Florida 2013

Accident on Internation Drive

Florida 2013 – Day 6 – Mall Millennia

Woke up at a reasonable time, Hotdog was still snoozing but soon woke once the coffee maker started its death howls as is gurgled out a fresh brew.

The traffic on International Drive was beginning to get busy and it wasn’t long before we heard police sirens. At the junction of International Drive and Universal Bv there appeared to be an accident involving a car, an SUV and a police car. In true American style, there were huge fire trucks, medics and at least 10 police cars. No one appeared to be injured and the whole event made the FOX35 evening news!

We love FOX35 in the morning as they can predict the weather to an inch of its life! The weather man would say “rainfall expected in 43 minutes” and he was usually spot on! More rain was forecast today, so we took a taxi to Mall Millennia.

This is a shopping Mall! A good mix of medium to high brand goods. Hotdog has been after a winter jacket for ages. He spotted an A&F jacket priced at $140 – but was reduced to $99 and then had a further reduction at the till to $74.54 including sales tax, about £46! Bargain, as this jacket would cost about £140 in the UK! Got a few bargains in Hollister, but we found their range disappointing. We hear you saying – two 40 somethings in Hollister? We love the vibe and their lounge pants! I wasn’t really interested in anything until I spotted a Ralph Lauren bag. This wasn’t on offer, however, the same bag in the UK retails for £280 – she bagged a bargain at £151.21!

Popped into Cheesecake Factory and bought a slice Snickers Bar Cheesecake… Took a taxi back to the hotel – chilled for a few hours and then headed out to dinner at TGI’s just off International Drive. TGI’s was a disappointment as we found the food sub par. Hotdog complained to the manager and his meal was removed from the bill. The service was OK, but as we said the food was poor.

Walked back to the hotel – luckily Hotdog still had his slice of Snickers Bar Cheesecake – it was yummo!

After two days of rain and shopping, we were desperate for some more park action!

SeaWorld Orlando

Florida 2013 – Day 7 – SeaWorld

The weather was still iffy, but we had to do something after two days of rain, shopping, more rain and even more shopping! The weather man on FOX35 said things were improving. Arrived at SeaWorld – spotted some black clouds, on impulse bought two ponchos, just in case!

I love SeaWorld – Hotdog wasn’t too sure! The 3D turtle experience, was cool and we liked watching the Dolphins. The Shamu show started in 10 mins – we jogged leisurely to a packed stadium. Made it to the show with a few minutes to spare. Show consisted of killer whales doing splashy stunts and that was it. Highly entertaining though. I cried at the end, which was a blessing in disguise as this topped up the water levels that were splashed over the edge by the orcas.

Made our way to kraken – the wait was 10 minutes. The ride was brilliant and we managed to keep eyes open for the whole experience. Spent several times contemplating Manta – it looks horrific – so we’re hoping to go back to finish off the stuff we missed later in the week.

The Journey to Atlantis looked OK but was actually quite scary – after the first drop, you think – is that it? Remember the impulse buy of ponchos? They become invaluable as we would have been soaked on this ride!

Lunch at Seafire Inn – the chicken pasta in creamy sauce, and fish and chips were good value at around $24 with drinks.

The Blue Horizon show was amazing – at one point Hotdog was asking Mrs Doughnut ‘permission for lip to wobble’! It wasn’t the dolphins that made Hotdog come over with this rush of emotion – for a brief moment he took his eyes of the show and looked around at the kids faces – pure joy!

Did a few other things around the park – including a visit to the South Pole – was excited to see the Polar Bear – who was less excited about us. The shark encounter is worth doing. We waited for 30 minutes for the new Antarctica ride, which was really cold and a bit disappointing. To our amusement, we spotted a thong on the floor on the wild ride side! It must be WILD!!! The penguin’s afterwards were fun to watch – apart from the smell!

Back at hotel around 6pm – so we decided to go to City Walk and Universal Studios for the light show and some food. Watched the 100 years of cinema light show – was ok. Headed to Lone Palm bar by the big lake for a few drinks, this bar is a great place to chill and people watch. The servers are great too, They poured a glass of wine, which wasn’t quiet a glass – so the bartender said he would get another bottle. Instead of topping up the glass he presented me with another full glass – now that is service! Also if you’re unsure of trying a draught beer ask the bartender and they’ll pour you a sample.

Decided on Hard Rock ORLANDO for dinner! The venue, food and service was amazing. Guess what we had? BURGERS!!! No chance of a wafer thin mint – we were truly stuffed.

USA Flag

Florida 2013 – Day 9 – A Bucket of Chicken!

Back to SeaWorld to do the bits we missed on the first visit. Manta had a 40 minute wait so we headed to Kraken, which was only ten minutes. This is a fab ride, poor old Hotdog was more nervous second time around. As we came off the ride we spotted the Sea Lions so headed over watch them – can’t believe how tame the birds are, though they are a bit of a menace stealing the Sea Lion’s fish!

