Happy Anni-birth-aversary...A 33 night Celebration & HHN too.....SF & RPR September 2022 TR

[keishashadow]

Woohoo!

 

[margareton27]

Playing around as I am doing some online learning about different types of picture taking/editing techniques.

 

[macraven]

Sweet!

 

[schumigirl]

Woohoo!

You made it......just before your trip too.....

Have the best time down in Orlando

 

[schumigirl]

View attachment 711012Playing around as I am doing some online learning about different types of picture taking/editing techniques.View attachment 711013

Love Tom`s shirt in that picture!! It looks like the material on one of the comfy chairs in our bedroom...kinda shimmery silver!!

Not sure about the pink hair on me .....I don`t think I`m anywhere near cool enough to pull that look off like my friend D does......she is very rock chick!!!

Love it though.......sounds like you have a nice hobby with the picture editing, is that just for fun you`re doing that?

Thanks for doing that.......

 

[margareton27]

Love Tom`s shirt in that picture!! It looks like the material on one of the comfy chairs in our bedroom...kinda shimmery silver!!

Not sure about the pink hair on me .....I don`t think I`m anywhere near cool enough to pull that look off like my friend D does......she is very rock chick!!!

Love it though.......sounds like you have a nice hobby with the picture editing, is that just for fun you`re doing that?

Thanks for doing that.......

Lol - I popped in the wrong picture for the second one! Oh well now you know what you would look like with rocker hair and a shimmery husband .

We are heading to South America in the new year for an Antarctic cruise. We have booked to be in Iguazu Falls during a full moon so learning about twilight photography and editing. It can be fun playing around with different options.

 

[schumigirl]

Lol - I popped in the wrong picture for the second one! Oh well now you know what you would look like with rocker hair and a shimmery husband .

We are heading to South America in the new year for an Antarctic cruise. We have booked to be in Iguazu Falls during a full moon so learning about twilight photography and editing. It can be fun playing around with different options.

A shimmery husband......love it!

That sounds an amazing trip you have planned. Yes, playing around with pictures like that will be fun.

Kyle does Astronomy as a hobby and he has a top notch telescope, it`s huge and his pictures are amazing, it is a talent to take such extraordinary pictures. So, I hope you find some magnificent images to enjoy.

 

[schumigirl]

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 3RD​

We had another wonderful sleep and I did wake up feeling like I`d had the best sleep! It was around 7am I woke, which is late for me usually, but on vacation I still never want to waste the day sleeping late, we want to get up and get the day started, then we can be lazy after that if we want!

And we did today. Today was an odd day for sure the way it worked out.

We got an email from our friend saying he`d meet up for a chat and catch up so we headed over to the lounge first where we did have the laziest time.....sipping fizz of course, well I was sipping fizz, Tom would be driving as we had decided to take the car back to the airport today, so champagne for one......lol.....

Tom had his usual croissants with honey for breakfast, I had white toast, cream cheese and grape jelly, and they had some not too bad tea bags, so made myself a couple of cups of tea too.

I think we sat and chatted the morning away with the lovely folks in there. And my glass was always being filled somehow.....we named Alex the Ninja as she could fill my glass without even noticing! I`d turn round and think......I`m sure that was half empty......lol.....then I`d see Alex with a smile on her face!!

Eventually we left the lounge, headed over to Sapphire to meet our friend. Downside was the wifi was playing up today, we had no internet for most of the day and couldn`t chat to Kyle and you do feel lost when you can`t contact folks by email. We still had our phone so we could txt.

​

We chatted to our friend for a while and we always love catching up with him. He is the nicest person on earth.

Later we set off to get the car and make the short drive to the airport to change cars.

We dropped the car and walked over to the Alamo counter and spoke to the same girl we saw when we landed, so she knew the story, we didn`t have to explain everything again. Again, there weren`t many cars around to choose from, this was a Holiday weekend of course, but I spied a black Lexus that would do nicely. She was happy to exchange that one for us, so a few changes to paperwork and we were off out of the garage and heading back towards home.

This is a much nicer car to drive. It`s comfy, clean and although it`s not a power house of a car, it`s not too bad for what we`ll be doing.

I of course realised by now I was hungry, so as we were coming back up Universal Blvd, we stopped into NYPD Pizza which is a place we do enjoy eating.

It`s a very friendly place and food is so good! Everything is cooked fresh so you can wait a little for food at times, but not too long and it`s worth waiting for.

