Author: mkingdon

What is an mkingdon? Well, it is a long story, but a simple one. I have an addiction to Walt Disney World and Florida, and have done little else but holiday there for the past ten years. Worse than that, I have written about it too,in the form of long and detailed trip reports mainly on The Dibb. Upon joining that site I had to choose a username. I chose mkingdom, with the obvious relation to the Magic Kingdom. However, I am cursed with less than perfect typing skills, and I actually entered mkingdon. So it all started there really, and people have come to know me as that, so I’ve sort of adopted it as my online identity. Behind the name is a late thirties Boltonian with two girls, and Louise, a wife. I work in IT/Web stuff, and endure it to the best of my ability. You can find me in various places online. You should follow me on Twitter, and I am facebooked up too.

The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024 – Day Nine Wednesday 23rd October

by mkingdon, posted in The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024

I think today was our earliest get up, so please be suitably impressed as we reverse off the drive at 8am, Universal bound.

Of course, it took almost an hour to get up the I4 and arrive at Royal Pacific. We self-parked, grabbed the stuff we needed for the park and headed into reception to check in.

I’ve walked past these frogs a lot over the years but have only now noticed they seem to have “their lipstick out”.

The ladies and kids took a seat whilst Tom and I went to check-in. It always seems to take longer than it probably should to do that here. The queue was small but the level of faff and keyboard tapping does seem excessive. Having given all the info when booking, it does seem odd that I am now writing names and email addresses on scraps of paper.

Anyway, after some real confusion about who was in which room, we were done, had our Express passes and popped into the shop for breakfast.

With food on board, we walked down to the water taxi.

Just outside the gates we did a quick check of Freddie’s height and he was so close to being able to ride the Hulk, but not quite there yet.

I had hoped to have us stepping foot into the park by 10am. It was 11am as we did so.

Having chosen Islands of Adventure for today we headed straight for Suess Landing whilst Dougie was still awake and onto Cat In The Hat.

There was no queue but we still used our Express to get our money’s worth!

Dougie loved it in much the same way the girls had at his age. It is a banger for the two year olds. Hit followed hit as we went straight onto the Carousel now, and Louise and I recognised a bit of a special moment as we clearly remembered taking the girls on this at very similar ages.

There was much concern, sorry I mean hilarity as Louise took about five minutes to dismount. I know that sounds like an exaggeration but she was in this position for many minutes and we were unable to help as we concentrated on not wetting ourselves laughing and in my case also making sure I got it on camera.

Naturally, One Fish, Two Fish was next. Louise and I rode together and I was the perfect gentleman by making sure I sat on the inside of the fish and had full control of our height. Louise was very grateful for the cooling effect of the water I subjected her to.

As we wandered now towards the Circus McGurgus thing, The Grinch appeared, preceded by his helper/host…

This was very fortunate as Dougie is obsessed with The Grinch. It played out perfectly as after a brief little show with Thing 1 and 2, he took up a position for a meet and greet right in front of us and we were first in line.

and this happened….

and he stayed like that for many minutes….

He was in heaven and it took some persuading for Dougie to let go and let somebody else have a photo.

Once that was done, we rode.

Staying at one of the Universal hotels that give you Express is expensive, so it feels hypocritical to praise it after moaning about Disney’s Multipass stuff, but the experience is excellent. It takes away all the stress about crowds and also doesn’t require military planning and constant app use and juggling of reservations. Universal for us is typically a couple of days maximum so it’s a different kettle of fish to our Disney park touring, and it works brilliantly. Right now, the Disney experience is complicated, expensive (as we want to go to their parks roughly ten days in a 2 week stay) and stressful.

Onwards we marched to the Potter stuff.

It was busy in Hogsmeade but not the crazy crowd levels we have encountered in the past so we did get some chance to take in the theming rather than just concentrating on avoiding other bodies.

After a quick Butterbeer everyone went on the Hippogriff so that Dougie could ride another coaster before succumbing to his impending nap.

Next everyone apart from me and Dougie went on the Hogwart’s ride. I took a long walk around the park until Dougie fell asleep.

Upon my return, I rode with Louise, but Freddie turned down a second ride, not being too keen on what he’d experienced. Upon riding it, I could appreciate why a six year old may not be its biggest fan.

Now, it was time for….

Louise sat out with Dougie and the rest of used the Express line, which still took 30 minutes to ride. Freddie was understandably excited and nervous as we waited, as this would certainly be his most intense coaster to date. It was not helped by the ride going down for about ten minutes.

I have ridden this before a few times but for some reason this trip it seemed more terrifying than I can recall. Sure it’s fast and has all the loops and twists but never have I ever experienced the feeling of coming out of my seat as I did on this coaster. I was genuinely scared for my life. I am sure it has been tested and it is no doubt physically impossible to fall out but good grief I did not believe that as I gripped for dear life and screamed.

With that in mind, it made perfect sense that I rode again immediately, this time with Louise, Freddie, and Tom. It was no less scary.

In need of some blood pressure soothing, we chose to ride the Jurassic Park River thing next. It was a walk on with or without Express.

After riding it was time for some snacks, so I bought a random selection of whatever the closest booth had to offer.

I didn’t know what that one above was but it turned out to be a very lovely sweet pastry type thing. I was more shocked to discover the one below was savoury after taking a large bite. It was potato and meat and Freddie also had a taste, loved it and devoured the rest.

Whilst I was busy eating, fiddling little fingers seized the camera.

On to Kong now and it was mildly surprising to find that Dougie could ride it. We bypassed a pleasing standby queue with our Expressness and rode. Despite the very gory and gruesome content of this ride Dougie was fine. It probably isn’t ideal for little ones to be honest.

We chose to bypass the water rides, as we were soon to be sat in a restaurant and did not want to be freezing to death in wet clothes in brutal AC. So we carried on walking through the park, to get back to the Spider Man and Hulk rides.

We were devastated to see that Spiderman was down for maintenance and would not be open during our visit. Meeting Temu Wolverine was not really compensation for that fact.

It was my turn to sit with Dougie now as everyone went off to ride Dr Doom. Despite us being minutes away from our dining reservation, like all good grandparents, I got him a huge lollipop from the shops.

He approved of my decision….

When everyone got back, I was delighted to hear that Louise had not ridden, and had sat out on a bench near the ride entrance and I could have ridden after all.

Next, we all rode the Storm Force waltzer thingy.

Louise and I had Dougie in with us so could avoid the excessive spinning that was going on in the other cup by Tom and Freddie.

We had time to repeat Cat In The Hat and One Fish Two Fish on our way to eat at Mythos….

Upon arriving at Mythos it was not busy and we were seated immediately. It is heavily themed around Mythos type things, if anyone has a clue what that is.

Rebecca and Tom had a milkshake and Louise a wine, with everyone else on soft drinks.

I started with a Mezze Platter….

Louise had a “dipping thing” according to my ever reliable notes.

Tom had meatballs….

and Rebecca had Hummus

They were all lovely. This Mediterranean style of dippy stuff and breads is right up my street.

For mains, I had Chicken Kebab with Cous and Cous.

Rebecca Lamb Burger

Both of the boys had pizza and Louise had a Grilled Cheese in Soup

Tom had Pad Thai, but a plaster and some talc would probably sort that right out.

The boys finished with a shared banana split and there was a creme brulee that a few of us dipped into. It was all very delicious with very good service but of course came at an elevated price which was to be expected when dining in the parks. It was around $400 including tip.

It was dark now. Freddie wanted to do Velocicoaster again, so Tom took him off to do that. We strolled over to the water rides, picking up a Grinch for Dougie…

as that was the plan after the boys returned but Popeye’s Bilge Rats had closed at 7. We waited for quite some time on a bench near Dudley’s as it turned out that Velocicoaster had gone down and it was taking them a long while to ride. As Rebecca had Tom’s phone to save him the bother of the locker nonsense, we had no way to get in touch like it was the 90’s or something.

Eventually, we decided to walk to the park exit in case they had gone there a different way and the park was closing now anyway. Louise took Dougie off to the boat whilst Rebecca and I waited for Tom and Freddie. Once we’d found them we set off to the boat to find Louise and Dougie sat on the one just leaving as we arrived.

The next boat was about ten minutes later and we thankfully got on board and headed for bed. We had done well over 20,000 steps today and were absolutely exhausted.

Till the next time…..

The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024 – Day Eight Tuesday 22nd October

by mkingdon, posted in The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024

It’s rare to report on a first these days when it comes to a Florida trip but here we are. The plan hath not decreed it so but with the earlier changes due to the weather, more flexibility was required today and we moved our Volcano Bay day to today. For Louise and I, one of those rare firsts.

I didn’t get up until 8.45 am, which was right around the time we probably should have been parking up at Universal but I’d been up in the night and had not slept well so it was as unavoidable as it was undesirable.

This resulted in a very poor 10am departure and once again our journey was blighted with traffic that was less than ideal. It was bad enough that the drive took 45 minutes, but what added insult to that injury was as we pulled up to the toll booths where you pay for your parking for Volcano Bay, I don’t know why, but there was a huge queue that was just not moving at all.

My frustration and anger (mostly at myself for the late start) started to build and the 30-minute wait just to pay for parking was not improving our start to the day.

Once parked up, we had to board a bus to the water park itself. This was relatively painless, but my mood had darkened sufficiently to see this as a problem too.

Once off the bus, there was a sizeable walk to get somewhere close to any water. At this point I was wondering if Volcano Bay actually existed or if it did, I suspected it was located in one of the Carolinas.

I had to go to guest services to sort our tickets and then we were given a Tapu thing and finally, we were in. It was midday.

You can imagine that the availability of sunbeds and shade was not abundant at this time so there was a long, hot, frustrating trek around the park trying to source some. It was made so much easier with us having a stroller, which of course always work well on sand.

I spotted a set of beds large enough to accommodate us all and we made camp. It felt like very hard work indeed to just get into the park. The day was to get better but the herding cattle approach to getting folks into the park was not something I liked. Compare it to Typhoon Lagoon where you park about six feet from the entrance and stroll in and I would say it could be simpler.

Suncream was applied….

then everyone apart from Louise was off into the water, thankful to now be able to have some fun.

Being in unfamiliar surroundings, I felt unsettled, which probably should be added to my “reasons I need therapy” list and says a lot more about me than I would probably like it to. There’s a reason we keep returning to Florida. After a dip in the main pool, I returned to Louise as everyone else went off to do some slides.

I rested a bit until everyone returned around 1.30. We mobile ordered lunch and then went off to eat it.

Me and Rebecca – Turkey Wrap

Louise – Pulled Pork Sandwich

Tom, Freddie and Dougie – Pizza

Picking up the food was fine but I had a falling out with the drinks machine and had to go back and get another cup as the fanfangled machine just spat syrup all over the first one and me.

Some escaped Lays were appreciated by the wildlife.

Now fed, Louise and I returned to our encampment. Tom, Rebecca and Freddie went off for more rides and I walked Dougie around in his stroller until he fell asleep. That was a good way for me to get a good tour of the park anyway.

With him napping, I went for a couple of loops around the lazy river, finding a very comfortable position on a double-ring thing, which I believe is also the name of a film. I was dangerously close to falling asleep on a few occasions, but the tactically placed ice-cold drips and sprays kept me alert at the appropriate times.

I wandered back to the beds to find everyone had returned and Freddie was keen for me to go on the Crazy (not Lazy) River now so off we went. The fact that you have to wear a life vest to go on this may suggest how fast this thing goes, but it was really good fun.

We did four laps in total before being thrown out as the park was closing.

My view on Volcano Bay improved throughout the day and to be honest I am not worth listening to when it comes to any sort of review on a water park. I don’t do the slides (more issues for my imaginary therapist to unpick) due to some bad experiences on dodgy water parks in the Med in my younger days, so I couldn’t tell you if the slides here are better or worse than anywhere else. For me, as somewhere to just rest and relax it’s simply easier to get to and into Typhoon Lagoon so I would probably stick with that in future, although the Crazy River was excellent. I would say that our long drawn-out entry experience this morning was very likely largely down to our own very late start and the weird 30-minute wait to pay for parking, which oddly cleared as soon as we were through.