Made our way to Clyde and Seamore take Pirate Island show – great fun! Get there early – the pre show act is ingeniously hilarious! The super cynical Hotdog was laughing his head off!

Grabbed a bite to eat before making our way to Blue Horizons! This was even better second time round as we arrived early, our seats were smack in the middle of the arena, about half way up. Cannot stress how getting in early gets you the best seats! After the show we walked over to Manta – 10 minutes – yay! This was the ride we were NOT looking forward to! A Scottish chap said, “Going up is the scary bit”, and he was right. Manta is a brilliant ride, we got off and went straight back on!!!

After Manta we went to the Aquarium – look out for the leafy Sea Dragon’s! Amazing how you can miss so much at SeaWorld! We managed to fit in all the bits we missed and do some rides twice. Our day was done, picked up some souvenirs and hopped on the reliable Superstar Shuttle back to the hotel.

Since arriving in Orlando we have been determined to have an all American KFC bucket meal! This is something we never do back home, and the problem was deciding which one? We ordered 12 piece, which included a stack of chicken, a box of wedges, three mac & cheese’s (despite asking for mac & cheese, corn on the cob and a slaw), and finally a box of buttermilk biscuits – weird!!! This badboy bucket of chicken and sides must have weighed 3 kilos – Hotdog walked back to the hotel like a proud father cradling a new born baby!

Far too much food! We were well and truly stuffed, so we settled in for the evening with the TV and poured a large Kraken.

The Adventure Begins

Florida 2013 – Day 10 – Islands of Adventure!

A bit of a lay in – got up and took the iRide Trolly south to look for some souvenirs. At the ABC Liquor Store, Hotdog swooned over the variety of beers from the micro breweries and the pumpkin beers – he so wanted to bring some back.

Dropped our loot back at the hotel and walked to Islands of Adventure. Did the Harry Potter park first as the lines were short. On our second visit, we spotted even more details that make this part of the park truly amazing – look out for the owls? Did the Dragon Challenge again before making our way through the park. Did HULK, which had a short wait time and Storm Force Accelatron, which is great too.

This was a more chilled out day as we decided not to rush around, but look at gifts etc. Hotdog had his eye on a Bubba Gump base ball cap, which he bought. However, when he tried it on back at the hotel the rivets popped off! Using the power of twitter he was able to contact customer services to arrange a replacement.

Decided to have an evening in with the TV. Popped next door to IHOP, We both had the Breakfast Sampler, which included pancakes – yummy! Returned to the hotel for TV, a few rum’s and an early night.

Aquatica Cabana

Florida 2013 – Day 11 – Aquatica Cabana Day

This was scheduled as a proper rest day at Aquatica. We hopped on the iRide to be at the park for 9.00, we arrived to find Aquatica closed – it opens at 10.00 – doh! We were told by the concierge at our hotel is was 9.00, but this was no big deal apart from the toilets being shut! Chatted to a nice couple who also got their time wrong.

We pre-booked a cabana on the private island between the two wave pools. There are only three cabanas here and we were the only people booked in – YES! The cabana came with a fridge containing 12 bottles of water, towels, sun loungers, chairs, a fan, a safe and guest services on hand to bring us drinks or food, which you had to pay for, obviously.

This was total bliss, away from the crowds and one of the best pre-holiday decisions we made. Once we settled into private space we made our way out to the water rides. As the park is only 5 years old everything felt new and getting up the stairs wasn’t as scary as Wet n Wild. The park was exceptionally busy, this was a Sunday and the weather was fairly hot. The rides are much tamer than Wet n Wild and on par with Typhoon Lagoon.

We had a bite to eat and settled back into our cosy cabana for a relaxing afternoon. I dropped off to sleep, whilst Hotdog sat reading GQ. When I woke, Hotdog said he was wondering how he could consume all those bottles of water without having a Forrest Gump ‘I gotta pee!’ moment!

The park closes at 5pm – the loud Tannoy does like to make you aware of this too and really spoils a fun day out! We did a few more slides, only missed Tassie’s Twisters and HooRoo Run. Our favourite was Ron’s Rapids and we would definitely go back again. $116 for the Cabana sounds steep, but it was worth it for the peace and quiet, and to be away from the crowds. If you are on honeymoon or want a special treat as a couple or a group of four – we would highly recommend this. Overall, we really liked Aquatica, the day flew by and it was time to leave.

Back to the hotel for a refresh. Decided on Black Angus Steak house for dinner – was OK, apart from a large group of ‘we are the loud latino brigade’, taking over the place and having little respect for other diners. We often found the waiter/waitress would walk us around the entire restaurant before sitting us at a totally unsuitable table, which was frustrating! Sometimes we were surrounded by huge loud groups other times we were shoved in a dark corner like lepers.

Back to our room for a cheeky snifter as tomorrow is Hotdog’s birthday and a trip to the Kennedy Space Centre!