Back to Magic Kingdom and took the train straight round to Mickey's Toontown Fair. Very warm and sunny (for a change) so Andy went straight to choose a new hat (to replace the one which blew off on Primaeval Whirl). Suddenly loads of characters appeared - Robin Hood, Friar Tuck and the White Rabbit (plus some Josef already had). Then found he had left his pen on the table, so had to rush over and buy a new fat pen double quick! The onto Goofy's barnstormer (a bit fast for Christian - and me! - considering its size) before looking round the character houses. Josef got Pluto's autograph but declined to join the queue for Mickey as it was really long. Made our way to Fantasyland where by judicious use of FP managed to do Dumbo, Pooh, Small World and Mickey's Philharmagic (fantastic - my favourite 3D presentation of all!). Picked up FP for Peter Pan at 12.00 then, as it was very crowded and we had 1 1/2 hours to kill before the slot opened walked down Main Street to get some drinks and pastries to keep us going. Noticed the road was surprisingly empty and the pavements surprisingly full - quick check of show timetable, and we realised an extra parade would be taking place at 12.30.
Decided not to wait on the pavements as we were all really thirsty, so went and sat down in the bakery to eat and drink in A/C comfort. We'd just finished when we heard misic in the distance, and came out just as the very start of the parade was drawing close. The CM manning the "keep clear" area by the side-road was not being very conscientious about keeping it clear, so we did manage to see most of the parade fairly well
Went back to use our FP for Peter Pan, then back to the hotel to pick up our stuff for Blizzard Beech. Following advice from the boards (thank you all!
) we decided to take the car so as not to wait at the bus stop all wet with tired kids. This meant we could get our swim stuff on and just put shorts over it. When we got there we easily found some beds by the area for the smallest kids, as Christian is not very confident in the water yet. Josef went off with Andy to see if he had the courage to do Summit PLummet and I stayed with Christian in the lovely warm shallow bits. He got a bit bored (his swim shorts seemed to stop him sliding properly - I don't know why) but wasn't tall enough to do the floating iceberg, so soon got tired and fed up. I wished I'd bought a book! In the end after about 1 1/2 hours Josef and Andy came back saying all the queues had been too big for the big slides (but they had done some smaller ones) so we headed for home - very glad we had the car as the wind was getting up, so all we needed to do was throw the clothes into our big red beach bag and put our towels on the seats to sit on.
Raced back and changed then headed out for dinner and another visit to the Premium Outlets (not as succesful as the first).
Up quite early next morning and decided to try a famous American breakfast. Very difficult to pull inot one as they all seemed to be the wrong side of the road or only signed as you passed the turn-off. Eventually managed to pull into a Perkins - great choice! Our waitress was actually able to make a proper pot of tes (she informed me proudly she'd warmed the pot AND put the teabag straight in with boiling water!!! Usual US method is to bring a selection of teabags and a pot of rapidly-cooling hot water). The portions were huge - even Josef was full, and Andy failed to finish his 3 huge pancakes (which just come with the breakfast!). The boys also got a sugar cookie each to take away for later.
Then off to Islands Of Adventure. Started at Seuss Landing
- had to tackle the very peculiar Express system - find your machine, try to get it to accept your tickets then choose which ride and which time slot. Many tickets were very difficult to swipe and it took a lot longer than Disney. Did Cat in the Hat and One Fish Two Fish (where you get squirted even if you DO follow the instructions, so be warned) then off to Sinbad, which was very entertaining (especially as we were at the back - there is a LOT of water hitting those front rows so be careful where you sit). The Poseidons Fury - won't ever bother with that again, cold and boring and effects (except a cool water tunnel) not very good. Then to Jurassic park for a quick drink before Andy and Josef headed off to the Jurassic Park ride while Christian and I explored the Dino institute.
