Category: Travel

 

Today it was back to the Magic Kingdom but this time we caught the monorail instead of the boat and managed to arrive in time for the opening.

We had a quick stop on Main Street for a photo.

Then it was on to our first ride of the day… the Haunted Mansion, which is always fun.

Next up was Aladin’s Magic Carpet.

Then the Jungle Cruise. Amy really enjoyed the corny jokes.

Time for some action on Big Thunder Mountain, and our first wait for the day… of about 5mins.

As you can see Chrsity really enjoyed this one.

Then it was a chance to cool down on Splash Mountain… though we only seemed to get wet bums.

By now the crowds were starting to build but we were following my plan (from Touring Plans) so were not having to wait much at all. It was on to Pirates – one of very favs.

 

Next was the Tiki Room. One of those attractions you just have to visit and remember how much the girls loved it when they were younger.

After this we had a short wait to see the “How to be a Pirate” Tutorial with Captian Jack Sparrow. This guy was great and sounded just like the real thing.

I saw this sign by some bushes (I assume this is a toilet area). We’ve been amazed at how many service dogs (both big and small) we’ve seen in the parks.

All aboard for a trip around the park to Fantasyland.

and a visit to Beast’s Castle.

where we had lunch at the Be Our Guest restaurant.

The theming of this place is incredible. There was about a 30min wait to get in (you can only book for dinner and I had been unable to get a reservation as it only opened a few weeks ago), but it was well worth it.

Once you order (online) you find a table in one of the three rooms (below is the amazing ballroom) and your meal is bought to you.

We did feel there was something strange about the place, not sure if it’s just the number of tables or the fact that it’s not a traditional sit down meal (which it is at dinner). I really can’t put my finger on it but though the rooms were amazing, it was missing  a certain something. I ordered the Quinoa Salad for lunch, which was rather yummy. Kevin had the braised pork which he said was delicious.

For desert (the main meals are not very big) we shared two cupcakes. So cute to look at and rather delicious to eat.

The girls were a bit irritable at lunch and I was feeling a bit sore (with my arthritis – which was bothering me for the first time this trip) so we decided to do It’s a Small World together and then let the girls go off and do some more rides while we had a rest.

I enjoyed a lovely cup of tea as it had turned rather chilly. Then we had a wander through some shops, where I spotted the Dapper Dans performing on Main Street.

I then joined Kevin and Goofy and waited for the girls to meet us.

We left about 4.30pm, catching the monorail back to the carpark. I needed to get some more milk so after another visit to the supermarket (where, not surprising, we bought a lot more than milk), we got some take away from Taco Bell (the girls insisted) and we headed home.

After dinner everyone relaxed (Christy and I worked on our Smash books & I blogged) before heading to bed.

Just realized I never mentioned where we are staying. We are at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek resort (right on the Disney’s doorstep – you have to drive through WDW to get here). It’s actually a timeshare I rented for the amazing rate of under $100 per night and as you can see from the photos is just amazing. They have 2 and 3 bedroom apartments and the space is incredible. We are all so thrilled with this resort (if you ever want to stay here I can let you know who we booked with – absolutely no reservations about booking here again.

Anyway, onto today. I got a good nights sleep and back on early mornings again. 4.30am today – which gave me a chance to catch up on e-mails and youtube. I did read a lot of blogs on the plane and got all caught up but of course, don’t have time to leave a comment. The best thing was I got to enjoy my first Floridian sunrise.

Eventually everyone got up and we decided we’d head the water park today as it was going to be 27 deg (celsius). But first stop was Downtown Disney to try and pick up something for lunch.

We didn’t manage find anything for lunch. But we did find Wetzel’s Pretzels which I fell in love with in Disneyland last year. Of course I had to have one and it left the Mickey one yesterday in the dust.

We also found this dragon…made from Lego.

Finally we arrived at our destination.

Yes, Blizzard Beach. We did not swim in the real snow (though I confused a few friends in Australia with the following photo), but at the snow themed water park.

We checked Christy’s height. Ah, there is the missing green drink bottle (not seen since this photo)….

After a bit of shopping we found ourselves a spot at the Ski Patrol (a preteen area). Note the sign (and Christy’s new towel).

