them later safely in my purse.


We were all finished by 8:35 so started making our way over to Epcot!


As I said yesterday the walk over to International Gateway is just so relaxing!

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My camera was steaming up a little as it was humid out already!

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There was a long line for bag check when we arrived as they hadn't opened it up yet. Plus they only have a couple of tables here so it does take a little longer.

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They opened the park at 8:45 and we actually made it through bag check in just a few minutes!


Rather than randomly selecting people to go through the scanners they were asking everybody to walk through them here which was no problem.


We made it in to the park at 8:50!

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We had fastpasses booked for later in morning as we had a breakfast ADR at Garden Grill booked for 10!


As we'd used our tier 1 fp for Test Track we wanted to try and get on Soarin' in the standby line first thing so we power walked down towards the Land Pavilion!


It felt like a bit of a trek all the way down from World Showcase as it was already pretty hot out!

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We got to Soarin' at 9! It was listed as a 15 minute wait already but actually only took 5.

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We were sitting in row 2 of section A and had the last 2 seats at the end of the row so it wasn't the best view and the Eiffel Tower was really bent at the end hehe. We had been really lucky to mostly be sat in the middle section this trip though so we didn't mind.


We finished just before 9:20. It was still listed as a 15 minute wait so it was tempting to go round again but we still hadn't gotten around to meeting Joy and Sadness as their line had always been crazy long!


We walked down to the Character Spot which houses Joy and Sadness and Baymax. This is opposite the Mickey and Friends character spot which you can get a fastpass for, unfortunately you can't for this one hence the often long standby wait.

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The line already looked quite long but we still had over half an hour until our breakfast reservation and we both love Inside Out so were really keen to meet Joy and Sadness!


The line is really well themed! The walls are printed to look like Riley's memory banks and the music from the film is playing while you wait!

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The line stopped for quite a while when we were about half way through it while the characters took a break so it was a long wait. Around half an hour in the end but last time we'd been in here the line was 45 minutes so it could have been worse.


It was worth the wait though as this was an awesome character meet!


The meet is set up to look like you're in headquarters inside Riley's head!

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We told Sadness that we were sad as we were flying home today and she hugged us and pretended to cry hehe.


We then told Joy that we were happy too though as we finally got to meet them before we left!


I told her I loved her dress and she pointed to my Mary Poppins t-shirt and pretended to fly with an umbrella!


Lauren asked them which was their favourite island (Riley's islands of personality if you haven't seen the film). Joy pointed to Goofball Island!


Sadness gestured to all of them. She moved forward a little as she did this and the photopass photographer said he thought she was coming to get him so she pretended to chase him round the room which was funny!

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It honestly was probably one of our best meets ever with a non face character!


It was already 10 when we finished here so we headed back over to the Land to check in at Garden Grill! Thankfully it isn't too far away.

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Garden Grill is the rotating restaurant above Living with the Land! It even looks out over part of the ride as the restaurant rotates!


It is a character meal served family style! The characters here are Chip and Dale, Pluto and Mickey in his farmer outfit!

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We'd seen some good reviews of this place and the food sounded right up our street!


I find family style character meals more relaxing than buffet ones as there's no umming and ahhing over whether to go up for food in case you miss a character.


There is an upper and lower seating area in this circular restaurant.


The lower area is made up of booths and offers the best view to be able to see down in to Living with the Land when you are passing it.


We were seated in the upper seating area today which we were expecting really as we were only a party of 2. We were still seated at a 4 top table but we didn't mind as it's no problem if you want to walk down for a look at the ride!

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We had the most lovely server here! An older guy who had visited London and Liverpool. It's always nice to speak to cast members who have some knowledge of the UK!


He and his wife were both cast members and he said they absolutely love their jobs!


Food wise this meal was an absolute winner!

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Any meal that starts with a plate hidden Mickey is going to be good!


Breakfast consists of a cinnamon roll skillet, fresh fruit bowl, a platter with ham, bacon, scrambled eggs and tater tots, plus Mickey waffles with a Chocolate hazelnut sauce! All washed down with unlimited POG (passion fruit, orange, and guava) juice aka jungle juice!

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POG juice!


I can't think of a more perfect breakfast apart from adding sausages, which they now have! We ate their last October and they were served in place of the ham. But that's a story for another trip report (which I'm hoping to start writing ASAP hehe).


