Feeling Hot Hot Hot! The Rain Curse is Broken! Two Weeks of Fun in the Sun! COMPLETE

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Having checked out the McDonald's we piled back in the car and started our drive back "home".

We decided to pick up some Papa John's for dinner before heading back to the resort for the night.

A picture of the random cows grazing outside of WDW near Bronson. We saw this several times throughout the trip and always laughed. It just seemed so off to have a field with grazing cows in the middle of Orlando.

The guy at Papa John's was really friendly and we had a good conversation with him. I am pretty sure he cut us a deal on our pizza for having once lived in Virginia as the price he rang up did not match up with the advertised price. No complaining here!

Pizza in hand we drove back to Coronado Springs.

We chowed down on pizza while watching tv, probably Harry Potter since it was on nonstop the last part of the vacation.

We then spent the late afternoon swimming and doing laundry. We went down to the Quiet Pool since it was right next to the laundry room.

That night we just relaxed in the room watching Jurassic Park as it was on tv. Very appropriate too since we had just visited Universal!

The enormous bag of M&M's I bought that day.

The wand I bought

We ate the Rock Cake I had bought the day before from Honeyduke's.

Erich's new keychain

It was an early night for us, we were all so tired having been on the go for over a week. Our next day was going to be nice and relaxing. A day at Typhoon Lagoon and dinner at Medieval Times. A much needed R&R day.

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[KatMark]

Great updates, Lessa. Looks like a fun day at Universal.

We were the opposite...we preferred Universal over IOA, but then we just cannot handle the thrill rides at IOA. ET is a little outdated, but we did enjoy it.

You got soem beautiful pictures of CSR...making me homesick.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Great updates, Lessa. Looks like a fun day at Universal.

We were the opposite...we preferred Universal over IOA, but then we just cannot handle the thrill rides at IOA. ET is a little outdated, but we did enjoy it.

You got soem beautiful pictures of CSR...making me homesick.

Park preference probably all depends on what kind of ride and experience you like. We loved all the rides at IOA and the theming. Universal was nice, just not as "exciting".

 

[OhMari]

Hi Leesa,
Anyways, I was at Universal during Spring Break and it was so empty too. I had Studios done by 1:00 p.m. I think "Twister" is an inappropriate attraction. There used to be a Cowboy stunt show where Rip is. I rode The Mummy and had no clue it was a rollercoaster.

My kids and dh bought me a puppy last month, and I was thinking I was going to be so far behind on your TR, but it wasn't too bad, because you were busy too.

Merry Christmas to you and your family. Nice card.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Hi Leesa,
Anyways, I was at Universal during Spring Break and it was so empty too. I had Studios done by 1:00 p.m. I think "Twister" is an inappropriate attraction. There used to be a Cowboy stunt show where Rip is. I rode The Mummy and had no clue it was a rollercoaster.

My kids and dh bought me a puppy last month, and I was thinking I was going to be so far behind on your TR, but it wasn't too bad, because you were busy too.

Merry Christmas to you and your family. Nice card.

Why do you think Twister is inappropriate?

 

[oOJulieOo]

I'm all caught up on your TR and I was relieved to see that I wasn't too far behind. I'm happy that there's still a week left!

Islands of Adventure looks like so much fun. I definitely want to check that and Universal out next time we're in Orlando (whenever that may be!).

Once again, your food pics are making me DROOL. I miss American food!

It's really a shame that you had such a bad headache on your Universal day. It's so hard to fully enjoy a park when you've got a headache.

Papa John's...YUM!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I'm all caught up on your TR and I was relieved to see that I wasn't too far behind. I'm happy that there's still a week left!

Islands of Adventure looks like so much fun. I definitely want to check that and Universal out next time we're in Orlando (whenever that may be!).

Once again, your food pics are making me DROOL. I miss American food!

It's really a shame that you had such a bad headache on your Universal day. It's so hard to fully enjoy a park when you've got a headache.

Papa John's...YUM!

You must be in food heaven though, all those yummy European delicacies! The bread, the pastries!

We actually recently got a Papa John's here in town, seems they are slowly making their way into Canada. Now we just need Olive Garden!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 19th

Our first scheduled day of rest and relaxation arrived sunny and warm. No early wake-up call this day, no point as we were headed for Typhoon Lagoon which didn't open until the "late" hour of 10am.

