Cruising the seas

Whilst it was sad to be leaving DisneyWorld, it was exciting to be heading off on our cruises. Our luggage was collected at 8:30, and we had not much to do until the bus meeting time of 11:00. So lots of Disney Jr on the TV it was.

We met up with all the others at Jambo House and were soon on our way. We had a quick stop to pick up some more people at the Pop hotel and then it was full steam ahead to the port. 

Check in was painless, Charlotte was registered with the kids club, and we were then walking through the big ears to get our embarkation photo taken. Photo done, and we were being announced onto the ship to the applause of the crew. Yay! 

Important things first - Wayne, Joy, Charlotte, and James headed off for food, Michelle headed off to stand in line for tickets. The line was fairly long, but eventually she had tickets for meet and greets with the princesses, Anna and Elsa, and the Marvel characters in her hands. Then she, too, could go and eat. 

We found our stateroom after lunch and met our room host for the next 15 nights - Glenlyss. Then it was off to the Facebook group meet-up to collect pre-ordered tshirts, lanyards, and pins, and to meet the people we'd been talking to for the last several months. 

After the meet-up it was time for the lifeboat drill and then the Adventures Away deck party. This is when you REALLY feel like you're on holidays - the music is pumping, the characters come on stage to party, and then you do a big count down...5...4...3...2...1, and the horn plays the first 7 notes of When You Wish Upon A Star. The music keeps going, and all of a sudden you realise that the ship is moving, and you're off!!!

2 days before the cruise Disney announced that they were changing our itinerary for the Transatlantic cruise. Originally the ports had been New York, St John's, Reykjavik, Oslo, and Copenhagen. Unfortunately there was too much ice in the harbour at St John's,  so we were unable to call in there. Disney decided to switch their Canadian port to Halifax instead. The other side effect of the ice was that, in order to sail around it, we wouldn't have enough time to call at Reykjavik. Instead Disney decided to  replace that port with Stavenger in Norway. Whilst it was disappointing that we wouldn't get to those places, it was better than ending up like the Titanic (which wasn't that far from St John's when it sunk!)

Anyway...no matter what ports we were heading to, we were off and sailing. WooHoo! 

Our luggage had finally arrived in our stateroom by this time, so Michelle started unpacking - much easier to live out of drawers for 2 weeks than suitcases! Then we were soon headed off to dinner in Cariocas. 

Disney has 3 main dining rooms - all Disney  themed of course. Lumiere's is French, and inspired by Beauty and the Beast, Animator's Palate (or Palace, as Wayne keeps calling it) is based on the drawings and cartoons of Disney, and has screens all around the room which they use for great effect, and Cariocas is Brazilian themed - although I'm not sure which Disney link that is. 

As well as the three main dining rooms they have Palo - an Italian adults only restaurant, and Cabanas - a buffet for breakfast and lunch, and a sit down venue for dinner. There is also room service 24 hours a day, and tons of snacks up on deck - burgers, pizza, soup, wraps, ice cream, etc. 

Anyway, we headed up to dinner to meet our servers for the next 15 days. Bojan from Croatia was our server, and Maria from Brazil was our assistant server. Our dining room head server was Ronald from India. Dinner was yummy, as usual - a 4 course meal every night? We can do that!

After dinner we decided to skip the show and wandered around for a bit - checked out the Promenade Lounge where music was playing and a toddler play area was set up, looked at some characters, Charlotte went to the kids club, and then we eventually headed back to our rooms.

Charlotte was sharing a room with Joy for this cruise, and was very excited as she got to sleep in a bunk bed! It pulls down from the ceiling in the room. James was in our room on the sofa converted to a bed. We had a beautiful towel animal on our bed, and yummy chocolates for turn down. The chocolates have a picture of Sleepy from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on it :).

Michelle continued unpacking, and then eventually our first day on the ship had to come to a close - looking forward to more to come!

Last day at DisneyWorld :(

All good things must come to an end right? 

Today started with Wayne deciding that the cold he'd had for the last few days had finally got the better of him, so he decided to stay in bed while the rest of us headed to the Magic Kingdom. 

Today was Joy's first day at Magic Kingdom, so we had planned to revisit some of the kids' favourite rides with her. But first, Michelle and Charlotte had a date with Space Mountain! While they were on that Joy took James for a walk and watched the main stage show. 

We then all headed off to the Little Mermaid ride, followed by a ride on Winnie the Pooh. James loved Winnie the Pooh and kept saying "again, again" when he got off. 

We headed towards the parade, but stopped to watch the main stage show on the way - Charlotte had been asking to see it all week, and this was our last chance. 

Once that was over I t was almost time for the parade, and Wayne had arrived in the park. So he took James off to ride Winnie the Pooh again while Michelle, Charlotte, and Joy watched the parade. We didn't have the magical pixie dust this time, but it was still amazing. Disney do entertainment so well. 

Prefe over and it was time for Charlotte's favourite ride - Splash Mountain. Joy had said she would go on it, but wasn't fantastically keen :). Still, she went on, and even smiled for the camera when Charlotte told her to. 

It was almost time for our final dinner reservation, so we slowly made our way out of the park for the final time :(. 

Dinner was at the Grand Floridian hotel - dinner with Cinderella and the rest of the family - Prince Charming, Lady Tremayne, Drizella, and Anastasia. 

We headed back via the Magic Kingdom to get one last look at it all lit up, then on the bus to the hotel and the final packing up. Tomorrow - cruise time!!!

Enjoy, you will

The Today was a very early start. We had breakfast reservations for 8:30 at the Sci-Fi Diner at Hollywood Studios. But rope drop was at 8:00 for guests staying on Disney property, and we wanted to get there right on opening. 

So we jumped on the bus and headed off - getting there about 5 minutes to 8. Our first rope drop of the trip!

Once the gates opened we headed inside and lined up for tickets to...well, you'll find out later :). Once that was done we headed off for breakfast. 

In mid to late May, Hollywood Studios run special Star Wars weekends. So throughout May they offer special character meals. You can have dinner with the Disney characters dressed as Star Wars characters (eg Minnie Princess Leia, Mickey Luke Skywalker, etc.) or you can have breakfast with some of the "baddies".

