Christmas 2010 in Woodbridge,VA, the best Christmas ever…..

 

Christmas Eve,

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Christmas Day,

Album with pictures from Christmas Day

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Williamsburg, VA 27th,28th and 29th December

An album  of pictures from the last couple of days down in Williamsburg, VA

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Christmas lights….

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This is in someones garden!!

Part 2…….(26th Dec now updated with surprise pictures)

So i finally arrive in Washington DC ate 2:30! I walk towards immigration with thoughts of getting in and out of Ottawa a few weeks ago in my head. I’m the first inline and head through, “what’s the purpose of your visit” asks the stern Immigration guy “just to see friends for the holidays” i replied. As i replied i could see he had already picked up the rubber stamp and proceeded to strike it down onto a blank page in my passport!! he hands it me back and wishes me happy Holidays! WOW easiest entry into the USA ever!

And now the moment of truth! I head to carousel number 6 to wait for my luggage, after waiting 5 minutes i hear my name along with 3 others on the loudspeaker. I report to the desk as asked and my suspicions are confirmed, my bag is still in Paris! The only negative about this was my GPS was in my case and i didn't know where i was going, soon sorted that out though. My bags are apparently being delivered to me tonight or tomorrow however i don't think they were aware that an hour  after me flying out of Paris they closed the airport! We’ll see when they turn up but in the meantime I've bought  some new “essentials” from the Target down the street!!

So i get the shuttle bus out to the Alamo car rental, pick up the rental car and head over to the Gaylord Hotel just across the street from where Mark and the family are seeing the ice sculptures. I text mark and he replies saying they are  out of the exhibition and in the sports bar having a drink and some food just down the escalator in the hotel where i am, he also says they are  at a table under the big screen in the bar.

I head on down the escalator and peep through the door, i saw them all sat at the table and pulled my head back from the door. I then just decide to sneak in and take my chance. As luck would have it mark knew i was coming and saw me walking in and distracted Kami and Kim asking them to look his way so he could take their picture. I walked faster up behind them and it was at this point that i saw Beth noticed me and i read her lips as she said “oh my gosh there's Simon” As i got up behind the girls i put my arms around them and said “ can one of you two order me a long island iced tea” they both turned around and were totally shocked at what they saw! ME!! Kim burst into tears within seconds and i don't think Kami still realised it was real and that i was actually stood in front of her! Brent was pretty shocked too and Beth just looked at me and said “ what are you doing here” i told her id come over to taste some of the cookies which she had made. This was a real payback for them surprising me in Omaha and i really got them good! I sat down and ordered a Long Island iced tea which was well deserved after the travelling id been through. Marks mom Beverly is staying with them for Christmas too and id met her in Denver a few years ago, such a lovely lady and its so nice that she was here to see the whole surprise

I tried to get a couple of pics while Kim and Kami had the surprised look on their faces and i think Mark took either some pics or video which I'll get off him and put up here when i can.

Mark saw me come in and was distracting the girls as i approached, they hadn't seen me at this point.

Kim was in tears and Kami couldn't believe id just surprised her!

Me checking Kami was ok after seeing her being in shock! (Kim and Brent looking on)

What was going to be a pretty bleak and non eventful Christmas for me has already turned into one of the best i can remember and I've only been here 6 hours!!

Merry Christmas everyone and i hope you all have a fantastic festive season with the people you love and care about, i know i am!

Beth by the Gunzinger tree!         Me by the tree in the hotel           Kami, Brent, Kim, Beverly and Mark

   

Si

P.S. Oh and i tried eggnog for the first time tonight and i love it!!

Christmas, its about giving….. and SURPRISES!!!

So when i left the USA i was up to 88 on my 90 day VISA so there was no way i could stay in the USA any longer otherwise the men in long black coats with sunglasses would come looking for me! So i HAD to go back to the UK. I was led to believe that one had to be back in the UK for no less than 30 days before being able to enter the USA again, however this later turned out to not be true and worked to my advantage!

