Day 6 Special Breakfast Date, Epcot and Wishes

This morning we had a date with Sara our friend from IHOP. It was her day off, but we wanted to spend some proper time together and enjoy her company without her waiting on us while she works. We talked and talked and talked for ages, but still managed to make it to Epcot in time for our first fast pass.

Our first ride was the Spaceship Earth. I adore that ride. It really never gets old for me. Though I feel like that about most of the rides here! I truly love it out here. We went in to Inventions and Sum of all Thrills wasn't too busy so we joined the line. We got to design our ride. Of course it had to be a loop the loop type one we designed. It was very exciting. We loved it. I didn't even mind that you are enclosed in a screen all around you. The only thing I would say is that it would be even better if we could hear each other while seeing each other on the corner of the screen. 

Anyway after that we pottered through the shops, even got Marmalady a new tag with tinker bell on it. We headed around to World Showcase. We had plenty of time before our afternoon Fast pass so we took our time and just soaked up the culture from each country around the world. We saw women in Japan playing drum music. We watched Italian men do a flag dance. We checked out the fish in China. We also went in to Reflections of China. It was a 360degree show. It was so well done. Felt like seeing Soarin' very cool. 

We stopped in to Lotus Blossom for Lunch. I had Orange Chicken and Boiled Rice and Thomas had Shrimp Fried Rice with egg roll. Both were very delicious and full of flavour. 

I loved Japan, so much I could've bought. I think next year I am going to bring extra spending money and buy candy from each of the countries and do a taste test type video on youtube. 

Check out these photos from around World showcase: 

We headed towards Test Track for our fast pass. Thomas loves this ride. I could do without it but glad we did it. Especially as it has been updated since we last did it. You now get to design a car and it tests your features out. It was quite cool. We got to 64mph. That was quite thrilling speeding up to that. 

We headed home and rested a while before heading back to Disney. This time we were heading to Magic Kingdom for Wishes. This is Thomas's favourite night show. It was the first show we ever watched together. I love it, really brings nostalgia for me. 

We got to the park around 8, so we headed towards adventureland to see what the wait time was like on Big Thunder. It was 15 minutes. So we decided to wait. I love that ride at night. The view over the park is amazing!! It is definitely one of my favourites. I actually prefer it to Mine train. Even though Mine Train is smoother and newer. there is just something about Big Thunder. 

After that we headed to Caseys to get a dog. They are the best Hotdogs I have ever had!! Thomas got a footlong, i got a regular. Both came with fries. We chatted to a cast member called Mia. She was lovely and told us next time we would have to check out Club Cool at Epcot. Totally forgot about that. So will do next time. I want to try those drinks! She was a lovely girl. She even gave us two fudge brownies. That was so sweet. And very delicious! 

We thoroughly enjoyed watching the fireworks that close up. It felt quite romantic. Which clearly other people had in mind because we witnessed two different proposals only a few minutes apart. Such a very romantic proposal. I hope those couples have a wedding as magical as the proposal. I loved my wedding in Florida. We had an amazing day getting married on the beach was awesome. I wish the same for those couples too. 

After the fireworks we hung about and let others leave. It was crazy mass exit so we sat down and watched the world go by. We watched Celebrate the Magic again. It is better in front of the castle than off to the side. It is definitely worth checking out. Before the second parade started we headed for home. It took a while but we made it out of the park and up to the monorail terminal. It said a 15 minute wait but it didn't seem to take that long. We got back to the transportation and ticket centre and joined the line for villains parking. After a lot of hanging around we were finally back at the car and heading for home. Ready to get a good nights rest. 

2016 Florida Holiday Day 1 and 2 Travelling

DAY 1 & 2 TRAVELLING AND DUBLIN

Our day started with leaving our baby girl off at Happy Catz Pet Hotel. Few tears and hesitation but finally gave in and left her there. I am happy to leave her there because the people who run it are so loving and caring. You can tell that they are genuinely animal people and truly care about each and every pet that comes through the door. There were cats pottering about all over the place. We even had one jump on the roof of the car and just lay down lol. I would highly recommend Happy Catz to anyone needing to have their pets looked after while going away.

