There's Always Too Much Sauce - A July 2022 TR *Updated 3/23

[piglet1979]

The last days are so rough. We were exhausted on our last day and Elizabeth was texting me to get her a hat that she decided to late in the day that she wanted.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Aww you ended your last day perfectly. Love MMRR and the No Way Jose!
You look beautiful in your dress by the way the colour really suits you
I’d have been a bit miffed by the way the whole check thing was handled. Totally agree with you

 

[Ellester]

Automatically giving the check to the man is one of my mom’s pet peeves! I agree that it is quite presumptuous and annoying. My mom takes it as a personal affront, she often treats when we go out as a family and it makes her so mad if they automatically give the check to my husband. Sure way to reduce their tip.

Great report! I‘ve really enjoyed reading it!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Ricotta. Bread. Tomatoes.

Heaven on a plate.

I Love this! I tried to get Andi to go to the bar just to order this one night and she didn’t want to! Even an Alcohol bribe didn’t work, she was to tired, lol! I wonder if I could have ordered it to go! I’m glad you enjoyed the dinner. I would love to have dinner here again. I think with my sisters in April!

This cold brew wasn’t overly sweet, like I was afraid it would be, and the honey infused whipped topping gave it a nice flavor.

Yay! I love this cold brew. It sounds like a wonderful evening and ending with MMRR is a perfect choice.
The picture of you and Alex on the Skyliner is a very nice picture of you two!
it would have irritated me if the waiter completely ignored me when I requested the check. The wait staff always gives me the check when I am with Andi

 

[vamassey1]

A perfect last night in Disney.

That last is the hardest. Good thing you knew you would be back.

Dinner looks really good. We had a reservation here for diner in 2020 but cancelled it. I still need to make it. Like you said there are too many places I want to try. The views from the balcony are beautiful. Looks like the cold brew pick me up was just what you needed.

You're great parents to get your children one more plushy. MMRR is a great ride to end your trip. It's the one ride JP has requested for our trip.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

A wonderful last day! I love Runaway Railway, too. It's just so cute. That would have been my final ride choice as well.

“On my way back.”



On your way?! With the keys? Without them?! Give me an answer here!

Oh my goodness, I had a visceral reaction to this. How do you not lead with, "Got the keys!"??? So glad they were there waiting for you.

 

[cindianne320]

What a great last day! I love that you did 2 parks of different venues in one day! And the treats YUM!

 

[amazingact21]

The last days are so rough. We were exhausted on our last day and Elizabeth was texting me to get her a hat that she decided to late in the day that she wanted.

That last day panic sets in and kids realize all the things they thought they'd have time to buy and didn't.

Aww you ended your last day perfectly. Love MMRR and the No Way Jose!
You look beautiful in your dress by the way the colour really suits you
I’d have been a bit miffed by the way the whole check thing was handled. Totally agree with you

A No Way Jose is such a classic Disney ice cream treat. I'm so glad we can get it with the To-Go window since reservations are hard to come by.
Thank you. That shade of teal was one of my wedding colors, so I have a soft spot for it.

 

[amazingact21]

Automatically giving the check to the man is one of my mom’s pet peeves! I agree that it is quite presumptuous and annoying. My mom takes it as a personal affront, she often treats when we go out as a family and it makes her so mad if they automatically give the check to my husband. Sure way to reduce their tip.

Great report! I‘ve really enjoyed reading it!

Thank you for reading!

I know I should have brushed off the whole check situation, but I just wished the waiter had paid more attention. It's those little attentions to details that matter when you're in the service industry.

I Love this! I tried to get Andi to go to the bar just to order this one night and she didn’t want to! Even an Alcohol bribe didn’t work, she was to tired, lol! I wonder if I could have ordered it to go! I’m glad you enjoyed the dinner. I would love to have dinner here again. I think with my sisters in April!

Can you order this from the bar? I might have to do this!
Alex and I narrowed down where we were eating in April (hopefully) and this restaurant didn't make the cut. I think I'm going to be sad to not eat here again.

Yay! I love this cold brew.

It's a really great cold brew! I might go out of my way to grab one in the future.

 

[amazingact21]

Dinner looks really good. We had a reservation here for diner in 2020 but cancelled it. I still need to make it. Like you said there are too many places I want to try. The views from the balcony are beautiful. Looks like the cold brew pick me up was just what you needed.

But you've tried breakfast there, which is something I haven't managed yet.

MMRR is a great ride to end your trip. It's the one ride JP has requested for our trip.

Were you able to take him on it?

I love Runaway Railway, too. It's just so cute. That would have been my final ride choice as well.

I was really happy to end the trip with MMRR.

Oh my goodness, I had a visceral reaction to this. How do you not lead with, "Got the keys!"??? So glad they were there waiting for you.

Right?! I was very stressed in that moment.

What a great last day! I love that you did 2 parks of different venues in one day! And the treats YUM!

I don't think we would have been able to do two different theme parks with the kids, so that helped it feel more "kid-free."

