As we are staying onsite we get early access to Harry Potter at 8am, so it's not too much of a disaster and we are soon at the gates of Universal Studios. We ride Harry Potter and then mootch around the park waiting for other things to open. Eventually Transformers opens and we are given a car to ourselves and then we hit the Mummy and again we are the only people in our car. The park is not yet busy and we manage Rip Ride Rocket (front seat) before we catch the Hogwarts express to cross the parks where we head to the 3 broomsticks for breakfast.
Last night we did go out for a meal. Our feet are dead, so we caught the bus to City Walk, it takes about 6 minutes so it's not an inconvenience, the walk is about 15 minutes. We eat at NBC Grill, the parks were quiet during the day and City Walk seems even quieter. We wait for 10 minutes and we are seated. I have a few IPA's and salmon. We study the dessert menu and decide on one apple crumble between the 2 of us, when it arrives it's big enough for 4 - and we can't finish it. By the time we are finished our meal we are knackered with a capital K so we catch the bus back to the resort and fall asleep quickly. I'm awoken during the night but the severe cold, we now have air con and I'd fallen asleep with only a light sheet covering me, clearly not enough for a good night's sleep, you simply can't win !! . Next wake up call is from a dumper truck which has arrived at the building site next door at 6.15am ( Loews are building a new hotel next door. As we are staying onsite we get early access to Harry Potter at 8am, so it's not too much of a disaster and we are soon at the gates of Universal Studios. We ride Harry Potter and then mootch around the park waiting for other things to open. Eventually Transformers opens and we are given a car to ourselves and then we hit the Mummy and again we are the only people in our car. The park is not yet busy and we manage Rip Ride Rocket (front seat) before we catch the Hogwarts express to cross the parks where we head to the 3 broomsticks for breakfast. We ride the Harry Potter ride in Islands of Adventure and then it's time to head to Disney Springs for some last minute shopping. We spend a couple of hours looking around for presents and picking up lunch at Earl of Sandwich before we hit the road back to the hotel. We take a couple of hours of relaxation in the room before hitting Universal agenda. The parks are still quiet and we ride Spiderman and have our picture taken with a real raptor before jumping onto the Hogwarts express again. We ride the Simpsons and then watch the Universal fireworks show. Although the show isn't up to Disney standards it's still worth a watch and once the show is finished we head into Bubba Gumps for more IPA beer and lots of shrimp. Once we finish the meal it's 9.30 and time for bed. We catch the bus back to the hotel and watch TV before zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
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Today we are swimming with the manatees. Last night we ended up eating at the bar and ran up quite a bill with alcohol flowing a plenty followed by a fantastic grouper dinner, although we were told the restaurant was full until after 8 , when we went to the bar for a few drinks at 7 they were empty and served the full range of food. Anyhow back to today, breakfast is included in the package, and as our swim is at 7.15am we eat at 6, a full breakfast buffet was consumed and then we got suited up for our swim. The wetsuits are a tight fit and certainly don't leave a lot to the imagination. We are soon in the water and the experience is amazing, spoilt only by the fact that my goggles keep steaming up. The manatees are all over us when we enter the water and one kindly flips off my goggles and snorkel, sounds frightening but was so funny. Julie was a little nervous beforehand but loved it !! We spend a good couple of hours in the water with the gentle giants, before we head back to the dock and then it's a quick shower and packing for the ride back to Orlando. Yet again this is another place I would love to go back to do and perhaps spend 2-3 days instead of just one. Julie does the driving to get us back to Orlando and about an hour and a half later we are pulled into the car park at Universal's Cabana Bay. The room is ready so we drag our cases up to the final stop of the holiday We decide to head straight into Universal as it's lunch time. We debate a burger in paradise from Margaritaville but the draw of some traditional British/Irish food is too much and we head to Finnegans. I have the chicken pie with proper chips, and a lovely cookies and creme milk shake. The sensible thing would then be to have a gentle afternoon to let the food and drink settle but no way. We are straight into it with a ride of Transformers which only has a 10 minute wait and ten Men in Black , ET, Rip Ride Rocket, Harry Potter Gringots and Minnions all with minimal waits. This is a surprise because the hotel rates for Universal were incredible and expected big lines but it's very quiet. For the first time ever we go into the children's are of the theme park and ride Woody Woodpecker's roller coaster, but I draw the line at Barnie !! The weather today has been fab, touching 80, and by 5.30 we are flagging and we walk back to the hotel. I type up the blog and at the moment we are undecided about going out for a meal
Been looking forward to this day since I booked it, Julie not so much !! . As usual I was up at 5.30 and Julie an hour or so later. We haven't had any breakfast items for a few days, so we just intend to skip this unimportant meal and hit the road early for the longish drive (2-3 hours) to Crystal River. We are soon packed and once again the beast fails us with it's inability to store 2 suitcases in the boot. We hand the keys to the room back and we are up and running by about 8.45. Sat nav predicts an arrival time of 11.30 for the 130 miles. First stop is for some gas, and we add $15 which fills the tank. We miss a couple of turnings on the long and painful drive but sat nav continues to keep us moving in the right direction. I do all the driving allthough on certain roads the cruise control deals with the miles with ease. We arrive at the Plantation Inn at bang on 11.30, our room isn't ready but we are offered an alternative on the 2nd floor, which we take as I am desperate for a wee. After my wee, hunger kicks in and we seat ourselves at the