Life is a Journey

I was up around 4am today in pain (so just got up). Spent time working on blogs and vlogs and had breakfast before heading to EPCOT about 9.30. This meant we were behind the initial crowds so got through bag check and ticketing pretty quickly. On our way to the Seas area we spotted a line for Baymax and quickly got in it. I think we waited about 15mins for a photo with him (no signatures as obviously he can’t sign this those hands :-)).

He’s so cute. And our motorhome is named after him so he has extra meaning for us.

We then went to ride The Seas with Nemo & Friends…

Cute ride. I love the special effects on this. We then spent some time viewing the fish…

and the manatees (which I love so much)…

Kevin and Christy also did Turtle Talk with Crush but didn’t feel it was good as it used to be (and not as interactive).

Then it was over to The Land to get some lunch..

from the Sunshine Season fair…

I had the vegan korma which had been recommended (even by non-vegans) and it was REALLY good. Kevin & Athena weren’t as impressed with their lunches.

We then had fast passes for Soarin’ but still ended up waiting at least 15-20mins. We ALL loved this ride.

When we came out the weather had changed and it was raining pretty heavy. We waited undercover for a while and when it eased up, made for the next covered area.

Which was the Coke tasting area. We managed to trick the kids with the yucky one (though strangely Kevin said he quite liked it).

It was still sprinkling but Kevin wanted crepes from France so Athena and he set off to get some (and a top that Christy wanted) and Christy and I waited in a VERY cold building.

Athena was happy to be able to meet Aurora while in France.

With the weather not looking to improve we decided to head for home.

With a quick stop at Goodings on the way for a few grocery items.

I had a lovely bubble bath before dinner, which was another Amy’s meal for me, before a relatively early night since I had been up so early.

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Today Kevin and I celebrated our 24th Wedding Anniversary by doing something we’ve not done before. Taking an airboat tour of the Everglades with Spirit of the Swap tours.

It was so much fun and we all loved being out on the water. It was a gorgeous day and the scenery spectacular. Definitely a side of Orlando we haven’t seen before (and just 30mins from Disneyworld).

There was lots of wildlife including birds…

and cows (the swamps overlap cattle farms)…

and of course, lots of alligators…

This Mumma had two babies close by….

And lots of little babies at another spot (about 20 in total) …

We all loved the 2 hour tour. It was expensive but well worth it I think. After this we drove to the Florida Mall (unfortunately getting quite a bit of traffic on the way).

Our first destination was the Dining Pavillion for lunch. This had been remodelled since we were here 4 years ago and is really lovely now.

Luckily Charley’s Philly Steaks is still here…

And I was able to order the Veggie Sub like I’d had and loved last time and was really looking forward to. It was just as good as I remembered.

Then it was time to shop. Christy and Kevin went to the Apple Store while Athena and I went to Sephora.

Then it was the m&m store – where we didn’t buy anything!!

Then Macy’s where I bought an evening bag and checked out the Christmas decor.

We visited the Crayola store. Athena really wanted to do the Crayola experience but it took 1-1.5hrs and cost $20pp.

A sketchers store where we spent about 30mins trying to get some shoes for Athena – with no luck. Kevin managed to have a little lie down…

We visited Godiva and were very sad to find their drink machine wasn’t working, which meant no peppermint iced chocolates for me :-(.

We waved hello to Santa.

Bought a few things in the Disney store.

And stopped for a break at Starbucks, where I had a Green Tea Frappachio.

Athena and I then went to Torrid for the first time. It had been recommended to me and after looking online I thought it was a store that Thee would really like. They weren’t very impressed at first. Winter clothes are nowhere near as cute as summer clothes. But the more we looked around the more we found and they ended up getting two tops, a skirt, about 4 pair of leggings, some knee high socks and some rings.

A few more stores, including JC Penny where Athena got some Converse and I got another pair of sketchers (almost identical to my current pair but half the price).

We left about 6pm and drove back to the Crossroads. We really should have just gone to Taco Bell for dinner but being our anniversary we chose to go to Chevy’s again.

Kevin got the guacamole made at your table.

He also had an appetizer and I had veggie quesadillas. The reason I said we should have gotten Taco Bell is that it turns out none of us were that hungry. Luckily we were able to bring home the leftovers (which Athena and I ate for breakfast the next day).

Trying to get a cute anniversary photo but I’m giving Kevin “the look” because he was misbehaving :-).

Now that’s better.

I wonder what we’ll do to celebrate our 25th Wedding anniversary next year?

Back home Athena and I filmed our haul from the Florida Mall, even though it was after 9pm and we were so tired from our long, but very fun day.

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This morning it was back to the Magic Kingdom. We decided to get the monorail since we hadn’t been on it yet. I prefer the ferry but it’s fun the travel through the Contemporary Hotel.

We were behind the initial flurry up Main Street so I stopped to take a few photos of the castle (you can never have enough) …

On our way to meet some Princesses. We had planned to meet Cinderella but the line was already at 30min wait so we headed to Tiana and Rapunzel.

Tiana was lovely.

As was Rapunzel – who chatted to Athena about their bunny and how good he was at playing hide and seek (like her sidekick Pascal).

