We decided not to set our alarm as the girls desperately needed a good sleep today and the only reservation we had was a Bon Voyage breakfast at 10am which I knew I’d be able to modify in necessary. Everyone woke by 7am and we were packed up and checked out by 9am without having to rush or get stressed.
We left the majority of our cases with bell services to deliver to Yacht Club for us, but packed 2 hand luggage cases with emergency items/ things we may need today to cover us until they arrive and took these with us to leave at the Yacht Club bell services.
We got a Lyft over to Yacht Club and checked in (to get the dining plan activated!) before walking over the Boardwalk to Trattoria al Forno. Flynn Rider is Winnie’s absolute favourite and although we weren’t fussed about going to this meal again she really wanted to. She’d also bought a lollipop to give him which she put in her satchel, so when he asked her what she had in there she was so excited to give it to him! All the characters were great except for Prince Eric, who seems to have had a personality bypass every time we’ve been there! The food was lovely (what’s not to love about steak chips and egg with a mimosa for breakfast? I actually asked for poached eggs rather than the egg torte thing that comes with the breakfast usually as it’s too eggy for me…I know, poached eggs are eggy but it’s different!!) and our server was really good. We were also sat at one of the first tables on the round so got to see the characters quickly meaning once we’d finished eating we weren’t hanging around.
We then headed to the hotel for a chill around the pool. We did think it may be too cold as there was a chill in the air but the Stormalong Bay pool is really sheltered so it was absolutely boiling. The girls had a great time although I still find it odd that the slide entrance is across the boardwalk meaning you can’t leave them to use it without watching them across every time.
At about 12.30pm I got a message to say our room was ready so after a bit more pool time we headed inside. Our luggage from AKL was already with bell services and they said we’d bring it straight up. We navigated the maze of corridors to the room (Steve said we must be practically staying in Hollywood Studios!) and when we got to the room we found it was a king with a pull out sofa rather than 2 queens. I know this isn’t a major issue but we had booked a 2 queen bed room. Steve did the hike back to reception after trying the general number and having no luck (we knew it didn’t go through to front desk but we thought was worth a shot!) They said they had no queens tonight with a water view (which we paid for, and is stunning!) but would move us tomorrow and promised the sofa bed would be made up for our return from Disney Springs so the girls could get straight to sleep, so all was good.
Anyway, we were now running a bit late so once our luggage was delivered did a quick get ready and set off for our Raglan Road reservation. We always love it here. It is really lively and a lot of fun, and feels like a proper night out (even if it is only 4pm). Plus the food is great. They also get the children on stage to dance later in the evening, so if you’re there at that time look out for dancers coming around. Tonight was funny though as some staff members had clearly been partying last night! Polly must have been starving as she practically inhaled her meal before scraping Winnie’s left overs onto her plate and eating those too, and still made room for dessert!
When we left the restaurant around 5.30 Disney Springs was absolutely heaving! We had a quick walk through World of Disney but didn’t stop to look at anything as the crowds were insane. Polly said that everyone must have made a New Years resolution to do more shopping!!
We finished off by walking through the Christmas tree trail which by comparison was actually fairly calm (when you consider there was a queue around the block to walk onto the bridge to the car park!) The trail is so pretty and when it snows it really does look magical.
As the girls were absolutely shattered, and we were already at the Eastside pick up, we decided to get a Lyft back to the hotel for ease to enable us to get them down to bed faster. However, when we got back to the room there were still no covers/ pillows for the sofa bed so we had to wait for those to arrive before we could get them down. They went out like lights though so hoping they aren’t tired in the morning despite not getting the early night I hoped for.
We were planning a Universal day tomorrow (we got annual passes last Christmas which had 6 months extra free on them so are still using those, now for the 3rd trip) but the weather is supposed to be very warm so think we’ll have a quick walk into EPcot instead and maybe do a park in the evening after some more pool time.
Despite a few niggles (I think a result of everywhere seeming to be slightly under staffed today) it’s still been a great day. I mean who wouldn’t want to spend the first day of 2020 in this beautiful place?
Doodle & Peg Do Disney 