allie5
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Part 12 Animal Kingdom Once Again
Main Players
Allie
Neil
Jessamy (4)
Daniel Noah (2)
Nanny Sylvie
Saturday December 18th 2004
Today is one of those days where we are all champing at the proverbial bit to get moving! No one wants breakfast, so we bundle into the Jeep and try to agree on a destination. Nanny Sylvie is heard to be mumbling I could do with the Wal-Mart (like we havent been there for at least 24 hours) and the kids only ever want Magic Kingdom or its new rival, the Thomas shop.
Weather Channel and Pinecone agree that it is going to be pleasant all day, so I override all suggestions and inform the troops that we are going back to Animal Kingdom (as Planner in Chief, I am allowed to do that
) and do what we missed earlier in the week (pretty much most of the park if you can remember our dismal efforts that day!!). Daniel is much improved this morning and I have his inhaler packed, so we are good to go for a full day!
After our incredibly early start, we are hoping to be at the park for opening and are limbered up for our Kelly Holmesesque sprint to the Safari ride. Alas, the best laid plans are always destined to disintegrate into millions of useless fragments and this one was no exception. As we pull out of Highlands Reserve onto the US27 we find ourselves in the middle of giant traffic jam. Its stickier than the stickiest ever jammie donut this morning.
Traffic continues to crawl towards the junction with the 192, doing a very effective impression of our own dearly beloved M25. We can now see blue lights and police directing traffic. It takes 35 minutes to travel the 2 miles between our villa and the 192 this morning. As we approach the incident, we see a Dodge Caravan being towed away. The whole of the drivers side was gone and it appears to have hit a tanker that has shed its fuel load onto the road.
We did find out when we got home, that this was a truly terrible accident. Three people were killed in the Caravan and 4 children were critical in hospital. The family were actually Brits who lived only 10 miles from our home town we didnt realise that this accident got quite a bit of news coverage back home, and actually frightened quite a lot of our family and friends who thought it was us involved.
The local news reported it that night, and it appeared the driver was lost trying to find the Wal-mart and U turned but misjudged the oncoming traffic. They had only arrived a few hours beforehand. One of the party had stayed behind at their condo with a baby and she was now at the hospital with the injured children.
Even when we didnt know that these people were Brits on holiday just like us, it was still incredibly sad. One week before Christmas and two families lives ruined forever. We hugged our kids just a little bit tighter that night.
OK, after we get on the 192, traffic is back to normal and we are at Animal Kingdom in minutes. Im a tad miffed that we have to park so far back that we need to use a trolley bus. Our early start had now turned into a mid morning start and we dont enter the park until 9.40am.
Nanny Sylvie is keen to do the bug show that Jessie had been constantly telling her about for the last year since our previous trip. There is a performance about to start so we leave Neil and Daniel to browse the shops and we hit the show.
Im very surprised Jessie wants to do this again, as last year it scared her witless. The terror she experienced seemed to have been forgotten, but re-emerged the instant we sat in our seats in the theatre! Wails of horror began as she remembered all the scary bits again! As you know, Im a very bad parent indeed and refused point blank to let her leave (so we could all enjoy the show together you understand).
Actually, she was fine once it began. A tactic of not wearing the 3D glasses helped and she came through it unscathed. Nanny Sylvie was suitably horrified that small children were allowed to watch something so terrifying. I thought I had caught her sitting there with her eyes scrunched closed praying it would all be over soon!
Good old Disney, they have got the art of frightening toddlers and old ladies totally sussed!
Catch up with Neil and Daniel and take a stroll into Asia. I am all keen to do Kali River Rapids there is no line and Im looking for a likely co-pilot. Neil? Doesnt want to get wet. Nanny Sylvie? Pensioners and water dont mix apparently. Jessie? She at first seems a likely victim, but then spots a raft tumbling rather rapidly past us - Im not going on THAT she exclaims firmly.
Daniel is quite keen, shouting boat and wet as another soaked tourist wanders past, but unfortunately, is around 6 inches too short. To sum up, not one of my miserable family unit would come on with me.
I decide whether I want to be Billy No Mates or leave it and sulk. Im not keen on riding this alone, so linger behind my family with my lip stuck out as far as possible. Kevin the Teenager has nothing on me when Im upset.
