Boston, NY, Dayton, Cincinatti, Orlando, Naples

[cornishfrogboy]

Day 17 Busch Gardens in the rain.

Today, for the 1st time ever, we had opted for the BG all day dining deal (£118 for 4) and had duly driven to Tampa, parked up and entered BG at 10 on the dot.

Redeeming our e-tickets for ‘eat like a pig’ green wristbands was the work of a few minutes and we duly headed for the headline ride, Tigris.
We found ourselves held close to Sesame Street for a few minutes before being allowed onwards.
Tigris is fast. It has backwards moves, forward moves and a very slow corkscrew across the top. It is very fast in general and very smooth. I have never been on anything similar and really enjoyed it.

Dan and Matt sample Tigris.(I was on the car before).

Dan and Matt are near the back.

Next it was Sheikra

... always a favourite, before adjourning for a foot long dog with chips, soda and a cookie nearby.

The foot long dogs.

Matt, perhaps unwisely allows a Squirrel to steal one of his fries. Poor Squirrel 🐿

Kumba followed ...

...and then we all went on the Congo River Rapids. I might as well have just dived in! I was somewhat confused by a group in full ponchos, hood up. Riding a water ride like that is wrong as making a chicken curry without chicken. The idea is surely to get soaked!

And we most certainly got soaked!

We then headed for the only coaster that Mandie is prepared to do, Cheetah Chase. By this time the queue was 55 minutes, but the deed was done!

Myself, Dan and Matt headed towards Cobras Curse, but were told that Coaster activity was suspended by rain. A look upwards showed just a shower coming through. By the time we walked through Cobras Curse, the ride was going again. Both this and the fabulous Montu were tamed in Minutes.
Now it was time for eats and Mandie fancied the Zambia Smokehouse.. good call, this one, I had Chicken, Brisket, fries and Soda, lovely stuff!
We then opted for the Aviaries and spent an interesting half hour in the area before heading to the Moroccan Palace for ‘Turn it up’, an Ice Dancing show. As we got there, the heavens opened and a ride suspension was announced.. a good time to get under cover. The show was very good indeed and even the boys were impressed..

Then we left.. into as heavy a downpour as I have ever witnessed.
Foolishly, we headed towards ‘Africa’ and saw some of the animals before deciding to call it a day and head for home,forfeiting our ‘free’ dinner in the process. We were totally waterlogged within a minute and the park was beginning to flood.

Even the Flamingos looked peeved.

We eventually got to our car and were gone. It took 2 hours to get back to Kissimmee and at times, the conditions were downright dangerous with visibility down to 15m. Fortunately, everybody drove like a sensible adult and we all got home!
A great day.

14418 steps.

[cornishfrogboy]

Day 18 Discovery Cove.

This has always been one of our biggest days in Orlando and this our 8th visit to the park. I believe that the DC ultimate non swim is by a country mile the best franchise ticket in Central Florida.

We woke up with some trepidation after the partial washout of yesterday. The alarm was set at 0600 and I looked out to grey gloom as far as I could see. Now I was really worried.

We drove to DC, arriving at 0720 and the weather had not lifted. We received the normal, well organised welcome and at the desk, I pointed out that my booking was pre May of this year and it was agreed that all drinks would be on the table. All we had to do was point the fact out at any bar. To be honest, it was irrelevant as I was driving and Mandie not drinking, simply a test. They passed.

After a quick breakfast and collecting our masks etc, we took up our customary position, over the blue bridge and on the right, facing the tunnel entrance at the start of the lazy river. We like it because we no longer swim with Dolphins, it is near a bar/snack point, it is near the lazy river and I love the aviary. The only downside is that it is a fair walk to the reef... but that area always seems crowded in any case.

I now have 8 pictures like this, one from each visit.

We sat down and it rained.. non stop.. for 2 or 3 hours, but fortunately with no thunder or lightning. We had a great time! In these circumstances, you simply make the best of it. I can hardly change the weather, can I ?

I make a point of meeting this Frogmouth (he is now 10yrs old) every visit. It is a relief every time I find him alive and well. He seems rather indifferent to my concern.

At around midday, the weather broke. The rain stopped and in patches, the sun came out. Lunch was taken at that time and contrary to reports of dwindling quality, the meal was every bit as I remember on numerous previous visits. It ain’t al la carte, but it does the job.

