Day 21: Homeward Bound
There’s a place that keeps on calling me…
So up early (for the last time in a while hopefully) to go get an extra suitcase at Walmart plus some last minute bits n pieces. We had been doing some packing over the last few days but this morning was crunch time - crunch being the operative word. Yeah with all the gifts and merch we bought we were well over the limit (even with the extra luggage allowance we purchased). So we reviewed the contents of each of the 11 cases twice and discarded things that we did need or were cheap enough to replace. Ended up with a large bag of stuff we just had to leave. More disappointingly however, I had no room for the last of the Aberlour - just didn’t get a chance to drink any the last two nights with it being so late by the time we got in. I had also reserved some of it for Patrick’s first ever alcoholic drink when he turned 18 but he decided his first drink of cask strength single malt whisky whilst in Florida wasn’t special enough and wanted to wait until he was back in sunny Coatbridge before he had a drink… 🤷🏻♂️ Anyway even with all the refining and juggling of the cases we were about 8 kilos over 😬 We couldn’t really afford to lose anything else so we were going to have to take the hit on it.
Robert said it was a good that we got the extra luggage as ‘it was the best case scenario!’ (He has learned from the best, I can teach him no more).
So we didn’t have the Gideon’s cookies the night before and as space was an issue, we broke them open for breakfast. Oooft, these were damn fine cookies even if they were for breakfast (there was a coffee one so technically that counted?). I’m not a big sweet guy and some of the others would normally turn their noses up at cookies for breakfast, but they were finished within a few minutes. I can understand why people queue for them.
Final sweeps of the room and the car packed up we dropped the key off at reception. I had about 60 bucks left so bought us all a super huge smoothie for the road (thanks Smoooth Java Cafe). A word on the car here, it’s been an absolute beast for us, even with how dodgy Siobhan has been and it took all our cases like it was nothing. Will really miss how much a workhorse it’s been when we get back to our own teeny tiny seven seater in the UK.
At the airport we parked up for the last time and then braced ourselves for check in and the bill for the excessive luggage. All in it was gonna cost us about 200 quid for the additional weight but Chris the guy at the desk told us if we go buy an additional bag from the shop he can check the bag in for free as long as it was under 10kg. Result! Checked the balance on the card and it was still reading $60 which was weird, looking at the transactions and they didn’t charge me earlier for the smoothies even though I’d tapped the card and gave them a tip without any issues (thanks Smoooth Java cafe). So after shuffling some things about we managed to fill the new bag (which only cost us $50), since it was under 10kg (which it was just under at 9.9), we checked in all our luggage at no extra cost!
Now Melbourne airport is pretty small by airport standards (and must been teency by America Airport standards), so they had one shop, a duty free area, a sandwich bar and a Dunkin’ Donuts. With everyone pretty hungry and not having actually frequented a Dunkin Donuts since we got here, we grabbed some sandwiches and coffees and Dunkin’s. Our server was really nice and helpful and gave us a free box of mixed donuts because someone messed up a pickup order and ordered at the wrong store. I know it sounds like an ‘and everyone clapped’ moment - it was quite surreal that everything seemed to be going well for us today especially as we had such a stressful morning.
The time at the airport flew in (intended) so after a quick shop at the duty free (buying more whisky 😁), we were on the plane and here we are now (so this won’t get published until we’re on Scottish soil). A few stats and a little summary from everyone about how it’s been and then I’ll come back for some final thoughts…
Stats:
Most favourite park: Hollywood studios
Most visited restaurant: Olive Garden (3)
Miles travelled: 155.3 (which is just shy of 6 marathons worth)
Steps walked: 357.8k
Words written: ~33,000 (at the time of writing this)
Cybertrucks spotted: 4
Most visited attractions
- Rise of the Resistance (10 times)
- Smuggler’s Run (8 times)
- Forbidden Journey (7 times)
- Hagrid’s (6 times)
Ann:
Top 5 rides: Rise, Guardians, Hagrid’s, Smuggler’s, Flight of Passage
Best restaurant: Space 220
Best meal: Ohana - Everything
Best movie: Pearl Harbour
Favourite moments: Getting to ride Hagrid’s multiple times because of our T-shirts, Exploring Galaxy’s Edge for the first time, The Droid Build
Ann’s final words: It’s been different from other Florida holiday’s we’ve had. The absence of Sadie and Wullie was really felt. Hoping to return next time as a group of 7.