Just as we were leaving Rapunzel requested a hug from Athena. It’s been touching (and kind of amusing) how so many of the cast members see Athena on the scooter with their headphones on (to help with noise sensitivity), dressed in Athena’s quirky way  and assume they are mentally disabled.

From here we went to Enchanted Tales with Belle. It was pretty new last time we were here and the waits were always long so we had never seen it.

Belle’s house….

With the Beasts castle in the background…

Inside were photos and LOTS of books…

The “show” is a retelling of the Beauty and Beast story re-enacted with kids from the audience.

So cute. And the special effects in here are wonderful.

Athena did get a lovely photo with Belle (see above comments about cast members) but I can’t seem to get it upload into Flickr so I can share it here.

We had planned to meet Aerial next but again the line was too long. I think the park was more crowded than expected today as a lot of the wait times were longer than predicted. Kevin wasn’t feeling the best this morning so had headed back to Main Street to get a coffee and sit and read.

Time for Under the Sea. Cute ride but luckily we walked right on (after walking through the LONG queue line). Of course, afterwards I realized we had fast passes for this :-).

By now it was time for a break at Gaston’s Tavern.

We sat in a different side to last time and saw Gaston’s huge chair. Love all the details that Disney are so good at providing.

Christy and I opted for drinks while Athena enjoyed some of this Cinnamon Roll.

Time to check out Storybook Circus. I don’t really remember this but I’m sure we would have visited on our last trip.

I’m forever admiring and taking photos of all these amazing looking candy apples and cookies but I don’t think I could ever eat one as they look to nice to eat :-).

I finally got to get a photo of the Goldie that we had spotted this morning. So cute. And the first one we’ve seen since we left home. There are SO many service dogs in America – you really don’t see too many in Australia.

By now we were all feeling pretty hot and tired, and the park was getting more crowded, so we headed back towards Main Street to meet Kevin (after a detour to Tomorrowland in search of a top that Athena wanted) and checked out the shops on Main Street. We didn’t buy anything though.

After catching the monorail back to the Ticket and Transport Center we grabbed a wheelchair for Christy for the walk back to the car, as she’s been getting pains when trying to walk any faster than a snails pace. Hoping it will settle down as we still have quite a few park days ahead.

Back at the room Kevin promptly feel asleep, I made nachos for lunch and manage to shatter a glass dish after placing it on the granite counter (I assume because it was much cooler than the dish). I managed to save enough nachos for the kids and cooked myself an Amy’s meal after cleaning up as best I could.

Around 3pm we decided to get ready and head back to Typhoon Lagoon to use the lazy river and wave pool. This time Athena came with us. After a swim it was nice to sit and warm up in the sun. It had been a lot hotter today (around 30C) so the water wasn’t as warm (which is what you want). We also shared another funnel cake.

And I managed to get a photo of the water spurting out of the boat.

We left shortly before it closed at 5pm. Dinner tonight was some filled pasta.

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Caught  a bit of what looked to be a spectacular sunrise this morning.

We had breakfast (bagels again for me) in the room then set of for SuperTarget.

Athena bought a lot of stuff, I just picked up a few bits and pieces. Shopping over here is really showing me just how much my shopping habits have changed. I even picked up a few things and put them back knowing I didn’t really need them (like pretty notebooks).

I loved this teal pyrex wear, but of course it’s too heavy to take home.

After Target and a quick stop at a Sketchers store we went to Fridays for lunch (not sure what happened to the TGI part).

We had a lovely dinner here on our last trip and luckily we were not disappointed this time.

I ordered a  hot dip and tortillas for my main, with a side of sweet potato fries. So delicious. Athena had two mini burgers, Christy mac n cheese (yet again) and Kevin had a brushetta chicken pasta which he raved about.

We then went back to the apartment to get changed into our swimmers and drop Thee off, and headed to Typhoon Lagoon – which is less than a 5 min drive.

We were surprised to find the carpark almost empty.

The grounds are beautiful. So many different trees and flowers.

We EASILY found some seats to leave our stuff on and headed for the lazy river, thrilled to discover it was heated.

We then went on the fun, but rather short, family raft ride.

Kevin & Christy rode again, then went on some single raft rides.

Then it was back to the lazy river…

And around to the wave pool.

we had thought this was just a normal wave pool (which I’m not a fan of) so were surprised and happy to find it was a little different. So much fun. I won’t give it away in case you haven’t been before.

Then it was into the lazy river again (quite a bit warmer than the wave pool) and it definitely our fav. thing to do.

After another full lap, Christy went off to do some more slides and Kevin and I got a cup of tea/coffee and shared a funnel cake…

while enjoying the view…

and the last warmth of the sun…

We left about 4.45pm and I watched a few videos before having a lot of issues downloading my video camera.

Kevin and Athena were lying on the bed watching one of my vlogs (don’t worry Thee is dressed – just wearing a pale pink dress).

Dinner was from the freezer. I tried some of Gardein vegan “chicken” pieces that are pretty hard to find in Australia (I haven’t yet found any). It was really good too. Had this with some potatoes (that I had cooked for Christy) and fries. Kevin & Athena also had a frozen chicken meal that Kevin had picked out.

Later we had the key lime pie we had bought at Publix. Yummy. But half a piece was quite enough for me.

Everyone did their own thing this evening and was off to bed by 9pm.

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