Day Five - Typhoon Lagoon / Animal Kingdom

A bit of a long lie as the water parks don't open until 10am.  To get there we had to get the bus to Disney Springs and then change for Typhoon Lagoon.  The transport system is really efficient and this makes getting around really easy.

I have to admit that Typhoon Lagoon is one of my favourite Disney parks. We arrived just before the park opened. The first thing that struck us was the lack of a bag search or the metal detectors that are at the entrance of all the other parks. Normally on entering this water park we get a locker and then head for Katchakiddy Creek. As the kids are too big for this we went to the left hand side of the park. We were able to get some sun beds under cover by Typhoon Tilly's. We always try to get sunbeds or at least a chair undercover as it keeps our towels dry if it starts raining. (This is a real advantage as you may be on the opposite side of the park and it can take some time to get back to your stuff).  We tried to do as many of the slides as we could before the crowds started to build. As we were quite near the newest ride, Miss Adventure Falls, we started there, only a 5 minute wait.  This was a fun slide, but not the best if the day.  We then took the lazy nan river to the other side if the park and did the three slides there.  This was the first time we had done Mayday Falls and were not impressed.  It had ridges across the flow of the water (similar to sleeping policemen or speed bumps) which were very uncomfortable when you went over them. Keelhaul falls was a single rider tube slide which is similar to any number of slides that I have tried, it does however pick up a bit of speed before you exit to the pool at the bottom.  We also did the family slide, Gang Plank Falls.  This is an old favourite.

The boys went to do Kowabunga Falls.  This is a steep slide which drops you down 5 stories.  This was an exhilarating ride, but it can be a bit rough on your back and be prepared for a wedgie. Another slide we had not done before was the Crusher Gusher.  The boys did this slide and with the water jets that propel you up hill, this was our favourite slide of the day.  One good thing was we chose the line for double riders only and in front of us were three single riders.  When they got to the head of the line they were not allowed on the slide.

The girls had had an early lunch.  Once again they could have easily split the meals as the portions are quite generous.

We spent some time in the wave pool.  This is by far my favourite.  I may be getting old, but today these waves seem to be the biggest I have experienced at Typhoon Lagoon.  Every wave was greeted by a cheer.  Top tip - don't take any loose items in to the pool when the waves are on, you will loose them.  After the first wave I found a pair of sun glasses on the floor of the pool and a bandana.  As I went to hand these to a life guard I saw someone looking for a pair of prescription glasses they had lost.

Next was the lazy man river to the ice cream shops.  Family tradition is that we have a bucket of ice cream. (Literally a kids bucket, with spade, filled with ice cream).  At $13, this will do the 5 of us and is one of the few things that we would consider good value at Disney. However, as we have the dining plan, everyone had a different ice cream.

We all had another go on Crusher Gusher after lunch, taking the lazy man river to get around the park.

As we had reservations in Animal Kingdom for dinner we had to leave. We had been there 6 hours and had barely sat down (only for some food).

The transport system didn't let us down and we were soon back at the hotel to have a shower and to get changed.

As we left the hotel the daily thunderstorm started.  Needless to say the accompanying rain is torrential.   We were soaked going from the canopy at the front door to the bus station literally 50 yards away.  The rain was particularly heavy and the bus threw up some spray as it ploughed through some of the large puddles which had formed at the side of the road.  It was just before 6pm and it was like the lights had been switched off.

We arrived at Animal Kingdom and stood under the bus bays waiting for the rain to abate.  As we waited the road looked more like a river and in places rain poured off of the bus shelter like a waterfall.  We were treated to a fantastic display of lightening,  natures own fireworks display. The thunder rumbled on, with the occasional peel which was so loud (and near) that it made us jump.  Ad we waited we saw those who had decided to escape the park by making a run for it to get the bus. They were invariably soaked to the skin.  Even the Disney ponchos seemed to be unable to keep their owners dry. 

Finally the rain started to ease and for the first time the park gate became visible.  The rain was still heavy enough for us to wait a while.  It eased off some more so we went for it.  We were damp by the time we reached the entrance but at least we were not soaked.  We had a fast pass for Dinosaur, one of the few attractions still open. As the park had cleared the wait time for standby was only 10 minutes. Our next fast pass was for Expedition Everest, but this was closed due to the weather.  There were still rumbles of thunder in the area.

We had dinner reservations in the  Rain Forest Cafe, so with not much else to do we headed there.  We had a table at the very back of the restaurant.  Although quite big, it wasn't as noisy as the restaurants in Disney.  The food was good and we had a proper meal.  We had ribs and a rib, shrimp and steak combo as well as a couple of burgers.  This was followed by desert.  The total cost $160, a much cheaper option than the buffets.

One if the kids fell asleep and so we gave our River of Light fast pass a miss and headed back to the hotel and to bed.  We have an early start tomorrow.

Useless sign if the day was in Typhoon Lagoon it was by the side of a walk in pool. It read "0W NIO".  This had me baffled, until I realised I should be read from the other side. It actually read " 0M 0IN".  Two things- 1. Do you really need a sign to tell you that the depth of water is zero and 2. It was designed to be read from outside the pool, but was in a planted area where it could not be accessed from outside of the pool.  

Day Four - The Magic Kingdom

The Magic Kingdom is traditionally the first park we visit, but we have found with the jet lag it is best to take advantage to the early magic hours.

As the Magic Kingdom didn't open until 9am, we had a bit of a long lie. We were there for the park opening.  Following the suggestion given in a guide book we headed straight to the back of the park.  We got to Thunder Mountain and walked straight on.  We immediately went to check out Splash Mountain and there was only 10 minute wait.  This is a good ride to wake you up.  You don't get soaked on the ride but mist often get a good spray in the face and a wet tee shirt.

Pirates of the Caribbean was our first fast pass of the day.  We were a little delayed in getting there due to a wardrobe malfunction.  A knot that wouldn't come out. Pirates is a funny ride in that it inspired the series of movies (they should have stopped after the first).  Now the ride has been updated to reflect the movies.

We had dome time before our next fast pass so went to look in some shops, but we passed the Bear Jamboree.  It is years since we had seen this (the kids haven't seen it before) and after sitting through it we remembered why.

