After an uneventful flight we arrived back at a damp and grey Gatwick at 8.45 this morning. Picked up the cars and came back to ours for a nap/rest before Mum and Dad drove back to Poole with Chloe and Stewart.
It's been a lovely couple of week and I really wish we could have brought the weather back with us!
Tuesday 26 October 2010
Monday, last day report - Disney Quest
Ok, here it is, our last day. We got up a bit earlier this morning and finished off the packing before saying goodbye to our villa and driving to Downtown Disney to drop our cases off with the Virgin Atlantic staff who set up a reception area there. Then it was off to breakfast as Perkins.
We then headed back to Downtown Disney to spend some time at Disney Quest. We had not done this before and it was great fun.
From there we drove north towards the airport and stopped off for a (lightish!) meal at Denny's. Then it was on to the airport to drop the car off and do some last minute shopping in the Disney and Universal shops in the terminal building.
Our plane left about 7.50, so we settled down to a long night.
We then headed back to Downtown Disney to spend some time at Disney Quest. We had not done this before and it was great fun.
It is more or less 5 floors of computer and interactive gaming rides, including a virtual reality laser gun fighting game, a 3d Pirates adventure where Mum and I captained the ships and the others were our gunners/cannon firers, and unlimited free computer games like Guitar Hero, driving games, Air Hockey tables and loads of other stuff. We stayed for about 4 hours and still hadn't seen everything.
From there we drove north towards the airport and stopped off for a (lightish!) meal at Denny's. Then it was on to the airport to drop the car off and do some last minute shopping in the Disney and Universal shops in the terminal building.
Our plane left about 7.50, so we settled down to a long night.
Monday 25 October 2010
Last day - Disney Quest
Report on last day to follow tomorrow hopefully. Now 6.55pm, sat in departures looking at our aeroplane. All very sad! Still hot here hope its not too cold in the morning when we land (about 9am). See you all soon
Linda
Linda
Sunday - Seaworld revisit
OMG - our last full day :(
Another morning swim today before breakfast, even Grandad got in for a quick swim today!
We had breakfast at Shoney's this morning, another buffet style breakfast bar, they did some lovely scrummy churros and some little flan cases that you filled with your own fruit filling as well as all the normal bacon, sausage, pancakes etc...
We decided to revisit Seaworld today as we didn't manage to do all the attractions last time. We got there around lunch time and headed straight to the next Sealion show. The mime artist before the show was hilarious taking the mickey out of all the people arriving in the last ten minutes before the show, all the more funny 'cos most of them didn't even realise what everyone was laughing at!
The show itself was great, even the trainers ended up laughing as the sealions weren't doing what they were supposed to be (think they may have changed the show recently!).
As we walked round to Wild Arctic the path we were walking along had been set up for their Halloween Spooktacular where at weekends they have some people dressed as strange sea like creatures for photo opportunites and also stands set up for trick or treat (although you don't have to do anything just carry the provided bag and get sweets from each station). The kids ended up with loads of stuff! They'll probably all be hyper by the time we get the plane tomorrow :)
We finally got to Wild Arctic and Sarah, Chloe, Stephen, Grandad and I took the helicopter simulator to base camp while the other walked!! It was a bumpy ride as we nearly got caught in a storm and an avalanche! When we got out we saw the Beluga Whales (hilarious as everyone was saying the were playing or fighting - hmmm that's definitely not what they were doing hee hee! Education of a slightly different kind than anticipated!) Also saw a very sleepy polar bear and a couple of huge walruses (had a great view of these and these and the Belugas from the underwater viewing area.
Grandma then took Chloe to feed the dolphins (we all thought this was a bit too expensive but as the others had done it before it was decided that just Chloe and Grandma would do it while the rest of us waited on the opposite side of the pool to take photos/videos of them.
We were going to leave then but Stephen was desparate to have a last ride on Kraken so with a 20 min wait, he, Sarah, Chloe and Keith went on while the rest of us found somewhere shady to sit and wait.
