Epcot – Mkingdon's Blog

The Anniversary Adventure 2026 Part Two Sponsored by Tylenol – Day Five September 14th

01/11/2026 by mkingdon, posted in The Anniversary Adventure 2026 Part Two Sponsored by Tylenol

Just a note about a couple of comments recently about images not showing up. I *think* that happens if you try to read the post via Facebook on your phone. As Meta are terrified that my blog is going to absorb all their worldwide traffic, they try to show my blog post within Facebook rather than take you to the site itself. They are also limiting the number of links I can share and as the photos are links to Photobucket that is likely to be the issue. Just make sure you click through to or navigate to mkingdon.com and all should be well.

I was awake at 7am despite the wild night of debauchery last night. Once ready, I sorted our LLs from the couch and we arrived into the Epcot car park around 8.30am. A good result all things considered.

Louise had a need to contact our GP back home and had been struggling to do so via non verbal methods so she had to bite the bullet this morning. We left her in that queue, near the restrooms to the left of Spaceship Earth whilst we navigated a much smaller queue to ride it. There was just a five minute wait, which sadly could not be said for the telephone queue at our doctors.

After riding, Louise was still waiting…..and seething. She advised we went to do something else as she wanted to harm somebody and as I had the credit cards it was probably best it was not me.

We sought out some breakfast over in the Land pavilion.

That was $56 and tasty.

After food, we wandered into and around the new Moana water thing. My first time. It was pretty busy in there but it’s a decent addition and a nice way to spend fifteen minutes or so, especially on a hot day.

Louise, by this point had got through to the GP, narrowly avoided arrest and blacklisting from every medical professional in the North West of England whilst still expressing her frustration at how many different ways and times it had taken to actually talk to someone.

To calm her down we went for a Starbucks.

I chose yet another random concoction still searching for my go to drink. Having said that, I never go to Starbucks back home so that seems a little pointless.

To the Seas next and if there is one thing sure to calm the soul it is watching the Manatees for a bit. So we did that and had a general wander around the sea bed.

I know how stupid this sounds, cos we’re in WDW right, but it did seem that on this trip there were more screaming kids than usual. As we waited the full fifteen minutes to get into Turtle Talk we had one who had the stamina of an Olympic athlete and the lungs of Jacques Cousteau (ask your Grandad).

Crush was good fun as always.

We had a LL now for Mission Space, or at least us youngsters did. Louise sat out in the sun as the elderly tend to do for this ride. We did the Orange side and I absolutely was completely fine with that decision.

At this point I shall just point out that another whole trip went by without riding Test Track. It always seems to be under refurb, broken or have a queue way beyond our tolerance. It must be our least ridden ride on property.

I missed Gary Sinise as I tend to do but enjoyed the ride, retaining ownership of my breakfast sandwich too.

Luckily now, we got to walk all the way across the park to Soarin’. It was tolerable as this is an absolute favourite and we had a LL. After a restroom, we entered, still waiting a good ten minutes to board.

Once seated I pulled out my phone and Facetimed my Mum. This has always been her favourite ride so I decided to take her with us. She cried.

We chatted to her as walked outside and then sat on the wall outside the land eating a huge pickle. It’s funny the sentences you end up writing in these things.

We had a wander and browsed some shops at this point.

We were still in the “we’ll get that next time we’re here” stage of the trip so purchases were largely avoided.

We headed up to World Showcase next, and as this was not our official World Showcase day I allowed us to start on the right hand side, mainly as we were headed for our Remy LL.

Mikey bought Emily a large Remy and then we rode. I trotted out my catch phrase of “how will you get that home” and we all felt better for that.

I have no doubt not seen Ratatouille enough to understand the motorbike outside the ride.

Next we went round to the shops and we got some champers from the upsettingly attractive young men in the shop there.

It was declared delicious (Tattinger, the cheapest on the menu, I’m not an idiot) and we sat in the sun for a bit, doing some people watching.

We walked back to the UK pavilion hoping to see the band. They weren’t on for a while, so we decided to walk all the way back to Living With The Land. Louise declined and said she would sit in the sun near the bandstand instead.

Very pleasingly we got back to the UK just as the band came on.

We enjoyed their set and then started our hike all the way over to Guardians. My tolerance for paying for LLs was exhausted so we decided to bite the bullet and join what was posted as a 75 minute wait. This is testament to how good we think this ride is.

It took 55 minutes and that included the ride going down for ten minutes. We got Tears for Fears, which had been the tune Mikey had been crossing his fingers for so he was delighted. What a ride this is.

It was time to leave the park now and we walked out to the car in some light rain.

We headed back to the villa to shower and change before setting off at 8pm for Celebration. We had a few options of where to eat and once we were parked up we had a look around. The 80’s diner was closed, the new Brewery was a good ten minute walk and so we defaulted to Avocado, the Mexican restaurant near the hotel and what a piece of luck that would be.

It had been a while since we were here so we reacquainted ourselves with its lovelieness.

We sat outside and for some reason took a sideways photo of the menu.

That’s better….

We over ordered of course, with Mikey and Emily going for Chips and Guac and us two idiots ordered Nachos, as we seem to do wherever we go.

As I said….idiots…..

Emily had Chimichanga, which CVS have lots of ointments for I think.

I had something called Birra Tacos which turned out to be one of the best things to ever enter my body.

There were so good they deserved two photos….

Louise had Chicken Fajitas….

and Mikey had Firecracker Tacos.

This was such a lucky find and one of the best meals we had on this trip. It looks to be family owned and run and everything was fresh and delicious. Go, tell them I sent you and they will look at you as if you are an idiot as they have no clue who I am.

The bill was $150. I almost added a tip to that before noticing they had already added 20%. I thought that was a bit naughty. I would have tipped that amount but I bet a good few folks tip on top of that if they don’t read the bill.

We had a stroll around Celebration….

Taking very average photos….

Before heading back to the villa and into bed by 11pm.

Till the next time……

The Anniversary Adventure 2026 Part Two Sponsored by Tylenol – Day Four September 13th

25/10/2026 by mkingdon, posted in The Anniversary Adventure 2026 Part Two Sponsored by Tylenol

Here’s that rest day that should have been yesterday. I was as fresh as a daisy, but I suspect others may not have been and a request came over the group chat to go out for breakfast.

We were out by 9.45 and mainly because it looked pretty close, I chose Keke’s. On arrival, Mikey jumped out to check the wait for a table. It was a Sunday, so every breakfast place was going to be busy. He returned with tales of just a twenty minute wait so I parked up and we went in.

We went to sit outside on some benches. As with a lot places, their text service to say when you can be seated could not accommodate a UK number so I was already paranoid that we would be overlooked. It came to pass that I suspect I was correct.

It was incredibly hot outside so after about twenty minutes we retreated inside and found a seat in the lobby. Over the next twenty minutes the place got uncomfortably busy, at times bordering on chaos. Around that time I asked the host when we would be seated and if we’d been forgotten. She assured me we had not, but spookily the next party to be called was ours.

We ordered and waited about ten minutes for our food to arrive.

I had French Toast with fruit and an iced coffee.

Emily had an Omelette and a Diet Coke

Mikey had Stuffed French Toast, a coke and an inexplicable side of grits.

With our extended wait now making it almost lunch, Louise ordered a Turkey Club, a water and an Orange Juice. She ordered fries but got chips so our server brought out fries as well after another couple of minutes.

It was very good, but the long wait had coloured our judgement a bit and we wouldn’t rush back. It was $118 with tip.

Being all of four days into the trip Louise had an absolute need to go shopping today for some tops, as none of the ones she had bought for the trip and had not worn, were not suitable. This was fine. I knew that parking at Premium Outlets on a Sunday, around lunchtime would be only slightly less tricky than a moon landing and we in no way exchanged words about the situation. I did suggest we nip into the Target literally across the road from Keke’s but this suggestion was met with disdain and some google searches for divorce lawyers. As the Bare Naked Ladies suggest in their excellent song, it would be a good deal less than One Week until we found ourselves in said Target shopping for these items much more successfully.

After a 30 minute drive, we did another 20 minute drive around the car parks until we found somewhere. Ah yes, a rest day.

We toured a dozen shops with nothing purchased before driving back to the villa around 2.30. We just relaxed by our pool all afternoon.

We were very glad that this thing was on the other side of the pool guard.

We were showered and out again by 6pm. I was to have some alcohol tonight so we got an Uber up to the Beach Club for our ADR at Beaches & Cream.

I cannot over express my adoration for the Yacht and Beach Club.

We checked in at 6.45. It was at that point that we discovered that I had entered the wrong time onto the plan and we were about 90 minutes early.

Not to worry. We headed into Martha’s Vineyard for a pre-dinner drink. We found a table and studied the menu….

We had three rounds of drinks in all, of various kinds. One of mine was a Dark “n” Stormy which I would replicate in a restroom in the not too distant future.

This place is lovely, and I really loved just sitting and chatting, away from the hustle and bustle of WDW. Somewhere in the trip report archives is a photo of us in this place and Louise and I would not be too far off the ages of Emily and Mikey now. Time flies. Ah I found it…clearly Rebecca took this one….if the date on the photo is to be believed then this one was taken on the day before my 37th birthday.

Now, drinking in WDW, at a deluxe resort is an expensive hobby and we left after paying a $220 bill. Still worth it.

We went next door to Beaches & Cream around 8.40 and ordered.

Emily and Mikey both had the Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Louise and I both had the Beef Dip with Tots for me and Fries for Louise. There was also a chocolate milkshake for Louise.

Once we were full, we headed out to do one of my favourite things in the world and that is walk around the Boardwalk at night. These warm evening strolls here are some of my best WDW memories.

We ended up in the Abracadabar and as we walked in, a table opened up. We were only going to have one but that turned into three. I can’t remember what we had but that was mainly due to how cold I was. It was unfathomably cold in there and all I could focus on was the sight of my breath escaping my body in a frosty mist. Ok, I exaggerate.

We got an Uber home around 11.30 and this had been a lovely evening all round.

Till the next time……

The Anniversary Adventure 2026 Part Two Sponsored by Tylenol – Day Two September 11th

11/10/2026 by mkingdon, posted in The Anniversary Adventure 2026 Part Two Sponsored by Tylenol

4am mocked me with its arrival. Sleep alluded me, but I would bed rot till 6am, We were all up and about by then, full of jet lag, last night’s fried pickles and that first morning excitement. This is typically our one shot at rope drop and I was determined to grasp it. We were rolling off the drive by 7.10am and up onto the 192. I shunned Sherberth Road, instead taking the long way round so that we could drive under the sign. It’s a first morning kinda thing. The other reason was that the left turn onto Sherberth was absolutely rammed.

We approached the entrance to the car park to be stunned by a $35 fee. For reasons unknown my credit card wouldn’t work and had I been in the cars behind me I would have been slagging me off in my trip report. Everyone writes one, don’t they?

I slid the Jeep Wrangler into Aladdin, which I suspect is illegal in 48 out of 50 US states. You know you’re early when you’re inside Aladdin.

We were of course too early and too close for a tram so we walked into the TTC and through security. There was no queue there or at the monorail. This was all going wonderfully.

It was lovely to be back amongst these familiar sights.

I was amazed to find the my Magic Band worked seamlessly after two years in a cupboard, and we were in.

The money shot.

There were tears within the group as per.

We were headed for Tron. The app showed no wait to speak of, so we could not pass up this chance to tick it off the list.

We figured out the lockers and we were on within that ten minute promise. It was a better ride than we remembered and a lovely adrenaline shot to kick off the trip. We left it feeling wide awake and very pleased that we had used our jetlag to get ahead of the game. Tron done and it was 8.30am.

At this stage I allowed the first restroom of the trip.

Space Mountain was right there, with no wait at all, so despite every fibre in my mid 50’s being screaming no, on we went. This was absolutely no smoother than I remembered. There were at least two “ooh my back” on the way round. It still wasn’t 9am.

Never has a sphincter been more clenched.

About four days previous, I had bought us Lightning Lanes. There was always a good chance we would not need them today. It was a MNSSHP so the park was likely to be quiet, but to ensure our first day was unencumbered with waits, it was worth the risk. Our first one was due now at the Haunted Mansion.

So we set off in the that direction.

It was showing the 13 minute wait that means it was quiet but it did not diminish my smugness of using the Lightning Lane queue.

With three headliners done by 9.20am, I thought it safe to allow a few minutes to eat something. And if we were going to eat, we should make it worthwhile. We mobile ordered this….

It was inhaled and if anything was even better than it looked. We tried not to have the experience diminished by the Dad on the next table constantly summoning snot and smegma up from his toes at a great volume. WDW would be all the better without other people. We sat behind the Christmas shop, which often has tables free if you find that the tables at Sleepy Hollow are full.

Breakfast was $56.

Enough of this not riding things and a consult of the app suggested that Mine Train was a five minute wait. I did not believe it but it was worth a stroll (at pace) to find out. Some weaker members of the group needed a second restroom stop already. They were on thin ice.

It was a bare faced lie.