We walked in and got a photo with Darth Vader and Bobba Fett, then were shown to our table. At the Sci-Fi Diner all the tables are in cars, like a drive-in movie, with a big screen at the front. The screen was playing clips from various Star Wars movies, clips of interviews with directors etc., and the new Star Wars trailer.

While we are our breakfast we had some visitors - Greedo, some Storm Troopers, and some Jawas. Charlotte was a little scared of the Storm Troopers, but finally warmed up to them at the end. 

Breakfast over, we headed off to the Tower of Terror. Michelle and Charlotte headed on first. While they were in the queue the ride malfunctioned, so it took a little longer than planned to get on it. Once on Charlotte got very scared of the intro (a Twilight Zone type movie), and by the time they got to the top of the walk had decided she was too scared to go on the ride. Michelle and the woman in front of them in line convinced her that it wasn't scary any more, the scary bit was over, and she reluctantly got on. 

It was definitely the right move, as she loved it. She couldn't wait to go on it again with Wayne, but the delay meant that had to wait. We headed off to our next event - the tickets we'd queued for in the morning. 

Charlotte went to Jedi training! She was given a robe and a light saber and taken on a stage with a Jedi Master to learn how to be a Jedi. Half way through training though, Darth Vader appeared!!! All the trainees lined up on the side of the stage and took turns fighting Darth Vader. Charlotte was a little hesitant to go forward when it was her turn, but eventually fought him. Finally Darth Vader was defeated, and all the trainees were granted Padawan status! Yay Charlotte!!!

(Photos and video will come when I have proper internet connection.)

We split up from Joy at this point and the 4 of us headed off to Toy Story Midway Mania. Everyone loved this ride - including James. 

We then went to our last fastpass for the day - a Frozen singalong. A stage show where everyone got to sing with Anna and Elsa - and it even snowed at the end!!!

After that we decided that since it was so hot we'd be better off going back to the hotel for a swim before dinner. Wayne took Charlotte and James down while Michelle made a sort of attempt at packing. While swimming they played games with the staff, and Charlotte and James each won a little toy monkey. 

Dinner that night was at Boma, the African buffet at Jambo House. The food was beautiful, and we were all totally stuffed at the end. 

 

Epcot

Epcot is the park that we really weren't sure about - in the past it's been the one that we didn't have a lot to do in, but we still wanted to do some of the rides, so we headed over this morning, leaving Joy to nap a bit longer. 

We had organised most of our rides in the morning so we could park hop if we wanted, so we quickly got going on the main rides. 

Charlotte's favourite was Test Track, where you got to design your own car and then race round a track while it lets you know how your car is going in terms of performance, speed, etc. Michelle and Charlotte went first, is anyone surprised that the car was pink? Charlotte was quite disappointed when she realised that they didn't actually build a real version of her computer design to ride around the track in. On the other hand, it cheered her up when her car came first overall of all the virtual cars in that group. 

That took a long time, and Joy had arrived by this time, so we went and grabbed some Mexican for lunch.

After lunch it started to rain, so Wayne and Charlotte thought it would be a good time to do their run on Test Track. Michelle, James, and Joy headed off to walk around the country pavilions and look at some of the topiaries that were out for the Flower and Garden show there. 

About halfway round they came across an A Capella concert, so stopped to watch it. James loved it so much that Michelle and James stayed there to wait for the next show while Joy kept walking.

After that they headed round to the main fountain to find Wayne and Charlotte. After they had finished Test Track (again, a pink car!) they started heading towards the concert but got sidetracked by a water play area. Given how hot it was that day, it was a nice place to cool down. 

After we all met up again the 4 of us headed back to the hotel for dinner back at the African cafe while Joy wandered off to keep looking around and use her fastpass for Soarin'. 

Harry Potter World!

WooHoo! It's Harry Potter day. 

We got up, ate some breakfast in our room, and headed on the shuttle bus to the other Animal Kingdom resort - Jambo House - to wait for our shuttle to Universal Studios. 

We headed in and went straight to the most important (only important?) part of Universal - Harry Potter World. We did get a bit sidetracked on the way though. 

We stopped at a ride called ??? (Disaster?) and jumped in the queue. It turned out to be a ride which had an interactive part at the start - and Charlotte was the first volunteer. We were all moved into a room where they were filming a new disaster movie - the director was Christopher Walken, well a hologram of him anyway. The director told us about the movie and then we moved onto filming. 

As everyone say and watched Charlotte and the other actors had to film their pieces. Charlotte went first. She had to stand on a ledge and stare up at a large rock hanging from the ceiling - they called that staring at the rock. Then she had to jump from the ledge and land on a large mat. The jump was about 3 inches - not high at all. 

After the others finished their filming we headed onto the ride itself - a train inside a subway station. Inside the train were tv screens and as the ride went and fire and water invaded the subway station, we saw the movie. 

Charlotte was jumping from a burning building - into the arms of The Rock - Dwayne Johnson! He then made sure she was ok - as she stared at him. Ha ha - staring at The Rock!

We then headed off to England - London to be precise. Or even more precisely, 12 Grimwauld Place and Diagon Alley. 

Diagon Alley was awesome. We had lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, where Michelle had a Butterbeer - yum!

We purchased an interactive Hermoine wand which allowed you to spells at various portals around both Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. Some were quite clever, but many were hard to make work :(. 

We went and jumped in line next for the Gringott's Bank roller coaster ride. Michelle and Charlotte got all the way to the front when Charlotte realised it was 3D and didn't want to ride. Michelle convinced her she could close her eyes at the scary bit, and she eventually went on. She enjoyed the ride itself, but not the graphics. Once Michelle and Charlotte were off Wayne jumped in the single rider line and rode it too. 

Then it was time for the much anticipated Hogwarts Express ride. You sit in tiny train carriages and travel between the 2 Universal parks. Along the way you get to look out the window at the English countryside - and hear and see others having conversations in the train corridors. It was pretty awesome! 

We headed off to the main Harry Pottwr ride, walking through Hogwarts in the queue. Charlotte was too small to ride, but she and James loved the rider switch area where they got to watch Harry Potter movies. We then went on the dragon roller coasters - another one Charlotte loved. James could have ridden it, but after his experience on the Seven Dwarfs Mountain Ride where he cried almost the whole way through, we thought we wouldn't subject him to it. :)

We headed off to the lolly shop, as Charlotte had Wizard money to spend (you could exchange money at the bank in Diagon Alley), and bought some chocolate frogs and a massive lollipop. Then it was time to say goodbye to Harry Potter World (unfortunately, without the return train journey, which has different views) and we just had enough time to do a few rides on The Cat in the Hat. 