Tom ordered the personal meat lovers, I opted for the BBQ chicken with no onions and add pineapple and jalapeno which is about my most favourite pizza ever!!

Add in 2 sodas and you have the ideal lunch.

I have to say we always make the same mistake......we really should share one pizza and not have one each. Even the personal size is fairly large and for lunch it is a lot.

I doubt we`ll eat till later tonight, much later.

But, they are delicious and the young lady brought me some extra jalapenos just in case.....I think she was a mind reader and they were indeed very welcome.

We popped into Publix for some bits and bobs and we do like Publix over Walmart for most things. But, we did pick up snacks for the room and little bits and bobs here and there.

Headed back to the hotel, it was now around mid afternoon......maybe some would think this is a bit of a wasted day, but with a month ahead of us, we could take it easy and not fall straight into park mode. And it did us the world of good.

We still had no internet in the hotel, that`s more annoying than inconvenient. But, we sat in the lobby and chatted to a lady we have known a long time too. And with being us, time passed and soon it was 4pm so we headed over to RP to pass some time in the lounge.

We did plan to go to HHN tonight again and thought we might aim for the rear of the park and do the houses there, but we`d see and make up our mind when we went in.

They had a new selection of options for relaxation hours tonight, and of course Raphael does love enhancing a picture.....and he always does make a picture better.

We were still full from lunch so we didn`t even bother snacking on anything, the choice tonight was Salisbury Meatballs and garlic mashed potato with the usual salad, dressings and crudite plate.

We do love our lounge time. And we get the chance to chat to some of the nicest folks while we are there. They look after everyone so well and care about guest experiences too. The lounge itself is a very nice lounge and out of all the lounges, i do prefer this one. Hard Rock is too small and PB is just too sprawled out to be cosy and welcoming. This lounge fits.

We headed out a little earlier tonight, so it was still light when we got there, which is unusual as we always wait till it`s dark. We use the Hotel Guest entrance again and it is a winner tonight as there are still lines for the regular gates. They do check you have your room key then you wander past the side of RRR and use your HHN ticket to enter the park from that side ways path and it takes you out between the Minion Ride and the back of the Universal store.

It didn`t look just as busy as last night, but it would fill up of course.

Pumpkin Lord as always is engaging with the crowd so well, they love him and he is a good addition to the event. The make up as always, is top notch from the creative team, they always turn the SA into a truly awe inspiring character.

We do like getting unusual pictures from underneath RRR for example, you don`t normally get the chance to see it from this angle.

We ended up doing the same old houses tonight, except Hellblock. Coven was still a bit lame but we walked straight into that one with no wait at all, Halloween was a walk on too, we only stopped for a RIP tour to be let in which was amazing as we expected to wait for at least 10 minutes or so. Chupacabra was slightly better tonight, all the SA were present and as I knew the story from our friend who is the RIP Tour Guide it made sense tonight more than last night.

Dead Man`s Pier was again a highlight. It took us less than 10 minutes from the main entrance to getting into the house and it was gorgeous. We were a little rushed through the house tonight, but most folks were trying to slow it down which worked to a degree, the conga lines aren`t the best way to see a house.

We had enough tonight. The scare zones were very busy, houses not too bad with EP, I`m so glad we weren`t in the regular line though, some of them were horrendous.

We didn`t take too many pictures tonight, it was one of those nights we just didn`t. So we left the park and I don`t remember what time it was, but we were starting to get hungry now and the food didn`t really appeal to us generally in the parks, not to mention the horrendous lines for most of the trucks.

So we hot footed it onto the boat and headed back to Strong Water, although we did wander along to the suite and had a quick shower and change of clothes as it was hot tonight and we both felt sticky and icky.

Fernando gave us a lovely welcome as did everyone of course, this really is somewhere you get the warmest of welcomes. We got a table and the couple were singing live who are usually on Saturday nights. The lady was different, so I think she was just stepping in for the usual one. They are very good.

Fernando asked what we were having to drink, Tom ordered a Fountain of Youth, one of his favourites.....I asked Fernando, could Anthony make me up a surprise....something tall, strong and fruity....he knows what I like!! Fernando said he`d be delighted!

A few minutes later Anthony appeared with his concotion. It didn`t look as pretty as it became later, usually there`s an orchid sitting on top to enhance the appearance, but taste wise it was perfect. A little too sweet, but they adjusted that next time and it was gorgeous.

I did joke it needed to be on the new menu.......it was that nice.

