2014 Holiday Day 11 - "Spare Day"

So we had nothing planned today. It was going to be a day where we went back to a Disney or Universal park where we felt we may have missed some stuff out, but we all agreed over breakfast we had pretty much done everything we wanted to do (except at the Magic Kingdom, but we will go there tomorrow). So we all list out the things we would want to do where ever they were...

Matthew wanted to go and see the tigers at Animal Kingdom. We hadn't really seen them much and hoped we would be able to see some more of them. Clare wanted to visit another resort - Fort Wilderness - and hire some bikes to ride round the RV and campsite to see the Halloween decorations. I wanted to ride the monorail through EPCOT. I'd seen it whizz round EPCOT, but couldn't ever recall us acutally riding it ourselves. So, with a bit of planning, we had our day mapped out...

We drove to Animal Kingdom first and then headed straight for the Maharajah's Jungle Trek where the tigers were based. The first viewing area yielded no sightings, although Matthew talked to the guide there and found out some interesting information about the tigers and the work they do there to help conserve them. The second viewing area we had better luck. Two sleeping tigers. These were the older pair - they are about 18 years old and sleep for about 16 hours a day so it wasn't too surprising...

A bit further along we saw no tigers, but Matthew got chatting to the guide again (I think as he was wearing his conservation badges, this helped them to know he likes his animals). As he was chatting, one of the younger tigers came out from the undergrowth and proceeded to prowl around her area. She went into the water and continued to prowl sniffing the air and baring her teeth. There was a lady there studying the tigers for her college degree and she reckoned the tiger had smelt food from one of the visitors. Anyway, we got some great viewing of her stalking around and some good pictures too. She is a Sumatran Tiger - there are only about 600 in the world and are on the brink of extinction. Disney are getting a male from another zoo and are hoping they will breed about 3-4 cubs each year to be placed in other zoos to help swell the population.

Matthew was very happy with his visit, so we headed for the car and drove to The Magic Kingdom in order to get to Fort Wilderness Camping ground. Clare had read this was the best way to do it, but even then it was a bit of a trek. We got the land train from the car park to the transportation terminal, the ferry from the there to the Magic Kingdom, then a boat from there to the resort. Fort Wilderness is massive, and we got a bit lost. We were debating whether to give up when we found the bike hire shop was just a short bus ride away. Phew! Bikes hired we enjoyed a pleasant half hour cycling round looking at the Halloween decorations. Some of them are truly bonkers. No photos I'm afraid, as cycling and photography don't mix, but there was on inflatable of a ghost in an outhouse with a pumpkin outside holding it's nose! There were giant spiders, and graveyeards and all sorts!

We stopped for some drinks in the shop before heading back to the boat to the Magic Kingdom where we caught the monorail to the transportation centre and then another monorail to EPCOT. After the bike ride and being out in the warm sun it was nice to sit back, relax and let the monorail do the driving as we toured round the loops. The monorail goes right inside EPCOT so you get a great view of some of the attractions.

It was then time to drop off the car and get a ride from the rental company back to the hotel. We then changed quickly and Matthew went to the main pool whilst Clare and I ate something in the Artist's Palette (a turkey club sandwich and brownie for me and a pepperoni flatbread and cheesecake for Clare). We then went to the Grandstand pool together and caught the last few rays of the Florida afternoon sunshine and we all swam for a bit and dried off in the sun. Matthew had a hotdog and ice cream and then we headed back to shower and change.

Then it was over tot he campfire to make S'mores. These are roasted marshmallows with Hershey's chocolate between two crackers. I thought they would be really sweet, but they weren't. I wasn't actually that fussed by them - a lot of Americans like them. Matthew thought they were OK, and Clare was the same as me - not fussed. Glad we tried them though. The campfire was busy tonight, which was nice to see.

Then it was Jeopardy, Wheel Of Fortune and the last baseball World Series game. Our last full day on holiday. It has been a good one, and we've all enjoyed it.

2014 Holiday Day 10 - Disney's EPCOT & Winter Summerland Mini Golf

Not such an early start this morning, which was a nice change from the last couple of days. We were heading out to EPCOT again today as we had breakfast booked with Donald, Goofy and Minnie over at the Beach Club resort, which is a short walk from one of the EPCOT gates in the Broadwalk area.

We arrived around 9:05 and after a short queue we got into the park. We headed over to The Land to ride the Living With The Land ride. This is a tour centred around farming and food production and you get to see the greenhouses at EPCOT where scientists are researching ways to grow more crops more efficiently, without the use of a lot of chemicals and water. We got straight on this ride, which was convenient.

We then had a Fast Pass for Test Track so we headed over there and designed a different looking car as our test vehicle. We scored quite highly with it, and the ride was as fun as always. That's our third time riding it!

It was time for a walk over to the Broadwalk area and breakfast at the Beach Club Resort. It's a buffet breakfast over there, so we could treat it like a brunch. I had sausage and egg then French toast with banana and strawberries. Clare had egg and bacon followed by French toast and maple syrup and then some fresh fruit. Matthew had sausages, a pastry and a bagel. We had to wait a little while for the characters to come to our table. It's just the luck of the draw, we must have arrived not long after they had been round our section. After some tea, we left the restaurant and headed to the water taxi dock. We decided to ride the boat back to EPCOT as a change and it was a pleasant little ride.

We went into the shops in the United Kingdom and Matthew and I had fun seeing what British food and merchandise they had. Matthew was able to get a Dairy Milk bar on a snack credit, which he savoured. Clare had a couple of pieces too.

After a quick visit to Club Cool to sample the sodas on offer (still the same as last time) we then queued for 5 minutes for Spaceship Earth and then left the park. It was getting warm now, but we decided to go and play a round of Mini Golf before heading back to the hotel at Winter Summerland Mini Golf.

We played the Summerland course, having done the Winter course last time we came. It was pretty quiet over there and we played our way round the course without seeing many people. Those we did see were mainly British as we get a round of golf included with certain packages from the UK. I won. Enough said :-)

Then it was back to the resort where we hit the Paddock Pool. The Paddock is the only place to get a burger in Saratoga Springs, so I ordered a couple for Clare and I. Not thinking we were too hungry, we thought we'd have a bit of it and leave the rest... We ended up wolfing the whole thing down! Followed by cheescake for Clare and chocolate cake for me! Themes parks really build up the appetite!

2014 Holiday Day 9 - Universal Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom

Due to Universal Studios opening at 8am it was another early start and we arrived ready to dash to Diagon Alley - the new Harry Potter area. Once we had gone through the brick wall it was an amazingly large area depicting the fictional world of Harry Potter.

Clare and Matthew ran to get on the Escape From Gringotts Ride whilst I wandered round different areas taking various photos. It was pretty quiet so I was able to take some good photos of the shops and statues and other ornaments. I was so impressed at how well it had all been done and the attention to detail. Near the entrance there is a metal bridge where a tube train runs over. It has all the screeching sounds and juddering wheels of a real London Tube train. The dragon on top of the Gringotts Bank is cool too. Every so often it breathes fire, and my goodness you can feel the heat from its fiery breathe...

