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....

Lion King, Pics and Racing

Some might say that this is rubbish for 720p HD video but as this is built in to the regular camera I'm rather pleased. Will also post a video in daylight for comparison too. I'm sure it's only Gary looking at this blog so this one's for you bruv. In the circlllle... the circle of liiiiiiiife..... boom!

*Editor's note: once videos compressed for this site the quality isnt really reflected well.. hmmmm

And here are some 'bonus' photos from the past two days - should you want to see more pics - Gary!

and a daylight video - wobbling from the ride / small form factor of the cam but it's nice to have one small product to do all my snapping and filming.

As the rain calms down here it'll soon be time to go to the outlet mall (via food purchasing at Publix supermarket) and later to Epcot.... bored with this blog yet?

If you're not good i'll bore you with a glowing review of the customer service in the supermarket, which was amazing. haha.

Two Altercations And A Salad Please

Day two and everyone slept a lot better. This being the case we only managed to get out the room by 8.15am and we HAD to be at Animal Kingdom for it's opening at 9am. So off we went in my all American 300C. Thank the sweet Lord of eBay for our AAA diamond parking passes - meaning we could park very near each Disney Park entrance without having to take a tram / walk for miles. How much was this privilege I hear you cry... about £4.36p.


We liked Disney's attempt at a safari park come jungle ride-fest and all went on the safari part first thing - after watching the park opening ceremony, of which, the Magic Kingdom one was much much better and almost brought a tear to my (wobbly) eye. After the safari we watched a 3D Bug's Life show which was fun but lots of loud noises, darkness and mist so both kids were a bit unsure about that part. We did a kiddy ride which they loved (typical) and I ventured on the one they called 'Everest'. I'm not sure I'm as agile or resistant to being affected by rides as I used to be but I came off this terror-fest with a smile on my face and legs made of jelly - brilliant fun. I also rode 'Dinosaur' which was a time travel / dinosaur / asteroid fun fest - alone. It was good but a bit much for my delicate munchkins.



We saw two shows too, Finding Nemo (very clever puppetry and acting all at once) and later on The Lion King. This show was one of the best things I have seen at a theme park and seemed to encompass everything that was good about Disney - brilliant acrobatics, perfect acoustics, a centre stage, great songs and singing - with an uplifting feeling throughout and stayed with us (me only) as we trotted out from the air cooled barn into the hot sun.

We also managed to get some snaps with the characters with the ever-satisfying family pic with a certain mouse in the bag. Just after this we ran into my first almost altercation. As you click away happily at the character of choice cuddling your pride and joy(s) a Disney photographer also takes 'official' pictures allowing you to pick them up later, at Disney prices. I had just finished taking snaps of my pride and joys with Goofy when the Disney photo man handed me his special card (to hand in and buy photos) to which I politely responded "no thank you" to which he said "if you didn't want me to take pictures you should have said" .... WHAT??? Am I dreaming? Was Disney cast member getting all shirty? Why is it down to me to tell him NOT to? Why couldn't he have asked if I wanted any? So I walked away, got annoyed then walked back, gave him a polite (as always) piece of my mind and went off on my way. As you can tell I was most perturbed by this turn of 'events'. So off we went to get a picture with a large duck costume with a man in it and a pair of characters comprised of an alien and a Hawaiian girl.
We left the park after the obligatory parade ready to come back to the hotel and for a swim. It was at this point I almost had my second and much more dangerous alteration. I was forced to pull in to a lane to get the freeway / highway at the near last possible moment -if only CHiPs were present but we're nowhere near California and they were fictional.... I digress - and the man who I really really needed to let me go in was accelerating to get past me and left me not a lot of room as he overtook at speed that I vented my spleen with a long hoot to which his passenger window came down and a long arm came out and I was given the bird - a very large bird for all to see. Then this nice man slowed down (on a fast road) to a crawl and this same door was opening and leg coming out (car still moving) presumably ready for me to beg for mercy as he would inevitably get out and point a scary gun at me (maybe with accompanying Hollywood music) Luckily this did not happen and after some careful lane weaving we lost him. Parp.

Back to the hotel for swim, bath and change. We went out to eat to a place called The Olive Garden which I was told by a certain Milly-dawg not to go to. How wrong he was. At this Italian eatery chain I proceeded to consume one the best meals I have ever had. Now this is possibly a little over the top and wont be helped by the meal as I describe it but it must have been the service, the place, the food and ambiance as well as two very tired and very well behaved kids. I had an amazing cold beer (just the one) called something like Yuenling and .It. Was. Amazing. I ate spaghetti with meatballs but not only were these excellent meatballs but it also came with as much 'garden' salad with croutons as I could eat along with as many garlic bread sticks as I could consume too. Convinced? Probably not but believe me it was all so good and we ate at the bar - with lots of room for plates and the kids' drawing that they gave out. Eating at the bar? How brave and nouvelle of us.