We got dried and dressed and made our way out. Getting out and back to the car was a good deal easier than the earlier shenanigans.

However, the traffic was not, and it took over an hour to get home. I guess it was rush hour, with nobody rushing anywhere on the I4, of course.

Dinner tonight would be just Louise and I as Rebecca wanted to give the boys an early night and get packed for our Universal stay tomorrow. So after showers, we set off. Having not planned for this turn of events, we just set off down the 192 looking for inspiration and, driven by growing hunger, opted for the next thing we saw which was…

It was not busy at all.

We started with some kind of fried pickle type thing (my notes are poor and seem to get poorer from here on, as at this stage, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t bother writing this trip up, but here we are.)

I reached for the camera well into our eating of it.

Our entrees were a dipping beef sandwich thing….

with Louise opting for her “go to” cheesy pasta thing

The food was tasty and the service fine, but this was not a life-changing dining experience and we probably would not return. With it being a slow weekday the atmosphere was probably not at its best either with just a few tables occupied. It’s odd how that can make such a difference to a dining experience. The place being so busy you can’t get a table or decent service is of course no good, but when a place is as empty as this was, it gives the whole experience a bit of weird “vibe” and I’m sure we can all agree that I am far too old to be using words like vibe.

We drove home, did some packing for Universal, which was no doubt a lot easier than Rebecca’s and went to bed.

Till the next time……

The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024 – Day Seven Monday 21st October

by mkingdon, posted in The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024

As shining examples of how to get stuff done early in the parks we are not that psycho blonde woman with four kids who keeps infecting my Instagram feed with her 4am wake ups and Stepford vibes. If you know, you know.

Today was probably the exact opposite of that but we were tired to it was a much later start. I had booked Multipass and stacked our LLs for the afternoon so we took our time and benefitted from the extra cash outlay, but not as much as Disney would.

It was 10.30 when we left the house. Less than half an hour later we parked in Mickey 312 and we trammed in.

I can’t say for certain that Dougie didn’t sleep in that hat.

We had a Fantasmic Dinner Package booked for this evening which involved lunch at the Sci-Fi Diner so we had no ride plans before that. We had a stroll of the shops and just took things in.

We checked in at the restaurant at 12.20 and were seated within 5 minutes.

We all ordered a milkshake which would count as dessert on our FDP thing, which was fine by us. And they were fine.

We paid extra(!) for an appetiser of Fried Pickles and then….

Me – Chicken Salad

Louise – A blurry chicken sandwich

Everyone else had burgers, which proved impossible to photograph as we were all sat in a car.

It was another pricey affair, as expected, but it did give us a “Fastpass” for Fantasmic later.

Our first ride of the day was Mickey’s Runaway Railway and everyone except Louise endured the 30 minute standby wait for that.

It’ll never be the Great Movie Ride, but it’s clever, and I suspect it takes a lot fewer CMs to run it than the previous ride here.

Next, it was time for our LL for Rise of the Resistance. As often seems to be the case, as we arrived the ride had just come back up which meant that even the LL queue was bedlam. The standby was at 3 hours, and that would rise to 4 as we queued. Tom stayed out with Dougie and it took the rest of us 45 minutes to ride.

I suppose this ride’s impressiveness and complexity lead to it going down a lot.

It truly is an incredible spectacle and feat of Imagineering but its instability means that idiots like us who paid to ride it get upset at still having to spend an hour doing so.

Tom and Freddie then rode much more quickly as the initial surge after re-opening had calmed down.

The rest of us walked to Tower of Terror for our next LL, and we knew at this point that Tom and Freddie would be late for our slot on that ride. I went to one of the Guest Services blue umbrellas and explained the Rise-induced delay to our plans and they kindly made our LL for Tower of Terror open-ended for any time today.

We took a seat and had a drink whilst we waited for the Rise riders to return.

With Dougie napping, Rebecca, Tom and Freddie rose TOT, then with Dougie awake again, Tom took Freddie on Rock n Rollercoaster whilst the rest of us took Dougie to see Beauty and The Beast.

Keeping Dougie entertained whilst we waited in the scandalous and persistent absence of Four For A Dollar, involved him having a go on the camera.

Once the show started, I took over on camera.

With that show enjoyed Louise and I took our turn to ride TOT. Everyone else headed back to Galaxy’s Edge where we were to meet them for our Smuggler’s Run LL. We were half an hour beyond our time slot, which stressed me out no end, but as we beeped our bands Mickey turned green and we were in after more very persistent measuring of Dougie, which he once again passed.

Dougie, much like myself had no clue what was going on, but enjoyed it nevertheless.

We wandered Galaxy’s Edge for a bit, catching a bit of a live show involving Kylo Ren.

Rebecca and Tom did a great job of resisting Freddie’s persistent urging to buy some form of very expensive plastic tat and then we set off for Toy Story Land and our Mania LL. This time I rode with Louise. Different competitor, same result. A bruising defeat for Louise.

We completed our rides for the day with the Holy Grail of LLs, Slinky Dog, and as a bonus, it was just going dark which makes most rides better in my opinion.

Dougie loved it. A great coaster, perfect in its intensity so that everyone can ride and enjoy it.

As we now made our way towards Fantasmic, the boys were bought the inevitable light-up toys and as we entered the stadium we stopped for snacks of drinks and popcorn before taking our seats.

This show continues to be one of the best experiences on WDW property. That finale gets me every time. It’s amazing what music can do to you. Rebecca was in tears and I wasn’t far off. Do not miss this show.

It was an easy exit and we made our way back to the car.

Having given Disney far too much of our money on food and LLs recently we headed off-site to eat at the cheap and cheerful Olive Garden. We arrived at 9.20 and were seated within about 15 minutes.

You know what we had to start….

I had the Tour of Italy, as usual.

Freddie had meatballs and spaghetti.

Both Tom and Rebecca had Lasagne

Louise, Five Cheese Ziti

Dougie had Pizza

With wines, iced coffees, sodas and tip, it was a wallet-soothing $160. It was all pretty good, although my entree could have been warmer. We do find this place to be quite hit and miss in recent years, but overall it’s decent quality food for a good price when your bank balance needs a break from WDW prices.

We were home by 11.15, with a great day in the bag, despite the late start.

Till the next time…..

The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024 – Day Six Sunday 20th October

by mkingdon, posted in The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024

Rest days are the habitual practice of seasoned travellers to WDW who love to recharge their batteries….

Parklife!

But once that’s done and the rides start calling again all you can do is make your return to hustle and bustle of …

Parklife!

So with a 6.55am alarm waking me so that I could book us all a virtual queue for Guardians, the day began. My notes remind that I felt rough this morning with a headache and nausea. It was either last night’s cold spud or I was pregnant.

Despite the 7am alarm, we were not out of the house until 9am and it took about 25 minutes to drive to Epcot’s gate. Another $30 exchanged hands and we parked in Rocket 602.

The tram took us in, (since when were they red?) and coffee and donuts were served from Joffries for those who didn’t feel like vomiting.

I stood strong today and refused to book the Multipass, so the day started with a 20-minute queue for Spaceship Earth.

I had the genuine pleasure of riding with Dougie, who despite several very annoying stops for several minutes was incredibly well behaved.

Next, we restroomed.

With our virtual queue time approaching it made sense to head in that direction and ride Mission Space. I declined the chance to ride as I needed no further encouragement to be making pavement pizzas so Louise and I sat out with Dougie and had a drink.

Once everyone was back from space we had been summoned to Guardians. After setting up rider swap, Me, Louise, Rebecca and Freddie rode.

This is THE best ride on property and I will not be entering into any debate on the subject.

It had been raining a little all morning and as Tom an Freddie rode Guardians it really came down. We needed to get to a restroom and by the time we did it felt like we had been swimming.

While waiting for Tom and Freddie to return we stood under the canopy outside Connections and Club Cool.

Dougie had been kept out of it with his pram hood and a poncho.

With no sign of the boys and our ADR at Space 220 imminent, we messaged them to say meet us there and set off to get a little bit wetter. I explained to the check-in host that we were waiting for two who were riding, and it was fine when we eventually got everyone there and checked in at 1:30 for our 1.10 ADR. As soon as we did that, the rain stopped.

We entered the lift ensuring the boys could get up to the rail to see the “lift” take us up to space. It was quite full so I could see bugger all standing against the back wall.

I dangled the camera from my outstretched arm and got….

Once we arrived in space as you would imagine, the theming was just excellent.

There were novelty fizzy drinks with glowing things and popping space rock….

Even though Dougie wasn’t having that particular special drink off the menu our server was smart enough to make sure his apple juice also glowed.

and those rocks really popped….

Food wise we had

Me and Tom – Shrimp Tacos and the burger

Louise – Cauliflower starter and the burger

Rebecca – Caesar salad and burger

Boys – Nuggets and a dome pudding.

Some adult desserts were had too….

Louise had some wines and most of us finished with a coffee.

Many of you will know that this isn’t a cheap experience, and there’s nothing to be gained by saying how much this meal was, so I won’t. The experience was very good, the food was better than expected and the boys really enjoyed the theming. It was chilly, but that was because we arrived drenched in cold water. I also got a better view in the lift on the way back to earth.

Dougie was in desperate need of a nap so I volunteered to walk him round until he caught one. I ended up doing a full loop of World Showcase and met up with everyone over at Journey Into Imagination.

Louise and I stayed out with Dougie.

Due to our evening plans, we had about 30 minutes left now to ride something before we had to go and Freddie chose Mission Space and insisted I rode too.

I survived with my expensive lunch intact.

The weather had perked up too.

What I’m doing here, I have no clue.

Something tells me a younger camera operator was holding the camera….

It was time to leave now so we made our way to the exit. Dougie was back from his nap.

But only just….

That’s better.

We trammed to the car…

and I captured evidence of someone’s battle with the overhead speaker….

Sometimes being bald can be a blessing.

We were heading for City Walk, as tonight Tom and Rebecca were going to Halloween Horror Nights whilst we took the boys for some tea and then home to bed.

The traffic was of course horrific all the way up the I4 but the cherry on top was the 35-minute wait on the off-ramp to get to Universal parking. This, we soon found out was caused by a combo of Horror Nights traffic plus a Chase Atlantic gig at The Hard Rock. After parking the car security was also carnage but we made it in around 6.15 and Rebecca and Tom went off to be horrified, mainly by the prices and wait times.

The fringe-filled emo-fest that was the queue for the gig at the Hard Rock was a flashback to the teenage years of the girls.

Louise and I sat with the boys on those big steps for a bit, people-watching until it was time to head to Toothsome for our reservation. No, we were not hungry at all.

We were seated immediately and started to ponder what someone who isn’t hungry at all orders.

Louise went for French Onion Soup.

I went sweet with a Banana Fosters Waffle, you know, because I was full.

The boys, who were hungry, went for burgers.

We had a few minutes of interaction at our table with the two characters.

Then the boys shared the S’Mores, barely making a dent in them and I was in no position to help.

We wandered City Walk, and after looking for all kinds of plastic tat to get for the boys, Dougie showed no interest in anything and Freddie ended up getting two airbrush tattoos. It was bedtime, for Louise and me, so the boys had to come home too. We had walked all the way back to the car when Freddie announced he needed a wee, so I had to walk him all the way back to security to the closest restroom.

Despite having the sat nav on I managed to take a few wrong turns on the way home and one of them saw us divert through some sort of military base entrance. Bizarre.

We were home for 11 and got the boys in bed. I waited up downstairs just in case Dougie woke up and then fell into bed as soon as Rebecca and Tom got home around 1am, I think.

Till the next time……

The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024 – Day Five Saturday 19th October

by mkingdon, posted in The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024

Fair warning, we’ve hit a rest day. It was incredibly welcome, don’t get me wrong. We had broken the cardinal rule of ensuring day two was a rest day due to the cooler weather so now after the long travel day and three consecutive park days we were ready, but content-wise, well if it were possible to be poorer, it will be.

