Just The Four Of Us - Onsite at OKW - Day 7 A very Busy day and then...Laundry Club.

[Kidd McFluff]

We had clearly begun to get over the jet lag as today we didn’t wake until just after 9am. We had no alarm set for this morning and were again in no rush to get anywhere. With a couple of Fast Passes booked for later at Hollywood Studios and a vague plan to check out the main pool at Old Key West this afternoon, we had a brief conference and decided a trip to Typhoon Lagoon was in order.

Breakfast was a relaxed affair, we had fresh coffee and orange juice with waffles, strawberries, blueberries, banana, yoghurt and maple syrup. A couple of packets of Lays and some jelly belly’s completed our feast and after getting dressed for swimming and smothered in sun lotion we packed the park bags and headed to car. We were driving today, we had no plans for any lunchtime drinking and it would give us the opportunity to head off to the shops if we fancied a bit of retail therapy later on.
We love Typhoon Lagoon and have enjoyed our previous visits here, it’s only a short drive from Old Key West so we were there soon after opening time.

The layout here is great, loads of sun lounges around the huge wave pool and the lazy river running around the perimeter of the park. We grabbed some towels from reception (free for onsite guests) and headed over to the far side of the wave pool. We soon found some loungers and chairs and set up camp on the beach with the waves lapping at our feet. I've heard of people having things stolen from their bags etc at Disney parks but we have never had any problems. People tend to look out for each other and we were confident that we had nothing worth stealing in our day bags. Magic bands mean that we didn't need any cash so we'd left that all locked in the car.

The wave pool was busy but fun, we were soon floating around in the pool and being knocked about by the huge waves as they crashed into us. Both Isla and Dylan were confident in the water and the life vests provided at Disney are great. They were both happy to play in the waves with Mum and Dad keeping our eye on them from a distance. It’s great fun but tiring stuff so after a while it was decided that a float around the Lazy River would be nice and relaxing. We all enjoyed this and spent at least half a hour bobbing about on rubber rings and soaking up the sunshine. Dylan was keen to try out his new GoPro camera in it’s waterproof case and spent most of the time filming with his head underwater. After a couple of circuits of the Lazy River we were ready for a snack and a bit of sunbathing.

Fish and chips and fried chicken were purchased along with a couple of beers and some Sprites and we sat by the waters edge munching on fast food and enjoying a little people watching.

The food was OK, nothing special but enough to fill us up until the next snack stop. We enjoy Typhoon Lagoon but a pool is a pool is a pool and so after a couple of hours in and out of the water and a go on a couple of slides we decided to head back to Old Key West and get ready for our afternoon at Hollywood Studios. We were planning on visiting Blizzard Beach later in the holiday and had been hitting the hotel pool at every opportunity so we were not in danger of missing our swimming fix. We decided against getting changed at Typhoon Lagoon and simply made our way to the car in our swimming kit. We were soon back to our room and after a quick shower and change we were straight back into the car and on the road to Hollywood Studios.

The car park was quite full by the time we arrived at around 1pm and we were expecting a very busy park. We hopped into the first train and were soon through security and treading a well worn path over to Star Tours for our first fast pass. The ride was as great as ever and we loitered in the shop looking at Wookie backpacks and build your own droids for a little while.

Toy Story Land was calling and although we had no fast passes for Slinky Dog Dash or anything else over there we headed over to have a look at the new land. There is a fair bit of Toy Story theming at Disney Land Paris and so we were hoping for more of the same. We were not disappointed. The theming here is brilliant with huge replicas of Toy Story characters and old school toys all over the place. There are huge fairy lights strung all over the place and some great posters and billboards

We’d be back later in the holiday so we didn’t linger too long. This part of Hollywood Studios was absolutely packed. The crowds were shuffling around at a slow pace and unlike earlier in the week, it was a nightmare trying to keep the kids in sight amongst the sea of sweaty bodies. The rest of the park was much quieter and we soon found ourselves heading for the nearest ice cream store which just happened to be beside the Star Wars Hanger where it was possible to meet BB8. Dylan and Isla were keen to meet him/her/it and so after ice creams and some loaded nachos from somewhere we went to see how long the wait would be.

10 minutes later we were ushered into a room and there he was. To be honest this was a pretty underwhelming character meet. It’s a robot. OK so it’s a cool robot but it’s a robot nonetheless. The cast members on duty were nice enough but there’s only so much a mute robot can do to make things interesting. Isla and Dylan were pleased to have met BB8 though and with that accomplished we spent the next half an hour exploring the exhibits and the shop. The Han Solo jacket they have is brilliant.