So we've had two almost alterations and my garden salad. Who knows what merriment tomorrow will bring but I think after two long park days we will be relaxing more but with an afternoon trip to Epcot and a meal in 'Japan' to look forward the fun should continue. Although, storms are coming..... and yes I mean the weather.

Wife asleep again so I will now raid the fridge once more for a dessert never ordered at The Olive Garden. Yes, it's the Olive Garden and I'm not raving over a burger or a steak - strange, but true. Night.

Nice Ride

And so it began. A nine hour flight in 'cosy' seating featuring a molten centre of the earth hot BBQ chicken and wedges as the main in-flight meal. It may have been sun hot but it wasn't bad I suppose. The kids were both well behaved and seemed to take the flight in their stride. I'm not quite sure how I managed though with broken sound on my audio connection thingy - meaning I watched no films at all. I couldn't even make it past page 10 of my recommended Piers Morgan 'The Insider' book. What's wrong with me? (please keep those thoughts to yourself). We landed a little early at 6pm US time, got through the US super scary finger print and retina scanning commandos pretty fast. Collected luggage and then arrived in the Worst Queue Known To Man (tm). Some might say that lining up for all our rides today would be worse but oh no. There were approximately twenty Dollar Rent-A-Car desks and only four people working. I was in a queue with a lot of tired and increasingly annoyed people. After a forty five minute wait, with me nearly crying with exhausted jet lagged anger, we finally collected my ride.

I was advised not to accept the standard car given so went for a Chrysler 300C which is quite a beast compared the the Montego-like car we had included in the holiday. And oh what a beauty she is - like a silver...erm.. silver car thing. It was odd being much too tired, driving on the wrong side of the road, sitting on the wrong side of the car, at night but we managed to get from airport to hotel in about twenty five minutes. By the time we unpacked, got a pizza delivered from The Hut and all to bed it was about 10.30pm which was 02,30am UK time - the kids got a bit ratty towards the end of it but who can blame them?! I slept so badly (even though the room is huuuge with two bedrooms, kitchen, dining, lounge etc)and was awake from about 3.30am but by 8am we were all ready to go - to the Magic Kingdom. Considering it was a hot 84 degree Friday with large expected crowds we strategised well and got on a lot of rides - thank you Fodor's. Splash (twice) and Thunder Mountain by 10am followed by Magic Carpets, Jungle Cruise, Pirates Of The Caribbean (based on a film apparently, guffaw), Buzz Lightyear, Monsters Inc Laughter Floor (a personal highlight), Indy Speedway ending with the afternoon parade. I have to say that all the queuing was short, lining up was a pleasure and nothing and I mean nothing in comparison to the rental car debacle the night before. I bought the best thing ever - Mickey Mouse as Anakin Skywalker, oh yes! So exciting this is that I have sadly included a picture of it's Disney / Star Wars cross-over product wonderfulness.

The day was a lot easier than we thought it would be, the children had a really good time and seemed to appreciate it and take everything in. We ended the day by going to Publix (Florida supermarket chain) - it was awesome (too OTT?). So many nice things in such large sizes with huge aisles of processed food that it isn't hard to imagine why I feel so thin here! I will be going back soon just to browse the aisles of goodies. Am I mad? Am I sad? Probably.

Sorry about all the blank space.....

I will leave you with a snap of the kids and Buzz. Yes we queued to see him but again we waited about a minute. I would have uploaded more pics but this wifi connection here is slowww.

Wife fast asleep now and tomorrow we take on the Animal Kingdom.... now shall I go to sleep too (I'm so beyond tired) or go and guzzle some Florida OJ or eat from a half gallon tub of sweet sweet ice cream?

It really isn't a tough contest is it .... ice cream time!! Night all

Tomorrow tomorrow, i love ya, tomorrow, it's only a dayyyyy a... wayyyyyy!

Aaah, aint that sweet / annoying / painful.

Little orphan Annie there in all her splendour. I'm not sure if she's singing about her excitement at our impending trip to Florida but this could be doubtful as she may not, at that time, have known about our holiday.

Hopefully, we'll be off tomorrow and will update this blog from time to time with 'great' pictures of burgers, hot dogs, fries, large fries and extra large fries. And maybe one or two of us in Disney-esque situations with accompanying anecdotes of how the kids moaned and screamed at the 2 hour queue for It's a Small World etc.

Please be gentle with any comments / abuse as I am of a delicate disposition.

Tarra a bit.

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I didn't think I could be excited about a teaser trailier but it now appears I am : http://www.startrekmovie.com/

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