LA to Florida

So we are on the move again...Jet setting across the US. We said our goodbyes to Jac an Toria at the airport before going to catch our flight.  We had a long journey ahead. A connecting flight so 3 hours waiting for our first flight which was 55 minutes, it was the smallest plane I have ever been on, it was like a toy plane and turbulence is 10 times worse on it.  A lady's red wine went everywhere as we hit the first bit of turbulence: the ceiling, the floor...even the lady in front of her. I felt her embarassment but it was so funny!  We had another 3 hours waiting for the second flight.  The airport was sooo boring we had nothing to do but eat...everyone had pizza(which looked amazing) but we resisted and had apple,cheese and carrot sticks...it definitely wasn't as satisfactory as pizza would have been.  We ended up falling asleep in the waiting room and Liz woke up just as people were boarding our flight. Phew!! We didn't want to be late for our very important date with Disney!!  

3 hours later we had arrived in the hometown to Tinkerbell, Ariel, Mickey, Minnie and many more....we are in Orlando baby!! Wooooo.

We got to the hotel and we were zonked, so crashed out and woke up 6 hours later...oops! Aled and co were waiting for us at the beach club resort so we got ready and off we went.  We had to order a taxi from
the hotel as all the free shuttles had gone in the morning. We waited a short while until what turns up?...only a limo(not stretched but very posh).  We ask for a taxi...and get a limo.  No wonder it cost $40 to get 20 minutes down the road.  Maybe we have to ask for cabs over here, a taxi  must mean limo! Crazy American lingo. Anyway we enjoyed the all of 20 minutes luxury ride.

We met Aled at his Orlando mansion...well his hotel.  He met us at reception...was awesome to see him although it felt very weird going to meet him somewhere that's half way across the world, when it's usually just a visit to llantwit major.

He took us to the ESPN bar for some grub...it was well needed after our bloody evening meal at the airport. I also got to watch my first bit of footie in months... unfortunately not the greatest game.  England vs Wales...pretty predictable don't you think?

After a nice catch up we caught the shuttle to Downtown Disney. Al's parents and Huw joined us...we were(as Liz would say) like the Vontraps on an outing. There was a lot to see there, but top of our list was the largest Disney store in the world. It was amazing, I could have spent all day in there and spent soooo much dollar. I really wanted to be dressed as a princess(well mainly Tinkerbell, she's my favourite) in the Bibbidy Bobbidy boutique, but they only dressed children! I don't know why!  Haha.

There were so many cute little shops and I was loving the music...can't get enough of Disney! After a stroll around we headed to the House Of Blues...Aled wanted some food so me and Liz only ordered desert...the waitress found it slightly weird but we wanted something sweet. I had a major sweet tooth.

Last shuttle back 10,05pm...we were on a mission without permission to get to it. We had to get a bus and then a monorail until we reached the free shuttle, it was tight but we made it.

Early night for us as we bought our universal tickets for the next two days...Hogwarts... two new pupils heading your way!

LUSH sleep and a lie in before heading to Universal Studios.  Day one of our Disney adventures. It was so exciting, we were like little kids high on lots of candy!  First ride of the day was Shrek 4D, We took a journey with Shrek and Donkey to save Princess Fiona from the evil Lord Farquad. He'd risen from
the dead after the first film...Jammy
little b*****. Onwards to one of our favourite rides of the day... 'Hollywood Rockit'.  We starred in our own music video on this ride bopping along to black eyed peas 'pump it'.  We wern't in the background of this video, all eyes were on us. On our second ride round Gloria Gaynor's 'I will survive' was our tune of choice, it had to be done.  We rode the coaster in style!!

We got to experience a real Twister, there were flying cows and the roof almost came off...it was like we were in the movies. We got terrified by The Mummy, and almost eaten by Jaws...it's ok I live to tell the tale.
We even got to star in our own movie called 'Mutha Nature' and got to meet Christopher Walken... well his hologram which was so realistic it was scary!  We were attacked by aliens but don't worry we kicked ass, we were the MIB, well WIB...women in black.  Plus I got to rekindle my romance with Homer on the Simpson ride and again when we had some pictures together...Marge wasn't too happy.

