This is by far my favourite photo of the whole holiday!! Mum and I are standing in front of Magic Kingdom castle!

Continuing where we left off yesterday, we had just had dinner and settled in for the flight. The rest of the flight was pretty smooth; there was only one bit of turbulence, which was good! I continued to watch Netflix, which kept me entertained for the flight. Despite the delay at Melbourne, we made great time! Unfortunately, it was spoiled when we arrived in Gatwick… there was a delay of 1 hour due to all the gates being full, and a few of the planes were delayed. This caused us to get frustrated as we wanted to go home and sleep.

After finally getting a gate, it took a little while for us to get through customs and get our bags; plus, my passport was playing up at the egate, so I had to queue to get my passport checked. Technology eh?

We have now arrived home and unpacked our bags. It has been an incredible and awesome holiday; we made memories for life! Mum finally got to see Flordia, a place she has always wanted to go, and she finally got to meet Winnie the Pooh, one of the holiday’s highlights! The smile on Mum’s face just told you everything! She loved exploring Florida, and I loved exploring and guiding Mum as well. I am getting pretty emotional now, unsure if that’s the tiredness or the awesome memories. I am sitting here typing this just remembering everything we did. I am glad I was able to take Mum to Florida. I have promised to take her again, so expect a repeat soon!

To Mum, if you are reading this – Thank you for making this an awesome holiday. I hope you have made memories for life as I have, and I hope you will remember our week with fondness in the coming weeks. I love you!

So, what’s next for me? Well, my travels will not stop; I am already planning my holidays for next year. The plan for next year is to have two shorter UK holidays and one long abroad holiday. I have some ideas already, but you’ll have to wait and see! I am just about to undergo changes in my life now, as I want to become healthier and fitter to pursue my next dream. It is not going to be easy, but I will do it! There also might be a small break in November, but nothing is set in stone yet. Check back later for an update!

And so, my September 2023 Florida trip with Mum is at an end. Thank you all for reading my blog over the last week, and I hope you have enjoyed following our adventures along the way! I have made so many memories this week, and I know Mum has, too; it is hard to put into words how I really feel. So for now, goodbye and stay safe. Look out for more of my adventures soon!

Well, where did that time go?! It seemed like yesterday that we were getting excited about our holiday, and now it is over; as I said above, that must be the sign of a great holiday! We started the day with the last bits of packing that needed to be done. We had to leave the room by 11:00, so we ensured most of the packing was done last night. Mum headed down for a last breakfast, which she chose a waffle, and I had some cereal. After our showers, we finished packing and headed downstairs to check out.

As we waited for our bus, Mum and I reflected on an awesome holiday; we both managed to relax and chill and do what we wanted to do to allow us to relax. We loved every minute of it; in hindsight, we could have stayed longer! As you have been reading, you can probably tell how much fun we had and enjoyment. Mum got to see a dream come true to meet Winnie the Pooh and go to Florida, and I got to revisit a place I am starting to really love. Now, onward to the airport!

Our bus arrived early, around 12:18, which is good as it was busy in Melbourne! We had to pick up other TUI customers along the route and had to stop a further four times, which delayed us slightly. When we arrived, it was REALLY busy; TUI had 3 flights leaving Melbourne, all close to each other, going to Manchester, Newcastle and Gatwick, so obviously the queues were quite large, as you will see below!

Finally, after we had checked in and within weight, thankfully (always a worry at the end of a holiday!), we headed through security to get our hand luggage checked and our persons checked; there was a delay here as well, probably due to everyone being there! It took about 30 minutes to get through.

We headed through the departure lounge and got some snacks and drinks for the flight. We decided to get a bite to eat as we were early for dinner, and we’d get our flight meal around 2000, so it would leave a gap. We headed to Dunkin’ Donuts, and boy, this was a mess… There was a long queue, and it was not moving fast. The staff did not appear to know what they were doing and struggled to cope with the demand, and I do wonder if they needed more staff, considering 3 TUI flights were going out. It took about 30-45 minutes, but we got ourselves a coffee and a bagel, which was really nice. They messed my coffee order up, though, as I wanted hot, and they gave me cold! After eating, we headed to our gate and waited to be boarded; it was busy there!

TUI started to board customers, but as I said at the start, they go from the back to the front, so rather than wait to be called, people queued up!? They started to call the numbers, and as we were 34 this time, we were one of the first on the plane.