Matthew and Clare emerged from the ride about 50 minutes later clutching two Express passes as the ride had broken down twice. They decided to ride it again a bit later and see if the gremlins could be ironed out. Matthew had his wand and so we want round the various areas; Diagon Alley, Carkitt Market and Knockturn Alley to find the spell areas. There was a particularly good one in Knockturn Alley were you can make a skeleton dance. You say the spell then move your arms and legs and the skeleton copies your movements. After a while he gets tired, gives you a wave and goes back to being still. Very clever and a lot of fun.

Clare watched some street performers do a couple of tales from The Tales Of Beedle The Bard whilst Matthew and I went into the shops. Matthew tried a Butterbeer ice cream, which we all had a try of and thought was tasty. Clare bought an Elixir and some Gillywater (basically a green pineapple flavouring for spring water) which she enjoyed.

We were pretty much done at this point - we had been in this section of the park for nearly three hours and I was amazed at how big it was and how much to do there had been. Admittedly some of it was queuing for the Escape From Gringotts ride, but nevertheless, hats off to Universal for making such a great area.

The NASCAR Sports Grille was somewhere I had wanted to eat, but had never quite got to. It is just outside the entrance to Universal Studios in the CityWalk area. What focused the mind was that it was closing down at the end of October 2014 - so we only had a few days before I wouldn't be able to eat there ever again! Inside it has huge screens showing all sorts of sports, as well as lots of NASCAR memorabilia. I'm a bit of a NASCAR fan. I know it's driving in circles - a LOT of driving in circles - but it's quite fun and the American commentary is usually entertaining. Anyway, we ordered three starters to share: beef sliders (like mini burgers essentially), Calamari Fingers and the Chicken & Waffler Basket (chicken nuggets in a maple syrup batter). When it arrived it was enough to feed an army! The slides and chicken had come with fries and there was mountains of them! We finished off most of it and were absolutely stuffed! And these were Starters! Anyway, the server seemed to be all to aware of their portion sizes so wasn't surprised when we said we were done. We wouldn't normally have been able to splash out in a restaurant outside of Disney (where we are basically getting our food for free as we are on a Dining Plan), but my Mum & Dad paid - so a big thank you to them...

We cam back to the hotel after that for a quick rest, then decided to head out to Animal Kingdom so Matthew and Clare could finish their Wilderness Explorers badges. We got into the park quickly and headed over to the Asia section where all the remaining badges could be earnt. Then it was a case of going to the 'club hut' to get the 'completion' badge. This bit was quite fun - the Castmember on the hut asked Matthew's name, said he'd done very well, then walked out into the middle of the walkway and asked for everyone's attention - he had a special announcement. He then declared that Matthew had finished his badge collecting and could he have a round of applause. Everyone clapped and Matthew looked slightly embarrassed by the whole thing - but it was good fun!

Clare also rode Everest - a pretty scary looking coaster which Matthew and I would have nothing to do with!

Then it was back to the hotel for some swimming and lazing by the pool (this time the Paddock Pool), before Jeopardy, Wheel Of Fortune and bedtime!

2014 Holiday Day 8 - Universal Studios

Well it was a late night and an early morning as the Studios opens at 8am... It was pretty difficult dragging ourselves out of bed and into the car, but like three zombies we made it to the parking lot and headed to the entry gates. It was 8:05am and we were hoping to ride some of the more popular rides before the queues built up too much.

First off we went on Despicable Me. We literally got straight on the ride, and it was as good as we remembered it - being minion-ised and then 'trained' in a 3D simulator ride. We came off then headed for Transformers which had a 10 minute wait. This is one I don't like (spinning and jerking again) so I wandered round taking photos whilst Clare and Matthew rode it. Matthew prefers Spiderman, and elected not to ride it again. Instead, Matthew and I went to ride Men In Black, which Clare doesn't like. So she found a sunny spot whilst we blasted aliens. It's a fun ride.

We then wandered down to 'Springfield' to hang out with The Simpsons. Clare and Matthew went on The Simpsons Ride whilst I wandered round the gift shops and took a good photo of the new 'London' (the Harry Potter area).

Clare and Matthew had a short wait, but it's a slow moving ride due to the holding area and long pre-show. It's why I don't like it. I find it boring and annoying...

As we left Springfield we decided to go on The E.T. ride. It's a bit lame - actually - it's very lame - but it's a bit of an old school classic and as there was no line we thought we might as well ride it. At least the stupid bit with the passports at the beginning wasn't working. There's usually a faff where they ask your name and give you a card which is your 'international passport' and then at the end E.T. thanks you personally by saying your name. It's never worked when we've ridden it before and it just slows the whole thing down so maybe it is permanently out of action!

Clare and I had fond memories of the Disaster! show/ride. Matthew didn't remember it and so we went to see if it was open. It was 9:45am, and the first show was at 10am so we decided to wait around for it. To be honest, it wasn't as good as I remembered it from 2011. It didn't help that some of the things didn't work and they cocked up the footage that was recorded - using old footage instead of that recorded in our group. But Christopher Walkern is brilliant as the movie studios owner, so it was OK.

We were all peckish at this point, so headed back to good old Beverley Hills Boulangerie. I had a french toast muffin, Clare went for the red velvet muffin (which frankly tasted like a chocolate muffin) and Matthew had his reliable choc chip cookie - which was softer and better this time he said.

Refreshed, we took the short walk to Terminator 2 3D show where it was only a few minutes to the 11:15am showing. The show was very, very good. It mixed live action and a 3D movie - starring the original cast of Terminator 2. I was very impressed - for an older show it felt right up to date and was well worth going. I'd definitely go again.

Last, but not least, Matthew wanted a Flaming Moe (Simpsons fans will know what this is) so we headed back to Moe's Tavern in Springfield to he could buy one...

We were done, so headed back to the hotel for a snooze and a relax by the pool.

We had reservations for Chef Mickey's over at The Contemporary Resort. We were all excited for this because it's a popular restaurant in a great setting with a good looking buffet meal and meeting The Fab Five (that's Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto fact fans!). 

It lived up to expectations. The buffet was full of good things to eat (I liked the turkey and the bread pudding, Clare liked the lobster pasta and Matthew thought the chicken and broccoli was good). The best bit for Matthew was meeting Donald - who is his favourite Disney character - but as you can see Donald was pretty excited to meet his fan too!

After dinner we strolled around the hotel, taking in some of the scenery and visiting some of the facilities like the pool and the shops. It seems a really nice place to stay.

2014 Holiday Day 7 - Universal's Islands of Adventure & Disney's Magic Kingdom

A reasonably early start to head over for your first visit of the holiday to the Universal parks for the 9am opening of Islands of Adventure. We got there just after 9:15am and the crowds seemed light - even though it was a Saturday morning. This is probably because of the opening of Diagon Alley in the other park (that's another Harry Potter world for the uninitiated) so that's where everyone was heading. We tried to get on to the Spiderman ride, but they were having problems, so we headed for Pterodactyl Fliers, where - ironically - Matthew was too tall! It's a kid's ride - he's only 10 - but he's too tall! I suppose he is an 'adult' according to the Universal pricing structures, but even so...

