Watson's Very Merry 24 nighter TR. Completed!!

Day 12

We woke up with our alarm at 9am this morning, we were off shopping with Louis today at 10 so we needed to get a move on. We got dressed and as Sy was ready first he headed up to the lounge to get some breakfast, I followed about 5 minutes later but realised I had gone without my magic band so I was locked out of the room and the club lounge - grr! I pulled out my mobile to text Sy to come get me and I see this message...

OH MY FREAKIN' GOD!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhh! I called, I text and he was IGNORING me! Those seconds felt like the longest in my life! After what felt like forever he came to let me in the club lounge gate.

Neil Patrick Harris was still in there having some food so of course I didn't go over like a little fan girl (don't ask me how I managed to hold myself back). We got some food and sat down at a table, it was then that Sy tells me he's already spoken to him! WHAAAT?! The conversation went like this...

Sy: are you mr Neil Patrick Harris?
Neil Patrick Harris: yes I am, are you having a good trip?
Sy: yes we are thanks, we are coming to see you doing the candlelight processional, have a great trip.
Neil Patrick Harris: have a great trip to you.

Gah!! How did I miss this?? Omg!

I took a sneaky picture of him, but I wouldn't bother him cause he was enjoying breakfast in peace, I was waiting for him to finish but then his husband and kids came and I didn't want to disturb family time so I didn't go over, but I was totally gutted I didn't get a picture with him.

I went to grab a drink at one point and overheard 2 CM's saying to one another has no one realised, I stopped and said I had haha, but I didn't want to disturb him. Literally though, not one person went up to him or bothered him which I thought was kinda nice. He went round the parks while he was there so i know he got asked for pictures all the time but least he was able to escape it in the lounge.

With all the hanging around we were doing we were actually a little bit late to go pick up Louis, I did text him to let him know why and he totally understood

We picked up louis and he took us over to the cast member shop, I was sooo excited to go there.

Tbh most of the stuff they were selling was the same stuff in the Disney store in the outlet, apart from the pre loved stuff from the parks and resorts, that was so cool to look around! Some of the stuff was from the old boardwalk rooms while it's going through its refurb. Here are a few pics.

Sy bought a DVC vynalmation and I got a scarf. We then headed to Disney springs where I pretty much killed our spending money hahaha

Sy bought me this little beauty

I didn't know they did this but at about 2pm cast members came out with a book for story time with the kids, omg it was so cool! They were really animated with the children and they were doing all the actions and voices, I'd love that job! Totally should check it out if you have little ones and you're in Disney springs over lunchtime.

We decided to head into Wolfgang puck express for a late lunch at about 3pm. It was yummy while we were sat in there I checked the plans for tonight and then realised we had an ADR in morimoto at 7:30pm, oops! We asked Louis if he wanted to join us as he said it's somewhere he fancied and he said yes

The boys went for the meatloaf sandwich.

I had a cheese pizza (it was quite burnt on the bottom but it was still good)

We headed back to the car and dropped Louis back home and then made our way to AKL. We chatted to the CL CM's for a bit and then dropped our many many bags back to the room. I facetimed Jane for a bit while Sy was in the shower and then I hopped in the shower as well. We got ready to go out and swung by the lounge on the way, just to see what apps they had on offer of course turns out it was my favourite - Durban chicken! Well of course we couldn't miss that so we picked up one each and quickly hoovered it down then made our way to the car and picked up Louis.

We were soon parking up again in Disney springs. We were just on time for our ADR at Morimoto, we asked if it would be OK to add an extra person to our reservation and it was no bother, we were seated right away.

The place is stunning, there's no denying it. Wow wow wow.

Sadly the food didn't match up to the surrounding. Don't get me wrong, it was nice enough but it was VERY expensive for mediocre Chinese food. I have a theory as to why that might be, in the uk we have pretty good Chinese food, in America it's pretty rubbish so this seems amazing in comparison. Morimoto was similar standard of food that we get in the uk but at 3 or 4 times the price. The duck for example is a staple on a uk Chinese menu, you pretty much won't find a Chinese that doesn't do it. We also found the service was a bit lacklustre but maybe our waiter was having an off day. So in summary of you're from the uk I'd skip this one unless you're desperate for real Chinese (in future we will just wait till we get home). Mind you, maybe we will try their street food on one of our next trips?

I got some chicken steamed buns. They had little flavour sadly.