The cinnamon roll skillet was just unreal! If you have read my reports before you'll know I'm a bit of a cinnamon roll connoisseur (self-proclaimed ) and this was right up there with the Cinnabon!


Even Lauren who had never tried a cinnamon bun/roll etc before couldn't resist this and discovered that despite years of thinking she wasn't a fan of cinnamon, she actually really enjoyed it!

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Perfection from all angles!

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Yummy fresh fruit!


Continued below…

[xAimeex]

…Continued


The Mickey waffles were delicious! They tasted really fresh! The sauce had a similar taste to Nutella but runnier. It was yummy!

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The savoury food went down well too! I had recently discovered that I actually love bacon (I know I'm late to the party ) especially the crispy American kind so that went down well with me!

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Lauren doesn't like bacon but did eat some of the carved ham! She also loves tater tots so they were a winner!


She had some of the scrambled egg too and said it was actually cooked pretty well for Disney eggs! Better than those she'd eaten at Cinderella's Royal Table earlier in the trip!


It really was a brilliant breakfast! As its family style you can ask for top ups of anything you'd like more of but we were absolutely stuffed!


Ok I've just spent 9 paragraphs talking about the food hehe should probably mention the characters too!


They were fab as well! This is a fairly small restaurant especially in comparison to some of the other character breakfast locations (Chef Mickey's I’m looking at you!) so the characters didn't seem to be as rushed!


We met Pluto, Chip and Dale (who meet separately) in quick succession!


The chipmunks especially were really funny!

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Mickey came round about 10 minutes later (but as we were eating it really wasn't an issue). He was a cute Mickey! He gave us big hugs and kissed our hands haha.

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I think there’s meant to be a hidden Mickey in this picture but we couldn’t spot it! I’ve even looked it up online and still couldn’t see it hehe


As the restaurant was starting to clear out a little while we were still eating we ended up seeing Pluto, Chip and Dale again!


We told Chip he gave the best hugs but not to tell Dale and he put his finger to his lips hehe.

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Honestly we couldn't recommend this meal enough! We'd had a very average meal at Chef Mickey's on our last morning in 2015 and we were a little unsure about doing a character meal on flying home day again but this completely changed our minds!


The cost of the breakfast was $63.90. As we were no longer on the dining plan we paid out of pocket but we felt it was worth every penny! If I remember we used to rest of the money on the free gift card to cover this but I'm not 100% sure on that.


We left a 20% tip as our server had been so good! He was super quick with drink refills and made sure we'd seen all the characters and had enough food etc!


We finished here at 10:50! We were so full up!


We popped downstairs quickly to the souvenir section just beside Soarin' around the World as I wanted to buy a Soarin' pin and fridge magnet!

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We have a magnet for the original ride so it seemed only right to buy the updated version!


Together they came to $21.28 with tax.


We left the Land Pavilion and walked over to the Seas with Nemo and Friends!

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We needed a nice chilled out ride to let our food go down so this was a perfect choice!


It was listed as a 10 minute wait but we literally walked on.


It really is such a relaxing ride!

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We had a fastpass for Spaceship Earth next so headed over that way.

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I really hope they keep these when they start to make changes to Epcot


We stopped in the Art of Disney shop on the way and I ended up buying a gorgeous Epcot print! It cost $26.63 after tax.

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Spaceship Earth had a 30 minute standby wait. Thankfully it only took a couple of minutes in the fastpass line!

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We smiled for the photo at the beginning but they were still missing from the video at the end so we watched cartoon people living our 'future' again instead hehe.

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Is this a hidden Mickey?


We finished here at 11:55.

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We were in to our fastpass window for test track now so headed over there next.


There was a huge line still even for fastpasses but the standby wait was 110 minutes!

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It was odd as the park didn't really seem that busy, looking on MDE the wait times for both Frozen Ever After and Soarin' were only 45 minutes!


We wondered if maybe test track had gone down earlier in the morning.


I'm sure it didn't help that when they were putting people on numbers to enter the design-a-car studio they left lots of numbers empty so the room was only half full. Although I suppose it could have been because there wasn't room on the other side once you leave.


As I've said a lot of times before I really can't stand the Test Track queue. Even with a fastpass it takes forever as once you're into the design-a-car part you leave and enter one big queue altogether which can still take 20 minutes.


Having said that, I’d still rather wait 30 minutes in the fastpass line that 110 minutes standby!


The inside of the ride has grown on me a little over the years but it will never live up to the original in my mind. The circuit around the track at the end is where it's all at for us!

