Feeling Stressed

by mkingdon, posted in mkingdon

I was inundated with a comment recently asking if I still did the Mustard thing. That isn’t some deviant food-based kink, but instead, a band that I have played bass guitar in for almost a decade now. I do and we’ve also started a Pink tribute, so now I gig in both lineups.

For someone of my incredibly average musical abilities, I enjoy playing live and just about manage to keep up with the other members who are much more talented than I am.

Despite playing quite a few gigs each year, I rarely go to any. The reason for that is that most of my gigs are on the nights I would typically go to watch one, but also, it has to be a special gig to tempt me into the palaver of all the traffic, parking and expense involved now in seeing a “proper famous band” at a large venue. I’m not sure The Feeling qualifies as one of those, but the palaver was still decent. When you almost spend as much time getting out of the car park as you did at the gig something isn’t quite right.

I could at this point, spend a while asking how Disney can disperse tens of thousands of vehicles out of one exit seamlessly and yet a multi-story in Manchester is in gridlock from 10.30 till midnight. I won’t do that though.

Despite all those trepidations, Louise and I made the effort last night. We went to watch The Feeling at the Albert Halls in Manchester. I will include a humble brag at this point, that I too have played that venue with Mustard. Granted it was a Thursday night at some Architects awards bash and the audience was a little less interested in us, but still I’m claiming it. It is genuinely awesome to play venues like that as they have incredible gear and top professional sound guys who make you sound fantastic and take away all the stress.

Anyway, The Feeling is a band that both Louise and I really like. They are the perfect blend of catchy pop tunes, great musicianship and consistency. It was a great gig.

Away from Rock ‘n roll, I have continued to eat less than I would normally and have shed a pound or so more. If I keep this up over the next two weeks I should have bought enough runway to eat what I like on my hols so that I return only as fat as I was a few weeks ago, staring down the barrel of having to lose it all over again at some point.

I am cursed with a metabolism so slow it is a wonder I continue to exist and I only have to look at food on the internet and I put weight on. It is a constant struggle and if I were to ever meet a Genie and get three wishes, one of mine would be to be able to eat whatever I liked but remain at my ideal BMI, which I don’t think I have ever been in all my years on this planet.

Anyway, we’ll be going away whatever weight I am and the cases are out now and safely stowed in a spare room until the packing commences whenever Louise gets around to it. I shall be summoned to try on and select the stuff I want to take and we’ll both say we won’t take a lot of stuff but inevitably overpack and carry a load of clothes both ways over the Atlantic having not worn them.

I am of course ready for the break. I always say that and of course were we not lucky enough to be able to have this booked I am sure I would survive without it, but some time away from the stresses of daily life will be lovely.

The latest thing that I was over-anxious about was a leak in our house last week. Louise spotted a wall in the utility looking damp and after a lot of moving stuff around and swearing, it looked like the outside tap on the other side of the wall must be leaking within the cavity between the stonework and the internal wall.

There was no chance of me getting to it and of course there was no isolation switch fitted on that outside tap so we sat with the water off completely for most of Friday waiting for the plumber to come and attend to what was a quick job for anyone less incompetent. When you need someone to come out quickly, the quality of their work is often the sacrifice and whilst he did indeed disconnect the suspected pipe, charging me what he did for literally 30 seconds of work upset me both financially and from the point of view that was I even slightly competent, I could have done that myself. Anywho, he will never darken our door again.

On Saturday I noticed that the wall was still wet and indeed the issue was not resolved. I spent most of the morning trying to diagnose what the hell was happening, whilst messaging our regular plumber who has agreed to come out asap next week to have a look. The problem may be located in the ceiling above it. These things stress me out more than I can tell you, as my brain defaults to worst-case scenario mode and I have visions of re-plastering and endless damage as a result of any fix, not to mention the expense. These fears are always based on a complete lack of knowledge of these matters and at times like these I miss my Dad’s advice and personal black book of any tradesman you could ever require. He had golfed with every trade on the planet.

As you will know from my well-documented roof struggles a few months ago, nothing stresses me out more than water getting into the house where it shouldn’t be. By the way, in the end, I went up on the roof (I was terrified) and fixed the issue. Well, water is no longer coming in. How permanent that fix will be, who knows.

Hopefully, I will bring you a post about how silly I was to be worrying about it all next week.

Enjoy the sun.

Till the next time…….

Hollywood Smile

by mkingdon, posted in Uncategorized

I don’t know how your week went, but as mine ended, I had to endure the dentists. I’d been for my check-up a few weeks ago and was told that as I am old and closing in on death, my gums are giving up and all my teeth will imminently fall out.

OK, I may be exaggerating but whatever they said it resulted in me sitting in the chair whilst the hygenist did unspeakable things to my mouth. I wouldn’t say it was painful as such. In fact, I could endure pain more easily and for longer than the feeling of raw sensitivity that whatever they do delivers. Within seconds I had my eyes screwed tightly closed and a sweat on.

I had told her that due to a savage dentist in my formative years, I had an irrational fear of dentists. Still, her empathy was lower than my pain threshold and she raked, scraped and jet-washed stuff with a determination and gusto reserved for mossy block paving.

I escaped with less money than when I went in and the promise of two further sessions in June where she will really get into the nitty-gritty apparently, so much so that I will need a local anaesthetic. I did ask, but apparently, a general is not available. Well, I’ll look forward to that then. The price I pay for that Hollywood smile.

I had root canal work back in my forties and honestly, I do not know how I got through that.

Anyway, enough unpleasantness. Last week I declared the start of my pre-holiday diet and it has gone OK. I never trust our scales as I can be many pounds different from one day to another even when I’m not trying to lose weight, but it seems I may have lost about four pounds.

I’ll need to keep going though as I can put that back on at the airport.

The other thing I mentioned last week was Hollywood Studios and that I had thoughts on it and the current state of it but that would be a whole other post. With that park celebrating its 35th birthday this week, it looks like this is a good time for me to talk about it in my usually ill-informed way.

On our last two trips to WDW, post Genie+ and the pandemic, DHS has been a problem child and has presented the worst symptoms of the fallout of both in my view. Let’s start with the problem before I tell Bob Iger how to fix it.

In simple terms, the park suffers from a lack of crowd soakers. By that I mean, things that can occupy people. That ratio is off, with Galaxy’s Edge drawing large crowds, but there not being enough other stuff to keep them busy whilst they inevitably cannot get on stuff in GE.

If you look back in history, the park was, I believe, envisaged as a half-day park, hence its smaller size etc but I think that was abandoned as the additions of Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land recently have shown. It can’t be a half-day park nowadays as it can take you that long to ride one ride if you’re in standby for Slinky.

Anyway, I digress. Years ago you had things like the Back Lot Tour that would scoop up hundreds of guests and occupy them for half an hour or so at least. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire was another crowd soaker up, alongside the Animation Tour and of course, the stunt show was a big crowd sponge. I’m old enough to remember the Hunchback of Notre Dame show that was there too, another one to have a large number of guests out of circulation for the other attractions.

Alongside those types of attractions, you also had a lot of street performers who would delay and distract guests from looking for the next ride.

In summary, I think the issue now is that there is very little like that so all guests seem to do is queue extensively for the handful of attractions on offer.

Having undertaken my usual ten seconds of research, attendance is not the issue. Visitor numbers, up to 2022 at least, are down on pre-Covid levels.

This supports my theory that the guest experience is worse than it used to be, due to the lack of attractions.

It’ll help to get the Little Mermaid back up and running as that will take a few hundred guests out of circulation for a while, but what we found on recent trips was that if you did not have Genie+ you had two choices.

  1. Wait in line for upwards of 90 minutes for anything you want to do
  2. Ride Star Tours and The Muppets all day with a couple of long pit stops at the Tap House, which is no fun for the kids.

We would literally sit refreshing the app in a depressed, stunned silence looking for anything that the kids could tolerate queuing for.

So what to do about it? As if I have a clue…..but there are some options I can dream up unencumbered by finances, reality and a great deal of the facts that I don’t possess.

The first is the one most deeply rooted in fantasy.

I have long wondered why WDW and all theme parks don’t just make all the queues virtual. Sure there will be technology challenges but they already exist for some rides. Why Disney and Universal want people to stand in lines for hours of their day I do not understand, as whilst they do, they cannot spend any money.

Do the parks literally not have the space to accommodate all the guests if nobody is waiting in line? It would make the guest experience better right? In DHS specifically, space may be an issue as it is one of the smaller parks, but WDW does not lack land to grow into.

I also think they should reinstate a lot of the “ad hoc” street entertainment to entertain folks as they wait to ride, who would be walking around instead of being contained in a queue but that would not be enough on its own, virtual queues or not. Those entertainers were also a large part of the magic of this park.

Adding stuff similar to long-since-gone, big-crowd attractions such as the ones I mentioned earlier would be ideal. I’m not saying on the scale of Fantasmic, but some attractions, like Indiana Jones, that can take thousands of guests out of circulation for a period of time. As a paying punter, I just want to feel that there is something to do for most of the day without queuing for over an hour and ideally without paying extra to avoid doing that.

Whether we will ever get virtual queues for all or most attractions aside, there is, in my view a fundamental issue at DHS and as it turns 35 it feels like it is having a mid-life crisis of sorts. It has lost its original reason for being as it is no longer a working studio, which was a huge part of its appeal and ethos and now only tips its hat to the film industry.

