Miss Mikki - November 2013 - Trip Report - FINALLY COMPLETE!!!

Justin's Photo Diary - Justin was a big fan of the towel animals and other objects that Mousekeeping crafted in our room. We are saying nothing about the other photo!

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Day Ten - Tuesday 12th November

We had a leisurely breakfast of fruit and cereal on our balcony. I gave my dad a call as it was his birthday today.

We took the bus to Downtown Disney. I browsed around the shops while Dave checked out Disney Quest. We met at Raglan Road at 1pm. I had a beer, Dave had a Guinness and we split an appetizer of chicken wings (they are really good) while sitting at the bar. Then I took Dave to the animation shop to show him the print I wanted to buy (Happily Ever After - David Doss). We bought the print.

Next we checked out the Lava Lounge at the Rainforest Cafe for Cocktails. I had a Mai Tai and Dave had a Long Island Iced Tea. We liked this bar, friendly service and nice to be able to sit outside.

After our cocktails we went to Wolfgang Puck Express and got some food to take back to our villa to eat on the balcony for late lunch. I had the roasted Turkey Sandwich and Dave had Spaghetti and Meatballs. Both were excellent.

Later that afternoon we headed to the Magic Kingdom. The MK was the busiest I have ever experienced (and I have been at Christmas and high summer) Every land was packed with people. We could hardly walk for the crowds. It was truly crazy! We had three fast passes (pirates, big thunder and jungle cruise). We managed the first two but there was a huge queue for the FP return to jungle cruise so we didn't bother, which was a shame because I wanted to see the Christmas additions to the ride.

We managed to find a nice little spot in Liberty Square to watch the electrical parade, near to the disabled area. It wasn't the best view but it was set back from the main thoroughfare so we were away from being jostled by the crowds trying to get from place to place.

I thought the crowds may ease off after the parade, but no such luck. Just trying to get to Main Street for Wishes was difficult. When we got to Main Street, there was no choice of where to stand, it was just packed! We somehow ended up in the middle of Main Street purely by chance/luck as we had to move with the crowd. Dave does not like crowds so I think he would have just abandoned the park at this point but for two things. Firstly, I am not sure we could have got out of the park at this moment even if we had wanted to and secondly, I pointed out that if we didn't see wishes that evening then we would have to come back and do it on another evening and did he really want to do this again! I don't mind crowds so much as I have seen most things in Disney before so I don't need a perfect view and I like the atmosphere when there are lots of people around but this was too busy.

Anyway, I looked up and saw the castle dripping in icicle lights and although I have seen it so many times before, it just took my breath away and brought (another) tear to my eye. As wishes began, as if by magic, the crowd seemed to become still and calm and everyone watched the fireworks in unity.

We left the park after the fireworks and took the bus back to OKW. We had planned to eat QS in MK but it had just been too busy. We went to Goods to Go but it was closed. So we got the bus to DTD and went to EOS where we got Soup (tomato and chicken noodle) and sandwiches (Ham & Cheese and Italian) with our QS credits. By the time we got back to OKW with our food it was after 11pm. So it was a bit of a midnight feast!

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Sorry - I have been missing in action! Lots going on - medical and weather related. All sorted now.

Day 11 - Wednesday 13th November

This morning we had a quick breakfast at the villa and then set off in the car to visit the Florida Mall.

We went through Kissimmee and missed the turning for Orange Blossom Trail, so we looped back and took a detour to Old Town where we enjoyed having a wander round. I will always like Old Town but it is a bit run down now compared with how it used to be in the 1990's which is such a shame.

After picking up an attractions map we found the Florida Mall with no problem. When I was a child, we didn't have any shopping Malls near us so the Florida Mall was a really special adventure for us. We now have similar shopping centres and a lot of the same shops and brands so it wasn't quite as exciting as it used to be. I tried to find some merchandise that we can't get at home. Gymboree was having a really good discount sale so I got an adorable outfit for my niece for Christmas. I don't remember seeing this brand in the UK. I also picked up some fun stocking filler Christmas gifts at M&M world. For lunch we picked up some oriental food at the food hall. I can't remember exactly what I had - some kind of stir fry with chicken and lots of veg with rice. It was good.