An awesome 4.5 hours followed as we explored aviary, lazy river and of course, reef.

A ‘boyish’ Mandie and a Toucan.

Don’t know what it is, looks like a Bustard, but I liked the photo.

Family Bowden (minus the family photographer).

Matt showing off.

A ‘near miss’ between two Cow nosed rays.

I dive to the very Depths!

A strange, spiked fish that I have never seen before.

Discovery Cove, you never disappoint me, even when you cannot offer the weather!

[lil mousketeer]

Have just caught up with all your posts.

Wow! What a holiday.

A shame about all the August rain, you have definitely had more than your fair share on this trip.

Look forward to reading more...l

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by lil mousketeer

Have just caught up with all your posts.

Wow! What a holiday.

A shame about all the August rain, you have definitely had more than your fair share on this trip.

Look forward to reading more...l

See more...

The rain has not really been so bad. Largely we have been fortunate that it has fallen at the’right’ and convenient times. It has just been a question of working around it.

Normally we vacation around Easter, but Dan had his GCSE’s to revise for. The flip side of the GCSE issue was that we could look to a 3 week vacation in the Summer rather than a 2 week at Easter. It was this that enabled us to visit so many other places.

[cornishfrogboy]

Day 19. A disaster averted... ‘Nothing’s gonna stop us now’... couldn’t resist that one!

Today was intended to be a Universal and Volcano bay day.. but a Sunday? with a blue sky? and no FOTL any more? Time for a dynamic change of plan.

Monday was intended and booked as a day at the 🌈 river in Dunnellon, probably the thing I was most looking forward to in ‘phase Orlando’ of the vacation. We decided to do it a day early as we feared that anything in Orlando would be horrendously packed.

At 0730, I phoned 🌈 river and left a message on their ansaphone before setting off on the 2 hour drive. After half an hour or so, I asked Mandie that she phone ahead and confirm that our message was received. The good news was that they had received it.. and the bad that they were fully booked throughout the day. We turned around!

Plan b...or is it plan c? Seaworld would likely be less crowded than Universal.. and parking would be free, as opposed to probably undercover and $40 at Universal.

Seaworld was somewhere between the two, crowded but bearable. Infinity Falls was an hour wait, followed by Mako on 10 minutes.

Dan awaits his soaking in Infinity Falls.. A great ride!

Clyde & Seymour followed, well ‘hammed up’ and great fun.

Then I found that Jefferson Starship were appearing live in the Nautilus Theatre. No Grace Slick (retired years ago), but still a great band from the past. I love the ‘California 1960s’ stuff and ‘White Rabbit’ is awesome. This is a band that headlined Monterey, Altamont and Woodstock (for those as old as me). I swiftly picked up 4x free tickets as I knew the family would love it.. Then you have the newer stuff, ‘Nothings gonna stop us now’, etc. Any band that built a City on Sausage Rolls is worthy of attention...Who would want to miss that?

As it turned out, all of them. They preferred ‘Pets Ahoy’ featuring a Dog, a Cat, a Rat and a Pot Bellied Pig! Charming.

I while away the minutes before Jefferson Airplane/Starship.

I sat alone, and the concert was excellent. More Airplane than Starship. They played both ‘White Rabbit’ and ‘Want somebody to Love’.

We met, we left and it was down to Golden Corral, a new one to us, behind Seaworld. The kids loved it, while Mandie and I tolerated it.

Matt takes the healthy option.

Then it was Walmart, then it was a deluge. Now it’s a quiet evening in the villa followed by a long day tomorrow!

[scottishnellie]

That’s me all caught up again. Great day at DC. We’ve only done that once when we did do the dolphins but I think I might be tempted with the non swim ticket next year (if we go) as we intend no Disney or Universal.

You do seem to have had a lot of rain but doing really well to work around it.

Oh - and I bet the boys have sent those hooters photos to every pal they have!

Looking forward to rainbow river as I’ve no idea what that is.

[cornishfrogboy]

Day 20. The fantastic rainbow river at Dunellon... Or ‘Don’t stand/paddle so close to me’, by Sting..

This, all have agreed, has been a fabulous day. We wanted something a little different and, being ‘theme parked out’, this came at just the right time.

Dunellon is around 62 miles as the crow flies from Kissimmee. It is also around 60 miles North of Tampa. We had researched this some time ago, reasoning that it was very different to our usual Gulf Coast Beach trips and also just a little closer.