We stayed in bed until 8am which was a bit of a breakthrough time zone wise and we took our time getting ready, leaving the house around 9.30. One real benefit of a rest day is the opportunity to go and eat a life-threatening amount of food for breakfast so we did that.

I can’t remember where I saw it but I had noted in my plan that we should try a new place called @TheDiner. It is in Lake Buena Vista not far from Crossroads and due to yet more bobbins traffic it took over half an hour to get there and there was a point, when stationary on the 192 that I considered just pulling into a Perkins or Dennys there to avoid my growing frustration with the length of time it was taking to get anywhere.

We stuck it out and upon arrival we were quoted a 20-minute wait. We waited outside whilst looking over the menu.

We ordered –

Louise and Me – Eggs Benedict

Freddie – Grilled Cheese

Rebecca – House Special Cinnamon Toast with Egg and Sausage

Tom – Bagel and Boston Cream Pie Pancakes

Dougie – Fruit Cup

I am only slightly ashamed to admit that Louise and I ordered one of those Boston Cream Pie Pancakes to share after finishing our Eggs Benedicts and it was very much the right thing to do.

With juices and coffees, it was $185 including tip.

We drove back to the Solaro resort (where we were staying), through the entrance on the other side of the road to our villa, and around to the pool and clubhouse.

We found some beds and upon trying to locate the towels the lifeguard told me that they do not supply them, so that had me driving back to the villa to go and get some!

We were settled in by the splash pool and the boys played in that for a long while.

A waitress approached after some time and took a drinks order. We left the tab open but she never darkened our door/beds again so lost out on any tip we could have given her. I guess she was busier around the main pool.

Rebecca, Tom and Freddie went over to the main pool for a while and I went for a walk around the local estate to get Dougie to sleep. It was quite the safari with lizards, rabbits and snakes all making an appearance.

Freddie was keen to try the Flow Rider thing, so that’s what happened next. He has more bravery than I ever did at six years old.

After a few minutes of lying down and then kneeling up, he was on his feet….

On his next few tries he went back to lying down for the fun of it and the chap helping him here was really good with him.

As his session came to an end he hadn’t had any form of wipe out which would result in him shooting up over the top, so he intentionally fell off and did just that. He absolutely loved the whole experience.

We left the pool around 5.30 and went back home to get ready for dinner (tea).

The plan said the Cheesecake Factory but we were pretty sure the wait would be unbearable. I had tried to book, but that seems impossible from the UK and I had forgotten to ring up to do so since arriving in the US.

We got there at 8.15 and of course at that time on a Saturday, the wait time was quoted at two hours. You would think as that is pretty standard why they don’t build another location in the area.

With that being clearly a non-starter we set off in search of an alternative. We thought of Bahama Breeze and headed in that direction but again the traffic to get there was queuing from the Premium Outlets right the way down to the junction where BB is, so instead we bailed at the Longhorns we were sat in traffic outside of.

Even there we were given a 30-minute expected wait. After every minute of that, we were seated after waiting outside.

There was a bread service and we started with two appetisers to share. Spinach Artichoke Dip and a kind of Bloonim’ Onion thing.

Both were very good.

It was steaks all round, which were delicious. My loaded spud was a little cold and dry but overall a tasty meal.

You can see I was a little late to the photos….

With a couple of wines and an unusual two beers for me, and Freddie finishing up with an ice cream, it was a slightly surprising $280 including tip. With me out of my mind on two beers, Tom drove us home and we managed a landmark bedtime of 11pm.

Till the next time…..

The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024 – Day Four Friday 18th October

by mkingdon, posted in The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024

With a bedtime of 9.30 last night, a rise of 6am was not too surprising. I was also awake.

Louise slept on, so sadly I took the chance to reply to a couple of work things on the phone before going downstairs at 7am to make myself some cereal and toast. It’s always fun trying to find something to watch on American TV for those few minutes whilst eating breakfast. I’m never sure which new channel isn’t crammed with right-wing propaganda and if you can avoid an advert it’s either very large men talking about a style of football I do not understand or a rerun of some very old sitcom. I was yearning for the Applicances Direct ad to be honest.

Louise wasn’t up until after 8 a.m., so it was a later start after everyone had showered and readied. I wasn’t too stressed, as I had already squandered yet more dollars on multipass for today. It does feel like the standard park experience is broken for the most part. I know everyone has different views and experiences here, but it feels like now you have to pay extra to get what was standard a few years ago.

We left the house at 8.30 and parked up at 8.45am. We trammed in from Dinosaur 225 only for Rebecca to go for an entry denying wee.

Does anyone else have an uncontrollable and undeniable reflex to smile at all dogs?

Once we were in, It’s Tough To Be A Bug was the obvious first choice due to our LLs not starting until 12, (the offsite scum cruse strikes again) its proximity and lack of wait time.

Freddie couldn’t be-leaf this was a person and not a tree. He just didn’t twig. I had to root out my camera and capture the moment as I’m a bit of a sap. Enough!

Freddie was not the most impressed he would be all holiday with this attraction. There was no fear or aversion to the creatures “leaving!” the theatre. It just didn’t go very fast and/or upside down.

At this point, coffee was desirable, so we headed over to Starbucks, and Rebecca and I went in to gather essentials for everyone. Even though I ordered I gave Rebecca’s name to avoid a Cregg moment.

We sat on a wall whilst everyone destroyed the various types of coffee and cake.

Wees were had before we headed all the way over to the rapids. If we were to get wet, it would be early to give the sun time to work its magic.

We didn’t fare too badly wetness-wise on the way around, but then got soaked by the squirting elephants at the end of the ride whilst we waited to disembark.

Freddie and Tom rode again as the standby said 25 minutes but it turned out to be closer to 45. The rest of us sat watching the monkeys for that amount of time.

We’d missed a Lion King show I had my eye on due to the longer ride time, so instead we ate. Yak & Yeti was closest so that was an easy choice.

Once again the camera fell into younger hands.

Our next LL was due for the safari which, yes, you spotted it, was all the way back across the park. We had an excellent driver/guide and saw lots of interesting stuff.

After locating the stroller among the plethora of others in the parking lot, we walked across to Pandora. We had a 2.30 LL for Flights of Passage. We set up a rider swap so that Freddie could ride twice. Louise and I sat out with a napping Dougie and face-timed Emily back home for a bit whilst the others rode.

Louise and I then rode again with Freddie. His excitement to do so was not dampened by just having ridden it.

He once again needed a wee but thankfully the wait was short and he managed to wait until we could rush him to the restroom upon our exit.

We met everyone else and were greeted with a drink.

The LLs were coming thick and fast now, with Everest the next. Yep, that was at the other side of the park again.

With a rider swap set up, Louise, Freddie, Rebecca, and I rode first, with Tom and Freddie going second.

Having taken this same picture every year since this ride opened, here is this year’s version.

and this one

We strolled to Dinoland whilst Tom and Freddie rode, with Rebecca taking Dougie for a spin. I can’t spell Triceratops.

Once everyone was back together we went to Dinosaur. We just about made it within our LL slot giving us the pleasure of walking past that queue.

We had set up the customary rider swap but Freddie was not keen enough on the experience to want to do it a second time.

Louise and I opted to sit down and have a drink whilst everyone else went off to the rapids again which had a short standby. Whilst we waited for them I wandered off to the shop to pick up something Dougie had expressed a lot of interest in (as much as a 2-year-old can), but he loves a hat and had been shouting “Duck” every time he saw Donald so….

Of course, you can’t get one child something without the other…..

We were heading out now…

So here’s an example of the added expense of Multipass affecting our decisions. Almost without exception over the years a day at DAK meant an ADR for Yak and Yeti. It is one of our favourites and a lovely way to wrap up the day at this park. With all the extra dollars going on getting on rides, today we were headed off-site for what would be a considerably cheaper meal. We were headed for Applebees and I had chosen the one at Celebration and the hat was never coming off.

I have to admit that I wasn’t that hungry. My way of addressing that was to “only order two appetisers”.

We’ll get to that when that photo appears, but here is Freddie’s Corn Dog.

I realised the error in my theory when my pretzels arrived.

I had also ordered the Chicken Wontons. Not being that hungry I of course demolished the lot.

Dougie had pizza.

Rebecca also went for the same approach as me with Pretzels and Wings

Quesedeia (another word I can’t spell) Burger for Tom.

Louise had a steak which she declared wonderful.

With a few shakes, wines and drinks all round it was $170 including a good tip. Our server, Dalton, was excellent.

Once again full and tired we headed for home and once again did not make it past 9.30.

Till the next time…..

The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024 – Day Three Thursday 17th October

by mkingdon, posted in The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024

I slept solidly until 2am and then again until 4am. When I woke again at 7.30 there were questions about what the plan for today was. Sure, I’d had a plan in place for months but the weather looked like scuppering that as it was looking too chilly for the planned visit to Typhoon Lagoon.

The preference seemed to be Hollywood Studios so with it already being too late to be getting there, never mind trying to plan a day that wouldn’t involve riding Star Tours and watching the Muppets (RIP) seventeen times I had work to do.

There was no choice but to buy Multipass again, so I did before showering and getting dressed. I did OK with the first LL, securing Rock n Rollercoaster, Star Tours and Alien Swirling Saucers.

We were out of the house by 8.30 and in the park just after 9am. Not bad. My heart sank seeing huge queues at the entrance but I was hopeful that was driven by incompetence rather than attendance.

Our first LL wasn’t until 12.30 so I was on the app trying to find a tolerable standby wait. Toy Story Mania promised a twenty-minute wait so off we went.

We entered the queue full of excitement about the day ahead, with Freddie particularly looking forward to Rock n Rollercoaster.

After about five minutes of queueing a cast member entered the area and shouted that currently, of the the three tracks available, two were down and the new estimated wait time was 70 minutes, but the other tracks may come up at any time.

A lot of folks left so we figured we’d give it a bit of a wait and see what happened.

After about 15 minutes Freddie was clearly desperate for a wee. I took him out, and asked a cast member could I rejoin our party afterwards. They said of course so all was well and it was easy to find everyone as they had not moved.

We were now trapped in the quandry of having committed almost an hour to the ride that leaving would inevitably see everything open back up and us kick ourselves. We were indeed just about to give up and we were looking for the easiest way out of the queue when things began to move. After 30 minutes in the same spot we were seated on the ride in about five, having waited, spookily for 70 minutes. All the tracks were now open though.

For the second day running the first ride of the day had let us down with its wait time. I have to admit that during that long wait and reflecting on yesterday’s experience of lots of rides being down, I was getting a bit fed up and sulky about our Disney experience so far.

I rode with Rebecca and won convincingly of course.

We had obviously missed our next LL slot at Star Tours as we didn’t get off Toy Story Mania until 11.15. That ride had availability all day so I just moved that to later and we headed in the direction of Sunset Boulevard. It was time for lunch, having had no breakfast, before our next ride.

We mobile ordered at Rosa’s Canteen.

The usual array of hot dogs, burgers and nuggets with some universally disappointing dessert options.

With that tucked away it was time for Rock n Rollercoaster and we set up child swap at the entrance, meaning that Freddie could ride it twice, with Tom who sat out with Dougie.

As we waited for the few minutes our LL afforded us, Freddie was that lovely mix of fear and excitement. He literally could not stand still.

He loved it despite what his face was saying on the photo.

We walked over to Star Tours whilst he and Tom rode again.

It was my turn to sit out with a now-sleeping Dougie.

I did some LL faffing on the app and got us a LL for Frozen sing a long at 3.

With Star Tours done Louise and I went for a drink at the Tap House whilst everyone else went to do Tower of Terror which looked to have an inoffensive standby wait.

I got some of the sweet and spicy almonds which were about three times more addictive than crack.

We all met at Frozen at 2.45 and were immediately annoyed that the LL time of 3 p.m. was for a 3.30 show. So we wandered down to the Star Wars Launch Bay for a look around.

Dougie was awake again.

The boys met Chewbacca with Dougie really not sure how he felt about that.

