A Game For All The Family!

[RobynPrincess]

The Pre Trip.....
The Cast


Me AKA RobynPrincess or Robyn as the name suggests

Simon or Sy, DH, My better half..

Sian AKA Mummy or Robyn's Mum
&
Bill AKA Grumpy or Robyn's Dad

Anne AKA Mummy Number 2 or Sy's Mum
&
Cliff AKA Dad or Sy's Dad

The Outline

We're flying out of Heathrow on the 17th September into Miami.

Staying in Miami for 2 nights in The Hampton Inn Coconut Grove

Then off to Orlando for 12 nights, staying in a DIBB villa owned by Paul & Becky (can't wait!)

Then the parents head home & Sy and I stay for another week in the Sheraton Four Points Studio City.

Leave from Orlando International on the 8th October and head into Gatwick on the 9th.


The Reason for hols

Now I know what you're thinking, a holiday with BOTH sets of parents???!! But its fine, we all get along great (for now anyway!). We will only have 1 car between us but we have planned a few days apart and we intend to split up a bit when we go into the parks so hopefully we won't annoy each other too much!

The reason for the trip, it will be our 1st wedding anniversary. We honeymooned in Orlando last year (see trip report in my signature) however the trip didn't really go to plan for many reasons. We had to delay the honeymoon for 3 weeks and this cost us a lot of money that we had saved for spending money. Also on our 3rd day Simon was sent an email making him redundant so it made spending even tighter. We ate at fast food restaurants a lot and did basically no shopping (I found this very hard ). This time, we want to be able to do the things we couldn't do then.

Simon chose our destination for the honeymoon and he was the one who was so desperate to go back, not that I took much persuading! This will be my 8th trip, his 2nd, his parents 1st and my parents 4th.

 

[RobynPrincess]

The Day We Leave!

Flight - 1:40pm from Heathrow to Miami.

We met at T5 nice and early for the flight, I wanted to have a good nosey around in the shops as we'd never been there before. My sister and Aunt had taken my parents to the airport and we came with DH's parents (with BIL driving us and dropping us off).

We did OLCI the night before so we dropped our bags off - we did have to wait for 10 mins as it hadn't opened yet! (Did I mention I wanted to get there early?? LOL). After we dropped our bags off we went through to airside and waved goodbye to my sister, baby niece and aunt. Once we finally got through (we went to one end of the terminal and were told to go to the other end so had to hike off right down the other end!) we got something to eat and drink and then went shopping.... not that we bought much! I saw a few things I liked but they were completely unaffordable for us - a cardigan for £500?? I did think about getting 2....

Once our flight was ready for boarding we headed off and boarded the plane. DH and I sat in the 4 seats in the middle with my parents sat on the right side of us against the window, unfortunately they had someone sat next to them that wasn't the smallest of people and didnt like getting up when they needed the toilet or anything out of the overhead lockers so they didnt have the most comfortable flight but it was okay.

Loved having the VOD, I watched Valentines Day which was fab, and a fw other movies. The food wasn't all that bad for plane food, I had chicken curry which was ok, the dessert was left though - yuk!

Flight was very smooth and went quickly, I had a little nap which was good as I hadn't mananged to get much sleep the night before - I was too excited!!

Once we landed we headed to immigration where I think we were possibly the last passengers, but we headed right in the hope that we might get asked to go through the US side - we were! My parents sailed through, as did my IL's however we were questioned a lot because of DH's visa. It was funny watching the guy pretend to type on his computer though, it was extremely obvious that he wasn't typing at all! He let us in in the end, and that's the main thing.

We got our bags and headed for the car hire, we got on the bus and after a short ride we were there. The woman on the Alamo desk did the hard sell but really, there wasn't realy much for us to upgrade on, we already had a massive car! She did try to tell us we would only get 3 bags in (worrying when we had 1 each and our hand luggage) but it went in the car no problems - i think they tell fibs! Our car wasn't very clean though but we didnt realise until we had all of our luggage in it so we couldn't be bothered to change it so headed off.

It took a little while to find the hotel as I got the directions wrong oops! But we got there eventually, Hampton Inn Coconut Grove. Wow what a hotel! It was gorgeous. The staff were so friendly and nice on check in, they knew who we were and handed us each bags of goodies - chocolates, treats etc. When they gave us our room numbers I was a bit upset that we weren't next to our parents as I had asked for us to be but I didnt want to make a fuss so I let it go and didnt mention it. When I got to our room I knew why - DH had upgraded us to a mahoosive room! Not only that but I had the most amazing bouquet of roses I have ever seen, my favourite chocolates, a bottle of champagne, a balloon and a card.

The room was gorgeous, the bed was huge! The bathroom was stunning. Its one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in.