So back to Splash Mountain, well we had just dried off from our first ride.  That got us all damp again, but it is great fun.

We had booked lunch in probably the most popular restaurant in the park, if not the whole of Disney, Be Our Guest. When we checked in there was someone enquiring about dining, but it was fully booked.  Even with reservation we had a bit of a wait before we got into the Beast's castle.  The ordering system is fully automatic.  This caused a problem as we wanted to used our quick service credits for the meal and snack credits for dessert, so we could try the legendary grey stuff.  We ended up paying for desert.  After ordering you find a table in one of three rooms.  We headed to the West Wing.  This area isn't very big and we were lucky to get a table. The food is brought to your table in a very ornate trolley.  Very impressive, but a little Big Brother.  Once again the food was adequate.  In the West Wing you can see the rose and a picture of the prince which turns in to the beast when there is a peel of thunder. If dinning in this room, be warned that a lot of people come in to take photographs.

After lunch we passed the Aerial ride and the wait time was only 10 minutes, so we joined the queue.

As the rain was about to start we made our way to the  area, as there is a large shop their which the kids wanted to look at and it would give us some shelter. It was obviously a common place for people to grab shelter because at the doors were cast members asking everyone to move right into the shop.  The shower didn't last for very long, however one of the kids started to fell unwell and as we left the shop was sick. We asked a cast member if they could give us any medication. They directed us to the first aid point.

On the way to the first aid point, we crossed the road to the left of the castle (looking from main street). It was all set up for the parade, which had just started.  We paused on a bridge, which gave us a really good view if the parade which crossed an adjacent bridge.  Many characters in the parade waved at us as they passed, as we virtually the only ones watching from the bridge.  The mechanical dragon was especially impressive.

The first aid stop was very efficient and we got some medication, for kids, which did the trick.

Our last fast pass of the day was at the seven dwarf ride, by this point in the day the stand by queue was a wait of 3 hours.  To keep the turn over of riders high odd numbered parties were paired so that no seat was unfilled.  As a party of five we had a one of the party riding with a stranger.  However, in one of the paired rows, one if the riders in front didn't pair up as requested.  We reported this as we wanted to stick together.  The cast member sorted this for us.  But the selfish action of this one rider resulted in 6 empty seats going around the ride.  This only adds to the wait time.

After stopping for some water at Electric Rays cafe.  Top tip - many people carry bottled water, which costs $3 in the park.  However, all the quick service restaurants will give guests cups of iced water for free and you don't have to carry a bottle.  There are also numerous water fountains around the parks.

It was starting to look like it was going to rain, thunder and lightening. The foliage on the taller plants and trees became more animated.  We wanted to eat and go before the rain started.

We had booked dinner in the Crystal Palace at 5pm.  This was a character buffet, with Whinny the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eehaw.  Once again with the buffet the food was alright but nothing to write home about.  There was not a great selection, but we didn't go hungry.

After a number of these buffets, it is clear that it pretty much like eating in a canteen and not at all what I expected for table service. I am so glad we had the dining plan for free as I would be really unhappy having paid so much money for such a poor dining experience.  As each one if these have come in at $250 excluding tip (more about this later) I feel it is poor value for money.  Even the characters don't make up for this feeling.

We headed back to the hotel for a bit of a rest and then a dip in the pool.  It was clear that it had rained quite heavily at the hotel, but for once we had missed it.  We didn't get much of a rest as the kids wanted to roast marshmallows.  So down we went at 7:30pm.  The camp fire was off - due to the weather?  The pool was closed, but the life guards were all there tidying up the pool and its surroundings.  I asked and they do this before opening the pool.  We had a little wait but at last we made it into the pool.  The good thing about this time of night was that the pool was quite and the ground didn't burn your feet.

What happens when "The Man" makes the rules?  In this case Disney is "The Man".  I have complained before in this blog that as far as Disney is concerned when you hit 10 years of age you are considered an adult.  This applies to the cost of entry and all "children's" menus are for under 10.  Tonight, reading the pool rules it stated that "Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult".  Is it me?

Day Three. - Epcot

The alarm woke us at 6:30am as we were heading out to Epcot at 7:30am.  We had breakfast booked at 8:10am in the Anker Haus Restaurant. This was well set up as one of our concerns was getting there on time.  There was someone on the gate to check for breakfast reservations. We were then given priority entry, so were first into the park. We had to go the long way around. We entered via the International Gate, but the World Showcase doesn't open until 11am. We had to go to Norway via the UK, Canada and Mexico.

This was an all you can eat buffet. We had a table in the Tower. This had only four tables, so it was really quite. The arrangement was a little strange as we were directed to the cold food and the hot food would be brought to the table later. For me this is the wrong way round. I like to have hot food and then the cold (as this involves generally sweet offerings).  The selection was not as wide as we had in Hollywood Studios.  The hot food consisted on small sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs and cheese and potato pie.  We asked about vegetarian food and was offered a hash brown, but this was more like a potato rosti. Although not offered we asked for waffles and as a result got some Mickey Waffles with maple syrup. 

The cold food consisted of a selection of fruit, cold meats, cheese, breads and some sweet pastry.  My personal favourite was the iced cinnamon buns.  There was coffee and a good selection of soft drinks. During breakfast our table was visited by a selection of Disney princesses and they had a parade around the tables with all the young princesses having breakfast.  The only downside to the breakfast was that 5 of us were on two small tables only really suitable for 4. It would have been fine for a regular meal, but for a buffet we quickly ran out of space. We had our 5 plates, cups and beakers as well as assorted cutlery and then three plates of cooked food came out and there was no where to put them. At no point did any of the servers consider removing any of the used crockery.

We had a fast pass for later in the day for the new Frozen ride, but our server informed us that it was open and we could get on pretty much straight away.  This we did and freed up a fast pass.

Our next ride was on Mission Earth.  We had a leisurely stroll, going against the tide as the main entrance was now fully open.  Having deviated from our plan we were winging it. We decided to watch the Disney \ Pixar short movies which was part of a festival.  These were excellent. The first was a Mickey Mouse adventure, the second was about a young sand piper and the third about a stray dog that was adopted.

