Split Stay Get Away - Day 9: “Went to Typhoon Lagoon… had loads of fun”

[Stewboy]

The Index

Saturday 2nd June 2018

Today was going to be a Sear family first - we were visiting our first water park! Jo has been trying to convince me to go for years, but I always put her off, and besides we always end up doing other things instead. But now that Isabella is old enough and knows about water parks, we were definitely going!

I confess to being not that excited about it, but Jo said I should think about Isabella as it was something that she really wanted to do, and as it turned out that I actually really enjoyed it.

But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s go back to 7:45am when both Jo and I awoke having both had a poor night’s sleep. Jo’s neck had kept awake in the night - she swears she had whiplash from riding Primeval Whirl yesterday. I’m not sure what my problem was, maybe I was just too excited….

We had our usual coffee and kefir, followed by a quick breakfast of fruit and muffins once Isabella was awake.

By 9:45am we had our swimming gear on and were on our way to the water park. We’d decided on Typhoon Lagoon, mainly because Jo had visited Blizzard Beach years ago and hadn’t liked it much, and Typhoon Lagoon had Miss Adventure Falls, which was new and seemed like a fun ride that we could all do together.

The drive there took about half an hour. Once we’d parked up, we got inside and headed to the lockers - they were $15 for a large locker, for the whole day, which didn’t seem too bad.














Welcome to Typhoon Lagoon

Jo had a plan (obviously) for the rides that we wanted to do, and first up was the previously mentioned Miss Adventure Falls.

We consulted a map, which was easier said than done as another family had decided to stand right in front of it - in fact the kid was standing on things just so that he could block the entire map!

Once the inconsiderate family had moved on we could map our route - that’s the trouble with water parks: no pockets, no phones, no paper guides.


Out of the way dude!


Typhoon Lagoon map

On the way over to Miss Adventure Falls we picked up a flotation vest for Isabella from one of the many locations around the park - if you’ve got kids, don’t worry about trying to get a flotation vest as soon as you get in, there are lots of places to pick them up throughout the park.
Typhoon Lagoon opened at 10am so it still wasn’t too busy, which was why we thought Miss Adventure Falls was the best ride to start with.

After a ten minute wait it was our turn. The CM held the raft in the knee high water and we got in one by one. It looks and sounds easy, but when it comes to actually getting in and not falling out or tipping the raft over, it’s potentially tricky!

Embarrassments avoided, we were off on our first water ride of the day - or in mine and Isabella’s case, our first water ride ever at Disney World!

As the raft went up what can only be described as a travelator, I ended up facing backwards, and stayed that way for most of the ride, meaning I couldn’t see what was coming - it made for an interesting experience. As we exited the ride we were given a PhotoPass card on a bracelet so we could access the ride photos.


Miss Adventure Falls

Having all enjoyed the ride, we decided to get straight back on while the queue was still short. Second time around it was Jo who ended up going backwards - we both agreed it’s more fun being able to see what’s coming!

Next ride of the day was Gangplank Falls, another family raft ride. The queue was longer for this one, and involved spending a lot of time in the sun, and getting sprayed with water at various points in the queue. I don’t whether they’re designed to cool people down - they didn’t, they’re just annoying.

Unlike Miss Adventure Falls, with this ride, the CM hands you the raft at the foot of final set of stairs up to the start, and you have to roll the raft up. Again, it’s trickier than it looks!

Gangplank Falls isn’t as much fun as Miss Adventure Falls, and we had no intention of queuing up for another ride of this one.

It was a really hot day today, and now that we’d ticked off a couple of rides, we headed back to the lockers to get some water, and some money for snacks - specifically the Jalapeño Stuffed Pretzels from Lowtide Lou’s.

As we wandered through the park I managed to get some photos of the park. On our way to Lowtide Lou’s, Jo and I decided to get ourselves an alcoholic beverage from Leaning Palms - well it was 12 o’clock (almost!). Jo got a Frozen Absolut Blue Tidal Wave, and I got a Bud Light, and then carried on walking round to Lowtide Lou’s.










Photos from around the park






Leaning Palms


Drinks!