Andy and Josef came back absolutely soaked, so decided they might as well do Bilgerat Barges in Toon Lagoon. Christian and I had great fun on Popeye's ship/adventure playground (water cannon are thoughtfully provided to soak the barge-riders as they float past). By the time they came back it had started to rain, so as they were already soaked Josef persuaded Andy that they HAD to do Ripsaw Falls. Christian and I wandered round the shops -the others took AGES (Universal's indicated wait times are much less accurate than Disney). They emerged eventually with barely a dry stitch on them (lucky I had custody of the tickets!
) and as we hit Marvel Superhero Island the heavens opened. Back to the hotel for a very nice meal in the Maya Grill and a bit of retail therapy choosing new mugs to take home.
Decided not to wait on the pavements as we were all really thirsty, so went and sat down in the bakery to eat and drink in A/C comfort. We'd just finished when we heard misic in the distance, and came out just as the very start of the parade was drawing close. The CM manning the "keep clear" area by the side-road was not being very conscientious about keeping it clear, so we did manage to see most of the parade fairly well
Went back to use our FP for Peter Pan, then back to the hotel to pick up our stuff for Blizzard Beech. Following advice from the boards (thank you all!
) we decided to take the car so as not to wait at the bus stop all wet with tired kids. This meant we could get our swim stuff on and just put shorts over it. When we got there we easily found some beds by the area for the smallest kids, as Christian is not very confident in the water yet. Josef went off with Andy to see if he had the courage to do Summit PLummet and I stayed with Christian in the lovely warm shallow bits. He got a bit bored (his swim shorts seemed to stop him sliding properly - I don't know why) but wasn't tall enough to do the floating iceberg, so soon got tired and fed up. I wished I'd bought a book! In the end after about 1 1/2 hours Josef and Andy came back saying all the queues had been too big for the big slides (but they had done some smaller ones) so we headed for home - very glad we had the car as the wind was getting up, so all we needed to do was throw the clothes into our big red beach bag and put our towels on the seats to sit on.Raced back and changed then headed out for dinner and another visit to the Premium Outlets (not as succesful as the first).
Up quite early next morning and decided to try a famous American breakfast. Very difficult to pull inot one as they all seemed to be the wrong side of the road or only signed as you passed the turn-off. Eventually managed to pull into a Perkins - great choice! Our waitress was actually able to make a proper pot of tes (she informed me proudly she'd warmed the pot AND put the teabag straight in with boiling water!!! Usual US method is to bring a selection of teabags and a pot of rapidly-cooling hot water). The portions were huge - even Josef was full, and Andy failed to finish his 3 huge pancakes (which just come with the breakfast!). The boys also got a sugar cookie each to take away for later.
Then off to Islands Of Adventure. Started at Seuss Landing
- had to tackle the very peculiar Express system - find your machine, try to get it to accept your tickets then choose which ride and which time slot. Many tickets were very difficult to swipe and it took a lot longer than Disney. Did Cat in the Hat and One Fish Two Fish (where you get squirted even if you DO follow the instructions, so be warned) then off to Sinbad, which was very entertaining (especially as we were at the back - there is a LOT of water hitting those front rows so be careful where you sit). The Poseidons Fury - won't ever bother with that again, cold and boring and effects (except a cool water tunnel) not very good. Then to Jurassic park for a quick drink before Andy and Josef headed off to the Jurassic Park ride while Christian and I explored the Dino institute.
Andy and Josef came back absolutely soaked, so decided they might as well do Bilgerat Barges in Toon Lagoon. Christian and I had great fun on Popeye's ship/adventure playground (water cannon are thoughtfully provided to soak the barge-riders as they float past). By the time they came back it had started to rain, so as they were already soaked Josef persuaded Andy that they HAD to do Ripsaw Falls. Christian and I wandered round the shops -the others took AGES (Universal's indicated wait times are much less accurate than Disney). They emerged eventually with barely a dry stitch on them (lucky I had custody of the tickets!
) and as we hit Marvel Superhero Island the heavens opened. Back to the hotel for a very nice meal in the Maya Grill and a bit of retail therapy choosing new mugs to take home. 
I've yet to try a Perkins but after your description, I may have to!
