Stress and travelling (day 18)

With heavy hearts we left the Port Orleans French Quarter late in the morning. The bags had been packed, and we tried to convert our 21 Quick Service meal points into snack points, but that wasn’t allowed. The girl behind the counter told us that if we would get drinks, and more snacks, she could pretend they were dining points. So with a tray filled with about 8 drinks and 13 snacks and 3 meals, we made our way to our room. There we packed the things that we could take with us, like fruit and carrot sticks.

In the shop we spent our last 8 snack points on slightly less healthy things. We didn’t have time to go swimming or to go to downtown Disney anymore, but it was okay, we were eager to hit the road.

The drive to Orlando went reasonably smooth. We stopped once for lunch at the Stake and Shake. Oh, Stake and Shake, where have you been all my life. Daan and I shared a massive butterfinger milkshake and a jerk burger, and it was heavenly. It took ages to get service, and the place was chaos (we were there for over an hour)  but it was all worth it!

I wasn’t as stressed as I thought I would be, and actually enjoyed the drive. In between we made some stops, and I saw some of the dirtiest bathrooms ever. Otherwise we just entertained ourselves during the drive. We talked, listened to  music and had fun. Everything was okay until we hit the airport at a little after 19:00.

We dropped off the car, which happened in a lot of chaos. The guy was already scanning us out before we even had time to get our stuff out of the car. Daan was feeling the stress and time pressure, and I was starting to get nervous about the flight. We had been travelling (including stop) for about 8 hours, so we were pretty tired. Elora had been a trooper, but I could tell she was getting a little tired too. She kept hanging on us, and tripping over her own feet. We warned her that there was a chance we wouldn’t be able to fly tonight. She seemed okay with it then.

When we took the bus from the car rental place to the terminal, we were travelling with two other standby flyers from the same flight. One of the guys actually knew my brother, which was kind of cool. They had priority over us, so we were joking about sabotaging them, to get their seats. Then we joked that it was better to work together, and get a large family to miss their flight. (For those of you who don’t know me, I would never do that)

The guy told us the flight was overbooked by 4 seats, so the chances we would get on were slim. I was gutted. My instinct sort of said we were going, so I hadn’t completely given up hope.

After we got through customs, I wanted to take a picture of Elora and suddenly realized my camera was missing. The front pocket of the bag was open, which meant it either fell out… or someone took it out (I still don’t know the answer to that one). My moderate stress level suddenly went to high.

Daan calmed me down and said there was one hope, maybe the phone had slipped from the bag and landed in the car. It was the most likely scenario. We didn’t get time to really plough through the whole car, so we were hopeful. There was nothing we could do about it at that time, so I just had to bear it. I was very miserable though. The phone was filled with most of my vacation pictures. I only uploaded a small percentage to the dropbox, because internet was so damn slow. And it also has all my writing notes in it.

We ate some shady tasting tacos at the airport restaurant, but my appetite was gone. When it was time, we walked to our gate, where we found this really handy screen that told us how many seats that were booked were claimed. It wasn’t looking good, and for almost two hours we followed the updates breathlessly. The stress was incredible, and I felt ill. At one point I was starting to give up hope. My instinct HAD to be wrong, there was no way we could be on this flight. So we started to prepare Elora for the worst.

At that moment my brave little trooper lost the plot. It was almost 10:30 pm, and she had been awake too long. The tears started flowing and she kept saying she just wanted to go home. She was so sad, and it broke my heart… but there was nothing I could do.

As we watched all the passengers board, we waited to hear what flight we could be on then. The two other guys we met on the bus were allowed to go on board, and there was talk of one of them taking the jump seat. It was all very chaotic. They said he couldn’t get on the jump seat, but both of them got on anyway. I had no idea what was going on because a lot of people were talking at once. Suddenly one of the ladies told us there were two more seats, and Elora and I could go. I was flabberghasted. Daan was telling me to go, Elora was begging me to go, and before I could think about it, I was standing in the plane… without Daan. We had always said that we would go together or not at all, and I wasn’t prepared for this.

