Bound for Home via a ship trip

[meldobe]

On this trip Me 36- My Mum 61 and My Brother 32

Fly out 17th September-Board Disney Dream 18th September-CBR 21st Setember to 4th October.
This pack arrived about a week before we were due to leave, i love getting this package.

Day 1
We arrived at Gatwick at 9.20, flight was Virgin VS015 leaving at 1pm.

We had pre booked seats in the Bubble ( would be our first time ) and checked in online so dropped our bags which weighed 16.9 - 16.8 - 15.6 plenty of room left for gifts

We had ordered some currency and picked that up before going through passport control, i loved the new to me layout and the staff were so friendly, helpful and full of smiles - no queues whatsoever so we were through in no time.

We got breakfast at Frankie and Bennys using the 15% off voucher

We then had a look in the shops and the nagging feeling i had about having forgotten to pack something this morning turned in to the realisation that i had left my camera bag at home! fortunately i had remembered to pack my camera in my hand luggage so a trip to Dixons and £23 spent on a camera bag - i was kicking myself for forgetting mine! bought some sun tan lotion and water etc for the plane.

Gate was called at 12.30 and we were soon boarding and heading u to the Bubble, we had row 79 A B C, it was lovely,had a great storage area and a shelf, it felt much roomier then our usual seats downstairs.

We took off at 1.45, flight was good, crew were not great but we eventually got a drink (only one of the flight)

Me and Ma had Pasta and Scott had the pulled beef all nice, i managed to watch 4 movies! whilst my companions did some sleeping and then watched a movie or two - lightweights

View was lovely

We were off quickly when we landed and straight through immigration with no queue didnt have too long to wait for cases and we took the monorail to the main building and instead of our usual route to the left down the stairs and straight to MDE we went Right and up the escalator to the Hyatt.

Very quick check in with friendly staff, we had room 8043 so took the elevator up
i forgot to take pics of the room on the day so these are from the morning after, nice room, very clean.

We dropped off our bags and went down for a wander in the very quiet airport

We got some chinese to share at around 8.30, chow mein with orange chicken and chow mein with mushroom chicken, spring roll and 3 drinks $23.27 it was nice.

Back up to the room at 9.30ish as we were beat, and excited for what tomorrow would bring.

 

[meldobe]

Day 2
Its off to the Dream!

We have never been on a cruise before so had no existing expectations of what was to come

We all slept ok but were awake at 5.20! Not worth trying to go back to sleep so we got up after chatting for a while, got our cases and carry on bags ready then showered etc.

Cases were being collected from inside our room at 8.30 so we attached our Disney cruise line tags and went down to the food court for breakfast at about 8am, we got mcdonalds 2 egg mcmuffins and a bacon and egg mcgriddle ( which scott did not enjoy he said it was like a scone around eggs n bacon ) teas and a coffee $17.87.

We headed to the Cruise line bus at 9.15 and were soon on board

and on our way to Port Canaveral, arrived about 50mins later and got our first glimpse of the Disney Dream

We checked in eventually as the cast member couldn't find an immigration stamp in my mums passport but he got it in the end we were given boarding no2 not long to wait.

Spent our time outside trying to take in the enormity of the ship
We were called for boarding about 20-30 minutes later, we went through the mickey ears into a covered walkway/gangway that led onto the ship and just before boarding we had our photo taken by the photo pass photographers then into the ship - wow wow wow wow it was Beautiful.

We had a walk around as we would not be able to get into our cabins until 1.30ish

We went to Cabanas for some lunch and were blown away by how much choice there was it all looked lovely, ma and scott had prawns and bread and i think i just had bread and a muffin as i was really not sure how me and the ship would get on as i do suffer with motion sickness ( well ive not actually been sick since i was a child but feel green riding Simpsons or being a passenger in a car etc)

No food pics just yet but don't worry they are coming so instead enjoy a view of a car park!