It may sound silly with the relatively recent additions of Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land to say the park needs actual expansion, but the addition of those two lands alongside the removal of all the stuff I mentioned earlier is actually making the problem worse. Surely a constant wait time of over 90 minutes for Slinky Dog should be a clear sign that something in the park isn’t working as it should.

I don’t think our recent experiences have been unique but of course, we could have just been unlucky. Of all the parks in WDW, it is the one that I gird my loins most for in terms of actually getting much done, and that can’t be a good thing.

With an expansion recently announced at Magic Kingdom my hopes for another at DHS are low, but something needs to be done or it will get to the stage where people will vote with their feet and spend less time there which ironically would help to solve the issue at that park, but make it worse at the other three!

As ever, your thoughts and ridicule are welcome.

Till the next time…..

I Predict A Diet

by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

When it comes to Disney, especially with a trip on the cards, there is little I like to do more than to think about scenarios that may or may not happen that will have hardly any impact on my life in the long term. Things like not getting specific ADRs or the parks being too busy or that those FOMO perks that Disney gives to on-site guests will make our off-site trip a disaster. It’s all part of the fun. For example, it seems off-site scum can only start to book their Genie+ Lightning Lanes from park opening, not 7am like the honoured on-site types. A bit petty Disney if you ask me. If you’re going to do this, then you need to come up with some affordable accommodation options for larger parties.

The only thing I enjoy more is whinging about Genie+ but I guess I’m not alone there.

Another fun part of this countdown process is to make completely unsubstantiated guesses based on zero knowledge about what Disney may or may not do in the future.

Take for example….

Soon, in Summer 2024, the new version of Splash Mountain will open. Tiana’s ride (not the official title) will be welcome for a couple of reasons.

  1. Having such a major ride down for so long just means there are fewer things to spread the people around and all the other attractions get busier. (This is the entire issue with Hollywood Studios right now. Not enough things for too many people to do, but that’s a whole other blog post.)
  2. It may draw some folks away from the likes of Seven Dwarves at rope drop and give other folks a fairer chance to ride it without paying extra or waiting for 90 minutes.

Emily and I were pondering if Tiana’s ride would be added to the list of individual lightning lane attractions in Magic Kingdom. There is much to think about.

It seems that MK is currently the only park with more than one such attraction…

Epcot – Guardians

Hollywood Studios – Rise of the Resistance

Animal Kingdom – Flights of Passage

Magic Kingdom – Tron and Seven Dwarves

So adding a third would be bordering on a piss take in my view. The options seem to be to take that piss and add a third which would be punitive and very unpopular, leave Tiana’s ride as Splash was, as part of the (still paid for and shite) Genie+ service, or add it to the Individual LL list and drop one of the others.

Personally, I think they will leave Tiana as Splash was. If they were to make it one of the two, then which of the existing ones would they drop?

Tron is too new surely and Seven Dwarves is one of the most popular and slowest loading rides on property, so that could just be carnage.

As ever, this thought process will be a complete waste of time because the last time I correctly predicted what Disney would do next I had a fringe.

I’d be interested in your views of course.

Speaking of change and new rides. Due to some clickbait-style headline writing by some other Disney-related blog (not that you read any others of course), there were a couple of minutes late last week when it seemed like Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin was going to be replaced by a Wreck-It Ralph attraction. A quick scan of the article once they had my very valuable click, confirmed that this was in Tokyo. Let’s hope that nonsense idea never darkens Florida’s door.

The other thing I have done in the last few days is begin to firm up some dining plans. We are months from ADR booking but I did try out the new system where you can put in a range of dates for a restaurant and see all the ADRs available. That is excellent!

My strategy for our eating on this trip is to focus on off-site places as much as possible with just a smattering of on-site ADRs. Sure, cost is a consideration. Feeding six folks multiple times a day on property is a pricey hobby, but we also love a lot of off-site places.

So I am adding an eatery of choice for each day and if it so happens that on one of those days we don’t want to leave the parks or that doesn’t fit with our plans, we will just try to find somewhere there and then via the app. We do want to try and get ADRs for a few such as Garden Grill, Rodeo Roundup, Space 220 (yeah right) and probably one character meal.

On that note, has anyone done BR77 Steakhouse on the 192. It’s a Brazillian Steakhouse type place it seems and I was thinking of giving it a try. Other than that, our list is the usual suspects.

All of this theme park talk ignores the fact that we are now just four weeks away from our absolutely no theme park trip at the end of May, to Delray Beach. When we called in to see my Mum last week she asked if we had the cases out yet. Even for me, five weeks out was a bit early, but it won’t be long.

The only prep required now for that one is to get some bloody weight off. My “Fat Elvis” period has been dragging on for a while now and it seems these days the only thing that can motivate me to get some lard off is a trip overseas. Let’s see how that goes over the coming weeks. The hardest part for me is starting. Once I begin to see any sort of result, I can stick at it, but as the years go by, it just becomes harder and harder to get the ball rolling.

If only everything in life were as easy as getting fat.

Till the next time…..

A Swift Change?

by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

One of the criticisms of holidaying in the same place for a few decades, both spoken and probably mainly unspoken by folks I know, is “How can you keep going to the same place and doing the same things”.

Sure, I get that and there is some part of a trip to WDW specifically where that familiarity is part of the comfort and magical feelings that a certain type of traveller craves. A great deal of the joy and satisfaction I get is from showing this stuff to new people whether that be parents, kids or now grandkids.

My answer to that question is always the same. We do something different every time, mixed in with the warm glow of the familiar. We’ve done on-site, off-site, Vero, Naples, The Keys, Siesta Key and a load of other stuff I have no doubt forgotten. I guess the best answer is, that I’ve been going since 1980 and still haven’t come close to “doing everything” and never will.

Also of course things change regularly whether we may want it to or not. Parks get new stuff and indeed new parks happen too. We still, for example, haven’t done Aquatica, Volcano Bay or Legoland.

Anyway, flying that flag of trying something for the first time this week is Emily, who despite her very real fear of the whole event, has booked Halloween Horror Nights for her trip in September. There had been much debate, pondering and a little dithering, but my advice was you’d be daft not to. You never know if you’ll get the chance again and all things (within reason) should be tried once.

So good on Emily for giving it a shot. Technically we could also do it on our October trip but with a six-year-old and two-year-old with us that really isn’t practical and nobody is ready for the huge amount of screaming that would ensue from Louise for sure, but also me.

I have been to a Halloween event at DLP some years ago, which had some of the same elements I think, but from the vlogs I have seen of HHN, it was nowhere near as intense.

If the houses prove to be too terrifying I suggested there is always the option of taking the chance to do some rides whilst the queues are (I assume) short, so what is not to like.

For those with experience of this event, your comments, advice and feedback are welcome.

Having said that we always do something new, eateries aside, it feels like our October trip may not see that happen. This trip is a good old-fashioned WDW-only (probably) event and will be all about doing all the stuff we love with the boys.

Sure Tiana’s ride may be open by then so that will be a first and perhaps just once I will be one of those folks who return from WDW and say “I actually lost weight with all that walking”!

Really, who are these people and what are they (not) eating!?

But it feels right that this is how it may turn out. I know in reality it hasn’t been that long since we did the parks but it feels that way, and this trip, as is always the case when you take kids with you, will inevitably involve a load of firsts for them and I can’t wait.

Freddie is very much looking forward to being able to ride pretty much anything, certainly on Disney property. He is very tall for his age and the one in his sights is Rock n Rollercoaster as it is the only thing at WDW that goes upside down. Right now it is closed for refurbishment but it does seem to be promising to re-open in Summer 2024 so hopefully, we’ll be OK.

Rumours abound about whether the theming will change from Aerosmith to something else. I get that Aerosmith aren’t exactly relevant to anyone born in the last few decades so a change makes sense. I don’t know if they will move away from the band idea, but one rumour doing the rounds is that Queen will replace them.

For me, this makes no sense. They are no longer a band, mainly as the main man has been dead for decades and they are barely any more relevant to younger folks than Aerosmith. I do struggle to think of a band big enough to resonate with the older generations yet still be relevant to today’s music scene.

If anyone suggests Coldplay I will burn the ride down.

If any act makes any kind of sense it would be Taylor Swift. She is, love her or hate her, the biggest act on the planet right now, is young enough to have some career longevity to come and she already has a relationship with Disney, with her Eras tour thing showing on Disney+.

I’m not sure her music would have the same adrenaline-fueled effect that Walk This Way has as you are catapulted forward to start the ride, but it would permanently make the queues for the ride three hours as the Swifties descended upon it. Could they still call it Rock n Rollercoaster with a Swift theme? I don’t think so.

What say you? Can anyone see a B*Witched-themed ride working? I’d be interested in your suggestions so that I can let Bob Iger know. He’s a loyal reader as you know.

Till the next time…..

Weather To Plan

by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

If ever there was a week to undermine any activity from the UK Tourist Board, then this must have been it. I don’t know about your neck of the woods, but the weather here was beyond atrocious and only increased my desire and anticipation to be somewhere warm. Insult was added to injury as we supposed to entering the time of year when you may feel justified in believing that the worst of the bleak winter is over.