We decided to head back to Spiderman which Clare and Matthew got on as it was now working (it's not a ride I like so I nosed round the shops and took some pictures). There's too much spinning and jerking for my liking!

Once finished, we met back up and decided to walk up to Hogsmeade - the Harry Potter attraction in this park - and were still surprised at the relative lack of people. Matthew wanted to buy an interactive wand, so we headed into the wand shop (Ollivander's) and he selected one that was something to do with his birthday (and the fact is was shaped like an evil cobra seemed to help too). It comes with a guide on how to do spells and where you can cast them to see their effects. So we spent a little time wandering around Hogsmeade looking for 'spell spots'. Then Matthew had to perform the right 'swishing and flicking' of the wand in order to see the spell work.

There were several of these spots around Hogsmeade. Some seemed to work better than others, which might be Matthew was better at casting the spells of the camera sensors were in better positions on some of them. Whatever, he enjoyed himself, and that was alright.

We decided to take the Hogwarts Express to the Studios park, and with a minimal wait we were soon onboard. You get put into a cabin, similar to an old steam train in the UK, and there is a video wall instead of a window which plays scenes on your journey to Kings Cross. It had a kind-of 3D effect, without the need for glasses, which worked quite well. The Weasley twins advertising their joke shop was done particularly well.

Once our of Kings Cross (which was done very well, even down to the fierce air conditioning making it feel like an English winter!) we had a wander round the rest of 'London'. It was busier in this park for sure, but we were still able to see some of the sights quite well.

We were hungry to headed to our favourite Universal Studios bakery the Beverley Hills Boulangerie. Clare swears their cheesecakes are the best she has ever had, so she went for the New York Vanilla cheescake, whilst I had an oatmeal cookie and Matthew had choc chip. We sat outside, just after a rather noisy band had finished playing, so we could chat rather than be deafened. The Studios seemed very noisy - the volume on everything seemed to have been cranked up making conversations difficult even in the middle of the walkways.

We knew we had a lat night ahead, so decided to leave after our snack and do a bit of shopping. Clare wanted to visit the big Barnes & Noble bookshop near the Florida Mall so she could get a special edition book that only they stocked. We then headed back to the hotel and visited the pool and had a couple of Pepperoni Flatbreads from the Artist's Palette Quick Service restaurant.

About 4:30pm we got in the car and went to the Magic Kingdom as we had reservations at the Ohana restaurant at the Polynesian Resort. We headed to the Transportation Hub, where you can get monorails to resorts and the Magic Kingdom - or a ferry across the lake to the park - and did a short walk to the Polynesian resort. We got to the restaurant and were soon settled in to our seats. They bring a selection of food from a wood stove where they cook different types of meat. It's done in a Hawaiian style and it's done very well. There's entertainment for the kids and the views are great across to the Magic Kingdom and other resorts. The food was pretty good - the banana pudding being a particular favourite of mine.

We then caught the monorail to The Magic Kingdom and once inside found it to be absolutely packed! it was probably the busiest we had seen it, due to there only being a couple of nights where you can see the electric parade and the fireworks and the rest of the week is taken up with Hallowe'en parties (which you have to pay separately for). We were here especially for the parade and fireworks as Clare had really wanted to see them. We had Fast Passess for Jungle Cruise, which we had all wanted to do at night, and found even the Fast Pass line was a 20 minute wait. This was made longer by a boat breaking down and having to be towed back to the dock. Anyway, it wasn't too much longer before we were underway and all agreed that the lighting helped see some of the things that you might miss during the daytime. Well worth doing at night.


Matthew hadn't eaten much at dinner, as he had struggled to find things he'd liked, so we headed to a Quick Service restaurant to find him a hot dog. We ended up in Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe more by luck than judgement, as we'd got lost. We were pleasantly surprised as it was done in a diner style and was very large with plenty of seating and places to order. We found a table and whilst Matthew ate his hot dog were entertained by a character singing space songs and telling terrible jokes. Matthew declared the hot dog and fries to be very good.

It was 8:40pm now, so we headed for the Fast Pass are we had booked to watch the Main Street Electrical Parade. Good job we did as it was packed everywhere else. We'd seen people sitting at the side of the road at 7pm and wondered if they were saving a spot for the parade. Well, they definitely had been! We got to the front of our spot right in front of Cinderella's Castle, and I have to say it was well worth getting a Fast Pass for. The parade came by about 9:10pm and it was spectactular. The flights were all very bright and the music and choreography was well done too. Matthew and Clare particularly enjoyed it, although all those lights were very bright!

After the parade, we moved to the Fast Pass area for the fireworks, which was in the Rose Garden. It was nice to sit on the grass and watch the light show projected onto the castle followed by a truly amazing fireworks display. Probably the best I've ever seen. I'm not into fireworks very much, but these I was impressed by.

After the show, we headed for the People Movers - another ride we had wanted to do at night. It was also to allow some of the crowd to leave the park. It was a nice ride round the park, but it broke down for about 10 minutes which was a bit of a bummer. Still, we again saw things we hadn't noticed during the day time...

It was around 10:45pm by this point, so we headed out of the park and took the ferry to the parking lot. I'm sure it's a lovely ride across the lake, but when you are tired and it's pitch black outside it's just a pain to do it. I'd rather a 10 minute walk to the car, I think!

So it was a pretty late night, but at least we did something we hadn't done before. We've been trying to do something new every day, and this one was a biggie - but it was worth it...

2014 Holiday Day 6 - Disney's Typhoon Lagoon & EPCOT

It was a quieter morning that the previous days as the water parks at Disney don't open until 10am. Also, it wasn't forecast to be very warm in the morning - but would get to 78 by midday. So we ate a leisurely breakfast and whilst I was packing up the things for the day, Clare and Matthew went for a walk to the pond that is outside out patio area.

We first headed up to Premium Outlets Orlando to go to the bug Gap store there to pick up some clothes. I always pack light and then buy a few things I need to replace in the States as it is way cheaper - especially in the outlet stores. We then headed to Publix supermarket at the end of Vineland Avenue to get a few essentials we were low on. At the start of the holiday, we have groceries delivered to our hotel by Garden Grocer, but we were low on a few of the breakfast basics. We don't tend to have breakfast out, unless it's for a character meet and greet, we tend to eat in our villa before heading out...

Anyway, it was then back to the hotel to drop everything off, pick up our swimming gear and head for Typhoon Lagoon. We had always been to Blizzard Beach previously, so Matthew wanted to try the other water park. We got there about 11:30 and it was fairly busy - but felt quite warm in the sunshine - so that was good. We started by going to the huge pool in the middle of the park (the Surf Pool) which every so often sends out HUGE waves. And I mean these things must be 10 foot tall at their origin! After watching a couple go by we entered into the pool and were amazed at the force they hit you with. We weren't far from the shore, but it was enough to knock Clare and Matthew off their feet! Unfortunately, I had got water in my ear so I headed back to shore to try and shift it. It was then I noticed a familiar tightness around my right wrist was missing.... The force of the water was so great it must have knocked my Magic Band right off!

