16 nights of Summer fun - Live Trip Report

[crabbie1]

Great pics. Iv just read Matts blog in great detail. It makes me realise how much more there is to just florida than disney. When the kids get older we will definitely be going further a field. So many places to visit. My priority is los angeles; san diego ;san francisco Yosemite and vegas. Would love to do route 66.
Anyway loved the hoggs head. Look forward to following

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Sounds like you had a lovely day at Tavares, it looks like a great place to visit, is it far to get there?

 

[Pootle]

Yes. The song is widely misunderstood.

We were lucky enough to hear Bruce sing it live in Tampa back in May. One of the highlights of our last trip.

Me too about 10 or so years ago, under a picture-perfect orange sky on a warm Tampa evening - very memorable

Sounds like you had a lovely day at Tavares, it looks like a great place to visit, is it far to get there?

Obviously not Wayne, lol, but I've been to Tavares many times and while it is a pleasant place, given that it's about 50 miles and an hour and a quarter-ish drive away, I'd say it's only worth a trip if you have a purpose in mind. We go for the railroad (DH is very keen - there's also a nice little railroad museum at a pleasant little town called Winter Garden, about 15 miles from Orlando). Mount Dora, next door to Tavares is a greater tourist attraction with streets (almost) as we know them, complete with shops, pavements, tea rooms etc.

 

[wayneg]

Love the Tiki Bar Crawler pic - they are a common sight at German events - I suppose as long as the guy at the controls is sober all is legal

Looked like they were all drinking water, I can imagine it being totally different in Germany

Yesterday was an easy day thru the day, started at DTD to get an Elephant figure they have started selling from Jungle cruise. Met up with Cast member friends for lunch at the newly opened Yard house on Idrive, I know Idrive has its fans but we seriously can't see the attraction, 20 mins to get from Aquatica to the yard house, should be about 5 mins but its just a traffic jam every time we go up there. Anyway the Yard house has quite a large menu, a little pricey for lunch($62 incl tip for 3) but the food was very good. Took a pic of the new "Orlando Eye" should be complete soon.
After the meal we tried going to an outlet but too busy with no parking, gave up after about 20 mins of looking and back to the room for a quick change. Ordered a taxi to take us to AK for Harambe nights, cost $28(+$4 tip) which is what I expected
On entry we were given wrist bands with an animal on, we chose Cheetah, it just gives you an area to sit in the theatre. We then went over to Pizzafari for preshow drinks and food, we were about 1 hour early but glad we were as they started a lot earlier than 7pm. We decided to drink the Jungle juice with rum, all evening they were more like 75% rum with just a topping of juice, very strong we had some appetizers which were really nice then off to the theatre, picking up another Jungle juice on the way in & a snack box.
The show itself was amazing, live orchestra, dancers, narrator & guest narrator Michael Beach. Along with clips from the film it all worked really well together.
After the show was a street party, food (lots of)& drinks(and more drinks) also unlimited ice cream snacks from the carts, Mickey bars etc. it was slightly affected by rain but plenty of areas inside if you wanted to go in.
We left when the drinks finished at 10:30pm, went out to get a taxi but none there so decided to get a bus as near to DTD as poss then ring for a taxi. Got bus to SSR and got reception to ring a taxi, took a few mins and we were on our way, $15 but gave him $20 (I had had about 9 or 10 very strong drinks)
Got to sleep around 1am, surprised to up with the larks at 7am, not too worse for wear.
Lion King is a special film to us being released the year Matt was born, $119pp is a lot of money for an event to to me worth every penny.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Thanks for the response Moira, it may be worth visiting both towns together

 

[wayneg]

I keep forgetting to post a link to Matts Blog, I do as much as I can on here but he types a lot faster than me so can go into a bit more detail on his Blog.

http://mathewgillings.wordpress.com/2014/07/04/day-1-arrival-and-magic-kingdom/

At the bottom is a link to Day 2

 

[SilentK]

Thanks for the pics, Harambe Nights looks awesome. I must check out Matt's blog.

 

[juliebro]

Me too about 10 or so years ago, under a picture-perfect orange sky on a warm Tampa evening - very memorable



Obviously not Wayne, lol, but I've been to Tavares many times and while it is a pleasant place, given that it's about 50 miles and an hour and a quarter-ish drive away, I'd say it's only worth a trip if you have a purpose in mind. We go for the railroad (DH is very keen - there's also a nice little railroad museum at a pleasant little town called Winter Garden, about 15 miles from Orlando). Mount Dora, next door to Tavares is a greater tourist attraction with streets (almost) as we know them, complete with shops, pavements, tea rooms etc.

