The Coats, Boats and Little Scrotes Tour 2023 – Day Fifteen Monday 23rd January

Monday 23rd January

So here we are, another travel day back to the UK after what had been a lovely couple of weeks with some new experiences, plenty of memories and emotions and of course a few more pounds than we arrived with accompanying us home.

To start the very long and tiring journey right, I had a crap night’s sleep. Too much food, eaten far too late and my middle-aged body punished me accordingly. I was awake for good at 6. We chatted to Rebecca for a bit and at around 7 we started to (literally) get our shit together. There were showers and endless packing with a nice sprinkle of sadness thrown in.

When we were nearly done I went out onto our balcony to soak in the view for one last time. I genuinely got angry at those folks breezily going about their day when we had to go home. I was envious of them being able to stay when I could not. Having indulged my inner toddler for a few minutes I went back inside, crammed the last few things into a bag of some description and bang on 10am we left the room. Have I mentioned that I was sad?

I walked out to the car and drove it back to the entrance to load people and cases into it. We were Disney Springs bound for the traditional last-day panic buy of gifts that we had nowhere to put. Fortunes were spent, mainly in the World of Disney. My mood when making my notes (whilst sitting at the gate in a few hours from now) was bleak and therefore detail is scant.

We were done by 11.30 and after a fuel stop on the way, we made it to The Cheesecake Factory for our farewell, overeating bonanza. We had not booked and there was no wait as it was midday on a Monday.

As we settled in preparing to order our Nachos, our server delivered news more devastating than our impending return to the UK. A broiler was broken and this meant several dishes were not available. This included our beloved Nachos. Tears were shed, furniture thrown across the restaurant and violence brought upon those responsible.

Once the dust had settled we ordered alternatives, which to be fair, were excellent.

I had the egg roll sampler

It was probably one of the nicest things I had all trip.

Emily – Macaroni Cheese Balls with fries.

Louise – Quesadillas and fries.

We all forced a cheesecake down, but my notes are so poor for today (that always seems to be the case for the travel home day) I did not note what each one was.

Louise had a couple of wines and the bill came to $140. We were still sad but now full, which marginally improved the situation. I say marginally, as I cannot remember feeling so sad to return home, but that was probably more a memory thing.

It was a little early to be heading to the airport so we just sat in the car for half an hour in the car park feeling overly full and whistful.

Eventually, we drove to MCO, and did a painless car drop (I was very sad to let that car go, I loved it). Check-in was very quiet, swift and incident free followed by the exact opposite at security as ever. Forty minutes to get through there before we could monorail out to gate 83. We sat and waited and I visited the shop as I needed a pen and something to read. The only pen in the shop was $20 so that was a nice kick in the nuts to round the day off nicely. We got some drinks, waited some more and then boarded.

At that point, my notes stop and I have zero recollection of the flight home. I think I may have slept for a decent chunk of it, but it did not make the re-entry into normality any less horrific.

We were soon home, and happy to see the various animals again.

Returning to the UK is rarely a good thing after a Florida trip. Doing so in January, to the bleak mid-winter horrors of the weather does not help.

The trip was a good one with many firsts. I thought Caribbean Beach was great and the Skyliner a marvel. I just wish we could have used it more. I would stay there again for sure.

The parks this January were much better than the previous one. Things were still busy and our greatest frustrations seemed to centre around Hollywood Studios which seems impenetrable without Genie+. All the other parks were OK, putting aside the absolute insult of having to pay extra for Genie+ of course. Things seem to be settling a little and maybe the pent-up demand post Covid is running out of steam now. Either that or the extra costs and the state of the world’s economy are just now starting to curtail visitor numbers.

I seem to have created an impression that we disliked the cruise. This could not be further from the truth. We were often in awe at the experience (including the alcohol expenditure!) and our lack of research and abundance of ignorance saw us fall foul of a few beginner’s pitfalls. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and took away some valuable learnings should we ever do one again.

So the latest in a flurry of recent trips comes to an end. Who knows when we may return? 🙂

Thanks as ever for reading along. I am increasingly amazed that you still do and it is appreciated.

Till the next time……