2017 Holiday - Day 10 - Animal Kingdom & EPCOT

It was up early this morning and into a Minnie Cab in order to get us to Animal Kingdom so Clare and Matthew could rope drop Flight of Passage (the Avatar ride). We were in the line by 7.15am. They started to let us in around 7.30 and Clare and Matthew were in the queue and then riding before 8am (the official park opening due to it being an Extra Magic Hour day). They then got off that ride and did Na'vi River Journey. During all this I had gone to Creature Comforts (a disguised Starbucks) for breakfast. I had one of their breakfast sandwiches (gluten free of course) and a coffee and then a wander round Pandora to take some pictures.

Three hour line for Flight of Passage

The line for Starucks!

Once together again, we headed off for a Kilimanjaro Safari where we saw pretty much all the wildlife of the reserve. We were extremely lucky to see so many different animals.

Matthew wanted to see the tiger again so we went on the Maharajah Jungle Trail and also did the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail. The latter was very busy and whilst it was good to see the gorillas and other animals, it was a bit of a fight to get from one set of animals to the next.

Hippo being 'cleaned' by lots of fish!

Clare stopped at Yak and Yeti quick service and had the Honey Chicken, which she enjoyed very much. We then headed to Na'vi River Journey again - so I could ride it with the Fast Pass we had. I can't say I was that impressed with it - certainly wouldn't be worth standing in line for hours. Alright with a Fast Pass - wouldn't bother again. It was a bit boring to be honest.

I wanted to get an Omission (gluten free) beer and the only place we'd seen it was at Terra Treats - a stall not far from Pandora. However, on arrival, they only had hard cider - which everywhere in Disney World has. Not sure why they had run out, or why nowhere on property stocks gluten free beer, but it was disappointing.nonetheless.

We took the bus back to the resort and had a rest before heading back to Beaches & Cream - the cool diner we liked previously. We had the same server (Brittany) which was great as she was super friendly and she remembered all out likes and dislikes as well - which was incredible considering how many people must go through that restaurant! I had the excellent burger again (GF of course) asn did Matthew and Clare had the Patty Melt. I finished with the GF brownie with hot chocolate sauce and ice cream and Clare and Matthew had shakes. We washed it all down with Cherry Coke (Clare had Raspberry Coke). It was as good as always - and we may well go back again before we leave!

Clare and I went for a walk round EPCOT. She finished her Remy rat hunt and got a nice keyring for her troubles. We went to a couple of the pavilions, including China where we saw an exhibition on Disneyland Shanghai. It was raining fairly heavily and by the time we got back to the hotel, we were pretty wet! We got changed and headed for the lounge for a couple of drinks and some nibbles. Then it was Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune and Dancing With The Stars.

2017 Holiday - Day 9 - EPCOT & Beach Club Resort

Something we'd not done before was first up today - breakfast at The Garden Grill in EPCOT with Chip & Dale, Pluto and Mickey. A pretty good spread of characters. The Garden Grill is a revolving restaurant, and you pretty much get one full rotation. You sit facing outwards with views of the initial part of the Living With The Land ride. Food is served at your table 'family style'. That means whacking great mountains of food are put in bowls and skillets and you give in and help yourself. The first course is pastries; warm cinamon roll for the wheat eaters, a delicious blueberry muffin for me and then a skillet arrives with sausage, scrambled egg, bacon, potato tots (like a mini potato croquette) and Mickey waffles. And you know - the gluten free skillet contained exactly the same stuff. So for the first time I felt like I was eating with everyone else. Now - of course - I had been before. But there was no asking for an allergy menu and what can be substituted, etc. Stuff turned up and we all enjoyed it!

The characters did their rounds and were great. Chip and Dale are always good value. We often find the Mickey's to be a tad - well - rushed. It's like he sees a teenager and thinks a quick photo is all that's needed. To be honest, we don't mind, we suspect he has to spend ages with very small children for whom Disney World is all about Mickey.

Anyway, after stuffing our faces we left and went for a quick spin on Spaceship Earth, watched a band of chefs play their pots and pans (very funny and well worth seeking out) and then went into the Imagination pillar to go through a journey of colour - which was a fun little exhibit. We then had a stroll back through the park and went back to the hotel for a bit.

