Our last full day in Florida... time certainly flies when you're having fun. We decided to have a lazy day in the sun at Blizzard Beach before heading out for a meal and then over to Magic Kingdom to catch the Electric Parade which happens at around 11pm. 

Most of these Blizzard Beach pics were taken with my iPhone or a waterproof camera, as my Fuji was safely stowed away in a locker to allow me to spend lots of time in the water!

As you can tell from both Kitty and Henry's poses, it was an incredibly hot day... we actually reached the rare point when we could barely sit in the sun! 

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The Lazy River provided the perfect way to cool down, just sitting on a giant rubber ring and drifting along on the gentle current (unless you're Henry of course who decided to swim half of it just to be different!) DSCN3283 DSCN3284 DSCN3288 DSCN3299 DSCN3300 They serve buckets of ice-cream at Blizzard Beach... it had to be done! (all four of us shared, I hasten to add!) 20150409-IMG_1847 DSCF0427 I did like the concept of Blizzard Beach. It is all designed like a ski village complete with chair lifts to a large ski slope (water slides of various 'difficulty'!) and lots of melting icicles. Christmas music blasts out of speakers throughout the day and there are snowmen scattered around the place. It's quite odd to see and listen to as you lie on a sun-bed in temperatures of 30ºC and more! The melting icicles create puddles which are great (and necessary) for cooling your bare feet as you walk on the scorching pavements!

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After a lovely lazy day in the sun it was finally time to head off and catch the Disney bus again to the next destination... travelling between resorts was so easy with these buses. Everything in Disney is so well organised down to every last detail!

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We headed back to Downtown Disney for a lovely meal at Planet Hollywood. Couldn't resist snapping this lot who were waiting for their turn on the stage though we never actually got to see them perform! DSCF0444 Most of these are iPhone photos again so not great... but they are a record of our holiday so I'm forgetting the photo snobbery and including them here! The size of the servings in American restaurants never ceases to amaze me. This was one of the offerings on the Planet Hollywood menu... in the UK we are doing well to be offered a 10oz steak in most restaurants, 8oz being the usual!

20150409-IMG_1849 DSCF0446 A rare, grainy shot of a very dishevelled 'end of day on the beach' me... and Henry cooperating hugely for the camera as always! 20150409-IMG_1854

Planet Hollywood is a great place visually to eat in... so much to take in. It was a little bizarre having a naked man suspended in a glass case above our heads though, I must say! DSCF0448 DSCF0449 Henry's eye's lit up when he saw this pudding but needless to say, he couldn't finish it... not even with my help! 20150409-IMG_1861

Kitty (terrible photo!) went for a slightly more sensible cheesecake option, but it was still enormous! 20150409-IMG_1862

With (very) full stomachs it was time to wend our way back through Downton Disney to catch the bus back to Magic Kingdom...lots of interesting places to eat and drink around there! DSCF0453 DSCF0458

It was a bit of an effort to get back to Magic Kingdom but I was really keen to see the Electrical Parade and this was our last chance. I'm glad we did, the place looks beautiful at night and the atmosphere was fabulous! It was really late though, I don't now how some people kept their children going for so many hours, Disney is exhausting at the best of times!

DSCF0460 DSCF0463 The parade was great, so many colours and lights but so incredibly difficult to photograph! Low light, lots of movement, crowds of people... so many things making it tricky but needless to say I did my best! 

Tinkerbell got things started!

  DSCF0471 DSCF0475 Closely followed by Minnie and Mickey on their float, though they are tricky to see in these pictures! DSCF0477 DSCF0482 I had chosen our spot carefully, hoping to find somewhere where we could see the parade without hoards of people in front of us... and I liked the fact that we had a view of the stunning castle behind too! It did make the light balance a little tricky though but you can't have it all I guess! :) DSCF0489 DSCF0494 Alice in Wonderland... DSCF0496 DSCF0503 Cinderella (terrible light trails in this one but I had to include it!)... DSCF0514 Despite it being so late at night, this must be so magical for very young children! Even I loved the sparkly dresses! DSCF0517 DSCF0518 DSCF0519 The Ugly Sisters (not looking very ugly I must say!) DSCF0524 Big Ben!

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Captain Hook and Peter Pan (with the crocodile in a rowing boat behind!) DSCF0531 The Seven Dwarfs... DSCF0537 DSCF0538 DSCF0539 Pinocchio...

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...and of course some American patriotism to finish with! DSCF0560 DSCF0572 DSCF0573 DSCF0574 DSCF0576

And so, sadly, it was time to leave the Magic Kingdom and Disney World for the last time What a beautiful sight to leave on though! I loved seeing this castle, one of those images I have seen so many times since childhood, it was so great to see it in real life! I do hope I'll get a chance to go back! DSCF0577

...the bustling street as we left. What a very magical place! DSCF0583