The OMG my husband is so awesome TR - Day 4, HS & Epcot

[RobynPrincess]

We were awake early, I think it was around 7:15am that I set the alarm for... with good reason though, I wanted to go and see the Parasol Parade I yelled and moaned at Sy to get a move on cause I didn't want to miss it, we only just made it in time to see it begin. It was so lovely I can't really explain why I loved it so much, it was just one of the many little things that makes Disney special. There were hardly any people out to see it which was both a shame and nice at the same time, it felt like we were the only people watching







We watched the parade for about 10 mins before it moved out of sight and then decided to head over to the Grand Floridian Cafe for some breakfast

We were seated right away right down the end of the room by a window.





I already knew what I would be ordering, vanilla dipped french toast along with a diet coke. Sy went for the American with OJ





Breakfast finished we popped back to the room to pick up a few things we hadn't managed to grab in our dash this morning. I also gave my mum a quick facetime to make her seriously jealous with the gorgeous blue sky overhead

We then hopped in the car and made our way over to Hollywood Studios. We parked up and walked over, it was busy and it was hot, and I don't mean 'oh wow, I feel very warm so I better go stand in the shade for a bit' I mean 'OMG my shoes are melting and sticking to the floor!' kind of heat. We had a fastpass first thing for ToT so off we went, before I could chicken out... I'm not scared but the last time I went on it made me feel a bit sick and I haven't been on it since as I was too scared I'd feel sick again. I needn't have worried though, I was fine! I think the days of riding it continuously have now passed but I really enjoyed it and rekindled my love for it yay!







Afterwards we had a good look in all of the shops nearby just for somewhere to escape the heat. We then made our way over to the Great Movie Ride. It wasn't the most comfortable ride I've ever had, we had to squeeze into a row that people had already got in and sat down on, and they weren't happy as seeing our 2 big butts coming along so they hardly moved up at all. So I sat between Sy who was squidged against the edge as much as he physically could and a woman who wasn't going to move over anymore than she had so my butt was touching hers (and no, she still didn't move over!). By the end of the ride I was so hot and bothered I just wanted a drink and to get outta there. I'm not really very good at being touched when I'm hot and sweaty (is anyone?) and cause I'm a big girl I get really uncomfortable that people will think 'urgh, this big fat girl was so sweaty and touching me' so I was feeling really icky after the the ride. Sy had the perfect cure for me though, he knew just where to take me to make me feel better... Starring rolls A cold drink and a napoleon later I was feeling much more human Sy got some sushi cause he loves it but I was happy with my cake



I totally forgot to take a picture before I started de-constructing my cake... it kinda looks like a car crash now but it tasted good, take my word for it



The cake did help my mood however I was still so hot and bothered that we decided to take a break and head back to the hotel for a lunchtime swim.

I felt so much better after my swim It was coming up time for my massage at the Spa so I got changed and swapped swimsuits (as I didn't want to wear my wet one) and said goodbye to Sy. I took my time going over as I was still 15 minutes early (I wasn't told I could be as early as I liked). I checked in and was given a very minimal show round the spa and then left to get changed into my robe (5XL I was given!!) and given shoes that were too small. Moments later my therapist (Sarah) arrived to take me through to the treatment room. I lucked out getting this lady to do my treatment as she opened the spa at Aulani and she even used to own her own salon - she was very experienced. I was in pure heaven for 50 minutes After the massage she brought me an antioxidant cube with passion fruit that was really yummy. I can't say enough good things about this lady, she was so lovely and very talented at what she does

She showed me back to the relaxation room and said goodbye before letting me grab a picture of her for what I was intending to be a wonderful article on the WDWForGrownUps website...

 

[RobynPrincess]

I actually decided not to write it though as my experience was not that I saw other people had, I happened to see a girl being shown round and her experience was so far moved from what I had when I was shown round, she was shown round everything, given a drink, asked what size robe and shoes, told what she could use (there were brushes, combs, razors even!) I didn't know any of this as I wasn't told or shown any of it. I was actually really upset, why wasn't I worth that sort of showing round? I intended to speak to someone when checking out however it was the same girl and the same unhelpful manner continued, she was actually rude to me on check out and made me feel close to tears I did write to Disney and it was followed up by a phone call in which I explained what happened and they said the girl would get some more training which I felt was what she needed. But I digress... I hung about in the spa for a while, reading my kindle on the heated lounger and had a soak in the spa pool, I didn't stay very long, it wasn't turning out to be the experience I had hoped for. I checked out and charged the massage to the room before heading back up to see Sy. He hadn't actually done anything or been anywhere like he thought he might, he just napped in the room haha. I told him of my experience and he wasn't very happy at all, it was meant to be a birthday present for me from him so I guess he felt a bit responsible, he wanted to go down and speak to them right away but I didn't want the drama and preferred to email them once I got home.

Here are a few pics of the inside of the Spa









Even though the spa experience wasn't great, I still booked to go back there in October with my mum and mother in law so don't let my experience put you off, I'd still go back but I'd make sure I was a bit more forthright with the staff if I felt they weren't doing what they should.

We got ready and drove over to Epcot to meet Ann-Marie after her shift finished as it was tonight that we would be taking her up to the Top of the World lounge. We parked up and made our way inside, were a little early to meet Ann-Marie so we went to ride Spaceship Earth



We then made our way over to the UK pavilion to meet Ann-Marie. She had put in for an early finish and she thought it was 7pm however it was 7:30, doh! So we waited around for her to finish.



She told us to pop round the corner as there was likely no wait to meet Tigger and Pooh, and she was right, there was only 1 family in front of us!



When she was done we went to ride test track with our fastpasses, they took pity and let Ann-Marie ride with us even though she didn't technically have a fastpass





We needed some dinner before fireworks at TOTWL so we left property and went to Fuds as Ann-Marie had never been there. There was a hefty queue but we soon had our orders in and grabbed a table to wait. The food wasn't as good as last time but to be fair I had a fried chicken instead of grilled this time, I think it was just a bit too much grease for me. The other enjoyed their meals though. We left and made our way up to Bay Lake, Sy dropped us off at the front and went to park so that we could get the ticket to go up to the lounge, it was getting close to firework time! We did make it up there in time though and it was perfect





When the fireworks were over we took Ann-Marie home and made our way back to VGF. It was gonna be a sad morning tomorrow when check out time came

 

[Disneymadhouse]

Shame about your spa experience, hopefully it will be better next time

Claire