We hung out at the hotel in the afternoon. Clare and Matthew went to Stormalong Bay. Clare and I then went and had a meal in The Yachtsman - a signature dining restaurant. This means it's supposed to be more upscale, and with prices to match! As we have the dining plan, the prices didn't really bother us - but it was two dining credits (but as we had credits to spare on the dining plan - again - this didn't matter too much). We had an excellent service team, who explained the menu and were more than happy to cater for my gluten free. There was an allergy menu, but the restaurant were happy to make almost anything gluten free as they make many of the sauces from scratch (although the desserts were limited to what was GF already). We split the 32ox Porterhouse steak, with a couple of sides of spinach and one of mushrooms. Clare also had some roast potatoes that weren't GF, but could have been made so, but I didn't want them anyway. It was all very good indeed. Dessert was carrot cake for me (excellent) and Clare had the meringue which she enjoyed. All in all a very enjoyable dinner.

Clare and Matthew then headed into EPCOT and rode Test Track, Mission: Space (Orange mission) and Three Caballeros. I stayed in the room to watch the Patriots at home to the Falcons (good win for the Pats).

2017 Holiday - Day 8 - Disney Springs & Magic Kingdom

We had a fairly lazy breakfast in the club lounge before deciding to head to Disney Springs. Matthew had been considering spending some money in the shops there, and Clare and I wanted to try some of the other food options. So we got on a bus, after deciding to take stroll to the Yacht club bus stop.

Clare tried the 'Classic Chips from Poutine. These were large chips (fries for the Americans reading this) covered in gravy and with cheese curds. She really liked them. I had one (wasn't sure if they had gluten in or not) and they were - indeed - very good. I wanted to head for the allergy friendly Erin McKenna's Bakery. This is an absolute must for those with gluten or dairy and many other intolerances as they serve baked treats that would usually be off limits. The Beach Club shop has donuts and cookies from there, so I was keen to see what other flavours they stocked. I opted for a cookies and cream donut with a decaf coffee. The donut was terrific - the coffee could use some work - but a great experience and really pleased to see this in Disney Springs. Matthew opted for a hot dog from one of the stands and it was good.

Erin McKenna Bakery - New York, LA and Disney Springs!

After a bit of shopping we headed back to the hotel. Clare and I headed to 'Brazil' (in EPCOT) to get some Cheese Bread (GF of course) from the stand and it was delicious. We then had a lazy afternoon before boarding the monorail to head to the Grand Floridian hotel for a wander round and dinner. It is a very large complex, and very upmarket. A few people were wandering round too and you could hear comments like 'I'd never be able to save up enough to afford this place'. It is pretty pricey - even for Disney. Still, we didn't need to worry about that. We had reservations in the Grand Floridian Cafe. Sounds like it might have just been a plain old cafe, but it was very nicely done with polite service and a good menu. Matthew opted for an adult portion from the kids menu of chicken nuggets (didn't know they could so that, so a good tip), Clare went for Lobster Burger (like a surf and turf) and I went for a turkey, ham and bacon open sandwich. Desserts were sorbets all round. Very good indeed. Great good, nice atmosphere, good service. We're likely to be back again.

We then took the resort boat to the Magic Kingdom to Clare and Matthew could do Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Thunder Mountain at night. It was busy in there, but didn't have the slightly rowdy, drunken atmosphere EPCOT has. Much more pleasant, and I'll put that down to the absence of alcohol available. Much more family friendly, and actually, more friendly in general. For example, I've stopped wearing my New England Patriots cap into EPCOT because I've had a couple of idiots shout abuse at me for it. Ridiculous, but there you go...

Anyway, we came back out of the park and took a boat to catch the Electrical Water Pageant - where boats float past the resort with lights and music. Clare had been keen to see this. We couldn't get on the first boat as it was full, and when the next boat arrived we were a little tight for time. We wanted to watch from the Ohana resort, and it turned out even better as we watched from the boat!. People pay a lot of money to rent a boat to do that and we got it for free! So that was pretty fun.

We then got a Minnie Van (Jen was great fun and had a great chat with Matthew about their favourite rides) back to the resort and that was that!

2017 Holiday - Day 7 - Lots of Different Activities!

Had a bit of hassle last night with some kids being noisy in the quiet pool that's right outside our window. They don't seem to ever shut it, so people wander in there at all sorts of times of day and night. The reception was helpful and sent 'the heavies' to sort it out. It is still an annoyance at other times, and I'd recommend a room overlooking this pool if you're a light sleeper or don't like noise.

We didn't have much of a plan today, apart from a dining reservation in the Beaches & Cream restaurant. So after breakfast we thought we'd catch a bus to Animal Kingdom and do the Maharajah Jungle Trek - or as we call - the Tiger Trail. When we got to the bus stop, the queue wasn't too bad but the more we waited the more people turned up. We thought the bus ride would be horrible, so opened up Lyft and ordered a Minnie Cab! We turned up in car 25 (same as Joe yesterday) and he was incredibly nice. He opened all the doors for us, shook us warmly by the hand and whisked us off to AK. We got chatting along the way and turns out Wes has worked in the parks for 40 years! He started in 1977 as a Jungle Cruise captain - the same year Clare came to Disney as a child! He clearly loved his job and was enjoying driving the cab.

