This is going to be a long one! As most people knew I was really excited about my family coming out to visit! It was a very hectic week full of parks, dinner and walking, but it was hopefully lots of fun too.
My brother arrived a day early, as he was travelling from Australia. His trip was supposed to take 30 hours but because of delays and connections it took him over 36. He eventually arrived at midnight, where we went straight to sleep! The next day I hired a car so we could go to the beach and later pick my dad and step mum up from the airport. It was the first time I’d driven in 5 months, and it was on the wrong side of the road! Luckily it was an automatic so it was like driving a go kart. We headed to Daytona Beach, apparently the most famous beach in the world! You drive right on to the sand about 50 feet from the sea. We went for a dip, had some food and bought a t shirt! We managed to find Sanford airport ok where we waited for Dad and Ann to arrive. It took them a long time to get through customs, but I had my sign ready when they came out. We got slightly lost on the way to the hotel as all the roads seemed to have the same name! Mum and Jess had arrived just before us so we all managed to check in together. We had two rooms next to each other with connecting doors! We got ready for dinner and everyone gave me presents from home; bourbons, percy pigs, flip flops, straighteners! I got some birthday cards too but I am saving them for the day. We went to Downtown Disney eating at Planet Hollywood but everyone was very tired and it was a bit stressful!
The next day we set out for Magic Kingdom. Unfortunately we had only been there about 15 minutes when Chris had massive stomach pains and couldn’t stand up. The front desk called the paramedics and they arrived quickly. He had to go to hospital as they couldn’t tell what was wrong and mum went with him. Although it was hard the rest of us went around the park and managed to get on a few rides. For lunch we went to Crystal Palace and meet the characters from Winnie the Pooh! It is a buffet restaurant and the food was really lovely. Dad went off to the hospital in the afternoon so then it went down to three! I think The Carousel of Progress was our favourite ride...Mum and Dad managed to get back to see Wishes, the firework show, which was good.
On Tuesday morning I had to work so everyone, apart from Chris, went to Epcot. I left them to explore as I went off to work. I was only on a am shift so managed to finish by half 4 and meet them in the pub! We headed to Japan as this is where we were eating dinner. I had booked one of the restaurants but the other one I had wanted to go to was fully booked. When we arrived I managed to swap our reservations so we got to eat in Tapen Edo, where they cook the food on the table in front of you. I had steak and chicken, with noodles and rice, with sushi and wine too! It was a really good experience and the chef was funny and talented. We watched the fireworks from work, which I enjoy slightly better than Wishes but I think I’m bias! I think the family liked them too, although I do agree the middle bit goes on a bit too long.
We were hoping Chris would be able to come out on Wednesday so we had a quite morning, waking up later and having a bit longer for breakfast. Mum and Dad went to the hospital about 11am so Ann, Jess and I decided to head back to Epcot as we hadn’t managed to do everything the day before. We saw Captin EO, a classic! Chris managed to join us in the afternoon. For dinner we went to Boma, at Animal Kingdom Lodge. If there’s one thing I know about Disney it’s good places to eat! This is an African buffet with freshly carved meat and loads of side dishes. I might have had two plates of dessert too. We went back to Epcot to watch the fireworks again as Chris hadn’t seen them the night before. The buses we used to get back to the hotel were usually quite good at night so it didn’t take too long to get home.
Next day was Animal Kingdom, where there are so many good things to do and see. We went on Safari, saw the Lion King and Finding Nemo, climbed Mount Everest and went back in time to find a dinosaur! The park was quite shaded so even though we had to walk far it wasn’t too unpleasant. The weather all week was really hot, in the high 20s and 30s. We saw so many animals; hippos, gorillas, giraffes! We ever learnt about the rainforest and what it feels like to be a bug. As Animal Kingdom closes early we had enough time to go back to the hotel and get changed before going out for dinner. We went to Raglan Road, in Downtown Disney, which is somewhere I go a lot. We had a nice booth to ourselves and our waiter was quite funny. The week was going so fast!
I remember when I went to Harry Potter World for the first time, I was little a small child at Christmas. This was the first place we headed to at Universal. I still love looking around all the shops and at all the details; however the ride still makes me feel sick. Mum and Ann were both unsure if they should go on and I tried to prepare them for it. I’m not sure if they enjoyed it, I think it made everyone feel a bit queasy! Jess wanted to spend lots of time taking photos so she stayed with Mum while the rest of us wondered on. When we meet up together we ate in the Three Broomsticks and went on a few more rides. We went on the Popeye water ride and all got soaked! We stayed at the hotel for dinner that night as it was a tiring day. Me and mum played cards at the bar and had a few drinks which was really lovely.
On our final full day we went to Hollywood Studios. There were lots of shows to see but I think we did really well. Mum, Jess and I even appeared in our own version of Pearl Harbour! We saw the big car stunt show which was incredible and got good seats for Famtasmic! They were threatening to call it off because of the weather but it went ahead as planned. We caught a comedy show in the street which was unexpected but it was funny. It was sad/a relief to get on the Disney hotel buses for the last time! Although they always took you exactly where you wanted to go they could take a while to arrive and sometimes be full. It’s a great system which must take so much planning but no one really likes waiting!
Dad and Ann left first on Saturday, then I had to head home to get ready for work. I wasn’t sure where my bus was picking me up so it was a very quick goodbye as it pulled up. Everyone got home safely and Chris only had to take 2 planes home instead of 4. I managed to get through me shift even though I was a bit teary on the way in. I worked loads over the next three days then headed to Vegas...! Watch out for part 2!
From Florida with Love
Emily
xxxx
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