Friends Don't Let Friends Do Karaoke - They Think It's All Over...It Is Now (Day 14)

[wilma-bride]

Friday 8th November

Today is going home day…boo!!! But first we’re off to Epcot…yay!!!

It was a beautiful morning. I was so pleased that the sun had finally put in an appearance on our last day. After packing the final bits, we called Bell Services who came with a trolley to collect all our stuff, which they would hold until later for us (apart from the Owners Locker, which would be collected by the OL team this afternoon).

We strolled round to International Gateway, which was deserted. We had deliberately left it later this morning, since we only planned to do World Showcase today.



First things first. It was our last day and so obviously we had to cram in as much delicious Disney food as possible. We started with breakfast Les Halles.

A chocolate chip brioche roll.





Apple tart



And mini macarons



To be perfectly honest, it was all a little disappointing. The brioche roll was a bit dry, the apple tart was nice but a small portion for the price. And the macarons were OK but, again, very pricey. The lemon one was nice, as was the blueberry.

As we continued on through France, we spotted Belle under some trees – with nobody waiting. Sian persuaded Daniel to go meet her. Judging by the photo, I think he thought he was too cool for princesses now though.



We spent most of the morning wandering through World Showcase, snacking here and there. We tried the teriyaki chicken hand roll from the Japan booth. I thought I might like this, since it was chicken and I like teriyaki flavour but it was awful. There was something about it that just tasted wrong. The kids liked it though.





When we ended up in Germany around lunch time, it would have been rude not to get something from Sommerfest.

Frankfurter



Oh dear, this wasn’t good either. The frankfurter was very anaemic, it actually looked undercooked (although I’m sure it wasn’t). And I was under the impression that this had always been served in a pretzel roll. Daniel and Gary doused it in ketchup and finished it between them.

There was only one way to improve the eating experience.

Caramel brownie



Salted dark chocolate covered caramel



Now that’s better. The brownie was so rich it was sinful. As for the salted caramel, I’m glad we were sharing this between four of us. Again, it was incredibly rich and sweet but so, so good.

On to China and stupid hat pictures.



Then to Mexico for stupid maracas pictures



Daniel had been harping on about wanting a churro for days so we got some mini churros from La Cantina.



We also got a couple of cold drinks.



We still had some time to kill so decided to keep walking and spotted Duffy, in his Halloween outfit, at International Plaza. Gary was being a bit of a killjoy and wouldn’t have his photo taken. I think it might be because he guessed that Duffy was going to make us do ‘Mickey ears’.





Carrying on walking, we found ourselves in the United Kingdom so, what else would we do except stop for fish and chips. A slightly nicer serving than the last time we were here. Daniel and Sian shared the chips and Gary and I the fish.



Then we spied Mary Poppins and Daniel wanted to go and meet her but wouldn’t go on his own. He seemed to have developed a certain shyness of the ‘face’ characters over the last couple of days. I don’t recall exactly what she said to him but something about his shoelaces not being tied properly.





Back in France, the mad French waiter was climbing on the tower of chairs.



Although I should not have been (and wasn’t) the slightest bit hungry, I suddenly realised I hadn’t had a funnel cake during this trip and, of course, my life wouldn’t be complete without adding another few thousand unnecessary calories to my intake for today. When we reached the American Adventure, I got my funnel cake, which I shared with Daniel and Gary. Sian doesn’t like funnel cake so, not to be outdone, she got a s’mores brownie.



We were flagging a little now and realised that we were really just killing time. We sat for a while and did some people watching, before deciding to finish our second circuit of World Showcase. As we were walking, Daniel was trying to walk on Gary’s shadow and I suddenly got the idea to take this picture. I’m so glad I did as it is one of my favourites from the holiday.



As we reached the Germany booth again, we decided to use the last of our gift card credit on the apple strudel with vanilla and Werthers caramel sauce. Gary declared this a real winner.





It was clouding over now and the sun had disappeared so we decided it was time to call it a day and head back to the hotel.

Continued in the next post...

 

[wilma-bride]

Dejectedly, we made our way slowly back to International Gateway, where we exited the park and caught the Friendship Boat back to The Swan and Dolphin boat dock. Gary went to collect the car from the parking lot while I went to Bell Services to retrieve all of our luggage. It took Gary a while to get back to us as his room key hadn’t worked to open the barrier and he’d had to flag somebody down to let him out. Eventually he arrived and we loaded up the car, before bidding a fond farewell to The Swan and setting off for International Drive for our final meal in Orlando. Yes, more food!