Of course, its hard to stay mad when you are at Disney World and a trip through the Maharaja Jungle Trek soon lifts my spirits.
In previous years, we have never seen any of the big animals close up so dont go in with high expectations. I always frown darkly when those ads come on the telly with tigers and gorillas performing inches away from the glass, when in reality you are lucky to spot a paw dangling from behind a rock 50 metres away.
Today, however, they must have been filming one of those ads, as the tigers were right down by the glass. One was sleeping with his nose pressed against the window and the other was stalking in the long grass. Great! Got some fabulous shots that I may enter into the BBCs Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest. How are they to know Im a tad over 14 and didnt spend the summer trekking tigers in Bengal?
Next, the Gorillas are also down by the glass, doing gorilla type things (reading Shakespeare and doing the Times crossword). More nice pictures. Kids are enjoying themselves here, so we linger for awhile.
We then are in the antelope and gazelle grazing area (or Tiger Snack Enclosure, Im not sure which it was). There is a nice Wildlife lady handing round an antelope horn for all to see. Jessie holds it carefully and asks lots of knowing questions. I do nearly faint when the Wildlife lady then says Maybe this little man would like to hold it next? and passes it to Daniel.
She obviously hadnt seen my manic hand gestures and before I knew it, Daniel has the horn in his hot little mitts. Of course, to him, it wasnt a precious animal relic, this long pointy thing was a SWORD and he proceeded to play a rousing game of Gladiator with it. Wildlife lady is looking on in horror, and is certainly not entertained. Wrestle the horn back from our mini Maximus and find, quite surprisingly, it is still intact.
Beat a very hasty retreat to the safety of the bird enclosure. Daniel is sulking that he has been disarmed of his nice new sword and retreats to his stroller. Jessie enjoys finding the birds on the sheet provided, so at least one of them gains some educational value from this trip!
On exiting the Jungle Trek, we wander back round to Africa where the Flights Of Wonder show was just about to start. Never done this before, so went in to secure some seats. All the front section was taken, but we got front row seats on the rear section. Nanny Sylvie needed to dig out her specs, but the rest of us could see fine.
We all really enjoyed this, especially when one of the hawks landed right next to us. Daniel made a lunge for him, exclaiming Mmmm Chikin but the hawk was too quick for him, fortunately!
Its now lunch time and warm enough to consider the Flame Tree BBQ today! We set Nanny Sylvie up at a table with the kids and Neil and I head off to get the grub. Get both kids hot dogs and the adults chicken burgers. Add on sides of coleslaw and onion rings. It came to a rather extortionate $42. A similar meal at the Burger King usually comes in at $18, so thats some mark up, even for a theme park! I do find that I prefer to pay a little bit more for the sit down restaurants at the park, as the fast food is very hit and miss.
Nonetheless, we find the meal OK and are soon ready for more adventures!
Time to visit Dinoland USA, as Jessie is anxious to go back to the Bone yard, where she had so much fun last year. Daddy didnt have any fun at all in there (he got stuck in a tunnel, hehehehe), but is still volunteered to accompany his daughter anyway (roughly translated to mean that neither I nor Nanny Sylvie had any intentions of crawling around play areas today).
I take Daniel for a stroll round the area and try to pick up some fast passes for Primeval Whirl. Unfortunately, the FP machine is broken, but some kindly CMs hand me a fistful of no limits FPs which can be used at any time hoorah!
Contact Neil on the walkie talkies and am relieved to find that he is not stuck anywhere this year! Jessie is begging for another 15 minutes, so carry on wandering with Daniel. Nanny Sylvie is parked on a bench, as the temperature has crept into the upper 60s she is finding it too hot!! When we were here last year, it was 90 degrees in the shade. Now that was HOT!
Finally meet up with Neil and Jessie. Jessie doesnt want to do Primeval Whirl (which is just as well, as it has quite a high height restriction).
This is another ride we have never done, so dont have a clue what to expect. As it happened, I hated this! We shared the car with another family and were squished together quite tightly. Im not keen on my comfort zone being invaded and having someone practically slide into my lap every 20 seconds wasnt fun.
