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Wednesday 24th August

The time had come it was our last day in Disney World! I got woken by the sound of our neighbours getting up for the day which was the usual time for them of 6.30. As I’ve mentioned before its only me who hears them so it didn’t really matter that much. I made a few notes and waited for Scott to wake. Once he did he popped over to the food court to get us a hot drink and we chatted to each other out on the balcony.

Once everyone was up and ready we all headed over to the food court for some breakfast. It was a little later in the morning so the place was quieter but still a little manic at some of the food stations. We’d still got quite a few quick service credits to use alongside some snack credits too. Kids got themselves a bounty platter each whilst I had a yogurt parfait again, they are so filling. Scott went for his favourite a cinnamon bun!

Once back at our room I did some more packing and I managed to get the bulk of it done. I’d got all our stuff sorted for the cruise we just needed our toiletries and swim gear to pack.

As we weren’t going to go to Magic Kingdom until around midday we still had a bit of time to kill so we went down to the small pool near us for a little while. It was quiet there as to be expected and the kids had a good splash around.


After about half an hour the sky started to turn really dark it looked like a storm was on its way. Sure enough the rain came along with thunder and lightning and the pool was closed. Poppy wasn’t happy at all!


Back in our room again we got on with showering and changing before making our way out to the park. The rain had died down a lot and whilst it was still wet we could see blue skies as we drove over towards Magic Kingdom. We hoped that this would be the rain for the day.

Now although Poppy had been a bit miffed about the rain earlier she was really excited about going to Magic Kingdom and was super keen now to get there. I’d booked Poppy into the Pirates League where she’d be transformed into a Mermaid for the day. Just before we came away I’d picked up an aqua coloured skater dress for her in the Next sale and I thought it would be ideal for this - Poppy loved it.


By the time we’d entered the car park the rain had stopped and the sun was back out again. As the cast member directed us to our parking spot we had to start a new line which meant we were right at the end, another pet hate of mine! Even as we walked to the tram we could feel the heat it was going to be another hot one today. Ended up in the Villains parking lot Zurg 407 - there was a tram waiting to take us to TTC. Once there we caught the ferry across as the monorail wasn’t running.


Whilst it was fairly quiet through bag check and security both Scott and I was picked to go through the scanners, not an issue though as it only takes moments I just remember now to take my badge off before going through.

A lovely sight greeted us at the bottom of Main Street, as we looked towards the castle it was lovely to see it again without the crane. We had a family photo’s took to mark the occasion lol and Poppy and I had a couple took on our own.



Poppy and I said our goodbyes to the boys for a little while as they didn’t want to watch Poppy getting made up.

We arrived 10 minutes before our time which we were told to do and once we’d checked in we were told just wait outside. We sat on the little wall for a while until we were called back in.

As poppy went through she signed a pirates book then was led into the main room where you were transformed into either a pirate or a mermaid. Poppy knew she wanted to be a mermaid so we didn’t need to look through the different designs that they have.



Poppy had her nails done first and then her hair which was just a simple twist. Poppy was enjoying the pampering and whilst she was getting made up the CM was always in character. She asked Poppy where she had swum in from and about her life in the sea - It really was so cute to listen too.


Next up was the face well namely the eyes…


And then the scales were applied. I had wondered how they would do this and it turned out that they used a stencil to paint them on so really not difficult or time consuming at all.


All finished Poppy was given a lovely sash to wear and a really pretty flower clip for her hair. It was a magical hair clip that changed colour in the daylight!

The CM then announces that there’s a new mermaid as arrived and everyone claps and cheers. We then moved on to a secret room where Poppy was given a Pirates necklace and her Mermaid makeover was finished with

Poppy had loved it all and although it didn’t take long to do we didn’t feel rushed in any way and we thought that everyone had been really nice. It cost around $47 with the tax so a little bit cheaper than the BBB cheaper package which Poppy had had on our last visit. If it wasn’t for the fact that I wear glasses I would’ve been tempted to have had this done too as I think it looks really lovely.

I know it might seem a bit much for what effectively is face painting but it was more of a unique experience coming here. I can’t recall us seeing another Mermaid on our travels around Magic Kingdom that day.



Now Poppy only wears nail varnish and this is only occasionally so of course I’m not used to seeing Poppy wearing makeup as such. I did wonder if it was a bit too much for her but then I thought it doesn’t matter as a one off and it’s not every day to get to be a real life Mermaid.


As we walked round other CM’s would call her a mermaid and say hi, it really was lovely and it made her day feel really special. In the daylight we saw that the hairclip had indeed changed colour




I messaged Scott to say we had finished and the boys came back to meet us. They’d got a return time for Space Mountain and had been on Stitch’s Great Escape , we’d not been as long as they thought we would be.

