Shopping and golf

No parks planned for today.  Me and kids awake by 7.30. Stephen decided on another swim, and I went and sat with Sarah for a while before joining Stephen for a dip in the pool. Once Keith was awake we headed out for breakfast at ihop, then onto Congo Rivrr golf.  I managed 2 hole in one's before loosing my ball in the water!  Had a lot of fun but at 10.30 the temperature and humidity were very high and it was really uncomfortable.

my own pool man!

We were hoping to go to the premium outlet just off idrive but the car park was jam packed so we headed instead to the Florida mall. After an hour or so wandering, ee decided there wasn't really anything yhrre for us, so we headed back to premium.  We did stop at a michaels craft shop where I bought some stamps.  The car park at premium outlet was still packed so we gave up and went back to yhe villa to relax at the pool.

Back out for dinner at golden corral, or golden carrot, as grandad called it last time!  Not a great success, kids weren't impressed and although some of the food was ok some was pretty odd. It was an eat all u want buffet so we did managd to fill up but won't be back.

Judt getting ready for bed and a thunderstorm is starting.

NASA is the plan for tomorrow.

Oh dear - need to get used to taking photos!

Missed soo many opportunities to photograph our food so will just list those I have missed.

Didn't feel like eating after our arrival so stopped  Publix and got some hot fried chicken, a "stick" bread and some Lays Potato Chips.

Breakfast on Day 1 - Stephen was desparate to get to Ponderosa, so decided to get this out of the way early!! Food seems to have improved, most things seemed fresh (altho some of the pancakes were a little hard round the edges, but this could have been because it was sooo quiet.  I had expected to queue for restaurants this week until the schools go back).  We all had a variety of bacon, eggs, etc highlights were the egg benedict, and breakfast pizza, along with some yummy cakes and cinnamon rolls.  Did seem a bit more expensive than in previous years - with drinks $37.

Approx £23.17

Denny's for dinner - but as the heat and tiredness was catching up with us we had some dishes to share - sorry again no pics - combo with onion rings, mozzerella sticks and chicken, Plate of Chilli Nachos and Philly Melt sandwich with seasoned fries. 

Day 2 - Busch Gardens.  Early start so we decided to take the crackers and cheese we had bought from Publix to eat in the car (yeah pictures!!)

Felling slightly peckish around 1pm we had a Funnel Cake to share, plain with icing sugar and hot fudge sauce - OMG - delicious - definately not the last one of those!

Dinner tonight was Bahama Breeze (Dibb recommended).  Absolutely gorgeous meal - much recommended.  Lovely, friendly waiter who showed me how to drink my cocktail! - house special, Frozen Bahamarita - Cuervo Gold Tequila, kiwi, strawberry and mango ices.  Keith had the lemonade which he and Stephen thought was fab, Sarah had orange juice.  We share a plate of onion rings - they were huge - only about 10 on the plate but they were about 6in round and 1in thick, in cocount and breadcrumbs with yummy dip.  For main Sarah had rack of baby ribs, Stephen had applewood smoked burger, Keith had cajun chicken pasta with garlic bread and I had the days special (not sure what it was called, Salmon and Shrimp, sweet potato mash with cinnamon, and lemon butter veg (brocolli, beans and sweetcorn), with plaintain chips.  Mash was amazing! acutally it was all gorgeous and we want to eat there every day!

almost forgot to take pic - this is half of what was on the plate!

 

Approx £58.62

Day 2 Busch Gardens

Slept a bit longer last night - awake about 6.30, which wasn't too bad as we were hoping for an early start to Busch Gardens.  We were out of the house by 8am.  Breakfast this morning was a pack of crackers, cheese, ham and turkey that we had got at Target yesterday.  Roads were clear and we got to Busch just before 9.15.  Park opening was 9.30 and we got to the entrance just before they opened.  First stop today was Cheetah Chase before the park got busy.  This is the newest coaster to the park and was being built when we came last time.  It is a great family coaster, with a launch system that makes it quite thrilling but not whiteknuckle!  Because the queue was small we decided to have a second ride before moving off to another part of the park.

Then is was time for another ride, Montu.  This is one of our favourites.  Again no queue, so after the first ride Keith, Sarah and Stephen went back for a second go.  The temperature was rising fast now so I found a shady corner and got my suncream on before the others came back and did theirs.

There were plenty of people around the park today but it was certainly not packed.  All the coasters were walk on.  We managed to do Kumba, Sheikra and Stephen persuaded me to do Gwazi with him.  Definately a 1 ride only - what a bone shaker, even my teeth hurt!