I told Clare and Matthew to go and enjoy some of the slides whilst I simultaneously tried to shift the water from my ear (which was getting painful) and look for my Magic Band. After about 10 minutes I gave up on both activities, and decided to head for Guest Services to report the loss. This is where Disney customer service really kicks in... I figured I would need to buy a new one, but the nice lady first told me to not worry as my details were all safe as they are protected by a fingerprint and a PIN (I knew this, but figured it was standard practice to remind panicing guests!) She then asked me to check back at the end of our visit to see if it got handed in - if it hadn't my resort would replace it for free! I wasn't hugely worried about the loss, but it was nice the staff were focused more on me and my holiday experience rather than their bit of technology I had "misplaced". I hadn't been back at the 'camp' we had made from sun loungers when Clare and Matthew arrived back saying they'd had a good time on the slides.

We decided to then hit the Castaway Creek Lazy River. We grabbed our rings and headed for a slow poottle around the circular river. However, this is where it was designed for the Florida heat of the summer, not cool of the autumn as it was chilly down there. There's also water guns where kids get to soak you as you float round. After a couple of soakings, we were quite cold, so got out to find our towels and dry off.

It was about 1:30pm, so we headed for Leaning Palms to get some food. It was the standard hot dogs, burgers and chicken nuggets that are usually on offer in the water parks (you don't go there for l'eaut cuisine!). We went for a couple of chicken nuggets meals, but had to wait AGES for the food to arrive. Not like Disney to be so long in getting the food to you, but once we had it there were not complaints as it was cooked well and was hot and tasty. We shared the two portions between the three of us and there was plenty. Matthew had a choc chip cookie, which he declared to be delicious, and Clare and I shared a so-so Key Lime Pie.

We then packed up our things, got changed and headed back to Guest Services where my Magic Band hadn't turned up. We drove back to the hotel, and the Front Desk replaced the Magic Band as promised. This one actually fitted much better than the previous one - the strap is much more secure.

We had a rest in the room before heading back out to EPCOT. We had booked Fast Passes for Test Track at night as we wanted to see if it was different under the lights. First of all, we queued for a short time to get on the perennial Brewer favourite Spaceship Earth.

We then headed down to the Port Of Entry area of World Showcase to grab some more 'snacks' from the Food & Wine festival stalls.

We started in Canada, where we had a delicious fillet mignon steak with mushrooms (mine was almost the size of a regular steak I'd say!). Then it was a short walk to Scotland (I know that sounds weird, but that's EPCOT!) where Clare went for the vegetarian haggis and I had the potato cake with smoked salmon. Both were declared to be delicious. Last, but not least, we went to the Desserts & Champagne stall where Clare had the "Trio" of Passion Fruit Creamsicle, Blueberry Lime cheescake roll and chocolate espresso opera cake. We both sampled all three and declared the passion fruit the winner! I got some Guylian Belgian chocolate seashell truffles that Matthew and I shared (if you are wondering what Matthew ate, he'd already had a sandwich and crisps before we came out).

Clare decided she wanted a beer to wash it all down (I couldn't, I was driving) so we went to the Craft Beers pavillion where she had a Magic Hat Dream Machine IPL. She declared it most agreeable! Matthew wanted to go to Club Cool as he hadn't tried all the drinks from around the world - which he now has!

We had a Fast Pass for the character meet and greet, so went to meet Mickey, Pluto and Minnie before heading over to Test Track. It was definitely worth doing at night. You don't get blinded by the sun as you come out in the test car and EPCOT lit up looks amazing.

As we left, I took a picture of Spaceship Earth all lit up...

2014 Holiday Day 5 - Disney's EPCOT

Last night I was literally asleep when my head hit the pillow. I didn't even manage to pull the covers over me so when I woke up my covers were still down near my feet! I think it's fair to say that I slept pretty well, as did everyone else!

After breakfast in the villa (Pilsbury Toaster Pastries are SO nice) it was into the car and the short journey over to EPCOT. We got there with plenty of time to spare before rope drop, so we planned our strategy. We already had a Fast Pass for Test Track so we didn't need to run for that one when the gates were opened.

However, Matthew wanted to ride it twice so we agreed that him and Clare would run for it whilst I attempted to keep up. However, once through the gates, it was obvious my lack of fitness was never going to allow me to keep up with those two so I let them run on ahead, knowing I'd get to ride it later with the Fast Pass. Whilst they were doing that I walked round the edge of the Tomorrow Land section. It was very quiet as there were only a few people about so I took some photos and explored some walkways I hadn't been down before. I debated going to the Food & Wine Festival Center, but decided I'd better wait near the ride exit. I'd picked up the Food & Wine information sheet so I read that and planned what to have for lunch. (For those unfamiliar with Disney stuff, the Food & Wine festival happens every Fall at EPCOT and there are over 30 stalls serving food and drink from around the world. It's not to be missed!).

Clare and Matthew appeared soon and we decided to use the Fast a pass to ride Test Track again all together. We designed our concept cars and rode the ride and it was as good as always.

It was no about 10am so we decided to go to the Festival Center to get our a Food & Wine Festival passports. As you buy food and drink from the kiosks they give you a stamp in your passport, so you can keep track of what you have eaten and where. Clare and I like it - must be the collectors in us!

It was time for the Mission: Space ride, just next door to the Center and another thing we had a Fast Pass for. Whilst the standby line for Test Track was 30 minutes, it was only 5 minutes for Mission: Space - but you just don't know the wait times when you book the Fast Passes... Oh well... Anyway, we opted for the Green version of the ride, rather than the Orange. Disney park fans will understand that this is the wossy version of the ride, basically you don't get spun around to simulate the G-force of a space rocket take off. People are physically sick on that ride, and as I don't really like thrill ride, the non-spinning version was what I wanted to do. Clare did the spinning version on our last visit and she loved it.

Anyway, we went through the safety briefing, were assigned our positions on the space craft and off into space we went. What did I think of it? Well, let's just say I wouldn't do it again. Even without the spinning I was feeling a little nauseous. I'm such a wimp! Whilst I breathed the fresh, Florida air, Matthew decided he wanted to go again. So him and Clare went back on to do different jobs on the spacecraft whilst I just say in to the shade and people-watched. I'm a nosy beggar, so it's fun to watch people and how they do their Disney holidays. I can't recommend having a plan enough - you really do need to know what you are doing and when otherwise you end up queuing and doing very little...

Matthew really liked the Disney conservation badge he picked up from Animal Kingdom and now we knew there were more to collect he was keen to find some different designs. So we went to The Seas shop and found the badge in blue. He made his donation and pinned it on his T-Shirt. We then went to The Land shop, but it was the same colour as the Animal Kingdom one so he didn't bother with it.

