MorningGlory
07-08-2007, 11:08 AM
Cast
Me. Paul. 34. Chief planner and taxi driver. Scared and excited at the thought of the big coasters.
DS9. Paul (now called junior for the sake of this report). Absolutely bursting at the thought of Disney. As scared as his dad of the coasters but isn't showing it (yet).
Dad. 60 something. Doesn't know how he is going to handle 9 hours without a cigarette!
Brother. John. 45. Possibly the most excited of us all. Definitely looking forward to meeting Mickey.
Day 4 - Sunday 17th June 2007
After the late night last night, we decided to change the itinerary around a little. Yesterday was a long day, and we really did need to get some shopping done. So, after waking around 9, I decided to lie in and let junior wake himself up. He began stirring around 10am (lazy wee bugger!) and we discussed the plans for the day ahead.
I decided to leave the camera in the hotel that day (or maybe I just forgot to take it? Sounds more likely me thinks...) when we headed off around 11am. I had seen the Golden Corral at the bottom of Vineland Road when we had went to find the Publix a couple of days earlier (on the day we went to IOA - think I forgot to mention that). Anyway, having heard so many good reports about it, we went there to fill up for a couple of hours.
The restaurant itself is nice enough, and obviously clean. We had a very nice server who wasn't slow with the refills of OJ and coffee, and I managed to eat a fair amount of sausages, scrambled eggs and beans, then a bowl of fruit. Junior had cereal and a plateful of sausages, bacon and scrambled egg, and devoured the lot before having a go at a couple of muffins. I think it was just over $11 for the 2 of us, which was well worth it. Left a $3 tip.
We got to the Premium Outlets 5 minutes after leaving Golden Corral and eventually managed to get parked up. The parking lot on a busy day in this place is like wacky races! Eventually getting parked up, we made our way first of all to the Nike store. It was a big disappointment though to be honest in the trainer department. Neither of us could see a single pair we liked, so we decided not to even bother looking at the shirts, etc for the moment. We left there and I spotted the Timberland shop close by. Dragged Junior in there for a look around, and found a nice pair of Timberland shoes (very comfortable, best pair of shoes i've had in a while!) for $30!! Also, a pair of nice Timberland boot-cut jeans for the same price! Also bought a bottle of spray-on shoe protector, which was around $10.
I could have spent alot more in the Timberland shop, but I was mindful of the space we had left to take stuff home. We had brought 3 medium sized suitcases, and between the 3 of them, we had the equivalent space of about a full suitcase. I was also planning to buy a large holdall over there, but I knew we would have a couple of bulky purchases to fit in (toys, etc) so I was mindful of how many pairs of shoes I could buy. After leaving there, we went to try out the Adidas shop. This was much better than the Nike shop, we both found several pairs of trainers that we would have liked. In the end up, junior bought a pair of black/grey trainers and a pair of football boots, and I bought a white pair of trainers with green stripes (I don't normally go for white trainers, but when they are in my team's colours....:teeth: ). I also bought a couple of t-shirts (buy one get one half price) and shorts, and got junior some nice shorts and t-shirts. For all that we got, I think the total was around $180!! I could get used to this!
Next stop was the KB Toy Store. We had looked in the Disney store, but there wasn't much there at all that grabbed Paul's attention. The KB store was much better though. Paul was able to buy wrestling figures for $5 that would have cost him $20 back home!! He also got a WWE Championship belt for around $14, think they are about £15 in the local comic shop. We decided we had had enough of shopping for the day, and knew we would be back so we decided to head back home to drop off all our wares.
We decided for lunch we would head round to Hooters and see what all the fuss was about. We took a table outside (bad idea, inside would have been much more comfortable with the air conditioning) and I ordered a cheeseburger and curly fries, junior went for the hot dog and curly fries (he was very particular about the curly fries - he made sure the server knew the importance of them lol!). The food was okay, nothing special. Definitely better than the burger we had at TGI's. I wouldn't go out of my way to go to it again though. The servers may look good, but most of them are all too aware of it I think, and have an attitude more akin to spoilt models. At least, the one who served us did. I was gonna put a ladder in her American Tan tights if she scowled or pouted one more time :mad: :lmao:
After lunch, we decided to head back to the hotel for a couple of hours so junior could have some pool time. Dad met up with us around 6pm, and we all decided that we would just have a quiet night in tonight, as we were all off to Seaworld tomorrow, the first time we were all going to a park. Me and junior decided to take a run down to Kissimmee to see what it's like, and agreed to pick up pizzas for us all on the way home.