What feels like 412th named storm of recent times battered us with sideways rain and annoyingly strong winds meaning that I was outside at the back of the house on multiple occasions, tethering down garden furniture that we’ve had for three years and hardly used because the weather here is always so shit.

There is a part of me that is beginning to think I have personally angered the weather gods, as even when we have managed to escape to Florida in recent times, we have enjoyed less than stellar conditions there too.

I am sure that is all about to change when we land in Melbourne at the end of May. It’s been some time since we were in Florida in their summer time, so I am very much up for a bit of sunburn and moaning about it being too hot.

Having had that whinge, as I write this I am sat with the conservatory door open with dry conditions outside. However, this is very much the exception.

You might point out that we have moved to the edge of the Lancashire moors and we need to expect biblical weather more often than not, but I don’t think we are alone in experiencing this nonsense. Speaking of which it is now over three years since we moved to this house. I’m sure for anyone who cares and/or remembers, it feels like time has whizzed by since my weekly posts were mainly moaning about solicitors and the snail-like progress of our move.

Anyway, the UK’s insistence on having bobbins weather is certainly increasing our desire not to be here and it is heightening our anticipation for our sun, sea and sand holiday in about six weeks time.

Looking ahead to that next trip in May, you may sympathise that it feels odd not to have anything of note to plan. What sort of holiday is that right? The uplifting effect of having a holiday booked is increased when there is pleasant stuff to plan and arrange. I think we all know that.

Well, with some determination, some planning activities can be found. I don’t know if anyone else uses this feature or whether I am just the last person on the planet to do so, but I’ve been using the Want To Go thing on Google maps to identify potential eateries (what else) around Delray Beach.

Highlighted on the below is our accommodation, and all the little red pins are restaurants that look of interest that I have added to my “want to go” list.

We probably won’t get to them all but it doesn’t hurt to have options right?

I am very encouraged that many of those places on this eatery-filled boulevard have great reviews and for foodies (fatties) like us, this is a utopian situation. Selecting our restaurant of choice shall be the main activity of our inactive days on the beach or by the pool.

I have invested in a small Amazon Fire tablet to feed my holiday time need to read. In November, we had to do several shopping trips as I kept running out of reading material, so now with my little electronic friend, I shall have an endless supply of holiday page-turners.

Before we do leave I think I’ll also have a look for some places of interest within driving distance, mainly as I don’t want to have paid for a hire car to not use it! The area is new to use so it would be good to explore the likes of West Palm Beach and maybe even as far afield as Miami could be worth a day trip. I quite fancy going to visit Hollywood (not the one in California) as that is where we stayed on our very first trip to the States in 1980. I haven’t changed a bit since then so I am sure it hasn’t either.

See, no planning to be done at all.

Till the next time….

More Questions Than Answers.

by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

Another week gone and another week of seemingly endless posts on Facebook WDW groups of crowds that look biblical in proportion. Sure, it’s Spring Break, and for balance, there were some posts and blog posts about a really quiet week in the parks last month but overall, I have to say I am very trepidacious about our trip in October.

Nothing ruins a trip like overly busy parks and not being able to get on anything.

Having been out of the loop park-wise for some time, or at least it feels like I have, what is going on?

Is it social media over-egging the issue? Are we still in some kind of post-pandemic bounce back or have we reached a point where the existing parks just cannot accommodate the number of guests attending? Are there actually more guests and Genie+ (or some other factor) is playing a part in creating longer lines from that same number?

A minute’s worth of research suggests that the latter or something like it may be the case.

Thanks to queue-times.com for the graph.

Pre-pandemic attendance at MK was higher and this is replicated at all four parks, with only DHS almost back to pre-Covid attendance. Of course, we don’t yet have 2023 or 2024 data so that may show a sudden spike?

Are there still shortages of CMs? Are there other factors I am not considering (there definitely will be!).

So what is going so wrong in the parks that wait times of over an hour for most rides are the norm? Do Disney care? Is that bad for business or not?

I recognise I am asking lots of questions and not many answers. My opinion is tainted by my hatred of Genie+ I guess. Sure, I really resent the extra money it requires but it just doesn’t look to be working as well as the old system. We’ve had good days using it, with an afternoon/evening stacked with ride after ride despite the park being busy but is that causing a lot of pain in the standby lines? Why aren’t Disney offering virtual queues for all rides and attractions so guests can be free to roam the park spending money?

There has been a clamour for a fifth gate for almost as long as I can remember and with Universal taking the bull by the horns and opening new stuff, are we at a point where Disney need to or will respond?

Will they be reluctant to do so when seemingly at war with the state governor who seems to be intent on biting the hand that feeds him?

If overall attendance is still not back to 2019 levels will they want to create a fifth park or just continue to expand what they have? There has been talk of a significant MK expansion recently.

As well as offering more capacity it would also deliver a draw to get guests to return. Nothing mobilises the Disney faithful like a new thing. There are four-hour queues for a popcorn bucket. Add to that the benefit to guests of spreading themselves out over five parks and not four, and the whole experience may improve and return visits would increase perhaps.

If nothing else, the Disney vlogging community would definitely thank them!

Of course, that new park brings a lot of investment and cost to build and run it but I suspect Disney are not short of a few bob.

As we are now some 30 years since WDW opened a new park it feels like time to do so, and as ever the healthy competition of Universal being in Florida and doing just that may be the catalyst for Disney to finally announce this.

As you know, I have a direct line to Bob Iger, so I will be passing on my thoughts to him via this post. He is always the first to read them as you know.

Ultimately, I am looking to be reassured that we won’t be pissing away thousands of quid in October to stare at the app and not see a wait time under 90 minutes. If Bob could pull his finger out and announce and build that fifth gate by then that would be lovely.

Till the next time….

First Laid Plans.

by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

March is often a month that we end with a sigh of relief. It is crammed full of family birthdays, often Easter and a Mother’s Day, that make it expensive and busy.

We’ve survived another and with my niece heavily pregnant there was a brief time when her booked cesarian on the 28th of March would add another birthday to the huge list, but at least the delay of her new daughter’s arrival until next week sees us enjoy a respite by a week for the years to come.

We were out for tea last night with Rebecca, Tom and the boys and as often seems to be the case when the weather brightens a bit and we all (nurses aside) get a long weekend off, thoughts and chat turned to plans for our holiday in October.

For the first time we chatted about preferences, parks and plans. Having done Volcano Bay without us when we went to Daytona Beach and they stayed in Orlando, in May 23 there was a request from Rebecca to do that again this time as they were very impressed.

Food wise, Teak Neighbourhood Grill may get a place on the plan having been skipped the last couple of times. We’d been a heck of a lot and our last visit to eat there, when Louise stayed home to look after her Mum, was, let’s not beat about the bush, a bit poor.

It was still in the lingering grip and aftermath of Covid, the place was dead and our server hopeless. It very much deserves another chance as it has blown our socks off on so many previous trips.

Sickies is already on the plan. It is the eatery of the moment it seems and Louise and I have loved it on both occasions and very much would like Rebecca, Tom and the boys to experience it.

I’d like to get us into Beaches & Cream if I can. We haven’t been since it was extended and hopefully that will make an ADR easier to come by. Tom, Freddie and now Dougie are the biggest ice cream fanactics in the world so a Kitchen Sink has to be on the cards.

Credit to Disney Food Blog for this pic…..

The ADR that seems to be most elusive these days is Space 220. I’m under no illusions that you go for the theming and experience and pay heftily for it, but the boys would love it and so if by any chance we can get in, we’ll try to do that too.

In a vain attempt to keep costs down I am trying to limit on-site sit down meals. There will probably be a Fantasmic Dinner Package to be done, but other than that, oh and maybe a character meal of some sort, hopefully we can eat off site more often than not.

It never seems to work out that way, but hey, we come this way but once, so I’m not going to sweat it.

I say that having attended a family funeral last week where we said goodbye to a lovely chap who was taken by cancer at just 55. The injustice and cruelty of that is indescribable and if something like that doesn’t tell you to not worry so much about saving money I don’t know what does. Who knows how long we’ve got to spend whatever we have/can earn.

Dining plans cannot be finalised for many months yet of course, until I think mid-August. Am I right in thinking you can now see all available slots for eateries on My Disney Experience rather than have to speculatively plug in endless different dates and times in the vain hope of striking lucky? That will be a massive help if that is the case.

For our May trip there is little to plan beyond what is already done of course. I paid for the car hire this week, thinking as I did, would we really *need* a car but it’s safer to have one and of course essential from and to the airport so we may as well have one in case we fancy a ride up or down the coast to see what is there.

Everything is paid up apart from the remaining 50% balance on the accomodation which we pay at check in, so all we have to do is wait for the next few weeks to hurtle by whilst at the same time trying in vain to shed a few pounds. I can’t tell you much harder that is at this time of life.

It feels like I haven’t planned a theme park trip for ages. I am rusty and out of practice and a little anxious at the prospect if I am honest. With a party the size of ours, with two small kids, we are not built for commando style early arrival and late leavings so we shall have to swallow the bitter pill of Genie+ and just take what we can achieve on a day by day basis.

I have a good amount of time to get back into the swing, do some research and watch some vlogs so we’ll probably be OK.

Hopefully you lot can help me along the way too!

Till the next time…….

