Florida flowers and Caribbean cruising - the trip report! THIS SECTION COMPLETED 4/12 - Page 54 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
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To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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Great ending with the finishing shots of the runners! Mark's breakfast from the CC may be one of the least appetizing food porn photos I have ever set my eyes on, almost to the point of looking gross! Yours looked a bit better, but not much! I hope they tasted ok! Too bad with the service there as well. I don't think, I'll be heading there any time soon!
Amazing with so many hot air balloons, but that is common just around sunrise as the thermal are just right this time of day for this. Interesting what Laurie said about the cowbells and Olympic skiing events as I now recall them being so prevalent during this and the bobsled events as well!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
I wish I had seen those hot air balloons while running. It would have been a lovely distraction. Very sad to see the pics of the runners getting "swept" - that is a fear I think every runner has in every race. I hope your tea and breakfast helped you feel better.
Great morning shots. Cheering the runners looks like a lot of fun. I saw Jen's comment about the boys behaving. When it comes to the little PINK one, I am not so sure that will ever be the case. It is a lot of fun "ribbing" the pig.
I'm sure it was me, clanging away. And yes, it was a busy morning, to say the least, but a lot of fun to talk with so many people, watch the sunrise, and cheer everyone on. Then we went back to our resort and relaxed!
Looking forward to reading more of your TR!
I'm not surprised you headed back to the resort and relaxed after all that - you probably needed it!
Your morning shots make me want to be at Disney right now. Beautiful!
I must admit, with the way the wind's been howling all night and how cold it's been (in the high 30s with windchill - it's like mid winter here right now ) I'd like to be back there...
Great ending with the finishing shots of the runners! Mark's breakfast from the CC may be one of the least appetizing food porn photos I have ever set my eyes on, almost to the point of looking gross!
Quote:
Yours looked a bit better, but not much! I hope they tasted ok!
Mine was Ok, nothing great, but at least edible...
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I wish I had seen those hot air balloons while running. It would have been a lovely distraction. Very sad to see the pics of the runners getting "swept" - that is a fear I think every runner has in every race. I hope your tea and breakfast helped you feel better.
Great morning shots. Cheering the runners looks like a lot of fun. I saw Jen's comment about the boys behaving. When it comes to the little PINK one, I am not so sure that will ever be the case. It is a lot of fun "ribbing" the pig.
Sunday 22 February – part three: “yes, these are the ones!”
Now we’d got a message from Cindy a little earlier on to say that she, Sheri and Dawn would be having breakfast at the Wave, so after putting on a load of laundry (I love having a washer dryer in the one bedroom villas! ), we headed down that way. We got some photos of the Bay Lake Tower pool…
… the marina…
… and this cute guy!
We found the girls quickly enough, and hugs were exchanged, then we grabbed their server to get a photo of us altogether.
I cannot believe how long it’s been since we saw them all. For Dawn and Sheri, it was December 2012 and that’s over two years now, and Cindy told us the last time we saw her was when she came over to London with her DH three years ago! Where does the time go?
We sat and chatted, while they all ate breakfast, and before we knew it, an hour had flown by. You see what happens when good friends get together? Sadly, we had to say our farewells, as we had things to do… and not our original plans for the day either.
We headed up to the fourth floor, and went to have a look in the shops. I found this, very cute, but hardly practical…
… then I found these, much more practical, as May the moo cow can now become Eeyore, Stitch or Pluto!
We headed back to the room, took the washing out, put what we could in the dryer, and the rest went out in the bathroom, and then we headed out. Our original plan had been to go to Universal, but to do that, we were looking at being there at 9:00am, and over the last couple of days, I’d fathomed out that was going to be a challenge with the half marathon, so we’d taken the decision last night to postpone Universal and do it on our LEGOLAND day instead, and just miss LEGOLAND out. After all, those tickets had been free, so we weren’t losing anything.
We made our way, seeing this new/old name…
We were going to head over to the Orlando Premium Outlets by Universal, as they have all the stores there that we wanted, but patently it wasn’t supposed to be. Firstly, the GPS kept refusing to recognise the address, then it wouldn’t find the outlets, only coming up with the Vineland one. Then we joined the I4, and came grinding to a halt. The GPS was showing traffic for quite some time to come, and the other Orlando Premium Outlets were off the next turn, so we headed that way instead.
We made it there not much before 11:00am, and easily found a parking spot, although it was on the opposite side of where we usually park, which threw us a bit. We had a look in Nausicaa, but it was very disappointing. They’ve really cut down on their women’s stuff since we were last here.
Then we made our way over to Disney’s Character Premiere, and once again, this was disappointing. Ok, so I found a nice Christmas tray and a scrapbook set of papers and embellishments for the Alaskan cruise. Ok, so it was for the 2013 cruises, but for $5, there was still enough I could use out of it. The problem in here is a) they have a lot less clothes now and b) they’ve redesigned the store to make the cash tills area and the line for it much bigger, which means there’s less space for merchandise. I don’t know if this is deliberate, in terms of they’re just not getting the stock to sell any longer, but it makes a huge difference, and it’s not one for the better.
We walked around, trying to find the Reebok store, which was our main reason for coming here, but failing. We found where it used to be, and assumed that it had closed down. They did have a store directory, but it was an electronic display board, and in the sun, you couldn’t read a thing on it. Not the greatest idea!
I suddenly had a thought, and suggested we go to the Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores, as we knew they had a Reebok store, and it wasn’t that far away from here. Thankfully, it meant a left turn when we came out of Vineland Avenue, and when we’d driven up, we’d seen a massive line to turn right. When we got back, it was just as bad, if not worse, and you should’ve seen the traffic going the other way. It was just insane!
We made it over to the Factory Stores easily enough, and headed into Reebok. I think it’s fair to say that we were both a bit disappointed at first glance, as there weren’t many styles in wide fittings, which is what we need. However, in the end Mark got two pairs, and I found a pair, and we each got some socks, and Mark got a couple of T-shirts. Sadly the usual “buy one, get one half price” deal on trainers (tennis shoes) wasn’t on, as apparently that’s usually their Christmas sales. Never mind, trust me, what we paid was still a heck of a lot less than we’d pay at home.
Once we were done there, we headed over to VF, where I was able to get three pairs of Lee relaxed fit jeans. I have found some jeans at home that fitted, which is just as well, as the situation with jeans was getting very dire shall we say but these are the ones I adore. The second I tried them on, I was like “yes, these are the ones!” Mark got a couple of tops, and with that, we made our way back towards Disney.
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What time were you at the outlets? We were there too! After we finished the race, we quick showered, grabbed our kids and sister-in-law and went to Mass which is right next door to those outlets. We went shopping after and were there around 1:00. I had such high hopes for great deals, but agree with you the selection was hit or miss. With the Disney outlet being especially disappointing. I don't think I bought a thing that day.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.