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Lauren created a rose gold car to match her ears!

I’ve just realised that our ride photo for this never made it on to our memory maker but oh well bit late to do anything about it now hehe.


We finished here at 12:30 and headed to Mouse Gear as I had some final dollars left to part with (I rarely come home with spends left whereas Lauren is the total opposite!)

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This shop is so big it has a map!

I bought a few bits!


These super cute pyjama trousers! There was a matching jumper top but I decided not to buy it and I really regret it! I wanted to buy it last year but they don't sell them anymore. These cost around $35 I think. I just love all the detail on them!

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Continued below…

[xAimeex]

…Continued


I bought a gorgeous rolling pin! It matches some of the other kitchen ware I have from the gourmet Mickey range! I think this was around $20.

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A Peter Pan pin! I have no idea how much this was but I'm guessing around $10.

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3 of the character head pens for my dibb friend Pam (Mamie Baldwin) and her nieces Rebecca and Kara! I don’t have a picture of these though.


A cute Mickey shot glass! Again I'm a bit sketchy on the price sorry!

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A couple of packs of Mickey shortbread and some Minnie's bakery Oreo style biscuits!

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The sour sweets were picked up at the airport later on



Sorry I'm not sure on the costs of the last couple of items.


With my spending spree complete we headed out to get some photopass pictures with Spaceship Earth in the background!

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After this we decided to head black on over to World Showcase to grab some lunch (let's pretend we hadn't already eaten a huge family style breakfast this morning hehe).

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As we were walking over dibber Niki T came over to say hello with her husband John. They were so lovely and we had a great chat about Disney! Niki also had on a gorgeous Belle print dress that Lauren and I were admiring!


We asked someone passing if they'd mind taking a photo!

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After we'd said our goodbyes Lauren and I headed on up to the Mexico Pavilion at 1!


We had decided on La Cantina de San Angel, the counter service offering here!

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It gets mixed reviews but we've always really enjoyed it!


I went to go and order the food while Lauren went inside to the La Hacienda seating area to grab a table.


La Hacienda is a table service restaurant in the evenings however at lunch time they open up their seating area to people dining at La Cantina as otherwise the seating is all outside.

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Some of the detail inside La Hacienda


I ordered us the nachos to share minus the tomatoes and jalapeños. I also grabbed a coke and pink lemonade for us to share as you can't get pink lemonade everywhere in Disney and we love it!

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Sauces available

I haven't made a note of what this cost but it was less than $20.


There was a really long wait for the food and it was so hot out today!


Luckily I have an amazing sister who having realised I'd been standing out for a while came to swap with me so I could sit in the air conditioning until the food was ready!


The nachos were good and just enough to keep us full until dinner time after a big breakfast!


The only thing we would have changed was the amount of plastic cheese on top (as Disney food blog say- not actually plastic hehe). I know some people absolutely love it but we find it just ok.


We finished here at 1:25 and decided to have one last ride of the trip on the Gran Fiesta boat ride but there was a line for it so we decided to head out as we wanted to get in some pool time before it was time to leave.

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It was such a long walk back in the midday sunshine! We stopped off in a couple of the World Showcase shops but once we were through International Gateway there was no more air conditioning until we were back at Beach Club!

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I could feel my face getting sun burnt as we walked back and by the time we got to Stormalong Bay at 1:40 we were hot sweaty messes!

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We went over to the rest rooms near Beaches and Cream to change. It was nice to feel the air con!


We had taken our swimwear in our bags to Epcot so we could change as soon as we were back. We couldn’t wait to get in to the pool to cool down (after we'd put more sun cream on!)


Upon entering the pool area we had to scan our magic bands to show that we were staying at the resort. We were then given paper wristbands to wear.

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There were no sun beds free so we just chucked our stuff down on the ground where we could see it.


We jumped straight in the pool as we were still boiling!


I wish we could have stayed at Beach Club longer and had a proper pool day but we still managed a lovely hour swimming and floating around the lazy river!


Relaxing in this gorgeous pool in the beautiful sunshine was not making us want to return to gloomy England!


Mum and Dad popped down to the pool at 2:15. They had already spent the morning by the pool and had just returned from lunch at Disney Springs.


They kindly took our park bags for us leaving our clothes behind for us to change back in to.


We didn't have the room anymore so they were going to have a sit down in the beautiful lobby.