The boys got some of the pork buns which they said were nicer.

Sy got steak in black bean. Order separately for rice. Yikes. It was a large portion though.

We paid the bill and headed back outside. Louis was in the mood for a milkshake so we headed to Ghiardelli, Sy and I passed as we were full. We had another browse in the shops but it was pretty busy in Disney springs tonight so we didn't look for too long. We wandered back towards the car but took a quick detour so the boys could go into D-Street and get their geek on hehehe. I snapped a pic of one of the shop windows, I really loved the way it was decked out all retro.

We then made it back to the car by 10:30pm. We dropped Louis back home and headed home ourselves to AKL.

We were pretty tired after all that shopping today, we were in bed by midnight.

Awwww I hope you're feeling better now! I really do dread getting sick on my holidays it's awful.

Isn't he a beauty! I didn't get a picture of the other beauty though

Glad you're enjoying reading along!

They remind me of like coconut buns we get here. They didn't have a lot of flavour but they were nice, doughy without being too heavy.

Yeah I was puzzled too when I saw them posted online, that's why I wanted to order them. They did something similar last year flower and garden festival and it was way nicer

Day 13

I actually made a bit of a mix up with my trip report notes, I actually haven't made any notes from today whatsoever, I dropped it completely and named the next day's notes Day 13. I only figured this when I went to upload pictures to photobucket and was like hey where did all these pictures come from? I haven't written about these yet but they don't match up to what I've just written about.... I had to scroll through the dates to find out where I'd gone wrong. The upside to this though is that the next instalment is already finished so I'll be uploading it soon!

So in the absence of notes, I know we got up and got breakfast in the lounge. Today was the opening for the Star Wars launch bay so we headed over to HS. Yay. Now I know why I skipped these notes, trying to block it from memory clearly haha. I felt like I was properly dying today so try to ignore my hideous face, I look awful.

Loving the new view when you walk in the park.

We went straight to the launch bay and waited in the massive queue in the awful heat.

It was about 45 mins wait, I was enthralled.

Sy was happy though (good job someone was!).

When we got to the front we were asked if we wanted to see a preview of the new movie or go into the meet and greet, Sy asked if we could do both and she said no so we chose the characters (not realising there would be another hour wait at least for each one once we were inside). When we went in there was total chaos. Lots of CM's but all were 'earning their ears'. Sy was mighty annoyed that the people from the preview came out in the meet and greet area so you could do both after all. He went to mention the misunderstanding to a manager, the girl who said we couldn't do both must have gotten confused (she was another who was earning her ears so easily done). Manager went out to let her know the mishap and said Sy could go into the preview, I took a rain check and headed outside. I was done

Here are a load of pictures most of which I have no idea what they are

I hung outside for about 45 minutes people watching and looking round the little shops at the exit.

Sy came out eventually - I wont lie, I was pretty bored by that time. We went over to watch the Muppets next.

Afterwards we sat for a bit with a drink and a funnel cake

We then made our way over to Toy Story Mania but we stopped on the way as Santa Goofy was out meeting and he had no queue! Couldn't miss that opportunity.

Goofy was so cute, I told him I wasn't feeling very well so he gave me lots of hugs and did a bit of a dance with me.

We said goodbye and then headed off towards TSM.

Sy won of course though we both got a kitty!

It was nearly time for the DVC merry mixer so we hopped on the boat from HS to Epcot. It was really busy on the boat - real hot and sweaty. Not great when I was really feeling rubbish.

By the time we arrived in Epcot the merry mixer had just started so we went straight there where we were met with a queue so long it went from the UK pavilion all the way through Canada and past the pineapple promenade. It was soooo long. People were arriving and changing their mind once they saw the line. To be fair though, the queue went really quickly and we were inside after about 15 minutes. So many people came up to us to ask what we were queue for though.

We papped a quick pic of Alice on our way round the world showcase.

We watched some of the new Canadian band while we were waiting.

We had to show our membership cards as we went in to get our voucher for the DVC Christmas tree ornament. We also were given a little thing to fill in our name for the prize draw. Walking in there were loads of snow machines, very odd in the baking Florida heat haha.

Inside we dropped off our prize draw slip and went to get a treat, there was a choice of cookie or rice crispy treat, I'm not really a fan of either so we got one of each for Sy to try

There was a big dance floor with a DJ, he was playing lots of games with adults as well as kids, I would totally have joined in if I was feeling better. The cast members inside there were so friendly and happy, everyone was really chatty. It was a great atmosphere.

