Moving the Kidult to the House of the Mouse

[Katie]

Epcot, cont.

Werther's sponsors the sweets area in Germany, so there were many caramel delights to be bought.





A bit more than a year earlier, Mumma Katie and I were in Ruedesheim and had the local coffee with Asback liquer. My friend in Germany commented that her Oma used to have these choccies and she hated the taste of them.


I also sent a bunch of photos from the China pavillion to my friends in Germany, as they used to live in China.

At some point during the day, I became really cynical (and perhaps a bit of a travel snob!) about the world showcase at Epcot. I'd heard people rave about the pavillions, and we hadn't really gone into them before. There are sometimes some things to learn about the country/region being represented, but overall it felt like a lot of shops/merchandise, even if was a little cultural or informational. It really felt like it was aimed at Americans would never have a passport and they could still get souvenirs from countries they would never visit. Hmm. Though maybe I should be less snobby and recognise that as a valid market?

The Epcot Food and Wine festival was starting a week or so after we left, much to Mr Katie's chagrin. I think he'd enjoy it (but also my snobby/cynical side feels some of the food and wine are not that exciting and really catering to local tastes - which is valid, but not exciting for someone who considers themself a foodie). So, we saw the stands getting ready, and some of the signage was up.


The Kidult tried the pavlova last week, she wasn't a fan. She said there was "too much going on". Given she refuses to eat my pav at Christmas - and I'll do a deconstructed option so everyone can build the toppings - or lack of toppings - they prefer, I wasn't too surprised she thought it was too much.

More food and wine signs, featuring the Aussie lamb chop!


After this, we had some chill out time in the cafe/restaurant where Starbucks is, followed by riding Guardians of the Galaxy. We were in line for a good hour and a bit. The Kidult checked out some pin trading, I didn't drag the fam to Club Cool to try soft drinks (it's a Coca Cola sponsored area, and many many people complain about the Beverly soft drink, which is a chinotto-style drink, marketed as a non-alcoholic apertif and was made for the Italian market). Phew, that sentence was too long!

Test Track didn't open up again, so we sadly made our way out of the park. As we were leaving, I saw a short line with a photographer, so lined up. We were having to say goodbye - no, it's see you real soon - at this point, as the Kidult started her Traditions session at 8:30am the next morning, and wouldn't be done before we had to be at the airport. I started to get a bit choked up in the few minutes before we had to say goodbye, but Mr Katie was, well, feeling much much more emotional.



The poor photographer, we didn't have a chance to warn her that we were saying goodbyes. She handled it very well; gently said "is this the last time you're seeing each other for a while?" or something like that, and we explained. She welcomed the Kidult to the world of magic making.

The Kidult was actually VERY surprised at her parents' reactions and was completely fine. We had another quick goodbye as we went to different buses, the Kidult was heading to Hollywood Studios to use her Lightning Lane on the Tower of Terror (remember that monorail issue I mentioned earlier, yes, I finally got back to that detail).

There she goes ...


Back at our room, we looked at the Tower of Terror and tracked her using "Find My" so we were watching around the time she would have been riding. Not obsessed at all.

Then, it was time to pack up our bags and get ready to fly home the next day.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Aww, very sweet. I'm enjoying my virtual trip to Disney World too

 

[Flyfrequently]

Your farewell hug got me all teared up @Katie

 

[Katie]

After packing, we went up to the top floor of the tower for dinner at Toledo. We didn't have a reservation, there was maybe a 15 min wait and we were asked to check back at the desk. I had forgotten - at the Maya Grill the previous night, the servers at the front desk insisted I must give them a phone number, even though we were walking straight into a table. I said it was ludicrous, because I didn't have a US number (just used roaming as needed this trip). No, I absolutely had to give them a number. So I did. At Toledo, they were much more sensible, and didn't insist on taking a number.