We drove back to the villa and had a quick change. Then we took the bus to Epcot. We had an ADR at Cape May Cafe for the Clam bake and I had arranged it so that we could ride Soarin' on our way through the park (via FP+). This worked perfectly, a nice stroll through Epcot in the early evening with a stop off at Soarin'. So we exited out of International Gateway and walked to the Yacht and Beach Club. Now, neither Dave or I are generally fans of buffets or family style dining, so I had taken a bit of a punt in making this reservation. I can't say enough good things about the Clam Bake. The food was great and varied, the service was great. The buffet never got too crowded or messy. I even found a dessert that I liked (Strawberry Shortcake!). This was my favourite dining experience of the vacation and I would definitely go back. After dinner we had a walk around the Boardwalk and then a taxi back to OKW.

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Thank you Amy, more trip report coming soon!

Day 12 - Thursday 14th November

OK, so today was Dave's special day where I let him chose everything we did that day (and, yes the other 14 days were mine! ). I was really, really surprised when he chose the Magic Kingdom as our first stop of the day. The plan was to ride the three mountains. Dave's second choice was to have a Chilli Dog for breakfast!!! We headed to Cosmic Rays. I just had a coffee as I had a secret plan to go to Colombia Harbour House for lunch. We headed over to BTM but it was not running. The CM was very helpful and gave us a list of other attractions we could use our FP on. We chose SpaceM. The Magic Bands are so clever. SpaceM accepted our BTM FP+ time and knew we had already used it when we decided to test the technology and see if it would work at BTM later when it re-opened. Next stop was SplashM. Then we went to CHH so that I could get the lobster roll. We sat upstairs, it was lovely and quiet. As we were on the QS dining plan and had lots of meals left, we also got the hummus sandwich to try. There are very few sweet things that I get really excited about, but as a dessert was included I got the peach cobbler. It was amazing! I would head back to CHH just for the cobbler! This was one of my favourite QS meals and Cosmic Rays was one of Dave's favourites.

Dave's next plan was to leave the MK and take the boat to Wilderness Lodge. We had a good look around and then we walked the nature trail to Fort Wilderness. I think it was Buffalo Bill that gave us the hint to do this (Thank you - we loved it). We were the only humans on the trail. It was so beautiful and peaceful. We saw deer and squirrels. We explored Fort Wilderness and then took the boat to the Contemporary. Dave likes taking the boats around Disney so I was not surprised that he had chosen this as part of his day. Once at the Contemporary we went into the Wave. Dave had a long Island Iced Tea and I had a Kona beer. Then we took the monorail to the Tambu lounge at the Poly. We ordered two Zombies - I am not sure these are on the menu anymore, but it is tradition. I have been drinking these since I was 12 years old at the Poly - but that is another story! Most of the bartenders still know how to make them. We chatted to a great guy called Harry at the bar. Then we headed to Mizner's lounge at the Grand Floridian to finish our Monorail Crawl with a third drink. Before we went to the bar we explored the GF, listened to the lovely live music and saw the gingerbread house. We had our wedding champagne and cake reception on the balcony at the GF in 2011. There was no event on the balcony and the door was unlocked... so we headed out and took a few pictures and reminisced about our lovely Disney wedding day.

Now, as you have probably gathered from my trip report to date, Dave and I love an adult beverage or two. I sometimes get a little chatty and tipsy but never really drunk. I had only had one beer and one cocktail and done lots of exploring in between. For some reason, I decided to have a gin martini in Mizners (Dave had a Mojito). It seemed to go with the ambience and elegance of the place. OMG! It felt like someone had injected pixie dust straight into my veins! For a few minutes, I felt the best I had ever felt in my life! After our drinks we decided to end the evening in DTD. On the way out of the GF, I got talking to an eccentric lady who was dressed suitably for the GF in the 1900's and had a shopping bag on wheels full of Teddy bears that she referred to as her children. It should have been a warning sign that I did not in any way find this odd! There is an electronic display at the GF bus stop that says how long it will be until the next bus. It was stating 40 minutes for DTD so Dave grabbed us a cab.

Once at DTD, we sat outside at our favourite little bar outside Bongos. Dave got another Long Island Iced Tea and bought me a glass of white wine. He gave it to me and then said. "I don't think this is a good idea". Apparently my eyes were glazed and yes, I am very sorry, but I was definitely drunk in Disney (but very well behaved - I promise). So he took the wine off me and drunk it after his LIIT while I had a water. You can see where this is going can't you!

Anyway, we went to our favourite QS - Wolfgang Puck's in the Marketplace and got food to take back to OKW. I had the Chicken Alfredo and Dave had the Spaghetti and Meatballs. The food was outstanding again. We ate it on our balcony. It had been a great day.

