Friday, 20 May 2011
Anna- second day at Yosemite
On our second day we woke up to see a clear blue sky and absolutely amazing sights. We got ready for a long hike to Vernal Fall. All uphill but we got there eventually. We saw hundreds of squirrels, darting around all over the place. Near the end there was a steep climb up lots of stairs. We got really wet from all the spray from the waterfall. At the top we had our lunch and stood right at the start of the fall. There was obviously a barrier but if there wasn't you wouldn't be going anywhere near the edge! We then had to get all the way back down and decided to take a different path to avoid getting soaked all over again. It was a slightly longer route but it was a change of scenery. It was steep at the beginning but the started to flatten out before walking downhill. On the way down we were walking through snow drifts which was really cool. We had done enough walking for one day so we went straight to dinner. After dinner we went back to housekeeping camp, then went to the store to get firewood and marshmallows, chocolate, and biscuits for s'mores. It was a bit warmer for us for our last night.
Monday, 16 May 2011
Photos - San Francisco
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| Riding the cable car in San Fran |
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| Our awesome day cycling in San Fran. We cycled over the Golden Gate Bridge in gale force winds! |
Florida photos Alligators and Alligator food!
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| This one was just off the path, only about 2 metres from us - just a railing between us. he could easily have eaten me for his lunch! |
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| They could easily eat us, yet some people eat them! Alligator is farmed and made into all sorts of products. We did try it in the form of 'nuggets'. Tastes a bit like chicken. Mmmmm, delicious! |
Matthew - Dad and I go to Legoland!
Yesterday I went to Legoland with Dad. In the morning it was raining and we got very wet but the weather cleared in the afternoon. There was a bright red 10 foot tall Lego dragon greeting us at the gate. It was very cool! We saw an elephant in the water spraying water out of it's trunk. In the miniland USA there were some small boats in the water and the 'Statue of Liberty' the size of me!
You could pay $2 to drive one of the boats. I drove one of them into the port.
I saw two 4-D movies. The first one was called Klutch Powers Adventures and the second one was called Lego Racers. After that we went to Build and Test. This is where you make a car and test it. I raced my cars against other boys. I won lots of my races! We went on lots of rides and my favourite ride was the Dragon Roller-coaster. I bought some Lego and Dad bought me a mug. The mug has my name on it! I had a very fun day with Dad!!!! Check it all out on the website! http://california.legoland.com/explore/rides_and_attractions/
You could pay $2 to drive one of the boats. I drove one of them into the port.
I saw two 4-D movies. The first one was called Klutch Powers Adventures and the second one was called Lego Racers. After that we went to Build and Test. This is where you make a car and test it. I raced my cars against other boys. I won lots of my races! We went on lots of rides and my favourite ride was the Dragon Roller-coaster. I bought some Lego and Dad bought me a mug. The mug has my name on it! I had a very fun day with Dad!!!! Check it all out on the website! http://california.legoland.com/explore/rides_and_attractions/
Saturday, 14 May 2011
Sue - Goodbye Florida - Hello San Francisco
I was not a happy chappy! It was with incredible sadness that we said goodbye to Paul, Sue, Grace and Brandon in Florida. We had 3 wonderful weeks in Florida, but it wasn't enough! Lots of time in Naples, a few days in 'the keys' (which took us to the most Southern Point of the US) and 5 days in Orlando area going to Disney, Islands of Adventure (which included 'the wizarding world of Harry Potter'), Disney Water Park and the Kennedy Space Centre on the coast. Orlando theme parks were incredible and were 'must sees' but I still wanted more time to hang out with family. There were more things in Naples alone that I wanted to do...
Most of all it was great just to be around family, and as the plane left Florida soil, the unknown of when we will see them again brought much sadness. Thank you Paul, Sue, Grace and Brandon for having us to stay and welcoming us into your home. We love you all so much.
