The greyhound journey to Orlando itself wasn't too bad and the weather seemed to stay pretty warm and sunny all the way. However when we arrived - as usual we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere, it started to get cold, and then started to rain a little. We had to wait forever for a bus which took us to the downtown station which was a little scary. We then had to get on another bus which was ridiculously busy and we had out suitcases and all of our stuff so it was a complete pain. The people on the bus were kind of friendly though a guy helped me lift my bag onto the rack, another guy offered me his seat cos I had so much stuff and one (very stoned guy) started chatting to us for a while. We were on this bus for what seemed like eternity it just went on forever and I was FREEZING cold in my sandals, and it was dark and rainy outside and we were going through some rough looking areas and at one point the bus had to take a de-tour, directed by one of the passengers as the police had shut down an entire street. So after an eventful journey we finally made it to International drive and luckily didn't have to walk too far to our hotel. Our room wasn't the most luxurious but it had 2 double beds, a TV, a bathroom and best of all…no-one else sharing it!!! We got a little excited about the prospect of spending a whole 2 weeks in the same place so we immediately unpacked and got to hang up clothes and put things away in drawers (what a novelty!!). We walked down the road for dinner at the Red Lobster which was really great we shared a platter of tasty shellfish and shared a bottle of wine and all was right in the world again!

So on our first day in Orlando there really was only one way to begin this part of our trip…DISNEY'S MAGIC KINGDOM!! We took a little longer than we probably should have getting ready so didn't get out of our hotel until 10am and as our hotel had stopped running their shuttles to Disneyworld we were told to get the public bus. Ben was hungry so we went to IHOP for breakfast and had healthy option pancakes with fruit and yoghurt. Then we went to go wait for the bus. We had heard on the news that it was going to be a nice day and the lady at the restaurant the night before also confirmed this, so we set out in t-shirts and shorts with just our light hoodies. It was a little chilly but we just assumed it would warm up - I mean come on we were in Florida! Well as you will find out throughout this blog - us+bus=stupidly painful. It took us two buses and an hour and a half to get to Magic Kingdom and then we obviously had to get the shuttle into the actual park so we didn't officially walk through the gates until midday. So when we were finally in we began our adventure around the park starting in 'Tomorrowland' where we experienced the Lilo and Stitch ride then the Monsters Inc interactive comedy show which was really funny as the characters actually interact with and make fun of people in the audience and make them do silly things (we didn't get picked on but was still amusing). Throughout the day we wandered around the entire park going on as many rides as we could, and it wasn't too busy so we didn't really queue very long for anything which was great. The problem was that although the sun was out, it was not warm, and I was pretty much wearing denim hot pants and a top and I was very cold and getting colder as the day went on. The issue was that the Magic Kingdom firework show was on at 8pm which we obviously didn't want to miss, I was just questioning whether I would get hypothermia if I stayed out that late! So I ended up buying a pair of trousers, which were actually really funky PJ bottoms which I love!! So I looked like a bit of a pratt in my VERY LOUD PJ's but at least I was a hell of a lot warmer and more comfortable and I didn't really care - I was in Disney! Oh and Ben and I had decided to fashion our "I 'heart' …" T-shirts that we had been collecting throughout America so we were matching idiots anyways. The show that evening began with music from all the classic Disney's and pictures and colourful lights projected on Cinderella's castle and then a huge firework display - it was AWESOME and soooo pretty!! Felt like such a big Kid I loved it! Luckily during our hellish bus journey to the park that morning we got stopped by a man that runs shuttle buses to and from the resorts and hotels so we booked him to collect us that evening which saved us a lot of time and effort after the show.