We then got ready and went out for dinner on Miami Beach, we went to an italian called Spris, we went there last year and thought it would be good for our first night.

After dinner we came back to the hotel and fell into a very long sleep after deciding what time to meet for breakfast.


Tomorrow, The everglades and Miami Duck Tour.

 

[RobynPrincess]

Woke up about 8am and went down for breakfast. Had a lovely breakfast, they even had a waffle machine where we could make our own waffles! They were so yummy - I ended up having nothing but waffles for breakfast - healthy huh?

After breakfast we went back to our rooms to get ready for the day ahead. We all met in our room (as it was huge!) and then headed off to the everglades to do a boat ride and see some wildlife. I had done my research online before we left to find the best place to do it, I think it took about 45 mins to get there, it looked like 20 mins on the map but there were so many traffic lights! Anyway, we eventually got there. Simon found some old friends......

and the men had a pose on a boat

We had a few mins to wait before our boat so we had a look around. We saw baby aligators, big aligators and a turkey? Hmmm..... And then it was time to hop on the boat. It was SO hot, It felt hotter than any other day we were away, inside I was pleading to go faster just so the wind could cool me - and i love the heat!

We saw lots of wild Aligators, even ones that were just days old! they were tiny! Here is one of the bigger ones

Once we got back we headed into the shop to get a drink and to escape the sun for a bit. Then we headed back to the car and started on our way to Miami Beach to do the Miami Duck tour.

We got there in plenty of time, we booked and paid for it and went for something to eat and a drink down Lincon Road. I got an ice-cream from Haagan Daz and everyone else got something to eat from Paul's. I ended up eating half of Anne's sandwich as well as they had given her and Cliff one each - when they had only asked for 1 to share! I didn't mind though, it was yummy! Chicken, Apple, Mustard Mayo

After we wolfed that down we went to meet the bus/boat (which was about 30 mins late in leaving grrr!). It was a completely full trip. Our tour guide was a girl and honestly - she wasn't as good as the guy we had last year who was so funny!! She still was good though We saw all around South Beach and in the water we saw lots of celebrity houses - most of which my mum was whispering to me 'who's that?' LOL

The trip lasted about 90 mins. After we got off, we got back in the car and went back to the hotel. We went down for a swim but it was very short lived - the pool was FREEEEEEEEZING! So I decided to get into the hot tub, i put 1 foot in and took it out straight away, it was already hot pink I know I sound like goldielocks but honestly, the pool was way too cold and the hot tub would have boiled me alive. So we went back upstairs to have a bit of a rest and get ready for dinner. We got a cab (so everyone could have a drink) to Coral Gables and went to the Cheesecake factory for dinner. There was quite a wait for a table so we stood in the bar outside and had a few cocktails - everyone had been drinking at the hotel before we left so were quite merry, I was the boring one though who was too tired so didnt want to drink LOL. The food was good in the Cheesecake factory but unfortunately no one had room for a cheesecake I know, its really shocking, but the dinner was fab and we would definately go there again just for that.

After dinner we headed outside for a cab, the cab driver earlier told us we didnt need to take his number as there are loads of cabs around.... cut to us standing on the street for 20 mins while about 3 cabs go past, all with people in them! Anyway, we got back eventually and fel straight into bed, it had been a long day.


Tomorrow, our first wedding anniversary and we head to ORLANDO!

 

[RobynPrincess]

Our First Wedding Anniversary


Woke up early as I was so desperate to give Sy his presents and to open all of our cards too - we brought them all with us

Gave Sy his 2 presents and card. He opened the card and couldnt quite believe his eyes! A voucher for Discovery Cove! I had been constantly telling him that I didnt want to go as I thought it was a waste of money (I was worried he might book it for me!) he actually asked me if we were going even though he had a voucher with his name on in his hand! He was very pleased. He then opened the under-water camera and the Anniversary book that I bought him. The anniversary book is something we will keep forever and write in each year what we did for our anniversary and what we got each other, pictures etc - its been saved on my PC for over 6 months!

He then went to get my presents from his mum - he had given them to her to pack. He got me tickets to Cirque Du Soliel, Glee dvd set and a SHARE in DISNEY! OMG! mg: to say I was excited was an understatement - how lucky am I?

We then opened our many many cards before our parents came to our room with their cards and we then went down for breakfast.

After breakfast we packed our bags for an early(ish) start on our way to Orlando with stopping on South Beach on the way.

South Beach...