I realized I didn’t have anything with me. No phone… no money, no car keys, no house keys…. NOTHING. Now it was my turn to lose the plot a little. All the stress of the past hours, the fatigue of the journey, the crying child, leaving my husband behind without a plan… it all came out, and my tears were rolling down my cheek. I was trying to hide it, but people had noticed. I hate crying in public, and it doesn’t help having an 8 year old who will point out loudly that you’re crying. The stewardesses brought me some water that I really didn’t want. I just wanted to be left alone.

One of the stewardesses thought it was a good idea to tell me that Daan could have come along anyway, since the other guy (from the bus) had been cleared for the jump seat after all… but the door was already closed, so they were too late.

Thanks lady… I did not need to hear that!

The trip was horrible (though not as bad as Daan’s). Elora barely slept, though she was an angel. She kept trying to be supportive off me, and told me everything would be okay (so sweet, though it got annoying after the 50^th time). When she slept I was trying to get her to not lean on the lady next to her, and when she was awake she would make me get up out of my seat every 5 minutes.

The seats were not as spacious as the ones from the other flight. My knees barely fit, and I as lodged in there I could feel the bruises develop. The lady in front of me was so kind to lean her seat back as far as she could, all trip long, and she was one of those annoying creatures who wouldn’t sit still, so she kept pushing against me. It was very painful, and I have to admit, I kind of hated her. I wasn’t too subtle each time I stood up, and I shook her chair as much as I could for revenge.

The remote control to my video screen was kind of busted, so I had to be a cross between the hulk and MacGyver to watch a bloody movie, it was horrible. Not that I could see much, because I’m tall, and the screen couldn’t rotate enough, so I couldn’t really see the screen in its proper colors, everything went a weird inverted tint.

When the plane finally landed, I was relieved. I didn’t sleep at all, and I was exhausted. The pilot of the plane lend me his mobile phone, so I could call my mother. Of course I got a voicemail. I hoped that Daan had managed to get through to my parents, or I would have to come up with a plan B. As far as I knew, I was stranded on the airport.

Putting on my brave face, I maneuvered Elora to the baggage claim. We waited for a bit… no bags. I wasn’t sure if our bags got on the flight. I had tried to ask the stewardess, but she didn’t know either. So I went to the information desk and stood in line. Elora was guarding the hand luggage a few feet behind me.

I didn’t have the baggage tag or number… that stayed behind with Daan (just like everything else) The lady behind the desk offered me to phone Daan. I did… no response.

I kept my cool and phoned again, and this time I heard the wonderful voice of my husband. He told me two of the bags got on with me, and at that point I heard Elora shout: I see our bags! I quickly said goodbye to Daan, and ran like a crazy lady to retrieve our bags.

Feeling a faint sense of relief, I loaded the bags and Elora on the cart, and went to the exit. Elora pointed when we walked through the sliding doors and said: I see nanna!

At that moment I broke down again. This time because I was so relieved. The sight of my  mother made me cry again. She helped us with our luggage and we went to the car. Mom drove us home and gave me some money for groceries. We just bought a few necessities, because we had nothing in the house.

Elora was ecstatic to be home. She cuddled the cats and immediately dumped the contents of her suitcase on the floor of her room *cringe*

I was less happy, I didn’t like that Daan was left behind and that we couldn’t call each other. I had no idea what to expect, or when he would be home.

My daughter didn’t mind as much, I think she enjoyed the girl time. We were both suffering from jetlag, so we watched movies until 3 AM and she slept in my bed.

That evening I heard from Daan. He and I skyped. He had found a hotel (which cost more per night than the bloody Disney hotel, but it was all he could find in the area) and was hoping to get the 3 pm flight. In the end he did catch that one, though it was horribly delayed. I hear his journey was terrible. Filled with turbulence and stress. But he made it home, and I’m so glad he’s here.

I still haven’t heard anything about my phone, but we should find out in the next 24 hours. I’m glad to be home, but I’ll miss the vacation. With the exception of the terrible journey, it has been amazing. We had so much fun, and I can’t wait to go back! 

emotional last day (day 17)

It’s been a weird day, filled with emotions. Today was our last real day at Disney, because tomorrow morning we’re going to head back to Atlanta.