Also a first today was Funnel Cake.  Had heard about this and decided we should try it.  Ordered a regular with Hot Fudge Sauce.  Winner!! It was gorgeous, bit like a doughtnut but I think they must pipe it into the oil - not sure, will have to look this up!

Rhino Rally was also no queue, it is still a shame this is not the ride it was designed to be.  They have not replaced the river part that was removed to build cheetah hunt.  We also spent time looking at the meerkats, orangutan and the lion and tiger enclosures.

By 2.45 it was really hot and humid, so feeling please with the amount we had got done, we are coming back again next Thursday, we decided to head back to the villa.
Another swim and relax round the pool (updating the blog!) and then off to dinner.  Decided to try Bahama Breeze after recommendations on The Dibb!  Stunning meal, we were all extremely impressed.  Pics on Food Page soon. Will definately be hoping to fit in a return visit.  After dinner we went to find a Walmart then back to the villa for another swim before bed.  Think my son might dissolve if he's not careful - can't keep him out of the pool!

Easy day tomorrow, bit of shopping and not much else planned.

Day 1 - Sea World

Up early!  Not good.  Keith and I were awake by 4.15am, quickly followed by both kids!  Sat for a while chatting, then decided to try and get some more sleep.  Keith and Sarah managed a bit more, I sat playing Candy Crush and reading the online news, and Stephen was apparently chatting online to his friend, Ed, and showing him round the villa on his iphone!!!
Gave up about 7 and headed back out for a swim. Lovely! Watched some hot air balloons floating over the villa.
We were planning an early breakfast if we woke early and get to seaworld for opening, 9am, but the water in the pool kept us longer than we had anticipated so !  Had breakfast at Ponderosa, bit of a tradition now!  Food and buffet area seems to have had a bit of a revamp and it was much nicer than we had expected but also slightly more expensive than we remembered.  Being a help yourself buffet we all over ate!

Keith - Eggs benedict, breakfast pizza and corned beef hash amongst other stuff"

Feeling bloated we eventually headed to SeaWorld and arrived about 10.  It was already feeling very warm.  After completing the sun cream applications we decided to try and get Manta (flying rollercoaster) done before the crowds started to arrive.  Despite the sign saying 10 min queue, after walking through the queue line, past the ray exhibits, we arrived at the station to find no queue.  We were sent to the back row.  Now this is not one of my favourite coasters, I like the concept, but find the g forces make me a bit dizzy and I was a bit worried that I had just eaten a huge breakfast!  But it was fine, once is definately enough for me tho, I enjoyed it but the others loved it.  Coming back out of the Manta buildings the sun felt really strong so we decided to head for a show.  The 11 o'clock show of Clyde and Seamore was due to start shortly so we went there to watch the pre show mime artist that always makes us laugh as he takes the mickey out of later arrivals who are totally oblivious to what is going on behind their backs.  Show itself was great.  I do always enjoy the Seaworld shows and despite knowing what the story line was it still made me laugh out loud.

Another ride was the next choice, so we headed in the direction of Kraken, altho we did stop on route to see how long the queue was for Journey to Atlantis - the thought of a quick soaking on the ride was quite appealing, however we decided that with a wait time of 30 mins we would do Kraken first.  Again a very short queue (10 mins) so we decided to wait a few extra minutes for the back row.  By now we were really feeling the heat of the day - expected to be around 33/34 degrees - and made use of the fans along the queue line to cool off.  This ride was much more my thing!

A quick stop for ice creams/Slushy  before we went to Pets Ahoy an indoor, air conditioned show!! with dogs, cats, rat, skunk etc showing off learned behaviours.  I love this show, it always makes me smile. 

On leaving, we were all beginning to tire with the heat and they early start so we decided to walk through/by some animal attractions on our way out.  We stopped at the Manatees, the Dolphin underwater viewing area, and the ray pool before a quick stop in the shops.  We were back at the car by 1.30 and decided to change the plan again and head straight back to the villa for a swim.  We did stop at Target first to stock the villa with drinks, and also got a polystyrene box for storing cold drinks iñ the car.  

We had a lovely relaxed afternoon swimming in the pool. There were a lot a storms in the area and we had spent most of the afternoon watching the lightning in the distance.  It eventually got to us at about 5pm with torrential rain and terrific thunder and lightning.