It was nice to have a wander through the park. Unsurprisingly the theming is really well done, and we were having a really chilled out morning.

Finally we arrived at Lowtide Lou’s. Jo and Isabella found a seat overlooking Castaway Creek - the lazy river - while I ordered the pretzels. The pretzels at Lowtide Lou’s are the original Jalapeño Stuffed Pretzels that used to be available in Animal Kingdom. They were always a favourite of ours, and we were excited to be having them again. As well as getting one each for Jo and I, I also got Isabella a Cream Cheese Pretzel.




Pretzels


Selfie

That lazy river looked really inviting, so after finishing our drinks and pretzels, we dropped the stuff back at the locker and found one of the five landings for getting in and out of Castaway Creek.




Castaway Creek

We grabbed Isabella a new floatation vest (we’d taken the other one off when we’d had snacks) and found the nearest Castaway Creek landing.

Grabbing the nearest floating inner tubes, we started on our slow float round the lazy river. Jo and Isabella shared a double inner tube, and I floated solo, but held onto theirs so that we didn’t get seperated.

Aside from a couple of waterfalls, and a couple of fast bits, it’s really relaxing, and we enjoyed it.

We floated most of the way round Typhoon Lagoon, then decided it was time to get out and visit the Typhoon Lagoon Surf Pool - apparently one of the world's largest outdoor wave pools.




Typhoon Lagoon Surf Pool

Jo stayed near the edge but Isabella wanted to go in a little further. The 6ft waves come every 90 seconds - Isabella and I jumped as they come near us. Isabella and I enjoyed ourselves!

After about 15 minutes we’d had enough. It was about 1pm, and time to head back home.

We went back to the lockers, collected our stuff, and dried off a little. I made a quick restroom stop, and missed out on meeting Stitch; while Jo and Isabella were waiting he appeared and Isabella met him (for the first time) and got a PhotoPass photo.




Meeting Stitch


Stitch Art


Goodbye Typhoon Lagoon

[Stewboy]

Typhoon Lagoon had been a lot of fun. Despite my initial skepticism, I’m really glad we came, as Isabella had really enjoyed herself.

By 2pm we were back chilling at the condo; Isabella did some reading, I got my trip report notes up to date, and Jo caught up with her social media.


Chillin'


Joanne's Must Do's

You’ll be pleased to hear there were no meltdowns today - everyone was super relaxed. About 3:45pm we were ready for a late lunch/early dinner at Bahama Breeze on Rolling Oaks.

We’ve always been a fan of Bahama Breeze, but have only ever been to the one on International Drive (many times). The one at Rolling Oaks is a lot smaller, and lacks the character of the International Drive location.

The restaurant was fairly quiet - it was a funny time of day for eating - and we were seated straight away. Our server took our drinks order; Jo and I ordered brewed iced tea to drink - very refreshing.


Brewed iced tea

Our server was a little preoccupied with the loud American family sat behind us - he was definitely angling for a decent sized tip - and wasn’t very attentive to us.

When we did finally manage to order we got the following:

• Me: Cuban Sandwich with rice & black beans
• Jo: Jerk Chicken Pasta
• Isabella: Grilled Chicken Breast with grapes and fries

Cuban Sandwich


Jerk Chicken Pasta


Grilled Chicken

Despite the service and the surroundings (which weren’t terrible, just nothing special) we had a nice meal; our food was good, and an added bonus was the half price voucher that Jo had.

When it was time to pay and we were ready to get going, our server took ages to get us the bill, and then get the money taken off - even though we’d told him about the voucher before we ordered. It’s always so frustrating when restaurants take a long time to get you the bill - you’ve eaten and you just want to go and get on with the rest of your day!

Finally we could leave and head over to Epcot where we due to meet Jo’s step-brother Ben and his family.

About 5:30pm we arrived at Epcot, and parked all the way back in Journey - it must have been a busy day. Still, it only took us about ten minutes to walk from the car and get into the park - who needs trams eh?

This was our first visit since the end of Flower and Garden, and Epcot seemed strangely naked now that the festival was over.