We ended up leaving the park just after 5 and headed back to the 192 for an early dinner at a Chinese Buffet.
We had promised the kids another game of crazy golf so we did the Jungle Golf opposite the chinese restaurant before heading back the to villa for the kids to swim and us to pack the cases.
Don't want to come home, the weather here is fantastic (altho probably a little too hot during the middle of the day).
Probably going to do Disney Quest after dropping our cases of tomorrow morning.
Hope everyone well.
Linda X
Another morning swim today before breakfast, even Grandad got in for a quick swim today!
We had breakfast at Shoney's this morning, another buffet style breakfast bar, they did some lovely scrummy churros and some little flan cases that you filled with your own fruit filling as well as all the normal bacon, sausage, pancakes etc...
We decided to revisit Seaworld today as we didn't manage to do all the attractions last time. We got there around lunch time and headed straight to the next Sealion show. The mime artist before the show was hilarious taking the mickey out of all the people arriving in the last ten minutes before the show, all the more funny 'cos most of them didn't even realise what everyone was laughing at!
The show itself was great, even the trainers ended up laughing as the sealions weren't doing what they were supposed to be (think they may have changed the show recently!).
Next stop was the Shark Encounter, we stopped outside to look at some of the smaller sharks and rays in a pool outside the main area, then we headed inside where you walk through huge glass tunnels with sharks swimming above and beside you. I liked the sawtooth shark.
As we walked round to Wild Arctic the path we were walking along had been set up for their Halloween Spooktacular where at weekends they have some people dressed as strange sea like creatures for photo opportunites and also stands set up for trick or treat (although you don't have to do anything just carry the provided bag and get sweets from each station). The kids ended up with loads of stuff! They'll probably all be hyper by the time we get the plane tomorrow :)
We finally got to Wild Arctic and Sarah, Chloe, Stephen, Grandad and I took the helicopter simulator to base camp while the other walked!! It was a bumpy ride as we nearly got caught in a storm and an avalanche! When we got out we saw the Beluga Whales (hilarious as everyone was saying the were playing or fighting - hmmm that's definitely not what they were doing hee hee! Education of a slightly different kind than anticipated!) Also saw a very sleepy polar bear and a couple of huge walruses (had a great view of these and these and the Belugas from the underwater viewing area.
Grandma then took Chloe to feed the dolphins (we all thought this was a bit too expensive but as the others had done it before it was decided that just Chloe and Grandma would do it while the rest of us waited on the opposite side of the pool to take photos/videos of them.
We were going to leave then but Stephen was desparate to have a last ride on Kraken so with a 20 min wait, he, Sarah, Chloe and Keith went on while the rest of us found somewhere shady to sit and wait.
We ended up leaving the park just after 5 and headed back to the 192 for an early dinner at a Chinese Buffet.
We had promised the kids another game of crazy golf so we did the Jungle Golf opposite the chinese restaurant before heading back the to villa for the kids to swim and us to pack the cases.
Don't want to come home, the weather here is fantastic (altho probably a little too hot during the middle of the day).
Probably going to do Disney Quest after dropping our cases of tomorrow morning.
Hope everyone well.
Linda X
Sunday 24 October 2010
Saturday - EPCOT
A leisurely start today, a swim in the pool first followed by breakfast at Ponderosa (was going to IHOP but the queue was really long).
We got to EPCOT about 12 and made our way through Future World to the World Showcase. Here there are 11 countries represented around the lake. We started at Mexico, where we did a boat ride with Donald Duck. All the countries have buildings that look as if they are from that country as well as shops selling that countries produce and all the staff in the shops are from that country too. The kids stopped at the KidCot station where you get a "Duffy on a stick" to colour in (Duffy is the Disney Bear apparently - think it must be a new idea not seem him before!) and then in each country they put a stamp on the stick. Then we did Norway, China (where we watch a film all about the diversity of China's landscape and culture) and Germany.