Once we got to Animal Kingdom, there was a bit of a line to get in but it looked like they weren't doing the finger print check (usually you scan your Magic Band and have your finger print read, but they'd dropped the latter) in order to get through more people. We wandered through the park and spent a pleasant time on the trail, spotting the animals and - of course- the tiger. It was just the male as the female is with the two new tiger cubs that are now 16lb and growing at 2lb a week.

We bought a drink and then headed out of the park to go and play mini golf at Winter Summerland. It was very busy in the park, and the lines were huge outside of it to get in. Glad we weren't spending the day there!

We hopped on a bus that transferred us from Animal Kingdom to Blizzard Beach, where the mini golf is housed. The bus was rammed but we were there soon enough. We popped in to Blizzard Beach quickly as I was hungry, so went up to the Lottawatta Lodge as I couldn't see any 'Snacks With Character' in the shop. Disney magic went missing in action after I ordered a GF Brownie and then nobody went to actually get it for me seemingly. After 5 minutes of waiting, a cast member eventually noticed me standing there and went and got it in 10 seconds. I should probably be a bit more vocal in my complaining in these situations, but I'm British after all :-) Anyway, the brownie was delicious, and so we headed off to mini golf. Unfortunately, when we got there, it was a 50 minute wait to play as only the Winter course was open. We changed our minds, and decided to get a Minnie Cab to Fantasia Gardens mini golf (which was only a few miles away but would have involved two buses to get there). And - hey - I don't need much of an excuse to ride in a Minnie Cab!

The app told us that car 25 was heading out way. Could it be Wes again? It was! It was great to see him again and he pulled in behind another Minnie Cab with a driver being trained (Shaun). It turned out he was a Disney legend. He had a blue Cast Member badge - given to the top 1% of Cast Members - voted for by their peers - for keeping the spirit of Walt alive. An amazing honour. It was great chatting to them both, and the trainer as well. We then headed of for the mini golf and played the Fairways course, which had no waiting time (the course we played yesterday was a 30 minute wait). It was more like a miniature real gold course. It was OK - but not true 'crazy' golf.

We headed back to the hotel ready for our lunch in Beaches & Cream restaurant. This is a small, 50's style ice cream shop that serves malts, shakes, Coke floats, cherry Coke (with the cherry syrup, not the stuff from cans!) and burgers and hot dogs and the like. I ordered a strawberry shake and a GF burger; Clare had a patty melt (like a burger but in sandwich form) and vanilla malt and Matthew had a burger and Coke. For pud I had another GF brownie (warm with hot fudge sauce this time) and Clare went for a strawberry shortcake. Matthew got a shake to go. It was all really good, the service and atmosphere was terrific. It's difficult to get a reservation, as it's so small, but highly recommended.

The gluten free cheese burger with fries. Delicious!

Matthew went back to the room for a rest whilst Clare and I headed into EPCOT to carry on with Remy's Ratatouille Hide & Squeak - trying to spot more rats hidden around World Showcase. It was getting quite crowded, so we spent an hour wandering round and looking in some of the country's pavilions before coming out.

We had a lazy evening in the lounge followed by watching some TV before turning in

2017 Holiday - Day 6 - Mini Golf & Animal Kingdom

A pretty lazy morning for us, luxuriating in the fact that we had breakfast in Cape May Cafe that is in our hotel and so was a 5 minute walk away. We've been to Cape May before, and it involves going in and out of EPCOT when we stayed at Saratoga Springs. No more! We were in and seated and met with Donald, Goofy and Daisy (this is a character dining experience and one of the best IMHO).

They gave be an allergy menu, so I could be guided to the buffet as to what I could have. I asked about GF bread products and was told I could have GF waffles, which I ordered. Matthew had some toast and fruit (had to ask for a banana but it wasn't a problem), Clare had a cooked breakfast, pumpkin-spiced pancakes and a bowl of fruit. All of it was delicious. I was surprised to find that my GF waffles were the famous Mickey waffles! Got to say, I couldn't tell the different between 'evil wheat' waffles and these GF vesions - which was great!

We decided to walk round the Boardwalk and head to Fantasia Gardens Mini Golf and play a round. We went for the course that was more like crazy golf with the musical obstacles (called the Garden Course). We played a round of 18 in the Florida sunshine and it was altogether a most pleasant way to pass an hour or two.

I won, with Matthew and then Clare being very close to each other for second (Matthew just squeaked it). We strolled back tot he resort via the Swan and Dolphin hotel lobbies to have a look inside them and the Boardwalk Bakery to fill up our resort mugs with soda.