bar by the tiki hut where Mike the tiki guy serves me up a grouper sarnie washed down with a few beers. We like the look of the hotel, feels very much like an old time deep south home. Our manatee package isn't until tomorrow with a 7.15 start, I'm guessing the wet suits will be essential. Julie is persuaded that a kayak adventure is the way to go to kill some time this afternoon, the other option would be to lie around the pool, but that doesn't appeal despite temperatures in the 70's. There is a dive shop onsite and we hire a tandem kayak, which costs 30 bucks for 2 hours. We have to undergo a video presentation detailing do's and don't's and are provided was a map of how to get around the river. We see about a dozen manatees, however Julie struggles withe physical nature of the kayaking, and we limp back to the dock just within our 2 hr limit. Given it's a Monday it's surprising how many people are about on the water.Once we make shore we head for the pool for an hour or so before we head back to the room. I try and book dinner at the on site restaurant but they have a load of bookings, we are offered a table after 8, which we take the restaurant shuts at 9 so it could be tight All in all a nice day, driving was a bit of a chore, but the hotel is great and it look as if manatees are plenty. The current hot weather also helps. Off to the bar for a few drinks before dinner
Had a great day today , although a problem did occur during the night, now we finally have air con I was so cold during the night that I couldn't sleep properly, which is a bit of a bummer after complaining about not having it. Weather forecast today was good - expected to hit mid 70's and it didn't disappoint. I was up at silly o'clock again and Julie eventually arose from the pit and we headed off to try and get on the first tram tour of the day at 8.30. We didn't quite make it but we were stood outside of the office at 9.00. The first tram sets off with 4 of us onboard. We do the full tour of the town/city which takes about an hour and a half, and no-one gets on. Once we have completed the first circuit we make the decision to go to the Pirate museum first and then grab a Sunday brunch. We find a nice restaurant overlooking the bay and finish off a nice brunch (I have corned beef hash and poached Eggs and it A1) before we head across the road to the fort. It's another $10 attraction and it takes an hour or so to have a good look around. The fort itself gives some fantastic views of the city We then head to the Lightner museum for yet more culture, again another 10 bucks in and about an hours or so looking at tiffany glass, stuffed animals and a collection of irons. It's not my cup of tea but glad that we did some of the 'arty' crap that Saint Augustine is famous for. The afternoon is passing quickly and we try to get a place on the chocolate tour but the last one of the day at 3.30 is already full so we make so with some ice cream - I have raspberry , chocolate oreo and pineapple varieties which are fab. We are really starting to flag, so we jump onto the red train and catch a lift back to the hotel to put our feet up for a couple of hours, garb some drinks, do a pit of packing and then get ready to hit the road for dinner. We try a recommendation from the hotel but there is an hour wait (at 6.30 on a Sunday night !!). So we try a google recommendation A1A Ale Works where I grab a craft ale sampler of 7 beers, whhhhoooooooo !! . I also have a steak which is delicious. By the time we finish its 8.30 so it's the 20 minute walk back to the room for my last beer and so that Julie can watch the Oscars. In short I think we will be back to St Augustine, there's so much we haven't managed to do Boat trips , the beach , the Fountain of Youth etc and the town has a really nice vibe to it. Now it's off to bed, everything aches and hopefully a few hours of kip and some anti inflammatory tablets will take the edge of my ankles, knees and joints in general. Tomorrow Crystal River
Well that's the end of Orlando for a few days and we are off to St Augustine for a couple of days and then down to Crystal River to swim with manatees. Up early to pack and hopefully beat any traffic but there's a problem and it's a fairly significant one, when we picked the car up originally we only had 1 case, mine was MIA. Now we have 2 cases the boot space isn't sufficient. It means that we have to put one case on the back seat which means that I'm not confident of pulling up into a parking bay for breakfast. In addition the weight of my case appears to have doubled and I struggle to lift it into the car, but that's a worry for later in the holiday. So we plan a journey straight through to St Augustine which is about a 2 hour drive. We are on the road by 8.15 , and despite some of the worst roads I've ever driven on ( the I4 is supposed to be the major motorway East to West across Florida), at one point I can barely keep the car on the road because the lane is so uneven. We pull up outside of the hotel at 10.00 and experience the best customer service ever. We struggle to get away from the staff as they are so keen to tell us everything about the place. It's about a 20 minute walk into the City Centre and we take in some of the sites, we also get lost and end up on an island !! . We find a nice Spanish restaurant for lunch, on the advice of the hotel staff and the food is great. We wander around for a bit longer and form the view that it's very much like Berwick but with a bit more class. We head back to the room, because we were so early we weren't able to move our gear into the room, we very quickly throw the contents of our cases into some cupboard space and head back out for further exploration. We take in a wine tasting and manage to get a space on the last brewery trip of the day- which involves tasting St Augustine vodka, gin and rum. Unfortunately their bourbon won't have matured until September but that gives us an excuse to head back. There are a number of trolley tours running and we plan to pick one of these up tomorrow, but following the brewery trip we are on the hunt for food. Because this is our first visit and the fact that there do not appear to be any chain restaurants, it's difficult to find somewhere to eat. We elect for an Irish pub, but when we get in the oven has broken so they only have a limited menu, fortunately fish n chips is still and option so we both opt for this. I have 3 or 4 pints of IPA (including one at 