Finally! A Four Week Adventure: Week 4

[Rac20]

Apologies, Busch and Cheesecake Factory

Apologies - I didn’t post up yesterday’s day. There wasn’t really much to tell.

We went to the golf at Fantasia and used our free Disney pass included in the ultimate ticket. The boys do love playing golf. I’ve promised DS13 that we’ll do the crazy golf side next time as we’ve done the putting green one both times now. Sorry - no photos.

We then stopped at Hooters for lunch. This was DS16 request - I wonder why. Anyway, I’m pretty sure he thought I’d say no but I didn’t. Not much in the way of veggie food mind so probably won’t return.

Service was good and I think it came to just over $113

Today, we went to Busch Gardens. I was a little apprehensive about visiting due to mixed reports but it was included in the Seaworld tickets and parking was free so didn’t have much to lose. We arrived just after park opening and walked straight to Iron Gwazi. It was closed. It’s the MAIN attraction - how can it be closed? Staff said that it would open at some point during the day. 🤷🏼

Never mind, we moved on and came to the next big ride - Sheikra. Also closed. This one was opening at 10:30 so the boys got in line and waited for it. Really proud of DS13 - he’s certainly overcome his fear of rides on this trip. They then went on Tigris. I’d already decided that I wasn’t going to ride those three rides so was happy to wait. Tigris was a walk on. We walked over to Kumba and this was another quick queue - five minutes maybe. We also rode the dodgems.
Passing a few animals along the way,

we headed to Montu - one of my favourite rides. In 2000 or possibly 2003, DH and I rode it over and over again. We had a slightly longer wait today.
We rode Cobra’s curse and then queues up for Cheetah Hunt. It went tech and we ended up waiting about an hour. I’m glad we did though as it’s a fun ride. DS13 snapped some pictures on the screens at the end.

By this time, Iron Gwazi was finally open. It was about 2:30. So DH and DS16 went on that and then we left for the day. I’d have stayed longer as I wanted to look at the animals some more but I got the feeling the boys wanted to head back.

We stopped off at the Cheesecake Factory on the way back. I ordered a Pinot Grigio and somehow ended up with a sparkling water. I did tell the waitress and she swapped it for me and then mid meal I was brought another one by the bar tender. Not sure why but I wasn’t turning down free wine! The boys shared bbq wings for starters and me and DH shared macaroni cheese bites. Both boys had steak and me and DH had burgers. DS16 and I shared a cinnamon swirl cheesecake. The food was lovely and came to $153 before tip.

Tomorrow, it’s back to Epcot!

[Loobylou_82]

Love cheesecake factory. Cinnabon cheesecake is my favourite.

[ClaireNJ]

Originally Posted by Rac20

Apologies, Busch and Cheesecake Factory

Apologies - I didn’t post up yesterday’s day. There wasn’t really much to tell.

We went to the golf at Fantasia and used our free Disney pass included in the ultimate ticket. The boys do love playing golf. I’ve promised DS13 that we’ll do the crazy golf side next time as we’ve done the putting green one both times now. Sorry - no photos.

We then stopped at Hooters for lunch. This was DS16 request - I wonder why. Anyway, I’m pretty sure he thought I’d say no but I didn’t. Not much in the way of veggie food mind so probably won’t return.

Service was good and I think it came to just over $113

Today, we went to Busch Gardens. I was a little apprehensive about visiting due to mixed reports but it was included in the Seaworld tickets and parking was free so didn’t have much to lose. We arrived just after park opening and walked straight to Iron Gwazi. It was closed. It’s the MAIN attraction - how can it be closed? Staff said that it would open at some point during the day. 🤷🏼

Never mind, we moved on and came to the next big ride - Sheikra. Also closed. This one was opening at 10:30 so the boys got in line and waited for it. Really proud of DS13 - he’s certainly overcome his fear of rides on this trip. They then went on Tigris. I’d already decided that I wasn’t going to ride those three rides so was happy to wait. Tigris was a walk on. We walked over to Kumba and this was another quick queue - five minutes maybe. We also rode the dodgems.
Passing a few animals along the way,

we headed to Montu - one of my favourite rides. In 2000 or possibly 2003, DH and I rode it over and over again. We had a slightly longer wait today.
We rode Cobra’s curse and then queues up for Cheetah Hunt. It went tech and we ended up waiting about an hour. I’m glad we did though as it’s a fun ride. DS13 snapped some pictures on the screens at the end.