Now, it was actually time for Frozen!

We wondered if it would hold Dougie’s interest, but he loved it.

We made our way over to Galaxy’s Edge now, stopping off on the way to watch The Muppets. I am nothing if not prescient with all things Disney. In my notes for this day I wrote that this was half empty and had no wait all day and wondered if its days were numbered. At this point, I am going to start invoicing Bob Iger for consultancy.

We walked right through Galaxy’s Edge, having a look at various stuff…

and we stopped for what I think qualifies as a coffee.

Freddie was delighted with his coke.

We were soon out the other side and where we needed to be for our next LL on Alien Saucers.

Everyone enjoyed that one and with no options available beyond what we already had booked, we had an hour to kill before our next LL on Smuggler’s Run. Knowing we would have to do some queuing at this point we decided to go and do standby for Smuggler’s and then ride it again with our LL.

The posted wait time said 45 minutes. Dougie was measured, a lot, and got on by a whisker.

As we got to about 20 minutes into the queue, Freddie started his now familiar dance indicating he needed a wee. With no real way out we knew we were in trouble. We either abandoned our wait or maybe there was another way.

Rebecca downed the contents of a water bottle in their backpack and we devised a cunning plan. The queue was quite slow moving, so at the agreed time, I knelt down pretending to tie my shoelace, holding up the queue behind us and Tom and Rebecca crowded around Freddie whilst he did what he needed to do in that bottle. It worked a treat, with even a wet wipe available to wash his hands afterwards. The bottle was jettisoned at the next bin. Luckily at six years old, it takes about five seconds to have a wee, not the hour or so it can at my age.

Dougie had no clue what was going on either time we rode but he loved it all the same. Riding it twice like that did give me at least a fighting chance of trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

It was about 7pm now and time to go.

We walked out and back to the car and headed for Sickies on the 192, which was in the plan and staying there despite us changing things for today.

It took about 20 minutes to get there.

We were told there would be a 30 minute wait for a table but we were seated in 10.

We shared the Spare Parts to start.

Weirdly I was craving a salad. My body does this as a reaction to abuse from time to time, so I had the Avocado Salad, as did Rebecca.

Louise had a chicken fajita salad.

Tom had the Hot Beef Sandwich, also known as the “CVS have a cream for that”.

The boys had Mini Corn Dogs and Tots and a Cheeseburger.

Everything was delicious. The service was great even though a good number of the servers were giving off Wentworh Detention Centre vibes.

With several shakes, wines and drinks it was $170 including a good tip.

We were all exhausted, but not too tired to enjoy another tour of CVS on our way back to the villa for some bite cream and moisturiser. We were home by 9.30, again having to endure several pockets of really crap traffic even at this time.

Till the next time……

The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024 – Day Two Wednesday 16th October

by mkingdon, posted in The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024

We did a decent job with the body clocks. Well, Louise and I did. I think Dougie made a very early appearance so Tom was in the pool at some unreasonable hour. It was 5.45pm for us and we finished unpacking and showered.

It looked like I was being a kind and wonderful husband by making Louise some coffee and toast and taking it upstairs to her while she got ready, but it was really just a selfish attempt to hurry things along and get us out of the house at an hour to benefit from the first day’s early rise.

I dressed in my smallest T-shirt knowing it may never fit again this trip.

At 7 a.m. on the dot, I was on the Disney app securing a virtual queue for Tiana. This was a pleasing start. Three days earlier in the UK, I had secured us Multipasses, hoping to make the first day go smoothly. As we were off-site, there were slim pickings in terms of times for our first of the day, so they pretty much only started from lunchtime.

We left the house at 8 am, which was right around the time I would have liked to have been waiting at the turnstiles to get into Magic Kingdom. It took 25 minutes to get there and we parked in Peter Pan 25. I had passed Rebecca the camera, not needing to explain what was required of her.

It felt a little cool this morning and we were surrounded by folks in several layers of fleece and long pants. The early start may have been catching up with some of us already.

We arrived at the tram stop as one was pulling away but that was because there was another right behind it. Tom, as would happen every day, got pulled for a manual bag check but we were getting closer!

The monorail looked stacked with a queue stretching right down the ramp, so we opted for the ferry. Of course, as we got very close to the entrance they closed the gate and it left. We could see another one coming in over the water.

We boarded after a few minutes and with being close to the front of the waiting guests we got a seat too. I hung over the side taking some more pictures.

These trips are often just a long stream of decisions about which line might move the quickest and typically me getting most of them wrong. Here was the next.

We were behind the usual collection of goons trying to use Blockbuster membership cards to get in, but finally, we made it.

I fired up the app looking for some guidance on which ride to head for first which wouldn’t have a long standby line. Three rides were currently down which was a bit shit and it proved to have a significant knock-on effect until our lightning lanes kicked in later.

Pirates, Jungle Cruise, and one other, which I forget were down. These big crowd soakers not being available meant that other rides were already mobbed. Buzz said it was ten minutes so we headed there and joined the queue which looked suspiciously longer than ten minutes.

The fact that we were queuing outside pointed towards a much longer wait and that we were able to see some local wildlife. Everyone thought this was a frog, but I toad them it wasn’t.

It took 45 minutes to get on the ride which was in danger of squashing the magical joy of that first-day arrival in Magic Kingdom. Still, everyone enjoyed the ride. We exited, immediately needing food. It was 10 am after all.

Options were slim I have to say. We settled on Friar’s Nook after seeing a longer queue at Gaston’s place for the Creme Brulee Croissant than we went through for Buzz. I mobile ordered and we made our way over. Tom and I waited whilst everyone else walked over to Pinocchio Haus to get a table. We waited for what felt like an age, but it was at least 20 minutes.

The boys had Hot Dogs and the adults all had these tot bowl things.

Our first LL was due now over at Barnstormer so we walked that way.

Thinking we might not fit in the same carriage, Louise and I sat this one out and had a tactical wee. Dougie absolutely loved what was his first rollercoaster ride.

Our virtual queue for Tiana was called. Louise volunteered to stay with Dougie and took him off for a walk to get him to have a nap. The rest of us walked up through Frontierland.

The wait in the virtual queue was about 40 minutes. It did feel odd that it wasn’t Splash Mountain, which was laced with so many memories for us, but it’s a good ride and Freddie loved it.

We were behind Go Pro guy….

.

As we left the ride, I did what I would do upon leaving and/or entering every attraction. I fired up the app to plan our next move or the move after the next three moves in most cases. I noticed that more rides were down and tried to take a picture of the app to show you all but, well…..

Second time lucky.

Obviously, this meant the wait times for anything still open were getting a bit silly.

We secured some of the Tiana “Beg Nets”, as Freddie called them and met up with Louise and a sleeping Dougie. Next, we used our LL for Big Thunder, with Louise and I riding second after sitting with Dougie.

Coffee was required now so we made our way right over to Tomorrowland and the Joffries there. This sort of summed up our experience today really.

That took half an hour only for me to then spill half of my (thankfully cold) coffee over myself when putting my straw in.

Dougie was back with us…

and Freddie was in heaven.

Because we are not stupid, Louise and I sat out with our coffees whilst everyone else rode Astro Orbiter. I took the chance to “fiddle with my fastpasses” in the app and managed to move some stuff around to better suit us. It is a full-time job these days.

Philharmagic next for everyone.

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.

.

Look how fresh and happy Dougie is after a good nap. During this trip I had a couple of “million-dollar ideas” and I hereby copyright them.

The first was Disney adding the concept of “Nap Pods” into their parks. They would be similar to the sleep pods in Japan…

You hire one for a couple of hours. They are air-conditioned and soundproof and allow you to catch some sleep before emerging looking as happy as Dougie did.

The second idea was that Disney should sell (much cheaper) dummy magic bands that kids under 3 wear. They beep when scanned but obviously don’t need to work for real. Dougie felt so left out as we all scanned into parks and rides, constantly lifting up his naked wrist to the scanner.

We were first into the theatre and I can confirm we moved all the way to the end of our row to avoid the cast members having to harass us as they did all the idiots sitting down in the middle with a full theatre trying to get in. Both of the boys really enjoyed the show.

We walked straight over to Small World for our LL there.

It was a big hit with Dougie.

Safe to say Freddie enjoys the faster rides these days.

It was time now to make our way out of the park and over to Wilderness Lodge for our Whispering Canyon ADR. The park was rammed and I think we all were welcoming the prospect of some quiet time.

We caught the boat over….

It didn’t take us as long as I expected to get there and we were pretty early for our 5 pm reservation. So we chilled in the lobby for a bit. There are worse places to be.

The camera once again fell into tiny hands.

Freddie then had a go with impressive results.

Mainly….

I had checked in via the app and as soon as they opened at 5 we were seated. Everyone ordered the unlimited skillet apart from Louise who had the Nachos.

Dougie being told no, he can’t have the camera again….

The food was so delicious and we had far more than we should have, getting our skillet refilled a few times. Beyond the odd shout for ketchup, I have to say there are no signs of any of the “shenanigans” that made this place legendary in years gone by. Go for the food as it is delightful, but from our last few visits don’t expect the fun and interaction there may have been in the past. Tom made the most of the bottomless milkshakes on offer here and all up it was $236 including an already-added 18% tip. This was due to our party size.

We waddled back to the boat and sailed back to Magic Kingdom. Golden hour was upon us.

It was getting a little chilly again, so Ryan was raided for Louise’s cardigan and the boys felt the benefit.

The resort monorail and a tram got us back to the car.

The traffic was horrific trying to join the 192. It does appear to be broken. You know of course that around this time we would make our first visit to CVS for vital things we needed but did not bring. We were home by 8 and all soon very much asleep.

As first days go, not our best. We had fun of course, but with so many rides being down it really buggered up the park today and if this were our first experience of Magic Kingdom it would not have been a favourable one. Even getting food and drinks proved troublesome which we have never really seen before. The Multipass thing did save the day I suppose at vast expense, but it’s pretty poor for off-site guests as by three days out there isn’t much left for the headliners and everything else has very few early slots available. You need your first LL to be as soon as you get in the park so that you can use that to then free up the ability to book another tier 1 ride. It’s complicated, expensive and needs constant attention throughout the day. Disney, please change this.

Till the next time…..

The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024 – Day One Tuesday 15th October

by mkingdon, posted in The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024

Hello again, for yet another trip report. I have to admit that I have really wrestled with the dilemma of whether to do this one or not. Even on the holiday, finding time to write notes for each day proved to be a challenge and my motivation to then find time every week to craft a post about each day has been severely tested. Life is busy right now and it’s going to be a struggle but in the end, the capturing of what we did to look back on in years to come won out and with scant regard for what will be a thrown-together and low-quality effort, here we are.

The first thing to address and explain is the title. It will mean nothing to anybody not on the trip, so that sounds like a good choice for a title doesn’t it? But, I choose titles from things that mean something for each trip and this is what stood out this time.

Each morning as we left the villa community we had to pass through a gate which opened automatically as we approached. We told the boys that they had to command it to open and from way back in the rear of the SUV, two voices duly obliged. However, Dougie couldn’t quite manage the “Open Sesame” that Freddie was using to open the gate and instead, we got “Ump Me!” at full volume and it always made us smile.

The other theme of the trip was Freddie’s constant denial of needing a wee, which then often presented itself as a problem deep into a queue or halfway through an attraction. I shall save the most innovative solution to that problem somewhere in the very long wait for Smuggler’s Run, for later in the report.

The trip officially started the evening before our flight when we took some “by the door” pics of the boys…

And it continued at 4.30am, with Louise negating the need for the 5 am alarm I had set, with the hair dryer. She had it on, she didn’t hit me with it. I slowly gathered the will to rise and went down to let the dogs out before a quick shower and putting some clothes on. Most airlines insist I find.

As you do in the early hours pre-holiday flight, I undertook some routine household maintenance by pouring some drain unblocker down our shower as I noticed whilst showering that all of my hair must have been starting to block the drain.

