Our Unexpected PPI trip - August 2019 on a budget

[Rodney_trotter]

Iride trolley to Dennys for breakfast as we didn’t want to have to eat at Aquatica ($28 including tip as we had a 20% off voucher). $15 for a locker at Aquatica and $16 for a refillable cup. Had a good day at Aquatica but it is not as good as Volcano Bay. Went to Tony Roma’s for Happy Hour and stayed for dinner & dessert ($64 including tip). We all had Taco’s and shared some onion rings, riblings & fries. 2 beers, 2 glasses of wine a childs mocktail and fruit cobbler to share for dessert. It was all delicious and the server was great too. Best restaurant so far. We then headed over to Pirates Cove for some Crazy golf ($42) before getting the I trolley back. $165 spent today

[Rodney_trotter]

Going to Busch Gardens for the day so had breakfast in the room. Got the bus to Busch Gardens from just outside Publix (we reserved it in advance and it was free other than a tip ($6) we gave the driver). We went to the Zambia Smokehouse ($42) for lunch and we all had the pulled pork platter and also refilled the cup we bought in Aquatica. We refilled the cup another 3 times so total cost was roughly $4. We also paid for a locker that we could swap between rides which was $8. We had a great day at Busch and managed to do all of the rides at least twice despite only arriving at 11:00 and leaving at 19:00. By the time we got home we just had pizza & salad in the apartment. $60 spent today.

[Rodney_trotter]

Had breakfast in the room and chilled by the pool for the morning. We then got the Iride trolley to Millers for lunch. Son wasn’t feeling hungry for some reason so we shared the Zinger mountain melt and my wife had a salad. We had a beer each, water for my son and it was $40 including a tip. We then walked down to Wonderworks which we had pre booked in the UK (£111 for 3 VIP combo tickets which included the Outta Control magic show and meal). I think we spent about 4 hours exploring Wonderworks and it made a nice change from the theme parks. It was still fun but a little bit educational too. We had an Icee ($3.50) between doing the ropes course and the laser tag. We then went to the Outta Control magic show which included Pizza, salad, dessert and drinks. The pizza was good but the salad was nothing special. They were really good at keeping us supplied with red wine too. The show itself was really funny. My son loves magic and this was right up his street. We left a $10 tip and also bought a photo for $10. $63.50 spent today.

[Rodney_trotter]

Had breakfast in the room and then went to the Vineland outlets to finally get the Nike trainers for my son. My wife managed to find a handbag that she wanted as well. We then got the trolley up to Tony Roma’s as we had had an email about a rib eating competition they were doing. We didn’t enter ourselves but it was fun to watch and my son is a Man V food fan so he really wanted to see it. They also had a deal on for a half rack of ribs with fries and coleslaw for $10 which we all had as well as a beer and soda for my son. Another great meal at Tony Romas and definitely our favourite restaurant. The ribs were to die for and only $47 including tip. We then went to Seaworld for the afternoon/evening as we wanted to see the Electric Ocean show (which was great). Refilled the cup a few times ($4). $51 spent today (excluding outlet shopping).

[Rodney_trotter]

We decided to go to Aquatica again as there were a couple of slides that we missed. We got the Iride trolley to Dennys for breakfast as we didn’t want to have to eat at Aquatica ($27 including tip as we had a 20% off voucher). $15 for a locker at Aquatica and $2 to refill the cup a couple of times. We got the Iride trolley back via Publix ($38). We were going over to Disney Springs for the evening for a little bit of Disney and had planned on going to watch the fireworks from the beach at the Polynesian resort but the weather had other plans. We got a Lyft there ($9) and it started to rain as we got out of the car. We went to Blaze ($43) for some food hoping that the rain would pass but there was a huge storm and the whole of Disney Springs lost power (luckily we had finished our food by then as the lights were out everywhere). We ended up getting a Lyft ($8) back to the hotel. No fireworks for us. $142 spent today

[Rodney_trotter]

This was supposed to be a chill day but we hadn’t managed to do the Infinty Falls ride at Seaworld. We had breakfast in the hotel and then got the Iride trolley up to Seaworld. We got there just after it opened but they didn’t open the back part of the park until 10:00. We did Manta a few times had a look at the rays and dolphins and then went over to Infinity falls which was a walk on so we did it twice. We also did one of the shows we had missed and as it was so quiet we did Mako & Kraken a few times as well. The park was almost empty. We got the Iride trolley back to the hotel for lunch and just chilled by the pool for the afternoon. We also had Dinner in the room today as we were a bit worn out and had an early morning planned tomorrow. Only spent $2 today on cup refills in Seaworld.