Any way Poppy said she wanted to go on Pirates of the Caribbean which actually made sense as we were stood right beside it and the wait time was only 10 minutes - so off we went.

Then we walked over to our first fast pass of the day which was for Peter Pan’s Flight. Just as we entered the queue I heard a lady’s voice calling Julia, I didn’t look round at first as I didn’t think anyone would be calling me but I kept hearing my name being called. I looked over to see this lovely lady smiling at me literally stood at the side of me in the in the next queue.

It turned out to be a lovely dibber, Nicky. We exchanged hugs which was really lovely and then quickly went on to ask how each other’s holidays were going on. Whilst we only managed a very brief chat with each other it was so nice to speak to Nicky and her lovely family as wed exchanged our plans through Instagram and the Dibb.

I had never actually seen a photograph of Nicky though so that was why I didn’t immediately recognise her. As quick as we’d said our hellos we were saying our goodbyes but it was so lovely to meet a real life Dibber.

We enjoyed our ride on Peter Pan we love this one so much - well how could anyone not enjoy this classic. The time was going by really quickly and we hadn’t realised it was well past our lunch time so our next stop was Columbia Harbour House for a spot of late lunch.

It worked in our favour coming in at a slightly later time as there was hardly anyone in. The CMs in there were very welcoming and chatty and even wanted to help carry our food and drink – what great service. We declined their lovely offer but it was nice of them to offer.

The food here is good and we like to eat upstairs as it’s generally a lot quieter and not as busy up there. Not that it was anyway! I’m sure we got 4 quick service meal to share between the 5 of us as Scott and I wasn’t overly hungry.


We walked back through Fantasy Land and it was then that we realised we’d not been on the carousel yet, we soon rectified that! There was no wait at all and it was lovely to come on here and feel like a kids again


Our next fast pass time was fast approaching but we managed to have a few memory maker taken before hand.


Continued below…

We went over to Ariel’s Grotto next a place we’ve never been to so it was a new experience for us all. There wasn’t anyone else in the fast pass line so we went straight through to meet Ariel how lucky was that.

Couldn’t believe how lovely Ariel was, as soon as Poppy went over she said how lovely it was to meet another Mermaid and went to explain that one her sisters had just swam out to get her a beautiful flower like the one in Poppy’s hair.


This was such a lovely character experience Mermaid to Mermaid. It only seemed right that our next ride should be the Journey of the little Mermaid. We fell lucky as the wait time was only 20 minutes so it didn’t take long till we were going under the sea.


Ended up being on here for quite some time as we stopped twice still at least it was while we were in the main part of the ride.

Our next fast pass time had now opened up and it was for another one of our family favourites


Reckon we could sit on this all day and never tire of it

I checked on MDE to see which attraction I could book next as we’d used our first 3 fast passes up. I was able to get the meet and greet with Tinker Bell which I thought would be lovely for us all.

Next I wanted to have a look in the shop near to Gaston’s Tavern as we’ve never been in before and I wanted to check out the Beauty and the Beast stuff. We past Gaston who had just come out to meet everyone but the queue was too long for us otherwise we’d have met him.

Scott and Hayden went for a rest room break whilst we detoured into the Tavern first as Jamie said he’d like some of LeFou’s Brew. We popped to the counter to get some along with some water too.



We were still waiting for Scott and Hayden to rejoin us so we found a little spot and sat down for 2 minutes. Who should then walk in but the man himself Gaston. He plonked himself down on his chair, good job that Poppy and Jamie had moved from it, and went on to do some origami of all things!


He was really funny mumbling away to himself whilst he attempted to fold various pieces of paper. In the end he got extremely frustrated and in the end scrunched the paper up and said it was a rock!
He walked past me on the way out and said hi to me in a very manly way


Scott and Hayden met back up with us and we popped over to have a look around the shop. Had a good look round the store which was full of some great things but I didn’t actually but anything. Still it was nice to have a walk round.


I took the boys onto Space Mountain next well they’d asked me to ride with them. I have no idea where the cameras are on any of the rides but I wanted to do a dab on this particular ride, more so to embarrass Jamie. I told Jamie to tell me the moment when I needed to raise my arms but alas I as expected he didn’t. Probably because he didn’t want the shame of his mum dabbing!

Erm not quite

Next stop was the People Mover another favourite that we can all ride together. Shock horror when we got there the ride was actually closed…we couldn’t believe it. We could see the trolleys going round with people in them yet nobody was going up the escalator, wasn’t sure why but after about 10 minutes they started to let people on, phew.


We headed on over towards Main Street as our time to meet Tinker Bell was nearly ready. It was late afternoon and I think I’d been right about the weather as it’s had stayed lovely all afternoon. The rain we’d had earlier in the day was to be all we’d see all day thankfully.




