Part 2
Thursday 20th December
Ivan and I managed to get a bit of sleep but you must know what its like when you get so very tired you dont seem to be able to get a proper sleep. The children slept quite well and although I woke up at about 10am (only 5 hours sleep) they slept until about 12.00. We all felt awful so I knew our plan was out of the window. I had intended to go to MK this afternoon but decided against it. We explored the villa. It was absolutely wonderful. A large lounge, 3 large bedrooms, ours with huge en suite, lovely kitchen and dining area, double garage with washing machine and drier and best of all our own pool. The boys were now getting excited and wanted to get straight into the pool but we had to check in properly with the villa agency otherwise they would come and change the locks!!! By the time we were showered and dressed etc it was well after 1.00. Down the 192 again at least we knew where we were going. That job done we did a bit of exploring.
Went into a supermarket to buy essentials coke, crisps, biscuits, milk, beer and lemonade for the 2 bottles of southern comfort we bought at Gatwick! Oh yes and breakfast cereal (that was going to be the limit of my cooking this holiday. I cook for a living so was determined not to touch a pan or cooker all week. (and I didnt).
We found a camera shop, as we needed to buy a battery for our camcorder and was delighted to find just we wanted. We had taken a chance that we would be able to get one in Florida as they were so expensive in England (£70 for a 1 hour one) and managed to get a 2-hour one for $66 so was glad we had waited. They are about £100 at home.
On the way back to the villa we passed a Nike warehouse place and the boys said we just had to stop and look.
3 hours later and $200 on credit card, 4 very weary people left the Nike shop with new trainers, shorts, T-shirts and those Jordan basketball clothes you just cant buy in England. The rest of the day is a bit of a blur I know the boys went swimming but where we ate or what we ate (dont know if we even ate!) Im not sure. Oh I knew I should of made notes but I was sure Id remember EVERYTHING!!
We fell into bed about 9pm and at last slept really well.
Friday 21st December
Well so much for waking early with jet lag. The travelling and going 29hours with no sleep took away any jet lag and we woke about 9am. I decided to try and stick as much as possible to my plan as we had so little time (only 8days and one of them had gone already) and wanted to go to Animal Kingdom this morning. We should have been there at 9am really but never mind. We stopped off at Ponderosa for breakfast (first of many) as I found out from this site that it is really good. They do an all you can eat breakfast for $3.99 and $2.99 for Kyle. Boy was it good. ¾ hour later 4 very full people rolled out into the car having eaten our way through. Cereal, bacon, eggs, sausage, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc etc etc ..then pancakes, syrup, hot fruit, cold fruit, cakes, cookies AND ice cream. (Perhaps we didnt have tea last night after all) My we must be on holiday me letting the boys have cookies and ice cream for breakfast.
Eventually at about 10.30am we were on our way to Animal Kingdom. I had bought 5day hopper pluses the night before from a tourist info place near our villa, there were no queues so went straight in and were greeted by a huge Christmas tree decorated with an animal theme. It was really lovely. We headed straight to the safari again no queues. Our driver was great very funny and you didnt get the impression that he had done the trip 200 times before!! We saw most of the animals, they were a bit dopey as it was nearly lunchtime by then but it was still very good. After that, we went to see the gorillas. About 10 mins later, we were ready to leave as the CM had done his talk and was running out of things to say and not a gorilla in sight. Then out they came, the whole family. There were about 5 or 6 maybe more, ranging from a baby through to the adult male who was huge. They were beautiful and the baby one so funny and playful. I could of stayed for hours just watching them but the natives were restless so off we went. Next on to its tough to be a bug. All I can say is WOW. I dont want to spoil it for anyone who hasnt seen it yet but it was the first 3-D show I had ever seen and it was brilliant. So as not to ramble too much .. we spent about another 2 hours in animal kingdom and then the children had had enough and wanted to go back to the villa for a swim. I had booked the ice-cream social for EPCOT at 3pm but due to my plan being thrown out of sync we would have to go straight there and no one wanted to so a little disappointed we went back to the villa stopping on the way for some Dunkin Donuts ummmmmmmmmmm and coffee. Had a lovely relaxing afternoon.
At around 5 or 6ish we went to EPCOT. It was just starting to get dark but was just how I remembered it in 1983. It was great to be there again. Did all the usual Spaceship Earth, etc etc and then went to Test Track a bit of a queue but not too bad about 20 mins if I remember rightly. It was great, and the boys absolutely loved it. Had something to eat and then settled down to watch Illuminations. I thought they were fantastic. We got a great spot right in front of the globe near the lake, just before you go into World Showcase. I videoed the whole thing and have watched it several times since It was well after 10pm by then so went home and the boys fell into bed again. After a couple of Southern Comforts so did we.
End of day 3 ..its going so quickly.