It was really busy in the World Showcase (there were thousands of people visiting the Food and Wine Festival) and it was really hot, the sun was relentless and we reckon it got to around 90F. We decided to take a break from the showcase and left EPCOT through the International Gateway and took a boat to the Beach Club Resort (via the Boardwalk resort) where we went to the a little cafe called Beaches and Cream. They told us we would have to wait about 40 mins which we thought was too long but on taking a vote as to whether to stay or go all the kids wanted to wait. They gave us a pager and we found some chairs in the shade to wait. After about 20 mins they called us in. It is decorated like a 1950's cafe with little jukeboxes on some of the tables. The waitress was really friendly and took the mickey out of Mum after she got confused with the drinks order. We had ordered 2 "Kitchen Sinks". You should have seen the look on Stewarts face when he saw them preparing it. Each one comes in a large metal bowl with a tap and is filled with 8 scoops of ice cream (choc, coffee, strawberry and mint choc) then topped with a whole can of whipped cream, and every topping they have (Choc Brownies, Coconut Macaroon Sponge, Snickers and Mars bars, Choc chips, sprinkles and choc sauce and finally chopped with loads of cherries!). When they bring it out to you, they lower the lights and start some flashing amber lights and announce to everyone in the shop that we are about to try and eat the Kitchen Sink and list all it includes!! It was funny!
Grandma, Grandad, Chloe and Stewart just about managed to finish theirs (thanks to Stew) but we let the side down and had about a quarter of ours left over. It did actually look quite disgusting after it had started to melt and been attacked by us.
We walked back to EPCOT as it was a lot closer than we thought, stopping on the Beach at the resort for some pics first.
By the time we had stopped in a couple of shops, had the KidCot stamp for England Sarah and I were feeling exhausted and we decided that we probably wouldn't last the rest of the afternoon/evening to see the fireworks so we decided to call it a day. We did a quick stop at Canada while Stew went back with Grandma and Grandad to Mexico to do some shopping, by now it was about half 5, so we decided to head back to the villa for a swim and relax.
We went out to Denny's for dinner about 8, then came back to the villa for an early night!
We got to EPCOT about 12 and made our way through Future World to the World Showcase. Here there are 11 countries represented around the lake. We started at Mexico, where we did a boat ride with Donald Duck. All the countries have buildings that look as if they are from that country as well as shops selling that countries produce and all the staff in the shops are from that country too. The kids stopped at the KidCot station where you get a "Duffy on a stick" to colour in (Duffy is the Disney Bear apparently - think it must be a new idea not seem him before!) and then in each country they put a stamp on the stick. Then we did Norway, China (where we watch a film all about the diversity of China's landscape and culture) and Germany.
It was really busy in the World Showcase (there were thousands of people visiting the Food and Wine Festival) and it was really hot, the sun was relentless and we reckon it got to around 90F. We decided to take a break from the showcase and left EPCOT through the International Gateway and took a boat to the Beach Club Resort (via the Boardwalk resort) where we went to the a little cafe called Beaches and Cream. They told us we would have to wait about 40 mins which we thought was too long but on taking a vote as to whether to stay or go all the kids wanted to wait. They gave us a pager and we found some chairs in the shade to wait. After about 20 mins they called us in. It is decorated like a 1950's cafe with little jukeboxes on some of the tables. The waitress was really friendly and took the mickey out of Mum after she got confused with the drinks order. We had ordered 2 "Kitchen Sinks". You should have seen the look on Stewarts face when he saw them preparing it. Each one comes in a large metal bowl with a tap and is filled with 8 scoops of ice cream (choc, coffee, strawberry and mint choc) then topped with a whole can of whipped cream, and every topping they have (Choc Brownies, Coconut Macaroon Sponge, Snickers and Mars bars, Choc chips, sprinkles and choc sauce and finally chopped with loads of cherries!). When they bring it out to you, they lower the lights and start some flashing amber lights and announce to everyone in the shop that we are about to try and eat the Kitchen Sink and list all it includes!! It was funny!
Grandma, Grandad, Chloe and Stewart just about managed to finish theirs (thanks to Stew) but we let the side down and had about a quarter of ours left over. It did actually look quite disgusting after it had started to melt and been attacked by us.