All of us felt it, and though we still had fun, there’s been a little sadness. At the same time, we can tell it’s time to go home, because the heat and the crowds are really starting to get to us. I’m starting to have hateful thoughts about people who cut in front of me, or who drive buggies into my ankles. I’ve been pretty immune to that most of the trip, but today I wanted to call people names.

We sort of slept in, and at 10:00, we realized we never claimed our 100 dollar gift card, so we took the boat to Downtown Disney. Daan and I realized we hadn’t had any sandwiches from the Earl (of Sandwich) yet, so that was our lunch destination. They were still delicious, though super filling.

We didn’t stay that long, because we wanted to go swimming before heading to the parks. Initially we had a dining reservation for 16:10, but we decided that it was just too freaking early to eat, and we changed Liberty Tree Tavern for Tony’s restaurant. That ended up being a big mistake. I won’t say that the food there was gross… but I won’t say it wasn’t either… :P

Before dinner Elora and I had ridden Splash Mountain one more time. The crowds were ridiculous, and it was a hassle to go anywhere. You couldn’t take a step without bumping into someone. At first we had planned to stay until the fireworks, but Elora was tired and to be honest… I had enough of the people. So instead we rode the Disney Railroad Train… this was the first time I actually rode that… and then we went home. It wasn’t even an anti-climax, it almost felt like a relief. It’s difficult to enjoy the view with this many people anyway. And I’m glad we did it, because when we got home, the tears started to flow. Elora lost the plot a little, and she ended up needing to let a lot of sadness out. She misses the cats, and she is unhappy at school, so all those pent up emotions erupted.

Tomorrow we have a looooong journey ahead of us. Our flight doesn’t go until 22:20 (10:20 pm) so it’ll be a challenge to get through the day. And we’re not even sure yet if we get to fly yet, I really hope we do, because I don’t know if I can cope with going to another shabby hotel and not having a car. We’ll have to see.

This holiday has been utterly fantastic. Even with the emotional last day. We’ve had such a good time, and we really had time to connect as a family again. We needed this time away. Part of me wishes we could stay here longer. I want to be pampered and do fun things every day, but part of me is glad to go home as well. I’m looking forward to writing again. I love my job.

food glorious food (day 16)

We didn’t set an alarm this morning, because we decided to go terrorize… ehm, I mean visit, the land section of Epcot, rather than go on rides. It’s something we mean to do every year, but we never quite manage. This year I was blister free and we’re tired, but still reasonably fit… so this would be the year to do it.

Previous years I’ve gotten blisters the size of silver dollars (not even kidding) on my feet, and I would limp through my whole holiday. But thanks to our new life style, where we walk and exercise a lot, we’re actually okay with all the walking (now the heat is a whole different matter)

Anyway, I’m digressing. I have to admit my head is half stuck on the journey back home, and I’m starting to feel the nerves already. This means the Zippidee is fading and I’m now really feeling the ‘Doo-dah’ so to speak. When I’m nervous, Elora really picks up on that, so we’ve been getting on each other’s nerves a little today. It’s not been all bad, we had some great moments too, but it’s a bit up and down right now.

I had read something wrong, and the different countries didn’t open until 11… while I thought 10 am. Now, it took us a little while to get there and we were a bit late anyway, so we only had to wait about half an hour. When it was 11 am the Kringla bakery opened, and we decided to get a schoolbread to share. Those things are DELICIOUS. There were a few sparrows looking for crumbs, and one was so bold, it actually ate from Elora’s hands.

We walked around the different countries, looking at stuff and eating the lovely morsels they had to offer in different places. We shared everything, which meant there was room to try more. We still have about 9 snackpoints to spend tomorrow, so we’re good. I do love the dining plan.

It was in Japan that Elora lost her heart at the pick a pearl counter. She was staring at it with the wide eyed wonder that only children have. We decided that we could spoil her a little bit, and she got to pick a pearl. Of course there was a line, because it’s Disney and Disney LOVES LINES!!!