This ride is sort of like the teacups welded onto a rollercoaster and was quite intense for what looked like a kiddie ride. I dont think I would do this again as it was jerky and I didnt like getting up close and personal with total strangers!
Neil wasnt keen either, so we gave away the rest of the fast passes and went on something much more our scene the Triceratops Spin with the kids!
Its now very warm indeed, and we need bottles of water to quench our parched lips. First time that has happened this holiday we are used to looking for the Woolly Hat stall and Cocoa sellers!
Debate whether to leave or stay another 2 hours for the parade. Jessie begs to stay for the parade and we cant see any reason not to, so consult the map to see what we fancy doing next.
There is a Pocahontas show starting in 25 minutes, so head over to Camp Minnie Mickey. Kill the time by meeting all the characters again!
Enter the little theatre for the show and Jessie gets a front row seat in the kids section where she makes friends with a girl from Australia. Jessie is impressed (she is keen to visit the land down under) and enquires as to whether she knows Summer from Neighbours, but apparently, she doesnt, so she loses interest a little. Persevering, Jessie wonders if her new friend knows Steve, the Crocodile Hunter, but again is disappointed to hear that she doesnt know him either. I cant see this friendship blossoming somehow.
The adults seating is a bit further back which is quite a neat idea. A CM is on hand to make sure no pesky Brazilian tour groups try to commandeer the front benches.
I didnt think this show would be up to much, but it was fantastic for the little ones. I think any kids under 10 would enjoy it, but avoid it with older ones (although Pocahontas appeared to be favoured with an enviable double D cup, so MUCH older folk were seen to be having fun as well
).
The show is packed full of cute woodland critters and a big snake. It was really very sweet and worth a look if you are in the vicinity.
After the show I change Daniel at the restrooms and then we head out to the main hub to get a parade spot.
Trade some pins at the Outfitters store, but still no sign of an elusive monorail one. Jessie tries to trade her MVMCP one for a tiny Flounder pin. I intercept at the last minute and swap it for one of those cheap ones I got at the Premium Outlets. CM gives me an icy stare as she thought she was about to strike gold getting Limited Edition from a 4 year old. She hadnt reckoned on her mother, who now (after only a week) was a Black Belt, fully ABTA bonded, Jedi Master of the Pins.
Whilst waiting for the parade, we get snacks from a nearby stand. Nanny Sylvie is given a strong black coffee, Neil has a milkshake, Jessie and I share a cookie and Daniel has a yogurt cup.
We have a nice spot for the parade and get a lovely, close up view of all the floats. There is a mad CM called Skip who is in charge of our little section and he had us all in stitches! He is about 70, but the liveliest person Ive ever met!
The parade itself has changed ever so slightly and has a festive edge, calling itself Mickeys Jingle Jungle Parade. Basically, its the same floats, but with snow, tinsel and Santa outfits. Still great though and everyone enjoys it a lot. I particularly liked Donalds one, where he has a list of who is naughty and nice Mickey, Minnie and Donald are nice, but Pluto is naughty!
After the parade, everyone in the park decides its time to leave, so we linger awhile in the shops. We buy a photo of Jessie under the big AK Christmas Tree and they superimpose Simba onto her hands. Its too cute to resist!
Jessie has somehow talked Nanny Sylvie into buying her a toy (the sheer skill that granddaughters possess when persuading grandparents to part with cash should be bottled and sold to the world!). This takes forever, and they are practically locking the doors behind us when we leave. Nanny Sylvie tries to pay in UK pounds (opened the wrong zip on her purse) and chaos ensues. I think the shop assistant thought it was counterfeit money! In the end I have to buy the toy on my credit card hmmm, maybe Nanny Sylvie is more cunning than I give her credit for sometimes.
Stop at the Publix on the way home for supplies. I am despairing at how little Daniel is eating, so decide to revert him back to baby jars for a little while. At least I will know he is getting some vitamins in him. The Publix actually do dinky little toddler meals, so I pick up a selection and see if he will eat any of them.
These are actually a great success and he has lasagne with vegetables and banana and pineapple dessert. This is the most he has eaten in days, so I am pleased, even if they probably arent the healthiest option around.
Kids are put to bed early after their long day and dont put up any resistance.