Tinker Bell is located in the same place where we’d met Mickey so we didn’t have a problem finding it. We did end up having a bit of a wait until we went in but the time passed by ok.

It was lovely when we walked inside, not quite what I was expecting


But Tinker Bell was everything I’d expected her to be and was very chatty right from the start. She remarked on Poppy being a mermaid and asked if she’d swum here today?

It was 6.30 now and we had a dinner reservation at Be Our Guest at 7pm so we didn’t really have time for another attraction. Hayden said he’d like to go on Splash Mountain so the boys walked over to get a return time with Hayden’s card whilst Poppy and I just took a slow walk up Main Street. We said we’d meet back up with them outside the restaurant later.

As we approached the castle we noticed that you were able to walk through it, wed not been able to do this probably due to the position of the big crane and the work they were doing.


It was lovely to be able to walk through the castle’s archways and see those beautiful mosaic murals.


Then we headed over to Be our Guest to wait for the boys to return. We saw a photo pass photographer nearby and had some pics took. There was already a family having some photos taken and the guy was really fun and getting them into some cute poses for the camera.

When it was our turn he was the same with us and we had some nice photo’s taken of the two of us.



Shortly afterwards the boys arrived so we checked in and waited to be called in for our dinner.


Continued below…

It ended up being a half hour wait before we were called but if was a beautiful evening and we passed the time by watching the mine train. We weren’t in any rush so it didn’t really matter.

Thought this was a really cute touch how they give a Lumiere to you to take into the restaurant. Of course as soon as you reach the table it’s taken off you.


We were led into the West Wing dining room at seated at a lovely table there. Now whilst I’m not particularly bothered by this room Poppy doesn’t really like it in here. She finds it dark and the thunder and lightning makes her jump when it comes on. I told her not to worry about it as it only last seconds and I’d tell her when it was about to begin (so she could cover her ears up).


The food was really good here and between us all we covered most of the menu. Of course this was the last of our table service dining credits and I was really happy that we’d chosen to eat here for our last Disney meal.


Of course because it’s the evening time it means that you have the opportunity to meet the master of the house in his library. I couldn’t be much happier than to meet the Beast and he was his usual lovely self.


Then it was time for us to leave this enchanting place


I’d made another fast pass after we’d met Tinker Bell and it was for the Haunted Mansion. As we stepped back outside it was now dark and we made our way over to the ride.

Not quite sure why as Poppy as been on this before but she was a little scared about going on it. We reassured Poppy about the friendly ghouls and after we finished it she said she’s really enjoyed herself.

The time was getting on and it was well past 9.30 so we thought we’d try to find a spot to watch Wishes. It was really crowded as you would expect so we kept walking to find a space with a little bit of elbow room around. I spotted a gap and we headed over. I stood there for a few moments briefly glancing at the lady at the side of me when I noticed the lovely red hair. I then clicked that it was none other than the lovely dibber Aimee along with her sister Lauren. I couldn’t believe it!

A few months before we’d come away Aimee had contacted me as she’d seen we were going on the same cruise so we’d been exchanging our plans and trying to help each other out with Disney Cruise Line for some time but it was so lovely to actually bump into them. Of course we chatted away about our holidays, I’d seen a lot of the girls post on IG and there had been a few times our paths had nearly crossed. Both of the young ladies were lovely, everything I imagined them to be with their excitement and love for Disney just oozing through.

Before we knew it was time for Wishes to start …


I didn’t take loads of photos as I wanted to savour this moment as usual with my family. We knew it would be the last time we’d see Wishes this holiday and little did we know that it would be the last time ever.

We said our goodbyes to Aimee and Lauren and we both wished each other a happy rest of the holiday. I’m sure that we’d probably bump into each other again on the cruise.


Hayden wanted to use his return fast pass for Splash Mountain next so I took the boys over to it. Again they wanted to ride with me. Like the other rides it seemed so much different riding this in the dark and the views of the park were amazing from up there.
I was thankful that we were sat at the back of the boat though as it meant we stayed dry!



As we’d not seen the Electrical Light Parade yet we made that our next stop. There were 2 showings of this tonight the usual one at 9pm and this second show at 11pm. We’d decided to watch the later one as we thought it wouldn’t be as busy and we were right. With 10 minutes till the parade starting there was lots of great viewing spots and we ended up being in a great position near to the castle.
There was plenty of room Jamie and Poppy sat down on the floor and watched and had an ice cream whilst doing so.

I love the music to this it makes you feel so happy



Another parade that we thoroughly enjoyed and I think we had a brilliant spot there. It’s only recently that I’ve discovered the ELP as now finished at Disney World, so glad we managed to see it on our last night.

The park was closing down but not for Disney resort guests as it was Extra Magic Hours.