The next stop was the Universe of Energy with Ellen.  This is probably our last visit where this will be here. Unfortunately, tiredness caught up with me and I slept through the ride.

We had time to kill before our next fast pass so spent a little time looking through the shops.  This had the added advantage of us getting out of the heat for  a little while.  We went to meet Mickey, Minnie and Goofy. Lots of pictures with the characters.

Lastly we headed to France to play the Agent P game. These are really clever games based around Perry the platypus from Pheneus and Ferb.  This used to be played on smart phones which were given to players, but now you need to bring your own.  We played on a tablet with Wi-Fi.  There are six adventures to play each based in a different country of the World showcase.

On the way to start the game we took in the O' Canada 360° film show.  We then looked through the shops in the UK, to see what was on offer. I looked at a tartan scarf and was horrified to find in was made in China.

Finally, we arrived in France.  Time for a snack in the excellent patisserie. Then on with the game.  We were given a set of clues and sent to various locations around France. At each one there is some form of interaction. It is really cleverly done and most of the people in the area have no idea of the game going on around them.  We went for a ice cream after successfully completing the mission.  I had the rather unusual cinnamon and apple crumble flavour, delicious.

Back to the hotel for some time by the pool.  Yet again we didn't make it. The thunder and lightening beat us to it.  So we had a short rest and replanned the rest of our day. We left the hotel before the rain stopped.  Destination Disney Springs. On the journey we passed a spot where some work was going on. The rain had been so torrential that it had caused a mini mudslide across the first lane of the road.  On the bus we sat towards the back and discovered a design flaw. There is an escape hatch in the roof of the bus.  With all the heavy rain water was flooding through.  The seat on either side below the hatch had puddles.

At Disney Springs we headed for Blaze Pizza. We all had individual pizzas cooked in 180 seconds. These were very tasty and fast.

Our plan had been to catch a bus directly to Epcot, but this was not an option as they don't go to the parks from Disney Springs. So we returned to our hotel (this gave us the chance to ditch the rain gear) and then onto Epcot.

We arrived just as the fireworks started. These are always amazing no matter how many times you see them.  We walked from the International Gate towards The Land.  Checking the queues on the app showed that times for Soaring had fallen as everyone was watching the fireworks.  The other thing in our advantage was there were Magic hours between 9-11pm for Disney guests.  We had our MagicBands checked to get into the building and then we walked straight onto Soaring. Personally, I have no head for heights, so this is not one of my favourite rides. I asked the cast member for the lowest row and they were happy to oblige.  On the ride I kept my eyes fixed straight ahead and I got through it.  At least I can say that I have done it.

It was getting late so we had a quick snack and took in Figment before heading for the exit. As we arrived a boat pulled up to the jetty and being tired we took the boat back to the hotel.  We would have been much quicker walking.

Day Two - Animal Kingdom

Another the early start as we are heading to Animal kingdom for the extra magical hour. There was quite a queue to get in and it was very not well organised. It was 8:11 am by the time we got in. The plan was to head straight for Pandora for Avatar Flights of Passage.  We got into the line and tried to gauge how long the wait would be. A cast member came past with an "End of Line" sign and announcing that this was the 2 hour wait point. We decided to change plan. We walked back the way we had come. By the end if the line the wait was 4 hours and this was before the official opening time. 

We headed then to the Kali River Rapids.  No queue, but then we were told Asia doesn't open until 9am. So much for this being a special magical hour. We headed for Dinosaur, but found the Expedition Everest ride open and as everyone else was at Pandora, it was dead quite. The sign said 10 minute wait. This was more a 10 minute walk to the ride. It was really great and the kids wanted to do it again, so we did. Then we went back to the Kali River Rapids, which by this time was open. Once again it was a straight on the ride. I always find this ride a gamble as you can come off a little damp or completely soaked. The decider is the fall in the ride. If you end up going down backwards you get soaked. I managed to escape just slightly damp. I wore quick drying clothes so this worked out well. One difference since the last time we were on the ride was that the bag holder in the centre was gone. Luckily I had a dry sac in my bag for the phones and such like. 

It was now time for breakfast. We headed to Starbucks. 

Harambe Village

The Harambe safari was next on our list (fast pass). Once again we had done this several times before. This is one the best times we had done the safari. Often the animals are difficult to see and inactive. Not today, they were all up and about. Even the well hidden leopard waved his tail to make himself easier to spot. 

After the safari we did the gorilla walk.  The kids love this sort of thing especially since there was a trail and badges to collect at different stations. A cast member quizzes them before giving them a badge to put in a booklet. This filled the time until our lunch reservation at the Tusker Restaurant. This was an all you could eat buffet and a major disappointment. The food was adequate but nothing to write home about. We were in a big room which was really noisy. We obviously don't have the kind if appetite to make the most of this kind of thing. Treating our kids (10 years old) as adults is just ridiculous. The total bill was $240. If not on the Dining Plan we would have been horrified by this. In the UK there is a tipping culture, but nothing like in the USA. Our bill suggested a tip of over $40. The waitress had brought us 8 drinks. That was a tip of $5 per drink, more than the cost of the drink.  I would not recommend this restaurant unless you can eat vast quantities or use it to stock up as a number of customers seemed to be doing. Some were ordering drinks and then filled mugs to go.  Cookies seemed to be a popular item to takeaway. 

Lunch over we had some time to wait before our next fast pass kicked in, so in the mean time we took in It's Tough to be a Bug. We also took the chance to get some family photographs with the Tree of Life as a backdrop.

Time then for our next fast pass, so it was back to Pandora, after our false start this morning. This time we were booked into Rivers of Na'vi  The stand by wait was 180 minutes, with the fast pass we were straight on. The ride is a boat trip through Pandora.  It was nothing special and it was always going to be difficult to capture the CGI effects of the movie in a ride. I am so glad we didn't wait 3 hours for the experience.

Last fast pass if the day was Expedition Everest.  We had done this twice but the kids really wanted to go again.

We tried to go on the dinosaur ride but there was a technical problem and the wait was an hour. We just went straight to Everest. 

We were hot, sticky and tired so decided it was a good point to call it a day and head back to the hotel. 