Matthew and Clare then headed for Stormalong Bay (the hotel pool complex) whilst I ate a snack in readiness for our trip to Animal Kingdom.

We decided to take a Minnie Cab to AK. These are colourful cars ('dressed up' like Minnie Mouse) drvien by very competent cast members that act like an Uber or a Lyft service. In fact, you order them through the Lyft app (which means you need an account, payment method, etc through them - it's not a completely Disney thing). Using the app was very simple, and soon car number 25 was heading our way. Six minutes later it arrived and Joseph got out to greet us. He was extremely nice and friendly and let Matthew take the wheel of the Minnie Cab (albeit whilst safely parked outside the hotel!).

As we drove to Animal Kingdom, Joe told us about his experiences in Pandora (the new land in AK) as well as chatting about some other parts of Disney. It was a great ride and he was a really nice chap. He felt sorry that I wasn't going to enjoy Flight of Passage (the new Avatar ride) that much, as I'm not a thrill ride kind-of guy, so in a 'Magical Moment' gave us Fast Passes for anything else we wanted to ride. Super nice of him!

However, before going to the new Avatar land we had a dinner buffet booked at Tusker House - which also had character meets in Donald, Goofy, Minnie and Mickey. And so from a Disney high to a Disney low. It took 45 minutes for our table to be ready! It was a warm, boring wait in a rather noisy part of the park and we were - frankly - fed up upon entering the restaurant. However, the food was pretty good and the characters were fun so it wasn't too bad in the end. As part of the reservation, we got tickets to see the Rivers of Light show in the evening. Anyone cas just turn up to it, but we got preferred seating - so were guaranteed a seat and only had to be there 20 minutes beforehand. Handy!

Now it was time for the much-hyped Pandora - Avatar land. We were about to ride the newest ride in Disney - Flight of Passage. Luckily we had Fast Passes, as the standby line was approaching a two hour wait (we heard some people saying they'd waited five hours previously!). We were into the pre-ride after about 10-15 minutes where you are taken through a few movies about how you are being tied to your avatar and will ride the flying creatures from the movie in your rite of passage. You then get astride this kind-of bike thing and get bolted firmly into place. Now, I'm not a thrill ride person, but Clare had assured me I could shut my eyes and I'd just feel a bit of wobbling as the bike-thing beneath me moved around to the 3D movie effects on the screen. The bits I did open my eyes for were stunning. It was done really well. The 'seat' you were sitting on had something that allowed you to feel your creature breathing! Matthew said at one point he reached down to pet the thing it felt so real! Anyway, both Clare and Matthew thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd recommend it as an experience to anyone who can just about tolerate thrill rides (i.e. if you're OK on Test Track you'll probably be OK on this). You can shut your eyes, and open them when you feel the thing stop moving and you'll see some wonderful 3D movie images.

We then wandered round Pandora - which has been themed amazingly well. Truly Disney at it's best. The bar has been raised from the Harry Potter experiences in Universal! However, it's not a well loved movie so the lasting appeal is yet to be determined. But a very fine experience nonetheless.

We then headed to another Fast Pass we had - Kilimanjaro Safaris. This is where you board a 'safari jeep' and head into the jungle and the savannah of Africa to see all sorts of different animals. Doing it at dusk was definitely a good experience, and I'm glad we had the Fast Passes because it was a 70 minutes Standby wait. They were only running at half capacity too with the vehicles. We'd seen this on previous days - long lines but rides not running at full. I think it's a bit mean of Disney and can only imagine they don't want to pay cast members to run at full capacity...

Anyway - after the safari, we headed for our seats at the Rivers of Light show. Both Clare and I enjoyed the wonderful lights and video, but Matthew was bored. I think perhaps the lack of fireworks didn't make it interesting for him, but I liked the fact it wasn't full of Frozen, Lion King or any other IP characters. It was an original show without relying on bloomin 'Let It Go' to sell it.

We then headed for the Nomad Lounge for a little drink before the park closed. Clare had a cocktail, I had a nice Argentinian red and Matthew a Shirley Temple. It was very pleasant sitting on the balcony watching people going to and from Pandora. It was a nice evening, not too hot and humid, and a nice, relaxing experience. Recommended! Plus - the bar wasn't too busy.

Finally it was a quick look round Pandora at night (which was very different to the day with lots of cool lighting and sound effects of beasts in the jungle) before heading out the park and another Minnie Cab back to the hotel. The driver was equally courteous and pleasant pointing out the construction site of Toy Story Land in Hollywood studios on the way back.