We went to Club Cool to try some of the Coca Cola drinks from around the world and look round the gift shop. We tried beverages from South Africa, Zimbabwe and other countries. Matthew rather liked the Zimbabwe one - a raspberry drink - so much so he seemed to have red stains round his chops for the rest of the day!

We then headed out to World Showcase where Clare and I started to eat our way round the Food & Wine Festival. We started at the New Zealand stand where Clare had the venison sausage and I went for the lamb meatballs with tomato chutney. Both dishes were delicious. Clare then went to Australia where she had the pork chop - again - delicious...

We then went up to Mexico where Matthew want to ride The Three Caballeros which featured his favourite character - Donald Duck. It's a gentle boat ride where the other two band members are searching Mexico to find Donald.. It's also nice and cool in the Mexico pavilion as it was starting to warm up outsdie. Another sunny day with a clear blue sky. We then went to do a meet and greet with Mexican Donald. He was running late, so we waited as it was cool and in the shade and we weren't in a hurry. He turned up at 12:30, and Matthew was thrilled - so it was all good!

We then headed up to Germany where Matthew and I went for the sausage in a pretzel roll. We both enjoyed them.

I was tempted with a lot of the German dishes, but was starting to get full! Clare then went to Italy for a portion of ravioli. Bear in mind these dishes are supposed to be 'snacks' this thing was the size of a UK microwave meal! She was enjoying it, so she ate it all, but decided she was out of the game. No more food for her!

Matthew and I headed to the Tangerine Cafe in Morocco to have a sit down and eat quick service meal. I had a bit of falafel wrap and we shared a Coke whilst Clare wandered round Japan and went round the shop there. Green Tea Kit Kat anyone? Might have to try that sometime...

I just about had room for a pudding, so visited Belgium for a waffle with berry compote. The waffle was a bit hard, but tasted alright. Clare decided on a beer and went for a Hoegarden, which she liked. Last stop was Canada, where Matthew went to the gift stall to buy a bag of crisps that he has had from here before.

We had a Fast Pass for Spaceship Earth, a Brewer family fave, so we headed across the park to settle into our time travel pod to explore the past, present and future of planet Earth (narrated by Dame Judy Dench!). As Matthew says, it wouldn't be Disney without Spaceship Earth!

We had a little energy left, so we decided to go and do the Figment ride Journey Into Imagination. As Clare says, it's not as good as it used to be, and truth be told, it's a bit lame, but we like it. It has a cheerful song going on with it - even if some of the effects and models are a bit rubbish compared to more modern rides. In the gift shop, Clare was pleased to find the Figment comics we'd been looking for in the UK. Not number 1, though, although the lady at the till gave her a card to get a digital version for free - so it wasn't too bad.

We stopped by The Art of Disney shop - which has wonderful original art from Disney artists. There is an artist in there who will take commissions and we got chatting to him as he was drawing Anna and Elsa from Frozen. There are some amazing pieces in the shop, ranging from pencil sketches to large oil paintings. Well worth a visit.

It was 3pm and we were feeling the pace, so we headed back to the car and hit the Springs pool for a bit. We then ate at the Artist's Palette quick service restaurant (the food is OK - not great - but OK). We then roasted Marshmallows around the campfire, then headed back for Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. After a bit of Thursday Night Football, it was lights out to be ready for tomorrow...

2014 Holiday Day 4 - Disney's Animal Kingdom

No loud music last night! Hurrah! So I think we all slept quite well, but we were up early again for breakfast at Animal Kingdom. We had the rental car now, so no freezing cold Disney buses lumbering round 5 stops at the resort before heading to the park and no waiting for scooters to be loaded! Straight into the car, at a decent temperature, and into the Animal Kingdom car park.

After we got through the gate (at around 7:45am) we went straight to Tusker House for breakfast hosted by Donald Duck. We had an early reservation (8:05am) so we were in fairly quickly and eating. I opted for the sausage patties, scrambled eggs and 'tater tots' (bascially a smaller version of potato croquettes which were more breadcrumbs and batter than potato!). Clare had scrambled eggs, bacon and tater tots and Matthew went for his usual sausage (patty), bagel and cinnamon swirl pastry. These were all washed down with 'jungle juice' (a delicious blend of fruit juices) and tea. We were soon joined by Donald, Mickey, Daisy Duck and Goofy and plenty of pictures were taken.

Meanwhile, Clare and I went back to the buffet for seconds - I went for a warm cinnamon bun and a cherry pastry and Clare had a couple of pieces of blueberry sponge cake.

We finished around 8:50am and left the restaurant to head for the Kilimanjaro Safari ride - a trip in a large 4x4 where you get to see lots of African animals. Well - hopefully see them! We had beaten the park opening, so were actually the first in the queue and we got chatting to the Cast Members looking after the ride. One asked us how many were in our party, then beckoned us over to where she was standing. She asked if we'd like a private tour of the reserve before any other guests! Wow! Of course we said 'yes' and headed off to a special boarding area. This is what is called a Disney Magical Moment. You can't buy them, they just happen - at random - for some guests. It seemed ours was because we were the first family in the line. Stacey was our guide and we had a drive, Matty. Usually the drivers do the commentary, but we had Stacey sitting with us which allowed us to ask questions. She also promised some inside information (I can exclusively reveal the termite mounds are fake and are actually watering 'holes' for the animals). She was great, giving us loads of information about the animals we were seeing. I think we pretty much saw everything, except the elephants, and got really close to the giraffes and the white rhinos.

Some animals have very few numbers in the wild, and so rely on reserves like the one at Disney to survive. It was an awesome experience - made us feel really special - and we were really pleased to have it. Thanks Disney!

After that we went on the Pangani Exploration Trail and saw the gorillas. Clare and Matthew were also carrying on their Wilderness Explorers badges collection. You get a booklet with questions and challenges in and each time you get one right you earn a sticker. They are located in different areas of the park, and some were on the trail, so they were able to complete a few there.

We then boarded the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch which was a fun train ride past some of the animal sleeping quarters to an area of the park dedicated to conservation. We got to see an operation on a sick animal in the veterinary surgery. It was a sea turtle from EPCOT who had a wound on his leg that wasn't healing properly.

We also collected some more badges.

We got the train back and then strolled to one of my favourite shows: Flights of Wonder. This is a bird show where you see some fabulous birds from all parts of the world doing some amazing flying sequences. They swoop so close to the audience you can feel their wings beating - if you are lucky enough to be underneath one that is! It's a great show, and some of the things that birds can do are incredible. You learn a lot about how they live, and what they eat too...

After the show, we went to some of the shops. Matthew had been moved by some of the stories of endangered animals and wanted to donate some of his pocket money to the cause. So he bought a pin badge and donated some money to the Disney conservation charity. We then headed to the Festival of the Lion King show, where we had Fast Passes. It was a good show, but not really our cup of tea. I think if you like musicals and circuses, you'd love it, but we don't really like either - so whilst it was impressive we won't be going back. Been there, done that...