San Francisco here we come!!! We had a layover in Atlanta -the worlds busiest airport apparently- it certainly looked huge - and we never left the transit area! On arrival in San Fran, we sighted our first hills in 3 weeks. Florida is extremely flat and the only hill we experienced there was the slight elevation of a bridge! So, a huge change of scenery and a sharp jolt in temperature change. At last we have a need for all those clothes that we have carted around for the last 3 weeks! I will miss that warm weather - and I am sure I will miss it even more once we are back to Queenstown's winter! We had 2 hotels booked in San Fran , the first one close to the airport, so that we didn't need to drive far with 3 tired children on arrival. Glad we only had 1 night there as it was a bit shabby (and scabby!) but it suited our needs location wise. The next hotel was much nicer - Sheraton Four Points - had the most comfortable pillows I have experienced anywhere...ever! I managed to pick up some bug and had a fever for a day, so was grateful for a little comfort. In saying that, I dosed myself up with flu medicine and we all headed out to bike over the Golden Gate Bridge. Now that was an amazing experience! Really windy on the bridge. Reeeeeeeeeeeally windy! San Fran certainly gave us a dose of reality weather wise - after 3 weeks in tropical Florida weather, we were now freezing! That wind really whips into the bay. Also went to Alcatraz, which was facinating. Drove down the world's most crooked street, rode the cable cars and went to Chinatown. Loved every minute of it. So much to do, and not enough days to do it. Would love to come back some day....a touristy city but there is something special about it. Last time I was in San Francisco was 25 years ago, so it brought back some fun memories for me.
Most of all it was great just to be around family, and as the plane left Florida soil, the unknown of when we will see them again brought much sadness. Thank you Paul, Sue, Grace and Brandon for having us to stay and welcoming us into your home. We love you all so much.
San Francisco here we come!!! We had a layover in Atlanta -the worlds busiest airport apparently- it certainly looked huge - and we never left the transit area! On arrival in San Fran, we sighted our first hills in 3 weeks. Florida is extremely flat and the only hill we experienced there was the slight elevation of a bridge! So, a huge change of scenery and a sharp jolt in temperature change. At last we have a need for all those clothes that we have carted around for the last 3 weeks! I will miss that warm weather - and I am sure I will miss it even more once we are back to Queenstown's winter! We had 2 hotels booked in San Fran , the first one close to the airport, so that we didn't need to drive far with 3 tired children on arrival. Glad we only had 1 night there as it was a bit shabby (and scabby!) but it suited our needs location wise. The next hotel was much nicer - Sheraton Four Points - had the most comfortable pillows I have experienced anywhere...ever! I managed to pick up some bug and had a fever for a day, so was grateful for a little comfort. In saying that, I dosed myself up with flu medicine and we all headed out to bike over the Golden Gate Bridge. Now that was an amazing experience! Really windy on the bridge. Reeeeeeeeeeeally windy! San Fran certainly gave us a dose of reality weather wise - after 3 weeks in tropical Florida weather, we were now freezing! That wind really whips into the bay. Also went to Alcatraz, which was facinating. Drove down the world's most crooked street, rode the cable cars and went to Chinatown. Loved every minute of it. So much to do, and not enough days to do it. Would love to come back some day....a touristy city but there is something special about it. Last time I was in San Francisco was 25 years ago, so it brought back some fun memories for me.
Anna- our fist day at Yosemite.
When we arrived at Yosemite, it was midnight and we couldn't see the views. We found our 'room' and put on almost all our clothes on- it was freezing! In the morning it was raining, but it was amazing to see all the massive waterfalls around us. We walked to Bridalveil Fall and got soaked from all the spray. We then walked around camp because the rain stared getting heavier. While we were in the visitors center it started to snow which was so cool to see. We went to the musuem, the indian village, and we went on a few other small walks. We went to the restaurant for dinner, then went to some other warm room to play a few games before going back to housekeeping camp and jumping into bed for another very cold night.