I was sorely tempted to part with the $120 price tag but common sense kicked in and I remembered that just like the Mexican hat, Moroccan robes and clogs from Amsterdam, the Han Solo jacket would probably cease to be cool the moment it reached the UK. It was touch and go for a minute there but bear in mind how many cocktails you can buy for $120 dollars!

We had a fast pass for Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and so we headed in that direction. With five minutes until the start of the show Kirsten and the kids headed inside to grab a seat and I went to the kiosk outside to pick up some Coke Floats. A couple of snack credits used and I was back into the theatre just in time to find the others and take my seat before the show began.

We had no idea what to expect with this show. We were sat on the left hand side on the front row with a great view of the stage. We could see everything very close up and Indiana Jones and the rest of the cast didn’t let us down

It’s a fast tempo show with a mixture of fighting and pyrotechnic stunts. There is bit of audience interaction and a cute narrative to the show. The stunts are good and it’s cool to see how they flip cars, take huge falls from rooftops and explode aeroplanes for the movies. The coke floats were a real blast from the past and helped keep us cool as we watched.

We all loved the show and Dylan was particularly impressed with the sword fighting. He spent the next half an hour running around pretending to be Indy much to my amusement. After the show we decided that we had seen pretty much everything Hollywood Studios had to offer us today and were ready to check out the main pool at Old Key West. We stopped for a quick photo on the way out.

We were soon back at the car and once the aircon had kicked in we drove back ‘Home’. We were growing to love this place, the staff were so very friendly all of the time and it was lovely to be welcomed home every time we pulled up to the entrance barriers.
It was back to the room for us and while we were changing clothes and getting organised for a swim Kirsten noticed that we had arrived back in time to check out ‘marshmallow toasting’ at the campfire near the main pool. This sounded cute and we love to toast a marshmallow or two when we go camping back home so we took a walk down to the hospitality house pool to see if we could join in.

Beyond the pool is a small path that leads to a fire pit. (you can see it from the road on the other side of the river) we arrived to find a trio of cast members with a picnic table. They were armed with bags of marshmallows and toasting sticks and were keen to get everyone involved. The fire was lit and within a few minutes we were joined by another family and the toasting began. The kids enjoyed cremating their marshmallows and it was fun to watch the cast members trying to keep control of 6 kids with flaming napalm on a stick. Amazingly, no one suffered third degree burns and after 4 burnt, crispy messes had been consumed we said our goodbyes and headed back to the pool.
We all agreed that it had been a worthwhile exercise, it was nice to do something simple and reminded us that although Disney is wonderful, sometimes the simple things like toasting a marshmallow with your Mum and Dad can be just as fulfilling as doing the big rides.

We strolled through the volleyball courts and past the hammocks and the sandy play area as we made our way into the main pool area. The clouds were beginning to gather but it was still very sunny and the pool looked very inviting. (As did the cocktail menu). We soon found a table near the pool and Dylan and Isla headed off to play. They were having a great time, in and out of the water in a constant circuit of pool, slide, pool, slide, pool, slide, repeat. We ordered a couple of quick service meals from ‘Goods to Go’. I think it was a hotdog for Dylan and some chips for Isla. We’d not eaten much today but to be honest we’d not noticed. No one was going hungry and we had stopped for ice creams and other snacks in Hollywood Studio’s earlier. We grabbed some nachos for the grown ups too.

With the hotdog and chips demolished, the kids were back in the pool and Kirsten and I sat watching. While we were attacking the nachos we spotted (ok so we looked around the poolside tables until we found one) a cocktail menu on a nearby table for ‘The Gurgling Suitcase’. Well it would be rude not to! I left Kirsten by the pool and headed for the bar. I was soon back with a Long Island Iced Tea and a Turtle Crawl (heavy on the rum). Both of these were great. Really well-made cocktails without using any pre-mix and both very generous with the measures. We were impressed.