I could have stayed in that pool for the rest of the afternoon but as the tragical express would be turning up to collect us we had to drag ourselves out at 2:40.


We changed in the rest rooms again and headed over to the lobby to meet Mum and Dad.


Dad and I went over to bell services to collect all the cases!


We had 9 pieces of luggage stored so they kindly put it all on to a luggage cart for us and we gave them a good tip!


Now it was time to embark on a little family holiday tradition we have! For some people it's going to Magic Kingdom on their first morning, for others it's eating at a certain restaurant each trip.


Well ours is sitting in the lobby of whichever hotel we're staying at with every single suitcase in our possession wide open on the floor as we frantically repack last minute purchases, pack park bags and sort out handbags for the plane and grab our travel clothes to change in to.


We are just that kind of family, every single trip. It's never calm and we always end up hot and sweaty and a little stressed, especially if we're cutting it a bit fine for the tragical express arriving. Thankfully we'd left plenty of time today!


We took it in turns to go to the restrooms to change into our plane clothes so we were all ready to go . It's never as exciting getting into your travel outfit at this end of the trip compared to the outbound travel day.


Once we were all ready and our bags were all safely closed and secured again I popped along to Beach Club Market Place as we had just over $7 left on the gift card.


We didn't really have room for anymore snack items so I grabbed a bottle of coke for me and Mum to share and a sprite for Lauren and Dad. These came to $7.01 leaving 6 cents left on the card.


I also picked up a couple more pins for my collection as they were only small. I chose an Ariel pin and a Rapunzel pin as they're my 2 most favourite princesses (although Tiana is up there too!)

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They cost around $10 each with tax.


I headed back to the lobby to pack my pins.


It was around 3:20 now so we took the time to sit and chat about what an amazing time we'd had. We'd lost count of all the memories we'd made (hence why I'm so glad I always take notes while we're there for these reports).


Eventually we could avoid it no longer . We pulled the luggage cart outside to wait at the 'Magical' Express stop at 3:30.

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It arrived bang on 3:35. It wasn't a magical express but at least it still had a Disney touch and the video on board was the same, although it’s a little depressing watching it on the way back to the airport!

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We left our cases for the driver to load on and jumped on board. It had already been to Yacht Club but we managed to get seats together.


As we were waiting the Captain of the Beach Club came onto the bus to thank everyone for staying at Yacht and Beach and that he hoped we all had a safe journey home which was a nice touch!


We caught our last glimpse of this beautiful resort as we drove away and towards the Boardwalk resort to collect there.


Our last stop was Caribbean Beach Resort.


The bus was quite full up by the time we arrived here and a family got on and made a huge fuss insisting that there was no room for them on the bus!


I felt really sorry for the driver as he had to stop loading the cases in and come and go through his paperwork to check he had the right numbers.


He of course did have the right numbers. There was room on the bus they were just unhappy because there were only single seats left so they all had to sit dotted around the bus.


They didn't have young children so I couldn't really see the issue. Obviously if they had we'd have given them our seats and sat apart.


I could understand their frustration at being the last pick up and therefore the last people on board but they were delaying the coach with their fussing which isn't what you need when you're trying to get to an airport.


After all that we didn't leave Caribbean Beach until 4:10.

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[xAimeex]

…Continued

It started to drizzle a little on the journey and by the time we arrived at MCO it was properly raining which always makes arriving at the airport to fly home a little easier.


We arrived at 4:35 and were all dropped off on the B side.


Virgin Atlantic check in is over on side A so we grabbed our cases and gave the driver a tip before making our way over to the lifts.


Once we were on level 3 we dragged the cases through the atrium. It didn't seem as long a walk as it had done the year before but this is always the moment I slightly regret deciding to bring an extra case home hehe.


I had checked us in the night before so we only had to do bag drop which was a lot quieter than the check in desks.


I confirmed that I'd paid to take a second case home.


My smaller case was 19.2kg and my larger one 22.6 eek!


Lauren's case was 22.4.


Mum's was 13.2 and Dad's 18.


They also weighed our hand luggage cases. Mine and Lauren's both weighed in at around 7.5kg.


It was all pretty painless and we soon had our boarding cards and were heading over to the food court!


We decided to eat at Chik-Fil-A today.

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I really fancied a cinnabon but I didn’t have room!


We had a mix of chicken nugget and chicken sandwich meals.


I had a chicken sandwich meal which came to $7.66.

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So long American fast food!