It was now 1:30pm, and we had only eaten a bag of crisps between us since breakfast so we headed to Pizzafari for some sustanance. We ordered a Pepperoni and a Vegetable pizza to share, and were quite surprised at how good it was. They came with Cesear Salads on the side and drinks that we could have shared between three of us, let alone have one each! They were buckets! we then stopped by the Royal Anandapur Tea Company for a nice, refreshing cup of Massala Chai tea. As Americans don't seem to understand the concept of using boiling water for tea making, this was a nice surprise - as it was hot and also very tasty!

After lunch we went to the Maharjah's Jungle Trek to look for Matthew's favourite animal - the tiger. We spotted one eating his lunch, but others were probably avoiding the hot Florida afternoon sun. So Matthew did some more Wilderness Explorer badges.

We were pretty tired by this point. We hadn't really ridden any rides this visit - but we are tempted to go back on our spare day to do some more stuff. On the way to the exit, Matthew went to another shop to buy a tiger toy that also helped the Disney conservation charity.

We got back to the hotel and went to the Grandstand pool for a couple of hours before going to Downtown Disney to do a bit of shopping. Then it was some TV and watching the second World Series game before bed...

Not many people get a Disney Magical Moment. We did - and I'm sure we'll remember it for a long time...

2014 Holiday Day 3 - Disney Magic Kingdom

So the music started again last night around 9:30pm - worse than the previous night. We made a call to the Front Desk, but I suspect others had too as it stopped pretty quickly afterwards and rather abruptly. Maybe a fellow resident knocked on their door, or maybe Security did! Anyway, today is Magic Kingdom day!

Anyway, we were up early as we had a character breakfast booked at the Crystal Palace restaurant - meeting Winnie The Pooh and friends. We got to the bus stop at 7am where a bus to the Magic Kingdom was waiting! Perfect! No-one else got on and we were soon queuing to get into the Magic Kingdom for breakfast. We were let in about 7:45am and proceeded to the restaurant...

...where we were the first family to be called in. Quite special! We picked food from the ample buffet choice (I started withe sausage and eggs, Clare had an omlette and Matthew went for sausages, a bagel and pastries). Pooh was the first to come to our table and pose for photos, followed by Tigger and Piglet. I also found time for pancakes and strawberries and a couple of pastries - washed down with dome Twinings Decaff English tea. Pleased they had decaff. We had to wait for Eyore for a little while, but he eventually rocked up - complete with his tail and not feeling too gloomy (we asked!).

Around 8:50am, we legged it out of the restaurant and headed for Peter Pan. We thought we might still be one of a few set of guests in the park, but it looked like the turnstyles had opened early so other guests were pouring in. Still, we arrived at Peter Pan and queued for about 4 minutes. It's a bit of a lame ride, but sentimental to a lot of people - Clare included. It's quite nice after a big breakfast!

Next up - a Brewer family favourite. Love it or loathe it - It's A Small World is a classic. This time we literally walked straight on to the ride, which we'd never done before. Cheesy family fun as always - and that catchy song stuck in your head for days afterwards!

We moved along to one of my favourites - Haunted Mansion. Again, minimal queue. Well - no queue - we were first to the mansion doors. We discovered some of the fun things in the queue, like the church organ that spat steam and water when played!. Good fun! The ride was as good as always - not too scary for small ones - and it finished with the classic hitchhiking ghosts on your ride vehicle. You then go past a 'mirror' where the ghosts proceed to cause havoc. We loved the effect this time as the ghosts pulled mine and Clare's heads off then swapped them over! It was hilarious! The new shop is stocked with some good stuff, and we may well head back there later in the holiday for purchases.

Off to another fave next - Jungle Cruise. The terrible jokes and puns ensued on this fun riverboat ride. We had a good tour guide lady, who had a very dry and quick wit, which had us laughing our loud and groaning in equal measure... Trader Sam - the resident heasd-shrinker - has a special - two heads for the price of one... The price, of course, being your own head. Still, you'll come out 'ahead' on the deal (geddit!!!!)....

Heading over to Tomorrowland we hit the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger ride. Not long into the ride we got stuck for about 5 minutes. Not too long, but we got stuck in the spinning start where the room moves around you at great speed. I had to shut my eyes to stop feeling sick! It wasn't too bad and we enjoyed the shooting of Zurg's forces once we got underway.

Time to change the pace, so we got on the Peoplemover - a nice ride around Tommorrowland and another essential Brewer ride.

So far we had seen little queuing. I think the longest was about 6 minutes in Buzz Lightyear... That was all due to change as we headed to Seven Dwarves Mine Train - a relatively new family coaster. Standby line times were 45 minutes! Luckily, we had booked a Fast Pass Plus and we were on the ride in minutes. We all really enjoyed it. I'm not a coaster fan, but thought it was pretty good. Clare and Matthew loved it. It's nice and smooth - unlike older coasters. Standby time as we left... 85 minutes... Ouch! Poor people in that queue!

We then headed back to Tomorrowland for the Monsters Inc Laughter Show. We hadn't done this before, so didn't know what to expect. Once inside the theatre, various monsters come on stage and interact with the audience to get laughs to power their city. It's all done with computer animation and cameras focusing on people in the audience to interact with. Very clever. It's like the Turtle Talk at Epcot. We all thought it was very funny and will definitely be doing it again.

Then on to another Brewer family classic ride. No trip to Disney would be complete without Carousel of Progress - following an American family through the 1900's, 1920's, 1940's and the future. Another one of those catchy songs to sing along to. Even if you go just for the air conditioning and dark theatre it's worth it. A quick nap is not beyond the realms of possibility.

It was warming up nicely. The sun was out and it was getting hot. Time to cool off and head for Splash Mountain to get absolutely soaked on the big plummet at the end. Another ride we Fast Passed, as the queues can be big for this one. Turned out the standby line was 20 minutes, but as we skipped it and got straight on, it didn't matter.

We still had a little while before our lunch reservation, so we took the boat to Tom Sawyer's Island where Matthew played in the fort and we sat on the rocking chairs watching the steamboat un-dock and head off round the river.

Back in the main park we went to lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern. We got seated quite quickly (even though we were early) and chose the roast turkey for me, Matthew had the burger and Clare had the daily special of batter cod and chips (fries!). Matthew wanted a plain burger, but it turned up with cheese and bacon. It was replaced, but he wasn't too happy with the burger, and the first time my food turned up it was cold. It was quickly replaced and everyone was full of apologies. The deserts were very good - I really liked the toffee desert I had (which was a treacle tart in essence) and Clare had fruit strudel (which she said was OK) and Matthew had ice cream.

We then walked to where we had Fast Pass viewing area tickets for the 3pm Parade. The floats and characters and dancers were all excellent. I took loads of photos and we all agreed it had been worth waiting for.

And that was it for The Magic Kingdom. We had done loads, and the queues had been minimal. We managed to stay ahead of any significant queues (Peter Pan had trebled in length after we rode it, for example) which meant we did A LOT!