Anna- off to San Francisco
The day to fly to California came too quickly- none of us wanted to leave! On the 5th of May we flew to San Francisco with a stop in Atlanta on the way. When we arrived in San Fran it was late and we were all very tired due to the time difference. We hired our rental car from the airport then found our hotel and went straight to bed. On the 6th, we moved into a different hotel. We caught the train into town. we had a booking for Alcatraz around lunchtime, so we walked down all the piers from pier 1 to pier 33. We took a boat out to Alcatraz. It's a prison on an island that was in use from 1934 to 1963. 'If you break the rules you go to prison. If you break the prison rules you go to Alcatraz.' No-one ever escaped because of the strong currents surrounding the water, and also because of the sharks. (Actually, some people did escape but were never found. Made it to safety or drowned? We will never know) We walked around the building, and went into some cells and other rooms like the library, the shower room and the dining room. After spending a few hours on the island, we caught the boat back. We continued walking along the piers, right to pier 39. We looked around at the shops, then walked further to the Fishermans Wharf. Thats where it happened. I left my mark in San Francisco- a green splat on the pavement! After that we found something to eat back at pier 39. Then we walked right back to pier 1 and then back to the train station. I didn't feel well again and on the train on the way back I threw up again, and again- it wasn't a pretty sight! Then, Holly and Matt acted as if I was poisonous- they wouldn't go anywhere near me, they wouldn't talk to me and if they HAD to walk past me they would sprint. We had a big day and were glad to go to bed. On our second day in San Fran we drove into town, then hired bikes from Blazing Saddles. We rode in the strong, cold wind along the Golden Gate Bridge. The views were amazing. We rode right along to a town called Sausalito. We had lunch there and looked around a bit. We took the ferry back with our bikes. The next day we got a cable car pass and went on the cable cars. We took them right to Chinatown. We looked around Chinatown for a bit, got some fortune cookies, then took the cable car back to our car. We said goodbye to San Fransisco and started the long drive to Yosemite National Park.
Hey, hey, hey its Holly!
I havn't written on the blog very much. I'm so sorry! We have just been so busy.
Just going to say a little bit about our time in Orlando. On our first day we went to Magic Kingdom. It was loads of fun- everything was soooo amazing! Our favourite ride was Splash Mountain. We got a little wet!
On our second day we went to a Disney Water Park- Blizzard Beach. There we went on the steepest water slide in the world! It was very cool.
On our third day we went to Kennedy Space Center. We ended up getting given free tickets from a lady, so that was a bonus!
We went to Islands of Adventure at Universal Studios on our fourth day. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was the best!! It was so realistic!
On our last day we went to Epcot at Disney. Not so many rides but just as cool!!
Our week in Orlando was very very busy but we had so much fun!!!!!!
Just going to say a little bit about our time in Orlando. On our first day we went to Magic Kingdom. It was loads of fun- everything was soooo amazing! Our favourite ride was Splash Mountain. We got a little wet!
On our second day we went to a Disney Water Park- Blizzard Beach. There we went on the steepest water slide in the world! It was very cool.
On our third day we went to Kennedy Space Center. We ended up getting given free tickets from a lady, so that was a bonus!
We went to Islands of Adventure at Universal Studios on our fourth day. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was the best!! It was so realistic!
On our last day we went to Epcot at Disney. Not so many rides but just as cool!!
Our week in Orlando was very very busy but we had so much fun!!!!!!
Matthew - Whale Watching in Monterey
Yesterday we went Whale watching in Monterey. We saw Sea Lions, Dolphins, Seals and Humpback Whales! The day before that we also saw Sea Otters and a Grey Whale. It was very rough on the boat and Holly got sea sick! It was very fun.
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Jim. Last day at Disney
Jim
Well we are a long way behind in various posts.
Day after we went to Cape Kennedy we got up early again and went off to Epcot for a last day of Disney. Epcot is a bit different - a bit of park rides etc but also a number of semi educational activities with around 14 different countries all having their own area - in these they have displays, food stalls, shops and in some cases rides - nationalities included the UK, America, Mexico, France, Germany, Norway, Japan, China and others.