We loved one of their newest additions, the Surf and Turf Pinchos had been added earlier in the year and it was beautiful. It was Steak with a lovely Chimichurri sauce, large flavoured shrimp, yellow squash, peppers, zucchini, finished with a drizzle of Kalamata olive oil and served with that gorgeous bread.

And again, Tom`s choice.....the beautiful Camarones.

Anthony had come over to check what I thought of the drink, I told him it was gorgeous, one of his nicest creations ever. And of course had to have another.......he said Tom should have a special drink too, so he brought over a chocolate martini mix......I have no memory of what was sticking out of the cocktail......it does look rather alarming!!

But, he enjoyed the cocktail a lot. It wasn`t for me, but I`m not a chocolate in alcohol person.

This had been the perfect evening, good food and good company and a special cocktail too.

We chatted much later than we planned, nothing new there.....but we love chatting to Fernando and co whenever we get the chance. Fernando has a heart of gold and everyone that works in there is just lovely.

It was around midnight again......we thought we`d be in bed for 11ish......lol.....but we were having such fun and enjoying the company, it was worth another late night.

Another round of goodnights and we headed down to our lovely bed that we knew was waiting for us. And we were ready again to hopefully have a fabulous sleep.

And the internet was still not working. But, we were too tired to care right now.

 

[iona]

For a “not doing much” day you actually seem to have done loads!

Love the photo taken under RRR and the one of the crouching SA.

That chocolate martini photo does look a little X-rated Next trip we’re definitely going to make it to Strongwater… I say that, but we’ve been saying that for the last couple of trips and it took us seven trips to make it to Thirsty Fish (and we were staying at Portofino for all of those trips!).

 

[schumigirl]

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 4TH​

This morning we were up early, as is usual and although the internet seemed to be back, it was patchy. Very frustrating, but we didn`t need it till later as Kyle was out all day and we wouldn`t be chatting to him till much later as he was doing another 10k run....don`t know where he gets it from!!!

We headed over for breakfast and yesterday a poster called Baldy had posted she had seen us, but didn`t want to come over.....I said absolutely say hello......so she did.

Rather than Baldy, we`ll call her N.

N was lovely, a Canadian lady who was visiting with her mum and mum`s best and oldest friend. And what a lovely group of ladies they were. Very nice ladies with a good sense of humour and they all seemed to be having a wonderful time in the hotel, lounge and parks.

It was nice to meet N and get to know her a little during their stay and I did check it was ok to post our picture together. We did have some lovely chats while they were here.

I started the day as I meant to go on......with some fizz!!! Best way to start the day and would become a habit over this trip......

We were in no rush this morning, and they don`t serve morning mimosa`s till 9am on a Sunday due to licencing laws. But, we were still there for the last serve of breakfast.

Today our plan was simple, head to the Mall at Millenia which is our favourite Mall in Orlando. It has everything we need, well, it doesn`t have Yankee Candle anymore, but apart from that it has everything.

My favourite stores are Louis Vuitton and Tiffany. Not that we always make a purchase from both, but they are always lovely stores to visit and eye up what one might purchase in the future.

Five years ago when it was my 50th and our 25th Wedding Anniversary, we had gone to NY first and Tom surprised me with a ring for my birthday which was a surprise as he never hinted about anything. Then, thinking all the surprises were over, when we came down to Orlando, he surprised me again by buying me two rings from Tiffany for our Anniversary. I was very spoiled.

So, that was our plan today.....go and buy me a new ring.

The Mall is beautiful, and it`s very rare to catch a picture of the entrance with no one in front of it, same with cars.....although some of you may remember a few years ago I got into trouble from an over zealous security guard who admonished us for taking pictures without someone in it!!!

I think this is an older picture I have of where Tiffany is in the Mall, it`s still in the same place, but I don`t have an up to date one of my own.

Inside the Mall it`s not huge, but perfectly formed.

We first met Amit back in 2017 for the two rings we bought here. We liked him immediately, he was very friendly and understood what I was looking for and didn`t show me anything that I wouldn`t like, that`s quite a gift as Tom thinks I`m quite hard to impress.

So, as it was our 30th wedding anniversary tomorrow, we were going and I wanted a new ring for my right hand. I usually wear a simple ring of 2 silver rings joined together, very plain but I`m quite sentimental about it as it was one of two pieces he bought me way back. On my wedding ring finger I wear all 3 rings together that I got in 2017, so didn`t need another for that hand.