Walked over to Tomorrowland where we rode Buzz Lightyear Space Rangers Spin. We literally walked straight onto the ride have brilliant. We stopped half way through the lights went down briefing then came back up again. When they did I noticed that Poppy’s score had gone from a couple of thousand to 999,999. She’d become a Galatic Hero. Definitely something dodgy going off there but Poppy was well chuffed with her top high score.

We checked out the People Mover but it must not run in EMH so we walked through to Fantasyland where we rode Dumbo next. Another one that is great to ride in the dark it seems more magical with all the lights glowing and the pretty fountains.


Continuing on through to the Barnstormer where the kids managed to have three rides on this rollercoaster. It was past midnight now and honestly we were starting to flag a little. I think it suddenly just hits you the tiredness.


We decided to call it a night then I had hoped that we’d manage until the park closed at 1am as I so wanted to see the kiss goodnight but alas we were all too tired. As we walked past the 7DMT we thought shall we but even one of favourite rides couldn’t tempt us to stay longer.

Had to have our last look of the castle so we had a walk back through then took a look down onto Main St. It still surprised me how busy it was even though the park would be closing in ½ hour.


Still had a few snack credits to use up so we went into the shops on our way out to spend the remaining few. Most of them were on Goofy’s candy bags. I picked up a new mug for myself a lovely Belle one and we got some more key rings, pens and other little nik naks like that what you don’t really need.

Time for one more photo pass photo on our way out…


We said our goodbyes to Magic Kingdom after another fantastic time here. We’d been in over 12 hours which for us is a long time in the same place but there was so much to see and do.

Caught the ferry back it had just turned 1am, we saw the castle changing different colours so I wondered if maybe that was the goodnight kiss? Maybe it wasn’t but it was a lovely way to see the castle for our last time.

Thankfully no wait for the tram tonight and we had no problem at all finding our car as there was only a handful left in our particular parking lot.

As we drove back Poppy and Jamie nodded off I’m surprised I didn’t! Once back in our room it took a few face wipes to get Poppy’s make up off but once done we were all tucked up and sound asleep for 1.45am.

Tomorrow we'll be driving over to Coco Beach after a spot of shopping

Thanks for reading

What a lovely last visit to MK Julia and how nice to meet some other dibbers. Poppy looks great as a mermaid and the interaction with the cast members and characters is what makes Disney extra special for children ...and adults! You were there a long time today - we loved our evening/night at MK.

Looking forward to the Cruise bit.

Ps Poppy does love her pool time doesn't she!

What a great last day you had Julia.. you managed to fit so much in! It was really lovely to see you all too. I wasn't sure whether to say hi or not but I'm so glad I did. I can remember Poppy looking beautiful in her blue dress and mermaid makeover. My girls all said she looked lovely. You've reminded me that I think this was the day that we got stuck on the people mover for about twenty minutes! I wish we were back there now, seems like such a long time ago doesn't it? Can't wait to read about your cruise next!

Wow such a great day! Poppy looks fab and the dress matches perfectly. Your photos of the electrical parade are incredible, such a great spot. Definitely lots of memories to treasure. Xx

Poppy looks fantastic in her mermaid makeup wow! I want that too! Your dinner in BOG sounds lovely, I am looking forward to ours.
Can I ask where you were stood for wishes? Looks like a fab viewing point, I was right in front of the castle last time and got pushed and shoved about the whole time
How lovely that you met with Aimee and Lauren! I would love to meet some other dibbers - if anyone sees me out there please say hi!
Your holiday seems epically wonderful Julia, three weeks is clearly the way to go... your family looks so nice xxx

Aw Julia, what an amazing last Disney day! Poppy the Mermaid is just gorgeous

Wow on meeting so many Dibbers, I would love to bump into one! I love those Photopass photos of you and Poppy, they are fab!

Looking forward to reading about your cruise xx

It was so lovely to bump into 3 dibbers, they are the best

You're so right the characters make you feel so special and children especially don't forget what they've said to them

Thanks Nicky, I know we only spoke briefly but I'm so glad that you did say hi.

Oh no getting stuck on the people mover, I wonder if that was when we had to queue for a while

It does feel like it was ages ago I've noticed your new countdown what a great adventure to look forward too for next spring

Couldn't believe how quiet it was when we arrived at the parade, so glad we went to the second showing this time.

Thanks for reading

Thank you Louise Poppy so enjoyed being a mermaid for the day, its nice to feel a little special once every so often. Go for it

Course you can, we stood in the main hub area but to the left side.

Will if you ever see us guys please do say hello

Going for 3 weeks means you can have more of a relaxed time, hope you have a wonderful time not long until you go

We so enjoyed this day, I think we loved all our MK days

I couldn't believe we'd met 3 real life dibbers amazing

Thanks so much for following along xx