But the other option was paying for an individual Lightning Lane so we entered hoping it would be less than that. And it was. We were on the ride in twenty minutes. As mornings at MK go, they would struggle to be more productive so far.

Our next LL (don’t make me type Lightning Lane every time please) was already due over at Tiana’s. The ping pong back and forth across the park was one of Louise’s favourite elements of this and every other trip, but needs must.

We were excited to see what looks like a new Frasier attraction in the park. Let’s see who gets that one.

We were moister than expected and Louise sang the old Splash Mountain song for most of the ride.

As we exited there was a smattering of characters going by.

Our next LL was for Buzz right about now, but I moved it to later in the afternoon to avoid another cross park walk, and it would have been Louise who was cross. Instead we did Pirates.

Louise decided to sit out as she wanted a drink. As a major sign that I had not been paying attention to WDW news in our two year gap, I handed her a $20 bill to buy that drink and I wandered off into the ride knowing I would never see any change.

On our exit, the $20 was handed back. Apparently many places are card only now, and the kindly cast member had taken pity on Louise and had given her the bottle of water anyway. I shall now go to everyone’s local Facebook group and copy and paste a 2013 post about how “they” are forcing us all to go cashless and this will somehow allow the powers that be to track Brian from Oldham’s every move, as he buys his kebab on a Saturday night.

Philharmagic was next on the list. You can tell it was a quiet day as we were stood here.

This will never not anger me.

The 4am start was kicking in a bit now and we needed some caffeine, and over priced caffeine at that. So we dutifully toddled off to worship at the temple of Starbucks. This would be the longest queue of the day.

We sat out by The Plaza and enjoyed them.

I don’t have a “go to” Starbucks and tend to choose something different every time. It was a Cold Brew today. I marvelled at how we now pay $5 to drink cold coffee. I am such a Grandad! It tasted OK.

There was no avoiding another walk across the park now as our LL for Big Thunder was throbbing in the app. This was our first ride post refurbishment.

In the queue we met Michelle, a Dibb/blog reader. Meeting anyone who knows who I am was very 2010, but we had a lovely chat about all things Disney before getting on the ride. It may all be in my mind but it felt smoother and a better ride to me.

We wandered to the hat shop near Country Bear and tried on a few before giving Mikey his first exposure to the bears.

On our exit, a parade had been laid on for us so we watched that for a bit.

Our deferred Buzz LL was up now and this was another first ride after a major refurb. Again, a big improvement although I did get half way through the ride before realising the gun could be detached from the vehicle. This adversely affected my score and I shall not be declaring it here, as it was null and void. Null and Void were a successful harmony duo in the Northern club scene many years ago.

The tiredness was driving our activity a bit now, as evidenced by us seeking out The People Mover. It stopped twice on the way round and we weren’t even mad about it.

Proximity was a big factor in us choosing Laugh Floor next, another first for Mikey, mainly as Emily would have avoided this like the plague on his earlier trips as she dreads getting selected by the camera in here. We were allowed to go in as long as we sat on the back row.

Another cross park trek to Jungle Cruise and yet another first for Mikey. Louise sat out of this one.

There was rain incoming and we were knackered so we decided to head out now. We had a reservation at The Cheesecake Factory but not for a couple of hours but we thought we’d see if they could accommodate us early. They could, but warned it may be a twenty minute wait. It was two minutes.

We were breaded up….

Then had some Mac n Cheese balls and an Egg Roll Sampler as appetisers.

Louise and I shared Nachos as our Entree.

Mikey had Fish Tacos.

Emily inconsiderately had a dish that I always struggle to spell. Fettucine Alfredo.

There was a red wine, four beers and some diet coke between us and it came to $200 including a 20% tip.

We were all stupidly full and very tired. We dragged ourselves to a Publix to stock up the fridge, with Louise waiting in the car…no, it’s fine, I’ll do the shop. We spent $150 in there and were home by 7.30 for showers and some relaxing before an early night.

Till the next time……

The Anniversary Adventure 2026 Part Two Sponsored by Tylenol – Day One September 10th

04/10/2026 by mkingdon, posted in The Anniversary Adventure 2026 Part Two Sponsored by Tylenol

It’s been two years since I had a WDW trip report to write and about ten years since I wrote a good one so let’s see if I can remember how this stuff works.

As ever the final days before the trip are a challenge. There’s all the work stuff to tie up and hand off as well as the increasingly difficult logistical struggles to rehome pets and settle in house sitters. I am led to believe that packing also needs to happen and for some reason the house has to be cleaned like it’s been a murder scene too but I try to stay out of both of those.

Anyway, somehow we found ourselves waking up today full of excitement and in my case the usual “what have I forgotten to do/bring” anxiety.

I set an alarm as I always do for these travel days but they are often redundant as Louise is always up and about well before that goes off assimilating brass band noise levels, so I was awake “nice” and early around 4.30am. Sure we weren’t flying until lunchtime but when you have to navigate the M60 to get to an airport we were already late.

The final bits were shoved into cases and then I hauled them into the back of the car and we were only a few minutes behind our “we can’t leave any later than” time when Louise announced she had to release a chocolate hostage. This led to ten minutes of tutting from me but I suspect our fellow passengers would thank us later.

As we were getting into the car and I was locking up I noticed our Ring camera had gone off line. This was less than ideal. Whilst we had a house sitter asleep upstairs, not having that online for the next two weeks was unacceptable. I fiddled with it for a few minutes, failed to fix it of course and got in the car a little more stressed than I was before.

How I laughed when a few minutes down the road Louise’s phone made that familiar Ring noise to denote someone was walking on our drive and that it had fixed itself.

Knowing how unawesome the M60 is at this time of day, based on many decades of having to battle it to get to offices I did not want to go to, I decided to take the M6 instead. This was more miles but less crawling and I patted myself on the back for this decision. As a sign of how stressed I was, mainly as work has been a maelstrom of shite for ages, my over active mind convinced me that the wash bag I had put at the side of my bed this morning never made it into the case. You know when you try to replay in your mind whether you did something or not? Well, I could not.

Once we’d pulled up at the relevant parking thing at the airport I got the cases out, opened one and immediately saw that I had indeed packed it. I was on a roll.

There was no wait at check in, mainly as nobody else was so stupid to be here this early. Louise and I availed ourselves of the Premium desk whilst Mikey and Emily used the self-serve kiosk as the economy peasants should.

We then tried to go through to security but the barrier refused us as we were just too damn early. That was indeed the exact error that flashed up on the screen. The ladies took the chance to restroom whilst Mikey and I found the Starbucks and got us all a coffee.

We tried security again at 8.45 and this time we were allowed through. It was pretty quiet and we were through quickly without any drama. I did need my brand new trainers swabbed for some reason though.

We chose to give our usual breakfastery a miss and try what looked to be a relatively new Giraffe a go instead.

We were immediately seated at a lovely window table.

Reflecting the adult nature of this trip, alcohol was involved.

Overall there were two mimosas for Emily, two margaritas for Louise and a beer for Mikey. I would be having to drive in about eleven hours so I stuck to the soft stuff.

Food wise we had –

Me and Emily – Avocado on toast with two eggs

Mikey – Eggs Royale

Louise – Eggs Benedict

That was £118 including a UK style tip.

We then set off to wander the shops and there was nothing that I could do to stop Louise buying a pair of Crocs. I do not object to Crocs, indeed a own a pair, but I do mildly object to acquiring things to wear when Louise had spent the previous month shopping.

After more unnecessary shops we set off towards the gate and got first sight of our plane, naturally at the furthest gate possible.

We Facetimed Rebecca and Willow for a chat before we set off.

Willow didn’t have too much to say but we said our goodbyes anyway.

For some reason the area around gate A12 was chaos. Every seat was taken there and at every gate nearby so we hovered until our boarding groups were called. Naturally us Premium lot were on early and I assume Mikey and Emily also got on as they were there when we landed.

As ever boarding was late and we didn’t push back on time. It was 12.40 rather than the advertised 12.05. Yes, we have been awake since 4.30am for a 12.40 flight!

Getting on the plane brings to an end one of my favourite bits of a trip like this. The morning at the airport represents the excitement and anticipation of what may lie ahead. It also means no work, although the invention of the Teams app on my phone reduces that slightly. So although I am always happy to get on our way, this phase being over is also slightly regrettable for me.

Drinks and nibbles were served. I assume economy got doused in water and thrown some scraps at some point too. This was my view for the next nine hours or so as I haven’t been allowed a window seat or an opinion for thirty years.

I don’t know why I took this one.

The meal we pre-ordered a few days prior came soon enough. It was chicken pie and absolutely edible. Spookily our house seems to have two sets of salt and pepper shakers that look exactly like that since we got home.

I felt incredibly tired at this point, due to the early start and having to work for a living since I was seventeen. I tried to fall asleep but only dozed really. I admitted defeat and watched a few episodes of The Middle which I had either never seen or I am aging more quickly than I feared.

We did have WiFi on the flight which helped. It mainly helped work pester me at 35,000 feet to be honest but it also allowed Emily to update us on the horrors of economy and how some child called Jayden, Josh or Jamarco was terrorising everyone whilst its Mum gently whispered “don’t do that” for nine hours.

As we started our descent I watched the cockpit view, which wasn’t a film, as that kind of content is frowned upon on a flight, but instead was this….

We landed eventually and for whatever reason the flight like a long one. We were off first as our elevated standing dictated and we saw a sign saying it was an eleven minute walk to baggage reclaim. Much to Louise’s displeasure we did it in nine.

I established a position at the relevant carousel and was delighted to see cases coming out almost immediately for Louise and I. Mikey and Emily weren’t even in the hall yet and it took all my self control not to leave them to it whilst we beat the crowds through immigration.

We did wait. And wait. And wait. Long after they arrived in the baggage reclaim hall there was still no sign of their bags. Eventually a barely audible tannoy announcement apologised that some bags from our flight had gone to another carousel and sure enough they were lined up next to the incorrect carousel no doubt having been there for ages.

A strike against Terminal C.

We all used the MPC app to avoid the very long immigration queue. Another Virgin flight from Heathrow had landed at the same time as us which was leading to carnage in that queue. We all took our photos and joined a seperate, albeit marginally shorter queue.

We were through in ten minutes and now we were tantalisingly close to being free and on our way. We did seem to get asked a few more questions at the immigration desk this time, but I kept my opinions on the state of the US to myself in the interests of not having to do another nine hour flight that day.

We found an elevator down to the relevant level and having done all the prep needed we headed straight out to the Alamo garage to find our car. As a surprise, I had cancelled our minivan booking some months ago and changed it to a Jeep Wrangler, knowing this had long been Emily’s dream car. As were stood near the Jeeps, Emily jokingly said shall we take one of these. Her face was a picture as I said yes and started to load the boot/trunk. She would be giving driving in the US a go for the first time this trip. This was already giving me flashbacks to the horrors of taking both girls out driving when they were learning. I still have PTSD.

It took a good few minutes at the exit barrier to process stuff but we were soon released and headed for the villa. The Waze maps thing on my phone was taking some time to start working via the Carplay but I managed to guess correctly to go right at the lights and between us all and all our phones we managed to get a working map up and running soon enough.

This journey felt simple and quick and we had a rare dry drive from the airport although there was lightning and dark clouds all around. Once we started to see the familiar WDW signage we turned off the sat nav as we were home. We’ve stayed at this villa a lot so this was now auto pilot to find our way there.

We checked in at the gatehouse and then, with only one wrong turn within the development itself parked up and went inside.

We quickly unpacked/made a mess. Look, there’s that wash bag I remembered to pack!

At this time on previous trips when we have had the small kids with us, going out to eat is always unlikely as they are understandably ready for bed. Being an all adult trip I had planned a meal at Sickies for us and we headed there now.

We started with the Spare Parts appetiser to share.

I had a Chicken Tortilla Salad as my body is a temple.

It only had about 1500 calories in it!!

Louise weirdly ordered another appetiser for her Entrée. I forget the name but it was some kind of bacon wrap thing with jalapenos.

Emily had Chicken Tenders.

Mikey had a Chicken Parm burger.

The excitement and adrenaline of having finally arrived can tend to make you slightly over rate this first meal, but it was all genuinely lovely.

Four cokes and two beers between us and the bill was $150 including a good tip. That’s around £27 per person which, despite the horror stories coming out of the US around the cost of living can’t be complained about really.

We picked up a case of waters from a gas station on the way home and collapsed into bed at 10pm, which was of course 3am UK time. As ever these travel days are brutally long. That’s a 22.5 hour day. Worth it though and writing this up now having been back at work for a week, how I yearn for this day again with all its excitement, promise and what was in store.

Till the next time…….

Touching Distance

06/09/2026 by mkingdon, posted in mkingdon

All that stand between us and the airport are three days at work and roughly 3.5 million tasks and logistical challenges that we must complete. We’re almost there.

My to do list is longer than a thing that is very long and that’s just at home before I even think about the prep and angst involved at work.

The cases are out, packing has started and I’ve spent roughly half of the national debt on pet food to ensure those looking after them don’t run out whilst we are away. The dogs, Woody and Bean, are going off to separate sitters (foolish souls) whilst we have a house sitter coming here to keep the cats alive. If they don’t start eating less then next time we might not bother.