The original plan was to do the parks every other day, however after checking the weather properly we found out that the next day was actually going to be nice then the two preceding days were going to rain so we thought we should make the most of the nice weather while we could and therefore decided to go to Islands of Adventure. Our hotel did run a shuttle to and from Universal, but it only ran at 8.15 and collected at 6.15 so we were in for a long day. We were much better prepared for the day with backpacks full of clothes ready for all weathers…and guess what…it was rather hot and sunny and we spent the entire day in t-shirts feeling a little warm in jeans! Apart from it being frustrating that we had to lug our backpacks around all day we were glad for the warmth. There were next to no queues again so we had no trouble getting on any of the rides. Harry Potter land was…amazing. We queued (only for like 15mins) for the front seats of the twin racer rollercoaster and it was SO MUCH FUN!! The other main ride in Harry Potter land was this 3D/coaster/real/false/mind boggling awesome ride that is so hard to describe in words but you felt like you were whizzing about really fast on a broomstick following Harry outside, then you were inside a building being attacked by monsters and spiders and ghosts then back outside zooming about, it was just so clever and fantastic. Throughout the day we pretty much did everything except the water rides 'cos I was wearing my boots which couldn't get wet and we were scared it'd get cold again and we were enjoying being warm and dry! We did go on our favourite rides twice as we were there for 10 hours! We were thoroughly knackered by the end of the day so when we got back we went and picked up an Indian takeaway and sat in our room watching TV having a nice chilled one.

Next day I had had enough of feeling like a fatty so got up and went for a run…and as predicted it rained and I got drenched but it was kinda fun! We had a chilled morning sorting out our stuff and then hopped on the I-Ride in the afternoon for a bit of outlet shopping. We did hit the shops pretty hard as we knew we were in need of a lot warmer clothes for the rest of our trip. I managed to get pretty much everything I needed but Ben was not quite so fortunate. We stayed out pretty late desperate for Ben to get some more stuff without much success. We went for dinner at a Steakhouse buffet near-ish our hotel when we were shopped out and had a relaxed evening. The morning after we weren't really sure what the weather was going to be like as we'd heard a few conflicting stories so we set our alarms early, turned on the weather, found out it wasn't going to be great but the weekend would be warm, so we went back to sleep for a couple more hours! When we did get up we both went and got our hair cut - Ben hadn't got his done since Perth and his head was looking pretty huge and I hadn't had my mane cut since England and it was just awful! Afterwards we went and did a little souvenir shopping round all the tacky shops and then went and got some lunch after at this amazing all you can eat soup and salad buffet which was right by our hotel - and it had taken us this long to find it! We were fed up of shopping so we then decided to go to Ripley's 'Believe it or Not' museum-ish place full of weird, wonderful and unbelievable things so that kept us entertained for a few hours. That evening we stayed in, skyped, dyed my hair, watched movies and got bit of Chinese take out.

Saturday 12th Feb - we got picked up by the shuttle bus and dropped off at a petrol station opposite 'Hollywood Studios' (formerly MGM) as we'd have got charged for the bus to enter the park. It took us a while to get in as we couldn't work out how to get to the other side of the stupid highway! When we did get in we first of all went to go see the Beauty and the Beast show which was cute. Then we queued for AGES to go on the Aerosmith rollercoaster cos the park was FULL of cheerleaders. Seemingly their Nationals were being held that weekend in the Indiana Jones stadium (so that wasn't on which was annoying) and therefore the entire park was full of kitted out girls being overly excited and American and rather irritating. Anyway we then went on the AWESOME Toy Story shooting 3D adventure ride which was so much fun, we did the studio back-lot tour, did the 'American Idol Experience' where we got to vote for actual performers singing, we saw the Disney parade which was fun, did the shockingly bad 'audio show', Muppets 3D show and of course went on Tower of Terror (which wasn't as scary as I remembered it to be but was still kinda scary and fun). Well our journey home was another journey from hell as the shuttle bus was not running that evening. So we had to find a bus to Downtown Disney, we were told to get it from the Broadway hotel so we walked FOREVER to find this place and this bus stop, we waited a while for the bus then finally go on to Downtown Disney. When we got there we were then told we needed to walk all the way to the other side, which is a fair distance. We then waited another age for the bus, it arrived and we had to change again about half way and wait again for that one in the cold. So it took us about 2 hours to get back to the hotel. Not cool. It was about 10pm by the time we got back and we were so tired and fed up that I just could not even be asked with dinner so pretty much just got into bed when we got back.

