Thrillin',Chillin',Feet are Killin' Day 3:Bargain Buys, Loaded Fries, Seaworld Highs

[WileyCoyote]

Day 3: Friday 21 August

The day before is here

My notes say this is Day 2 – because I don’t really count travel day – and I think this messes with my head at the end of the holiday as only had 12 days on the ground in Orlando and I seemed to be counting down to hometime way too early in the hols !

In my tired state last night I didn’t finish my notes – it was only the following day I remembered the really key advice for Buffalo Wild Wings

The Wings are Wild

As in Hot

As in if you have the teensiest bit still on your hands and you rub your eyes they WILL water



So just thank heavens you rubbed your eyes and hadn’t made a bathroom break instead



Yes folks, you have been warned .

Poor Andy had bit of a sore eye for a little while. But soon recovered.

Anyhow, on to the day in hand ( see the appendage link there, nice)

I woke at 4.30 , feeling ok after about 8 hours straight sleep. By 5 am Andy was also awake and we had given up any notion of getting back to sleep so it was coffe and honeybuns in bed with good old Wesh

If only every morning was like this.

Kevin and Perry surface from their pits at 0800. We are out the door at 0820.

And that’s when we realise its like commuting.

There is traffic everywhere

What the ….. You are on holiday, have a lie in you crazy people.

Oh, yeah, its Orlando, maybe not then.

In fairness , even though there was a lot of traffic and jeez how many sets of lights are there on the 192 ? , we did move at a fair pace with a bit of lane DODGE – ing ( see how I did that) and we are pulling up at Seaworld at 0840.



Once we have paid our parking ( which I think is $17) Andy drops me off to sort the tix while he goes to park and of course we get the very end of the row about as far from the park entrance as possible – but its not really that busy.

I discover the paper tix don’t need to be exchanged so I just wait at the turnstiles for them to arrive and we are all through by 0850.

The boys go on ahead to be near the front at rope drop and will head straight on to Manta. We have agreed to meet up with them at 1130.

Whilst waiting we sit and do some people watching.

It is insanely hot already

So the family in jeans, leggings and dark tops are going to be very hot.

Red faced Angry Dad is going to spontaneously combust if he carries on and he hasn’t even really set foot in the park yet.

And the lady in the oh-so-glam-but –utterly-impractical high heeled sandals – your feet are gonna be killin ya later babe.

But hey who am I to talk with the digit cripplers I have been wearing ..

Happily I am back in the comfy shoes today which is good , as its now 9 and we are off.

At a slow mooch towards the dolphins

Via the stingrays





I cant do that whole touching them business

They freak me out

Well Nature generally freaks me out

I am like Melman – that nature, its all over me , get it off.

I like to SEE it, I don’t need to TOUCH it

But its cool here and the rays are very happy to flap their way past everyone and its nice as hardly anyone is here this early in the day.

On then to the dolphins

They are cute

And playful

But as I said to Andy, maybe they are just the ultimate show offs - I wonder what the other fish make of all that leaping and frolicking malarkey



He laughed out loud when I said that and said I am just becoming a grumpy old woman

Whatever can he mean



Back to the Dolphins

It is quiet here ( feeding time hasn’t started yet) so we spend some time here listening to the lady talking about the dolphins and she is encouraging people to put their hands out to touch the Dolphins as they pass – but ideally not hanging your child over the water

It is lovely standing here in the blazing sunshine







We take a stroll uptowards Atlantis , pondering whether the boys are on this yet.





Its lovely in this area





We take a walk over to the Penguin ride







Look who we found in the queue



They had been on the second load of Manta and had come over here as Kraken doesn’t open till 10 and they didn’t fancy getting wet on Atlantis.

When we split into the Wild and mild lines they got called ahead of us as a party of 2 so they didn’t have any further parental embarrassment to endure.

It was nice to see them laughing though

We opted for the Wild ride too – it was actually more spinny than I realised and the guy loading the cars was very very witty making lots of snow and cold related jokes ( its snow joke out there folks etc)



It was good fun, better than I think we recalled from last time.

And then you come out into the real penguin area.