We popped into the Dahlia lounge for a pre-dinner drink while we waited. We sat at the lounge at the end that you can see in the pic on that link!
The lounge had a lovely atmosphere and great views - there aren't many places this high around Disney that aren't the top of ride! There was also an outdoor area with seats and lounges.

I think I got an Aperol Sprtiz and Mr Katie got something with gin, and apparently a rosemary garnish.



I really liked the dandelion chandeliers


Just when I was trying to find out server to pay, someone from the restaurant came through calling my name. Great timing!

My dinner was salmon


Followed by a Basque cheesecake for dessert



We enjoyed our dinner. It was rather busy with varied groups - families, adults-only, date nights.

 

[Katie]

Friday, It's time to go

Last Orlando sunrise, this is at about 7:30am


My BFF enjoyed her armchair. That contraption next to her is the "Hey Disney" device, powered by Alexa. It's handy for setting an alarm and some other things, but doesn't have amazing radio or music access. I remember the music selection being very similar to what we played in 2024 in our room.


I know a bunch of people around the US (and other parts of the world, but mostly in the US) due to the professional association I used to be involved with. One of my friends retired to Orlando from Houston in 2020, and we met up with him for breakfast at Keke's Breakfast Cafe.

Yes, I had the chicken and waffles. They sauce/syrup had a bit of a kick to it.


We chatted for ages, until Mr Katie and I had to go and pick up a new radiator for his car (1996 Mustang). Glad we had a car and plenty of luggage allowance to go home, although it was just a box and wasn't too heavy.

John Young parkway, not long after Johnny Young passed away. We didn't spontaneously burst into singing All My Loving.


I guess a sign advertising free STD checks is a change from all the law firm signs and church signs ... Oh, Florida.



A couple of curious things with our hire car - the driver would get feedback through the seat, like haptics, but in the seat. Mr Katie was perturbed! The rear view camera also made us feel like we were on the magic Night Bus (Harry Potter) and squeeeeezing through small spaces.

This was a normal sized car space, but it looks like a motorcycle space.



We stopped at a Publix on our way to the airport. I send some pics to the Kidult, and I appreciated their signage for Gluten-Free items. The purple dot on the price tage indicates the item is GF.


The ride to the airport was fine, but we ended up driving all through it trying to get to a petrol station. Filled up, back to Avis, dropped off the toll tag, and then it was time to check in with AA.

I'd pre-booked Mr Katie's spot in the security line, something unique to Orlando, I think. The queues there can be over an hour long and I had TSA Precheck.

We made our way to the gates, and slowly to the AA Lounge. It's small and two storeys and not exciting, but we got seats and some food before our ~1hr flight to Miami.

A tasty chicken something.

It was hot leaving MCO, and it showed in the plane during boarding.


We were flying MCO-MIA-LAX-SYD-BNE. Via MIA just worked better with departure times than through DFW. IIRC, there wasn't anything direct that really worked for us.

However, when we got to MIA there were TripIt alerts that our MIA-LAX flight was delayed. We got up our steps walking to the Flagship Lounge, enjoyed some bubbles and waited. More alerts, more delays, now our MIA-LAX flight was looking like it would be landing maybe 15 mins before QF12 took off. That was not going to work. There was a later flight that was on time but getting in earlier than our flight, and the AAngel in the Flagship lounge was able to get us on there, and a message to the luggage team to redirect our luggage.

Unfortuntely, we lost our carefully selected row 8 seats. At first the Aangel had us in an exit row, but I asked for as close to the front as possible so we could get off quickly. I think we were due to arrive at 10:25 and boarding for QF12 was starting 15 or so mins later.
We managed to grab a shower, as it was clear we wouldn't have time for it in LAX. While we didn't shower together, I helped the cleaning team out by showering after Mr Katie without them needing to clean the shower room.

I ended up in a middle seat for MIA-LAX, while Mr Katie had the window on the other aisle. I didn't bother trying to swap seats with the other middle person or ask the window seat next to me to move over. The lady in the aisle next to me didn't want to stand up when both myself and Ms window arrived, so we both had to climb over her. Luckily she changed her mind later in the flight and stood up.