A Bog Standard Blog

by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

Hello all. It’s been some time since I was not writing up a trip, the latest taking from our return in late November till mid-March. It feels like a long time, but I suppose 14 days means 14 weeks unless I start doing multiple posts a week and I haven’t got the time for that, in the same way you haven’t got the tolerance.

As ever, after finishing up a trip report I feel like I have forgotten how to do a bog standard blog like what I used to, with life updates and goings on so I’m not sure where to start.

I’ll just say that everyone is OK and like everyone else we’ve been through our fair share of stress, worry and trauma since we last “spoke” alongside some good fortune and positive stuff.

Louise returned to work, in January, following a break of a couple of years which included looking after her Mum full-time and then getting over Mary’s and my Dad’s passing. Neither of us has fully “dealt with” those events and I’m not sure you ever do. She’s back nursing in the community and seems to have got back into the swing of things really well. I’m not saying she’d carry on post-lottery win, but she enjoys that area of nursing the most.

Emily (now 28!) has a WDW trip booked with her boyfriend in September. It will be his first experience with anything Disney park-related, but she is undertaking rigorous training via endless vlogs. They are staying in the All-Stars and doing Disney and hopefully Universal. He has the best guide ever to take him for the first time.

Rebecca (now 26!) and Tom are all good or as good as you can be when parenting two kids of almost 2 and 6. Over the past few months, Freddie has had some worrying health issues, but he seems to be coming out of them now, with a diagnosis at least and hopefully a plan that will see all that behind him shortly. It’s been a very worrying time. Dougie is adorable and a terror all at once. He needs 24/7 supervision to ensure he does not kill himself and those around him. Imagine Baby Jack Jack from The Incredibles, but cuter.

We looked after him yesterday whilst Freddie went karting, a hobby he is really getting into. It was Freddie’s first time on an outside track and he did brilliantly.

Dougie and I undertook a more sedate outdoor activity.

How am I? Well, I am my usual debonair, svelte, hirsute self, thanks for asking. These days, I spend most of my time working, attending to things that have gone wrong with the house, looking after animals and recycling (it seems). Our current animal count is 2 dogs, 3 cats and 2 rats.

One new thing I have done since we last “spoke”…

You may have noticed over the years that I enjoy a pithy/witty T-shirt and have bought them from all sorts of places to wear on my holidays. I had been looking for some shirts that carried certain themes etc recently and failed, so despite having no clue what I am doing, I have opened an Etsy Store, with a few shirts and things I designed myself, perfect for the discerning Disney fan/visitor.

This is my favourite so far –

I bought one myself, to make sure the quality wasn’t awful and it seems OK to be fair. Whatever you do, don’t buy so many that I have to give up work and do that full-time as that would be awful. If anyone is silly enough to buy anything I would love to see a photo of it out in the parks etc in due course.

Normally, certainly in recent times, as I finish writing up one trip, many of you might suspect that I will announce our next one. We have been very fortunate in recent years to have had many holidays, almost back-to-back and it is safe to say that our trips overseas are very important to us. We both work long and hard and choose to spend much of our earnings on such. It seems inevitable though that this run would need to come to an end at some point.

That point is not now.

We do have travel plans in May, but I assure you they do not involve Orlando. We wanted a beach holiday for resting and relaxing for Louise and me, and have decided to go somewhere completely different this time.

Having gone through the usual routine of scouring the planet (literally) for a suitable beachfront destination, with ample eateries and bars and good weather, as ever we struggled. I know that sounds ridiculous, but all the usual issues came up.

Anyway, after much research I have found us a lovely little boutique hotel in the resort of Delray. Where is Delray I hear you ask?

OK, yes it’s in Florida, but it isn’t Orlando!

It’s been a while since we booked it so I forget the detailed “journey” to choosing that destination, but having exhausted and discarded every other place on the planet, I think it was kicked off by looking at flights with Tui, going into Melbourne and realising that puts us in the middle of the East coast of Florida, opening up all the coastal resorts in that neck of the woods. Vero (the original reason to look into a Florida trip) was not available of course. I’m not sure we’ll ever get to stay there again unless we plan a whole trip around it and get it booked as soon as it is possible with the DVC rules etc.

More by luck than skill I think (and hope) I have stumbled across a perfect little gem for us in Delray Beach. It appears to have a lovely beach and then, in Atlantic Avenue, a long street filled with bars, nightlife and restaurants, to allow us to indulge in another trip like the one you just read about.

So yes we are flying with Tui for the first time into Melbourne on May 28th.

We are staying at Crane’s Beach House.

It’s about a 2-minute walk from the beach and it is situated close to all the nighttime action. I write that as if we will be partaking in any action of a night time. Typically, we will eat, have a drink or two and then go to bed.

This video is a walk along Atlantic Avenue if anyone is as sad as I am and wants to watch that.

We’ve hired a car via Discount Florida for the duration, which I think is about 10 nights, flying home on the 7th of June. It’ll be interesting to see how that airport is for things like immigration and picking up the car etc. Who says we don’t do anything different on our holidays?

So this will be another of our, med-style holidays but in the familiarity and comfort of Florida. But I have to get originality points for Delray Beach right?

I can already hear the murmurs of excitement amongst you at the prospect of reading about another beach holiday!

I hear you and with that in mind, if you can get through that one, in October we are returning to our roots with a full-blown, bring as many family members as we can, theme park bonanza!

Yep, myself, Louise, Rebecca, Tom and the boys will be in WDW from mid-October (Emily will have just got back from her own trip and so won’t have enough holidays or money to join us).

This is an old-school WDW trip with none of this beach and bars nonsense. It’s for the purists and those who love the parks, which is us.

As I said above, it will be interesting to see how Melbourne is in May as that is where we are flying into again in October. Aer Lingus were sold out on crucial dates that we needed (getting so many folks on one trip is like threading a needle blindfolded) and Virgin were, as they often tend to be, just ridiculously expensive, being some 30-50% higher than Aer Lingus at best.

So I looked at Tui, despite that 90-minute drive from the airport to Orlando not being ideal. They had availability and prices that were just about tolerable.

Again, we’ve booked our mini-van from Discount Florida and I am so happy to say that our favourite ever villa was available. It is absolutely stunning and we can’t wait to return.

For now, we are just planning on doing Disney, but we may, nearer the time, add a night at Universal if we can justify the expense. With Dougie being just two at that point, the Universal parks may not offer him too much to do so we’ll see. I have booked our 14-day passes from Floridatix with a deposit. It is so nice not to have to stump up all the ticket money this far out to make park reservations.

I must admit to some trepidation about tackling the parks. All I seem to see online is how busy they are these days regardless of the time of year and I know we’re going to have to shell out for the increasingly more expensive Genie+ more often than not. The plan, as it stands in its early phases, allows for a good many rest days, which will be needed and we’ll just take it as it comes I suppose.

So there we have the content for the next few weeks laid out as I share with you our plans, hopes and dreams for these two trips. I know it is indulgent, I know we are lucky, but we just choose to spend our disposable cash on these trips. As the saying goes, we are not rich, (we might be if we didn’t do as many holidays!) just really irresponsible.

Hopefully, there is something in there for both of my readers and we can look forward to a holiday-packed 2024 together.

Till the next time…..

The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour 2023 – Day Fifteen Monday 27th November

by mkingdon, posted in The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour

As Shania Twain once said, looks like we made it.

The end of this trip, an extended trip at that and one besmirched by shite weather for the majority of it. That’s all relative of course as we would not have been lying outside in our shorts back home at this time, but you go to Florida so you can.

Anyway, this last day started like most of the others with an awakening around 7am. For some reason I noted that I frequented the “bathroom” a good few times this morning. Maybe a delayed reaction to the gallons of Espresso Martinis on this holiday?

We did the dreaded packing and were out of the room by 10.40 with the car pointed at Disney Springs for one last visit. We parked in Lime and left all the bags in the car, in which was the camera, so I only have a few phone shots for you today.

Despite thinking we had finished gift shopping we were still looking for ways to spoil the grandkids, so we found ourselves in the Harley Davidson shop debating whether to spend a silly amount of money on a leather jacket for Freddie. In the end, we decided against it as he would grow out of it in about six minutes.

We wandered into World of Disney, still desperate to hand over more dollars and having done that we needed some lunch. Today would be the day we finally tried the Polite Pig.

It was only 11.30 but packing had meant no breakfast and hey, we were still on holiday.

We got a platter for two and it was absolutely delicious. As you can see it wasn’t a huge amount of food for two people but maybe that is just us fat knackers. It was $55ish. I hadn’t realised this was a counter service place rather than being served at your table so I share that in case you didn’t either.

With that devoured, we headed over to Starbucks and got a couple of coffees and something sweet in the form of a cookie and a blueberry scone. We found a bench to eat them on whilst “enjoying” what seemed to be a school band on the stage.

You can enjoy them too….

I think the term, “bless them” covers that sufficiently. As a very average musician myself I tip my hat to these youngsters and their abilities that already outstrip mine.

Once they were finished we found a little wall to sit on and people watch for a few minutes soaking up the last bits of warmth before making the final walk back to the car. We filled it up at the Gas station opposite the Springs for $28 and set off towards MCO. Terminal C still has the feeling of not quite being open. Everything feels empty, which is no bad thing.