The last few stressful pre-trip days have started and whilst we complete all those tasks, we, as anyone travelling to Orlando at this time of year must do, are keeping our eyes on the weather over there hoping we can avoid a hurricane. It is looking pleasingly quiet on that front at this stage, although the weather has looked VERY wet over there recently. Bring it on. Have poncho, will endure.

The other thing I have seen on my “socials” are endless folks telling me how quiet the parks are.

I cannot bring myself to believe them. I’ve been going for too many years now to ever think the parks have quiet times anymore. I know September is comparatively quieter than most other times of year, but I just can’t allow myself to get my hopes up that we’ll be enjoying tolerable wait times on this trip.

As I said a couple of posts ago there was a lot of availability for our ADRs which is a good sign I guess, but I am taking nothing for granted.

In non holiday news, Willow is doing well, as is Rebecca, bearing in my mind she is still recovering from the operation/delivery. The boys are obsessed with their new sister, as are we all. Overall she’s been sleeping a lot and behaving herself as we all get used to the new addition to our family.

You know I don’t believe there is such a thing as “the right age” to take kids to WDW. You take them whenever you can afford to, but I think three weeks old may just be a little too soon, even if Rebecca could travel, so they will all have to stay at home this time. On this trip we will, for the first, have a girl grandchild to be buying presents for before we return. Exciting stuff.

If you want to, you can follow along as usual if I remember to post stuff to the Mkingdon Facebook page and whether you do or you don’t, I’ll see you back in a few weeks to tell you all about it.

Till the next time…..

One Day At A Time? Sweet Jesus!

30/08/2026 by mkingdon, posted in mkingdon

This week’s title is one that will resonate with the kids and fans of Lena Martell. Ask your Grandad.

As tradition dictates, before any WDW trip, any planner worth their salt is required to outline their movements (bowel, optional) for every day of the holiday. I know to the handful of folks reading this, the concept is familiar and does not sound weird at all. I had a reminder this week that this is absolutely not the case for “normal people” when someone asked me about my upcoming holiday and I overshared slightly about the level of obsession and planning that goes on in this weird Disney online community. This is a safe space.

So here we go….

Day One

Travel Day. We are flying with Virgin from Manchester. Since booking, Virgin have moved our flight back one hour so we don’t take off until just after midday. I await their compensation for robbing us of sixty minutes in Orlando. This flight time now gives us a quandary. To get to Manchester airport from our house you have to navigate the M61/M60 and the infamous concrete tunnels and carnage that greet anyone daring to merge from 61 to 60 at rush hour. Then there is the 5mph crawl past the Trafford Centre.

I would say we need to be at the airport around 8.30, a good four hours ahead of the flight. In normal times that would be a 7.30 set off from our house, but in rush hour, in the first week after schools go back, we may have to leave 2-3 business days ahead of our flight. So I fear we will need to bite the bullet, be up very early and leave the house before 6.30am. It’ll be grim and I intend to scour the internet for alternative routes before the day.

We land late afternoon and I have sorted out the skip the desk Alamo thing so I am sure that will go without a hitch. Then it will inevitably be pouring with torrential rain as we try to battle the rush hour I4. The joys of a travel day.

Once at the villa, we will head out to do a supermarket run (I am mildly terrified of the costs involved for that as my social media feeds are just Americans telling me it cost them $100 for three apples and a box of “gram crackers”. Why they can’t say Graham or Craig is an eternal mystery.) We also plan to go out to eat. With no young kids on the trip this time we all may be awake enough to dine out and if so we aim to do that at Sickies on the 192. Their fried pickles are the best way to start any holiday.

Day Two

You know this is a Magic Kingdom day right? We’ll be there as early as we can be and not as early as I’d like and will be there until 6pmish when they throw us out as there is a MNSSHP on that evening. We are fairly happy this is case as crowds may be lighter and we’ll be tired by that time. We plan to eat at The Cheesecake Factory at Lake Buena Vista that evening.

It is harder to book a table from the UK than it is to do something that is very hard, as their online thing requires a US phone number. I really did not fancy the potential wait for a table on a Friday evening after an early start and a full MK day so I went old school and emailed their customer services team. It took a while but they did reply and booked us in for 7.45pm.

After our meal I suspect we will be in a food coma and ready for bed.

Day Three

The planning laws say this should be a rest day to get over the travel day after the adrenaline fuelled first day. For reasons too long to document here, mainly centred around us needing a rest day on day three as we intended to have a few drinks watching Yeeha Bob on this evening, we broke all the rules and put Animal Kingdom in here. The rule book states that should not be a rest day and instead be a theme park day, it should have been Epcot, as the parks must be visited in the order they opened, but AK closes early and we’d need to be out of the park to get over to Port Orleans.

The recent rule change around off site scum going to resorts make us now assume we will not be welcomed at POR, so instead we are going to the Grand Floridian to watch a favourite ex-Jellyrolls pianist, called Michael play in the lobby there. To get us into the place we have booked 1900 Park Fayre for dinner around 5pm. We could have booked an ADR at POR of course to get us in to see Bob’s show, but we’d planned to see Michael play at the GF *as well/first* before heading to Yeeha Bob so our ADR at the GF had already been made. So Bob lost out. That sentence wins the prize for most use of abbreviations in the world ever.

We will have a few posh drinks and watch him until we are ready for bed. Yeeha Bob will miss us as much as we will miss him.

Day Four

Here comes the rest day. Recently we had more upsetting news as we heard that Typhoon Lagoon won’t be open. That is our go to for an early trip rest day, but again we are scuppered.

We might go to Blizzard Beach but more likely we will just use the resort’s pool and clubhouse and have a relaxing pool day instead.

Emily secured us a 7pm ADR for Beaches & Cream, mainly to get us access to the Boardwalk area so we can have an evening stroll around it and may be a drink or two too.

Day Five

We are back on track and heading to Epcot. Our first visit of the trip here means we do Future World. We have the evening loosely planned at this stage. The general idea is to leave the park when we get hungry for some tea and head to Celebration.

We haven’t been for a good few years and there are at least three eateries we are interested in trying there. There’s a new brewery place, a Mexican and the 80’s themed diner. If we do leave the park and get to Celebration we will try whichever of this is available and looks the best bet.

Day Six

Now things start to get a little complex. Emily and Mikey check in at the Polynesian today for their two day 30th birthday treat for Mikey. I have a rest day planned for Louise and I so I will drop them off and head back for another pool day back at the resort.

Our dining plans for the evening are simple. With Emily being a veggie our chances to dine at The Outback for a decent steak are limited so we will do that whilst she is otherwise engaged.

Day Seven

With it just being the two of us again today I have pencilled in Hollywood Studios as it is Louise’s favourite and if we need to buy Lightning Lanes it’ll be cheaper for just the two of us!!

Our evening plans are loose again. I have an option in the plan but we’ll see how we feel. I quite fancy a place called Ole’ Red up at Icon Park. We have never been to that neck of the woods. The food there looks good and they have live country music on. Recently I have found myself inexplicably listening to Absolute Country (thank goodness for the last two letters) on my car journeys so I’d like to see some live.

Day Eight

Today sees Emily and Mikey move again, this time up to Universal to stay at the Hard Rock for that glorious Front of line access and two days in the parks there. If I am feeling generous I will pick them up from the Poly and drive them up.

We are planning another rest day today, and in the evening we will meet up with them at City Walk for a meal together at Margaritaville before they head into HHN and we have a wander around City Walk.

Day Nine

On their second Universal day we have nothing planned. We might do another rest day if that’s what we fancy or need or we might head into a park. Look at me winging it!

In the evening we will head up to City Walk again to collect Emily and Mikey and we’ve booked the four of us a meal at Cafe Tu Tu Tango on IDrive for absolutely no reason whatsoever. This is one of our “let’s try somewhere new to eat” ideas.

Day Ten

All four us are headed to Hollywood Studios today. It’s a Saturday so I suspect coughing up for LLs will be a must.

We have a late lunch/early dinner booked at Sci-Fi Diner with a Fantasmic Dinner Package just to make sure it rains hard enough to see it cancelled.

Day Eleven

Today is a food day. The only way for us to fit in a couple of our dining musts was to eat ourselves to death on one day. We have brunch booked at The Boathouse at 11am and then in the evening we are eating at Wine Bar George. Pray for us.

In between, we will either head back to the pool or hang out at Disney Springs, trying in vain to walk off some calories.

Day Twelve

We head back to Animal Kingdom. Again we are expecting an early-ish exit from the park as we have a first time dining experience booked at Homecoming back at Disney Springs. I am looking forward to this one.

Day Thirteen

Epcot of course, and our second visit typically concentrates on World Showcase. Food and Wine will be on so I just hope it isn’t too busy as it can be at times. We have an ADR booked at Via Napoli for dinner and we will be staying for the fireworks just so we can reaffirm that they are good but in no way are they any sort of comparison to Reflections Of Earth.

Day Fourteen

You know of course that the last full day is spent at Magic Kingdom. There is no alternative to this. We are booked to eat at Steakhouse 71 at the Contemporary in the late afternoon so that we can get back into MK at dusk to weep at the nostalgia, magic and sheer horror of heading home the next day. Fireworks will be watched.

Day Fifteen

A late flight home around 9pm so I suspect some packing will be done, a large breakfast somewhere and then a lot of time at Disney Springs as my depression kicks in and Louise falls out with me due to my sulking. As God intended.

So there we are. Writing that does make me think that Louise and I have too many rest days planned but we do like a pool day as you saw on our last couple of trips so who knows. The plan (whisper it) can be changed if we wish to.

If you made it to the end, bless you and I’ll see you back here next week for the final post before we go.

Till the next time…..

Home Time

23/08/2026 by mkingdon, posted in mkingdon

Enough of this Dominican Republic nonsense. We meet again just 17 days out from a WDW trip and in all kinds of ways it feels like quite some time since we did one. In terms of our historical frequency of visiting that part of the world then it definitely has been quite some time. It was October 2024 the last time Louise and I Disneyed, and putting to one side the persisting fear of the collapse of the US, we’re looking forward to it. Leaving it almost two years between trips has been unheard of for the last three decades so the anticipation is real, alongside the feeling that I have lost touch with all my knowledge of the place. Emily has been going consistently, so the passing of the planning baton may take an extra step this time.

I understand that our travel plans may not be the foremost thing in your minds so I shall recap the details of the trip. This time the travelling party is Louise, myself, Emily and her boyfriend Mikey. It is a proper Orlando theme park centric old school trip, leaving on September 10th from Manchester for two weeks.

We are flying with Virgin for the first time in so long I can’t remember the last time. Louise and I are in Premium, with Emily and Mikey saving their pennies by doing extra leg room seats in Economy.

We will be flying into Terminal C at MCO and picking up a car from Alamo before heading off to our usual and absolute favourite villa (thanks as ever to Matt for allowing us to rent his place).

Louise and I are sticking to Disney for the 14 days but Emily and Mikey are doing a night at Universal and will also do Halloween Horror Nights whilst there. Emily has been delighted to see the huge focus on clowns in this year’s houses. Her fear of clowns is no joke and frankly I have no idea why she puts herself through this!

To celebrate Mikey turning 30 this year Emily has also booked him two nights at Mikey’s most favourite resort, the Polynesian. They are doing two nights, club level there and I am sure that will be incredible.

With my work being so crazy, I delegated all the ADR bookings to Emily who smashed it, securing all of our first choices. I may be clutching at straws but the seemingly endless options for all our dining choices might be suggesting that the place will be quiet whilst we are there.

I will probably outline our day by day plan next week, so that’s something you can all look forward to. I just hope you can sleep with all that excitement and anticipation. We have a lot of our usual eateries on the plan but we’ve tried to sprinkle in a few new ones to expand our repertoire too.

I’ve missed the heat, I’ve missed the food and I’ve missed the familiar feeling of home we always get when we are there. I just hope we still feel all those things despite what is happening in the real world over there. I have been a little disappointed with the recent changes to off site folks visiting resorts. I get it, the folks paying to do so should absolutely be the priority, but it seems counter intuitive as those visiting will surely be tempted to book there for their next trip, and it blocking folks like us going to watch Yeeha Bob at Port Orleans is a real shame.

For years whenever anyone asked for WDW advice one of the things I always included was to visit some resorts. Sure, with an ADR you still can, but it feels like a little bit of the magic has gone.

Two more of these blogs before we leave so stay tuned for lots more detail on our plans alongside the glacial pace at which these last few days at work will go by. Some things never change.

Till the next time…..

Bullet Bitten

16/03/2025 by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

Nobody will be more relieved than both of my readers to learn that a decision has been made for our July trip.

Yesterday we spent a good deal of time chatting about what we should do and it changed a lot during the day. Our first bit of thinking saw us considering sticking with Florida but having a completely non Disney adjacent trip and heading off down the coast, hopefully taking in Delray again and even getting as far as Key West.

I spent a while looking at options for that but soon discovered that with a flight in and out of Orlando, getting down to Key West and back up again in 14 days would mean a silly number of hotel hops and a lot of driving and in the end we discounted that as too much like hard work.