We grabbed a hot chocolate from the drink station and then got in line to meet Donald and Daisy. The queues were pretty massive. While we were in line we were tweeted by someone else in there so she came over to say hello to us while we were waiting.

Donald and Daisy were amazing, they were dancing to the music and playing around with everyone. Big kudos to those guys!

It was soon our turn to meet them and they were fab.

Mickey and Minnie and stitch were also meeting here but I couldn't face another big long queue so we decided we would be skipping those meet and greets. We grabbed a spot to watch the DJ and the games and grabbed another hot chocolate.

There was a stall at the back selling DVC merchandise on sale but there was nothing I wanted to buy so we didn't bother buying anything (probably a good thing I wasn't feeling great or I could have spent a fortune on DVC Dooney bags!).

The prize draw came but sadly we weren't winners, ah well. We stayed for a little while longer before I had to call it a day, I was really flagging and was out of pain killers.

We made our way back towards the international gateway. I couldn't face another hot and sweaty boat trip so I went back to HS via the path and Sy hopped on the boat.

I snapped a pic of the beautiful scenery, the sun starting to set

Luckily Sy gave me the car keys when we split up, as the boat which I thought he was going to be getting on was full, so they sent him over to the beach club dock but the next 2 boats which arrived there were also full which meant he was aaaaages getting back. He did however find time to stop for some pictures....

Really Sy?! I didn't even know about this till I checked our pictures a few days later!! I nearly wet myself laughing when I saw them though hehehehe

We no doubt got some food somewhere but alas, with no notes and no pictures I cannot remember what it was.

Day 14

Woke up quite early but I hadn't slept too well due to someone's snoring... I wonder who that could be... We finally got up and got dressed at 8:45. Breakfast was a quick stop by the lounge, I got my trusty croissants (yes plural - I had 2 - but in my defence they were tiny) and some fruit, Sy went for oatmeal with sultanas and fruit. I think we were both trying to kid ourselves that it was healthy if we had a bit of fruit haha.

We hopped in the car at about 10:30 and made our way to the Florida mall for yet more shopping! I dunno what came over us this trip, we shopped till we dropped which isn't really like us.

Car Selfie

We were going to the mall cause I wanted to visit hot topic, I wanted to look at their Disney things also my parents foster daughter really likes it so I wanted to buy her some Christmas presents in there I also wanted to swing by bath and body works to pick up a few things for me and for a girl back home who had picked me up something for Sy for Christmas so I was returning the favour. We took a trip into the Disney store and got a couple of bits inc a tshirt for Sy and some princess dolls for my niece. We had a mooch around the rest of the mall but didn't buy too much. The malls been done up a fair bit since the last time we were here, the new food court was very swish, it was a shame we weren't hungry when we passed it.

How cute are these shoes from Hot Topic?

We went to leave shortly after lunchtime but just as we were walking out it poured down with rain, dammit! We hung back in the mall for 10 mins waiting for it to pass and once it eased off we made a run for it. We started the drive back to the hotel, as we neared international drive we realised we were close to Popeye's so we thought it would be rude not pop in for a visit. I love their chicken! And the yummy biscuits.

We sat in to eat as it was a bit far to take it back to the hotel. The food was yummy as always. Weirdly I was asked if I wanted my chicken spicy or plain, in all the times I've been there I've never been asked that before. I asked the girl if that was a new thing and she said no! She said they probably took one look at me and gave me the plain - how rude! Hahaha I like a bit of heat I'll have you know but in the end I actually did go for the plain as its all I'd ever had before and I was scared I wouldn't like the spicy as much. I'll be brave and try something else next time, honest.

I had chicken tenders and Sy had his old faithful shrimp po'boy (no pics of Sy's food)

We then headed back to AKL for a nap. We called home quick and then lay down when there was a knock on the door. Sy went to the door and we were greeted with this...

How amazing! We didn't know who they were from or what reason but we were really excited. Later on we spotted a little letter on the floor which had obviously been slipped under the door earlier but we had missed it. It was from Brian.

