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.

Editions

Books on order whilst I was away now safely arrived, so I am the happy owner of a full set of the new paperback Bond editions, just out to mark the 70th anniversary of the publication of Casino Royale, and rather nice they are too.

Also collected the new Bond story by Charlie Higson, published to mark the King's coronation.

And as I mentioned, this along with my recent purchase of most of an earlier paperback edition, although with two gaps to be filled. 

Home

 One thing we've learned, despite the best of intentions, is that overseas trips aren't the best for blogging. One starts off with the best of intentions, but then stuff just gets in the way! The days are pretty full, and by the time that it is time to switch off, the energy just isn't there. As for those people who manage to get into a proper habit of keeping a daily diary irrespective of how busy they are, heaven knows how they do it!

Anyway, we ended out trip with a couple of days based from Singapore - meetings and property-related stuff, including a visit into Johor Bahru in the southern tip of Malaysia (the causeway and border being a bit of a pain - much easier to get in and out of Singapore by air than by land!). One of our stops was to the URA (the Urban Redevelopment Agency), and they have a couple of rather fancy models of Singapore, one of the whole country, and one of the central area only, with enables them to show how the plans for the country's continuing development are being deployed.

Interestingly, they also have a Stephen Wiltshire artwork in display, done in 2014 after he visited Singapore.

Then, of course, never mind models and drawings, the real place is rather photogenic as well.