Florida 2011 - Fun Fun Fun!

Trip Report / Travel Blog

Day 1

The holiday started with a stressful drive from home to Manchester airport, there was thick fog for the majority of the journey and only days after the horrifc crash on the M5, we were very concious of the risks of driving in heavy fog.  Fortunately, we left home nice and early, allowing us plenty of time to take a steady safe drive and we arrived with lots of time to spare.

 

We had free invites to use the V-room and we enjoyed our free breakfast, comfortable seats and free access to wi-fi while we waited for our call to our Virgin Atlantic flight to Orlando International.  The flight left on time and landed in Orlando 30 minutes early.

We picked up our little rental car and after a short drive to Walt Disney World we were soon checked in to our hotel and ready to play.

 

The fun started with a 10 minute walk from our hotel to the gates of Epcot where we picked up our 14 day ultimate Disney passes.  The Epcot food and drink festival was on-going so we took a walk around the 'world' and sampled some nice snacks and drinks before getting too tired and deciding it was time to get some sleep.

Day 2

We got up nice and early, which is very easy with the time difference and decided to use our $50 hotel food credit on a breakfast in the Dolphin. We were almost the first in and were pleasantly surprised by the amount of choice and the quality of the food at the buffet. I had a magic orange juice glass that kept filling itself up every time it was half empty (the service was really good!) I must have had about eight glasses of that yummy Florida juice.

 

After we had eaten our fill of cooked to order omelettes, French toast and crispy bacon, we headed to one of the Disney transportation system bus stops and caught a bus to Downtown Disney.

 

Our target was the House of Blues for the Virgin welcome meeting. It’s not something we would normally do but there was an offer that required us to show our faces at the welcome meeting to get early entry to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Unfortunately, we arrived at Downtown Disney at 9.00 before everything else was open. The welcome meeting wasn’t due to start until 9.30, so we filled the 30 minutes with walking along the lake front, which was very pleasant in the warm morning sun.

 

9.30 soon came around and we joined the other couples, expecting some brain washing and some hard selling… but that wasn’t the case. The virgin rep spoke with each couple in turn (in the order that they came into the House of Blues) and talked through their options and sold them what they wanted. When she got to us, we explained we were just there for the Harry Potter freebie and she quickly processed the paper work and we were on our way before 10.00!

 

Now the fun could really begin! We walked back to the bus stops and had to catch a bus to the nearest resort (you can’t take a Disney bus directly from Downtown to one of the Parks). We decided that whichever Park bus turned up first would be our destination for the rest of the day and that was Disney's Hollywood Studios (DHS)

We exited the bus and made our way to the DHS entrance and in through the entrance gate. We strolled along Hollywood Boulevard and decided we would make a right turn and head down Sunset Boulevard towards the Tower of Terror. Alan got a fast pass for the Tower and we made our way to the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. This was my first time on it as I suffer from motion sickness, but all was fine and I enjoyed the ride. Alan did his Tower ride and we worked our way around the park.

 

Not too much had changed since our last visit in 1999… probably the best addition was the Toy Story ride which we both enjoyed immensely and revisited many times during our WDW stay. We also enjoyed the American Idle experience, of which we watched the last show of the day involving the best of the day’s contestants.

 

Another highlight was the Fantasmic Show, the lights and fireworks were quite impressive.

 

We stayed until the park closed and then took the boat back to the Boardwalk and to our hotel.

Day 3

Disney Tree of Life

Again we decided to catch the first bus that arrived and today that was to the Animal Kingdom. We arrived too early again, and decided to go for a breakfast in the Rainforest Café. They were just starting a new loyalty programme which had a one off $25 joining fee (which you got credited to your card after registering on-line). We go to the Rainforest café in MGM Grand in Las Vegas, so we decided we might as well sign up. You collect points for your visits to all Landry’s properties (which include Bubba Gump, Yak & Yeti, T-Rex and many others) for every $250 you spend you get $25 credited to your loyalty card… plus you get an additional $25 every year to use around your birthday. I had my favourite rainforest breakfast, Tonga Toast.

 

Tummy filled we went into the Park and went straight to the Yeti ride… big mistake. You need to know that I get motion sickness really easily and although I had done well on the rides in DHS the day before... today was a different story. I think it was riding backwards so soon after eating breakfast that did me in… I felt so ill after the ride that I decided to give anything remotely moving a miss for the rest of the day!

 

This didn’t stop Alan’s fun though and he went on the Kali River Rapids and got nicely soaked. There were lots of shows in this park and we had fun working our way around them. One of the highlights was Alan having to make elephant noises on behalf of our section of the audience in the Festival of the Lion King. 

Day 4

The Three Broomsticks Inn

Today was one of the best days of my life… Now this may make you frown, but it was just such a perfect day and I had soooo much fun!

 

It was the special early entry to Universal Studios day. We had to use the rental car and we got up extra early so that we got to the Universal Studios parking gate at 6.15… we were, as always too early and had to wait 15 minutes for the parking attendants to arrive… we handed over our special invite and were given a complimentary parking ticket for the day. We parked the car and then headed to the Island of Adventures entry gate, where we were met by park representatives and then at 7:00 am we were escorted through the park with about 20 other people to the Hog’s Head Pub where we were given a complimentary breakfast (coffee, juice, toast and pastries). By just after 7.30 we had eaten our fill and we wandered outside onto the streets of Hogsmeade. I have read all the Harry Potter books and seen all the films and to say I was excited to stand in Hogsmeade was an understatement. Other than the staff, Alan and I were the only people walking around the streets (the other special guests were still eating). Even going to the restrooms was fun as moaning Myrtle was in there doing what she does best!