Yesterday was Brian's birthday so we took him a little something and this was his way of saying thank you! CM's like Brian are what makes Disney so special. I made sure to stop by the front desk when we checked out to let them know what a special guy he was <3

We went to try and find Brian but it seem like he might have been on break, we didn't want to ask as we didn't want to bother him while he was resting. We did find Andrea though and told her about the amazing surprise from him and she passed on how touched we were <3 we ended up chatting to her for about half an hour before heading out (sans nap lol) to Epcot.

We parked up at 5:30 and headed straight in and towards world showcase. We did have a coral reef candlelight processional dinner booked for today but when I was taken poorly a few days before we decided to cancel it, it's a lot of money to pay when I likely couldn't eat much and might not have been well enough. Neil Patrick Harris was the guest narrator and I reallllllly wanted to see him so we were going to queue up and see if we could get in. We got in the longest queue ever, it started moving as they filled the theatre for the 6:30pm showing. We got nearish the front when the theatre was full and then waited there for the 8:15 showing. I know, we were dedicated! Sy got mighty annoyed with the group in front of us, they kept having people join them in the queue, like they started off as 4 people and then another group of adults joined them about half hour before the last showing and then a load more joined them, it wouldn't be so bad but we heard them all introducing themselves to each other so not like they were even travelling together! But when we were finally let into the theatre they were taken to one side and made to wait there till the rest of the line went in. Sy and I were taken right to the front as there were only 2 of us, we were right by all of the dining packages so I was glad we saved the money and made the wait instead.

Taken in the queue

A lovely CM saw us trying to get a selfie and offered to take a picture of us both.

She then took a pic of us all together!

Waiting for the show to start.

The show was amazing, really special. I'm not hugely religious so I wasn't sure what I was going to get out of this show (apart from seeing nph of course) but the singing and music was so special, I had goosebumps constantly! I took a couple of videos and periscoped it a lot for those at home to watch. Nph was so gracious to Disney for having him and his family, he told a couple of little anecdotes about the trip he was having - he certainly does love Disney! He can be one of us

The lady in black n the right there signed the show. She was really special! Was hard not to watch her.

Afterwards we headed out of the park, we decided to head out before the fireworks so we could actually get out, it was really packed round world showcase.

The fireworks going off as we reached the car park.

We were hungry on the way out so we decided to swing by Wendy's and grab a take out to take back to our room.

We had a little friend outside having a lay down.

We were in bed by 11:30pm

Oh I totally would have bought it all if I could have. Damn plane getting in the way, if only we could drive.... Hehehe

Awww thank you! I felt rank, I tried to plaster on some make up and a smile but some of the pictures, well there's a reason they didn't get uploaded haha

That looks yummy! I don't know really, you may love it there. I think it's just very close to uk Chinese food but heaps more expensive lol the pork ones I'm told have more flavour than the chicken so hopefully you will go with low expectations and be surprised

And cm gifts, we just brought lots and lots of British chocolates, a crazy amount really hahaha I like spreading the love. I've already started buying for our trip in 7 weeks

We got the same seats as the people who had paid for the package, I was glad we saved the money lol. That selfie was awesome, she was another brilliant CM, I'm making little thank you notes for our trip next month for people like her

Day 15

We woke up 9am, pottered around in the room for a bit getting dressed and headed to the club lounge for breakfast at 10.

We headed out to AK at 11, it was quite chilly today so we each took our hoodies, but of course Sy still wore his shorts hehe. It was really quite cold in the shade when the wind blew, I was almost sad I didn't wear a thicker hoodie.

First up we went to the new Harambe area and had a look around, it hadn't long opened and we fancied seeing what it was like.

We then went for a walk around the Pengale Trail to see some animals can't beat a bit of animal spotting if you ask me!

I think he was showing us his best side....

Emma, Scott and Mason were in AK today as well and we had planned to meet up, we met them at Yak and Yeti counter service as it was now lunchtime. We hadn't long had breakfast so decided not to get anything, we just chatted while they ate.

I got a cuddle

We all had a Fastpass for the Lion King at 1pm so that's where we headed to right after. Mason decided he wanted to sit with me to watch most of the show <3<3<3<3 amazing!! I hated every second of course hahaha (I'm lying) he loved the show, though he was more interested in the giraffe on one of the floats than what was going on in the show hehe. He was dancing away to the music though, sooooo cute!

Everest was next, the boys went on first, they were supposed to get a child swap ticket but they forgot so Emma and I didn't ride (I'm not a huge fan of the backwards bit so this was fine by me but Emma was a bit bummed!).

