Month: December 2010

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Orlando November 2010 – Day 12

Well here it is, my final posting of this trip. I don’t know about you folks but its gone well quick for us with this final week flying by.

We’re all checked in and bags dropped off at the Downtown Disney check-in service and now back at the villa for the final couple of hours tidying round (and saying our goodbyes to it :-(). We’ve packed all 3 cases (incl. the broken one) and each weighed in heavy but under our upper class allowance thankfully. Just hope now we don’t get stopped by UK customs as we have a lot of luggage – must be all those prezzies we’ve bought y’all 😉

So yesterday, we went out quite late after doing some work stuff (trying to get back into it :-() and headed to Wall Mart. We’ve not been to one this trip and needed to stock up on cheap pills! We went to the one up the 27 and got our pills, some Xmas cards and some cool Xmas signs for the house back home. After self serve check out we decided to go next door to Chili’s for lunch. Since this would be our food for the day we needed a decent meal to help us get around Disney at our pace! There was an offer on for 20 bucks to share a starter and get a main dish each so we opted for that starting with the tortilla chips and salsa dip (I’m sure these used to be brought to the table free before) followed by chicken fajita’s. The food was good and was just what we needed to fill us up.

We left Chili’s and made our way to the Stein Mart store. It was not what either of us expected. Full of old folks and old fashioned like a 1970’s C&A! It did have good brands at cheap prices though. It was not a huge store so we left fairly quickly and got on the road to Disney. Whilst Mickey’s very merry Christmas party officially starts at 7pm guests can get in as early as 4pm and we’d decided about 6pm was good for us. We’d looked at the sample plan in Chili’s and there was an offer to watch the fireworks from the Tomorrow Land terrace with a buffet included. It said go to the restaurant for reservations but we thought we’d call and see. We did so but it was all fully booked; still, something for us to try and get for next time.

It was a cold evening so as we parked at Disney (seemingly way back) we added all our layers. The courtesy tram to the ticketing and transportation centre was freezing and we hoped that the park with all its people would be warmer. We decided to get the monorail to the park entrance….Por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas.

There is also a ‘Tronorail’ running at the mo – a Tron painted monorail train but it was running on the other line.

We got into the park just before 6pm (timed to perfection by us as always). Since the Carousel of Progress is always closed during these evening special events but we were still officially in the daytime hours, we thought we’d go and see if it was running. It was and I was delighted. I adore this ride! It needs a little updating in places now but I merrily sang along as always.

After this we made our way to the TTA Peoplemover. The train ride that goes around Tomorrow Land and through shops and rides such as Buzz Lightyear’s Space Rangers and Space Mountain. Space Mountain was closed for re-furb this time last year but its now re-opened with jazzy music added. We saw the cars flying round in the dark and heard the screams of the riders.

After this we went over to Fantasy Land and stopped in one of the café’s for our complimentary cocoa and cookies. We needed a warm up after the train ride. As we went in there was a Mickey Mouse outline on the floor done in water – not just the round head and ears symbol either, a proper Mickey with detail. We reckon the cast members must have a stencil or something. When we finished our cocoa it had all but dried up.

We then went into Small World where the queuing system has changed and the exit is now the entry! And then to Philharmagic; Paul’s all time fave ride. We walked straight into a loading show with no wait at all. The smell of the cherry pie was good and this show still amazes new audiences as well as entertaining old hands like us over and over.

As we then walked through the Park we saw the 7 dwarfs at a photo spot and got a quick pic ourselves. We saw Hook and Smee later too.

Paul also loves the Haunted Mansion ride but ever since the guy touched me in the dark room at the start I’ve hated it and refused to ride. This time Paul persuaded me with a promise to protect me in the first room. I also had my lighy-up Tinkerbell on so had my own light source around me to help too. The complete darkness was not for long and my Tink certainly helped me see. The actual ride itself is really clever with some great special effects.

When we came out the parade so was in full swing so getting about the park is difficult. We found a quiet bridge where we could stand and watch (video posted for you to enjoy too). The park was fairly busy with what seemed like an inordinate amount of mobility scooters and pushchairs.

As the parade ended we made our way through the crowds over to Pirates of the Caribbean. Again there was no queue and we got straight on (despite folks struggling with the boarding system big time!) After we exited we figured we’d get one more Philharmagic show in before the 9:30pm fireworks so headed on over. We were in the waiting area at 5 to 9 as the cast member announced there was a technical fault. About half those waiting opted to leave but we said we’d give it 10 mins. Literally, within a couple of minutes the doors opened so we were ok. Paul always likes to do this show twice!

We exited at about 9:15 – perfect timing to go and get out spot for the fireworks.

As soon as the fireworks ended we left the park. We managed to get straight on a tram and into the monorail station without too many crowds. We had just missed a monorail train so waited a couple of mins for the next but got on ok….Por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas.

We were back in the car by 10pm. It was getting quite cold now but we’d been ok in the park; in and out of rides.

We did a bit of packing when we got in and emptied the owners’ closet (in case we get charged for disposal of items by the new owners). With all 3 cases we should have no problems getting stuff home.

Well, that’s about it…oh yeah, I forgot to post that we managed to get an old 1912 Penny in our change one day. It’s worth about $1.65 as it’s really battered but mint it could be worth 100’s! Either way, it’s nearly 100 years old and is rare because of some Titanic association that we can’t quite work out. We’ll deffo keep it as a collectors piece.

So, this really is it. We leave the villa in about an hour. Drop the car off and head for the lounge hoping for a smooth flight with no delays. In the words of Mickey himself…see ya real soon!

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Orlando November 2010 – Day 11

It’s Thursday lunchtime and it’s a cool one here (though nothing compared to good ole blighty right now). It’s our penultimate day and we don’t want to come home – we’ve had a great time. Today we are off for some lunch and then onto Stein Mart, a store that’s been advertised a lot on TV so we thought we’d check it out. We only want something quick and easy to do this afternoon as at about 6pm we are off to Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Christmas Party – yippppeeeeee!!

I think I left you at the end of Tuesday after a really tiring but fab day at Universal so you need to hear about yesterday. We were up and out by about 1pm and got to Altemonte quite quickly down I4 though the Altemonte area itself was heaving with traffic. The mall car park was pretty full too but we managed to park outside Dillards. We headed straight to the food court as we’d not had brekky. Paul opted for Mandarin Express, the chinese and I had a good old-fashioned big mac meal.

After this we made our way into Dillards on the upper floor, which was menswear. Nothing was on offer much anymore and we don’t pay full prices 😉 so we moved on. We did look at the suitcases in there as there was a sale on. The assistant told us that all were discounted so we looked at a $300 dollar spinner that was coming in at just $150. We thought about it and said we would come back.

This mall is quite small but we looked in the Apple store, a few shoe shops and got the remainder of our crimbo prezzies, which was the objective. I also got a really nifty limited edition Coach make up case with cosmetics included that was on offer at Estee Lauder.

We made our way around ending up back in Dillards. I looked at a DKNY watch but it was plastic and not real ceramic so I passed. We decided we would get the case so went and bought that. As it happens we’ve been emailed this morning that we have $175 form Virgin so at least it’s covered but it show there is no way we would have got the $300 Samsonite paid for. It’s appalling customer service.

We left Altemonte and decided to go to the Florida Mall as Paul needed to get a new pre-paid Visa card (he needs this to buy from US I-tunes). We started by looking in Saks and Nordstrom at the ceramic watches. In Nordstrom they had the perfect DKNY one that came in cheaper than some of the other brands so Paul bought it for me as my crimble prezzie. That means I can’t wear it yet as it has to go off to Santa 😉

Paul then got his credit card – after a good 15 minute wait as the folks in front were trying to get tickets via Ticketmaster and we all know rubbish they are. We then went to Starbucks and sat upstairs watching the world go by.

Paul still needed some work shirts. He’s been unable to find them discounted in Dillards so was wondering where to go. He looked at H&M and Old Navy but I had the bright idea of going to JC Penny. We made our way round and they had just what he needed. Long armed cotton work shirts at 20 bucks each – perfick! He got a few in white and blue and we looked at some other fab clothing items…you’ll see a particularly fetching white linen jacket below 🙂 This is Paul’s Miami Vice look and at just 60 bucks was a bargain don’t you think ?

We left the mall at about 7pm and wanted to go to the Polynesian resort hotel to see the Wishes fireworks as we had not done this all holiday. It was a chilly night and we’d not come prepared for this so were not sure if we’d freeze to death. I had ¾ sleeves and sandals on!! When we got out of the car it felt cold, especially when the wind blew. Then Paul had a bright idea – we’d wear his new work shirts. For him this was ok, he had a white shirt on with jeans that looked good but for me…can you imagine? I looked like some kind of mad scientist in an oversized lab coat!! Still, it actually did the trick as I wrapped up in it. We got a hot choc from the café to hold and sip and made our way out at 5 to 8. We got a beach bed to sit on and kept ourselves back in a secluded place so the wind didn’t really get to us. It was a clear night so the show was great and we could hear the accompanying music too.

Paul 'Don Johnson'
Paul 'Don Johnson'

We came home after a quick stop at Wallgreens for some Hawaiian sweet rolls for tea!! We were not overly hungry so munched on these and crisps. We watched more Family Guy, including a special that Paul had downloaded, which was particularly funny (it was the Quantum Leap, parallel universe one) and then the Apprentice. We were both happy to see Laura leave and Lord Shugs made the right decision.

There you are then, all up to date again… only one more posting to go probably 🙁

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Orlando November 2010 – Day 9

It’s a late post today as we were up and out early to go to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure today. We’ve just got in after dinner on the way home at Olive Garden. I had Lasagne and Paul had the Fettuccini Alfredo. We followed with mini desserts of tiramisu and choc mouse cake.

So back to yesterday and we were off to the movies. We decided to go to the cinema at Universal city walk rather than Downtown Disney as the timing suited us better but after getting there and realising we had to pay 15 bucks for parking Paul was not amused. He has requested that I slate Universal for this and tell all that cares to read not to bother with them if they can go elsewhere. For us we will certainly stick to Disney for the flicks in future, as the parking at Downtown is free. We rebelled in the car park by not parking in the next allotted spot but by driving round so as to be nearer the exit.

We paid $8 each for our seats and after getting the worlds biggest cherry coke – which scarily came with free refills but god only know who could drink that amount of soda – we made our way to our screen. We had the whole theatre to ourselves, not another soul came in. We sat in the middle and it was well chilly in there.

The film was really good. John Brennan trying to break his wife Lara Brennan out of jail as she is wrongly convicted of murder. It was quite long at just over 2 hours but definitely worth watching. I won’t tell you if they are successful or not so as not to spoil it for anyone who watches it.

We came out of the cinema about 5pm and had a wander around City Walk. Paul looked through all the books in Hart and Huntingdon looking for inspiration for his next ink but failed to find any so it looks like no new artwork this trip. The shop was really empty so business looked slow (prices are not cheap there so not surprising I guess), we also knew that our usual artist Rob Jarrett had moved back home and was no longer in Orlando anyway.

We also took a look in the Fossil shop and I tried on a ceramic watch. Paul dropped the watch stand and the assistant nearly had a heart attack thinking it was the ceramic watch. The prices were not that far off other brands such as Armani, DKNY and Juicy, all of which I’d rather have so I didn’t purchase.

We left Universal and went via I-Drive for a scenic route back to the 192 where we stopped at TGI’s for dinner. Paul had the Jack Daniels burger and I had the Jack Daniels chicken. The food and service were good. We came home and watched 2 hours of Family Guy. Very funny but we can’t believe it doesn’t get loads of complaints.

Today we were up and out by 11am after a row on the phone with Virgin who are refusing to give us anymore than $100 to replace the suitcase they broke. They’re insisting we provide the original receipt!!! After a couple of escalations Jemma in Crawley promised to email Paul by the end of the day. We checked when we got in and no email so another call and row seems to be in store for tomorrow!!

We’ve had more bad news too. The Pool heater company are adamant the heater is working. We turned it on this morning and it was showing 80 degrees. Today we got back and it showed 78 degrees. It’s been a scorching hot day (record breaking again!) so there is no way that heater can be working. We’re off in 3 days so there’s nothing we can do; it becomes the new owners problem and IPG’s if they get any guests in the coming months as temperature drops.

We started in Islands of Adventure. We had to go to Guest Services first as our passes were from 2001 and had to be converted to new bar coded passes. We had 3 and the guy confirmed they each had 1 day’s hopper left.

We started by riding Poseidon’s Fury. Rides all seemed to have small queues and we waited about 5 mins before entering this one. It is more a show than a ride as you move through rooms and see the battle between Poseidon and his nemesis. It culminates as the room opens up to become Poseidon’s temple and there is projection onto water spays. Not a bad show really.

After this we caught the end of the Sinbad stunt show before we headed into the all-new Harry Potter land – it looked really good, the train, the shops and Hogwarts castle. There are a few pics below for you. As we went in we decided to try the Butterbeer. Apparently, when asked JK Rowling said she had made it up so there was no real recipe. People have made up there own alcoholic and non alcoholic versions and the Universal Studios one comes as a no alcoholic frozen version too with a caramel cream topping. It was nice though a little sickly as the cream mixed in.

We wandered up through the village past the shops and the restaurant with its very typical English menu to Hogwarts. The castle has a walk through and a ride but it’s a severe coaster so we gave it a miss. Instead we went on the Phoenix roller coaster, which used to be the Unicorn (Chris – Paul managed to get you to actually ride this once remember – though its probably a memory you’re trying to suppress!!). The area has incorporated this and the duelling dragons ride (now called Dragon challenge) really well.

We left Harry’s land and went past the Jurassic park ride. We said hi to Lexy (Lexy Rexy the T-Rex) and I managed to get a really nice Amber pig in the store. Another for my collection. We still couldn’t ride the Pterandon Flyers as you have to have a child under a certain height to ride with each adult.

It was about 1pm so we decided to stop for a spot of lunch – burgers and fries. We then carried on though the park through the toon lagoon area with all the water riders. We used all our quarters on the water blaster machines where you can squirt water at the riders as they exit the ride. Just as they think its over and they are drying off we blast them with more cold water – such fun if in a slightly evil way. Millsy; I reckon you’d love this past time.

I had some banana split Dippin’ Dots as we sat for a while to rest our feet. We momentarily contemplated the water rapids ride but neither of us particularly wanted to walk round soaked so we gave it a miss and decided to move onto the other park – it was about 4pm by now.

There is a new rollercoaster here called the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. This seems to be based on something musical but we’re not sure what!

We wandered past Twister, Shrek 4D and the Mummy Returns before heading into Disaster with Christopher Walken who plays an over the top movie director called Frank Kincaid. It’s really clever the way he is projected onto the stage and interacts with the actual cast members. Audience members are selected to star in various scenes (this is the old Earthquake where Chris had a starring role once – none of today’s were anywhere near as good as you ;-)) and are filmed in front of green screens. The final bit is still the old tram ride and it’s on the way back from this that they play the pieced together scenes in a film trailer. It’s not a bad ride this one.

We then went straight to Jaws and walked on with no queue whatsoever (the park was really quiet at this time which was great). The fire and steam effects in Jaws were way too hot given the weather though we do remember the time we used that ride to warm up on a freezing cold day a few years back. The ride’s the same as ever with the cast member boat driver hamming it up as ever.

We then went into the 5pm Animal Actors show. It was almost empty so we got front row seats. I do like the animals. The cat that opens the show by putting the sign up needed 3 attempts; bless it! Other animals featured were the Men in Black Pug, loads of dogs responding to verbal and visual commands, the usual cockatoo, pigeons a feature on a parrot flying in front of a fan so it pretty much hovered in front of a blue screen which is apparently how they get birds in flight on the right background in movies and of course the star of the show as always was the Orang-o-tang. There was also a great pig that kept popping in with various signs on its back for the audience’s amusement. The pig was of course my fave.

After the show we made our way around the park to go onto ET. Again there was no queue so after getting our passports (the bar codes that register your name) and a quick meander through the forest queuing area we got onto our bikes (no peddling of course!) We heard ET say goodbye at the end and our names were loud and clear.

By now it had to be after 6pm but it was still really warm and still light. We walked past the restaurants to Terminator 2 – 3D but found it closed. Paul was a bit gutted as he really likes that show. With things clearly closing and our feet and legs pretty aching we decided to call it a day. We’d done over 6 hours – less than we used to be able to so clearly a sign of our age is definitely catching up with us. I think Paul is finally starting to realise how his marching his family around at our younger pace was a bit if a killer for them!

Tomorrow we are going to go to the Mall at Altemonte. A final shopping day to try and finish all the Crimbo prezzies so we don’t have to fret when we are back home. Though talking of home we may struggle to make it smoothly. The bad weather over there is set to continue for a few days which will play havoc with UK airports and may well delay our return…although if it’s only sat around in an airport we’d rather get home.