11%), and the world is good The city really is beautiful and it just feels as if we have scratched the surface, so really looking forward to tomorrow when we will have a full day of sight seeing on the trolley. The only thing that we noticed is that a lot off the museums/attractions seem to have an additional entry charge so it could get to be expensive- Julie may have to cut back on her margaritas ! Starting at the end of the day, we are back in the room and Julie is packing, cos tomorrow we move away from Orlando and visit St Augustine for the first time. We have just finished a fantastic meal at Olive Garden and walked back to the room in 10 minutes in Consett like weather ie bloody cad !! And following todays adventure if I ever make room 101, it's spaghetti and large South American families (groups) for me. Anyway back to earlier in the day and I was up very early, followed by Julie a couple of hours later. We are at the stage where there is no breakfast food left in the room, so it was a bottle of water and a can of sugar free Monster for me and nowt much for Julie. Driving to Busch was great , cruise control on at 74mph and I think I only changed lane twice and in about an hour we were parked up at the entrance to Busch . Coming home Julie drove and we hit Orlando rush hour and it took 2 hours plus When we got back to the room, we see this (see above) parked up in the hotel. WTF, if you have booked a self catering apartment then what do you need this for ? Back to Busch Gardens, due to my most excellent driving skills we are in the parking lot by 9.24 for a 10am opening. Lots of oldies here but soon we hit the coasters, and these coasters are the best in Florida. I record most on the gopro so nothing much to see. I hit major issue with the camera, every time I change the lens the camera simply won't take a photo. I think a new camera is needed. I miss the opportunity for some fantastic photos but them's the breaks In addition to the best coasters in Orlando the animal exhibits are also top notch and we see some great tiger and hippo action We spend 10am - 4pm in the park, allowing half an hour or so for lunch. Busch Gardens is fairly quiet and nearly everything is walk on, which is a happy happy place to be. I'm about to start looking at our tourist options for tomorrow and St Augustine. We have just finished packing the cases for tomorrow , and it's looking unlikely that everything will fit into the beasts boot
I'm trying desperately to finish all of the remaining JD and Michelob but suspect that it's only a matter of minuter before ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Just as a continuation from last night, we went to Macaroni Grill for food last night, and while the food was good (with the exception of the dessert which was lemon cake - and frozen !!), the service was pathetic. Clearly our server had too many tables and the kitchen really struggled to keep pace with the number of orders. Clearly such poor service merited comment, but in the way of true Brits we said nowt, although I did adjust the tip to a meagre 15% Moving on to today. We already had shopping at the Outlet Malls planned but the weather forecast today was for temperatures to drop and only hit a high of mid 60's. We need to get some gluten free cookies for my nephew so first port of call was Whole Foods , and then straight up the road to the Mall at the Universal end of International Drive. We arrive in time for opening and again the cold weather seems to be keeping away the masses and it feels like we have the shops to ourselves. This mall certainly seems to have more in than the one at the other end of International Drive, and with the shop discounts on offer today there seems to be some real bargains. As usual Julie spends hours looking for a new handbag, while I dive in at Adidas, Lacoste, Oakley and Ralph Lauren. The real bargains were in Ralph Lauren where the shop had a 25% sale on , the shirts I wanted were all on offer, and on top of that they honour a 25$ off coupon that I have - I end up with 6 shirts and 3 pairs of pants for less than £150. We have diner at the Mall and a foot long Chicken Teriyaki subway is soon thrown down the gullet. We are soon done with shopping and it's back to the hotel for an hours down time before we head out to the Magic Kingdom to catch the parade and fireworks. But first I ring three to try and resolve why the data on my phone is running so slow, unfortunately it's a call centre in India and I get absolutely nowhere. The solution they offer is to reset the connection, this in fact deletes all the settings and I have to try and manually guess them. BRILLIANT Customer Service. We do a quick call for Gas - less than 20 bucks to fill the beast When we get to Magic Kingdom it's packed, nearly all of the rides are showing wait time of an hours plus, we have fast passes for Space Mountain and the Mine Train so we use them but we have a couple of hours to kill so we go for Country Bear Jamboree (dear God what an awful show) and Hall of Presidents ( DULL WITH A CAPITAL D) . Once the excitement of these big rides is over, and I have once again thrashed Julie on Buzz Lightyear we head to Frontierland to stake out a place to view the parade. We get lucky and there's a decent spot available behind some idiots who seem to keen remain seated on the ground for the parade. It's also nice to see that there a small number of hardy should who seems to have ignored the weather forecast and are intending staying out for the parade and fireworks in just T shirts - they should receive honorary Geordie titles. The parade is fantastic and puts our own Blackpool Illuminations to shame Once the parade is finished we muscle our way through to the fast pass section for Wishes. This gets us access to the area in front of the castle but by the time we negotiate the crowds it's fairly full and our viewing position isn't great. The show is good but isn't a patch on the new Star Wars fireworks at Hollywood Studios It's a wee bit crazy trying to exit the park after the fireworks show, especially trying to dodge the crazies in charge of strollers and electric motor vehicles, all who seem intent on severing my achilles tendon, but we negotiate the masses and are soon on the monorail and back at the car. We stop off at Flippers for a pizza and some beer. And when we get back to the room I'm so tired that I can only manage 1 can of beer before heading to bed for some well earned shut eye.
