Once we were inside, we hired towels from a grumpy lady and then setup camp by Melt-Away Bay which is a one acre shallow wave pool. Perfect for bobbing up and down in a rubber ring on and getting acclimatised to the cool water. At first, I thought the water was too cold, but as the day wore on, we were glad it was! Because about 10 minutes after we arrived, the cloud burnt off and the sun came out and it was hot, hot, hot!
We learnt a few lessons from out last trip here two years ago, and we put the first into action straight away:
Lesson Number 1: Do Runoff Rapids first.
We did this last in our previous visit and it was knackering because you have to carry your rubber ring up an awful lot of steps. Do it first thing, when you are feeling fresh and full of energy. There were no lines to speak of so we rode it three times - once on each different tube. It was great fun, and it's one of the most enjoyable rides in the park.
Lesson Number 2: Do Summit Plummet and Slusher Gusher once, then don't bother. We did it last time we were here, it was fun, but we decided it was too thrilling for us so we left it.
Instead we headed to the Purple Slopes area and started with Snow Stormers. You lay on a mat facing forwards and three of you race each other down different slides. We all enjoyed it, but I got a faceful of water that blocked up my ear and nose. Whilst I sorted myself out, Mrs B and Master B did the other water slide Toboggan Racers. They reported back that it was OK, but we were done with these rides now.
Master B was keen to try the lazy river, called Cross Country Creek. There was a jumping on point near our camp, so we waited for some rubber rings to float past and jumped on them for a float around the perimeter of the park. We must have been on it 20-30 minutes, I'm not really sure, but it was pleasant and peaceful and shady and cool. There are a few splashing hazards to avoid - or enjoy - depending on your point-of-view. Mrs B avoided, Master B enjoyed!
Mrs B was a bit chilly after leaving the lazy river, so we headed back to our beach camp where Master B splashed happily in the shallows whilst Mrs B sun-bathed. We then headed to the children's play area, Ski Patrol Training Camp. There are some assault courses and slides for children to enjoy and he had a great time.
By now, we were feeling hungry, and learning our lesson from yesterday we headed for food. We chose to eat at Lottawatta Lodge because it had a lot of seating and a good choice on the menu. It's all fast food at these water parks, but it was tasty and there were some semi-healthy options. I had a grilled chicken breast in a roll with some fries and a cookie. Mrs B and a burger, fries and cheesecake and Master B went for a hot dog, fries and cookie. This was all washed down with soda and we all agreed it was tasty fare, despite it being a little salty. Master B found a table near the serving area where we got wafts of air conditioning come from behind the serving counter, so we were cool whilst we ate. All the other tables were outside, but they all had umbrellas.
Refreshed, we went back to the beach. Master B's children's meal came with a bucket and spade - a brilliant idea for the kids - and he spent a happy half hour building forts and moats whilst Mrs B nodded off in the sunshine on her sun lounger and I read. The sun was high in the sky and we all agreed we'd had enough, but whilst we were there, we decided to do a round of crazy golf...
Winter Summerland Miniature Golf
Another great bonus with our British tickets is your get one round of mini golf a day. Just by Blizzard Beach is the Winter Summerland attraction offering two courses: Winter and Summer. The theme is Santa is on vacation and there are all sorts of crazy features on both courses. We chose Winter. It was very quiet, and spent a happy 45 minutes putting our way round the course. A top tip is the water fountains at the main gate are cooled, so the water comes out ice cold rather than ground temperature or - God forbid - tepid (like one fountain in the Magic Kingdom). We drank our fill and it was lovely!Back to the bus stop and home for a rest before heading off to out third and final attraction of the day:
Disney Epcot
Mrs B wanted to see the Epcot fireworks. We hadn't done any parks at night on our last visit, so we headed off around 5:30pm. The queues were short and we were soon inside and heading for Spaceship Earth where we pretty much walked right on. We had a bit more of a look round the interactive centre that is after the ride, which was quite fun. A few games for the kids to do - although 'few' was the operative word - as in 'not enough' even for tiny amount of people in there.Next up was Journey Into Imagination With Figment. We had done this last time, but Master B had no recollection at all. Again, this is one from Mrs B's childhood. No queue again and we boarded the ride car right away and headed off. The ride is quite lame in places, but it's cute and has a few catchy songs and is superbly narrated by a mad professor played by Eric Idle. The interactive area after was good fun and we designed our own Figment and played some music by waving our hands at certain booths.
There is a fun area in Future World where there are some dancing fountains, and Master B had a fun time running around trying to catch the jets of jumping water. Quite tucked away this one, but well worth finding. It's by the Captain EO attraction, near the exit of Figment.
It was then time to head into the World Showcase and eat! The Food & Wine Festival passport had been examined on the bus over so I knew I was heading for the Belgium stand (located in the France area) for the Leek & Potato Waffle with Braised Beef, the Berry Compote Waffle and I chose to wash it down with a Leffe Brune. Everything was delicious, and I may have to break my own rule by having something from the festival twice. Mrs B headed to the USA area for Lobster roll, Craisin Bread Pudding and a Sam Adams Oktoberfest. She reported that it was all delicious, although she hadn't enough room to finish the very filling pudding. Craisins, by the way, are cranberries and raisins combined somehow. Whilst Mrs B nommed on her dinner, we listed to Boys II Men playing the America's Garden Theatre. I'm not a huge fan, but they sounded good and lot's of people seemed to have enjoyed them judging by the cheering.
We moved back to Canada as Master B wanted the crisps he'd had last time and a drink (he's got into American Lemonade, which is flat over here, not fizzy, and is very lemony). Then we staked out our spot for the fireworks about a half hour before they started. It started to rain a little, but it didn't bother us too much. The show began and it did indeed have a lot of impressive fireworks. Would I go again? I don't think so - it was a bit boring when the screens in the middle of the lake were showing things I couldn't see or understand. And then the crowds leaving afterwards were something else! Huge! Luckily we had positioned ourselves quite near the exit and so we didn't have to wait too long for a bus back to our hotel. However, I now know why there are lanes and lanes of ropes outside the bus stops because as out bus pulled away there were probably 100 other people waiting!
We got back just before 10pm. Pretty late for us! A bit of telly and then it was lights out in order to be ready for tomorrow...
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