Unfortunately, we were delayed taking off… the airport had two broken fuel tankers that needed to be fixed because we needed fuel to get over the Atlantic, apparently! Who’d have thought it? There was about a 30-minute delay on the ground, and we eventually took off!

With that, we settled into the flight and got served our dinner. I tried to sleep but couldn’t, so I ended up watching Netflix! And that’s it for our going home day! I’ll post tomorrow once I arrive back in the UK and update you on the rest of the flight; bye for now!

After lots of deliberating, Mum decided she wanted to do something on our last day; I suggested Disney Springs as they have so much to see! She agreed, and off we went. Disney Springs is one of my favourite places as they have a lot of stuff for everyone. We first visited the Christmas Shop, which was slightly smaller when I last went, but part of that is half of it was Halloween for some strange reason.

We then headed to the vast Disney store in Disney Springs; it was HUGE! We bought many last-minute goodies we would not have gotten had we not gone. Mum got herself a hoodie and a few shirts; I got a cup, shirt and coffee, among other things! It was a shopper’s paradise for Disney anyway! Here are a couple of pictures!

After spending a lot of time there, we moved on to the Coca-Cola shop! This is basically lots of branded Coca-Cola stuff, as shown in the pictures below. It also had a bar above, allowing you to get different Coca-Cola drinks and even try 16 versions worldwide! They also do mocktails, which I loved. Mum had a Coca-Cola float, and I had what they call Fanta sea, which is Fanta, blue raspberry minute maid and sweedish fish, plus you get to keep the glass! It was awesome!

After our adventure to Coca-Cola, we explored more of Disney Springs; it has different shops from different brands, so we wandered around and looked for anything that seemed interesting! Our next stop was the M&M store. This place is huge! You can get loads of different M&Ms and merchandise, even M&Ms we don’t have here in the UK! So, I bought a pick-and-mix tub, which was awesome!

At this point, Mum and I were getting tired and wanted to head back, but first, we thought we would have lunch here. We settled with Earl of Sandwich, which is a sandwich bar of sorts. The food was awesome, but I can’t help but wonder why we don’t have branches of this place in the UK, considering they stamp our flag all over our food!! Anyway, it was lovely!

And that was pretty much it! We returned to the hotel and chilled. Mum headed to enjoy the last bit of sun while I sat in a nice aircon room and relaxed. We also started to pack things up, ready for tomorrow. We had dinner one last time; in the diner, I had lasagna, and Mum had meatballs.

With that, it was time to head to bed. We will be picked up from the hotel at 12:30 tomorrow by bus, but we need to be out of the room by 11:00, so our plan is to chill in the diner and wait for our bus. I can’t believe it has come to this! Anyway, good night. See you tomorrow for a brief blog!

Our first stop was Spaceship Earth; this attraction is a tour of human history on a slow-moving ride navigating history. Dame Judi Dench guides us through our trip. It was excellent, and Mum loved it!

After our trip through time, we decided to head to The Land and did a few rides. But first we found Winnie the Pooh again!

Our first trip was Soarin’, which Granddad highly recommended to us. I didn’t get the chance to do this ride in January as it was busy, but this was an excellent ride! The only disappointing thing was the lack of London appearing! I loved the smells they added to the ride!

After our flight around the world, we took a boat to look at how EPCOT grow vegetables and livestock and how they are changing with the future; it was an interesting ride.

Next with The Land was a video presentation called Awesome Planet. It was a great video about our world, and it pitched as a salesperson selling a house. It also talked about climate change and what we can do to help. It was inspiring.

It was lunchtime! I surprised Mum and booked a reservation at Chef De France, a French restaurant in World Celebration. She loved it! Here are some pictures of our food; it was awesome!

After our fabulous lunch, we decided to explore World Celebration. We visited many of the areas and explored the food there, too, as the Food Festival continued! Here are some pictures.

It was a fantastic day! We were tired because of the heat; we couldn’t get around to see all the places. We went to the shop, got some gifts and headed home. We spent the evening in the hotel, had dinner, and called it a day!

With that, we finished our trip around Orlando; we saw what we wanted to see. Tomorrow is our last full day, and Mum wants to spend the last day chilling. There may be a blog tomorrow, but there might not be much to blog about. I might put tomorrow and Saturday together so that I might see you tomorrow, if not Saturday. See you soon!