We went in and an associate immediately welcomes us which is always the sign of a good store, we asked if Amit was working today and I did wonder again if we would miss him as we had done in May. But, he was and came through, it was nice to see him again as obviously with Covid it had been a while. We caught up and he asked what I was looking for, I said a ring and had three in mind, so we went through to one of the private little rooms to see what I had in mind.

We sat down and I gave him the numbers of the 3 rings I had narrowed it down to....one other I had my eye on for a few years didn`t seem to be available anymore, so I had opted for the next three I liked.

While Amit went to get them, we were very kindly brought some champagne, which is always lovely and a nice touch when buying such lovely products.

So, Amit came back with some items I had asked to see and I immediately discounted the one I thought I`d like......both Amit and Tom said they knew I wouldn`t like it when I saw it, and they were right, it was too fussy. Amit had observed I prefer clean lines and not anything flouncy.

I do love Platinum, white gold and silver, I don`t like regular gold so my choices are fairly easy as I can eliminate a lot of pieces straight away.

I noticed he had brought a bangle and just casually sat it in the middle of the tray.......hmmmm. I liked the look of that but didn`t mention it.....Tom was also wondering and wondered what I would think of it.

After I discounted the other rings, they just weren`t for me, we came to the bangle.

Amit had brought it thinking I might like it, I think he already knew I wouldn`t love the rings I`d asked to see, he is very good.

And this was a brand new range called Lock. They had only put the display up the day before which we had noticed on the way in.....

This bangle was white gold and was half covered in diamonds and as soon as I saw it I wanted it. I had kept glancing at it like a woman possessed to be truthful, and Tom also loved it but didn`t want to say in case I didn`t like it.

I tried it on......

I absolutely fell in love with it and I think all 3 of us knew that as soon as I saw it.....but Tom always likes to be sure and waited till I`d tried on all the rings, but this was mine!!

It took me a while to realise it is based on a "lock".....doh.... lol......it does have an unusual opener on it, you pull the bottom part and it opens the top part, it is fiddly at first but once you get the hang of it, it is easy and it`s very beautiful.

I will say, we couldn`t get a very clear picture of it, so I`ve posted 3 pictures direct from the Tiffany website as they make it look as good as it is. Our pictures don`t really do it justice....

So although I won`t be opening it till tomorrow.....here`s a sneak preview.....or not so sneak preview

There are also two Dis ladies J & L who you`ll meet later in the TR who did get a sneak preview.......

​

Pictures from Tiffany.com





Tiffany is a beautiful store with lovely folks working there and they do know how to treat customers well, so it`s always a pleasure to buy anything from there and today was exceptional, we really enjoyed making this purchase.

And of course Amit was happy to take some pictures for us. I had told him about the TR/blog and he was happy for his picture to be included too, we always check just in case.

And this was the display we had seen on the road in but didn`t pay a lot of attention to it, it is very pretty.

We thanked Amit once again and wished him a happy vacation as he was setting off for the UK in a few days, so we were glad we got there before he left. You do like to have one person when you`re buying nice jewellery as they do get to know your style, and Amit certainly knows what I`ll like and what I won`t like.

I thanked my wonderful husband for such a lovely gift again, he just smiled and said I was worth it........awwww......

If you`re ever in Tiffany and want some advice on what you`re looking for, ask for Amit, he really is lovely and very knowledgeable on what suits folks best.

Being honest, I don`t wear a lot of jewellery. I tend to stick to my favourite pieces and I have a Tiffany bracelet and single solid silver bangle my friend gave me way back in 2007 which means the world to me as she is the friend who passed away in 2016, so I do tend to stick to the same items. Some say it`s boring, but I know what I like.

Blue Box in hand and my origianl silver bangle back on my wrist, we headed down for lunch, nothing fancy just the Cheesecake Factory which we both like a lot. I hadn`t realised it at the time, but Tom was very conscious of the bangle not being insured yet.......I never even gave that a thought!

We waited about 15 minutes for a table, it was very busy but it was Sunday lunchtime, of course it was going to be busy. Our table was in the bar area but not at the bar and we had a lovely young lady called Skye looking after us.

She brought us some bread while we dissected the menu, everyone knows the menu is huge here! So many choices.

Tom is a creature of habit, he ordered strawberry lemonade and the turkey club sandwich, his favourite sandwich.

I ordered one of their newest cocktails, a Paradise Colada....it had all the things I like......sounded lovely.