Anne jogging on the beach

After our paddle, we headed straight up the turnpike and stopped once to stretch our legs, get a drink and have toilet break. Once we found the villa we typed in the code to get the key, turned the key in the lock and the happiness faded

Sy had been in touch with the villa owner and the management company was supposed to decorate the villa for our arrival (a surprise to me), the villa was dirty, marks all over the walls, squashed flies on the windows, cobwebs, dirty vents, marks on the sofas, ripped sofas, ripped bedding, dirty towels, dont EVEN get me started on the sliding doors, the dirt on the floor there was so thick I don't think it had ever been cleaned. The fly screen outside was ripped, the pool was cold (we paid for heating), the phone wouldn't work to call the management company. In the end we managed to get hold of the owner and he called the management company who came straight over. He brought us new towels and more hangers (as there was hardly any) and told us he thought there was a problem with the pool heating but someone was going to come and check it an fix it if it was broken. He also told us that he had been telling the owner it needed upgrading for a while but he cant go ahead without the owners consent, and he had had to beg the owner to let him paint 1 wall red and get new bedding in the master room. He also said he didnt think it was clean enough and would arrange for the cleaners to come in again and do it again. (Actually after they did come it looked absolutely no different other than the kitchen side was wiped down, the flies were still on the windows, the dirt on the walls etc).

Anyway after an awful couple of hours and deciding if we were going to stay or leave, we decided we would stay (at least for now) and get ready to go to our wishes cruise, we didnt want it to completely ruin our anniversary, but to say it didnt ruin it at all would be lying :cry: Sy told me that we had a limo picking us up that he had arranged as a suprise for me as I'd never been in one. He did say it was just for us and our parents were going to meet us there in the car, well I wouldn't have that lol! So told them that they were coming with us and we would get a cab back home

Once we got to the Poly we went out to the docks to find our boat - it was pretty easy to spot with anniversary balloons and banner! Our skipper (Chad I think his name was) came along and took our payment. I advised him that we were waiting for 2 more to join us - a couple we had met on another disney forum. We waited for 35 mins with us going up to couples asking who they were and if they were meeting us for a cruise, but eventually we had to get going or we would miss wishes

The wishes cruise was Out Of This World. It was amazing, the best view of the fireworks, the most amazing feeling of just us and them, like they were put on just for us! I would do it again in a heartbeat if I got the chance.

Magic Kingdom lit up

After the cruise we waited for a Disney bus to take us to DTD for our ADR at the Rainforest Cafe.

Our meal was fab, but we were all wilting and feeling very tired so after dinner we didnt really walk around DTD, we just headed for a cab and went back to the villa.

Not the day we wanted or as special as it should have been, but we were still happy.

Tomorrow, the villa gets worse, and we head to Universal!

 

[RobynPrincess]

Day 4,

Our first full day in Orlando.

We decided before we left the UK that our first full day in Orlando would be Universal studios, partly to work our way up to Disney and the fabness that it is, and partly as it has very few big rides so we could start our parents off gently.

We woke up fairly early and decided rather than wasting valuable park time going for breakfast somewhere, we would stop for McDonalds on the way. Well that was mistake number 1! It was awful, really really awful. And I felt bad as it was my suggestion as wed had a good breakfast there on our last trip. I don�t think anyone held it against me though : )

We came off the I4 a few exits early to drive along International Drive. For those of you who havent been before or have only been once, this is a must for our first day in Orlando, it feels like coming home to me, I cant think of another way better to describe it.

After we parked the car we headed straight to Universal. Our first ride was Shrek 4D which our parents loved! Then onto Twister, now I know its considered a rather out of date ride now but it was my first ride in Universal all those years ago so I hold it very dear to my heart. After 2 rides our parents were already tired out so we went to starbucks for an ice cold drink

Next ride was the Mummy, now my MIL wasnt sure about this ride and as far as I could remember, we didnt go very fast for very long, it was lots of stop and starts and watching things........ errrrrrm, I was wrong. We all went on it and the photo was extremely funny but I dont think MIL will ever believe that I didnt remember it properly! She did say later on that she would probably go on it again and try and keep her eyes open but I secretly think that was cause she knew we werent going back to universal in the daytime

Next was Disaster and then Jaws (hubbys favourite ride) and then off to find everyone, bar me, a corndog. DH, FIL and MIL loved them, my parents didnt like it all that much, and I dont eat them. Men In Black was next, I was very proud to have the highest score, though secrectly Im quite competitive, I like to hide it well. Then it was off to the Simpsons, DH, FIL, Mum & Dad went on while MIL and I sat it out, I felt really ill last time I went on it so there was no way I was getting on it and MIL thought that if it was that bad that I didnt want to go on, she wasnt going on either, I did try to tell her that its just cause I get motion sickness she didnt believe me - though I couldnt blame her after he Mummy incident! After the rest of the family came out we went to get some food and have a sit down. Then it was time for ET and Curious Georges playground (DH came off the worst!).

We then headed round to Terminator 2. While we were waiting I found a fab baseball cap for DH that said "last perfect man in the world" so I bought it for him while he sat down outside. T2 is definitely something that I could live without, in fact I find it REALLY boring but as we were with the ILs who had never been, we had to do it.