It was rather magical, and she loved it. She picked out a charm for her  ‘golden pearl’ (she’s convinced it’s super special) that was totally out of her budget… but it was a horse shoe, so we couldn’t refuse. It’s her lucky necklace now.

Unfortunately we had to pick it up an hour and a half later, and it was already quite late. We decided it was best just to pick it up before dinner, and go home. By the time we left it was almost 2:30, and we were starting to feel parboiled.

Our downtime was only an hour, because we had reservations at 5 pm, and the walk to ‘Germany’ was at least twenty minutes. Plus we needed to get Elora’s pearl who had not stopped talking about the damn thing since we bought it. Of course that’s not annoying AT ALL *twitch*.

The Biergarten was okay. The look of the place is kinda cool, and the food was very decent… but the atmosphere was meh. I was still full from all the snacks, so I didn’t eat much. Elora ate mostly desserts, and since we’re masochists, we like to watch our hyper child fill her system with sugar.

Yup… that’s how we roll.

I had a few fastpasses for some rides, so we gave Epcot a proper goodbye. The people in line were staring at us as we did our own Do-si-do at the Mission Space. Elora couldn’t decide what role she wanted in the ride (I think it’s Navigator, Commander, Pilot or Engineer) and so we kept swapping around. Daan and I got silly and turned it into an actual dance. I think we scared some people.

Our last ride was Spaceship Earth, which is kinda tradition. Then we said goodbye to Epcot, and Daan and I suddenly noticed we’re starting to get the ‘going home blues’. As much as I look forward going to my own home again, and having a bedroom to myself (seriously, privacy is underrated when you have an 8 year old) I’m sad that we’re going. I didn’t realize this was going to hit me hard again, but it is.

It’s 8:30 now, and I’m going to put Elora to bed. Tomorrow we say goodbye to Magic Kingdom, and that’s going to be our last day at the parks. It’s been so wonderful, and I hope we can fight the blues and really enjoy our last day.

Typhoon Lagoon (day 15)

No need to get up early today, we were going to the other Disney Waterpark: Typhoon Lagoon, and they don’t open till 10 AM.

To be fair, we were so slow, we didn’t arrive until 10:30, which made it difficult to find proper places to lie down… but we had Noodles luck on our side.

The weather has been getting hotter, and we pasty Dutch have been suffering. I don’t exactly tan… I think my freckles just make my face darker. I hate my freckles. Okay… I do tan, but I tan very very VERY slow. So while Elora is starting to get that nice caramel color, I’m now in the phase where you can sort of see me when I stand in front of a white wall *ugh*

After almost drowning several times in the wave pool (I kept trying to rush to the deep end, where the waves were higher, but they didn’t crash down on us yet) and being too damn late. I tell you… I am not an elegant woman. Several times I was dragged off my feet, and I would wash up on shore like a demented starfish. Much to the amusement of my husband and onlookers.

Unfortunately for Elora… she seems to have my genes in this respect.

In the deep end we were fine. It was actually really nice. We swam around and were occasionally bobbing up and down on the high waves.

For lunch the three of us shared a hotdog, which was great. Then we decided to dry off and get a tan. I think my brain got a little fried lying in the full sun. I didn’t get burned, because I had enough suntan lotion on to smother a small country, but that didn’t protect me from the heat.

To cool off we went into the lazy river, where we bobbed around with ten million other guests. It wasn’t that relaxed, and reminded me of very slow bumper cars. I still enjoyed it, though I have to admit, I’m a little fed up with the crowds by now. It’s much worse than previous years, and I really miss going in early December times where the weather and crowds are a bit more tolerable. At the same time, this has charm too.

Daan had been looking forward to going to this park all vacation, because we got to swim with the sharks. Only Elora decided to have a drama llama panic attack about swimming with sharks (don’t even ask, it’s not like this was her first time) and she kind of ruined it for Daan. Also, I think they clean the goggles with some sort of acid, because I was half expecting my face to fall off. It was really painful. On the plus side, I think I might have ended up with inspiration for a new horror story.

We decided to go in the big wave pool again, and around 2 pm, it was time for us to go home and get out of the sun. I was pretty frazzled. The hotel room was lovely and cool.