 

[amazingact21]

Happy holiday season! I hope everyone has been well and had the opportunity to rest and relax. Alex and I joke with the kids that winter break is when we catch up on sleep for the year.

December has been a whirlwind month for us. The kids had approximately eighteen thousand activities and projects due, Alex had his busiest week of work, and I had to fly back to Florida to deal with a family medical situation. Thankfully, everything was completed successfully and now my family of four is doing a whole lot of nothing. Me and the kids have played almost every board game in the house, the kids have spent hours with their friends, on the bikes they got for Christmas. Alex and I keep staring at the Christmas decorations, going, “Ehh, we’ll take them down before the kids go back to school.” Landon started watching the new Percy Jackson series on Disney Plus and says it’s fantastic.

And today I decided it was high time to write the last update on this trip! So here goes.




July 26th:


Quite the jump in days, yes? Well, after a long day running around theme parks, Alex and I checked out of the Swan and drove up to my mom’s house.

Keys secure in our bag.

Hmmph.



We were reunited with our kids, who loved getting the Star Wars plushes, and loved telling us about the activities they did without us around. A lot involved games and chocolate.

Typical shenanigans at a grandparent’s house.



My family stayed a day or two longer, going to the beach and hitting up our favorite local spots, then Alex and I made the drive back down to his mom’s house.

With the kids, this time.



Another few days with Alex’s family, and then it was time to head back to England.

The way flights to London from Orlando work is that they leave in the early evening, allowing one to arrive the following morning. Having such a late flight meant that we didn’t have to be at the airport until four o’clock.


Well, the day before we were set to fly out, an idea planted itself in my husband’s head and wouldn’t go away.


Not having to be at that airport until later in the day meant we had time to spare.


Time for a quick pit stop perhaps.


The perfect opportunity to pick up some snacks to take home.

And what better snack than cookies?


Cookies from a certain bakehouse?



I love traveling to Disney with Alex. He is at the point in his career where he supervises and takes care of a lot of the younger people in his command. His job calls for him to be serious a lot of the time, carrying out tasks that aren’t fun and requires him to be away from home a lot. So at Disney, me and the kids get to see him lean into his fun ideas.

“Let’s go to Disney Springs, kids!”


That proclamation made on 528, leaving his mom’s house, took the kids by surprise.

Who was this guy and what has he done with Dad?

Seeing Alex so happy to come up with such a spontaneous plan (it wasn’t until later that Alex let me know he’d thought about it the night before) and seeing the kids be so amused by the concept, there was no way I was going to say no.



Naturally, I stressed the entire time we were going to get to the airport late and miss our flight.


But it was a small price to pay for witnessing the kids feeling like they squeezed in just a teensy, tiny bit more Disney magic into their trip.


Worth me checking my watch approximately eighteen times.





Luck was on our side this day, because the line for Gideon’s Bakehouse was only ten minutes. It was incredible! (Not the shortest I’ve waited, though.)



My family stocked up on cookies and Cold Brew. Nothing tastes sweeter than peanut butter and coffee on your last day of vacation.



Our goal complete in a lot less time than we anticipated, it was the kids’ turn to have a crazy idea.

“Mom, Dad, since we’re here, we should go into the World of Disney. Just to look. See if there’s anything we might have missed.”



Normally, those words are stuff of nightmares to me. Browsing and crowds are two things that I only do when absolutely necessary. But today I was feeling particularly nice.

It was probably the cold brew.

And the looming thought that I was about to be back in a world where Mickey Mouse wasn’t plastered everywhere and purple signs (I know they’re not really purple anymore) didn’t dot the roads.

“Sure, kids. Let’s go look.”




Alex and I shared a glance.

Should we make their day even better?


Yeah. Why not?

Go big, right?



“Landon, Evie. Here’s the deal.”

Alex looked at them with a sparkle in his eye.


If I were ending this long, extravagant vacation with cold brew, shouldn’t the kids end on a high note, too?


Alex pulled them to the side.

“Here’s the deal. You each get to pick one more plush, but they have to be small enough to fit into your carry on bag.”


What’s two more stuffed toys when you had to borrow an extra suitcase from your mother in-law to fit them all in?


Would they even be noticeable after the hippogriff, the pygmy puffs, the TY dogs, the Star Wars characters, a Minnie Nuimo, a Marie Nuimo, a snow leopard, and a parrot?



This was the Trip of Plushes.



I voted for this fellow since Peter Pan was Landon’s favorite Disney film:


Nobody agreed.



Evie knew what she wanted and chose quick. Landon took a bit longer, but eventually decided on another Nuimo:




All right! Enough toys and cookies! We really did need to head to the airport and return our rental car.


Once at MCO and having checked our bags (farewell stuffies, until we see you again in England!) Alex and I took the kids inside the Disney store. This was one of the first times we ever flew in and out of Orlando for a Disney trip, so it felt only fitting to see what the airport stores were like.