We then caught our bus back to the hotel and headed to the restaurant to eat. Charlotte was excited by the build your own cookie desserts - plain cookies with frosting, M&Ms, sprinkles, etc which you decorated yourself. James was just excited by the M&Ms. 

It was then time for bed for the kids, with another big day ahead tomorrow...and a special visitor!

Michelle's Mum, Joy, arrived about 10:00 that night. It was good to see her, but as everyone was tired it was pretty much lights out immediately. 

Animal Kingdom

We got up in the morning and, after lovely Mother's Day cuddles and surprises, packed up - very sad to be leaving such a beautiful hotel. Once the luggage was collected we jumped on a bus to Animal Kingdom. Even before we headed into the park we met Tarzan - very cool. 

Our first fastpass was for the safari, but we were able to wander slowly to get there. Charlotte found a Junior Safari station and signed herself up. She got a book and had to go and find different station  and perform activities or answer questions there to get "badges" (stickers) for her book. 

The safari was pretty amazing - we saw so many different animals and birds. Hippos, rhinos, giraffe, zebras, special types of cattle, elephants, lions, ostriches, flamingoes, and more. Once we get the photos sorted we can see exactly what we saw. The safari had different vegetation along the way, and it was amazing seeing the HUGE ant hills on the Savannah plains. 

After the safari we went to the Festival of the Lion King. This was an awesome show - phenomenal singing, great acrobatics and dancing - well worth seeing. 

Next up - Expedition Everest. A roller coaster ride set in the Himalayas with the Yeti. Charlotte loved the roller coaster bit, but wasn't thrilled with seeing the Yeti. However, the enjoyment of the roller coaster won out, so she went on a second time, with Michelle this time. 

By then we were hungry so headed off to dinosaur land for lunch. It was packed, but we found a table quickly and sent Michelle off to stand in line for hours for food. Well, really only about half an hour, but it felt like hours to everyone :)

After lunch it was time to get wet at the Kali River Rapids. James didn't like this ride very much - he didn't like the water - but everyone else appreciated the opportunity to cool down. 

We then walked through the tiger sanctuary and saw a beautiful tiger, before heading back to the bus stops. On the way Charlotte stopped at the Junior Safari station and showed them all the badges she'd earned. She was sad that she hadn't completed the book, but they told her it never ran out and she could do it next time too. They gave her another badge for telling them what her favourite animal was that she'd seen (the giraffe of course) and that made her happy again. 

We jumped on a bus and headed back to the Magic Kingdom where we had reservations to eat at the majestic Beauty and the Beast castle. The decorations on the restaurant were absolutely beautiful - it was even snowing outside the window. The food was yummy - and although we really wanted to "try the grey stuff" which apparently was "delicious, if you don't believe me ask the dishes," we were just too full. 

After dinner we were able to go and meet our host - the Beast. Charlotte was a bit scared and wouldn't have her photo taken with him, but changed her mind as we walked out the door, so we went back in and saw him again. 

We left the park via Liberty Square where we did a few more interactive portals, this time we were chasing Cruella de Ville!

We then went to the bus stop to head to our new hotel - Animal Kingdom Kidani Village. We arrived there in the dark, and found our way to reception. After checking in we walked to our room - and walked, and walked, and walked some more. We seemed to be an awfully long way away from the lobby :)

The room was beautiful - a one-bedroom apartment, with 2 bathrooms. It was decorated with Lion King motifs - carved animals in the backs of the chairs, bathroom tiles with the Savannah and animal shadows, etc. The couch folded out into a double bed, and the comfy chair folded out into a single bed - just perfect for James. 

Bedtime, ready for our big day tomorrow. 

Haircuts and hairdos and princesses and things

This morning started early with a quick breakfast before heading to the Magic a Kingdom for James to get his hair cut. We were one of the first bookings for the day - and Wayne jumped into the "standby" line to get his hair cut too. The barber asked Michelle how much she wanted cut off James' hair - she dithered so much that the barber turned and said, "we only have 10 minutes to do the cut, how much do you want off?"

So, all his curls are now gone and he looks like a proper little boy. Michelle was a bit sad, but it's growing on her. Wayne managed to get most of the grey trimmed off. :)

Both James and Wayne had pirate treasure sprinkled in their hair - nice and glittery!

We had a little bit of time before our next appointment, so we headed off to Fantasyland to finally defeat Ursula in the Sorceror's of the Magic Kingdom...which was the end of our quest. But, of course, there are always more villains to defeat, so we were offered the option to head to Liberty Square to continue. Not today though!

Charlotte had a very special appointment with a fairy-godmother-in-training to be transformed. She chose an Anna dress, and had her hair done in the newest colour streaked style. We then had photos taken before heading off for lunch. 

Whilst this was all going on Wayne and James headed off in search of food - and some rides on the carousel. 

We were lucky enough to have reservations to eat at Cinderella's Royal Table - right in Cinderella's castle. Although we were the third in line to check on, we somehow ended up as the first in line to meet Cinderella. Charlotte was then chose. As the Princess of the Day and was announced to everyone as she led them into lunch. 

We were given a window seat, with a fantastic view of the carousel. Shortly after they took our order they announced the arrival of some very special visitors - Snow White, Ariel, Merida, and Jasmine.  They all came to our tables and took photos and signed autographs. 

After lunch we jumped on the Peter Pan ride and Autotopia, and then to the parade. Charlotte was upset that her new gloves got dirty holding the steering wheel - clearly the cars aren't that clean :)

James was asleep by this time so Wayne and James stayed on one of the paths by the castle while Michelle and Charlotte went to find a good spot to watch. When they found somewhere Charlotte said she couldn't see, so the couple next to them let her in front. 

Charlotte kept asking when the parade was starting, and the guy was telling her when it was going to come, and how she would know. It turned out that the couple both worked at DisneyWorld, Michelle didn't find out where, but given they were saying they never got to see the parade, but knew every single song and dance move, it was a fairly good bet that they were part of the entertainment cast. 

