Night-train
09-12-2005, 06:13 AM
Ah bliss!! No alarm this morning. Still waken around 7 though, I can hear the sound of others making their way to the food court or whatever it is they’re doing. We’re not going to a park today but this is the day we plan to do our helicopter ride. Laura and Caitline are looking forward to this as it’s something neither of them have done before. I have a wealth of experience flying in choppers as a result of my time in the armed forces but still, this is different so I’m raring to go too! Once everyone is up, showered and dressed we mosey over to the food court for a light breakfast of toast, fruit juice, cereal and coffee. It’s almost 9am now and the place is heaving with people yet! However, we manage to find a table and sit people-watching while we eat. It’s still a time of realisation for us and we’re still pinching each other to make sure we are awake and we are really here in Disney’s All Star Movies Resort! I think we can safely say we are now onsite-converts, even if it is just the Value end of the scale, but Value or not, I don’t think there is a more ’Disney’ experience to be had!
We finish up and stroll back to our room to get ready to go. It is another glorious day and I’m sure the temperature must be in the 70’s already, and we’re walking in the shaded side of the buildings! The feelgood factor is definitely here today again and he’s wearing a big, sunny smile! We get into the car and set off for I-Drive via I-4 and Sandlake Road. We arrive at the heli-tours place beside Race Rock just before 11am and park up. Inside I hand over our voucher and the girl tells us we are third in the queue so we will have a wait of around half an hour. No problem says I and head off to look at the model train exhibits. Caitline plays with the Thomas The Tank Engine toys while the chopper comes in and out with the parties ahead of us, and then it’s our turn. We are briefed on how to approach the chopper safely and how to get in and fasten the belts. I get our briefer to take a pic of us with the chopper before we take off.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004184.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004187.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004189.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004191.jpg
Our 10 minute flight takes us North along I-4, along part of I-Drive over Wet’n’Wild, then the Universal Resort area before turning South and heading back to the landing site. It was very enjoyable and we leave a generous tip for the pilot. Next visit we will do a longer flight, no question! Laura and Caitline are buzzing with excitement so I’m glad we chose to do this now. It’s not at all like flying in military choppers but at least they have experienced something different.
It’s noon now and we’re next door to Race Rock so where better to go for lunch? This is somewhere we’ve wanted to go for a long time and just never got round to it, mainly because there were too many other things on our list at the time! First things first though and it’s off round the back for some pics of the original Bigfoot monster truck. Caitline can’t believe the size of the wheels and spends some time just running back and forth underneath it.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004199.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004200.jpg
Now, one thing you need to know about Race Rock, this is not a place where you walk in, sit down, eat and leave. Oh no . . . this place is also a monument to all forms of American motor sport going back over several decades. It’s all here, stock cars, powerboats, dragsters, swamp buggies, motorcycles . . . you name it, it’s probably here! However long you spend eating, you’ll spend twice as long just browsing round the exhibits. It’s a fantastic setup and I love it! On going through the front doors we are immediately struck by the size of the reception area, a huge hallway with articulated trucks and trailers on each side doubling as store counters for the merchandise, Top-Fuel dragsters hanging vertically on the wall either side of the restaurant entrance, cars and bikes suspended from the ceiling . . . petrol head heaven, that’s what we have here!!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004210.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004211.jpg
Surprisingly, the place is far from busy, so I suspect we have just beaten the lunchtime rush. We are taken to our table and introduced to our server, whose name I don’t recall, but I do remember he had this really long ponytail hanging from the back of his baseball cap. He brings us our drinks while we pore over the very extensive menu. I decide on the Mississippi Meatloaf w/fries and mushroom gravy, Laura chooses chicken ravioli and Caitline has a grilled cheese sandwich. The meatloaf is huge and extremely tasty to boot!! It’s all I can do to finish it. Laura tries a bit and wishes she’d chosen it too. Here’s a pic to whet your appetite;
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004231.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004237.jpg
Caitline in the railroad car.
Our server offers us a dessert menu but we decline politely and wobble off towards the exit, stomachs at bursting point! We decide to leave the car and walk to Pointe Orlando, enjoying the beautiful sunshine on the way. It only takes about 5 minutes to get there and on the way we see 2 fire trucks from the Orange County Fire Department dealing with some sort of incident at a hotel just across from Wonderworks. I don’t see any smoke or any sign of panic or urgency so maybe it was something minor, or maybe even a training exercise, suffice to say there were no ambulances at the scene.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004270.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004239.jpg
At Pointe Orlando we are surprised at how quiet the place is. No crowds, closed down shops, the place seems to be on it’s last legs. Shame really, as this is one of our favourite shopping destinations. FAO Schwartz is no more, as is the Players Grill and several of the smaller shops. Hope the place recovers as I want to eat in Dan Marino’s some day. I buy myself a new personal cd player in the music store for the princely sum of $19, Laura finds a Stars And Stripes throw for our bed in a shop just opposite and we take a few pics as Caitline cools her feet in the fountain by FAO Schwartz.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004255.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004261.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004264.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004266.jpg
I go back to Dan Marino’s for a pic by one of the large murals outside (being a Dolphins fan of some 20 years standing, Dan was my sporting hero!).