We walked back to EPCOT as it was a lot closer than we thought, stopping on the Beach at the resort for some pics first.
By the time we had stopped in a couple of shops, had the KidCot stamp for England Sarah and I were feeling exhausted and we decided that we probably wouldn't last the rest of the afternoon/evening to see the fireworks so we decided to call it a day. We did a quick stop at Canada while Stew went back with Grandma and Grandad to Mexico to do some shopping, by now it was about half 5, so we decided to head back to the villa for a swim and relax.
We went out to Denny's for dinner about 8, then came back to the villa for an early night!
Saturday 23 October 2010
Friday - Hollywood Studios
In a change to the schedule due to my sickness last week, today was rearranged to do Hollywood Studios. We had a small breakfast at the villa this morning before setting off. We got to the park just after 10 and went staight to get fast passes for Toy Story Mania. We were just too late, tickets ran out as we were queueing. The normal walk on queue was showing 120 mins, we decided that was just too long. Instead we went on over to the Backlot Tour. Here they set up some volunteers to recreate a harbour attack scene (basically involves the volunteers being given waterproof clothes and then drenching them) then they send you on trams to view some of the working areas of the studios like the costume and scenery departments before you supposedly enter a set where they are filming with a tanker that explodes.
Then we found Mike and Sully and stopped for some photos. They were really funny, Stephen and Choe were very wary of Sully, I think because of his size!
Muppet Vision 3d was next. I'm not a muppet fan normally but this attraction always has me smiling with its humour and 3d effects. As we came out of there we spotted Lightning McQueen and Mater doing photos so quickly joined the queue.
We stopped for lunch, Turkey toasted sandwich, burger or chicken strips (all with fries) before joining the queue for the "Lights, Motors, Action show. This is an excellent show featuring various car scene chases and motorbikes. Stewart loves this show and video'd the whole thing!
By now the temperature was rising and Mum was not feeling too well so we found her a shady spot to sit in while we waited for the parade. This was much better than the parade they used to do here. There was lots of singing and dancing and some great characters too including woody and jessie, sully and Mr Incredible as well as lots of dancers. (no mickey, minnie etc in this one).
The parade stopped right by us and some of the characters got off the floats and joined in the dancing right in front of us. Great view.
When the show had finished we walked down to the Tower of Terror. Keith, me, Sarah and Chloe were the only ones brave enough. It was quite a short queue and the ride made us laugh. Unfortunately Rock n Roller Coaster was not running today.
When we had finished Grandma and Grandad took the girls in to see the Beauty and the Beast show while the rest of us ended up in the Sounds Dangerous studios - this ended with me and Stew getting the giggles, it was so bad, we really didn't get it at all! We all met up again
Our last ride of the day was The Great Movie Ride, which takes you back through scenes from movies over the years like Casablanca, Wizard of Oz, Alien, Indiana Jones and Wild West films.
Mum was still feeling a bit unwell and it was very hot so we decided to leave and drove up International Drive to the Sports Dominator shop cause Sarah and Stewart wanted to look at some NFL clothes. Unfortunately they didn't have what they were looking for. We also stopped for some painkillers as Mum, Sarah and Keith had headaches.
Dinner tonight was back to the Cheesecake Factory. Dad was now feeling ill so he decided to stay in the car. It was busy, we had a 20 min wait - they give you a pager so they can buzz you when your table is ready, so we had a quick look round the Mall next door before they paged us!
my tempura fish tacos
Steve chicken tender burgers
mum's pizza - she managed 3/4 of it !
Chloe had a kids cheese pizza, stew a burger, Keith had some Chicken tortillas and Sarah had the 4 cheese Pasta again with Chicken.
Back to the villa and the kids wew all playing DS games for a while before bed. Mum, Dad, Keith and I sat on the patio, Stew as most nights disappeared up to his room.
Epcot again tomorrow to do the World Showcase if we can stand the heat - due to get a bit hotter for next couple of days!