Then it was off to the chairlift for the ride to the top.

Don’t think we’ll be going on this ride! Summit Plummit.

But instead we opted for the more sedate family raft ride.

We rode twice then went for a lap of the lazy river….which goes around the entire park. Oh, I forgot to mention the water is all heated so is lovely and warm. Even though it was a warmer day it was still cool when the clouds came over.

Next Christy played in the ski patrol area while Kevin & Amy went to do some other slides.

 

Then it was time for lunch. Can you guess which meal is mine? You’re a winner if you guessed the salad. It was  pretty boring salad though so I only ate about 1/4 and had some hot chips (which were surprisingly nice).

Disney are great at creating little photos spots all over the parks.

We were quite excited to see this little squirrel…. you could tell we were tourists from our cries of “squirrel” (like the dog in UP).

After lunch we went on a few other rides, some of which did not agree with my older body. Then we hit the wave pool.

where I had a few brief moments of peace and quiet to relax and admire the sky.

There was more sliding for Christy, while the rest of us relaxed. Amy and Kevin had a little nap and I could feel myself nodding off from time to time. Finally at 3.30pm it was time to head home.

We returned to our room to get changed, then headed back down to Downtown Disney.

for a bit of shopping, starting in the World of Disney.

We visited quite a few shops.

Little Miss Matched.

Got a photo of the girls (they had one taken here on another visit – actually I think I’m wearing Christy in a sling).

Our final stop was Ghiradelli where we got a free sample of their peppermint bark chocolate, and quickly thought ourselves a bag. It was SO GOOD!

Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling the best so I sat down while Kevin took the girls to the Lego Store. I was sitting outside but it started to rain so I ducked inside the World of Disney before going to meet them. Doesn’t it look so pretty with all the Christmas decorations and lights?

We decided to head home and while dinner was cooking, I attended the Mum job of folding the washing.

We then enjoyed some nachos.

So yummy.

While I wrote up my blog, Christy went for a swim in the lazy river (and made a (boy)friend). Finally we were all tucked up in bed around 10pm.

Thankfully Amy woke us up at 7am. I had an okay night (catching up from the last few night) but Kevin had been awake much of the night (due to a work problem). Anyway, we managed to make it out the door just after 8am, and over to Hollywood Studios – yes, the ones at Disneyworld, not LA. The Americans sure do know how to do Christmas.

We lined up and waited for the park to open, which it did at 8.45am.

We joined the masses heading up the gorgeous street….

to Toy Story Midway Mania. Such hype about this 3D game ride. We never rode it at Disneyworld as we couldn’t understand all the fuss and refused to wait so long for ride. But today we went for it. Already we had about a 10min wait, when we exited it was up to 60mins already.

The theming is great.

And while we all really enjoyed the ride I don’t think any of us were super impressed. Certainly not enough to justify the incredible waits. If there were short lines I’d definitely do it again.

Next we battled the crowds still heading to Toy Story Mania and went the Hollywood Tower of Terror.

This is definitely a family favourite. And Kevin managed to score 6 (instead of 4) fast passes to ride again later.

We were getting a bit peckish by now so while the rest of them enjoyed a churro, I got myself a Mickey Pretzel. As you can see Kevin sampled the ear. This was great, but huge and I never did finish it.

Next we visited….

We learned all about Walt and even saw his desk, before seeing a film about his life. Fascinating stuff for Disney buffs. Even the girls really enjoyed it and Christy thanked me for taking her to see it.

Then it back to Tower of Terror. We rode once as a family, then the girls rode by themselves. Kevin and I hang out here.

I enjoyed these biscuits I got at Whole Foods….

and Kevin had a rest….

Finally it was time for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. This is my fav. ride. The girls loved it too and the three of us rode a second time as single riders.

We did a bit of shopping and said goodbye to Hollywood… for today at least. We needed to pick up some drinks to headed to the Crossroads where there is a supermarket.

We were also excited to see all the varieties of Luna Bars (we somehow missed these at Whole Foods).

Amy and Kevin had spotted Taco Bell on the way so we decided to head there for lunch as it was now past 2pm.

What a menu! I spotted a healthy, yummy looking salad and got that.