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004252.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004254.jpg
We head back to the car and set off for Sports Dominator on I-Drive. This is one place I could really do some damage to our holiday budget but I resolve to restrict myself to a limited edition orange Dolphins jersey, if they have one!! Not had much luck finding one so far so maybe this is the place!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004272.jpg
I browse around downstairs first of all, looking at the Nascar stuff. There was a really cute pink and black leather jacket for kids which had Minnie Mouse theming mingled with Nascar pit crew logos but at $130 I felt it a bit pricey just yet! Right, time to go upstairs to the football gear. Result!!! It’s there, in the corner, and it’s calling my name! A #55, Junior Seau, orange Miami Dolphins jersey, and it’s my size! I lift it down and pay for it as soon as I can find someone to take my $70 off me. That’s my number one wish item taken care of so I’m a happy bunny now!
We go outside and put it in the car before having a nosey through some of the other nearby shops. If I recall correctly we bought a pair of shoes for Caitline in Payless Shoe Source, but I’m just not sure. We don’t have our receipts to refer to as we left them with our friend Janett so she could claim some of the tax back.
At this point we come to another little blank in our notes but I think we went back to the hotel before paying another visit to Walmart. We are going to take Caitline to play miniature golf somewhere on I-Drive tonight so we need to pick up some sweatshirts in case it is another cool evening. Back at our room we see that the mousekeepers have been busy again, or have we just caught Caitline’s toys in mid-mischief??
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004282.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004285.jpg
We set off again and look for somewhere new to have dinner. We find a Wendy’s on 192 near Congo River Golf that looks quite quiet and spend an hour in there just chilling out. Burgers, fries and cokes are the order of the day, nothing too exciting but it does a job. It gets dark while we are inside and when we come out we find it has cooled down quite a bit too. Good idea bringing those sweatshirts after all! Feels strange driving with the a/c off too! Our final stop of the day is the aforementioned Congo River Golf and Caitline is immediately taken by the baby alligators in the pool at the entrance. No, they didn’t eat her! I meant they got her attention! On to the golf, and Caitline’s first attempts are somewhat ropey to say the least, but then Mum and Dad aren’t much better over the first three or four holes either! Things start to improve a bit and we are 2 and 3 putting before long. Caitline and Laura even manage two of the flukiest holes-in-one I have ever witnessed in my life! Nevertheless we have a lot of fun and agree we should do this again before we leave Kissimmee for West Palm Beach in a few days time.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004286.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004295.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004290.jpg
Tomorrow is a non-park day too but we agree that an early(ish) night will do Caitline no harm and despite her protests we head back to the hotel, grab some drinks from the food court and take care of some laundry before calling it a night.
Tune in for the next episode, coming soon . . . . . I think.
We finish up and stroll back to our room to get ready to go. It is another glorious day and I’m sure the temperature must be in the 70’s already, and we’re walking in the shaded side of the buildings! The feelgood factor is definitely here today again and he’s wearing a big, sunny smile! We get into the car and set off for I-Drive via I-4 and Sandlake Road. We arrive at the heli-tours place beside Race Rock just before 11am and park up. Inside I hand over our voucher and the girl tells us we are third in the queue so we will have a wait of around half an hour. No problem says I and head off to look at the model train exhibits. Caitline plays with the Thomas The Tank Engine toys while the chopper comes in and out with the parties ahead of us, and then it’s our turn. We are briefed on how to approach the chopper safely and how to get in and fasten the belts. I get our briefer to take a pic of us with the chopper before we take off.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004184.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004187.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004189.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004191.jpg
Our 10 minute flight takes us North along I-4, along part of I-Drive over Wet’n’Wild, then the Universal Resort area before turning South and heading back to the landing site. It was very enjoyable and we leave a generous tip for the pilot. Next visit we will do a longer flight, no question! Laura and Caitline are buzzing with excitement so I’m glad we chose to do this now. It’s not at all like flying in military choppers but at least they have experienced something different.