Some photos of the Wilderness Lodge to Fort Wilderness trail and GF

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Day 13 - Friday 15th November

So, Dave wasn't feeling too well this morning (Mmm couldn't be anything to do with finishing my wine after his cocktail could it? ) I was feeling great luckily. I decided to take the bus solo to the MK and leave Dave to chill out at the apartment. First, I got the connecting boat to the GF. I went to the Gasparilla Grill for breakfast. I had Mickey waffles, bacon and apple juice and sat at an outside table with a castle view. It was really lovely. I went to the MK and did some Christmas gift shopping. I also went on the people mover and the Swiss family treehouse and caught some of the castle show and Main Street citizens. I always really enjoy doing things in Disney on my own at my own pace. You notice so much more of the detailing when you are on your own. I got the bus back, Dave was feeling a lot better so we drove to Coronado Springs to have a look around. The flowers in the grounds were stunning. We got Aztec burgers as a late lunch. The system for ordering food at the QS food hall is beyond confusing, but I won't go into here. We got our burgers in the end! We went to Hollywood Studios in the evening. We were going to watch fantasmic but it was raining heavily so we cancelled our FPs. We went on the Rock and Roller Coaster which we both love. The rain had stopped so we went to the Osborne lights which is one of my all time favourite Disney experiences. I noted that the wait for TSM was 85 minutes. We finished off the night sitting at the bar outside the Brown Derby and having (one) glass of wine. I really liked the bar here.

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Day 14 - Saturday 16th November

This morning we visited AK. We had FP+ for Kali River Rapids, Everest and Dinosaur. We absolutely fell in love with Dinoland which I have not paid much attention to previously. We loved the 1950's diner feel and the Christmas music. We went on tricetora tops and primeval whirl. As soon as the ride started up, I thought I had made a mistake because Dave has a bad back and this ride really jolts you around. So, I said to Dave "Is your back OK?" He said that strangely the jolt seemed to click something back into place! He has not complained of back pain since! By the time we came out of Dinosaur it was raining heavily. We picked up some African Flatbreads for brunch. They would have been nice but we couldn't find anywhere sheltered to eat them we ended up abandoning them and just getting some hot coffee as we were feeling chilled and walked out of the park drinking it. We got back to OKW and got into warm, dry clothes.

When the weather improved we went to Epcot. After a quick visit to Club Cool to try the Beverley (I liked it, it just tasted like tonic water to me) we went to World Showcase. It seemed really empty and sad after the bustle of the food and wine festival. We still had lots of QS meals left so we just snacked around World Showcase. We had egg rolls in China, shared a bratwurst in Germany, a chilli cheese dog and apple blossom (another dessert I liked) in USA and some Mediterranean sliders in Morocco. We headed out through Future World with a visit to innoventions.

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Day 15 - Sunday 17th November

Today was our last full day and night. I drove to DTD. We had no problem parking. We had breakfast at Wolfgang Puck Express. Dave had an omelette and I had an American breakfast. We did some Christmas shopping. Then I drove to Walmart to buy an extra suitcase as we had bought more Christmas gifts than would fit in our original luggage. We also bought some gifts in Walmart as they had a lot of interesting things that we can't get in the UK. We returned to OKW resort. It was a beautiful day so we went to the quiet pool for some sunbathing and swimming. After a rest back at the villa, we got the boat to DTD. We did some more shopping. We visited our favourite little bar outside bongos for one last time. We went to Raglan Road for their amazing chicken wings. We had a cocktail in the lava lounge and then we treated ourselves to dinner at House of Blues which is one of our favourites. We had Quesedilla as a shared appetizer, voodoo shrimp and Ribs for main. We got the boat back to OKW.

Day 16 - Monday 18th November

We got up early and packed which was quite a chore as we had made ourselves at home for 15 days and collected so many souvenirs and gifts. Thank goodness for the extra suitcase and even then I only just managed to get everything in! We checked out and then took the car back to Budget at Doubletrees. We walked from there to DTD where we had brunch at Wolfgang Puck Express. I had a Turkey Club. We left Disney with 14 QS meals unused! We took the boat back to OKW.

Then it was Magical Express to MCO. We went up to the airport lounge and when it came time to go to the gate we were escorted by a kind of concierge to the gate with another couple who were also in the lounge and then I realised that it was David Moyes (Manager of Manchester United at the time). People were stopping him asking for autographs. We were chatting to him as we were escorted to the gate (not too much though as we are die hard Liverpool supporters!)

So, we say goodbye to Disney, Orlando and Florida after the most amazing trip. It would be sad but.... We are coming back in July. Pre-trip report coming soon!

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Thank you so much to everyone for reading my trip report.

As promised, here is a photo of Justin wearing his souvenir hat from the Mexican pavilion.

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