We had some time to kill, so we dropped in on my mum and dad to surprise my grandmother who visits on a Friday. It was a lovely treat to get a hug from my nanny. She is a wee darling. It was a short but sweet visit, because we still had to pop in on Thomas's mum and walk the dog and sort out her medication for the week. I actually periscoped while I was out walking. It was the most anyone has ever watched my periscopes. I love periscope. It is great for live videos. Anyway I digress.

We got the coach from Glengall Street to Dublin. It arrived and left on time. There was no air con so it was a little stuffy but it wasn't too warm so it was manageable. I dozed off a little which helped pass the time. I am not a good traveller so it is always good to be able to doze a little.

We got to the airport and after a little faffing around we finally found where we were supposed to get the bus but we would have a 50 minute wait so we decided to just grab a taxi. €8 instead of €2 but we got there quicker. So it was worth it.

We got checked in quickly, we were booked in for breakfast and they encouraged us to book in for dinner. We needed to eat anyway and for 29.99 for meal deal. Two course Dinner and wine in evening and then breakfast buffet in the morning. Definitely worth it. We went to the room and had a little chill time with a cuppa before heading down for dinner. Thomas and I both fancied a steak. It came with a choice of potato, I had boiled, Thomas had chips. We both had green beans and mushrooms, absolutely delicious!! The steak was done perfectly and the rest was so tasty. We chose a glass of House Red each to go with it. As our meal came with two courses we opted for dessert. I had an amazing Choc o Lot Sundae and Thomas had Caramel Apple Crumble, which of course he thoroughly enjoyed. We rolled back to our hotel room and were fast asleep around 10pm.

We had a wonder sleep. So we popped down to the restaurant for breakfast. I didn't feel 100% so I opted for muesli and yoghurt. It was enough for me. Though there was a fantastic choice of cooked food and breads. Thomas enjoyed his cooked breakfast, even the quorn sausages. We had our usual cup of Tea for Tom and Coffee for me.

We got packed up and headed down for the bus to the airport. €1 each. It comes every 30 minutes. After a short wait we headed on over to the airport. We got in and saw that there were kiosks to check in and print boarding passes. So we headed over to try this out. We got all the way to the end and the machine went off. It had run out of paper. So we headed to a Customer Services help desk. He was able to print off our boarding passes easily. We then weighed and tagged our bags and sent them on their merry way to be put on the plane, while we headed on upstairs to departures. We had a quick look through the shops and grabbed a magazine and some water to drink, but we were too anxious to get through immigration so we headed on through. It wasn't overly busy. We had to go through another security section and that worried us because we had bought liquids and thought they would take them of us. So in case you have this same concern, don't panic, because it was bought in the airport it was fine, we could take it on through. Phew didn't want to have wasted money already. So we got through the security with no issues and on to the actual clearance area. We were nervous, just because it was the first time we had done this but excited for something new too. There are kiosks for you to do it yourself as long as you have used your passport to go to the states before. So we headed over to use them. Thomas entered all his details and all went fine. When it was my turn unfortunately we had issues with my finger prints. I have had issues with my fingerprints for so long because of my eczema causing them to be fainter. So my clearance card had a big x on it. So with this deflated feeling we headed to a manned clearance desk. We both had to hand all our documents in and tried my fingerprints again a few times before we actually got sorted then they stamped our passports and we could move on. We were very relieved to be through that part. We just chilled and chatted and faffed about on our phones. I started writing some of this blog. Just to pass the time.

Our flight did get delayed by a short time as they were waiting on housekeeping getting done to the plane. It was no big deal we weren't delayed by long. The runway felt like it went on forever, trying to hold my phone to film for what seemed like three days. I had planned to vlog while I was away, but I decided that as my husband is not very comfortable with being on camera that way I would blog instead. I will have some videos, but it wont be an actual vlog.

