Happy Birthday To...Me! - Day 10
6th May 2019 - Travel back to London & Highs/Lows

So here we are - the dreaded last day

I said this yesterday but I really couldn't believe how quickly time had flown by (it always does, right?). I had been planning this trip for so long, been discussing what we were going to do with Bernie, Tig & Lauren for months, rejigging FP+ and ADR's etc and now it was all over.

I had no plans for today - I knew I could have made one last run at the parks but I had decided yesterday that I wasn't going to go back as I was knackered to be honest. So I pretty much just had a lie-in, watched some TV and finished packing before checking out at 12:00.

Travel day outfit

I went down to check out and left my bags with luggage services then decided to try Jake's American Bar for lunch before leaving for the airport. Jake's is one of the onsite restaurants at RPR.


I got really lucky as when I arrived there was hardly anyone there and I was seated right away, but within about 15 minutes the place was completely overrun with conference guests and they were turning loads of people away.




I ordered the turkey burger with fries which arrived pretty quick but as soon as I tried a chip I could tell they were old and had been refried which is one of my pet peeves. Why do restaurants think they can get away with this? I mentioned it to my server and she immediately took my plate and quickly brought a new one with fresh fries. Very friendly and good service!


At 13:30 I paid up, went to grab my luggage and said a final fond farewell to RPR.




I ordered a Lyft to take me to the airport, which cost $20. Pretty good value I think!


I was actually pretty lucky as there was hardly anyone at check-in/bag drop or security so I got through really quickly.

I noticed there was a new Bahama Breeze at the airport - it's airside between gates 80-89 & 90-99. I love Bahama Breeze and thought it was a shame that I didn't get to eat there during this trip, but as I had just eaten lunch I was too full to go in there. Next time! It's definitely a great addition to the airport food offerings!


Instead I decided to get my last pink lemonade of the holiday, as well as some cinnamon pretzel bites from Auntie Anne's - both were delish!


Soon it was time to head to the gate as boarding was about to begin. Excuse the language but I always think boarding at MCO is a complete sh*t show there isn't really enough room, the layout is strange and it's usually a complete free for all. Today was no exception, but eventually I was on the plane and on my seat upstairs in the bubble.

It was a fairly uneventful flight - I watched a few movies and had some mediocre food (why is the food always worse on the way back?)

Some sort of gnocchi...

I can't even remember what breakfast was...I think it was some sort of plastic tasting pastry and blueberry yogurt but I didn't take any pictures. (trust me, you're better off )

Eventually we were making our descent into London.


I got a minicab back home and struggled through a day of working from home. I could have taken another day's holiday but thought it might help with the jet lag if I knew I had to be working, taking business calls etc and it actually did as by that evening I was completely exhausted and had a full night's sleep so was pretty much back on time after that

In the meantime I also got my new fridge delivered (long story but a few days before my holiday my old fridge died on me so I had arranged to have the new one delivered today and was panicking that the flight would be delayed or something would go wrong!) luckily everything went to plan!


And that's where my story ends dear dibbers!

It was a great trip and in terms of "High's" I could go on and on. If I had to choose my ultimate highs:

Quiet parks - Apart from on one or 2 occasions, for the most part parks were pretty quiet which was a bonus! Don't get me wrong - the parks are never REALLY quiet (I don't think that is ever the case anymore) but we didn't really have long wait times all trip and managed to do everything we wanted to do using FP+.

Gift card - The $200 gift card was invaluable for me this trip - I used it to pay for all my tips in TS restaurants and generally for anything extra that wasn't part of the DDP, bottles of water and even gifts for people back home and I still came away with $35 left on it which I can use next time as they don't expire.

Cheesecake Factory - Always a firm favourite. Had a great meal there and the cheeseburger spring rolls are to die for. Will always go back!

Yachtsman Steakhouse - Another firm favourite. My ribeye steak was melt in your mouth good and that onion focaccia bread & garlic is divine. I don't really see a time where we won't go to the Yachtsman Steakhouse (provided we have the DDP of course)

DDP - This one is going to be both a high and a low as we always get great use out of the DDP and thoroughly enjoyed all of our meals. The food was a real highlight of the trip! We had commented though that if they ever stop doing the free DDP we wouldn't stay onsite at Disney and wouldn't eat at any of the Disney restaurants. Not that we don't like it or enjoy them but they are really not value for money. So I really hope that they don't stop offering free DDP!

RPR - I just love this resort. The rooms are fantastic (everything from the comfy bed, power shower, plenty of electrical & USB outlets and storage space) but also the pool area was lovely (Maui Sunset Coladas FTW!) and I loved chilling out in the room in the evenings with my dinner while watching TV.

In terms of "Low's" I didn't really have many. As I mentioned, I thoroughly enjoyed my holiday! But again, if I had to pick some:

Cheerleaders - Perhaps I was unlucky as I've seen plenty of other posts here on the dibb about people being at CSR and seeing the cheerleaders but them all being really well behaved, but in my case I found them very noisy (especially the ones having a party in the room next to mine ) and thought it was a lack of respect seeing them practicing all over the place (including both really early in the mornings and late at night) with super loud music and yelling etc in the courtyards right outside people's rooms. We also ate at Mercado de Coronado a few times and there was a distinct lack of manners shown more often than not in terms of cutting in line, being rude to CM's etc. This wasn't by any means indicative of everyone and I know I'm tarnishing them all with the same brush which is unfair but I really wish I had known the situation before going as I would have definitely looked into a different resort. Just my 2 cents!

Disney buses - I do find the bus transportation really convenient but we did have long waits for buses quite regularly. This was especially true on the way back from parks or DS (as opposed to going from CSR to the parks - which was usually very quick & efficient) which always feels worse as at the end of the day you just want to get to your room and you're knackered - the last thing you want is to be standing around for 20 or 30 minutes waiting for a bus. It does make me wonder how the Disney transportation is going to be able to cope as they just keep opening more resorts and attendance figures keep rising. I particularly think the new parking charges also mean more people will be using the buses and so I fear this may just get worse and worse. But I'm going to choose to be positive and hope Disney are trying to figure out a way to improve this!

Thanks so much to everyone for reading. I had a marvelous time! There are no fixed plans yet for the next trip but, as always, lot's of ideas so hopefully something will be in place soon

I’ve been following your posts - really enjoyed reading your trip, happy belated birthday! 🎉

Thanks so much for sharing! Really enjoyed your trip report

Great trip report!

I totally agree about the DDP, we were just talking about this and saying there is no way we could eat at Disney without it- we were already paying $60 for tip and second round of cocktails for one meal, if they dont bring it back for 2021 im not sure if we can justify staying at Disney

Thanks so much for your kind words!

Yes that is exactly how I feel as well! I love being in the bubble and definitely think the DDP is great and have my fav restaurants, but just couldn't justify paying for it all OOP when there are other just as good (and cheaper!) restaurants offsite, and the same goes for hotels. Let's keep fingers and toes crossed for DDP to be around for the foreseeable future!

Thanks for sharing your report, it's been a great read.

Thanks for taking the time to do your trippie I have really enjoyed reading along


Joan

I really enjoyed reading your report. It sounds like you had a great trip. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Thanks so much for reading