Patrick:
Top 5 rides: Rise, Guardians, Hagrid's, Smuggler's, Flight of Passage
Best restaurant: Space 220
Best meal: Olive Garden - Tour of Italy, Chicken & Gnocci soup, Breadsticks, Salad, Tiramisu
Best movie: Con Air
Favourite moments: Lightsaber Build, Experiencing Hagrid's at night, Exploring Galaxy's Edge for the first time
Final words: Brilliant time, could have spent three weeks in Galaxy's Edge.
Robert:
Top 5 rides: Rise, Guardians, Hagrid’s, Smugglers, Velocicoaster
Best restaurant: Space 220
Best movie: The Force Awakens
Best meal: Outback - Porterhouse Steak
Favourite moments: Lightsaber Build, Getting to ride Hagrid’s multiple times because of our T-shirts, Experiencing Rise of the Resistance for the first time
Final words: It was quite a plane holiday, had an absolutely brilliant time, hopefully back soon!
Grace:
Top 5 rides: Rise, Hagrids, Guardians, Smugglers, The Hulk
Best restaurant: Space 220
Best meal: Space 220 - Fish Tacos
Best movie: Asleep most times the movies were on
Favourite moments: Experiencing Hagrid's at night, The Droid Build, Experiencing Hogsmeade
Final words: Sad to go, excited to see the cats and why is it so warm here?
And finally myself…
Top 5 rides: Rise, Guardians, Smuggler’s, Hagrid’s, Flught of Passage
Best restaurant: Space 220
Best meal: Outback - Rib-eye with the spicy margarita
Best movie: 300
Favourite moments: The Lightsaber Build, Experiencing Guardian’s for the first time, Experiencing Hagrid’s for the first time
Final words: Wow what a ride. This holiday has been so long in the making but I can tell you it has lived up to and many times exceeded expectations. I’ve had a really amazing time with the family and it has felt like we have been on holiday for a whole lot longer than three weeks. Sure there’s been arguing between the kids, times we weren't able to decide on what to do, or when our timing has been off and plans have changed. All in all however I can say we have all thoroughly enjoyed it.
It will be good getting back to some normality and having a few days rest and relaxation before going back to work will definitely be required (though wishing it was more that just a few days)
Regarding this blog, Im glad I stuck with it and continued our tradition - it’s a great resource to look back on and recall all the little details about things. I’m a little disappointed about the quality and quantity of photos at times - the laptop not having the right software to manage bulk uploads or editing and then the keyboard dying on my set me back a little and I didn’t really recover. Once I’m back I’ll be putting together an album of all the photos and videos we took and refining & consolidating all of the blog updates. And I know my spelling and editing has also been atrocious, that was really just down to running out of time most nights - there were times I was literally falling asleep, smashing the keyboard at 2 sometimes 3 in the morning and publishing it asap before getting up a few hours later - so any required proof reading just went out the window.
And so the big question, will we do it again? Well it certainly has been different this time around with the kids a bit more grown up now, which has made it easier for most things (and not as easy for others - having an eeny teeny living space has been a little challenging at times). But yes in all honesty I dont believe this has been our last time here. It takes a whole lot of organisation (and money) so I think we’ll take a break for a wee while and maybe try to explore some of the other parts of the globe for a relaxig holiday or two. And thanks for coming along with us on our journey, it’s been a pleasure and we’ll see ya again soon!