We picked up our hire car and then hit the Springs pool at the hotel for a while. Then it was Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and World Series Baseball on Fox before bedtime.

Hopefully without the thumping music soundtrack...

2014 Holiday Day 2 - Disney's Hollywood Studios

After a bit of a rubbish night (see previous post) and a light breakfast we headed for the bus stop to catch a ride to Hollywood Studios. As luck would have it, the bus was pulling in as we arrived at the stop! Last year, we had had a shaky start to the holiday with a packed theme park really cramping us... We were hoping the bus arriving as we did was a good omen.

On arrival, the gates didn't seem as crowded as last year. We had arrived about 8:35 so had a bit of a wait until 'rope drop' but we were soon in the park and charging towards our first ride of the day.

Now we had already booked Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania, The Frozen Sing-Along and Lights! Motors! Action! so we knew we were able to focus on other rides first. Matthew really likes the Star Wars ride Star Tours so we headed there. After zero queue we boarded the ride and got to visit Tatooine (where we took part in a pod race) and then a space battle between the Empire and the Rebellion. A pretty good couple of destinations. I looked round the shop whilst Matthew and Clare rode again (Tatooine and Naboo).

We then strolled leisurely to Toy Story Mania (which was a new experience for us having previously had to run to it at rope drop) and using our Fast Passes boarded with a minimal wait. A great ride, as usual, of fair ground games inspired by Toy Story. We all had similar scores, each of us breaking 100,000 points (I won with 118,000). Pity it is one of the few quality attractions at Hollywood Studios. Disney seem to close a lot of things here, without opening others. C'mon Disney - where's Star Wars land and Cars land?

Feeling a bit peckish, we made for the Starring Rolls cafe where we were able to use our Disney Dining Plan to get three Quick Service Meals. You simply choose a drink, a yoghurt or piece of fruit and a pastry to make a Quick Service Meal (rather than have them all use up the more precious Snack credits). All the tables were busy (which is typical as it's pretty popular) so we sat on the steps in the shade. The sun was beating down from a clear blue sky and it was pretty warm. Lovely...

We then looked around some of the shops, killing time before then queuing for the Frozen Sing-Along. This was a new one for us, and Clare had been looking forward to it in particular. Once inside the theatre, there was a show retelling the Frozen movie story - pausing for the screen to be used to show the songs from Frozen with the movie with the words for everyone to sing-along to. The the two narrators were very good, pretty funny with a lot of improv, and at the end Anna and Elsa appear for the grand finale. Well worth the visit. Clare was really pleased to have gone and loved it!

We then moved on to a Brewer family favourite - the Indiana Jones Stunt Show. Spectacular as always and never gets boring for us. We were curious to know why the boulder has disappeared from the opening scene in the show? Bit of a shame, but didn't really spoil it.

We then had to move fast to get to Lights! Motors! Action! A really good car stunt show, which Matthew is a big fan of. It was good to see the stadium full as the Disney bloggers seem to give this show a bit of a kicking. We really like it, and it was good to see lots of other people enjoying it too. The car chase scenes were impressive as always and the skill of the drivers is exceptional.

After the show was over, we had a leisurely stroll to our lunch destination - 50's Prime Time Cafe. Matthew was particularly keen on this one as he loves the milkshakes. We all love the milkshakes actually! It was great to be seated in Gary's section again - he is a brilliant server and is always happy to chat and pass on tips on the best way to spend your time in the Disney parks. We had him last year and sat in the table right next to where we were last year! We ordered two sampler dishes for Clare and I and Matthew had the pork chop. In the eyes of Disney he is now an adult (he's 10!) so had to choose adult meals. We were all stuffed, so Gary bagged up our brownies we had ordered for pudding and gave us paper cups for the milkshakes. We then headed to the buses.

It had been a good visit - miles better than last year. It was getting busy, but we always seemed to be ahead of the curve and beat the queues. My initial skepticism on Fast Pass Plus was unjustified - it worked brilliantly in avoiding large queues. But I'll reserve judgement until I've used it more. The Magic Bands all worked OK (the new Disney ticketing system) - which was good. Matthew was even able to 'pay' for the meal (we had it on the Dining Plan, but he could 'sign off' on it as he was an 'adult' - weird...!). It was pretty hot, but as we were able to stroll, rather than charge about - it wasn't too bad.

Back at the hotel, we went to the Main Pool for a bit - then went to roast some marshmallows round the camp fire. Then it was Jeopardy, Wheel Of Fortune and Monday Night Football on ESPN before turning in...

2014 Holiday Day 1 - Arrival & Downtown Disney

After a fairly uneventful journey (although we were delayed an hour on the tarmac due to a family being split up on the plane and no-one willing to help them out for a half hour) we touched down at Orlando airport onboard Virgin flight 27. The new automated arrivals machines sped things up and we were out of the airport and on the Disney Magical Express in about an hour. Which is pretty good going for Orlando.

The Disney Magical Express is much better than the buses arranged by Virgin Holidays. They have more people on them, and they seem to be run to a timetable. On the Virgin Holidays charter buses, you have to wait for all the families on the list. They may have taken a taxi or be stuck in customs, but you can be waiting a long time... Definitely an advantage of the package our travel agent booked us (a flydrive with Virgin Holidays and accommodation and tickets with Disney).

We got checked in OK to our usual Disney hotel - Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa - although they didn't seem to get our preference for the The Grandstand, instead putting us in The Carousel. Luckily we were able to switch rooms to be in our favoured location.

After briefly unpacking we went for a walk to find the new bridge that connects the resort with Downtown Disney. We went to the Lego store and picked up the $100 Disney gift card from one of the Disney stores' Information Desk (a perk of booking early). Matthew had a hotdog from one of the Marketplace vendors (which he said was very good) and then we headed back.

After settling in the for the night and turning the telly off we were surpised to hear thumping music coming from somewhere nearby. We are used to Saratoga Springs being a quiet resort, so hearing party music was a surprise. We phoned he front desk and they promised to send security. It was still going an hour later so we phoned again. Again, they said they'd sort it. I've no idea when it stopped, I last looked at the clock at 12:30am... Complaining to the Front Desk seemed to have little effect, which was disappointing. Hoping it won't happen again...

Northumberland - Wednesday 16th July - Day 6

A day that promised to be a bit damp and chilly beckoned - a total contrast to back home where apparently it is very warm and sunny! We decided to head to the big city - Newcastle - and have a mooch around.

It's pretty easy to get to - about an hour's drive from Craster down the A1 and then park up at Kingston Park for £1 a day! Yep - £1 a day... Back home we'd be talking a £1 for a half hour, so it's a pretty good deal. The Metro station is a few yards walk from the car park (and it's all well signposted from the A1 by the way) where we bought tickets and waited for our train.

About 5 minutes later we were heading into the city. We stopped at Jesmond to have a wander round my old stomping ground from when I was a student 20 years ago (is it really 20 years!). My old flat was still there, but a few things had changed around it. There are now a lot more coffee shops on Clayton Road - and in fact - a lot more coffee shops everywhere.