It was absolutely amazing standing with them for the parade. They also seemed to know every single person in the parade, and they called out to most of them and pointed out Charlotte. Anna said something to Elsa like "there's out other sister," and told Charlotte she wanted her crown. Flynn Rider pointed at Charlotte and winked. Minnie Mouse drew a love heart with her hands and pointed at Charlotte. Those was truly one of those one-in-a-million, money-can't-buy experiences. Michelle only wishes she had gotten their names to let guest services know how wonderful they were. 

After the parade Michelle and Charlotte went to the Stitch adventure on the way back to the Buzz Lightyear ride. Michelle got her highest score ever and actually managed to beat Wayne!!! Somewhere in there (or a previous day) we also did It's A Small World. 

Our final ride for the day was Space Mountain. Although we had a fastpass for Wayne, he hates the ride and didn't want to use it. So Michelle and Charlotte went on first. Charlotte was pretty nervous, because Wayne had said how awful it was, but Michelle convinced her she should try it. 

Guess who was right? Charlotte LOVED it and wanted to get straight back on. Since the photos weren't working Michelle convinced her to wait until we came back again. 

By this time everyone was getting a bit tired, so we headed back to the hotel for dinner. Michelle stopped at guest services to let them know about the awesome parade experience, and to buy stamps, then we jumped on the ferry home. We had dinner at the Grand Floridian Cafe, then back to the room. 

The movie showing on the beach that night was Tinkerbell and the Legend of the NeverBeast, so Charlotte and Michelle headed out to watch that as an early Mother's Day celebration. They didn't get to see the end though, as they headed down to the pier to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks in the distance.  There were quite a few people watching...and mosquitoes biting! Although you couldn't see the castle light show, it was still amazing. 

I think it's Friday?

 For thIt's so easy to lose track of the days. 

This morning we had a character breakfast booked at the Grand Floridian signature restaurant - 1900 Park Faire. It's a buffet style breakfast, and we got to meet Mary Poppins, Alice, the Mad Hatter, and Tigger and Pooh. Then it was time for more park fun!

Today is our second day in the parks, and we headed off to Magic Kingdom again. It just made sense to be there when we were so close, and the other parks were closer to our next hotel. 

Once again we had 3 fast passes pre-booked, but today they were all scheduled for the morning. First stop - Haunted Mansion. Charlotte has always loved this ride, but this time was petrified by it. She cried a lot of the way through it, and refused to pose for a photo afterwards. :(. James wasn't too sure of it at the start, but was ok once we were sitting in the carriages. 

After that we headed towards Pirates of the Caribbean - much more to everyone's taste. On the way we stopped to look at the Swiss Family Robinson tree house, and promised Charlotte she could come back and climb it. 

We then went and jumped on Big Thunder Mountain. 

We wandered around for a bit then, rode the carousel, did some more Sorceror's of the Magic Kingdom portals, and took Charlotte for a ride on autotopia, since there was only a small wait. 

We then decided it would be good for James to get a proper nap in, so headed back to the Grand Floridian for lunch and a sleep. 

While James was sleeping Wayne and Charlotte went and had a swim - enjoying the pool and water slide, and also the Mad Hatter splash area. They came back to the room just after James woke up and Michelle was outvoted - she wanted to go back to the parks, everyone else wanted to swim. 

So we all headed down to the pool where Charlotte tried to persuade everyone that James really should try the water slide. She was outvoted this time :). Everyone else went down though, it was a great slide. 

We had marshmallows on the beach again, then went and bought some mac and cheese and cereal from the shop for the kids and flatbread for Michelle and Wayne. 

The kids had a bath in the super exciting bathroom with the TV in the mirror - and didn't want to get out! - and then went to bed. Once they were asleep Wayne headed out to watch the fireworks from the jetty. They pipe the music in from the Magic Kingdom so you get almost the full experience. 

We're here!!!

WooHoo! DisneyWorld here we come. 

We decided it would be nice to catch the boat across for our first trip, so after breakfast at the 24 hour food area we headed over to the ferry. 

The Magic Kingdom sits at the top of a large man made lake. Around the lake, in a clockwise direction, is the Contemporary Resort, the Transportation Centre, the Polynesian Resort, and the Grand Floridian Resort. There is a large ferry that runs between Magic Kingdom and the Transportation Centre, and a small one that does a loop from Magic Kingdom to the Grand Floridian and then to the Polynesian. There is also a monorail that does a clockwise loop starting at Magic Kingdom, and a separate manorial that goes directly to and from the Transportation Centre. 

We went down and waited for the ferry - it is quite small, seating about 39 people maximum, but is quite a nice trip. You get to see both Cinderella's castle andSpace  Mountain as you head across the water. 

We got off the ferry and headed to collect our tickets. These were linked to our Magic Bands - personalised bands that acted as room keys, charge cards at shops and restaurants, fast passes for rides, etc. - and we pressed Mickey to Mickey (the Mickey on the band to the Mickey on the scanner), had our finger print taken (adults only), and we were in!!!

Our first set booking for the day was still a while away, so we headed to the fire station to grab some Sorceror's Kingdom cards. This is a cool new game that Disney has introduced - and it's free, which is a bonus. The premise is that Hades from the Underworld is trying to take over the Magic Kingdom and is recruiting all the Disney villains to help him. Merlin is trying to stop him, but needs help. 

When you start a game you get a map showing the location of all the interactive portals in the Magic Kingdom, a set of spell cards for everyone in your party, and your very first clue. You place your band up against the little keyhole and the interactive portal comes to life. You see a scene showing what the baddy is doing (in our case the first baddy we came across was Ursula from The Little Mermaid) and then you either have to cast a spell (choose one of your cards and hold it up to be scanned by the portal), show the Sorceror's sign (the back of a spell card) or chase the baddy to another portal. Along the way you get to destroy minor baddies (like Flotsam and Jetsam), until eventually, after about 4 or 5 locations, you defeat your baddy. Of course, then there's another baddy to get. 

We headed off to Fantasyland to start chasing Ursula down. On the way we stopped for some photos in front of the castle (of course!), and to join in the street party that came up Main Streey to in front of the castle. 

