Goodbye to Walt Disney World

Today was our lasts full day at Walt Disney World. Unfortunately, I woke up to a viral sore throat. Thankfully I didn't have to wake up early as the shops in Downtown Disney didn't open until 10am. While Malcolm scratched his golf itch with Elliot, Sidney and Jared, I spent the morning with the younger two helping them shop their Christmas money from grandparents and greatgrandparent. The bulky camera got left behind which was quite liberating!

Lunch was at the family favourite of T-Rex. The rest of the family enjoyed Disney Quest and resort facilities for one last time but I conked out for the whole afternoon! By the time I woke up, it was time for dinner. I was really looking forward to our meal at Raglan Road. The Irish pub didn't disappoint! The atmosphere was awesome and the food hearty and tasty. The bread and butter pudding lived up to expectations! Unfortunately, as I slept the afternoon away, we had to miss out on the dance party fun and head back to the resort to pack for our cruise.

A few thoughts...

We have been so fortunate with the weather. Praise the Lord! The temperature has ranged between 18 to 30 degrees lucky with only about 2 days of rain. The rest of our stays has seen us welcoming blue skies and low humidity.

Having the opportunity to stay at three different resorts has also been wonderful. If you were going to try a deluxe resort, renting DVC points is definitely an economical way to do it. Sharing villas with another family has also made the price very affordable. We have really enjoyed each resort. Each has its own charms. The Grand Floridian was just pure indulgence and elegance. Unfortunately, we were only able to sample their studio and our stay was only a short one.

The Animal Kingdom Lodge was an experience in itself! The setting was just so spectacular. The third bathroom was very handy with such a large group and that view from the room was just so surreal. If I were to be criticial, the villas were very dark inside despite bright sunny weather outside. And the way the resort was set out, you wouldn't want a room ALL the way down that long corridor.

Old Key West is the oldest DVC property I believe and sometimes this is noticeble with little things such as peeling paint, and bathrooms looking a little tired. However, we loved our stay here. The buildings and setting are pretty and serene. It is just so peaceful and relaxing. The extra space is phenomenal! Location wise, it is so convenient. It is a short bus ride from the parks. We were fortunate to have been allocated villa 24 which was right next to the first bus stop to the parks (the resort has 5 stops) but within an easy walk to Hospitality House, where the major facilities were including the pool, restaurant and reception. The boat dock to downtown disney was also here.

The transfers between the resorts were mostly seamless. Other than one full trolley of suitcases that got "lost" (left behind at Animal Kingdom Lodge we later found out), the moves were easy. Disney also moved our perishables for us. They have a fridge and freezer in bell services that can accommodate our cold foods.

Magic bands and fast pass plus...people seem to either hate or love them. I personally am for them. The magic bands made things so easy. I love not having to carry anything extra around like cards. Just having to flash my band for everything was very convenient. Where the system fails is the fastpass plus system. The my Disney Experience website is truthfully very clunky and difficult to use. Errors are common and we spent hours over the phone back home and hours here onsite trying to fix issues. Once issues are fixed though, the concept is great. We love not having to run around the park getting fastpasses and being able to schedule things at a certain time in the late afternoon/evening without having to be in the park early. We were fortunate enough to be here still at a testing phase. With all our troubles, we were given extra "blank" fastpasses to use which helped.

We've loved our stay here and feel rather sad knowing that in all likelihood we won't be back for a while. However, we look forward to the next stage of our journey, a cruise on the Fantasy. Bring on tomorrow!

Dec 18 - Food, Food and More Food

Breakfast at Chef Mickey's was the first item on our agenda. The breakfast buffet was like any other buffet but the children, as always, were so delighted to see the characters that it was all worth it. Jonah kissed Mickey!

With predicted showers, as well as park crowd ratings of 9, we decided to forgo the Magic Kingdom and spend the morning shopping yet again. So back to Downtown Disney it was. Browsing for merchandise was a pleasant way to while away the hours of miserable rain. It certainly made the morning go by very quickly!

Lunch was at the Earl of Sandwich where 2 counter service credits were again enough to feed the whole family of five! The holiday season sandwich was YUMMY with turkey, cranberry, stuffing and gravy on a toasted roll. This was finished off with a Ghiradelli triple chocolate brownie and chocolate mousse. We rolled to the bus stop to squeeze in an afternoon nap back at the resort. By the time we awoke, the rain had mostly cleared and we were off to Epcot.

We FINALLY managed to complete a Kimpossible mission! Whilst the children were busy doing missions, the adults were busy sampling various "snacks" from the various pavillions. Pastries from Norway, curry puffs from China. Mmmm...An absolutely amazing acrobat show entertained us at the China Pavillion. We had to run all the way to Canada to make our dinner reservation at Le Cellier's. The food was absolutely divine. The cheddar soup wasn't too bad but it was a rather heavy starter. The fillet mignon was heavenly and absolutely to die for. It just melted in your mouth. By the time my maple creme brulee came, I could hardly fit it in. Sorry, but I forgot to take photos of the food! We rolled out for the second time in the day.

Dec 17 - A Day of Rest

Today was our dedicated rest day. We got to sleep in...until 815am! It was also the first day that the temperature went over 20 degrees! When the children woke up, we filled ourselves up with bagels for breakfast trying to use up our remaining 26 snack credits, and dressed ourselves in shorts and T-shirts (because we can!) before our shopping expedition at the Disney Store at Downtown Disney. We had another 20% discount coupon that we wanted to use and it had to be used between 9-12am. We decided that we'd get what really appealed to us now and then buy more if they are a great bargain at the outlet malls when we come back to Florida. It was chaos at the shops, but that was not to deter us tenacious shoppers. We walked out with a suitcase, earrings, cuff links for the cruise, a pin each, a wine bottle topper, Christmas ornaments, a cap, a mickey-head pancake maker, an ice cube maker, a Goofy baseball, a mug, an antenna topper, sunglasses for the children, and croc ornaments.

We strolled across to T-Rex for lunch. We were pleasantly surprised at what we got. Perhaps it was because I wasn't expecting much but the ribs were tasty and melt in your mouth and the shrimp skewers on rice was fantastic. The children were thrilled to get their "Discovery Blast" in a great bone shaped cups that they got to keep. There were dinosaurs everywhere in various themed areas with the occasional meteorite shower. All in all, a whole heap of fun!

If you were wondering why there were no photos in the daytime, it was because I forgot to bring my dSLR and the point and shoot had no battery or memory card...

Boarding area at POR

A view of our dinner venue on the way in

The photos that were not taken earlier in the day...

We made a quick detour in the Christmas shop. Once again it was packed and crazy. It was all getting too tiring so we caught the bus back for a nap, a swim and to do some laundry. We returned to Down Town Disney, this time by boat, for dinner at Fulton's Crab House. It was a pleasant and relaxing journey. Much smoother than the buses! The Seafood scioppino at Fulton's was out of this world. Malcolm ordered Crab claws which were a specialty of the house. They weren't too bad but was nowhere near as tasty as Dessert at Ghiradelli's! The children had a blast at the disco dance party during dessert.

The madness starts again tomorrow as we try to finish off what we haven't covered.

Seafood scioppino

The children dancing away! Note the difference between the attentive styles of the girls versus the wild movements of the boys...