Our Florida Holidays 2010: Hogwarts Express

8 weeks to go before we land in Florida for our second family holiday to the sunshine state, this time we will be staying in a villa at sunridge woods, off Ronald Reagan way, Kissemmee.

click the villa link for a virtual tour.

4 weeks to go, ive just sent off for a disabled parking permit from the Florida courts, and ive booked a scooter for Alison to use in and around the parks.

1 week to go well not long to go, everything is in motion just the boring wait now, have checked out the plane and the stuff that's on-board, 24 films, video games, TV shows all in the seats for our enjoyment. just hope its a smooth flight.

1 day to go its the waiting now, bags are packed and we've checked in online, just dotting a few I's and trying to relax. give me a day or two before i update this blog and we'll share our holiday with you.

made it. it took us 9hrs but it went without a hitch, i did think i would be updating this every day but ive not had the time, so i will just fill you in on everything up till now.

day one Saturday 31st July,
we went to the local wallmart to get some stuff for the villa, it has changed so much since last time in 2005 it was not the usual sacks of cereals, no we are not joking,
the heat is topping 100 its a welcome to go into the shops with air con, but then we forget until we get to the door then its a BANG the heat is overwhelming,

day 2 Sunday 1st August
we went to Kennedy space centre today, we were driving for ages to get there, what a dissapointment its more geared towards little kids, it brought it all back as to why we did not go there in 2005,
when we decided to go back to the villa we had a long drive back, 1 and half hours!

day 3 Monday 2nd August
we decided not to go to parks so we had a lazy day round the pool

day 4 Tuesday 3rd August
we hit the parks today we went to magic kingdom at 9ish, boy were there a lot of screaming kids,
the first ride was where we were sat down and we were moving around the show instead of the show moving it was a very perculiar feeling, but at least it was out of the heat which topped 100 again,
it helped me (Alison ) as I was using a scooter to go everywhere plus it was my birthday today and Paul had booked a meal for me at cinderellas castle which involved a picture with cinders, and a three course meal, there were a lot of little girls with their princess dresses on, so i felt a little out of place, but enjoyed the experiance all the same.

day 5 wednesday 4 August
its still hot hot hot! none of us wanted to go around a park so we went on an air boat ride, before we went on our air boat we had our photo taken, which we were super impossed on a photo that looked like an alligator was after us, when we saw it we had to buy it for $30,
when it was our time to get on our air boat it was just us 3 in the boat, our guide wayne was wonderfull, he stopped so we could see baby alligators, we all felt very privalidged to see what we did, it was very cooling as it was so hot,
the second time he stopped the airboat, he told us he could see a bald eagle eating a fish in a tree, to begin with none of us could see it, than jacob saw it and I saw it then after a bit of describing to Paul where it was, he saw it, it was very well hidden and once the fish has died it drops it and looks for a live one, how strange is that?
as we were getting to the end of the ride it started to rain so it was just as well it was our time to finish.

day 6 Thursday 5th August
we went to universal today. they say its a small world Paul saw a work mate Paul and his wife Alma McGinn!
there are 2 sections to the park we did the universal side, and as soon as we went into the park Jacob and Paul went into the terminator 2 in 3D show, I know from experience I cannot do 3D so I waited for them outside
next we went into a horror make up show, seeing as i was in a scooter they ushered us in first, we had a wonderful view of everything which was going on, it was funny and informative and also cooling from the excess heat outside, we kept going into shops just for the air con, the next ride was THE MUMMY Paul wanted to go on it, it was a roller coaster in the dark, so I was out, Jacob did not fancy it so he went in alone, he was back after a few minutes as he was alone he was given a seat asap, so instead of a 35 minute wait, he got to ride it straight away. Paul and Jacob went on the simpsons ride which they both thought was out of this world, it was a simulator but was so realistic you believed you were there, if you get to come here, you must do this, its amazing!