French pastries for lunch - Mexican meal for dinner.
As happens every night with Disney, a massive fireworks display.
Again queues for all sorts of things and once again a hot day. Tiring but a good way to end our week in Orlando - we had talked about not doing Epcot but I am glad we did in many ways.
Our last half day on Saturday was spent at the malls doing some shopping (much to Matt's disgust) He ended up breaking a jandal and having to walk around in bare feet so with the heat, the shopping, and no shoes, we were surprised that he held things together so well.
Back to Paul and Sue's - reasonable drive but pleased to be heading home. Paul went up to Orlando as his rugby team that he coaches was playing State champs - they ended up winning and now go on to play another competition. Sue, Grace and Brandon all played in a golf tournament and seem to have had a good day.
Well we are a long way behind in various posts.
Day after we went to Cape Kennedy we got up early again and went off to Epcot for a last day of Disney. Epcot is a bit different - a bit of park rides etc but also a number of semi educational activities with around 14 different countries all having their own area - in these they have displays, food stalls, shops and in some cases rides - nationalities included the UK, America, Mexico, France, Germany, Norway, Japan, China and others.
French pastries for lunch - Mexican meal for dinner.
As happens every night with Disney, a massive fireworks display.
Again queues for all sorts of things and once again a hot day. Tiring but a good way to end our week in Orlando - we had talked about not doing Epcot but I am glad we did in many ways.
Our last half day on Saturday was spent at the malls doing some shopping (much to Matt's disgust) He ended up breaking a jandal and having to walk around in bare feet so with the heat, the shopping, and no shoes, we were surprised that he held things together so well.
Back to Paul and Sue's - reasonable drive but pleased to be heading home. Paul went up to Orlando as his rugby team that he coaches was playing State champs - they ended up winning and now go on to play another competition. Sue, Grace and Brandon all played in a golf tournament and seem to have had a good day.
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Florida photos
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| At Brandon's baseball |
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| Airboat ride |
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| Somewhere near Naples in Florida. Holly and Anna with cousin Grace |
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| Our Raccoon friend |
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| Amazing beach near Naples, Florida. We hired a Pontoon boat for the morning. |
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| Easter Egg Hunt |
Jim - 'Off to Universal Studios'
Jim
Another day another park we are off to Universal.
This is the same but different to Disney - lots of 3d rides or Disney on steroids! Spiderman is cool. Harry Potter World was also great despite Matt not wanting to go. The rides at HP were fantastic as well and we went on again later in the day queuing for HOURS!
Sue and the kids went on the green machine a huge roller coaster but I wimped out - what's the point when I know I'll vomit. Holly did get me on the RC at Harry Potter - Sue says it was worse that the green machine as you sit with your legs dangling but I did manage to do it (with my eyes closed).
HP was fun. Drinking butter beer. Amazing to see so many people buying wands and T Shirts and gear. Oh the money that must be spent - what do you do with a wand when you get home?
Jurassic Park took Matt on a flying raptor ride - the girls were too big. Lots of other rides too.
A couple of water rides - Popeye on a floating raft, we we got SOAKED. Luckily it was so hot that you dry pretty quickly.
Park closed at 10 and we walk back through the town centre where the bars are starting up but we are done. I buy a 'light up' T shirt on the way through - Sue's not sure where I will ever wear it but you have to have something! We race around doing a couple of rides again before the park closes - just one more Spiderman!
The kids are doing well but the signs of tiredness are creeping in.
Another day another park we are off to Universal.
This is the same but different to Disney - lots of 3d rides or Disney on steroids! Spiderman is cool. Harry Potter World was also great despite Matt not wanting to go. The rides at HP were fantastic as well and we went on again later in the day queuing for HOURS!