By this time, Iron Gwazi was finally open. It was about 2:30. So DH and DS16 went on that and then we left for the day. I’d have stayed longer as I wanted to look at the animals some more but I got the feeling the boys wanted to head back.

We stopped off at the Cheesecake Factory on the way back. I ordered a Pinot Grigio and somehow ended up with a sparkling water. I did tell the waitress and she swapped it for me and then mid meal I was brought another one by the bar tender. Not sure why but I wasn’t turning down free wine! The boys shared bbq wings for starters and me and DH shared macaroni cheese bites. Both boys had steak and me and DH had burgers. DS16 and I shared a cinnamon swirl cheesecake. The food was lovely and came to $153 before tip.

Tomorrow, it’s back to Epcot!

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Looks a FAB day especially with that cheesecake 😋😋

[Rac20]

Anniversary, Sailing the Seven Seas, Epcot and Ford’s

Today is our 19 year wedding anniversary! We got married at Cypress Grove here in Orlando so it’s always nice celebrating whilst on holiday. Me and DH don’t buy each other gifts and we only ever buy one card that we write a message in for each other. It’s a tradition we started one year when in Spain or somewhere and we couldn’t understand the language in the card (no google translate back then)!

With it being our anniversary, we got to choose what we did today and the boys just had to suck it up. They did quite well and only moaned a little towards the end! 😅

We started the day by heading to the Grand Floridian where you can hire a pontoon boat and go out on Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake. We only hired it for 30 minutes as it costs $45 per 30 minute rental. It holds 10 people though so if going in a large family group, you could stay out longer and split the costs. You can take food and soft drinks on board but not alcohol. They are pretty strict with who can drive - you have to be over 18.

Got some great photos of the resort hotels and Magic Kingdom.

If you’re looking for something different to do, I’d definitely recommend. You can also hire them from other resorts including the Contemporary.

We had a park reservation for Epcot today so jumped on the monorail from the ticket and transportation centre to Epcot. We’d parked in Magic Kingdom car park as we were heading to the Grand Floridian first.

Our first task when entering the park was to visit guest services where we asked for a celebration badge. We did get lots of “congratulations” comments from cast members but unfortunately it didn’t get us moved to the front of any queues - which is what DS16 was hoping for! 😅

We rode mission space first.

Thankfully, the green version was only a five minute wait. DS16 was wanting to ride the orange version but it had a 40 minute wait and he didn’t want to wait that long. What a shame is all I can say! (DH and I rode the original version in 2000. This was pre green/orange - oh my word! Worst ride ever!🤢🤢🤮 )

We then entered the line for Guardians. I love this ride! Ride the back if you can - it’s so much more intense.

DS16 fancied a snack from the food and wine festival and opted for shrimp.

Can’t remember where that was from. 🤔
We also shared the Brazilian cheese bread. Now Adam the Woo and Tim Tracker tried this on one of their vlogs recently and loved it - can’t say I did really.

We visited Jasmine in Morocco. Was really hoping for Aladdin but he’s never been there any time that I’ve visited. 🤷🏼 He must be off flying his magic carpet somewhere.

Jasmine liked my ears and said they matched her dress. 🥰

DH and I also got a photo of just the two of us. We wanted one of just the two of us with it being our anniversary.

Not wanting to be left out, we also had a gate crasher. 😅

We then hopped on the sky liner - for no other reason than I wanted to ride it. We just did a loop back to Epcot.

