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Mrs Brizzle
 United Kingdom
182 Posts
Joined: 26 Aug 2003
Status: offline |  Posted - 01 Apr 2008 : 10:49:14  
| Sorry it's taken me ages - heres another installment 
Day 12 – Thursday
This morning we thought we had better give mother in law the opportunity of a last shopping spree at Premium Outlets. We struggled to get everyone up and dressed and breakfasted and into the car. We parked in the new multi storey parking lot and walked through, we decided to split up and meet up at 1pm by the fountain. I found some nifty gadgets in the Gourmet Chef shop including a palm peeler for peeling vegetables; it was only about $4 and I wish I had got my mum one as it is really good. We popped in all our usual shops but the girls were playing up so it made it hard to concentrate on getting much! Shopping done we left and stopped for a takeaway lunch of Macdonald’s as we were heading out for the afternoon without mother in law.
Back home we shovelled our lunch down and re stocked the baby bag and headed off to Animal Kingdom. We wanted to get a lot of character photos on our photo pass and I also wanted to see the parade as we usually miss them. It was really hot and sweaty by the time we got into the park and really busy with spring breakers.
We stopped for a couple of pictures on the bridge in front of the tree and then headed for Camp Minnie – Mickey where we lined up for Minnie, Goofy and Mickey. Unfortunately Oren only managed to stay awake for Minnie as the heat just wiped him out and he fell asleep. Goofy was really kind though and got down next to the pram for a photo; he was also true to form and in typical Goofy style went around shushing everyone and pointing to the pram lol! The longest line was for Mickey and I thought at one point we wouldn’t make the parade. We managed to finish in time and headed back out in time to get a spot behind the line for the parade. The parade was great although the girls kept asking why they couldn’t be in it! Especially as there were a lot of families on the floats – I presume they had won year of a million dreams magical moments or something. We waved until the last float passed and then joined the throngs in search of further entertainment.
Unfortunately all the rides had long wait times and all the fast passes for Everest had gone. We asked a cast member at the Winnie the Pooh and friends character spot what the wait time was but it was 30 minutes or more so we decided not to bother. We wandered on and got to the new(ish) Finding Nemo – The Musical, it was just a few minutes to go until show time so we ditched the stroller and raced into the theatre. We didn’t get very good seats as we were at the back and couldn’t see very much. Oren needed feeding and Libby needed the loo so I can’t say I really gave the show my full attention but it seemed good if a little long. Show over with we went to see if Libby was tall enough for Primeval Whirl in Dinoland but she wasn’t and it was really busy so we kept on going. The girls wanted to play in the Boneyard so they went in with Neil while I took Oren to the ladies in search of a baby change area. However it was so busy that there was even a line for the changing table in the loo!
So I decided not to wait but to visit the Baby Care centre on the way out to change him.
I found Neil in the play area and attempted to round up the girls. Whilst we were waiting for the girls to have ‘one last go’ the cast member was chatting to us and another lady and pointing out the fierce water fountain that soaked any child that wanted a drink. At which point Neil asked each of the girls if they wanted a drink (not while the other one was there), both of them said yes and pressed the button and a jet of water shot out whilst we all fell about laughing, they were both quick enough to dodge it though although were not happy when they realised we knew they might get a soaking (mean parents lol!) However when the other lady asked her son if he wanted a drink, he wasn’t quite so fast and got a soaking – cue more laughter from us and the cast member. He also pointed out a hidden Mickey to us that I would never have spotted. Around the water fountain there is what looks like a damp spot where the water has landed on the ground. Only it’s a fake and isn’t wet at all and is in the shape of Mickey if you look closely.
We headed towards the Baby Care centre that is in the middle of the park and when we got there it was an oasis of calm! I had used the baby care centres a long time ago when Libby was a baby but this the first time we had needed one with Oren. It was virtually empty and it was lovely and cool with cold drinking water and cups. There was everything you could possibly need when travelling with babies or toddlers – tables for changing, private rooms with comfortable chairs for breast feeding, a microwave, a bottle warmer and a TV room with Disney movies for the older children. They are also well stocked with supplies to buy if you should happen to get caught short without a nappy or other emergency. The girls grabbed a drink and then headed for the TV while I changed Oren and Neil had a look around and took some photos of the facilities. We had a chat to the cast member and asked if they had any jars of baby food as we didn’t have any on us, he promptly showed us to a cupboard full of baby food and I selected a jar and then paid on the way out. My top tip if it’s a hot day at Animal Kingdom and you have frazzled kids, dip in here a while and chill out as it’s really calm.
We headed back out into the sunshine and out of the park in search of food. I asked the girls for suggestions of a restaurant and Sydney asked if we could try Macaroni Grill. We have passed this several times on the 192 but have not tried it before so we said yes as it was on our way home. We had a little wait for a table as we needed space for Oren in his car seat and we had one false start when they thought they had a table but it wasn’t big enough.. Once seated our server introduced himself as Mario and wrote his name in crayon on the tablecloth! We then realised that the tablecloth was indeed a large sheet of paper and the girls went scribbling mad!
