Thunder, Outlets and Epcot - Day 3...

The fact of the matter is that even though we had the loudest thunder ever at 5am and more rain than you could shake a stick at - today was the best day so far, and here is how this all transpired...


The wife and I got up around 6am after the sounds of the storm scared the bejesus out of us.

Once the children were up (7 ish) and ready I attempted, in vain, to escort Jacob who wanted to go to the pool. For a swim. In the p*ssing rain. The weather got the better of us both and we retreated back to the room to chill out and for me to post those extra pics and vids from the day before. At around 10am we left the room, into the jam jar and went off in the rain to go to.... Premium Outlets. If only the pound was as strong as it was a year or so ago - but we still managed to bag some bargains in Ralph Lauren, Converse (pink for Freya and Rubik's cube boots for Jacob)and Reebok (two pairs of great trainers for about £48). We also managed to consume a couple of pretzels at "Aunt Annies" - with the cinnamon and sugar concoction being one of the nicest sweet snacks tasted in a long time. It wasn't as emotional as last night's Olive Garden but hey, that was nearing perfection (!).

After we had put the kids through a few hours of torment at this ENORMOUS airport sized mall (with touch screen interactive store directory) the weather was improving for the better - so we happily treated the kids to something called 'fast food' at a little known place the Americans nickname "The Golden Arches"..... which seemed to taste better in the land of the free(fat).

After this luxury luncheon we headed, in the sunshine, for Epcot. We all had a great time here with the kids meeting some of the characters again with some nice snaps (again), with us all loving The Seas (with Nemo and friends), Spaceship Earth and a trip across the lake to the middle of the world showcase.

As we had only arrived around 3.30pm by the time our 5min trip across the lake ended it was 6.30pm and time for our reservation at Teppan Edo in Japan.

What a top meal - a nice authentic chef person cooked the meal in front of us on one of those Teppanyaki style hot plates (500 degrees something (C/F) apparently). We all started with some sushi followed by hot fresh sizzling steak and chicken, mmm mmm. By the time this Japanese feast ended it was around 8pm and we headed to the bridge between 'France' and 'The United Kingdom' to secure our place for the best view of "Illuminations: Reflections Of Earth". This was the best firework and light display I have ever seen (since the last time I saw it in 2001). It utterly took my and all our breaths away.

The kids' eyes were so wide and they clapped more at the end than I have seen so far for any show. "That was amazing / can we come back tomorrow night?" one or the other of them said. The spectacle, like a number of things this holiday, brought a lump to my throat and tears in my eyes (is this hormonal / signs of early male menopause?)

Epcot seems to create a very special kind of atmosphere and even though some of our peers had steered us away for a long visit to Epcot with children they really loved it and so did we. Nobody does it like uncle Walt and 'his' powers of organisation, acoustics and all round entertainment will never cease to amaze.



We probably will go back again later in the trip just to go on a lot more rides that we missed today. The show ended at about 9.30pm and the younglings were in bed by 10.15 so not bad really, and they were surpisingly spritely for the time of day. This bodes well for future evening shows of this kind.

THE best day so far, and that was even with the rain.



Tomorrow we'll attack Hollywood Studios and our trusty Fodor's guide has told us which rides to go on first. As the weather forecast is good we may just make it there before 3.30pm! It's now 12.40am and all are asleep apart from me - raiding the giant tub of ice cream (again) and waiting for the blog videos to upload....