The sorting hat

After taking some pictures of the empty streets we walked up to Hogwarts (it was about 7.50am) and we were posing for pictures when one of the staff members said you can come in and do the ride if you like… so we walked around Hogwarts completely on our own and when we got to the ride the attendant pointed out that most people take an hour or two to do the walk we had done in less than a minute! After yesterday’s experience with the Yeti ride, I stepped to one side and Alan rode the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride completely on his own… and I mean completely on his own. No other person got on or off the ride while he was on it!

Alan riding the Dragon Challenge alone!

Next we rode the Flight of the Hippogriff twice, completely on our own. Then on to the Dragon Challenge ride. I walked with Alan through what would normally be the queue area (no-one else was there) and Alan rode the blue dragon and the red dragon, sitting at the front, one after the other… again completely on his own!!! It was like being a VIP and as though the park had been closed for us.

River Adventure Ride

9.00 soon came around, and because everyone was rushing to Hogsmeade we had the Jurassic Park area to ourselves. We rode the Jurassic Park River Ride twice and then onto Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls… now we got splashed a little on the River Ride and got a lot wetter on the Ripsaw Falls ride… so Alan thought it was a good idea to go on the Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges… big mistake!! The parts of us that we had managed to keep dry on the other two rides were now wet… and when I say wet, I mean soaked, the water was running off us. Fortunately it was a lovely sunny day, but it still took until lunchtime before we started to dry out!

 

We dripped our way to Marvel Super Hero Island, where we both went on the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man and Alan went on the Incredible Hulk Coaster without me!

 

Then into Seuss Landing where we queued way too long for the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride… I much preferred the Cat in the Hat ride.

 

Time to change parks and we walked over to Universal’s original park and it was almost like a ghost town, everyone must have been in the other park. Alan went on the Rip Ride Rocket ride while I took a rest in the sun. Then into Shrek 4D which still makes me laugh! Somehow I was convinced to go on the Simpsons Ride which was basically the same as the old Back to the Future ride… I kept my eyes closed and I managed to leave the ride with my lunch still in my tummy.

 

The Men in Black Alien Attack ride was a major disappointment and wasn’t half as good as the Toy Story ride.

 

Now tired and ready to head to WDW we said goodbye to Universal World and drove back to our hotel for a relaxing evening.


Day 5

Magic Kingdom

Today was Mickey day and we took the bus to the Magic Kingdom. We arrived before the official opening and waited with all the excited children for Mickey to arrive on his train to open the gates to MK. I don’t mind admitting that I had a tear in my eye and that I felt quite emotional as the music played.

 

Formalities over, we went into the park and walked straight to Tomorrowland where we went on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (again not as good as the Toy Story ride in DHS). We spent the day working our way around the park and enjoyed going on all the rides we had done in years past. We filled the day and it was soon time for the electrical parade and the absolute highlight of the day the fireworks over the beautifully lit up castle!

Day 6

The day started with a nice stroll along the Boardwalk to Epcot. The food festival was still on so we spent the majority of the day eating and drink our way around World Showcase. We went on the Test Track a few times, Mission: Space (which was fun) and all the old rides again. Alan got a fast pass for his ride on Soarin, which he thought was quite disappointing.

 

We were too tired to stay out for the 9pm IllumiNations show and saved that for another day.

Day 7

Back to Disney's Hollywood Studios again and we made sure that we went into every show and did the remainder of the rides that we hadn’t done on our previous visit… and of course went on our favourite ride Toy Story!

Day 8

Today it was time for a big change in scenery and drove I4 to Tampa. We had reservations at the Hard Rock Casino and tickets for the 1pm Buccaneers game so we wanted to make sure we got to the Casino early enough to dump the car and head to the game.

 

We were pleasantly surprised to find that we were able to check-in and dump our overnight bag in the room. We then caught a bus from outside the casino to the Raymond James Stadium to see the Bucs play the Houston Texans. Watching the game in the flesh was much more interesting than on the TV as there were lots of things going on around us. Unfortunately the Bucs were not having a good day and they lost.

We got the bus back to the Casino and had fun playing some old favourite slot machines and some new ones and at the end of the evening we had only lost a total of $30.

Day 9

Liz in Epcot

We had breakfast at the Hard Rock Casino before we left Tampa and drove back to our hotel in WDW. We decided to make the most of our Landry’s loyalty card and went to the Rainforest Café at Downtown Disney for a late lunch.

 

Later in the afternoon we made our way to Epcot and we finally stayed in the park long enough to see the IllumiNations fireworks… good but not as good as Wishes in MK.

Day 10

Alan & his best friend Stitch!

Back to Animal Kingdom today and we made sure we had done all the shows and rides and had a lovely lunch in the Yak & Yeti (collecting some more Landry’s points).

 

Alan got to meet one of his heros, naughty Stitch, who tried to steal Alan's beer! 

Day 11

Stitch

Today we returned to Universal Studios followed the same pattern as on the previous days and made sure we had seen all the shows and repeated our favourite rides. We had a late lunch on City Walk at Bubba Gump’s (collecting some more points).

 

Back to WDW we walked form our hotel to Epcot and then caught the Monorail to Magic Kingdom where we stayed and played until the Wishes fireworks again.

Day 12

Magic Kingdom

Our last full day, we decided to cover our favourite rides again and revisited Disney's Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom.

Day 13

Time to go home, we checked out of the hotel and drove to Downtown Disney where we checked our bags and selves in for our flight at the Virgin ‘desk’. We then had lunch at the T-Rex; where we used our points earned $25 off our bill. The afternoon was soon over and it was time to drive to the airport for our overnight flight home.

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