The BIG Florida Return - 25th August 2017 Day 10

[smithlane]

Day 10

I awoke naturally at about 8.50 this morning after a great nights sleep. This bed is so unbelievably comfy!

Today we were off to Epcot for a few hours this morning then Hollywood Studios in the evening.
We got ready slowly and left the villa at about 10.45, thankfully Sam seemed better today so we were off to a good start
The Leans stayed at the villa as they needed a lazy morning after their hectic day yesterday.

Mum and Sylvia had the Behind the Seeds tour booked in for 12 but they had to check in 30 minutes before. We arrived by 11 and parked in Amaze 33.

Got the tram in although we could have actually walked we were that close #lazy.

We pointed mum and Sylvia in the right direction of The Land then headed to Test Track for our first FP.

Having not ever been on this before I was very excited!
We bypassed a huge Standby queue and walked straight into designing our cars

Hope and I went together and chose this beaut, Sam and Jim were all about the power meanwhile Dad and Bill didn't have a clue what they were doing

We waited about 5-10 mins after designing before we were led into our vehicle. Luckily we had a car to ourselves.
Wow, I LOVED this
I think I should have tied my hair back though

Annoyingly Jim and Sam won, we came 2nd and the Dads last. Jim was ecstatic

Into the Chevrolet room where I was drooling after the Suburban but with a price between $55-$65K I'll just have to keep wishing! Having said that, it's a lot cheaper than a car that size back home.

Sam with Bumblebee

Went and got a coffee now from Starbucks.
Jim a cappuccino, a Very Berry Hibiscus for me, Hope a Vanilla Creme and Sam a bottle of water. We also got a butter croissant and 2 choc chip cookies to share.

Re fuelled we headed for our next FP of meeting Mickey, Minnie and Goofy at the Character Spot. We left the dads sitting on a bench outside.
Really enjoyed this and I love the photos. Kids are never too old to meet Mickey!

Went into Mousegear next to kill some time before meeting back up with the mums.
Obviously it’s a shop and we all know I couldn’t come out empty handed so I bought some Mickey hand measuring spoons and Disney measuring cups
$27 altogether.

It was now time to meet up with mum and Sylv so walked over to The Land to find them. They had thoroughly enjoyed themselves and learned a lot about the growing of crops within Disney.

A few photos mum took

We left the park now to get some lunch. We were all craving something healthy so decided on Sweet Tomatoes. I also had a free adult buffet and 20% off entire check with signing up to their e club.
We decided not to be lazy and walked back to the cars and within 15 mins were pulling up in Rolling Oaks.
Jim didn't fancy healthy salad so for the remaining 7 of us, it came to a bargain $56
The Leans also joined us once we told them where we were.
Started with the salad bar, then went and got some pizza and a jacket potato with chilli on top. Now I’m not usually a salad lover but this was all really lovely and fresh, especially loved the chilli.
I finished up with vanilla and chocolate swirl ice cream with choc syrup and sprinkles
Mmmm so good, it was more like frozen yoghurt.

This was a great value lunch and just what we all needed

Jim dropped us off at the villa then took the Mustang out to fill up with petrol and get himself a Burger King. Salad dodger

The Leans headed back to Universal as it was the last day that they would be able to use their tickets.

The rest of us chilled out for the afternoon doing our own thing. Mum and I took a walk around the estate to look at the other villas. We couldn't believe how many were up for sale!

I still hadn’t seen an alligator in the wild!

Had a look on Zillow when we got in and about 15 were on there just in Formosa Gardens Estates. This one especially I had my eye on. We could see it over the lake from our villa. At $1,750,000 I think we'll have to leave it

We got ready to go out again at about 5.30. Dad decided to stay at the villa, I think one park a day is enough for him!

Left for Hollywood Studios at 6.40 and were parked by 6.55. I love being so close to Disney.
Parked in Music 48 and got the tram to the entrance as one was waiting.

Once in, Jim and Sam went off to do their Rock n Roller Coaster FP whilst myself, Hope, Mum, Bill and Sylvia went towards the Frozen Sing Along for our FP at 7.15pm.
Well what can I say, I loved it.
I sang at the top of my voice completely out of tune but I didn’t care one bit
The 2 narrators were very funny too.

It was 8pm by the time we came out, and met back up with Jim and Sam. They hadn't gone on RnRC as it had broken down and even the FP queue was out the door. They weren't happy bunnies when we met them outside but went back off to ride Star Tours as it was showing only a 10 minute wait.

We had plenty of time before the fireworks started so had a wander around. It really is very pretty at night

Hope and I had a rare photo of the 2 of us together. I just have to add I haven’t had a toilet related accident, it’s just the colour of the denim

Thought we would get some drinks and snacks to tie us over. Had a slight detour through the shops.
Um I would like to say I came away empty handed but that would be a big fat lie!
A pack of 2 Disney t-towels later I was done.

Met back up with Jim and Sam who were now happy they had ridden something. Had another PhotoPass together

At 8.40 Movie Magic started, this was new to me and I didn't really know what it was about but was basically lots of different films being projected onto the Chinese Theatre with their scores playing.
It was quite nice and filled the time before the fireworks started

When this finished we headed towards the entrance of the park so we could make a speedy getaway once the fireworks were over.
At bang on 9 the park went dark.
They showed lots of different scenes from the various Star Wars films. A lot of it went over my head as I haven't even watched one of them!