Up on deck for a game of ping pong and a look around

It was about 1.30 by now so we went down to Deck 8 to see if our cabin 8606 was ready and it was we were so pleased with the space in the cabin, my mum has claustrophobia and we were a bit apprehensive about how much space we would have but it was lovely, plenty of room, we had booked a Deluxe family ocean view stateroom with verandah

The bathroom was great it was separate from the toilet so perfect.

So much more storage space in this cabin then in most hotel rooms, two wardrobes and plenty of drawers oh and space under the bed for suitcases, we didn't have those yet but they did go under when we got them.

We relaxed, slept, watched tv and unpacked our suitcases which arrived at 2.30/3pm until muster time at 4pm, our muster point was outside under the lifeboats, boy it was hot especially when they kept telling us all to get closer to each other and leave no space , after it was finished we went and got a drink, bought a multi pack of water from the cove bar $22.43 which they would deliver to our room and took a seat in the shade whilst we waited for the sailing away party, we watched us sail away had a walk around and then went down to our cabin to get changed for the show "Mickeys Golden Oscars"

We got some popcorn and water before we went in $8.51, the show was good fun and in spite of the ship moving quite a bit we all enjoyed it.

We went to the Skyline bar for a drink im not sure what cocktail ma and scott had but it came to $23.00, i didn't have anything as the ship moving so much was something i wasn't quite used to yet

Continued on next post

 

[meldobe]

Day 2 continued

oops forgot to add these pics to the above post
the theatre

And Ma in the shops

Dinner was in "Animators Palette" we were on table 47 and had it to ourselves ( we did request this when we booked, it was hilarious trying to ask to be seated on our own table - the lady asked if i didn't want to sit with my room mates/travelling companions ) we also met our servers Kurt and Gennaro they were very nice, the Crush show was cute although i was rather pre occupied with the movement of the boat, now a failure on my part was that i did not write down what we ate - sorry- but i did take photos

Two beers were $13.80

Got a drink from Bon Voyage to take back to the room $16.96 off to bed and asleep by 11pm it had been a fun but long day.

Back in our room we found our host Nas had turned down our beds and left us our navigator and a little friend

 

[stephensmum]

Enjoying your trip report. Never done the cruise, but thought of it so really interested to see how you got on. There's 3 of us too, that cabin looks very roomy. Did you use the balcony much?

 

[meldobe]

Thanks, the cabin was great and more then enough room for the 3 of us, there was the one main bed then a sofa bed, A murphy bed which came down from the wall and another bed that came down from the ceiling - not all cabins have the Murphy beds so be sure to check the cabins that say they sleep 5.

During the day the host comes in and puts the extra beds away then he comes back round in the evening ( when we were at dinner) to turn down the beds again which is great as it gives us back the extra space in the cabin during the day.

We loved the balcony and really enjoyed standing out there and watching us pull into ports, we only did the 3 night so didn't use it too much but just being able to sit out there with a drink or to watch us pull in etc it was so worth it and I would definitely go for a verandah again.

I'm already thinking about a 7 night cruise next time

 

[meldobe]

Day 3
Bahamas - Nassau

I woke up at 5am but managed to go back to sleep until 7am we were still at sea so not much to see, had showers and we pulled into Nassau at 8.30, i really enjoyed watching us pull in

View from our verandah

And the view from up on deck

We went to Cabanas for breakfast, great selection of food and it was very tasty.
We had a walk around the ship finding a sports bar that we planned to visit one evening, we had booked Ardastra Gardens and City tour $50.75 per person so we headed to the meeting place " The District" at 11.45, the lady in all seriousness asked me if i was over 18! haha i think the lights were bad in there

There were about 9 other people also going on the trip and when we were all ready we were led off of the ship to meet George who led us through the port to wait for our air conditioned mini bus, we were a bit early so we had to wait about 10mins outside it was hot but fortunately we found some shade to wait in, our bus arrived and we met our very friendly bus driver/tour guide Henry.