As we entered the park, Mum was overwhelmed; she didn’t know where to start! So we began to look around and explore the centre of the park. It was all decorated in an autumn/Halloween theme, and it looked amazing. Magic Kingdom was by far the busiest park for us. We got a paper map and went around the park.

Our first stop for the day was Fantasy Land, so we walked around and explored. Mum isn’t a theme park rider and prefers the atmosphere and theming. So, this will be slightly different to my trip in January, but you can read my January blog for more details.

Of course, it was Winnie the Pooh area that caught Mum’s attention first, so we explored the area and queued up to meet the bear himself, Pooh! Mum has loved Winnie the Pooh since she was young, so this was a dream come true for her!

After we met Pooh, we queued for Pooh’s ride, which is a tiny journey into their world and a story. Mum loved this, too!!

It was incredibly warm today in Florida, with highs hitting 34c, which really hit me like a truck! We had to refill our water and get shade occasionally, but we still enjoyed it! Next on our tour was Mickys philharmagic orchestra!

This was a fantastic 4D experience going through the world of Disney and its iconic music. It adds a bit of humour, too, where Donald Duck messes it all up and has to get Micky magic hat back! Music included was Little Mermaid, Lion King, Aladdin and a few more. It was fun! Next, we explored Tomorrow Land and eventually got lunch there!

We had lunch at Comic Ray’s Starlight Cafe; it was bustling here!! We both had burgers and a drink; it was OK, nothing special. The chips were cold, which wasn’t great! Our next stop was to watch the Friendship show at the front. We also stopped to get our photo in front of the castle!

Mum didn’t want to do much else as by the time we had explored the other areas, it was time for the parade through the park, and it was the Fantasy parade, which was good! After that, we were knackered; we had done about 13,000 steps, so tiredness kicked in! We headed back and grabbed the ferry, and the breeze was awesome!

We grabbed an Uber back; he was very chatty and friendly. When we arrived back at the hotel, we grabbed a cold iced drink from Starbucks.

After that, we rested in the room and went to have dinner; we didn’t feel like much today, so we both just had a toasted cheese sandwich, which was awesome!

And that’s it for Magic Kingdom; sorry it wasn’t your typical blog, but Mum enjoys the theming and being there more to rides. Tomorrow, we are headed to EPCOT, so do join us tomorrow!

I had wanted to go here in January but didn’t have time. So today we decided we’d explore the outlet mall. Initially, we were disappointed until we turned a corner and found many shops we didn’t expect!

One of the shops I went to was GNC, which is a vitamin shop which had unique vitamins and drinks like GFuel. For those who don’t know, I love G Fuel, which is a type of drink with unique flavour; it is a kind of gamer drink; they had other brands, too. It was an interesting shop!

My favourite shop of the day was Bath and Body Works. I had heard good things but was surprised by what I found. I know it’s not typically a men’s shop, but I don’t care. It was awesome. Their hand soap was my favourite. You can see from the haul above what I got. It’s all autumn-like stuff! I wish we had one in the UK.

We went to a few other shops while we were there. Mum got a water bottle, and we got some chocolate, amongst other things! Overall, it was a good trip. We decided to have an early lunch and decided to try something new. The Philly Steak is very American. It was awesome! Here is what we had.

They were awesome! The taste was really nice and unexpected. After we finished we grabbed an Uber and headed back to relax for the afternoon. I spent it in the room watching videos and reading my book. I’m have decided I can’t read hard backs! They are so big! Mum headed to the resort pool and enjoyed the sun. We both had an awesome time.

For dinner I decided to take Mum over to Aventura hotel, where I stayed in January so she could exp1erience the choose your own Wok which I loved in January. I am pleased to say Mum loved it!

Once we finished, it was time to head back, but as it was Florida’s stormy season, it hammered down with rain, which halted our walking back, so we improvised! Universal Resorts has free buses to and from different hotels, so we jumped money Aventuras one, headed to City Walk and jumped on the Cabana Bay bus, which helped minimise our wetness! We then just chilled for the rest of the evening.

Tomorrow, we are heading to Magic Kingdom, which should be a brilliant day! Mum is going to love it! See you tomorrow!

It was SeaWorld time! As I said above, this was my favourite park in January. The park opened at 10:00 a.m. today. Luckily, Mum and I slept in today, which was good! It was a busy day, but it was great! They had their Halloween event running, although not while we were there. It meant that some places were closed specifically for Halloween night.

