The Ball family trip - May 2015 (now complete!)

Thanks - that was the best of about 50(!) shots.

Day 12 - Magic Kingdom. I'd forgotten to bring my Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards, so picked up some new ones at Main St as soon as we arrived, and spent a while casting spells there. After that we spent some time in Frontierland & Adventureland, riding Big Thunder Mountain on a Fastpass, & eating baked potatoes from Liberty Square at Pecos Bills. I also found some time to check out the posters outside the themed restrooms at the 'Tangled' area - something I'd never noticed there before. We also tried out a few of the tasks on A Pirates Adventure - Treasures of the Seven Seas (we got the 'Guardian's Curse' map). There was time for a Dole whip at the Sunshine Terrace, before moving on to Fantasyland. Couldn't resist some Ice Cream Sundaes from Aunty Gravities (which we ate in Cosmic Rays' to avoid them melting before we could finish them!).

On to Tomorrowland, where we rode the Speedway without much success - we must have got the car with the worst steering, because I had real problems controlling it (and yes, I have tried it before)! We were able to fit in the TTA and Buzz Lightyear before catching the finale of the 'Dreaming with Mickey' show. Our 7 Dwarves Mine train Fastpass was used next - unusually I'd been lucky enough get an early afternoon timeslot for this ride, after booking it a few days ago. Can't remember what our 3rd Fastpass was used for, but I do recall getting a 4th one from the kiosk near the Diamond Horseshoe. Luckily it was in 15 mins time (at the Haunted Mansion, which by now had a 50 min + standby). After riding it, we decided to leave MK as the standby times were getting too long.

We dropped off our stuff at the hotel and were at Downtown Disney by 6pm, eating at the Earl of Sandwich. We watched one of the Amphicars going out on the lake, before browsing the gift shops. We eventually made our way around to the West Side, taking in TRex and the Harley Davidson shop en route. Since we had an early start tomorrow, we were soon on our way back to the resort,

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Day 13 -Kennedy Space Center. Had a early start as we had to get to Cirque Soleil by 8am for our coach pickup. We gave up waiting for an early shuttle bus to Downtown Disney, and ordered a taxi at reception. A Mears taxi turned up a few minutes later - not knowing the correct fare, we accepted the fare of $15. We got to the pickup point with time to spare; and were only the second set of passengers there. It was only when we talked some Brits a bit later on that we realised we'd been ripped off by the taxi - they'd only paid $7.50 for the same journey! Things didn't get any better, as the coach didn't turn up at 8am. It was about 30mins late in the end, and our names were one of the last ones called out by the driver. The launch windows due to start at 10 am, so we were worried we'd get there too late for a decent viewing area. Our guide for the day didn't help us much in that area; she wasn't even aware there was a launch that day!

We had about 45 mins before the earliest launch time when we arrived & got straight in the queue for the Saturn 5 area, as we were told this was the best free viewing spot. The coach got us there within 30 mins; however the actual launch time had also been put back another 30 mins, so we had plenty of time to find a viewing spot on the bleachers (though without any shade!). Although Launch Control reports were piped through the speakers, we were told they couldn't provide a live countdown due to 'internet delays'. Because of this and the delay in the sound reaching us, I was caught out when the rocket took off, and was only able to get one half decent picture of the launch!

With the launch over, we explored the Saturn V/Apollo center, and had lunch whilst sitting under a full size Apollo lunar lander module (apparently it was a fully operational backup in case the original failed). We then returned to the main complex and went over to the Atlantis Experience. This starts with a short large screen movie, which cleverly segues into a view of the actual shuttle as the doors to the exhibit open. You are able to get close enough to see the burn marks from re-entry! We spent a while looking around the Atlantis complex, before leaving to watch one of the IMAX films.

We picked the Shuttle film, but found it a bit underwhelming - most of it didn't fill the whole screen, and the 3D effect wasn't that great, probably due to it not being filmed with 3D and IMAX in mind. After an ice cream from the Milky Way, we walked around the Rocket Garden. With our coach return time coming up, we spent the last 15 minutes looking around the Merrit Island exhibit. It poured down with rain on the journey back, but stopped by the time we were dropped off at Downtown Disney. We ate at the Earl of Sandwich before returning to the hotel.

Day 14 - Blizzard Beach. We got here not long after opening time, so we could get some sunbeds in the shade. After sorting out our lockers and sunbeds, I had a walk around and took some photos before I got wet. We picked up a tube each and floated around the entire park on Cross Country Creek; passing through a cave, a waterfall, and getting sneezed over whilst passing a island with a hut in the middle!
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We then spent some time in the giant wave pool at Melt-Away Bay, before having lunch at the Lottawatta Lodge. At about 1pm I was about to try out some of the slides, but then it clouded over completely and absolutely poured down with rain! I made a dash for a doughnut stand near the wave pool and sheltered there for a while. Couldn't resist buying some doughnuts just as the rain eased up! Because of the threat of lightning, everybody was told get out of the pools and slides. It was a good 40 to 50 minutes before they allowed us back in again, which gave me a chance to take some more photos. I then tried out most of the slides, including the Slush Gusher. We eventually left about 30 mins before closing time, to avoid the rush, and had dinner back at POFQ.

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Day 15 - Animal Kingdom. Our last full day started out at AK. As usual, out first visit was to the Kilimanjaro Safari - not quite as many animals on view as last week, but at least we got a glimpse of a lion this time! The gorillas at Pangani were hidden away today, but we had better luck with the tigers on the Maharajah Jungle Trek, with one right up against the glass at one point! The park was getting a lot more crowded than usual - possibly due to people avoiding the crowds at the 24 hour event at MK. When we tried Kilimanjaro Safari a 2nd time (using our Fastpass), we found the Fastpass queue stretching into Harambe; far longer even the standby queue!

At this point we gave up on AK, and spent the remainder of the day doing some last minute shopping at Walmart at Osceola, stopping for lunch at IHOP on the way. After leaving Walmart, we tried out a nearby Flea market, having never visited one before. However, it was a massive disappointment, full of stalls selling the same tacky cheap souvenirs and jewellery. We made our way back to the TTC on the Lynx bus shortly after. Our route back to the resort included the monorail through EPCOT - it was interesting to see how different it looked now that the Flower & Garden Festival had finished. After dinner, I walked over to Riverside to get some night-time photos to finish off the day.
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Day 16 - Bye Bye WDW! After a breakfast at POFQ, spent the last morning taking some final photos of the resort. We managed to locate some scales just outside the hotel entrance to weigh our luggage whilst waiting for the coach. It turned out to be a Disney Magical Express coach, complete with Disneyworld themed videos.
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We had enough time to explore the theme park shops at the airport, before making the mistake of going to wrong gate area for our flight (I'd got Virgin Atlantic mixed up with Virgin America!). However, we soon found our way to the correct gate with time to spare. Not so lucky with seating this time, we had to share a 3 seat row on a full plane. On the flight, I gave up trying to get some sleep & watched the latest Hobbit film, along with the excellent Kingsman movie. We finally arrived late in the morning - couldn't quite believe we were finally back in the UK!