Despite many visits to Orlando and Walt Disney World, we don’t have many traditions. But one that we do have is that the last meal of every family holiday is at Friendlys. As it was, none of us were particularly hungry but it had to be done. As Sian had repeatedly told me, in the run up to the holiday, she was only coming with us for two reasons – Harry Potter and Friendlys. She would have killed me if we’d gone home without a stop here.



Friendlys mini mozzarella sticks are the best thing in the entire universe



Daniel had the BYOB (Build Your Own Burger) with American cheese, bacon and fried egg!



Gary had fried chicken with mash, broccoli and a biscuit



And Sian and I had the Honey BBQ Chicken Supermelt



There was no way I could face dessert but our meals all came with an ice cream so Sian had the one that came with ours.



Daniel had his but barely made a dent in it.



And then, quick as a flash, the holiday was over and it was time to make tracks to the airport. It was later than we’d originally planned to leave so we were stressing a little but we still had plenty of time. At the airport, we dropped off the car and made our way over to the terminal for baggage drop. Daniel commented that he hadn’t seen his friend, Jacob, from school who had been out here for the past fortnight. I told him it wasn’t really surprising as we’d only really been in Orlando for a few days. There wasn’t much of a line at check-in and, as we were called up to the desk, I heard somebody say ‘Daniel’. Turning around, we saw Jacob and his family at the next desk. Talk about coincidence. We had a lovely chat about our respective holidays, then went our separate ways for a little while as Jacob’s family needed to have dinner before the flight. We bought a couple of bottles of diet coke for the journey, knowing that drinks are not served as frequently on the flight home. I know you can go to the galley and ask but I don’t like to risk disturbing people who are sleeping around me.

The rest of the journey was boring and uneventful, apart from the gobby woman at the back of the plane who had put her stuff in the overhead locker above our seats, then promptly swore loudly at me when I moved her bag to the side to get mine in. I steadfastly ignored her but knew full well that, as soon as we took off and the seatbelt lights had been switched off, she would get up and move it. Which, of course, she did.

When we arrived back at Gatwick, the queues to get through immigration were absolutely horrific. There were people everywhere. It took us well over an hour to even get into the immigration hall. There was no organisation whatsoever, we were tired and fed up and just wanted to get home. As soon as we’d got our luggage, I called the Meet & Greet service and they directed us to a meeting point. Within 10 minutes, we had our car and we were on our way home, another holiday over but safe in the knowledge that we had another to look forward to in the very near future.

Thank you for reading along, I sincerely hope it hasn’t been too boring. I am pretty sure that I have missed out a lot as I have done all of this from memory – and, as I am now 41, my memory is not what it used to be. So, with that in mind, if I met you or spent time with you during this trip and haven't mentioned you, then I apologise. It isn't because you weren't important or that I didn't enjoy meeting you but, merely, that I am getting on a bit Until next time.

THE END​

 

[Nubbedy]

Duffys Halloween costume is adorable. Shame the holiday came to an end, but at least you had another to look forward to. Thanks for sharing.

 

[PJB71]

I have really enjoyed reading your TR Joh and can't believe its come to an end

You have packed so much into 2weeks

Look forward to reading your next TR

 

[NOKA06]

Loved!Loved!your TR! It is so nice to see someone do a trip you have done and see their experiences. Your photos and journal were wonderful! Thank you so much for posting!

 

[Jets fan]

Thanks for sharing your trip, I have really enjoyed reading it. Looks like you had a fab time

Tina

 

[Linda67]

Brilliant TR as always Joh

 

[irongirlof12]

thanks for sharing Joh, it sounds like you all had a fab time and the sundae count was impressive

 

[tony64]

Loved the trip report Joh. That Strudel did look lush.

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Fabulous report ... loved coming along with you. Loved all the food pics ... I think if we do F and W it will just be desserts and wine for me.

 

[jjk]

great report, had a fab morning catching up with it all, thanks for sharing

 

[Tink2312]

Great report, really enjoyed reading it. Good job I've just eaten though as all the food photos would've made me hungry! Can't wait to be back at the F&W festival in October.

 

[Chilly]

The last day is always sad but at least you had some yummy food.

 

[Tinks1984]

Awwww what a great trip Joh! I've loved reading along

Looking forward to the next one now!!