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Old 5 Aug 19, 09:05 PM  
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#21
Scotscraig
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Day 13

Nice early start for MK today to make the rope drop and a pleasant morning doing some rides. We did all the stuff we had vowed never to do, for a laugh and it confirmed why we never had.

The Enchanted Tiki Room and Country Bear Jamboree were certainly half an hour of my life I won’t get back!

Peckish by 1130ish DW decided on a Cinnamon loaf from Gastons



and I decided to share a foot long mac and cheese dog with DS from Cosmic Rays, which on my opinion was pretty gross.



I later had a pineapple upside down cake with Dole whip icy from Aloha Isle. Tasty enough. The ice cream was better than the cake.



DW had a Citrus Swirl from Sunshine Tree Tce.



We then drove round to the Wilderness Lodge, still our favourite Disney Resort for a nostalgic look around. DW had a lava smoothie from Geyser Point


and we chilled out in the lobby for bit.

We then paid a visit to the Roaring Fork and picked up some apple muffins for tomorrow’s breakfast!



These were magic, classic Disney resort muffins – very dense, buttery….mmmm, ace!

After dropping the muffins back at the ranch we had a poke around the Vineland Outlets for a bit before heading to Disney Springs and Blaze for tea.

As ever the food here was excellent and pretty reasonable.

A you can see, no vegetarians among this party…



Bill came to $42.44

It was ridiculously busy and got even worse by the time we were leaving.

We spent the early evening strolling around the shops at DS (much to DS’s delight – at least there was Wifi!). We got back to the condo around 8 and it will come as no surprise, beers and ice cream – in that order….
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Food Trip Report Oct 2015 Univ/Disney inc DDP
Food Trip Report Oct 2016 with DDP
Food trip report Oct 2017 with DDP
Food trip report Oct 2018 with DDP

DL 1995, WDW 1998, 2001, Sheraton Vistana Villages 2012, Sheraton Vistana Resort 2014, HRH/WL 2015, WL 2016, AKL 2017, SSR 2018, Newport Bay DLP 2019, Sheraton Vistana Resort 2019
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Old 5 Aug 19, 09:18 PM  
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#22
Scotscraig
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Day 14

The early starts were catching up on us and it was a bit of a struggle to get up today but after some breakfast we headed to Epcot.

By mid-morning we were hungry and so headed to Sunshine Seasons for some pastries/banana loaf and a pretzel for the kid (to match his t shirt!)with some coffees.




By the back of lunchtime it was starting to rain and so we headed out of the park and drove to Art of Animation. We had heard about the animation class there and took part in the one at 2pm where we created some dodgy looking drawings of Stitch. Good fun had by all…

Having enjoyed our muffins from the WL we decided on a whim to pass by another resort we had previously stayed at, Saratoga Springs where we picked up some orange muffins for breakfast the next day.



Tonight’s tea was just up the road at Miller’s Ale House at the Crossroads.



Now DW has always wanted to visit one of those classic tat shops you pass just off Disney and and so we took our life in our hands and had a look in the one opposite Millers for a laugh. To say it was tacky is an understatement…..

At Millers we ordered

Fajitas Combo for me, Zinger mountain melt for DW and a bacon cheeseburger for DS.



I did mention to DW the calorie level for the Zinger meal was over 2000! She took it well...

The food here was excellent and bill with tip came to $61.

Another quality day.
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Food Trip Report May 2014
Food Trip Report Oct 2015 Univ/Disney inc DDP
Food Trip Report Oct 2016 with DDP
Food trip report Oct 2017 with DDP
Food trip report Oct 2018 with DDP

DL 1995, WDW 1998, 2001, Sheraton Vistana Villages 2012, Sheraton Vistana Resort 2014, HRH/WL 2015, WL 2016, AKL 2017, SSR 2018, Newport Bay DLP 2019, Sheraton Vistana Resort 2019
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Old 5 Aug 19, 09:23 PM  
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#23
Scotscraig
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Day 15

Last full day and it was raining heavily…..

We decided to head to HS this morning after breakfast and made rope drop.

By mid-morning we were pretty soaked to be honest, even with brollies and ponchos. We had taken our orange muffins from SSR with us for a snack with coffees.

By 1pm we had done all we wanted to do and so headed back to the resort to dry off and rest for a bit. On the spur of the moment as we passed Chic – Fil-A I suggested ----milkshakes….