The weather was hitty missy all day, one minute bright sunshine the next wind and rain but it did mean that the number of visitors was low. Speaking of visitors this must be very low season for Brits cos you rarely hear one of our accents either in the parks or in the restaurants. Test Track is briefly open and we take the opportunity to ride it, our excellent vehicle design is almost best of the day, it wins on power but not so on fuel efficiency. With the weather being so poor we go on the Ellen ride and Spaceship Earth to keep dry and when the weather allows we venture out to see the topiary's which are out early in preparation for the Garden festival next week. We walk through world showcase taking in the sights but other than drink or eat the options are limited as we don't fancy any shows. We do take in a musical number at the American theatre which is most excellent, its a tribute to American music but really cool. We eat at the Chinese fast food restaurant which is really good. Orange chicken is great. By 3 we have had enough and we pick up some souvenirs and presents at Mousegear including a backpack for Ben, there is one priced at $10 below every other one in the shop, park and the rest of WDW and fortunately when we get to the till they honour the price. We jump into the car and head to ABC wines as I'm sick of drinking JD fire, I need beer, so we buy some Michelob Ultra (only 2.6 carbs per 12 fl oz!! ) and Bud Lite with lime. Then it's back to the room, where I sit on the balcony and listen to a gentleman of colour talk gangster to his hommie on the phone in the room below What an exciting start to the day,as usual I am up and about early but so are the law !!. I hear a bit of a commotion and look through the peep hole in the door to see a number of Americas finest outside the door to the hotel. More noise follows and a gentleman is taken away with his suitcase, followed shortly by a young lady. It looks like a domestic but the law are there in force. God bless the happiest place on earth !!. Clearly you can never know who your neighbours are in a hotel. It looks like the holiday for both these people is over. Anyhow back to our holiday, all of this took place at 5.30 in the morning so clearly I'm up and about , the usual in room breakfast is dispatched and we are on the road to Magic Kingdom. As you may have noticed there appears to be a lot of maintenance/building work taking place and today the monorail is down, so we are instructed that we can either take a bus to Magic Kingdom or the ferry. The bus doesn't seem very magical to we hop on the ferry and arrive just in time to have missed the opening ceremony. We avoid the mass of people heading to the dwarves mine ride and instead go for an early morning trip with Captain Jack Sparrow on Pirates of the Caribbean where there is no wait, then Big Thunder and Julie very kindly then lets me ride Splash Mountain on my own. The temperature is predicted to reach 80 plus but Julie doesn't want to a water ride ?? The queues aren't bad at all, until we decide to go for lunch at 11.30. We go to the Harbour House for our usual Tuna sandwiches but the place is packed. Nevertheless we get our food and a seat upstairs and take 1/2 hr to relax. All of our fast passes (Space, Big Thunder and the Mine Train) are for late this afternoon and so we are in rush. We mop up other rides like Haunted Mansion and Dumbo before finding a place to watch the parade, which we haven't seen before. All is good and for once we are not surrounded by a huge South American family arriving 30 seconds before the parade and expecting to stand in front of us. After the parade, we head to Space Mountain for the first of our fast passes but the ride is down, and when we go onto the People Mover we see the reason why. It's back across the park for Big Thunder, and it's noticeable now that the park is busier with queues for some rides exceeding the hour mark. We bypass the 40 minute standby line and ride the old wild west. Its then across to Dwarves Mine, another one of those rides with big waits in excess of an hour, but where the ride really doesn't merit the wait. It's cute but nowt special Space Mountain re-opens just as we are about to leave , so we hop on for our final ride of the day. We leave the park on the monorail and although we were supposed to be going to Bahama Breeze for tea, we decide that we would rather do the short walk to the Ale House for food. Greed gets the better of us and after Nachos, Fish and Chips , a pint of Miller , 4 samples of Craft Beer and 5 bottles of Miller Lite we are beaten and actually leave a bottle of Miller. Once again the bill is very reasonable compared to Disney @ around $60 We are knackered and not long after 10pm, it's bed time Not much in the way of photos today, one because we spent the whole morning at the Outlet Malls shopping for my birthday present and two because some numpty took the battery out of the camera to charge last night and then forgot to put it back in, meaning that he spent the evening carrying around an empty camera, DOH As we have had breakfast in the room everyday so far, which has been fruit and toast, we decide to change things up this morning and we head for Perkins for a cooked breakfast - our venue of choice over International House of Pancakes or Golden Corral. Although it's only 8 am the restaurant is packed and their seems to be loads of locals which is always a good sin. I have the Eggs Benedict which comes with a Muffin !! , and Julie has a combo meal with eggs, bacon the works. When we have been here in the past the service has always been very slow, but this time its quick and we have time to go back to the room before we head off to the malls. It's probably because we have been so many times before but there seems to be a lack of quality and bargains at the mall (coupled with a poor exchange rate). I'm after a new pair of Oakleys, but we are ignored when we first go into the shop, which is unusual as normally the shop assistants can't wait to swarm all over you, so I leave in disgust and we start a second circle of the shops. We go back in to Oakley and this time