3 Brits and 3 weeks at Disneys Grand Floridian (**Completed**)

[lenibean]

Glad to see you didn't waste that lovely cake!

I ate at Mamma Melrose the first time I went to Disney and it was lovely, was booked up the second time but I am going to try to get it for the Fantasmic this time.

Looking forward to more updates!

 

[Purple Opal]

I'm loving your report. You have a beautiful family!

You and your daughter look soooooo much alike. I can "see you" in every photo of her! And your husband seems very laidback. From his tshirt, I'm guessing he is a football fan? He and my husband would probably get along.

Also, those are some GREAT underwater photos! Those have been my favorite so far.

We aren't staying at the GF, but will be staying on property in a few different places later this year. Reading your report is giving me lots of ideas!

 

[Alibaba]

Have only read page one so far and am loving it, especially the dress (blue and white striped Hello Kitty), have got the exact same one for my hols in 2 weeks haha. Got the matching flip flops too which leave HELLO KITTY in the sand as you walk, thankyou for modelling it for me.

Loving the report
Ali

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

Sounds like a really fun day! Amber was brave to go on RNRC-- DBF still gets nervous going on it lol.

She really is brave!!!

Wow...i love love love your trip report
What an amazing holiday!
Going by your ticker we are at the house of mouse the same time as you next year! hehe
x

Thank you! I am really enjoying writing it! How stange you will be there at the same time - and very close I see at Old Key West!!

lovely day in the World!
we have booked Mama Melrose's for the first time this December... quite interested to try it - I like the look of the decor!

Lol we did exactly the same with DF's golf bag last summer.. it was stuffed full of clothes & souvenirs... and my suitcase was still 5kg over the limit luckily, another suitcase in the party was only 18kg, so I was there at the DTD check-in, frantically repacking the bags
it's so hard when you love Disney and shopping, not to go a bit overboard with the souvenirs!

Btw I'm putting late night swimming at the GF on our 'to do' list for honeymoon!


Emma x

You have to do the late swimming - it was so nice!

I am a nightmare with packing and buying! Not a good combination!! I have to say the golf bags are really handy

Wow, you guys have done so much- this is like my dream trip! My parent's took me to WDW for the first time on my 9th birthday and I remember every moment of that trip- I am sure Amber will remember this trip forever too

Yum, that sticky toffee pudding looks good, we fell in love with that when visiting England and I think we ordered it about 5 times while we were there!

Can't wait to see the rest!

Thats another reason why I thought I would write a trip report - I am going to print it out after and keep it for Amber. I wish we had done it for her other trips.

I promise to get more written soon!! Thanks for reading

Glad to see you didn't waste that lovely cake!

I ate at Mamma Melrose the first time I went to Disney and it was lovely, was booked up the second time but I am going to try to get it for the Fantasmic this time.

Looking forward to more updates!

I went with you the first time Leni - or am I talking to you Dave?? You will get the Fantasmic Package on the Dining Plan and its still only one credit!!

Hopefully more updates soon - I am enjoying a quiet hour while Amber is at brownies

I'm loving your report. You have a beautiful family!

You and your daughter look soooooo much alike. I can "see you" in every photo of her! And your husband seems very laidback. From his tshirt, I'm guessing he is a football fan? He and my husband would probably get along.

Also, those are some GREAT underwater photos! Those have been my favorite so far.

We aren't staying at the GF, but will be staying on property in a few different places later this year. Reading your report is giving me lots of ideas!

Thank you. Everyone says she is like me but I only see it sometimes! Her temprement is very me!

I love those underwater cameras - they are only the disposable ones but so much fun!!

I love staying on property!! I just love living in that "Disney Bubble!"

My husband does love football!!

Have only read page one so far and am loving it, especially the dress (blue and white striped Hello Kitty), have got the exact same one for my hols in 2 weeks haha. Got the matching flip flops too which leave HELLO KITTY in the sand as you walk, thankyou for modelling it for me.

Loving the report
Ali

I meant to get the flip flops and forgot - the dress is really comfy!

 

[Joyciemc]

Another very nice day!

Every time I read an update from you, I'm left with a craving for birthday cake!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Enjoying your visit so far...looks like so much fun! We love Harry Potter and cannot wait to see it at Universal but Skye is only 6 and is really small for her age so time/money spent at Universal for a lot of waiting around becasue she is not big enough to ride much does not sound like a good option right now...some day!

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

Another very nice day!

Every time I read an update from you, I'm left with a craving for birthday cake!