After a short rest it was time to cool off in the pool. We got ready and headed down to the foyer. On leaving the building it was clear that the pool was being cleared. This could only mean one thing and sure enough a few minutes later came the thunder and lightening followed by the rain.

This wasn't a passing shower, it was torrential and kept going for a good couple of hours. We went back to our room to formulate our new plan. We headed to Disney Springs for something to eat. The choice was burgers or pizza. We opted for the burgers in the Deluxe Burger Shack. They were delicious, I had the BBQ Burger. This on its own counted as a quick meal, along with a soft drink. 

There was some evidence of flooding on the route to Disney Springs, which shows how bad the rain was. 

We had a wander around a few of the shops, before heading back to the hotel. 

Bed by 10pm.

Day One - Hollywood Studios

Not too unexpectedly we are awake at around 4:30am. (This equates to 9:30am in the UK). We are due in Hollywood Studios at 8:05am for a character breakfast. Waking early gives us a chance to unpack and organise our luggage. The room, thankfully had plenty of storage for all our stuff.   We had a cup of coffee and watched the Disney channels on the large screen TV.  We were too early to take advantage of the refillable cups as the Market Place did not open until 6:30am.  As the previous day had been long and tiring we freshened up with a shower before getting dressed.  We checked our options for getting to Hollywood Studios and after looking on the Internet for the route decided to walk.  We did have plenty of time.

The Lighthouse at the Yacht Club at daybreak

We left our room at about 7:15am and made our way through the hotel to the back door.  The sun was only just making an appearance on the day.  We made our way around the lake in semi-darkness.  The sun came up behind the Lighthouse and gave a fantastic view in silhouette.  We crossed the bridge, decorated to look like two ships passing and then bore right past the Boardwalk.  We were walking along the banks of the river that lead to Hollywood Studios.  On the opposite bank was the Dolphin Hotel.  This is a huge hotel.  As we walk along the sun is rising and in the river we see numerous fish, some of them quite large.  In the water, terrapins can be seen swimming alongside the fish.  The air is warm, but the day has not yet developed the humidity which make it uncomfortable. We walk under a concrete flyover.  The railing which separated us from the river has disappeared to be replaced by grass edging and reeds on the river bank. A sign appears in the river bank warning of snakes and alligators.  It is the most compelling "Keep off the grass" sign I have ever seen.  On our left is the car park and bus station for Hollywood Studios and on the right is the unmissable sight of the Tower of Terror.

The Tower of Terror

We arrive at the park about quarter of an hour before it is due to open.  We need to clear security, which is now a two stage process.  The first is the bag search, which we were accustomed to (from our 2015 visit), but now there is also a metal detector stage.  This stage is selective in that not everyone has to go through the detector.  This second stage involves passing your bag around the detector, placing all metal objects in trays and then passing through the detector.

Having cleared security, we join a sizeable queue.  Although the park opens at 8am, this is a magic hour and is only available to guests staying at Disney Resorts.  A cast member comes through the queue to check for those booked in for breakfast.  She checks the Magicbands to ensure there is no hold ups and guests can get to the restaurants on time.  Our bands and checked and all is good.

With about 5 minutes to go before the park opens the crowd get to go through the gate where the Magicbands are checked.  The park is still not open and you can only get partially up Hollywood Boulevard before the route is blocked.  The Chinese Thearter stands majestically at the end of the road.  At last the park opens and veer to the left to the Hollywood and Vine restaurant.  As the sun has risen the temperature has as well and not being used to this it is good to sit in the shade outside the restaurant as we wait to be called to our table.  This was an "all you came at buffet", character breakfast.  The characters were all from Disney Junior shows (Doc McStuffins, Jake, Handy Manny, etc.).  The kids have outgrown these programmes, but we're still glad to meet the characters.  We had chosen this breakfast because of the time.  As we were yet to fully adjust to the time, this was equivalent to lunchtime in the UK and we had not had that much to eat the previous day.   The selection for breakfast was very good.  There was a good selection of cooked food; bacon, sausage patties, scrambled eggs, potatoes, etc., there was Mickey waffles, pancakes and various pastries, toast.  There was various cereals (Fruit loops went down well), fruit and lost of other goodies.  The server brought copious amounts of fruit juice, chocolate milk and coffee. Given the amount of food on offer it is no surprise that we all over indulged and felt full when we were finished.  The next stage was the bill.  Receipts needed signing, but I could not really figure out why? as we were on the meal plan.  This had previously been confirmed using the Magicband and the PIN number that we had set. I think the main reason for the bill is for the gratuity (tip).  My thoughts on this could be a blog entry in its own right.  It seems that the tip goes to Disney, being put on our room.

After we left the restaurant we still had some time before the park opened to the public.  We headed towards Star Tours ride. This was the first fast pass of the holiday and we shouldn't have bothered.  The wait time was 10 minutes, which was mostly taken up with the walk from the entrance to the ride.  This is one of the ride I really like. The flight seems so real, yet you barely move.

After finishing the ride we exited to the retail experience of Star Wars memorabilia. This shop is actually quite good fun as there are many different Star Wars hats and ears to try on and this is a great photo opportunity| Once we had our fill of trying the headgear on we left the shop.

We headed next to the 3D Muppet film.  It was still early, so we had the luxury of choosing where we sat in the theatre.  Normally, you have to move all the way to the right and fill all seats, however there was so few people around that we sat in the centre of the row.  When the show finished we left the theatre.  In previous visits you could take a right turn and see Phineas and Ferb, around the corner was Lightening McQueen and then the backlot scenes.  This then led to the arena where the stunt car show took place.  All this area was fenced off.  Our only option was to head to the Muppet shop, but this had not yet opened.

The next stop was the Great Movie Ride (before this is closed as well) but this had just opened as had the park to the general public.  The queue was really long, so we decided to leave this for another day.

Our next fast pass was Toy Story Mania, but we had time to kill.  As we passed the Little Mermaid show was about to begin and there was not much of a queue we went in.  This was a refreshing break from the heat.  Although we had seen these before the kids don't remember them all.

Toy Story Mania is always good fun and is very competitive, as to who can score the highest. 