We arrived at the park just after 10am and were greeted by line-ups at all the turnstiles. We ended up getting separated from Mom, she went in a different line than the boys and I. Once we got through we expected to see Mom waiting just past the entrance. She wasn't there. Where on earth was she? We went back to see if she was still in line to get into the park, she wasn't. We traveled a little further into the park thinking maybe she had walked up the path a bit, she wasn't there. We were starting to get frustrated! Erich was dispatched to go look by the pool to see if she had gone to grab a chair and Alek and I waited at the entrance in case she showed up. We waited for what felt like forever. Erich returned and said he had found Mom, she had indeed gone straight to the pool. I wish she would have told us she was going to do that! We wasted so much time waiting around and then looking for her.

The boys and I went to rent our locker for the day and then dropped our towels with Mom. She told me that she had gone ahead to make sure that she got a good spot. I rolled my eyes because the park had just opened, there was no danger of not getting a good spot.

The first place the boys and I went was Crush n' Gusher. In the past we have always ridden this together but this time I rode solo and they doubled up. Sadly, there was no photopass photographer at the end taking pictures as you shoot out of the slide. In fact, we didn't see a single photopass photographer the whole day. We are used to see them here, in the pool and in the Lazy River but they were not present in any of those locations.

Erich had voiced his desire to try snorkeling this trip upon finding out that Typhoon Lagoon has a snorkel lagoon, Shark Reef. Yes, there are live sharks swimming with you. I learned to snorkel back in 2009 when Mom and I went on the Disney Cruise, Alek and Erich had never tried it.

Shark Reef has two sides. One side you have to pay extra to use and the other is free. Not sure what the difference is.

Disney supplies the snorkel equipment which gets cleaned after each use.

I had my lovely waterproof camera so we were able to take pictures. Erich asked to use the camera so I let him since this was his first time snorkeling. I am such a generous sister. Hahaha

They only let in a certain amount of people at a time and before they let you in the water you have to listen to a little spiel about the rules (don't stand on the reef, swim straight across, no stopping, etc.) and how to use the equipment.

We had so much fun that we decided to do it again. The wait was a little bit longer this time as the park was slowly starting to fill up.

This time I was in charge of taking pictures.

I swam really slowly (without stopping so not breaking the rules )

Alek and Erich were waiting for me at the end, they said that I took "forever" to swim across.

As we were leaving we heard a kid absolutely losing it, screaming like crazy about the sharks. So word of warning, make sure that your kids know exactly what they are going to see if you decide to take them to Shark Reef.

We went to fetch Mom once we were done to see if she wanted to go in the Lazy River with us.

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[GeminiAngel]

Nice day so far. Looks like it wasn't crowded at all.
We might have to give a water park a shot next trip. But we always seem to go when its a bit cold.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Nice day so far. Looks like it wasn't crowded at all.
We might have to give a water park a shot next trip. But we always seem to go when its a bit cold.

We love going to the water parks, a nice break from the parks and the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon is awesome, so much fun.

 

[UGAFan0829]

Awesome updates, Lessa! I'm glad to see that y'all have been able to slow down the pace a bit and do a little relaxing!!

I've often heard of the Florida Mall, but have never been there. How far is it from Disney? We may have to make a visit there one day! The M&M store looked really cool!

I'm loving the Typhoon Lagoon update...it's my favorite waterpark! Awesome underwater pics by the way. Looks like the snorkeling there is pretty good!

 

[kittylady1972]

LOVE Typhoon Lagoon! My DH has done the reef swim but I know last time he tried it DD also wanted to do it but was too small. It's been added to our future TO-DO-AT-DISNEY List though...but probably not for the next trip. Guess it will be something to try in 2013 or 2014...yes I'm already planning three trips ahead when I haven't taken my two trips in 2012 yet!

 

[JessicaFaye508]

YAY for being back in Disney!! I absolutely LOVE typhoon lagoon... I haven't been there in such a long time! I really want to go to a water park on this next trip... maybe it will happen!

 

[KatMark]

We've not been to Typhoon Lagoon since 2000. We really need to get back; we love the Lazy River and Mark would enjoying the snorkeling. Your pictures are great.

 

[marvali]

Some more really great updates! That McDonald's looks amazing, and the menu sounds very interesting! I especially like that you posted the Bistro dessert menu picture first. I'll have one of each please!

Have to visit the M&M store sometime. For some reason your liking the green one doesn't surprise me......... Sassy huh?

You got some beautiful pictures of CSR!

We finally did the water parks on our trip last summer. I think the boys made it to both, but the whole family only made it to TL! Love the lazy river, but getting in and out of those tubes is a challenge.

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays!

What a great family picture! I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!!