It was a hot evening and after a quick selfie we made our way to Starbucks for a venti decaf iced caramel macchiato to share. It’s such a delicious drink, I can’t believe there was a time - literally last year - when I didn’t like iced coffee or tea, and today I’ve enjoyed both!












Epcot

[Stewboy]

We’d arranged to meet Ben in France, so we made our way over to the World Showcase with a quick detour in the Port of Entry shop at the Showcase Plaza. I can’t remember what we went in there for but we ended up with some Mickey Bag Clips and a pressed penny…


Mickey Bag Clips

We passed through Canada and UK - where we noticed some of the Flower & Garden topiaries were still up, in this case Peter Pan and Captain Hook - and then made it to France.




The World Showcase Lagoon





Ben and family (his partner Cherie and their three boys) were having snacks at Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie. Isabella wanted a dessert, so we got her a white chocolate eclair and she sat with the boys.

After they’d all finished we went for a nice stroll around the World Showcase catching up with what they’d been up to (pretty much everything by the sound of it!) and occasionally stopping for drinks or snacks, and the odd ride.

In Japan we had a good look round the shop; as we continued round Isabella at first amused herself and the boys with her bubble wand, and then took over stroller-pushing duties from Cherie.












World Showcase

Ben and I were lost in conversation and totally missed America, Italy, and Germany - three pavilions he’d wanted to look at… sorry about that Ben!

At the Refreshment Outpost all the adults got alcoholic beverages. Jo had a Frozen Brown Elephant (Frozen Coca-Cola & Amarula Cream Liqueur), and I had an Old Elephant Foot IPA.


Queuing at Refreshment Outpost

China was next - Isabella managed to get a gift for her friend at school (the little girl is Chinese and she bought Isabella something from a recent visit to China), and the boys bought various items. Ben and Cherie got some food from the Lotus Blossom Café - it looked pretty good to be honest, we might get something the next time we’re there - whenever that might be.




China

In Mexico we all went on the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros, where Isabella enjoyed pointing things out to the boys - this was their first time on this ride.






Gran Fiesta Tour

By now it was 8:30pm and we’d arrived back at the Showcase Plaza just in time to find a decent place to watch Illuminations. Isabella and the boys played with her bubble wand while we waited. Ben rushed off to do some nappy changing, and I got a peach iced tea from the Joffrey’s kiosk to share with Jo.


Sunset

There was a bit of lightning in the distance just as the show was about to start, but fortunately it didn’t cause any delays or a cancellation - that would have been a huge disappointment, as we’ve not seen this properly for years, and this might be the last time we get to see it, if the rumours are to be believed.

We’d got ourselves a really good place, with a good view, and not too far from the exit. Once the show finished, we were able to get out pretty quickly and avoid the crowds.












Illuminations




Bye bye Epcot

Outside the park we said goodbye to Ben, Cherie, and the boys, and made our way back to the car. It was then that we realised we were hungry - dinner had been a really long time ago - so on the way back to Bahama Bay we stopped at Chick-fil-a on the 192 where Jo and I got a Deluxe Chicken Sandwich with Waffle Fries each.

Back at the condo, Isabella went straight to bed as it was 10:30pm, and then Jo and I tucked into our food - I washed mine down with a SweetWater 420 Extra Pale Ale. Nice.


Chick-fil-a

Afterwards we relaxed on the sofas and were in bed just before midnight.

And that’s day 9 done, only two days left! Tomorrow we’re back at Magic Kingdom. Thanks for reading.

[Zomax25]

Another lovely day! I’m not a water park fan, but my husband and kids LOVE them, so we always go. I like the rides but get bored of being damp quickly! Thanks for sharing!

[Tea]

Phew, that was a long day! You all havr excellent theme park stamina.

[caitlinsmummy]

Another fab day, that Chick-Fil-A looks lovely x

[Guest]

Yay day 9!

[Cinderella]

A great day👍

[collybird]

I'm not a water park person either and usually skim over people's reports of their days there but it really does sound like you had a good time. I liked that it didn't taken up too much of your day either and you still had plenty energy for some park time later.

[Unexpectedpenny]

A great day and nice to try something new!