Day 12 ~ Premium Outlets, Pool and Magic Kingdom

Dad was already up when I went into the kitchen at 8am this morning. He told me he had woken up at 5am to a scuttling sound coming from the bedside table. When he looked over to the clock there was a cockroach sitting there looking at him! He jumped up, caught it and put it outside and couldn’t sleep very well afterwards. He told me not to tell my mum. I think she would have gone home if she’d known! The downside of yesterday’s rain meant that cockroaches wanted to take shelter. And in our villa it seemed!

We all had some cereal and toast, got showered and dressed and headed to Premium Outlets at the top of International Drive.

We had a good look around and split up from the others for a bit. Mum, Dad, Tracy and Oliver were looking in the Bose store. Paul, Amelia and I went in the Carter’s outlet store and I was gutted to find that the exact same outfits that I had bought Amelia on day 10 were all here for just $6 each. Many of the items had 70% off too. I bought Amelia a couple of T-shirts and also a little romper suit and a bib for my friends baby.

We went in Sketchers to see if they had my Go Walks, but alas, no size 7’s (UK 4) in navy. I was beginning to think I would never get a pair The lady told us that they would have a delivery in the following day so I said we would come back tomorrow evening.

Next we went into the Disney Character Warehouse and I was also gutted to see they had Duffy bears in there for just £9.99!!! I had spent $30 on Amelia’s in Epcot on day 6! I was pleased that I could buy a second one to use as a Travelling Ted for my Childminding setting after all They didn’t have the 2012 hoodies on like Amelia’s had, but they were still cute, and the hoodies came off anyway. They had lots of different Duffy’s... birthday ones, St Patrick’s Day... I decided on one with a navy 40th Anniversary WDW hoodie and walked around the stand to find the one with the cutest face. I was chuffed to find that the one I had picked out had $5.99 on his tag. Even better! I had another look around the shop, picked up some WDW colouring books for the children I look after back home and went to the cashier, paid up and we left to meet the others in the food court.

The others had not arrived yet so Paul and I got a table and sat down. As I thought about what I had just bought, I was sure I had been charged wrong. When I checked the receipt I realised that they had charged me $9.99 for the Duffy. I said I would nip back get a refund while Paul waited for the others. The lady behind the counter was not impressed and acted as though it was my fault! She asked someone to go and check all the other Duffy’s and said to me “I’ll give you a refund, but just so you know, you were charged the correct price”. Pfft. I’m so glad Paul wasn’t with me as he would have argued with her. But I just smiled sweetly and took the money I was owed. As I stood there waiting for the girl to come back I noticed in the glass cabinet under the checkout this gorgeous mouse head necklace. It was marked down from $54 to $21.99. I decided I would treat myself and asked if I could have it. After all I had saved $4 on the duffy! I was so pleased with my little purchase and went off to show Mum and Tracy who were now at the table. Paul wasn’t impressed that I had gone back to get money back and ended up spending more!

We all wanted different things to eat. I love how you can just go around and get given free samples of food! Mum and I had some Teriyaki Chicken, noodles and rice from Japan Cafe Grill. It was delicious Dad and Paul had a burger from Five Guys. Paul loves their fries. I think they fry them in peanut oil or something. Oliver had a meatball sub from Subway. I think Tracy had a sub too, although I can’t remember what she had in it. And for Amelia I found a place that had pasta. I asked if they did child-sized portions but she said no so I asked for a small portion and explained it was only for a 2 year old and the lady was really nice; she made me a little dish up and charged me half price. She put a little bit of tomato sauce on it and gave her a free piece of garlic bread. Amelia loved it.

After lunch I showed Mum and Tracy what I had bought and Tracy fell in love with Duffy and said she wanted one. She had thought about buying one in Epcot too but refused to pay $30 for one! So off we all went to the Disney Character Warehouse for a third time! Tracy and Oliver were drawn to the Vinylmations and each bought another 3 or 4 each! Mum and Dad bought a Duffy for my Aunt who collects teddy bears and an Epcot wine carrier for 50c!

While we were in there one of the older lady’s that worked there came up to Oliver and asked if he would like to be in the parade that they were having at 2pm. He came and asked me and I said yes, and then they asked Amelia too. It was 1:45pm and they were looking for more kids to ask, but to be honest, it was dead in there and it was only us and 2 other couples browsing the store. By the time 2pm came, they had managed to gather up a few other children and it had gotten a bit busier. They gave us all a Mickey Mouse light saber-type things and we had to walk around the shop 3 or for times to music. A little boy walked in the shop half way through and wanted to join in so I gave him my lightsaber. Then all the kids got a pin afterwards. They were told that they could ask any member of staff with a lanyard to swap their pin with them. Oliver was really shy and wouldn’t ask, but eventually he plucked up the courage and asked a man in a lanyard if he would swap it for a Mickey Mouse pin that he was wearing... Is this just the stores that do this or do all Cast Member’s in the parks do this as well? I thought it was a really nice thing to do.