2017 Holiday - Day 5 - EPCOT

Woke up a little later today, but it wasn't a day for hanging around. We were determined to rope drop the Frozen Ever After ride - which has monster lines through most of the day. Clare had been planning for this moment and it was time to execute that plan!

We ate a quick breakfast in the lounge, and I promptly buttered my GF bagels (one plain, one cinnamon and raisin - both delicious), got myself a mint tea to go and headed for the park gate. I ate my packed breakfast standing at the entry to World Showcase half an hour before the park opened. Clare promised us it would be worth it.

Rope drop! We were off! Those visits to my podiatrist had paid off as we power walked round World Showcase to the ride. We were towards the front on the human bow wave. As we came past the entrance to the Showcase Plaza we could see a tide of people heading for the same ride from the main entrance. We increased the pace and just pipped them to the path past Mexico and up towards Norway where the ride was. We'd made it! A Cast Member was there to stop people running and calm us all down and we hit the queuing area. We must have been in the first 5 or 6 people winding our way round the queuing area. We slowed down now to look at some of the features of the queuing area, but got straight on the ride. It wasn't bad. The animatronics were quite good, the models and scenery were OK. I preferred Maelstrom - the old ride that got jazzed up with the Frozen them - but there you go.

As we exited the ride I checked my watch... From entering the park to exiting the ride took 10 minutes. As we looked around us we saw the queue was snaking out of Norway and along towards China. The Wait Time was advertised as 50 minutes! Mission accomplished!

As you can see from the photo above, the sun was showing through - which did make a nice change to the clouds of yesterday. Clare and Matthew had a Fast Pass for Soarin' but, we had time to kill before then so headed for one of Clare's childhood favourites: Journey Into Imagination With Figment. We literally walked on to the ride (it's not what you'd call popular) and had a fun time in the room afterwards where you can do some experiments. It either needs updating or removing. I do hope they update it and don't put yet another franchise in as slowly the parks are changing to becoming more about the movie franchises (i.e. Frozen replacing Maelstrom) and less about some of the traditional characters.

We then went to The Land pavilion and hopped on to one of my favourites: Living With The Land. This gentle boat journey explains how man has not done so well in the past regarding the relationship with the land and shows how EPCOT scientists are growing food in a more environmentally friendly way in the on-site greenhouses. Clare and Matthew the did Soarin' whilst I headed for Starbucks and sat in a sunny spot watching the pin traders negotiating tough deals with each other for pin swapping (a fascinating spectator sport :-)).

 After meeting up, we went to a Joffrey's stall to get Matthew a donut before he and Clare went to ride Mission: Space - the Orange mission. This is the one with all the G-force simulation and makes some people feels sick (and occasionally are sick). How this passes for entertainment, I'll never understand! Anyway, I did my usual wandering around various shops and sitting watching the world go by whilst they did it. They both enjoyed it, and Matthew said he's do it again, but just not this trip!

Another traditional fave was to meet Donald Duck in Mexico. As it was raining now (the morning had been bright and sunny) was couldn't see him in his usual spot, and found out from someone else he was meeting in the Mexico Pavilion. So we headed in there and had our photo taken - albeit in a different location than usual.

We headed back to World Showcase to lunch at the stalls - picking up odd plates of food from various stalls.We then did Ratatouille Hide & Squeak - which is where you get a map of World Showcase and have to hunt the Remy rats in each location to see what he's holding. You then match the stickers you have with the location on your map. We found a few Remys and had a good look round Japan, which Matthew and I hadn't done before returning to the hotel for a rest for an hour.

We then went back in to the park for dinner at The Rose & Crown pub - a traditional English pub seemingly stuck int he 1980's! Clare ordered a Snakebite (who drinks those nowadays - haha!) and I had had half a cider. Initially, I wasn't impressed with the GF menu, and order the baked cod and chips (think of fish and chips with no batter) but it was actually pretty good. Clare had proper fish and chips, and Matthew bangers and mash (beware the mash isn't just mashed potato, it has 'things' in it which taste nasty according to him). For pu, I had a GF scone (not bad at all) and Clare had the Jaffa Cakes.

I'd used the app to move our last Fast Pass of the day back, so we could jump on Space Earth super fast. However, when we got there, there was no queue in the Standby Line either so we could have jumped on! Typical! The day we get a Fast Pass there's no queue! Oh well...

Our faces are on the globe just above S. America!

2017 Holiday - Day 4 - Magic Kingdom & EPCOT

Woke up to an unusual sight - heavy rain. We've been to Florida three times previously and never seen a drop. Today was going to be overcast, showery and a lot cooler and less humid than yesterday. We didn't mind that too much (especially Matthew and I as we don't like it too hot). We ate a light breakfast in the lounge, then headed to the bus stop to catch a Disney bus to the Magic Kingdom.

