Firstly, sorry for the delay! Work was crazy before Christmas and then Christmas was upon us and then we spent a few days in the Peak District for new year! Hoping to get back to getting these up quickly now as I've been getting distracted the last couple of days planning a USA 2020 trip! Anyway...back to 2018 - this day is lacking photos as I had given up trying to take any with the waterproof case on the phone!
Today had originally been our Epcot day but we had got so much done there at the start of the holiday plus as we had extended our tickets (from 14 days to 21 days for a grand total of £25 for the four of us!) we had some extra time after our cruise too. Instead we decided on Typhoon Lagoon instead.
I woke up around 7.30 and Leah was in the front room with her kindle and duvet. Ellie and Dan got up not long after me at about 8. Ellie had fruit loops for breakfast and me and Leah had a cereal bar. We were all ready to go by 9 but as it didn’t open until 10 the kids played for a bit while we waited to leave. It was November 1st today so I was hoping we were going to hear some Christmas songs!
We left just after half 9 and arrived at 10. We easily parked and headed in with a quick photo stop on the way in.
We managed to find loungers next to the wave pool. It was so empty – so strange to see no one in the pool at all.
While it was empty we decided to dump our stuff and head to some rides so we walked round to Gangplank falls. This was okay – but we had preferred Teamboat Springs at Blizzard Beach. Leah had a quick photo with the Mickey Shape! Ellie wanted to ride in a ring like this!
Dan wanted to do Humbungo so me and the girls played in the sand while we waited for him. He wasn’t impressed with this either compared to Summit Plummet so we walked round to Miss Adventure Falls. This was much better! As there was no que they let us stay on 3 times much to the kids delight! They would have gone a 4th time but I made them get off. Mean mummy! I've heard it's been closed since early December due to an accident - I hope they open it again soon because this is definitely one of the best ones at TL in my opinion.
Crush ‘n’ Gusher was just round the corner and Leah wanted to have a go so we headed there but unfortunately she was about a cm too short! Instead Dan took her on the storm slides – Ellie didn’t want to go as she was worried about it being dark and going by herself so we sat at the end and waited for them.
Once they were done we headed to the big wave pool. Leah couldn’t wait to get in there but after watching it once she did seem more hesitant. Ellie was a bit more reserved about getting in, so she did a couple of turns on the kids slide next to it but then decided she wanted to join her sister. I made them both worth life jackets much to their annoyance as they liked going under water!
After all that excitement they both came back and said they were hungry. We had brought another platter like what we had had at Blizzard Beach so we took them back to the loungers and let them snack on this with Cheetos and grapes. Once they were done they built sandcastles and buried each other while we let there lunch go down. Leah kept asking to go back in the waves and Dan said he would take her in a minute. She sat down and said Auntie Tam would take me. She is my sister, she’s 15 but spends a lot of time with us and usually comes away with us – she only hadn’t this time as its her final GCSE year and didn’t want her missing so much school but the girls had really missed her. This pulled on his heart strings and he went off to take her.
I waited on the sunbeds and enjoyed the peace and quiet and sunshine. When they came back they wanted to go on the lazy river so we all headed off to find an entrance. We floated round in rings for a bit and I attempted to take some photos of the girls.
We got off again at Crush n Gusher as Dan had decided he wanted to go. Me and the girls waited in the pool next to the exit which actually seemed much warmer than the bigger pool. Dan said it was because of all the kids weeing in there
after that I couldn't wait to get out
Once Dan was done we headed to Miss Adventure Falls again but the que was huge so we decided on ice cream instead. Me and the girls went back and dried off and Dan went to Leaning Palms to get us a sand pail ($13.99) It was huge and delicious and fed all four of us comfortably.
The girls then wanted to use the bucket and spade to build some proper castles so they did this while me and Dan lounged in the sun.
After a while it started to cloud over so I told them they could have one last go in the wave so they headed off. However, when they came back 10 minutes later it had started to clear so we decided to stay a bit longer and leave Disney Springs for tomorrow when thunderstorms were forecast.
At about 3 they came back again and I asked if they wanted to stay or go to Mini Golf and they chose Mini Golf. We quickly packed up and got dry and arrived at Winter Summerland for half 3.
They said there would be a 10 minute wait for Winter so we played the Summer course. The girls did so much better than we expected. I had been dreading mini golf as last time we played here Ellie had kept picking up the balls and moving them but that was 2 years ago and this time she was much better. I love this course and the christmassy feel and so did the kids.
We gave the kids a handicap as we were expecting them to struggle but they did so well and they both drew (luckily! ) beating me & Dan! We were done by 4.15 and headed back to the villa.
When we got back we facetimed my mum and sister while the girls played some games. I cooked some mince and pasta for dinner. Once we were all fed, we all bathed and showered after being in chlorine all day then sat down together and ate some Halloween candy and played games. Although we didn’t do much – some of these are my favourite times. At home we rarely get to all sit down together and do nothing, both me and Dan are at uni so our evenings are spent reading or writing assignments.
The girls were in bed at 8 but we read stories until 9. Ellie had been quite anxious and tearful this evening – we eventually worked out its because I had been talking about thunderstorms due tomorrow and in Tower of Terror I think the hotel is struck by lightning and she was worrying we might get struck. I explained to her it was just a story and we would be safe and she was much happier. Me and Dan watched Family Feud and I wrote some notes and we were in bed by half 10.
Steps – 8,534 (6.26km)