Change of plan today. Originally we were going to HS the catching the boat to Epcot stopping for ice cream at Beaches & Cream on the way. The girls had other ideas though. They were a bit disappointed that we hadn't done any of the water parks, so we decided to swap Hollywood Studios for Blizzard Beach. I had really wanted to catch the boat from HS to Epcot, but after the DTD boat issue, it probably would have been a fraught journey anyway . So by 9:35am we were on our way to BB. The waterpark was due to open at 10am. We got there about 10 to and they were letting people in already so no queuing. We had decided we would just do a couple of hours here so after hiring a large locker ($15 including $5 deposit) we grabbed some deck chairs rather than loungers, and left our towels (which we had brought with us from POFQ - I checked before with the lifeguards and they said it was fine. Also said we could just leave them at BB in the dirty towel bins). First up was the lazy river. We did a full circuit and then decided to have a go on Teamboat Springs which had a 15min wait. This was from the bottom of the steps though so by the time you walked up them and joined the queue it was a lot less. Ffion was a bit unsure, but really enjoyed it in the end and wanted to ride it again so that's what we did Slightly longer wait the 2nd time, but not too much more. Georgina wanted to go back in the lazy river so we did another circuit and then spent about 15mins in the wave pool which was fun. Managed to get a couple of rubber rings for the girls to bob around in. Got some great memory maker photos.



By now we were all a bit peckish so we headed over to Avalunch. I had a mushroom burger with caramelised onions (delicious my favourite burger of the whole holiday), Rob and George had hotdogs and Ffion the usual chicken nuggets. Again we didn't have desserts. The CMs really seem to struggle when you don't want all the food, and he was offering us loads of alternatives which was nice of him, but would still have all just gone to waste. Anyway, we had to save some space for our ice creams later By now it was nearly 1pm and we had stayed a bit longer than we had intended (our B&C ADR was at 2:40pm) so we headed back to change. Unfortunately mousekeeping was in our room when we got back so we headed to Floatworks to fill up the cups. I saw the concierge to try and change the B&C ADR to later but there were none available until the evening, so we decided to stick with it and get a taxi instead to give us a bit more time. We got back to the room about 1:45pm and quickly all showered and changed and then got a taxi at 2:20pm. It didn't take long to get to the Yacht Club and we were there by 2:30pm. Beaches & Cream was really easy to find and we were seated straight away. I was surprised at how small it is. We were originally given a table in the middle but it was a bit cramped so we asked if we could maybe swap to one of the side booths as there were a couple free, which our waitress (from Scotland) was happy for us to do. A Kitchen Sink was ordered while we there, all the lights start flashing and they introduce it to everyone. Great fun, but huge bowl of ice cream Ffion and I ordered cokes, while Rob had iced tea and. Georgina a pink lemonade. It was fine that we only wanted to order dessert - Rob had a banana split with no chocolate, Georgina had a strawberry Sundae, Ffion had mud fudge slide and I ordered banana bread with peanut butter sauce and vanilla ice cream. Wow - the portions were huge, although Georgina's was probably about the size you would get over here. They were really yummy, but none of us could eat it all. In fact Ffi looked like she hadn't even started hers Rob discovered that his did have chocolate sauce at the bottom, but it was so big a portion you could easily eat around it. We really should have just ordered 2 desserts to share I think.



Would definitely go there again though. Such lovely theming We had a quick nosy around yacht & beach club which is stunning, and then walked over to International Gateway.



We headed to Norway first as Georgina wanted to ride Maelstrom but it was a 50min wait which we all agreed was too long, so made our way to Spaceship Earth instead. Rob remembered his hat this time, Ffion and I had both made faces for our pictures - Ffi looked great whereas I looked like some dodgy blow up doll Could not get out of there quick enough when our pictures suddenly appeared on the big screens on the way out. Bad Next we rode Nemo as that had no queue. We did have that as a FP originally so tried to swap it for maelstrom but none available, so kept the FP instead, but really not needed. Spent a while in the aquarium bit - I love it there, could sit for hours watching the fish. Our Test Track FP was open now which was fun again. Ffion and I made a car again and this time we went a bit more for the look of it, but we still did beat Rob and George's car for efficiency.

