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Old 15 Jan 17, 11:18 AM  
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Leyfy
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$30k later - 24/12/16 - Day 08 - Rosen Inn/SeaWorld/Celebration/Millers Ale House

24/12/16 - Day 08 - Rosen Inn/SeaWorld/Celebration/Millers Ale House

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Day 07 here

(Just before I start this I just wanted to say that I spent just under two hours writing this up last night, I literally was about to post it and the tab crashed as I was putting in some photos and I lost everything! Today I will copy the text before I start editing the post! )

Following a theme of the previous days, we woke up about 8am and got ready. Today was forecast to be beautiful - 28 degrees. Perfect weather for Christmas eve!

Having been underwhelmed by the Rosen Inn buffet two times, we discussed our final breakfast for this trip on International Drive and Denny's was settled on.

On our walk over we were stopped by a guy with a welsh accent who asked us if we knew anything about the iride trolleys. This is a service we've never used as I always hire a car for us or we stay on site, but we said that they looked pretty frequent and the bus stop was opposite the Rosen. He had a little chat to us - apparently it was his first morning and he was here on his own for a week on a trip he'd booked on a bit of a whim. His plan was to visit the Premium Outlets and Universal so he was trying to work out the best way to get there. We recommended Denny's for breakfast and he followed us over there as he chatted about his plans.

When we got to Denny's and it was much busier than our previous visit and we were seated in a different section. We looked at the menu. One day I am going to try something like this:



(not my picture, obviously )

However, Denny's put the calorie content on their menu and there is something inside me that just can't quite bring myself to order something that is over a THOUSAND calories for breakfast!

Yes, that is right a THOUSAND CALORIES!





So, with that option out, Phil went for the 'Build Your Own Grand Slam' again with bacon, eggs, sausage, toast and I had ham and cheese omelette, which, like Friendly's the other day, seemed to want to come with all the carbs! I ate the delicious omelette and left the potatoes and toast as it was just too much.

Thoroughly full, we paid our bill and went back to the Rosen and picked up the car. By now it was about 9.45 as the service in Denny's had been a little slower as it was busy, but we only had a short drive today as we were going to SeaWorld. In fact, we were parking up (for free! Thank you free parking with our ticket order, ATD! ) by about 10am and soon heading to the gates.

They insisted on taking our photos as we went through to link with our tickets, but that was actually the last time we were going to use them as we were heading to WDW the next day. Safely in the park, our first destination was to be the brand new coaster, Mako.

This is right over the back of the park so we set off, noting that it was a little quiet this morning. We deposited our stuff in our locker and walked to the queue, which was saying 10 minutes.

More like no minutes! We literally walked straight on to the ride!

I'd managed to forget to put my contacts in today (which I only wear occasionally) so I took my glasses off and, as I hate heights, I shut my eyes! However, when we reached the top of the climb I heard Phil say 'woah'! I just had to have a peek! This is what was in front of me:



(not my picture, again! )

WAAAAHHHHH!

What an absolutely FANTASTIC coaster! Smooth, fast - brilliant! On a par with The Hulk for us and well worth a visit to SeaWorld just for that.

Picking our stuff up from the locker, our next stop was the aquarium with the sharks in as we were right by it. I love watching fish swim about, it's so relaxing

We saw the sharks:



Plus some of their friends:





Our next stop was the Manatees:





Just as we arrived we heard an announcement that they were about to feed a rescued orphan baby:





Awwww



Phil was now like 'enough looking at stuff, give me a rollercoaster'! As we were near, Kraken was our next stop. There is talk of turning this into a VR coaster with headsets, but I was pleased to read that you don't have to use that option as I love at the top of the climb that you can see right over to WDW! As I'd taken my glasses off I couldn't spot it this time as I didn't want to risk losing them.

It was now approaching 11.30am so we stopped for a coffee. It really had warmed up today so I asked Phil to order me an iced latte and I went outside to find us a place to sit. It wasn't busy and I amused myself messing around with my camera waiting for him to bring our drinks.



He was ages!

Turned out that they'd got my order wrong and had to remake it and it was the slowest of the slow service in there!



We sat in the sunshine, enjoying our drinks and just soaking up being there.

After we finished our drinks Phil said he wanted to ride Manta. Although I love this ride it takes a lot for me to pluck up the courage to do it. I think in three visits to SeaWorld, I've only managed it once. It is an awesome coaster, but I couldn't quite talk myself into it today. Phil went off to queue up and I had a look in the aquarium next to the ride:



Hang on, shouldn't you be in WDW, Dory?!