It was like I had uttered the magic words and I felt the steering wheel of the car being pushed in that direction by everyone in the car. It was absolutely heaving, however we were served pretty quickly. These were really good although tested the old sucking skills…ok we’ll leave it there thankyou….

Strawberry for me, chocolate for the lad and vanilla for his mother.


Dried out and rested we headed to Disney Springs where after a splurge in the excellent Coke store we headed to D Luxe Burger for tea.



DW did the ordering and somehow came up with the choices to get the best deal. Her and I had a 2 burger combo (both Diablo) which came with small fries and DS had the barbeque burger and we order a large fries to share around.



With drinks this came to $56.45.

As ever the food was first class here. The dipping sauces are high quality.


We then bussed to the Contemporary and walked to MK from there. Sadly it started raining mid evening which did put a dampener on the last night. In hindsight we maybe should have bailed out however we stayed for Happily Ever After and a last ride on BTM by which time we were all pretty cream crackered and we still had to walk back for a bus to DS.

We even had the usual shenanigans during a packed Happily Ever After – people on shoulders as soon as show starts, brollies going up etc. All quite frustrating….

All in all though a pretty good day and we got back to the resort around 11.30pm pretty shattered.
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Food Trip Report May 2014
Food Trip Report Oct 2015 Univ/Disney inc DDP
Food Trip Report Oct 2016 with DDP
Food trip report Oct 2017 with DDP
Food trip report Oct 2018 with DDP

DL 1995, WDW 1998, 2001, Sheraton Vistana Villages 2012, Sheraton Vistana Resort 2014, HRH/WL 2015, WL 2016, AKL 2017, SSR 2018, Newport Bay DLP 2019, Sheraton Vistana Resort 2019
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Old 5 Aug 19, 09:29 PM  
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Day 16

Time to go home today sadly.

We discussed a last visit to a park but as it would only be for an hour or two we decided against and just allowed ourselves a nice lie in for the long journey home.

We checked out and as we had enjoyed the Dr Phillips area shops (and Publix in particular, which was way nicer than our usual one at Vineland) we headed up there to kill an hour or two.

We bought some essentials and having seen them a few days previous decided on some of their fresh sub rolls for lunch.
These were absolutely amazing…..



$7.99 each and packed with pepperoni, salami, ham, cheese and salad. I had half for lunch at the airport and saved the remainder for the flight home as did the others…

We then headed to MCO and after dropping off the car gave ourselves a quiet afternoon waiting on our flight at 5.35.

We had some coffees with our subs with some crisps and biscuits we had left. Nice little picnic actually.

Our flight left on time and the food arrived within a hour or so. Thankfully we had left half of our subs to eat as the food here was complete pig swill and even worse than normal. I don’t actually think I ate any of his and basically handed the entire tray back minus the water….



The breakfast – cream cheese croissant thing was equally bad although I did muster a bite or two before landing at LGW along with the cardboard fruit biscuit thing.



We managed some coffees and a quick lemon slice before our onward flight to Edinburgh where sadly the holiday comes to an end.

I've added some thoughts about our trip and plans for the future in the next post...
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Food Trip Report May 2014
Food Trip Report Oct 2015 Univ/Disney inc DDP
Food Trip Report Oct 2016 with DDP
Food trip report Oct 2017 with DDP
Food trip report Oct 2018 with DDP

DL 1995, WDW 1998, 2001, Sheraton Vistana Villages 2012, Sheraton Vistana Resort 2014, HRH/WL 2015, WL 2016, AKL 2017, SSR 2018, Newport Bay DLP 2019, Sheraton Vistana Resort 2019

Edited at 09:36 PM.
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Old 5 Aug 19, 09:30 PM  
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Scotscraig
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Reflections of the trip

Summing up, despite the hiccup at the start of the holiday, this was the best trip we have had to Orlando, barring our previous off site trip in 2014.

We did enjoy our four previous on site stays in the intervening years but we much preferred the freedom, which an offsite trip without a dining plan brings.

The condo at the Sheraton Vistana Resort was fantastic and suited our needs perfectly. It was lovely having the space and facilities a hotel room doesn’t have. It was so nice to go back to at night after a busy day and put your feet up and relax there.