We enjoyed the tour of the city and learned about the history, not much chance of photographs but so very interesting

Henry took us up to the Fort which was carved out of the stone by slaves - he did say we would stop there for 20 mins so could have done a tour inside the museum if we wanted but nobody on the coach fancied it, we had a look around the outside and at some of the stalls.

We got back on the coach and chatted to Henry about History in Nassau and back home, everyone got back on the coach and we headed off to Ardastra gardens arriving at 1pm.

We had a walk around, its not a big place but the animals look well cared for and the staff are friendly and happy to chat about the animals and the rscue work they do, they have a page on facebook which gives you an idea of what they do.

The flamingos are free to roam which is great for photos

They do a short show with the Marching flamingos which is cute, the flamingos march together around a small arena and stop when told and face front then march onto the next bit when told etc, it was good fun.

Fed the Lorikeets too

And the goats

We bought a photo of the 3 of us feeding the Lorikeets for $10 and a rum cake then back on the bus at 3pm, another mini tour and we stopped at a stall for Henry to get out and come back on the coach with a large lobster to show us from his friends stall - scott looks impressed

Next up was a stop at the beach for a paddle and some photos - it was Beautiful the water was so blue.

I can see our ship from here

A short drive back to the port and we were dropped off outside, we walked past a few stalls on the way in and then had the photocopy of our passports checked and made our way back to the ship.

We got a drink at Ardastra but no food so we headed up to Cabanas but they had finished serving, we grabbed some pizza at Luigis and took it back inside Cabanas to eat.

Back to the cabin for a rest and to watch us pulling away from Bahamas

Tonight was the villains show and dinner in "Enchanted garden" it was also pirate night

 

[meldobe]

We bought some popcorn $4.03 and watched the villains show which was really good, after the show we went up to the on deck bar and got 2 beers $13.80 and played cards, it was lovely so quiet.

Enchanted garden

Dinner was lovely although my photos were rubbish

We went up on deck to watch the pirate show and see the fireworks it was a really fun show and wonderful to see the fireworks, we had a look at the pirate buffet which was a great selection but we were too full from dinner to try anything we got a drink District lounge $14.66 to take back to the cabin.

We ended up wandering the hallways for a bit as we got lost

We found these when we eventually got back

Tomorrow Castaway cay

 

[BudgieMama]

Following your TR. Enjoyed it so far. I love the idea of a Cruise, but like you I experience motion sickness. Not normally enough to make me sick, but enough that I feel uncomfortable the whole time I'm on a boat, and it seems like such a big risk!

 

[meldobe]

Budgiemama thanks for reading along, I had the exact same thoughts before the cruise - we actually booked a 7 night cruise first but I was so worried about the motion sickness I made the others change it to just a 3 night as I figured if I felt ill 3 nights I could cope with but 7 no way!

The first night pulling out of port I was quite anxious as the ship was noticeably moving, a swaying motion I guess is the best way to describe it, not enough to move any objects but noticeable ., I always take a travel sickness tablet when I'm travelling wether by car or plane so I had made sure I had taken my tablet that day and I also bought the sea bands and wore those through out the cruise.

I took a tablet 2 - 3 times a day as per pack instructions but I actually don't think I would have needed them as once we were free from port canaveral it was completely smooth sailing and I didn't feel any movement at all, we were on deck 8 midship and I would book that again.

In fact we all enjoyed it so much we are already planning a 7 night I'm not ready to brave the Atlantic Ocean just yet but will stick with Caribbean waters, I am so pleased I gave it a try and I think if it's something you fancy then go for it, choose a short trip and I'm sure you will be fine of course your wallet won't as you will then have caught the cruising bug

If you have any questions please feel free to ask as I understand the worry of even thinking about the cruise and motion sickness. X

 

[meldobe]

Day 4 Castaway Cay

I woke up at 7.15 and was able to watch us dock at 7.30

Ma and Scott woke up at 7.45/8am, we couldn't get off the ship until 8.30 as the crew had to go over first.
We showered etc and went to Cabanas for breakfast - view from there.