When the weather cleared up we set of for our shopping trip to the Nike outlet on US192.  Stephen said he had spotted one of the office staff from school in there.  Sure enough a few minutes later while Keith was trying on some t-shirts we spotted this lady again - she smiled and said she thought it was my son she had seen and how bizarre it was meeting people you knew out here!

Dinner tonight was Denny's.  We weren't all that hungry so we order two sharing appetisers, one with mozzarella sticks, onion rings and chicken strips and one a big plate of chilli nachos.  Keith and I shared a Philly Melt with seasoned fries. Yummy!!

Back to the villa where the kids fell asleep in front of the TV.

Will add some pool pictures later.

Busch Gardens tomorrow (weather permitting - there are thunderstorms forecast!)

Travel Day

Early start today.  Up at 4am, closed the cases, up and dressed and out to the car for 5.15.  We were met and Heathrow by a Meet and Greet Service which was lovely and stress free.  I was a bit worried about checking in as I had been unable to complete online check in yesterday but all went smoothly.  Delta were asking for volunteers to be bumped to another flight.  We did offer to go on the list but in the end didn't get called to change, so flights went as planned.  We grabbed some bacon rolls at one of the cafes in the departure area before our flight was called.

Our plane waiting for us to board!

Have only done indirect once, many years ago, just the 2 of us, when we flew to Ohio, but I needn't have worried the flights and connection Atlanta were great.  Food was OK, breakfast of Scrambled Eggs, mushrooms, hash browns, followed by some fruit (watermelon, grapes and orange slices), bread roll, cheese and crackers, choccy biscuits. Snacks of peanuts and pretzels, then cheese and tomato panini, with chocolate icecream just before we landed.  Soft drinks were also regularly offered.  Inflight Entertainment was excellent with lots of choice of films, music and tv programs to watch on the transatlantic leg, then a quick 1 hr flight down to Orlando.
Arrived on time, grabbed bags and headed to Hertz for our booked car.  Had booked a 7 seater and Keith had been hoping for a Dodge or Chrysler, but we ended up with a Kia Sedona.  He was a bit disappointed but actually its quite a nice car, responsive to drive, just lacks all the electric extras that he likes - remoting locking, boot etc.  It will just make him appreciate his own car more when we get home!
We were getting pretty tired by now, so after a quick stop at Publix supermarket to grab some hot chicken, bread and essentials - tea, milk, oj and apple juice we got to the villa about 9pm local time (2am uk time) which made a travel day of 22 hrs! 
Villa is lovely, clean and well equipped.  Will explore more tomorrow in day light.
Stephen and I had a quick swim then it was off to bed by 10.30.
Despite the tiredness it was a good travel day, and delta exceeded expectations.
(Sorry no pics today - to difficult to keep getting camera out! )

We always enjoy our eating when in Orlando so I thought we'd try and keep a diary of where and what we eat - although when I see how much food we eat I may stop - eating and blogging!!!!!  No seriously, I have read some great food blogs on "The Dibb" so thought we'd give it a go.


The food posts will appear here but I have set up some tabs at the top of the page for just the food, just 2013 and just 2010 reports.

Check back soon as we start to fill up.

Going back very soon!!

Of we go again, bit different this time as just the four of us, me, Keith, Sarah and Stephen.  Will probably feel a bit strange.  We have a villa booked at Highlands Reserve, with pool overlooking the 8th fairway.

We have never been in August before and are expecting it to be very hot, very humid and very busy.
 
As you can see from the updated itinerary on the right, we haven't got much of a plan this time.  No Disney this visit (although may sneak a visit to Downtown and maybe one of the onsite resorts to watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks.  We have booked 1 night (1 room!) accommodation at the Royal Pacific Resort at Universal.  One of the benefits of staying onsite is the unlimited Front of Line Passes for both the day you book in and the day you leave plus early entry for Harry Potter, so hopefully if it is busy we will easily get both parks done in the two days.

Also fixed is 1 night (2 rooms this time!) at the Holiday Inn on the coast at Clearwater.  The current plan is to visit Busch Gardens on the way then spend the second day around the beach, including a boat trip on the Seascreamer to see the dolphins.

Other tickets already bought are Seaworld, Aquatica (water park) and Kennedy Space Centre, haven't visited there since our first trip in 1990 and the kids obviously have never been.

We are hoping our other days will be restful, shopping, crazy golf, pool time and maybe some state parks.

Will hopefully keep this page up to date while we are there (no promises tho).  I am also hoping to keep a food blog/diary.  See tab at the top of this page.

Hope you enjoy.
Linda xx