We finished the packing without a jot of care for the weight of the cases, being Premium elites, and we loaded the cars and rolled off the drive by 6.10am. The traffic, especially around the unfit-for-purpose M60 was as bad as expected but we arrived at the airport an hour later. We dropped the cars off and left our keys at the overly complex key drop-off thing. The TUI check-in opened literally as we arrived at it, but the Premium desk was operating at less than a Premium speed and we waited a good fifteen minutes to get served.

After a trip to the oversize drop-off place with the car seats we went through security with little bother, other than Tom getting his usual extra special attention. This would continue at every theme park for the entire trip. Ryan the rucksack was diverted for an extra inspection but when the chap brought it forward and looked at the x-ray he said he had no idea why it had been held and handed him straight over.

We wandered through the shops mainly just following the signs for the super swanky lounge we had access to courtesy of our Premium status. We got to reception at 8.15 and we were kindly admitted a full fifteen minutes early simply because I am such a nice chap.

We were guided to some tables and then let loose on the breakfast buffet. That was more than fit for purpose, so I had two lots.

It was very lovely, despite an overly long wait to get a coffee from the self-serve machine as someone had seemingly volunteered to get one for the entire flight.

With food in our bellies, Freddie took it upon himself to use the camera, apologies for a rare appearance by yours truly.

There were less successful photos too.

Thankfully the camera was back in the hands of a professional before too long….

Whilst I had my traditional post-breakfast airport poo, with limited success, everyone else wandered the shops until I caught them up. With all the snacks and things bought we went back into the lounge for a bit and just had a drink.

Hopes that the boys would behave for the next nine hours were stretched….

But with time pressing on we moved down to the gate via the longest airport walk since the last time we walked to a gate at Manchester airport. I needed a third breakfast to replenish the calories. Gate 202 was not only in the next county, but also cramped and busy due to the ongoing works at the airport. We struggled to find a seat.

We boarded when called unusually, mainly as we were in Premium and were one of the first called onto the plane. We then spent about ten frustrating minutes standing on the stairs down to the plane.

Due to our later upgrade to Premium, we weren’t all sat together, with Louise sat with Freddie and I behind them.

The plane pushed back at 11.40, followed by a smooth take-off. As Louise and Freddie started to use their seat back TVs they turned in frustration that they couldn’t hear anything. A brief investigation found that Louise had plugged both their headphones into the power sockets.

Rebecca, Tom and Dougie were sat to the side of us, in the middle.

Drinks came first, along with a menu with a few choices for food.

I had Chicken with Jasmine rice which was very good.

About two hours in I watched the three available episodes of Two and a Half Men, again. After that, I swapped seats with Louise to play cards with Freddie. Louise, not being an anti-social freak like myself, made immediate friends with Gavin who I had been sitting next to for two hours, discovered he was TUI crew off on his holidays and then chatted to him for the rest of the flight.

After cards, Freddie watched Storks and I watched Oceans 12, again. Dougie had a sleep and was generally fantastically behaved despite all our fears in the build-up to the trip. He was intrigued by the seat belt and that pretty much kept him occupied for most of the flight.

Afternoon tea was a sandwich and scone.

After about eight and a half hours we landed.

I have not witnessed any human being more excited and more verbose than Freddie was on that descent into Melbourne. We chatted all the way down during which he asked me questions such as “Is it the clouds that move or the world?”. I somehow avoided displaying my stupidity by changing the subject.

As we were getting our stuff together to disembark, Freddie got hold of the camera and took yet more candid behind the scenes shots.

Once into the airport all of our cases were off very quickly but the two car seats took a frustrating age. After about fifteen minutes we were into and through immigration within a few minutes and off to pick up the car.

A painless experience other than me forgetting to take Tom to the counter with me to add him as the second driver, but we sorted that later in the holiday.

We walked out to the car park and picked up a stunning Jeep Wagoneer.

Here it is a few days later. It easily took all of us and our cases and was a fantastic drive too.

I connected Car Play and fired up the Waze app which was clearly broken as it said it would take two hours to get to the villa.

It took us along the 192 for 90% of the way and most of it was fine, but as we got to Kissimmee the traffic built up and we were crawling through endless traffic lights for what seemed like forever. We made a pit stop to get Louise a drink and it did take the full two hours and a bit more to get there. That last half hour was incredibly frustrating with the boys understandably keen to get to where we were going and there may have been a slight sulk overtaking me.

Traffic issues would be a theme of the trip. In all our years of visiting, we have never seen traffic like it. It’s probably been a couple of years since we stayed anywhere that needed regular use of the 192 and I4 but I don’t what happened in that time, but it was a nightmare.

Upon arrival. we went to the guard house first to get our dashboard pass thing and then drove over to the villa, feeling very happy to finally be there.

The cases were dumped and Rebecca and I drove to the Publix on the US27 to stock up.

There was mild panic as we checked out with three hundred dollars worth of groceries when my credit card was declined. Thankfully, my UK debit card, linked to my Apple wallet on my phone worked so we didn’t have to put it all back. I have no idea why that happened as we had no issues anywhere else all holiday apart from having to be dragged from the table at multiple meals to enter my pin into the payment thing.

Back home we had a sandwich and some crisps before falling into bed around 11pm.

I took some random pictures of bits of the villa.

I don’t know why, but I was very tired.

Till the next time……

Bu Bye

by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

Here we are then. Just one workday stands between me and all the fun of the fair and as expected, last week surpassed itself with its length, drudgery and amount of pride-swallowing, ego-enduring nonsense that work can often be. The trick now is to try to push that and the stuff I know I’ll be returning to from my mind for a couple of weeks to make the most of what will be a hard-earned break. Yeah I know we take loads of holidays but in between we really work for them.

On Saturday I bought us Multi Pass for the first day, which, as the law dictates will be Magic Kingdom. I know that you know that I think this, but the cost of that at $29 each plus tax is just a piss-take. It really is and even for someone as dyed in the wool a Disney fan as I am, it really does impact my propensity to do their parks in future. We shall definitely be using that system only as a necessity as it just has such a huge impact on the budget. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, for us at least it just means we spend less time and money in their parks. Knowing that extra cost will happen we plan to eat off-site more than we would and I will be less likely to splurge on merchandise.

Anyway, with a bit of playing around with the original selections and times presented to us, I have what I think is a solid base for the first day. Being off-site scum of course we joined the party very late, just three days before our visit so despite only having the crumbs from the table of availability, I would give that a 7 out of 10. I have already begun to mentally come to terms with the fact that we will not get on Tiana’s new thing.

We hope very much that Dougie will make it on to Branstormer. He is soooo close to the height requirement, we just have to cross our fingers that he can do his first Disney coaster.

So as I type everyone else is out doing and buying those last-minute things you need (I’m told) for such a trip. Louise has us pretty much packed and she finished work on Friday so is now free to prep us to death.

The weather post-Milton looks glorious, at least for the next week or so, with nothing currently of any concern forming out to sea so we hope that continues. There was a brief concern about a “cold front” predicted for next Thursday, but context is important as that for Floridians means it will drop into the nasty mid-seventies (if you are young, don’t ask me what temperature that really is….just use the correct method for temperatures instead!). Such temperatures here have half the population shirtless and two out of three households holding mandatory barbeques, so I think we’ll be OK.

The last bit of planning I had to do was my “airport Dad” approach to what time we need to leave the house to get to the airport. This is not as simple as you may think. Since we moved house a few years ago we are a little further away from the airport and with this being a weekday departure and the M60 not being fit for purpose, it is hard to negotiate the journey without us being ridiculously early or late. With a flight at 11.25, our journey to the airport is right in the middle of the armageddon of rush hour so planning is crucial.

So my plan is to leave the house at 6.15ish, which even with the catastrophic traffic getting off the M61 onto the M60 and then battling that across Barton Bridge past the Trafford Centre, we should be getting to the airport I think around 7.30. I thought everyone worked from home these days, but the motorways of the North West tell a different story.

That gives us time to park the car. This will take a little longer as our usual place was full and we have to do a meet and greet option which I don’t really like as you have to figure out dropping your keys off at an “automated” set of lockers and it’s all a bit faffy. Once that is done that should get us to 8am or so and that is when check in opens. Being posh Premium superstars we should be escorted through that by our own personal valet within seconds and into security.

I don’t want to jinx it but when we did this last May the experience had undergone a big upgrade and improvement with seemingly new technology making the whole thing a breeze.

With that behind us, we have access to The Escape Lounge from 8.30 and all should be well. That’s just the journey to the airport which goes to prove that these holidays don’t just happen you know. From there it’s just a matter of surviving nine hours in a tube with a very rumbunctious Dougie. Wish us luck.

As ever, from time to time I’ll share as we go on the Mkingdon Facebook page. So give that a Like if you haven’t already.

Other than that, I think we’re done and we’ll see you back here in November!

Till the next time…..

Hurry Up & Hurricanes

by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

If there were any justice in the world I would be sat here typing this today, about a stone lighter than I was last week. That is based purely on the amount of snot I have expelled from my body in the last seven days.

I know that sounds like a joke but honestly, I don’t know where it’s coming from. No end of blowing is enough (amirite guys?) and as soon as I empty about a pound of the stuff into a tissue my nose is totally blocked again. Surely all that mucus must weigh something?

For that reason, this week is one I wish not to repeat and of course, I am glad whatever germs are causing this will have passed (right?) before we get on the plane.

Emily has passed her first few days back in the UK wrestling with pretty dreadful jetlag and trying to get back to work whilst weeping at the cost of flights for next August. It comes to something when you have your fingers crossed hoping for something under £1k each. Apparently, her friend the teacher has a blue light card which can bestow glorious discounts on things like flights. If anyone has any experience of that please let me know. I’m also wondering right about now why Louise doesn’t have one???

A lot of our attention in the last few days of our countdown is on the seeming conveyor belt of hurricanes aimed directly for every single one of our holiday plans. Milton is looking like it will pass directy over the theme parks area right now, with of course a lot of time yet for that to change. We just have everything crossed that this will be the last for a while and the two weeks after next week will be natural disaster free.

I had a “last minute” review of our plan, as you do, mainly to see if I could somehow avoid the Saturday we currently have at Hollywood Studios. I do try to avoid the parks as much as possible at a weekend, especially DHS, but I have concluded there is no way to juggle it. It’ll have to be a case of buying the Multi-Pass thing and bearing with.

Demonstrating how close we are now to departure, I got the instructions through for our villa a few days ago which I thought was the last bit of admin required before we worry about checking in online. However, for reasons I cannot fathom, check-in seemed to open up on the 1st of October so I’ve done that too. Although it seems you can’t get your boarding passes by doing so, instead you get a “Confirmation of Check-in” thing and have to present that to the desk at the airport to get your boarding passes. That all seems a bit odd and potentially pointless. I’m pretty sure that was not the case when we flew with them back in May.

I have ticked off another couple of unpleasant milestones on my journey towards this holiday. Wednesday saw me tolerating a Motorway Awareness course. At close to 1am driving home from a gig, on an empty motorway I was pictured doing 58mph in a 50mph variable speed limit zone. Sure, that’s not legal but it doesn’t half stick in the craw when the photo they send you shows you alone in three lanes of motorway. Anyway, I am now suitably chastised, poorer and educated. Then on Friday I went to the dentist. Hardly life threatening but as you may have noticed, I don’t like folks messing with my teeth and once again it was unpleasant and expensive. Never a good combo.

So here we are at what is often in my view the hardest part of the countdown. We are impossibly close and yet somehow it seems impossibly far away at the same time. I just want next week to hurry up and be over whilst recognising that if that wish were granted the same may apply to the two weeks after it and that would not be a good thing at all. I have been instructed by Louise to “get my stuff out” which is not a euphemism but rather the job of dumping all the clothes I wish to take onto the bed so that packing may begin. That’s how close we are. I have to admit, that solitary Monday the 14th, the day before we go, is praying on my mind as a schoolboy error. Why I did not book it off work I have no idea. Now, it is festooned with meetings I cannot avoid and I shall have to endure it. The firstest of first-world problems.

See you back here this time next week for the pre-departure sign-off. It’ll be here before you know it….right???