We made our order and then our server brought us some lovely fresh warm bread and with olive oil and black pepper for dipping. The bread was very good (although a bit too herby tasting for Libby) and being hungry is was hard to stop ourselves filling up on it, I ordered Chicken Sorrentino (Grilled chicken breast with honey balsamic glaze, with roasted roma tomatoes, arugula and imported buffalo mozzarella on capellini pasta), Neil had Lasagne and the girls had cheese pizza. Neil struggled with his lasagne as it was huge, Sydney and I enjoyed ours but Libby didn’t like her pizza – I think because it was a bit too much tomato. Neil also had an Italian soda which made a nice non alcoholic change from the usual fare. The girls had ice cream and chocolate sauce and I had also already set my sights on pudding as it looked gorgeous in the picture – Three-Berry Tiramisu - Lemon cake layered with blackberry, raspberry and strawberry puree, sweet mascarpone and whipped cream. Topped with fresh strawberries and crushed almond biscotti. Unfortunately our server forgot to order it so it was late coming, we were in rush to get home for Lost so I didn’t get a photo as I had to wolf it down.
Food done we zoomed home, put the girls to bed and sat down to watch Lost on abc.
Girls with Goofy
Girls with Mickey
Jammin Jungle Parade
Jammin Jungle Parade
Animal Kingdom arty shot
Me and Children in Animal Kingdom
Babycare Centre in Animal Kingdom
Babycare Centre
Babycare Centre
Babycare Centre
Me at Romano's Macaroni Grill
Libby at our table
Sydney drawing on the table cloth
Libby drawing on the table cloth
A rare picture of Neil!
Day 13 – Friday
Today it was time for another park. We decided on trying out Blizzard Beach another new one for us. We did the same as before and got there for opening at around 10 am. This time I had learned from Typhoon Lagoon and bagged a cabana a little way back from the main pool area, I set up loungers etc and covered the girls in sun cream before they headed off with Neil to explore. Oren was having a nap in his stroller and mother in law dragged her lounger into the sun to roast herself some more!
Before too long Libby came back as Neil and Sydney wanted to do some slides while it was quiet and she didn’t want to go. I was hungry as I had not had breakfast so we left Oren and nanny snoozing and went in search of food and drink. I bought a refillable mug again and a dozen hot mini doughnuts with white chocolate and raspberry dipping sauce – yummy!
We came back with them and found Neil and Syd back already – Neil had grazed his knee on the first slide! I had a plaster luckily so put that on and then we demolished those doughnuts! Snack over with Syd wanted to carry on with the slides so left Oren with nanny and they dragged me onto the family raft assuring me it was gentle! We climbed what felt like halfway up a mountain and climbed into a 4 person raft and flew off with me backwards down the flume! I screamed most of the way down and plopped into a pool at the bottom where a photographer was waiting, I then had get out of the raft, and there is no dignified way of doing this!
We then split up as Libby wasn’t tall enough to go on the things that Syd wanted to do so I took Libby into a pre teen area with some activities for her age group while they did the bigger stuff. We met up again and the girls did a net scramble thing walking across blocks of (plastic) ice in the water and then we watched as Syd stood in line to fly down a zip wire and then drop into the water! Libby was really cold even though the sun was out so we headed back to fetch a towel for her. Oren had woken up when we got back so we got him dressed in his UV suit and sun cream and took him to the toddler area. It wasn’t as good as Typhoon Lagoon in my opinion and the water wasn’t as warm plus the photographer disappeared as soon as we got there so I didn’t get any photos of him as I had hoped ;-(
We had enough of the toddler area and Libby wasn’t feeling to great and was shivering so I took her back to the loungers where she wanted to get dressed and lie down for a nap. I sat down for 5 minutes while Oren sat in his stroller playing and Neil and Syd were in the wave pool. I got chatting with the family next to us who were on their first trip and turned out to be from Exeter in Devon – not far from us in Bristol. I was chatting with the grandmother who had come over with her husband, children and grandchildren to celebrate the grandfather’s retirement. They had been spoilt on the way over as Virgin had bumped the grandparents up to premium economy as they couldn’t seat the six of them together, very nice! How come that never happens to me lol! They were having a great time although they admitted they had bought to many days on their tickets and were not going to use all their days. They were loving the villa though and the fact they could go back with clean clothes thanks to the washing machine. I asked her where she was staying and I am sure she said Clear Creek Circle although I am not sure as it was not a community I had heard of. She said the first meal they ate was I Cracker Barrel and it was awful, it’s not somewhere we like so I gave her a few suggestions and told her about Celebration as she had not heard about it.
Shortly Neil and Syd came back and we decided to call it a day as Libby was a bit off colour. I offered our loungers and our refillable mug to the family from Devon as it is only good for one day and I didn’t want to take it home anyway, plus I am a great believer in karma. They were really pleased and took our loungers under the cabana as the sun was high in the sky and the temperature was soaring.
