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17 Jul 16, 06:23 PM
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Imagineer
 
Join Date: Oct 12
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Third time... lucky lucky lucky! May 2016 - Heading Home
Saturday 21st May
Steps: 19,669 Miles: 8.07 So our final day is upon us, today we are heading home *sob* The alarm went off at 8am and it’s fair to say we were feeling pretty tired after being up so late packing the night before! We ended up snoozing until 8:30am but then had to drag ourselves up and out of bed as we had to be out of the villa by 10am and we still have the last of our packing to do. Once everything was packed up and we were ready to go I finally got around to taking some photos of the villa, yes it had only taken two and a half weeks for me to do this! We loved the villa and it was great being on Compass Bay again this year, definitely somewhere we would return to in future trips. We don’t really spend much time at the villa, as you have seen we keep our days in Orlando very busy so it is really just a base for us to come back and sleep in! (And as you can see from the photos the place barely looks like it has been lived in… hopefully the cleaners will appreciate how little mess we have made!)       With photos done it was time to wave goodbye to what had been a lovely home for the past 17 nights, I felt really emotional closing the front door for the very last time knowing we wouldn’t be coming back. By this time it was 10:30am, in true tradition we were of course late getting out! We stopped by the bins to drop off all our rubbish (there were a lot of shopping bags and shoe boxes to dispose of!) and with that it was time for our last drive out of the gates of Compass Bay. It is a last morning tradition to go to Denny’s for breakfast so we headed straight to our usual one on the 192. On pulling up into the car park we found the queue was out of the door! We hadn’t quite thought about the fact it was a Saturday morning (we normally fly home on a Wednesday) and it would be super busy! We didn’t fancy wasting time waiting for a table so we decided to break with tradition and head to IHOP instead.  Paul parked up and I jumped out to see if we could get a table, it was rammed inside but luckily we managed to get the last available table so were seated right away. We both ordered a cherry coke and then for food Paul went for the breakfast sampler and I again had the French toast with bacon (off of the 55+ menu). It felt a little sad to be back there as this was where we started on our very first morning when we went to KSC. It is amazing to think about how much we had fitted in between now and then though! The food was delicious as always and gobbled up pretty quickly… a perfect breakfast to see us on our way!    With breakfast done we got back in the car and made our way to Disney Springs to check-in for our flight.   This is something we have done on our previous two trips and I cannot recommend it enough! For the cost of $10 each it really is worth every cent knowing you are all checked in, boarding pass in hand and your hold luggage is being taken care of for you. It was lovely and quiet and we were seen to straight away. We had three suitcases to check in for the hold and on placing them on the scales we discovered that one was rather hefty at 26kg! The VA lady told us we would need to get the weight of that case down a little so off to the side we toddled with our tails between our legs to have a shuffle around to try and distribute the weight more evenly! It wasn’t too tricky though, moving the bags of Twizzlers out shaved off all the weight we needed (they are a heavy sweet treat!) and after a second weigh-in we were good to go! Although we did now have two ‘heavy baggage’ tags to our name now!  Free of our cases we headed back to the car and drove around to park in the Lime garage as we planned on spending the rest of the morning having a wander around Disney Springs. As much as we are an action-packed couple I can’t bring myself to go to a park on the last day (although last year we had to do a mad dash to Epcot for a last-minute gift purchase!)  We made our way down from the garage and had another wander around the new Town Center area, it was even more beautiful in the day time!     We went for one last look in World of Disney. I had seen a Mickey spoon holder during our travels that I wanted to pick up but after a good hunt around I couldn’t find it so I stopped by the information desk and after a search on the computer it seemed they had sold out everywhere! I was gutted, and it really does go to show that if you see something you like during your trip you should buy it then and there as there is no guarantee it will still available by the time come to buy it at a later point! I did pick up a Mickey pen for my friend Jane at work (the same one we bought ourselves in AK the other day) so it wasn’t a completely unsuccessful trip! Whilst I was paying Paul went off for a wander and we met back up outside… and on finding him he handed me a bag with Simba inside! I had picked this Simba plush up every time I had seen it throughout the trip as I loved it (I had a Simba teddy as a child so it reminded me of that) and he had bought it for me as a gift to take back home. What a keeper!  