Sue and the kids went on the green machine a huge roller coaster but I wimped out - what's the point when I know I'll vomit. Holly did get me on the RC at Harry Potter - Sue says it was worse that the green machine as you sit with your legs dangling but I did manage to do it (with my eyes closed).
HP was fun. Drinking butter beer. Amazing to see so many people buying wands and T Shirts and gear. Oh the money that must be spent - what do you do with a wand when you get home?
Jurassic Park took Matt on a flying raptor ride - the girls were too big. Lots of other rides too.
A couple of water rides - Popeye on a floating raft, we we got SOAKED. Luckily it was so hot that you dry pretty quickly.
Park closed at 10 and we walk back through the town centre where the bars are starting up but we are done. I buy a 'light up' T shirt on the way through - Sue's not sure where I will ever wear it but you have to have something! We race around doing a couple of rides again before the park closes - just one more Spiderman!
The kids are doing well but the signs of tiredness are creeping in.
Jim - Kennedy Space Centre
We are off on a drive to the space station (Kennedy Space Centre, Cape Canaveral), approximately an hours drive and about 4 toll roads on the way. We are a bit unsure of the space centre and whether the kids will be able to cope with the heat and walking around. Our first impression again is the size of everything including the carpark!
We queue to get in and lucky for us we have a lady approach us trying to GIVE away tickets covering a family of five, that she no longer needed. Amazing! Saves us the $200 US plus in entry fees. As there is meant to be a shuttle launch on Friday, it is fairly busy and all the guided tours are full so we are on our own which is fine. We see lots of AV presentations of the astronauts and the achievements of the USA and history around it.
Back to the hotel at a reasonable time and having a quieter night.
Dinner at the hotel and American Idol.
lots of photos
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| Wizarding World of Harry Potter |
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| Drinking Butter Beer with Harry Potter |
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| EPCOT - Disney |
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| Our favourite Disney ride - Splash Mountain |
Jim. Disney and Orlando day 2
Jim
Have decided that two days like yesterday would be too much so will break it up. Slightly later start and we are off to Disney's Blizzard Beach - a massive water park. We arrive and once again it is sweltering. This place has pools of every type. We try out a number of pools that we can all go on, racing down on foam mats. Matt does not make the height restriction for some but is just the right size for others, Anna seems to be able to go on all and Holly misses out on some of the smaller kids rides.
Summit plummet the steepest waterside in the world Holly and Anna and I did it!!! Slusher Gusher another steep one was also great fun.
Weird to have a park dressed up as a ski resort in the middle of Orlando in the heat but that is the theme!
Again you see some sights!!
A lazy river right around the park kept us busy for a while and we managed to stay amused right until the park closed at 6pm.
We left the park and got Doris (our GPS unit) to get us to Downtown Disney a public area of shops restaurants and bars. Here we find the Lego shop and Matt goes wild! Huge Lego models of dragons and buzz lightness etc etc. The shop is HUGE and VERY busy. Matt ends up buying a Ninga model.
Had dinner in an American Irish pub and briefly going to watch the Irish band playing in the restaurant; funny, these guys speaking in heavy Irish accents that no one would have understood. Irish dancing was good too.
More wandering around, shopping and ice creams before heading back to the hotel around 10.30. Exhausted again! We're off to the Space Station tomorrow.
Summit plummet the steepest waterside in the world Holly and Anna and I did it!!! Slusher Gusher another steep one was also great fun.
Weird to have a park dressed up as a ski resort in the middle of Orlando in the heat but that is the theme!
Again you see some sights!!
A lazy river right around the park kept us busy for a while and we managed to stay amused right until the park closed at 6pm.
We left the park and got Doris (our GPS unit) to get us to Downtown Disney a public area of shops restaurants and bars. Here we find the Lego shop and Matt goes wild! Huge Lego models of dragons and buzz lightness etc etc. The shop is HUGE and VERY busy. Matt ends up buying a Ninga model.