We caught the 7.21 which got us there pretty early, but it allowed us to get through security, bag check and the ticket check with very little queuing. Main Street USA had it's shops and eateries open and I clocked Starbucks for when Clare and Matthew were on a thrill ride. I'd go back and get something to drink and eat (I'd deliberately not eaten much already). We found a photographer to take some picture of us whilst it was quiet and he turned one into a 'Magic Shot':

Clare picked out a spot by the castle to watch the opening show and also be ready to dash off to get to Peter Pan - as that is what we were 'rope dropping' (which means charging towards your first ride of the day). We had about half an hour so Clare went and got park maps whilst Matthew and I sat on the (now dried out) pavement.

Opening show complete, we 'charged' towards Peter Pan. But disaster! Over-careful Disney Cast Members had blocked our chosen route (round the side of the castle). Something to do with letting the opening show performers leave (there's no way they could have used our path, as it's separated from the castle by a moat!). Anyway, the queue for Peter Pan wasn't too bad when we arrived so we were able to see the new queuing area and get the ride done fairly quickly.

We then headed for one of my favourites Haunted Mansion which was very quiet and we were through the doors and done pretty quickly on that one too. Clare and Matthew had a Fast Pass for Mine Train, but we thought we'd try and sneak a quick Pirates of the Caribbean in before we got there. Nearly a big mistake! The posted wait time of 10 minutes was actually about 25. Still, we got through that one alright and there was plenty of time for Clare and Matthew to ride Seven Dwarfs Mine Train whilst I went to Starbucks.

I was pretty hungry by this point, so was looking forward to something to eat but the queue was massive! Lines and lines of people. I wasn't sure where to head to instead, but a friendly Cast Member pointed me to Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe in Tomorrowland. It was quiet in there and I ordered some gluten-free chocolate chip cookies and a coffee. Bit of a faff with getting my order - some Cast Members behind the counter seemingly unsure of where the order was to go to, despite me waving at them and saying it was mine! Not so magic! Anyway, refreshed I headed round the shops of Tomorrowland whilst Clare and Matthew rode Space Mountain with another Fast Pass they had. They declared to be not as good as the California's version, which has a much smoother track and is more fun.

Another favourite ride to chill out on is the PeopleMover, which takes you round Tomorrowland and we spent and enjoyable, relaxing time on that. Then it was another old fave - Carousel of Progress. It's still a great show - which we must have seen over half a dozen times previously! Matthew stopped for a donut from the Joffrey's stand before we headed to Momento Mori which is the little shop that sells Haunted Mansion stuff. I wanted some Disney World labelled merch (to go with my Disneyland pin badge) but didn't find anything. Then it was off to lunch...

Lunch was to be at the Be Our Guest Restaurant, which Clare had been really looking forward to.

You enter into Beast's castle (from Beauty and the Beast) and then queue for what seems like an eternity before ordering your food on touchscreens. I couldn't find the allergy menu at first, but a Cast Member helped me and it was super-easy after that. Matthew had just stuffed a huge donunt, so wasn't hungry, but Clare went for the Croque Monsieur - as did I - but the gluten-free version. We then found a table in the large ballroom area and waited. The food is delivered by a Cast Member and I have to say it was delicious. Clare thought it was some sort of millet bread on my GF sandwich, but whatever it was, it was very good - as was hers. On the way out, there's some good theming. In fact, the whole place was themed very nicely. The queue at the start was a pain, but once inside everything was great and I'd recommend it.

We decided that we hadn't done that many character photo spots yet - so headed for Pete's Silly Sideshow to meet Donald Duck and Goofy. The Astounding Donaldo was on fine form - and these things have to be done when you holiday in Disney!

We found Matthew a hot dog from The Lunching Pad in Tomorrowland which he declared to be very good. He'd save the crisps for later. He also had a Coke slushie which he loved too.

We had a Fast Pass for Jungle Cruise which was now valid, so headed down there for another family favourite. The skipper did very well with all her terrible jokes. I can only assume half the boat didn't understand them as she wasn't getting much reaction except for us at the back making faces at every one of them!

Clare had showed me how to book additional Fast Passes using the app. Once all three have been exhausted, you can starting searching for more. I found some Small World ones, so whilst we waited for that - Clare and Matthew rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. They had a short wait as everyone was watching the parade. I wandered up the main road in Frontierland, ducking in and out of the shops because it was raining heavily now. I ended up in the General Store, which had a good selection of 'Snacks With Character'. These are 'healthier', often gluten-free snacks. They have them in our resort, but I hadn't seen them in the park. I had a Chocolate Sunset Bar, which was good.