Id had countless offers of places to stay, visit and be for Christmas and just want to say thanks to everyone for those.One of those offers was from Mark (Gunzinger) Kami, Beth and Kim also wished i could spend Christmas at the Gunzinger house in Virginia however it wasn't to be.

The prospect of going back to an empty house and spending Christmas alone was not one i was looking forward to at all. However i didn't see any other option, that is until i found out i did NOT have to be in the UK for 30 days before i could re enter the USA! As long as i had a valid return ticket and had not outstayed my welcome on a previous VISA i was able to re enter whenever i want.

My dad is going to Spain for two weeks over Christmas and New Year so i couldn't drive up there and stay with him (Sorry Kami i know i told you i was going to my dads for Christmas but i hope you’ll forgive the little white lies i told you!) and having moved down to the south of England  18 months ago i knew no one around where i live apart from the next door neighbour and didn't really want to spend Christmas day with an old camp transvestite!

On the Monday morning i looked up the price of flights to Washington DC, WOW cheap, VERY cheap indeed. I e mailed Mark and asked him if the offer of Christmas dinner was still open. “Sure” he replied “ we would love to see you for Christmas” he said i e mailed back and said “great but, Kami, Kim, Beth and Beverly (Marks mom whom id met a few years earlier) could not know a thing about it as this was payback for surprising me in Omaha! Mark was into it and i started to look round for flights. On the previous Saturday Heathrow and the south of England had been hit by terrible snow and ice and Heathrow was closed on the Sunday and Monday with no flights coming in and out for two days! I live 6 miles from Heathrow and that would have been an ideal place to fly out of however there was no way i wanted to risk booking something and then it not leaving!

Manchester airport in the north of England is about 20 miles from where i used to live in Huddersfield, they are used to snow and as it happens there wasn't as much snow “up north” as there had been “down south” , the airport had no problems at all and had been running as normal the last few days I looked at flights from Manchester as it was worth the 4 hour drive north to make sure i would get to Washington before 3:30 (there was a reason for this!) it worked out if i left Manchester at 6am, flew to Paris and then got a flight to Washington DC at 10:30am i would be in DC for 1pm! perfect! i checked the weather in Paris and it was showing sun, sun sun, (but cold) for the rest of the week ( this was Tuesday when i actually booked the flight)

Christmas Eve, Friday, 3:45am

Its now Christmas Eve and I'm sat in the departure lounge waiting for the flight to Paris which is at the moment showing on time! Its been just my luck that the last 2 days the flight has been delayed a couple of hours, but that couple of hours means i would have missed my connection in Paris so I'm sat here praying that today's flight leaves on time! I drove up to Manchester very late last night to find out the two flights into Paris last night had been cancelled due to snow on the runway!!

So, Mark and the family are all going to see some huge Ice sculptures at 3:30pm today just outside DC, the y have a timed ticket to enter the  display and Mark picked me one up as well. If all goes to plan then i should arrive in DC at 1pm,  clear security, customs, pick up a rental car and drive over to the  North Harbour area where they are seeing the display! So hopefully I'll be there before they get there to surprise them all!! I cant wait to see the looks on their faces as I've spoke to Kami a couple of times over the last week just to say hi and to congratulate her on her masters degree and i asked what she was doing Christmas eve and she was telling me about the ice display they were going to see, little did she know i knew already, hehe sorry Kami. (remember me telling you Christmas is nice as its about surprises as well as giving?)

Update 5:00am

The flights still on time while I'm adding this sentence, hopefully the nesx sentence will be written while I'm in Paris! If i get there late and am unable to get to the ice display then I'm gonna drive over to the house and knock on the door, anyone know where i can borrow a Santa outfit with a  huge beard as a disguise:) lol I've thought of lots of ways of surprising them but even if i just walk through the door i think its gonna surprise them all in a big way!! i warned you id get you back for Omaha!! Don't mess with the best!!

 

Update 6:00am

They've just started to board the flight!! looks like all is well, unless were held on the runway!