Then it was time for our traditional sad faced phto:



It was hard to believe such a long vacation was already at its end. We’d spent so many days inside the theme parks, riding attractions, eating delicious food, that it was tough to transition back to reality.


Ending our trip marked the beginning of the end of our England journey. We knew the clock was about to start for lasts.

Our last year at that home. Our last year with our friends, last year with the kids’ school, last year of the life we’d built over the last three years. We were all a little afraid to transition The Final Year.


And now, in hindsight, I can say it really was a shift where everything revolved around THE MOVE. Where were we moving, when were we moving, what could we fit in before the move.

I’m so grateful we had this vacation to give us some breathing room and provide happy memories during a very stressful winter and spring. Also, in hindsight, I can never appreciate enough the time Alex and I got to have a kids-free trip. Life is a roller coaster, and after our April trip, I’m not sure this will ever be able to happen again.



Okay, let’s wrap up this trip!

Because of Alex’s job he gets TSA Pre-check, and he’s allowed to take minors with him through the line. So I pawned all my electronics but my phone off on him and got in the very, very long regular security checkpoint. It was a busy afternoon, taking me over thirty minutes to get to the scanners.

While waiting, there was an officer yelling out to everyone that liquids could stay in bags, and these sweet Brits in front of me were wary. I understood where they were coming from. Back at Heathrow, they were VERY serious about liquids. Not only did they have to be out of your bag, they could only be in the bags provided by the airport. They got mad at me for mine being in a Ziploc. And then I got in trouble because I forgot to add my chapstick to the pile.

They don’t play around at Heathrow.


But you get to keep your shoes on.


Oh, how I miss that part of European airports.



Either way, the Brits in front of me were not trusting this lackadaisical liquid stance. I had a nice chat with them about that, and it helped pass the time.

Meanwhile, the kids and Alex were sitting waiting for me:



Must be nice.




Our flight ended up being delayed by three hours. No need to rush at Disney Springs, I guess. Since Alex wanted to flaunt his easy, peasy TSA pre-check status, we decided to let him go back to the main airport and grab Chick Fil A for dinner.

Sauce packets are less than 2 oz, friends. They clear security.

So if you’re even delayed and want some honey barbecue sauce, Chick Fil A’s got you covered.





I want to type, in no time at all, we got on our flight and landed in England, but on international flights there is, indeed, time.

Lots of time.

Over eight hours of time.


But no matter. We got back home to our beautiful English garden in the summer. (Can you tell I miss that yard? Oh so much.)

And most importantly, we got the Gideon’s cookies home.

They fared great.


This was not the only time we’ve taken Gideon’s with us.

I highly recommend this.




Thank you, friends, for sticking with me as I wrote this long and wordy trip report. It’s so much fun for me to look back on my vacation and reminisce about the highs and lows. My favorite part about this trip was the time with Alex. My least: the heat. It was the worst weather I’ve ever encountered at Walt Disney World, and it makes me not surprised that the parks are so busy this holiday season. It’s becoming harder and harder to travel during the summertime. And yet, we keep finding ourselves there during that period.

Speaking of, I’m not quite sure how I’m going to handle my other trips. I went back to WDW in April, and then all of us were there in June. I go back and forth on whether I’m going to write a report for both, for just one, or just skip them altogether. As my kids get older, I’m becoming more conscious of what I put out on the internet in regards to them. But then again, they get a kick out of reading about the trips and seeing old photos of themselves. So who knows?

For now, I will say again, thank you for reading and following along. If going to Walt Disney World is making magic in the moment, then talking about Disney and sharing stories with you all is keeping the magic alive year round. I appreciate all of you.

 

[alohamom]

I really enjoyed your report, your writing style drew me in and kept me smiling as I read along.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

What a great ending to your trip. Thank you for sharing your magical memories with us

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Thank you for sharing your trip!!

 

[cindianne320]

Love hearing about your trips! Thanks for sharing with us, and Happy New Year! <3

 

[goofygurly]

Awesome report.. I enjoyed reading it!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Brilliant trip report. Thanks for sharing it all with us
Oh and a Happy New Year to you all

 

[suse66]

Thanks for sharing all the fun! I always love your trip reports and feel like I have seen your family grow up over the years. I always love hearing about Evie and Landon's adventures!

 

[rdkeim]

What a wonderful trip and TR! Thank you for sharing - great fun following along. The first of your TR's I remember reading you were pregnant with your DS This trip seemed to have it all - time with your kids, other family and time alone with your DH. Loved the ending with your surprise trip to DS before heading back to England. I really hope you decide to write about at least one of your subsequent trips but understand if you don't. Again, thanks for taking the time to share your Disney adventures and Happy New Year!

 

[piglet1979]

Thanks for sharing. I understand not wanting to share as much about the kids as they get older. I am the same way. I don't put much out on Facebook anymore but I am more open to share here as it feels a bit more anonyms here so I am more abt to share more.

You had a great ending to your trip.