Had dinner in an American Irish pub and briefly going to watch the Irish band playing in the restaurant; funny, these guys speaking in heavy Irish accents that no one would have understood. Irish dancing was good too.
More wandering around, shopping and ice creams before heading back to the hotel around 10.30. Exhausted again! We're off to the Space Station tomorrow.
Monday, 2 May 2011
Sue - I'm developing a taste for Baseball but those 'dogs' sure ain't real food!
A holiday in America wouldn't be complete without at least one Baseball game, so off we went to Fort Myers to see Fort Myers play Bradenton.(not top league teams, but 'feeder' teams where players are trained/groomed for the big league) These players have incredible skills, with balls being pitched at 90 mph! They make it look easy!
We have also been to a few of Brandon's games and I have been really impressed with the awesome ball skills those kids have.
At the game they were giving away free 'dogs' (hotdogs). I took the foil off ready to indulge, but I just could not eat it. No way! No way! No way! Apparently there is a record for eating 60 something dogs in a minute - now that is impossible to comprehend!
As you can see, Matt thought the dogs were pretty tasty.
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| Matthew indulges in a 'dog' - he's far braver than his Mum! |
All the kids also managed to eat two of the largest bags of popcorn I have ever seen. I spent the whole game with my eyes glued to the ball - loads were hit at full speed back into the crowd, and with my history of head injuries (skiing, surfing, more skiing, balls...you name it ...my head is like a beacon), I wasn't taking any risks!
All in all, a great game to watch.
Some of the top league players are the highest paid players of any sport in the world....it's big business here in the U.S!
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Jim. Florida and 'Disney day 1'
Only a few more days in Florida - but we have done so much!! (it just goes too quickly) Photos to come when Sue downloads them all.
Easter was good times with Paul, Sue, Grace and Brandon just hanging out and spending time with the family. Sunday was spent celebrating Matt's birthday and also Easter - going to their church - lots of singing and a big service (1 of three that morning apparently).The Easter Bunny had been busy dropping lots of eggs around the yard - the pool and surrounding area seemed covered!! Sue Rok had arranged baskets for all the kids to collect them in and a feast was had by all!!
Monday we got up reasonably early and headed off to Orlando - Doris the GPS lead us in all sorts of directions but basically we headed up I 75 to Tampa - 175 miles of motorway - saw Alligator and Raccoon roadkill - stopped at Waffle House for cheap breakfast and then headed up I4 towards Orlando.
We were going straight to Disney as we could not check in to the Hotel until 4pm - Disney apparently owns land in Orlando the size of San Francisco so you can imagine it is absolutely huge - no thoughts that we will be able to see it all. Our first experience is trying to get to the Magic Kingdom - essentially the re-creation of the old Disney in LA. I'm keen to re aquaint myself with the Disney of my childhood memories although not too sure whether these are real or just remembered from family stories (I was four and a half when we visited Disney in LA on a world tour) Anyway does not really matter; just let's get in there!! Carpark was absolutely huge (like everything in Orlando), $14 and then a shuttle ride to the ticket booth on a carpark train - how are we going to remember where the car is parked - no worries as everything at Disney is well thought out and organised.
Two day pass for us all is approximately $1,000 NZ - who would have thought that 11 and 13 year old were adults - how did that happen?? Great service at the ticket booth and off we go with badges to say we are first time visitors and that Matt is celebrating his 8th birthday. Our first queuing experience - just to catch the monorail into the park!! We arrive to bag check, ticket presentation and then we are in and off to the magical world of Disney.
First stop Pirates of the Caribbean - just as I remember from the journals that Philip and Sue created when we were all children in 1969. While there were a number of things that were remembered - It's a small World, Tea Cups etc there were also all sorts of new rides that were thrilling and fantastic - the queues were something that I had never experienced before but we spent over 13 hours in the park. Firework displays, festival of lights, parades, we went on Splash Mountain - the Breer Rabbit story and then returned right at the end of the night when there were no queues and went twice more on the ride at midnight.
