Florida Bears 2004 Trip report, days seven to Sixteen

[Florida_Bear]

Day Seven..Sunday Eight August…All 3 of us up before seven a quick spruce up then off to breakfast or so we think !..We find out that on Sundays breakfast doesn’t start until 8am so we decide not to wait, and head off back to the villa in Kissimmee, we got back there at 9:10am to everyone’s surprise!
We charged ourselves up with some breaky then all the gang set off along 1-4 for Super Target, first time there for us and DW describes it as ‘a up market version of Wal-mart’, DW is not too keen but we do our usual thing of splitting up and still manage to spend two hours in there !..Enough time to get some photos developed.
DD not feeling too clever so we cancel some plans and head back to the villa so she can have a kip, we are all ‘doing our thing’ around the place when I see DW staring to pack !..Argghh we have only been here a week!
It was only souvenirs and stuff and some new clothes we had bought.
During the afternoon I phoned Bahama Breeze to do a PS but was told that they operate a strictly first come first served basis, but if we arrived at around 6pm ‘there shouldn’t be a problem’, so did did just that and couldn’t park anywhere, so we used there ‘complimentary’ preferred parking.
The car disappeared and we went in to the restaurant only to be advised that there is a one hour wait for a table, ‘ but is alright you can wait in the bar’ !
They looked at me as if I was mad because I wasn’t prepared to wait an hour, so we walked out just as the man was coming back from parking our vehicle only to be told by us that we wanted our car back !
So I gave him a couple of dollars and off we went to Race Rock across the road and had a very nice meal in there.
As we were in I drive we went along to the Mercado for the evening, and I must say we were all disappointed with it compared with other years as there were many shops and restaurants hat had close down from the last time we visited, we arrived back at the villa around 10pm with youngest DS insisting on a final for the evening dip in the pool 

Day Eight The bear up at 5:50am the rest around 6:45, Sizzler for breakfast, sea world for the day, Bennigans on I-drive for tea, camera shop,watched baseball on TV…enough said 

Day Nine Up early again at 5:45. had breaky at the villa today then off to Blizzard beach.
Very hot and sunny again today, DW’s finger really badly swollen after what we assume was an insect bite so off we went to first aid at BB, and the nurse was great and gave DW some cream and ice pack and some anti-histamine tablets and said that she was to go to a doctor if the swelling started go creep further up her arm. (thankfully it never did)..Had a good day at BB then tried Bahama Breeze again for tea, this time we got in with no wait.
Well, I had what was to turn out to be one of the most gorgeous meals of our whole holiday. I had Jerk Chicken pasta with garlic bread and it was fantastic, it was one those meals that you are disappointed when it was over, I vow to have it again before our holiday is over… Popped up to Sports Dominator for some baseball stuff then a quick bud before heading back to the villa via the Sherberth Road shortcut.
Again as soon as we get back DS,DD and DS get in the Jacuzzi and decide to add some bubble bath !
You can imagine the result, we had to take a photo of course. 
Stared to hear about hurricane charley today, but of course it wont be coming our way !

Day Ten Wednesday 11th August, Whats the matter with us ? yours truly up at 4:30 am with really bad earache, but a few pills seem to take it away for now…breakfast at the villa then it’s off to the Florida Mall which isn’t quite open when we arrive so we sat in the food court and had a cuppa from Barnie’s and of course it would be rude not to have a nice Danish pastry as well 
We do our usual and split up, with me and youngest DS going our way and the rest there own way..I don’t mind shopping but I can’t cope with the sort of shops DW goes into.
I favour gadget shops, audio/video shops, sports shops and the like and of course whenever DS sees a sweet shop he is there…
Another hot and sunny day after some early rain and we arrive back at our villa around 2:30pm all the children want lunch so I joined in just to be sociable … Then some major pool time and off to Cracker Barrell for our tea, as usual I had the meatloaf and veggies…hmmmm lovely.
We then went off to Downtown Disney for the evening, it was a bit too busy for my liking but we had a good evening there and finally got back to the villa round 10pm.

Day Eleven Well the bear had a lie in today; I didn’t get up until 6:45!
Went to IHOP for breakfast, this is DS’s favourite and without hesitation he goes for the German pancakes and piles loads of sugar and lemon on each and every one.
Off to Epcot for the day and boy did we have some rain, and I got a good photo of some of our ‘gang’ sitting on a bench with there poncho’s all around them.
Arrived back at the villa at around 10:30pm, to find baseball on TV…oh well I suppose I will HAVE to watch it then 