Rock n' Roll Rollercoaster featuring Aerosmith

Last fast pass of the day was for the Tower of Terror, but as I have no head for heights I went off to the Rock n'  Rollercoaster as a single rider.  I love this kind of rollercoaster as it is pretty dark and you cannot see how high you are so the fear of heights is not a problem.  I also love the acceleration at the start of this rollercoaster, 0 -60 mph in less than 3 seconds.  There are three inversions on the ride, two of which are obvious but I had to concentrate for the third.  I came off the ride with a large grin on my face.  This is my favourite ride in Disney World.

This was enough for our first day as we were still tired from our journey the previous day.  We made our way to the park exit. There was a boat waiting at the jetty and we made our way aboard. We found a seat and settled back for the trip back to the hotel.  The boats travel at a leisurely pace and there was only one stop before ours. 

I left Hollywood Studios feeling a little disappointed. This has never been my favourite park, but at least there was a range of things to do.  At the moment it feels like half a park.  The "coming soon" illustrations for forthcoming Toy Story and Star Wars attractions did not help as I felt that we were missing out on these as well.

Bridge to Broadwalk

Disney Yacht Club Resort

As the boat pulled up to the jetty at the Yacht Club it was clear that there had been a substantial downpour, yet we had seen no rain. As we walk along the walkway it was also obvious that Storm'along Bay, the swimming pool area, was closed. We had returned to go for a turn in the pool.

A slight change of plan.  We loaded up with free refills and headed to our room for a short rest. We waited about half an hour, got our swimming things together and headed for the pool.  The pool was exclusive to guests from the Yacht and Beach Clubs and you needed a Magicband check to gain entry.  An additional wrist band was issued so that you could leave the pool area without having the band check to re-enter.  To refer to this area as "the pool" is doing it a great disservice.  There were actually several pools and this was more of a mini-water park.  There was a shallow pool with a sandy area, a lazy man river (very slow and very deep), two spas, and a large free form pool with a whirl-pool.  There was also a separate smaller pool at the bottom of the water flume.  This was shaped like a shipwrecked galleon.   The pool area can hold up to 1200 people, but was never that busy.  Getting a sun bed was never a problem although choice was limited if you wanted one with some shade.  The water was a lovely temperature and the bottom was covered in sand.  This was quite peculiar and took a bit of getting use to.  As with all Disney pools it was well equipped with kids floatation aids and life guards.  After a while in the pool, the breakfast had worn off and it was time for something to eat.  By the pool is Hurricane Hannah's Grill & Bar.  The bar was constantly busy, but we went to the grill for a quick service meal.  While eating we were visited by the ducks that seem to line in and around the pool.  After eating we spent a little more time in the water before calling it a day. and returning to our room.

In the early evening we went for a walk up to the Epcot International gate.  We wanted an idea if time, as we had an early breakfast booked in a couple of days time.  Most of the party then headed back to the room and to bed. The others went to the Camp Fire activity.  There is a fire pit and you can roast marshmallows. This is all provided free and it is one of the elements that I feel makes staying at a Disney resort worthwhile.  It was interesting to watch the adults advising the kids on how to roast the marshmallows.  There are a number of safety rules which need to be followed, but the one of interest was that if the marshmallow catches fire you blow it out like a candle (rather than wave it about at the end of the roasting stick).  I would have thought there would have been some advice on how to go about roasting the marshmallow, but no.  The adults, most of whom were American, didn't seem to have much of a clue either.  I, misguidedly, thought that this would be a common activity.  Most of the kid were advised to put the marshmallow near a flame.  The end result was a marshmallow on fire and a lump of carbonised marshmallow.  These were all eaten.  The secret to roasting a marshmallow is to place it near some embers (just the same as barbequing).  My daughter had golden brown toasted marshmallows. She was bemused that no-one else seemed to know what to do.  We finished the marshmallows and headed back to the room.

Time for bed and it was only 8:30pm.

Day Eight - Premium Outlets \ Animal Kingdom

Today we escaped Disney for some retail therapy and headed to the Premium Outlet on Vine Road. As the sky was overcast this seemed like a good day to hit the shops.  We got the bus from the hotel to Disney Springs and then a taxi from there to the Premium Outlets.

Upon arrival we headed straight to the Disney Outlet shop.  The offerings here are much cheaper than the parks.  Much of the merchandise is out of date i.e. pins with 2016 on them. There is also products that obviously didn't sell (the store was full of seating pads for sitting on for the wait for parades).  Then there are the end of line items.

We browsed the shops looking for any bargain, but they seem few and far between. Or more to point there is nothing we really need.  In the end we bought a couple on items for our next adventure.  We met up with a friend who was also visiting Orlando and who we will also be seeing in Bermuda in a few weeks time. There are times when it seems like a small world - perhaps Disney was right all along.  I peeled off to a nearby supermarket, while the rest continued shopping.  It is always handy to get some snacks in.

After we all met up again it was time to return to the safe enclosure that is Disney.  It was strange to be using cash and cards after a week of just flashing your Magicband. We did a bit more looking around Disney Springs.  These new shops hold no interest, so we are looking mostly for Disney momentos. The taxi to the Premium Outlet cost $22 and on the way back only $11.  On the way we started from the Cirques de Soliel and headed down and around on to the I4.  On the way back we took the direct route along Hotel Plaza Boulevard.  Both trips were on the meter.

A brief break and a quick change and we are off to Animal Kingdom for a busy night culminating in the Rivers of Light show.  This is a new show for us as it was under construction when we visited last.

Our first ride of the day is our old favourite Expedition Everest.  The standby time is a very reasonable 25 minutes, but we had fast passes. Time for tea, I really wanted to try the flame grill barbeque, but there was no vegetarian option, so we went to Dino Land for burgers.

This worked well as when we exited there was only a 5 minute wait for the Dinosaur ride. We took the chance to do the Primeval Whirl ride.  This is not a particularly high ride, but it is high enough to make me uncomfortable. I have no head for heights.

We then made our way to Pandora for the Flight of Passage ride.  This had been really difficult to get fast passes for.  We arrived, and the first thing is a warning that this not suitable for those with a fear of heights.  I wasn't going to miss this, but if it got too bad I could always close my eyes.  The preamble builds the anticipation nicely, before the ride begins. I won't go into detail, so as not to spoil the experience.  The ride was phenomenal.  It really was an immersive experience. As for the height, well you are firmly fixed to a seat.

