The Most Action - Packed Trip Ever! Part 2!

[Neeny17]

Hi! Ok, if you've been reading along to my trip report 'The Most Action - Packed trip ever!' Then I'm very sorry that I've been MIA for a while. This is part 2 (or the rest) and the reason why is because I've somehow done something (no idea what) and it won't let me post anything new in it. So, if you're new or just need to remember then this is the link to part one: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2794421
So, without further ado, here is Day 4:

Day 4: Getting Magical!

Ok, so today we managed to wake up at around 7. Which we were amazingly pleased about. After a breakfast of bacon and toast, we got ready and headed for Islands of Adventure at around 8.30am and got there at about 9.30am. We parked up, walked through City Walk and pretty soon, saw this:

Then after following the small crowd (all the while oohing and aaahing at the other lands we passed through), we saw this:

So exciting! The first thing we did was head into Zonkos and Honeydukes for a look round. We took about a million pictures, but I'll spare you and include the best:

As soon as i saw these I was like: I want one! But more on that later.

Next up was Flight of the Hippogrith which has a really cool queueing area.

It was so cool! Really fast but short. After that we went to look in Filch's Emporium. There was some cool stuff but it was packed. We were boiled by then, so went to the Hog's Head to sample some Butterbeer:

Waiting outside while my parents queued.

Sampling butterbeer.

The butterbeer wasn't as good as I expected. It was like a fizzy drink, which didn't compute with how they described it in the books. It also could be because I'm not a fan of fizzy drinks of course. the foam tasted nice though.

After this we went to Dervish and Banges so Callum could get a wand. I have to say, that although we never went to the Ollivanders Experience, this was possibly as good. The Cast Member paid Callum so much attention; letting him hold the wands and wave them, asking him which type he like best etc. It was quite funny because HE was taking it so seriously too. And then, when this long suffering CM had gone through all the birth month wands etc with him he said:
"You know, I'm not sure about these wands, I think I'll try out the character wands again!"

He eventually settled on Dumbledore's Wand. After this, we were all starved and went out of HP world to Confiscos for lunch. Callum chose a Fajita Adventure, mum had a sandwich, dad got a rack of ribs and I got tomato and basil pasta. It was all delish and our waitress was really friendly, giving us advice on where to go and what to do etc.

After this, we went to Seuss Landing:

The first thing we went on was the 'High in the Sky Trolley Ride'. Oh. My. God. The queue said something like 20 minutes, but it was so much longer. and it was BOILING. We were all melting and Callum was complaining about how hot he was and couldn't we just give up and go on something else? I felt bad that everyone was so hot, but we stuck it out. It turned out that the reason that the queue was moving so slowly was because they kept having problems with the vehicles. The actual ride was ok, but not really worth the wait.
After that we were all pretty much ready to go. Our last stop was the main gift shop so I could get my pygmy puff. I called him Norman.

We drove back to the villa, narrowly missing a small thunderstorm. When we got home, tradegy struck! Callum's new wand which he loved so much, rolled off of the sofa and broke! He was devastated! It was only the fact that we were going back the day after tomorrow and would get a replacement that would console him. We swam and then ate popcorn chicken and wedges. Everyone else watched a film (The Witches, I think?) and I dozed on and off on the sofa. I eventually dragged myself to bed at about 9.30pm. Stay tuned for Airboats, Gators and Pirates!

 

[Neeny17]

I am so sorry that I haven't updated in so long. Life has been quite busy and I have had a complete change of direction in my future plans. I am now going to university to study education and eventually be a teacher. Anyway, onto day 5.

We woke up at around 7, had breakfast and then we were off! Today was my parents 20th anniversary and they had chosen this to be our Boggy Creek day. We got to Boggy Creek a bit early and had a look around the gift shop before checking in. The first thing we did was have our picture taken against a green screen. It would be us on an airboat being attacked by alligators and the guys could choose whether to save us or push us in, guess which one they chose!

We then sat in a shaded area with picnic tables to wait:

Soon our boat came in, we were given these headphones to protect our ears from the noise and the driver took a family picture:

Then we were off! It was so great, fast and really interesting.

A gator nest

Too soon we were headed back to the dock. The next part of the experience was a chance to hold a baby gator (which of course we did!)