We continued to walk around Disney Spring, sucking up every last minute of the Disney magic. A few more photos along the way were of course necessary… including ones with Mr Potato Head and Buzz (so appropriate for Paul after all the Space Ranger Spin action this trip!)        It was insanely hot so after walking around for a while we had to stop for a coke and a lemonade to cool ourselves down! We also heard from Nic and Brian and as they were also in Disney Springs we headed over to meet then for a quick hello and a fond farewell (they weren’t flying home until Wednesday).  We walked with them over to the Orange garage as they were heading home for some pool time (so jealous) and we continued to mosey around for a bit longer… I was in no rush to leave that’s for sure!    We also stumbled across these lovely toilets… the prettiest toilets I have ever seen! (Although they smelt pretty bad so that took of the sheen!)  As we were making our way back over to Town Center we spotted a Photopass photographer, this is the first time I have ever seen one in Disney Springs! We thought it would be nice to stop for one last photo but on going up to him we realised we didn’t have our magic bands or our park tickets on us! He told us not to worry and took our photos and added them to a temporary Photopass card and told me I could link them to our account afterwards. I did try this as soon as we got home but for some reason they had the watermark on them, most odd as we have the Memory Maker package so no idea why! Luckily they weren’t particularly nice photos so I just let those ones slide! I did of course take plenty more of my own photos though…        By now it was 2:50pm and we decided to wave goodbye to Disney Springs and make a stop in at Celebration on the way to the airport seeing as we hadn’t found the time to visit there before now on this trip. We parked up right in front of the lake and headed out for a wander. I couldn’t help but think of Redrach as we stood and looked across at the Bohemian Hotel Celebration and I took great delight in telling Paul all about the beautiful wedding photos she had shared in her trip report (not dropping hints or anything of course!). It turns out we must have missed Rach and Chris by a matter of minutes this day as they had been there for a round of golf, such a shame it would have great to have seen them before we headed home!        The weather was beautiful so we decided to take a stroll around the lake; it was just beautiful and so peaceful. If I lived there I would be clocking up so many steps every day walking around that lake! Apologies for all the photos, I couldn’t resist!             On completing our loop around the lake I was craving some ice cream so we popped into Kilwins and I went for the marshmallow s’more flavour ($4.95)… oh my goodness, it was delicious!   Paul wasn’t in the mood for ice cream so he ran over to the Market Street Café and got himself a coke (what else?!). We then went and sat down in the rocking chairs by the lake, absolute bliss.   By 4:14pm we decided we could put it off no longer, it was time to make our way the airport. Heavy hearts all round. We drove directly to Sixt to drop the car off and then hopped on one of their shuttle busses to get us over to MCO. (I know some people have reservation about car hire off-site but it really was effortless for us!) We made our way straight over to security thinking we would then have a bit of a chill out on the other side… although this took a little longer than we expected as Paul’s bag got stopped for an additional search because he was carrying my 3 BBW candles! It was so funny seeing them pull up the x-ray, he had taken the majority of the mugs and glasses so it looked like a washing up bowl on the screen! Luckily after a quite swab of his case we were free to go on our way still with the candles in hand (I had an initial panic they would be confiscated!) We hopped on the monorail (so less magical than a Disney one!) and arrived over at the terminal. I stopped by the toilets to get changed, I hate the feeling of putting on full-length trousers after weeks of living in shorts but I knew it would be necessary with the UK weather at the other end! Paul was also feeling peckish so picked up a cheeseburger meal and coke from Burger King. Before long it was time to board our flight, we were on the VS16 departing at 7:35pm sitting in seats 23H/K… that’s right we were in the bubble baby! Cue excited photos of sitting in PE in the bubble…   This was our first time of sitting up in the bubble and let’s just say we loved it! We originally booked our seats downstairs but on a routine check of the seat plan a month or so before we flew out I spotted two vacant seats in the bubble so I snapped them up immediately (after all the rave review on