7 flights, 6 hotels, 1 cruise ship and a major stuff up...brace yourself UPDATE!

[becpee]

So, hey, I thought i'd start posting with a very undetailed trip report (maybe, I don't know yet), some pics

I have a few but it seems i've missed alot of stuff

Such is life

We left on a Tuesday, Melbourne airport direct to LAX then via Atlanta and onto Orlando.
I find myself spending alot of time looking out the window on aeroplanes, I love trying to see things, although from such great heights you generally don't see alot.
Poor DS was exhausted and I think suffering a bit of dehydration and low blood sugar as he threw up on the nice slippery walkway outside Malibu Al's, a nice watery invisible liquid, I made my DH stand there while I went to the counter to ask them to call a cleaner as I could just imagine a cartoon type scene with people doing that run on the spot in all that vomity goodness.
I was a bit surprised when approaching the counter to ask them to call somebody I was told "we don't look after that, you'll have to speak to one of the Delta people"
Seriously?
After that I felt like I should have left all that invisible vomit for somebody to walk through and slip in, then we'd find out whose responsibilty it was to look after it
When I returned back to the spot there was a man there (just a guy travelling with his family) handing napkins to DH helping him clean it, what a guy!

I don't remember alot of the flight from LAX to Atlanta, but when getting on the plane I heard an Aussie accent, turned out to be a fellow Diser who I spoke to all the way from Atlanta to Orlando, and she shared her starburst with us
Poor DS was still throwing up on the plane, he did make it into the bag though, there was nothing to clean up
Flying from LAX to Atlanta though I did see alot of clouds and these weird looking crop circles

You can only just see them, but I found them pretty amazing (you know what they say about small minds and all )

We were staying at the Hyatt Orlando Airport, a great hotel.
I think we paid about $100 for it, and it was great not having to get onto more transport to get to a hotel for the night.
We ended up having McDonalds for dinner
We were all pretty exhausted and went to sleep very easily, but woke up very early.
So there we all are at 7am having a swim in the airport hotel swimming pool and watching the aeroplanes
Breakfast was easy
DS had Krispy Kreme, DH and I had Quiznos, definately a fan

I didn't take a pic inside the room, I always forget that bit!
But here is one of the rooms and the terminal at the bottom.
I would definately stay here again

 

[alicia1506]

yay... love TRs and so happy that you are sharing yours with us.

sorry to hear about your DS and his illness... not good, but how kind of that other traveller to help you clean it up

can't wait for the next installment

 

[Travel Mum]

Oh goodie Becpee - I'm along for the ride!

 

[JessNewbs]

I am here and ready

Poor DS I hope my kiddies don't get puky on the trip it is always a terrible experience!

 

[5ofus]

Woohoo! I'm in!

Your poor DS . How old is he again? Not that it matters really I just want to be able to picture your family

 

[areweindisneyyet]

Eyay!,

 

[becpee]

Thanks for reading

We headed out of our hotel about 10am and headed down to Alamo to collect our hire car (sorry, no pic ) and headed off to the outlets for our first shopping adventure.

Found a pic of our hire car

We spent the better part of the day at International Drive Premium outlets, serious shopping was done by some (not me ) although I did buy a few things.
The Disney Character Warehouse here was really good they had alot of product, for good prices

I browsed alot, just biding my time before I went in for the kill.
DH on the other hand, just went nuts

I found myself spending alot of time perusing the products in the Coach stores in every place we went to

Later that afternoon we headed onto our hotel for the next 3 nights, I had been very much looking forward to this one, Hilton Bonnet Creek.
It is quite new as far as hotels go, and I got it for a pretty good rate of $115 per night, you'd be hard pressed to find anything in Australia of this standard under $300.

Hotel view from the Waldorf Astoria golf course

The rooms are very nice, clean, comfortable, and the bathrooms are decorated very tastefully and very similar to mine at home

The views were awesome

The lazy river

Views of Art of Animation and POP

Every day on the deck chairs on the far side of the pool they would put a word, very cute

Woohoo! I'm in!

Your poor DS . How old is he again? Not that it matters really I just want to be able to picture your family

He's 6...going on 27

He's just asked me if next time we go, can we please stay for 100 days?