Big mistake, it was not nice at all. I asked Skye when she came back if she could take it away as it was not good....she agreed and said the barmen often told customers they didn`t have the ingredients sometimes as they don`t like it either. She took it off the check and I stuck to strawberry lemonade, it`s gorgeous from here.

I went with something different for lunch from here, I do tend to stick to the same things here too...but I went for their new dish of Seared Ahi Tuna, it came served with ginger rice and topped with beansprouts, siracha aioli and sesame oil. I did ask they not put any cilantro on it which it usually has, no problem to do it without it.

This dish was gorgeous.....tuna was barely seared which is the way I like it and every component of the dish wwas perfect. I don`t usually like rice unless it`s a special kind of rice, but this I really enjoyed.

It was quite a lot for lunch, but we couldn`t resist and we had no real plans for dinner tonight, we were just going to wing it. Tom loved his club sandwich and cleared his plate except for the fries which he just didn`t feel like eating.

Back home after that and we went straight to the front desk to pop the bangle in the safety deposit box.....although I did plan to wear it tomorrow night for our anniversary. But for now, Tom could relax as it was tucked away.

We had internet, so we facetimed Kyle who had been enjoying his 10K run and had come 62nd out of 1100 people, so proud of him and how well he has done with his running. He had spent the rest of the day at friends house so he was just in as we called.

Told him about the bangle and he groaned......the firm he works for now include our own Financial Advisor and they had been joking about what I would end up getting.......lol....told him it could have been worse......

We chatted some more and then he was heading out so we had a spare hour or so.....so we went for a snooze. I went through to the bed and Tom took the very comfy sofa and we both snoozed for about an hour and a half. I love a snooze......

The lounge was our next stop and we had a blast chatting and laughing and saw N again with her mum and mum`s old school friend, we were lucky to meet some lovely folks again this trip in the lounge.

Raphael, Alex and Daniel were working tonight, they were so funny together and work well together, so it transfers into everyone having fun in the lounge. We had so many laughs I can`t even begin to describe how we laughed.

We enjoyed some more fizz and eventually again, we headed back over to Sapphire where we planned to get some food from the Dutch Trading Co, we had never eaten food from here before, and watch a movie. So on the way to our room we stopped in and bought some chicken, a chicken caesar salad and an Italian Sub which was far too much food, I think the chicken would have been enough!!

We sat at the huge dining table and nibbled our way through some of it. We both ate a little salad, some of the meat from the sub....but the chicken was an eye opener.

It was delicious, very tender, well cooked and full of flavour. I don`t know whay I wasn`t expecting too much, but we both really enjoyed the chicken above everything else.

There was a lot of the food put in the trash I have to say, but we did enjoy what we had, especially the chicken.

Once we had double bagged the uneaten food up so it wouldn`t smell we opened the wine and settled down to watch a movie, I forget what we did watch but it was good.

And I did love this suite at night, it was very cosy with just the lamps on, so we did feel quite comfy in our jammies, glass of wine and watching a movie.

I don`t think we saw the end of the movie, tiredness hit us again and we gave up on obviously forgettable movie and hit the hay again.

We didn`t do much again, but it had been a lovely day and I felt incredibly lucky to have the husband that I do.

 

[jump00]

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 1ST

TRAVEL DAY

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As soon as the lights went out, I did fall asleep.......for about 26 minutes, yes, as long as that! And proceeded to lay awake on and off, mainly off for the next 5 hours.

I never understood why your brain goes into overdrive as soon as you know you need to sleep. The more you tell yourself you need to sleep, the more your brain stays awake.......it`s a little like when someone tells you not to think about a drunk giraffe......all you can think about is a drunk giraffe!! Well, that might just be me of course!

But, after getting up around 84 times just to wander around and look out the window, it was finally time to actually get up at 4.45am. I looked out the window a dozen times and I`m constantly amazed at how alive the roads around the airport are, even at 2am.

I jumped in the shower first and once Tom was ready we had finished packing our last minute stuff and of course bring the passports out of the room safe, we headed down to reception, dropped off the room keys and walked down to check in.....and they had moved where Virgin usually are....that confused us!

We walked further along and found what seemed to be 2 lines merging together, never to be shy I asked one man if he was in the VA line...he kinda growled back no, fair enough......we did find the end of the VA line and we had one couple follow us as they said we looked like we knew what we were doing......lol.....er, ok.......

