Friday 2nd March
Again, when we got up in the morning the boys were already dressed. Mr Gator had got them their breakfast, the coffee was brewing and he was toasting (or broiling as they call it!) bread for our breakfast!
We managed to get out of the house quite early and got on the road quickly. Today we had Mr & Mrs Gator with us. We were going to rendezvous with Mrs Gator's Grandma (we told the kids she was Tinkerbells Grandma). She is 80 and was going to help us get in for free (well three of us). She didn't want to stop on the way and meet us, but wanted to meet us on the interstate. She was going to drive slowly along the right hand lane until we caught up with her. Then we were to honk our horn and follow her into the park. This didn't work because she got caught up in traffic and we were ahead so we stopped just outside of Epcot.
She turned up, we followed her in, didn't have to pay for the car park and then she got three of us in for free on a park hopper pass (which meant we could hop from one park to another whenever we wanted to that day). Mr Gator paid for himself and the boys as a Birthday present for them which was very nice. We said our goodbyes and thank yous to her and got on a bus and went to Animal Kingdom. Mr Gator got our badges this time. Smallest got 'Happy Birthday' (only four weeks away!) and the rest of us got 'I'm Celebrating'. Smallest wanted to count how many happy birthdays he got to see if he could beat Huffle's score of twenty.
I'm not sure what I expected here but it was really good. Set out really nicely. Lots of plants and trees (always good). Jungle type music. There was quite a bit of walking but we tried to break it up with regular stops.
Before we even got into the park we saw Goofy (Small's favourite and the only one he asked to see). We didn't even have to queue up to see him.
Small very pleased
We walked through the park. The wood carvings on the doors were amazing. There was a huge tree (not real) all carved with different animal which was fantastic. Then we got to meet Baloo and King Louie. There was only a small queue. I have always loved Jungle Book and Balloo is my favourite so I had to hug him. However, he was a little bit too huggy. We all managed to get in the picture.
We fast passed the Kali Rapids and got in really quickly. We got very very very wet on this ride but it was fun. Smallest didn't like it too much because it jerked him a bit and the seatbelt hurt his tummy. We were laughing at some people who were getting on the ride for wearing waterproof Ponchos and they ended up in our boat. Whoops.
Whilst we were walking from the rapids we bumped into a tree lady and when she stopped Smallest got his photo taken with her.
Next we went on the Safari. I had no idea what to expect. It was brilliant. We got to sit in a big buggy (about fifteen - twenty of us). We had a guide who drove us and she was pretending to be on the radio to someone else who was telling her there were poachers about). Huffle and I both thought there would be animatronic animals and were getting ready to pretend to the kids, but they were real, in a real safari type environment. Very well done.
muddy rhino
We walked to the Bugs Life 4D show. This was brilliant and really funny. it only was the 3D good but they had things hanging from the ceiling and dangling above us, they made it feel like bugs were running across the back of the seats and by our feet. Small wasn't keen on this one but Smallest loved it. It was quite educational too.
Our 3D glasses were really big to make us honorary bugs
We had a very quick bite to eat and then ran to the Lion King show. Small and Smallest loved this. There were fire eaters, acrobats (dressed as the monkeys). All the characters were there. Singing, dancing, a very good show. At the end some of the cast members got some kids up to dance and Smallest grabbed my hand and said "Look, come on Mummy". We were too far back to go down but he was bouncing up and down as soon as he heard The Lion sleeps Tonight becuase he has that song on his CD player.
We decided to leave for Hollywood studios and as we were leaving we saw the queue for Mickey Mouse. it was really long but we thought we couldn't leave without seeing and being photographed with Mickey Mouse. So we queued for ages. We all got in this photo too and I was told off for touching Mickey's ear! The boys were very happy that they got to see Mickey.
On the way out of the Animal Kingdom we spotted Winnie the Pooh and the boys were trying to get him to wave. Tigger saw us and waved instead and I shouted for him to stop so I could take a photo.
We got on a bus and headed for Hollywood Studios. The bus driver was very enthusiastic about driving us there. We think he was after a promotion to Cast Member.
Hollywood studios was very 'Hollywood'. Lots of stage sets, huge big buildings, streets, lights, people running around looking like 1920's camera men. There was a parade going on there when we arrived and they were playing Jamiroquai Canned Heat (one of mine and Huffle's faves) and dancing in the streets. We saw Jesse and Bullseye. We took this opportunity to run over to the Star Wars ride as it previously had a wait time of 50 mins. We got straight in. The ride was phenomenal. The best ride we went on by far. It was a simulator. We felt like we were in a star ship, zooming through space, bashing into things. Really good. Both boys and all adults loved this one.