Till the next time…..

Helene Going Back

by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

Emily is home. She arrived back in the UK on Friday morning. If it is possible to experience the end of a WDW trip sadness by proxy, I did on Thursday watching their last day unfold in the WhatsApp group.

Knowing what an incredible time they had just made me genuinely sad for them that it was ending. Some spice was added to the end of their trip with Hurricane Helene’s arrival, and her impact coincided almost exactly with their flight departure. Thankfully for them and Orlando, she stayed off the coast but some of the scenes from the west coast of Florida were heartbreaking.

Having stayed at Siesta Key a few years ago, this was a shocking sight.

Orlando again seemed to miss the worst of things and we have every appendage crossed that nothing forms in the coming weeks to impact our trip. How selfish does that sound when thousands of folks lost their homes a few days ago?

You may already know this, but for anyone with Florida plans that may involve hurricane season, I have long followed Denis Phillips who gives incredibly regular, sensible and accurate updates whenever anything is heading to Florida. If you don’t already, he’s worth following to avoid trying to get info from all kinds of sources when it matters.

Anyway, within 12 hours of touching down on UK soil, Emily had done the sensible thing and booked again for next year. They will be going back with another couple, more first-timers, and it will be Emily’s 30th next year so it all made sense that a trip would be taken to mark that occasion.

They are staying at the All Stars again, but have to go in August as one of the other couple is a teacher, so flight costs will be horrific and with the hotel and tickets in the bag, their quest will be to source a flight for less than a family car.

I have two weeks (and one day) left at work before we go and, as ever, I am more than ready for it. It has been a hectic and demanding time at work and I feel pretty burnt out, despite having had a lovely holiday back in May. Louise feels the same but she’s a nurse so she deserves to much more than the desk-based, work-from-home most of the time Nancy boy I am.

I purchased some dollars last week, well, I loaded my Caxton card with some and was delighted to get a rate of 1.31. That delight is relative to the recent years of atrocious rates of course and I’d be much more delighted with the 1.5s or 1.6s that were the norm for so many years.

Rebecca’s ankle is improving rapidly, with the boot now mostly off and a lot of mobility back which is great news. She did have to return to A&E last week to have her elbow checked out as it was getting more and more painful and less useful with each passing day. Thankfully, again no broken bones just ligament damage and bruising causing the pain.

The decision was taken last week to cancel Halloween Horror Nights by Rebecca and Tom. Emily’s experience and comments on my blogs and other vlogs and blogs just made the whole expense and effort not seem worthwhile. They will find another evening to have some kid-free time I’m sure.

Hopefully, Louise and I can do similar and find an evening where we can do Jellyrolls. We really enjoyed the several nights we spent there last November on our park-free solo trip staying at Drury Plaza. We must do that trip again sometime.

It goes without saying that as we approach another trip I am desperately trying to trim a few pounds so I only come back as fat as I normally am. With every passing year it seems to get harder and at some point, I am just going to have to put up with being chunky and adorable. I’m a handful of pounds down from my heaviest, so if I can follow that with another handful or so in the next two weeks I may have myself some runway to eat what I like for a couple of weeks. My metabolism is a cruel mistress.

Two more of these posts before departure. You can get excited about that if nothing else.

Till the next time…….

Trouble Afoot

by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

The “highlight” of this week was a stomach-churning panic on Wednesday afternoon with a tearful phone call whilst I was at work (Rebecca was the one in tears, but if I’m at work there’s always a chance I am too) saying she had just fallen down some steps and broken her ankle!

I left the meeting I was in the middle of without explanation and flew homeward. Tom had got home to her first, so we arranged to meet at the hospital so I could take the boys home while they were seen in A&E.

When I looked at her ankle, I was sure it was broken. While waiting for them to arrive at A&E, I had already done some extensive googling on whether you could fly with a broken limb. It seemed to be the case that you could, but of course, doing WDW with a broken ankle would not be ideal.

A few hours later they returned home with the news that it was not actually broken, but there was severe tendon/ligament damage. She was in a boot and on crutches but relieved.

Of course, there is the small matter of managing everyday life on one leg with two young kids for the next few weeks but at least the holiday was not badly affected!

Just 24 hours later the huge swelling was much reduced so we are very hopeful she will be ambulatory by the time we fly. It was around this time that all the other injuries she had picked up all over her body started to hurt with the pain in her ankle subsiding a little. It was a heck of a fall.

The other daughter continues to have the best time ever over in Orlando. We receive a steady stream of food and drink pictures which is always welcome and not quite as painful as it might be if we were not headed there very soon. I feel very conflicted that I never want their trip to end as I know how much they are loving it, but it has to if ours is ever to get here.

Emily wept uncontrollably at Fantasmic as did most of us just watching the video she sent. There is something about that finale music in that show that just gets me.

On Wednesday they did Halloween Horror Nights and were, to be honest, a little underwhelmed, mainly due to the huge wait times for everything. Only one house was done as every house had wait times of well over an hour and even the food trucks had similar queues.

They made the most of it by attending the show, scare zones, and riding the rides, which did have low wait times. It seems you need Express, but the cost for that is huge/frankly ridiculous so now Rebecca and Tom are considering whether to bother or not on our trip as with the tickets and Express for those few hours would cost close to £500. That is tough to justify and seems a mad way to operate the event.

Why not double the cost of the entry ticket but sell half as many so those going can actually do some of the things they want to?

Amongst other things, they’ve also done Beaches & Cream, a load more walking and are generally living their best lives. Feedback from Mikey the first-timer is that he is blown away, already addicted and plans for next year are being hatched.

In my own planning, I have picked up the remaining reservations in and around Universal that I was looking for. The first at Toothsome on the night Rebecca and Tom are/were planning to do HHN. I’ve booked the meal for us all just in case they decide not to go and I can always amend it if they do go after all. If they don’t we’ll just have a night at City Walk.

The others are Cowfish and on our day in IOA I have booked us into Mythos. Despite me seeming to remember it has a very good reputation I think we have only ever done it once. It being within the park makes it handy, with us not having to come all the way out to City Walk to eat. We are booked at 5.30pm, so should we wish to do more in the park after that, we don’t have walk all that way back in.

I ticked off another milestone yesterday, getting a work event out of the way that always looks better in the rearview mirror. Three weeks left at work now. I’m hunkering down for the final push.

Till the next time…..

A Second Hand Trip Report

by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

This time next month, that’ll be us.

I have very little to report on our trip this week as work has been stupidly intense and I’ve been down south for most of the week having to actually pretend I know what I’m doing.

Instead, I can share some stuff on Emily’s trip that started last Thursday. She flew Aer Lingus taking just under nine hours. She may be just short of 30 but yes I did spend a good amount of time in my hotel room tracking her flight until it landed.

After some kerfuffle with her Revolut card not working they took a Lyft from MCO to the All Stars in what was incredible heat.

They are delighted with their room, which is right by the bus stop and pool.

Friday was a special day being her boyfriend’s first ever experience of WDW and let’s just summarise things by saying he was absolutely blown away with the scale, quality and magic of it all.

Magic Kingdom was very quiet all day with the longest wait being 25 minutes for Haunted Mansion. They rope-dropped Tron and were one of the first to ride.

They had one of those special days with everything just going perfectly it seems.

Breakfast was from Sleepy Hollow..

Tiana was ridden, ticking off another first for them both.

After a stop at the Poly for some drinks on the beach, when Mikey nearly cried at the loveliness of it all they headed out to Olive Garden for tea.

22,000 steps, lots of rides and lovely food all made for a day that could not have gone any better they say.

The next day, yesterday, was Typhoon Lagoon and then Sickies for tea but I don’t have any photos or details of that yet as they are still asleep. 🙂

After almost a year of planning and counting down I am just so delighted that things have been so perfect so far. Living vicariously through Emily’s trip will hopefully cushion the blow of not being there for the next fortnight as I battle through the tribulations of working for a living.

In news closer to home, Louise is currently suffering from a perforated and infected ear drum which is incredibly painful. She is on the relevant meds of course, but let’s hope that doesn’t cause her any serious issues when we fly in 30 days. As someone who suffered very badly with ear pain on almost every flight when I was younger, I know just how unbearable that can be.

This bonus pseudo-trip report is your lot for this week. Depending on what Emily posts in the group chat in the coming days there may be some more next week!

Till the next time……

And Now It’s Time To Pay The Price

by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

Thanks for all the interest and feedback on the “big plan” post last week. As much as I really appreciate those who persisted with the non-Disney content I have been posting, it’s clear from the views and visitor numbers last week that most of you really have more interest in WDW, which I am totally on board with!

For those who asked about Emily’s trip, if you want to follow along with her, your best bet would be to follow her on Instagram here. She will without doubt be posting there throughout. She leaves on Thursday. She also does some blogging if you wanted to follow that too.

I was due to take her to the airport but as it often does, work has gotten in the way of things I want to do, insisting I am down south on that day, so she has a friend taking her instead. Sure she’s 29, sure she’s been to WDW countless times, sure she lived there, but there is still some low level of worry when waving your offspring off to travel that distance.

After all the fun and games of the planning, based on having secured everything with low deposits, we are now at the stage where the pain hits and to quote a WDW vlogger, “and now it’s time to pay the price”.

I have just paid off all the balances, including the theme park tickets, villa and car. I’m not gonna lie, parting with that level of pound notes hurts no matter what the reason. Still, of all things I could spend money on this is one of the better ones. On the plus side, it’s a real sign that this trip is almost here.

It may shock you to learn that nothing has changed in the plan since last week. We are probably getting too close now for that to happen. In a couple of weeks, I have two meals to book at Citywalk (they only seem to offer slots a month in advance). Those will be Toothsome and Cowfish.

I still have low-level anxiety/PTSD from our more recent WDW trips as the state of the parks in terms of crowds, wait times and general post-pandemic recovery are fresh in my mind. I don’t know if this is reality but the park activity I see on social media seems to vary between “there is literally only me in this theme park today” to “do not even try to enter Orlando as it is full”.

With a better “FastPass” system in place, I am hoping things will be better. We are also visiting outside of any UK school holidays and when I look at the various crowd-level tools online most seem to be scoring most of our time there around the 6 out of 10 mark with slightly busier times predicted towards the end of our trip as we get close to Halloween (the day itself, not the season which starts in early August at WDW of course).

With lower crowd levels the quandary of course is should I book the multi-pass thing three days in advance (being off-site scum) or wait and see how the park looks that morning? I suspect I shall play it safe and book it for our first MK day to remove any stress/waiting on that special first day and then see how it goes. The natural exception to that, I think, will be Hollywood Studios, and I’ll probably cave and book the multi-pass for that park without hesitation, having had horrifying experiences there on the last couple of trips.

For anyone who has been and done it with the new system, I would be keen to hear feedback and experiences of the new thing.

I am girding my loins now for the final push at work. I’ve got a daunting couple of weeks with many things in the diary that I would rather not do (I refer you to the section above about these trips costing a lot of money to understand why I have to do them), but if my many years on this spinning rock have taught me anything it is that I will always be fatter than I want to be and everything passes. Typically even the most horrifying things in your future are survivable.

I am being over dramatic as my “things” are just a couple of days at Head Office next week and then a work conference/event the weekend after. I am not pulling babies from burning buildings but imposter syndrome is a bugger.

This time next week it’ll be a month until we go and just another milestone on the countdown ticked off. Of course, that just means I have five weeks to lose four stone. Seems doable?

Till the next time……

Wake Me Up When September Ends

by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

With all that sunbathing nonsense out of the way, let’s get down to the serious business of getting ready for a holiday I think we can all understand and get behind.

We are just 44 days away from our Orlando theme park bonanza folks and whilst you’ve all been snoozing/trudging through endless blogs about sand and food, I’ve been busy planning our October trip.

There’s a lot to get through and rather than be sensible and eek that content out over the next few weeks, I’ll no doubt just shoot my shot this week and worry about next week when I’m staring at the blank page in a week’s time.