We headed down the 535, stopping off at the LBV Factory Outlets as we had been told earlier today that they had a baseball shop called Rawlings. We got there around 7pm though and the place was completely closed, which I didn't expect. We carried on down to Kissimmee, heading West along the 192 until we came to the fun park with the Sky Coaster ride. We parked up the car and decided to take a walk through the main street in the old town, from the funfair at the top to the one at the bottom. Here is a few pics we took along the way;
The funfair, with it's 'rollercoaster' (and I use that term very loosely! );
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/Caltonian/orlando/DSCF0365.jpg
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/Caltonian/orlando/DSCF0368.jpg
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/Caltonian/orlando/DSCF0369.jpg
We walked back up the road looking in some shops, and taking a couple of photos;
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/Caltonian/orlando/DSCF0370.jpg
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/Caltonian/orlando/DSCF0371.jpg
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/Caltonian/orlando/DSCF0375.jpg
We then came across the massive ride that pulls you a few hundred feet into the air in a kind of sleeping bag, then lets you go. Surprisingly, there was a couple trying it out;
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/Caltonian/orlando/DSCF0377.jpg
:eek: :eek:
This is them as they reach the very top;
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/Caltonian/orlando/DSCF0378.jpg
And when you're that far up, there is only 1 way to go.....;
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/Caltonian/orlando/DSCF0379.jpg
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :teeth: :eek: :thumbsup2
Remembering that we were supposed to pick up pizza for dad, we decided we better head back up towards the hotel. I must admit, I quite liked Kissimmee. I wouldn't mind coming down here one night without the car, just to sit around and listen to the music, do a bit of people watching and have a few beers. There was a nice atmosphere around the place while we were there.
We drove back towards the hotel, stopping off at Pizza Hut on Palm Parkway for a cheese and tomato pizza for dad and Italian sausage for me and junior. We retired to the room around 11, we had pizza and I had a couple of beers before hitting the sack around midnight.
Tomorrow: Back to the parks (and loads of pics) with a day at Seaworld
Me. Paul. 34. Chief planner and taxi driver. Scared and excited at the thought of the big coasters.
DS9. Paul (now called junior for the sake of this report). Absolutely bursting at the thought of Disney. As scared as his dad of the coasters but isn't showing it (yet).
Dad. 60 something. Doesn't know how he is going to handle 9 hours without a cigarette!
Brother. John. 45. Possibly the most excited of us all. Definitely looking forward to meeting Mickey.
Day 4 - Sunday 17th June 2007
After the late night last night, we decided to change the itinerary around a little. Yesterday was a long day, and we really did need to get some shopping done. So, after waking around 9, I decided to lie in and let junior wake himself up. He began stirring around 10am (lazy wee bugger!) and we discussed the plans for the day ahead.
I decided to leave the camera in the hotel that day (or maybe I just forgot to take it? Sounds more likely me thinks...) when we headed off around 11am. I had seen the Golden Corral at the bottom of Vineland Road when we had went to find the Publix a couple of days earlier (on the day we went to IOA - think I forgot to mention that). Anyway, having heard so many good reports about it, we went there to fill up for a couple of hours.
The restaurant itself is nice enough, and obviously clean. We had a very nice server who wasn't slow with the refills of OJ and coffee, and I managed to eat a fair amount of sausages, scrambled eggs and beans, then a bowl of fruit. Junior had cereal and a plateful of sausages, bacon and scrambled egg, and devoured the lot before having a go at a couple of muffins. I think it was just over $11 for the 2 of us, which was well worth it. Left a $3 tip.
We got to the Premium Outlets 5 minutes after leaving Golden Corral and eventually managed to get parked up. The parking lot on a busy day in this place is like wacky races! Eventually getting parked up, we made our way first of all to the Nike store. It was a big disappointment though to be honest in the trainer department. Neither of us could see a single pair we liked, so we decided not to even bother looking at the shirts, etc for the moment. We left there and I spotted the Timberland shop close by. Dragged Junior in there for a look around, and found a nice pair of Timberland shoes (very comfortable, best pair of shoes i've had in a while!) for $30!! Also, a pair of nice Timberland boot-cut jeans for the same price! Also bought a bottle of spray-on shoe protector, which was around $10.