Once in Fantasyland it took us a while to find our first portal, but once we had it we quickly found the next 2, also in Fantasyland. I really liked how you didn't have to go all over the park for one game, so it was something you could easily do with your beer kids without them getting bored of walking from one land to another to another. 

After those portals we headed off for our first scheduled event - lunch! Our first lunch with Charlotte in DisneyWorld 4 years ago was at Crystal Palace, so we thought we'd continue the tradition. The big question was, would James be as scared of the characters as Charlotte was back then. 

We headed in after a brief wait, and sat down. James was excited to see Pooh Bear, but he was a fair way away. Of course, lasttime Charlotte had been so excited to see Piglet, but then wouldn't leave our arms when they came by the table. 

Not long after we sat down and grabbed some food for the kids Eeyore appeared. Success! James wasn't too scared. He was a little apprehensive, but gave Eeyore a cuddle and happily posed for photos. All smooth sailing then. 

We ate lunch in between greeting Tigger, Piglet, and Winnie the Pooh, and then it was almost time for our first ride of the day. Well, after we'd seen the characters once more. :)

We had booked 3 fast passes for today - it was a bit weird booking them 2 months in advance, and was really a bit hit and miss as to what would be popular rides and need them, and what we would be able to ride with a limited queue. Still, off we headed for The Little Mermaid ride. 

It was pretty much as we remembered, and both Charlotte and James really enjoyed it. The next ride was Splash Mountain - about as far away from Ariel as you could get. The weather was about 34 degrees (93 Fahrenheit), but very humid, so we were all very hot and sweaty. Splash Mountain seemed like a perfect idea. 

James fell asleep on the way over, which was good timing as he couldn't ride Splash Mountain anyway. Wayne and Charlotte went on first - and although it's slightly different from the one at Disneyland, Charlotte loved it just as much. Next Michelle and Charlotte went on it. 

We wandered around a bit and then headed for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride. This is fairly new, and we knew we needed a fastpass for this one. James was tall enough to ride this, although eg didn't want to stand up straight enough to prove it. Finally we got through the entrance and on to the ride.

Maybe James knew something we didn't, because he hated it. Roller coasters are not his thing. On the other hand, the rest of us loved it. 

Ride over, and we had to hurry to make our dinner reservation. We realised last night that we hadn't booked dinner at O'Hana's at the Polynesian. It was our favourite meal last time, so we wanted

to eat there again. 

We knew it would be tight, so hurried through the park...only to find that the monorail hadn't been working properly for some reason. The direct to the Ttansportation Centre one was shut down for the afternoon, and there was a massive queue for the loop one. There was a train at the station, but it seemed to be sitting there and not moving.  

What to do? Wait for the monorail or try our luck with the ferry, which also had a queue? We started off in the monorail line, but decided to move to the ferry line. Which took a looonnnggg time. Oh well, not much we could do. There were others who also had restaurant bookings, so we weren't the only ones in this predicament. 

Wayne overheard someone saying that if you were late for your booking they wouldn't turn you away, but you might have to wait a bit until they get you a table. That made us feel better.

We arrived there almost 45 minutes after our reservation, and at first the woman at the desk couldn't find our booking. Oh no. Luckily the guy knew where to look - under no-shows. Ha ha. 

5 minutes later and we were seated and ready to eat. Entree was pot stickers (gyoza) and chicken wings, then there was salad, then main was noodles and meat off massive skewers that the waiter carried to your table - beef, chicken, and prawns. Yum. 

We were all too full for dessert, so jumped on the monorail back to the hotel - to get marshmallows on the beach :)

On our way to the most magical place on earth...

We got up, finished packing, checked out, and headed to Kim's to say goodbye. We only had half an hour to chat, before we had to head to the airport. :(. 

At the airport Charlotte was desperate for mac and cheese from Chilli's, but they didn't do take out, so she had to settle for Doritos instead. Such a hard life. 

The flight was uneventful - and our shortest flight of the whole trip, which was nice. We arrived in Orlando, grabbed our bags, and headed off to the Magical Express.

The Magical Express is Disney's beautiful free bus transportation to their resorts. And we got to use our super you-beaut a magic bands for the first time. We had had them sent to Kim's house so we were all wearing them and able to touch them and watch Mickey go green to wor us in. 

Once on the bus it wasn't long until we reached Walt Disney World, or WDW, and then not much longer until we reached our hotel. For the first 4 nights of our stay we had a booking at the Villas at the Grand Floridian Hotel, one of Disney's flagship hotels at WDW.

We checked in, and bell services walked us and or luggage over to the villas, pointing out the pools on the way. We were taken to our room on the second floor, room 1222, and opened the door to find...

...Pixie Dust! Although we had booked a studio room, they had given us a 1 bedroom. Wow! The room was absolutely beautiful - a kitchen, lounge, HUGE bathroom, bedroom. Charlotte was excited by the bed that pulled down from the wall underneath the TV, and both the kids were wowed by the TV in the bathroom mirror - as in, it looked just like the whole mirror was just mirror, yet one part of it was actually a TV screen. So easy to get them in the bath when they can watch TV. Just hard to get them out :). 

We wandered around for a bit and checked out the pool area with its water slide and Mad Hatter Tea Party water play area. There was a fire pit where the youth counsellors were handing out sticks and marshmallows to toast - yummy. 

We then headed off to find food. After checking out all the options we got a table at the Grand Floridian Cafe - which is much more upmarket than it sounds from the name - and had a beautiful dinner. Wayne would have enjoyed his steak much more, except Charlotte decided she didn't like her meal and proceeded to eat half of the steak. 

We then wandered back to go to sleep, ready to prepare for our first day at the Magic Kingdom tomorrow. 

It's raining, it's pouring...

The first bad weather we've had so far, and it meant a change in plans. We were going to see a farm and baby animals and pony rides and stuff like that, but it was all outdoors. So that suddenly came off the agenda. 

Instead we decided to go visit the Jelly Belly factory. What's not to love about jelly beans!!!

We picked Kim up in our lovely weird car and headed off to the factory. On the way we passed Racine - home of the Racine All American Baseball League team of "League Of Their Own" fame. 

We got to the factory and Charlotte and James were both immediately taken by the Frozen movie playing above one of the displays, and by the seemingly unlimited amount of jelly beans there. Or infinity, as Charlotte said. 