Helga a 6ft 8 Russian shot putter is quick to greet us and a sale is secured, which Julie pays for as my birthday gift. That first acquisition is always the most difficult and Lacoste and Penguin quickly provide additional goods and with the use of coupons, bargains are had . Because of the large breakfast no lunch is required and it's back to the room for a quick change/drink and then Hollywood Studios. As we get to the Studios I notice that I haven't put the battery in the camera, which is a major blow as we have a character meal booked for the Hollywood and Vine. Well never mind we will have to make do with lower quality pics from the video camera. We use a couple of fast passes for Rock n Roller Coaster and Star Tours before sitting down for our all you can eat buffer - Major blow NO MILK SHAKES. For once we resist temptation and don't over indulge. After dinner we have a further fastpass for Tower of Terror, where we once again bump into our flag waving friends from South American, and my apologies to the nation of Brazil, these little minxsters were actually from Argentina, about 150 teenage girls following a huge Argie flag, joy of joys. Fortunately they aren't all on our ride !! After T of T it's onto the main shows, Fantasmic and then Star Wars symphony in the skies. Fantasmic is a simply awesome show where once again Mickey prevails against the evil of Disney villains. We have cracking seats due to the meal deal and then we take up position for the latest addition to the park - the Star Wars fireworks, which are AWESOME . We saw them at a distance last night at EPCOT but with the accompanying sound track they really are great. The night is done and we head home very tired No change in sleeping pattern, up at 5am, and as usual this is washed down with a can of sugar free Monster. Again Julie follows a couple of hours later and we dine on Walmart's finance fruit, yoghurt and toast. Our ambitious plans of hitting theme parks early in the holiday is based around the fact that our annual passes run out part way through the holiday, and we are therefore trying to get best value by cramming in as much as possible. This morning we are hitting Islands of Adventure, so it's into the car and a short ride up Turkey Lake Road to Universal. I knew that Universal had updated their security procedures following incidents on rides and the fatal stabbing of an employee, but I certainly wasn't expecting the banks of X Ray machines and metal detectors. Quite an intimidating site. But as we aren't armed to the teeth with an array of automatic weapons for our visit to the park we are soon through and on our way to the entrance. We are at the park for opening and instead of heading right for the scrum towards Harry Potter and Hogwarts, we elect to go left to try and get Doctor Doom in before the rush. We walk onto both Doctor Doom and Spiderman, so 2 big rides done before 9.15. The water rides are a no go, even though it's another sunny day and temperatures are set to soar to 80's. Jurassic Park is closed for rehab, so the next ride on our trail is actually Harry Potter. The ride breaks down and we end up waiting for 30 or so minutes instead of advertised 10 minutes. Shortly after the ride I notice that my annual pass is no longer in my pocket, so a trip to Guest relations is needed. The girl is very efficient and I soon have a new pass back in my possession. One pain in Universal is the locker system and it's carnage at both Harry Potter and Dragon Challenge, with no clear system in place to deal with the volumes of people getting on and off the rides. Dragon Challenge also requires a further metal detector screening. It was slightly disturbing to see the back seat of the red dragon closed and the operators wiping blood from the seat but it doesn't deter us. It'n now lunch time, and we decide to leave Universal and head to Chilis near our hotel. We park up at the hotel and walk across the road. As is normal it's 2 for 1 on drinks and I nominate Julie as the designated driver. We trough out and have 3 courses, as I have a free birthday dessert to use -delicious triple berry crumble - mmmmmm. After our light lunch we take a couple of hours in the room to relax before we head out for EPCOT with Julie at the wheel. The park seems very quiet, it's 5 o'clock and nearly everything is walk on, with Test Track showing only a 40 minute wait. As with most of the parks there is a lot of ongoing maintenance/updates going on. In EPCOT the land is more or less down with Soarin being updated and the Lion King film down for good. We take in a couple of rides and then head to Test Track for our fast pass, which will be the first time we have ridden in the dark. Unfortunately as soon as we step onto the ride it breaks down !! It's an on/off situation and we finally get to 10 people from the front when they close the ride for good. We are entertained by a huge group of flag waving brazillian teens who shout and scream their way through the queue. OH JOY !! As the ride is down, despite it being 7.50 we decide to stake out a spot for Illuminations near Mexico. I grab a beer and we wait an wait for the 9pm show. From our vantage point we get a great view of the new Star Wars themed fireworks at Hollywood Studios which kills 10 or so minutes. It's a long wait but eventually Illuminations gets underway, and as usual it's well worth the wait. Once the show is over it's the usual scrum to the exit, a short drive back to the hotel and then after a bowl of Special K, it's time for bed. Still no sign of any air con activity, so it's too warm for sleeping especially with a quilt on the bed !! . Hence I'm up and about at 5am, Julie follows about an hour and a half later. It's breakfast in the room which consists of fruit, mango yoghurt and lemon curd and toast. Oh and a can of monster energy drink added in This morning Julie has decided to have a crack at driving the beast, it's a short jump to Hollywood Studios and we are there in plenty of time for opening. We have fastpasses for Hollywood Tower of Terror, Star Tours and Toystory Mania. At park opening it's the usual mad rush for Toy Story but we head over