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Old 22 Mar 22, 11:57 AM  
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CarsonMac
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Return of the macs! January 2022 Food Trip Report Now complete to day 16!

* i have combined this to one post now! *
Complete to day 16!

Hello! Thought I would attempt to make a food report for the first time…..we shall see how this goes!

So a little background info….This was our 4th re-schedule, last time were there was nearly to the date in Jan 2020….Couldn’t quite believe it until we actually landed in MCO!

Flew Virgin Atlantic out of Manchester on 6th January.

Day 1:
We got the train down from Edinburgh the night before and stayed at the Clayton Inn. Nice hotel, bit over priced for the time we were actually there but location is everything I guess! We were working the day before so go the train right after work.
After completing out negative LFT tests in the morning before work…phew!
This was when there was a lot of train delays and cancellations and all the trains earlier in the day from Edinburgh were cancelled, ours thankfully not. So I was expecting a full train, but no, very quiet. By the time we got to Man airport we were the only ones left on the train!

So a McDonalds was had at Waverly station after our favourite free taxi service AKA my dad dropped us off! (He got off lightly this time tho, it usually involves a 3am pick up to the airport!)

Got into Manchester airport I think around 9pm, then got the shuttle mini bus to hotel which was handy.

Early start the following morning, up for the breakfast in the hotel at 6am! It was in the form of a buffet breakfast, hot and continental. I did find the offerings quite limited tho, for the money – it was £15 p/p. It was nicely done, and included all drinks, smoothies as well for a change. The usual hot items, pastries, yogurts, granola.

We had booked the shuttle for 7am and was soon at the Virgin Atlantic terminal.

Picked up some snacks at the airport for the plane, as never much a fan of airplane food! The flight itself was very empty, DH and I had a row of 4 seats each to ourselves! Consumed a few mini cans of lemonade on board and attempted the in flight meal of pasta of sorts but ended up just having the cake pot and cheese and biscuits. The mini afternoon tea upon near landing was a bit better, cheese sandwich and scone.

Picked up hire car from Alamo and we were soon on our way, woohoooooooooooooo!

We were staying at Endless Summer Dockside and decided to upgrade to a suite, which was very nice and roomy. Ours was on the 14th floor so had fantastic views of the Fun Spot, congo golf and even across to the airport on a clear day could see the planes landing and taking off!



The suite provided us with a mini fridge, micro waves and paper plates, cups, coffee machine. Not that we were planning on eating much in the room but it was nice to have the option for a quick breakfast and the coffee machine was good too.

So, fast forward to first dinner in Orlando for 2 years! We decided on Chili’s on i-drive. It was right near the hotel and didn’t fancy a massive feast on our first day.
We had the meal for 2. I think was $25 , very good value considering you get 1 appetiser to share, 1 entrée each and 1 dessert to share.

We started off with the Texas cheese fries, then I had the honey chipotle chicken crispers and DH had the chicken ranch quesadillas. To drink I had the strawberry lemonade (love it here) and DH had diet coke. Glad to report the chicken crispers were just as good as I remembered them!





For dessert there was the option of a molton chocolate cake or a strawberry cheesecake. The molton cake is sooo good but we were already stuffed so opted for the cheesecake to take away for laters. We got a massive slab of it as well! Our server was very nice and efficient with bringing us refills and our food, despite them looking like a bit short staffed and they were all kinda running around doing different jobs.

Back to the room to this view!

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Quality Inn Plaza , I drive (2009) / Los Angeles, CA (2010) /New york + Villa at Chatham park (2014/15) / Quality Inn on 192 (2015) / Laguna beach (2016) / Flamingo inn ,Daytona beach (2016/17) Houston , Atlanta + Coco key water resort, I drive (2017), Boston (2018), New York City (2018) Washington DC + Clarion Suites Maingate, (2018)Red Lion/ New orleans (Sept 2019) Cabbibean Resort/ Red lion (Jan 2020), Baymont Inn and Suites (Aug 2020)

Edited at 10:26 AM.
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Old 22 Mar 22, 07:29 PM  
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Sparksy72
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What a great travel day. 😁 Dinner looks great and really well priced too. The view from your room is stunning.
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Old 22 Mar 22, 08:28 PM  
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Sounds like a great travel day. Your meal at chillis sounds fab and only $25. I will need to remember this for when we visit in June.
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Old 22 Mar 22, 08:53 PM  
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Great view! Looking forward to reading more
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Old 22 Mar 22, 08:58 PM  
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CarsonMac
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Oh yes chili's is always good to go to for some reasonable priced grub!

