#18895 by MrsG
19 Apr 2007, 14:52
Dates: 8th April to the 15th.
Acommodation:A villa at Westridge, off the I-27
Length of stay: One week (ie, not enough time!!)


Theme Parks visited

Busch Gardens
Seaworld
Kennedy Space Center
Universal Studios
Disney- Magic Kingdom

We arrived at Orlando airport around 6pm to be met by our friends and their three children, Thing 1, Thing 2 and Thing 3! Our friends and god children had already been in Orlando for a week so they were well into the spirit of it by the time we arrived.

Busch Gardens

Day 1 of our holiday and we were all out the door by 8.30am for the drive to Busch Gardens in Tampa. We were twenty minutes into the journey when we realised that we had all left our tickets for the park back at the villa, must have been the early start. We finally arrived in Tampa after 10am. The weather was overcast and it wasn't particularly warm either. We thought it would be a good idea to bring waterproofs with us which paid off later on.

All seven of us took the Skyride to Stanleyville where MrG and Thing 1 decided that they wanted to try the Sheikra! This is a roller coaster type ride with a vertical drop [:0] I chickened out on this one, 'I'll do it later' said I, yeah right [:w] Apparently Sheikra is going floorless in June, ooh, can't wait for that [:p]

My first ride of the day was the Stanley Falls Flume, which was fun, The soaking wet factor was about 4/10! By the time we had finished this ride, it had started to rain. Me, MrG, T1 and his Dad decided to try the Tidal Wave. There was no queue for this and we got straight on, after we had negotiated the bridge. You definitely do not want to be crossing the bridge to Tidal Wave when one of the rides is on it's way down! Some people decided this is exactly what they were going to do and got completely soaked. Even their Busch Garden Ponchos couldn't save them, it was hilarious[:o)] Soaking wet factor 7/10.

Thing 2 wanted to go on Cheetah Chase so off we went to Timbuktu. There was a queue of about 15 minutes and as we got near to the front, we were told that the ride had been closed due to the rain. We decided to wait it out because we were under cover, hoping it would open again soon. They reopened the ride again after the rain had eased off. I thought Cheetah Chase was quite scary, it felt like we were going to go over the edge on a few occasions. T2 and T3 loved it though, so I had to be brave. I decided to get the picture taken of us on this ride even though it wasn't a flattering one of yours truly. We spent another hour at Timbuktu while T2 nad T3 went on some of the kiddie rides.

By now, it had been raining consistently for a few hours and we were quite wet. Busch Gardens is one Park that doesn't have much in the way of cover. We tried to get into the Desert Grill Restaurant and Theatre which was packed, with no seating, so we stood there for a while trying to dry off. There was an Irish dancing show[?] taking place on the stage while we were there.

We then made our way to Morroco and went on Gwazi.Gwazi is an old fashioned wooden roller coaster. My friend told me that the wooden ones are supposed to be the best!There was only a lap restraint on this ride so I thought it would be ok, wrong![:0] I have a habit of closing my eyes and screaming my head off when on rides and that's exactly what I did. I was petrified and it seemed to go on for ages too. Boy was I glad to get off that one [:$] MrG and T1 had another couple of rides on Gwazi, complete nutters!

Because the weather wasn't great we didn't see as much of the animals as we would have liked, though we did see some elephants and Zebras.

MrG and T1 were turning out to be the roller coaster kings and decided to finish off the day with a ride on Montu. I declined to go on it as I was still recovering from Gwazi. Montu is a floorless ride with lots of loops. You can stand underneath it at one point watching it speed over your head.

We had 8 hours in all at Busch Gardens and it was very enjoyable. If you like seat of your pants type roller coasters, then you should visit. There are plenty of rides to keep the younger kids amused too. My Favourite ride was the Phoenix,a boat shaped ride that swings you from side to side then over and holds you there[y]I wasn't too worried as there was a big safety net across the top to stop me falling out![}:)]

I think we would have seen more, particularly of the animals if the weather had been better. I would also suggest that you bring a change of clothing with you, if it's raining. The plus side of the bad weather was not having to queue to get on most of the rides[y]

A great first day of our holiday and I could see that we were going to need plenty of stamina to get to the end of the week.

Tomorrow, we would have a date with a whale...

To be continued..
#168449 by Tinkerbelle
19 Apr 2007, 15:34
Looking forward to reading the rest of your report:)
#168453 by thelaceys
19 Apr 2007, 15:51
We're going off to Orlando in four weeks time. Your report has put me right there already and I look forward to reading about your other visits. We will be going to Universal this year, we haven't visited there for 10 years so I'm sure there have been a few changes and look forward to reading all about it.