After that we headed to the car feeling very tired!

On the way home we went to Publix and bought all of the shopping we needed for the stay in the villa, ice cream, food for BBQs, salad, fruit platters etc etc. When we got to the villa it was dark and very warm inside and when I flipped the light switch, nothing happened!!!! We thought maybe there had been a power cut so went outside only to see all the power on in the houses near ours. As we had no phone in the villa (or it wasn�t switched on anyway) we tried knocking on doors to see if we could use someones phone to call the management company. We tried about 5 houses before someone answered and at first they really didnt want to let us use their phone. They were really nice but in fairness, we were strangers! They did let us call him but there was no answer, so we left a message asking him to come straight over and told him what had happened. He did call back after we had left and the lady came over to tell us that he was on his way. He arrived and his first words were lets get you out of here, he took us to the most amazing villa I have ever seen. We took as much of the food we could and a change of clothes etc for the morning, it was very difficult in the dark! In the end we couldnt BBQ as by the time we got to the other villa it was 10:30. So FIL and my dad went to Applebees to get take out, the food was amazing however I was so tired by this point I was in bed and didnt eat any.

As you can imagine, after the shock of the state of the villa the day before, to have no power the next day was just the final straw. We laughed about it to stop us from crying! The manager offered to get us another villa however we would have to try and get the money back from the villa we were supposed to be in, and tbh I didnt want to go through all that hassle and the thought of him possibly not giving us the money back put me off, I didnt want to have to fight him once we got home, plus we wanted to give him the chance to put it right rather than have to fight him to get the money back. We actually found out the next day that the power had been turned off intentionally by the power company!

So after a rather eventful evening we went to bed feeling very tired and a bit peeved!


Tomorrow, more villa hassle!

 

[RobynPrincess]

Day 5,

More Villa Hopping!

Woke up early and eager to find out what was going on with our villa. The management guy came round at 8:30 to tell us what the power company had said about having no power, apparently the power had been turned off by mistake! At least that meant it could be turned on again and we could move back in later that day once it was back on again. So we had to go to our villa and try to get all the bits we needed for that day at Islands Of Adventure and try to bring back as much of the fridge food that wasnt ruined overnight in the heat.

Once we finally got on the road after breakfast in the villa, we headed straight there, but by this point it was almost lunchtime which meant we had a very rushed day ahead!

We headed to the right and stopped for a drink on the way.

MIL Anne wasnt feeling very well at all, she was feeling really sick and faint which Im sure was due to the heat and the rushing around in the morning. We went to go on Poseidon's fury however as we got inside she had to go back outside and as we were right by the medical centre, they took her inside. They took her blood pressure and sugars but she was ok, she had a drink and a relax while we went off for an hour to give her a bit of space (on her insistence! We did leave FIL with her though).

We went to have a look around WWOHP, we didn't go on the new ride without Anne and Cliff, but we did go on flight of the hippogriff and Simon got a Butterbeer...

We then went to have some lunch and a sit down somewhere cool. MIL started to feel better and didn't want to go home so we walked round to do a few water rides. We loved Popeye's so much that we went on twice! We got rather wet.....

And then we went to Jurassic Park. By the time we did that we had to head out cause time was getting on. We did Spiderman on the way out and MIL said this was her favourite ride. Dh and I went on The Hulk as there was no queue, I'm not a massive fan of it but DH loves it so I went on with him on the proviso that he would come on Dr Doom with me he's never been on it before but he LOVED it! TeeHee!

We found time to pose for a few pictures on the way though....

After that we headed to the car, ready to pack up our things from the posh villa and head back to our old villa.

Once we got back and finished moving we decided to have BBQ with the food that we'd saved from the day before. Unfortunately it was Dark by the time we'd finished moving and BBQing in the dark, on uneven grass (we had to BBQ outside of the pool net) was a bit erm, fun! As well, we ate eventually

Dinner done, we practically fell into bed, completely shattered.

Tomorrow EPCOT, Yay!

 

[RobynPrincess]

Day 6

EPCOT Our first Disney day!!

Woke up about 9am and had some toast in the villa, well I had toast, think just about everyone else had cereal (much healthier option!) but I cant have it due to my diet so I had marmite on toast, my fav.

We ended up leaving really quite late, think we got to EPCOT about 11:30 in the end. We parked the car in MK so that we could take the Monorail over as when you take it from MK you go round future world before coming into the station outside.

We went to Spaceship Earth first, we always go to this first, its just such a fab ride! Our parents loved it too. We then went to Ellens Energy Adventure, grabbing a frozen drink on the way, I had a mango, it was super yummy! There seemed to be a lot of it though, I nearly didnt finish it all. I know Ellen can be seen as a bit dull but I really like it (this was only the second time riding it though so maybe it just hasnt lost its charm yet?).