Man they do hum

And its cold





Penguins everywhere and not a bleddy chocolate bar in sight

[WileyCoyote]

As soon as we exit my glasses steam up and I am temporarily unable to move forward as I literally cannot see a blinking thing and narrowly avoid tripping up on my ample butt.



No hazard warning about that is there!

And who let Howard from Take That in the queue behind me?

Once suitably de-fogged its now a walk over to the sharks.





Ok – I know- these are not sharks

Even with my dodgy bins I can see that

They are coming up next





Aristotle meets SeaWorld. Now there is a pairing to ponder.



SHARK !



Damn, it’s a fake



These were definitely the real deal

We love this tunnel

And spent ages in here

Even though you are not supposed to

We did

We kept walking backwards on the travellator

As we were pretty much the only people in here

But damn, these sharks don’t stay still – I mean how are you supposed to take their picture !





Andy found a new friend











They are just so damn scary !



SeaWorld is rammed



Not

This is the only way to tour parks ! Sun beating down and absolutely not another person in sight – this is just wonderful.

We had the most relaxing time bimbling around between the parts of the park.

Bliss .

It was one of those moments that you wish you could bottle – the warmth, the feelgood factor, the peace and just being there





I need this sign in my life



From the sharks Andy ( he who doesn’t do heights) wanted to go the skytower.

It’s a 20 minute wait and thankfully we are soon in the shade

Look across at the car park – its about 1030 now and its really empty





I know , who takes pics of car parks on their holiday ..



Real whale



Fake whale



Oh no, Andy’s been parking his boat again



Its 1045 now and off to see the Manatees.



I think I might like to be a Manatee in another life …

At 1100 we make our way back towards Atlantis and bump into the boys. By now we are all a bit peckish.

I quite fancy a go on Atlantis – I have vowed to try a new ride in every park and my suggestion of Manta here was met with hoots of derision so I thought Atlantis might do instead.

But the queue was 25 minutes – I guess people wanting to cool off on a hot day.

Then the queue for the lockers looked about another 10 minutes so we decided to give it a miss.

We are all agreed on leaving for some lunch – its been a really lovely couple of hours and we vow to come back to take in some more shows .

[WileyCoyote]

A quick trip up I Drive to Friendlys

It was quiet and very welcoming.

I had a delicious strawberry milkshake which for some odd reason is called a Fribble. I do not know why !

The boys had the chicken Honey BBQ melt sandwich with loaded fries.
The lack of description that the loaded fries were topped with sour cream caused some initial consternation but once it had been forensically removed by me, they happily tucked in.

And they declared this overall best lunch of the holiday

Portion sizes are not for the faint hearted




I had the Honey BBQ burger with plain waffle fries. Nom nom. And of course I had the sour cream to dip my fries into because they just were not enough calories on my plate already



You will note the photobombing fork that appears intermittently in the food photos. Andy's food envy meant he was keen to sample everyone's food in order to determine which leftovers would be suitable for later minesweeping !


Andy had fish and chips. Which he said was nice but not quite as good as our last visit.



We were totally stuffed and failed dismally on the sundae front

We had a sign up voucher for 25% off which took $13 off the bill and made it $42. We left $50 and rolled out in a carb loaded coma.



Its around 1230 now and the boys opt to go home and chill out for a bit while we do some shopping.

We drop them off – lord knows what all those mountain dews will do to them while we are gone – and turnaround for the Vineland outlets.

By now its 1.45 and busy but with some judicious shopper stalking we manage to bag a prime spot in the shade – result !

We have a good few hours here – its busy but not too bad and our impression is that its actually much cleaner and tidier than our last visit – especially the loos which are being kept incredibly tip top.

Unfortunately we just didn’t quite have our shopping heads on and Andy was really disappointed with Lacoste this time.

The prices are still very cheap compared to the UK but there weren’t the stand out bargains that we have seen on other trips.

Do not panic

This situation is rectified

Purchases were made





I splash out an enormous $10 on 6 pairs of Adidas trainer socks – as Connor then leaves a pair at Aquatica a few days later , I wish I had got more



Andy then spots some absolute bargain sweaters in Armani Exchange
$12.99 for Cashmere Crew Necks !