to Rock n Roller Coaster, which we walk straight onto, and then it's Tower of Terror before our first fastpass at Star Tours. After riding Star Tours twice, which now includes scenes from the new movie we head over to the Star Wars Launch Bay, which is the first of the new attractions scheduled to be built over the next couple of years. We meet Chewy and Kylo (who scares the bejesus out of Julie) and then have a look through the many artifacts. After this it's time for our Toy Story Mania fastpass, where I kick Julie's backside, but I don't rub it in. After this we head back to Tower of Terror where the fastpass line is all the way outside of the ride AND the non fastpass wait time is 2 1/2 hours. Not sure what had happened but 2 sides of the ride had broken down. The fastpass line took about 30 minutes, and just as we got to the front the whole ride went back up. We catch up with Mike and Sully by chance and then the plan is to head over to Disney Springs, grab a spot of lunch and then watch the Force Awakens . I know I'm probably the last person in the UK to see the film, and our meet and greet with Kylo didn't really mean that much to be as I had know idea who he was, apart from being informed by my nephew months ago that he kills his father Han Solo - thanks Ben !! Julie is into the swing of the convertible and the weather is good so we go roofless again, and in 10 short minutes we are at Disney Springs. We head to AMC theatre and I'm informed that Star Wars is only showing in the eat and watch screen, which is good as it kills two birds with the one spherical object The principle of food and movies is a good one, however if when they bring the food, they are unable to identify which burger is which because it's so dark then the positives are outweighed. In addition the price ain't great, 2 beers come in at over $16 which is more than we paid at Sea World, and I was disgusted with that. Film was good, almost a remake of the original Star Wars in places. Afterwards we do a bit of shopping and then have major issues when we try and leave the car park with volume of traffic but eventually we are out and on our way back to the hotel. A bit of a rest and then we head out to Chevy's for a Mexican. I make the mistake of ordering the mixed grill fajitas, I get 3 tortillas, but even when they bring another 3 I'm still short. I give up and leave a considerable amount of shrimp , pork ,beef and chicken which could probably feed a small African nation. We walk back to the hotel and we are back in the room by 9.30 We have survived another day but my feet are shot , and I'm growing increasingly feed up with the Zombie like status of some people in Orlando. If you want to be on you feet then great but for christ's sake, try and put one foot in front of the other quicker than the cast of the Walking Dead.
Well no surprises, after going to bed at 9.30, I'm wide awake by 4.30 am. I get up and go into the living room and am alarmed by the noise coming from the toilet, however after investigations it's actually snoring being generated by the people in the 1 bedroom apartment next door - totally awesome !! Its a while before Julie stirs, but when she does it's a quick breakfast in the room and then off to Animal Kingdom. The crowds are very reasonable when we arrive and they open the gates early so we are in the park and waiting for the Safari by 9am We have fastpasses for Dinosaur and then the Safari again, we wander around and then it's lunch at Yak and Yeti where I have a $25 credit to use as a birthday gift from the restaurant. We have a dim sum basket, Julie has a curry and I have Mahi Mahi, after rejecting a red snapper meal when the server informs me the fish would have it's head and tail in tact - NO WAY After an excellent lunch, we pretty much wander through the park, take a ride on Expedition Everest where we ride the front car and then browse through the shops without anything taking our fancy. By 2.30 we are ready to leave and go back to the room for a little relaxing - my gout/arthritis in my big toe is playing up so I need to put my feet up after a rough couple of days.
Unwisely I decide it's time to do the 'convertible thing' and after 15 minutes or so off frantickly trying to work out how to get the roof down we find the magic button and we are off on the short drive back to the hotel. Going over 60 mph with the roof down isn't recommended by Julie's hair. We arrive back at Cypress Pointe, and the fun begins, how the hell does the roof go back up ?? The magic button gets its so far but then how do we lock it back in ? 20 minutes later we have the answer BRUTE FORCE. We rest for a couple of hours and then it's a 30 minute walk to Disney Springs for our 8pm meal at the House of Blues. I've got a $6 restaurant.com voucher which entitle us to $50 off a $100 bill, so we will need to eat and drink well. We have a wander around the shops but we don't buy anything as we will be back tomorrow. We get to HOB at about 7pm and there is a huge line at the door, so no chance of getting in early. We settle in at the porch in front of the main restaurant and have a couple of drinks and listen to the singer. Relaxing times. The weather is a little cool but I have my tracksuit top so I'm fine. Our server recommends a couple of IPA's so I'm a happy bunny. 8pm arrives and we head in for our meal. It's spend, spend, spend as the cocktails, IPA's and food flows. I eat well chicken flatbread to share, salmon and then Key Lime Pie to share. With the discount the bill comes to about $65 which feels like a bargain. Suitably stuffed we take the long walk back to the hotel and at 10pm we arrive back and it's bed time. Please note Americans, temperatures in the mid 70's are not cold and us Brits would love it if you could please turn on your bloody air con. Day done Woke up at about 6am and realised that I had been in the same pair of pants for over 30 hours. My first instinct was simply to turn them inside out but then I remebered that I didn't have any shorts or tee shirts. The only option was to head off to Wallmart and purchase some emergency garments and also our groceries for the week.