We all enjoyed our last American junk meal!


We finished eating at 5:15 and walked over to the Earport Disney store!


Because you know we didn't already have enough Disney merchandise hehe.

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Lauren and I both bought a big tin of Mickey shortbread, mine were for my bosses as they had kindly given me some spends for the holiday and I wanted to say thank you!


I also bought some Goofy's Candy Co. sour sweets (pictured earlier in the report) and the Ariel ear hat ornament as I have a couple of others from this collection!

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DSC06119 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


I haven't made notes on the prices but the ornament was around $25, the biscuits around $13 and the sweets between $5-7 I think.


With our last minute purchases made we headed over to security.


I have to say for once it was a much calmer experience as we've found MCO security to be a little chaotic in the past.


There was a listed wait time of 14-18 minutes and the lines were properly separated rather than one big jumble of people.


When it was our turn to hand over our passports the security officer asked how our trip had been and I said it had been amazing and he said that's what he likes to hear when people are leaving!


We queued up to have our bags x-rayed and go through the scanners. Again it was very quiet and none of our bags had to be checked so we were making our way over to the monorail at 6:05!


We were leaving from gate 85 so we headed over there first to get seats before taking it in turns to head to Stellar News for all the last minute bits; mentos, water, lucky charms for Lauren's breakfast on the plane. Oh and a new luggage lock because again it's not a proper trip for our family if someone doesn't lose a luggage lock either before going or when returning hehe. I believe it was Dad this time that was in need of a new one.


We were all back by 6:30 and passed the time on our phones etc.


Boarding started at 6:55 so a little before that we made sure to go and use the restrooms.


Once special assistance customers, upper and premium had boarded they called the economy seats in the bubble.


We had managed to secure dibbers row again hooray! We were on board at 7:10.


Even though you have to wait for downstairs to fill up I do like to get cosy and settled in my seat.


We were on tinkerbell but we noticed that the little cubby holes that are normally below the window didn't open like they normally do in the bubble. It was just a shelf which was a shame as that storage is so useful for keeping bags out of the way. The shelf was still useful though for keeping food trays on until they were collected.

DSC06054 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
Just a shelf today

DSC06059 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
I think the screen was a little different too

DSC06057 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
At least it wasn’t sunny out


Mum, Lauren and I were sitting together as normal hehe and Dad was just across the aisle in the other dibber's row.


The lady next to him asked if he wanted the window seat as he was sitting next to the aisle.


Normally he sits on the outside so he can chat with Mum but as it was a night flight they wouldn't be talking much anyway hehe so he didn't mind swapping as the lady had her son with her and she didn't want to wake Dad if her son needed the toilet in the night which was really thoughtful!


As she and Dad chatted he found out she was a dibber so he pointed Lauren and I out as dibbers too! I'm sorry I don't have your user name written down but I think it was darth something. It was really nice to meet you!


We surprisingly took off near enough on time around 7:55 with a listed flight time of 7 hours and 30 minutes hooray!

DSC06061 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
The sun was starting to set

DSC06064 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr
It looked so pretty taking off at dusk!

DSC06066 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr




The sunset as we started to fly above the clouds was absolutely stunning! I couldn't get a very good picture as the windows were reflecting but it was really lovely and we wished we were watching it from Disney .

33579882_2142444602497690_8264893489968316416_n by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


We settled down to watch some films. I picked Captain America Civil War and Lauren went for the live action Jungle Book, both of which we'd seen before but we really like them!


The women in front of Lauren reclined as soon as the seatbelt sign went off which is always a little frustrating when you know the food will be served soon. One positive of being in Dibber's row is that at least you can recline too without affecting anyone behind so it's gives you a bit more space.


The cabin crew were absolutely lovely on the flight! They brought round the menus for dinner but quickly realised they were the outbound menus (we thought it was a bit odd that we were being offered the same food choices coming home) and this meant the drinks service was a little delayed and we actually didn't end up getting a drink until after dinner but as I said the crew were so friendly, we told them we thought they were doing a great job and they kindly gave us 2 drinks each, Mum was very happy with her mini bottles of red wine hehe.


The dinner options were chicken and rice, beef stew or vegetable lasagne.


I always find the beef stew to be fairly gross on the way home so Lauren and I went for the lasagne and Mum picked the chicken dish.


We all really enjoyed our food which I have to say is rare for the inbound flight for us! The lasagne was more of a pasta dish than a typical lasagne but it was actually really yummy!