here how could I not?!). Paul was less than impressed and was concerned it wouldn’t be as good of a PE experience up there but on checking to see if I could move us back downstairs I found there were no seats available there either anymore! So we had to stick with it and boy was I glad we did, and the delight of Paul telling me he much preferred it was worth its weight in gold! I loved how quiet it was up there and having the extra storage bins under the window was brilliant! We were also across the aisle from Linda Robson; if it’s good enough for a Loose Woman it’s good enough for me…   We settled down into our seats and enjoyed the glass of prosecco that was handed to us on arriving. I also checked out the flight pack which came in a handy little Hershal bag and included socks, an eye-mask, ear plugs, a pen, a toothbrush and toothpaste. I do love a bag of goodies!  It was soon time to take off; the views from the plane were just gorgeous as the sun had just begun to set. A perfect last view of beautiful Orlando.    Once up, up and away it was soon time for dinner. I went for the spinach cannelloni which was nice although I didn’t think much of the dessert (the economy offering on the way out was much nicer!) and Paul had the three cup chicken.    Paul was in the toilet when the food came around so I ordered us both a white wine but on his return he told me he didn’t want it so I happily took it off his hands… I also ended up with his after-dinner drink too as he didn’t want that either (I am not one to turn down free booze!). Unsurprisingly this little lot went to my head a little…   To pass some time I watched Sisters which was really funny, I think probably funnier given how much alcohol I had consumed. I nearly wet myself at the ‘music box’ scene… Paul actually had to stop his own film and ask what was so funny! After the film I decided to try and get some sleep, the perk of PE is having that little extra room which I find makes it so much easier to dose off! I must have fallen asleep for quite a while because before I knew it breakfast was being served (one perk of having a couple of drinks, it totally knocked me out!)  I managed to stomach the pastry and a cup of tea and an orange juice but given it was 2:30am in the morning I wasn’t feeling particularly hungry! The views of the clouds out the window were just beautiful…   After an uneventful flight we landed into Gatwick at 8:45am, I was relieved there no turbulence on the return leg! Thankfully the sun was shining so that certainly helped the post-holiday blues a little! We got through passport control in a record time of 5 minutes thanks to the automatic machines, and were soon stood in front of the luggage carousel waiting for out suitcases. With them all safely retrieved we headed out to meet Paul’s dad who had kindly offered to pick us up. We arrived back at home at 10:35am feeling positively exhausted! It really is such a long day of traveling so we were pleased to be back home and ready to chill out for the rest of the day! I was delighted to see a little note left for us from my niece Emilie, which certainly perked me up!  The rest of the day is pretty hazy and my notes end there… I know there was a lot of snoozing on the sofa… I think all those steps were finally catching up with us! We both were returning to work the next day so we were grateful of a lazy afternoon of doing nothing! Paul will love me for this very last photo…  So that is it, our Florida 2016 trip has come to an end. To say it has been epic would be a massive understatement; there truly are no words to describe the fun we have had over the past two and a half week. I had slight reservations that returning for the third year in a row might be pushing it too far, that perhaps it wouldn’t feel quite as magical… boy was I wrong! If anything I have loved each trip even more than the last. I love that as you become more familiar with the place you can be more tactical with your planning and ensure you make the very most of every minute there. I did post an initial high and lows when we first returned which summarises the trip so for anyone who missed it you can find that here It’s fair to say there have been so many highs on this trip and I feel so unbelievably lucky to have experienced this magical place again with my partner in crime Paul (hats off to him for putting up with my excitable, loud and annoying ways day in and day out, give that boy a medal!). There are no plans to return to Orlando just yet, with so much development going on over there we are keen to give it at least a couple of years so that we can go and experience all the new things next time around. Although not having a trip to plan has left me feeling pretty at a loss… so because of this we booked a cheeky trip to DLP for January! My birthday falls on a Sunday next year and I thought it would be the perfect excuse to try out some Disney magic a little closer to home. I won’t go into detail here as a pre-trippy for our next adventure will be coming soon! So lastly all there is to let to say is thank you… thank you to each and every one of you who have read along with my report and left wonderful comments. It has truly taken me by surprise how many people of taken interest in our trip, and I am completely humbled by all your kind words. And I am so sad it has come to an end, I have absolutely loved re-living it all with you and there will be a big void now it is over. But stay tuned for a DLP adventure, I hope some of you will follow along with that too! |
