This trip started because my DB wanted to take his twins to the World. And at the end of it all, we had 6 adults (DB, his Girl Friend, our parents, DH and me) and 3 kids (the twins and DS) on this trip. They decided to stay off-site.
We had planned to catch up a number of times before WDW:
- Plan #1 was that we would meet up in Miami and travel to the World together. They drove down to the Keys on the day we went to the Everglades and we didn’t catch up for dinner as planned.
- Plan #2 was that the Melbournians would meet in Melbourne Florida. I believe our cars passed each other in the main street of the historic center – but DGF wasn’t feeling well and they pushed on to Orlando so we didn’t meet up.
- Plan #3 was that we were going to meet at Epcot on 5/5. They were all tired from the traveling and didn’t want to come to the parks.
So today was the day that we would hook up as I had arranged a Pirate Adventure out of POR for the 3 kids. This was my birthday present to the twins, who had celebrated their 11th birthday in April.
It was great to catch up with everyone and find out how each other's trips had gone.
Photos of the day are going to be scrappy as I haven’t gotten permission to post any of their mugs on this site.
The kids looked really happy to get on board the ‘Pirate Ship’. I have to say that the CM did a fabulous job in managing the parents on departure….
They managed to keep the parents away from the boat when the children filed on.
And judging from the happy faces of the kids, I would say that the CM did a great job with the kids as well.
The kids enjoyed the "loot" that they got ... and now have a secret handshake that they can share for the rest of their lives.
As for the adults, we had 2 hours to kill and ended up hitting the Orlando Premium Outlets. It’s amazing how much damage we Aussies can do in 90 minutes and I’d like to think that we helped out the Florida economy on this day.
When we picked up the kids, we got on a bus to Magic Kingdom. We only had to wait 10 minutes and watch 4 other buses go by.
Naturally, we showed off our house to the family. Those clouds look ominous.
And then took a tour of the neighbourhood. The kids found a cute playground called ToonTown and went on the rollercoater twice. The playgound was very popular as it was packed! They had to wait about 20 minutes for each ride.
We took the opportunity to cash in some snacks and ended up with a frozen lemonade and a pretzel.
And took time out for some pictures with other old friends.
I know my house has a laundry but I decided to check out the local wash and spin facilities – just in case. The other adults declined; so it was only me and the kids.
I also went looking in the shops for an American Girl Doll…
And kept going round looking for a doll of my own.
Instead, I saw some dolls clowning around.
I did see one that I wanted to get but couldn't find anyone to help me nor did I see a cash register.
Pity about the music system. It must have been stuck and kept playing the same song over and over and over again.
Great concept shop, though!
We had lunch at the Columbia Harbour House. I KNOW I took food porn but the camera must have chewed it up and spat it out somewhere. I have to admit that I was a little bit disappointed with the fare at CHH – it was too overly fried and dry for my liking. However, we LOVED the apple pie/cobbler that we had for dessert. It was great.
We found a great wilderness area the other side of the house and took the opportunity to see the waterfall up close. Fortunately, I had picked up fast passes earlier in the day so we didn't have to wait the 55 minutes stand-by.
There was even a scenic railway going through the local mountain – but by this stage, the extended family were tired of the queues and those ominous clouds got even more threatening. A CM told me that they were expecting rain and that the rain would last a couple of hours.
With this news, we decided to head over to Epcot and spend some time in Future World.
Which turned out to be a great decision….it started to rain just as we got outside the gates of MK and we made a dash for the monorail.
Epcot was wet!
We headed for Innoventions where DS was keen to share a Sum of the Parts ride with his cousins.
We then headed for the Land but fastpasses were all gone for Soarin’ and with stand by time being 75 minutes; we went on Living with the Land.
I used to eat Jackfruit when I was a child in South East Asia. This one is a little bit outside my reach.
And I learnt that you could grow chocolate in sandy soil. Something to consider for my garden.
The Pomelo is another fruit from my childhood....so close but yet so far!
DB suggested that we find somewhere to eat and wanted to know if there was a good restaurant in Epcot. He had heard that Le Cellier was worth going to. For you veteran planners, don’t bother trying not to laugh – I had the same reaction on the day.
DB had the notion that we were going to get into an Epcot restaurant at 6.30 pm as a group of 9 without any problems or ADRs!!
After a little delicate readjustment of expectations, we ended up eating here at 8.30 pm.
This was the hamburger I had. I had ordered it medium rare and it was medium/well done.
DH ordered a salad with feta cheese and pecans. It was yum!
DS had the lasagna, the pick of the night.
I'm not sure I would go back to T Rex in a hurry.
DS was happy as he scored big time!
And also got to visit his favourite store afterwards!
Day 3 with the family turned out okay. It was nice to see them and I had gone into this trip knowing that they traveled at a completely different speed to us and that planning was something that my DB just did not get.
I’m not sure I can take another 7 days at their pace!
[Up next – Day 4 @ World Showcase and the best of both worlds!]
The salmon you got at Sunshine Seasons looks fabulous, and I don't even like fish (unless it's still swimming or in stick form, anyway... I'm weird)!
. I don't know how long this will take 
and I might need some therapy.
) that swill is just VILE compared to proper coffee.
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---> 
during my trip. I can't even remember exactly how much they cost and think that a pair were sub $10. It was money worth spending!
A plateful of Disney magic at home.
