Day 10 - Hometime

So this was our last day of holiday. We'd done most of the packing the previous evening, and so there wasn't too much to do in the morning at the hotel before putting our bags in the back of the car and heading off.

First stop was Downtown to check in and drop off the bags. We were there after the rush so didn't have to wait and we got the seats (upstairs!) that we'd requested on the phone the previous day.

We didn't stop off at Downtown any longer (as there is no Virgin shop to browse around any more) and we made a move for I-Drive and brunch at Denny's, encountering our first traffic jam of the day with people queueing to get to the sales at the Premium Outlets.

Denny's breakfasts were enjoyed by all. The carafe was in use, so Nicky and John had to make do with glasses of orange juice, but they got through about a gallon each anyway! Next stop Walgreens to pick up some flight pillows and then back to the I-Drive queue going all the way up to the Prime Outlets. We stopped off part way up and walked the rest of the way to the Congo River Crazy Golf, where Jake won on the Stanley course.

On our way to the airport we stopped off at Borders and at the Hess petrol station to fill up the car, and then we dropped off the car, had our usual mooch around the airport and something to eat, before taking off at about half past nine.

England is really cold!

Day 9 - Christmas Day

So today started with presents. Santa had still managed to find Jake, even in Florida.

Once we were up and about we decided to head to Downtown on the bus. Jake got a how to draw Disney characters book (which both he and I had a go at later in the day) and we bought some new drinks cups for home.

We met up with Nanny and Grandad at Ghiradelli's and had malts and cookies, before they headed off on the boat to Port Orleans. They'd kindly decided to buy us some Mickey cutlery but they were out of stock in the World of Disney store. We headed back on the bus (second one to arrive at the Downtown stops was ours!) and we chilled out at the hotel this afternoon.

Jake and I had a quick swim before dinner at the Captain's Grille at the Yacht Club. Buffet was yummy - clam chowder to start, roast to follow, and as always the best bit was the scrummy desserts, especially the choc, vanilla and mint gelato.

After dinner Nanny and Grandad took the boat to Epcot whilst we went round to the Boardwalk so that Jake could have a quick play. Then it was Illuminations for one last time before coming back to start putting things in bags.

Day 8 - Christmas Eve

Catching up on posting on Christmas Day!

We started off the day in a very similar way to yesterday with a trip into Epcot and heading straight for Soarin' to use up another one of our fastpasses. Then it was over to see Nemo and to enjoy Turtle Talk with Crush.

After the Seas pavilion we went our separate ways. John and Margaret headed off back towards the hotel, whilst we stopped at a cart for an ice cream. Nicky and I shared on of the Mickey ice cream sandwiches.

Then Nicky went to do some last minute shopping for Christmas whilst I took Jake over to Japan so that he could spend the rest of his holiday money on a Bakagan set that he'd had his eye on.

We met up back at the hotel and Jake and I had a quick dip in the Stormalong Bay pool before Nicky and I went back over to the Yacht Club convention centre to see Nikki again and to sign up for some BLT points.

Back at the hotel Jake had just got back from the pool with Nanny and Grandad. Nicky and I headed out to go to Publix - mostly to stock up on Mac 'n' cheese to take home! We also popped in to Downtown for a quick browse on our way home. Nicky got a new Mickey handbag from the TrenD store.

Jake had been in the pool again by the time that we got back, as well as playing volleyball with some other English kids.

The evening's entertainment was at Port Orleans Riverside, and we bagged a table early in the River Roost bar, taking turns to go to get takeaway dinner from the Riverside Mill food court. Bob the piano man was as entertaining as ever, and I'm sure that the photos of me mucking about in the Twelve Days of Christmas singalong will embarrass me for years to come!

Day 7 - Epcot and Kitchen Sink

Slow start today, and we didn't head out until about 11 after having some pastries from the marketplace for breakfast.

Our fastpasses from Nicky had arrived so we headed into Epcot and went on Soarin' and Test Track. It was satisfying to see both the late return times for regular fastpasses and also the long standby lines that we were able to bypass.

Then we headed into the World Showcase and Nicky, Margaret and I had a chinese takeaway whilst John and Jake went to the Liberty Inn at the American pavilion.

After lunch Nicky and Jake went to the UK to do their Kim Possible mission and the rest of us stayed in America to listen to the Voices of Liberty followed by the American pipers.

Meeting up in the UK we grabbed some drinks and then settled in to watch Off Kilter. Almost makes bagpipes acceptable!!