We walked through the University (where I had trouble finding my old department building!) before heading into Eldon Square, out past Greys Monument and then down to the Quayside. It was nice to walk through the streets I had known as a student and show them to my family. We took the bus from the quayside back up the steep hill to the rail station and the Metro back to the car from there.

The weather wasn't great in the afternoon, so we chilled out in the cottage before a spot of dinner and over the road to the pub for a pint. The sun came out and it became quite a warm evening so we decided to head out for a walk around the village and up into the hill that overlooks Craster and the bay below. It was a lovely walk and really rather warm out of the wind.

We got back to the cottage and sat on the balcony watching the waves and the life around the harbour.

Northumberland - Tuesday 15th July - Day 5

I think it's fair to say we were all feeling quite tired today. Some real downtime was needed to we decided not to push it too much. The sun had got his hat on again, so we decided after breakfast to head to Holy Island for a little walk around. Master B was particularly keen to see the causeway.

We parked up on the island and were surprised by the number of people there and the coaches too! Got to say that Northumberland public toilets are some of the worst we have used. The ones on the island were not much better. C'mon Northumberland! Perhaps you should learn some lessons from Florida in the USA, which have some of the best public toilets...

Anyway, we walked up to the castle and around the village and stopped for some ice cream. We then headed back for a bit of a lazy afternoon of movies, reading and watching the fisherman land their catch in the harbour.

After a nice dinner cooked in the cottage, we headed to the Jolly Fisherman again for a snifter before heading in for the night. Well, we did have a foray out to play a bit of football over in the park, but it was nothing too strenuous...

Northumberland - Monday 14th July - Day 4

Totally different to yesterday, we woke to bright sunshine streaming through the cracks in the gaps in the shutters. There was a strong feeling amongst the Brewer clan that this could be the day to attempt the hike to Embleton beach again (we had to abandon the previous attempt due to a sea mist). So after breakfast, we packed our things and headed along the coast from Craster to Dunstanburgh Castle and then round the base of the castle to the almost deserted Embelton beach. It was a glorious site at low tide - miles of sand with rock pools and sand dunes.

We set up camp and Master B and I headed to the shoreline to build our first sand castle. It was a little wet down there, so the citadel we built was a little crumbling, but we had fun nonetheless. By the dunes, it was very sheltered and very warm, but there was a pleasant cooling breeze near the sea.

We then moved to the dunes, where we built another citadel in the drier sand in the middle of two streams that were coming from the dunes. By now a few more people were enjoying the beach and it was getting very warm in the shelter of the dunes. The sun was still blazing down, and it was more Ibiza then Embleton!

However, as I was taking the photo above the cloud cover had rolled in and there was a decided nip in the air. We'd had a good 2-3 hours of lovely weather at the beach so we decided to pack up and head home. As we were all a little tired, it seemed to take twice as long to get home as it had to get to the beach! Still we made it OK, and decided a treat was in order...

We headed the 20-30 paces to the pub next door, bagged a window table and ordered lunch. Mrs B and I had fishcakes and chips and Master B had a burger and chips. It was delicious. What more can I say? Possibly the nicest fish cakes I've had. Mrs B and I shared a Tiramisu for pudding, which was also lovely.

We spent  lazy couple of hours in the cottage. Mrs B and I sat out on the balcony looking over the beautiful vista whilst Master B pottered around the cottage playing with his toys and his iPod games. We put some bread out for the birds and were amazed at how tame they were - coming right up to the table where I was sitting to take the bread!

A trip to the shops for supplies in Alnwick and a trip to the pub for a snifter and we were pretty much done for the day... Save a glorious sunset:

Northumberland - Sunday 13th May - Day 3

We woke to the sound of heavy rain and looked bleakly through the window wondering what we would do today. We had bought lots of good wet weather clothes with us, so we weren't too worried, but we has rather hoped the weather forecast would be wrong. A sturdy breakfast saw the spirits lift, and there is something rather nice about looking out over the harbour watching the rain coming down when you are safely tucked up indoors!

Master B had wanted to go to Scotland. He wanted to go to 'another country'. Not too sure what there was to do up there, I hit the Internet and came up with a few suggestions. So we packed up the car and headed north, hoping we might also find some drier weather!

First stop was Chain Bridge Honey Farm, which isn't too far from Berwick. I thought it looked fun, with it's exhibition on bee keeping and it's cafe on an old double decker bus. Thankfully it wasn't raining up in this part of the world! We checked out the latter first and ordered pots of tea, honey flapjack and honey cake. It was all home made and delicious, and the bus was rather fun for Master B. We sat at the front of the top deck of course! The exhibition was quite good, the highlight being the glass sided hive where you can see the bees at work. Mrs B bought some heather honeycomb which she declared to be very tasty. When we mentioned to the staff we were on our way to Scotland, they directed us to the Chain Bridge just down the road - which was a 5 minute walk. If we crossed the bridge, the told us, we'd be in Scotland. Master B was very excited by this. The Union Bridge is a lovely thing of engineering - built in the 1820s. When a car goes across, it's a bit swingy, but safe and good fun. We were soon in Scotland! Hurrah! We then strolled back to the car to head off up the A1 and into another part of Scotland...

Going up the A1 into Scotland was no less thrilling for Master B, and there are some spectacular views across the sea in the Borders. We were heading further north though, because I had spotted a rather unusual tourist attraction on the map - a nuclear power station. We were off to the Visitor's Centre at Torness Power Station, operated by EDF Energy. Not your average tourist attraction, perhaps, but it sounded interesting - and Master B is quite into his science and engineering at the moment. We knew we couldn't do a tour, because you need to apply at least 3 weeks beforehand for security checks, but were hoping the Visitor's Centre would be interesting.

We were met there by Julian, an enthusiastic and knowledgable guide who showed us a model of the plant and explained how electricity was generated. There was some interactive exhibits for Master B to try and it was well worth the visit. We'd love to go back and do a proper tour, where you actually get to see the plant, but maybe that's for another time.

Julian had told us about a couple of fishing villages worth visiting, so we headed to the first: St Abbs. We parked up near the beach after a lovely drive down the coastal road and had our packed lunch on a bench overlooking the harbour. There was lots of good diving in the area, so we watched the boats unpack parties of people and head out with more. Seemed to be a very popular activity. St Abbs is quite small, so it didn't take long to have a walk round the pretty village and we then headed to the rather excellent and modern Visitor's Centre.

As you can see from the pictures, the sun had decided to make the odd appearance and it was getting rather warm. We had dressed for wet and windy - but we had high summer now! I love the North-East! Three seasons in a day and all that...

We were heading a little way down the coast to Eyemouth where Julian had told us of a smugglers house. We soon found Gunsgreen House and had fun for an hour exploring it. There were a few children's activities and plenty of interactive exhibits and was well worth doing.

Well it had been a busy day - so we headed back across the border and home to Craster. I cooked up some dinner and we headed to the pub for a snifter before settling in front of the World Cup Final then bed!