Day 9 - Just Like Home!

Well hello there Hurricane (or tropical storm) Fay as she was by the time she arrived here at Disneyland this afternoon. There was a lot of mixed discussion on the subject all morning but generally the feeling was to carry on regardless and see what happened.



We had already decided to go to Hollywood Studios (MGM) to try and get on the new Toy Story Ride which had a 90 minute wait a couple of days ago. The parks all opened an hour early because of the storm so we upped and offed at 8am even though there was a constant drizzle.

As we got out the car, I suggested we take all the poncho's (lovely bright yellow ones we got at Disneyland Paris several years ago) but the menfolk decided they didn't want theirs and as I was carrying them I left theirs in the car! You know where I'm going with this one don't you...?

These photos show the park in a wet and soggy state - this was at 8.30am and stayed pretty much the same way until we left at lunchtime to go to the cinema to see Clone Wars (Alexander and I) and The Mummy 3 (Jordan and Mick). Both of which were enjoyed less than expected.




We then returned to the park (MGM) for dinner on the free dining plan we had managed to get and which had made Mick's holiday because of the money we had saved. Dinner was at the Sci-Fi Diner and was OK but more atmospheric than culinary.





From about 4pm onwards the rain and wind had picked up and the evening resembled a typical wintery day in Northumberland except it was a good few degrees warmer. If we gave names to every storm like this we would have used up the whole of the Baby Names book several times over in a year!

Of course the bonus to all of this was that the park was very quiet and we got to go on lots of rides!





Talking of which, I have avoided Tower of Terror for 12 years, only to be dragged up there by my FIVE year old today! It was nowhere near as scary as I expected and didn't come close to the Sheikra ride at Busch Gardens.


The new Toy Story Ride is a shooting gallery ride where I normally get beaten by everyone in my family. Today Mum came good! I beat Jordan by 8000 points and wiped the floor with the other two losers. Talk about bad sports!

So after dinner at the Diner, we came out to find about 4 inches of water and torrential rain. Fortunately we had taken the bugy for Alexander which had a rain cover and was still reasonably dry. I had my lovely yellow poncho - the big strong 'boys' had nowt and got soaked to the skin on the long walk back to the car park. I must give a mention to my purple 'Crocs'. Ugly they may be but they were the best thing to have on my feet today. They have been so comfortable that I have cast off my trainers and other sandals and now Croc around the parks on a daily basis.

A few more pics
Here is Alexander doing one of his strops. Just after I took this he was almost run over by one of the 'Surrey Bikes' for hire at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort where we were headed to go swimming.










We decided to hire one ourselves, Alexander did an great impersonation of ET and rang the bell loudly as we approached pedestrians along the path. There were three of us peddling, although Mick was convinced it was just him. We struggled to get up the slight incline at one point and almost wet ourselves laughing.


































This is the Marina and pool at the Riverside Resort. We are staying at the French Quarter which is a lot smaller and quieter, but equally as nice.















Monday night we ate at Le Cellier in the Canadian part of Epcot. Mick was looking forward to steak here as he was told it was the best in Orlando. It was a lovely steak, but not as good as the one at The Coral Reef a couple of days before. I'd had the Maui Maui on Jasmine & Cashew Rice which was amazing - one of the nicests dishes I have ever eaten, really! However, Le celliers Maple Creme Brulle was to die for. My only criticism is that it didn't come in a bucket sized dish.


Here are the boys' desserts there. Jordan had chocolate 'moose' and Alexander had the DIY Ice cream sundae - for the third time this week!





Do you think the moose knew what was going to happen next?




So that's almost it for another day. We came back to the hotel to dry off and then I went to do laundry again - because it was better than fighting over the laptop. I came in and got to have it for the rest of the evening.

No idea what we are doing tomorrow yet, it depends on the weather.