I even looked at internal flights to get us back up to Orlando from Key West on our last day but logisitically it was getting a bit silly and risky if that flight got delayed or cancelled too late in the day for us to drive up.

We then spent the afternoon looking at non US options, including places like the Dominican Republic and Mexico. We saw a few really nice top end hotels that we could do for the same budget as we had planned for Orlando and eventually stumbled across what has turned out to be our choice.

I have spent a couple of hours this morning contacting Virgin to cancel the flight and sucking up the associated fees and then going through everything else we had booked and cancelling or amending that. That included –

Airport Parking

Airport Lounge

Car Hire

Hotel

That took a while.

So America won’t be getting our hard earned and it feels like a subtle middle finger to the idiot in the Whitehouse to instead be giving them to Mexico.

We are going to Secrets Akumal, in Riviera Maya Mexico which of course 24 hours ago I had never heard of. I’ll share this video about it as this channel was the one we watched to get a good enough feel for the place to decide we should book.

I’ve been very brave and booked the flights seperately as all the packges were extortionate and involved indirect flights. So I managed to find direct flights with TUI from Manchester just by moving our dates back by one day from the 1st to the 2nd of July. We’ve been able to upgrade to Premium for a total price that is less than the refund we’ll be getting from Virgin. It also means I don’t need to rebook any airport lounge access as we’ll get that being TUI premium.

I’ve yet to book the accomodation as I want to scour the internet for the best possible deal, but a look at the obvious places shows I can book it at a price that makes it a fair bit cheaper than any of the packages offering flight and accomodation.

I’ve even booked a private transfer from Cancun airport to the resort and back again. It’s been a busy morning.

I do feel a bit sad cancelling Florida if I am honest. It wasn’t helped that literally just after we’d agreed to make this change yesterday I flicked the TV on and found Jayne McDonald doing a programme on Channel 5 about Key West and all the places in Southern Florida we had considered earlier that day. Like some weird fever dream she ended the programme by inexplicably singing Kids in America by Kim Wilde which sort of snapped me out of it, but I couldn’t escape the gutteral yearnings to stick with our original booking.

But I suppose a change is a good as a rest and we are nothing if not overdue a change in destination. I think we have sort of decided that our next Florida trip will be one that takes in the South of the state, but not with an Orlando flight making it hard to manage.

So, rightly or wrongly we’ve bitten the bullet and I’m happy with the decision, mostly, as it does feel strange and sad not to be heading to our usual haunts.

If by any chance anyone has stayed at this place do let me know your thoughts unless it was rubbish and then probably don’t as I can’t take the stress of having to unpick another holiday. At least we now get to see just how realistic the Mexico pavilion in Epcot really is. It’ll be 100% accurate I would imagine, just as the UK one is!

Till the next time……

The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024 – Day Eleven Friday 25th October

19/01/202519/01/2025 by mkingdon, posted in The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024

We were all definitely feeling the effects of two full-on park days, but there was no plan or time to rest. We had a date with some 90’s pop stars in Epcot.

I did allow a very late start though and it wasn’t until 10.30am that we rolled off the drive. We also had some (barely) walking wounded with both Tom and Louise suffering with their feet.

To add to the fun I had been up for most of the night with middle-aged man acid reflux. I cannot think how I could possibly have brought that on. I had been eating so lightly and healthily recently.

Anyway, in our varying states of decay, we set off for Epcot. We stopped for gas on the way, and it was about halfway there that I noticed that Louise did not have her magic band on. Two days at Universal, and she forgets all her training. There was no way I was turning back, so we’d have to figure it out when we arrived.

We parked up in Rocket 612 and trammed in. The hat was back, alongside those sunglasses from last night.

One of those K9 units that stand close to the entrance took a real interest in Tom, Rebecca and Freddie as we walked to the entrance. I think it could just sense that Tom’s feet were about to fall off.

Just as we were about to finally get into the park Rebecca went to the restroom.

After entering, with Louise being given a normal ticket in lieu of her magic band, Louise and I took the boys into the queue for Spaceship Earth but Rebecca and Tom got delayed/seperated as they tried to park the stroller so they ended up not coming on, for which I think Tom’s feet were grateful.

I got to ride with Dougie again.

The ride stopped five times in total, meaning it took an age to get through it.

By this time it was coming up on our Eat To The Beat dining package reservation at Garden Grill. Rebecca and Tom had walked there to wait for us and we walked quickly over there as we were a bit late. We checked in at 12.55 for our 12.45 ADR.

We were seated and then served by the excellent Bob.

Our package included an alcoholic drink each so we all had a cold brew martini. It was the strongest drink we had all holiday and potentially of all time. It was taking the enamel off my teeth but I drank it all the same.

Soon some food and characters came.

It was a family-style affair, with food just brought out until you say enough or vomit.

The character interaction was almost constant and very good. The boys really enjoyed it. The adults no longer cared as those martinis had rendered us unconscious.

The food was excellent by the way, with some of the best mash any of us had ever had.

I can’t describe how full I was but some of this still went down.

This is Bob. He was funny, attentive and just full of joy all through the meal.

It wasn’t too far off Freddie’s birthday so we got a cake.

We left vowing never to eat again and wandered up to Figment.

Dougie was fortunate enough to be able to nap now. The rest of us had to battle through the food coma in a waking state.

We tried to get into the Seas pavilion but as we arrived they were closing the building down for some reason. Maybe there was some poisson in the water?

Instead, we walked over to Mission Space, one of Freddie’s favourites. Rebecca won the lottery to sit out with Dougie.

As we waited to enter our pods thing there was a longish delay with CMs rushing about with items that suggested somebody had lost their lunch. I was pretty sure I may follow.

Thankfully my ageing body managed to keep hold of the huge amount of food and alcohol I had taken onboard and we now headed to the other side of the park to ride Soarin’.

We waited in line for about half an hour with Louise sitting out with a still-sleeping Dougie.

We had a clash now. We needed to go to the American pavilion for our reserved seats at the Eat To The Beat concert at which Hanson were appearing. The Virtual Queue we had secured at 1pm for Guardians was also about to be called. I stopped at one of the blue umbrella guest services to ask if anything could be done. They assured us that the virtual queue thing would be good all day so we could ride that at any point.

That walk up to World Showcase certainly did not help anyone’s struggling feet.

I love watching live music and Hanson were very good.

We completed the loop around World Showcase by walking through France and back towards Guardians via Canada. Freddie was now suffering with aching legs and so Tom and I took turns carrying him for parts of that journey.

We set up rider swap and Louise sat out with Dougie whilst everyone else rode.

Freddie passed the time in the queue watching some videos and I tried to push my lungs back inside my body after having to carry him for a few yards.

It took over 40 minutes to ride and then Louise rode with Freddie whilst the rest of us walked over to Nemo and Friends with Dougie.

After the ride, we watched some fish….

Naturally after that lunch, there was turtle head.

As you know I can go into a lot of detail in these reports, but that’s because I don’t wish to shrimp on the information.

We met Louise and Freddie at the exit around 8pm and the tram and car took us over to the Beach Club where we had a Beaches and Cream reservation. I dropped everyone off at the door and then self-parked and walked back in a vain attempt to generate some appetite.

When I went to check in there was no sign of our reservation. Eventually, they did find us on the hard copy print out but it turned out we were no longer showing on the computer as some other family had taken our table and reservation. They had a similar last name so somehow they had managed to check in and get seated. A manager was summoned, she went to the table and the offending family and had a stern word with them as they had clearly had no reservation and just winged it.

We were found a table anyway and we all gave that family very evil passive-aggressive stares as we passed them.

This may or may not have been them.

I forced down some Chilli Cheese Tots.

Rebecca – Chicken Sandwich

Freddie – Cheeseburger

Dougie – Hot Dog

Everyone else had the French Dip

Of course, we had to get a Kitchen Sink too. You don’t come all this way and not.

We all chipped in but Tom pretty much cleared it by himself.

We were all knackered and it was a quiet journey home and bed by 11.30.

Till the next time…..

The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024 – Day Six Sunday 20th October

15/12/2024 by mkingdon, posted in The Ump Me, Do You Need A Wee Tour 2024

Rest days are the habitual practice of seasoned travellers to WDW who love to recharge their batteries….

Parklife!

But once that’s done and the rides start calling again all you can do is make your return to hustle and bustle of …

Parklife!

So with a 6.55am alarm waking me so that I could book us all a virtual queue for Guardians, the day began. My notes remind that I felt rough this morning with a headache and nausea. It was either last night’s cold spud or I was pregnant.

Despite the 7am alarm, we were not out of the house until 9am and it took about 25 minutes to drive to Epcot’s gate. Another $30 exchanged hands and we parked in Rocket 602.

The tram took us in, (since when were they red?) and coffee and donuts were served from Joffries for those who didn’t feel like vomiting.

I stood strong today and refused to book the Multipass, so the day started with a 20-minute queue for Spaceship Earth.

I had the genuine pleasure of riding with Dougie, who despite several very annoying stops for several minutes was incredibly well behaved.

Next, we restroomed.

With our virtual queue time approaching it made sense to head in that direction and ride Mission Space. I declined the chance to ride as I needed no further encouragement to be making pavement pizzas so Louise and I sat out with Dougie and had a drink.

Once everyone was back from space we had been summoned to Guardians. After setting up rider swap, Me, Louise, Rebecca and Freddie rode.

This is THE best ride on property and I will not be entering into any debate on the subject.

It had been raining a little all morning and as Tom an Freddie rode Guardians it really came down. We needed to get to a restroom and by the time we did it felt like we had been swimming.

While waiting for Tom and Freddie to return we stood under the canopy outside Connections and Club Cool.

Dougie had been kept out of it with his pram hood and a poncho.

With no sign of the boys and our ADR at Space 220 imminent, we messaged them to say meet us there and set off to get a little bit wetter. I explained to the check-in host that we were waiting for two who were riding, and it was fine when we eventually got everyone there and checked in at 1:30 for our 1.10 ADR. As soon as we did that, the rain stopped.

We entered the lift ensuring the boys could get up to the rail to see the “lift” take us up to space. It was quite full so I could see bugger all standing against the back wall.

I dangled the camera from my outstretched arm and got….

Once we arrived in space as you would imagine, the theming was just excellent.

There were novelty fizzy drinks with glowing things and popping space rock….

Even though Dougie wasn’t having that particular special drink off the menu our server was smart enough to make sure his apple juice also glowed.

and those rocks really popped….

Food wise we had

Me and Tom – Shrimp Tacos and the burger

Louise – Cauliflower starter and the burger

Rebecca – Caesar salad and burger

Boys – Nuggets and a dome pudding.

Some adult desserts were had too….

Louise had some wines and most of us finished with a coffee.

Many of you will know that this isn’t a cheap experience, and there’s nothing to be gained by saying how much this meal was, so I won’t. The experience was very good, the food was better than expected and the boys really enjoyed the theming. It was chilly, but that was because we arrived drenched in cold water. I also got a better view in the lift on the way back to earth.

Dougie was in desperate need of a nap so I volunteered to walk him round until he caught one. I ended up doing a full loop of World Showcase and met up with everyone over at Journey Into Imagination.

Louise and I stayed out with Dougie.

Due to our evening plans, we had about 30 minutes left now to ride something before we had to go and Freddie chose Mission Space and insisted I rode too.

I survived with my expensive lunch intact.

The weather had perked up too.

What I’m doing here, I have no clue.

Something tells me a younger camera operator was holding the camera….

It was time to leave now so we made our way to the exit. Dougie was back from his nap.

But only just….

That’s better.

We trammed to the car…

and I captured evidence of someone’s battle with the overhead speaker….

Sometimes being bald can be a blessing.

We were heading for City Walk, as tonight Tom and Rebecca were going to Halloween Horror Nights whilst we took the boys for some tea and then home to bed.

The traffic was of course horrific all the way up the I4 but the cherry on top was the 35-minute wait on the off-ramp to get to Universal parking. This, we soon found out was caused by a combo of Horror Nights traffic plus a Chase Atlantic gig at The Hard Rock. After parking the car security was also carnage but we made it in around 6.15 and Rebecca and Tom went off to be horrified, mainly by the prices and wait times.

The fringe-filled emo-fest that was the queue for the gig at the Hard Rock was a flashback to the teenage years of the girls.

Louise and I sat with the boys on those big steps for a bit, people-watching until it was time to head to Toothsome for our reservation. No, we were not hungry at all.

We were seated immediately and started to ponder what someone who isn’t hungry at all orders.

Louise went for French Onion Soup.

I went sweet with a Banana Fosters Waffle, you know, because I was full.

The boys, who were hungry, went for burgers.

We had a few minutes of interaction at our table with the two characters.

Then the boys shared the S’Mores, barely making a dent in them and I was in no position to help.

We wandered City Walk, and after looking for all kinds of plastic tat to get for the boys, Dougie showed no interest in anything and Freddie ended up getting two airbrush tattoos. It was bedtime, for Louise and me, so the boys had to come home too. We had walked all the way back to the car when Freddie announced he needed a wee, so I had to walk him all the way back to security to the closest restroom.