Coming back to the hotel we plucked up courage and headed off to Beaches 'n' Cream to tackle the Kitchen Sink (with a whole can of whipped cream!) We gave a good account of ourselves and certainly were full afterwards.

John and Margaret fancied a shopping trip so I took them over to the Premium Outlets, and then came back here to find Jake settling in to watch a George Lopez double bill. Once that had finished it was about time to do the shopping pickup and while I was doing that Nicky and Jake went in the Stormalong Bay pool.

They'd got out and Jake had had a hot dog by the time we got back. My turn to have a go in the pool tomorrow.

Day 6 - Kennedy

So we decided that rather than waiting until Christmas Eve, today would be the Kennedy day. The plan was to set off from here at 8:30, but unfortunately we only woke up about then, so we were a little delayed in getting on the road.

The drive out to Kennedy was as uneventful and dull as ever, miles of dead straight road! We got there at about 11am, and we headed straight for the bus tour.

This was Jake's first visit to the Space Centre since he was six months old, so it was amusing to show him the plastic pushchairs that he enjoyed riding around in last time, and to get him to try space dots again (which he liked again!)

As before, the most impressive thing for me was the Saturn V rocket - it is truly enormous. Second up is the astronaut memorial, which is a touching reminder of the people who have given their lives to the cause of space exploration. It was just noticeable on the main memorial where two of the panels were slightly newer than the others, recording the names of the crew on board Columbia in 2003.

We finished at Kennedy at about 4 o'clock, and then headed back along towards Orlando before cutting down the John Young Parkway to the Loop and to Johnny Rockets for tea. Food was yummy, but atmosphere didn't quite match being on board Independence.

After dinner we had a little look at some of the shops - new things for Barley at Petco, and a new memory stick for my camera at Best Buy. By this time we were all fairly tired, and so it was back to the Beach Club Villas for an early night.

Our fastpasses from Nikki should have arrived today, but no sign of them yet - hopefully they will be here in the morning.

Day 5 - Anniversary

Being the romantics that we are, we decided to go shopping on our anniversary! So, mid morning we left the rest of the tour party here at the Beach Club and headed up to I-Drive. We stopped off for brunch at Denny's before going to the Prime Outlets. We had a jolly good shop, and I ended up doing very well with new trousers, shirts, jumper, fleece .... Nicky got a few things as well, but says that there is still enough time left in the holiday to catch up!

We got back here at about 4-ish, just after Jake, Nanny and Grandad had got back as well. They'd been to Downtown (Jake did rather well in the Lego store) and had taken the boat to Port Orleans Riverside for lunch.

We got changed and headed back up to Universal for dinner at Bice at the Portofino Bay Resort. The hotel looks very nice and the restaurant was great. I had butternut squash soup followed by beef ravioli followed by chocolate souffle, whilst Nicky had a prawn starter followed by risotto followed by creme brulee.

After dinner we got the boat to City Walk and had a (cold) wander around there, but we both agreed that we really didn't feel like sticking around for long as City Walk just doesn't do it for us in the same way as Downtown Disney does! So, we got the boat back to the hotel, picked up our car, and came home where we belong!

Jake, Nanny and Grandad have just got back from Epcot and Illuminations.

Day 4 - Studios and Skillets

Picking up where we left off yesterday, I wandered out to Epcot in the evening whilst Nicky and Jake stayed in the apartment, and went round to the American pavilion. Queued a long time for a burger at the Liberty Inn, and by the time I came out the final Candlelight Processional of the evening was under way. I stopped to listen at the back of the crowd for a little while and managed to get a few (probably blurry) photos of Whoopi Goldberg doing the narration.

John and Margaret had staked out a spot in the Rose and Crown garden for Illuminations, so I went round there, dropped of the tripod and grabbed us some coffees before we watched the show. The garden is a good place to watch from and I managed to get a few decent bits of video on the camera, particularly of the globe opening up.

We came back to the room afterwards and called it a night.

This morning we were up and out to Hollywood Studios just in time for opening, and we joined the march with the rest of the crowd towards Toy Story Mania. Nicky came top again - she seems to be winning the shoot 'em up rides this time around. After Toy Story we went over to the animation area and after getting a picture with Sorceror Mickey we waited for the animation session. We managed to sneak in at the end of the line, but unfortunately only Jake and I had space to draw, sat in the overflow section at the front.

We had a vote of which character to draw, and Eeyore came out on top. Jake did an excellent job, and I'm kind of proud of my picture as well!

