Florida 2018 - Promises made and promises delivered - Day 3 – Jungle Juice

**BucksBugsy** · 22 Feb 20, 07:42 AM

Anyone who knows me in real life knows that I always seem to have a cable for every eventuality. Sometimes this can prove extremely useful like when one of the boys turns up to give a presentation somewhere only to find they are missing a cable or adapter. Guess what? Captain Cable BB to the rescue. In the exhibit below I was trying to fix the image stabilizer but it wasn’t to be. A long phone conversation with Go-pro followed who told me that the because of the difference in voltages between the UK the unit wasn’t charging properly. I proved later in the trip this wasn’t right, so the stabilizer remained unused for the rest of the trip.

Outside the sun was breaking through so it was time for my morning ritual of quiet time by the pool. I do regret, looking back, not getting some time lapse video of the sun coming up in the morning but I was too chilled with my morning cuppa. I think most dibbers know that Florida water tastes different, but I needed my early morning caffeine fix whatever the taste.

Before we go any further yes, we did bring pool toys with us although I don’t think Chomp (our name for the croc) never made it out of the box.

It wasn’t long before I was joined by Niff desperate for his morning dip so why not? I knew we had breakfast at Tuskers booked but we had time so in he went. We were to find out later in the holidays he struggled with the heat and humidity when marching around the parks but loved being in the water. He did suggest that we bought a house back home with a pool but that may be a tad outside of our budget!

Morning cuppa consumed we headed off to AK and parked up. This year (2020) it will be two years since the trip in 2018 but Niff reckon she can still remember where we parked at different times but I’m not convinced. I guess like a lot of dibbers a photo of where we parked the car helped.

As can be seen from the photo it was a bit busy at the entrance, but we made it through in plenty of time. Caj had done a good job of planning the Fast Passes and ADRs (sadly a necessary evil due to the crowd levels in WDW) but I was looking forward to this character breakfast mainly because I was hungry!

On the way to our first ride Niff found the drums and stopped to demonstrate his musical talents. OK so that sounds a bit sarcastic, but he does have a sense of rhythm which – I will be the first to admit - - he must get from his mum!

This is where my memory plays up and I get the order of events mixed up. Apparently, we did a couple of rides before breakfast.

The first ride was Expedition Everest which I don’t remember doing on a previous trip. I don’t like coasters that go backwards but gave this a go so Niff could experience it without anyone ducking out. It was fine and I seem to remember doing it again and enjoyed it completely.

We also did the Khali River Rapids which is why I think we were in the state below in the photopass photo!

And then on to breakfast…

I think Caj only got to do one character breakfast on her week with us but Niff and I went on to do a couple more in the second trip (More photos to follow later). They each had their own merits but I guess the overriding memory of Tusker hours was that we got to do it as a family and it was lovely to see everyone interact with the characters – including yours truly!

And then on to breakfast…

I think Caj only got to do one character breakfast on her week with us but Niff and I went on to do a couple more in the second trip (More photos to follow later). They each had their own merits but I guess the overriding memory of Tusker hours was that we got to do it as a family and it was lovely to see everyone interact with the characters – including yours truly!

After breakfast (and way too much Jungle Juice) Caj suggested we wemt to watch “Nemo – The Musical” so off we went.

I have to admit I wasn't as enthusiastic about this show as the lion king but it was good and clever but may not rush to see it again.

Sadly, towards the end of the show Caj started to feel unwell and needed to find a quiet place to sit where she could try and recover. Niff gets on very with Caj and was obviously concerned to see her like this and tried to help her sort out a (soft) drink to help with hydration levels. He may get his rhythm from his mum but he definitely gets his compassionate side from me!

Niff and I gave her a bit of space for a few minutes but it was clear that she needed a bit of downtime so we tried some of the arcade style games whilst Caj tried to recover (I think she can be seen dibbing in the background in this photo!)

Looking back we think that Caj was suffering from a combination of end of term tiredness and heat exhaustion but we decided the only thing for it was to get back to the villa for a bit or R&R. Either I had forgotten, in the 10 years since I had last been, how hot and humid Florida was in the summer months or it was worse than normal.