 

[CandleontheWater]

You got some great pics in Shark Reef! That waterproof camera certainly came in handy!

I LOVE typhoon lagoon, there is just something so awesome about all that lush foliage, and I think that backstory is just so cute!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Awesome updates, Lessa! I'm glad to see that y'all have been able to slow down the pace a bit and do a little relaxing!!

I've often heard of the Florida Mall, but have never been there. How far is it from Disney? We may have to make a visit there one day! The M&M store looked really cool!

I'm loving the Typhoon Lagoon update...it's my favorite waterpark! Awesome underwater pics by the way. Looks like the snorkeling there is pretty good!

I think the mall is maybe a 20 minute drive from WDW. All depends on the traffic.

I think Shark Reef is a great way to introduce people to snorkeling, of course, real snorkeling may be a disappointment when there isn't as much sea life is such a small area.

LOVE Typhoon Lagoon! My DH has done the reef swim but I know last time he tried it DD also wanted to do it but was too small. It's been added to our future TO-DO-AT-DISNEY List though...but probably not for the next trip. Guess it will be something to try in 2013 or 2014...yes I'm already planning three trips ahead when I haven't taken my two trips in 2012 yet!

That's okay, I always have all sorts of vacations planned with no real idea of when I am actually going to go on them.

YAY for being back in Disney!! I absolutely LOVE typhoon lagoon... I haven't been there in such a long time! I really want to go to a water park on this next trip... maybe it will happen!

We spent part of Christmas Day at Blizzard Beach when we went over Christmas back when we were all still kids. A perfect fit, snow and Christmas music followed by a game of mini-golf with Santa at Winter-Summerland.

We've not been to Typhoon Lagoon since 2000. We really need to get back; we love the Lazy River and Mark would enjoying the snorkeling. Your pictures are great.

Typhoon Lagoon is definitely our favourite water park, mostly because of the wave pool, if only all wave pools could be that fun!

Some more really great updates! That McDonald's looks amazing, and the menu sounds very interesting! I especially like that you posted the Bistro dessert menu picture first. I'll have one of each please!

Have to visit the M&M store sometime. For some reason your liking the green one doesn't surprise me......... Sassy huh?

I am the typical girly girl and the Mars company did their job sucking me in with a female mascot.

We finally did the water parks on our trip last summer. I think the boys made it to both, but the whole family only made it to TL! Love the lazy river, but getting in and out of those tubes is a challenge.

Yes, it sure can be a challenge and then once you get in you have to try and get comfy which is a whole other ordeal.

What a great family picture! I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!

You got some great pics in Shark Reef! That waterproof camera certainly came in handy!

I LOVE typhoon lagoon, there is just something so awesome about all that lush foliage, and I think that backstory is just so cute!

Yes, I love my camera. Since there was no rain on the trip I made good use of it in the pools to make sure that I took advantage of the waterproof function.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 19th continued

Mom said she didn't feel like going in the Lazy River at that time so we left her with her book and went off for Alek and Erich's traditional Lazy River race. They are not content floating along peacefully, instead a Lazy River to them is a racing arena. Every time they get in a lazy river they have to race each other to see who can lap the river first. I apologize if you have ever been disturbed by my crazy brothers racing past you in the river.

I don't participate in the race. Instead, I float along (like you are supposed to in a Lazy River) until they reach me again.

The race coming to a finish. Whoever gets to my tube first wins.

We got out shortly after they reached me.

This is one of the pricey private areas you can rent for the day. Not worth it in my opinion but to each their own.

When we got back to our chairs I was able to convince Mom to enjoy the Lazy River with me. We left the boys at the chairs while we went for a float.

This is how we found the boys when we got back.

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[dilligaf212]

awesome updates.. been a while since i commented.. i am pretty embarrassed to say that i have never seen the Harry Potter movies even though i have almost all of them just bits and pieces. but from looking at the pics from universal i am going to have to sit and watch them.. that mcdonalds looks pretty neat. we never rent a car so idont get to check things out off site.i like your christmas card hope you and your family have a happy holiday

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

awesome updates.. been a while since i commented.. i am pretty embarrassed to say that i have never seen the Harry Potter movies even though i have almost all of them just bits and pieces. but from looking at the pics from universal i am going to have to sit and watch them.. that mcdonalds looks pretty neat. we never rent a car so idont get to check things out off site.i like your christmas card hope you and your family have a happy holiday

Have you read the books? I highly recommend reading them before watching the movies, a much richer experience and gives you a better understanding of the characters and what is happening in the movies. Of course, the movies are excellent as well.