Then realised that our last FP was Spaceship earth again, so we decided to ride it again for a laugh. Georgina and Ffion rode together and I went with Rob. I love seeing Earth at the end - the best bit. As we hadn't really done any of the World Showcases we decided to head to UK and then make our way right round so that we would finish in France. My plan was that we would then grab a spot on the bridge between UK and France to watch IllumiNations. Ffion wanted to do an Agent P mission so UK seemed as good as place as any to pick. Unfortunately it's exactly the same as the old Kim Possible mission so Ffi got a bit bored. However it did mean we went in the shops which we probably wouldn't have done otherwise. The CM in the tea shop looked exactly like the actor who plays Neville Longbottom (as he is now though). Ffion was adamant it was him until he told her how much he liked her hat, especially as he supported Hufflepuff and you didn't see many other Hufflepuff supporters. She was like "well it obviously isn't him as he is a Gryffindor". All the time Georgina is in the background muttering "he's in bluestone 42 for goodness sake, why would he be selling tea?" Ha ha Then we ended up in the shop with all the Dr Who merchandise. They really seem to love their Dr Who over there. We saw loads of people wearing Dr Who merchandise (even dresses based on the Tardis). The best thing we saw was someone with a cute Tardis backpack. Anyway, Georgina bought a Whovian t-shirt and Ffion bought the police box sign. They then had a nice chat with the CM (from Manchester) who was on the till, about their favourite Dr Who and the fact none of us had yet seen the first Peter Capaldi episode.



Ffion decided not to do any more Agent P missions, so we made our way to Canada and then through to Norway again. Maelstrom was showing 40mins so we carried on walking. We had a good look around all the countries. Rob had a Pilsner in Germany and we got a couple of pretzels to share (2 snack credits). The girls especially loved the huge shop in Japan and bought some Japanese sweets and drinks Georgina had the green tea and Ffion tried something called Romune. The bottle had a marble in the top so you had the push the lid down to move the marble.
There were loads of different fruit flavours and I think she had orange. I wanted to get something from the bakery in France but it is a big food hall now, and it was just too busy so gave up on that idea. By now it was about 30 mins before Illuminations started so we grabbed a great spot on the bridge. So good when a plan comes together It did get quite busy where we were, but I didn't mind as no-one could actually stand in front of us. IllumiNations was just amazing. We didn't manage to see it last time, so a first for us. The world itself was very clever, and all the different colour changes and images were brilliant. We all really enjoyed it.



Once it had finished we joined all the crowds and made our way back to the entrance. Luckily a POFQ bus pulled up as soon as we got to the bus stop so we were back in our room by 9:50pm. I think we got some crisps and pretzels from the shop on the way back as we hadn't really eaten properly since the meal at BB, but none of us were that hungry so a snack was enough. We may have polished off the rest of the cheesecake too

Great day x

Thankyou

Lovely day. Sometimes the best days are when we change the plan lol!

We missed illuminations last time but I'm hoping we will get to see it next time.

Looking forward to tomorrow.

What a lovely day you had Vanessa, looks like the change of plans paid off. Those ice creams look so yummy

Glad you enjoyed Illuminations it's so lovely. I bought the CD when we were away this time and I've been playing it for the past 2 weeks!

Sounds like you had a great day.

That spot on the UK/France bridge is a fantastic place to watch Illuminations from.

Great day and photos, thank you for sharing We shared a banana split at Beaches and Cream a few days ago and it was delicious

Kev

Yes I think we probably enjoyed the day more as it wasn't as expected Illuminations was so lovely - hope you get to see it on your next visit.


Those ice creams mmmm Will definitely go back to Beaches & Cream one day. I didn't realise they did CDs of the music used though - might have to look into that.

Yes we really enjoyed it Oh yes that bridge is great. There was a dessert party going on just next to the bridge, which seemed to be a wedding reception, which looked lovely. And the cruise boats were also lined up under the bridge. So I think it does have a pretty good view there. We certainly could see everything.


Aww hope you are having a great time Rob really enjoyed the banana split (until he found the chocolate sauce ). But we really should have been sensible like you and shared the dishes.

The first picture of the girls is lovely.

I had a laugh to myself about you finding Beaches and Cream so easily, it literally took us almost an hour!

Think we might try and get a spot on the bridge to watch Illuminations, great tip, thank you.