Loving the photo guys

We went to ride Dinosaur next with our Fastpass but it was down We could use the Fastpass on anything else so we went to Primeval Hurl (whirl) instead. Mason and I sat this one out haha. Though sadly for me he slept the whole time no cuddles for me! I toyed with pinching him and waking him up for cuddles but I thought that might be a little too mean....

The boys decided to be super cool and pose for a picture hahaha

Sy and I were feeling a little peckish by now and we knew right next to us was where we wanted to grab a snack... We wanted to try the new chicken waffle sandwich which we read about before our trip.

It sadly wasn't as good as we hoped, the chicken waffle from sleepy hollow (RiP) was still the winner. I didn't like the blue cheese sauce on it. The chicken and the waffle were good still but it was hot without much sweetness to it. I'd have it again though.

Mason was still napping so we went for a walk around the margaragi trek to see more animals.

With Mason awake we decided to go meet Baloo and King Louis. They were so awesome with him! He was a little bit in love with them too <3

Afterwards it was time for our final Fastpass, meet Mickey and Minnie. Another wonderful meet and greet. Mason was all about Mickey. Loving their Christmas outfits

It was now dinner time! Woohoo! Tonight we were eating in Yak and Yeti! Yummy.

It was fffffffreezing inside there. Burrrr. They sat us on a table for about 10 people so we were all sitting miles from each other, was very odd lol. The place was half empty so not sure why they decided to sit us there.

I decided to go for sweet and sour chicken (hold the veg), though Emma went for the tikka masala and I'm totally gonna go for that next time, I had some serious food envy!

Sy went for steak and shrimp, it was as good as he remembered.

Of course I had to save room for mango pie hehehe let's face it, I could skip an entree and just have dessert in this place hehehehe

We paid up and made our way out, the park had closed while we were in there so it was completely empty when we were walking out, it felt really weird to be in AK after dark! Better get used to that though with the new rivers of light. We stopped to get some pics on the way in front of the tree.

We said goodbye and headed back to AKL to drop off the car and get changed.

Emma and Scott picked us up at 8:20 to go over to BLT, we were heading up to TOTWL to watch the fireworks. We were surprised when we got there that there were no seats inside at all :-/ so we had to sit outside in the cold waiting for them to start. Gah! It was raining too but we were sheltered luckily. Mason was bundled up in a blanket to keep him warm but he was getting a little bit bored (can't blame him, I think we all were!), but luckily the fireworks started soon after and the rain even stopped for us, woohoo!

It was the Christmas party fireworks today, I was still a bit underwhelmed by them but the ending is pretty amazing. Mason loved watching them.

As soon as they finished we made our way inside to the lift, only to be met with a massive queue - of course everyone was leaving at the same time. I didn't think about there being a queue to leave, in all the times we've been here for the fireworks we've never left right after. Mason fell asleep in the queue but there were a few kids who could have done with going to sleep as well, they were seriously not happy lol.

Back at the hotel I did some washing as we were running out of underwear - oops! And then bed about midnight.

Day 16

We were up at 9:30 today, we grabbed a quick breakfast and hopped in the car by 10:30. A few nights ago during Black Friday weekend Sy and I bought annual passes for Seaworld and Aquatica BOGOF so we wanted to get a day out of them

I know Seaworld is a contentious subject. I understand people have strong views but please dont tell me to watch Blackfish, I actually have. I then spent a *lot* of time researching and made up my own mind on how I feel and I've chosen to continue supporting Seaworld. I won't go into it and preach to you dear reader about why because let's face it, we are all adults and capable of doing our research and making up our own minds. Just wanted to put that out there before I carry on with the report. Anyway, back to the report.

We arrived at 11am, as we hadn't yet picked up our annual passes I wasn't sure if we would have to pay for parking however a quick show of the confirmation email and we were shown straight through. The passes were pretty easy to pick up, we just went to a machine, scanned the online ticket and out popped 2 annual passes easy peasy!

Pic of Sy once we were inside

First up we went over to the dolphin nursery <3 the babies were really showing off for us! Posing and playing around, sooooo cute!

Our first show of the day was One Ocean. We were quite early so we got a seat near the camera, hopefully far back enough to escape the soaking. (We were thankfully!)

As always, I got teary. Such beautiful creatures. The love those trainers have for them

I took a million pictures.