De icing the plane getting it ready!              Boarding on a cold wintery morning

 

Update 7:00am

I spoke to soon, we were due to leave at 6:15am, been sat here on the plane for 30 minutes and they've just announced we missed our flight slot and have been given another but not until 8:00am!

Update: 8:00am

We were given a new slot of 7:45am and are in the air!! taking into account the 1 hour flight time and the one hour ahead time difference we should arrive in Paris at 9:45  and hopefully in time for the 10:30 flight to Washington!

Update 10:40am

So we arrived in Paris at 9:35, took us a good ten minutes to taxi to a place where we had to get off the plane onto a shuttle bus, this then took us a good 5 to 10 minutes to the terminal.

In the UK my UK mobile phone shows the houses of parliament as the background image automatically, it changes to a national landmark in every country this is the image as i turned it on the runway after arriving in Paris.(see the time, 9:36 but Paris is one hour ahead of the UK, i took this as i was putting my laptop back in my bag and putting my belt back on.

The Arc de Triumph           The conditions at Charles De Gaulle airport

     

I ran inside like a madman and looked at the TV screens for the Washington flight, i couldn't see it, ARRGGGHHH!!,  then turned to my left and saw another bank of screens on the adjacent wall. “Washington Dulles, AF028  10:30 Gate E73  ON TIME” i looked at my watch it was 10:05am i looked up to the signs that said Gates 56 to 79 and ran like crazy up the stairs, got to the top only to find i had to take a train!! and one had just this second left! I saw a sign on the doors that said  “trains every 2 minutes” you have no idea how long that 2 minutes felt, i seemed like i could have flown to Washington and back by the time that train pulled up!

I  jumped on the train and looked at my watch at least 3 or 4 times, I was already checked in and had my boarding pass, they had checked me and my baggage right through to Washington ifrom Manchester so surely Air France would know i had arrived and was on my way ? The guy sat next to me on the train was flying to Cincinnati and his flight was the same time too but he had 4 less gates to run that  did!  As i got off the train i followed the signs for gate 73 only to find SECUIRTY!!  i had to go through security again even though i was airside and had cleared it in Manchester. Fortunately there were only 3 or 4 people in front of me, i removed my shoes, my watch my belt everything that i thought would make the metal detector go off! i threw it all in the tray and handed the assistant my boarding pass.

You know when you go to a gig and they scan your ticket and you see the check mark come up on the machine and you hear a positive beep, i didn't i, saw a cross and heard a buzz!!  I looked at my watch, 10:21am!! She looked at the boarding pass for what seemed like ten minutes, she looked at my passport then back to my boarding pass, pulled a confused look on her face and handed them back to me, once at the other side i threw on my jacket, slipped on my shoes, grabbed everything  i could and Ran Like Hell towards the big Gate 73 sign! The gates started at 56 and i ran like crazy as they counted up, 58, 59, 60, i even ran on the moving walkways thinking they were moving so would speed me up a few seconds rather than running on the motionless floor!

I've never been so happy to see an airport gate in my life! and one with about 25 people still lined up and boarding my flight! I sat for a minute (hey i haven't been running for the last 6 weeks!!) put my laptop and camera in my bag, tied the laces on my shoes, put my belt back in the loops on my jeans, put my watch back on and made my way to the desk. The assistant scanned my boarding pass again and this time the words “Invalid Document” came up!! He tried it again, same thing. He looked into his computer and pulled up my info, there was a bit of info missing like date of birth, expiry date of passport and a couple of other things, he filled them in scanned my passport and that was it, or so i though! it then popped up in HUGE red letters on the screen “NO ESTA” In the UK when anyone travels to the USA they now have to fill in an online electronic travel document called an “ESTA” this has to be done or you cant travel and from the beginning of last month it now costs us $14 to do this! I did this two days ago and had made a  note or the ESTA number that it gives you, i gave the guy the number and it wouldn't accept it in the Computer! By this time i was the last one left at the desk and everyone else had boarded the flight through the other desks. He was confused and  had no idea what was wrong and called his colleague over, she looked at the screen and saw instantly that when he had scanned in my passport, next to my name wasn't a number but a line of jumbled characters! she scanned in my passport again and up popped my passport number,  a big green check and a beep that I've never thought sounded so good came up on the screen!