We were going to ride test track before we left but obviously by this time of day, inclement weather had set in. The kids were pretty grumpy - I mean tired (grumpy) by this point anyway and so we headed out via Spaceship Earth which just has to be rode. You can’t visit Epcot and not ride Spaceship Earth. That would be like going to Magic Kingdom and not riding It’s a Small World. 😀

We stopped at Ford’s for tea. DH really wanted to visit here and he really enjoyed his meal.

1 x onion ring tower
1 x shrimps
2 x estate burgers
1 x veggie burger
1 x pulled pork Mac n cheese
2 cokes and 1 cocktail

This came to $141 with tip. They add a 20% tip as standard and then ask if you want to add more and give a suggested amount.
I think I have an extra $3.
The portions do seem pretty small compared to other restaurants.

We then had a quick stop at Walmart before heading home. This is the first day that we haven’t had pool time since we’ve been in the villa! We are all exhausted and just went straight to bed!

[Shkyler]

Happy anniversary! Everything looks fab.

[ClaireNJ]

Originally Posted by Rac20

Anniversary, Sailing the Seven Seas, Epcot and Ford’s

Today is our 19 year wedding anniversary! We got married at Cypress Grove here in Orlando so it’s always nice celebrating whilst on holiday. Me and DH don’t buy each other gifts and we only ever buy one card that we write a message in for each other. It’s a tradition we started one year when in Spain or somewhere and we couldn’t understand the language in the card (no google translate back then)!

With it being our anniversary, we got to choose what we did today and the boys just had to suck it up. They did quite well and only moaned a little towards the end! 😅

We started the day by heading to the Grand Floridian where you can hire a pontoon boat and go out on Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake. We only hired it for 30 minutes as it costs $45 per 30 minute rental. It holds 10 people though so if going in a large family group, you could stay out longer and split the costs. You can take food and soft drinks on board but not alcohol. They are pretty strict with who can drive - you have to be over 18.

Got some great photos of the resort hotels and Magic Kingdom.

If you’re looking for something different to do, I’d definitely recommend. You can also hire them from other resorts including the Contemporary.

We had a park reservation for Epcot today so jumped on the monorail from the ticket and transportation centre to Epcot. We’d parked in Magic Kingdom car park as we were heading to the Grand Floridian first.

Our first task when entering the park was to visit guest services where we asked for a celebration badge. We did get lots of “congratulations” comments from cast members but unfortunately it didn’t get us moved to the front of any queues - which is what DS16 was hoping for! 😅

We rode mission space first.

Thankfully, the green version was only a five minute wait. DS16 was wanting to ride the orange version but it had a 40 minute wait and he didn’t want to wait that long. What a shame is all I can say! (DH and I rode the original version in 2000. This was pre green/orange - oh my word! Worst ride ever!🤢🤢🤮 )

We then entered the line for Guardians. I love this ride! Ride the back if you can - it’s so much more intense.

DS16 fancied a snack from the food and wine festival and opted for shrimp.

Can’t remember where that was from. 🤔
We also shared the Brazilian cheese bread. Now Adam the Woo and Tim Tracker tried this on one of their vlogs recently and loved it - can’t say I did really.

We visited Jasmine in Morocco. Was really hoping for Aladdin but he’s never been there any time that I’ve visited. 🤷🏼 He must be off flying his magic carpet somewhere.

Jasmine liked my ears and said they matched her dress. 🥰

DH and I also got a photo of just the two of us. We wanted one of just the two of us with it being our anniversary.

Not wanting to be left out, we also had a gate crasher. 😅

We then hopped on the sky liner - for no other reason than I wanted to ride it. We just did a loop back to Epcot.

We were going to ride test track before we left but obviously by this time of day, inclement weather had set in. The kids were pretty grumpy - I mean tired (grumpy) by this point anyway and so we headed out via Spaceship Earth which just has to be rode. You can’t visit Epcot and not ride Spaceship Earth. That would be like going to Magic Kingdom and not riding It’s a Small World. 😀

We stopped at Ford’s for tea. DH really wanted to visit here and he really enjoyed his meal.