Thursday 20th December
Ivan and I managed to get a bit of sleep but you must know what its like when you get so very tired you dont seem to be able to get a proper sleep. The children slept quite well and although I woke up at about 10am (only 5 hours sleep) they slept until about 12.00. We all felt awful so I knew our plan was out of the window. I had intended to go to MK this afternoon but decided against it. We explored the villa. It was absolutely wonderful. A large lounge, 3 large bedrooms, ours with huge en suite, lovely kitchen and dining area, double garage with washing machine and drier and best of all our own pool. The boys were now getting excited and wanted to get straight into the pool but we had to check in properly with the villa agency otherwise they would come and change the locks!!! By the time we were showered and dressed etc it was well after 1.00. Down the 192 again at least we knew where we were going. That job done we did a bit of exploring.
Went into a supermarket to buy essentials coke, crisps, biscuits, milk, beer and lemonade for the 2 bottles of southern comfort we bought at Gatwick! Oh yes and breakfast cereal (that was going to be the limit of my cooking this holiday. I cook for a living so was determined not to touch a pan or cooker all week. (and I didnt).
We found a camera shop, as we needed to buy a battery for our camcorder and was delighted to find just we wanted. We had taken a chance that we would be able to get one in Florida as they were so expensive in England (£70 for a 1 hour one) and managed to get a 2-hour one for $66 so was glad we had waited. They are about £100 at home.
On the way back to the villa we passed a Nike warehouse place and the boys said we just had to stop and look.
3 hours later and $200 on credit card, 4 very weary people left the Nike shop with new trainers, shorts, T-shirts and those Jordan basketball clothes you just cant buy in England. The rest of the day is a bit of a blur I know the boys went swimming but where we ate or what we ate (dont know if we even ate!) Im not sure. Oh I knew I should of made notes but I was sure Id remember EVERYTHING!!
We fell into bed about 9pm and at last slept really well.
Friday 21st December
Well so much for waking early with jet lag. The travelling and going 29hours with no sleep took away any jet lag and we woke about 9am. I decided to try and stick as much as possible to my plan as we had so little time (only 8days and one of them had gone already) and wanted to go to Animal Kingdom this morning. We should have been there at 9am really but never mind. We stopped off at Ponderosa for breakfast (first of many) as I found out from this site that it is really good. They do an all you can eat breakfast for $3.99 and $2.99 for Kyle. Boy was it good. ¾ hour later 4 very full people rolled out into the car having eaten our way through. Cereal, bacon, eggs, sausage, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc etc etc ..then pancakes, syrup, hot fruit, cold fruit, cakes, cookies AND ice cream. (Perhaps we didnt have tea last night after all) My we must be on holiday me letting the boys have cookies and ice cream for breakfast.
Eventually at about 10.30am we were on our way to Animal Kingdom. I had bought 5day hopper pluses the night before from a tourist info place near our villa, there were no queues so went straight in and were greeted by a huge Christmas tree decorated with an animal theme. It was really lovely. We headed straight to the safari again no queues. Our driver was great very funny and you didnt get the impression that he had done the trip 200 times before!! We saw most of the animals, they were a bit dopey as it was nearly lunchtime by then but it was still very good. After that, we went to see the gorillas. About 10 mins later, we were ready to leave as the CM had done his talk and was running out of things to say and not a gorilla in sight. Then out they came, the whole family. There were about 5 or 6 maybe more, ranging from a baby through to the adult male who was huge. They were beautiful and the baby one so funny and playful. I could of stayed for hours just watching them but the natives were restless so off we went. Next on to its tough to be a bug. All I can say is WOW. I dont want to spoil it for anyone who hasnt seen it yet but it was the first 3-D show I had ever seen and it was brilliant. So as not to ramble too much .. we spent about another 2 hours in animal kingdom and then the children had had enough and wanted to go back to the villa for a swim. I had booked the ice-cream social for EPCOT at 3pm but due to my plan being thrown out of sync we would have to go straight there and no one wanted to so a little disappointed we went back to the villa stopping on the way for some Dunkin Donuts ummmmmmmmmmm and coffee. Had a lovely relaxing afternoon.
At around 5 or 6ish we went to EPCOT. It was just starting to get dark but was just how I remembered it in 1983. It was great to be there again. Did all the usual Spaceship Earth, etc etc and then went to Test Track a bit of a queue but not too bad about 20 mins if I remember rightly. It was great, and the boys absolutely loved it. Had something to eat and then settled down to watch Illuminations. I thought they were fantastic. We got a great spot right in front of the globe near the lake, just before you go into World Showcase. I videoed the whole thing and have watched it several times since It was well after 10pm by then so went home and the boys fell into bed again. After a couple of Southern Comforts so did we.
End of day 3 ..its going so quickly.