The view was amazing! 😍 We are booked for surfside in September x , suite again so looking forward to see what the other side is like!
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Quality Inn Plaza , I drive (2009) / Los Angeles, CA (2010) /New york + Villa at Chatham park (2014/15) / Quality Inn on 192 (2015) / Laguna beach (2016) / Flamingo inn ,Daytona beach (2016/17) Houston , Atlanta + Coco key water resort, I drive (2017), Boston (2018), New York City (2018) Washington DC + Clarion Suites Maingate, (2018)Red Lion/ New orleans (Sept 2019) Cabbibean Resort/ Red lion (Jan 2020), Baymont Inn and Suites (Aug 2020)
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Old 23 Mar 22, 11:21 AM  
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Day 2:

Early start with a reservation at cape may café at The Beach Club. One of my favourites places to go for breakfast! We knew the characters were no longer making appearances and it as no longer a buffet but served all you can eat family style, but this was reflected in the price of $25 p/p. A decent price I believe for the service and quality of food was top.
We were booked for 7:25am , so was narturally up early in the morning anyway. Headed out to WDW and the boardwalk – side note this was the first time I have drove in FL, usually DH is the designated driver but this year there was an offer on a free driver, so I got my first shot of driving the Mustang down the I4 and across to WDW! Oh that sign!

Arrived and parked at the boardwalk, right on time. We were met by a lovely server, Lori-Ann, and ordered fresh orange juice, coffees and diet coke for DH ( doesn’t drink coffee! 😲 ) so then she brought out our breakfast ‘starter’ of the yummy Salted Caramel "Beach Buns", with a tasty vanilla cream sauce (we opted for this on the side rather than poured all over), fresh fruit and yogurt with berrys. Then the platter arrived with bacon, scrambled eggs, sausage (like our sausage), mexican potatoes, tater tots, mickey AND MINNIE! Waffles, pancakes and French toast! Beverages replenished. Then she came back and asked what else we would like – so got a top up of sausage, bacon and mickey waffles.
Defo recommend this place for quality of food and value for money (although checking out the menu today, it does look like its back to a buffet but still without the characters).







We wandered around the boardwalk area for a while just taking it all in, then off we went to Seaworld for the day.

We didn’t have any food here as was still stuffed from breakfast! Did purchase a refillable mug for the day though.

Dinner reservations were for Toothsome’s Chocolate Emporium, again another favourite that I had missed! It was super busy but got seated quickly. Ordered the chocolate bread for sharing for starter. We both had the ‘patty melt’ which was a chocolate challah French toast sandwich with quarterpounder topped with, fried egg, grilled pork belly, cheddar cheese and Lyonnaise potatoes on the side. Absolutely amaze-balls if you ask me! Defo a firm favourite when visiting.





The atmosphere in the emporium is good too and love the décor and the theming. The story behind it all is on the menu and we got visited by the chocolate maker and the professor themselves!
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Quality Inn Plaza , I drive (2009) / Los Angeles, CA (2010) /New york + Villa at Chatham park (2014/15) / Quality Inn on 192 (2015) / Laguna beach (2016) / Flamingo inn ,Daytona beach (2016/17) Houston , Atlanta + Coco key water resort, I drive (2017), Boston (2018), New York City (2018) Washington DC + Clarion Suites Maingate, (2018)Red Lion/ New orleans (Sept 2019) Cabbibean Resort/ Red lion (Jan 2020), Baymont Inn and Suites (Aug 2020)
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Old 23 Mar 22, 11:29 AM  
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Day 3 – Saturday 8th January 2022.



We had stopped off at Costco and Walmart yesterday so stocked up on breakfast cereal bars, lunchables and wraps.