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17 Jul 16, 06:51 PM
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Excited about Disney
 Join Date: Jun 12
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The last day is so sad, I'm dreading it already! But you had another great day. Thanks for your report, I really enjoyed it, great photos. Looking forward to the DLP one
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17 Jul 16, 06:51 PM
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VIP Dibber
Join Date: Apr 04
Location: Rugby
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Thank you very much for taking the time to do your trippie
 I have really enjoyed following along your epic trip, your stamina leaves me a wreck Hope you enjoy your DLP trip and I will enjoy reading along Joan 
__________________
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17 Jul 16, 07:04 PM
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Imagineer
 
Join Date: Mar 16
Location: Scotland
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A lovely chilled out final day and I love your new Simba
Thanks for taking the time to share your fantastic holiday and at least you have a trip planned to DLP to help you get over the disney blues
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17 Jul 16, 07:08 PM
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Disney Dreaming :)
Join Date: Jan 09
Location: Aberdeenshire
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Sob
 What am I going to do without your TR?! Waaaaaa Absolutely LOVE that Paul surprised you with simba! What a babe! Still can't believe we missed each other at celebration! Gutted! Seemed like a nice easy journey home and how cute was that wee note? So sweet ❤️ I've totally loved reading this and so so glad you decided to we write it! Can't wait to see you next month lovely xxxxxxx |
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17 Jul 16, 07:13 PM
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Apprentice Imagineer
 
Join Date: Apr 16
Location: Wales
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"There are no plans to return to Orlando just yet, with so much development going on over there we are keen to give it at least a couple of years so that we can go and experience all the new things next time "
We always think that too but just can't seem to help ourselves and like you said previously, it does not make it any less magical , how ever many trips, you just squeeze more magic in! Thank you so much for doing the reports. I live the holiday with you: from the highs and excitement to the (stomach churning) lows as the holiday comes to an end. I think all dibbers will agree that Florida leaves you with something "More" than any other holiday I've ever been on! I'll keep watching for DLP, interesting to see how it compares and I'll keep following on Instagram for pics. XxFf xX Edited at 07:15 PM. |
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17 Jul 16, 07:16 PM
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Imagineer
Join Date: Dec 15
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I'm so sad that this was your last instalment. Absolutely brilliant report. Will miss reading about you, Paul, your shopping, your milkshakes, numerous ponchos, and your fabulous ride photos 😿
Can't wait to chat about it for real in a couple of weeks! I think a DLP report would be just the thing... xxx |
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17 Jul 16, 07:21 PM
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
Join Date: Oct 12
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Thank you for always reading along and all your wonderful comments, you are too lovely xxx
 Excited to give DLP a go and see how it compares... and it's the perfect excuse for another TR! Thank you for reading! |
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17 Jul 16, 07:23 PM
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
Join Date: Oct 12
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So excited for our Dibber Dolls meetup next month... so much to catch up on! Oh and I have spotted a McDonalds down the road from my hotel here in LA... need to get my milkshake fix!
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17 Jul 16, 07:49 PM
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Imagineer
 
Join Date: Jan 14
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Aw, so sad it's all over! Thanks for sharing, I've really enjoyed reading it. Will definitely look out for your DLP report!
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