Our first stop was the Dolphins Nursery, which showed some of their dolphins and the vital work SeaWorld does to ensure the safety of dolphins worldwide. A staff member was doing a talk there about the dolphins in the nursery. We got to see some dolphins up close and personal. Here is a picture of one of their dolphins.

Next up, we headed to the Antarctica area to see the penguins. I didn’t get the chance to visit this in January due to how busy it was, so it was nice just to be able to walk around and see the penguins. It was cold in there, though it was 0c, so we went from 34c to 0c. It’s a bit of a shock to the system! It was awesome, though here are some pictures.

After that chilly expedition, it was time for our first show. It was the Dolphin showcase, and just like January, it was awesome. Mum enjoyed it.

Our next stop was the Orca showcase, and we went early to ensure we got a seat. This show is excellent; as I said in January, I was worried about this, but how they explained how they look after them alleviates my fears. It was a great show, and Mum loved it too. Some pictures incoming.

After the show, we headed for some lunch. It wasn’t the best food ever, but it did the job; it was also expensive! Once we had finished, we continued our visit and went to the shark encounter; unfortunately, due to their Halloween event, they had blocked off the actual shark bit as it has been done for Halloween. It was disappointing as I felt they closed them for the Halloween event. We saw a few fishes and smaller sharks, though, just could have been better.

Next, we went to a place called the Wild Antarctica, which showcased expeditions out there and the new animals that were discovered. It was pretty well-themed, and we both enjoyed it. It was also cold, so it helped us with the heat! Here is a picture.

Next up, we went to the SeaWorld rescue area. It shows their rescue efforts and how they keep these survivors healthy and return them to their habitat. It was fantastic to see! Here are some pictures.

Our final destination today was the jewel of the Atlantic Aquarium. It was small but relatively calm. It had nemo and dory fishes! Here are some pictures.

And that was our trip to SeaWorld. We stopped at the gift shop and headed home. It was a fantastic day but exhausting with 17775 steps, and the heat contributed to us feeling wiped out! But we had an amazing day! For the rest of the evening, we relaxed around the resort. Tomorrow is a relaxing day; nothing is planned apart from enjoying the sun. We may even visit Orlando International Outlet Mall. See you tomorrow!

Well, jet lag genuinely kicked in for me today! I was awake by 0300 a.m. Florida time! I tried to get back to sleep, but I couldn’t. Mum was an utter tank and managed to sleep in until a reasonable time of 06:00, which, granted, was still early! There was not much planned today, which is just fine. The first stop was Wal-Mart, so we arranged an Uber and began our shop.

As with January, I am just as shocked by the enormous size of this Wal-Mart; it still surprised me as I went with Mum today. Mum was overwhelmed with the size, too! We got snacks and stuff we need for the week; no haul pictures this time. I got crema, which is new to me, but I’m glad I did; it makes coffee taste awesome. Shame we don’t have it in the UK! All in all, we spent $184, so we decided to split the bill, which is good for our wallets! We had so much shopping we had to consolidate it from 9 bags to 6 for us to carry! There is just too much good stuff at Walmart. I might have to consider renting a car next time! Once we got back to the hotel, it was time to unpack and have our lunch. Here’s what I had.

We let lunch settle down, and it was time to chill for the rest of the day. We decided we would spend it in the sun and for me read my book. While I enjoyed it, I did not realise how hot it would be! It was 33c in Florida, and I underestimated how hot that would be! I was dripping with sweat! I only lasted about 45 minutes. I know, I am an amateur, aren’t I!! So I headed back to the room and chilled there.

We relaxed in our hotel and continued to read. We enjoyed it despite the searing heat! I was surprised at how hot it was! I will have to try harder next time! We spent the rest of the evening in the hotel. I continued reading. For dinner, I had the ultimate cheese grill sandwich, and it was awesome. Mum had the shrimp stir fry, which looked nice!

Tomorrow, we head to Seaworld, which will be good, and I am glad Mum will get the chance to see what I saw that made it the best Park in Orlando. Join me tomorrow!

We had an early start this morning, we set our alarms for 05:30, but we both were up at 05:00! Guess it was the excitement that woke us up! We got showered and headed downstairs for breakfast. Here’s a quick video.

Breakfast was OK…but we were a little disappointed; the cooked breakfast was cold and had limited choices; a few things just straight up didn’t work. It was not a great experience. Overall, the hotel was good; I was just disappointed with the breakfast.