Charley Day…Well this is it…..Friday the thirteenth and our wedding anniversary, looking forward to Dixie Stampede tonight….I got up at 5am and the weather man says its possible Charley could hit central Florida, after a couple of hours they tell us it IS going to hit our region and to be off the road by 2pm. So we set off for Belz outlet and I know best I have been there many times and decide not to take the ‘usual’ turn off and head for the next exit….BIG MISTAKE !
I find I am going north on the Turnpike !...So we had to go a few miles up the turn pike through a couple of tolls then back on our self to Belz !
Again we split up and arrange to meet up at 1pm so we could be off the road by 2pm as advised, so after a quick visit to Outdoor world we head back to our villa, the only trouble is of course that everybody else has the same idea to be off the road by 2pm and the traffic is horrendous, at around 1:50pm the heavy rain stared and I mean really heavy, I had the wipers going full belt and I still couldn’t see properly.
We inched our way along through the traffic and when in Sherberth Road we get hit from behind !
Now I know you are not supposed to get out of the car in these circumstances but I deemed it to be safe as we were in bumper to bumper traffic, anyway I got out and it was pi**ing down so the lady was not getting out of her car because of the rain, she said to me ‘why did you stop’…I had to laugh and then asked her if she was ok and as there was no damage we went on our way….We arrived back the villa around 3:45pm with it still raining heavily and the wind getting up…..I phoned Dixie Stampede to see if the show is still on tonight, the answer machine was non committal so we got suited and booted and headed down there.
Again the wind and rain was terrible and it didn’t help that I took a wrong turning. When we arrived there the place was of course deserted, we tried a couple of restaurants but everything was shut, so we headed back to the villa and spotted that Eckerd’s at Formosa Gardens was open !
The shelves were stripped bear, and the only thing we could find was a couple of tins of corned beef hash!
So we had corned beef hash and Spaghetti hoops for our anniversary meal 
We brought in all that we could and closed the villa up for the night and watched a DVD, at one point I opened the front door to take some video and was almost blown over with the force of the wind catching the door!
The power flickered on and off a few times but we didn’t actually loose power, we just lost our cable TV for two days.
The trees out side were almost bent double with the force and there were dustbins and bits and pieces flying all over the place and even being shut in you could hear how bad the wind was and it was also whistling through the pool netting.
Funny enough though, we all slept like logs that night…….
Day Thirteen Saturday 14th August…it’s strange as the weather is so calm that I can’t believe it’s the morning after the night before.
I get up at at 6:15 and walk around the villa to check for damage but there is none at all! ... The two story house next door has quit a bit of cladding ripped off but we are fine…..after breakfast we headed for Wal-mart but it was shut due to no power we are told that I will be open this afternoon, as we drove along the 192 it was like war zone, trees down massive shop signs and canopies down, traffic lights in the road, plastic and glass all over and no traffic lights working., so with nearly everything shut we head back to spend the day at the villa.
We went back to Wal-mart later on but its still shut so we head off to the shop at wide world of sports, I am disappointed with there selection but we spot that the All sports café is open and decide to have our tea there…We found out that Publix is open and go there for some provisions.
We almost everything else still shut we headed back to the villa for the evening.

Day Thirteen Sunday 15th August, Up at 6am and when all are ready its Ponderosa for breakfast with the bill being working out by hand due to till problems, they made a mistake so we got our food cheap this morning.
Then off to MGM studios for the day, weather wise it was a mixture of hot sun and rain, but we had a great day there and went to the Brown Derby for our Fantasmic Dinner package.
I must say it was very expensive but we all had a wonderful three course meal and I managed to ask for and get some souvenir menus.
After our meal DS, DD AND DS went off to the Tower of terror and Rock and roll roller coaster, which they managed to do both twice because the lack of queue’s.
It was great not to have to queue for ages for the Fantasmic show as we were taken the back way into the arena for the show which was fantastic of course.

Day Fourteen Monday 16th August. After breakfast at the villa we tried Wal-mart again but it was still shut so we headed to Downtown Disney marketplace were we split up as usual and me DS somehow ended up in McDonalds .
It was a red hot day and everyone seemed hot and bothered so we headed back to the villa for a marathon session in the pool…Later on we took the short ride up the 192 for tea at JT’s Primetime here we had a nice meal, DS had his usual veggie meal and the server ‘did him a favour’ by adding a load of cheese on top until DS pointed out to him that there are many cheeses as a veggie that he cannot eat !
To be fair though they changed it with no problem, we then ‘did’ a few shops along the 192.

Day Fifteen Tuesday 17th August…I got up to find the cord from the phone heading towards the laundry room and when I opened the door I found DD a sleep on the phone to her friend !..She must have been there half the night!
Success, we tried Wal-mart and it was open so the usual 2 and a half hours was spent in there, then we went to Rack room and the Nike factory store.
We went to Logan’s roadhouse for tea, where everyone likes the monkey nuts and then throwing the shells all over the floor.
A trip to old town for the evening were I was surprised to see quite a few shops had gone from last time, but we had a good walk round and a pleasant evening.
Everyone talking says that as we have another free day tomorrow what about spending the entire day the house?

Day sixteen Wednesday 18th August Well I wasn’t too keen but I thought I would go with the majority.
So DS wants to play tennis so off we trotted to the courts to have a bash about, it was a really hot day again and DS wants to pack in after 10minutes because it’s too hot!
I made fun of him, a forty something being able to keep going and a teenager wanting to stop. But stop we did and I suggested a jog back the villa which we did and I was finished when we got back 
During the afternoon I popped out and got myself a new digital camera, and then in the evening it’s off to the re-arranged Dixie Stampede.
We looked at the horse outside and then went inside fro the pre-show to be greeted by a big sign stating that no video taping or photography is allowed!
It was certainly a different experience for us as we have never been to a dinner show before, we enjoyed the show which is basically a series of tests between the North and South in the arena itself with the horses and there riders, the arena is split into two halves one cheering for the north and our side cheering for the south.
DS was pleased as our side won…The meal was different as well, there is no choice (except for a veggie option) you just have what you are given! We had a small whole chicken a slice of pork, a jacket potato, corn on the cob and a bread roll with apple pie for afters, oh and no knifes and forks of course strictly fingers only.
Everyone seemed to ignore the warning about no photography so I did as well!
A quick trip to Orlando Premium Outlets after the show and we got back to the villa around 9:50 pm.

Days one to Six

[Guest]

Superb write up!

Probably the best one I have read from Hurricane Charley!

Hope your next visit is Hurricane free!

[Florida_Bear]

Thanks Andy/Diane, Well it was certainly scary.

Regards... Ted

[Anne]

What a photo