We were too early to check in, so after a painless car drop-off and standing in the queue for too long, it finally opened at 2pm. Security also was a bit shit but we finally made it through and made our way to Gate 238 by 3pm.

As ever my notes dry up here. I did note that we were sat in the extra legroom seats, near the emergency exit and therefore had one of the flight crew sitting opposite us for take-off and at times during the flight. She was lovely and really helped Louise who as you may know is a nervous flyer. She explained every noise, bump and wobble and was generally just excellent.

As is customary on a return to the UK, you have to be reminded what a mess things are by waiting over 90 (yes, 90) minutes to have the cases appear on the carousel. Every time!

We finally got our luggage, walked to the car and made our way back to reality.

So it’s time to sum up this one. In summary, here are my takes if anyone cares.

I know I’ve moaned about the weather throughout this trip and I have been justified in doing so. It did not ruin the holiday for us but it certainly affected it. It made us extend the trip if nothing else.

Aer Lingus took us there and back and were absolutely fine. There were no issues, edible food and despite being in economy, albeit with extra legroom on the way back, comfortable enough. We find their entertainment choice a bit dated/limited, but in the scheme of things, you just need that big tube thing with wings to get you there and back safely and economically and they do the job very well.

The Drury Plaza Hotel is excellent. It is new so all the facilities are just that. The rooms are large and spacious and most with nice views. It has so many extra perks compared to other hotels and if you can get the free parking offer (I think via Travel Republic, if it still exists) that will save you a lot too. Free breakfast, the early evening kickback (which we never used) free coffee in the lobby, buses to the parks, early entry and a superb location make it a no-brainer. We will definitely consider it when we want to do a similar trip in the future.

Recently, we seem to have created a new kind of Florida trip. New for us anyway. This adults only, no parks, doing what would be a holiday to the Med but in Florida thing, and it really works for us.

We’ve loved this trip and similar previous ones and we will do it again. It gives us all the familiar Florida stuff we love –

  • Guaranteed quality of food and accommodation
  • Endless options for dining and drinks at Disney Springs and the resorts
  • Not having to figure out a new place with only a precious few days to spend there.
  • None of the stress, planning and crowds involved with going to the parks

I know for many, that endless discovery of new places is exactly what is sought but with holiday time being so precious (and expensive) this works for us. I would thoroughly recommend it. We did not miss the parks at all; honestly, it was as if they did not exist.

I should say, there is no falling out of love with the parks. We will be back soon enough for a full-on theme park commando dawn till dusk ride fest. It was just not on the agenda for this trip.

We thought going to Florida would guarantee the weather too but we’ve just had some really crappy luck there. Our stay at Daytona last May was badly affected by unusually terrible weather so if and when we ever return we surely are due some proper old-school Florida sun.

Don’t get me wrong we adore going to Florida with as many family members as we can muster and we will definitely do that again ASAP, but the freedom of being just the two of us makes it what we hoped and that is a stress-free relaxing break. I think I have had more alcohol on this trip than in the last ten years, but variety is the spice of life as they say and a little bit of excess in moderation doesn’t hurt.

Thanks again for enduring, especially this one which was literally us sitting by a pool or moaning that we couldn’t, followed by an evening meal and maybe some drinks. For those who did endure, thank you.

Till the next time……

The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour 2023 – Day Fourteen Sunday 26th November

by mkingdon, posted in The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour

Dig in folks, we are now at the “last full day”. Once we get this one out of the way there’s just the brief and sulky travel day to endure and then we can all move on with our lives.

After a late and boozy night, there was no rush at all to get up this morning. My dislike of the weather continued as it looked to be cloudy AF (I am down with kids) again.

It was a solo breakfast once more this morning but I did take a hungover Louise some coffee and sweet things on my return.

With no sun to speak of, we jumped in the car and headed up the I4 to City Walk to do some final gift shopping. We parked up and headed on in.

We initially stopped off in the gift shop at Bubba Gump’s. Louise bought too much stuff. It wasn’t a financial concern, well it was a bit, but I was very worried about our lack of luggage space for the return leg. We were pretty much at our limit on the way out and we had already accumulated many gifts to return with.

We strolled on and did a full loop around the water.

We stopped in most of the shops along the way and did manage to get everyone who merited one, a present.

Having spent a handful of calories walking, the sensible thing to do would be to nip into Toothsome for a Freak Shake, so we did.

I had the Red Velvet and Louise the Espresso Buzz. They were glorious of course and being stupid we kept the plastic cup things and somehow managed to bring them back across the Atlantic so they could sit in our cupboard never to be used again.

We completed our loop, stopping in more shops and Bubba Gumps again to use their restroom on our way back to the car. The forecast said there may be some sun to come so we were headed back to the pool all full of hope and expectation.

Naturally, pretty much as soon as we lay down by the pool the drizzle started.

You can have that footshot for free.

We moved under cover on the patio area and hoped to wait out the fleeting shower. It did not fleet and just got worse so we eventually gave up and returned to the room. We read and rested for a bit before getting ready to go out for dinner (tea).

Our destination was Olive Garden just around the corner and we got there around 8pm. We were seated immediately.

You will know what happened first.

We both opted for the Tour Of Italy…

We both had Diet Coke too, having had enough of alcohol last night.

The bill was a very reasonable $70 including a good tip and after what had been some rocky ground here since Covid this felt like a return to form for Olive Garden and I was glad we hadn’t given up on it.

We went straight back to the hotel, having neither the desire nor stamina to do any drinking or revelling this evening. We watched The Hunger Games in bed and went to sleep around 11pm. Hardly a glorious finale to our trip but it’s what we felt like doing and isn’t that what holidays are all about?

Till the next time……

The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour 2023 – Day Thirteen Saturday 25th November

by mkingdon, posted in The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour

Fear not faithful readers, we are approaching the end of this seemingly endless Groundhog Day trip and then you will surely be spared any further trip reportage from me for some time. Right?

I was awake at 6.30am. This was intentional as there was a football match back in the UK that I wanted to watch. Not too surprisingly the TV in our room did not carry the required channels to watch it, so I had to resort to watching it on my phone instead. Having watched an acceptable draw, I ventured down to breakfast alone at 9.45. Louise could not muster the enthusiasm to do so this morning, so after eating I brought her a muffin and a coffee because I am a model husband.

With days fast running out, we went to the pool despite the cloudy weather. It was warm enough and certainly warmer than it would be when we would get home in a few short days so we endured.

I think I must have nodded off at one point because when I opened my eyes Louise’s sunbed was empty and I eventually saw her on the other side of the pool, chasing the intermittent sun.

We got our customary snacks and Lays for lunch again and continued to do nothing until around 4pm.

For reasons I now cannot remember I had decided that this evening we would be eating at Saltgrass Steakhouse at Lake Buena Vista, so after showers, we drove the short distance.

After enjoying them so much at Sickies once we saw the Pickles and Peppers on the menu they were bound to be our appetiser.

They were large and very nice, as, increasingly was I. We also had a bread service and a salad before our mains arrived.

I figured, if you are coming to a steak house then it would be silly not to so I ordered, possibly the largest steak I had ever eaten.

It was a 22oz Porterhouse and it was awesome.

Louise had a Chicken Sandwich. After all these years, even Louise forgets to not go near her food until the photo has been taken!

I didn’t make a note of the bill, but I think it was decent value all things considered. This being our first time here, I would say it is worth a try. It is a no-frills affair and seemingly very popular with locals which is usually a good sign.

We left around 7.45 and dropped the car off back at the hotel. A Lyft took five minutes to arrive and it transported us to The Boardwalk. It took an age. The traffic past Disney Springs was ridiculous. What should have been a sub-ten-minute journey took over twenty.

I feared that Jellyrolls, our destination, would be full by now, but we managed to snag the last table and it was right by the stage. This can be a worry if you are not a fan of audience participation but we were not troubled tonight.

As ever the performers were great despite not being any of our favourites. We had a couple of requests played, Teenage Dirtbag and That Thing You Do (again).

We had a few rounds of drinks. You know you’ve been to Jellyrolls a lot when the waitress comes to your table and says “the usual?”. I think we probably funded her mortgage for the month during this trip.

I think we left around 12.30 and ordered our Lyft home. We were picked up by “Flash”. I may be cynical but that was probably not his real name. Regardless he was a superstar. We had a lovely chat all the way home about his home of Jamaica and all sorts of random things. What a lovely man.

We said goodbye and I probably over-tipped him before falling into bed around 1am.

Till the next time…..

The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour 2023 – Day Twelve Friday 24th November

by mkingdon, posted in The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour

The weather continued to take the piss, frankly. Having extended our trip to take advantage of the improved conditions, today, again, we had a forecast of cooler temperatures, not suitable for sitting by a pool.

You can appreciate the very average nature of the weather by looking at the view from our new room.

We had breakfast in the hotel as usual (I wonder how much we “saved” over the trip by not having to buy breakfast?)

Our plan today involved a drive to the Grand Floridian to have a look around now that the gingerbread house was up.

It didn’t take long to get there, but initially, we were politely denied access by the security guard. Only guests and those with ADRs were allowed in. So we turned around, parked just outside the entrance, and booked an ADR for lunch at the Grand Floridian Cafe. We drove back to the same guard, told him we had an ADR and he let us in without even checking. Weird.

