So, despite having the worry of whether the hurricane would hit, having to try and sort a lot of work from here, and some interesting weather, we were determined to make the most of our extra few days.
The day we should have flown had great weather for the most part as the only reason Tampa airport was closed was for storm prep, so we decided to do an Epcot morning to ride Guardians one more time. I let the girls sleep as long as I could as I knew our return wouldn’t be until around 9.30 at the earliest, and the stress of the day before left everyone exhausted.
We only intended to ride Guardians and try the pickle milkshake (it wasn’t grim but not something I could say any of us enjoyed), but the girls decided they wanted to do the Kidcot stops so we ended up buying them passports and staying there for about 5 hours just wandering around, eating maple popcorn (the bucket actually got used) and visiting the different pavilions. We did have some food from the booths, but Polly ate most of it, and we had to obviously meet Donald. We also rode Test Track as the queue was really small, before deciding to head over to Hollywood Studios as wait times were really low.
We hopped on the boat, which was a nice rest, although it always feels like it takes forever, then headed into the park. We immediately saw Daisy before going straight to the queue to meet Donald. The sky was turning an ominous colour, and the cast member told us that if it rained Donald would leave straight away (if he came out at all) so we had everything crossed. Donald came out shortly after and the cast members made sure to get through as many of the people queuing as they could, meaning we got to see him just before the rain. He was so much fun and kept directing the girls to get the photos he wanted.
Steve had gone to the Tap House for his beer flight as he hadn’t been this trip, and as we walked past Olaf, we saw there was no queue so jumped in and saw him straight away, then walked straight to Star Tours. On the way a lovely lady ran up to the girls to give them friendship bracelets she’d made, which they loved.
We then picked Steve up and headed for Rose which had a very short queue. As we exited the heavens had opened so it was wet dog smelling poncho time to head to One Man’s Dream, grabbing a few wet weather shots on the way.
We decided to head back afterwards as although the rain had stopped, we were parked out, so opted for an early night.
The following day was the day the storm hit so we’d made no plans. The rain and winds in the morning were pretty strong, and although parks were open with tiny queues, we knew the weather would make Winnie anxious so opted to just chill in the room for a bit. Just before lunch things cleared up so the girls decided to go for a swim, even though it was raining. So, we sat with our umbrellas up while they had fun in the pool until it closed again for more electrical activity in the area, when we decided to get dressed and head to Magic Kingdom for a few hours.
We didn’t do much, but it was a nice way to spend an evening. We had planned to possibly watch the fireworks, but after heading up to the train station both girls said they were feeling really emotional, and would rather head back and snuggle up to watch Monsters Inc. It was such a strange feeling for us all over the last few days. While we knew we should be grateful that we were getting extra time at Disney, we were all sad about missing the things we’d planned to do back home in the last few days before the girls headed back to school, which then in turn made us feel guilty for not appreciating being there.
For our last full day, we headed back to Magic Kingdom for all the Donald and Daisy fixes we could get. There were lots of hugs, kiss blowing and big smiles all round, which was just what the girls needed. We headed back in the afternoon for an hour round the pool (before it closed again!) and then had tea at Kona café. The girls then asked for a night swim before watching the fireworks on the beach. We were all pretty emotional. We’ve had the most wonderful time together and know that going home now means long days apart almost immediately, which makes my heart sad, but I’m so incredibly grateful for the amazing memories we have made here.
Our flight wasn’t until this evening (I’m finishing writing this at the airport) but we decided our emotional instability would deal better with a morning finishing packing and at the pool, so nothing much to report there. Thank you so much for following along on this lengthier than expected trip. I really do appreciate every kind comment we received.
Doodle & Peg Do Disney 