We then all met back up - and dodging a rain shower - hit its' a small world - still as terrible and as wonderful as ever! Clare then hit on the idea of riding the monorail back to EPCOT. It was mid-afternoon by now and normally we'd be flagging, but perhaps the cooler weather was helping. We decided to head out of the park and go back to the hotel via EPCOT and the Monorail.

We headed to the station and caught the two monorails needed to get to EPCOT. Once inside we headed straight for the old favourite Spaceship Earth. We then headed to Club Cool to get some free Coca Cola samples from around the world. Some similar to the ones we'd had at Disney Springs so we picked some favourites. Revived we wandered round the Food and Wine festival building and the Odyssey building (which had a small exhibition on the 35th anniversary of EPCOT). We then watched one of the 'Eat To The Beat' concerts - this one had Postmodern Jukebox performing some classic covers. We sat on the edge of one of the fountains and watched.

By the time we'd got back we'd been out 12 hours! Smashing our previous record. I think the cooler weather definitely helped our staying power. Clare and I popped up to the lounge for a pudding or two and then that was the day done!

2017 Holiday - Day 3 - Disney Springs & EPCOT

Me and jet lag... Probably about 5am I was up and about. We didn't need to rush out today so had a lazy start to the day before heading to the lounge for a light breakfast. We were off to the re-modeled Disney Springs. Hadn't seen it since it's major overhaul. It's a shopping and eating complex not far from where we normally stay in Saratoga Springs, and we were keen to see the changes.

We caught a Disney us about 9.20 and headed off. It really has changed - loads more shops and places to eat mixed amongst some old favourites. I headed to Starbucks to get 'second breakfast'. I'd been looking forward to trying their gluten-free breakfast sandwich (bit like a McDonalds bacon and eff McMuffin) with a cup of coffee and a banana. And it didn't disappoint. Matthew had a warm chocolate chip cookie. Suitably refreshed we wandered round the giant Lego store and other shops they had their (very, very big Uniqlo!)

We decided to head for the new Coca Cola store as they had a rooftop cafe. In there you can buy a tray of 16 sample drinks from around the world. There were some weird and wonderful flavours, but after much sampling Matthew's favourite was the Bon Bon Anglais from Madagascar which did indeed taste like sweets; Clare liked Bonaqua Fruits Apple Pear from Germany and I liked the Inca Kola from Peru. Some were definitely better than others - we all hated the Sunfill Mint from Djibouti which tasted like mouthwash (or a liquid version of Life Saver mints!). Yuck!

We then had a stroll before stopping for lunch in Blaze Pizza. It's quite a place! You order then follow your pizza as the toppings are freshly added (allowing you to adjust things to your taste) before they are fired in wood ovens for 3 minutes. It's pretty chaotic in there, and it sort-of worked. But a few people lost pizzas before they got to the end. Luckily we managed to keep track of ours and they were pretty good pizzas. I don't think we'd rush back there, but the fact they had gluten-free bases was good, and if you are desperate for a pizza in Disney Springs it's well worth a look.

We then took the bus back to the hotel and had a lazy afternoon napping, reading and - for Matthew and me - playing video games and pinball in the arcade.

We then took an evening walk into EPCOT and headed for an old family favourite - the good old Spaceship Earth. Afterwards, we stayed in the Siemens (although no longer sponsored by them officially!) Project Tomorrow exhibition where Matthew had a go on all the simulators and brain training exhibits. No idea if they will change with any new sponsor, but as they have Siemens plastered all over them I've got to believe they will.

Matthew had a slushie from the Almond Orchard stall (which was just OK - nothing special). We then wandered round a couple of the shops before Clare and Matthew headed for Test Track and Mission: Space (Green) and I headed for the Canada Food & Wine festival stall to have their wonderful steak and mushroom sauce (GF thankfully and I do like it!). I went to the hotel lounge for a glass of red, and a lovely dessert panna cotta and some GF brownies. We all met up back in the room and hit the hay!

2017 Holiday - Day 2 - Hollywood Studios

The jet lag kicked in around 4.30 or so and so I got up at 5am and sat on the balcony. It was humid already, but nice to sit and listen the peace and quiet. It's not often it's like that round here! We can hear both the Hollywood Studios and EPCOT fireworks from our room as the hotel is situated on the Boardwalk area between them both.

We had a light breakfast in the Club Lounge (pretty good oatmeal for me, Raisin Bran for Clare and Matthew went for fruit and toast) before heading off to walk to Hollywood Studios and get there for the Extra Magic Hour 8am opening. It's a pleasant walk - perhaps a mile or so - and ambles round the Boardwalk and then along a small pond before arriving at the park.