[Rodney_trotter]

Discovery Cove day! Got a Lyft to Discovery cove ($7) and had the most amazing day. Best day of the holiday. Breakfast was good and the food at lunch was ok as well. We had quite a few beers & cocktails during the day too but the highlight of the day was the dolphin swim. I had already decided before we went to get the full photo package. It was expensive but we may never do it again and the photos were well worth it for us. My son had dreamed the night before that he was eating Fajitas (his favourite food) so we went to Mannys for dinner. We got a Lyft ($6) to the one at Lake Buena Vista. They had BOGO on their Fajitas so my wife and son had those and they had a deal on the New York strip steak so I had that. Mine came with rolls and house salad which they let the 3 of us share. I also had a very large beer and they had water & soda. The food was great and we could barely finish it. $58 including tip which was great value. Got a Lyft back to the hotel ($7). $78 spent today.

[Rodney_trotter]

This was our last full day and we had a few things we still wanted to do. We wanted to go to Volcano Bay again and also wanted to do the Hagrid ride in IOA (the queue had been 300 minutes when we were there before). We also had lots of dollars left so we wanted to visit the outlets again. We had breakfast in the room and took a packed lunch with us. We got a Lyft ($12) to Universal and got the bus to Volcano Bay and arrived just before 09:00. We went straight in and got a locker ($13) and reactivated the cup ($11) and put our stuff on a lounger (although we never actually sat on it). It was much quieter today so even without the early hour we managed to do all the slides several times as well as the lazy/fast rivers and wave pool. We left VB and got over to IOA for about 13:00 and went to Hagrids ride ($2 locker). The queue was saying 90 minutes and we were on and off in less than an hour. ( the ride was amazing) Had a butterbeer icecream ($6.50). We got the Hogwarts express to Universal did RRR and then had a big pink donut from Lard lads ($7.50) and then got the Hogwarts Express back and did Spiderman & the Hulk again. We left and got a Lyft ($8) to the Outlets at the top of Idrive to spend our remaining dollars. We had bought a voucher ($29 for $50 of food) in the UK for Hash House a Go Go so got the trolley there from the outlets. We paid an extra $25 for drinks and tip. We were slightly disappointed with this meal but it may have just been due to us being tired after such a busy day. Got the trolley back to the hotel and then had to start packing as we were leaving tomorrow. $84.50 spent today (excluding outlet shopping).

[Rodney_trotter]

Got the trolley to Dennys for a last breakfast ($25) and got the trolley back to the apartment to checkout. Got a Lyft ($25 including tip) to the airport. A few delays due to the weather and we were on our way home (via Newark). Drinks at Newark ($12) used up the last of our dollars. $62 spent today.

I think the totals for what we spent came to about $1280 (The Lyft & Uber costs were on the credit card).

We still managed to have some lovely meals in restaurants but kept the costs down by having breakfast in the room most days and taking lunch into the parks where possible. We actually prefer a nice sub from Publix and some fruit to the quick service meals in the park anyway.

We did use the Credit Card at the outlets, Harry Potter merchandise (Interactive wand etc) and also bought the Discovery Cove photos but none of those costs have been listed. There were also a few dollars spent here and there (my son got lots of pennies mangled at $0.51 a go)

We had the most amazing 2 weeks and have memories that we will all cherish forever.

Thanks for reading

[mick]

Sounds like you had a fantastic holiday and did lots of things

Thank you for taking the time to do your trippie


Joan