Then the men went on Mission Space, the dads did the easy version and DH went on the Orange. I remember going on the green a few years back and didnt like how close everything felt, it made me feel a bit clostrophibic so I didnt fancy it again.

Then we all headed over to Test Track, Oh how I love this ride! MIL thought this was her favourite ride of the holiday, we rode it twice before heading over to Soarin.

We had lunch before riding Soarin. We ate at Sunshine Season so we could all choose what we wanted to eat, unfortunately I hated the food I chose it was chicken sweet and sour but it was chicken thighs which I dont like, but also I didnt like the taste of the sauce everyone else really enjoyed it though!

Riding Soarin was fun, my mum, Sian, is afraid of heights. I had spent ages prepping her for what it was like and to make sure she wanted to ride however she was sure she would like it... Oh how wrong was she! She wasnt too bad though, she just kept her eyes shut. She said she didnt want to do it again though. The rest of us loved it.

After Soarin we went on living with the land, MIL is very into that sort of thing, growing her own things and shes a chemistry lab tech so this was right up her street. I think its a lovely little boat ride too

We then went to Captain EO, I have never done this before and was really excited! We just missed one showing so we had to wait for a while but it was worth the wait. So sad to think the star is no longer with us

After EO, it was time for World Showcase!!!

I kept my eye out for my friend who was working in the UK pavilion but didnt see him. We did stop for a beer though I think the boys needed a lay down after seeing the price of a beer...

We also stopped in France for a cream cake! OMG how I love the cream cakes in there! We got chatting to a few of the staff who were from the South of France, right up the road from my parents place.

We had an ADR booked for Via Napoli at 7pm but by the time we reached Italy it was about 5pm, so we carried on walking round and then taking the boat back when it was nearer the time for our reservation.

In Norway we rode the weird boat ride, was a waste of time that was! Think we will miss that out next time!!

As we headed back to Italy there was a street performer which we watched for a little while. And then it was time for our ADR!

WOW is all I can say about Via Napoli. The pizzas are the most authentic pizzas Anne & Cliff have had outside of Italy (as Ive never been I cant comment however I can say that they were AMAZING!).

The Restaurant...

We had a 1/2 meter Pizza and a large pizza to share....

We actually managed to eat it all too - I didnt think that was going to happen! Unfortunately they got our pizza wrong, they first brought us a four seasons and not a pepperoni but that was soon changed, it didnt help me though s I only liked the pepperoni and was starving after not eating lunch!

After dinner Simon and I were brought a dessert to share and they sang something in Italian to us cause my mum told them it was our anniversary. Very embarrassing! But kinda nice at the same time.

After dinner we headed round the lagoon to get a good stop for Illuminations. We ended up near Future World. Afraid we were going to lose our spot or miss the beginning, ILs went to test track again while we sat and waited, they were back just in time.

After Illuminations we headed back to the monorail and back to the car, now we were thinking maybe not such a good idea to park at MK! Ah well, was too late to worry now!

Back at the Villa we went to get into the pool but it was really really hot still so we had to give it a miss bit of a shame seeing as we had been talking about getting in all the way home. We had a few drinks by the pool though. By the time we got to bed it was past midnight.

Tomorrow, was supposed to be a trip to the beach... Though it didnt turn out that way!

 

[RobynPrincess]

Day 7

What was supposed to be our day to Clearwater and a trip on Little Toot...

Woke up at 10am to the rest of the house still sleeping, now I dont remember a time when I was first awake (a bit of a night owl, me!) so was a bit worried. I wasnt alone for long before the rest of the house started waking up. Everyone was so tired, we had spent the last few days running around like headless chickens a bit, with the villa problems, running back and fourth between the 2 villas etc. We had a coffee, woke up a bit and had a chat, we decided that we wouldnt go to the beach today, we would go for breakfast, go for a wander round the shops and come back and relax.

So off we went to IHOP, yum! Our first IHOP of the holiday! We spent about 10 breakfasts on our honeymoon in here having breakfast We went to the IHOP opposite Wet and Wild (it was our favourite from last year). We had a great breakfast, our parents all over it too! FIL, Cliff loved that he could order from the Senior menu hehehe.

After breakfast we headed to the Prime outlets, we decided to split up as FIL cant stand shopping. By the time we bumped into my dad, Bill he told us he had had his wallet stolen. He had been back to IHOP just in case it was there, but it wasnt. He went to customer services at the outlets and someone had handed it in not long ago, everything was in it other than the $500 cash it really put a dampener on the day. He had to call the police and make a statement. The people at customer services said they had it quite a lot there, people pick pocket and take the cash and dump the wallet straight away. Not having much luck are we??