The actual flight was tough going. There was nothing specific I could complain about. It just seemed to drag in. The first hour was ok and they brought us a meal round. The food was not bad, but nothing to write home about either. Though anything is better than United Airlines food service we got last year. The options we had were Beef Stroganoff and Rice or Herb Chicken and Potato Wedges. I had chicken Thomas had the beef. It came with a Lemon Curd mouse, which was very nice. Just the right amount of Lemon in it so not to be too sickly sweet or too tart. We had Tea and Coffee round next. I of course am a coffee fiend and Thomas is a tea drinker. Both were ok. It was caffeine, that was good enough. I tried not to sleep too much as I wanted to be able to sleep that night and we would be getting into Florida at 6:30 and so by time we would get to the villa and get sorted we would be ready for bed. However if we were to do our usual sleeping on the plane then we would be wide awake all night and not be able to enjoy Disney the next day. We read, we watched tv shows and films. I watched the Danish Girl. I had been wanting to see that movie for a while. My earphones only had one working but that is ok, I made the most of what sound I had. An hour before landing we were brought round sandwiches and water. Chicken salad sandwiches, which if I am honest were only just about edible. The bread was soggy from the salad. It is very hard to make and store salad sandwiches without that happening, so I wasn't too surprised.

We landed on time and got off the plane quite quickly. We headed straight on through to pick up our bags. It was weird not having to go through immigration there, having done it before we took off. We got the monorail and headed to baggage claim. We expected to be hanging around for ages, but as we got the carousel the alarm went to signal the bags starting to come through. I was very surprised that it was such a short wait, but after 10-15 minutes we were heading to the garage to look for Alamo to pick up our car hire. We had gone through the online check in for car hire so all we had to do was go to the line to pick up our reserved car. Of course Thomas had wanted the mustang convertible again having had that last year he was definitely wanting to drive a beast again. They were mostly black options with one grey one available. So we opted for Black. The keys were in it of course. So we got the boot open and got one suitcase and the hand luggage in and the second one went on the back seat. We headed to the exit with our paperwork, picked up our hired sat nav and documents and we were on our way. Even though we knew where we were going we followed the Sat Nav and it took us along the Toll Roads and in the back way to the neighbourhood we were staying in.

Once we arrived and got our stuff out of the car we dropped our stuff in the family room and took a tour of the villa. Of course going outside to check out the pool as it was our main reason for choosing this particular villa. We wanted a pool big enough to swim laps in. We were not disappointed. We were shocked to see just how big the deck area is out the back. Plenty of space for eating out and sunbathing. There is a family table underneath a covered area, which is where I am currently sitting to type this up for you all. They have another table and chairs out in the open area for those wanting to be in the sunshine. I prefer to chill in the shade rather than melt in the sunshine so I stick to being under the canopy roof while I am just hanging out. I love the sunshine but it is nice to get out of it for a while especially in the height of the afternoon. The sun gets very intense and I burn so easily.

Anyway, back to it, once we had run around checking out the place we grabbed some money and headed for a local Publix to pick up some essentials. Mainly Milk, sugar and Coffee. Thomas saw Crispy Creme Doughnuts and decided he really wanted to try them we also bought some Lays of course.

We headed back, had a well needed cup of tea and headed to bed ready for our first real day of being in Florida. Magic Kingdom is the first park on our itinerary.  

Some of my photos so far :-)

e

Holywood Studios, Old Town and Animal Kingdom

I didn't get a chance to do Holywood Studios blog, so combining it with Animal Kingdoms. Maybe best doing a couple of days together as I am exhausted at night when I get in from the parks.

Holywood Studios was fantastic. We had fast passes for Star Tours, Aerosmith and Lights Motors Action. Once again with our Memory Maker we just kept stopping every camera person for a picture. It really is paying for itself tenfold. We have all these pictures to download, including ones from the rides as well. Pictures we probably wouldn't have purchased because we have them from before but because we can download them and print them off at home it makes it much more worth it. I highly highly recommend this to anyone, especially those with families who are getting pictures done with cast members too. It is so good!! I know $199 seems like a lot but if you bought one picture from disney it probably costs more than $25, i may be wrong but you think about it, 8 pictures and it has paid for itself. We probably had more than 8 in the first day, and the fact that you get the new attractions video footage too just makes it even more special!

Rock n Rollercoaster was as outstanding as I remember, we were on the back row and wow was it intense. So have been on the front middle and back, middle is best if you don't want it to be too intense but if you want more of a thrill then try for front or back.