I walked down the catwalk to the plane before the guy in the green security jacked started to close the doors behind me! That's it I'm on my way!!

Looking back after going through to the plane   My plane

 

I took my seat and the captain came over the speaker to say we’d be moving back in 40 minutes, he said there was only one runway open and 45 planes in front of us to take off first! it didn't take a mathematician to figure out that we may be moving back in 40 minutes but there was no way we would be up in the air in that time!

Update 12:30pm

Its now 12:30pm as I'm sat on the flight to Washington and finally in the air!! we did start to move back after about 30 minutes as he said, but we then sat on the runway for another 90 minutes waiting for countless flights ahead of us to take off!

I have no idea if my bag has made it to the plane, I'm guessing it has but to be honest i don't care, i have!! and i can buy some new clothes  when i arrive if it hasn't!  I'm gonna have to see what time we arrive, how long immigration and customs takes and how long it takes to pick up my rental car before i decide the best way to spring my surprise!!

To be continued…………..

No, Thank YOU!!!

 

Although the USA leg of this tour is over this blog is not by any means over just yet i still have a few posts to write up and some random things to say before i fire it up again when i see some European shows next year! i do however want to say the following as I've just got home to the UK again yesterday.

Early on last year when i started planning this trip i had no idea how much fun it was going to be, I've done several full tours in the past, 8 weeks in Europe in 2002, the whole USA and Europe tours in 2006 and 2007 and the US and Europe  dates in 2008, plus various other one off shows here and there. Its only because of my blog that people are aware of my travels this time round and even though I've done it in the past this trip has been the most exciting and memorable trip I've ever taken.

Its also been a very emotional trip for me, not only because of the shows and the friends I've seen and left but also because during this trip for various reasons my girlfriend and i of 2 1/2 years separated. This was someone whom i changed my whole life for, sold my house, left my job, left my friends and moved nearly 300 miles away for. Things just didn't work out for a few reasons but it wasn't for the lack of trying. Honestly, i feel a lot happier than i did now and i look back and wonder why i didn't see things earlier and listen to other people, but hindsight is a great thing. With thanks to a couple  of people (one in particular) whom I've been with during the last 13 weeks i was able to handle the emotions well without thinking about it too much and without it spoiling my trip so much as to not enjoy it. I just wanted to thank those people, you know who you are and its nice to have friends like you.

I've met so many old friends and made so many new friends on this trip that it really is impossible to thank everyone by name so i just wanted to say a HUGE Thank You to the people that made this trip such a great experience for me.

One person i do want to thank by name is Kamilla, known to a few as Kami. I had such a good time and we created so many new memories that the whole trip would not have been the same without you, so THANK YOU!

I have thought and may even make this blog into a book! I've had a few people suggest this and it is something i would like to see happen. What i would also like if possible is that as many of you that have been reading this blog leave a comment on this entry so i can put them all in the book if it ever gets done. I know when i first started there were a lot of people who commented on the posts and this fell off as the tour went on, i know a lot of people just “lurk” and don't like to comment and i understand that perfectly but if you could take a couple of minutes to comment on it it would be greatly appreciated and you would all be part of history:)

THANK YOU!!!

The Gunzingers (Mark, Beth, Kami, Kim and Brent)….

 

Remember how i said in an earlier blog that we all try to describe the show after we've seen it for the first time and there's just not enough superlatives to say what we feel ? Well imagine coming up with all those and more and your not even close to describing the above family and how much love i have for them all!

I cant believe its been nearly 10 years since we met for the first time and even more years than that since Mark and i started e mailing and chatting! Mark, Beth and Kim flew over to Dublin for the shows in 2002 and we had such a good time together, we all hit it off from the word go. Mark and Beth have always been the perfect hosts, offering me a place to stay and even offering me a car to drive while I'm staying there! I usually stay at Mark and Beth's whenever I'm in the area and I've stayed there at least 4 or 5 times over the last few years.