After a bit of pool action and a quick check to see if there actually was a sauna built into the sand castle, (there is….it’s not a comfortable place in the summer) we noticed the pool staff were staring at the sky and pointing. We took this as a bad omen and with the foresight of the camping veterans we are Kirsten and I quickly collected all the belongings and bagged them up in case we had to make a swift exit. The clouds were rolling in and the wind was beginning to pick up but as yet, the pool staff had made no moves to close the pool. We’d hardly seen any rain so far in this Holiday (a 10 minute downpour in Epcot) but this looked as if was going to come down hard.
As the first flash of lightening lit up the sky in the distance, the pool staff announced that the pool was closing immediately. Everyone was to leave the area and seek shelter from the incoming storm. It was all very dramatic. People were running around collecting towels and shoes etc. and chasing children out of the pool. We were all bagged up and ready to go by this point (Who’s that looking smug over there?…that’d be us!) so we collected the children, popped on their flipflops and wandered into the kids club area to take shelter from the rain.
Isla popped next door to ‘Goods to go’ and picked up some Mac ‘n’ Cheese and Chips for her and Dylan and filled all of the resort mugs while the rest of us tried out the pool table in the club room. She was soon back and by this time it was clear that the storm wasn’t going to blow over any time soon. We didn’t fancy the ten minute walk back to the room so we finished our game and made our way to the bus stop. The rain was coming and it soon became clear that we’d made the right decision. No sooner had we arrived at the bus stop than the heavens opened and down came the rain. (proper rain too….none of your feeble British rain, this was Florida rain and it meant business!)

We dashed to our room from the bus stop at about 7:30pm and in the 20 seconds it took us to get from one place to the other we were drenched. Absolutely soaked to the skin. We were soon all shivering in the aircon and took turns to shower and get dressed. We tidied up the room a little and settled in to wait out the storm.
Cocktails were mixed (margaritas) for the grownups and Isla and Dylan had the freshly filled resort mugs. We’d originally planned to go to Mamma Melrose for dinner and Fantasmic but had decided yesterday to cancel our booking. Another late night tonight wasn’t going to be the best preparation for fireworks tomorrow so we changed the plans. We had decided to jump onto a boat to Disney Springs and return to the Polite Pig or Blaze for an early dinner when we changed our plans yesterday but looking out at the rain hammering down it was clear that this was unlikely.
Isla and Dylan tucked into their mac ‘n’ cheese and fries but were not all that impressed. The cheese sauce wasn’t very nice, it was made with ‘plastic cheese’ too salty and overcooked. For once Disney had failed us on the food front and we had to resort to the leftovers in the fridge. A few bits of pizza, Oreo’s, Cheesy Puffs and Lays along with bananas, apples and peaches. We also had some cookies we had picked up in the park yesterday and a bag of ‘Alvins trail mix’ to share too.

Once we had munched our way through the contents of the fridge Kirsten and I took up residence on the balcony and the kids took over the room with their new toys. They were soon running around the room with Dylans new light sabre and ‘Storm Fly’ the new banshee we had picked up earlier in the holiday in Pandora World. They played nicely ( by nicely I mean that there were no tears or screaming) while Kirsten and I wrote up trip reports, checked out TheDibb and double checked our plans for tomorrow.
The kids were worn out by 8:30 and happy to head to bed. Radio 4 did the babysitting for us again and they were asleep within a few minutes of putting on ‘the unbelievable truth’. More cocktails were mixed and by 9:30 Kirsten was ready for bed too. While she turned in I collected up the washing and headed over to the pool for a bit of late night laundry.

I arrived at the pool at about 10pm and got the washing into the machine. I used the free machine and then headed outside by the pool where I found a trio of British chaps all loitering around also waiting for their washing. It seemed that they’d all escaped their families for some ‘peace and quiet’ (and a couple of beers) by the pool and had bumped into each other. Pleasantries and Disney stories were exchanged and we were soon all chatting away and having a laugh. I have no idea who these people were (Hello if it was you), I didn’t get anyone’s name but they were a friendly bunch and it was nice to pass the time with them. 45 minutes and a couple beers later, the washing was done and I was off back to the room and to bed. It had been another great day at Walt Disney World and we were officially halfway through out holiday. We were pleased with what we’d done so far and were glad that we’d changed our plans when tiredness or the grumps had appeared. So Far, so good. With dinner at the California Grill tomorrow and fireworks from the balcony to look forward to tomorrow I was in bed just after 11pm and dreaming of Disney within minutes.

[Goldia]

You crammed in quite a lot today visiting typhoon lagoon, Hollywood and then the Main pool too!

I liked the turtle crawl cocktail from gurgling suitcase.

Another lovely day.

[saratogajan]

Just read through all your days and really enjoyed reading. Sounds like a great trip so far. Thanks for sharing!

[Minnie Mum]

Marshmallow toasting is always a favourite with our kids.
Love laundry club and margaritas on the balcony 😊

[jothp]

Wow, lots of time in the water today. It always feels like a holiday when you can swim outside without any worry about getting cold. We always mean to do the campfires but have never made it yet - it looks like you had a great time.

[Palm trees]

What a great day, lots of variety (and with the weather too!)