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The 4F Trip Report
Day 06 - 02-Jul - Typhoon Lagoon and Downtown Disney
So we were rained off yesterday at the hotel, and we were rained off the day before that at EPCOT. It seems faintly bizarre that we were going to go to a water park today, but such are the vagaries of planning ahead!
We weren't in any particular rush to get out of the hotel, as the weather was clearing but not yet cleared. Eventually, however, we managed to get ourselves breakfasted (I was becoming rather partial to the strawberry parfaits that the restaurant sold... I noticed that they didn't have a list of the number of calories that they contained!), sorted out and out of our rooms.
The kids were really looking forward to the water park, having had a great time at Aqualand in France the previous year
(the spotty things they were wearing were from the Boden catalogue - they were unbelievably practical for water parks - I just wish I had the freedom to wear something similar!)
We got to Typhoon Lagoon and the sun was so strong I seriously thought about buying a rash vest there rather than trusting to the sunscreen. However, I decided to save my money for now, and instead managed to arrange for a picture or two
As always, the theming is excellent
We crossed over the Lazy River
and entered the park proper.
Now for anyone who hasn't been to Typhoon Lagoon, there are a number of slides and attractions, all centred around a large lagoon. A huge tidal wave crashes across that lagoon every so often. So when I was taking this photo, the gentlemanly thing to do would have been to warn Marie and the kids that something huge was about to hit them!
And if you doubt it, this is what it feels like to be hit by the wave:
[youtube]9f9d4CpX9uw[/youtube]
Strangely, it turns out that when you get really far towards the source of the wave, you don't really feel so much force - it's the people who hang back that really get the full force of the wave. Look at this video - the people at the left of the picture, where the wave starts, just swim over it. It's the folk who are in the shallows that get knocked off their feet:
[youtube]a-HfN2n30GY[/youtube]
As you'd expect, the entire lagoon is carefully watched by lifeguards:
So we spent a good three or four hours before going back to the hotel, tired but having had a great time
Photography Note
All of the photographs up to this point today were taken using a Vivitar 5399 camera. This was bought from Asda for just £39.99, which included the camera and a waterproof case for it. Given that a waterproof case for a Canon Ixus would cost over £120 without the camera, this is an amazingly good deal!
The little camera isn't perfect - for example, the inside of the case can suffer from condensation if you open it up in a humid environment, but it's well worth the money and I have had great fun with it. If you can still find it at Asda I would highly recommend it!
When we got back to the hotel, we had a lovely towel animal left for us.
We showered, changed and went to our ADR - the Raglan Road pub. The same place as we ate last night! Not the best of planning, but there were no objections raised either. Tonight, there was a two-piece Irish band (from Manchester) to provide entertainment. They were very good, but so poorly lit that I totally failed to get a decent shot of them!
As well as the band, there was an Irish dancer. When she wasn't dancing, she was the greeter at the front door of the pub. But every so often she was called up to a table that served as a stage, and she danced for a number or two:
So we ate a lovely meal (though I would advise that you avoid the Bread and Butter pudding... I couldn't work out how to eat that) before going back to the Caribbean Beach Resort for a comparatively early bed.
The 4F Trip Report
Day 06 - 02-Jul - Typhoon Lagoon and Downtown Disney
So we were rained off yesterday at the hotel, and we were rained off the day before that at EPCOT. It seems faintly bizarre that we were going to go to a water park today, but such are the vagaries of planning ahead!
We weren't in any particular rush to get out of the hotel, as the weather was clearing but not yet cleared. Eventually, however, we managed to get ourselves breakfasted (I was becoming rather partial to the strawberry parfaits that the restaurant sold... I noticed that they didn't have a list of the number of calories that they contained!), sorted out and out of our rooms.
The kids were really looking forward to the water park, having had a great time at Aqualand in France the previous year
(the spotty things they were wearing were from the Boden catalogue - they were unbelievably practical for water parks - I just wish I had the freedom to wear something similar!)
We got to Typhoon Lagoon and the sun was so strong I seriously thought about buying a rash vest there rather than trusting to the sunscreen. However, I decided to save my money for now, and instead managed to arrange for a picture or two
As always, the theming is excellent
We crossed over the Lazy River
and entered the park proper.
Now for anyone who hasn't been to Typhoon Lagoon, there are a number of slides and attractions, all centred around a large lagoon. A huge tidal wave crashes across that lagoon every so often. So when I was taking this photo, the gentlemanly thing to do would have been to warn Marie and the kids that something huge was about to hit them!
And if you doubt it, this is what it feels like to be hit by the wave:
[youtube]9f9d4CpX9uw[/youtube]
Strangely, it turns out that when you get really far towards the source of the wave, you don't really feel so much force - it's the people who hang back that really get the full force of the wave. Look at this video - the people at the left of the picture, where the wave starts, just swim over it. It's the folk who are in the shallows that get knocked off their feet:
[youtube]a-HfN2n30GY[/youtube]
As you'd expect, the entire lagoon is carefully watched by lifeguards:
So we spent a good three or four hours before going back to the hotel, tired but having had a great time
Photography Note
All of the photographs up to this point today were taken using a Vivitar 5399 camera. This was bought from Asda for just £39.99, which included the camera and a waterproof case for it. Given that a waterproof case for a Canon Ixus would cost over £120 without the camera, this is an amazingly good deal!
The little camera isn't perfect - for example, the inside of the case can suffer from condensation if you open it up in a humid environment, but it's well worth the money and I have had great fun with it. If you can still find it at Asda I would highly recommend it!
When we got back to the hotel, we had a lovely towel animal left for us.
We showered, changed and went to our ADR - the Raglan Road pub. The same place as we ate last night! Not the best of planning, but there were no objections raised either. Tonight, there was a two-piece Irish band (from Manchester) to provide entertainment. They were very good, but so poorly lit that I totally failed to get a decent shot of them!
As well as the band, there was an Irish dancer. When she wasn't dancing, she was the greeter at the front door of the pub. But every so often she was called up to a table that served as a stage, and she danced for a number or two:
So we ate a lovely meal (though I would advise that you avoid the Bread and Butter pudding... I couldn't work out how to eat that) before going back to the Caribbean Beach Resort for a comparatively early bed.
more great photo's