Sy found a soft toy Orca outside which we bought for his sister for Christmas

Next show of the day was the Clyde and Seamore show. This was the first time I've seen this show since its been changed. It's funny but I agree with the general feeling that it's just not as good as the old show.

We were getting quite hungry now so we went in search of some food, we went into the place in Antartica, we decided to share a meal as they were really big portions. We went for fried chicken with biscuits and fries. Yum.

The next show of the day was Blue Horizons. Part of the show wasn't working which we were told at the beginning, however because of this the Dolphins didn't really get what was going on hahaha they just jumped around doing stuff when they weren't meant to and then not understanding when they did want them to do stuff... Oops! Even the birds were put off, they wouldn't land etc, one of the parrots sat in the tree for ages and wouldn't come down. Was all a bit of a mess hahaha

We then for a look around the manatees and then went to watch Turtle Trek, I hadn't done this before, even though we weren't moving it made me feel sick lol I had to close my eyes. I then of course started to nod off haha

Outside we bumped into my friend Michelle's family so we stopped to say hello for a few mins.

We walked around to the Dolphins, we stood in the under water viewing area for a while watching them playing. Sadly you can't really get very close to them on top anymore but for the feeding areas. Bit of a shame but I think it was the right way to go.

Next up was stingray feeding - aka my favourite part of the day I could spend alllllll of my money feeding those beautiful fishies. Love love love it.

I love the guy watching Sy in this one, watching with such intent

Uh oh. Sy had an accident....

The Christmas village opened at 5pm so we hung around and went in as soon as the doors opened.

It was very cute to walk around but it totally felt weird being so warm and seeing it all Christmassy and Carol singers etc.

We walked over to wild Arctic, the usual helicopter ride motion simulator had been switched for the holidays and it was now showing the Polar Express. I wimped out and left Sy to ride it on his own while I went in and watched the stationary version, where I almost fell asleep again, oops hahaha.

It was all Christmassy inside.

I watched the beluga whales while I waited for Sy to finish in the extreme version.

There are now seals where the polar bear used to be, a nice addition!

We headed back outside where it was now dark, we had another walk through the Christmas village, it was better in the dark and now it was cooler out it felt more real.

We were feeling peckish so Sy got a bratwurst and I got some fries, we sat and watched the band play and then it was time for the tree lighting show, that was very cute.

We wanted to watch the Christmas ice dancers show so we hung around for a bit watching them practice but the ice wouldn't stay melted which is dangerous. We were chatting to a member of staff who said it most likely wouldn't go ahead as it was so watery, boohoo! We gave up waiting after about an hour as it was actually pretty cold with the wind blowing. We vowed to come back before going home to watch it, which of course we didn't follow through with!

We made our way out and back to the hotel, we were both fffffffrozen.

We showered and got changed into warmer clothes and then headed out to find some dinner.

We decided on outback as it was nearby and we were both shattered.

I went for chicken breast with baked potato while Sy went for his favourite, steak and coconut shrimp. I was even too tired for a wallaby darned!

We skipped desserts, paid up and made our way back home where we promptly fell into bed.

Ah thank you Ken! I love a photo heavy trip report so I always take a million

Day 17

We set our alarm for 8:30 this morning as we were heading into MK to meet up with Emma, Scott and Mason and Carrie and her mum Betty. They were all going for an early breakfast but we were meeting them mid morning.

We grabbed a quick breakfast on our way out, croissants on the go we were running later than we wanted so we went to valet park at the Poly with the hope it would be a bit quicker. Sadly though we were mistaken. We headed out to catch the resort boat and were met with a mahoosive queue, it was all the way down the boardwalk, it must have been at least 3 full boat loads of people, and the trouble is that it stops at the grand Floridian first so every time it arrived there was no space. We said we were going to try the monorail only to find out it was down.... So that's why the big queues! We thought the big ferry from TTC would be better so we went there instead. Oh boy. It wasn't good. We waited for an absolute age, headed like cattle in the heat. We finally arrived out the front of MK by 11:15. 90 minutes after we arrived at the poly.

We went through the gates of MK and went to say a quick hello to Louis who was working, and then went through to find the others who were over in Tomorrowland.

We stopped on Main Street to get a couple of pics.

Our first Fastpass was for Buzz. Mason was still sleeping so Emma and Scott sat this ride out.

Unfortunately the ride broke down while we were on it. It properly broke down, the lights on, railings up, guns switched off and everything. Annoyingly this was just after I hit the top score! Gah! I did manage to get a picture before it was wiped though.