We went on to the island at 9.30 WOW it was lovely

We had the stingray experience booked for 11am so had plenty of time to wander, we walked to the beach rather then taking the train/tram, it was going to be a hot day so we were happy we booked the rays for an early time we had a look in the shops and checked what time the post office closed.

And soon enough it was time to check in for the rays unfortunately it was cancelled due to the waves and they gave us the option to book 1pm or 2pm but we decided it would be too hot for us then so took a refund - just gives us another excuse to make a return trip !
We took the tram to Serenity bay and found ourselves some sunbeds before taking a swim in the sea, now i have no photos of this as we bought a waterproof throwaway camera so used that to take some photos and we still have not had it developed.

Spent a long time in the water as it was so nice and then dried off and headed to the BBQ but there didn't seem to be much seating and we were hot so wanted a nice sit down in the shade to eat so we got the tram back to the family beach and found a perfect spot, went up to the BBQ and got a nice selection it all tasted very good.

Whilst enjoying our lunch we spotted a humming bird, cannot tell you how excited we were only ever seen them on tv before, it was so tiny! not a great picture but the best i could get with the camera i had.

We also enjoyed watching the lizards with curly tails this one was trying to eat something a bit too big for him!

We sat there for ages watching the lizards and just enjoying the quiet surroundings

We took a stroll back to the post office and sent a couple of postcards and decided to go back aboard the ship it was around 3.30, they gave us a lovely cool/wet flannel as we were heading back on board that was so nice and refreshing

Back on board we went to the aquaduck for ma and scott to ride whilst i waited with a nice cool drink and enjoyed the view

The queue took about 15 mins but they both loved the ride and the views, we went back to the room to have showers and chill before heading to the theatre for "Believe" at 6.15 - left an envelope on the bed with an extra gratuity for Nas our room host.

The show was really good and we all enjoyed it of course we got popcorn before and a drink $6.84, off to bar 687 for a drink before dinner $13.80, they had a music quiz just starting so we joined in, didn't do too bad considering some of the songs were country 32/40 but the winners got 38! We stopped off to buy our boarding photo from shutters $20.95 on our way to dinner.

Dinner tonight was in Royal palace which turned out to be our favourite restaurant

Food was sooo good! and as it was our last night we had paid our gratuities already but had put some extra in the envelopes for Kurt and Gennaro so gave them to them at the end of the meal as they had been great. Drinks in here came to $19.55.

Back to bar 687 for a game of chequers and a drink $16.68

Back at the room we found this little fellow

We stood out on our balcony watching the water go by sad that this would be our last night on board, we had loved every moment, the staff were fantastic from the servers to the entertainers and everyone in between - i had a great conversation with one of the toilet attendants one night her name was Maverine and she was so lovely she thanked me for chatting to her and making her laugh seriously if you get the chance say hi to these guys as the toilets are spotless and im sure its a job that doesn't get much thanks - i made sure to mention her on the feedback/comments card.

Tomorrow - saying goodbye to the "Dream" and hello to our home CBR

 

[meldobe]

Day 5 - 21st September

I have no idea what Disney put in the water but the last 3 nights flew by so fast it almost seems as if they didn't happen
We had to be off the ship by 9.15 so we were at breakfast by 7.30 and off of the ship in to the terminal at 8.15.
we had left our suitcases outside our room last night at 8.30 with the luggage tags provided so we picked them up in the terminal in the pluto section i believe and were quickly through customs and walked outside to catch the Magical express to CBR

Goodbye to the Dream

We were originally going to be the 2nd stop but by the time we made it to the first hotel we were bumped to the 5th stop - more time to watch cartoons

We arrived at Disneys Caribbean Beach Resort at 10.30, i had done online check in and requested early check in if possible, the cast member checked for us but said the room was not ready yet but that he would send a message to the room phone so the cleaners would know we were waiting, he said it shouldn't take long and then took our mobile number so he could contact us when the room was ready, we picked up our Magic bands. We left our cases with Bell services and took a walk over to Old Port Royale to pick up our refillable mugs and wait for a text/call.