day 7 Friday 6th August
lounged around today

day 8 Saturday 7th August
we had a busy day today, we were at EPCOT, I had mentioned that I wanted to stay for the fireworks at 9pm, anyone who has seen the fireworks at EPCOT will know why I wanted to stay to see them,
we went around the worlds around the lake, when we got to England we went in the shops there, pooh bear and tigger were there I had my photo taken with them, it made my day having my photo taken with them both..
after we had eaten our sushi meal in Japan and bought loads of stuff in their shop, it was only 7 so we had some time to kill. Paul and I went on a simulator ride, where we had to fly a spaceship to mars, very realistic which made me feel quite queesy,
when the fireworks were ready to start we had to make our way to where the wheelchairs and scooters were, after they had finished Jacob said they were brilliant and he was glad he had seen them, this was mine and pauls 3rd time but they were still awsome.

day 8 Sunday 8th August
lazy day no park, just a little shopping. tomorrow its islands of adventure, the second universal park that has the new harry potter ride, the hulk ride and spiderman, paul cant wait,

day 9 Monday 9th August
well where do i start. today we went to islands of adventure and paul managed to do the spiderman ride which he missed last time, and he said it was worth the 35min wait. we walked over to the harry potter area and the place was hammered, you couldn't move, the Q's were 125 mins long! i dont like harry potter that much lol. so we kept on walking round the islands going in and out of the shops to cool down, we left the park at around 4pm and went for a steak meal at Charlies on international drive the best steak house in the world, the place is amazing and paul managed to get a 32oz kobe steak for $69, if you dont know what a kobe steak is, its from a cow that has been fed beer and massaged to make the meat as succulent as possible, he said it was the best steak he had ever had, the picture doesnt do it justice, it really was awsome.

day 10 10th august
lazy day by the pool

day 11 11th august
today we went to disney's animal kingdom, its like a zoo with shows and rides, we watched the lion king show which was really good, lots of singing and dancing, we also went on the safari ride which took us through the park where all the animals roam free, giraffes, hippos, elephants and wilderbeast, it was very very good. near the end they had the lions, in a sepperate enclosure (obviously), we finnished the day off with a meal at red lobster.

day 12 12th august
another lazy day but this time shopping, trying to get rid of some dollars so we dont lose out on the exchange rate by bringing any back. it was much harder than you can imagine, (spending money usually is) we've managed to buy a few gadgets, that are not available in the UK yet. tomorrow its our last park, hollywood studios, aka MGM, its a nice park to end on, they have some good rides and shows, just hope the rain holds off, its been in the 90's while we've been here, but has rained everyday for about an hour, and by rain we mean RAIN, everything in the USA is BIG but you've not seen rain like it till you've seen their rain. ok off to bed now, its 11.45pm
i'm up early tomorrow so good night.

day 13 13th august
well only one day left and one park to go to, hollywood studios aka MGM, its the smallest of all the parks so can get pretty busy, we managed to go on aerosmiths rock and roll rollercoaster, a coaster in near darkness that starts with a 0-60 in 2 seconds followed by a couple of loops and twists, not for the faint hearted but exciting. from there we went on the backstage pass tour, you tour the behind the scenes of the park and ends in catastropy canyon, a set that explodes sending gallons of water towards you. after that we did the muppets 3d and a stunt car show that we wanted to see 5 years ago but it got called of because of lightning strikes, after 20 mins in, guess what, they called it off because lightning was on the way, typical! so we walked over to toy story the ride only to find out it had a 90 min wait, we had had enough and headed back to the car, just as we set off in the car it started to rain, when i say rain i mean absolutely pissist it down, so much so that everyone on the motorway pulled over, you couldnt see the front of the car it was that heavy. when it finaly eased we went for dinner at manny's in haines city, its where the locals eat, and has a long wait to get in, luckily i prebooked but still had to wait 30 mins, but it was worth it, loads of quality food at cheap prices. well worth a visit. well thats it, another florida holiday done, just packing now for the return tomorrow, flight leaves here at 6.15pm and gets into manchester at 7am sunday, thanks for joining us
have a nice day yall.

TIPS

when visiting the parks, buy some bottled water from the supermarkets and freeze them over night, with the heat they will last a couple of hours and you can keep filling them up from the drinking water fountains, a bottle of water in the parks will cost you $2.50.

buy water fans at the supermarkets, they are fans that spray water, walmart sold them for $5 disney wanted $15!

apart from sun cream wear insect repellent especially on your legs.

add 6.5% to every purchase its their VAT and is not included in the price you see.

Our Florida Holidays 2010

Tuesday, 10 August 2010

Hogwarts Express

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