Tell me about it - I have dreams about that cake it was so delicious. The sponge on birthday cakes isn't as light/soft in the UK. I think it is "angel food cake"?? I keep meaning to try making one one day. I must look out for a recipe!!

Enjoying your visit so far...looks like so much fun! We love Harry Potter and cannot wait to see it at Universal but Skye is only 6 and is really small for her age so time/money spent at Universal for a lot of waiting around becasue she is not big enough to ride much does not sound like a good option right now...some day!

We took Amber to US/IOA when she was only 4 and then again when she was 6 and I have to agree she was too small for most stuff. We were fortunate that we had my parents with us both times and my Mum, who doesn't like anything scarier than Thunder Mountain was happy to wait with Amber while the rest of us rode them. Without her it would have been a big No No. I think the idea of child swap is fantastic but I don't like riding alone so we usually don't bother. There will be plenty of time when she is older and can enjoy it with you.


Big News - I finally have a night at home tonight - alone!!! Jonathan has a meeting so I will have plenty of time to get the next couple of days up - I am itching to start!!

 

[PChef]

Hi! Just found your trippie! You sound like you had such a lovely time and such lovely pictures!

We are heading out next week and will be staying at the Beach Club and Hard Rock Hotel. We have not been to Universal yet, my 12 yr old is desperate to go on all the big coasters, he might be riding alone though!!! Looking forward to Harry Potter, we are big fans of the books and films.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Another great update. Yay for Amber being courageous enough to ride Rock 'n Roller Coaster!

 

[Tinkergurl20]

I just spent the last couple of hours reading your PTR and TR and can't wait to read more!!! It sounds like you had an amazing trip!!!

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

Hi! Just found your trippie! You sound like you had such a lovely time and such lovely pictures!

We are heading out next week and will be staying at the Beach Club and Hard Rock Hotel. We have not been to Universal yet, my 12 yr old is desperate to go on all the big coasters, he might be riding alone though!!! Looking forward to Harry Potter, we are big fans of the books and films.

Thank you - we had a lovely time. YOu have picked two great hotels. I've not been in the HRH but we passed it and it looked lovely. Stayed at the Beach Club in 2000 and it was great!

You will love Harry Potter!!! Amazing!! Photos just don't do it justice!

Do I take it from your user name that you do a certain type of party??? If so, I used to do those

Another great update. Yay for Amber being courageous enough to ride Rock 'n Roller Coaster!

She was so funny on it - I am going to scan in the photo of her little face for you all to see!!

I just spent the last couple of hours reading your PTR and TR and can't wait to read more!!! It sounds like you had an amazing trip!!!

Thank you for taking the time to read it. I promise to do more! I had fully intended to last night. Amber and I went to my Mums for tea as Dad and Jonathan were out and just as we were about to leave my friend called to say her DH stepfather who is in hospital didn't look like he was going to make it through the night. It is made even worse by the fact that they are leaving for the airport tonight with flights to Orlando tomorrow!! I dashed round to watch her children who were sleeping while she went to the hospital. So far he is hanging on. They are going to go anyway as not close to the SF and his sister is going to stay with his Mum. Awful timing for them!!

I then didn't get home til late and I had put Amber to bed at Mums so it was an early start this morning to go there and get her, drop her at breakfast club and then get into work myself. Tonight I am setting aside "me" time to get it done!!!

Stay tuned.

 

[dacamper]

How was DD in the evenings of the first week, how quickly did she get over jet-lag?

I am considering booking meals in the evening of the first week and wondered how many days until my daughter would be over the jet-lag. It will be no good to go to Cinderella's for an evening meal if she is tired and grumpy

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

How was DD in the evenings of the first week, how quickly did she get over jet-lag?

I am considering booking meals in the evening of the first week and wondered how many days until my daughter would be over the jet-lag. It will be no good to go to Cinderella's for an evening meal if she is tired and grumpy

She was absolutely fine. We did ease ourselves in gently though those first few days. We didn't have REALLY late nights. Besides, it was more the waking up early that was the problem to start with.

I would suggest that you try and get a little sleep in the afternoon maybe.

Now the jet lag when you come home ... that's a whole other story!

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

Day 9 - Monday 30th August 2010

I woke up early today and as Jonathan and Amber were still sleeping I decided to get ready and monorail over to the Magic Kingdom so that I could see the opening cermoney. I gently woke Jonathan to tell him and he agreed to meet me over there when they woke up. I wandered through the hotel to the monorail station. Everywhere looked so beautiful early in the morning!

It was the first time I had ever seen the opening ceremony and I was so pleased that I did.

I then spent about 30 minutes looking around the shops on main street. It was lovely having a little while on my own.