The first time i got to actually meet Kami was in New York in 2006 when Sony flew me over to help organise the Ca Ira press show they did for Roger, up until  then Kami and I chatted on AOL chat and e mail. We get on great and both Kim and Kami are like sisters to me. I've met Kim’s friends and Kami’s friends, Mark and Beth's friends and even Mark and Beth's parents!!

I just wanted to say how great it is to have you all as friends and how much you all mean to me, your like my surrogate family and its such a shame i am unable to stay out there for Christmas and had to fly back, i couldn't think of any other place i would have rather spent Christmas this year. I’ll definitely be taking you up on the offer of thanksgiving next year and cant wait to see you all in Milan in 2011!!

Thanks again Beth, Mark, Kami, Kim and Brent. Have a fantastic Christmas and the happiest of New Years.

 

And then it was over (last US show in Anaheim)...

We arrived at the bar around 5:30 after the 20 minute drive from Disney. Eric was already at the bar and had secured a table outside on the patio. Robert was there whom we had met in Chicago and a couple of other places and Julie and her friend were there whom we’d seen in LA a couple of weeks ago. Kurt and his dad Gerry arrived and Chris and his wife arrived soon after as did Dan and Tony and Michael Simone.

Robert and and his front row ticket!!   Robert, Ed  and Eric                  All of us at the pre show meet up

    

Eric and Ed had done a few deals and secured a front row ticket for Robert, and presented it with him at the meet up he was totally speechless and really didn't know what to say! It was the last show of the US tour tonight and Robert had flown down from Chicago just for this show. I was tearing up just talking to people about it being the last show and knew it was going to be a hard show to see and to not get upset about, I had been on the road for thirteen weeks, seen 52 shows and met some of the most amazing people ever, it was not going to be easy at all.

It was great to see Dan again, we had met for the first time in LA after having been in touch for several years, he is the manager of Which Ones Pink, the LA based tribute band, i really gotta make it out there sometime and see these guys perform!

Chris, Dan and I                                        Dan and I

Kami went to the bathroom to change and put her makeup on and a friend of my friend Eddie in San Francisco spotted me and came over, he took me over to meet his whole family and friends and introduced me to his daughter who would be coming over to Europe next May to see some of the shows.We exchanged details and i told her to keep in touch for next year and we would meet up while she was in London.

Tony, myself and Kami headed over to the venue around seven o clock. As we left the bar Tony gave me a HUGE bag of cherry jelly beans that he had bought just for me knowing my love for them! Kami ended up having to arry them around in her handbag all night and i thank you for that and also thank Tony for going out of his way and thinking about me!! cheers!

Tony was 5th row on the right side, Robert was front row centre, Julie and her friend were 3rd row centre, Chris and his wife were 15th row on the left and Kami and I were around thirteen row centre on the aisle  so we were all around each other and knew where everyone was and kept in touch and saw each other on the floor.

John Joyce was talking to Julee and saw Kami and i and came over to shake our hands as it would be the last time we would see each other till Europe. Pat Lennon did the same and came over for a chat and Marky saw me and asked if I'd seen Kip, i ad and i pointed him in the right direction,lol Robbie and his wife Victoria came running up to Kami and i to say goodbye, Kami and I got real friendly with Victoria while seeing the shows and all three of us looked forward to seeing each other each night and usually ended up sitting around each other at the gig.

Victoria and Kami                                      Jon, Myself and Kami (thanks Chris!)

 

I had made my mind up not to take any pictures at tonight's show till maybe the last few minutes, i wanted to enjoy the show being the last one and not watch it through a 2inch LCD screen!

We took our seats which were right in front of Victoria and Kami went to sit next to her for the first couple of tracks till he friend arrived. I was totally immersed in the first half of the show, i didn't look around at the crowd, didn't watch other people i just focused on the show and cried my eyes out during In The Flesh (yes Kami that why i didn't turn round when you were sat next to Victoria! and you tapped me on the shoulder! lol)

Roger made reference to it being the last show in the US and said it had been a fantastic tour and thanked everyone that had helped make it possible.

