Day Two Discovery Cove...

What we took with us in our rucksack today: 

*Mobile phone charger.

*Waterproof case for phone.

* Change of clothes.

*Discovery cove cup.

When entering Discovery cove the walk is so peaceful and care free.

Booking is a must and I would recommend to anyone to go. 

The price of the ticket weather you pay to swim with the dolphins or not, includes 14 consecutive  day tickets to Seaworld and Aquatica (you can also pay to upgrade and include Busch Gardens) with free car parking. I fyou choose to go with out discovery ticket passes it costs $18 - $20 a day.

Meet and greet with Lucy the sloth.

 Again this morning we were up super early and got to Discovery Cove for 8.15am. 

There is a buffet that is through out the day providing various foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The food is served from 8.30am - 4.30pm every day.

Not only is there a buffet restaurant there are snack area's  throughout the park which serve snacks and drinks.

First to be in the pool.

We ate breakfast and headed to the locker area's to get sun creamed up and to place the important things in the lockers. These are also free of charge. The sun cream is animal friendly and very thick to put on but works a treat. 

Once the water was tested and we were allowed into the lazy river there was no stopping us.

Bird aviaries here we come. 

Although I loved just sitting and floating and just relaxing through out the day. TJ started to get bored. ( There's only so many times a 9 year old child can go round the lazy river by himself).

After the first attempt to get TJ to come in the ray lagoon with me, where he freaked out really badly and ended up hurting my arms. We gave it a miss till he'd calmed down.

 After another trip around the lazy river it was lunch time.
Now this I've been looking forward to for months as I love their cheesecake and strawberries!

After Lunch there was lots more time to relax and venture around the whole park including a slow walk / swim over the reef. 

 Such an amazing day was had at Discovery Cove and we cannot wait to go again but until then I have so many brilliant memories that I won't be forgetting in a hurry.

Thomas cook flight to Orlando MCO

Our check in with Thomas Cook didn't quite go as smoothly as I'd liked the food for the flight, extra clothes I'd packed for my son just in case and the book took us over the weight limit for his back pack. Despite saying the food would be eaten for breakfast the check in lady was having non of it. Asking me to remove it. I found it really distressing given the fact that on the sheet in front of her it also stated we had a disabled allowance. But it made no odds. After placing a few more items in to the suitcase and carrying the food in the carrier bag it was in we were allowed to go.

I know it's their job to ensure that the weights are correct but I think what annoyed me the most was the condescending tone. 

 During the 9 hour flight, we saw a lot of sea and beaches off of the coast of England and the US.

The food was served up around 2 hours into the flight and first round of free drinks within an hour and a half. The choices of drinks were tea, coffee, water or orange juice. There was the choice off buying an alcoholic drink which wasn't too expensive.

TJ's meal was served hot with hard bread roll, butter, a dark chocolate pudding.

I was surprised when he ate all the pasta.

After eating his pasta he then ate my sausages and mash potato. These were again served hot with the additional extras. I managed to try some of the sausages and they were very nice. Highly recommend to any flyers.

The movie choice for the basic package wasn't the best as there was a choice of 2 movies. and 4 television shows. Luckily I took my tablet with a few movies and other shows I wanted to watch on.

TJ read and colored in for an hour then re-watched the same movie he'd already watched again. Guess he must've liked Rio. 

View from the plane of Kennedy space centre was spectacular. 

The staff were lovely and couldn't help out any more with TJ then they did.

We sat the last row of the plane on the left hand side and found there was plenty of leg room. So much so TJ colored on the floor beneath the seat for a little while.

The onscreen map we found brilliant as it kept us up to date with time to land and all other flight details such as speed, temperature and distance travelled.

For the price of the flight I was extremely happy and glad I saved the extra pounds for spending on various other treats over the holiday.

The Army Air Museum - Stockbridge

Tank outside the museum

The Army Air Museum is located just a stones throw away from Middlewallop Army base. 

We were lucky enough to visit the museum on the bases Family Air Day.  

This consisted of helicopter flights landing and departing throughout the day, taking army personnel and their families for a tour of the local area. The flights lasted around 20 minutes each but it was amazing to see the whirlybirds flying so gracefully.

TJ inside the nose of the helicopter 

As we were at the museum before it opened we headed on round to the cafe where we had breakfast, I should say I had breakfast as TJ ate cereal in the car as I was driving. While I ate, I sat watching TJ running around the play area like a lunatic diving from one wooden structure to another. I have to say I found this highly amusing as he was pretending the aircraft's that were coming in to land were communicating with him via the wooden watch tower.

 Once breakfast was eaten and all the helicopters had been  grounded by LT. TJ (or at least as quickly as I coulld get him in to the museum before the next one took off) We raced to the museum entrance.

Once in the staff were helpful beyond my expectations explaining the different quizzes that there were to do. ( there were 4 different quizzes) in the end we choose to go on a teddy bear hunt and to find the stars around the museum.

On our journey through the different areas we came across a area where you can education area. Within the area was a machine that shows how wind affects the flight and how it helps lift the aircraft off the ground.

TJ learning how hard it is to keep a helicopter upright and straight

 Next on the tasks list was visiting all the different aviation machines from the aeroplanes to the small one seated helicopters. 

Fascinated by the man inside the aircraft

TJ found the dressing up area 

Flight simulator last 5 minutes and costs £1.

The hanger in the photographs below had helicopters coming down from the ceilings as well as being on the ground. Displaying in this hanger must've been at least 10 different aviation vehicles.

 Not only on our ticket we paid for entry for that day but we also became members for a year with gift aid so in the next year when we want to return entry will be free each time.

 I have attached a link to the events page of the website so you can see what special days are on whilst you visit.

 https://www.armyflying.com/events/