Day one of Universal over, Aled met us to take us to Walmart to get our weekly shop, before heading back to our luscious accommodation. Another early night... or so we thought...we were in bed by 7 and watched a bit of 'the mentalist before getting really agitated. It was only 11pm and we could not sleep. Our resolution was of course to go out. We did a quick change and called a cab and told him to take us to the closest bar...and off we went. We ended up on Universal walk in an Irish bar for some cocktails and then onto karaoke. Karaoke is awesome here you sing with a live band. Its Your time to shine on that stage! 2am close...that's when we were ready for bed.  A good few hours sleep before becoming friends with Potter and co at The Land of Adventure.

High ho high ho to HogwartsVille we go...yay! Harry,Hermione and Ron were waiting for us in the castle to take us on a journey...but first we rode the Duelling dragons, the red and the blue. Both were a major let down...lucky there were no queues, I would have been pretty peed if we had waited hours to go on that.  They didn't even duel, I was gutted. We got to meet Olivander and see all the wands. I didn't qualify to get a wand...I dont think he trusted me enough. A gay guy got picked out though, he was asked if it was his first wand?I think he's had a few wands in his time...if you know what I mean.

The time had come to meet the gang. I was like a child who was taking their parent around telling the tales of Harry Potter as Liz has no clue about it...she doesn't like the potter films. She thinks if she expanded the book she wrote when she was younger on her nans typewriter, it would do just as well... Haha. Look out I'm travelling with the the next J.K.Rowling.

We walked through Hogwarts to get to the ride.  We saw the moving paintings, the sorting hat, Dumbledores office, he was there giving everyone a lesson in the dark arts. Then we met the gang who were going to take us for a ride on a broomstick. It's a simulator ride and it's awesome! Scary mind, there were huge spiders, ghosts and dragons ...but I was to busy laughing at Liz to be scared myself. She was terrified...even started to cry. Liz thinks there should be warning signs before getting on the ride. I think she's been traumatised. The picture was brilliant, I wish I'd bought it. Any hope of her watching the films vanished after that ride I think.

We finished playing with magic and moved on to see TRex and his crew at Jurrassic Park. Nothing special there really, mainly water rides. Looney Toons land was cool, there was a pretty cool log flume there. In the queue Liz told The lady in front her crotch will sag if she gets wet haha!

After a lovely phone call with Michaela we went swinging with spiderman, another simulator...I am loving them over here. Liz was watching one of the spiderman cartoons as we were waiting she turned to ask 'Why would you call a newspaper the Daily Bulge?', serious case of dyslexia there...it's the daily bugle not bulge. Ha!

We rode the green monster coaster next...The Hulk. My favourite ride so far...Loved it. Major thrill ride! Going from something awesome to watch the show Sinbad, something that made me lose the will to live. It was supposed to be a stunt show...was it hell it was just a few guys swinging on ropes...if that's a stunt then I'm a stunt girl.

Time to leave Universal behind and head back to get ready for a night out with Aled. Our walk home was eventful, it was sooooo HOT and I felt like a minder watching Liz...she was extremely hyper, she was getting back at me for dragging her around Harry Potter land.

So another night on in Universal for  us, Aled joined us for a pre drinking session, it was some very early pre drinking, 6.00pm.  We were on a mission. After lots of laughs and chats we walked to our night hotspot. Doing cartwheels and handstands on the way... Well attempting to do them...I failed miserably. We got there after a 20 minute walk only for me to realise I'd forgotten my god damn ID! So had to get a taxi back to the hotel to get it. So much for saving some cash. Got back to the strip to find Liz and Aled had told the band in stage that it was their anniversary haha... gimps! We headed back to the karaoke bar for the night. I got to sing with the band, put liz's name down but she refused to join me on stage. So I had to sing Britney alone. Not the greatest karaoke song.  Aled fell asleep on the table so he went home early, he can't handle his drink as well as us! We left not long after though.