At intermission Kami and i went backstage as i wanted to thank everyone personally whom we’d met and who had helped make this trip what it was. It was great to shake all the Lennon brothers hands and say “thanks you” and also Jon Joyce. Was great to see Dave K and thank him for everything he has done for us on the tour.  He’s been fantastic with us and always made time if we called him before the shows and wanted any help or had friends wanting pictures with him etc etc
The Lennon brothers and Jon Joyce have all been amazing on this tour and i cannot thank them enough for not only their performances but they newly aquired friendship.

Jon Carin came out but was busy talking to his friend Cory Feldman who’s album he had produced a year or so ago. I hadn't seen Jon much on this tour at all and wanted to say hi, i shook his hand and said cheers Jon, at first he didn't see me and then when he did he stopped and was so happy to see it was me, he was rushing to get back onstage and told me to speak to Cory and call him after the show as Cory had his number. I had lost Jon’s number in my old cell phone but i didn't want to bother him to be honest, id said hi and thanks and that's all that really mattered to me. I know most if not all the band have been reading my blog and have been enjoying it immensely so again i wanted to public thank you all for everything. Thank You!

Me backstage with Tony Hawkes'!                Hospitality backstage

 

The second picture above had a guy in it with white hair, i had seen him on the floor and knew his face from somewhere but couldn't place him, he looked a bit like Andy Warhol but it wasn't,lol After the show we saw him again and  he introduced himself and Michael (I've forgotten his last name)  he was a film director and had worked with Roger for over thirty years and directed some Dark Side footage a long time ago! He was staggered when Kami told him i had seen 52 shows and was such a nice guy and very talkative, he said he was going to make sure Roger was aware of my adventure, i let him know that he already knew and that its not the first time I've done a tour.

Kami and i decided to stand in the aisle stage right for the second half of the show and stood right behind Julie and her friend for the whole second half. I love being this close and it was the only place to be for the last show of the tour.

I took a few videos of a couple of things as below.

The new audio riff during Run Like Hell

Roger using the machine gun and now shouting at the audience.

Roger doing the wanking motion during Waiting For The Worms

4. The final US wall fall!

5. Rogers last speech US speech after Outside The Wall.

It was sad to watch the second half knowing that tomorrow afternoon id be on a flight back home to the UK, however i was also happy that if i didn't go back i wouldn't be able to do it all again in Europe next year!! I managed to hold back the tears at the end but only due to being with Kami i think,  i hate crying in front of girls,lol

After the show we met up with Tony, Chris and the others at the bar to say our goodbyes.

Post show at the bar.

Disneyland…..

We decided yesterday that we would do Disneyland today. Its been about ten or twelve years since i did the parks here in California so we were up, showered and on the road by 8:30am!

Took us about 45 minutes to get there, we parked up in the Toy Story parking lot and each bought a single day park hopper ticket that allowed us to got to both Disney parks and go backwards and forward to each one at our leisure. We then took the shuttle bus from the parking lot to the parks, Kami kindly pointed out the sign on the shuttle bus reminding me that if it was full at least i would be assured a seat!

 

It was 9:30 when we arrived and the parks didn't open till 10 so we had a wander round, took a few pictures and then bought a huge chocolate chip cookie for breakfast before lining up at the entrance.

Just for you Jens!            Kami with Goofy!!                                      Tower of Terror in the distance

   

As Kami has a few metal rods and screws in her back she’s unable to go on any ride that comes to a sudden stop vertically or puts pressure on her spine in a downwards action. She did however go on the Tower of Terror with me which I've been on in the Disney in California and is one of the best rides in the park. As the gates opened we made our way straight there and were in the first group of twelve to go on the ride.

Waiting at the entrance                              Kami excited waiting for Tower of Terror!