Moving on to the food, it was great trying all of the different restaurants and we did not have a poor meal the entire trip.

It also hit home to me the premium price Disney add to their restaurants compared to the restaurants off site. I am not knocking Disney as we have had some wonderful meals and experiences over the years, however the food offsite was as good and in some cases better than we have had in our previous on-site stays for a lot less money. There was also the option of eating when we wanted and where we wanted, without the infexibility the DDP inevitably brings and other than the snacks I did not miss the DDP at all.

We preferred to eat lightish through the day and enjoy our evening meal a bit earlier – say between 4 and 6. This opened up the evenings for visiting the parks when it was dark and a bit cooler.
It was good fun visiting places away from Disney for a change and having shorter sharper periods in the parks – generally the mornings and evenings.

Having done 7 Orlando trips in the last 8 years we all feel it is time for a change next year, particularly with all that is going on in Disney the next 2 years. We would love to go back, but only when it feels fresh and exciting.

We are looking at 2 trip options for next year, either an east coast adventure to Washington and New York with some form of road trip between across Pennsylvania with Amish country etc or a West Coast option doing San Fran, LA/Disneyland with a road trip between. Both look exciting and I think whatever we don’t do in 2020 we will do in 2021.

Disney, I think it is farewell for now, but not goodbye forever. I’m sure the pull is too strong….

Thanks for reading everyone. Hopefully see you in 2020 for our next adventure…..
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Food Trip Report May 2014
Food Trip Report Oct 2015 Univ/Disney inc DDP
Food Trip Report Oct 2016 with DDP
Food trip report Oct 2017 with DDP
Food trip report Oct 2018 with DDP

DL 1995, WDW 1998, 2001, Sheraton Vistana Villages 2012, Sheraton Vistana Resort 2014, HRH/WL 2015, WL 2016, AKL 2017, SSR 2018, Newport Bay DLP 2019, Sheraton Vistana Resort 2019
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Old 5 Aug 19, 09:49 PM  
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Mel49
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I've enjoyed reading along and have a few more possible meals and milk-shakes to add to the long list for our trip in October ! The ice-cream at night sounds very similar to our last trip where we tended to eat breakfast in the villa, a few snacks throughout the day and a meal early evening with ice-cream for supper.

Glad that your trip home was uneventful after the disasterous journey out but in a way pleased to read that BA did manage to rejig your flights and car eventually as we are flying the same route in October with shorter connections than usual.
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Old 5 Aug 19, 09:52 PM  
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Floridaagogo
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Thank you for sharing...loved it x
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Old 5 Aug 19, 10:03 PM  
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Scotscraig
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Originally Posted by Mel49 View Post
I've enjoyed reading along and have a few more possible meals and milk-shakes to add to the long list for our trip in October ! The ice-cream at night sounds very similar to our last trip where we tended to eat breakfast in the villa, a few snacks throughout the day and a meal early evening with ice-cream for supper.

Glad that your trip home was uneventful after the disasterous journey out but in a way pleased to read that BA did manage to rejig your flights and car eventually as we are flying the same route in October with shorter connections than usual.
I would hope this was a a bit of a blip as we have done this route the previous 4 trips and this is the 1st time we have had any major issue. It is amazing how quick you can get between terminals or flights when you need to. Fingers crossed all goes to plan for you...
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Food Trip Report May 2014
Food Trip Report Oct 2015 Univ/Disney inc DDP
Food Trip Report Oct 2016 with DDP
Food trip report Oct 2017 with DDP
Food trip report Oct 2018 with DDP

DL 1995, WDW 1998, 2001, Sheraton Vistana Villages 2012, Sheraton Vistana Resort 2014, HRH/WL 2015, WL 2016, AKL 2017, SSR 2018, Newport Bay DLP 2019, Sheraton Vistana Resort 2019
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Old 5 Aug 19, 11:46 PM  
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dixonsontour
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Really enjoyed all your updates. You went to
Lots of my favourites.
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Old 6 Aug 19, 07:47 AM  
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lil mousketeer
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Absolutely loved reading your trip/food report.

Apart from your travel day blip, you got everything you wanted out of your holiday and more!

All of your meals looked amazing, my family are big pizza fans so giordano’s and blaze are a must on the next visit.

And loved your DS choice of T-shirt’s throughout the holiday

Already looking forward to reading next years report
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