Since I ordered a board game while I was here (my mother’s day prezzie) we ended up playing games all night. It’s a game called ‘Escape, Curse of the Temple’ and it’s a real time game. We were worried it would be too stressful for Elora, but we were wrong, she loved it. We had such a blast. We found a table outside and played several games until bed time. It was frantic!

This was the first day we had no dinner plans, because 2 of the dinners took up 2 points, so we ended up eating at the hotel. We shared 2 meals with the three of us, and most of my meal stayed untouched. I still can’t get over the portion sizes here. My ice-cream sandwich was the size of Elora’s head!!! It was ridiculous, lol.

Once back in the room I decided to check my facebook. Been getting so many messages, I thought it was time to see if everything was okay back in reality. It was nice to talk to people again, but I forgot how time consuming it could be. Oh well, at least it gave Daan some time to read. I haven’t gotten much reading done this vacation. Sharing a kindle isn’t helping.

Tomorrow we go to Epcot for the last time. I’m struggling with mixed emotions. On the one hand I’m sad to say goodbye to this wonderful place. At the same time I’m looking forward to going home too. I can’t wait to have my own bedroom again. Elora’s been great, but I need some privacy.  

Hoop dee doo (day 14)

I have to admit, when the alarm went off, I didn’t jump out of bed or sing a pretty song with the morning birds. To be honest, I looked like an extra in a zombie movie… post mortem.

In my defense, I had a rough night. For some reason I was up at 4 am. Now at home this is a normal occurrence, but here on holiday I’ve been sleeping quite well up until about two days ago. Also, it was really early, because we had an 8 am breakfast reservation at the Be Our Guest restaurant.

It was so nice to get into the park before opening hours, and before the enormous crowds. It’s been getting hotter and more crowded this week, and I would be lying if I would say that’s not been getting to me just a little.

We really enjoyed the breakfast, though the portions were once again ridiculous. Elora’s donut thingy nearly gave me a sugar coma from just one bite. It was tasty, but just too much.

When we were done we still had ten minutes to spare before the park officially opened. A very nice gentleman at the Dwarven mine roller coaster asked us if we wanted to go in the fastpass line, and though we hadn’t planned riding it again, we couldn’t pass that up. I have to admit, I enjoyed it more the second time.

We went to Tomorrow land next, where Elora and I rode Space Mountain. I have to admit, I don’t enjoy just plain roller coasters anymore. If there’s nothing special to see, I don’t need to ride them. Elora loves the speed though. She’s in that phase where she has just discovered roller coasters, so everything is cool and exciting. I try out everything once with her (at least the ones she wants to do, and the ones I can stomach… I’m getting old, so spinning things just won’t do anymore, they make me sick for a long, long time)

We did a whole bunch of things today, and I can’t believe how many rides we rode. So different from previous years, where we only rode four or five things from the morning to the afternoon. Which is funny, because the lines are longer now. But I think it’s because Elora moves faster, or something. I have no clue. It’s great doing everything with a ‘big kid’ and we’ve been getting a little emotional and nostalgic this trip about how Elora’s growing up so fast.

Our last ride for the day was Splash Mountain, my favorite MK ride next to Carousel of Progress (yes, I know the latter is cheesy as hell, but this ride is over 50 years old, and that’s just impressive… I love the old ones) We loved it and we got soaked.

At around 2 pm we were back in the hotel, where we only had a really brief time to rest and get changed for dinner, because we had an early dining reservation at the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue. We had to leave at 3 pm, and we made it with time to spare at the Fort Wilderness resort. Busses ran from the parking lot to the Pioneer Hall, where our dinner was served.

Daan and I lounged in proper rocking chairs on the porch, while Elora played in the playground. It was lovely. Then we stood in line (Disney loves lines) to get into the restaurant. I still say the line could have been avoided if they opened the doors half an hour early… but I guess they just love seeing people line up.

The show was great. Again, cheesy as hell, but the performers have such charisma, as did our server. The food is simple but very tasty and the atmosphere is great. The best part is that Elora loved it. She was laughing so loud, and cheering and singing… it was so awesome to see. One of the performers came and sat at our table, and she was totally charmed. We had a fantastic night.