I am so glad we did the Pandora rides in the order we did.   The Na'vi river ride was pretty unimpressive and if taken after the Flight of Passage would have been a real anticlimax.

In the store in Pandora the must have item was a toy Banshee, like the one you ride in the Flight of Passage.  These were, pardon the pun, flying of the shelf.  At $65 each not cheap.

Pandora by night is so much better than by day.  As in the movie.  We took the opportunity to get several photographs taken by the Disney photographers.

We had a quick snack and then made our way around Africa and into Asia for the River of Light show.  The feelings on this were mixed. It probably didn't help that it was hot and sticky and by this stage we were all tired.

It was time to head for the bus to the hotel.  The bus was full of young children asleep.

Typically British obsession with the weather.  It was pleasantly warm today and quite overcast. This meant no thunderstorms.  Good weather for the kind of day we had. I hope we see some sun again.

Day Seven - Epcot

After several early starts, we had a long lie.  We decided upon breakfast in the market place in the neighboring Beach Club Resort.  This was our first foray into the Beach Club.  This seemed a much busier hotel with more families.  This backed up by the numbers getting on and off the Disney buses.  Breakfast was tasty with Mickey Waffles and bacon and a platter with sausage, bacon, egg, biscuit (more like a scone) waffle and potato.

After breakfast it was off to the pool.  The kids could play about until their hearts were content. The adults could relax and play with the kids as suited.  This lasted until 1:30pm, when the sky darkened.  There was a flash of lightening and the pool was immediately cleared. Shortly afterwards the rain started.  Back to the room for a shower and change. So we are ready to go on our next trip when the rain abates.

The thunderstorms are intense and quite spectacular.

In previous visits the thunder showers were later the day and worked out well for splitting the day.  This visit we are having to change our plans depending on what the weather is doing.  This is no real problem as there are plenty of options.

The rain has become a constant drizzle, going from being enough to need a coat (or poncho) to just putting up with it. We entered Epcot between the UK and France ( no not in the middle of the English Channel) and headed towards France.  We were off round the world.  We headed to Morocco.  There were some tasty looking offerings for snacks that were savory rather than sweet.  We bypassed Japan as we had been around earlier in this visit and we were a little peckish.  Next stop was USA where we had to try some Funnel Cake.  It was hot and stringy and covered in icing sugar.  We all dived in.  Next we went to Italy.  It was by this point that there were many people on a drink around the world challenge. A good number seemed quite young and a number were clearly celebrating their 21st and \or graduation.  Some were quite noisy and were obviously playing drinking games.  You have to wonder, if this really fits with family image that Disney portrays.  Then again the price of the drinks must make this a good earner, on top of this you have the souvenir glasses.  How long will alcohol be allowed in Epcot or will they need to impose some sort of limit to the number of drinks? The few could spoil things for the many.

After Italy came Germany.  Once again alcohol was at the forefront as this seems to be what Germany is most famous for. 

Next comes Norway, famous now for Frozen. As we had breakfast here earlier in the week we passed straight through.  On to China.  The pavilion where a the souvenirs are actually made in the country being represented. They are all considerable cheaper in the country of origin.  They had a troupe of Chinese acrobats to entertain.  The didn't have much of a space to perform in, but they were quite good.  We then took in the 360° film presentation on China.  It started in Shanghai and the tallest building on the Pudong side of the river was the ??? Tower.  This is now dwarfed by several other buildings and shows the age of the presentation.

Lastly, we went to Mexico, home of Tequila and Margaritas.  We did the ride and headed out.  The kids had wanted to try burrito, but there didn't seem to be any on offer. 

Most of our visits to Epcot so far had been after thunderstorms and Test Track had been closed.  It had been closed most of the day.  As we wandered past we could hear cars on the track above.  This was the test before the attraction being opened.  We were lucky enough to get straight in as the reopened the ride.

Our dinner reservation was in The Nine Dragon restaurant.  The meal was really good, one if the best so far on this trip.  I had the Kowloon spare ribs in hosin sauce, cabbage and noodles.

After our meal there was a short wait until the illuminations reflections of earth fireworks display.  We had read that the bridge in Italy was a good place to view the fireworks from, so we made our way there and found a spot.  As the park wasn't very busy, there were lots of spaces. This was indeed a good spot as in the distance we could see another firework display. This must have been the Magic Kingdom. Disney do spectacular firework displays.

On our way back to the hotel, we saw some of the fireworks from Hollywood Studios to the soundtrack of Star Wars.  Three displays for the price of one.

Tickets are here..

With around four weeks to go, the tickets for our Great Mickey Adventure have arrived.  The pack contains lots of addition items such as luggage tags and helpful hints book.  This makes the holiday seem all the more real and it has raised the excitement level by a few more points.

I will have to have a read of the helpful hints book to see just how useful this actually is.  The first item we saw related to the breakfast experience at the Ankerhaus restaurant as a good way to meet all the Disney princesses without having to queue.  This has been highlighted in our research, particularly on YouTube videos. Most of these videos also recommend booking the breakfast as soon as you can as it gets booked up well ahead.  We took this advice and have already booked.  Is Disney telling us this hint only four weeks before departure really helpful?  After all we have been able to make reservations at Disney restaurants for the last five months.

The other surprise was that we are entitled to $200 Disney dollars.  We thought that this would be on the Magibands for us to spend.  It seems not.  We have a voucher, which we need to cash in at customer services at Disney Springs.  As we had not planned to go there in the first few days, selecting to go to the parks to make the most of the early opening hours because of our jet lag, we will have to wait before we can take advantage of our free Disney dollars.

Thoughts on Disney.

Writing a blog about travel makes you think about a myriad of things, raising many questions.  One that struck me was "Is going to Disney World really the actions of a free sprit traveller?"  I have to confess that I was one of these people who thought that Disney was not for me.  I was very reluctant on my first visit to Disney, but I was persuaded to go.  Now I am a complete covert. I love it, but possibly not for the reasons most people would think.  I should point out that am not big on Disney movies.

