Florida Day 6 & Home

 Home and semi-recovered; time to catch up on the blog. 

Day 6 Animal Kingdom & Hollywood Studios

These were the 2 parks that we hadn't yet seen. Walking into Animal Kingdom there was a woman on stilts dressed as a tree/plant that looked very cool (see pictures). We went straight to a 3D movie called It's Tough to Be a Bug, that surprisingly wasn't too creepy for this arachnaphobe, where we learned that bugs outnumber humans 200,000:1. The movie was inside the tree of life (I think that is what it was called) that had animals carved all over it and looked amazing. We had the weirdest 360 picture taken outside of it (see pictures). Next Eric wanted to head to Dinoland, where he also had a sudden NEED for popcorn after 5 days at the parks without even mentioning it. We went on a really cool ride there called Dinosaur. It was simulation but lots of rip roaring action and didn't require me to close my eyes. Then the kids went on the very tame Triceratop Spin on their own while I got Eric his much demanded popcorn. Walking through Animal Kingdom, we saw a character meet and greet for Moana and they generously allowed Eric to go to the front of the line to meet her. Next we went over to the world of Pandora. The kids haven't seen the movies and Chuck and I have only seen the first one, which I actually can't really remember. However, that didn't stop Chuck and Eric from doing The Flight of Passage, a simulated ride where they fly on a banshee. That one was a big nope for me and Joel kept me company. After that ride we did the very, very tame (even boring?) Na'vi River Journey. We were about to leave the park and head over to Hollywood Studios when Eric spied a rollercoaster on the side of a mountain. Turned out it was called Expedition Everest so we headed straight for it. That was another nope for Joel and I. Instead I got new sunglasses after dropping mine and breaking a lens and Joel got a plush monkey that hangs around his neck. Now we were headed out of the park, knowing we missed lots of things, but excited to check out Hollywood Studios. Walking into Hollywood Studios, Eric had to get one of those light up bubble blowing Mickey things that we'd seen everywhere; this brought back memories of the balloon, as I spent the rest of the day eating bubbles. Chuck was very focused on getting to the Star Wars area, but it was at the back of the park, so we decided we'd see what we see on the way there. We started off with Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, a slightly nauseating simulation ride. Coming out of there we got a bit turned around but found ourselves in Toy Story Land which was a super fun place to be: everything was very brightly coloured and a lot of it was made of Tinker Toys. Eric wanted to go on the Slinky Dog Dash Rollercoaster which was described as a family friendly ride with small drops so Joel and I decided to give it a whirl. In the line, watching the cars whip by on the track I was beginning to have my doubts but put on a brave face for Joel. We got loaded into the car and then waited and waited and waited... Chuck finally realized they were cleaning up vomit in the Slinky Dog behind us before rolling it forward. Now I really had my doubts! It turned out to be really fun and I only had to close my eyes a little. Joel also thought it was fun and was happy he didn't fall out of the coaster! Next on to Alien Swirling Saucers, also nauseating. And finally off to Star Wars for Chuck's Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run. It was a simulation ride and the seats we were in didn't move so I figured I could always close my eyes if I needed. In the orientation they wanted 2 pilots and 2 gunners. Unfortunately the kids thought being gunners sounded fun which left me as a pilot. Turns out its pretty hard to pilot the Millenium Falcon with your eyes closed. Next Chuck and Eric went on Rise of the Resistance (which took forever!) while Joel and I sought out the store where you can build your own light saber, Joel built a light saber and then found some food for dinner. Chuck and Eric eventually met us for dinner and then we headed back so Eric could also make a light saber. I had hoped to make it to 9pm for Fantasmic, Mickey's night time spectacular, but by about 6:30/7pm the kids were done, so we hit a souvenir shop and made our way out of the park and back to GKTW. 

Day 7: GKTW & Travel

Our flight wasn't until almost 6pm, but we had heard it was best to actually arrive at the airport 3 hours early to return the car and because its a huge airport, so we planned to leave GKTW at 2:30pm. There is lots to do at GKTW that we hadn't had time to check out because we'd been so busy with the theme parks, so that is what we planned to spend the day doing. Unfortunately, we had to be out of our Villa by 11am because they were fully booked, but they have a lovely hospitality suite available for families with late departures. It is designed for up to 4 families to share and has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 kitchens and 2 living rooms. We got there right at 11 and took over a bedroom as a temporary homebase. It turned out there was only one other family there that day and we didn't even see them. Before checking out of our Villa, we went to breakfast and it turned out that Mickey was there for meet and greets so we got our picture with him before breakfast. After checking out, I wanted to ride the little train around the site, but unfortunately it was closed for maintenance, so we did Dino Mini Golf instead. Both kids managed to get a hole in one, while neither Chuck or I did (no surprise for me as I am not skilled at golf, or hand-eye coordination.) Next the kids wanted to go in the pool. It was about 23 degrees but cloudy and very, very windy. It was not at all unpleasant to sit beside the pool, but Eric wanted the whole family in the pool. The pool is heated but once your head is wet and out in the wind, it is horrifying. After some family play time, I escaped for a hot shower. When I got back, Chuck escaped for a hot shower. Meanwhile, the insane children are still happily playing away in the pool. We dragged them out for hot showers, which left us with just enough time for lunch before heading to the airport. 

The airport is huge, and we had to ride two terminal links to get from the car return to our gate, but it was all relatively straight forward. The flight from Orlando to Calgary was also uneventful. We were pretty tired when we arrived in Calgary and had to clear customs but it was a short layover and soon enough we were on the plane to Vancouver. Except, flying through Calgary in the winter is such a pain; we ended up delayed almost an hour for de-icing. Arrived in Van, picked up our luggage, shuttle to Park N'Fly, pick up car, drive home and arrive shortly before 2am - that is 5am Florida time - and fall directly into bed. 

Friday morning Eric had a check up at clinic, and in my sheer exhaustion, I managed to miscalculate what time we had to leave. So I woke up and said "we need to leave now!" Luckily (?) Eric had been up since 7:30am, so he was actually awake. Also, thanks to an amazing neighbour, we had milk, bread, fruit, etc. We went to the lab for bloodwork and then over to the oncology clinic where our entire team wanted to hear about the trip, but Eric on 5.5 hours of sleep was not feeling too chatty. They skipped to the good news and let us know that the blood and platelets he'd loaded up with before the trip were still holding and he didn't need a transfusion so we could go home! We did have one stop first; Granny's to pick up Millie who was very excited to see us. 

We've spent the rest of the weekend (it's Sunday morning now) just chilling, mostly in our pjs, recovering from our crazy, amazing trip and long, late flight home. I am pretty sure the kids are going to be shocked when I tell them they have to make lunches tonight and get ready for school tomorrow. Isn't it Christmas now???