We came out laden with bags, continued to look around a few more shops and then went back to the villa for a swim.

We were getting a bit peckish now, although we didn’t want dinner as the lunch we had eaten at Premium Outlets had filled us up. We had some tea and Dunkin Donuts that were left from last night and Amelia had some toast. We decided to go to Magic Kingdom to watch the Electrical Parade and Wishes and get some pastries and cakes from the Main Street Bakery. I had been dying to try a Cinnamon Roll since we first arrived after reading so many people’s reviews on them on The Dibb and I couldn’t wait for Mum, Dad, Tracy and the kids to see what Paul and I had seen a few nights ago on our date night.

We all got showered and changed to go out again and drove to Magic Kingdom. We decided we would catch a boat tonight for the first time.

The boat sailed past the Polynesian Resort where we went to Ohana on day 8. The sun was setting and it made a lovely back drop to the Grand Floridian Resort.

The four firework blasts from the castle signified the end of the Dream Along with Mickey show.

We also saw the Avengers monorail.

We arrived at the entrance and had some photos taken by a Photopass photographer

The crowds were heaving when we entered the park. We had some more photos taken and walked to the top of Main Street in an attempt to get a good spot for the parade. There was hoarding all up the right hand side covering the main street bakery which we had to walk under. We found a spot near the bridge to Tomorrowland and parked ourselves there. It was really starting to get dark now. It amazes me in Florida how it gets dark so quickly and you don’t seem to notice it happening.

Dad, Oliver and I went back to Main Street Bakery to get everyone some drinks and something to eat. And this was the first time I tried a cinnamon roll! Oh my god! How delicious are they??? Dad also had one. Paul had an apple turnover, Tracy had a muffin and Mum and Oliver had carrot cake. Amelia shared a bit of everyone’s but didn’t really want any. We also got coffees for Mum, Dad and Paul and some chocolate milk for me, Tracy and the kids. As I walked through the crowds back to Paul, Mum and Tracy with the tray laden with cakes, everyone was looking at them commenting on how good they looked! They smelt gorgeous too.

We ate up the deliciousness and drank our coffee and milkshakes and soon after the electrical parade began. Amelia was in awe. We all loved it. It was fantastic! It was even better having a decent view and it was as though we were watching it for the first time. Before we went I was showing Paul videos of it that I’d found on YouTube and he wasn’t too bothered about going because he thought he music would irritate him, but he loved it! When Alice in Wonderland came round on top of her mushroom Amelia kept pointing at her and then pointing at my T-shirt. She’s so clever! She’s never even seen her before!

When it was over, Dad and Oliver went to take the trays back to the bakery while we stayed where we were to keep our spot. Quite a few people were leaving now, but their spaces were soon filled by more guests wanting to watch Wishes and we ended up with people standing right in front of us.

Then the Magic the Memories and You started and I was gob-smacked again for a second time as we watched it. I kept turning around hoping that Dad and Oliver would come back as they were missing it but unfortunately they didn’t make it back in time. They found it impossible fighting through the crowds.

This is the best photo I could get unfortunately. You really do have to see it to believe it. It’s so clever.

Dad and Oliver turned up a few minutes before Wishes started and we were all blown away. Standing in front of the castle watching it was so magical.

Amelia liked it more than when we watched it on the beach at the poly and the noise didn’t seem to bother her so much now. She especially like it when Tinkerbell flew down from the castle. My Dad couldn’t believe that it was actually a real person!
It was the end to a perfect evening.

When Wishes was over it was pandemonium trying to make our way back to the exit, so we decided to hang back and look in the shops while we waited for the crowd to die down. We went in Arribas Brothers where Mum and Dad bought Oliver and Amelia a glass each and had their names etched on to them. My mum and her brother used to have similar ones when they were growing up and she wanted them to carry on the tradition. Oliver has Mickey and Cinderella’s castle on his and Amelia has Tinkerbell. There was a bit of a delay so Dad asked if they could pay for them and pick them up on Saturday (our last day). The lady said it was fine and gave him a receipt.

The second Wishes show started at 11pm and unfortunately we got caught up in the crowd that followed it, so it didn’t make any difference waiting in the shops really!

We caught the monorail back and saw the flags and stars in the water which I assumed was the electric water pageant.

I couldn’t believe Amelia was still awake the whole time and it wasn’t until we got in the car and drove back to the villa that she finally drifted off. We really are incredibly lucky with her. She has to be the best behaved toddler I’ve ever known!

We got back to the villa, had a quick brew and fell into our beds and drifted off to sleep.

TOMORROW: Busch Gardens

More photos from today can be viewed here.

UPDATE: Since we’ve been back, the children in my Childminding setting love Duffy. He now has his own Facebook page and has been on an outing to Newquay with one of the little girls I look after and her family. Here he is with his travel journal that I made for him!

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