 

[becpee]

That night, very late we headed out to Taco Bell
We all ate for $12.49

We woke up the next morning, I woke up very early (a theme for this trip), and we headed out shopping again This time to Vineland Outlets
On the way back we stopped at a golf store, DH bought new golf shoes (pretty sure he now owns 3 pairs) and a golf hat
DH decided the next day was to be a rest day (translation "I want to play golf")
DS and I would head down to the pool while he played.

DS, some of you may remember from our last TR, he has his mouth open alot in pics, because the kid seriously does not shut up

The day was warm, but the clouds rolled in

The rain started to come in so we headed back upstairs and DH turned up not much later, and we decided to head out to the shops again
This time the Florida Mall.

DH took some pics while he was golfing, i'll add them in for any enthusiasts
He said the golf course itself was awesome, and he loved that wherever he played while we were away a cart was always included in the price, a real novelty.
It was $60 for the game and $50 to hire the clubs.

Ok, we do love a menu, so here is the one from the golf cart, very swisho

Moving along

The greens

He got this little memento at the end, engraved with his name on the back

The clubhouse and carts

 

[Travel Mum]

Geez, I don't play golf but I am mighty impressed!!!

 

[alicia1506]

Geez, I don't play golf but I am mighty impressed!!!

exactly what i was thinking!!!

my grandparents are big golfers and my mum was for a while when she was younger. i never got into it, but ... wow. pretty

 

[PrincessInOz]

Poor DS. I hope that you and DH felt better after you cleaned up.


Those are nice golf courses and buggies and pools. But where's the food porn???

 

[becpee]

Poor DS. I hope that you and DH felt better after you cleaned up.


Those are nice golf courses and buggies and pools. But where's the food porn???

Sorry to disappoint, I forgot to take pics of alot of my food

 

[marvel]

So what did you think of the Hilton Bonnet Creek? IT was one we were considering last time but went with the Sheraton vistana which was amazing.

Was their much noise from neighbours in the rooms?

enjoying your report.

Were the beds queens or doubles??

 

[becpee]

So what did you think of the Hilton Bonnet Creek? IT was one we were considering last time but went with the Sheraton vistana which was amazing.

Was their much noise from neighbours in the rooms?

enjoying your report.

Were the beds queens or doubles??

We all loved Hilton Bonnet Creek
There was only one day we heard the neighbours, and it was because their small child was tired and they were trying to get him ready to get their flight, and he wouldn't get out of bed

The beds were queens and very comfy.

We ordered room service a couple of times, I ordered the same thing both times a burger with fries

We also ate breakfast in Harvest Bistro once, they have table service menu or a buffet, we just did table service and I had eggs benedict, DS had pancakes and DH, can't remember what he had.

DS and I also did brekky once at Muse cafe, just pastries and danishes and coffees, standard prices, not bad quality.

The view had me though, waking up and looking out and seeing the golf course, the other resorts and the sun streaming in the window \

DH loved it also, all he kept saying was "if we're coming back to Orlando, this is where we're staying".
And for the $115 we spent per night, i'd doubt we could have found better.

 

[marvel]

Bonnett Creek sounds good. And the price is crazy. We hardly ever holiday in Oz anymore, I get so angry with the prices knowing the hotels are running empty in the most part. We payed $165 for a two bedroom two bathroom, newly renovated suite at the Sheraton Vistana, it was amazing. You can't stay at a caravan park here for that price

 

[becpee]

Bonnett Creek sounds good. And the price is crazy. We hardly ever holiday in Oz anymore, I get so angry with the prices knowing the hotels are running empty in the most part. We payed $165 for a two bedroom two bathroom, newly renovated suite at the Sheraton Vistana, it was amazing. You can't stay at a caravan park here for that price

Funny you say that about caravan parks, I was thinking exactly the same thing today.
Just having a look at Sheraton Vistana, it looks great

 

[Marlea98]

Try staying at a regular 80s style motel in Mackay for less than $180 a night! Not possible thanks to the mining boom

 

[becpee]

Try staying at a regular 80s style motel in Mackay for less than $180 a night! Not possible thanks to the mining boom

 

[marvel]

This might sound weird, even though we are going to California in April I am already thinking of a trip after that to Disneyworld and where we would stay. Hence my questions about Bonnett Creek? Is that weird??

 

[becpee]

This might sound weird, even though we are going to California in April I am already thinking of a trip after that to Disneyworld and where we would stay. Hence my questions about Bonnett Creek? Is that weird??

Not weird at all

I think we're all always thinking of future trips, not just the next one