Daan and Elora decided to dip into the pool after we got back from dinner. I saw the rainy clouds and predicted the pool wouldn’t be open. I have to admit, people are overtly cautious in this country, and we Dutch aren’t scared of swimming in the rain. I was right btw, and Elora just came in to get their books, so that they could read until the three drops of rain would pass. Meanwhile I decided to update my blog again.

We’re having an early night. Tomorrow we’re going to Typhoon lagoon. Not sure what our dinner plans are yet, this is the first time we don’t have dining reservations.

Because of our unpredictable flights, we decided to go back a day early. Part of me is very sad about this, but at the same time… the trip back is stressing me out a little, and I rather get an extra day, just in case we can’t get on the flight. We’ll see.

The vacation is almost over, but it’s been so fantastic so far. The only thing I have to look forward to is having my own bedroom again. Spending 24/7 with an 8 year old is fun… but also taxing. And I kind of miss the cats a little, so I’m looking forward to seeing them again… otherwise I would have gladly stayed a lot longer. This place is wonderful.

A little Irish (day 13)

Today was our last day in Universal Studios, and it was a hot one. We had a quick breakfast at the hotel, and we planned what rides we still wanted to see.

When we drove up a little before nine, there was already a line to the parking lot. And when we finally made it to the parks, I felt my heart sink a little. Normally the early mornings are the best time to catch the rides… but the lines were already huge.

First was the escape from Gringots ride, because I just had to do that again. Elora decided she wanted to try it again too. The first line was already 45 minutes long (at least) and that was right at the opening time. It’s a good ride, though the Forbidden Journey is still the best.

It’s such a shame they got rid of some of the old rides like ‘Jaws’ and ‘Back to the future’. They really gave the park some variety. We totally forgot to go to the Terminator 4D experience thing, which is very cool, and I’m sad we missed it. The new rides are great, but a lot of them are very much alike. Most of them are simulators of some kind, and though the themes are great… after a while I get a little bored of them. The Transformers is really cool… but it’s almost identical to Spiderman, but with different characters.

Me… I like the dark rides the best. Especially those that tell a bit of a story.

We only did three rides before the heat and the crowds ‘chased’ us away. First the Harry Potter one, then Elora and I went on the Mummy. This one is pretty damn cool, though I was worrying it was a bit too intense for Elora. It’s a roller coaster, but with a lot of amazing special effects. I really enjoyed it, and Elora said she did too (though she was terrified when we were in the line). I think it gave her a few nightmares too.

The last ride was the Jurassic Park one, which soaked us down to our underwear. Elora loved it, though the big T-Rex still freaks her out a little.

At the end of the morning we were so tired. It was about 12:30 pm when we decided to back to the hotel. (Yup, it took us 3 ½ hours to ride 3 rides, that’s how long the lines were)

Elora and I were getting on each other’s nerves a bit by this time, and we knew it was a good idea if we all had a bit of a nap. I was up way too early in the morning, and she had been up way too late the night before.

It was a bit of a battle to get her to sleep, then it was a battle to get her up, but we managed. That night we had dining reservations at Raglan Road, a wonderful Irish restaurant in Downtown Disney. The night was filled with great Irish and some decent American music, and really awesome river dancers. There was a little girl from the audience who really blew everyone away with her dancing, when the performers invited her onto the stage.

The food was so gorgeous, I actually over ate, and felt a little sick afterwards. We had taken the boat to Downtown again, so I was hoping I would keep it all in. Thankfully I managed, and I had learned my lesson. The portions here are just so big, it’s easy to eat more than you should. And the bread and butter pudding was ridiculously tasty, so I had taken a few bites too many.

By the time we got home, it was bedtime for Elora, but because she slept in the afternoon (and we had been feeding her sugar all day) she was pretty hyper.