We got through the security and gate quite quickly and then headed for an old favourite Toy Story Mania. We joined the Standby line and got in after about 25 minutes wait. Now they have the extra tracks there, it wasn't as bad as it used to be. Matthew won the first round, taking 136k points to my 122k points. Suffice to say this please him greatly...

Clare and Matthew then decided to head for Rock n Roller Coaster. Those who know me, know of my deep loathing of thrill rides, but I was looking forward to spending some time wandering the park - looking in the shops and watching one of the street shows (if I was lucky enough to catch one). The published wait time for the coaster was about 45 minutes, so I headed to The Trolley Car Cafe (which is a Starbucks in disguise) for a coffee and then walked around the Sunset Boulevard area looking the the shops and watching the world go by.

The guys appeared about half an hour later and headed to Sweet Spells for a cookie before off to Tower of Terror using their Fast Pass. I sat in a shady spot and rested my eyes until they came out about 20 minutes later. Matthew stopped for an enormous donut from the stall close by, then we headed to Sweet Spells where he picked up a raspberry slushie. He declared both to be excellent.

We had a wander round the park and looked at some of the construction going on. The new Star Wars land, that will open in 2019 looks like it's going to be pretty cool!

It was then back to Toy Story Mania using our Fast Pass. I narrowly defeated young Matthew this time. He'd led by about 20k points through most of the games, until the final one where he blamed cramp in his arm, allowing t to nudge ahead or both him and Clare (by a mere 100 points!) to take victory with 131k.

We then legged it to Sci Fi Dine In for our lunch reservation. This is a restaurant themed like an old 50's outdoor cinema - where cars would park to watch the film (think of that scene in Grease and you'll get the image!). The tables are convertible cars and you can watch the 'feature' on the big screen ahead of you. Another test for gluten-free passed. They had an excellent allergy menu, and I chose a vanilla milkshake with a turkey and bacon wrap and fries. Clare and Matthew had burgers. There was a bit of a wait, because my food has to be prepared freshly, but the food was good. The 'feaure' on the screen (that showed old adverts, trailers and cartoons from the era) wasn't long enough and looped back round again whilst we were there. It's also very dark in there! Can't really see what you are eating!

Back out into the Florida sunshine it was off to Star Tours for Clare and Matthew whilst I watched a group of kids go through Jedi training. It was similar to what Matthew did back in 2011, but had been updated to include both Darth Vader and Kylo Ren (effectively doubling the number of kids that could take part). It was little more chaotic, but fun nonetheless.

We then went to Star Wars Launch Bay which was a highlight for me. There was a short movie from people at Lucasfilm (Katherine Kennedy, Dave Filoni, etc) about what Star Wars meant to them before heading into an exhibition of props and models from the movie. Clare and Matthew stopped for a drink in the Cantina:

Back out once more for a walk to the entrance and a chance encounter with Donald Duck (in original Sailor costume) before watching the March of the First Order parade. It was short, but fun, and we stood in the right spot to be 'harassed' by a stormtrooper

But we soon blew them away with our Jedi powers!

We then strolled back to the resort. Matthew and Clare hit the pool, but by now it was too warm and humid for yours truly. I hit the arcade! A decent version of Pirate of the Caribbean pinball was there (bit of a sticky left flipper though) and I managed to get a decent score of 46m on one go. I shall ook to better that over the course of the holiday!

A light dinner in the lounge (chicken skewers and rice), before Clare and I strolled into EPCOT to look round the Food and Wine festival. A number of stalls caught our eye, and we shall be back another night!

2017 Holiday - Day 1 - Arrival

Arrived at Disney's Beach Club Resort on Saturday 14th October after an uneventful flight. We were looking forward to immersing ourselves in the 'Disney bubble' for the next 12 nights. We checked in, and already there was a problem - the room type they had us down for was not correct. We were supposed to be on the Club Level, but they had us down for a regular Pool/Lagoon View room. Luckily, I had the original invoice on my phone which showed the correct room type. They only had a room on the third floor, but we could be transferred to the correct room Monday.

We decided we liked the third floor room, and would stay there. We went up to the Club Lounge for a bit to eat and Matthew had some nuggets and Clare a beer whilst I talked to Chef Chris about gluten-free options. I'd heard good things about how Disney treats allergy guests and this was their first test. They passed with flying colours! Chef Chris walked me round all the options pointing out what I could eat, and that included the chicken nuggets! He also said he could rustle up some chicken or salmon on nights when there wasn't anything for me. Brilliant! I settled down with a bottle of GF Angry Orchard Hard Cider and all was good.

We went for a bit of a stroll afterwards, but then turned in not long after that.