Magic

J's turn not to feel like getting up and at 'em this time, so we were a party of three heading off reasonably early to AK, getting there a little before general entry, and in time for us all to go on Navi River, followed by a fairly short line for Flight of Passage. Then on to Safari where the lions were out this time, and even on the train to Rafiki's and the Affection Section for N to get up close and personal with the goats.

N and I enjoyed and wander through the Maharajah Jungle Trek, mostly marvelling at the theming, and spending some time together, but spotted the tigers too!

Nemo show perhaps still fun, but perhaps not what it once was - someone obviously told them to cut it in half, which seems a bit of a shame, but there you go.

Coming out of Nemo, it had started to rain, which was a bit of a surprise - first time this trip. So we took shelter in It's Tough to be a Bug, after which it had pretty much stopped, and it was time to head for home.

Main event of the day was in the evening - the opening game of the season for the Orlando Magics. Return trip for me and J, and first time for N! Magics cruised to a 30-point victory, we got more free t-shirts, and we generally soaked up the razzamatazz!

Keys

N&J up and away early today for their 'Keys to the Kingdom' fun and games at the Magic Kingdom by early Minnie Van, whilst Nan and I took it easy at the resort. By all accounts, lots of fun was had (but no pictures taken!).

Therefore, the best, and only, picture I can manage from today is from the dinner menu!

Billy

Delightfully late off the mark, followed by a trip (N, J and me) to the Vineland Premium Outlets for a second go at shopping. Tommy Bahama shirt for me, and then J and I cleaned up at CK requiring two fairly sizeable bags to pack it all in.

Back in time to collect Nan and transfer by Skyliner to Epcot and our early 'Eat to the Beat' dinner at the Rose and Crown. We were served by Roisin from Benfleet - who entertainingly had married someone from 'next door' Canada, and is relatively famous on TikTok. Scotch Egg to start all round, and sticky toffee pudding to finish all round, and a mixture of fish and chips, bangers and mash, and shepherd's pie for main.

But the real main event was Billy Ocean - all the way from Caribbean Queen to Suddenly!

Buccaneers

Road trip for J and me today to Tampa and a first - a chance to see an NFL game, finally completing the set of hockey, basketball, baseball and football.

Travel was straightforward (95% I4), parking easy (J had booked us lot 14 in advance), food ok (we had a free sample from the Publix zone outside before we went in, and then Jake had a pretty decent burger, whilst I insisted on having a 'foot-long' which was pretty average), stadium impressive (it has its own pirate ship), weather hot (I took advantage of the free - gloopy - sun lotion dispensers. Jake didn't), merchandise so so (I think J might be saving himself for Wednesday, but hey, we got free T-shirts!), and game very entertaining (even if the wrong team kicked the winning points with four seconds to go!).

Meanwhile, in Orlando, I am reliably informed that the new Cirque du Soleil 'Drawn to Life' is excellent!

To finish the day off, once we were all home, as I hadn't seen her all day, N and I went out for dinner together. We found Estefan's Kitchen, just off 192, and the food and the music were only bettered by the company.

 

Top

Reasonably early start to take advantage of our resort extra half hour in Hollywood, as a result of which we were able (three of us) to ride the ever-fun slinky dog, before getting into a not-too-long line (four of us) for TSM where, once again, I took the bronze medal.

Disappointing to report that two of our favourite places to get a drink and a pastry in the Studios no longer exist - no more 'Starring Rolls' and no more 'Writers' Stop', so, after a visit to see the Muppets (where the shop is closed also, and the whole area is looking a little unloved - time for a revamp perhaps - maybe it's bye-bye time Kermit?!) we found ourselves in Galaxy's Edge having a 'Ronto Wrap' for a late breakfast.

Plan formulated that Nan and N would stay at the Studios for a little longer (first stop Frozen singalong) whilst J and I would head back to the resort and then make a move for Top Golf where we had a booking.

Top Golf was exactly like Vegas, and lots of fun. As always, lots of talk about 'if only I could take some of these shots out onto the course...' and so on. We enjoyed aiming for the targets and playing virtual rounds. I even managed to sneak in a trip to B&N on the way back to the hotel.

Off to Springs for dinner, and to give the Boathouse another chance. It might be a while before we give it a third try. Food ok, but place generally noisy and chaotic. Shame really - could and should be much better. At least Nicky had a drink with a rubber duck in it!

MK

Refreshed from an easy day, J and I headed off early to MK to take full advantage of our extra 30 mins. Front row (apart from the preferred) in the parking, fairly chilly ferry, and then straight onto space mountain. Out and onto Buzz just before eight. I didn't do well. Into the queue for Seven Dwarves, where we only had to wait about 20 mins (love that ride) and then over to Big Thunder and Pirates, both of which were pretty much a walk on. About a 20 min wait for Jungle Cruise, at which point it was about 10 o'clock, we were six rides in, and it was time to head back over to Tomorrowland for our Tron boarding group.

We got row one.

It was awesome!

Brief stop in Main Street Starbucks for celebratory drink and pastry and that was MK done!

Sneaky trip out for some shopping in the afternoon, followed by evening dinner at Topolino's on the top floor of the Riviera.

Food good. Service and ambience average.

Wall

Thursday came and I hit the wall, needing to have a bit of a lazy day, so N&J headed off to Epcot for some fun, including a lightning lane ride on Guardians ("fun but done"), plus I'm sure there was a little bit of Food'n'Wine festival enjoyment as well.