Sunday we had a little lie-in then thought we'd make our own way to Universal Studios as we didn't feel we wanted another 10 hour day in the park. We waited over an hour for the bloody bus (which supposedly runs every half hour). When we got there we had a fairly relaxed day as we were feeling a little lethargic so saw a few shows, went on a few rides, it was kind of busy but nice and sunny. We discovered our favourite ride - the 'Rip, Ride, Rock It Rollercoaster' where you get to select a song to be played while you ride so each person had their own personal sound track to their ride. It was a really cool rollercoaster and pretty big. Then at the end you get to watch a video of yourself on the ride (which we did not realise before would happen) so that was a lot of fun. That evening we went to the NBA bar for a couple of happy hour margaritas and watched some 'ball then we went and had some famous shrimp at Bubba Gumps which was also really good. The next day was Valentines - Ben surprised me with a card saying "sometimes I wonder why I put up with you...then I remember it's cos you put up with me" - very amusingly apt! We had a nice relaxed morning but then spent absolutely hours sorting out the rest of our US trip and booking accommodation online - it was painful how long it took and we also realised how expensive the rest of our trip was going to be - but hey ho! It was a rather nice sunny day so after we had got all that sorted I went out and read my book in the sun by the pool for a few hours til it got chilly then I went and got glammed up ready for our romantic valentines evening out! We got the bus back to Universal (luckily didn't have to wait an hour this time). First we had a drink in The Hard Rock Cafe which had a good atmosphere, then we had booked a table in Bob Marley's Restaurant as we fancied some Jerk Chicken. Big mistake. It was bloody awful! Crap restaurant, crap wine, crap food. So we swiftly ate and moved on to Margaritaville which was much busier, had live music, we had quite a few cocktails and shared a rather decadent dessert as we were so disappointed with our dinner! Was a really nice evening in the end though.

On Tuesday we went back to Universal to finish off the rides we didn't get to go on the last time. We fashioned our "I 'heart' San Francisco" tops as there was a San Fran section to the park. We successfully got through everything we wanted to and even went back and did our favourite rollercoaster again. That evening we got the I-Ride to The Olive Garden and had a fairly healthy and tasty meal. Wednesday we thought we'd try out Epcot, but as the shuttle dropped us off at Magic Kingdom we thought we'd go and finish off the rides we didn't do the first day. It was a REALLY hot day which was great. We did 'It's a Small World', Splash Mountain and a couple of others before jumping on the monorail to Epcot. First things first -we needed food, so we headed to the food hall then we began going on a few 'rides' which weren't really rides - more like 'educational experiences'! There were HUGE queues for all the good rides which was annoying. A lot of the rides were a little heavy on the whole 'environment' focus which was a bit lame. The Space shuttle experience was really cool - you sat in this little capsule supposedly heading in to space but they somehow had actual G-Force going on which was bizarre and kinda cool (though it hurt my heart a little bit!). After we had pretty much done all the rides we wanted to we went for a walk around the huge Lake to check out all the different country themed places, which were really mainly restaurants and souvenir shops, but we had a beer in our hand and it was a nice warm evening so wasn't so bad! We had booked to go to the German Oktoberfest buffet at 7.45pm however as it was time to go to the restaurant we found out that it was $33pp - which was just absurd, we did not want to be spending THAT much! So we had a bit of a panic as we tried to find elsewhere to eat, and began to find that all of the restaurants that did non-fast food were really quite pricey. So funnily enough we ended up all the way round the other side of the park...In 'England'...and had fish and chips and another beer on a park bench!! We then made our way to get a good spot to see the 'Illumination show' at 9pm which was actually really good - lots of lasers, fireworks and music based in the middle of the lake so everyone could see. Thank God we were getting the shuttle back that night so we didn't have the fuss of the bus again.

The next day it was beautifully hot again so I spent the morning working on the tannage by the pool, chilling, reading, had a dip - though it was pretty chilly water! We returned to the healthy salad buffet for lunch then Ben got on the bus and went to the Florida Shopping Mall to try and be a little more successful in getting some warmer clothes. I went for a little walk down International Drive, then back to the hotel to get our washing done (fun right?) and got some internet stuff done til Ben got back. That evening we went down the road again to the Red Lobster which was just as yummy as the first time. Friday was forecast to be an even HOTTER day, and we found out that one of the Disney Water parks was open so we went to Typhoon Lagoon. It was pretty damn busy - everyone had the same idea as us seemingly, but it wasn't too crazy. We spent the day splashing about on the flumes, dingy rides, lazy river, wave pool, swam with sharks, got some ice cream -it was a really fun day. Would dread to think how busy it must get in the summer though.