Pics of us with the lights up.

Mason was having his hair cut at 1pm so we wandered down Main Street to the barbers.

We passed the mayor on the way so we all grabbed a selfie with him.

We were a little early for Mason's haircut so we had to wait for awhile but we caught the end of the move it parade going by....

Was actually a cute place to watch it from as it was really quiet. I remembered this later in the trip for another parade

It was then time for Mason to get his hair cut. We pottered about outside taking pics and then Carrie went inside to take some pics of him getting his cut.

We went to find some lunch next, the boys had decided they wanted hot dogs from Casey's and us girls went to get baked potatoes from Liberty market. On our way over we saw Mary Poppins just walking around the new Wishes Fastpass area, no wait to meet her or anything! So we stopped to say hello. Carrie had been having a cuddle with Mason so they went to say hello first while we all took pictures, he wasn't convinced by her lol.

We then all grabbed a picture.

Back on our way to liberty market to grab food. Sadly they were out of potatoes, Emma grabbed Mason some corn though so it wasn't a wasted journey over there. We decided to get chicken waffles from sleepy hollow instead. I'm glad we did now too as they've stopped doing them Seriously Disney sort it out, everyone loves those things! We grabbed a big table and luckily spotted the boys as they were walking back so called them over.

Lunch was good, everyone was full and happy. Afterwards Emma was wiping up Mason with baby wipes so I joined in with my baby...

Hahahahahahahahahaha I do love that man, he makes me laugh all the time.

We were off to ride Splash next but it was almost time for the parade so we got a spot in frontierland. Sy nudged me and said he thought there was something wrong with his face after the baby wipes.... Omg! He was Scarlett red! I panicked and envisaged a trip to a&e. He went to the bathroom to wash it off and the pain immediately started to wear off and the red started to subside. Turns out those baby wipes didn't agree with him....

This was him after he washed his face and it started to wear off.

Yikes.

We moved to the other side to watch the parade as there was room at the front for Mason to see.

Mason loved it! I took a lot of pics...

When it had finished we carried on our way to Splash. Carrie and her mum didn't want to ride so they stayed with Mason. We made the boys go in the front cause we didn't want to get too wet hehe. Poor boys hehehe

We then went to ride Pirates. This was another Fastpass so we didn't have long to wait at all. It was nice to be able to ride something all together.

Pics outside.

Afterwards we decided to say goodbye for now, it was 5pm and I was feeling a bit icky and needed a rest. We got the boat back to the poly and grabbed our car before heading back to AKL.

Back in the room we showered and got changed into warm clothes and then headed to the club lounge, it was Andrea's last day before she moved over to Disney Springs guest services so we wanted to say goodbye. We chatted for a little bit and tried to grab some pictures, the first was Brian's attempt lol

So we tried to get a selfie of us all together. It kinda worked the second time.

We ended up chatting longer than we intended so we didn't really have time for a rest, instead we headed back to magic kingdom.

Carrie and Betty were just getting ready to leave as we arrived so we said goodbye near talking Mickey. We grabbed a couple of pictures.

Tonight we had another ADR for Be Our Guest (check the night before people!). We checked in early and asked for shelly as our server. They did say it would be a short wait however 40 minutes went by and no one came to get us so we went to ask if we had been forgotten :-/ it was only about a five minute wait after that.

We had to pose with lumiere when we sat down...

Shelly was really pleased to see us and we chatted for ages. It was absolutely freezing inside there, even Sy was cold and that man lives in shorts all year round at home. That wasn't doing my tummy any favours and I started to feel poorly boo!

I had the same as the last time we were here chicken and chips LOL, Sy decided to go for the pork.

Shelly took a little while getting us the truffle mayo so she brought more fries in case ours had gone cold. The food was as yummy as before

We left just as wishes was going off overhead. Outside I started to feel a little better as it was warmer, we did start walking to the park exit but we stopped by Casey's to watch Celebrate the Magic. Love that show! <3 it makes me all teary and goosebumpy.

We walked further down Main Street towards the exit and then grabbed a spot to watch the Main Street Electrical Parade.

We left right after and made our way back to the hotel. We were totally beat! Straight to bed for us

Day 18

We woke up at about 9AM, we pottered around in the room and got dressed ready for Narcoossees brunch this morning.