Despite having the sat nav on I managed to take a few wrong turns on the way home and one of them saw us divert through some sort of military base entrance. Bizarre.

We were home for 11 and got the boys in bed. I waited up downstairs just in case Dougie woke up and then fell into bed as soon as Rebecca and Tom got home around 1am, I think.

Till the next time……

Hurry Up & Hurricanes

06/10/2024 by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

If there were any justice in the world I would be sat here typing this today, about a stone lighter than I was last week. That is based purely on the amount of snot I have expelled from my body in the last seven days.

I know that sounds like a joke but honestly, I don’t know where it’s coming from. No end of blowing is enough (amirite guys?) and as soon as I empty about a pound of the stuff into a tissue my nose is totally blocked again. Surely all that mucus must weigh something?

For that reason, this week is one I wish not to repeat and of course, I am glad whatever germs are causing this will have passed (right?) before we get on the plane.

Emily has passed her first few days back in the UK wrestling with pretty dreadful jetlag and trying to get back to work whilst weeping at the cost of flights for next August. It comes to something when you have your fingers crossed hoping for something under £1k each. Apparently, her friend the teacher has a blue light card which can bestow glorious discounts on things like flights. If anyone has any experience of that please let me know. I’m also wondering right about now why Louise doesn’t have one???

A lot of our attention in the last few days of our countdown is on the seeming conveyor belt of hurricanes aimed directly for every single one of our holiday plans. Milton is looking like it will pass directy over the theme parks area right now, with of course a lot of time yet for that to change. We just have everything crossed that this will be the last for a while and the two weeks after next week will be natural disaster free.

I had a “last minute” review of our plan, as you do, mainly to see if I could somehow avoid the Saturday we currently have at Hollywood Studios. I do try to avoid the parks as much as possible at a weekend, especially DHS, but I have concluded there is no way to juggle it. It’ll have to be a case of buying the Multi-Pass thing and bearing with.

Demonstrating how close we are now to departure, I got the instructions through for our villa a few days ago which I thought was the last bit of admin required before we worry about checking in online. However, for reasons I cannot fathom, check-in seemed to open up on the 1st of October so I’ve done that too. Although it seems you can’t get your boarding passes by doing so, instead you get a “Confirmation of Check-in” thing and have to present that to the desk at the airport to get your boarding passes. That all seems a bit odd and potentially pointless. I’m pretty sure that was not the case when we flew with them back in May.

I have ticked off another couple of unpleasant milestones on my journey towards this holiday. Wednesday saw me tolerating a Motorway Awareness course. At close to 1am driving home from a gig, on an empty motorway I was pictured doing 58mph in a 50mph variable speed limit zone. Sure, that’s not legal but it doesn’t half stick in the craw when the photo they send you shows you alone in three lanes of motorway. Anyway, I am now suitably chastised, poorer and educated. Then on Friday I went to the dentist. Hardly life threatening but as you may have noticed, I don’t like folks messing with my teeth and once again it was unpleasant and expensive. Never a good combo.

So here we are at what is often in my view the hardest part of the countdown. We are impossibly close and yet somehow it seems impossibly far away at the same time. I just want next week to hurry up and be over whilst recognising that if that wish were granted the same may apply to the two weeks after it and that would not be a good thing at all. I have been instructed by Louise to “get my stuff out” which is not a euphemism but rather the job of dumping all the clothes I wish to take onto the bed so that packing may begin. That’s how close we are. I have to admit, that solitary Monday the 14th, the day before we go, is praying on my mind as a schoolboy error. Why I did not book it off work I have no idea. Now, it is festooned with meetings I cannot avoid and I shall have to endure it. The firstest of first-world problems.

See you back here this time next week for the pre-departure sign-off. It’ll be here before you know it….right???

Till the next time…..

And Now It’s Time To Pay The Price

08/09/202409/09/2024 by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

Thanks for all the interest and feedback on the “big plan” post last week. As much as I really appreciate those who persisted with the non-Disney content I have been posting, it’s clear from the views and visitor numbers last week that most of you really have more interest in WDW, which I am totally on board with!

For those who asked about Emily’s trip, if you want to follow along with her, your best bet would be to follow her on Instagram here. She will without doubt be posting there throughout. She leaves on Thursday. She also does some blogging if you wanted to follow that too.

I was due to take her to the airport but as it often does, work has gotten in the way of things I want to do, insisting I am down south on that day, so she has a friend taking her instead. Sure she’s 29, sure she’s been to WDW countless times, sure she lived there, but there is still some low level of worry when waving your offspring off to travel that distance.

After all the fun and games of the planning, based on having secured everything with low deposits, we are now at the stage where the pain hits and to quote a WDW vlogger, “and now it’s time to pay the price”.

I have just paid off all the balances, including the theme park tickets, villa and car. I’m not gonna lie, parting with that level of pound notes hurts no matter what the reason. Still, of all things I could spend money on this is one of the better ones. On the plus side, it’s a real sign that this trip is almost here.

It may shock you to learn that nothing has changed in the plan since last week. We are probably getting too close now for that to happen. In a couple of weeks, I have two meals to book at Citywalk (they only seem to offer slots a month in advance). Those will be Toothsome and Cowfish.

I still have low-level anxiety/PTSD from our more recent WDW trips as the state of the parks in terms of crowds, wait times and general post-pandemic recovery are fresh in my mind. I don’t know if this is reality but the park activity I see on social media seems to vary between “there is literally only me in this theme park today” to “do not even try to enter Orlando as it is full”.

With a better “FastPass” system in place, I am hoping things will be better. We are also visiting outside of any UK school holidays and when I look at the various crowd-level tools online most seem to be scoring most of our time there around the 6 out of 10 mark with slightly busier times predicted towards the end of our trip as we get close to Halloween (the day itself, not the season which starts in early August at WDW of course).

With lower crowd levels the quandary of course is should I book the multi-pass thing three days in advance (being off-site scum) or wait and see how the park looks that morning? I suspect I shall play it safe and book it for our first MK day to remove any stress/waiting on that special first day and then see how it goes. The natural exception to that, I think, will be Hollywood Studios, and I’ll probably cave and book the multi-pass for that park without hesitation, having had horrifying experiences there on the last couple of trips.

For anyone who has been and done it with the new system, I would be keen to hear feedback and experiences of the new thing.

I am girding my loins now for the final push at work. I’ve got a daunting couple of weeks with many things in the diary that I would rather not do (I refer you to the section above about these trips costing a lot of money to understand why I have to do them), but if my many years on this spinning rock have taught me anything it is that I will always be fatter than I want to be and everything passes. Typically even the most horrifying things in your future are survivable.

I am being over dramatic as my “things” are just a couple of days at Head Office next week and then a work conference/event the weekend after. I am not pulling babies from burning buildings but imposter syndrome is a bugger.

This time next week it’ll be a month until we go and just another milestone on the countdown ticked off. Of course, that just means I have five weeks to lose four stone. Seems doable?

Till the next time……

Wake Me Up When September Ends

01/09/2024 by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

With all that sunbathing nonsense out of the way, let’s get down to the serious business of getting ready for a holiday I think we can all understand and get behind.

We are just 44 days away from our Orlando theme park bonanza folks and whilst you’ve all been snoozing/trudging through endless blogs about sand and food, I’ve been busy planning our October trip.

There’s a lot to get through and rather than be sensible and eek that content out over the next few weeks, I’ll no doubt just shoot my shot this week and worry about next week when I’m staring at the blank page in a week’s time.

The first thing to report is that whilst we were all “at” Delray Beach, once again, Bob Iger has taken on board my feedback from this blog and scrapped Genie+. Good lad Bob, but you missed the bit about not charging for this stuff on top of the sky-high theme park tickets, but we’ll take a win where we can get it.

I approve of the change in general but of course, it came with some baggage.

Why does it cost money?
Why are off-site guests penalised? (I know the answer and I only care as we’ll be off-site this time)
Why are International visitors massively penalised unless you spend enough time reading WDW internet content to come across the fairly simple workaround? The workaround of setting the country of your address in the app to the US is so easily preventable that I strongly suspect Disney has left that in intentionally to mitigate a problem they couldn’t solve properly. (Isn’t the issue something about card payments for non-US folks?) My day job involves developing stuff for online products and it smells of a handy “oops we didn’t realise that was possible”. I applaud it.

Being weeks behind the release of this change I won’t go on about it anymore as I’m sure every angle has already been covered. I look forward to being able to secure some rides before we arrive in the parks again.

Moving on to our personal plan, one of the first things I did after getting home from our Delray trip was upgrade to Premium. I think it was about £150 each to do so and having experienced the economy seats, we were keen not to again, especially with two small kids who we will definitely want to go to sleep on the way back. The slightly enhanced room in Premium will be worth that investment and, much to my surprise (I am blissfully unaware lots of the time) until Rebecca told me, that entitles us to Lounge access and a free breakfast at Manchester airport so we’ve already made some of the £150 each back. Add the same sort of thing on the return journey and we’ll be close to a profit.

I’m under no illusions that we’ll be lying down in some sort of Business Class bed-seat, as we sat just behind the magic curtain of Premium on our last trip with TUI and could see the forbidden fruits clearly, but we’ll take the larger seat, slightly better food, more luggage allowance and hopefully getting our cases off more quickly.

This past week has been ADR time and as ever, the success has not been as complete as I may have liked. Overall though, I’ve done OK. Of course, I had sworn that we would eat off-site almost all the time and I have then caved and made more ADRs than I first intended, but we will still be dining off-site a fair bit.

With a two-year-old with us, all dining plans live and die with him, so there are a fair few early meal slots booked and only the odd late one, where that was the only availability, which will be in the lap of the toddler Gods.

To once again demonstrate my masterful planning skills, with the plan pretty much locked and loaded, including our ADRs, a last-minute decision to add in a trip to Universal just last week may have flummoxed other less awesome planners, but no. A ten-minute conversation with Rebecca, whilst staring at the plan, along with some swift internet interrogation saw us expertly evaluate options and then move stuff around with minimal disruption, ADR cancellation or pain. If only I were this good at my day job.

So let’s take a trot through our plans, shall we? I will say that after a few trips where we have not done a great deal and bored you to death with beaches and pools, this trip is hard-core, jam-packed and will probably kill us. Being (even if I say so myself) an elite-level WDW trip planner I recognise and embrace this and should we need to amend stuff on the hoof due to exhaustion and/or killing each other with our bare hands, then I shall rise to that challenge with ease. This is nobody’s first rodeo and we go into the plan with eyes wide open and loins girded.

Day One

As you now know we fly Premium out of Manchester with TUI on October 15th. Airport parking has been secured (which is getting a bit pricey these days I must say) and we are scheduled to be wheels up at 11.25 so we should be in the air at around 1pm if things go to form.

We arrive in Melbourne mid-afternoon and have a suitable vehicle awaiting us courtesy of Discount Florida Car Hire again. An unwelcome but necessary 90 minutes in the car should see us pull up outside our favourite villa on Amelia Downs Trail in Kissimmee and we shall unpack, do a shop and eat no doubt. The boys will be in the pool if they are still awake I’m sure.

Day Two

It goes without saying that this is a Magic Kingdom day. Who knows what time Dougie might be awake so it could be a short or long one. Eating wise, we have gone for an old favourite and a regular tactic on our first park day in Whispering Canyon Cafe at 5.20, as it seems these days that all the shenanigans and fun are back after their suspension for the pandemic and for Tom’s benefit they still offer unlimited refills on milkshakes so he intends to bankrupt them. I suspect we’ll be done at that point and will head home.

Day Three

A rest day but with a twist. On recent theme park trips, we have done Typhoon Lagoon on day two which works really well, offering rest for the oldies and slides and stuff for the youngsters. We will eat off-site that evening at Sickies on the 192.

Day Four

Unusually it is Animal Kingdom today. Typically we would visit the parks in the correct order, which is the order in which they opened, and today would be Epcot, but for reasons I cannot now remember we will be at DAK, for what might be our one and only day here. The second day had to be sacrificed recently to squeeze the two Universal parks in.

Day Five

A rest day, and we plan to spend it at the villa and most likely at the large resort pool on offer. We may go for a sit-down breakfast at a new place I have seen online called @The Diner. Then we will do our best to be hungry again for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory at LBV.

Day Six

Ah Epcot, there you are. This will be our Future World day and after some skilful manoeuvres on my part with ADR bookings, I managed to secure us the “hen’s teeth” booking of Space 220 for lunch. Freddie is incredibly keen to go here so that was pleasing.

Then in the evening Rebecca and Tom will activate their built-in babysitters and allow us to watch the boys whilst they head up to experience Halloween Horror Nights at Universal. We will probably drive us all up there and drop them off and then Louise and I will eat with the boys on City Walk, maybe Toothsome. Rebecca and Tom will get a Lyft back home when they are done.