We were a little early, but it wasn`t long till they opened the lines and we found the Premium line was off to one side, so we joined that line and had our documents (paper documents) to show we have had all our vaccinations and passports too. Of course we stood behind the couple who were furiously trying to find their vaccination certificates on their phones!!! And failing. You can see the airline staff getting frustrated with the amount of folks that do that and they have always said it`s so much easier to have a paper copy, which we have.

At this point where they ended up having to reload their NHS info, one of the men who check your documents spotted me and pointed he knew me.....he certainly did, he had checked our documents many times over the years but had remembered us from our previous trips. He immediately passed these two by and took our info, checked the passports and we were through to drop our bags and check in. We thanked him as the couple were still faffing around and getting more and more frustrated with each other!!! Far too early to be so stressed.

Once checked in we headed to security and again we were glad we had the Fast Trak service, the regular line was around 45 minutes and we walked through in seconds and in the proper line through the other side where your bags are scanned as are you, we were especially glad of Fast Trak.

But, when our bags went through, Tom`s was pulled for a secondary check and of course claimed complete innocence and said there was nothing in his bag that shouldn`t be there. hmmm.

He had forgot a small hand sanitiser was nestled in the confines of his hand luggage! It did pass some time of course as we were too early for the Lounge we had booked. So, he dutifully apologised to the very nice man who had seen it a million times before.

Once cleared, we wandered through and waited till it was time to enter the lounge. They treat this place like a Japanese Train Schedule!!! If you`re booked for 7.30am, heaven help you if you try to enter more than a minute early. And we had a little twist this morning as in, our time had changed as our flight was slightly later and I had tried to call and change the time but they said it was fine to just turn up at the later time. And the lady who works on the door is not known for her compassion.

So, we turn up and she tells us we were booked an hour ago....yes, but our flight changed and you only get 2.5 hours before take off time. She was unusually mellow and after explaining it didn`t quite work like that, she did deign to allow us entry as it wasn`t too buy. Could have been awkward, but we were very polite to her and she was the same back.

There was quite a line to get into to this and the other slightly cheaper lounge and she was as regimented with them as we heard her turn away several folks who were too early for their time slot.

The lounge is a nice area to relax in and it`s a fair size so even when it`s busier, it doesn`t feel too cramped. And today it certainly didn`t feel like it was crowded at all as the lady initially claimed when we arrived at a different time.

Alcohol is completely help yourself, and that includes every type of alcohol you can think of including champagne which was going to be our choice this morning. As well as tea of course.

You can help yourself to items like bacon, sausages, potatoes, tomatoes, beans (yuk) and many continental options like pastries, cereals breads and croissants. If you want items like poached eggs or toast with avocado, you can order anything like that you wish. It`s a good system and it works well to be honest.

We both wanted only bacon with some toast, so we had to wait till the toast was delivered to get the bacon but when it came it was very nice.

I do have one complaint, the tea can only be made in a cup and the cups are very small. So by the time you get back to the table, it`s either cold or almost gone. Then you have to go back up.....I wish they had teapots.

Tom opened the drinks cabinet underneath and opened a fresh bottle.....you didn`t have to wait for staff to open them and some were prosecco.....so we preferred the champagne. I don`t think some realised you could do this, once we opened a bottle, it was open season!

It really is too early for us to be doing some hard drinking as in Gins, we would have liked to taste one or two we hadn`t tried before, but it was just too early.

We passed some time after we had eaten a little and drank a little, then we headed down to buy some last minute things for the plane. A big bottle of water is standard, we can as for water whenever we like on the plane, but sometimes we can`t be bothered getting up and it`s handy to have a large bottle beside us. Wet wipes for the seats and screens and a magazine I never read.

The airport is busy today and when we see the gate number announced we head back to the older part of the airport again, this our stepping back into the 1980`s after being in the newer building. It`s much cooler through here too which isn`t fun.

We did have to sit at the gate a while, and it always makes us smile when folks line up expecting to get on first when they do have a routine for boarding. Wheelchairs and assistance first, Upper then Premium and then economy. It never varies yet, the same lines happen every flight and we have to scramble through them to board, this is despite announcements for them to stand back. The plane won`t leave without you!

Eventually we do board and the woman who had absolutely refused to move as she wanted on first, had to move and let those boarding before her enter the plane. She wasn`t happy.

We got on and found our seats immediately. I was sure we had the back row on this flight, but when I looked a couple of weeks ago I noticed we weren`t, but Premium seats are still good.