Next up Jake decided that he fancied going to see Muppets 3D so we wandered back over to the other side of the park, and went almost straight in to a show. Afterwards Jake fancied the Great Movie Ride but we decided that we didn't really have time so we headed back out of the park. We'd brought the car (even though the park isn't far from our hotel) so that we could drive over to the Wilderness Lodge as we had a lunch reservation at the Whispering Canyon Cafe.

Skillets all round, and I think that John has decided that he may not need to eat again all holiday. I love their yummy ribs! Despite making a fairly good impression on a second four person skillet, we still managed desserts - J&M shared apple pie and Nicky and I shared a s'mores cheesecake.

After lunch we had a wander around the hotel -we found the arcade and Jake had a few games of hover hockey whilst I had a go on the balancing lights - getting all the way to the top and then missing out on the prize line! We walked down to the beach and Jake and I played on a football / volleyball swingball game.

Next up it was back to the Beach Club where we have been ever since, apart from Nicky and I going out for a wander to have a look at the Swan and Dolphin and to have a quick play on the Boardwalk (new cuddly toy won on the water squirt game).

Just having some macaroni and cheese for tea, and make try to persuade Nicky to come to EMH at the Magic Kingdom later on.

Day 3 - Segway fun

A quick post as Blogger seems to have kindly let me in on the laptop, so let's blog whilst the going is good!

We were up at a decent time this morning so that we could head over to Epcot for our Segway tour. Nanny and Jake stayed at the Beach Club and went to a character breakfast at Cape May, although Jake wasn't really feeling the ticket so they came straight back to the room afterwards.

For the Segway tour we had to report to Guest Relations, and sign our lives away, and then one of our tour guides, Mary, came to collect us on her Segway. We started off in Innoventions, first watching a quick video and listening to a few initial instructions, before getting on and trying them out. For the first minute or two they are quite a challenge, just because it is a new experience, but it is very much like riding a bike, and pretty soon becomes fairly intuitive.

We started off by doing a few practice sessions in Innoventions, learning how to go back and forward, how to turn, how to go up and down inclines, and so on, before heading out into Epcot. We went clockwise around the World Showcase, and it was great to have that part of the park to ourselves before it opened up to everyone else.

We stopped off in some of the countries for a brief talk, as well as a few challenges (going around some of the narrower paths, doing slalom around the pillars in Italy!). We also had a chance to stop off in a coned off area in Italy next to the lagoon for a few minutes of free time riding and the opportunity to take some photos. If I manage to get onto Flickr then I will post some here.

Our tour lasted just over two hours, and we all agreed that it was excellent. There were a few aching legs by the end, but it was well worth it.

We headed back to our apartment to find Nanny and Jake, and then John and I popped down to the Beach Club Marketplace to get some toasted sandwiches for lunch, which we brought back to our room.

Then Jake decided that he fancied taking his new ball out to play, so we went down to the volleyball court, but unfortunately Jake only lasted for a few minutes before being a bit poorly, so we brought him back to the room and he went back to sleep. Seems like he is still getting over his jetlag - seems to hit him on day 2 or 3 of our holidays - one to remember when we are in California at Easter - we must see if we can find a way to get him to have a good sleep on the plane on the way over to see if that helps him.

Whilst everyone else relaxed at the hotel, I went for a wander around to the Boardwalk and back, taking a few pictures in the sunshine and also testing out the range of our walkie talkies. Turns out that the older ones are better than the ones we bought just before we came on holiday, so they may well be going back when we get home.

John and Margaret have just headed off to Epcot to get some tea, and maybe watch the Candlelight Processional and see Illuminations. Nicky has just baked a batch of cookies and we're watching Cars on TV. Jake is much brighter now and we may well head on out in a little while.

Day 2 - Shopping and EMH Epcot

Having a few IT problems with the laptop this evening, so a quick update by Palm before heading off to bed. The computer isn't letting me on to flickr, so I deleted all of the history, temporary internet files and so on, and now it won't let me sign in to blogger!

Anyway a fairly slow start today and we didn't make it out until about half past ten. First stop was the Hess gas station at the end of the road so that we could pump up a slightly flat tyre that had caused a warning light on the dashboard to come on, before going to Walgreens and then to LBVFS. Jake did particularly well, getting lots of clothes at Old Navy as well as a couple of t-shirts at Nike.

Next stop Downtown and Earl of Sandwich for lunch before a wander around the shops. Most exciting purchase was some chocolate squares from Ghiradelli's.