Star Tours has been updated since we were last here and it was much much better. Had it not been updated I would not have been as fussed on doing it, but so glad I did. I would do it again as I know that you can get a few different scenarios which is pretty cool.

We ended up not waiting for Lights Motors Action as it was very very hot and we have done it so many times already so we aren't missing anything.

Has been so long since we did Under the Sea with Ariel so we went and did that which was great craic. We headed round and saw The Muppets 3d, loving these shows again.

We headed home for a little chill time in the afternoon and then went out to Oldtown in the evening. I am actually gutted at how much it has changed. I know they went bankrupt and were bought over but it was very commercialised and all about gift shops. The general store was so modern and all gift stuff, it used to be old timey and had loads of classic coke style products, i loved it. My favourite taffy shop is gone. I enjoyed getting to see all the natural gemstones. As a jewellery maker this kind of thing is right up my street, but that was the most exciting thing for me really. It just didn't have the same appeal as it used to. I know there are new rides and stuff for fun spot but it just isn't the same. For those who like Primeval Whirl in Animal Kingdom but not wanting to join the huge lines, there is one with the same style track at fun spot Old Town. Anyway after that we just headed to pizza hut for dinner, yummy bone out buffalo wings and large pizza. Man was it tasty!!! Will go back to Oldtown and see the car cruise on friday night for the modern cars, hopefully that will make it all seem better for me.

Animal kingdom was day 3, So after another lovely breakfast, served by the lovely sara. We headed on and wow i love this place. I still can't believe it is the least favourite park!! Also I know people are complaining about all the work going on but personally it doesn't bother me. At the end of the day they are just trying to add new things to keep us happy and there is no other way to add new rides. Yes it takes a little of the magic away but if we want updated magic then we need to endure the boards and let them get our new stuff going :-)

Sooooooo we went straight to our first fast pass, it was on Dinosaur. Great craic, although i have to say I think they take the picture at the wrong time. I think they need to take it at the end when the t rex comes at you. We loved the picture anyway, We then headed and were able to get on primeval whirl. They had a couple of issues with one of the tracks but we were moved over straight to the other track, thankfully the line wasn't huge or i would have been really annoyed. So our next stop was the Walking Trail. I love that. One of the things I love most about Animal Kingdom is clearly the animals. It just gives you such a different experience at the parks and I know that Busch is bigger but still love it. After the Walking Trail We went to Expedition Everest.... WOWOWOWOWOW loved it, we got great picture on it too. After that we headed over to Kilimanjaro safari. Think it was the best one we had ever done. I like that they talk more about the reservations and saving the animals that are becoming extinct. I enjoyed the whole pretend thing about the poachers but think this way is going to talk more to people about helping out than the wee skit. Tough to be a bug was a great way to get out of the sun and have a little fun as well.

So after all that and a lot of fun photos taken we headed home for another rest afternoon by the pool. Dinner was Longhorns on 192. It was the best steaks we have ever ever had!! Absolutely amazing!! Hubby had an 18oz ribeye, mine was big enough at 11oz. So juicy, done medium. Tasted gorgeous. I will definitely be back there!!! We had a dander round super target as had never been in one before so that was a good experience. Couldve spent a fortune lol. But lucky for hubby I didn't lol.

Home and chilled with a cup of typhoo tea before bed. The rain was bouncing though not much thunder and lightening to be seen. Have been really lucky so far and not been caught out in the rain at all. Though that could still come lol. Tomorrow is a lay in and shopping day, so that will be nice to take it all a little easier and get out of the heat. It has been over 30c everyday since we got here. I swear May used to be cooler lol. That is why we chose this month and not June but oh well, factor 50 on and I will be fine, though a little red. I am just trying to be very careful and not get too burned.

Hope I am not boring you all. If you have any questions about anything please just ask. I will share some of my pics so far in a separate blog post. xxxxx

First Day Magic Kingdom:

Wow what a first day. The weather was gorgeous and being back in Magic Kingdom was absolutely, well... Magical lol.