The car park was very busy to be fair, so best he keeps the off-site scum out 🙂

It had been a good few years since we were last here, and we had forgotten the majesty and beauty of the place, especially with it all dressed for Christmas.

We took our time strolling around the lobby.

We browsed the shops and from the upstairs balcony, we Facetimed my Mum and gave her a virtual tour.

It was an enjoyable morning and we enjoyed just spending some time in such a lovely spot.

We checked in for our ADR at 12.30 at a very busy podium. As there were crowds of folks waiting to be seated we had a wander around outside for a bit.

It was a bit grey and drizzly but the place looked lovely.

We went back inside and were eventually called and seated around 1pm.

Our server was great, but overall the service was pretty slow. We were in no rush though so it didn’t affect our experience.

I had an iced coffee and Louise had a wine.

No starters, and Lousie ordered the Burger. It was declared the best burger she had ever eaten. I doubt my photo does it justice.

I had the Reuben sandwich.

We were not finished until 2.15 but we enjoyed it and were glad we had eaten somewhere we would never have thought of trying. The bill was $85.

We made our way back to the car and drove over to a very, very busy Disney Springs. So busy in fact that most car parks were full and those that weren’t had huge queues. Thanks, Thanksgiving!

So we went back to the hotel instead. I had a shower and put on some extreme-weather long pants before ordering a Lyft back to Springs. We arrived around 3pm.

We were hoping to get into the next showing of the Napoleon film at the AMC but it was sold out, so we booked in for the 4.30 showing instead and went to have a stroll. We ended up in the House Of Blues.

After a walk around the shop, we sat in the outside seating and had a Margarita. This was not one of my favourite drinks of the trip and I struggled to finish it.

It filled enough time until we headed back to the AMC though. Napoleon was an enjoyable film despite following the current trend of needing to be longer than it should have been at two and a half hours and apparently being historically inaccurate.

Once we were done we walked over the bridge to Wine Bar George for another Espresso Martini. I had two, Louise had one, and then a glass of wine.

Our bill was higher than it was for lunch at the Grand Floz!

We then walked across to The Boathouse for our ADR and our second visit of the trip. We were immediately seated on the outside deck which is lovely and for us preferable to being inside.

We had chips and dips to start along with the sticky bread service.

We both ordered the Sliders.

The food was just good on this visit. Nothing spectacular.

I opted for another….

Which again, was not quite as excellent as on our first meal here. It goes to show how much things can vary at the same restaurant.

Unlike our last visit, the bill was a much more tolerable $90.00 including tip.

It was spitting with rain as we left and we made our way back to the Lyft pick-up through horrendous crowds. We spent a few minutes browsing the Disney art shop before we were dropped off at the hotel and fell into bed by 11. A lovely day despite the weather’s best attempts to upset us.

Till the next time…..

The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour 2023 – Day Eleven Thursday 23rd November

by mkingdon, posted in The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour

Thankful to be feeling better after last night’s weirdness, we lay in a bit, and breakfast could not tempt Louise out of bed so I went down alone today, of course at around 9.55am. The staff continued to love me for doing that.

Bagels with PB and J, accompanied by a tiny bowl of cereal won’t be winning any culinary awards but they did the trick to get my day started once again.

Alas, the weather forecast for today was not stellar so we had made plans that did not rely upon warmth and sunshine. We also had to pack up to move to our new room today, which was a bit of a pain but not as much as packing to go home would have been. Louise had made a start by the time I got back from breakfast and we took our cases out to the car until we could “check in” later.

It was around 10.40 when we set off towards Fantasia mini golf. We parked up and found a spot to wait out the thirty minutes or so we’d been told it would be before we could start.

Yep, the weather looked fine after all didn’t it.

We were called after about twenty minutes and the whooping of all whoopings that I inflicted on Louise could begin.

It took a while to get around as were we behind a couple of families with very small kids. There were tantrums and sulking when the ball wouldn’t go in the hole and the kids in the party in front of us weren’t much better either. We weren’t in any rush so we just took a seat and watched them until it was our turn.

It wasn’t even close despite Louise fluking a hole-in-one on the 8th.

Note how I was pleasingly under par. What do you mean I am overly competitive?

After the game, we took the chance to have a wander around the Swan Reserve which is in the car park for the golf or vice versa. It is a lovely place with a very intimate feel for a Disney resort. It feels very boutique-y.

It has a very adult feel and by that, I don’t mean saucy films are being made there.

We set off back to the hotel, stopping off briefly at Disney Springs to spend over $100 on a pair of sunglasses for Louise despite just having a few days left on this trip.

The Sunglasses place was rammed with other idiots spending too much but we did get 30% off with it being Black Friday week. Yep, I know that doesn’t make sense, but we’d just blown $100 on some glasses that were probably made in a sweatshop for £2.50, so making sense was not the order of today.

You will have noticed that the weather was glorious so we headed back to the pool to make the most of the incorrectness of the forecast we had believed.

We managed about three glorious hours in perfect conditions.

Once 4pm rolled around I took a break from the sunbed to get the cases from the car and check into our new room. We were put in room 503 in the Cypress Tower. It was much the same as the other one but without a balcony which we could tolerate for a few nights!

After showers and stuff, we got a Lyft to Disney Springs around 6.30. There was a different band on tonight so we watched them for a while.

We then walked through a very busy Springs to find a drink. We managed to get the last two available stools at the bar in Wine Bar George, ignored the huge choice of wine, and ordered two “Wake Up Calls” which were Espresso Martinis. These were the best yet and remained our favourites of the trip.

We had a semi-serious conversation about buying one of those coffee drip/distillery things you can see in the background so we could make these at home.

I think we had two rounds and left after paying the $85 including the tip bill.

Tonight we had a new place to try for dinner. Because by rights we should have been flying home right now I had been forced to make some emergency plans and with it being Thanksgiving availability was scarce.

I had secured us a table at Terralina and even with that, we had a fifteen-minute wait to be seated. Whilst we waited walk-ups were being quoted a ninety-minute wait.

I had stuffed rice balls, which was probably something I picked up in the pool.

Louise had Bruschetta.

I followed up with Chicken Parm…

Louise had Lasagne.

It was all very delicious and I was glad we tried somewhere I would never normally have tried to book.

After our very strenuous sporting day, we were of course very tired as soon as the food hit our expanding bellies and we immediately walked back to the Lyft area to get taken home to bed.

It was an impressive 10.30 by the time we went to sleep.

Till the next time……

The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour 2023 – Day Ten Wednesday 22nd November

by mkingdon, posted in The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour

It’s only when you write these trips up that you start to realise what dreadfully predictable creatures of habit we are. Trying to find an original way to say we woke up and went to breakfast just before ten is proving too much for my limited writing skills. Anyway. that’s what we did.

Having laid out a load of cash to stay a few extra days to enjoy some of the lovely weather we were denied on our first few days, we were a little perturbed to see the forecast predicting a little more shit weather today.

We went to the pool anyway, as if to defy the weather Gods and we Facetimed Rebecca and the boys. Today we watched a man cut some grass. Who says you need to go to the theme parks in Florida to enjoy yourself?

The weather turned around 1pm and we retreated to the covered area and had some chips and dips for a rare proper lunch.

There was no sign of the weather getting better so I drove to a Target on the 192 to collect that doll for Louise’s friend that I told you about some time ago. I finally worked out how to get the Target website to take a payment method registered in the UK but could only seem to do so if I collected. So I drove for over an hour to get a doll I knew nothing of before this trip for the child of someone I did not know.

The traffic was bobbins, matching the weather, with the rain tipping down for the whole journey. Still, apparently, I made some little girl’s Christmas so I’ll count this as my good deed for this lifetime.

Once back at the hotel, I watched more Two and a Half Men whilst Louise got ready. We made it out around 6.30 and got a Lyft to Disney Springs. It was a mercifully short journey, as when the driver set off from our hotel, she made the sign of the cross and kissed her crucifix, which was mildly concerning for a journey that would take about four minutes.

We arrived in one piece and made our way to the stage outside World of Disney, got a cocktail from one of the little drinks places nearby, and watched a band for a bit. It was now not raining.

It was no espresso Martini but it was OK.

We then made our way over to The Edison for our reservation.

The Spings were very busy tonight but we were seated immediately upstairs. There was a very cool retro three-piece band on the stage below us.

We of course ordered the bacon thing to start and in all the excitement it escaped a photo.

I ordered the Edison Burger.

Louise, the Soup and Grilled Cheese.

Louise had wine and I had of course….

We shared a Lemon meringue for dessert.

Overall, we were not blown away by The Edison. The theming is fantastic and the live music a real bonus, but the service was a little slow and whilst all the food was good, nothing blew our socks off enough to have us wanting to go back any time soon.

My mood may have been tainted by my health at this point. I was completely full of snot. I don’t know what the bill was, but I remember it of course being fairly pricey for what was nothing fancy. As we walked back to catch our Lyft home, I was feeling dreadful. I was short of breath, dizzy and really felt out of it.

Once home I went straight to sleep. I did wonder if that first cocktail we had as we watched the band had something in it that I had a reaction to. It was a very “fruity” cocktail and I may be way off the mark, but I can’t think what else it was, as I was right as rain the next morning.