By 12 we had not received any messages so we grabbed some lunch using our quick service credits. At 1.30 i used the phone in old port royale to call front desk to enquire about the room but it still was not ready.

We had plans at Epcot today including fastpasses, problem was we had an ipad, 2 cameras, our passports and all of our money with us after trying to decide what to do i bought a drawstring bag for $16.95 so that we could fit everything in it although it was rather heavy! we headed off to the bus stop.

We got the bus at 2pm and were soon in Epcot we hired a locker to put ma's bag in and our refillable mugs as we didnt want to carry them around with us, my bag was more then enough!

we went on living with the land

Our first fast pass was at 3.15 for Spaceship Earth which was good fun as usual we sent postcards to friends after the ride, grabbed a drink in Club Kool and then it was fast pass time for Soarin at 4.20 - We got first row woohoo no staring at feet waving above our heads

We had a look in the shops and then rode Nemo, had a look around inside too

It was now after 6pm and we still had no contact from the resort so we took a bus back to CBR as although we had fun at epcot the day was feeling rather jumbly, we stopped at old port royale for a drink and i called front desk again, after a bit of a wait the cast member let us know we were in room 1136 in Barbados so we headed over the room was nice but we just wanted to get unpacked and settled, called Bell services to ask for our cases and then i called front desk to request a roll away bed to be told they no longer offer them as they are a fire risk although Deluxe resorts do still have them?!

I told them i was not happy and that we needed another bed, they told me someone would call me back, we called Bell services to hold the luggage delivery in case we needed to change rooms, a lovely lady called us back and said the change was due to the recent refurb, my mum spoke to her and explained we had just got off the Dream that morning and explained the online check in also the fact that we have been staying at CBR every 1-2 years and always had a roll away bed, The cast member (i do know her name) said they just could not compete with the service we had received on the Dream ( we did not ask for that) but that she wanted to help so we could now have a roll away bed but the table and two chairs would need to be removed - absolutely fine with us - and she would do that free of charge which was great, she asked what else she could do to make things right but we were not looking for anything but the roll away bed, she then gave us 2 extra fast passes for each of our visits to Magic Kingdom which was lovely.

We got our cases and they delivered the roll away bed taking away two chairs and planning to return for the table, we unpacked and were finally settled by 9pm, time to head to old port royale for some dinner and a drink, in bed by 11pm we were beat!

( Back home i contacted Disney to convey my dismay at them no longer providing roll away beds in the moderate and value resorts and that we would now have to find another resort to accommodate us all, a lovely man replied and said he had looked into it and he apologised that i had been given the wrong information as the beds were still available at all resorts just that tables and chairs would need to be removed, so frustrating! im happy they still have the beds although i have kept the email confirming this in case we run into any problems next time)

Tomorrow - Magic Kingdom

 

[meldobe]

Day 6 22nd September Temp 89

Magic Kingdom + Be Our Guest for lunch

We woke up around 8.30 - taking it easy think we were still chilled from the cruise we got ready and went to Port Royale for breakfast - omelettes and cereal.

We headed off to Magic Kingdom at 11am

and we were there in no time, walking up main street it was not very busy at all,

we headed left through adventure land towards Splash for our 12.10 fastpass, great ride as always

Had a walk to take some photos and stopped for a drink in Gastons "Le fues brew" was lovely, ma thought it was too sweet but me and scott enjoyed it.

Fast pass time at Peter Pan and it was our first time riding it after the refurbishment we really enjoyed it and like the changes.
We saw Philharmonic only had a 5 min wait it was 1.40 and we had a reservation at Be our Guest at 2.15 so plenty of time to ride or so we thought we were wrong we finally got through to the theatre at 2.10 so had to walk straight through without stopping and whizz over to BOG.