"Oooh, let's name the zones, the zones, the zones. Let's name the zones of the open sea: mesopolagic, bathyal, abyssalpelagic. All the rest are too deep for you and me to see"

(Mr. Ray's song from Finding Nemo! )







I then went to wait for him and take some pictures:









It seemed to take an absolute age before they were sending round new trains - at one point I wondered if it'd actually broken down! Phil said that they were waiting for the ride to fill up and they'd be left hanging there face down waiting to unload for quite a while and things had become quite, err, 'uncomfortable' due to the seat restraints!

Looking at the map, we noted that a One Ocean show was starting at 12. Both Phil and I were not interested in the shows at all and I am really happy that SeaWorld are stopping their orca breeding programmes. I hope they go down the conservation/roller coasters and giant aquariums full smaller fish route, but time will tell. However, with the One Ocean show starting, we knew that the Wild Arctic would be empty as it tends to fill up after the show. That was our next stop.

The helicopter simulation really does throw you about!

After we left the Wild Arctic, we made our way back into the main part of the park to see the sea lions:











They were basking in the sun and enjoying the fish being thrown, if they managed to catch them before the birds swooped in and pinched them!







We watched them for quite a while as there were really interesting and very noisy!

We took a slow wander round the park through the penguin Arctic area, but the queue for that was enormous so we skipped it:




Somehow we ended up by Journey to Atlantis, which was closed for a refurbishment. However, the aquarium was open so we popped in to have a look:













By now it was about 1.30pm and we decided to leave the park as it was getting busy. Plus we had plans for the evening and we had to pack our stuff ready to go to Disney the next day.

However, as we went through the front entrance and made our way to the car park, we then realised that neither of us could remember where we parked the car! This then resulted in a frustrating fifteen minute search until I got close enough to set off the 'beeps' by unlocking the doors!

Rookie mistake, not taking a note of your row!

After the short journey back, we arrived back at the Rosen Inn for 2pm. Our first stop was over the road to Walgreens for 'essentials'. This included a few giant bags of M&Ms and I decided to purchase some makeup as the giant bag I brought with me just didn't have the colours I wanted!





We were going to go into Millers for a drink but it was really busy in there, so we decided to just pick one up in the shop in the Rosen Inn and sit outside. I got a regular lemonade and spotted some 'hard' lemonade, which Phil wanted to try. He got asked for ID in the shop - although it turned out the guy was joking!



After our drinks we headed back to the room to get changed and to sort our suitcases out. Luckily the stuff I had picked up in Gap a few days before JUST fitted in the suitcase, although we both said we'd need to be a bit careful about anything else we bought.

We left for Celebration about 3pm and I programmed in the address for Starbucks as it was the only thing the nav seemed to want to recognise in the area!

The roads were quite busy but we were soon turning off the I4. It was a little odd going down some of the roads around there as it took me back to those five days I spent driving there and back in taxis when Phil was in hospital ...

However, this time we were going to the town centre itself, which was new for us! I managed to park the car quite close to the main street, which was shut off ready for the evening. There were obviously some quite strict parking restrictions in place as we saw cars being towed off! I slotted the tiny little Hyundai into a giant space, near where the cinema used to be in front of some very impressive looking houses, making sure that it faced the same direction as the other cars as Mrs. Pumba75 had helpfully text and told me that you had to park in a certain direction or you get a ticket!

We had a slow wander round the main street but and took some photographs:













We then stopped for a coke and a beer as we were meeting the Pumba75s, but not until 4pm and it was only just 3.30pm.



They arrived at just gone four and we had a wander round together, discussing our trips so far and the mammoth journey Phil and I had on the first two days!

They had started putting the 'snow' out on the market street, which lots of children (and adults!) were enjoying:



Mrs. Pumba75 suggested some milkshakes, so we stopped in the Market Street cafe. All of us wanted milkshakes, apart from Phil who wanted a beer. Unfortunately it took about four attempts for him to order one as they seemed to have run out of everything he wanted!





Phil finally got his pint!



The milkshakes were DELICIOUS!

After our milkshakes we stopped for a photo of us all by the tree:





The sun was just going down and we went on little train round, which was $5 each. We all *JUST* managed to squeeze into one carriage!

When we got back to the main square it started to get dark:



... and busy!