The first thing to report is that whilst we were all “at” Delray Beach, once again, Bob Iger has taken on board my feedback from this blog and scrapped Genie+. Good lad Bob, but you missed the bit about not charging for this stuff on top of the sky-high theme park tickets, but we’ll take a win where we can get it.

I approve of the change in general but of course, it came with some baggage.

  1. Why does it cost money?
  2. Why are off-site guests penalised? (I know the answer and I only care as we’ll be off-site this time)
  3. Why are International visitors massively penalised unless you spend enough time reading WDW internet content to come across the fairly simple workaround? The workaround of setting the country of your address in the app to the US is so easily preventable that I strongly suspect Disney has left that in intentionally to mitigate a problem they couldn’t solve properly. (Isn’t the issue something about card payments for non-US folks?) My day job involves developing stuff for online products and it smells of a handy “oops we didn’t realise that was possible”. I applaud it.

Being weeks behind the release of this change I won’t go on about it anymore as I’m sure every angle has already been covered. I look forward to being able to secure some rides before we arrive in the parks again.

Moving on to our personal plan, one of the first things I did after getting home from our Delray trip was upgrade to Premium. I think it was about £150 each to do so and having experienced the economy seats, we were keen not to again, especially with two small kids who we will definitely want to go to sleep on the way back. The slightly enhanced room in Premium will be worth that investment and, much to my surprise (I am blissfully unaware lots of the time) until Rebecca told me, that entitles us to Lounge access and a free breakfast at Manchester airport so we’ve already made some of the £150 each back. Add the same sort of thing on the return journey and we’ll be close to a profit.

I’m under no illusions that we’ll be lying down in some sort of Business Class bed-seat, as we sat just behind the magic curtain of Premium on our last trip with TUI and could see the forbidden fruits clearly, but we’ll take the larger seat, slightly better food, more luggage allowance and hopefully getting our cases off more quickly.

This past week has been ADR time and as ever, the success has not been as complete as I may have liked. Overall though, I’ve done OK. Of course, I had sworn that we would eat off-site almost all the time and I have then caved and made more ADRs than I first intended, but we will still be dining off-site a fair bit.

With a two-year-old with us, all dining plans live and die with him, so there are a fair few early meal slots booked and only the odd late one, where that was the only availability, which will be in the lap of the toddler Gods.

To once again demonstrate my masterful planning skills, with the plan pretty much locked and loaded, including our ADRs, a last-minute decision to add in a trip to Universal just last week may have flummoxed other less awesome planners, but no. A ten-minute conversation with Rebecca, whilst staring at the plan, along with some swift internet interrogation saw us expertly evaluate options and then move stuff around with minimal disruption, ADR cancellation or pain. If only I were this good at my day job.

So let’s take a trot through our plans, shall we? I will say that after a few trips where we have not done a great deal and bored you to death with beaches and pools, this trip is hard-core, jam-packed and will probably kill us. Being (even if I say so myself) an elite-level WDW trip planner I recognise and embrace this and should we need to amend stuff on the hoof due to exhaustion and/or killing each other with our bare hands, then I shall rise to that challenge with ease. This is nobody’s first rodeo and we go into the plan with eyes wide open and loins girded.

Day One

As you now know we fly Premium out of Manchester with TUI on October 15th. Airport parking has been secured (which is getting a bit pricey these days I must say) and we are scheduled to be wheels up at 11.25 so we should be in the air at around 1pm if things go to form.

We arrive in Melbourne mid-afternoon and have a suitable vehicle awaiting us courtesy of Discount Florida Car Hire again. An unwelcome but necessary 90 minutes in the car should see us pull up outside our favourite villa on Amelia Downs Trail in Kissimmee and we shall unpack, do a shop and eat no doubt. The boys will be in the pool if they are still awake I’m sure.

Day Two

It goes without saying that this is a Magic Kingdom day. Who knows what time Dougie might be awake so it could be a short or long one. Eating wise, we have gone for an old favourite and a regular tactic on our first park day in Whispering Canyon Cafe at 5.20, as it seems these days that all the shenanigans and fun are back after their suspension for the pandemic and for Tom’s benefit they still offer unlimited refills on milkshakes so he intends to bankrupt them. I suspect we’ll be done at that point and will head home.

Day Three

A rest day but with a twist. On recent theme park trips, we have done Typhoon Lagoon on day two which works really well, offering rest for the oldies and slides and stuff for the youngsters. We will eat off-site that evening at Sickies on the 192.

Day Four

Unusually it is Animal Kingdom today. Typically we would visit the parks in the correct order, which is the order in which they opened, and today would be Epcot, but for reasons I cannot now remember we will be at DAK, for what might be our one and only day here. The second day had to be sacrificed recently to squeeze the two Universal parks in.

Day Five

A rest day, and we plan to spend it at the villa and most likely at the large resort pool on offer. We may go for a sit-down breakfast at a new place I have seen online called @The Diner. Then we will do our best to be hungry again for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory at LBV.

Day Six

Ah Epcot, there you are. This will be our Future World day and after some skilful manoeuvres on my part with ADR bookings, I managed to secure us the “hen’s teeth” booking of Space 220 for lunch. Freddie is incredibly keen to go here so that was pleasing.

Then in the evening Rebecca and Tom will activate their built-in babysitters and allow us to watch the boys whilst they head up to experience Halloween Horror Nights at Universal. We will probably drive us all up there and drop them off and then Louise and I will eat with the boys on City Walk, maybe Toothsome. Rebecca and Tom will get a Lyft back home when they are done.

Day Seven

Hollywood Studios, our nemesis from recent trips, delivering THE worst theme park experience from a “getting on things” perspective consistently, driven by the recently deceased Genie+ nonsense. We hope things will be better now. Knowing from past experiences that whenever we want to do Fantasmic it will be rained off, we have taken the earliest opportunity possible to book a Fantasmic Dining Package, choosing the SciFi Diner for lunch.

Day Eight

A much-needed pool day again. We may again avail ourselves of a sit-down breakfast and possibly return to a real favourite of ours in Hash House A Go Go. Then after some serious lying down in the sun, we shall visit The Outback and I will without doubt have a large steak. It takes some real skills to make yourself hungry enough to dine out twice in one day but it is a challenge we intend to rise to.

Day Nine

We head to Universal and a one-night stay at Royal Pacific to get the Front Of Line access. We shall get there as early as possible, check in and head over to IOA first (I think). With this being very fresh into the plan, there are no firm dining plans for that evening but City Walk is our lobster so that will get firmed up shortly.

Day Ten

Universal Studios of course. And should stamina and timings permit, then we will return to Teak Neighbourhood Grill for dinner. It’s been a while since we dined here. I think our last visit was on the trip amid all the Covid restrictions and the experience wasn’t perfect. The menu looks great and hopefully, everything is back as it should be with the service so it’s definitely worth another try.

Day Eleven

Epcot again today with a likely focus on World Showcase. A huge stroke of fortune came our way in the shape of the Eat To The Beat concert series. A few months ago when the lineup was announced it was the usual mix of the odd famous person or band amidst a load of artists we at least had no idea about. Anyway, it turned out that during our trip, Hanson would be performing. We saw them recently supporting Busted and have liked them ever since the one song everyone knows them for back in the 90’s. So I have booked lunch at Garden Grill as part of the Eat To The Beat package which secures us a seat in their 5.30 show.

I wanted to get us into Beaches and Cream for our evening meal and did so but the only slot available by the time I’d sorted the Garden Grill booking was at 9.15pm. We will just see how everyone is doing by that time and play it by ear. I think leaving Epcot in the early evening for a Boardwalk stroll will be on the cards either way. There’s a Banana Bread Espresso Martini at The Boardwalk Bellevue Lounge that I have my eye on.

Day Twelve

Day two at Hollywood Studios and lunch is to be at the Rodeo Roundup place in Toy Story Land.

Thanks to Disney Food Blog for that photo

Nothing is booked for tea/dinner so we may head off-site and try to help the budget by going to Olive Garden. If energy permits, then we might head to Disney Springs for a stroll and with a following wind, one of the Espresso Martinis from Wine Bar George.

Day Thirteen

With one day left on our three-day Universal tickets, we will use that up today at Volcano Bay. A first for Louise and I and I suspect this will be a welcome break from the parks and a chance to rest up a little bit for those who want to.

Dinner is pencilled in for Cowfish at City Walk.

Day Fourteen

The emotional last full day and of course that means Magic Kingdom for the farewell lap of honour. Having, much to our surprise, thoroughly enjoyed our unplanned visit there on our last trip to the parks, I have booked us in at The Liberty Tree for a 5.40pm ADR.

Fireworks and tears will be experienced as we leave the park for the final time.

Day Fifteen

The usual mix of packing, a visit to Disney Springs, some food, perhaps at The Polite Pig and then the longer-than-usual drive back to the airport. We don’t fly until 7pm so that should work out OK.

So there you have it. It’s a humdinger and no doubt some of that won’t happen, but he who dares wins. As ever, the thinking is that despite the last few decades telling me otherwise, who knows if and when any of us may get to return.

In other news, Emily and her boyfriend go to WDW on September 12th for a long-awaited trip they booked well before we booked ours. It is Mikey’s first visit and they are both ridiculously excited. They are staying at the All-Stars and flying Aer Lingus. I can’t wait to hear all about it. You can’t beat a first-time visit, especially when an experienced guide is with you to show you the ropes.

Till the next time…..

The Doing Diddly In Delray Tour 2024 – Day Eleven Friday 7th June

by mkingdon, posted in The Doing Diddly In Delray Tour 2024

At least today there won’t be any going to the beach and I’m sure we’re all agreed that this is a good thing.

Instead, you get the riveting, very badly remembered travel home day. For those still here, I salute you.

We were awake at 6.30am after a poor night’s sleep. We dozed and rested for a little while before getting up to undertake the unpleasant task of packing. It took about an hour or so and then we showered. We left the room just after 10am with the weather outside already hot enough to make the recent shower irrelevant.

We loaded up the jeep and headed for a gas station. I filled up and got us some “breakfast” from the mini-mart inside. It was a high-class establishment as most “mom and pop” gas stations tend to be in the US. Breakfast took the form of a Starbucks iced coffee thing in a bottle and some sugary cake-based thing.

We endured the I95 for the final time this trip and it was a long and brutal two hours. Thankfully with none of the horrendous weather we endured on the way down (doesn’t that seem a lifetime ago?).

I’d set the sat nav for a mall in Melbourne that was not far from the airport as our last-minute gift shopping had become even more last minute. It was lunch time by the time we arrived so I was delighted to see….

It was pretty quiet and we were seated immediately. We wanted to go out with a bang and a need for some larger clothes so we started with the Bloomin’ Onion.

and the bread of course.

It was glorious.

To follow, I had Sirloin and Ribs and a Jacket Spud that bore little resemblance to the rock hard taste taste-free entities I endure at home.

Louise had Fillet

It was all gloriously tasty and I really enjoyed everything about it. The bill was $110 including tip.

We drove to the mall entrance and began the dash for suitable gifts.

We got Emily a couple of band T-shirts from this place…a sort of Hot Topic lite…

And my Dad would have been looking down approvingly as we secured presents for Rebecca, Tom, Freddie and Dougie in….

We got the grown-ups matching Nike caps for their October Disney trip and the boys a personalised cap each sporting a Batman logo.

Here they are a few days later, at my Mum’s house, having just received them.

We did the correct thing as Grandparents and also bought a “shit ton” of US sweets and candy too of course.

With our shopping done, we headed back to the car, topped up with fuel again and headed for the airport. Again, Melbourne proved to be a simple delight for car drop-off and check in. Security too came with none of the drama and queuing MCO is infamous for. As a testament to our “leave it to the last minute” approach to gift shopping we then got my Mum a fridge magnet in the airport gift shop (she collects them!).

We got a drink and sat and waited for a bit.

We watched an incoming set of passengers from a newly arrived plane wander in through that corridor. I’m sure airports do it on purpose. The last thing I want to see when waiting to fly home is a load of folks just about to start their holiday!

We wandered the short distance down to the gate and waited to board.

