Day 9 - golf and Golden Oak

A second early start in a row today, and even earlier than yesterday. This time Jake and I were up and out at 6.30 and along the road to Saratoga, and the Lake Buena Vista golf course in plenty of time to get set up for our 7.30 tee time.

I won't go into exhaustive detail here, but we played with a couple of American guys who were very good, but also thankfully very understanding of having a couple of beginner Brits with them. A highlight each would be that I got a par 3 on the 7th with the island green, and Jake got a par 3 (and was the only one of the four of us whose tee shot found the green) on the 16th which is also over water.

After our round Jake and I popped back to OKW for a much needed cooling shower and change before heading to Springs (trying our parking garage orange for the first time!) and meeting the others at Mirimoto for lunch - another new experience that was declared a success - my duck nasi goreng was excellent.

Then, in the evening, Nicky and I had another new culinary experience - we went to the Capa restaurant at the Four Seasons resort at Golden Oak. The resort is particularly impressive - I can see I spending a few nights there at some point in the future, and the food was excellent. We shared a charcuterie and cheese board to start, and then both had superb steaks as out main course. (I even had a glass of red wine to accompany mine - a red letter day indeed!)

Day 8 - mountains, safaris and spice

Early start today - Jake and I were up and out by 7.20, to take advantage of EMH at MK, and we were parked up at the front of the lot, strolled over to TTC, across on the ferry, into the park, over to Tomorrowland, walked straight through the queueing area, and onto Space Mountain for just after 8 o'clock.

As per usual morning EMH policy, Space is the only mountain running early, so we had a couple of walk on goes on Buzz, with Jake beating me convincingly both times, before heading back over to Main Street for a food and drink break at Starbucks. By the time we were refuelled the ropes were down for Adventure and Frontierlands and so we headed that way, and they were letting people in to Big Thunder, even though it wasn't quite nine yet. Again we walked pretty much straight on, and were riding before park opening.

This meant that we were fairly close to the front of the line for Splash, and only had a few minutes to wait for our final mountain. We secured the back row in our 'log' so didn't get too wet. Judging by Jake's whooping it up, I think this is definitely his favourite mountain.

As Big Thunder is definitely my favourite, and the wait time was still showing as 5 minutes when we came out from Splash, we snuck in for a second ride, before leaving the park, taking the (resort) monorail back to the car park, and heading over to Animal Kingdom.

We met up with the rest of the posse there and went straight onto our first fastpass ride of the day - the safari, which was as good as ever, with the one exception of absent lions. As always we eye up the outpost on the savannah and the small trucks taking people around, and say 'one day'!

After safari it was Kali River for three of us, with two taking up strategic positions on the bridge with the water shooters. In typical fashion we came backwards down the drop, closest to the water, and got thoroughly soaked, but is was plenty hot enough not to matter.

Lunch at the Flame Tree Barbecue, and then over to the Festival of the Lion King, and that was park two of the day done, and back to OKW for a well deserved rest.

Then, in the evening, Nicky and I headed out to Epcot (parking again at the Boardwalk), and enjoyed a very nice tapas meal at the Spice Road Table in Morocco, followed by the Boyz to Men Eat to the Beat concert (pretty lame), and then Illuminations viewed from Japan with the globe nicely framed in the Japanese gate.

So, whilst I can't claim four parks in one day, I can say four parks in 24 hours given the previous evening in Hollywood Studios!

Day 7 - lobster and lights

Long enough had passed without a trip to Red Lobster, and so it was time to put that right. We took a trip to our regular restaurant at Crossroads, and ate far too much shrimp! It was all good, but the clam chowder didn't get an overwhelmingly positive vote this year.

A restful afternoon at the apartment, and in the evening Nicky and I went to Hollywood Studios to enjoy the Osborne Lights. It was the first night that they were up, and a bit of a preview as they don't officially start until 6 Nov. Also, sadly it is the last year that they will be at the Studios as they will be making way for some of the Star Wars expansion.

Whilst we were there we took advantage of the evening EMH and did Star Tours, Muppet Vision, Toy Story (I lost again), and One Man's Dream, where we had an interesting chat with a cast member about some of the changes to California Adventure and watched a preview of the upcoming Good Dinosaur movie.

Day 6 - I-Drive and Bob

Saturday was declared to be brunch day, and so we started at the bottom of I-Drive, and kept on going until we found the first Denny's, and stopped there. All of the usual things were consumed, including a flagon of orange juice, and lots of things with the word 'slam' in the title.

Suitably fuelled, we carried on in a roughly northerly direction, checking out the latest changes to Orlando's holiday highway, the largest and most obvious of which being the addition of the big wheel, but as always, a number of other changes as well (waiting to see what the knocked down petrol station on the corner of Sand Lake will turn in to).