I had forgotten just how amazing Magic Kingdom was. So after a breakfast at Ihop, we got the ferry over to Magic Kingdom. For me it is the only way to start it off. I love passing the Polynesian and Grand Floridian and watching as the Castle gets closer. I felt really very emotional going back to Disney, I knew it was going to catch me but it hit more than I thought it would.

We had already decided we wanted Memory Maker and Magic Bands so we went to find out how to get that sorted. Then it was time to just have some chill time and dander around to see what was different and see what rides had short lines. We had fast passes for the evening as we hadn't been able to get on early enough for earlier times. It was such a gorgeous day and walking round the park just felt like being home!! We hadn't done Philarmagic in quite a few years so was really fun getting to see that again. I had forgotten how funny it was. We had never done Buzz Lightyears ride either, boy was that good craic. I am rubbish at those games but was actually doing ok with that one until my wrist decided the movement was too much lol. But was a laugh anyway. Space Mountain was so much fun, faster than I remembered though.

We actually stood around to watch a street Parade, cannot think what it is called right now, it was some type of street party with lots of characters dancing. I will have to look that up, but it was good to finally stand and chill and watch a parade which we never do. Think we will definitely be taking in more of those parades this time, we haven't really done that a lot before, but it really is so enjoyable to just enjoy the fun.

As normal we headed home for a while in the afternoon and had a dip in the pool to cool off. Gotta love a cool refreshing swim in the pool. Shame I nearly killed myself getting in the jacuzzi, lost my balance, thank goodness I had my hubby there to catch me or I would have hit my head on the side. Doh!! Trust me to try and knock myself out lol. But I am grand, one or two bruises but nothing that won't heal up soon lol.

We head back to the park later for the night shows and to do our fast passed rides, I am still not sure about the idea of the fast pass plus and having to plan everything so much in advance. It really feels like it takes a lot of magic away planning every single day 30 days in advance.

Anyway we grabbed a hot dog and soda at Caseys Corner, yum yum! Of course washed down with Orange Fanta, real orange not the watered down rubbish from the UK lol. I have a real hate for how rubbish it is back home, so normally drink club orange back home, keeping fanta for here. We had a we stroll around the park just taking it all in then went and found a spot close to the castle for the parade and wishes. I have to be honest I really am not a fan of Main Street Electric Parade, it is not a patch on Spectromagic, but I know that they have to change things up every so often but the Electric Parade music is so annoying and repetitive that it is hard to enjoy it!

The new part that comes on before wishes is absolutely amazing!! Celebrate the Magic it is called. Breathtaking, I actually teared up again lol. A lot of tearing up today. Wishes of course was just out of this world. You cannot even describe to anyone what it is like as you cannot explain how magical it is. After Wishes we walked over to do Seven Dwarves Mine Train. Absolutely loved it. Amazing how smooth the new rides are, definitely so much fun. Want to do that again :-)

So we got home and were able to check out our photos from throughout the day. Memory Maker is already worth every penny and it is only day 1.

Tomorrow we are off to Holywood Studios. So time for sleep. Looking forward to more IHOP in the morning. What is your favourite place for breakfast? We just adore IHOP and always go to the same one every single year, out on 192. :-)

Good night all. xxx

Travel Day: One Couple, Two Flights and Three Airports

Hey everyone, so travel day came on 16 May, we got up at 5am to prepare for leaving just before 7. After just a few hours sleep I was dreading the travelling. We were flying from Belfast to Newark and then Newark down to Orlando International. We had never travelled this way before and I was very very anxious about this. 

Well lets just say my worst fears were realised!!! When we checked in at Belfast we were given boarding passes right through, but we were informed that our flight from Newark was overbooked and we couldn't be guaranteed a seat number until we got to the boarding gate in Newark.. So we would just have to hope for the best and wait!!! Which didn't do much for my anxiety! However there was nothing we could do about it so it was time to just get from Belfast to Newark..... The airplane was a sardine can in disguise!! I could have cried when I realised just how small it was. Thomas had told me it would be 3 either side but I didn't realise how small and seeing that tiny tin can scared me!!! But it got even worse when I realised we were on the back two seats which meant there was no way to recline. It was a horrible flight, long uncomfortable and each meal coming round we had to take just whatever was left, so our main meal I had a spinach ricotta type thing and Thomas had a chickpea masala which was actually really full of flavour. I like that they constantly offer you refreshments, thats about the only thing that I can say good about it.....