My notes stop here and I have very little recollection of the flight which is a slight concern. It can’t have contained anything unpleasant or I would have remembered, I’m sure. I do recall that our extra legroom seats in a row of three actually had a third person on it, which was unfortunate.

We ate, watched things and got progressively more tired as sleep was clearly impossible in what felt like a cramped environment.

Upon landing, and having trudged the long distance from plane to passport checks, as ever the automatic passport gates refused to accept my face and I had to go and see a human. Our cases took too long to come off and the drive back around the M60 and up the M61 after a Florida trip lived up to being one of the most depressing things known to man. Soon we were home.

We loved Delray. It was exactly what we were looking for and my low-level fears of it being a bit “Daytona” or “Blackpool-y” (apologies to residents of both) were unfounded. The beach was gorgeous and the eateries and evening options were plentiful. Our hotel was perfect and lovely and we would go to Delray and that hotel again for sure.

We flew TUI for the first time and it was very good. The plane and flight were fine. The 3-3-3 config isn’t ideal for those travelling as a couple of course but the seats, entertainment options and service were all absolutely fine.

Melbourne Airport is a delight though. It’s much smaller scale than MCO means you avoid many of the issues found there, namely that double bag drop nonsense, long security and immigration queues and the long schelps from monorails to terminals and car hire places. We would and indeed are doing TUI again in October.

I appreciate the (lack of appeal) this kind of holiday may have from a reading about it point of view and I almost did not do a trip report, but I figured it was worth doing just for me to look back on in the future and if a few of you tagged along then, thank you and I hope it was not too tedious.

Planning and prep for October is underway and next week I can begin to let you know my plans, concerns and ambitions. See you then?

Till the next time…..

The Doing Diddly In Delray Tour 2024 – Day Ten Thursday 6th June

by mkingdon, posted in The Doing Diddly In Delray Tour 2024

Hey, we’re almost there. We are on our last full day so you just have today and next week to endure before we can get back to slightly less boring content about the build-up and countdown to our more trip report friendly October theme park bonanza. You’ve come this far, it would be a shame not to stick it out to the end, right? RIGHT???

As much as you are bored of reading about it, I suspect we too were almost beached out by now as our start was slow, with a lie-in and then a beachbound brunch at Boheme.

We both had a blurry stuffed baguette, an iced mocha and an OJ.

$60 lighter we undertook the remaining steps to the beach in what were new levels of heat today. We grabbed some beds using the last of our bulk-bought days (who says beach holidays require no planning?) and an essential umbrella and, well you know the rest.

As this will be our last beach day for who knows how long, have several photos.

By early afternoon we needed drinks so I hauled myself into an upright position and made the trek to the nearest shop. With a big sweat on when I got back, I ventured into the sea and we both had a swim for half an hour or so. Hectic today isn’t it?

As the afternoon progressed we were surrounded by shite music from all sides, with various people nearby assuming we wanted to listen to their music. If only someone had invented a device that allowed people to listen to music without inflicting it on others.

These were the worst offenders.

This group arrived late afternoon and seemed to be a rag-tag collection of about ten man-boys, definitely too old to be listening to gansta rap and making gang signs at each new member of the group as they arrived. The testosterone levels and the use of the word “bro” were intolerable and immeasurable.

Their musical taste or lack of it was the final straw and we left the beach at 5pm. We enjoyed the stroll back to the hotel in that glorious golden hour sun and heat, knowing we would not see its like again for some time.

Whilst readying happened, I booked that Mexican place again for 8pm and our Lyft took us there in a very nice Volvo X90. We opted to eat outside, again not knowing when we may next be able to do so.

For reasons I cannot fathom I chose to capture that very attractive bin.

We went full Magaluf and ordered a jug of Sangria which was delightful. Of course, we ordered the Nachos too.

Our server was excellent. He advised us just to have the Nachos and then see if we could manage an entree just as we were about to order them. I know we can put food away but he was right, we were full after the Nachos. He could easily have let us order entrees and increase his tip. As a reward for him and us, we did order the Churros which were outstanding. Again, he stopped us ordering two desserts as he knew the size!

I don’t know why everything was blurry this evening to be honest.

The bill was around $90 with a good tip included. We strolled Atlantic Avenue starting our traditional last-minute search for gifts. The heat and “closeness” tonight was off the scale and we were both dripping with sweat, which was attractive. The feeling of an incoming thunderstorm was obvious but it never materialised, it just got hotter and hotter.

The level crossing right through Atlantic Avenue had us wait whilst possibly the longest train on earth went through.

We stopped for one drink at the hotel we’d watched the guitarist at the other night and then walked up to the Yacht Club again for another karaoke night. Several drinks were had which no doubt led to Louise getting up to sing in public for the first time in over 20 years. She made me delete the video the next day.

We left at 12, ready for bed, but not really ready to leave this lovely place.

Till the next time…..

The Doing Diddly In Delray Tour 2024 – Day Nine Wednesday 5th June

by mkingdon, posted in The Doing Diddly In Delray Tour 2024

Today’s post is for the 99% of my readers who are fed up with reading about lying on a beach and eating food. Yes, today we did something different, so buckle up for more excitement than the D23 announcements. Maybe.

We awoke with no plans, but the fact that we were too sunburned to subject our bodies to more sun forced our hands to look for a plan B. I did some googling and before too long found a suitably affordable and local activity and booked it.

We were headed for a two-hour catamaran tour around West Palm Beach. It was $50 each and came with a lot of good reviews. It didn’t start until the afternoon so we positioned ourselves in some shade around the pool for a couple of hours, and the weather was hot!!

We got ourselves ready and left around 1pm. We endured the I95 to West Palm Beach and parked in the recommended car park on the tour’s website. It was a ten minute walk down to the port/harbour/docks (I don’t know nautical stuff) and the place oozed money.

Just so you know, there will be a lot of photos of boats and houses.

Our mode of transport would be more our style/wealth bracket.

We checked in and waited about ten minutes before boarding. We cleverly found some seats in the shade to escape the unrelenting sun, but soon realised that when we set off the boat turned round and we were exposed and were both buckets of sweat within seconds.

The tour takes you along the coast of West Palm Beach island to witness some incredible monuments to wealth.

The crew do a great job of narrating the properties. Of course, it could all be made up but we saw houses owned or previously owned by the likes of Andre Agassi, Sly Stallone, Tommy Hilfiger, Vera Wang and many others that I have since forgotten. Some of the history was fascinating and the amount of dollars involved even more so.

We passed a marina/yacht club where we were told that membership was only possible for those owning a property on the island valued at more than $60m and a golf club with a membership fee of $250,000 a year.

What you need outside a $100m house of course is a boat of similar value.

There was a real variety of properties, with some smaller, cute ones too.

They were much more affordable!!

This is probably one of the most beautiful and wealthy places on the planet.

This was Sly Stallone’s and apparently it’s the one he films his reality show in.

We saw a Bond-related yacht.

Then we pulled away from the coast and took in some of the open water.

After a while we started to see some of the more industrial parts of the port.

Before quickly returning to the wealth and this was, we were told, the largest and most expensive sail boat (may not be the correct term) on the planet.

We were told how much it costs just to moor a boat in these parts and safe to say, if we sold our house and a couple of kidneys we may be able to do so for a week. It’s not cheap to be very rich.

For the last 45 minutes or so Louise was really struggling with the heat. It was brutal. We got drinks of course but the sweat was incessant and as we headed back to where we started, we were very much looking forward to some shade and air con.

We disembarked at 4pm, Louise sat in the shade and I walked back for the car and then returned to collect her.

We absolutely loved the tour and if we were to do this kind of trip again I think we’d look to do more of this kind of thing. I know anyone reading this will probably endorse those thoughts.

The I95 got us back to Delray around 5pm and we had very welcome showers and I watched some TV whilst Louise got ready. I booked what turned out to be our favourite eatery of the trip, the Mexican Roccas Tacos for 7.45 and our Lyft picked us up at 7.15. Our driver was Luigi and he was, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind me saying, a nut case. He was a real character and made the short drive very entertaining. He had lived in the UK for a while and hated it. He now lived in Delray managing the eight properties his parents owned and doing some Lyft driving when he got bored.

We were seated immediately.

Once again we had our Guac made table side….

I had a beer and in a strange turn of events, driven by too much sun, Louise had a diet coke.

Louise ordered from the specials and it was an incredible Beef Fajitas that looked like this. I cannot describe how tasty that bowl of brown stuff was.

I had Steak Tacos and they were also incredible.

I think we both agreed this was our best meal of the trip. It was $113 including tip.

We were very ready for bed at this time and we ordered a Lyft. It turned out that our driver home recognised us, as he was the driver that almost killed Louise by setting off with her halfway in the car. He was still apologetic.

Bed soon followed and was very welcome.

Till the next time…….

The Doing Diddly In Delray Tour 2024 – Day Eight Tuesday 4th June

by mkingdon, posted in The Doing Diddly In Delray Tour 2024

I cannot suggest a plausible reason for it, but somehow we did not feel too hungry this morning. I resisted the urge to call 911, as clearly this constituted some kind of medical emergency, instead, I chose to believe the frankly ridiculous theory that we’d eaten quite an amount of food recently and that may be the root cause. So, and I know this will shock you, we skipped a meal and set off for the beach breakfast-less.

We mounted our sunbeds around 10.30 and enjoyed the lack of wind. Let’s face don’t we all when that is the case.

It was, as you can perhaps appreciate from that photo, a scorcher.

We did some proper lying down until about 12.30, at which time our rediscovered appetites forced us over the road to Lune Rosa to rectify that situation. Luna Rosa is one of the oldest eateries in Delray I think. It has some Brown Derby vibes going on as it is quite old school with lots of dark woods and photos of famous folks on the walls.

We ordered –

A Chicken Walnut Salad for me.

No breakfast and then a salad for lunch could be seen to be some kind of cry for help in my case, but I still wasn’t feeling too hungry.

Louise ordered an Egg and Ham Croissant from the specials board.

They were both excellent, and with soft drinks, such as the iced coffee below the bill came to $60.

We strolled the 50 yards or so back to the beach and did some more lying down.

Once I had observed the universally accepted amount of time after eating to avoid immediate death, I ventured into the sea. It was incredibly warm and clear today and there was none of the nut shrivelling tip-toeing into the water than can often be the case with a sea.

Mid-afternoon there was drama. I say drama, but it’s relative to the complete lack of activity at all other times of course.

We saw lots of people leaving the sea in a hurry and then a group of folks all watching the same dark object move about under the water.

Not being able to muster the energy to leave my bed to investigate further, I just zoomed the camera in a bit and took a lot of photos, so I appreciate that my reporting of this event will not be troubling the Pulitzer committee.

After a while the small crowd dispersed and people ventured back into the water. There was no conclusive declaration of it being a shark, but this was pretty much at the same time as the shark attacks off another Florida coast so it may have been.

At around 5pm we decided to call an end to all this not doing anything and with Louise feeling a bit drained/weird (too much sun maybe?) we headed for home. Leisurely showers and readying happened before deciding that we couldn’t be bothered to head into the main Delray area, so we just strolled the short distance to Luna Rosa again. We were glad we did. Having had breakfast and lunch here already, adding the dinner option too proved to be a smart move.

Bread service with the most garlic we’ve ever consumed.

We then went with the Antipasto Platter. We opted for that rather than the Propasto Platter. Ba Dum Tish.

This was fantastic and I complemented it with a Chocolate Martini.

Louise had red wine and we moved on to –

Steak for me.

Pasta with Broccoli and Sausage in Truffle Oil for Louise.

Both dishes were superb. Louise was still not feeling hungry so did not finish and her lack of energy and feeling a bit “weird” persisted from earlier. So there would be no late drinking/partying tonight, unlike all the other nights when we were in bed before midnight.

Back at the hotel, I made a quick trip to Walgreens in the Jeep for some itch/bite stuff to attend to some wounds we had. We were still in bed by 10pm and I read for a few minutes before welcoming sleep.

Till the next time…..