About $150 lighter, and we are heading back to the hotel with some of George's finest offerings. Julie did suggest changing our plans but it's my birthday and I want to be in Sea World, so after opening my cards, we have a quick turn around and we are soon at the entrance to Sea World in our sparkling orange convertible. We arrive at the park in plenty of time for opening and are soon getting some air time on the Manta coaster - still awesome, although we resist the temptation to sit at the back where the G forces really kick in. We take our time wandering around the park at take in as many of the animals as we can. The penguin ride is down (not too disappointing) but we can still get in to see the little fellas, Turtle Trek is also down but again that's not a huge miss. We get some more air time with Kraken but even though the temperature is around 70F we don't bother with the water ride Atlantis. We have a quick lunch at the Seafire Inn and then catch the Shamu show. 2 beers for $15 Aggghhhh. By now we are flagging and head back to the hotel to see if my suitcase has been found yet. There's no message on the answer machine but about an hour later we get a call from reception to say American Airlines have dropped the case off - RESULT We pick the case up and then head to ABC wines for Vodka and Jack Daniels. Have a bit of a rest in the room and then its off to Orlando Ale House for my birthday meal - chicken zingers and then steak for me. Plus we get the special drinks offer of 5 bottles of Bud Lite for $9.99 - eat your heart out Seaworld. No space left for dessert so back to the room for a quick JD. We are both falling asleep on the couch so it's off to bed by 9.30 All round a much better day I think this will be the last time we fly direct , what a nightmare. The day started brightly but went downhill very quickly once we had finished a hearty breakfast at the Premier Inn. We wandered over to the terminal at Newcastle airport and checked in for the first leg of our flight to Orlando. The route Newcastle to Heathrow to Miami to Orlando, but we have plenty of time between changes to no worries, or so we thought. We board the short flight to London and sit and wait and wait and wait. An announcement is made and we are to be delayed by 10 minutes as there is a slight issue with the landing gear tyre and we need the engineer to sign off some paperwork. Clearly the engineer has a problem with basic reading and writing as in takes him nearly an hour to sign off the paperwork. Our flight is due to land in London at about 10.00, in time for a 12.35 flight to Miami. Our flight attendants assure us no problems, we still have plenty of time and transfer staff will help us at Heathrow. However a further delay in landing adds another 30 minutes to the delay. On landing we are issued with an express security pass but we have to travel from T5 to T3 and it's a fruitless task, 10 minute wait for the bus, 10 minutes to transfer terminals and we arrive too late!! American Airlines advise us that there is a further flight through BA which leaves in a couple of hours. This should be fine but unfortunately Brain from BA is a half witted buffoon and takes an hour to sort out our transfer. Other BA staff turn their customers around in 10 minutes. Brian eventually gets help from other agents and we are on our way with minutes to spare. We couldn't get seats together but at least we are on our way - Julie manages to secure an extra leg room seat while I end up between an 80 year old Swedish woman and the only Yank I've ever met who is silent. Flight over after 9 1/2 hours and we arrive in Miami with an hour and a half to catch our Orlando transfer, not a chance with the chaos at immigration !! . And then to top it all Brian has managed to transfer Julie's luggage, but no sign off mine - keep smiling :-) Back to American Airlines, and fortunately there is a 10pm flight, so we are booked onto that and advised that Brian the baboon may have routed my luggage direct to Orlando. We grab a drink and head to the gate in plenty of time. A 40 minute flight and we arrive in Orlando, still no case but what the hell, lets pick up the car and head to the hotel, after all it's nearly midnight and it's close to 24 hours without sleep. ................and then there's Alamo, I've booked a full size car, but there's none left and they want me to take an 8 seater minivan for the 2 of us. No way Hose I leave in a Mustang convertible and arrive at the hotel at 1am. No time to worry , need sleep , check in is smooth and it's straight to bed . What a day !!!!! Well it's finally here - the morning of the long day. Had a reasonable nights sleep but was wide awake by about 5.30am, breakfast isn't until 6.30 and the flight's not till 12.45.