It was so yummy. Everyone enjoyed what they ordered so no doubt we’ll be back before we leave. Plus the cost!!!! $ 16 compared to yesterdays lunch at $125!!! And this was the nicer meal :-)… but no characters of course.

After lunch we headed back to the resort. We had planned to go to EPCOT but I thought we all needed a bit of downtime and rest and relax. I had to go via reception and collect some pool towels.

Then we all headed down to the pool for a swim.

Our tower is right by the lazy river so did a few loops there. The water is SOOO warm. Perfect for this time of year.

We then had a play in the normal pool. Though the water was warm it was still cool when we got out.

Back upstairs we had a bath to warm up. Then the girls and I sat outside enjoying the sunset while Kevin had a nap. I started work on my blog posts, hoping to catch up the last few days.

When the sun set we headed inside. Around 6pm Christy came and asked if she could go to sleep. I said okay, and just hope she gets some extra hours and just doesn’t wake up really early. I spent the evening finishing off the posts. We all enjoyed an Amy’s frozen meal for dinner. Just as good as I’d remembered from our Alaska trip. More blogging, and I’m done. As soon as I hit publish I’m off to bed. Hoping for a good nights sleep and an earlier morning.

I should now hopefully be able to resume a normal blogging schedule :-).

I’m not sure how we did it (esp. since I was up for a bit in the middle of the night) but we all managed to get and moving at 7am. It took us till 8.15am to get out the door and we got a little lost getting to the Magic Kingdom (MK) car park. But we a got a spot pretty close to the transport center, where we caught the ferry across to the MK (which was a rather cold way to travel).

We went through bag search, then the ticket gates, then voila….

We were already behind schedule as we’d missed the opening so we hustled on down Main Street… which looks stunning all decorated for Christmas…

 

passed the partners statue and through the castle into Fantasyland…

First ride of the day was Winnie the Pooh….

It’s a small world….

the tea cups (Kevin went on with me this time – he wouldn’t at Disneyland)

We picked up fast passes for Space Mountain and went to ride Buzz Lightyear (where Kevin was very relieved to beat me this time).

Time for a break at Gaston’s Tavern (in the new Fantasyland area).

Love the theming here. Just like the movie.

The snacks, which we shared, were great too.

and check out the size of Amy’s cinnamon bread…. we all about died when we saw how big it was. But it was very light and airy so most was consumed, with a bit of help from Kevin. I tried it but it was too sweet for me.

When we left we found Gaston posing for photos by his fountain. Such a character.

Next was Mickey’s Philharmagic. Then time to head to Space Mountain. Always love this ride.

We just had time for the Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor – which was cute and fun.

Sometime during the morning we had bought ourselves some ears (well, all except for Kevin).

And how cute is this?

We headed over to have lunch at the Crystal Palace.

It’s a buffet meal, with limited vegetarian choices.

But the characters more than compensate for lack of food choice.

Eeyore is most definitely a family favourite.

After meeting Pooh and his friends we enjoyed some desert.

We then headed up Main Street with the intention of heading home, but we had to stop to get our photopass sorted out and realized the parade was about to start. So the girls and I watched it while Kevin did the photopass. Don’t think he was too upset. It’s a good parade but not as good as the one at Disneyland.

We picked up some icecreams on the way out. I only got this as I thought Christy wanted to share one. Turns out she didn’t so I ended up eating most of it. Nice but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I once did.

We caught the monorail back to the transport center, walked back to the car and headed to Best Buy. Can you guess this isn’t one of my shop selections? :-). Kevin had to buy some cables/computer stuff and we ended up getting Christy a camera (as an early Christmas present).

We then headed to Whole Foods. I was so excited to visit here and was not disappointed.

In fact I was in heaven. All this organic/natural food.

After getting our groceries we picked up dinner. Nothing like this in Australia.

I have to say we were all glad to be home as it had turned out to be a much longer day than planned. I quickly got all the groceries put away.

and we dived into our dinners. Okay, it doesn’t look terribly nice but it was so yummy.

And aren’t these the cutest bags? I might have to get some more if we visit again.

I started to upload photos but couldn’t get online. I’m pretty sure we were all fast asleep by 9.30pm, still trying to catch up on the missed sleep from the last few days.