Day Seven

Hollywood Studios, our nemesis from recent trips, delivering THE worst theme park experience from a “getting on things” perspective consistently, driven by the recently deceased Genie+ nonsense. We hope things will be better now. Knowing from past experiences that whenever we want to do Fantasmic it will be rained off, we have taken the earliest opportunity possible to book a Fantasmic Dining Package, choosing the SciFi Diner for lunch.

Day Eight

A much-needed pool day again. We may again avail ourselves of a sit-down breakfast and possibly return to a real favourite of ours in Hash House A Go Go. Then after some serious lying down in the sun, we shall visit The Outback and I will without doubt have a large steak. It takes some real skills to make yourself hungry enough to dine out twice in one day but it is a challenge we intend to rise to.

Day Nine

We head to Universal and a one-night stay at Royal Pacific to get the Front Of Line access. We shall get there as early as possible, check in and head over to IOA first (I think). With this being very fresh into the plan, there are no firm dining plans for that evening but City Walk is our lobster so that will get firmed up shortly.

Day Ten

Universal Studios of course. And should stamina and timings permit, then we will return to Teak Neighbourhood Grill for dinner. It’s been a while since we dined here. I think our last visit was on the trip amid all the Covid restrictions and the experience wasn’t perfect. The menu looks great and hopefully, everything is back as it should be with the service so it’s definitely worth another try.

Day Eleven

Epcot again today with a likely focus on World Showcase. A huge stroke of fortune came our way in the shape of the Eat To The Beat concert series. A few months ago when the lineup was announced it was the usual mix of the odd famous person or band amidst a load of artists we at least had no idea about. Anyway, it turned out that during our trip, Hanson would be performing. We saw them recently supporting Busted and have liked them ever since the one song everyone knows them for back in the 90’s. So I have booked lunch at Garden Grill as part of the Eat To The Beat package which secures us a seat in their 5.30 show.

I wanted to get us into Beaches and Cream for our evening meal and did so but the only slot available by the time I’d sorted the Garden Grill booking was at 9.15pm. We will just see how everyone is doing by that time and play it by ear. I think leaving Epcot in the early evening for a Boardwalk stroll will be on the cards either way. There’s a Banana Bread Espresso Martini at The Boardwalk Bellevue Lounge that I have my eye on.

Day Twelve

Day two at Hollywood Studios and lunch is to be at the Rodeo Roundup place in Toy Story Land.

Thanks to Disney Food Blog for that photo

Nothing is booked for tea/dinner so we may head off-site and try to help the budget by going to Olive Garden. If energy permits, then we might head to Disney Springs for a stroll and with a following wind, one of the Espresso Martinis from Wine Bar George.

Day Thirteen

With one day left on our three-day Universal tickets, we will use that up today at Volcano Bay. A first for Louise and I and I suspect this will be a welcome break from the parks and a chance to rest up a little bit for those who want to.

Dinner is pencilled in for Cowfish at City Walk.

Day Fourteen

The emotional last full day and of course that means Magic Kingdom for the farewell lap of honour. Having, much to our surprise, thoroughly enjoyed our unplanned visit there on our last trip to the parks, I have booked us in at The Liberty Tree for a 5.40pm ADR.

Fireworks and tears will be experienced as we leave the park for the final time.

Day Fifteen

The usual mix of packing, a visit to Disney Springs, some food, perhaps at The Polite Pig and then the longer-than-usual drive back to the airport. We don’t fly until 7pm so that should work out OK.

So there you have it. It’s a humdinger and no doubt some of that won’t happen, but he who dares wins. As ever, the thinking is that despite the last few decades telling me otherwise, who knows if and when any of us may get to return.

In other news, Emily and her boyfriend go to WDW on September 12th for a long-awaited trip they booked well before we booked ours. It is Mikey’s first visit and they are both ridiculously excited. They are staying at the All-Stars and flying Aer Lingus. I can’t wait to hear all about it. You can’t beat a first-time visit, especially when an experienced guide is with you to show you the ropes.

Till the next time…..

I Predict A Diet

28/04/2024 by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

When it comes to Disney, especially with a trip on the cards, there is little I like to do more than to think about scenarios that may or may not happen that will have hardly any impact on my life in the long term. Things like not getting specific ADRs or the parks being too busy or that those FOMO perks that Disney gives to on-site guests will make our off-site trip a disaster. It’s all part of the fun. For example, it seems off-site scum can only start to book their Genie+ Lightning Lanes from park opening, not 7am like the honoured on-site types. A bit petty Disney if you ask me. If you’re going to do this, then you need to come up with some affordable accommodation options for larger parties.

The only thing I enjoy more is whinging about Genie+ but I guess I’m not alone there.

Another fun part of this countdown process is to make completely unsubstantiated guesses based on zero knowledge about what Disney may or may not do in the future.

Take for example….

Soon, in Summer 2024, the new version of Splash Mountain will open. Tiana’s ride (not the official title) will be welcome for a couple of reasons.

Having such a major ride down for so long just means there are fewer things to spread the people around and all the other attractions get busier. (This is the entire issue with Hollywood Studios right now. Not enough things for too many people to do, but that’s a whole other blog post.)
It may draw some folks away from the likes of Seven Dwarves at rope drop and give other folks a fairer chance to ride it without paying extra or waiting for 90 minutes.

Emily and I were pondering if Tiana’s ride would be added to the list of individual lightning lane attractions in Magic Kingdom. There is much to think about.

It seems that MK is currently the only park with more than one such attraction…

Epcot – Guardians

Hollywood Studios – Rise of the Resistance

Animal Kingdom – Flights of Passage

Magic Kingdom – Tron and Seven Dwarves

So adding a third would be bordering on a piss take in my view. The options seem to be to take that piss and add a third which would be punitive and very unpopular, leave Tiana’s ride as Splash was, as part of the (still paid for and shite) Genie+ service, or add it to the Individual LL list and drop one of the others.

Personally, I think they will leave Tiana as Splash was. If they were to make it one of the two, then which of the existing ones would they drop?

Tron is too new surely and Seven Dwarves is one of the most popular and slowest loading rides on property, so that could just be carnage.

As ever, this thought process will be a complete waste of time because the last time I correctly predicted what Disney would do next I had a fringe.

I’d be interested in your views of course.

Speaking of change and new rides. Due to some clickbait-style headline writing by some other Disney-related blog (not that you read any others of course), there were a couple of minutes late last week when it seemed like Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin was going to be replaced by a Wreck-It Ralph attraction. A quick scan of the article once they had my very valuable click, confirmed that this was in Tokyo. Let’s hope that nonsense idea never darkens Florida’s door.

The other thing I have done in the last few days is begin to firm up some dining plans. We are months from ADR booking but I did try out the new system where you can put in a range of dates for a restaurant and see all the ADRs available. That is excellent!

My strategy for our eating on this trip is to focus on off-site places as much as possible with just a smattering of on-site ADRs. Sure, cost is a consideration. Feeding six folks multiple times a day on property is a pricey hobby, but we also love a lot of off-site places.

So I am adding an eatery of choice for each day and if it so happens that on one of those days we don’t want to leave the parks or that doesn’t fit with our plans, we will just try to find somewhere there and then via the app. We do want to try and get ADRs for a few such as Garden Grill, Rodeo Roundup, Space 220 (yeah right) and probably one character meal.

On that note, has anyone done BR77 Steakhouse on the 192. It’s a Brazillian Steakhouse type place it seems and I was thinking of giving it a try. Other than that, our list is the usual suspects.

All of this theme park talk ignores the fact that we are now just four weeks away from our absolutely no theme park trip at the end of May, to Delray Beach. When we called in to see my Mum last week she asked if we had the cases out yet. Even for me, five weeks out was a bit early, but it won’t be long.

The only prep required now for that one is to get some bloody weight off. My “Fat Elvis” period has been dragging on for a while now and it seems these days the only thing that can motivate me to get some lard off is a trip overseas. Let’s see how that goes over the coming weeks. The hardest part for me is starting. Once I begin to see any sort of result, I can stick at it, but as the years go by, it just becomes harder and harder to get the ball rolling.

If only everything in life were as easy as getting fat.

Till the next time…..

A Swift Change?

21/04/202421/04/2024 by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

One of the criticisms of holidaying in the same place for a few decades, both spoken and probably mainly unspoken by folks I know, is “How can you keep going to the same place and doing the same things”.

Sure, I get that and there is some part of a trip to WDW specifically where that familiarity is part of the comfort and magical feelings that a certain type of traveller craves. A great deal of the joy and satisfaction I get is from showing this stuff to new people whether that be parents, kids or now grandkids.

My answer to that question is always the same. We do something different every time, mixed in with the warm glow of the familiar. We’ve done on-site, off-site, Vero, Naples, The Keys, Siesta Key and a load of other stuff I have no doubt forgotten. I guess the best answer is, that I’ve been going since 1980 and still haven’t come close to “doing everything” and never will.

Also of course things change regularly whether we may want it to or not. Parks get new stuff and indeed new parks happen too. We still, for example, haven’t done Aquatica, Volcano Bay or Legoland.

Anyway, flying that flag of trying something for the first time this week is Emily, who despite her very real fear of the whole event, has booked Halloween Horror Nights for her trip in September. There had been much debate, pondering and a little dithering, but my advice was you’d be daft not to. You never know if you’ll get the chance again and all things (within reason) should be tried once.

So good on Emily for giving it a shot. Technically we could also do it on our October trip but with a six-year-old and two-year-old with us that really isn’t practical and nobody is ready for the huge amount of screaming that would ensue from Louise for sure, but also me.

I have been to a Halloween event at DLP some years ago, which had some of the same elements I think, but from the vlogs I have seen of HHN, it was nowhere near as intense.

If the houses prove to be too terrifying I suggested there is always the option of taking the chance to do some rides whilst the queues are (I assume) short, so what is not to like.

For those with experience of this event, your comments, advice and feedback are welcome.

Having said that we always do something new, eateries aside, it feels like our October trip may not see that happen. This trip is a good old-fashioned WDW-only (probably) event and will be all about doing all the stuff we love with the boys.

Sure Tiana’s ride may be open by then so that will be a first and perhaps just once I will be one of those folks who return from WDW and say “I actually lost weight with all that walking”!

Really, who are these people and what are they (not) eating!?

But it feels right that this is how it may turn out. I know in reality it hasn’t been that long since we did the parks but it feels that way, and this trip, as is always the case when you take kids with you, will inevitably involve a load of firsts for them and I can’t wait.

Freddie is very much looking forward to being able to ride pretty much anything, certainly on Disney property. He is very tall for his age and the one in his sights is Rock n Rollercoaster as it is the only thing at WDW that goes upside down. Right now it is closed for refurbishment but it does seem to be promising to re-open in Summer 2024 so hopefully, we’ll be OK.

Rumours abound about whether the theming will change from Aerosmith to something else. I get that Aerosmith aren’t exactly relevant to anyone born in the last few decades so a change makes sense. I don’t know if they will move away from the band idea, but one rumour doing the rounds is that Queen will replace them.

For me, this makes no sense. They are no longer a band, mainly as the main man has been dead for decades and they are barely any more relevant to younger folks than Aerosmith. I do struggle to think of a band big enough to resonate with the older generations yet still be relevant to today’s music scene.

If anyone suggests Coldplay I will burn the ride down.

If any act makes any kind of sense it would be Taylor Swift. She is, love her or hate her, the biggest act on the planet right now, is young enough to have some career longevity to come and she already has a relationship with Disney, with her Eras tour thing showing on Disney+.

I’m not sure her music would have the same adrenaline-fueled effect that Walk This Way has as you are catapulted forward to start the ride, but it would permanently make the queues for the ride three hours as the Swifties descended upon it. Could they still call it Rock n Rollercoaster with a Swift theme? I don’t think so.

What say you? Can anyone see a B*Witched-themed ride working? I’d be interested in your suggestions so that I can let Bob Iger know. He’s a loyal reader as you know.

Till the next time…..

The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour 2023 – Day Seven Sunday 19th November

21/01/2024 by mkingdon, posted in The Getting Layed In Orlando Tour

I’m sure you’ll agree that as nice as it has been thus far to be away and in Orlando, this trip has a feeling of taking a while to get going, certainly as far as actually doing what we came here to do. You can’t control the weather I guess. Similarly, as day seven arrives, I can finally start to make some sense of the title of this trip report for you. That is what is called a teaser. Well, I have to do something to encourage you to read this guff.

We awoke around 9am following our wild late night last night! We made it to breakfast before it closed and were heartened to see the weather looking very good. It was noticeable that breakfast and the hotel in general were much busier on a weekend. It wasn’t unpleasant in any way, just noticeable.

After breakfast, we needed to nip out to Target as I needed a new book to read. Now, nobody just “nips” to Target of course, and it was lunchtime by the time we got back to the pool.

Feast your eyes on this….

You will understand that we did not move from our sun beds, appreciating the weather and reading.

In an attempt to stay out beyond 10pm tonight, the plan was to skip lunch and eat an early dinner so we did not immediately crave bed as soon as the food hit our stomachs. We aren’t animals so I went to the shop and got us some snacks to keep us going.

