Already behind with the blogging!
Picking up where I left off, we headed out on the bus to MK, and decided that we had different plans for our remaining 'Julien' fast pass of the day, and so Nicky and I headed for the mine train whilst J&G made their way to Space Mountain.
Looking back on it, the youngsters made the better decision. Their ride was inside! Just as we were approaching the queue for the mine train, it was being emptied because a storm was on its way. We decided to head over to Adventureland for some Dole Whip and come back in a little while. Unfortunately a little while turned into a long while, and not long after getting our ice cream the heavens opened, and we took shelter near the ice cream counter and watched the torrential rain and lightening for what must have been more than an hour.
Thankfully by this time J&G had been on Space Mountain and had made it on a bus to Springs and so whilst it was chucking it down there as well, they were able to dodge from shop to shop.
Eventually we decided that it had stopped enough for us to make a dash for it, and whilst none of the outside rides were up and running we decided to make sure that the trip wasn't a wash out (and we had enjoyed a passing parade on Main Street when we entered the park!) and went over to use our fast passes on Buzz.
Having done that it was definitely time to head back home on the bus (along with the sing-a-long family!) and we had bagels from the Boardwalk store for tea whilst the teenagers in the party were enjoying dinner at the House of Blues!
And so to day 2, for which we had Studio plans, as we had fast passes for TSM, plus three more bonus fast passes to enjoy. We used the walkway along to the Studios, and as we were in the park before our appointed TSM time, J&G and I went on Tower of Terror, using bonus fast pass no.1. As it was Jake's first go on the ride, I'll leave him to let you know how much he enjoyed it.
Next stop was Starring Roles for breakfast before heading to TSM (using our actual pre-booked fast pass) where Jake was the winner (170k score) much to Nicky's annoyance, and then on to Star Tours to use bonus fast pass no.2.
At this point we split up to use up bonus fast pass no.3, and Georgie and I went to the Rock 'n' Roller coaster whilst N&J went for another ride on TSM. Apparently Jake won again, scoring a few more thousand than the first time, but Nicky was claiming a wonky gun. At least I think that's what they said, everything was a bit hazy to me after being turned upside-down at high speed!
The plan had been to have lunch at the park, but it was getting pretty busy, so we came home, and after a little while headed over to Mall at Millennia and had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. The finer details elude me, but I had a particularly rich Godiva chocolate cheesecake, and certainly didn't need to eat again for quite some time.
We split up for shopping, and whilst the teenage contingent enjoyed the mall, N and I snuck off for a bit of Old Navy therapy. I got three new tops and Nicky got one. I was barred from a fourth, despite trying to drum up support from random strangers in the changing rooms when Nicky was telling me it was no good!
Once mall shopping was complete, we stopped off at Publix to stock up (having established that we wouldn't be moving from our one bed unit at all, even if we were losing the studio next door for a night) before coming home for a while prior to the DVC pool party.
The Typhoon Lagoon pool party was good fun, although it turned out that we stayed longer than J&G. We all enjoyed the lazy river and the wave pool (I think we were all a little surprised by the strength of the wave!) and it ended up being quite a late finish.
Today has been a quieter day - quite a late start and some time around the pool including playing some pool and table tennis, then lunch at Denny's. Off to Premium Outlets for a look around the shops, although we didn't stay all that long, as it was just too hot.
This evening we went into Epcot for dinner followed by Illuminations, which was lovely if a little emotional. Plus it was a particularly special evening for what was left behind.