Up early and drove to Clearwater, again I drove! Been many a time a passenger on this route was a bit different to drive there, but we made it in one piece!

Got parked in the beach garage and settled on the beach.

Went to the Dunkins for coffee and donuts mid morning, sitting outside.

Dinner was Frenchy’s south beach café, got a fantastic spot outside to watch the sunset. After much deliberation I had mahi mahi sandwich with fries and DH had ribs with fries and coleslaw. I think I had a root beer and DH a diet coke. Then we each had key lime pie for dessert, yum this was so good! Made locally as well.



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Quality Inn Plaza , I drive (2009) / Los Angeles, CA (2010) /New york + Villa at Chatham park (2014/15) / Quality Inn on 192 (2015) / Laguna beach (2016) / Flamingo inn ,Daytona beach (2016/17) Houston , Atlanta + Coco key water resort, I drive (2017), Boston (2018), New York City (2018) Washington DC + Clarion Suites Maingate, (2018)Red Lion/ New orleans (Sept 2019) Cabbibean Resort/ Red lion (Jan 2020), Baymont Inn and Suites (Aug 2020)

Edited at 11:33 AM.
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Old 23 Mar 22, 11:33 AM  
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Day 4 – Sunday 9th January 2022



The plan was to go to Aquatica, but this didn’t open til 11 am (we had originally thought 10am so good job we didn’t go that early!) Walked along to I-drive from the hotel this morning and didn’t take long at all. Walked along to icon park and a bit further down to where the Rosen at the Point is. I would have went to Dennys for breakfast but DH wasn’t a fan so walked back up Idrive settled for Mcdonalds. Also considered Perkins but wasn’t sure, we did plan on trying that later on in the trip but ran out of days in the end, but its on the list for September!

We both had sausage and egg mcgriddles (love this, why can’t they be done in the UK!) with hashbrowns and coffee and orange juice. Finished our breakfast and walked back to Dockside to get our stuff and the car to go to aquatica. We got there about 10:40 and was met by a large q of cars as they weren’t letting us in the car park yet. Finally parked up and then q’d again til 11am on the dot when they opened the gates! We had brought some wraps and lunchables and crisps with us for a light lunch!



We had tickets to go see Orlando Magic vs Washington Wizards at the Amway center so made our way to that when Aquatica shut at 5pm. I was a bit peckish when we got there so just had some fries. Then after that I saw people with Papa Johns and PDQ chicken but I didn’t see that stand for them!



After the game we decided to find something near the centre and I noticed a few restaurants along East Colonial drive so we decided on Smokey Bones, as on previous trips it has been a favourite when we went to the ones on US-192!

I decided on mac and cheese with smoked sausage and pulled pork topped with fried onions, Dh had meats platter with brisket and pulled pork with garlic Texas toast and fries and slaw. Unfortunately, the food wasn’t too great! Not sure if it was a combinaton of being there too late at night (was nearing 10pm by this time) and being short staffed or supplier issues but we both thought the meat was just heated up and not cooked fresh.



We had always enjoyed the food at the 192 location and always felt like it was fresh. To drink I had a pomegranate lemonade and DH had diet coke float. It was a shame that this was a disappointing visit but I think we will give the 192 one another try in September!
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Quality Inn Plaza , I drive (2009) / Los Angeles, CA (2010) /New york + Villa at Chatham park (2014/15) / Quality Inn on 192 (2015) / Laguna beach (2016) / Flamingo inn ,Daytona beach (2016/17) Houston , Atlanta + Coco key water resort, I drive (2017), Boston (2018), New York City (2018) Washington DC + Clarion Suites Maingate, (2018)Red Lion/ New orleans (Sept 2019) Cabbibean Resort/ Red lion (Jan 2020), Baymont Inn and Suites (Aug 2020)
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Old 23 Mar 22, 02:35 PM  
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Day 5: Monday 10th January 2022.

Magic Kingdom day!