On Saturday we went to Animal Kingdom. We had another rather eventful bus journey getting there. We booked the shuttle to take us to the park for 10.15am. 10.45am - no shuttle. So we had to get the public bus - joy. That didn't arrive til 11.15am. We then had to get another bus half way. Waited again for that. When we reached Downtown Disney we walked to the Disney bus station. No buses run directly to Animal Kingdom, you have to get a bus to a resort then get another bus to the park. So 2 buses later....we FINALLY arrive. It's 1.15pm, and we're hungry. So utterly emotionally exhausted we treated ourselves to some Sangria and a sandwich at the Rainforest Cafe. So we didn't actually enter the park til about 2pm!! To top things off it was a Saturday and the park was pretty busy! Well we did manage to get on a few rides - began with the Bugs Life 4D experience which was pretty frightening, we missed the Lion King Show and the queue for the Dinosaur Rollercoaster was 90 minutes long so we saved that for later, we were in time for 'Finding Nemo the Musical' which was amazing (check out my pics)! It was clever how they told the story and used songs which obviously aren't in the film and the actors holding the puppets were kind of involved in it too. It was pretty visually spectacular too with all the brightly coloured puppets and coral reef and mechanical animals. We queued for a fair while for the 'Yeti' rollercoaster which was really good and kinda scary too. We went on the 'Jungle Safari' and got to see real hippos, crocodiles, antelope, elephants, flamingos and lions so that was cool. When it was time to leave we were dreading the same journey back, so we decided to stop half way at downtown Disney for dinner to break up the journey a bit. We weren't very hungry so just got a pretzel and a cup of tea and watched this little school kids dance show which was sweet. Then we waited stupidly long to get the cursed bus back after!

Sunday was our last full day in Orlando and we had not done an 'all you can eat breakfast buffet' yet (as I did not need more reason to feel like a fatty) so I gave in as it was the last day and we went to Sizzler and stuffed ourselves silly with pancakes, waffles and cooked things. We then packed and sorted out our lives. We were fed up of and could not face another hellish journey to and from Disney so that afternoon we went back to Universal to do all of our favourite rides in Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios again. We did the 'Mummy' ride, saw the Horror make up show which we hadn't seen before and was really funny, we went back to Harry Potter land which was STUPIDLY busy but the queue for the rollercoaster wasn't bad so went on that again, the queue for our favourite music video coaster was too big so couldn't do that again so instead we got Jelly shots and Margaritas and lined up on the streets of Universal with hundreds of other people waiting for the Mardi Gras parade. It was CRAZY!! There were people dressed up all sparkly and shiny and colourful on stilts warming up the crowds then the parade began with loads of brightly coloured impressive floats full of people flinging beads at for the crowds to catch. It was mental how everyone was going crazy trying to grab these beads and they were just flying everywhere. We ended up with about 20 each was so much fun! We went for some ribs and beer at the Hard Rock after as we were rather hungry and we really liked it inside there.

Monday we were checking out of our hotel and collecting our car hire to begin our road trip, however we were going to have to wait potentially until the evening for a car to be ready to collect. We had to collect the car from a hotel near Downtown Disney which (as you have heard was a fair distance away) so we decided to head that way while we waited to hear from the car hire place. We walked around for a bit, got some lunch, and still no news on the car so we went to see if our tickets would let us in to Disney Quest - and score - they did! It is basically a HUGE 5 floor arcade where you can go on any ride you want without having to pay (obviously you pay for the tickets to get in) but yer -every kids dream!! We went on a few arcade games, simulators, did some racing, shooting, rowing - it was fun. At 4pm I decided we should just go and wait at the car hire place as we really needed to get on the road asap as we had a 6ish hour journey ahead of us to Atlanta that evening. Luckily as we left Disney Quest they called and told us our car was ready so we hopped in a cab and went to pick up our car. Well as you all know now cos I might have bragged about it a little tiny bit - they had some problems with the small economy car we had originally booked so upgraded us to a beautiful red convertible Chrysler which is big and awesome and we love it! I set off with teh top down as it was nice and warm and we wanted to make the most of being able to as we were heading to places colder and colder. Well we had another bit of a faff as the car rental place didn't have any sat navs left so we had to go buy one and also pick up our bags so we didn't actually get on the road until nearly 7pm.

Anyway Disney was brilliant, had a really fun time, got to be a massive kid again for 2 weeks, lots of screaming and laughing, and got our last fix of the sun - lots of magical memories in true Disney style!!!