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It was a ridiculous nights sleep, or lack thereof last night. After being up just over 20 hours you’d of thought we’d be tired. I guess we were, we slept for eight hours but we were both awake at 4am. We tried to get back to sleep but failed, deciding to get up at 6am as opposed to the 8am we had planned. Fortunately, it all seemed to work out ok and we’re about to go to bed at 9pm, hoping we’ll have a better night tonight.

First thing was to get breakfast, off to IHOP although once again I made a wrong turn and we ended up going all the way up to Sea World before turning around on ourselves and back towards the hotel. When we made it to IHOP Debora had bananas foster and I had strawberry and banana French toast, tasty start to the day. Then we tried to get to SeaWorld, again I made a wrong turn and we went on a little drive but eventually found our way there.

I supposed I should mention that it was chucking it down with rain. This was odd. We had expected thunderstorms but I had read that rain in Orlando doesn’t last longer than 45 minutes. This rain lasted three hours. Luckily, we bought a poncho at Walgreens earlier so weren’t getting drenched.

The day started by going to see the penguins, it was so cold in there and the ride portion wasn’t working because everyone was wet so going into a cold ride would only freeze everyone. It was only a brief stop in because it was, in fact, freezing in there. Then we did all the shows, Blue Horizon, Sea Lion High, Shamu and Pets Ahoy and by this time the rain had eased and the sun was peeping through the clouds.

Up the Sky Tower to get a great view of Orlando, we could even spot our rental car – which Debora has named Cici – in the car park from up there. Debora was talked to about her shoes and then we were asked if there were any words we use in England that you don’t hear in America…we couldn’t think of any so I panicked and said “crikey”.

Already been caught in rain we thought we’d continue getting wet by going on Journey to Atlantis. Last year each time we queued for this, it was stopped. This time we went straight on and got a little wet on the arms but thanks to our ponchos, our bodies were dry. I then went on the Kraken, straight on again and by now the sun was out and shining strong.

We couldn’t believe the time, it was time to dine with Shamu. Not the best vegetarian options but plenty of pudding options and so very close to the killer whales it was great. We rode Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin which was now up and running again before going through the Shark Encounter and then headed back to the hotel. Incredibly, we made it home without making a wrong turn! Must be getting used to this driving lark.

The plan was to nip to Diagon Alley in the dark but a quick look on the Universal app pointed out the park was actually closed so instead a trip to the pool. I’ve not been in a pool since before I can remember. It’s a nice pool and lazy river if not a little cold and mucky. Another walk around Cabana Bay, did I mention it’s beautiful?

Off to Disney tomorrow so up early again. Can’t believe how quickly this holiday is flying by already!