Firstly travel is about new experiences and a trip to Disney is a real experience.

There are many aspects that make a Disney holiday an experience that should not be missed.  The first thing that hits you is the scale of the place.  It is huge (47 sq miles)!  But not only is it big in area, but the whole operation is phenomenally big.  The first real impression of how big things are is when you first arrive at the car park for the parks. This is also where you first realise the organisation behind the enterprise.  There is a whole army of parking attendants to guide you to your parking bay.  The car park is so large that some of the attendants get around using Segways.  There are generally "trains" then to get you from the car park to the park entrance.

The thing that you notice next is how immaculate the parks are.  They are generally spotlessly clean. The planted areas are a mass of colour and manicured within an inch of their lives.

One of my dreads before visiting Disney was the though of queuing for hours to spend two minutes in a ride.  With a judicious use of Fastpasses and getting to the parks early keeps queuing to a minimum.  But that is only half of the story. Because of the potential length of the queues there is generally a fair trek between the ride entrance and getting on the ride, Disney has provided lots to see to on the way to build up the excitement for the attraction ahead.  The amount of thought that has gone into the whole thing is amazing.  At the end of each ride is a retail experience based around the ride (not to mention to see a photograph of you on the ride, which can be yours for a not too small fee).  The range of the merchandise available beggars belief.  It all adds to the experience.

As an engineer, I really love and appreciate the work that has gone into design, manufacture and maintenance of these rides.  My favourite engineering feat is the wave machine in Typhoon Lagoon which throws out a 5 foot wave every 90 seconds.

The different themed areas of the parks are incredible and the best example of what I mean is best illustrated by Epcot - Around the World.  This is a representation of the world according to Disney.  It is all very twee.  I have visited several of the countries (and live in one) represented and they are nothing like this Disney vision.  I don't have a problem with this as I look at it as entertainment but it is interesting to see the cliched views of these countries.

The staff in the parks are, on the whole, very friendly and helpful.  It is marketed after all as the happiest place on earth.

I am also impressed that there are people there from all over the world. In researching this trip I could not believe the number of people who have blogs completely dedicated to Disney World and who are making a living from it.

Disney may not be everyone's cup of tea, but an awful lot of people love it and as I started with it is a real experience.

Disney Dining Plan.....the saga continues

We managed to book the Rainbow Cafe at Animal Kingdom after all. The only time we could book was at 8pm, but as the park is open until 10pm that evening it is not a problem.  Now there are the other six days to go.

We ended up booking T-Rex, Nine Dragons and the Correl Reef and then left a couple of days free to play it by ear (and hopefully find somewhere).

It was amazing (to me at least) that on a Monday six weeks from now there were over 40 -Disney restaurants which were fully booked.  The essence of a Disney holiday, particularly with the Dining package is clearly to plan ahead and make the bookings as early as you can.

Frozen Parade (2015)

The Disney web-site allow multiple options for searching for restaurants of all sorts.  You can search by date and time or type of meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner).  Searching by type is a slightly better option as it will give a range of times available, which may not appear if you sea have by time alone. There a numerous filters that can be applied, these also can help narrow the options down particularly if you know which location you want to search.  The search system is a little slow at times.  Sometimes links did not work and you are greeted with a picture of Stitch with the message that someone ate this page.  We suffered a number of system not working properly type messages.  But with a little bit of persistence and quite a bit of time we got there.

Magic Kingdom Parade (2015)

There were a lot of places we would have liked to have eaten at, but hay, we are only there for two weeks and as one YouTube informed us "You can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday for four months without having the same meal twice".

Past visits to see Mickey.

As the planning progresses, we spent yesterday evening looking over the video that was shot on our last visit to see Mickey in 2015. We stayed at the Riverside Resort Port Orleans.  Although not our first visit, it was the first time that we had stayed at a Disney resort.  We had a great time.  There was so much more to do and see than what had been on offer at the non-Disney hotels we had stayed in previously.  Although the holiday was more than we would have paid before we felt it was reasonably good value for money.  In previous visits we had a hire car and the cost of insurance and parking ($15 a day at that time) helped offset the additional cost of staying at Disney.  Our only regret was that we had not booked a little earlier and taken advantage of the free dining plan.  We are planning to take advantage of this this time around.  There are a number of new attractions we are looking forward to trying.  There will be some old favourites that we will miss (Shark reef and Mission Space (closed for refurbishment)).

Blizzard Beach (2015)

Night Time in the Park (2015)

Epcot (July 2015)

The videos brought back happy memories and we had a good laugh watching them.  It has whetted our appetite for our visit.

Disney Dining Plan 2....

We have planned out half of our table service meals for most of the first week.  We need to sort out the second of our two weeks.  We are starting to panic, that everything will be booked up or we will be left with poor time slots.  Tonight we sat down to have a strategy meeting to plan the rest of our meals for table service.  After an hour and a half we have only managed to make one booking.  The process is very slow.  We know our plan for the parks and where we will be on any given day.  The next step is to check our options for restaurants,  check the menu and then check availability.

Animal Kingdom (2015)

We tried to book dinner at the Rain Forrest Cafe in Animal Kingdom.  This appears to be fully booked up and we still have five weeks to go.  But then doing a search by time suggests that there are some slots at 8pm. So we head back to the booking web page and try for those slots to be given the message that there was difficulties with the booking system at the moment. A message we are getting all to familiar with.

We tried to book the T-Rex restaurant in Disney Springs (for after a day at Typhoon Lagoon),  once again no joy - no slots available.  But this was not the message we were given...oh no!  Firstly, there was there are no slots between 6 - 8pm so we tried 5pm. The reply was that there was no slots between 3 - 5pm.  So for each time we tried we were given a message back that there was no availablity in a time period.  It took us about 15 minutes to work out that there were no slots available.  One simple message telling us this would have helped save our sanity.

All was not lost, as we did manage to book a dining package with VIP seating for the parade in Magic Kingdom.

We will try again tomorrow. Only 6 more bookings to go.

Disney dining plan.