I could have spent alot more in the Timberland shop, but I was mindful of the space we had left to take stuff home. We had brought 3 medium sized suitcases, and between the 3 of them, we had the equivalent space of about a full suitcase. I was also planning to buy a large holdall over there, but I knew we would have a couple of bulky purchases to fit in (toys, etc) so I was mindful of how many pairs of shoes I could buy. After leaving there, we went to try out the Adidas shop. This was much better than the Nike shop, we both found several pairs of trainers that we would have liked. In the end up, junior bought a pair of black/grey trainers and a pair of football boots, and I bought a white pair of trainers with green stripes (I don't normally go for white trainers, but when they are in my team's colours....:teeth: ). I also bought a couple of t-shirts (buy one get one half price) and shorts, and got junior some nice shorts and t-shirts. For all that we got, I think the total was around $180!! I could get used to this!
Next stop was the KB Toy Store. We had looked in the Disney store, but there wasn't much there at all that grabbed Paul's attention. The KB store was much better though. Paul was able to buy wrestling figures for $5 that would have cost him $20 back home!! He also got a WWE Championship belt for around $14, think they are about £15 in the local comic shop. We decided we had had enough of shopping for the day, and knew we would be back so we decided to head back home to drop off all our wares.
We decided for lunch we would head round to Hooters and see what all the fuss was about. We took a table outside (bad idea, inside would have been much more comfortable with the air conditioning) and I ordered a cheeseburger and curly fries, junior went for the hot dog and curly fries (he was very particular about the curly fries - he made sure the server knew the importance of them lol!). The food was okay, nothing special. Definitely better than the burger we had at TGI's. I wouldn't go out of my way to go to it again though. The servers may look good, but most of them are all too aware of it I think, and have an attitude more akin to spoilt models. At least, the one who served us did. I was gonna put a ladder in her American Tan tights if she scowled or pouted one more time :mad: :lmao:
After lunch, we decided to head back to the hotel for a couple of hours so junior could have some pool time. Dad met up with us around 6pm, and we all decided that we would just have a quiet night in tonight, as we were all off to Seaworld tomorrow, the first time we were all going to a park. Me and junior decided to take a run down to Kissimmee to see what it's like, and agreed to pick up pizzas for us all on the way home.
We headed down the 535, stopping off at the LBV Factory Outlets as we had been told earlier today that they had a baseball shop called Rawlings. We got there around 7pm though and the place was completely closed, which I didn't expect. We carried on down to Kissimmee, heading West along the 192 until we came to the fun park with the Sky Coaster ride. We parked up the car and decided to take a walk through the main street in the old town, from the funfair at the top to the one at the bottom. Here is a few pics we took along the way;
The funfair, with it's 'rollercoaster' (and I use that term very loosely! );
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/Caltonian/orlando/DSCF0365.jpg
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/Caltonian/orlando/DSCF0368.jpg
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/Caltonian/orlando/DSCF0369.jpg
We walked back up the road looking in some shops, and taking a couple of photos;
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/Caltonian/orlando/DSCF0370.jpg
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/Caltonian/orlando/DSCF0371.jpg
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/Caltonian/orlando/DSCF0375.jpg
We then came across the massive ride that pulls you a few hundred feet into the air in a kind of sleeping bag, then lets you go. Surprisingly, there was a couple trying it out;
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/Caltonian/orlando/DSCF0377.jpg
:eek: :eek:
This is them as they reach the very top;
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/Caltonian/orlando/DSCF0378.jpg
And when you're that far up, there is only 1 way to go.....;
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/Caltonian/orlando/DSCF0379.jpg
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :teeth: :eek: :thumbsup2
Remembering that we were supposed to pick up pizza for dad, we decided we better head back up towards the hotel. I must admit, I quite liked Kissimmee. I wouldn't mind coming down here one night without the car, just to sit around and listen to the music, do a bit of people watching and have a few beers. There was a nice atmosphere around the place while we were there.
We drove back towards the hotel, stopping off at Pizza Hut on Palm Parkway for a cheese and tomato pizza for dad and Italian sausage for me and junior. We retired to the room around 11, we had pizza and I had a couple of beers before hitting the sack around midnight.
Tomorrow: Back to the parks (and loads of pics) with a day at Seaworld