Zip a dee do dah - The Bagley/Mollet Family Trip - May 2011 - COMPLETE TRIP REPORT!!

[tracey1302]

Day Thirteen - Blizzard Beach and Hollywood Brown Derby

We were really up for Blizzard Beach the next day after IOA. We were in bed for 10 so were more than ready for a day of exploring!! I pulled back the curtains on this day and was struck by something I had never seen before the whole holiday. AN OVERCAST SKY!! Were they kidding? This was a water park day, it couldn’t be overcast!!

Determined not to dampen our spirits, we set off for Blizzard Beach. We hadn’t done any of the water parks the last time we’d come as we were so overwhelmed with the CBR so I was excited to see it again and it didn’t disappoint! We made a base camp quickly and set off to do the slides. I used to dread BB when I was 12-14 as I would always taunt myself with the possibility of doing Summit Plummit. But the last time I went, I just drew a line under it and told myself I’d never do it. After that, I’ve loved it!
The weather wasn’t amazing, certainly not the searing heat we were used to but we had a great day. Especially when we ordered these bad boys for lunch…

We left early as we had an ADR at the Derby that night. (Yesssss!!) We arrived in no time and I was shocked to meet an old Professor from Princeton. I studied at Princeton for four months as part of my undergraduate degree in History at Oxford. Martin got talking to this chap, in the way he always seems to and the guy practically pounced on me when I said I’d studied there. He was really lovely and took our picture.

But the Derby waits for no-one. Our table was ready. I ordered the duck again. Mum gave me a little taste of her steak so all was good, but I just vowed to myself that I would have steak at Citricos the following night. No big deal. It’s a hard life.

I distinctly remember Mum getting very fresh this night. I think it was beginning to dawn on us all that our holiday of a lifetime was nearing its close so we had to make every single second count. Katie decided she wanted a glass of port at the end of the evening. This was after having wine with the meal. Mum decided to join her (Mum doesn’t normally drink port).

She was getting very giddy. Then, predictably, OB said he wanted to do TSM again. I think he was determined to prove a point about sobriety on target games. We were all fairly giddy by this point, but decided to run with it. Katie decided to do the Charleston to Mr. Potato Head’s dancing.

Tracey hit the high score AGAIN!! It seemed that the more we’d had to drink, the better we were at TSM! OB was furious but it was an absolutely perfect end to the day. And as it turned out, a perfect way to say goodbye to TSM

 

[tracey1302]

Day Fourteen - Favourite rides dash and Citricos

There was an uneasy silence about our family on this last day. I could tell everyone was starting to think about home. I was as well. I couldn’t wait to see Neil again, I had really missed him, and there was so much on this holiday I wished he’d have been there to experience with me. We weren’t living together at the time when we booked it, and I think it was a last push family holiday really. Katie was starting to think about her job, as she’d had an interview for Waitrose wine just before the holiday. I had a mountain of work to do when I returned. Mum didn’t want to return to work. Neither did Martin. And I don’t think OB had expected to have such an amazing time, particularly when he didn’t really have anyone to hang around with, especially on pool days and the like, but regardless…

I haven’t taken many photos of the day either! Apologies! We started out at MGM, at which we bought Duffy bear and went on RnR and ToT. As we hadn’t got there for park open, and as it was starting to get busier now anyway, TSM was a lost cause. The wait was 90 minutes and the FP return time was 2pm. OB was devastated but we’d had a very good run with it the night before!
This is Duffy bear with us waiting for the Epcot bus.

When we arrived at Epcot, it started to chuck it down so we had to take cover. I took some pictures of these guys.

See how cloudy it looks?

After having some lunch at France, at which point, Katie bought a ‘Hidden Mickey’ book and we did a bit of a quick search for some, we did Soarin’ and Test Track and headed over on the monorail to MK. Again, I remember here thinking the last time we’d taken that journey had been a) on the first day and b) half way through the holiday. Why couldn’t the clock rewind?

It was throwing it down by the time we got to MK. They’d closed Splash Mountain temporarily with the rain. We managed to go on Philharmagic, and then on Space Mountain, but, one thing I really regretted, we didn’t have time to go back on Splash. The parks were so much busier at this point, we couldn’t wander around as seamlessly as we had done before. Knowing that it wasn’t over yet (we were coming back for the parade and Wishes that evening) we caught the bus back to CBR.

We had our final ADR at Citricos that evening at 7pm. We sat down at the table, but Katie lingered behind at the bar, I knew she was up to something. We sat down and had a bottle of this delivered to our table.

It was a truly magical moment and Katie had treated us all. All our eyes filled up with tears. It was the perfect way to celebrate a perfect holiday.

I had an absolutely stunning steak here, and the chocolate crown torte thing again. We also got chatting to the chef that makes them! Apparently he was obsessed with the Royal Wedding too?!

All too soon, our meal was over, and it was time to make our way over to the Magic Kingdom for the final show.
I was pleased to see the return of Main Street Electrical Parade and screamed wildly when Tinkerbell made her way past us. I wondered if she remembered me hehee…

I’d booked us onto the Tomorrowland terrace for preferred viewing for Wishes. One of the many perks of booking direct with Disney. It was perfect. There was only us and two other parties on there, and I’d booked it fairly last minute as well. We watched the castle light up with memories (this is a great addition, I loved it) and looked on in wonder as the stars of the MK fireworks lit up the sky.

Wishes does something to me. I don’t know whether it’s the message of the show, the addition of Jiminy Cricket’s narration, the children’s choir, or just the sheer joy of watching everyone’s faces around me and knowing that this was something exceptional. This was both a moment, and a holiday that none of us would ever forget. Before I knew it, tears were streaming down our faces. Even OB.

When the last firework exploded into the sky, and everyone around us started hurtling themselves towards the exit, we sat. Our family just sat in silence looking up at the castle. We didn’t move for about 30 minutes.

None of us wanted to go home. None of us wanted it to be over.
To this day, we talk about this holiday as the best ever. It’s hard to describe what made it for us. We had amazing food, near perfect planning (I will take credit for this) amazing wine (Katie can take credit for this), and amazing memories. I don’t think our family has ever laughed together like we did on this holiday. We’ve never been on holiday just the five of us, and the shared experience of the most magical place on earth has drawn us together in a way we have never been before. I think we all just really needed it. We all knew what we wanted to get out of it, we all knew what we needed from it, and what we needed from each other in order to get it. If that makes sense.

Things have changed for all of us since this holiday. Katie got the job at Waitrose and has moved permanently down South. For the first time ever, my best friend doesn’t live up the road, or in my house. I miss her immensely. Naturally, she comes to visit all the time. I still send her foolish Disney texts all the time. Neil and I have moved into Katie’s old house and are living very happily here. I’m now over half way through my doctorate in Disney animation in the 30s and 40s and still loving it. Even though I still don’t have a ring on my finger, Neil and I are talking getting engaged soon and getting married over in Florida in about 4/5 years time. And just this last Christmas, Mum and Martin are badgering the two of us into Florida May 2014. We’re thinking of the GF this time as I get a silly discount with being cast at time of booking this time around. Epic.

I think because of all that’s happened since, this holiday has come to mean more to us as we approach the year mark since we left. I’m lucky, I’m going to California with Neil in May/June to do fieldwork, and importantly, to do Disneyland for the first time since I was five. But we’re still clamouring to go back, wondering if we can make it as perfect the next time around. I’m betting we can…

HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT!!

 

[tracey1302]

Bumping for comments!!

 

[15isto2]

Wonderfull report, you have a beutifull family