Louise, as she would now for pretty much the rest of the trip had a packet of Lays for lunch. I know the reveal wasn’t worth the build-up, but when I thought back on this trip when dreaming up a title, I didn’t want to use one that bemoaned the crap weather and the other thing which stuck in my mind was our crisp-based lunches by the pool.

Having enjoyed an afternoon of cloudless skies and temperatures in the mid-70s, we retired to our room at around 4.30pm to get ready for our early dinner. We still didn’t leave the room till 6 after the usual sixty minutes of hair dryer use by Louise.

Tonight’s dining choice was Romano’s Macaroni Grill. A stalwart of our trips over the years and often one not known about by many. This proved to be tragically true as we drove up to it. All the lights and signage were off and it looked as if it had shut down for good. We were genuinely gutted.

We assessed the nearby options and opted for Bahama Breeze, not least because it was five minutes away.

We were seated immediately with it being 6.20pm and started with a Spinach and Artichoke Dip, a Bud Light, and a red wine.

I don’t drink much/often so tonight’s beer had to be recorded. There would be a good many more to follow as our plans for later involved Jellyrolls if we could stay awake.

Louise, as ever had the Jerk Chicken Pasta…

and I, after much consideration, opted for the ribs, despite the fact that the calorific value was pretty much the highest of any item on the menu.

Both were tremendous.

We declined dessert, paid the $100 bill, including the tip, and drove back to the hotel. A Lyft was summoned and I nipped up to the room to get some actual cash for the requesting of songs at Jellyrolls.

We were soon dropped off at the Boardwalk and got into Jellyrolls around 8.30pm.

At that time there were still a few empty tables, so we claimed one, ordered some drinks, and received our bottomless popcorn.

We had four excellent performers and felt lucky to have been able to watch them. Our fave was Michael, and here he is performing a classic….

We had a few requests played, trying to not request the stuff everyone else does like Billy Joel, Elton John and the like. We went for One Week by Bare Naked Ladies and That Thing You Do.

We sent a few videos to Emily who was up at 4am UK time due to a snoring boyfriend and dog and she was enjoying it all with us, despite being 4,000 miles away.

We stayed for a long time and drank too much. The place really filled up as it got later (those two videos were taken within half an hour of us arriving) and much of the crowd tonight seemed to be young cast members. Many Disney songs were requested and played and when Circle Of Life was playing it became obvious that many of the CMs were from the Lion King show at Animal Kingdom as we got a performance of the dance routine!

With things now being very crowded and rowdy as drunk youngsters were constantly dancing about three centimetres from our table, we left at around 1am.

I don’t know how much we had to drink if I am honest, but it could have funded another holiday. But, we had a really good night and we would return.

We made our way back to the Boardwalk and waited about ten minutes for our Lyft to arrive. Our driver was called Gaston, from Chile. He was an engineer by trade, working for Lyft at night to raise the funds to get his family over.

I don’t remember everything he said but Chile sounds like a scary place to live and no place for his two young kids.

We tipped him well and fell into bed just before 2am like the wild crazy kids we are.

Till the next time…..

Tale Of The Century

22/10/2023 by mkingdon, posted in Walt Disney World

I’ve been seeing a lot of posts on social media this week about the 100th anniversary of Disney. As ever, I like to be at the forefront of these online trends and post about it many days after the event. It is this cutting-edge nature that sees my blog surge in popularity week after week.

Many of these posts seemed to be trying to summarise what Disney means to people, and the effect it has had on their lives. I’m genuinely at a loss as to where to start with that. But of course that will not stop me now from spending the rest of this post trying to do exactly that.

My first ten years on this planet were lived in a normal way, in terms of Disney. I’d watch the films and every bank holiday I would watch the Disney special that was inevitably on the telly, showing clips from all the classic films.

Our holidays were, I am lucky enough to say, regular and wonderful, with the destinations usually being somewhere Balearic.

Then one fateful day in the first half of 1980, our family went into Bolton town centre (when there was one) to go and book our next holiday.

For those under 30, this involved sitting in a shop and watching someone who worked there tap away at some pre-historic-looking green screen VDU if you were lucky. I genuinely can’t remember if by 1980 AT Mays in Bolton had those, but via whatever method our travel agent was looking at stuff, the phrase that would change my life forever was uttered.

“You know, for the same price as Mallorca, I can do you Miami.”

This was mainly due to a dollar rate of 2.20 to the pound. Now, this working-class Bolton family had barely heard of Miami, never mind ever dreamt of going there and I don’t think it took long for that decision to be made.

Of course, zero planning was done. I was nine. I do vividly remember the flight, and that all drinks were free, and I think my Mum probably had one too many Miami Whammies (I’ve no idea either but they were easy to drink it looked like).

Somewhere we still have photos of all the stewardesses on that flight, who to me, at nine and from a northern mill town (whippets optional) they all looked like film stars and I don’t mean Danny DeVito. Obviously, I’ve shared all this previously as I discovered a load of 1980 photos buried deep in a post from years ago.

The holiday itself was mostly like the others. We stayed in a hotel on Miami Beach, and I swam a lot and discovered American food and portion sizes and I have been fat ever since.

Then in the middle of the trip, we drove up to Orlando, stayed in a Howard Johnson (a hotel, not a person), and did Disney.

Now, at that time, Disney was just Magic Kingdom and a very small embryo of Disney Springs called The Disney Village.

Obviously, I fell in love. I turned 10 in America and I remember us going to a mall called Omni that had a merry-go-round in it which blew my mind and my Mum and Dad bought me a birthday cake there.

For years afterward, at family parties and get-togethers, my Dad would tell the same stories over and over about the size of a pizza we got and the number of slices of turkey he got on one particular sandwich, as well as phrases about people not being able to appreciate the scale of the park (there was just one as Epcot would open soon after).

“You get to the entrance and you’re still bloody miles from the turnstiles! You park up, get a tram and a monorail, and only then are you in”. They probably thought us all a bit weird.

I’ve carried on this tradition by regurgitating the same stories here for over a decade.

We even brought home a menu from a restaurant called Pumpernickels in Miami as nobody would believe us when we got home. I remember us being absolutely floored by there being two huge bowls on every table when you were seated, one full of coleslaw and one full of bread.

I have very limited but very vivid memories of this trip as it was a long, long time ago now, to the extent that I question whether they are accurate memories or just some sort of assumed thinking of something we did.

Now, clearly, all of this bred a love for Florida more generally, but the Northern Star in all this, and the tractor beam that has kept pulling us back there was WDW.

We went back several times during my childhood. I’m sad and sorry to say I cannot remember how many times. It’s a long time ago now and no notes were made, and all the photos were analogue.

Once I had my own family, it was my Dad again who re-ignited my passion for the place. He was about to retire and had an endowment policy burning a hole in his pocket. He declared he would be taking us all to Disney. That was him and my Mum, my brother, his wife and their two kids and us four.

I think he booked it over the phone with Travel City Direct, after scrolling through Teletext for hours, but I may be confusing that with other trips. It was £199 each for fly-drive and we had a huge, beautiful villa on Highlands Reserve. Our hire car was more of a bus, and we spent a lot of time one night being lost in Celebration I remember. It was Halloween and the place looked amazing.

Again, no planning was really done but we of course loved it.

The rest as they say is history with our own trips as a four, starting in 2001. An un-reported stay at the All Stars. From then on, pretty much every year we have been back in one way or another. Looking back now I really cannot fathom how we afforded it. Well, sometimes, we didn’t, but I don’t regret any of the trips, memories, experiences, and lovely times we had.

Some time around the time these trips of our own started I discovered the Disboards and then of course The Dibb. These were cutting-edge tools of their day and I learned so much from them and made some good friends too who we met many times over the years.

It is very hard to sum up what Disney has meant to us as I just do not have the writing ability to capture that. I suppose with recent events my Dad is in my thoughts. He loved the place and what he really got a thrill out of on the odd occasion it happened, was, during my Dibb days, we would get approached in a park by fellow Dibbers who recognised us. I think he was quite proud of that tiny bit of recognition, and he certainly enjoyed being in and reading the trip reports.

Now of course, we have started the next generation of trips with Freddie and Dougie, and I doubt they will be as obsessed as I am, and probably will not go as often, but I think, for those who get it, my girls have both summed up what I’m trying to say in different ways.

Firstly, here are the photos Emily posted on her Disney Instagram account last week (go follow her) showing how she feels Disney has touched her life. I think they do it perfectly.

Secondly, I’ll go back to our first trip with Freddie in 2019. It was our first morning and we were of course in Magic Kingdom. We had just entered the park and were standing at the hub looking up at the castle. There was a trolley show on, and I think one of the performers gave Freddie some attention whilst he watched from his stroller. I turned to see Rebecca in floods of tears, and she said…

“I get it now!”.

Of course, she had loved WDW before, but it hits differently as a parent and to see that realisation on her face and her reaction to seeing Freddie in that place, will probably tell you all I want to about 100 years of Disney without me trying to get the words out.

Cynics may say this is all manufactured schmaltz and others may say I should stop regurgitating the same content and photos and they are probably right, but beyond the schmaltz can be a form of magic, a generational bond, formed from memories and happy times that can help to get you through the less happy ones. Ultimately, if that makes you feel “better”, if it supports your mental state and improves your well being then it can’t be a bad thing. It’s better than doing drugs, although a lot more expensive.

Till the next time…..

The Generation Game Tour 2023 – Day Eleven Friday 26th May

13/08/2023 by mkingdon, posted in The Generation Game Tour 2023

Well, this weather was showing no signs of improving. Inexplicably I was awake at 6. Mind you, with the bar closing at 10 we did get an early night.

I rested and pottered for quite sometime before the need for breakfast became too hard to resist. Louise couldn’t be arsed getting up (she hadn’t slept very well at all) so Mum and I went down to Constant Grind again.

We Facetimed Emily back home over our usuals of Granola, toast and today a Danish for me, as what is breakfast without cake, before we headed out to the pool area. The forecast was pretty grim.

It was not a struggle to find beds by the pool with the weather how it was.

Weather for ducks indeed.

It was so windy that umbrellas were not permitted to be erect.

Louise joined us and as Mum nipped back up to her room to get something we chatted and quickly decided that an early return to Orlando may be in order. This was our last day/night in Daytona but there seemed little point if the beach and pool were not going to be enjoyable.

We consulted Mum who didn’t mind either way, and after deciding at 10.30, we were packed, checked out and in the car by 11.30.

As if to confirm our decision was correct, the drive “home” was a wet one. I kept it simple and stuck to the I4 all the way and it was painless enough apart from a slight delay around downtown Orlando.

Our time in Daytona had not been what we had hoped. Much of it had been enjoyable, the hotel was absolutely fine, the time we were able to enjoy the sun was very welcome and the baseball is always a treat, but ultimately I think we were all a little disappointed. The weather played a large part in that of course but beyond that, our impression of Daytona this time was that it was a resort in decline. It was very quiet almost everywhere and outside of the handful of very nice hotels along the beach, it was, to be frank quite run down and in places felt a little unsafe. I don’t think we would return.

Having left the villa a few days ago, assuming we would never return, we had stripped our beds and left all the sheets for Rebecca to wash when they checked out in the utility room. That had, in light of current events been a poor decision, as we now needed to wash and dry them before putting them back on our bed for tonight.

So we got to the villa, stuck a wash on and then went out for some lunch. Rebecca, Tom and the boys were out at Epcot.

Wanting the closest possible eatery we chose the little cafe thing at the clubhouse on the villa development, called Tu Casa. We were a little gutted we had not found the clubhouse before now. The boys would have loved the pool and its slides.

We ordered –

Louise – Nachos (of course)

Mum – Caesar Wrap

Me – Loaded Fries

Once we were done we drove back to the villa, shoved the sheets in the dryer ad set off for Epcot, parking in Crush 205.

We walked in due to another complete absence of trams.

It was nice to be back for an unexpected bonus park half day.

We did Spaceship Earth immediately having let Rebecca know where we were.

This was a source of immense pride.

They were riding Journey Into Imagination so after our ride we walked over there to meet them. Once they appeared we spent a little while watching the boys enjoy the fountains.

And experienced a large Pooh.

We noticed Soarin’ at just 25 minutes on the app (we were Genie+ less of course today) so we headed there and joined the queue. Louise sat out with Dougie.

As we left the ride, it was timed perfectly for Rebecca, Tom and the boys to check in for their ADR at Garden Grill at 5.55 so we left them to it.

We walked up to World Showcase for a wander and started at Canada.

Mum sat out in the sun whilst Louise and I enjoyed the show and of course the song especially.

As we continued through the UK, I had to restroom and all I will say is that it was Florida’s problem now. Into France and I tried to lead us up to the bakery but Louise insisted that we eat proper food instead so I was denied.

We ended up in the Tangerine Cafe in Morocco, I think for the first time ever and had some lamb kebabs and Hummus (nobody knows how to spell Hummus). It was absolutely delicious. It was so tasty I almost whipped my phone out and booked us a holiday there.

Having ticked the “proper food” box, I led us astray at the Funnel Cake stand in America.

It was awesome.

That was one of the two we shared.