It’s noon now and we’re next door to Race Rock so where better to go for lunch? This is somewhere we’ve wanted to go for a long time and just never got round to it, mainly because there were too many other things on our list at the time! First things first though and it’s off round the back for some pics of the original Bigfoot monster truck. Caitline can’t believe the size of the wheels and spends some time just running back and forth underneath it.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004199.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004200.jpg
Now, one thing you need to know about Race Rock, this is not a place where you walk in, sit down, eat and leave. Oh no . . . this place is also a monument to all forms of American motor sport going back over several decades. It’s all here, stock cars, powerboats, dragsters, swamp buggies, motorcycles . . . you name it, it’s probably here! However long you spend eating, you’ll spend twice as long just browsing round the exhibits. It’s a fantastic setup and I love it! On going through the front doors we are immediately struck by the size of the reception area, a huge hallway with articulated trucks and trailers on each side doubling as store counters for the merchandise, Top-Fuel dragsters hanging vertically on the wall either side of the restaurant entrance, cars and bikes suspended from the ceiling . . . petrol head heaven, that’s what we have here!!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004210.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004211.jpg
Surprisingly, the place is far from busy, so I suspect we have just beaten the lunchtime rush. We are taken to our table and introduced to our server, whose name I don’t recall, but I do remember he had this really long ponytail hanging from the back of his baseball cap. He brings us our drinks while we pore over the very extensive menu. I decide on the Mississippi Meatloaf w/fries and mushroom gravy, Laura chooses chicken ravioli and Caitline has a grilled cheese sandwich. The meatloaf is huge and extremely tasty to boot!! It’s all I can do to finish it. Laura tries a bit and wishes she’d chosen it too. Here’s a pic to whet your appetite;
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004231.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004237.jpg
Caitline in the railroad car.
Our server offers us a dessert menu but we decline politely and wobble off towards the exit, stomachs at bursting point! We decide to leave the car and walk to Pointe Orlando, enjoying the beautiful sunshine on the way. It only takes about 5 minutes to get there and on the way we see 2 fire trucks from the Orange County Fire Department dealing with some sort of incident at a hotel just across from Wonderworks. I don’t see any smoke or any sign of panic or urgency so maybe it was something minor, or maybe even a training exercise, suffice to say there were no ambulances at the scene.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004270.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004239.jpg
At Pointe Orlando we are surprised at how quiet the place is. No crowds, closed down shops, the place seems to be on it’s last legs. Shame really, as this is one of our favourite shopping destinations. FAO Schwartz is no more, as is the Players Grill and several of the smaller shops. Hope the place recovers as I want to eat in Dan Marino’s some day. I buy myself a new personal cd player in the music store for the princely sum of $19, Laura finds a Stars And Stripes throw for our bed in a shop just opposite and we take a few pics as Caitline cools her feet in the fountain by FAO Schwartz.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004255.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004261.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004264.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004266.jpg
I go back to Dan Marino’s for a pic by one of the large murals outside (being a Dolphins fan of some 20 years standing, Dan was my sporting hero!).
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004252.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004254.jpg
We head back to the car and set off for Sports Dominator on I-Drive. This is one place I could really do some damage to our holiday budget but I resolve to restrict myself to a limited edition orange Dolphins jersey, if they have one!! Not had much luck finding one so far so maybe this is the place!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004272.jpg
I browse around downstairs first of all, looking at the Nascar stuff. There was a really cute pink and black leather jacket for kids which had Minnie Mouse theming mingled with Nascar pit crew logos but at $130 I felt it a bit pricey just yet! Right, time to go upstairs to the football gear. Result!!! It’s there, in the corner, and it’s calling my name! A #55, Junior Seau, orange Miami Dolphins jersey, and it’s my size! I lift it down and pay for it as soon as I can find someone to take my $70 off me. That’s my number one wish item taken care of so I’m a happy bunny now!
We go outside and put it in the car before having a nosey through some of the other nearby shops. If I recall correctly we bought a pair of shoes for Caitline in Payless Shoe Source, but I’m just not sure. We don’t have our receipts to refer to as we left them with our friend Janett so she could claim some of the tax back.
At this point we come to another little blank in our notes but I think we went back to the hotel before paying another visit to Walmart. We are going to take Caitline to play miniature golf somewhere on I-Drive tonight so we need to pick up some sweatshirts in case it is another cool evening. Back at our room we see that the mousekeepers have been busy again, or have we just caught Caitline’s toys in mid-mischief??
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004282.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004285.jpg
We set off again and look for somewhere new to have dinner. We find a Wendy’s on 192 near Congo River Golf that looks quite quiet and spend an hour in there just chilling out. Burgers, fries and cokes are the order of the day, nothing too exciting but it does a job. It gets dark while we are inside and when we come out we find it has cooled down quite a bit too. Good idea bringing those sweatshirts after all! Feels strange driving with the a/c off too! Our final stop of the day is the aforementioned Congo River Golf and Caitline is immediately taken by the baby alligators in the pool at the entrance. No, they didn’t eat her! I meant they got her attention! On to the golf, and Caitline’s first attempts are somewhat ropey to say the least, but then Mum and Dad aren’t much better over the first three or four holes either! Things start to improve a bit and we are 2 and 3 putting before long. Caitline and Laura even manage two of the flukiest holes-in-one I have ever witnessed in my life! Nevertheless we have a lot of fun and agree we should do this again before we leave Kissimmee for West Palm Beach in a few days time.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004286.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004295.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y170/Night-train/021004290.jpg
Tomorrow is a non-park day too but we agree that an early(ish) night will do Caitline no harm and despite her protests we head back to the hotel, grab some drinks from the food court and take care of some laundry before calling it a night.
Tune in for the next episode, coming soon . . . . . I think.