As always the heat has been huge for us to handle but all of the kids were really good - excited at the experience but also really good fun to be with. The food at Disney is varied and at times expensive from a local perspective but we found all sorts of things to eat and drink sharing meals which are normally huge.
Amazing the amount of people in wheel chairs and on mobility scooters - many that are not that old just either too big or lazy to walk - Disney is an unreal type of environment and everyone seems to be relaxed and having a good time - while beer is available at most of the drinks stands very few people are drinking and we just think that this is a difference in cultures between the US and NZ and makes the park a nicer place to visit.
Exhausted we left the park at 12.15 only for Doris to take us in some strange directions so settled into the Orbit One Vacation Villas in Kissimmee at around 1am. All of us were pretty tired having driven 3 and a half hours and then 13 hours at Disney.
Easter was good times with Paul, Sue, Grace and Brandon just hanging out and spending time with the family. Sunday was spent celebrating Matt's birthday and also Easter - going to their church - lots of singing and a big service (1 of three that morning apparently).The Easter Bunny had been busy dropping lots of eggs around the yard - the pool and surrounding area seemed covered!! Sue Rok had arranged baskets for all the kids to collect them in and a feast was had by all!!
Monday we got up reasonably early and headed off to Orlando - Doris the GPS lead us in all sorts of directions but basically we headed up I 75 to Tampa - 175 miles of motorway - saw Alligator and Raccoon roadkill - stopped at Waffle House for cheap breakfast and then headed up I4 towards Orlando.
We were going straight to Disney as we could not check in to the Hotel until 4pm - Disney apparently owns land in Orlando the size of San Francisco so you can imagine it is absolutely huge - no thoughts that we will be able to see it all. Our first experience is trying to get to the Magic Kingdom - essentially the re-creation of the old Disney in LA. I'm keen to re aquaint myself with the Disney of my childhood memories although not too sure whether these are real or just remembered from family stories (I was four and a half when we visited Disney in LA on a world tour) Anyway does not really matter; just let's get in there!! Carpark was absolutely huge (like everything in Orlando), $14 and then a shuttle ride to the ticket booth on a carpark train - how are we going to remember where the car is parked - no worries as everything at Disney is well thought out and organised.
Two day pass for us all is approximately $1,000 NZ - who would have thought that 11 and 13 year old were adults - how did that happen?? Great service at the ticket booth and off we go with badges to say we are first time visitors and that Matt is celebrating his 8th birthday. Our first queuing experience - just to catch the monorail into the park!! We arrive to bag check, ticket presentation and then we are in and off to the magical world of Disney.
First stop Pirates of the Caribbean - just as I remember from the journals that Philip and Sue created when we were all children in 1969. While there were a number of things that were remembered - It's a small World, Tea Cups etc there were also all sorts of new rides that were thrilling and fantastic - the queues were something that I had never experienced before but we spent over 13 hours in the park. Firework displays, festival of lights, parades, we went on Splash Mountain - the Breer Rabbit story and then returned right at the end of the night when there were no queues and went twice more on the ride at midnight.
As always the heat has been huge for us to handle but all of the kids were really good - excited at the experience but also really good fun to be with. The food at Disney is varied and at times expensive from a local perspective but we found all sorts of things to eat and drink sharing meals which are normally huge.
Amazing the amount of people in wheel chairs and on mobility scooters - many that are not that old just either too big or lazy to walk - Disney is an unreal type of environment and everyone seems to be relaxed and having a good time - while beer is available at most of the drinks stands very few people are drinking and we just think that this is a difference in cultures between the US and NZ and makes the park a nicer place to visit.
Exhausted we left the park at 12.15 only for Doris to take us in some strange directions so settled into the Orbit One Vacation Villas in Kissimmee at around 1am. All of us were pretty tired having driven 3 and a half hours and then 13 hours at Disney.
How will we keep up this pace for the week?
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