We had a message from Rebecca that we were done eating and had a virtual queue return time about now for Guardians. I walked down to meet them to collect Dougie so they didn’t have to baby swap. That would have worked off all the funnel cake I am sure.

We continued our journey through the countries, including a ride in Mexico.

And some trolling in Norway.

It was now that lovely dusky time around World Showcase.

And soon it was dark….

I got us some frozen Margaritas from Mexico for the watching of fireworks and we took up a position opposite the America Pavillion with our backs to Spaceship Earth ready for a quick-ish getaway.

Mum wandered off into the nearby shop to look at stuff at 8.55, falling foul of the “we close the shops bang on 9pm” rule and getting herself locked in and missing the start of the fireworks!

Epcot Forever seemed better than the last time we saw it, somehow, unlike my photography. It’s still no Reflections of Earth.

We started our final exit from Disney for this trip with all the usual emotions and feelings. It had been quite some years since we had done the slow walk out to the main entrance as we always tend to find a way to be able to go via International Gateway.

Many of the emotions I feel at this time are based on never assuming we will return. You never know. Now, based on our track record, that’s unlikely but I reserve the right to feel all melancholy if I want to.

It was a long old walk back to the car and as if to reinforce the return to reality from the Disney bubble we stopped at the 7-11 to get some bin bags.

We were home and in bed by 10.45.

Till the next time…..

The Generation Game Tour 2023 – Day Four Friday 19th May

25/06/2023 by mkingdon, posted in The Generation Game Tour 2023

What do you mean we are creatures of habit and we nearly always do the parks in the order in which they were built? Surely everyone does that? As law dictates then, it would be Epcot today, but first, we had to wake up early and prepare some fine dining options for breakfast in the form of bagels, cereal and toast, as suited to everyone’s desires.

Yes, technically, yesterday we went to Hollywood Studios, but that was a tactical insertion just to see Fantasmic and does not count as a proper theme park day!

At 7am, I went to work on the app and secured Genie+, a LL for Ratatouille and a boarding group for Guardians. I regularly have less productive 8-hour days at work.

Tom drove again and got us safely to the Rocket area of Epcot’s car park, which was a new one to me. It left us with a long walk in and both Mum and Freddie got ambulatory aides today in the form of an ECV and a stroller.

We were headed for Soarin’ first and it was a walk-on, once we had parked up all our vehicles and decided on a sitter for Dougie, which this time was Louise.

Mum rode this one as it is her absolute favourite ride in WDW. Once we had collected all the vehicles and Louise and Dougie, we moved on to Journey Into Imagination.

It’s an odd day when you queue longer for this than Soarin’. Everybody rode.

It was 11.30 now and as Rebecca and Tom hadn’t had time for breakfast whilst getting the boys up and ready, they were in need of food now, so we opted for an early lunch. We decided to head to the new Creations place.

Epcot was looking very nice…

I found Mum a decent spot to park up her ride and waited whilst she did. It was up against one of the large windows of Creations, and the souls of the family eating on the other side of it almost left their bodies as Mum hit that window at full speed. She was still getting used to it, it is fair to say. Once inside, we found and dragged together a couple of tables and mobile ordered. It was burgers, chicken sandwiches and pizza for most and a salad for the odd folks.

Dougie, looking ready for a nap, had some milk.

I was one of the odd folks, with this “salad”.

It all came to about $120.

After lunch, Rebecca and Tom got a Joffreys coffee and a doughnut.

It was now time for our LL for Ratatouille so we had a long old walk up to France. It was incredibly hot which helped.

Once we finally arrived, Louise stayed off with Dougie whilst we rode. It was a first ride for Rebecca, Tom and Freddie and my second. A clever ride and a great addition to World Showcase. I just wish it had been closer to Future World today as we now had to walk all the way back down there.

At a kiosk along the way, Louise and Tom got themselves an alcoholic drink, which was strong enough to put us all in bed.

Mainly to benefit from the AC, we made a stop in the Creations shop, which, I’m afraid will never be as iconic as Mousegear. Still, it has some good stuff in it, and Freddie was treated to some awesomely expensive plastic tat.

Mum bought some Crocs and on the way to the till, almost killed a small child who crossed the path of her death machine at the wrong moment.

Enough shopping now and time for Mission Space and some idiot let Freddie choose which side to go for. It was of course Orange, whereas, after my salad, my vomit would be green.

Louise once again chose the sun over the ride and sat out with Mum, who still hasn’t forgiven me for getting her on Mission Space about a decade ago. She still feels queasy she says.

We had a LL but there was no standby queue to speak of.

As we emerged, with me feeling surprisingly OK, we found Dougie in the splash pad. Louise and Mum were there too. He had not been abandoned.

As you can see, he loved it. Freddie joined him for a bit.

Due to the incredible heat and being burned, amazingly from being exposed to the sun at every opportunity, Louise had stolen my cap. As a man with little protection in that area, I cannot afford to be capless for long so I wandered off to get myself a new one and whilst I was there I got Freddie a pair of Crocs to replace his now very wet trainers.

Next over to the Seas. Another walk-on for the Nemo ride.

We started to have a look around the Manatees and the various tanks…

I was fending off typical Freddie questions like “Why are there Manatees?”…he meant in the world, not so much the tank in front of us, when I was relieved to get a notification that our Guardians boarding group was called.

Another crossing of the park was made all the harder by the continued work in the middle of the park and we encountered about a half an hour wait to ride.

It is still awesome and I would say, this is the best ride on property. Again, a first for Rebecca, Tom and Freddie and they were all blown away by it. Our music this time was Tears for Fears.

Checking in on Mum and Dougie as we passed, we went straight onto Test Track for which I had secured a LL earlier.

This was Freddie’s car.

Louise and I did not manage to build one as our screen froze as my design skills clearly blew its mind. A ride enjoyed by all but especially Freddie and of course on the way out we stood beside some cars.

Dougie had fallen asleep whilst we rode, so we decided against doing Spaceship Earth on the way out of the park, which was where we were headed now. We dropped off the stroller and ECV and endured the long walk back to the car.

For tea tonight we were taking everyone to Ford’s Garage as Louise, Emily and I had enjoyed it on our last trip in January. We were seated immediately out on the patio. Freddie had some time with the camera.

Louise and Mum, not being overly hungry, just ordered the kettle chips.

Tom had a Chipotle Chicken Sandwich and Freddie a Cheeseburger with Tots

I, eventually, had Nachos. I think they forgot them to be honest and I had to wait a good ten minutes after everyone else got their food. They were worth the wait. Yes, they were large but I did only have that “light salad” for lunch remember.

Rebecca had an un-photographed Chicken Nachos.

Freddie went back to the camera.

The bill was….

On the way home we called in at Publix to get some pool toys and some “bits” that we needed. On one of these trips, at some point, we may be able to go a full day without the need for medial supplies or supermarket bits. We were back at the villa and in bed before 10pm.

Till the next time….

The Coats, Boats and Little Scrotes Tour 2023 – Day Twelve Friday 20th January

16/04/202316/04/2023 by mkingdon, posted in The Coats, Boats and Little Scrotes Tour 2023

Friday 20th January

Today started with a 6.45 alarm. Yay for being on holiday. Was this early rise required for onerous cruise departure activities? No. It was required as Disney think it’s OK to have their guests be awake at 7am in order to get on some rides at additional expense. Have I said I don’t like this?

As 7am rolled around I secured a Guardians virtual queue group and a LL for Remy. We were headed for Epcot once we got back to Orlando so I was sorting out all the admin related to going to a theme park.

We rose, showered, dressed, and packed our final bits into our hand luggage before heading for breakfast at 8am. We were eating in the Roy Disney restaurant.

We started with pastries.

I also had muesli as I am all about healthy eating.

You can tell we were dining alone now as my food photo game is back on point.

For balance, I also had French Toast.

Louise had what I wrote down as “scramble”. Make of that what you wish.

Emily had Eggs for the Road

It was all very, very nice and it made us a little sad that we hadn’t managed to get breakfast here earlier on the cruise.

We said our farewells to Edi, our server and went to sit in The Bayou until our group number was called to disembark. I Facetimed my Mum whilst we were waiting and gave her a brief tour of the ship.

We left the ship at 9 and it took about fifteen minutes to queue to get through customs.

We were soon back in the car and we had a smooth and painless drive back to Orlando. It took one hour and ten minutes until we pulled up at The Yacht Club.

We dropped our cases at Bell Services and headed out towards Epcot.

I do find it hard, no matter how often I try, to express my love for this place.

It felt good to be back in my spiritual, yet expensive home.

We stopped for a drink by the pool where we were joined by this delightful lot.

We continued our walk to the park…

arriving just after 12. We started our journey of the countries in the UK and as always tends to be the case, after a swift breeze through the shops, left again. This pavilion needs a show or a ride.

Then, O Canada.

The show may have changed, but thankfully, for their sake, Disney saw fit to retain the song and I soaked up every second of it and I think I even went live on Facebook to inflict it on others too.

We continued around the showcase heading now for Mexico. The queue at the Margarita stall could have benefitted from Guardians’ style virtual queue. It was enormous!

There were similar scenes inside the pavilion for the Tequila bar too. It may have passed me by in previous times as we were busy with small kids but the Epcot alcohol thing seems to have really become a thing in recent years.

We did our duty and rode the Three Caballeros ride.

I was feeling a little peckish at this point, having only had the three courses for breakfast, so I got an Apple cake thing from the Norway Pavilion bakery. It was pure filth in all the right ways.

We wandered on through the countries until in Italy, we got some light bites. I was served by a CM called Guiseppe (yes really), who was so good looking he made me reconsider my life choices.

Freid Mozzarella and Ravioli.

We found a quiet spot to eat them.

I honestly don’t think I had ever noticed that there was a ship here before.

We were joined by a very friendly seagull, hopeful of some pasta, but he was scared away by some idiot teen who thought chasing it was a fun activity. What is wrong with people?

We browsed around Italy for a while and then it was time for our Guardian’s return time. Yes, we were the furthest point possible away from it!

We stopped off sort of on the way at Journey Into Imagination to look in the shop for a Figment T-Shirt that Emily wanted. We were a little surprised to find hardly any Figment merch there.

We entered Guardian’s at 2.30 for Emily’s first ride. This time we got Tears for Fears as our soundtrack. This ride just makes me smile all the way around. It is tremendous fun.

I have to admit to feeling a little dizzy afterwards and we had ten minutes on a bench people-watching.

Now, our slot for Remy was close and yes, we were the furthest possible point away from that too. We set off on the long walk to France.

After a long wait since it opened and a few failed attempts, we finally got to ride it.

It is a very clever ride and I am glad we did it. I am resentful that we had to hand over a load extra dollars to do so but such is the way at the moment.

Having not watched “the film” in France since the old one years ago, we stopped into the Beauty and The Beast sing a long show and despite the low numbers made our way to the end of the row.

We now made our way back to Italy for our dinner reservation at Via Napoli.

On the way, we paused in Morocco to watch the belly dancer there. This was always a favourite with my Dad and not for the first or last time this trip, he was in our thoughts.

We checked in and were seated after about ten minutes. We had a table at the back of the restaurant.

We had a great server and great food, as always tends to be the case.

I had a beer flight.

We ordered –

Emily – Mozzarella and Tomato salad….

White pizza

Louise – Same starter, then four cheese pizza

Me – Rice Balls (but CVS would have a cream for that)

Piccante pizza

Something weird happened as we were ending the meal. Our server, out of nowhere asked Emily if she was a cast member or used to be and she said yes. He chatted with her about folks he had known from the UK pavilion and a load of other stuff and we never worked out or asked how on earth he knew that. We did ask if he recognised her but he said no.

Anyway, he then proceeded to give us a cast member discount and I responded with a very large tip.

We left at 6.30 and headed for the theatre at the America pavilion to watch the Broadway show.

I am always staggered to find these things are not packed out hours in advance. They are superb, but we are big musicals fans.

Tonight’s show was from a husband and wife duo. He had played Tarzan and she was in the Newsies Broadway show. The songs they chose weren’t particularly known to me, but we enjoyed them very much.

We were all flagging a bit now. It had been a long day. We walked back to the UK pavilion to catch the 8pm show from Command Performance. We found a bench thankfully and despite the band striking up and almost frightening a poor rabbit to death, the show was great if not a little short. It was empty when we arrived but very soon filled up.

We let the crowd disperse before making the short journey to the bridge and our usual firework-watching spot. I think you know by now that I was not the biggest fan of Harmonious and again as much as I could appreciate the technical skills of the show, it felt devoid of any soul and feeling. It was just random clips of songs with no real theme or message. I appreciate I may be trying to give a fireworks show too much gravitas here, but Reflections of Earth did it and spoiled it for all other fireworks shows.

I spared you the usual collection of blurry fireworks photos.

We walked slowly back to the resort and asked Bell Services to send our cases up to our room. Once we got there I realised that I had a distinct lack of cash for any tip. I cobbled together a few dollars in coins and handed that over sheepishly to the poor chap who delivered our bags.

We enjoyed the view from the balcony briefly.

Before being asleep by 10.30.

Till the next time……

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: