Day 6 - Disney springs and crazy golf

Another relaxing start at the villa this morning.  

Sarah and I have another girly shopping day planned, this time at Disney Springs. The boys dropped us off about half 11 and headed to an outlet mall before heading back to the villa.  

Sarah and I spent a few hours wandering the shops around Disney Springs, with at least an hour spent in World of Disney where we purchased a couple of fleeces and a t-shirt. We paused briefly for some refreshments, some Korean chicken bites first, followed later by a dole whip sampler (one of our reasons for coming back here!) Lime and coconut, pomegranateand chocolate,  and vanilla and pineapple. All really yummy.

We arranged to meet the boys just after 6, somwith a couple of hours free we took a boat ride out to one of the disney resorts, Old Key West, where we had a short walk round to get a feel of the place and then stopped for a tea/coffee by the Dock.

We took the boat ride back to Disney Springs and met the boys for dinner at The Polite Pig. 2 trays of bbq meats and sides. Food was good, but a little on the cold side, and whilst the restaurant was OK, for us it was too busy, too noisy and to rushed, felt more fast food than restaurant (it is on the Disney Quick Service dining options so I suppose that fits!).

We decided to stop at our favourite crazy golf course, Congo River,  before heading home. Always great fun and we have booked 2 courses so we can come back again another time.

Back to the villa where we relaxed for a whole before bed.

Day 5 - Cycling on the West Orange Trail

A nice relaxed start this morning with breakfast at the villa. Keith had seen online what looks like a nice 5 mile cycle ride a little north of here. With the weather warming up a little to a nice 21 degrees, we thought it might be a good day for that.

Stephen drove us up the US27 towards Clermont then onto the 50 east towards the Killarney Station on the West Orange Trail to rent some bikes. Stephen has definitely taken over driver responsibilities this holiday!

Lovely helpful man sorted us some bikes, helmets and locks and advised us on our route. The whole trail is much longer with some more challenging sections, but it is many, many years since any of us have ridden bikes so we stuck with the easier 5 mile paved ride to the small town of Winter Garden.

After navigating the nearby roubdabout junction (quite the novelty over here) we set off along the purpose built pathways passing small ponds, grass areas and nosing at all the local houses and back yards. So peaceful and perfect under the dappled shade of trees the whole way. 

We arrived in Winter Garden, a small, I presume, touristy town, beautifully kept with lots of flowers and seating areas, small shops to browse in, and plenty of eateries!

We locked up the bikes and wandered for a while before stopping for lunch in a little Mexican restaurant where we shared a couple of taco meals.

Back through the town, we returned to the bikes and started off back to the start point. 

The weather today made this a perfect activity, not too hot, but warm enough for jeans and t-shirts. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and had completed the trip in a little under 3 hours.

We stopped at World of Citrus on the way back. They have a new location just up the road from where it used to be with a few animals to see, pigs, kangaroos, capybara etc. The shop didn't seem as big as I remembered with less produce available but I did get a grapefruit for Keith and I to have for breakfast!

Back to the villa, hot water is still playing up despite plumber having tightened some bits inside it!

We chilled for a while before heading out for dinner. Keith wasn't feeling great this evening, so he stayed home while Sarah, Stephen and I headed for a fishy dinner at Red Lobster. Keith isn't keen on fish anyway, but Sarah wanted to try some snow crab and Stephen thought he'd like to try to, so tonight seemed the ideal opportunity.

We ordered a large platter plate with lobster, snow crab and shrimp for me, Sarah had a shrimp platter and Stephen had salmon. We were then able to sample some different things from each other. This worked well, and we quite a laugh trying to extract meat from the crab legs! We all enjoyed the crab and the lobster. Stephen doesn't like shrimp/prawns but they were lovely too and Sarah and I enjoyed the varieties of breaded butterfly prawns, breaded shrimp, garlic prawns and prawn linguine! We also had a hush puppy side with my meal to try. The cheddar scones were also good, but we didn't fill ourselves up with those so had them bagged to bring home.

Back home and again, once sat down we were suddenly shattered and it wasn't long gefirecwe we're all heading to bed.

Day 4 Cold! Girly shopping!

With a very chilly day forecast ahead we decided today would be a rest day.  

we all headed out first for breakfast at IHOP.  With eggs, bacon, pancakes and eggs eaten we dropped Stephen back at the villa, he was happy to chill in the villa today, so Keith dropped Sarah and I at Posner Park for some retail therapy.  He then returned to the villa where he and Stephen spent some time playing table football, pool and air hockey.

Sarah and I had a slow mooch (2 hrs!!) round Hobby Lobby! Surprisingly we didn't buy much but did have fun looking at everything. We stopped at a Twistee for a white chocolate milkshake before having a look round some of the other shops around Posner Park. 

Keith popped back to pick us uup mid afternoon and we had another trip to Publix to pick up more lunch and breakfast supplies.

Back at the villa we had a small late lunch and chilled for a while.

While we were out the maintenance man came to look at the hot water, unfortunately he didn't fix it, it needs a plumber, and today is like a Bank Holiday here (veteran's day) so not happening! Hopefully tomorrow! 

Stephen was feeling a bit under the weather and didn't fancy any food, so the rest of us headed to Longhorns for dinner.  

A delicate of wild west shrimp to start followed by sirloin steak for Sarah and I.  I had mine with sweet potato, butter and cinnamon sugar, yum! Keith had chop steak (essentially a burger without the bread!! 🤣) which he said was really good.

Shrimp starters, but we were too quick, dived in, forgot to take photo! 

Back home and it wasn't long before we were all yawning again! 

Weather is due to warm up tomorrow thankfully, it has been pretty cold here, enough to make you shiver!