So he bought one in each colour – Rose, Navy,Maroon and ivory

That’s just ridiculous prices



$55 for 4 cashmere sweaters – RRP $129 EACH !

Next stop the Disney store

Disappointing

Like a jumble sale

I only purchased this hat for $19.99



We were gasping by now so I bought a tropical slushie from the Sundial refreshment station for $8

It was very nice but I was stopped in my tracks

By the most excruciating brain freeze.

Yup, ice direct to the brain at speed and in quantity

I almost cried

It gave me a searing pain in my head and eyes and I may have gone slightly crazy lady styley

How can a drink hurt so much ?



Once I got over myself we carried on – next time I will get a diet coke from the vending machine - it will be safer

It was very nice though and very welcome in the baking heat.

On our way back to the Condo we stop again at the Kissimmee clearance centre and I nab myself a couple of bargain tops



$12.99 for the jumper and $14.99 for the polo shirt – less than £10 each !

Andy got some funky socks for around $4 a pair



And some lovely shorts for $25



And I picked up this total bargain navy rain coat

RRP $119 with 70% off , a snip at $36



And its been well used in the last week !

We nipped next door to DollarTree – this is a great place to purchase small packs of washing powder ( or bottle of liquid in this case) and a small washing up liquid. Both sizes perfect for our 12 day stay – the washing liquid lasted for 8 washes , perfect , all for $1.

We pitch up at the condo around 5pm. Everyone is still stuffed from the whopping lunch at Friendlies so we just graze on the Walmart supplies.

I always feel slightly aggrieved at missing a feeding opportunity but we truly were too full to contemplate another meal out.

Andy sorted the wine bottle situation using Bear Grylls-esque improvisation skills

He found a hammer and a loose screw

So he turned the screw into the cork and then used the claw to pull the whole thing out – genius

Necessity the mother of invention and all that

Just as well , or the hammer would have been connecting with the bottle if I had my way ….

It looked as if a storm might be brewing , it got unbearably hot and sticky as sat out on the balcony entertaining ourselves with cards and a few drinks.



The storm didn’t really materialise but we had a lovely quiet evening just relaxing and it was nice chill out and chat.

Not the most exciting of evenings but to have some downtime was one of our “ must dos” on this holiday and we were keen not to keep packing things in .

Pretty early night for us all – we are off shopping again tomorrow and the boys are enjoying lots of ipad time – it seems as soon as we came away there is some big Eurpoean gaming fest on and they are keen to keep up with the their mates back at home – typical !

Spends today
$17 SeaWorld Parking
$50 Friendlys
$10 Adidas
$56 Armani Exchange jumpers
$19 Disney hat
$124 Tommy Hilfiger – tops, coat, shorts and assorted socks

** additionall pics courtesy of Google images

The next day is here

[Guest]

Am loving reading your reports, seaworld is one of my favourite parks, those portions look huge and wow what a bargain with your jumpers

[Lovesholidays]

Hi there

In all the years we have been going to Florida don't think we have ever come across the Kissimmee outlets . Can you let me know where abouts these are please? We also like the lake buena vista outlets as these are usually a lot quiter, but next year I'm putting the Kissimmee one on our list

[JudyC]

Ouch there's no pain like a brain freeze pain. How very inventive of Andy with the improvised corkscrew

[Guest]

Loving your trip report 😊

[dixonsontour]

wow seaworld looks quiet. Can't beat Friendly's and a decent coupon too

[ely3857]

Ooooo I never like to miss a meal either if I can help it!

[Fuellady]

Lovely, quiet morning at SeaWorld. I would love to go there but none of my lot are keen

Good shopping day! Glad you finally managed to find some bargains at Vineland. That Kissimmee Outlet looks so run down, but there really are great bargains to be had. We found it by accident on our last trip, not sure I could find it again!

Ah, a family after my own heart! We often play cards together on holiday, we always have a good laugh together and it's a good way to actually spend some time with the kids instead of them sloping off to their rooms all the time Nice, relaxing evening, glad you got the wine open, well done Andy