It was then time to it to 'snow'! Still very strange standing in our shorts and t-shirts, but it was magical!





Absolutely lovely way to spend Christmas eve and certainly one we wont forget!







By now it was about 6.30pm and we said our goodbyes to the Pumba75s, with plans to maybe meet up at Disney later in the week. Phil and I made our way back to the car. As we left Celebration we noticed how busy it was getting - people were literally queuing for parking spaces and to get into Celebration itself, so I was quite happy we'd gone early!

Celebration really is a lovely place to visit, I'd imagine it's the closest you can actually get to living in the 'Disney bubble'! I'd imagine it must be a bit annoying in reality though, with your town constantly full of tourists!

We arrived back at the Rosen at just before 7pm and went for final drink in The Pub for this trip:



I took the photo to commemorate this sad event







We had decided on an old favourite of ours for dinner and the first place we ate in on our first trip together in 2013 - Millers Ale House. It was very busy when we got there, but we were seated quite quickly. We ordered some drinks:



Love the decor!



We decided on a spinach and cheese dip to share to start with. The food came out quickly and we were soon tucking in. This was lovely, although the dip was the same temperature as the sun when it came out! Phil then went for blackened salmon with fries for his main and I decided on a barbecue chicken flatbread:



I'm not really a pizza (or flatbread in this case!) girl usually, I really have to be in the mood. However, this really was lovely and I managed to finish it all!

Meal finished and both too full for dessert, we made our way back to Rosen Inn for the final time this holiday. I was in bed by 9.30pm, dreaming of Disney tomorrow!

Fitbit info:

Totals
23,354 steps
15.98 km
2,845 calories

Day 09 - Christmas Day in Walt Disney World!

Edited at 10:45 PM.
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Old 15 Jan 17, 02:35 PM  
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Pumba75
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Awww that family you met up with in Celebration look like a lovely bunch!

We have been looking forward to reading and reminiscing. Lots of happy and funny memories.

Mrs P
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Old 15 Jan 17, 07:36 PM  
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Sounds like a lovely day. Celebration on christmas eve sounds perfect.
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Old 15 Jan 17, 07:50 PM  
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Celebration look amazing - great for Christmas Eve!
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Old 15 Jan 17, 08:19 PM  
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Another good day

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Old 15 Jan 17, 08:47 PM  
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Lovely day, there's something about it being Christmas Eve that makes it all sound extra special too
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Old 15 Jan 17, 10:25 PM  
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Lovely day. No way would you get me on Mako! It looks like the stuff nightmares are made of 😂
Celebration looks amazing, I can't think of a nicer way to spend Xmas eve
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Old 15 Jan 17, 10:35 PM  
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Loving your report.what a fab way to spend Christmas Eve x
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Old 15 Jan 17, 10:58 PM  
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Celebration looks beautiful- what a lovely christmassy day! Millers is a firm favourite of ours, my 13 year old son loves the sport screens, the huge portions and endless refills of his drink!
Another great day.
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Old 15 Jan 17, 10:58 PM  
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Leyfy
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Originally Posted by Pumba75 View Post
Awww that family you met up with in Celebration look like a lovely bunch!

We have been looking forward to reading and reminiscing. Lots of happy and funny memories.

Mrs P


Was lovely to see you all in our favourite place

Originally Posted by waiting4disney View Post
Sounds like a lovely day. Celebration on christmas eve sounds perfect.
It really was a lovely relaxed way to spend Christmas eve

Originally Posted by Twinklestar1 View Post
Celebration look amazing - great for Christmas Eve!
Definitely - very magical

Originally Posted by mick View Post
Another good day

Joan
It was a lovely day

Originally Posted by sheluk View Post
Lovely day, there's something about it being Christmas Eve that makes it all sound extra special too
I agree - although we all kept walking round (especially Mrs Pumba75-in-law, on her first Christmas visit!) saying 'we can't believe it's Christmas eve as it's so warm'!

Originally Posted by smithlane View Post
Lovely day. No way would you get me on Mako! It looks like the stuff nightmares are made of 😂
Celebration looks amazing, I can't think of a nicer way to spend Xmas eve
Ha ha ha - Mako is honestly an amazing coaster! It doesn't throw you around at all, it's a joy to go on

Christmas eve really was lovely

Originally Posted by Floridaagogo View Post
Loving your report.what a fab way to spend Christmas Eve x
Thank you - it was a lovely day in all


Thanks for reading and commenting, everyone
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