Bizarrely, one of the FAs insisted we could not have any hand luggage under the seats in front of us because we were at a bulkhead. I get that if the bulkhead actually stops you from accessing under the seats in front, but with this one, our things were under the seat, not at our feet.
To add to the annoyance, no such demand was made for landing.

We landed about on time, the row behind me were all on flights to Sydney, two young women on the AA flight, and one guy on the QF flight. There wer other pax in the plane connecting through, too. We let the girls on AA jump ahead, as its departure time was pretty much when we landed.
Luckily we arrived into TBIT, at the gate at the southern end of the terminal.
We saw the young women at the AA flight gate and the doors were closed.

We got up to the gate for QF12, Mr Katie had a little wander and I just stood in the huge long line for J, OWE, etc pax. It's always amusing at LAX with this queue, as some people don't realise there's about 80 pax in J alone, and then status holders queuing up ... a few people always come along, assuming most of the people queuing are plebs and can't possibly be in Business. Or one lady just refusing to get to the back of the queue and waiting to jump in when boarding's announced.

We had both scored upgrades to J from Y+, so luckily for me not a repeat of my awkward upgrade on the way over.

Brekky order. Again I managed to order jam, but nothing to put the jam on.


I was happy to be in an A seat, but so far back I was almost in Y+. Mr Katie was across the row from me.


Supper service


Chicken curry something. Tasty enough.



I much prefer the flights ex-Aus with the Pepe Saya packets of butter - because I can warm the butter between my hands before trying to spread it!!


Dessert was maybe a white chocolate moussey thing


Brekky pancakes. I guess the FAs don't ask questions like "you ordered jam but no pastries/toast, do you want some?" Maybe they thought it was for the pancakes.


Getting close to Sydney

Immigration at SYD was a cough show as usual.

We were standing at the carousel in Sydney, when on a whim, I checked my Air Tags to see if our bags had made the flight to SYD ... computer says No.


So we went to the luggage counter to raise an issue with delayed luggage. While in the queue, which didn't move at all, I found a way to do it through the app. Great, I thought, this will save time.

BIG MISTAKE. HUGE.

We make our way to the domestic airport, pop into the lounge, act like Hobbitses and have second brekky and second coffees. Flight home to BNE wasn't worthy of photos apparently. It was a chockers flight. I think the snack was a caramel slice, super sweet.

Our house sitters picked us up and took us home. So nice!

The dog was very happy to see us.



The luggage eventually got home two days later!!!
LAX luggage sent it on the Sat night flight to BNE. Luggage arrived in BNE on Mon morning. I noticed it move to an odd spot in the Intl terminal , with no update from QF. I call the call centre. They send a "message to the luggage handling" team. Sigh. I can't call directly.

Raising the luggage issue in SYD meant it had a SYD code, so despite me filling out the Brisbane delivery address and the bags being taggged to BNE, the BNE Intl staff sent it to SYD.
SYD staff were a bit more cluey, and sent it right back to BNE that night. I was asleep by then.

Early on Tuesday, I got a text message from BNE luggage handling advising the bags would be delivered that day. PHEW.
Yes, it's always best to have luggage delays on the way home, but crikey this was annoying.

We've been home for about 4 weeks now. The Kidult is doing well, had some epic cooking fails (a full packet of stock cubes into the cottage pie ...!), but is managing well, had some more cooking wins, getting to work on time, doing all her adulting, and it looks like she's spending at least part of every day off in the parks. Or going to the park before she starts work to ride in her civvies before getting her costume on. She feels bad for not missing us, but I'll take that over a homesick kiduly who isn't coping.
With timezones and distance, we can't help with a lot of her problems, if/when they occur, so this is a great learning and growing experience. Super proud and looking forward to our Disney World Christmas.