I don’t know about you but I find that within ten minutes of returning to work, it’s like I’ve never been away! Having said that, the memories remain and what memories they are. We had a fantastic time in Florida. We did all the things we wanted to do although they weren’t necessarily the things we thought we would do and we didn’t do some of the things we intended to. That’s the nature of our holidays. We make plans and change them.
We’ve been a number of times before but despite that, returning to the Theme parks was no great hardship. We enjoy them immensely. All you need to remember is that it is likely to be hot and that you will walk many, many miles, so comfy footwear is a must.
PIL, CJ and I watched Ed and Greg playing golf and were full of admiration at how they were prepared to demonstrate to all and sundry just how monumentally bad they were.
Having said that, they were both far better than the rest of us by a long way. At least they could hit the ball! They spent a lot of time searching for their balls, they hit houses, they may have hit a car or two, they plainly enjoyed playing from bunkers and from in amongst the trees.
Both of them blamed their miscued shots on their selection of the wrong bat to hit the ball with and they both had an absolute blast!
During our travels around the course we found large numbers of balls lost by other players which made them feel a bit better about their own efforts. This feel good factor was increased by coming under attack from wayward golf balls from other golfers while we were lounging around our pool. On our last day, before going to the airport, we all played a round of crazy golf. PIL got a hole in one while I got hit by a ball fired off by someone on another part of the course.
We ate huge quantities of food. All of it was fantastic, the portions were enormous and we were given doggy boxes to take home what we couldn’t eat.
At Animal Kingdom, we had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.
The Rainforest Cafe
At Magic Kingdom, we managed to get an early lunch at the Crystal Palace. At Universal we stuffed our faces at NBA City. At the Florida Mall we went to The Cheesecake Factory to eat. We stuffed our faces at a different place every day and every place was excellent. We drank Butter Beer at Harry Potter World and it was disgusting.
We got told off at one place because Ed had forgotten his I.D. so PIL ordered a beer on his behalf and we got caught. You have to be 21 to drink alcohol in the US and while Ed is 22, he still got asked for ID and it’s taken very seriously there. No ID, no alcohol! Oddly enough PIL and I never got asked for ID! Apart from beer and donuts, we also got food in so that we had meals at home too although I’m not too sure what “Turkey Bacon” is. Be prepared to put on weight although not as much as you think because of all the walking you do getting around the theme parks and shopping malls. Places like the Cheesecake Factory, Rainforest cafe and Crystal Palace are very popular so expect a wait if you haven’t booked a table in advance.
All the parks, whether they be theme parks or water parks get busy from early in the morning so ensure you get there in plenty of time so you can either get a good spot or beat some of the queues.
We purchased express passes for Universal and Disney. They don’t apply at Harry Potter World but work well in the rest of Universal.
Harry Potter World
Not so good at Disney though as you are limited to the number of rides you can go on and it’s at specified times only that you have to book. Everyone of them is great fun though. We did have a bit of an issue at Universal with “technical problems” causing delays on some of the rides. We waited for ages to get on the Hogwarts ride because of this. We were stood under that bloody talking hat for a long time and every three minutes it would start its speech:
“You are about to start your journey…..”
We bloody weren’t! If I’d had a gun, I’d have shot the damned thing! A thousand people driven potty at Harry Potter World!
There are absolutely loads of things to do and every one of them is designed to part you from your money! However, it’s all worthwhile and we loved it.
Shopping is a breeze too. We took the minimum of clothes and bought loads more out there but with so many outlet centres, it worked out quite cheap to buy clothes and stuff. PIL got a beautiful Michael Kors handbag for a fraction of the cost back in the UK. Mind you they did have a sale on which saved another 40%. And yes, in a very short length of time, she has lost her house keys, car keys, phone and tablet somewhere in the depths of that bag as well as her make up bag, purse and $6 in change.
We stayed in a fantastic house with it’s own swimming pool so if we didn’t feel like going anywhere, we could just stay at home and slob out in the pool area. Just be aware that the wildlife like living there too!
Sam the Snake
Lizards are there in abundance and so are snakes as we discovered on a couple of occasions. Plus there are all kinds of weird insects. (Well, weird to us).
It ain’t cheap but my advise to anyone is to go. You will have the time of your life and have great memories (and a gazillion photos) to remind you of one of the best times you ever had.
PIL organised the whole thing and she did an excellent job of it.
It’s no wonder I wish she wasn’t my ex wife! Thanks PIL, we all had a great time thanks to you and we all love you to bits.