Well what can I say, I was thoroughly disappointed . Even Jim who is a huge Star Wars fan said they were rubbish!
For starters they had let out Fantasmic as the fireworks were starting so you're trying to concentrate but hoards of people are flooding towards you, it felt quite dangerous and bloody annoying. The actual fireworks you could barely see as they just didn't get high enough. Bill and Sylvia who had seen them before said the show had definitely changed as when they saw them last year they were fantastic.
There was also a really annoying ringing coming from the fake level crossing at the side of the street going off every 2 minutes. You would have thought they would turn it off when the fireworks were on . Sorry rant over! I was so annoyed for my mum more than anyone as she really didn’t enjoy them and I now wished we had seen Fantasmic instead!
The only good thing going with these was the music score, it was very powerful.

You can see in these photos the amount of people heading towards us

As soon as they were over we hot footed it straight out of the park and back to the villa.
Dropped everyone off then Jim and I went back out to Buffalo Wild Wings as none of us had dinner and were a little peckish by now.
Got Bill, Sylvia, Mum and Sam chicken tenders and fries, Hope a portion of fries, Me 8 boneless wings in half sweet BBQ and half mild and Jim 18 boneless wings in half medium and half hot!
Whilst waiting we had a drink at the bar. Diet Coke for Jim the driver and a Bahama Mama for me. Mmmm, it went down a treat!

Got back to the villa and ate outside.
The wings were very nice but could have been hotter, but it was a takeaway so was to be expected.

The Lean's came back soon after, they'd had a great day at Universal.
We sat up talking for a little while but it wasn’t long before we all crashed into bed after a long day

[Floridafour]

Another great read

I love Sweet Tomatoes, I'm usually craving something crunchy & fresh after a week or so, it's amazing how quickly you can miss veg & salad x

[Goldia]

Fun times at Epcot. Nice that you all got to do a bit of what you wanted, with the mums going off to do the behind the seeds tour while you all went on test track. Shame you didn't win though your car was definitely the prettiest.

Wow, that villa looks awesome, perhaps save up for a couple more years?

Shame that the star wars fireworks weren't up to much, we saw them in 2016 and really loved them, the music was great and we thought they were a good mix of show and fireworks.

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Floridafour

Another great read

I love Sweet Tomatoes, I'm usually craving something crunchy & fresh after a week or so, it's amazing how quickly you can miss veg & salad x

See more...

Absolutely I was in desperate need of something that hadn't been deep fried
Thank you

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Fun times at Epcot. Nice that you all got to do a bit of what you wanted, with the mums going off to do the behind the seeds tour while you all went on test track. Shame you didn't win though your car was definitely the prettiest.

Wow, that villa looks awesome, perhaps save up for a couple more years?

Shame that the star wars fireworks weren't up to much, we saw them in 2016 and really loved them, the music was great and we thought they were a good mix of show and fireworks.

See more...

Yes it was great we could do our own things, I don't think I would have got mum on Test Track even if I had paid her
Haha yeah just a few more years of saving, plus maybe a lottery win!
It was such a shame, they must have changed as these really were rubbish. Will definitely choose Fantasmic next time!
Thank you reading along

[yellowrose78]

Great day! Shame about the fireworks we've seen them before and loved them and was looking forward to them again this year, disappointed that they've changed Love Frozen singalong, I can't help but sing out of tune either lol

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by yellowrose78

Great day! Shame about the fireworks we've seen them before and loved them and was looking forward to them again this year, disappointed that they've changed Love Frozen singalong, I can't help but sing out of tune either lol

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It really was a shame as I was so looking forward to them
Ah the Frozen sing along was brilliant!

[mouselover22]

Another great day! Test Track is such fun, we all love it. Ah Suburban, miss you Can you imagine trying to park it at Sainsbury's here

Lovely photo's, especially the one of the kids with Minnie 😊

We saw the Star Wars fireworks last year and thought they were very disappointing So many dibbers had said how fantastic they were so we were really excited to see them, plus we were a lot nearer the front. I've never said it before on here in fear of being scolded but we thought the show was very mediocre. Maybe they have changed it but we'll stick to Happily Ever After in future 😊

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by mouselover22

Another great day! Test Track is such fun, we all love it. Ah Suburban, miss you Can you imagine trying to park it at Sainsbury's here

Lovely photo's, especially the one of the kids with Minnie 😊

We saw the Star Wars fireworks last year and thought they were very disappointing So many dibbers had said how fantastic they were so we were really excited to see them, plus we were a lot nearer the front. I've never said it before on here in fear of being scolded but we thought the show was very mediocre. Maybe they have changed it but we'll stick to Happily Ever After in future 😊

See more...

Oh I know it would be hilarious trying to drive it most places! I would give it a go though... 😂
I’m so glad you have said that. I was slightly concerned in writing about not liking them as I know they have a huge fan following 😳. What really annoyed me was you couldn’t watch both Fantasmic and the fireworks on the same night you had to choose and unfortunately made the wrong choice! In 2015 we watched both the Frozen fireworks and Fantasmic which was much better.
Thank you for reading 😃

[Excitedx4]

Shame about the Star Wars fireworks, I've never seen the films either but the rest of my lot have. Still really love the atmosphere in HS