Neil and I give our best puppy dog eyes to Nanny Sylvie, who, being the most superest Nanny in the whole wide world EVER, says we can go out!
Our plan tonight is to try Bahama Breeze as so many people have told us how yummy it is.
We drive over to the one at Lake Buena Vista and its packed! We are told there is a 45 minute wait, so are given a pager and let loose on the bar. You know this place is going to be good when the drinks menu is the size of a small encyclopaedia
! I have never seen such a comprehensive drinks menu ever! They even had stuff like Newcastle Brown Ale (if that floats your boat personally, it sinks mine!). The crowning glory was Ultimate Pina Coladas in 3 flavours for a tad over $5!! Amazing! I take it upon myself to try each one (some twice, just to be sure) so that I can do a full and comprehensive report here for you
ready? Ah, well, I maybe had one too many as I cant remember just HOW good they tasted, but, believe me, they tasted goooooood .
After 45 minutes on the Pina Coladas, even a bowl of gruel would probably have swum into focus as a gourmet delight, but Im please to report that the food was just as good as the (hic) drinks.
We were a tad ambitious and ordered two appetisers (the coconut shrimp and the onion rings), not realising the portion sizes here were big enough to fuel small African nations for a week. The stack of onion rings was so high, Im surprised there wasnt a red aircraft warning light on the top. Similarly, the shrimp were of the mutant jumbo variety, that cannot possibly even be the same species as the puny, fingernail sized ones sold in Iceland at home. There were six of these suckers and they were melt in the mouth gorgeous.
There is about 1mm of space left in my swollen tummy for my main course which was Jamaican chicken with cinnamon yam mash. This too, was heavenly, and I wish we hadnt had the appetiser! Neil had a burger flavoured with Jamaican spices which he declared wonderful as well.
We can hardly move after all this and practically roll to the car! The check was an unbelievable $57 (that included all the drinks!). Fantastic! This has gone straight in at number one on our places to eat list! We really like the atmosphere as well as the food and would HIGHLY recommend you try this place!
Home to bed by 10pm.
Tomorrow: Segway Tour, Epcot, Belz
Main Players
Allie
Neil
Jessamy (4)
Daniel Noah (2)
Nanny Sylvie
Saturday December 18th 2004
Today is one of those days where we are all champing at the proverbial bit to get moving! No one wants breakfast, so we bundle into the Jeep and try to agree on a destination. Nanny Sylvie is heard to be mumbling I could do with the Wal-Mart (like we havent been there for at least 24 hours) and the kids only ever want Magic Kingdom or its new rival, the Thomas shop.
Weather Channel and Pinecone agree that it is going to be pleasant all day, so I override all suggestions and inform the troops that we are going back to Animal Kingdom (as Planner in Chief, I am allowed to do that
) and do what we missed earlier in the week (pretty much most of the park if you can remember our dismal efforts that day!!). Daniel is much improved this morning and I have his inhaler packed, so we are good to go for a full day!After our incredibly early start, we are hoping to be at the park for opening and are limbered up for our Kelly Holmesesque sprint to the Safari ride. Alas, the best laid plans are always destined to disintegrate into millions of useless fragments and this one was no exception. As we pull out of Highlands Reserve onto the US27 we find ourselves in the middle of giant traffic jam. Its stickier than the stickiest ever jammie donut this morning.
Traffic continues to crawl towards the junction with the 192, doing a very effective impression of our own dearly beloved M25. We can now see blue lights and police directing traffic. It takes 35 minutes to travel the 2 miles between our villa and the 192 this morning. As we approach the incident, we see a Dodge Caravan being towed away. The whole of the drivers side was gone and it appears to have hit a tanker that has shed its fuel load onto the road.
We did find out when we got home, that this was a truly terrible accident. Three people were killed in the Caravan and 4 children were critical in hospital. The family were actually Brits who lived only 10 miles from our home town we didnt realise that this accident got quite a bit of news coverage back home, and actually frightened quite a lot of our family and friends who thought it was us involved.
The local news reported it that night, and it appeared the driver was lost trying to find the Wal-mart and U turned but misjudged the oncoming traffic. They had only arrived a few hours beforehand. One of the party had stayed behind at their condo with a baby and she was now at the hospital with the injured children.
