Another beautiful day greeted us as Karen and I were both up early to do a quick food run to Publix — partly to make the most of the morning, but mainly because the football kicked off at 10 a.m. our time.
The Radio Norfolk commentary stream worked perfectly as we all sat out by the pool. I was also watching the match on silent, although the video stream lagged about five minutes behind the audio. For a brief, hopeful spell we thought Norwich might have turned a corner — before they had their usual collapse and maintained their 100% record of losing every home game this season. We listened to Canary Call and joined in with the angry callers.
Then the news broke that the manager had lost his job. We didn’t cheer — he’s a local lad and a genuine fan — but he was clearly out of his depth and had been handed a dodgy hand by the Sporting Director, who should be following him out the door.
After all that excitement, we got ready to leave the villa at 3 p.m. and drove the short distance to Longhorn Steakhouse for a late lunch/early dinner. We all went for steak — good, but not spectacular.
Then it was time for our only Disney park visit of the trip: the first Jollywood Nights of the season. True to form, we were parked at the furthest possible spot on our row, and it was a long trek to the entrance. Even though we were 40 minutes early, there was already a long queue. Fortunately, our section of the line was by a low wall, so we could all sit and wait in relative comfort.
As ever with Disney, the gates opened early, and by 5:20 p.m. we were inside, wristbands on, officially allowed to stay after the “common” people were ushered out at 7 p.m. We were handed festive tubes of M&Ms as we entered.
Our first stop — naturally — was Starbucks. Neil correctly predicted that every ride queue would be enormous as day guests overlapped with night-ticket holders. We sat outside, people-watching, marvelling that probably two-thirds of the crowd were decked out in Christmas outfits or sequins. There were far more sequins than at ABBA Voyage — and it felt like we’d missed the email. Loads of men wore bright red sequin jackets, which I assume were bought specifically for this event, as I can’t imagine where else they’d wear them.
Our first show of the night was Fantasmic!, which we hadn’t seen for years. It’s been updated since then and was even better than I remembered.
Neil was keen to go to the Twilight Soirée, held behind the Tower of Terror. We sat listening to the live band and watching the crowd dance. A Disney vlogger was filming right next to me — apparently famous, as several people came up excitedly to take selfies with her.
We walked round to the front of the Tower and went straight onto the ride. It was as thrilling as ever, with a few extra ups and downs courtesy of the random program.
Then it was straight onto Aerosmith’s Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster — our last chance to ride it before it’s converted into a Muppets-themed version. Fast, furious, and fun as always, and we loved every second.
We made a quick march to catch the next showing of What’s This?, the Jack Skellington Christmas singalong. It was very good and impressively put together.
Since Star Tours was nearby, we rode that too — another walk-on. Apparently, Neil had seen our particular sequence before, but I still enjoyed the moment a 3D frog appeared to land on the head of the person in front of me.
We then headed into Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge for Rise of the Resistance, showing a 20-minute wait. In reality, that’s just how long it takes to walk the length of the queue especially when someone in front of us was trying manoeuvre a mobility sooter around the twists and turns.
I’ve only managed to ride it once before and didn’t fully grasp the story. This time, I was enjoying being immersed in it — until Karen managed to break the entire attraction.
Somehow, she didn’t fasten her seatbelt properly, and it came out without her noticing. For whatever reason, she has a gift for seatbelt mishaps on rides, as the boys will confirm. The software automatically shut down the system, and the entire ride had to be reset. We sat there for a while as various managers came to investigate. Once they realised it wasn’t deliberate sabotage, they were friendly and professional. Eventually, we were escorted out, down a dark corridor, and placed into a new set of vehicles where the ride resumed.
By the time we emerged, the wait time had doubled to 40 minutes — all because someone didn’t fasten her seatbelt correctly.
Next up was Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM!, the fireworks show we’ve seen a few times before — still as good as ever.
By this point my back was giving me real trouble. I wasn’t sure whether it was the rucksack, the walking, or simply the late hour (it was now 10:30 p.m.), but I was in pain and struggling to stand.
We rode Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway — another walk-on — and the gentle sitting motion helped my back a little.
After that, I decided to rest, so I returned to Starbucks while Karen and Neil headed to Toy Story Mania. I was annoyed to miss out, but common sense prevailed. A hot tea helped, and Karen joined me later while Neil squeezed in one more go on Slinky Dog Dash, followed by a final ride on Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster.
Near midnight, we browsed some of the Jollywood merchandise — shaking our heads at the prices — and then made our way out. A tram was waiting, so we hopped straight on and were soon back at the car.
The drive home was smooth, and once at the villa, we all went straight to bed — exhausted but happy after another magical day.
