bengunn
Pirate Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2001
- Messages
- 375
Day 4 Typhoon Lagoon, Shopping and Illuminations Cruise
Previous episodes:
Prequel
Day 1 The trip to Orlando
Day 2 Animal Kingdom
Day 3 Magic Kingdom
The Cast:
Richard (bengunn): Chief planner
Kathy : DW, just wants to go on holiday
Josie : DD 20, at Reading University, Assistant Planner, not very good at getting up
Sam : DS 17, just done AS exams, can get up very quickly when he wants to
Monday 19th August
Well we are still sticking rigidly to the plan, so today is Typhoon Lagoon until we think we have had enough sun, then shopping somewhere (no plan there then) and an Illuminations Cruise tonight.
We seem to be slipping 10 minutes a day at the moment as we did not leave the villa until 08:30 today; still never mind as, despite getting lost and going via Blizzard Beach, we still got to Typhoon Lagoon by 09:00. No security check here, surprisingly, presumably nobody wants to blow up a water park?
We found ourselves some sun loungers a few rows back from the beach towards the right hand side of the surf pool. We had followed a tip in the Unofficial Guide here and had put our bathing costumes on under our clothes and only brought a small amount of cash, so no queue for lockers and changing rooms, a quick strip off and we were off into the surf pool.
We liked the waves here (despite occasionally getting half drowned) and successfully body surfed for a while. We then went on the raft rides Gangplank Falls (family ride which was good but a bit short), Keelhaul Falls and Mayday Falls (which I managed to go down entirely backwards). Next was Castaway Creek which we rode for about half of its length.
We then all had a go at snorkelling in the Shark Reef which we all enjoyed and which built Kathys confidence for Discovery Cove later in the holiday. We then all went on two of the three Storm Slides and Sam went on Humunga Cowabunga; he then persuaded me that it was Ok and so Sam and I went on Humunga Cowabunga. This was about 15 seconds of sheer terror free-fall in the dark with added bruising on the rare occasions when you do contact the slide - never again!
I think that it was about now that we had lunch (the receipt is timed at 12:00); Josie and I had fish and chips from Typhoon Tillys ($25.97 which was a bit steep) and Kathy and Sam had something from the place next door but I have lost the receipt and cannot remember what they had.
We then did a complete circuit of Castaway Creek and lay on our sun loungers for a bit. Dark clouds were gathering and we felt that we had probably had enough sun for the day so we changed and went back to the villa. We then decided to go to the Florida Mall for the afternoon.
It was quite a long slow drive down the I192 and up the Orange Blossom Trail to the Florida Mall and I seem to remember it took about an hour. In the mall we split up and arranged to meet later at the food court. I bought two pairs of jeans (much cheaper than the UK) but Kathy did not feel like trying anything on so we did not buy much. We all met up successfully and ate at the food court (various Chinese and Japanese food and I had a Cuban Pork Sandwich). We then had to visit a shop adjoining the food court which sold T-shirts and various strange things as Sam had bought a T-shirt and Josie wanted to look at and try on half of the stock
. Eventually we managed to persuade her to leave, although a quick diversion into Claires was needed for hair ties, as we needed to return to the villa to get ready for our Illuminations Cruise.
Outside, we discovered that it was raining quite hard and it continued to do so as we drove back to the villa. We got ready and, horror of horrors, it was still raining things were not looking good for our cruise
. We drove to the Yacht Club in the rain; we were supposed to be meeting Libby and Crissy and their families in the bar next to Café May which someone on these boards suggested. Unfortunately, we had arranged to meet between 19:45 and 20:00 and we did not arrive at the Yacht Club until 20:00. We then found that Café May was in the Beach Club not the Yacht Club and had a quick panic attack as we went in search of our cruising companions. Fortunately, we all met up Ok as we had exchanged photos and recognised each other. We then proceeded to the marina where it had just about stopped raining 
. Both families very kindly gave us cards for our Silver Wedding Anniversary in two weeks time thanks very much for the cards, it was so nice to have some while we were on holiday.
We met up with Aaron, who was our driver for the night, and had to wait while they wiped the boats down with towels; this is also the point where you have to pay for the cruise (they do accept credit cards here, if anyone wondered). We set off before 20:30 and firstly cruised up past the Swan, Dolpin and Boardwalk hotels round to MGM. We had a good view of the Tower of Terror and the enormous Mickeys Wizard Hat; we could also hear (but not see) Fantasmic. We then cruised back past the Yacht and Beach Clubs and round to Epcot, where we moored under the bridge between Canada and France. We had about 10 minutes to wait so Aaron and another boat driver (Geoff?) had a bad joke contest to amuse (?) us all. The torches around the lake then went out and Illuminations began. I cannot attempt to describe this spectacle except to say that we could feel the heat from the flames and I was very impressed by the moving pictures on the globe. We had an excellent view and this was one of the highlights of our holiday.
Afterwards we cruised back to the Yacht Club Marina, said goodbye to Libby, Phil, Bruce and Robyn and walked around the Boardwalk with Crissy, Derek and Wynne. At the bakery, we bought coffee and cakes and sat and talked things Disney for a while. Eventually we got too tired and had to walk back to the Yacht Club and go back to the villa to bed. I should add here that, once the rain stopped, it stayed dry all evening.