Even when we didnt know that these people were Brits on holiday just like us, it was still incredibly sad. One week before Christmas and two families lives ruined forever. We hugged our kids just a little bit tighter that night.
OK, after we get on the 192, traffic is back to normal and we are at Animal Kingdom in minutes. Im a tad miffed that we have to park so far back that we need to use a trolley bus. Our early start had now turned into a mid morning start and we dont enter the park until 9.40am.
Nanny Sylvie is keen to do the bug show that Jessie had been constantly telling her about for the last year since our previous trip. There is a performance about to start so we leave Neil and Daniel to browse the shops and we hit the show.
Im very surprised Jessie wants to do this again, as last year it scared her witless. The terror she experienced seemed to have been forgotten, but re-emerged the instant we sat in our seats in the theatre! Wails of horror began as she remembered all the scary bits again! As you know, Im a very bad parent indeed and refused point blank to let her leave (so we could all enjoy the show together you understand
). Actually, she was fine once it began. A tactic of not wearing the 3D glasses helped and she came through it unscathed. Nanny Sylvie was suitably horrified that small children were allowed to watch something so terrifying. I thought I had caught her sitting there with her eyes scrunched closed praying it would all be over soon!
Good old Disney, they have got the art of frightening toddlers and old ladies totally sussed!Catch up with Neil and Daniel and take a stroll into Asia. I am all keen to do Kali River Rapids there is no line and Im looking for a likely co-pilot. Neil? Doesnt want to get wet. Nanny Sylvie? Pensioners and water dont mix apparently. Jessie? She at first seems a likely victim, but then spots a raft tumbling rather rapidly past us - Im not going on THAT she exclaims firmly.
Daniel is quite keen, shouting boat and wet as another soaked tourist wanders past, but unfortunately, is around 6 inches too short. To sum up, not one of my miserable family unit would come on with me.
I decide whether I want to be Billy No Mates or leave it and sulk. Im not keen on riding this alone, so linger behind my family with my lip stuck out as far as possible. Kevin the Teenager has nothing on me when Im upset
.Of course, its hard to stay mad when you are at Disney World and a trip through the Maharaja Jungle Trek soon lifts my spirits.
In previous years, we have never seen any of the big animals close up so dont go in with high expectations. I always frown darkly when those ads come on the telly with tigers and gorillas performing inches away from the glass, when in reality you are lucky to spot a paw dangling from behind a rock 50 metres away.
Today, however, they must have been filming one of those ads, as the tigers were right down by the glass. One was sleeping with his nose pressed against the window and the other was stalking in the long grass. Great! Got some fabulous shots that I may enter into the BBCs Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest. How are they to know Im a tad over 14 and didnt spend the summer trekking tigers in Bengal?
Next, the Gorillas are also down by the glass, doing gorilla type things (reading Shakespeare and doing the Times crossword). More nice pictures. Kids are enjoying themselves here, so we linger for awhile.
We then are in the antelope and gazelle grazing area (or Tiger Snack Enclosure, Im not sure which it was
). There is a nice Wildlife lady handing round an antelope horn for all to see. Jessie holds it carefully and asks lots of knowing questions. I do nearly faint when the Wildlife lady then says Maybe this little man would like to hold it next? and passes it to Daniel.She obviously hadnt seen my manic hand gestures and before I knew it, Daniel has the horn in his hot little mitts. Of course, to him, it wasnt a precious animal relic, this long pointy thing was a SWORD and he proceeded to play a rousing game of Gladiator with it. Wildlife lady is looking on in horror, and is certainly not entertained
. Wrestle the horn back from our mini Maximus and find, quite surprisingly, it is still intact.Beat a very hasty retreat to the safety of the bird enclosure. Daniel is sulking that he has been disarmed of his nice new sword and retreats to his stroller. Jessie enjoys finding the birds on the sheet provided, so at least one of them gains some educational value from this trip!
On exiting the Jungle Trek, we wander back round to Africa where the Flights Of Wonder show was just about to start. Never done this before, so went in to secure some seats. All the front section was taken, but we got front row seats on the rear section. Nanny Sylvie needed to dig out her specs, but the rest of us could see fine.