​

Cabin Crew are always lovely on our flights, and today is no different, they are very friendly and do make the flight when they are so nice.

We got settled in and of course, the obligatory selfie with our glass of fizz.

Being on a plane is still so exciting for us.....I know many seasoned travellers might just take it in their stride, but for us, we still get a thrill from flying and taking off so as we sit and wait we are rumbling with excitement to take off.

We were supposed to take off at 10am, but our Captain announced he was waiting on one piece of paperwork before he could take off......it felt like forever when you`re waiting but eventually at 10.30 we pushed back and started the slow roll to the end of the runway.

Another very smooth and clean take off and we`re up in the air, won`t be long till we`re at 40,000 feet and hoping we make good time for our landing. As soon as we level off CC begin the rounds of handing out our menu`s and offering the first drinks service of the flight.

The menu was no surprise to us as 2 days before our flight, we had received an email with an option to pre book whichever meals we wanted and Tom and I had both chosen the chicken lasagne. It`s a good idea as sometimes you can end up with the sloppy choice no one else wants, usually the veggie option, but we knew what was coming today.

39,000 feet.

They are always very generous with the wines, I had two handed to me at this point, Tom chose a beer and asked for only one as he is driving at the other end of this part of the flight.

We both started watching movies, Tom a Batman one and I forget which one I was watching, well it was over 5 weeks ago now, but it wasn`t good whatever it was so I ended up watching Harry Potter and they Philosopher`s Stone....again. I love that movie though and it continues to be my favourite of all the movies.

They appear with the food after about an hour or so and I have to say, I have never seen peas served with lasagne in my life before. I hate peas.

The little appetiser was odd, the orzo was quite nice, but I hate hummus so that wasn`t ever going to be a favourite dish. The lasagne itself wasn`t too bad once I picked out the veg. Bread roll is standard and the highlight was the little dessert, it was light as air and very nice.

After we had been fed and watered, we visited the bathroom and then I settled down to hopefully sleep a couple of hours away, but took a picture of our flight info before I did.

The people behind us had reclined, so that means it`s acceptable to recline your chair on a day flight, so blanket over me, eye mask on, pillow in place and window blind drawn down......and I fell asleep.

Tom was also asleep for a while, but he woke up to find me still out for the count, so he took a picture of the screen as he knew I`d ask why he didn`t since he was awake......lol......

He said he put on another movie but I still never flinched. I had been tired.

There was no turbulence this flight, well, not much, but eventually I woke up and boy did I feel like I had been sleeping, it is nice to be able to sleep on a plane though as I know many can`t, I think I had around 4 hours sleep.

Not long after I woke up they were coming round with afternoon tea. To be honest neither of us were overly hungry, but we did enjoy the mug of tea and kinda nibbled on the offerings. I ate half of the white cream cheese and dill sandwich and part of the scone, the other two little treats were lovely, but far too sweet for me. I don`t think Tom even ate them this time around, and he does have a sweet tooth.

But, it does pass some time on the flight that does now feel as if we`ve been on it for a fair few hours, we`re ready to get off now.

Almost there....

That last hour is filled with a new excitement and trepidation of what`s ahead for us for the next four weeks. We cannot wait to get off the plane and feel that heat hit us again and I know every other person on this plane feels the same way, but that last 40 minutes goes so slow.

But, once we see MCO......you can honestly feel the buzz around the plane amplify and everyone seemingly feels the same way as there is an audible buzz around the plane as the excitement level raises itself up.

Hearing the Captain say, Cabin Crew, Seats for landing please is one of the nicest things to hear. We then know we`re probably not going to circle for an hour or head up and down the coastline for any given length of time.

Despite leaving around 40 minutes late, we landed 15 minutes early and boy did we have the smoothest landing ever.....we barely kissed the runway before the brakes were hammered on to stop us in a timely fashion, any landing you walk away from is a good one of course, but smooth works for us.

That slow trundle to the gate follows and I think we landed in the furthest away spot possible today as it took forever to get to the gate.

But, we were here, safe and sound and ready to begin our special anniversary/birthday celebrations.

​

Oh my gosh Carole this part of your trip report is always one of my favourites! The way you “lead up“ to your arrival into Florida is always filled with the most amazing details.
Brenda

 

[schumigirl]

Oh my gosh Carole this part of your trip report is always one of my favourites! The way you “lead up“ to your arrival into Florida is always filled with the most amazing details.
Brenda

Awww thanks Brenda......I love the pre journey, the journey and flight a lot......I know that kind of detail is not for everyone, but I enjoy it too!