Friday 22 October 2010
Thursday - Blizzard Beach and Arabian Nights Dinner Show
New restaurant for breakfast, hoolihans. Quite nice for a change altho not sure we'd go back. Then it was time to hit Blizzard Beach. Stewart wasn't feeling too good (bit too much sun maybe!) so he decided to go with Grandma and Grandad to Animal Kingdom. We drove round to Animal Kingdom Lodge to drop them off so they could get the bus to the park then we drove to Blizzard Beach.
We got our locker keys and towel rentals and headed off to get changed.
A float around Cross Country Creek was first, it was quite busy, there was a quite a few large groups of children from DreamFlight. The group in the creek were being cared for by Charlie Dimmock from Ground Force (had been watching them for a while and thought I recognised the woman!!).
We met Lynne, Peter, Izzy and Lydia and got seated in the arena. Had a great view 6 rows up (the bench seats/tables are tiered like in a horse show arena) and we were all 12 seated in one row. Food was distinctly average, not sure how they murder carrot and broccolli sooo badly - the menu could definitely do with an overhaul. The horse show itself was brilliant, the horses were lovely and the girls (Sarah,Izzy, Lydia and Chloe) all enjoyed it. After the show we all came back to our villa for a cup of tea and a chat before they headed off to their own villa.
None of us want to come home - we are hoping for an air strike or some volcanic ash!!!!
We got our locker keys and towel rentals and headed off to get changed.
A float around Cross Country Creek was first, it was quite busy, there was a quite a few large groups of children from DreamFlight. The group in the creek were being cared for by Charlie Dimmock from Ground Force (had been watching them for a while and thought I recognised the woman!!).
We left the creek and took the chair lift up the snowy mountain to the family raft ride, Teamboat Springs. Had a couple of rides on this and then went on the Toboggan Racers. Chloe was unsure to start with, was on her mat at the top saying "I can't do this" over and over again. When the lifeguard said go we set off, its like a bumpy slide (Karen - think The Shires but on a mat on your belly head first!!).
We got to the bottom and Sarah and Stephen were desparate to do it again, Chloe agreed and this time giggled all the way down. The heavier you are the faster you go, so Chloe got a jump start on me but I overtook her and she moaned that my spray covered her! ha ha. It didn't stop her as we had a total of four go's.
We wandered into the main wave pool area where the 3 children managed to grab some rubber rings for a while. As we were leaving a man approached (bearing in mind I didn't have my glasses on!) calling my name - it was Sarah friend Izzy's Dad. We went to talk to them for a while before going back on Cross Country Creek. After a nice float round (it was much quieter now) we headed back to Teamboat Springs for another couple of rides before grabbing the cameras for a quick photo session.
(pic from internet as didn't get one from family raft ride (no disney photographers at the water parks this year :(
Then it was off to get changed as we had arranged to pick up the others at Animal Kingdom Lodge at 4pm.
We were booked to go to Arabian Nights Dinner Show with Izzy and her family and had arranged to meet them there at about 5.15. We stopped off at the local Nike store and got keith some more trainers (4 pairs now - thats it!) and a quick walk round the market on 192 (Sarah and I bought some necklaces).
We met Lynne, Peter, Izzy and Lydia and got seated in the arena. Had a great view 6 rows up (the bench seats/tables are tiered like in a horse show arena) and we were all 12 seated in one row. Food was distinctly average, not sure how they murder carrot and broccolli sooo badly - the menu could definitely do with an overhaul. The horse show itself was brilliant, the horses were lovely and the girls (Sarah,Izzy, Lydia and Chloe) all enjoyed it. After the show we all came back to our villa for a cup of tea and a chat before they headed off to their own villa.
sorry awful pic - think lynne managed to get some better ones
Mum and I had a quick swim with the kids before bed. Chloe is getting a bit more confidence but I don't think we'll manage to get her swimming properly.
Another really nice day, weather was hot again, high 80's felt hotter. Forecast for next few days is for similar (high 80'sF/30C+ - just slightly different from your weather!)
None of us want to come home - we are hoping for an air strike or some volcanic ash!!!!
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