Tomorrow: Islands of Adventure
Previous episodes:
Prequel
Day 1 The trip to Orlando
Day 2 Animal Kingdom
Day 3 Magic Kingdom
The Cast:
Richard (bengunn): Chief planner
Kathy : DW, just wants to go on holiday
Josie : DD 20, at Reading University, Assistant Planner, not very good at getting up
Sam : DS 17, just done AS exams, can get up very quickly when he wants to
Monday 19th August
Well we are still sticking rigidly to the plan, so today is Typhoon Lagoon until we think we have had enough sun, then shopping somewhere (no plan there then) and an Illuminations Cruise tonight.
We seem to be slipping 10 minutes a day at the moment as we did not leave the villa until 08:30 today; still never mind as, despite getting lost and going via Blizzard Beach, we still got to Typhoon Lagoon by 09:00. No security check here, surprisingly, presumably nobody wants to blow up a water park?
We found ourselves some sun loungers a few rows back from the beach towards the right hand side of the surf pool. We had followed a tip in the Unofficial Guide here and had put our bathing costumes on under our clothes and only brought a small amount of cash, so no queue for lockers and changing rooms, a quick strip off and we were off into the surf pool.
We liked the waves here (despite occasionally getting half drowned) and successfully body surfed for a while. We then went on the raft rides Gangplank Falls (family ride which was good but a bit short), Keelhaul Falls and Mayday Falls (which I managed to go down entirely backwards). Next was Castaway Creek which we rode for about half of its length.
We then all had a go at snorkelling in the Shark Reef which we all enjoyed and which built Kathys confidence for Discovery Cove later in the holiday. We then all went on two of the three Storm Slides and Sam went on Humunga Cowabunga; he then persuaded me that it was Ok and so Sam and I went on Humunga Cowabunga. This was about 15 seconds of sheer terror free-fall in the dark with added bruising on the rare occasions when you do contact the slide - never again!
I think that it was about now that we had lunch (the receipt is timed at 12:00); Josie and I had fish and chips from Typhoon Tillys ($25.97 which was a bit steep) and Kathy and Sam had something from the place next door but I have lost the receipt and cannot remember what they had.
We then did a complete circuit of Castaway Creek and lay on our sun loungers for a bit. Dark clouds were gathering and we felt that we had probably had enough sun for the day so we changed and went back to the villa. We then decided to go to the Florida Mall for the afternoon.
It was quite a long slow drive down the I192 and up the Orange Blossom Trail to the Florida Mall and I seem to remember it took about an hour. In the mall we split up and arranged to meet later at the food court. I bought two pairs of jeans (much cheaper than the UK) but Kathy did not feel like trying anything on so we did not buy much. We all met up successfully and ate at the food court (various Chinese and Japanese food and I had a Cuban Pork Sandwich). We then had to visit a shop adjoining the food court which sold T-shirts and various strange things as Sam had bought a T-shirt and Josie wanted to look at and try on half of the stock
. Eventually we managed to persuade her to leave, although a quick diversion into Claires was needed for hair ties, as we needed to return to the villa to get ready for our Illuminations Cruise.Outside, we discovered that it was raining quite hard and it continued to do so as we drove back to the villa. We got ready and, horror of horrors, it was still raining things were not looking good for our cruise
. We drove to the Yacht Club in the rain; we were supposed to be meeting Libby and Crissy and their families in the bar next to Café May which someone on these boards suggested. Unfortunately, we had arranged to meet between 19:45 and 20:00 and we did not arrive at the Yacht Club until 20:00. We then found that Café May was in the Beach Club not the Yacht Club and had a quick panic attack as we went in search of our cruising companions. Fortunately, we all met up Ok as we had exchanged photos and recognised each other. We then proceeded to the marina where it had just about stopped raining . Both families very kindly gave us cards for our Silver Wedding Anniversary in two weeks time thanks very much for the cards, it was so nice to have some while we were on holiday.We met up with Aaron, who was our driver for the night, and had to wait while they wiped the boats down with towels; this is also the point where you have to pay for the cruise (they do accept credit cards here, if anyone wondered). We set off before 20:30 and firstly cruised up past the Swan, Dolpin and Boardwalk hotels round to MGM. We had a good view of the Tower of Terror and the enormous Mickeys Wizard Hat; we could also hear (but not see) Fantasmic. We then cruised back past the Yacht and Beach Clubs and round to Epcot, where we moored under the bridge between Canada and France. We had about 10 minutes to wait so Aaron and another boat driver (Geoff?) had a bad joke contest to amuse (?) us all. The torches around the lake then went out and Illuminations began. I cannot attempt to describe this spectacle except to say that we could feel the heat from the flames and I was very impressed by the moving pictures on the globe. We had an excellent view and this was one of the highlights of our holiday.
Afterwards we cruised back to the Yacht Club Marina, said goodbye to Libby, Phil, Bruce and Robyn and walked around the Boardwalk with Crissy, Derek and Wynne. At the bakery, we bought coffee and cakes and sat and talked things Disney for a while. Eventually we got too tired and had to walk back to the Yacht Club and go back to the villa to bed. I should add here that, once the rain stopped, it stayed dry all evening.
Tomorrow: Islands of Adventure
Had to laugh to myself though about the Humunga Cowabunga ride, I think I will steer away from that when we go. I really enjoyed swimming with the Sharks also but my DH didn't as soon as he got in he took a great big gulp of sea water
- what with TL, rain and Illuminations Cruise - what a fantastic holiday you're all having so far