We decide to leave the Outlets after this, having not bought an awful lot, and headed to the Florida Mall! We split up again, shopping with 6 people can be a bit difficult. I dont think much was bought, we did get some cold stone ice cream on the way out though! MIL, Anne was very happy

We then headed to Wallmart! We spent an abnormal amount of time in there, we looked around for ages! Cliff bought some lounge pants Simon bought some tshirts and swimming shorts, plus we bought some more food and drinks. Then we headed back to the villa. What was supposed to be a relaxing day turned out rather tiring!

It was decided that we were eating in the villa again tonight for dinner but I didnt fancy another BBQ, Im not a bit fan as I dont eat red meat or fish so all I have is a bit of chicken...I fancied going to outback so Simon and I went on our own, I think it was a bit of a secret plan by our parents to give us some alone time...

Dinner was amazing! Oh how much do I love Outback? There used to be an outback in Staines which was right up the road from where I lived, it used to take less than 5mins to drive there, but it closed down We had a fab meal, quesadilla to start, I had honey chicken with a baked sweet potato, yum yum yum! Simon had steak with grilled shrimp, it was one of the best meals of our holiday.

After dinner we headed home to find our parents had been drinking all evening!! Was funny though, we had a couple of drinks with them and then headed for bed, we had to be up early in time to see the opening parade at Magic Kingdom tomorrow!


Tomorrow, Magic Kingdom!!!

 

[RobynPrincess]

Day 8

MAGIC KINGDOM!

Woke up to the alarm going off, oh I hate waking up to an alarm, but needs must if we are to get on MK in time for the opening show! Having never seen it before it was something I really wanted to do, plus having seen it online I thought everyone else would enjoy it a lot too.

We got up and had some toast, it was a bit of a mad rush and fight for the bathroom to get out of the villa in time. I was trying to shuffle everyone along but it was rather difficult, as it happens we missed the show Ah well, next holiday (another reason to return!).

As it was going to be a very long day today both my mum and me hired an ECV each, I get tired very easily and my mums asthma was bad and she wouldnt have been able to walk around all day. It did have its uses though as we had some sandwiches and drinks with us in a cooler so I could put it under my legs.

First things first, we got a coffee and a sit down overlooking the castle in the glorious sunshine! Bliss we sat here for a little while putting sun cream on and just trying to relax a bit after the mad rush to get to the park that morning. We then headed to Tomorrowland. We went on Stitch first, then onto Monsters inc laughter floor, this has to be one of my fav things in WDW! Then we went to space mountain, The mums decided not to ride so the rest of us found them a nice stop to sit and we rode, I left my ECV outside as you cant take it down the queue line however about half way down I was feeling really unwell and faint, and there was a queue of people walking behind us that I was holding up, I felt really uncomfortable hate people having to suffer because of me! By the time we got to the front (I have a GAC) I nearly didnt ride as I was feeling so unwell, but I didnt want to walk all the way back without the guys so I went on. Was really glad I did. When we were there for our honeymoon Space Mountain was closed for refurb so this was DHs first time riding and my first time since it has been made darker! All I could here was FIL going �ooooh, ooooooooh� and I kept yelping as we went round blind corners! It was brilliant!

After that we went on the peoplemover and then Buzz Lightyear (Simon got the highest score). The guys then went on the tomorrowland speedway while us girls waited in the shade, I thought it was really rubbish last time I went on it and was in no hurry to go on it again. Once they were back, we went to find somewhere to sit down and have some lunch. We went into Cosmic Rays to eat our sandwiches, the dads went to get some drinks and fries to go with them. Really enjoyed our lunch.

After lunch we headed outside and into Fantasyland. We went on Peter Pan, Snow White, Winne The Pooh and Mickeys Phillarmagic. We then headed to Frontierland to go on Haunted Mansion. While we were waiting the heavens opened and it POURED down! Luckily we were under cover but the rain was so hard it was bouncing off the floor and getting our feet wet! After we came out, the rain had stopped. We went to wait for the parade. While we were waiting we went round to get some Dole Whip, I cant believe Ive never tried it before! It was to die for! So we sat and ate it while waiting for the parade. Once the parade started the heavens opened again and we got SOAKED to the skin, there was no shelter and no way out of the disabled section so we got drenched.