We all really enjoyed this, especially when one of the hawks landed right next to us. Daniel made a lunge for him, exclaiming Mmmm Chikin but the hawk was too quick for him, fortunately!
Its now lunch time and warm enough to consider the Flame Tree BBQ today! We set Nanny Sylvie up at a table with the kids and Neil and I head off to get the grub. Get both kids hot dogs and the adults chicken burgers. Add on sides of coleslaw and onion rings. It came to a rather extortionate $42. A similar meal at the Burger King usually comes in at $18, so thats some mark up, even for a theme park! I do find that I prefer to pay a little bit more for the sit down restaurants at the park, as the fast food is very hit and miss.
Nonetheless, we find the meal OK and are soon ready for more adventures!
Time to visit Dinoland USA, as Jessie is anxious to go back to the Bone yard, where she had so much fun last year. Daddy didnt have any fun at all in there (he got stuck in a tunnel, hehehehe), but is still volunteered to accompany his daughter anyway (roughly translated to mean that neither I nor Nanny Sylvie had any intentions of crawling around play areas today).
I take Daniel for a stroll round the area and try to pick up some fast passes for Primeval Whirl. Unfortunately, the FP machine is broken, but some kindly CMs hand me a fistful of no limits FPs which can be used at any time hoorah!
Contact Neil on the walkie talkies and am relieved to find that he is not stuck anywhere this year! Jessie is begging for another 15 minutes, so carry on wandering with Daniel. Nanny Sylvie is parked on a bench, as the temperature has crept into the upper 60s she is finding it too hot!! When we were here last year, it was 90 degrees in the shade. Now that was HOT!
Finally meet up with Neil and Jessie. Jessie doesnt want to do Primeval Whirl (which is just as well, as it has quite a high height restriction).
This is another ride we have never done, so dont have a clue what to expect. As it happened, I hated this! We shared the car with another family and were squished together quite tightly. Im not keen on my comfort zone being invaded and having someone practically slide into my lap every 20 seconds wasnt fun.
This ride is sort of like the teacups welded onto a rollercoaster and was quite intense for what looked like a kiddie ride. I dont think I would do this again as it was jerky and I didnt like getting up close and personal with total strangers!
Neil wasnt keen either, so we gave away the rest of the fast passes and went on something much more our scene the Triceratops Spin with the kids!
Its now very warm indeed, and we need bottles of water to quench our parched lips. First time that has happened this holiday we are used to looking for the Woolly Hat stall and Cocoa sellers!
Debate whether to leave or stay another 2 hours for the parade. Jessie begs to stay for the parade and we cant see any reason not to, so consult the map to see what we fancy doing next.
There is a Pocahontas show starting in 25 minutes, so head over to Camp Minnie Mickey. Kill the time by meeting all the characters again!
Enter the little theatre for the show and Jessie gets a front row seat in the kids section where she makes friends with a girl from Australia. Jessie is impressed (she is keen to visit the land down under) and enquires as to whether she knows Summer from Neighbours, but apparently, she doesnt, so she loses interest a little. Persevering, Jessie wonders if her new friend knows Steve, the Crocodile Hunter, but again is disappointed to hear that she doesnt know him either. I cant see this friendship blossoming somehow.
The adults seating is a bit further back which is quite a neat idea. A CM is on hand to make sure no pesky Brazilian tour groups try to commandeer the front benches.
I didnt think this show would be up to much, but it was fantastic for the little ones. I think any kids under 10 would enjoy it, but avoid it with older ones (although Pocahontas appeared to be favoured with an enviable double D cup, so MUCH older folk were seen to be having fun as well
).The show is packed full of cute woodland critters and a big snake. It was really very sweet and worth a look if you are in the vicinity.
After the show I change Daniel at the restrooms and then we head out to the main hub to get a parade spot.
Trade some pins at the Outfitters store, but still no sign of an elusive monorail one. Jessie tries to trade her MVMCP one for a tiny Flounder pin. I intercept at the last minute and swap it for one of those cheap ones I got at the Premium Outlets. CM gives me an icy stare as she thought she was about to strike gold getting Limited Edition from a 4 year old. She hadnt reckoned on her mother, who now (after only a week) was a Black Belt, fully ABTA bonded, Jedi Master of the Pins.