We checked in at the front and went over the bridge to the restaurant, a cast member said hello and directed us into a lane, we had pre ordered and so on over hearing another guest who had pre ordered being directed to the other shorter queue we told the cast member that we had pre ordered and she said " You should have told me im not a mind reader you know" we laughed it off but did think it was a bit rude. We were quickly in the restaurant and picked a table in the main dining room by the big windows

The food was lovely, Scott had Braised Pork, Ma had Quiche, I had Croque Monsieur

Yummy deserts too

I had the Masters cupcake with the grey stuff it was "Delicious" everything was lovely and its a fab choice for counter service dining in a Table service style.

As we were leaving the tables were being set for dinner

After lunch we went on the little mermaid which only had a 10 min wait i like this ride and all the theming, we had a Fp for Seven dwarves mine train at 4.25 and it was our first time riding it we enjoyed it but felt there was not much story telling and it was over so quickly.

We went through Fantasy land next

Over to Tomorrow land to ride the People mover

Then Carousel of Progress for a great big beautiful tomorrow it was MNSSHP tonight so the park was closing at 7pm, we grabbed a Frappachino each as a snack credit and headed home to CBR to freshen up and go to Port Royale for a game of cards and a couple of drinks.

Scott seems to think these new doors are great for playing pranks

Tomorrow Hollywood studios

 

[meldobe]

Should also add at this point in the holiday we were still getting our land legs back, if we stood still in a queue for instance it felt as if the room was moving

 

[meldobe]

Day 7 23rd September Temp 89

Hollywood Studios

We were up at 9am today had showers and headed to Hollywood studios at 10am we arrived at 10.30, we had a walk around to see what was new and of course to take some silly photos as always

We had a look in the new Star wars shop

Toy Story Midway Mania time - fast pass booked for 11.25

I won

As we had skipped breakfast we decided on an early lunch in ABC commissary, we got burgers and fish platter, with Parfait and a cupcake YUM

After lunch we went on Muppets which only had a short wait, we we were pleased to see that although it had been refurbished recently they had kept the original storyline, looked lovely though having been freshened up.

Had a look in the shops and then it was fast pass time for TOT - standby line was 105 mins took us 20 mins to get on as i think some of the lifts were closed, all of us rode this which my mum has not done for quite a while.

We had a wander taking some photos on our way over to Star tours for a 2.20 fast pass

Star tours was good fun only me and scott ride this as ma finds it a bit too closed in, after this we went to the fast pass machine and got a 4th Fast pass of today for The Great Movie ride at 3.45 we had a short wait so toddled off to the villains store for a Frozen Goofy drink as a snack credit to cool off in the shade.

They were very nice and they change the colour of your tongue

The Great Movie ride was good - i have in my notes that we liked the "new fire" ? i cant remember what that was but we liked it so it must be good

Time to exit the park and head back to CBR

Back at CBR we showered etc and got the bus to Down town Disney / Disney Srings to see the changes and do a spot of shopping

Dinner as always was in Wolfgang Puck
Chicken Alfredo, Four cheese pizza and Pepperoni pizza with Frozen yoghurt for dessert total was $68.01 which we got on our dining plan.

We left around 10pm and picked up Breakfast (cereal etc) from Old Port Royale on our way back to the room.

Tomorrow Animal Kingdom

 

[meldobe]

Day 8 24th September Animal Kingdom Temp 85 ( although in animal kingdom that will feel like 95)

Had breakfast in our room and left at 10.05 bus didnt take long and we were at the park by 10.40, once in the park we went left looking at the animals whilst heading to Afrika to see the new additions / improvements.

They have made it feel much roomier, we watched the drummers had a look in the shops and walk the Pangani trails, had a lovely chat with a guy explaining the different uses for elephant dung oh and football of course as scott can talk football with anyone

Some interesting new food choices but we are light weights in the florida heat and seek out air conditioning to eat our food.

Safari fast pass time, not too many animals about as i think it was a bit hot but it was enjoyable still

Lunch was at Restaurantosoarus Bacon cheeseburger, 2 x chicken nuggets and 3 cheesecakes and we made it to our Dinosaur fast pass with 1 minute to spare, great ride we love it.