We actually felt cold for a long time after the rain stopped. We headed to get a coffee after a while to try and warm up. We went on splash mountain next and then we went over to Big Thunder mountain just as the rain started again and they closed the ride. We waited in the shade for a while for the rain to subside. It wasnt passing off so we headed away to find something inside that we could go on. We went on Pirates of the Caribbean and then over to the jungle cruise as the rain stopped again. Just as we were about to set off on the Jungle cruise 4 of the people who were sat on the opposite side to us got off and said they would get the next one cause they didnt like where they were sat. As you can probably see from our pictures, we are not the smallest bunch of people! So our boat was a couple of inches above the water on our side for most of the ride, I was absolutely petrified. I nearly drowned as a child and although I wouldnt say I�m frightened of water, I dont go in the sea/river, only in pools that I know the depth of, I wasnt very happy! It was the worst ride Ive ever been on for the fact I leant forward and gripped on for dear life all the way round

After that we headed back to Big thunder Mountain to ride. Everyone loved this ride! After this we realised that we hadnt been on the railroad. As we cant take ECVs on here, we had to do a roundtrip which was fine by us. Deciding where we were going to view the Mainstreet Electrical Parade we decided that me and my mum would get off at BTM and drive our ECVs over to the entrance and meet the others there, their feet were killing them and as we could drive, seemed pointless to make them walk all that way. By the time we got to mainstreet it was SO packed we couldnt find them, we couldnt fit in the Disabled section to watch the parade so we had to stop behind and didnt have a very good view, plus we were panicking a bit that we couldnt see the others. We did see them after the parade had finished so panic was over!

We headed to the car afterwards and headed back to the villa. We stopped on the way to get some TacoBell and applebees take out.

Feeling rather tired we all head to bed ready for tomorrow....Animal Kingdom!

 

[jen_uk]

Brilliant trip report! Looking forward to the next installment

 

[strawberry blonde]

Great trip report Really enjoying reading it.

Read the first day and thought ' I hope day 2 comes soon'. Couldn't believe it when I scrolled down and you were up to day 8

When you've no holiday booked, you have to keep the magic going reading trip reports

Have never done Miami but would love to have a few days there next time we go. The hotel looked really nice.

Lovely photos and you packed so much in. Shame about the villa and the money being stolen. I hope it didn't spoil your holiday too much.

Can't wait for day 9.

 

[fizz13]

ooh more more!!! a truly fab report, your DH and you are adorable the way you spoil each other, so cute
sorry about all the villa drama you had and hope that the rest of the trip goes without a hitch.
can't wait to read it!

 

[Jets fan]

Really enjoying your trip report

Tina

 

[jockey]

Really enjoying your report

 

[PJB71]

Really enjoying reading your report

Hope you got some sort of compensation of the villa owner for all the inconvience

Looking forward to reading more

 

[SusanEllen]

Your reports have entertained me through lunch at work the past two days--great job of reporting, by the way--but I'll be needing the next installment tomorrow (or ASAP), please.

 

[RobynPrincess]

Thanks everyone! Seeing as I'm snowed in I should make the most of it and write a couple more days today

 

[RobynPrincess]

Day 9

Animal Kingdom

Woke up about 9am, had breakfast in the Villa and headed to Animal Kingdom! Sian and Bill weren’t sure about doing Animal Kingdom, they hadn’t done it before (Sian doesn’t like animals in captivity at all) but after a fair bit of persuasion from me they agreed to give it a ago

We had a look at the show times for Lion King and Finding Nemo and the Parade time so that we could plan our day around them. So we decided to head to Dinosaur first as Finding Nemo was first on the list. Anne wasn’t feeling it today so didn’t go on and Cliff stayed with her. We then went to see Finding Nemo. Sian said it was worth going to Animal kingdom just for that show – and she’d never seen the film! We then went round to see Lion King which is my personal Favourite in all of the parks. It didn’t disappoint! On the way round we stopped to do Its Tough to be a Bug.

Then it was time for lunch. We decided that we would head round to Yak and Yeti café for some Chinese food, we were getting a bit sick of the typical burger type lunch. On the way we stopped to watch the band play

The food was to die for! We really enjoyed the food here, more so than any other park lunch.

We then went back on ourselves to go on the Safari which was fab. We saw loads of animals, I was worried as it was the middle of the day, they would all be sleeping and seeking shade but as it was out of season a bit they seemed all to be about, including an ostrich that was stood right next to the truck!

Then it was time to watch the parade There was a girl on the other side of the parade route that was rather erm, interesting! After watching her for a while I think she might have worked there and she was obviously with a guy who she was trying to cop off with and she was showing off and going very very OTT when the people came past on the parade, screaming, jumping up and down etc, very odd! I thought at first she might have been on something :S

After the parade had finished, we headed over to the River Rapids where we got rather wet! It was then time for Expedition Everest! We rode twice the last time we were the last train of the day. Anne didn’t like the look of it and I couldn’t persuade her to go on, though I think she would have liked it. So she waited for us and waved as we went round. The second time it was just me, Simon and Cliff, we sat at the front this time and it was worth it just for the view when you stop at the top – you could see for miles and miles!