Thanks mum. I had a great time. I love you.xxxx
Thanks mum. I had a fantastic holiday. I love you xxxx
Thanks mum. I had an awesome time. I love you xxxx
Thanks PIL. I had a stupendous time. I love you xxxx
Have a great day.
More Dick soon.
iplonker 
That was a lovely little tribute to PIL at the end, who by the way, is GORGEOUS. Thanks for sharing your holiday snaps with the likes of me. 🙂
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“Likes of me”? What do you mean? You make it sound like you’re some kind weirdo. Oh wait…. you are. Sorry. It’s my pleasure Lily Moose. I’m glad you enjoyed the few photos I put up.
PIL is gorgeous. I’ve thought so from the first time I laid eyes on her. Our holiday owed a lot to her. She organised the flights, the house we stayed in, the car hire, literally everything that made it what it was. All we did was rock up and enjoy ourselves.
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Thanks Mr D. Thanks for shattering my fragile sense of ego. (weeps hysterically, then remembers that, oh wait, I am a weirdo)
PIL sounds like the glue that holds the pieces together. It’s obvious that there is much love in your family. 🙂
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My pleasure as always Lily Moose. I have to say that I love everyone of your posts and I now know better than to read them before finishing my latte! Your reading, viewing and listening pleasures cracked me up. I’m am so glad I stumbled across your blog. It is the best! I mean that sincerely. Obviously written by a crack pot haha. Blame the Monkey Boy cos he mentioned you. The rest is history. Speaking of which, not heard from him for a while. Hope he’s ok. Have a great day
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Mr D, it always takes me aback when someone pays me a compliment like you have, it gives me the warm and fuzzies so thank you! 🙂
Frank pops up from time to time on Facebook, but I’m such a social retard, even over the interweb, that I feel awkward talking to someone before they talk to me. I know, I’m a nerd. I do miss his presence in the Blogosphere. It’s guys like you that makes the blogging world go round.
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You write the funniest blog ever but at the same time it is sharp and so bloody well written it makes me weep (almost). In addition to that, the feed back and comments that are made by you and the people that follow your blog add to the experience. You now do that with my blog and I do look forward to getting your remarks and of course others follow on as Miss B has done. Will she never learn? Long may you continue.
I miss Monkey Boy too. His posts were/are fantastic.
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Oh bless you Mr D! That is such a compliment!! Seriously, you’ve just made my day!!! Okay, gonna stop with the exclamation marks now!
I’m aware that I waffle on when I reply to comments, but I write how I talk, incessantly. I’m just lucky enough to have readers who are as witty as hell and that always makes answering comments more fun. I’m also aware that I scare a lot of people with the way I comment, so I’m just thankful that you and Miss B also have a warped sense of humour.
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It’s not just Miss B and me either! Your regulars write some real gems. It’s sometimes very difficult not to guffaw like a donkey!
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I know. Sometimes they write something in a comment and I wish that I had written it. I love that fact that everyone who responds, is a little bit bat-shit crazy.
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Only a little bit?
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Well let’s just say that therapists would have a field day if they analysed the comments and contents of those I followed. And Miss B needs know corrupting. If you look up the word ‘corrupt’ in the dictionary, there’d be a pic of Miss B smiling malevolently at the camera.
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I still use picture dictionarys too. I avoid my therapists in case they find out about me. I think all the comments are a major part of the fun of blog writing. It would feel bloody lonely if no one responded!
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That fact that you still use a picture dictionary, is cause for therapeutic intervention in itself.
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Is it? Does it involve invasive intervention? I do hope not! The only person allowed to carry out a cavity search on me is my dentist.
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I haven’t had a good cavity search in months…er…better make myself an appointment at the dentist is what I meant…ahem…
No, I think your treatment would involve lots of head shaking, then some nodding, then a few tutting, some gasps and then finally a very large prescription of Prozac.
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Prozac? Isn’t that like Red Bull?
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Except it takes 10 days of floating in your system before you get that Red Bull euphoria.
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I’ll give it miss then I think. Prefer my normal Sid the Sloth persona
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And that comment right there, is why I’m still single.
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Sorry I did have a giggle over the “balls” reference. I blame Miss Lily for corrupting my mind!
Looks like you all had an amazing time over there. Only another 16 days to go before I am on the lurve boat around the Pacific!
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Lily Moose can corrupt me any old time she likes! We had a great time there. I think we were all in need of a good break away. Eldest boy just finished uni, other son just finished A levels and daughter been working hard at school.
Have a great time cruising around the Pacific. Don’t forget to tell us ALL about it!
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What a happy looking bunch!
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We were having a great time.
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