Thanks
thelaceys
#168598 by MarkJ
20 Apr 2007, 13:23
Originally posted by MrsG
.............. decided that they wanted to try the Sheikra! This is a roller coaster type ride with a vertical drop [:0] I chickened out on this one, 'I'll do it later' said I, yeah right [:w]



[:#][:#][:#]

Oh Amanda!!!!!
#168652 by MrsG
20 Apr 2007, 19:28
Sorry Mark[:#][:#]Disgraceful behaviour I know! But I did redeem myself later on in the week ;)
#168668 by MarkJ
20 Apr 2007, 21:43
Originally posted by MrsG
Sorry Mark[:#][:#]Disgraceful behaviour I know! But I did redeem myself later on in the week ;)


Don't tell me.......

You went on "It's a Small World!!!!!!!!"

[:w]
#168716 by MrsG
21 Apr 2007, 01:41
Close! It was actually the ET ride at Universal!![}:)]

Anyway, I'm off to experience the other side of Florida on Saturday, and will post the rest of my Orlando TR when I get back.:)
#170821 by MrsG
07 May 2007, 14:56
Here is more from my Orlando TR....


Day 2 - Seaworld

We headed of to Seaworld early on the Tuesday morning. Given how bad the weather was the previous day we had all brought a change of clothing and plenty of waterproofs. Sunny Florida? I don't think so![:0]

The first show we watched was the Blue Horizons show at the Whale and Dolphin Theatre which was spectacular. This was a show that combined acrobatics, swimming, dolphins, whales and birds. Maybe because of the weather it was packed, or maybe it's always like that? All 7 of us enjoyed it anyway. I particularly liked the exotic looking birds that flew over the heads of the audience!

After the show we decided to go on some rides. Four of us decided to try Atlantis. Thing 1 was desperate to go on Kraken,another seat of your pants floorless roller coaster ride but with the rain still falling it was closed for most of the day. Such a shame![}:)] Off we headed to the 'Journey to Atlantis' ride. As you can guess, this ride involved water and lots of it! While standing in the queue we were advised that we would get very wet. Ok, so a few splashes weren't going to hurt[:w] Wrong! As we hurtled down the steep slope at the end of the ride, I got soaked! Right up to my waist[:0] Hmmm, I was wearing denim capri trousers that stuck to me like a second skin! As it was still raining there was no chance that I would dry out any time soon[xx(]

The show that we all wanted to see was Shamu and the 'Believe' show. Once I had managed to forget that my clothes were shrinking on me, I started to enjoy it. It was an excellent show, based on the story of a young boy and his love of whales. If you found yourself sitting in the first few rows then you were in for a soaking[:p] Shamu did his thing and had us all clapping and oohing and aahing. A young member of the audience was picked out and she got to get close to shamu. She actually looked terrified, poor kid.

After shamu, MrG and I headed back to the car so I could get changed into dry clothes. What a relief! I have to admit that I wanted to stay in the car because it was warm and dry but MrG wasn't having it. We headed back into the park and met back up with our friends.

We then headed over to Key West at Seaworld to the stingray lagoon and petted a few stingrays. The Things had purchased some food and fed them also. We queued up at the Dolphin Cove to feed the dolphins. You pay $5 for around 3 fish and then you dropped the fish into the mouth of the nearest dolphin. It was great fun :DYou also had the option of purchasing a photo that was taken of you while feeding the dolphins.

We didn't get the most out of Seaworld because of the bad weather. There was much more that we didn't get to see so it would definitely warrant another visit.

While probably not my favourite park of the holiday, it is a great place for kids to interact with sealife.

[y]

To be continued...
#170823 by buns
07 May 2007, 15:16
Mrs G

Thanks for posting your experience at Seaworld[y][y]

What comes across loud and clear, is a sense of excitement and it clearly reflects the fun you had that day.

Just like the Laceys, there will be many who visit this site in preparation for their trip to Orlando, so all the more thanks for giving an insight of what it really is like to visit the Theme Parks


buns
#170833 by thelaceys
07 May 2007, 19:28
Great Stuff, we've really been looking forward to the next instalment of your holiday and just can't wait for our visit Tuesday next week [8D]

Look forward to the rest of your report.

thelaceys
Virgin Atlantic

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests

Itinerary Calendar