Having now limited my research on YouTube, I am now concentrating on food and the Disnay Dining Plan.  The more I have watched the more confused I am getting.  The first videos I watched concentrated were on "Is the Disney Dining Plan value for money?".  I am not sure why? as the Dining Plan was included in our booking for free.  Value for money isn't that much of an issue as making sure that we minimise the additional cost for food.  Our last visit to Disney World staying in the port Orleans Riverside we spent over £1,500 on food.  This visit we are on the standard dining plan, which gives us a table service meal, a quick service meal and two snacks per nights stay.  I had initial concerns that we would have to buy breakfast, but with the free drinks mug and a snack that will do us. 

The next approach was on reviews of restaurants.  This was very hit or miss.  Some people loved  certain restaurants and others hated them.  It was very difficult to get any kind of consensus. There one or two that had universally good reviews - Be My Guest for example.

Now I am looking at videos along the lines of  "What I ate on my Disney World trip".  These have caused my head to hurt. What I have learnt so far is;

1. There are an awful lots of places to eat. As well as all the parks their is Disney Springs and all the resorts.
2. There are a huge range of snacks/meals available.
3. Not everything is available everywhere
4. Some of the snacks are the size of a meal.
5. There is something to suit everyone.
6. You could spend all your holiday, travelling around Disney just to get to through a list of meals or snacks.
7. In certain restaurants there seems to be a very limited choice for vegetarians. (There is one in our party that we need to consider).

My research has allayed my fears (we have one kid who is quite fussy and likes plain food and the other is a grazer and one of the party is a vegetarian) that we will not go hungry.   Rather than going crazy trying to plan our snacks and Quick Serve meals, I have formulated a plan that we will all make out a list of things we would like to try and we will work through the list as and when we are in the vicinity.

As for the Table Service meals we have booked the main ones we wish to do, particularly the meet the characters, and will book the rest over the next week or so.  The only problem now is that there is such a choice we may not be able to fit it all in in two weeks.  Ah well, I suppose that will be another Disney World holiday in the forthcoming years!

Excitement is building....

Watching YouTube videos with the kids, telling them  "This is where were are staying", " This is what the room will look like", "This is the pool", etc.   This results in lots of questions from them looking for more detail.  This is building the excitement for everyone.

As for me I am doing a lot of research on YouTube into the hotel facilities, the park attractions and the places to eat.  There are an unbelievable number of videos on Disney world covering just about every conceivable aspect of holidaying there.  As you would expect the quality of the video and their contents vary considerably.  That's what you would expect from YouTube.  I have learnt a lot, both good (we should get two snacks with the dining plan, we were only expecting one) and some not so good things (they have shut the swimming with sharks in Typhoon Lagoon).  I love watching YouTube it is a great tool for information and learning, as long as you watch enough videos to get a proper consensus. With a trip to Disney World you have to do your research as it is so big and there is so much to do and see and I am now finding out there are a huge range of places to eat.  The first problem I came across with researching with YouTube is the age of some of the videos.  They can be 6 years old and completely out of date and the information is no longer valid.  This becomes more of problem after the first video and then the second and subsequent videos load and play automatically.

I then kept an eye on the dates and looked for videos shot in the last few months.  Then a second more serious consideration arose as it struck me - Doing research is fine, but there is a fine line to be walked here. 

 By this I mean information gathering is fine, but one of the best aspects of travel and holidays is discovering new things.  With things like YouTube it is all too easy to cross the line and leave no room for surprise when you actually get there.  I was tempted to find out about the new area based on the Avatar movie, but pulled back.  This is something new for Animal Kingdom and I would prefer to discover what's in store once I am there on the ground (or in the air, as I suspect that there will be some form of ride that will get you off the ground).  As from now my research will be limited and the videos that I will show the kids will be vetted, so that there is some awe and wonder in this holiday.

Epcot (2015)

The plan for Mickey starts to take shape....

The planning is in full flow now and our two weeks is almost organised.  The itinerary so far is:

Day 1.    Hollywood Studio
        2.    Animal Kingdom
        3.    Epcot
        4.    Magic Kingdom
        5.    Typhoon Lagoon (Rainforest Cafe Animal Kingdom)
        6.     Magic Kingdom
        7.     Premier Outlets (& Disney Springs)
        8.     Animal Kingdom
        9.     To be arranged
      10.      Blizzard Beach (Epcot)
      11.     Hollywood Studio for Fantasmic Show
      12.    To be arranged
      13.    Meeting up friends
      14.    Flying home (spend the day by the pool).

According to YouTube videos I have been researching common "Rookie" mistakes are either under or over planning your trip.  We are no rookies when it comes to Disney and although we do different parks each day we make plenty of time for enjoying other elements on offer.  The kids love roasting marshmallows at the camp fire in the hotel.  They also like the open air showing of Disney films.

We have, over the years, met many other travellers from the UK who are visiting Orlando and they have tickets for everything.  They then try to do everything in a park/attraction in a day.  These lead to very long days and complete exhaustion (particularly in the heat and humidity of Florida).  It is supposed to be a holiday.  Hopefully, we have the balance just about right.

The Mickey Adventure the countdown continues...

The days to departure are ticking down and most things are in place.  The pre-flight hotel, airport car parking and the cat's holiday are all arranged.  The next stage is to sort out the ESTA's visa waver forms.

The planning now includes booking Fastpasses as well as meals. This is proving more difficult the further into the holiday we get.  The first few days were relatively easy as we will be awake early, we have looked into the parks that have the early magic hour.  We will hit the parks early and leave mid-afternoon.  As we are staying at the Disney Yachtclub if we have any energy left we can take advantage of the "water park" shared with the Beach Club hotel.  There is no thought of trying to stay awake for the firework displays which are a nightly occurance in the parks.

As we get further into the holiday and our body clocks adjust then the early mornings starts are less likely and we would be looking at afternoon evenings or a day at Typhoon Lagoon (the wave machine is awesome and I always smile as the boom goes off to herald the next wave and I am old enough to know better) and Blizzard Beach.  There is also Disney Springs to consider and normally we have a day away from the parks to do some shopping at the Malls.  This will not be the bargain hunting that it normally is due to the current poor exchange rate.

There are new features this year that we have not experienced before, particularly Disney Springs and the evening opening at Animal Kingdom with the new Avatar area.

There is just so much to do and only a limited time to do it.