The reason that there is only a solo photo of me is because you had to pay for the photos and I was the only one who wanted to buy a picture so there we go. Before leaving we got a few snacks and ate them in a picnic area near this tree:

Overall it was an excellent experience and I would definitely do it again. After the snacks were eaten we jumped back in the car and headed home for some pool fun.

This photo has a small backstory: Callum is part of a disabled swimming club and its kind of a tradition that after the last session before a school holiday to go to the McDonalds next to the swimming pool. So after the last swimming session before the summer holiday the club packed out McDonalds. Mum and her friend were standing in line whilst Callum and his friend (her son) were waiting at the table. At one point, mum turned round to check on them and they were sitting there with these pyramid shaped menus balanced on their heads, chatting away like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. I wish I had a picture to show you but neither mum nor Rachel had their cameras. So this was for Rachel.

Byt he way, the reason that my mum is not in the pool pictures is because she isn't really that into swimming and would rather be lying on a lounger reading. We had to get out after an hour or so because it started storming. We didn't mind too much though because we had the pirates dinner show later.

We arrived just after 6 and checked in, then had our photo taken with a statue (which we did not buy). We hung around in this bar area for a while and restrained Callum from buying a sword or pirate hat or pirate gun. He wasn't too happy, but we had to remind him that he has plently of plastic swords at home, he has a gorgeous pirate hat that we bought a few years ago in Venice and that mum doesn't like him to have guns in the house. Eventually the pre show started which was really funny! I won't say what happened because I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but it was good. We were then lead into a huge room with a pirate ship in the middle. One thing that we noticed about the room staright away was that it was really cold. We were okish because we had brought cardigans and jumpers with us, but my legs were freezing! The show was really fun with songs and funny bits. I got called up with another girl to help with a game, but it was a bit confusing and I'm not sure if we did it right. No pictures I'm afraid because it was dark in there and we were too busy watching. The food was good too: there was a choice of soup or a sald for starters, chicken or pork with potatoes and vegetables for mains and desert was either fruit salad or apple cobbler. Poor Callum didn't eat much of his starter because he didn't like the dressing and didn't have desert because he is quite picky about types of fruit and doesn't like apple cobbler. There was an after show dance party type thing, but we weren't too interested in staying. My dad had definitely had enough; he was disappointed with the show itself and was a bit grumpy. We were back at the villa at about 10ish and went pretty much staright to bed. Stay tuned for more Islands of Adventure!

 

[Neeny17]

The plan of action today, was to get to IOA as early as possible and go the other way around the islands, stay for lunch and then go back to the villa when the heat really kicked in; we weren't really coping well with the intense afternoon heat. We got up at 7, had breakfast and headed off, getting to IOA at about 9:30. Our first activity for the day was getting Callum's wand changed and the CMs(?) were really fantastic; they offered to change his wand no questions asked and took us into the park without waiting in line (score!). Callum chose Voldermorts wand this time and we headed to Marvel Superhero Island.

We headed straight to the Spiderman ride which was so cool! The 3D effects were awesome; everyone loved it! We carried on through Superhero Island:

Then while we were waiting for dad to use the loo, we saw these guys coming out for meet and greets:

When we were all ready we carried on to Toon Lagoon.

where we proceeded to ride the Bilge Rat Barges and even with ponchos on we got quite wet.

We went on to Jurassic Park. Just as a quick aside; I love how when you walk through the entrance to another island, the music changes, I jus thought that was cool.

Me and Callum looked around the Discovery Centre a bit while mum and dad had a sit down.

We then left the park and had lunch at Panda Chinese in City Walk. So.Much.Food! We chose to share the Panda Feast and had: Rice, chow mein, sweet and sour chicken, mandarin chicken and beef. It was soooooo good!

Unfotunately the only picture we had of the food was the leftovers!

And Callum apparently exhausted from the sheer amount that he consumed. We waddled back into the park and headed for Seussland. I LOVE Seussland because its just so cute!

We went on the Caroseussel:

See how excited the boys were?!

We went into the Mulberry Street Store where I bought a Cat in the Hat vest top I had had my eye on and Callum deliberated over a small Grinch plush (he decided against it). We then headed out of the park and back to the villa where we swam and had pizza before getting an early night. Tomorrow was the highly anticipated disney day!