We kept on going all the way to the top, and stopped at 'Belz' as we still like to call it for a little bit more retail therapy. Nicky got a few things in Tommy Hilfiger, Jake a jacket in Nike and a hat from Lids (for the winning team at the basketball), and my purchase was some golf balls so that we have enough for the round we have booked in a few days.

Then, for the evening we headed up the road to Riverside, secured a good table at the River Roost bar, and spent the evening singing along with Bob.

Day 5 - Epcot rides and Magic

A belated post for day five, caused by a late finish. We had fastpasses for Soarin' so no prizes for guessing where we started the day. Who knows, it may be the last time that we will go Soarin' over California, as soon it'll be time to go Soarin' all around the world, not to mention the arrival of a third screen. I wonder if Patrick will be back to record a new introduction?

Anyway, as good as ever, with the pine and orange smells as delightful as ever, and we all ducked for the golf ball.

We still had our fastpass left over from the other day when Test Track broke down, so that was our next stop ..., but it was down again! So, we went left and to the 'Festival pavilion' as it seems to be officially known now (Horizons) and enjoyed the Ghiradellis display and the film about the making of the F&W festival.

By the time we came out, TT was back up and running, and so we were able to have our ride, and once done we were ready for more F&W time, and headed towards the World Showcase. Highlights included a return visit to the mussels and the beef bourguignon, and finding some Scottish haggis and some Canadian cheese soup. And we finished off with a waffle cone from the ice cream store in France.

Back at the hotel, we checked the route (I4 to 82B) and then the boys headed off to the Amway Center for the the Orlando v Oklahoma NBA game (the girls headed back to Epcot later in the evening for a meal at the French restaurant followed by Illuminations).

The game was fantastic. The Magics were up from the start, and by the beginning of the 4th quarter had an 18 point lead, but somehow Oklahoma fought back and tied the game with some amazing play in the final seconds. Then, in overtime, Oklahoma quickly went 5 points up, but the Magics wouldn't give up, and released a buzzer-beating 3-point shot with 0.1 second left to tie the game up again and take the game into a second overtime. Sadly, they couldn't quite repeat the feat, and the game ended up 139-136 to Oklahoma. So, whilst the home fans went away disappointed, as a spectacle, it was tremendous.

We were home just before 11, only a few minutes after the Epcot trip, after a very quick and easy exit from the 'Geico Garage' (parking garage connected by covered pedestrian bridge to the Amway which was about 100 yards from I4) and a 25 min drive home.

Day 4 - Resort and more

A non park day for some of us today, with a relaxing start followed by games at the resort - pool, table tennis, tennis and basketball. Jake and I discovered that playing tennis at lunchtime on a shade free court was something that could only be kept up for about 25 minutes before the urgent need for air conditioning.

As for this evening's activities, Nicky and I went out to LBVFS followed by a very nice meal at Olive Garden, whilst the rest of the party, has, we think, headed off to Epcot to enjoy some more sampling of the Food and Wine festival's treats, and the first (I presume there will be more) viewing of Illuminations of this holiday.

Day 3 - Studios and Millenia

Another wet day in Orlando, but hopefully the last of its kind for a long time. We started the day at the Studios, where the rain came down as we were walking from the car to the tram!

The first rain was only a shower, and so we were able to walk down the Studios' 'Main Street' (Sunset?) without getting wet, admiring the view of the Chinese Theatre unobstructed by a Sorceror's Hat. And it was to the Theatre that we were headed, to try out the updated Great Movie Ride. Turns out that the updates are fairly limited, mostly to get mentions in for TCM who are now the sponsors. Still, nice to see a new pre show film - we saw a bit with Errol Flynn being Robin Hood!

When we came out of the show, the heavens had well and truly opened, so we took refuge in the ABC Commissary and had a drink, before getting all poncho'd up and making a dash for Toy Story Mania where a fastpass time was awaiting us. Scoring-wise, I came mid table, and Nicky was relieved to retain her top billing, although it was only by a few thousand from Jake (175 to 172).

A new restaurant for us for lunch - the Brown Derby, and it was declared a success. Between us we had fifteen desserts (trios all round) so it can't have been bad.

We decided that was enough for the Studios, and so headed out and back to OKW, by which time the sun was out. After a break at 'home', we decided that our afternoon/evening trip out would be to the Mall at Millenia, where Jake stocked up on more trainers and clothes, and a particular highlight, Nicky secured her Apple Watch.

We picked up cheesecakes at the Factory before leaving, and after a very long drive home (overturned car on I4) enjoyed them back here.