On the plus side, had we not extended our stay we would have been flying home in the morning. Sadly, for you, that means a few more of these rinse-and-repeat blogs!!

Till the next time……

The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour 2023 – Day Nine Tuesday 21st November

by mkingdon, posted in The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour

There was no change to our routine this morning. Awake early and yet down to breakfast with just a few minutes to spare as ever.

Louise took up our position by the pool whilst I nipped out to Walgreens for another book. It’s amazing how much I can read when I don’t have to do unpleasant things like work for a living.

I also got some more sun cream and deodorant (there had been complaints!)

Things were looking lovely back at the pool.

We did undertake a fair amount of judgemental eye-rolling throughout the morning as we heard the names of some of the kids playing….

Jagger, Maverick, Ace and Landry were having fun though.

I spent a silly amount of time watching these big birds hunting for fish by the lake next to the hotel.

The weather was glorious today, and after another lunch of Lays, we were really feeling a little hard done by with the weather for the first few days after we arrived. With this being a shorter trip anyway, our over-privileged arses were feeling very sorry for themselves.

With our flight home just a couple of days away now, we both felt that we were only just getting going and I jokingly mentioned that we should stay a few more days. To cut a not-very-long story a little shorter, we had an opportunity to move our flight by a few days…..so I sprang into action on getting a room at the hotel…..and extending our car hire….and adjusting our airport parking….and making sure Emily back home could manage a bit longer….and talking to work, who were very understanding.

I’m pretty good at all this trip-related stuff, so with about half an hour or so on the phone and a few quid spent, we were now going to do the full two weeks and not go home until next Monday. We felt a mixture of luck, relief, and guilt.

I spoke to reception in the hotel about extending our stay but they gave me a price about 25% higher than what I could see online so I opted for the latter.

It turned out that the hardest element to amend was the airport parking due to the Holiday Extras app being a doom loop of not being able to amend anything or contact anybody. In the end, I just made a new booking for the extra days and crossed my fingers.

As the afternoon ended we went back to the room and I watched some Two and A Half Men whilst Louise got ready. I did pop down to the laundry to wash some clothes as we were now here for a few more days.

We set off up the gnarly I4 at 6.30 heading for Universal. We parked up around 7pm.

I took this to find the car later but I’ll share it anyway.

We walked through City Walk, picking up some gifts and having a drink from one of the kiosks not far from Voodoo Doughnuts.

We made our way to Antojitos for our 8.15 reservation and were seated after five minutes.

There is something just lovely about Florida of an evening.

We were brought the usual mountain of chips and salsa whilst we browsed the menu.

Of course, there were Nachos to start. These are a contender for the best we’ve ever had.

Louise had Fajitas.

I had something called The Trio. I didn’t really know from the menu what it included but it was very nice with a snot-inducing spicy kick in a couple of mouthfuls.

We walked up to Pat O’Briens as we had heard it had a dueling piano bar. I think we stayed for all of thirty seconds due to a mixture of not being able to find a clean table and the two piano players being woeful. I don’t seem to have recorded the cost of this meal but whatever it was, it was worth it.

We set the car in the direction of Jellyrolls and all was well with the world again.

We got there at 10.30 and once we had secured a table I nipped out to the ATM near The Boardwalk Inn so we could make some requests. We got three songs played tonight, this being one of our favourite songs, played by our favourite Jellyroller.

The other two were Pinball Wizard and If I Had A Million Dollars by Bare Naked Ladies.

It was quieter tonight being mid-week but we stayed till 1.20 before driving home and falling into bed at 2am.

A good day!

Till the next time……

The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour 2023 – Day Eight Monday 20th November

by mkingdon, posted in The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour

Welcome to the next installment of us doing nothing all day and then going out to eat. There are worse ways to spend your time I suppose. I mean us doing it, not you reading about it of course. That sounds awful.

Louise was suffering from a life-threatening hangover this morning. So once awake I let her sleep and made my way out to the balcony (see, the extra few dollars for it was worth it) and wrote up some notes for yesterday in my stupidly expensive note-taking book, acquired on the Disney Wish!

Having left it as late as possible before risking not having breakfast, I left Louise in bed and endeared myself to the hotel staff once again by arriving at 9.56 for breakfast. I had my buffet routine down to an art now. I had largely shunned the hot options for fear that I may eat myself to death before making it home, so each morning I had a bagel and some cereal. The bagel had to have peanut butter and jelly on it too. I was truly living La Vida Loca!

I took up a spot by the pool in the glorious sunshine and didn’t really move for many hours. I spoke with Rebecca back home for a bit and Louise eventually joined me before lunch.

Things looked like this.

The weather today was the best we’d seen, which wasn’t hard I know, but we enjoyed it. We did nothing of any note all afternoon. There may have been swimming. No formal lunch again, just more Lays.

We left the pool around 4.30 and got ourselves ready for dinner. Because we had managed to slot The Cheesecake Factory in on a rainy day at the mall, it had freed up an evening dining slot on the plan and to confirm how highly we thought of Sickies, we made a second trip there tonight.

As is very often the case, a second trip often struggles to recapture the magic of the first but the food was still glorious. Our server had some serial killer vibes going on, but after arriving at six and being seated immediately at a high table which tested our agility, we of course ordered those pickles again.

I spent an age studying the extensive menu only to order the same thing I had last time. The Chowzilla with tots.

Louise chose the Mozzarella Burger.

Mine was fabulous again, Louise rated hers just OK. To make up for it, Louise decided to have a dessert and asked our server for a menu and some sign of a personality. Neither arrived, instead, the server just reeled off some desserts in a way that somehow made no sense whatsoever. Louise heard the word cheesecake and stopped our server there to put us all out of our misery.

It was nothing to write home about or indeed photograph it seems.

The bill was $115ish and frankly, we may have paid that just for the pickles. We had started the evening with every intention of going back to Jellyrolls, but as we clambered back into the car a brief conversation saw us decide to head straight to bed like the crazy cats we are.

Nothing wrong with a 10.30 bedtime! I bet you can’t wait for another exciting installment next week?

Till the next time……

The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour 2023 – Day Seven Sunday 19th November

by mkingdon, posted in The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour

I’m sure you’ll agree that as nice as it has been thus far to be away and in Orlando, this trip has a feeling of taking a while to get going, certainly as far as actually doing what we came here to do. You can’t control the weather I guess. Similarly, as day seven arrives, I can finally start to make some sense of the title of this trip report for you. That is what is called a teaser. Well, I have to do something to encourage you to read this guff.

We awoke around 9am following our wild late night last night! We made it to breakfast before it closed and were heartened to see the weather looking very good. It was noticeable that breakfast and the hotel in general were much busier on a weekend. It wasn’t unpleasant in any way, just noticeable.

After breakfast, we needed to nip out to Target as I needed a new book to read. Now, nobody just “nips” to Target of course, and it was lunchtime by the time we got back to the pool.

Feast your eyes on this….

You will understand that we did not move from our sun beds, appreciating the weather and reading.

In an attempt to stay out beyond 10pm tonight, the plan was to skip lunch and eat an early dinner so we did not immediately crave bed as soon as the food hit our stomachs. We aren’t animals so I went to the shop and got us some snacks to keep us going.

Louise, as she would now for pretty much the rest of the trip had a packet of Lays for lunch. I know the reveal wasn’t worth the build-up, but when I thought back on this trip when dreaming up a title, I didn’t want to use one that bemoaned the crap weather and the other thing which stuck in my mind was our crisp-based lunches by the pool.

Having enjoyed an afternoon of cloudless skies and temperatures in the mid-70s, we retired to our room at around 4.30pm to get ready for our early dinner. We still didn’t leave the room till 6 after the usual sixty minutes of hair dryer use by Louise.

Tonight’s dining choice was Romano’s Macaroni Grill. A stalwart of our trips over the years and often one not known about by many. This proved to be tragically true as we drove up to it. All the lights and signage were off and it looked as if it had shut down for good. We were genuinely gutted.

We assessed the nearby options and opted for Bahama Breeze, not least because it was five minutes away.

We were seated immediately with it being 6.20pm and started with a Spinach and Artichoke Dip, a Bud Light, and a red wine.

I don’t drink much/often so tonight’s beer had to be recorded. There would be a good many more to follow as our plans for later involved Jellyrolls if we could stay awake.

Louise, as ever had the Jerk Chicken Pasta…

and I, after much consideration, opted for the ribs, despite the fact that the calorific value was pretty much the highest of any item on the menu.

Both were tremendous.

We declined dessert, paid the $100 bill, including the tip, and drove back to the hotel. A Lyft was summoned and I nipped up to the room to get some actual cash for the requesting of songs at Jellyrolls.

We were soon dropped off at the Boardwalk and got into Jellyrolls around 8.30pm.

At that time there were still a few empty tables, so we claimed one, ordered some drinks, and received our bottomless popcorn.

We had four excellent performers and felt lucky to have been able to watch them. Our fave was Michael, and here he is performing a classic….

We had a few requests played, trying to not request the stuff everyone else does like Billy Joel, Elton John and the like. We went for One Week by Bare Naked Ladies and That Thing You Do.

We sent a few videos to Emily who was up at 4am UK time due to a snoring boyfriend and dog and she was enjoying it all with us, despite being 4,000 miles away.