All of us have been getting a lot more sugar than we’re used to. I’m dreading getting on the scales when I get home. We’ve been sharing a lot of portions, but still… everything is just stuffed with calories. I’ll probably need to starve myself for a few months to compensate *gulp*

It’s worth it though!

just keep swimming (day 12)

It promised to be another hot and crowded day, so we decided again to skip the parks in the morning. Instead we headed to the pool around nine o’clock, when it wasn’t too crowded yet. Elora and Daan went on ahead and I followed soon after.

I sort of let go of all the plans (except our dinner reservation) today, and just went with the flow, which worked out like a dream. The weather was gorgeous, and we found some lovely seats in the shade by the pool.

After swimming I actually got to read a little bit, though right now Daan and I are sharing a kindle, so I didn’t read a lot. Instead I ended up watching videos on my phone, which was kind of nice.

The pool entertainment is very cute here. Daan and Elora were doing this Disney Quiz thing, and Elora kept running back to me to get the answers. I really am a Disney nerd, so it seems. In the end I just came to join them, since they really needed my help *grin*

We actually won the competition, and Elora got to pick out a stuffed toy snake. She got a red one. And no, we weren’t just competing against children. In fact, most of the people were adults who got suckered into doing the quiz by their kids (the same kids would then bugger off and go swimming, leaving the adults to look like total muppets at the side of the pool… because that’s what being a parent is all about)

For lunch we shared a jacket potato the size of a Buick between the three of us. The food portions here are so ridiculously big, we usually just share one portion between the three of us. We have 3 quick service credits a day, and I have a sneaky suspicion we’ll have a lot of them left by the end of the holiday.

I wish I could make this day sound more interesting, but all we did was swim, read and watch videos during the day. Elora did win another quiz, and now we are the proud owners of a purple and a red snake.

Dinner was going to be very late tonight (7:45 pm) so we decided to have a snack at around 3:30. We shared a chicken quesadilla, which was almost a full meal on its own. We have a theory about Elora secretly being either a hobbit, or a bottomless well, because that kid eats so much freaking food here, it’s scary.

After the ‘second lunch’ we went to the room, where I decided to pack the Christmas decorations in the suitcase. Erm… they might be taking up the entire suitcase… whoopsie. I hope everything will fit. We’ll see. Otherwise it’ll be time to get creative. I managed the last three trips too, I’m sure I’ll manage this time. *gulp*

We headed over to Hollywood Studios around 5:30 pm. First we visited Ariel, which is a show with great special effects, but the storyline seems to be suffering from multiple personality disorder. A quick visit in the Great Movie Ride was next. I quipped: “I hope we get a better driver this time, because the last one had the charisma of a potato…” when the exact SAME driver we had a few days ago boarded our freaking car. Lovely…

I was really happy to see that they hadn’t scratched the mafia element in the ride, but that you actually have two different experiences. For those of you who have never ridden this, there is a live action element to this ride, where your driver gets driven off by either some mobster or by a wild west gunslinger. I didn’t know the latter was a thing, and I was afraid they had changed it. But this is actually cooler, now you get different flavors! I like that.

After that our fastpass to the Rock and Roller Coaster was active, and Elora and I headed over. She has been talking about this ride since the last time, claiming it was her favorite, but when we stood in line she looked pale again, and her heart was pounding.

Some dumb bimbo actually swapped our seats (I don’t even know why) and we had to wait longer. I wanted to stomp on her foot, because that meant Elora got more nervous. In the end it was fine though, she freaking loved it again and even kept her eyes open this time. Her picture is even better this time (will add pictures when I get home)

Dinner was a bit disappointing due to our server. He kept messing up our orders, bringing Daan beer (Daan HATES beer) and I ended up with a very disappointing do-it-yourself-burger, which I didn’t get to do myself. It was dry and didn’t have any of the things on it I liked. We didn’t tip him a lot (only 10 dollars, which was little over 10%) because we were miffed. I have a sneaky suspicion not a lot of people tip in Disney World, because even he seemed really grateful that we at least left a tip. All servers always thank us elaborately for tipping. We tend to be a lot more generous than we were tonight, but this guy really truly sucked.

I do love sitting in that cheesy car and looking at the terrible commercials for old movies. It’s a blast.

After dinner it was time for home. Tomorrow will be another early day. We’re going to go back to Universal Studios.