1 x onion ring tower
1 x shrimps
2 x estate burgers
1 x veggie burger
1 x pulled pork Mac n cheese
2 cokes and 1 cocktail

This came to $141 with tip. They add a 20% tip as standard and then ask if you want to add more and give a suggested amount.
I think I have an extra $3.
The portions do seem pretty small compared to other restaurants.

We then had a quick stop at Walmart before heading home. This is the first day that we haven’t had pool time since we’ve been in the villa! We are all exhausted and just went straight to bed!

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Awww, Happy Anniversary 🍾🥂💕 it looks like you had a brilliant day
You both looked great & I loved Hubbie outfit nice T-shirt 😊
Dinner looked nice, but No dessert though 🤷🤦😩😩

[Rac20]

Originally Posted by ClaireNJ

Awww, Happy Anniversary 🍾🥂💕 it looks like you had a brilliant day
You both looked great & I loved Hubbie outfit nice T-shirt 😊
Dinner looked nice, but No dessert though 🤷🤦😩😩

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Dessert is in the fridge! 😅 We picked up a cake on the way home but we were all too full/tired so are saving it for today. 🤗

[Rac20]

Animal Kingdom

We were hoping to get to Animal Kingdom for rope drop but after yesterday’s busy day and a shocking night’s sleep, it was after 10 when we left the house.

There must be some new guests staying nearby who think it’s okay to drive around at 3am with music blaring. Heard it again at 4:30am and then this afternoon. 🙉🙉🙉

DS16 didn’t come last week to Animal Kingdom so I was pleased he decided to join us today. We discussed beforehand whether he wanted to ride Flight of Passage and if he had have done, I’d have booked lightning lane - just because I knew the queue times would be horrific giving the time we were leaving the house. As it happens, he said he was okay with not riding it.

We arrived at the park at just after 11am and headed straight over to Everest. We had to wait 35 minutes today! That’s the longest ever time we’ve had to wait. The time did allow for me to realise that for two children so well travelled, their geography is not that great!
DS13: “Mount Everest is in Germany right?”
DS16: “Germany? Don’t be ridiculous! It’s in the Philippines!”

Okay then! My suggestion to them was that they spend the time in the queue reading the information on the walls. 😅

DS13 and I rode right at the front - it does make you feel like you’re going to go over the edge when you get to the top.
It’s such a fun ride!

After, we headed to Festival of the Lion King. I last watched this in either 2000 or 2003. I know I definitely saw it in 2000 but can’t remember if I saw it in 2003. DH hates it but I wanted to watch it. I was a bit irritated with both DH and DS13 as they were more interested in what was happening with the Utd score. 😤 DS16, whilst it wasn’t exactly his thing, at least sat quietly and asked relevant questions about what was happening etc. Apart from the two moaning Minnie’s sat at the side of me, I really enjoyed it.

Kilimanjaro Safaris was a walk on. Yay! Not as good as it used to be - they used to tell jokes! But still a great way to see the animals. I really enjoy this ride.

We decided to go on the Gorilla walkthrough which is right next to Kilimanjaro Safaris and saw some hippos

And this gorgeous fella.

I treated myself to a Dolewhip -
A Simba Sunset? Sunrise? Something like that.

It was 3 o’clock by now and the boys decided that they would like to go play golf so we went to the crazy golf next to Blizzard Beach.
It’a such a great addition to the park tickets. The boys love playing golf. I checked out the price if we were to pay and it would be $14 each so it’s saved us loads.

We were half way round when the heavens opened! This was the moment I’d been waiting for the past three and a half weeks - poncho time! I can’t believe we’ve been here this long and it was the first time we needed them. DS16 and DH refused to wear theirs. More fool them. 😅 We eventually got kicked off the course due to lightning and so called it a day.

We were just a little wet! But not as wet as the other two who had to sit in wet clothes all the way back to the villa. 😅

We had tea in the villa tonight and played in the pool for a bit before lightning kicked us out of the pool.

We finished the evening with coffee and cake.

We got this yesterday for our anniversary but didn’t have it until tonight as we were too full yesterday.

