Third Timers taking First Timers (lots of pics)

[FloridaDave]

Just to amaze you - as you will know there are some strange and amazing creatures in Florida. One extra tenant we had on our 2010 trip - who still owes me his share of the rental, was this guy



He was there near the entrance to the house from when we got there until we left. I am not a spider lover - I hate the things but this guy for some reason didn't really bother me being there, probably because of the pretty colours when compared to our spiders over here who are just boney and stealth. The web was changing all the time and was impressed with it. Also impressed with myself getting this close to it to take the picture (although I will admit it was at arms length with Macro mode on the camera).

I only found out what type of spider it was when there was a knock at the door during the holiday with a nice sales guy going door to door trying to sell insurance or something. We were only there because it was when I had my ear infection if I remember right. After explaining to the guy we were on holiday and not US residents he said 'Cool Banana Spider' you have there - so thanked him for clearing up the mystery. I quickly went online to see if I should be worried about it and its fairly harmless - but it did say avoid going near if you have any respiratory issues such as asthma - DOH!

(the full resolution version of that pic which I have not uploaded is very impressive as you can see the hairs on its legs clearly)

[FloridaDave]

We Love Epcot

It was our first port of call for the theme parks on our 2010 trip (2009 was MK). Took loads of pictures of Epcot - some I will put up later from a later visit but heres one of Lindsay and Emily relaxing just after getting in there and taking it all in (after going on Spaceship Earth of course - love that ride not only for the cartoon at the end (which we had fun with using Disney Bears as the photo's) but because its air conditioned to the max.



Really can't wait to go here later this year and to do what we stupidly haven't done before - go through the International Gateway to Boardwalk.

Also - got to go to Club Cool to try and get our friends to drink Beverly Plus the Fanta Kolita is just astonishing!

[Guest]

Really looking forward to it!

[FloridaDave]

Yay - have a good look round the site Steve

[FloridaDave]

Well onwards with the updates.

Animal Kingdom in one heck of a tiring park. Both previous trips and visits here have been fun. The Safari is great - worth the wait if there is a queue to do this because its over a big area and you are really up close with the animals (but a safe distance). We definitely will be going here again this year and hopefully trying some of the rides I couldn't on previous trips due to my little girl not wanting to - didn't want to separate from them to go on them on my own but having bigger party this year it won't be as much of an issue.

Onwards with some more pics






This was when on the Safari - one of the Giraffe's decided to escort us for a bit down the road


Heres a link to me being attached watching a bird show at Animal Kingdom -


And now on to some more pics of Universal.

This was outside Nascar Sports Grille in City Walk. Lindsay loves this place because of the Philly Cheese Steak. I love it because of the WiFi (Emily is trying to be a Monster)


Inside Universal Studios


Good old Wizzarding World of Harry Potter which was still being built for our 2009 trip


Butterbeer - I must have had the world record for Brain Freezes in 5 minutes with one of these, but couldn't stop drinking it even though it was so cold. Tastes like a Butterscotch Slushy and I do like Butterscotch.




Later that evening we were tired if I can remember (was HOT) we decided to have a drive to Florida Mall before retiring back to the Villa to chill - and you have to get a pic with the M&M's

[FloridaDave]

Well - onwards to Kennedy Space Center

We didn't get to have a good look round on the non-event that was the 2009 Shuttle Launch, but what I had seen had me interested enough to want to return so we did on the 2010 trip. Not sure if we will return this year - thats kind of up to Steve and Sarah as they haven't decided yet but if they do, we certainly will

Here's some piccies and even a Movie Trailer!

Lindsay got asked when we went through security if she was a Cubs fan or just wearing the T-Shirt because it looked good as one of the guards was an avid fan, and the one asking was trying to wind him up




The Saturn 5 Rocket is just massive. I filmed it walking down the length and it took a few minutes from one end to the other! Imagine being perched on top of one of these about to blast off to the moon!




And now a Movie trailer I put together when we bought our iMac last year using iMovie. This literally took a couple of minutes to do but is fun -

[margyloveswdw]

Loving all the piccies! Thanks for sharing

[FloridaDave]

My pleasure putting them up - more to come too. There are a few video links in there too

[FloridaDave]

So onwards with the plans.

Booked the car hire the other day - as there will be 5 of us this time (4 ahem 'adults') we needed a bigger car than last time. We did muse over the idea of getting two cars - one being an Intermediate SUV like last time and one being a compact car but our friends are more than happy to have just the one car. What we may do is for the last week of the holiday book another car in case they want to go out and do some of their own exploring and not be tied to us so thats always an option. Used USRentacar because at the minute there is a 10% discount they have negotiated with Dollar which made them the cheapest for the 7 seater minivan we have ordered. On past trips we have always gone for the Premium package which includes 3 extra drivers and a tank of fuel - at least this time the 3 extra drivers will get used. Only the deposit has been paid for the car hire so the remainder will be automatically taken 8 weeks before we go - which is the same for the villa hire as only the deposit has been paid on that too. The biggest expense has already been taken care of which is the flights. Had an email through this morning from Floridatix with a discount code as a returning customer so might have to look at perhaps booking our Disney tickets soon.

All this expense would make you think is it worth it? - well, we wouldn't be going for our 3rd Holiday of a Lifetime in 4 years if it wasn't. Who needs an extension on their house anyway.

Now onwards with a few more pics for your amusement.

We visited Universal Parks a few times in 2010. Islands of Adventure was great because the parts of the park we like weren't busy because the new Harry Potter world was absolutely rammed. None of us have ever read a Harry Potter book or seen one of the films so it wasn't as much of an interest to us than others, but boy have they done it well. Very impressive.


We never visited the Hard Rock Cafe in 2009 either which would seem strange given we had a 3 week holiday but theres a lot of places in Orlando - you simply can't do them all in one 3 week visit without killing yourself in the process. We visited in 2010 though and it was nice. One thing that amused me was they played the whole Michael Jackson Thriller video when we were in there and when it finished everyone started applauding - I don't think they realised it wasn't a live performance. We were sat near some Marvin Gaye costumes and posters - one being an advertisement for a gig in Liverpool which is our closest city, which was nice.


Gatorland
We didn't visit in 2009 as there were too many other places to visit and it is one of the smaller parks. We decided in 2010 we had to visit on a more 'restful' day and combined it with a mooch to Florida Mall for a bit of shopping. It turned out to not be that bad an idea because it was raining all day (not drenching rain) but we really enjoyed it and the shows. Would we recommend visiting Gatorland - yeah but its a half day park which makes it ideal if you want a lazy morning to relax and something to visit in the late morning/afternoon. More relaxing than the all out assault that can be the Disney/Universal parks. I believe its the oldest park in Florida too!

Freaky Albino Gator

[Florida2009]

Brilliant as usual. Nothing to do with ours at the moment so it is really good reading yours.