We stayed for a long time and drank too much. The place really filled up as it got later (those two videos were taken within half an hour of us arriving) and much of the crowd tonight seemed to be young cast members. Many Disney songs were requested and played and when Circle Of Life was playing it became obvious that many of the CMs were from the Lion King show at Animal Kingdom as we got a performance of the dance routine!

With things now being very crowded and rowdy as drunk youngsters were constantly dancing about three centimetres from our table, we left at around 1am.

I don’t know how much we had to drink if I am honest, but it could have funded another holiday. But, we had a really good night and we would return.

We made our way back to the Boardwalk and waited about ten minutes for our Lyft to arrive. Our driver was called Gaston, from Chile. He was an engineer by trade, working for Lyft at night to raise the funds to get his family over.

I don’t remember everything he said but Chile sounds like a scary place to live and no place for his two young kids.

We tipped him well and fell into bed just before 2am like the wild crazy kids we are.

Till the next time…..

The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour 2023 – Day Six Saturday 18th November

by mkingdon, posted in The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour

The weather seemed to be behaving itself now. We awoke to much more acceptable fare, or at least the promise of it and we celebrated by getting down to breakfast with more than three minutes to spare before they closed.

After another very acceptable free brekkie we were out by the pool at 10am and here, captured by my excellent photography skills was the very moment we first saw the sun on this trip. It was quite emotional.

I know that modest glow actually being the sun is debatable but after the last few days, we were getting desperate. Yes, it was cloudy, but crucially it was dry and warm. We embraced this opportunity and did little else but read and relax until a break for another average poolside lunch at 1pm.

Louise had a Quesadilla and I had Tacos. They did not justify a photo.

More resting and reading followed lunch and even what had previously been an unthinkable dip in the pool happened.

We were back up in our room at 4.30 for showers and general readying for our trip out for tea. I couldn’t help but capture the unusually glorious weather a few times. I had forgotten what shadows were!

We were seeing things from the balcony that had been up until now concealed.

No Lyft was summoned tonight as we were headed to Universal, so I was driving.

This was the view from the window by the lifts on our way down to the car. Florida can be pretty when it’s not pissing down with rain.

It took about 20 minutes to travel up the I4 and park at City Walk. We arrived at the car park at 5.55 to see a load of cars pulled over to the side and not going through the payment booth things. We soon realised why, as parking became free at 6pm.

It was about 5.58 when we were next in line to pay the $30 when we saw the team member in the booth get on the phone and then immediately close up. What joyous luck hath been bestowed upon us? We were the first “free” car through and that $30 saving made all the difference in our overall budget for this trip.

We parked in ET and took the long walk into City Walk itself.

We browsed a shop or two, perpetually on the lookout for suitable gifts for those at home. Then we took up a table at the Palm Lounge (near the plane) for a pre-dinner drinkie. It was waitress service…literally, there was one waitress on, so after a little wait we had a beer and a wine.

We then made our way round to the Hard Rock for our reservation.

We were seated immediately and in the decade or two since we last visited we had forgotten how noisy it was in here.

Of course, we shared Nachos to start.

I followed that with a very large piece of meat, which was just OK, to be honest.

Louise ordered Fajitas and the “fixings” arrived about five minutes ahead of the sizzling platter of meat so she had to ask for new fixings as her tortillas were now cold and hard.

I had ordered a milkshake about twenty minutes ago and it now arrived.

Overall, the experience was just about acceptable. The service was patchy and the food was just OK. It may be another decade or two before we return.

As we made our way out Louise did wonder why they had a painting of David Baddiel hanging at the top of the stairs.

The bill was a slightly painful $155 all things considered.

You may guess that at this point, all we wanted was sleep, so was walked back to the car, drove home and let all that food add to our fat collections nicely as we immediately slept.

Till the next time……

The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour 2023 – Day Five Friday 17th November

by mkingdon, posted in The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour, Uncategorized

Much to our disgust there was still no sign of the sun. So we had a lie-in until 9.30, showered, and were that annoying couple who arrive for breakfast at 9.59 when it closes at 10.

As we ate, I consulted various weather apps and they were promising better stuff around 10.30, so we finished our food and headed out to the pool, ready to absorb all this good weather.

It was still shite. We didn’t even bother getting sunbeds, for fear of triggering the Trades Descriptions Act. Instead, we sat on the lanai, undercover and did some reading.

We Facetimed folks back home for a while and when it was time we ordered some lunch from the bar side snack bar. It was once again fairly average.

The drizzly grey stuff continued throughout.

We abandoned all hope of seeing any sun, well even any dryness at around 2.30 and went back to the room. We did some more reading and relaxing before getting ready to go out around 4.30pm. (I bet you wish we’d done some theme parks on this trip?).

We ordered a Lyft around 5.30pm and one turned up within a couple of minutes. We were dropped off at The Boardwalk about fifteen minutes later.

We headed to the new (to us) Abracadabar for a couple of pre-dinner drinks.

I had a Negroni and of course an Espresso Martini.

Louise had a wine and then an Espresso. It’s a nice place. Not huge so I suspect it will get full quickly at busier times.

We wandered over to The Swan at 7.30.

We had an ADR at Il Mulino. This would be our fourth visit of recent times, the third and now the fourth trying to recapture the excellent experience we had on our first two.

The bread service here is excellent and the higher prices get you a lot of attention and lovely iced water served by a team of about 14 staff per table.

I had rice balls….but I suspect it was all this damp weather.

They are one of my favourite dishes of all time but be warned they do pack a spicy punch. There was snot and tears, but all of it worthwhile.

Louise started with Meatballs.

Her main course was Ravioli…

and mine Gnocchi…

Whilst both our starters were superb, the mains were just OK and I think we’ll give this one a rest for a while now. We clearly stumbled into some kind of magical experience the first couple of times that we don’t seem to be able to replicate. None of it was bad, and we enjoyed it, but for the price, we should probably try elsewhere.

The bill was $155 including tip.

All full up now, and clearly exhausted from our very busy day (!?) we decided against Jellyrolls and walked through to the main entrance of The Swan to summon a Lyft.

We waited all of six minutes before it arrived and we were back at the hotel and in bed by 10pm. We are the very definition of rock and roll I know!

I am not one to use spoliers, but tomorrow there may well be a blue sky and some sun!

Till the next time……

The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour 2023 – Day Four Thursday 16th November

by mkingdon, posted in The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour

We awoke full of expectations of more crap weather, and a few minutes of watching the TV confirmed this to be the case. Bugger.

We slowly got ourselves ready and headed down for some breakfast. With no real clue what to do today, I booked an ADR for Beaches & Cream at 2.30, thinking we may do some resort hopping if all else fails.

The view from the restaurant was not a pleasing one.

It became clear to us during breakfast, based on what could be seen through that window and what the weather apps were telling us, that it would probably be too wet to be doing any sort of “hopping” or generally just being outside at all, so we changed plans and decided to head to Mall at Millenia to be indoors as much as possible. Crucially it also had a Cheesecake Factory.

We left the hotel at 10.45 and undertook a slow, wet, and frankly slightly dangerous drive up the I4. We parked up, got wet on the walk-in, and wandered a few shops before deciding that was more than enough shopping for now and it was time to eat. You know where we went.

It will not shock you to hear that we ordered Nachos.

Having had breakfast not that long ago that was the extent of our efforts. We are not animals.

We resumed the wandering of shops and Louise had pinched my hoody as she was a bit chilly. So we went to American Eagle and I bought myself a new one for $75. This frivolous spending can only happen when on holiday.

With enough dollars spent now, we walked back to the car and drove to Disney Springs, headed for the cinema.

The rain at this point was biblical.

I take these photos so I can find the car when we return, but I share them anyway.

There was not a great deal of choice, film-wise, but in the end, we opted for the new Di Caprio film, Killers Of The Flower Moon. I knew little about it other than it was three and a half hours long. We were pretty full but I did manage to fit in a bag of choccy snacks……three and half hours is a long time!

The film was good but could have been a fair bit shorter and easier on the ass.

We emerged at 6.30 and guess what, it was pouring down still. We drove back to the hotel and got ready for our evening with Yeeha Bob at Port Orleans.

We were picked up by a Lyft at 7.45 knowing this was already too late to secure a good seat. We arrived ten minutes later and found that to be true. We had to loiter for a while until a couple vacated a couch just outside the main bar area. They knew we were waiting for their seat and the arse husband therefore spent about ten minutes examining his bill, for what who knows, before, slowly and finally getting up. I really dislike people sometimes.

We had one drink in this location before someone left a table in the main area and Louise pounced whilst I settled up.

That was an Espresso Martini, but probably the least impressive of the trip.

This was much better.

I had moved on to Chocolate Martinis as I am not a real man and cannot drink proper alcohol.

After a good few drinks we were peckish so ordered some bar food. I think it was some sort of Spinach dip and Tots.

At some point towards the end of the evening, just after a round of drinks had arrived, I put some of my not inconsiderable weight on my end of the table and it tipped up, launching Louise’s full glass of red wine all over me.

Many napkins were needed and I now had pink trainers and a soggy hoody…you know the one I spent $75 on earlier. Our server replaced the drink for free of course, despite my clumsy ineptitude. Maybe their tables are known to be faulty?

Anyway, we left at midnight in another Lyft, and hey, it was still raining.

Till the next time…..