Evening trip to Springs.

AK

And so to complete the set, a trip to the Animal Kingdom. First stop, of course, the safari, and despite it starting to get warmer today, and us not exactly being early risers, hence it being pretty late morning by the time we were approaching the ride, there were still plenty of animals to see, some very close indeed to the trucks. Lots of photos taken, small number of which were decent.

Jake and I took a stroll on the next-door walking trail afterwards, and got some more good pictures (along with a quote that will go down in family lore - "Would you like to know some more about the okapis?", "No, that's alright, I know everything about them already!").

Then, excitingly, it was time for another new experience, lunch at Tiffins. And wow, what an excellent meal it was too. I think we all agreed that this wins as our best in-park dining experience by some distance.

After a leisurely and long lunch we wandered further into Pandora thinking that we might secure a Navi River journey, but the queue was too long, so other than a look around the shops (much better than the day before - good selection, not too busy) resulting in new top for me and gift for Evie, it was back home.

Then to the second new experience of the day, the DVC member firework cruise. Reporting to the boat dock for 6.30pm at the Contemporary we were given our drink and box of snacks, and at about 7pm we set sail with our skipper Gary for a tour of Bay Lake and the Seven Seas Lagoon prior to taking up position just before 8pm right in front of the entrance to MK for a great view of the fireworks, with the soundtrack played into the boat. Again, awesome!

What a fab day!

Hollywood

Tuesday so it must be Hollywood Studios, again by the wonders of Skyliner, with a quick change at Caribbean Beach onto the right line. No particular plans on arrival, but it turned out there was a short wait for Star Tours, so off we went (all four) for some simulator fun. I think it might have been slightly downplayed for Nan, who might not have 100% enjoyed it, much much kudos for coming on the ride!

The park didn't feel too busy at all, but some of the main attractions still had fairly long queues. We joined the line for TSM, which I think was advertised as 25 mins, but probably waited for almost double that time. I have to report that, of the four of us, Nicky was the winner by a small margin, and that I came third. You can work out the rest for yourself.

Time for food, so we had some sandwiches from Woody's Lunchbox whilst contemplating our next move, which turned out to be Smugglers' Run which, understandably as it is another Star Wars simulator ride, Nan decided to sit out. Again a longer than advertised wait, but good fun.

At this stage flagging to some degree, and so a quick visit to One Man's Dream and a look in the shops (not as good as previously) and back to the Skyliner towards home.

Dinner at the Primo Piatto at the Riviera (excellent burger) followed by a drink in the bar for me an N.

MK

Of course, next on the park list was MK, and Nicky did a great job of securing us 'lightning lane' passes for Tron - boarding group 38. We set off first, with Nan to follow a little later, planning to get the bus, but switching to car when it turned out that the wait was rather long.

The ferry ride from TTC was a little chilly (the forecaster had warned that we would have to suffer two days with highs only in the 70s before consistent 80s for the next week or more!) and we arrived in time to ride the people mover before it was time for our boarding group. As always, some nervous anticipation before a new ride, but I think it is fair to say that we all loved it (i.e. came out - well I certainly did - like giggling idiots afterwards).

Afterwards we went and found Nan near the castle, and meandered over to Philharmagic and then the train station in Fantasyland / Toontown (whatever it's called these days) for a circuit and a bit to bring us back round to Main Street and away by monorail.

Afternoon trip to Premium outlets at Vineland, where we all got something (Nan - warm top, Nicky - Timberland boots, planning ahead for holiday next year, Jake - Adidas top, me - socks!) and home in time for a brief rest before heading over to the Polynesian and the Ohana restaurant and their skillet dinner which was scrummy, with the added bonus of watching the fireworks at MK part way through.

Epcot

Time for Epcot proper, and so off to the Land pavilion to start the day, and on to Living with the Land, followed by Soarin' (whilst the wait time was reasonable), and then a trip next door to see Figment. Then it was time to avail ourselves of the Food and Wine offerings, highlights of which included the 'Fry Flight' and the PBJ chicken wings.

(By the way, Skyliner as a mode of transport to Epcot = excellent)

However, realising that we couldn't live off the Food and Wine festival for the next fortnight, it was off to Publix to stock up on the essentials of life, and then a trip on the bus to Springs and dinner at Wolfgang Pucks plus a little bit of shopping - Nicky very kindly treated Jake and me to some clothes from Uniqlo.

Arrived

Time to catch up on some blogging, having been here for a few days already!

Travel day went smoothly. We were at the airport in plenty of time, which was probably a good thing because the bag-drop line was fairly long. We decided that the Virgin computer systems were having an off day. However, we got through in reasonable time, and then collected a chair for Nan, mostly to make sure we would get assistance at the other end. It did mean that we didn't have time for a sit-down breakfast before our gate was called, so we grabbed provisions from Pret, and there was just enough time for Jake and I to select a couple of books from WHS before the trek to the gate.

Flight uneventful. Seats seemed spacious and food not bad - we thought that we were probably on one of Virgin's newer planes - an improvement on the palaver of going to Washington in June. Famous comedian and family in row behind us.

First impressions of Riviera are good, and pleased to be able to tick off another hotel on the DVC list. We even made it into Epcot for a brief visit on evening number one.