Rainbow river is around 4.5miles long from the start point and a float (as opposed to paddling) is estimated to take 2.5 to 3 hours. The River is created by 12 mineral springs flooding up out of the ground. The water is absolutely Chrystal clear as opposed to the usual muddy Florida offerings. The river is wide, flows at around 1.5 mph, is refreshing and also stunningly beautiful with trees interspersed with very expensive housing at various points. The area is very well known to locals, but I guess, pretty much unheard of to DIBBERS.

Research indicated that the river could be ridden on tubes, Kayaks or even glass bottomed Canoes. We opted for sit on Kayaks and chose ‘Rainbow River Canoe and Kayak, booking with no reservation fee many months ago. They had been friendly, helpful and informative on our single phone call.
The leisurely drive took nearly 2 hours, but we arrived within a few minutes of the agreed 0930 meeting time.
The Company were friendly, thorough and gave an excellent briefing, covering what we were likely to see, what food was permitted in what was a Florida State Park and how best to enjoy the experience. We were also warned that a thunder storm would pass through within the next hour.
Money paid, ($33 per single Kayak including transport to start point) and indemnity forms signed, we were transported to a location called KP Hole, a State Park ($5 each to enter). Here, our Kayaks were placed in the water, whilst Park Officials checked our bags re compliant food and drink containers. This included a digital ‘sniffer’ over each opened fluid container as Alcohol is very strictly forbidden in the park.
We decided to paddle up and against the flow a further 2 miles or so to the headwaters and thus have a longer drift. After around 2 minutes of paddling, the sky opened and the predicted torrential rain fell for around 10 minutes, thunder, lightning included. Then it stopped and the sun came out.
The float/ paddle can best be described in images and this is what I shall do. Turtles were very common, as were fish and birds. There are Otters and on rare occasions you might sight an Alligator. We saw neither. The water varied from 2 feet to 32 feet in depth and at all times, you could see the bottom. It was astonishingly clear. Other than restrictions in a Nature Preservation area at the very head of the river, you can swim, dive (there were some Scuba divers) and generally enjoy yourself.

There was one potentially unpleasant moment during the day. We had been warned that there were many paper wasp nests hanging from trees along the river (Polistes Annularis) . We had been warned that if we disturbed a nest, then they would inevitably attack and that the best defence was to jump into the water. Mandie was paddling very close to the bank, when I saw a wasp nest directly in front of her Kayak and only a couple of feet off the water surface. I shouted ‘WASP NEST’ and Mandie instantaneously rolled straight off her Kayak into the water, (about 8 feet deep). Her Kayak then drifted just beneath the nest and onwards without disturbing the very active nest. I recovered the Kayak and a rather relieved family continued its journey. Just something to be aware of!

Polistes Annularis nest.

This was a fantastic day in a thus far awesome vacation. I cannot recommend the Rainbow River enough.

Job done, we drove back to Orlando and yet another great Steak, courtesy of the Longhorn Steakhouse. To get 4 Steaks, Flat Iron, Sirloin, NY Strip and a Ribeye with bottomless Sodas for $98 cannot be bad value. The Longhorn always delivered! .. Including the lovely salads with Strawberry, Mandarin, Grapes and Feta with Pecan nuts for all.

Today was a highlight of the vacation.. so far.

Steps.. negligible.

[HevaDuck]

Rainbow River sounds amazing well done spotting the wasps nest in time Mandie did well avoiding it think I would have panicked. Another great day for you all

[scottishnellie]

Rainbow river is firmly on my list now. Looks like a nice alternative to the Rock river run we’ve normally done. Although the wasp nest thing scares me a bit.

Great day.

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by scottishnellie

Rainbow river is firmly on my list now. Looks like a nice alternative to the Rock river run we’ve normally done. Although the wasp nest thing scares me a bit.

Great day.

See more...

We were informed that wherever there is flowing water like this, there will be paper wasp nests. The problem is that most years, a ‘cold snap’ reduces their numbers considerably. It did not happen this year, thus the numbers are higher.
The nests are only an issue if you trawl up the banks as we did, looking for wildlife. Mandie wanted to see an Otter. The river is wide and most people simply drift down the middle.

I would worry more about sunburn. We did not protect our legs and we are all suffering a bit.