DSC06072 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


The cabin crew again were fantastic and without us even mentioning it asked the lady in front of Lauren to put her seat back up while it was meal time.


Unfortunately the little girl in front of me finished her food before me and reclined while I was still eating and the cabin crew weren't around to ask her to sit up by then.


As always seems to happen there was some heavy turbulence after dinner, typical when you have a tummy full of food!


Once I'd finished eating I took my make-up off and applied some moisturiser.


I put my window blind down as it was dark out now and the little girl in front reached back and pushed it back up! I pulled it straight back down seeing as it was the window blind for my seat!


Once the cabin crew had collected the food trays, I got comfy and settled down to watch Room. I had purposefully not watched this on the way out as I knew it was going to be emotional.


I really enjoyed it and cried unashamedly. I thought the acting in it was fantastic!


By the time it finished there was only 2 and a half hours left of the flight. They had turned down the cabin lights some time ago so I put some more moisturiser on and turned my TV off to try and get some sleep.


I managed around 45 minutes and woke up just before they served breakfast which was well timed!


I actually really enjoyed the breakfast for once! We had a fruit pot with yoghurt and granola plus a warm pain au chocolat.

DSC06073 by Aimee Disney, on Flickr


Lauren actually liked the granola so I gave her mine in return for her pain au chocolat (which she doesn't like!) and she could save her lucky charms for another day!


After breakfast I reapplied my make-up and decided to finish watching the meddler which I had started on the way out. I'd struggled to get in to it to be honest and the ending didn't really draw me in any further but it was fine.


With an hour to go before landing I decided to put Sisters on with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. It was really funny and thankfully was on sky not long after we returned so I could watch the ending then.


We were soon coming in to land and touched ground around 8:30am UK time.


We were really quick off the plane today and made the long walk back to passport control.


As we're all adults we were sent to the self-service machines but unfortunately after letting the others all through it wouldn't recognise my passport so I was sent over to an officer to check it.


The line was short thankfully and only took a couple of minutes.


Upon seeing my passport which was about 8 and a half years old on this trip, he said to me that my picture must be REALLY old as I was a little girl in it.


I gave a polite giggle (seeing as he was deciding whether to let me back in to the country hehe) and said that it was taken when I was 18. He then asked me what I'd been doing the past 9 years! Clearly ageing badly I felt like saying but obviously I didn't .


I didn't quite know how to take his comment and made a mental note to start researching anti-ageing cream when I got home hehe thankfully despite my haggard aged appearance he let me through!


Mum had waited for me while Dad and Lauren had headed over to the luggage carousel to start waiting for the cases.


They were just pulling my silver case off when I arrived and my blue case came round not long after which is always a relief.


Unfortunately everybody else's cases took a little while longer. Only 10 or so minutes but it always feels like longer when you're imagining your case being lost or accidentally picked up by someone else.


Eventually though we had all the cases and were making our way through to arrivals.


We made our usual visit to Marks and Spencer's for sandwiches, crisps, British chocolate and drinks to eat for lunch when we got home!


We headed over to the taxi rank to request a ride home. We only had a few minutes to wait thankfully and we were on the road at 9:45.


The driver was a football fan so that was Dad sorted for the way home!


We didn't meet any traffic and were walking in our front door at 10:20!


It's always nice to get back to home comforts and I was quick to start unpacking my cases to check the breakable items had returned in one piece which thankfully they had!

And so ends another trip!


Thank you for reading and again I'm sorry about the ridiculous amount of time it has taken me to finish it x

[Flimsey]

Another fab report, can’t wait for the October one.
We have just swapped Chef Mickey’s breakfast for Garden Grille breakfast a few weeks ago, glad we have now.

[lumosq102]

That last day is always so bittersweet!

Thanks for another super trip report - will look forward to reading the next one!

[eleele]

Coming home is always a drag but at least you made the absolute most of your last day and thank you for the gratuitous handbag shot on the plane - that is a seriously good bag!

Thanks for another fabulous trip report - I love reading them! Now where's the next one...

[racheydisney]

Loved this report from start to finish as usual and can't wait to start reading about your October trip! xx

[Niki T]

Enjoyed reading all about your trip. It was lovely to meet you both...that pic reminded me how hot it was that day glad we met in the hottest part of the park
Looking forward to reading your next one

[princess allie]

Really enjoyed your fabulous trip report x