We went over to the Muppets 3D show and again got in quite quickly. It was a show featuring the boys' favourite muppets showing us how 3D works. Very entertaining.
The Great Movie ride was a ride we HAD to do (Mrs Gator said) because it is one of the original rides (a bit dated) but took you through various sets of old and less old movies. Part of the way through a gangster came out and threatened to shoot our guide and she ran away. I told Smallest to duck in case he shot us and he did. Mrs Gator told Small that he wasn't part of the ride and he was scared. When he said he was going to take our valuables Small hid his camera. He didn't like this ride. Mrs Gator said it was something you have to see because she feels one day it won't be there.
We saw Phineus and Ferb but the queue was too long and so we went off to Epcot for our final park hop.
We hopped on a boat with two (not so funny) captains. They laughed at each others jokes. We couldn't tell what they were saying. We had a lovely tour of the Disney Hotels and beach and the Disney Boardwalk. We got to Epcot (what does that mean or stand for?).
We walked through various 'countries' starting with Britain which had a Yorkshire fish and chip shop, telephone boxes and a pub. Mary Poppins and Alice in wonderland were there and the boys were not interested in getting their photographs (not girls yuk!).
I saw one thing that was Canadian (I think it was a film show - we didn't go in!).
We started with the Nemo ride. We sat in a Clam and watched 3D pictures (bits of the film) with all the Nemo characters swimming by and lots of songs. It ended in an aquarium and we watched the dolphin and then went on to see the Manatee. I think these are now my favourites after Tapirs. They are so laid back and just roll around in the water eating vast amounts of lettuce.
We had THE BIGGEST ICE CREAM ever. It was only 70c for an extra scoop and although one scoop was big enough Huffle made us all have two each. We all felt a bit sick after but they were very good. We sat and watched the fountains.
Then we went on the Norway boat ride called Maelstrom. This was very strange, the boat took you through all different bits of Norway, from Vikings to today and ended up in a very big gift shop. Mrs Gator and small tried on some Viking hats and had a bit of a battle.
We went into the big Epcot Dome and went on a ride called Space Ship Earth. We got to learn about our past and shape our future. It was very informative and fun.
We had fast passed 'Test Track' earlier and got to almost walk on without too much waiting. This was a ride simulating the crash test dummies. It was incredibly fast and jerky. Everyone loved this one. Mr. Gator got sweaty behind the knees (which meant he was scared).
By the time we got off this ride it was dark and the fireworks were about half an hour away.
We walked around 'Mexico' and found a nice place next to the lake to sit and watch the finale. Huffle and Mr Gator went off to get us some food. They got back just in time for the start of the fireworks. I got jabbed in the back by a Japanese with a pointy bag and Mrs Gator nealy got run over by a shop Mobility cart. We were NOT allowed to look in the food bag when they got back.
They provided much entertainment
The fireworks were 'awesome'. Very colourful and noisy. Lots of lasers and effects. Overall fantastic display over the lake. Brilliant end to a brilliant day.
Smallest beat Huffle's score of twenty for receiving "Happy Birthdays". He got way past 27 but gave up counting after he got to 20 and 'gave the rest away' to Mr Gator. Mr Gator did cheat a little by pointing at his badge in front of the cast members, and by the end of the day Smallest was also standing there pointing until someone said something!!
THANK YOU TINKERBELLS' GRANDMA AND THANK YOU MR & MRS GATOR - Memories that last a lifetime
Small and Smallest were very tired. I carried Smallest on my back to the car. Once in the car Huffle and Mr Gator showed us what was in the bag. Huffle had bought Smallest a Watch with some birthday money he had been given. The watch was a mans and far too big for Smallest's little arm. He was upset because he wanted to choose his own gift. I was given a lovely Mickey Mouse Phone cover. Mrs Gator was given a mug telling her how grumpy she was the morning and Mr Gator gave Huffle and I a Mickey mouse wine stopper. Poor Small didn't get anything. He never moaned and he never said anything. I was really proud of him. Had it been me I would have burst into tears. We have since tried to take the watch back but that's another story............
Some new TV programmes we have found and will have to checkout one we get home are:-
Bayou millionaire - about a Billionaire living in the Bayou. Spending far too much money on his family who do not appreciate and use him purely for his money.
Storage wars - people bid on bankrupt stock and mainly get rubbish
Bering Sea Gold - people panning for gold in Alaska.
Shipping Wars - people bidding to ship items across America.
Operation Repo - the repo people taking cars back that haven't been paid for
Redneck Vacaion - just the funniest thing ever.
Swamp Men - people trying to catch gators for money. Crazy people who should know better getting their limbs bitten because they hang them in the water whilst trying to catch Alligators - WHAT!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY YAHOO.
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