Jonathan then rang to say they were on the monorail so I went and met them at the entrance.

We spotted Pinocchio so Amber got an autograph and her picture taken.

We nipped into the Main Street Bakery for a quick drink and a cake.

It was approaching 10am and extremely hot (again!) so we wandered through to Adventureland and went on the Jungle Cruise. I can remember this ride from when I first went on it when I was 6! It hasn’t changed!!

It was time for the Magic Carpets – a fun little ride and then Amber had some fun with the spiders etc in a shop.

After a go on Pirates of the Carribean and laughing our way around Thunder Mountain twice we headed for Splash Mountin. It did the job in cooling us down!

We then went on the Haunted Mansion. I see something different every time I go on it!

It was now baking hot as opposed to just really hot! Amber was flagging a bit and needed to eat. We stopped by Pecos Bills. Jonathan and I had a burger and bits from the toppings bar and Amber had chilli cheese fries! She absolutely loved these! It is always funny when she wolfs into something – it doesn’t happen very often. She isn’t at all fussy but doesn’t have much of an appetite.

Once we had eaten we wandered through to Fantasyland. Still incredibly hot the idea of a cool off in Mickeys Philharmagic was too much to turn down.

Following a quick picture in Tomorrowland we wandered out and got the boat back to the hotel.

Once back at the room we had a quick change. Here is the picture of our poor birthday cake - obviously not tough enough for the air conditioning!

Continued in next post ...

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

We headed over to the Beach Pool. We spent a while in the pool and Amber joined in with some of the games.

We had a lovely strawberry dacquiri (virgin!) while we sat there. It was heaven!

Jonathan had brought a razor with him from the UK but had not checked the voltage so we went for a drive to try and find a Walmart. Not an easy task! I thought they were everywhere! We did though find a target! It was great – they had everything in there! We got the razor – plus a few extra things!!

Once back at the hotel we got changed and walked over to the Poly. We had reservations at Kona. It was a lovely walk along the sand.

Once inside the Poly we had a little wait. It was great reminising about our stay there three years earlier – it is a lovely hotel!

Our buzzer then went off and we were seated inside Kona. I decided to have the Beef Teryaki, Jonathan the New York Strip Steak and Amber the hot dog. We all really liked our food. For dessert I had the Caramalised Banana Brulee, Jonathan the white chocolate cheesecake and Amber the Kona Kone. We knew we had to pay extra for this as it was not an option on the childs dessert menu.

We got our bill with the dessert so paid for that and the gratuity. The waiter was so pleased with his tip that he brought the money back for the dessert and said he had voided it from the bill.

We walked back to the hotel and stopped by the beach pool.

We planned to toast marshmallows and watch the movie. We toasted the marshmallows and then laid out on the sunbeds. There was a horrible swarm of flies near my bed so I went back to the room. Jonathan and Amber decided to stay and watch “Up” for a little while.

I had a nice read in bed and they came in about 30 minutes later – the flies got to much for them too!

Time for bed after another fantastic day!

 

[disneybarbie]

another lovely day!

I didn't know that you could walk from the GF to the Poly?! Good to know!


Emma x

 

[klacey1]

Great day! That sounds like amazing service from your Kona server! That was so nice of him to have Amber's dessert on the house!

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

another lovely day!

I didn't know that you could walk from the GF to the Poly?! Good to know!


Emma x

Yes Emma, it is a lovely walk right behind the wedding pavilion. Only takes about 10 minutes as well so much quicker than going all the way round on the monorail!!

Great day! That sounds like amazing service from your Kona server! That was so nice of him to have Amber's dessert on the house!

I thought it was really good of him. A little sprinkle of pixie dust!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm glad that you were able to spend a little time by yourself at the Magic Kingdom. We all love our families but it's nice to be by ourselves even if for a little bit of time.

I absolutey love all of Ambers outfits. They look so adorable on her. The picture of her with the snake making the funny face was cute.

I could really go for some Pecos Bill's right now and it isn't even lunch time. That's one of the counter service restaurants that we always go to.

Good to hear that you enjoyed your dinner at Kona and that your server was nice enough to void Amber's dessert from your bill. It's nice to have an extra sprinkling of pixie dust here and there.

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

How was DD in the evenings of the first week, how quickly did she get over jet-lag?

I am considering booking meals in the evening of the first week and wondered how many days until my daughter would be over the jet-lag. It will be no good to go to Cinderella's for an evening meal if she is tired and grumpy

Dave!!!!!!!

I just realised that was you!!!

Your daughter will be fine - its the in-laws you need to worry about!!!

Sara xx