Day 3 - Shopping and SeaWorld

We had breakfast in the villa this morning with supplies from a visit to the local Publix supermarket yesterday. Our normal holiday breakfast of croissants, ham and cheese with orange juice. 

Unfortunately we have discovered there is no hot water in the villa, so after messaging the owners, they are going to send the management company round to sort,. They expect its the pilot light gone out!

The weather today is cold! There is a cold front heading this way for 2 days with highs of 15 and lows of 2! 

We headed out late morning for a shopping trip at the outlet malls at Vineland. The free surface car parks were as usual heaving so we caved and paid $12 for the multistory. After the usual hunt for trainers, tshirts and fleeces all we came away with was 2 polo shirts for Keith. We grabbed some lunch from the food court, Chinese, then headed back to the car.

We decided to head to SeaWorld as its only 10 mins or so away from the outlet mall. We were soon parked up close to the entrance and headed into the park. The park is open til 8 tonight so we can see the park with all its Christmas lights. We were expecting largish queues and we were slightly worried when an announcement was made that the dolphin show was at capacity, however we needn't have worried the park was actually quite quiet. We got rides done on Pipeline, penguin trek, the new ride Expedition Odyssey, Kraken, and multiple, consecutive rides on Mako as well as seeing some of the animals including Shark Encounter, rays, dolphin nursery, penguins, walruses and belugas.

The weather did turn really cold after sunset and despite having our fleeces on we were really cold.  We headed out of the desserted park about 7.30, although Keith had retreated a bit earlier with a hot coffee to sit in the car out of the bitterly cold wind. 

Dinner today was a burger stop at Culvers, our favourite fast food burgers over here! We were all shattered by the time we got back to the villa and had another early night.

2025 Day 2 Busch Gardens and on to Orlando

We were all awake early, as expected. We got ourselves sortedcand headed down for the included breakfast at the hotel.  On offer was turkey breakfast sausage patties, pork sausages, scrambled egg or omelette, plus all the usual breads, yoghurt, pancakes etc plus warm cinnamon rolls.

We packed the car and headed out. We were too early for the park so found ourselves at Target for some shopping at about 9am on a Sunday morning!  Stephen had forgotten to bring swim shorts but this was quickly remedied here. 

Once the shopping was done we headed for park opening at Busch Gardens.  The plan for today was to wander round the park, looking at animals etc and maybe a ride or two before heading to the villa in Orlando as we expected the park to be busy.  As it turned out the park was reasonably quiet and we got a number of rides done including Sheikra, Tigris, Kumba, Phoenix Rising and Montu.

We also saw a number of the animal exhibits too including orangutans, gorillas, sloths, alligators and a close up with a tiger.  

It was a very hot and humid day, quiet cloudy and we did have a rain/thunder storm that closed all rides early afternoon.  We had "some "shelter from the storm under some trees while we shared a chocolate funnel cake.

We headed out just after 3, and Stephen drove us up to Orlando,

Our villa this year is in Calabay Park, along the US27. We have stayed in a villa just along the road back in 2010.

After a couple of hours in the villa/pool we headed out for dinner at Applebee's.  We shared a starter of Korean chicken pieces, onion rings and fried pickles! Mains were bourbon chicken and fries for me, cajun pasta and chicken for Keith, burger for Stephen and rivulets and fries for Sarah, all accompanied with a variety of flavoured lemonades.

2025 Travel to Tampa

 Our flights this year are via Tampa, which is a first for us.  We left home around 8.15am arriving at Gatwick around 9.20am, and handed the car over to the valet parking and made our way into the terminal.  After checking our bags in, we were quickly through a very quiet security and into the departure lounge. We had breakfast at one of the restaurants.  It wasn't long before the gate was announced and boarding started.  

Quiet a busy flight, so no moving to quieter rows.  Flight was OK, food could have been better!  I think we all watched some films, played games or read. 

We arrived into a very warm tampa just before sunset. After making our way through immigration and baggage collection we boarded the monorail system to get to the car rental garage.  

Keith and Stephen are our nominated drivers this trip.  We were soon loading the suitcases into a brand new Chevrolet Equinox with 6 miles on the clock.

Keith drove with Stephen navigating to our hotel, Holiday Inn, for the night near Busch Gardens.

We dumped our cases and went in search of food.  Tonight we wanted somequick so ended up just down the road at Popeyes, for chicken burgers!

Then back to the hotel to get some much needed sleep.

Friday - last morning, evening flight home

It appears the weather matched our mood today, overcast with a bit of rain.  We packed the last remaining bits and bobs into the cases and headed out just before 10.  We decided to do Perkins for breakfast.  Maybe not the best suggestion as although the restaurant didn't look full I'm guessing they didn't have full staff in as we waited ages for a table, and then quite a while for food.  Whilst it was OK, was not our best breakfast this trip.

With a quick stop at Walmart for some last minute candy/medicine supplies we headed off up the i4 to Top Golf again.  The shops were certainly busy this morning, we think because of Black Friday, and the outlet mall as seen from the i4 was heaving, with cars parked on all the grass verges for about a mile round the centre.

We had another hour and a golf playing various versions of top golf before heading to the airport.

With a last minute stop (nearly forgot) to top up the fuel we arrived at the airport just after 3 for our 6.10 flight.  We dropped off the car and headed into the airport where we were quickly through bag drop, a short wait for security then through to the departure area. We ate at Shake Shack in the airport.

Bit late for the car photo but here it is ... Kia Telluride

The flight unfortunately got delayed just after they announced the first groups to board.  There was a navigation fault that needed a new spare part and needed testing before the plane could fly.  We finally boarded and took off just after 9pm.