So we got to Newark, went through immigration and sailed through the airport and over to the gate we were checking in all the while hoping that we would have a seat on the plane!! While we waited to find out we went and had food in the wee pizza place in the terminal. I had a pepperoni calzone, boy was it tasty!!! Thomas had a big slice of pizza with sausage and pepperoni. Absolutely delicious!! 

Anyway getting to the flight! I was actually starting to tear up as people were boarding the flight and our names hadn't been called yet. I was sure we weren't getting on that flight at all. Thomas went up to the desk again and they had boarding tickets for us. Either side of the plane 5 rows apart. So we had to sit apart for 3 hours. I have to say that was not the most pleasant of experiences for us!! Though we both got sitting beside nice couples so I guess it could have been worse.. It was so uncomfortable and after having a long flight out to new york this just made it even longer. 

I have to say I will never fly that way again!!! It was exhausting and body breaking for me!! 

Anyway things got a little better when we found out we were getting a mustang!! Thomas was a very happy boy! Thomas had bought Navmii USA, having used the UK one at home a lot for work it should have been great, but we couldn't get it to find the locations we were going to, it wouldn't bring up West Irlo Bronson Mem Highway just the east side. Absolutely gutted, as we had left our sat nav at home with family as it needed updating anyway... So luckily we figured that before leaving as we still had a chance to hire sat nav from the car hire people at budget. We put the address in for Ocean beds and we were on our way, once again i had a happy hubby with his mustang. We got to the rental pick up place and were greeted by happy workers, I expected at nearly 9 at night that it would be a lock box and we would have to come back the following morning for registration, but nope they were still open so we got it all sorted and found out where we would be staying and headed on.

We were very happy when we got to the location and saw the gated community we were staying in. Our villa has a gorgeous pool with a hot tub, the pool is only 5ft deep but hey its a good size so we have fun. There are 5 bedrooms with 3 bathrooms. Two master bedrooms with beds bigger than my whole bedroom lol.....

Anyway that is enough for tonight. We had a long and tiring trip but we are in Florida and that is the start of our amazing adventure. I cannot wait to share more of our holiday with you all. 

Introduction to me and preparations for holiday

Hello everyone, think I should start by telling you a little about me.

I am Lyndsey :-) I am 31 married to my lovely husband Thomas, he is in his 40's. We have no children, we are the children lol. This trip is our 5th visit to Florida. We are from Belfast Northern Ireland.

I should also mention that I have a lot of health issues, won't go in to it all, but hey I have a blog about that to if you really want to know more. However, so you can have an idea, I have Fibromyalgia and Arthritis.

It has been 5 years since our last visit, and it has been a long and tough time. My health hit rock bottom, I had to leave work. My father in law passed away from Cancer. I lost one of my precious fur babies before Christmas. Anyway last June I actually cried when my husband said to get the laptop and start looking at holidays!!

So we found a great deal with Travel Republic for Flights from Belfast to Orlando International with a connection in Newark flying with United. We chose an Executive Plus Villa, one of the ones that is allocation on arrival, always a little scary and exciting lol. We also decided to go for a convertible again.

So our holiday will be very different to what we are used to as my health is a not as good as it once was. I live on pain killers and need plenty of rest. We have also discussed the possibility that I may need a scooter or wheelchair if I get bad, but we will play it by ear. I am hoping if I take it easy that I won't totally wreck myself too much.

I have to be honest I am not sure how much I like the idea of the new fast pass plus stuff. Some of our fast passes are at random times because it is so hard to get online at 5am to get the good things booked in. I will reserve my judgement for it and be open minded, but I just think it takes away the magic of it all.

Anyway, I will be posting here most days sharing my thoughts and excitement and hopefully you will maybe learn a bit from my experiences too.

If you have any questions at all please feel free to ask, :-)

Chat to you all soon.

Loves Lyndsey xxx