Quick tip do not rest your arm on this car it is soooooooooo HOT!!!!!!!!

Marharajah jungle trek was next

We stopped for a drink in Asia and watched the dancers, also had a chance to see the construction work for the new show

Fast pass time for Its Tough To Be a Bug, no fast pass needed really but FP options in this park are quite limited

We excited the park through the Rainforest Cafe

Back to CBR to get changed cool off, play some games and eat curry, salmon with veg and turkey with veg from old Port Royale. Two stellas $17 plus tax so $18.11

Tomorrow Epcot

 

[meldobe]

Day 9 25th September Epcot Temp 88

Now you may have started to notice a theme - That being that we dont rush out to the parks too early, now saying that i probably would but ma and scott like to take there time so i try not to plan any fast passes for any earlier then 10.30.

Busses were running a little late today and it meant we missed our fast pass for Figment not that you need one for it but i picked 3 per day for our stay and so that was one of them, our fast pass time for Spaceship earth was almost upon us so we wandered around there until we could ride.

Epcot was heaving today as we had not realised that food and wine opened today, as we had missed breakfast (again )we headed to sunshine seasons for some lunch.

Mongolian beef with cherry danish

Cuban with Strawberry shortcake

Cuban with Danish

Our next fast pass was not until 4.15 so we started our walk around the world, beginning with Canada and watching the lumber jacks which was good fun.

Of course we had to have a look in the shops along the way

As we came through America it started raining so we headed to the Japan shop to shelter and browse

We got a drink in china whilst we waited for the next shower to pass

Forgot to add these new (to us) panoramic pictures were a kind of wheres wally as i asked Ma and Scott to place themselves somewhere in the picture for us to spot later

FP time at Test Track we liked it very much

Back to the world starting with Mexico and Donald duck

No more Maelstrom

we carried on through Norway with the plan to eat some things from the stalls but the dark clouds and thunder were rolling in so we went to Japan for dinner.

Shrimp Udon

Beef Udon

Chicken Teriyaki

with a cheese cake, green tea ice cream and Edamame for desert we didnt know they were raw peas! but they were actually very nice and came in a lovely box.

It poured down whilst we were eating and was still raining when we left so we caved and bought rain ponchos $10 for adult - me and scott $9 kids for Ma, we tried to carry on round the park but fireworks were not til 10pm and it was only 8.40 so we headed for home

Bus stops of course were packed but it was not long until we were back at CBR, we got dry shoes and our mugs then went to Old Port Royale to watch the Epcot fireworks in the brief break in the rain, raining again soon enough so back to the room.

Tomorrow Downtown and Boma

 

[meldobe]

Day 10 26th September Temp 85 - Downtown and Boma

Today me and ma went to Downtown Disney whilst scott stayed at the resort to watch Chelsea play on the in room tv.

The Bus was packed but we soon arrived and started shopping we got a t shirt each for my niece and nephew $44.63 i asked for "I want to be a princess" Summer but they said it was not allowed so had to changed it to I love to be a princess! Summer.

Ordered some Christmas baubles and collected our $100 gift card. Lunch of course was in Wolfgangs a margherita pizza and a roasted mushroom pizza with 2 frozen yogurts $42.50 but came off our dining plan.

We took the left over pizza back for scott and found him like this

We put some washing on and whilst ma and scott went for a swim i had a walk around the resort.

Boma was booked for 7.55 so we left at 6.45 and hopped on a bus to Hollywood studios and then changed to an Animal Kingdom lodge bus.

We arrived at Animal Kingdom Lodge at 7.30 so had a look in the shop before checking in, Food was lovely as usual.

When we went up for dessert ( more then once ) there was a guy that looked just like Danny devito give or take a couple of years and facial hair, he kept eating desserts straight from the counter he would walk in and pick up around 3 desserts eat them there and then walk out the restaurant within a minute he would walk back in and do it again it was so funny just the way he cret in and then ate the desserts in one mouthful!!! he did it at least 6 times while we were there.