We stopped downstairs in the lobby for a few pictures of us looking smart.

We left the hotel at 10 and made our way over to the Grand Floridian where we valet parked, Richard stopped us on the way in to chat to us <3 he told me I looked really pretty, like a garden. Like a real lady <3 awwwww love him!

I grabbed a quick pic.

And a quick selfie

We then practically ran to Narcoossees as we were now late for our reservation - doh! We arrived 10 minutes late but it wasn't a problem. We waited around in the lobby for a few minutes before we were shown to a window table, yay!

The place was more than half empty, maybe cause it was still very new or maybe it was the high cost price? Who knows.

Considering it was a posh restaurant with a dress code I was surprised to see people wearing sports tops and shorts. Most people were a little more dressed up though so we weren't out of place, it was just a bit weird...

Our server was Rita from Morocco. I dunno if I'm getting a theme from all of the signature places we've been to - yachtsmans, California grill and now Narcoossees - but all of the servers have been really disinterested. There's not really been anything wrong with them, and certainly nothing I would complain about but they've just been really standoffish and cold. If I was reading someone else saying this I would think that maybe they just aren't suited to signature dining hahaha (bad Robyn) but I don't think that's us in this case. We do visit some fine dining places outside of WDW so we have reasonable expectations I would say. Maybe we've just been really unlucky? There was nothing wrong with our service from Rita, but there were no pleasantries or chatting and if youve met us, you know we are natterers!

The food was amazing though and even though it's pricey, it's something we will definitely do again (we did have it booked for May but then there was a DVC brunch advertised so we swapped to that as its a one off and we will try it again in November).

To begin we were given a basket of fresh baked pastries with butter and preserves.

I went for a mimosa (Buck's Fizz for the British readers haha) and Sy got a glass of the sparkling wine. Sy actually drank most of mine as well as his as I'm not a huge wine drinker.

Sy also got some fresh coffee

To start I had the salad while Sy went for French onion soup. Both were yummy.

Sy decided to go for the steak and eggs which came with the most amazing home made fries.

When I ordered the French toast I asked if it was able to be made without the banana and when it arrived I actually had none of the topping, no caramelised apple which was a bummer it was just a bit of French toast and not much else. So I did something I never normally do and decided to ask Rita if I could swap it for something else a bit more exciting. I didn't actually have to ask as it turns out as she noticed me not eating it and asked if she could swap it for something else. I did say I didn't realise by asking for no banana I wasn't going to get any of it. I decided to have a croque Madame instead which was lovely.

We then got 3 desserts to share with a solid white chocolate Minnie Mouse.

Valencia orange cake

Lemon and black current cheesecake

Chocolate layer cake

We paid the eye watering bill lol and made our way back through the grounds towards the main building. It was a gorgeous day outside so it was nice to walk slowly this time taking in our surroundings after running on the way there.

We stopped in the lobby to have a look at the Gingerbread house again, as nice as the smell is I would be soooo sick of it if I worked there. It was really strong!

We headed out front to pick up the car from valet. We grabbed a quick pic while we waited.

We hopped in the car and headed back to our hotel. I was still knackered from the day before and full of food so I climbed into bed for a nap, I wasn't feeling great either so I knew sleep would help. I went to put the tv on but it wasn't working properly it had been playing up since we arrived but it had now become unwatchable so Sy called down to maintenance. The guy came up to try and fix it but nothing was working, instead he went and got a brand new one and installed it. That took a while but i managed to stay awake till he was finished and I then had a few hours sleep.

Woke up mid afternoon and got ready to go for an early dinner at Longhorns. Tonight we were meeting up with our friend Vicki who now lives out in Orlando (not jealous not jealous...) and her gorgeous kiddies. We chatted so much the waiter came about 3 times to see if we were ready to order, whoops!

Sy of course went for his usual outlaw ribeye. I was still feeling poorly so went with just a side of baked potato as I was scared to eat too much.

We paid up and headed to Vicki's house for more chatting. A quick stop in publix on the way though to get the kids some bread for sandwiches to take to school, gotta be fresh bread as the long life stuff is rank (sorry Americans but seriously, what the heck is wrong with your bread?! Why does it need sugar in it? )

Vicki's house was gorgeous, we spent quite a while chatting - we probably outstayed our welcome seeing as she had to get up crazy early to get the kids ready for school. We headed back to the hotel at about 11:30 we finally got into bed at 1am.