I pack and the repack in an attempt to kill a little time and then eventually it's breakfast time and we head down for our all you can eat buffet. Bacon, omlette, sasuage and hash browns are dispatched and then it's a short walk to the terminal to check in. Julie is selected for additional security checks and her case is taken away for special checks but all is good, she even passes the drug swab. The airport is empty and we clear security and are soon sat in the executive lounge and chucking back glasses of pinot grigio. After a couple of hours, the flight is called and we are soon boarding our Dreamliner flight to the states. Flight is as usual long and boring, I watch a Simon Pegg film whose name escapes me, an episode of Game of Thrones and American Sniper. We are slightly delayed due to some US Airforce activity taking place which forces us to re route, and we touch down about 45 minutes late, we are sat at the front of the plane so clear immagration quickly but it takes forever for our cases and then once again we are subject to additonal security measures. Eventually we get to Alamo and are issued with our Crysler and on our way to Disney's Old Key West. There are a couple of accidents on the I4 but just after 7 we arrive at our destination. Our Aussie Disney host is unable to fulfill our room request but we are still happy to be in our room. In an attempt to stay awake we head out of the room and take the boat to Downdown Disney for food and for a look around the shops. It's really busy and we are flagging qute badly so after an hour or so we grab a bite to eat at the Earl of Sandwich which takes some finishing and then it's back to the boat and the hotel. I last till about 10.30 and the I'm out for the count Last day at work completed by 11.30 😂 with no last minute traumas. It's then off for a final visit to the Oldies for goddbyes and then home for lunch and packing.
It doesn't take long at all but we soon hit a snag, my luggage allowance is only 20kg and I'm over, despite several attempts at reworking the bag I still can't get below the magic number. Case emptied yet again and the empty bag weighed, 5 bloody kilos empty. There's the problem. Several pairs of socks and pants are ditched and we achieve perfection. Problem 2 hand luggage limit is 5 kg and I'm over on this, bloody cameras. Well I've had enough so I decide to worry later and by 3 pm we are ready to head off to the Premiere Inn at Newcastle airport. 45 minutes later we are at the gates of the meet and greet, but can't work out how to get in. Eventually some geezer from Ashington comes to the gate and presses the entry button Doh ! Parked up and we walk to the hotel Rooms are great for the price £45 and we have paid an additional £45 for the meal deal dinner and breakfast Food was the usual pre cooked fayre, I had the prawns and then fish and chips. Certainly filled a gap but not Michelin star quality Not sure what happened to the bill, it was 2 for 1 in the bar, and the bill when it arrived was only £12 despite the fact we had 4 glasses of wine. Paid the bill and ran . Pretty soon it was off to the land of nod in preparation for the long journey to Orlando Not long to go now, flying on the 24th September for 2 weeks in Orlando and a week in the beautiful Anna Maria Island in between WHERE ARE WE STAYING ?
What will we be doing ? As theme park fans we will be spending 2 weeks touring the various park , with a week in between at the beach to recuperate. Starting off with Sea World on our first day and then it will be on to Animal Kingdom, as alongside the theme park rides we also have a love of the natural world, and being able to see some of these fantastic creatures is a real joy. Oh and don't forget we get to visits Everest As it's September/October we will be visiting Mickey's not so scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom. Personally I would prefer to head for Universal Studios and the Halloween Horror Nights but these are deemed by Julie to be a little too intense and we may have a few days at the park that I hated 15 years ago, but has now really grown on me - EPCOT. At this time of the year it's the Food and Wine Festival so there will be plenty of eating and drinking around the world ! Too much Disney can be bad for the soul, and so we will be taking a break from Mr Mouse and heading over to the 'Dark Side' and picking up some wizarding action with Harry Potter at Universal Studios .... and now for something completely different, a week relaxing at the beach resort of Anna Maria Island. It's about 2 hours drive from Orlando but on the way we will need to take a break and spend a few hours at Busch Gardens in Tampa (my favourite park) . The park combines by 2 favourite elements of a holiday thrill rides and wildlife. After that week of relaxation and heavy drinking, it's back to the hurly burly of theme park central, with another 7 days of early starts and late finishes. First up is Islands of Adventure, which should be a short day given that the Hulk is down for a refurbishment so we thought we would also take in the newly opened Orlando Eye Well we are starting to run out of Theme Parks - but there are a couple left, plus another couple of things we have built into our trip. Next one up for us is a visit to Hollywood Studios, which at the moment is undergoing huge redevelopment with the recent announcement of a Star Wars land and further development of the Pixar brand including a new coaster. This trip marks our 10th wedding anniversary, so as a treat we are heading to Discovery Cove. We won't be swimming with the dolphins this time but there is enough other stuff at the park, plus the free drinks and food, to make it a worthwhile day out. And that's it for the theme parks. We will be doing some other stuff like the Cirque du Soleil show at Downtown Disney. There will be some (but not too much) shopping at the Outlet Malls and there will be an unbelievable gluttony of eating and drinking - which should ensure that we fit in with our American cousins perfectly ! Food and drink (oUR fAVOURITES) In our view the restaurants below represent the best places to eat in and around Orlando (and Anna Maria Island) and will form the basis of where we are going to eat this year. Most offer money off coupons or free desserts !! - if you register with their web-site Dine with Shamu (buffet at Sea World, great value drinks are included)
Sweet Tomatoes (refreshing salad buffet) Olive Garden Bahama Breeze Orlando Ale House (Sports Bar with great food and cheap drinks) House of Blues (Downtown Disney - look for great deals on restaurant.com) Seasons 52 (Out of the way but great refreshing fresh food & not the usual American fare) Macaroni Grill (Italian) Chevys (Great Mexican) Chilis (think TGI Fridays and then 1/2 the price and double the quality) |
AuthorMy name is David Knighton and I'm a Florida aholic. It's been nearly 6 months since my last fix !! For our itinerary click the document below
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