I`m so glad you`re along with us.......

 

[jump00]

Baby Spice! How lovely. Really……wearing big black sunglasses screams “notice me”. But we still would have been thrilled to see her!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

You are off to a smashing start!

Where do I begin…love your honest reviews of the HHN houses and scare zones.

Your bangle is beyond gorgeous! What a lovely way to celebrate your anniversary!

I love that you were so very comfortable in your suite at SF. There is nothing better than relaxing after a wonderful day of sunshine and vacation

Congratulations to Kyle on his fabulous finish

Looking forward to seeing other new offerings on property

 

[disneyAndi14]

Hi Carole! I’m catching up, away for the weekend and you have many new updates!
I love the suite pictures. Just beautiful. What a lovely place to stay on your trip
I agree with your thoughts on the houses and scare zones so far. We didn’t have near as much time there as you but definitely feel the same way.
Happy Anniversary and Birthday! Wow the bangle bracelet is beautiful, I love the design.
Looking forward to more updates.

 

[schumigirl]

For a “not doing much” day you actually seem to have done loads!

Love the photo taken under RRR and the one of the crouching SA.

That chocolate martini photo does look a little X-rated Next trip we’re definitely going to make it to Strongwater… I say that, but we’ve been saying that for the last couple of trips and it took us seven trips to make it to Thirsty Fish (and we were staying at Portofino for all of those trips!).

lol…..I always think, we didn’t do much and then when I look back, I realise we probably didn’t stop moving some days!

We cannot remember what he popped on top of that drink! I’m going to have to ask him, yes it’s a little suspect!

You’ll love Strong Water. I’m completely biased of course, but it is the best place for food, drinks and service. They have an amazing team there and so welcoming.

I don’t think we’ve ever been to the Thirsty Fish??

 

[schumigirl]

Baby Spice! How lovely. Really……wearing big black sunglasses screams “notice me”. But we still would have been thrilled to see her!

She was very nice to the staff apparently which is good to hear.

Yes, a few folks commented on the sunglasses.

 

[schumigirl]

You are off to a smashing start!

Where do I begin…love your honest reviews of the HHN houses and scare zones.

Your bangle is beyond gorgeous! What a lovely way to celebrate your anniversary!

I love that you were so very comfortable in your suite at SF. There is nothing better than relaxing after a wonderful day of sunshine and vacation

Congratulations to Kyle on his fabulous finish

Looking forward to seeing other new offerings on property

Thanks Maria…….I’m glad you’re enjoying it.

Yes, the houses and scare zones are something we all want to love without question…..but those of us who have been going forever can see the cuts and can see when something is missing……we all want to go and completely love the event of course. Sad to see many don’t now.

Thank you…..I love that bangle! Soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted it……and yes, for an anniversary gift, its perfect.

That Sapphire Suite is perfect. We love it, and it is so cosy…..we don’t want to spend too many nights sitting watching tv of course, we can do that at home, but the odd night is fine.

Thanks for Kyle. He did a 10 mile race yesterday and came in 111th out of 1900 folks. So proud of him……but wonder where he got the love for running!!! A young lady of course is the answer…….lol……

More coming up…….

 

[schumigirl]

Hi Carole! I’m catching up, away for the weekend and you have many new updates!
I love the suite pictures. Just beautiful. What a lovely place to stay on your trip
I agree with your thoughts on the houses and scare zones so far. We didn’t have near as much time there as you but definitely feel the same way.
Happy Anniversary and Birthday! Wow the bangle bracelet is beautiful, I love the design.
Looking forward to more updates.

Hi Caroline

It is such a beautiful hotel and the suites are all gorgeous.

So many folks are saying the same thing about the event this year, it’s still fun for the most part, but just not the same as it had been, and that’s such a shame.

Thank you, we had a lovely anniversary and I was thrilled with the bangle, I love wearing it.

More coming up soon…….

 

[iona]

I don’t think we’ve ever been to the Thirsty Fish??

We’ve walked past it every single time we went to or from the parks so we felt it really was time we visited! We used to like Bar American but it wasn’t open this trip (and all the signage was gone…). We had good service in the Thirsty Fish, the Italian Old Fashioned was very nice and the sofas were comfy so we’ll likely return.

Echoing others - the bangle is gorgeous!