Annoyingly i seem to have mislaid how much the meal cost us but whatever it was it was worth it
We left the table at 10ish and had a look around.

We got a taxi back to CBR for $17.00

Tomorrow - Hollywood studios

 

[meldobe]

Day 11 27th September - Hollywood Studios

A sunday so we had a relaxed morning, our first fast pass was not until 2.55 as our plan for today was to do an afternoon park visit and then walk to the Board walk.

We arrived at the studios at 1ish and went to Backlot express for lunch
Chicken nuggets, Turkey sandwich, Veggie sandwich, chocolate mouse, parfait and PBJ Cupcake.

We had a walk around before our fast pass for Star tours

After Star tours we got a Frappachino on our snack plan then it was time for our fast pass at Toy story

Scott beat us both with

Next stop was "One mans dream" its a must visit every time.

Fast pass time 4.55 for Tower of Terror Ma rode again too!

We were straight on, stand by was only 10 mins too, it was pouring down when we got off so we waited in the shop for about 45 mins as we had foolishly forgotten to pack our ponchos, seems like a lot of others did too as that shop was packed out!

The rain finally eased so we went to Rock n roller coaster which only had a 10 min wait so scott and ma rode

then we thought we would chance our luck with getting another go on Toy story at 7pm but alas it had a 65min wait, we had a walk past the old Backlot tours instead

As the evening and us were rather damp we skipped visiting the Boardwalk and were soon back at CBR for dinner and a drink.

Tomorrow - Check in at Leows royal pacific and Universal studios

 

[meldobe]

Day 12 28th September - Leows and Universal studios

On our last visit in 2013 we stayed 1 night at the Hard Rock hotel which was great but 1 night was just not enough so this time we are staying 2 nights at Leows Royal Pacific.

We got a cab from CBR at 9.30 which cost us $36 plus tip, we were able to check in straight away which was fabulous we had room 1107 on the ground floor and it was lovely, we didn't have much of a view but we didn't need one.

We only had a backpack with us so unpacking was very easy and we were soon down activating our express passes which was very straight forward using the machines in reception we had bought our tickets in the uk.

We were soon on our way using the water taxi from behind the resort

and we then walked into Universal studios Transformers was first which was great as usual and then onto our first look at Diagon alley which was fantastically themed, we couldn't believe it when we went behind the wall such a surprise to see it all

We rode Gringotts only 20 mins wait and it was a great ride we all enjoyed it, if i had a little niggle it was that if you are behind the first cart you cannot see all of the action properly as the first cart is often partially blocking the view.

We got lunch in the leaky cauldron food was ok and the setting was good, we had bangers and mash, chicken sandwich and cottage pie with a frozen butter beer and a lemon squash ( another small niggle is they dont just do sodas i don't like lemon and didn't fancy a butter beer with food) it came to $48.73.

Next up was Men in Black "I love this ride" Ma won as she got the Bonus points, we had a walk through springfield

Next up was ET, Ma and scott rode the mummy and we all went on twister, we stopped in mels diner for a drink and some air con

We all rode Minions which was fun and ma met Gru

We all rode shrek and had a walk back to Men in Black

To be continued

 

[meldobe]

Continued

I don't like clowns

We left the park at 6.30 and took the river taxi back to the hotel to shower, change and chill.

Headed out at 8pm and walked to Bubba Gumps

The food was lovely, we had Garlic bread, Frizzled onions, Stuffed shrimp and Shrimpers heaven 2 bud lights and a pepsi.

We had bought a Landrys gift card for $25 after reading about it on here and got the bonus $25 birthday month so with $50 off our bill it came to $37.68 and we had great service so left $60, we picked up the souvenir pilsner glasses from the gift shop and also bought some salt + pepper pots and a collar for our dog thats reads "Mama says im special" we walked back to the hotel and got a nightcap to take back to the room.

Tomorrow IOA and Universal and Mini golf