After that, it was time to go back to the villa to get out of the wet clothes.

We decided to go to Manny’s for dinner…. The guy from our villa’s management company recommended it to us. We got fairly dressed up as we were told just how popular we called ahead and then went down. Oh. My. God. I did NOT feel comfortable in there. I don’t know what we were expecting but we weren’t expecting what we found! Our table wasn’t ready so we sat at the bar to get a drink. The barman left a little to be desired! I asked if they had a cocktail menu and was told no, it’s a bar, they stock everything and I should know what cocktail I want – and I wasn’t told in a very nice way either!! I told him I wouldn’t have a drink then, honestly I was nearly in tears, never been spoken to that like that in Orlando it was made even worse when we sat down and there was a cocktail menu in the main menu The food was okay as was the waitress but I wouldn’t go back there again.

Once we finished we went back to the villa. We sat by the pool for a while having a drink and a chat and then headed to bed.

Tomorrow – Hollywood Studios!

 

[SusanEllen]

Grateful for the snow as it provided you the time to write this installment of your TR and me, my lunchtime entertainment. So glad you got the parents to AK. Think what they would have missed! You and Simon were excellent guides.

 

[RobynPrincess]

Day 10

Hollywood Studios!

We were up about 9am today, had breakfast in the villa before getting in the car and heading to Hollywood Studios. Was one of the hottest days of the holiday apart from day 1 in Miami. Very very hot! As we had quite a late night, we were late in getting to the park, I think we got there about 11:30, which as we only had 1 day to do everything, wasn’t that long!

We found the parade and show timetable and began to plan our day around it, plus we had an ADR for 50’s Prime time at 2:20 so we needed to make sure that we would be nearby for that. First off was the Great Movie ride, a personal favourite

Then it was time for Muppets 3D (actually while writing this TR I am watching a Muppets Christmas Carol!)

Star Tours was closed as was one man’s dream which is another of my personal fav’s I wasn’t too bothered about star tours though, it always made me feel a bit sick.

We had a wonder around the streets of New York…

Met Mike Wizowski

Then headed over to 50’s Prime Time for our ADR. We were about 45 mins early but we went in and asked if we could wait there as it was so hot! We were told that we couldn’t even though when we went in at 2:20 there were people who I heard that they were going to wait in there for 2 HOURS until their ADR ah well….

Inside 50’s Prime Time…

We’ve never done an ADR before so was very exciting. We loved the atmosphere and our server was great. Bill was wearing a Birthday badge as it was our last day at Disney and it was his birthday the day after our parents got home, so he was given a birthday cupcake!

The food was really nice, if not a little pricey! Simon had a fishfinger sandwich which is his ultimate favourite so he was very happy

After Lunch we went to Toy Story Mani where Sy got the highest score of all of us, I think he cheated though as we were in an adapted carriage and it had a fire button and not a pully thingy – if you’ve been on the ride you’ll know what I mean! Plus we have it on the Wii and he’s completed it (too much free time if you ask me!).

We then went to the Backlot Tour.

After that we did the Stunt Show.

It was then time to head over to see Beauty and the Beast, we sat right at the front which was brilliant! I love that show

It was then Time for Tower Of Terror! My FAVOURITE ride in all of Orlando! Plus Sian’s favourite. Anne took one look at it and said no way so she sat at the exit and waited for us. It was so funny, Cliff was making the silliest noises! A kind of ‘oooooooh’ noise, very hard to write down, it made us laugh though. Straight away we wanted to go again… We did manage to get Anne on this time, Cliff told her he thought she would like it (baring in mind she doesn’t like things that go up and down lol). Well she didn’t like it much! Hehehehe! The photo was brilliant, she was gripping onto Cliff for dear life with her eyes closed and he head buried in his armpit! She said she didn’t think she would like to do it again after that…. Not that anyone could blame her.

We then went over to Rockin’ Rollercoaster. This time Anne, Cliff and Sian sat out while the rest of us went on. We got to the bit where you watch the trains go in front of you and Bill turned to me and said ‘oh, I don’t remember them going this fast before, have they sped it up?’. No dad, they haven’t! He still went on mind you.

We got an ice-cream and a drink outside and then made our way to Fantasmic! The queue was horrendous. As I always go out of season, I wasn’t really prepared. We did get a seat though as we could sit in the disabled bit to one side. Once we were sat down I went to get some popcorn, we then settled down to watch the show…

Once the show was finished we started off back to the car, it wasn’t a great experience, we sat and waited a while for the queue’s to die down but even so it wasn’t pleasant trying to fight our way out. We got back to the car safe and sound and went back to the villa.

We weren’t really hungry enough for a big meal so we just picked at a few bits outside by the pool. It was soon time for bed.


Tomorrow SeaWorld!