Tomorrow, we’re going to Typhoon Lagoon. I’m fully expecting it to be rammed with it being the weekend. Hopefully,I’m wrong.

DS16 also mentioned today whether we could go to the restaurant which is on a safari. After a bit of thought, I realised he meant Sanaa. This year, we weren’t doing any on-site restaurants as the boys didn’t want to go to any. We are now going to Sanaa. I’m looking forward to the bread starter. 😋

[Moorlandman]

Another great day. We are going to Sanaa on Monday👍

[ClaireNJ]

Originally Posted by Rac20

Animal Kingdom

We were hoping to get to Animal Kingdom for rope drop but after yesterday’s busy day and a shocking night’s sleep, it was after 10 when we left the house.

There must be some new guests staying nearby who think it’s okay to drive around at 3am with music blaring. Heard it again at 4:30am and then this afternoon. 🙉🙉🙉

DS16 didn’t come last week to Animal Kingdom so I was pleased he decided to join us today. We discussed beforehand whether he wanted to ride Flight of Passage and if he had have done, I’d have booked lightning lane - just because I knew the queue times would be horrific giving the time we were leaving the house. As it happens, he said he was okay with not riding it.

We arrived at the park at just after 11am and headed straight over to Everest. We had to wait 35 minutes today! That’s the longest ever time we’ve had to wait. The time did allow for me to realise that for two children so well travelled, their geography is not that great!
DS13: “Mount Everest is in Germany right?”
DS16: “Germany? Don’t be ridiculous! It’s in the Philippines!”

Okay then! My suggestion to them was that they spend the time in the queue reading the information on the walls. 😅

DS13 and I rode right at the front - it does make you feel like you’re going to go over the edge when you get to the top.
It’s such a fun ride!

After, we headed to Festival of the Lion King. I last watched this in either 2000 or 2003. I know I definitely saw it in 2000 but can’t remember if I saw it in 2003. DH hates it but I wanted to watch it. I was a bit irritated with both DH and DS13 as they were more interested in what was happening with the Utd score. 😤 DS16, whilst it wasn’t exactly his thing, at least sat quietly and asked relevant questions about what was happening etc. Apart from the two moaning Minnie’s sat at the side of me, I really enjoyed it.

Kilimanjaro Safaris was a walk on. Yay! Not as good as it used to be - they used to tell jokes! But still a great way to see the animals. I really enjoy this ride.

We decided to go on the Gorilla walkthrough which is right next to Kilimanjaro Safaris and saw some hippos

And this gorgeous fella.

I treated myself to a Dolewhip -
A Simba Sunset? Sunrise? Something like that.

It was 3 o’clock by now and the boys decided that they would like to go play golf so we went to the crazy golf next to Blizzard Beach.
It’a such a great addition to the park tickets. The boys love playing golf. I checked out the price if we were to pay and it would be $14 each so it’s saved us loads.

We were half way round when the heavens opened! This was the moment I’d been waiting for the past three and a half weeks - poncho time! I can’t believe we’ve been here this long and it was the first time we needed them. DS16 and DH refused to wear theirs. More fool them. 😅 We eventually got kicked off the course due to lightning and so called it a day.

We were just a little wet! But not as wet as the other two who had to sit in wet clothes all the way back to the villa. 😅

We had tea in the villa tonight and played in the pool for a bit before lightning kicked us out of the pool.

We finished the evening with coffee and cake.

We got this yesterday for our anniversary but didn’t have it until tonight as we were too full yesterday.

Tomorrow, we’re going to Typhoon Lagoon. I’m fully expecting it to be rammed with it being the weekend. Hopefully,I’m wrong.

DS16 also mentioned today whether we could go to the restaurant which is on a safari. After a bit of thought, I realised he meant Sanaa. This year, we weren’t doing any on-site restaurants as the boys didn’t want to go to any. We are now going to Sanaa. I’m looking forward to the bread starter. 😋

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Good day at AK
Think both your boys need to do extra Geography work next time they moan about something
Dole whip looked lovely as did your Anniversary cake 😋😋
Enjoy TL