We had been holding off booking any WDW tickets until we actually stepped foot on Floridian soil, given the current climate! So 3 day tickets were booked via Undercover tourist on Saturday. We knew we only wanted a one day in MK, HS and AK anyways as we had US and DC ultimate tickets booked as well. The 3 day was around $250 in case any one is wondering!
At the park for rope drop, Super busy day but came with a back pack full of snacks to have in between rides on in the Qs or when we would find a nice spot to chill for a mo!

One thing I knew had to have was the strawberry and cream funnel cake from Sleepy hollow yum yum and had the best view sitting out looking at the castle!



We also had the dole whip float special at Sunshine tree terrace– I had the Fanta and orange dole whip DH had diet coke and vanilla ice cream. Found a sunny spot near the tiki room to enjoy!




Stayed right until park close then headed to the Springs to see what we would have for dinner. I was interested in trying out Chicken Guy but the Q was waaaay long so we opted for Planet Hollywood instead, I do like the atmosphere here. In past times my favourite was the Pimento Grilled Cheese sandwich (with mac and cheese in it in triple layers ) but this was taken off the menu so I had the Prime Time American Kobe and DH had the Championship Pulled Pork. Both arrived quickly though I was little disappointed with mine as it was a bit dry like it had been lying out a while .. the triple fries were good though. This was accompanied by a fanta and Dh had the Chocolate Comet Supernova Shake.which could have been a meal in itself!

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Quality Inn Plaza , I drive (2009) / Los Angeles, CA (2010) /New york + Villa at Chatham park (2014/15) / Quality Inn on 192 (2015) / Laguna beach (2016) / Flamingo inn ,Daytona beach (2016/17) Houston , Atlanta + Coco key water resort, I drive (2017), Boston (2018), New York City (2018) Washington DC + Clarion Suites Maingate, (2018)Red Lion/ New orleans (Sept 2019) Cabbibean Resort/ Red lion (Jan 2020), Baymont Inn and Suites (Aug 2020)
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Old 24 Mar 22, 12:06 PM  
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Day 6: Tuesday 11th January 2022

Today was Daytona beach and NASCAR test track day.
Drove to Daytona and parked up on the beach – love that you can do that here! Sunbathed and went for a dip in the sea – I’m used to going for a swim now and again in the firth of forth and the north sea so this sea temperature felt suitability pleasant to me lol. Wandered along to the centre and to Rocket Fizz. Love this old school style bottle shop, there is so much to choose from!
Got some orange cream soda and old fashioned cream soda.



Onto NASCAR for their January new car test day – basically the new cars for the upcoming season go out on track and see what adjustments they need. It’s pretty cool as you can see in the pit lane them working on the motors – lots of laptops hooked up with various graphs with engine powers etc etc, all above my head!
Then the cars get a turn round the track one by one. I wasn’t expecting it to be no noisy and that was with one car at a time! No wonder everyone wears ear defenders on race days. Best of all, this was free entry!
We stayed for a few hours then headed to Olive garden across the street. This is my favourite chain restaurant in the USA so was very excited to be back!
I had chicken gnocchi soup and DH zuppa Toscana. Served up with many breadsticks! Had the raspberry lemonade and diet coke. The server was really good , bringing in lots of breadsticks and drinks re fills.



Entrees was tour of Italy for me and chicken parm for DH. For those of you that don’t know, tour of Italy is lasagne, chicken parm and Fettuccine Alfredo. Yum yum yum! Did not disappoint. Of course , the portions were huge but pretty much managed most of it!



Back to Dockside now – came back via the premium outlets on i-drive, where many bath and body works hand sanitisers were purchased along with some converse and WDW spirit jersey!
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Quality Inn Plaza , I drive (2009) / Los Angeles, CA (2010) /New york + Villa at Chatham park (2014/15) / Quality Inn on 192 (2015) / Laguna beach (2016) / Flamingo inn ,Daytona beach (2016/17) Houston , Atlanta + Coco key water resort, I drive (2017), Boston (2018), New York City (2018) Washington DC + Clarion Suites Maingate, (2018)Red Lion/ New orleans (Sept 2019) Cabbibean Resort/ Red lion (Jan 2020), Baymont Inn and Suites (Aug 2020)
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