While waiting for the next tour we damples a few of the flavours - the new champagne flavour was yummy! None of us wanted to sample the Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans flavours though - earthworm or vomit flavour anyone???

We jumped on the train for the tour, to discover it was mainly video shown at each "stop" (or pause!) It was still interesting, learning about how they derive new flavours, how they make the middle and the coating, how they sort them so only the perfect ones get put in the packets, etc. 

They spent a bit of time explaining how they perfect the flavours, which made us wonder who was the unlucky person who had to verify the dirty nappy bean taste!!!

We also saw prints of famous Jelly Belly art - Elvis, Queen Elizabeth, the Statue of Liberty etc. 

At the end of the tour we were each given a sample pack of jelly bellys, and then we got to shop!

You'll all be pleased to know that, unlike when Kim and I did the Laverne and Shirley walk at the brewery tour last time, we totally behaved ourselves and didn't embarrass anyone. Well, that, and Max wasn't there to be embarrassed either :). 

After the tour we headed to Walmart for some more last minute shopping. Wayne tried very hard to get himself on the People of Walmart website by 1) wearing his too big jeans without a belt and almost losing them in the middle of the store, and 2) trying on a Tshirt by stripping off in the middle of the store. We haven't checked the website - did he make it???

Our final dinner in Wisconsin was burgers that Scott grilled on the BBQ. Yum!!! We hung out at Kim's for a while, until the kids were almost falling asleep. We said our final goodbyes to Scott and Max and headed back to the hotel to pack and sleep. 

Discovery World

Kim rocked up at our hotel in the morning and we all piled in our weird car to head to Discovery World in Milwaukee. This is a science and exploration museum with tons of cool things to do. 

Scott gave Kim directions on how to get there with the roadworks going on - but we managed to miss the exit and went for a drive over a lovely bridge instead :). 

Once at Discovery World there were some cool things to do, including looking at a massive Les Paul exhibit with not only his guitars, but also things like the recording equipment he invented etc. Les Paul came from Waukesha, not far from where Kim lives.

There was also a very cool aquarium exhibition, with lots of fish and things you could touch. The lion fish was very cool to see. 

At the top of the aquarium was a replica ship you could play on - which was where we discovered James had lost his shoes. Oops. So we tripped off to lost and found to report them, but they weren't there. They asked us what siE the shoes were - like I have a clue about US sizes - so Kim asked the woman behind us in line what size her son's shoes were. The woman thought we were quite strange :)

Next to the ship was an area about pulleys and levers, and Charlotte lifted a 100lb (45kg) stone all by herself. Pretty strong hey!

On the way out we thought we'd check one more time for James' shoes, and the woman told us they'd found them even before we reached the desk. Yay!

We returned to the hotel, said farewell to Kim, and Wayne and Charlotte went for a swim while James napped, then once James woke up both the kids went for a swim. The pool was heaps of fun. 

Then it was shopping time. We hit Target across the road and bought a suitcase and some warmer clothes for the kids (awesome clearance rack since winter was over). We also bought nappies for James - hopefully the brand we chose work out ok. 

We picked up some pizza that Kim had pre-ordered, and headed to their place for dinner and conversation. 

Travelling, travelling, travelling...

Up nice and early this morning to catch a plane to Milwaukee. We headed off to the airport with only a minor panic by Michelle that she'd misread the time luggage needed to be checked by and we were going to miss it. The worry was all for naught though, as the flight was delayed. 

And delayed. 

And delayed. 

For some reason the flight didn't leave Denver, so never arrived. They ended up getting a plane from Oakland - a whole 10 minutes flight away. Lol. So they had to get a crew and pilots etc to fly the plane to San Francisco, just to get off and be replaced by the actual crew. 

We ended up heading off about an hour and a half late, which wasn't too bad in the scheme of things. When we arrived in Milwaukee we headed off the to car rental place to pick up our car. Based on the success of our amazing mini van in San Francisco, we had booked a mini van again, but through a different company. 

Hmm. When you're told "sorry, we don't have any mini vans left, but we have this Ford Transit you can have, it's almost the same," don't believe them. It's not almost the same as a bells and whistles mini van at all. And then when they charge you for a 33 gallon tank of petrol (when you opt for pre-paid rather than trying to find a petrol station on the way home), well that gets very expensive very quickly!

We went straight to Kim's house, where we were warmly greeted, followed immediately by "what type of car is that?" "I've never seen a car like that." Lol. Told you it was weird. :)

We had a lovely dinner of fried chicken, chips (fries), and salad, followed by cooking s'mores on their brand new fire pit which they had built the week before. 

After we had finished eating we thought we had better go check into our hotel before it got too late. We headed over to Delafield and found the hotel - very nice it was too. Our room was only a few doors away from the pool, which made the kids very happy 😊

American Girl

For those of you who don't know what American Girl Doll is, it's an American store that sells dolls. 18" dolls. Expensive dolls. There are 3 main types of dolls at the store - historical dolls, where the doll represents a particular era from the 1700s (or something like that) right through to the 1970s, Girl of the Year, where each year they release a new doll with different interests and attributes (this year or last it was Isabella who likes ballet or something), and the American Girl Dolls who look just.like.you. 

Charlotte bought an American Girl Doll on our last trip with medium length blonde/brown hair, a fringe, and blue eyes. Of course, there is just about every conceivable option so your doll can look like you. 

As well as selling the dolls, and almost every conceivable accessory option (clothes, furniture (a $160 bed anyone?), matching doll and owner clothes, etc.), the stores also offer experiences. 

So, we headed off this morning for lunch. You bring your doll with you, and they have a special seat at the table just for your doll. Your doll also gets a mini tea cup and saucer to keep, which James has had great fun playing with. 

You get 2 courses of lunch (maybe 3?), and once again the kids spent more time looking at the food than eating it. Charlotte was very excited to share her lunch with her doll though. 

After lunch Charlotte took her doll to the hair salon. Mummy totally refused all the up-sells for cleaning arms and legs etc., and just booked the hairstyle. While they were brushing the doll's hair they noticed she was a bit "wobbly" and needed fixing. Luckily that was free :). 

Charlotte was extremely happy wth her doll's new hairstyle, and with the new matching pyjamas we bought her and the doll. Lol. 