Back at the hotel we relaxed for a while and just before our appointed dinner time at Cape May Jake and Nicky went off to the arcade for a quick play. When we went down to find them Jake wasn't feeling to good so Nicky brought him back upstairs whilst the rest of us had dinner.

Jake has been asleep pretty much ever since (sleeping off the jetlag we think). Later this evening Nicky and I went to Epcot to enjoy a bit of EMH. We went on Spaceship Earth (which stopped for about ten minutes whilst we were on it) before catching Illuminations. We then did the Living with the Land ride and watched the Circle of Life film before deciding that it was too late and we were too tired to wait 35 minutes for Soarin' so we decided to call it a day.

Day 1 - MK and Epcot

As predicted we were all up pretty early this morning, and after some breakfast in our villa we set off for the Magic Kingdom for the morning Extra Magic Hour. We arrived in the car park at about ten to eight and parked in the second row, so no point in getting on the tram.

At the TTC the express monorail wasn't running so we had to go on the resort monorail, which was very busy, and which stopped at the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian before getting to the park.

Going in to the MK we could see a few flags flying at half mast, in memory of Roy Disney who passed away yesterday. Walking down Main Street we decided that we'd start off in Tomorrowland with Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. John was the runaway winner, whilst some of us complained of defective equipment!

Next up was the Indy Speedway, with us going round in a convoy of four cars (John sitting this one out and acting as official photographer, and then we were able to walk straight on to the Tea Cups (my turn to be photographer) as well as straight in to both Philharmagic and It's a Small World. A quick trip to see the Grim Grinning Ghosts and we were ready for a snack, so we stopped off at Sleepy Hollow at the Castle end of Liberty Square for muffins/cookies and drinks.

By now it was about half past ten, and as we walked past the castle stage we stopped off to have a quick look at the Dream Along with Mickey show before heading back down Main Street through the shops, emerging at the other end in time to see the 11 o'clock Move It Shake It Celebrate It parade go past.

Heading out of the park we took the ferryboat back to the TTC and came back to our hotel to drop off the car and wander into Epcot just nicely in time for our 12:30 reservation at Teppan Edo. Lunch was a great success and enjoyed by all. Nicky didn't have to share her sushi this time as we all got some!

Obviously we couldn't go to Japan without visiting the Mitsukoshi department store, and Jake has made a dent in his holiday spending money buying some Bagukan toys.

We were all flagging a bit by this stage, feeling the effects of the jet lag, so came back to the hotel for a rest. At five, Nicky and I went to the DVC Holiday Member Get Together, which was in the Yacht Club Convention Centre. The event was essentially a promotion to encourage people to buy more points. Nikki, our DVC guide, was one of the presenters, and we were able to catch up with her afterwards. She is going to arrange for some fastpasses to be dropped off at our hotel early next week.

As we were coming back to the hotel we bumped into Jake, Nanny and Grandad heading out, so we caught up with them at the Beach Club food court for chowder and sandwiches for tea, before heading over to the games room for a few goes on the arcade machines. Then we picked up hot chocolate on our way back to the room, and now it's time for bed.

Apparently the weather may be a bit wet and stormy tomorrow, so we will have to see how it looks when we get up before deciding on our plans for the day. Still, at least it isn't snowing!

Arrived at Beach Club

Well we've arrived safely at the Beach Club Villas after a long day of travelling. Just as we were settling into our apartment the Illuminations fireworks were going off at Epcot. There are a few trees between us and the park, but we could hear the music pretty clearly and still see some of the fireworks through the trees.

Our journey went pretty smoothly. By the time we took off we were about an hour and a half late, but we seemed to make up about half of that during the flight. (By the way, the exciting news from the Gatwick end of the journey was that Ollie Murs - X Factor runner up was performing, and Jake managed to get his autograph and have a quick chat with him!).

Got through MCO pretty easily and picked up our car. First stop was Publix to stock up on provisions and then to the hotel to settle in and unpack. It's quarter to eleven here which makes it quarter to four at home, so definitely time to call it a night.

Hopefully a longer post tomorrow with pictures to go with it of trips to the Magic Kingdom and to Epcot!

Gate 19

Just a quick report from Gate 19 before we climb aboard. Looks like we are going to be taking off about half an hour late.

All has gone smoothly so far with not much traffic on the road and a nice short (premium economy!) check in queue.

Tradition dictated that breakfast was at Frankie and Benny's before heading through security to the departure area.

Nicky bought her holiday perfume and Jake has been playing on his DS game.

Boarding now - more later!