 

As soon as it was over and we exited we walked round to the entrance again and went on for a second time straight away with nothing more than a 1 minute wait!!

Me all excited!      Tower of terror                            Waiting inside                          Our ride!!

I'm not gonna tell everyone what happens  but suffice to say its a great ride and scares the pants off you if you've never been on it before! well even if you have been on it it still takes a lot of beating by other thrill rides.

Next we made our way over to the various other rides including the rollercoaster they have that fires you off  horizontally before doing a few turns and a couple of loops. We then went on the big wheel that's a bit different from normal ones as some of the carriages actually turn and move around, the video below shows what i mean.

Rollercoaster                                             Big wheel

 

I've never been on one like this and me having that chocolate chip cookie before going on this was NOT a good idea. I've been on hundreds of rides in the past and this was the only one that I've ever felt a bit odd on! there were sick bags in the actual carriages and i swear i was like an inch away from picking one up and filling it!!

     

After the big wheel Kami wanted to go on the chairs that fly around on the end of chains. I was seriously feeling sick at this point and would have gone on with her had i not being felling like this but i left her to go on alone and i stood and took pictures.

We then went on the water ride. We put our belongings in the free lockers before lining up to get in the big round tyre type carriages and set off down the rapids. it was too bad but we sat in with 2 young kids who had been  on the ride for the last two rides and were staying on for a third time. They knew all the places we were gonna get wet and we stupidly all sat at the same side  hence all the weight being at one side and the water coming over the edge a lot where we were all sat. Kami and i got off totally drenched! it was great fun though and only took an hour or so t try off in the sunshine! well it did for me in my shorts, i think Kami’s jeans took all day to dry out! her having to walk round the park all day looking like she had pee’d herself!

The water ride                                                                        Me drenched                            Kami drenched

      

We had covered most of the rides in this park and decided to walk over to the other park, we also said that we would be best going on the other water ride first and being wet all at once and drying out rather than drying out and then getting wet again! no idea what happened about this as we totally did it the wagon way and went on all the dry rides before then going on the wet one only to get all wet through again!

We went on a boat ride that took you through the Amazon jungle and was full of plastic animals and a guide driving the boat with a gun to shoot any wild animals that tried to take out the boat!

We were both pretty hungry and headed over to the New Orleans area to get some food at the Blue Bayou restaurant, one of the only table service and nicer restaurants in the park. The food was excellent, we both had the Gumbo soup and i had the Jambalaya and Kami had the Monte Cristo sandwich, a sandwich of turkey, bacon and cheese wrapped in bread then deep fried and sprinkled with sugar!! it sounds gross but tasted delicious! The restaurants really nice and if you go one of the boat rides the boat actually goes through the middle of the restaurant!

New Orleans in Disney!

Our food

 

After eating we decided to walk round the park and not go on any rides for a while till lunch had settled, we went through the Haunted Mansion and then walked over to space Mountain but via the other water ride, splash mountain.

I was sat in the seat in front of Kami in the log type carriage and never even thought what would happen when he water splashed up. I would get the whole tidal wave of water while Kami being a lot smaller than me would get hardly anything over her!

Warning!                        Before                                                     And After!!!

    

Water log ride

We made our way over to Space Mountain, did that ride, then came out and waited inline for the bob sleigh ride, however the ride had broken down and after waiting 15 minutes we exited the line and went on the Buzz Lightyear ride. We then made our way back over the the bobsleigh, went on that as it was now up and running again and then headed over and went on the Snow White ride. The bobsleigh ride was pretty rough, it threw us both from one side to the other and we both got off feeling like we’d been in a car wreck!

Main Street at night             Cinderella's Castle                                                         Square trees!

       

By the time we made our way back to the main entrance it was after 5pm and we headed out on the shuttle to the parking lot to pick up the car and drive over to the bar by the venue for the pre show meet up. We had both brought a change of clothes knowing that we wouldn't be going back to the hotel before the show and also knowing we may have got a little wet on the rides!! It was a long day but we both had a fantastic time and I’ve got some great memories from the day.

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