We thought that after a busy few days it might be good for James to have a decent nap, so we headed back to the hotel for a rest and to get the packing done. 

Charlotte decided she wanted ice cream for dinner, so we headed off to IHOP (International House of Pancakes) for dinner. Both kids ended up with ice cream for dinner, while we had something more substantial ;). 

Friends

Everyone slept in today after our late night yesterday, so we had a quick breakfast then off to the Presidio to meet up with Nancy and Norm. 

We met at the Walt Disney Family Museum, and while waiting for Nancy to park the car noticed that the view of Alcatraz we'd had 2 minutes earlier was suddenly non-existent. The fog comes in THAT quickly. Thank goodness we did the Golden Gate bridge yesterday - when we looked out at it today we could only see the bottom of one pylon. 

The museum itself was excellent. Tons of information about Walt Disney - his life, how he got started, some of his early drawings from school and his first animations (these really cool Alice movies where he had a little girl act as Alice, superimposed on cartoon scenes!)

We also got to see some of the technical stuff he used (invented? Wayne got to read more of it than I did, Charlotte wasn't quite as interested in it all as we were) like the multi-plane camera. 

It was awesome seeing the model of the original Disneyland, and great having Nancy there showing what had changed by the time she was going there. Nancy worked there a few summers when she was in college so has a ton of information about it. 

After the museum it was time to eat, so we headed off to Fisherman's Wharf and Bubba Gumps. 

The sea breeze had picked up quite a bit, and the idiotic tourists had believed the weather forecast where it said it was going to be warmer than yesterday, so we had no jackets or long-sleeves tops with us. We headed into the Bubba Gump souvenir store while waiting for our reservation, and Charlotte chose a hoodie to wear. Clearly we look trustworthy, because the registers were down in the store and they told us to take the jumper and just come back and pay when we finished our lunch. (Yes, we did go back and pay!)

Lunch was yummy - the servings were huge and the food was absolutely delicious. James even managed to eat some garlic bread and some jelly. He is still coughing a lot and not eating much, hopefully these antibiotics kick in properly soon. 

After lunch we wandered back down Pier 39 and grabbed an ice cream on our way to see the sea lions. I didn't notice the smell quite as much this time, but the noise definitely hits you! We still couldn't see the bridge either, but did get a view of Alcatraz this time. 

Saying goodbye to Nancy and Norm, who had a close to 3 hour journey home, we drove past the Full House houses for Charlotte and then back to the hotel. 

We chose to eat at Chilli's tonight (another 20-25 minute wait, which equalled 40 minutes), but unfortunately it wasn't as good this time round. Obviously being busier makes a difference, and some people clearly understand our accents better than others. The Chuck E Cheese guy couldn't understand when I said "all-meat combo" pizza, and this guy somehow mixed up "corn" with "fries". Oh well. 

Once again a long day, and late to bed for the kids. 

Exploring the Exploratorium

Both kids slept most of the night, which was fantastic. It means we've gotten over the time change fairly quickly, waking up at a "normal" hour today. 

After a slow start we headed off for the Exploratorium. It's changed locations since we were last here, but is just as good as we remembered, if not better! The Exploratorium is like Scienceworks on steroids, but a million times better. So many different activities for the kids to do. Everything is interactive, and so much fun. 

James and Charlotte both loved the "Quiet Walk" - a pit of gravel which you had to walk through as quietly as possible. Unless you were James, and then the idea was to run through and jump and make as much noise as you can!  Charlotte did really well, and went through with a best score of 0.6. Of what though, I'm not sure. Decibels?

It really is an amazing place, and like last time we didn't have enough time to see everything. 

After the Exploratoirum we went for a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge. Charlotte was more excited about hearing there was an old jail in the middle of the bay than the bridge. We got out at the viewing point just on the other side and took some photos. Most of our photos are on the camera, but here is one panoramic of the view. 

James slept through the whole thing, and Charlotte fell asleep pretty much as soon as we got back in the car, so we just decided to drive around randomly and see where we ended up. We drove through the hills of Sausalito, and ended up back on the freeway. 

Wayne accidentally ended up in an off-ramp, following a bus, but luckily a few hundred metres up the road was a Starbucks! First "real" coffee for the trip I think. 

We decided to drive the scenic way back to the hotel, ie not through the city, and drove up through Golden Gate Park and along the coast towards the zoo. We saw a beach car park, so thought we might as well stop. 

It was a very "interesting" car park. Basically a narrow road with people parking on one side...and on the other when there were no more parks. Just after we parked a car pulled in across from us and we were wondering how we'd actually get out!

Anyway, who cares about getting out when we have a beach to play on! After a climb down the steep sand dunes we hit the sand, and the shallows. James got wet and decided he didn't like it, whereas Charlotte loved it and didn't want to get out - if she'd had her way she would have dived in head first and got totally soaked. Luckily we managed to keep it to just her pants. 

When it was time to leave we had to climb back UP the steep sand dunes. Yay! (At times like these I really wish there was actually a sarcasm font.) Once up and in the car we had to figure out how to get out. Luckily about 3 other cars were leaving at the same time, one other which was also blocked in by the car across from us, so they made that car move. 

Once back at the hotel we washed the sand off the feet and headed off for dinner. Charlotte wanted Chilli's again so she could have mac and cheese, but when we got there it was packed. The police were doing a fundraiser for the Special Olympics and it seemed like half the world had come out. We decided that the 30 minute wait wasn't worth it, and headed out again. One of the cops recommended we try Jack's, just up the road. The Special Olympics athlete who was there thought we should try Hooters!

Jack's also had a wait, as did Red Robin. Clearly everyone in San Francisco eats out on a Thursday night. So we ended up at....

...Chuck E Cheese. Yay! (Not.) The food was as ordinary as we remembered it, and Charlotte had as much fun as she remembered. James just wanted to ride in the car and the train rides. "Toot toot car!"

At the end of the almost 2 hours there Charlotte had exhausted her tokens and had enough tickets to get a whole heap of junk. 

That is a little fake green spider in her right hand - apparently she wants to scare everyone she sees. Kim and Aga you've been warned!

James was very happy with the whistle that Charlotte got him. 

Home to bed after a long day! 

