Friday 26th December 2003

Although today is traditionally Boxing Day for us, the Americans don’t celebrate such a thing so it was all back to business as usual today! We all went to Animal kingdom for the day which was totally rammed full of people. It was incredible, all of the lines were endless, so we really made the most of the fast pass system today! We used this facility to get on Dinosaur and It’s Tough to be a Bug! How great is that show?!?! And what a great picture opportunity of the tree as you exit.

We started the day off with the Kilimanjaru safaris tour. We saw a surprising amount of animals considering how late in the day it was already getting. We then walked around the Pangani Trail, but it was so full of people it was less than pleasureable! We agreed that we couldn’t troop around in a party of 7, so we split up and agreed to meet again later in the day. We had good timing too, when we met up we were in perfect position for the parade that was just about to pass! Once the parade was finished, it was time for Rob and I to use our fast passes for It’s Tough to be a Bug, it was totally hilarious but I don’t want to ruin it for anyone due to visit! Lets just say, it’s a very real experience of what it would be like to be an honorary bug for a day!

After we found everyone again, we were happy to go back to the villa for a swim and change of clothes, before we went out to dinner at JT’s family steakhouse (brilliant VFM!) and then onto Epcot for IllumiNations at 9.30!

When we got to Epcot, we located my picture on Leave a Legacy from 98, and then rob, Max, Sophie and I lined up for single rider Test Track, while dad went with Rob’s parents to pick a spot by Norway for the show. We all enjoyed our evening and we were glad that we had made the effort to come out again!

Saturday 27th December 2003

Today we spent all day at Disney/MGM Studios. Again it was totally packed, and all of the lines were miles long. The first thing we did was to get fast passes for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster! We then agreed to meet for lunch and split until then. Sophie came with Rob and I today, so we took her for her first experience of Muppets 3D! Not as scary as the bug one but still a classic!

We also managed to get straight onto the Backlot tour, although due to the new attraction MGM are building (stunt show) on the backlot, the tour was very different. The house facades have totally gone, which meant no Osbourne family lights attraction this year.

I also noticed that the earful Tower was not wearing its normal holiday wear of a giant santa hat. No idea why this might be though! A bit disappointing.

Once we all met up for a pizza at Toy Story’s Pizza Planet, it was time for our ride ont eh Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster! I love this ride, and it was every bit as good as I’d remembered!

Afterwards, we headed towards the Indiana Jones Stunt show as Rob’s Mum and Dad had fast passes for it. However, we stopped outside to watch the passing parade, so by the time we went in it was standing room only! We aborted that plan and came back to the villa for a relaxing 2 hour swim/hot tubbing! We all felt rejuvenated enough after our showers and deli style dinner to head back to MGM for the 10pm showing of Fantasmic! We also had evening Fast passes for R’n’R coaster! We also found tiem to get on the Great Movie Ride before joining the throngs of people waiting to get in to see Fantasmic. It was superb, the highlight of our day! Got back to the villa exhausted after another amazing day! Oh and I even caught some sun today!

Sunday 28th December 2003

As today is Rob’s parents last day, we decided to have an easy day. We started out by taking a drive north from the villa on the 27 to the Lake Louisa State Park. It was very swampy and totally deserted, but interesting to see.

When we were done with the nature section of our holiday (all 10 minutes of it!) we went for a Maccy D’s near to Disney. Then we went on to the Gaylord Palms (really?!) hotel to see their ICE! Exhibition. It was 9 degrees F in there, and I w