' Wakey wakey eggs and bacey' was our wakeup call by Aled this morning.  I couldn't even lift my head off the pillow so I just raised a hand to say bye as he went shopping. We stayed in bed until 12.30...lazy I know but Aled came back to pick us up so we could go and chill at the pool for the rest of the day. The end of the night is a big blur again... I have come to the conclusion that Tequila does this to me. Tequila is BAD!! Everytime I've had it I suffer with memory loss. Damn drink!

A day of chilling was definitely needed...a good swim, some hot tub time and an XL pizza to make me feel better. It was a gooooooood day! We were ready to hit the theme parks again. Epcot was first on the list, so an early night was on the cards...yes an early night, no more random outings.  We were in bed with Dinner with Shmucks on TV...epic movie before sleep.

6am wake up call from Lady Gaga...her song 'you and I' has become our day song. Love it! It got us ready for our day at Epcot! We did the countdown for it to open and we were in. Mickey and his crew were all there to greet us. He kissed our hands like a gentleman! After a brief encounter with them, we followed them in for some one on one time...to get our snaps! We were loving it.

Soaring was our first ride of the day...it's pretty cool, another simulator ride...the next ride was NOT so cool. A boat ride telling us how the earth began...definitely lost 20 minutes of my life on that.

Went to visit Nemo and Dori next and had some chat with Crush the turtle which was cool. We were waiting for the show to start, so I looked at the map to plan where to go next when this Mingin nerdy girl called Aimie shouts over the microphone to me 'you found where you are yet? Just so you know you're in Orlando, Florida...In Epcot to be specific..' absolute numpty! She thought she was being funny! I on the other hand did not find it the least bit funny. What a douchebag! I felt like I couldn't look at the map again the rest of the day...haha! I should apparently know exactly where I am.  She was one of many douchebags throughout the day...one thought she was Mary Poppins, she lived in a world of song... She sang every line that came out of her mouth... Such a gimp. If you want to see a freak show head over to Epcot, you'll see plenty!

After being told off we walked outside to see the world showcase around the lake. As we passed the Nemo sculptures a mother asked her child 'Do u want a picture little bear?' he then replied,  'Hey mom can u give me a new nickname...like Bob or something!' it was genius! He was adorable.

Canada, Japan, Germany to the Good ol' Uk, slightly better weather in this version of the United kingdom.  It was pretty cool, they had pubs, fish and chip shops but best of all British chocolate.  OMG, the excitement was overwhelming. 6 weeks without a Galaxy or dairy milk is torture. They had both types of chocolate, so...I bought both!
They came to $7 dollars but just one bite was worth the cash.  I would have paid more if I had to. Best $7 I'd spent since being away. I was a happy bunny!

Watched a few Gospel choirs before seeing Jasmine and Aladdin in Morocco. She asked us to pass a message onto Belle for her. That's a bit lazy don't you think? Belle was not far down the road, back in France. She could have delivered the message herself, lazy b*****!

We stopped at Norway for another boat ride...we were slightly weary of this as the last one was a disaster...there was no queue so we chanced it. Let's just say it's the first and last time I'll b visiting Norway after that.

Headed back over to the rides next, we became crash test dummies for the ride and did lots of car tests. This was fun, as was Space mission.  I was navigator and Liz was pilot. I did not feel safe knowing she would be landing. The ride was awesome though...Gforce was intense. It actually felt like we were in a rocket.
We completed our mission and landed on mars with no harm. The pilot did well...with help from the navigator of course.

We were done by 4pm so wanted to head back early, as our shuttle didn't  pick us up until 6pm.  We only went and got on the wrong bus which took us the other side of Disney, further away from our hotel to then bring us back to Epcot. By the time we got back, our shuttle was due...absolute idiots. We should have just waited...instead we took a major detour to get back to where we first started. I don't know how we manage to get around at all on our own. Haha.

I'm exhausted now, its been a long day...I'm full up from our dinner and ready for bed...hoping there's a good film on...aha Miss Congeniality! Perfect!

We are off to The Magical Kingdom tomorrow. We are going to need our beauty sleep tonight so we are fresh and ready to be princesses for the day! Sooooo excited!

Night my fellow princes and princesses, will keep you all updated in a few days.

Love love
J.L xxxx