Oh - one thing I did forget. The stroller didn't arrive today, so I called the number that they gave me. They told me no stroller had arrived today and asked me for my claim number. I told them they hadn't rung me with the claim number. 

They then told me they had to wait for tomorrow's plane to arrive and they'd check again. I told them that the lady I spoke to at the airport said if it hadn't arrived by today I could but a new one and they would reimburse me. The lady on the phone wasn't happy, but after I re-emphasised that I couldn't do another day without a stroller she reluctantly agreed I could go buy one. 

Not more than 3 minutes after hanging up my phone rang - they had miraculously found it and we're going to deliver it that night. Amazing what threatening to spend their money does 😊. So we got our stroller back. Yay! (No sarcasm font required!)

If You're Going To San Francisco...

....its a bummer when your stroller doesn't turn up at the airport! Oh well, at least that's the third issue, and so ends our bad luck for the holiday 😊

American border security / customs was its usual long wait, and Charlotte was *really* feeling the effects of "staying up all night for the first time!" James, having been let out of a seat for the first time in 16-odd hours just wanted to run around - and gave everyone a laugh when he escaped under one of the barrier ropes. Well, everyone else 😄. 

Customs passed, luggage got, we headed off to hire a car. Charlotte was very impressed with the train we had to take to get there, as there was no driver and she and James got to sit in the front window. 

At the car rental place we ended up with a mini van, since they had an excess of them and we got a cheaper rate. A Chrysler Town and Country to be precise, since both the check-in guy and the lady at the garage said that was the one we should choose. 

We headed off, and got to the hotel in about 10 minutes flat. Awesome! It was just after 4:00 by then, so we mucked around for a bit and then headed off for early dinner. We had passed a Chilli's on the way, and thought that would be preferable to fast food. 

James decided he wasn't going to eat anything at all (typical of him with tonsillitis - hope the antibiotics have kicked in properly by tomorrow), but Charlotte ate a ton. Nothing that she ordered, but most of James' meal and some of Wayne's. 😄

We then headed back to the hotel so the kids could sleep. At least they've both gone to bed at their "normal" time.Will be interesting to see how James goes in a bed for his first time. There are a ton of pillows on the floor next to him. 

Although we're a bit exhausted Wayne is currently watching Iron Man on TV, until Survivor comes on. Yes, even on holidays Michelle still watches her reality TV!

Oh, and the stroller? They think it missed the plane so are expecting it tomorrow. When (if!) it arrives they'll send it to the hotel for us. If it doesn't arrive we get to go shopping. Will keep you informed. 

And we're off!

And 

So after a night filled with limited sleep - and not all because of our traditional las minute packing! - we headed off to the airport. And since we're going for such a long trip, why not do it in style! 

Only kidding. Wayne's friend from tennis is a limo driver, and given it was going to cost as much for a return limo trip as staying in the long term parking this time around, why not. It was a good trip - Charlotte was disappointed the TV in the car didn't work though. 

We got to the airport and faced our first 2 (and hopefully only) issues of the trip. Firstly, we had to get assistance to get our boarding passes because we didn't have a return ticket. All good. They then wanted to see our tickets out of America (these are American government regulations). Well, cruise ships don't issue tickets. 

After showing the cruise check-in documentation they manual documented our onward journey information, but it still took them another 15 minutes to get our baor song passes - clearly the U.S. don't like you entering by plane and exiting by cruise 😜. 

The next issue was a bit more serious to deal with. That being up all night I mentioned earlier? James was not a happy boy. Well, he was happy, he just didn't want to sleep. That, combined with hardly eating or drinking anything yesterday and a persistent cough made us think he might have tonsillitis again. 

Visit to the doctor (Tullamarine really does have everything!) and $$ later we confirmed that, yep, he has tonsillitis. He also has a slight ear infection, probably from the throat issues. The doctor cautiously advised us it might be a good idea not to fly for 24-48 hours until the antibiotics have kicked in, as he may have excruciating pain in the plane...or he may not. 

Further questioning confirmed that the pain would be restricted to take-off and landing, so we decided that anti-biotics, panadol, and lollies to chew on would be fine. 

Turns out we made the right decision - the only problem James had during take-off was that they paused his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show to show the safety demonstration video. 

Not long after take-off! 

Charlotte listened intently to the announcement about lunch and proclaimed everything "yuck"! But was very excited when she got her kids meal. 

Cake, chocolate chip biscuit, juice, AND...

Mac and cheese 😊. 

That didn't compare to the highlight of the trip though - Charlotte was asked to help the flight attendant hand out the lollies - or sweets as they called them. I'd forgotten Air NZ flights into NZ did this. As a thank you Charlotte was given a bag with a ton of lollies in it too. 

After a brief stopover in Auckland we headed into the plane for San Francisco, and our first experience with SkyCouch. Basically, you get three seats in a row and the leg rest folds all the way up to make a sort of bed. You then get extra seatbelt things so you can lie down and sleep and still be belted in. 

It was great - would have been even better if Charlotte wasn't determined to "stay up all night for the first time in my life!" She did nap for a few hours at the start of the night, and 20 minutes before landing, but a nap at the hotel this afternoon is definitely in order. 

And here is what it looks like with the leg rests down. 

Here We Go Again...

....we're almost off. T - 4 days and counting.

We can't wait to head off travelling again. It's been 20 months since our last big trip and Michelle, in particular, is getting antsy about the whole no travel thing. This time though, it's a BIG one.

The itinerary in brief is:

San Francisco and Sacramento (to catch up with Nancy and Norm!)
Mukwonago, Wisconsin (to catch up with Kim, Scott, and Max!)
DisneyWorld!!!! Of course, including a day trip to Universal to see the improved Harry Potter World and ride the Hogwarts Express
A Transatlantic cruise from Orlando to Copenhagen, on Disney Cruise Line
A Baltics cruise round trip from Copenhagen, on Disney Cruise Line
A Norwegian Fjords cruise round trip from Copenhagen, and you don't get a prize for guessing that we're on the Disney Cruise Line :)

We will post updates as we can, depending on wi-fi availability. We're not sure what will happen in the 29 nights (!) that we're on the cruise, so we may be pretty quiet and then upload heaps at once, so keep checking in if you're interested in what we're up to.