We checked out and headed for checking. Check-in was a nightmare and started my irritation with TUI. They only had two checking in and another staff member messing around with stickers rather than serving. It was hot and stuffy there, too. After nearly 45 minutes, we were finally checked in and headed to security.

Next up was premium security, and this was by far the best experience at the airport. We went in and were out within 5 minutes, which was good! I forgot to take my belt off, though, so I got flagged for a scan, oops!

The next step was departures; we went through a walkway with lots of duty-free options for us to take with us. We didn’t have a lounge this time as I didn’t think it was worth it after my last trip, so we headed to WH Smiths, the pharmacy and sat down for a Starbucks while waiting for our gate. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait long! Here is a gate, and our plane

We had a bit of a wait to board, though; I think we were waiting for about 50 minutes to board. TUI board differently to Virgin, where they board from the back forward, and since our seat was 14, we were the last to board. Once we did get on, we had a gentleman next to us who asked to move due to lack of space, which was fine for us as Mum and I had a row to ourselves! Here are a few pictures of our flight, including lunch and afternoon tea. Overall, I was disappointed with TUI; the food, no WiFi, and the staff were unfriendly and unhelpful. It just did not feel like we were welcomed because we weren’t premium. We won’t use them again.

Finally, we arrived in Orlando after an 8-and-a-half-hour flight. The flight was smooth and comfortable, so shout out to the pilots for the smooth ride; thank you! They do things differently at Melbourne Airport; we get our bags before going through customs. Unfortunately, due to the Manchester flight arriving simultaneously, we had about a 45-minute wait at the border while they worked through the number of passengers; kudos to them for their hard work getting us through! Once we were through, we walked through the TUI welcome area and got our coach. Here are a few pictures.

Finally, we have arrived! Check-in was a breeze, and the guy serving us was super helpful; he pointed us to our room, although we did get lost a bit! We are in the continental building with a poolside view. We put our bags away, changed into more summery attire and explored the hotel a bit. Here is a room tour!

Overall, we are impressed with the room and should feel comfortable for the week. It’s a nice big room, and the bed seems comfortable. After we settled in, it was time for dinner; we headed downstairs and grabbed our unlimited drink refills (they had a Halloween one, which, of course, I had to get!) And we both decided we were going to have pizza! Here’s some pictures

At this stage, we were both tired and headed back to the hotel for a rest and sleep. Jet lag is real! Tomorrow, we are having a chill day, plus a Wal-Mart trip for our stock-up for the week! I will be blogging tomorrow, too! See you tomorrow.

Welcome to our pre-travel day! Today we head to Gatwick Airport and get our self checked in at the hotel we are staying at! Honestly I am surprised at how quickly it has appeared! I finished my last shift last night and am so ready for my holiday. Here are a few pictures of our final pack this morning!!

We had a pre-drive McDonald’s and a bon voyage meal! I paid to thank Dad for driving us!

Shortly after lunch, we had to leave Chelmsford and head to Gatwick! Dad agreed to drive us there, so shout out to my Dad for the lift. Gatwick was more confusing than Heathrow, which is saying something! We got lost trying to find our hotel, but due to work, they had moved the entrance to the car park, so that was fun!

Finally, we had arrived at Gatwick. We had a bit of a walk to our hotel, but we got there in the end! After we checked, we decided to do a dry run for tomorrow as we had an early flight, so we went around the terminal, finding where we had to go. Firstly, we found the Tui area; secondly, we found the premium security part and then headed back. We are now ready for the morning! Here are a few pictures and a room tour!

With us settled in, it was time for dinner. There wasn’t much choice at the hotel, so we sought a restaurant in arrivals. It was a nice place called The Nicholas Culpeper. It had a friendly indie vibe, and the food was fantastic.

The food was excellent. It was fresh, and it was lovely. With that, we retired to our hotel room to prepare for tomorrow’s travel day. Our flight leaves at 10:10 am tomorrow, so an early get up, 05:30! We need plenty of time to grab breakfast at the hotel and head to check in to put our bags on the plane. Plus, there is an 08:00 premium slot to get through security. It is going to be a long day tomorrow!

We are both looking forward to and excited for our holiday. Add to the nerves we both feel! Join us tomorrow for Day 1 travel day! Thanks for reading.