We had had a bit of a disaster with Neil’s IPod and he had managed to slam it in the glove compartment whilst waiting for me at Subway the other day. The screen was cracked and you could no longer see anything. We decided to replace it whilst in the US and take our chance that the travel insurance would pay out when we got home. So we jumped in the car and programmed the SatNav for Mall at Millennia to visit the Apple shop. We got there easily and parked up, I had also always wanted to try out the Cheesecake Factory so this seemed like a good opportunity. En route to the Apple Shop we popped into a game shop as mother in law has being trying to buy a DS Lite for the last couple of years but every time we visit they seem to be sold out. She was in luck they had some and she bought a blue one. That done we headed downstairs to the Apple shop where we browsed the latest technology like the Mac Book Air and the IPod touch and phone. Neil was undecided whether to replace like for like or spend a bit more and upgrade to the IPod Touch. I suggested he think about it while we ate a late lunch at the Cheesecake Factory ;-)
We were seated promptly and our server was very good, she explained the very large portions, where we could find some lighter portions and also some suitable items for the girls as there was no special children’s menu. She also got me some hot water to stand Oren’s bottle and baby food in to warm up.
She took our order and I decided to go for soup and salad as I wanted to get to the cheesecake! The soup of the day was New England clam chowder and I had ranch dressing with my salad. Neil opted for an appetizer of chicken sliders and the girls shared a cheese pizza, mother in law went for classic fish and chips. The food came and it was one of the best meals we had this trip. My soup was absolutely delicious and very hearty, Neil enjoyed his sliders which were like mini chicken burgers but there were 4 of them and he couldn’t finish them (bear in mind this was an appetizer!) The girl’s pizza was very cheesy and better quality than some they have had and mother in law was absolutely in love with her fish and chips and kept saying how light the batter was. We then moved on to cheesecake and OMG the choice tremendous. I was having trouble so I asked my server about her favourites, I settled on a coconut dream slice, Neil had vanilla bean as he likes a light pudding, Syd went for a chocolate Oreo cookie one and mother in law went for something covered in hot fudge sauce. I was the only one that finished hurrah! The rest was boxed and we paid and left to go back to the Apple shop. Neil decided on buying the IPod touch, you don’t have to go to a till here, you just find a member of staff wandering the shop floor and they fetch you whatever you want and the swipe your credit card – easy peasy!
Job done we went back to the car and drove down I drive to get home, this was a good move as we saw later that the I4 was chocca block with traffic.
We got home pretty tired and Libby was feeling pretty grotty so tried to get her to nap but there was no chance when she realised Neil and Sydney were going down to the pool. So we all went down to the clubhouse and I browsed the web while the others swam. We had planned on going out but time was slipping away and it was late by the time we got the children to bed. In the end we went to Walmart as I needed baby milk and nappies, we did a bit of shopping for sundries like underwear and also got 3 Easter baskets to fill with little pressies instead of eggs this year. The lines at the checkout were huge and it took us ages to pay and get out, exhausted we fell into bed.
Blizzard Beach Melt-Away Bay
Blizzard Beach - Downhill Double Dipper
Another shot of Melt-Away Bay
Beach in front of Melt-Away Bay
Cheesecake Factory - Mother in Laws Fish and Chips
Cheesecake Factory - Neil's Chicken Sliders
Cheesecake Factory - My Soup and Salad
Cheesecake Factory - Mother in laws Cheesecake with Hot Fudge Sauce
Cheesecake Factory - Sydney's Oreo Cheesecake
Cheesecake Factory - Neil's Vanilla Bean Cheesecake
Cheesecake Factory - My Coconut Dream Cheesecake
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CERICROWLEY
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mizzy
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Status: offline | Posted - 01 Apr 2008 : 12:41:58
| another great report Heidi, my two can hardly wait to visit the cheesecake factory again, we only had room for cheesecake last visit as we'd eaten brekkie but i think if we go hungry i could easily be tempted by that fish n chips 
the girls and Oren look really sweet and nice to see shy Neil too | | Report this post to a moderator | goto top of page |
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LiesaAnna
 United Kingdom
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Status: offline | Posted - 02 Apr 2008 : 08:10:55
| | thanks Heidi again, loving your reports, love the photos, nice to see Neil, and loved the one of you and the children, 2 mummys doubles and one is daddy double!! lovely thanks again....... |
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TrishT
 United Kingdom
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Status: offline | Posted - 06 Apr 2008 : 18:14:47
| Great reports, two of our favourites AK and Blizzard Beach, brings back happy memories, have never tried cheesecake factory but those pics of the food look lovely so another to add to the list. Really enjoyed your trip reports and pics a big thanks to you and hope you all settled back home well  | | Report this post to a moderator | goto top of page |
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Oren's First Florida Trip - Part 10