So back to the rental car we went taking one last look at the iconic tree of life from the bridge as we walked.

We also saw “de-vine” which is not something I had seen before.

Back at the villa we decided our plan of attack. I think that anyone who has ever been poorly on holiday (it has happened to me in Florida years ago) knows they just want to be left to recover at their own speed so that is what we did.

The original plan for the two weeks away was that we would do the outlet shopping in the second week after Caj had gone home as Caj doesn’t really do outlet shopping, but Niff does. However, as Caj was laid up in bed I said I would take Niff to the Lake Buena Vista (LBV) outlet centre which was literally a few minutes’ drive from the villa. We tested the mobiles to make sure Caj had a way of contacting us if she needed. In a previous life I had spent far to much money at LBV because there was an electronic shop which was stuffed full of gadgets I couldn’t live without. The gadget shop had moved within the outlet centre so I dropped into to buy a high-capacity USB charger to try and sort out the go-pro stabilizer (which it didn’t).

Next stop – trainer shopping! There was a Vans shop on the LBV site so we spent some time in there. Niff isn’t a fan of this brand so I got away lightly although I did phone my daughter back home to see if she wanted any. But (thankfully) the ones she wanted weren’t available in her size. Phew! Lucky on two counts!

We then stopped at the massive Walmart (aren’t they all?) on the way back to the villa including a sugar fix for Niff.

Back at the villa Niff returned to the pool armed with sweets and soft drinks. Caj was still out for it so we let her be.

A techy moment!

Most of the photos you see in this trippy were taken on my mobile (an unlocked Samsung note 8) and I am more than happy with them. I was having a love/hate relationship with my Go-Pro mainly because of the problems with the stabilizer (which the American USB charger didn’t fix – no I wasn’t surprised) but I do love the vibrant colours these modern cameras take.

I also took a lot of 4K video shots which I edited together and put on YouTube only as it seems the easiest way of watching them on 4K devices without having too much equipment left on hi the house wasting energy when not in use.

Although I had taken a load of MicroSD cards with me storage wasn’t a problem as photos uploaded to Microsoft Onedrive to ensure they weren’t lost.

Anyway…I digress…back to the plot.

Not much more to report for the day..more to report tomorrow when Niff gets introduced to Epcot.

SussexFamily · 22 Feb 20, 07:49 AM

Great report BB. You packed a lot in that day.

**BucksBugsy** · 22 Feb 20, 07:54 AM

Originally Posted by SussexFamily

Great report BB. You packed a lot in that day.

Indeed! We normally do when Caj is involved in the planning

**caj** · 22 Feb 20, 10:22 AM

Originally Posted by BerkshireBugsy

Indeed! We normally do when Caj is involved in the planning

I forgot a crucial part of bootcamp though ... checking for magic bands on leaving the villa!

**mick** · 22 Feb 20, 11:07 AM

Hope caj felt better after a nice long rest, a good time at AK

Joan

**BucksBugsy** · 22 Feb 20, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by mick

Hope cam felt better after a nice long rest, a good time at AK

Joan

Hopefully day 4 will be going up today - all will be revealed.

SussexFamily · 22 Feb 20, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by BerkshireBugsy

Hopefully day 4 will be going up today - all will be revealed.

Tut tut BB - cajs trippy is done and dusted! I guess you can’t hurry a maestro!

**BucksBugsy** · 22 Feb 20, 11:12 AM

Originally Posted by SussexFamily

Tut tut BB - cajs trippy is done and dusted! I guess you can’t hurry a maestro!

That may be something to do with the fact I have had to work in half term !

SussexFamily · 22 Feb 20, 11:27 AM

Originally Posted by BerkshireBugsy

That may be something to do with the fact I have had to work in half term !

Not enough holidays BB! 😉

22 Feb 20, 11:07 AM	#5
	22 Feb 20, 11:07 AM mick VIP Dibber ✓Premium Member
mick VIP Dibber Join Date: Apr 04 Location: Rugby mick's Reviews Hotel Reviews: 1	Hope caj felt better after a nice long rest, a good time at AK Joan __________________ Edited at 11:09 AM.