Whilst waiting for the parade, we get snacks from a nearby stand. Nanny Sylvie is given a strong black coffee, Neil has a milkshake, Jessie and I share a cookie and Daniel has a yogurt cup.
We have a nice spot for the parade and get a lovely, close up view of all the floats. There is a mad CM called Skip who is in charge of our little section and he had us all in stitches! He is about 70, but the liveliest person Ive ever met!
The parade itself has changed ever so slightly and has a festive edge, calling itself Mickeys Jingle Jungle Parade. Basically, its the same floats, but with snow, tinsel and Santa outfits. Still great though and everyone enjoys it a lot. I particularly liked Donalds one, where he has a list of who is naughty and nice Mickey, Minnie and Donald are nice, but Pluto is naughty!
After the parade, everyone in the park decides its time to leave, so we linger awhile in the shops. We buy a photo of Jessie under the big AK Christmas Tree and they superimpose Simba onto her hands. Its too cute to resist!
Jessie has somehow talked Nanny Sylvie into buying her a toy (the sheer skill that granddaughters possess when persuading grandparents to part with cash should be bottled and sold to the world!). This takes forever, and they are practically locking the doors behind us when we leave. Nanny Sylvie tries to pay in UK pounds (opened the wrong zip on her purse) and chaos ensues. I think the shop assistant thought it was counterfeit money! In the end I have to buy the toy on my credit card hmmm, maybe Nanny Sylvie is more cunning than I give her credit for sometimes
.Stop at the Publix on the way home for supplies. I am despairing at how little Daniel is eating, so decide to revert him back to baby jars for a little while. At least I will know he is getting some vitamins in him. The Publix actually do dinky little toddler meals, so I pick up a selection and see if he will eat any of them.
These are actually a great success and he has lasagne with vegetables and banana and pineapple dessert. This is the most he has eaten in days, so I am pleased, even if they probably arent the healthiest option around.
Kids are put to bed early after their long day and dont put up any resistance.
Neil and I give our best puppy dog eyes to Nanny Sylvie, who, being the most superest Nanny in the whole wide world EVER, says we can go out!
Our plan tonight is to try Bahama Breeze as so many people have told us how yummy it is.
We drive over to the one at Lake Buena Vista and its packed! We are told there is a 45 minute wait, so are given a pager and let loose on the bar. You know this place is going to be good when the drinks menu is the size of a small encyclopaedia
! I have never seen such a comprehensive drinks menu ever! They even had stuff like Newcastle Brown Ale (if that floats your boat personally, it sinks mine!). The crowning glory was Ultimate Pina Coladas in 3 flavours for a tad over $5!! Amazing! I take it upon myself to try each one (some twice, just to be sure) so that I can do a full and comprehensive report here for you
ready? Ah, well, I maybe had one too many as I cant remember just HOW good they tasted, but, believe me, they tasted goooooood .After 45 minutes on the Pina Coladas, even a bowl of gruel would probably have swum into focus as a gourmet delight, but Im please to report that the food was just as good as the (hic) drinks.
We were a tad ambitious and ordered two appetisers (the coconut shrimp and the onion rings), not realising the portion sizes here were big enough to fuel small African nations for a week. The stack of onion rings was so high, Im surprised there wasnt a red aircraft warning light on the top. Similarly, the shrimp were of the mutant jumbo variety, that cannot possibly even be the same species as the puny, fingernail sized ones sold in Iceland at home. There were six of these suckers and they were melt in the mouth gorgeous.
There is about 1mm of space left in my swollen tummy for my main course which was Jamaican chicken with cinnamon yam mash. This too, was heavenly, and I wish we hadnt had the appetiser! Neil had a burger flavoured with Jamaican spices which he declared wonderful as well.
We can hardly move after all this and practically roll to the car! The check was an unbelievable $57 (that included all the drinks!). Fantastic! This has gone straight in at number one on our places to eat list! We really like the atmosphere as well as the food and would HIGHLY recommend you try this place!
Home to bed by 10pm.
Tomorrow: Segway Tour, Epcot, Belz
another trip report to read! loving them! 
- loved reading your reports, thanks.