Totally agree. Mount Dora is worth a visit and the boat tour along the Dora Canal is a pleasant way to spend an hour or two but we really only go to Tavares when there's an event on. We also highly recommend CraigCat tours . We've done the catamaran safari a couple of times.

 

[disneyholic family]

harambe nights sounds really nice!!
entertainment is what disney excels at
if i had to choose between their entertainment and the rides, i'd go with the former!

 

[Pootle]

All sounding good Wayne . I have yet to tell David about your $5 taxi driver trip on a $15 fare - I'll wait until he's sitting down

I'm following Matt's blog with pleasure. I'm getting my money's worth out of your trip! That's another drink I owe you at least

 

[Julia Ann]

Kiosks can be used with any UK passport, only criteria was you had to have an ESTA.

.

Thanks for letting me know that, I wasn't aware, cheers, enjoy the rest of your trip

 

[wayneg]

Sunday was into MK, monorail didn't start running til 9:30am and we just missed the boat so took around 30 mins to get across, only just got to the Speedway in time to use our FP+, then went on Buzz & Carousel of Progress. FP+ for Winnie the Pooh, a look at the new Mine train, FP+ for Mansion, lunch in Harbor House then Philarmagic.. It was around 1pm and the sky was changing, we decided to leave, got near the exit but decided to get some cards for Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. While inside the heavens opened so we played the game while the rain calmed then left. Really bad driving conditions with torrential rain.
Back to the room for a few hours while it poured it down then to Ale house, Karen and Matt had chicken parm, I had 35 shrimp. then into the studios to see new Frozen fireworks, called at a kiosk and got a FP+ for Fantasmic. Called in the Frozen store, Wandering Oaken's Trading Post, we just managed to get in without a line but it was mad inside, people grabing anything and everything, line to pay was snaking round, crazy.
Did Star Tours then left Karen to wait for Fireworks while myself & Matt did RnRC. did single line and took about 25 mins, regular line was about 1 hour.
Then back to watch the fireworks, didn't expect much but they were excellent, far better than I expected.

 

[RDP]

Loving the TR ! Harambe Nights looks great.

 

[disneyholic family]

the fireworks look great!!

 

[Pootle]

Wayne, is the Hilton Garden Inn just across from Marriott's Courtyard on Palm Parkway or am I in the wrong place? And would you stay there again ..... if the price were right of course

 

[wayneg]

Wayne, is the Hilton Garden Inn just across from Marriott's Courtyard on Palm Parkway or am I in the wrong place? And would you stay there again ..... if the price were right of course

Its across the road and a few hundred yard further up. If you go past the Marriott to the junction its the next tuning on your right.

Yes definitely stay here again at the right price, pics on their site are very accurate, I could go around and take exactly the same. http://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com/...n-lake-buena-vista-orlando-MCOBVGI/index.html

 

[wayneg]

Forgot add at the end of Sunday, after the fireworks we did FP+ for Fantasmic. Cast member did it for us at a Kiosk, watched her do it and got the right time. When we got to Fantasmic and scanned our wristbands it went blue, computer said we should be at ToT not Fantasmic. Cast member cancelled ToT and waved us thru so system still not perfect.

 

[disneyholic family]

Forgot add at the end of Sunday, after the fireworks we did FP+ for Fantasmic. Cast member did it for us at a Kiosk, watched her do it and got the right time. When we got to Fantasmic and scanned our wristbands it went blue, computer said we should be at ToT not Fantasmic. Cast member cancelled ToT and waved us thru so system still not perfect.

i would have gone to ToT (i am not a fantasmic fan at all - the rest of the family likes it though)

 

[wayneg]

Monday, back into the Studios to see more of the Frozen events. We started with FP+ at ToT. by the time we came off it was only 20 mins to the parade so we waited for that. We then went around to get some tickets for the Frozen sing-a-long. Now time for FP+ Toy Story (I got highest score for a change)

It was now time to go back for the sing-a-long. Show started and I had a contstant chattering behind me from a south American family, couldn't stick it, had to say something, they did quieten a few decibles but still talked thru the whole show.

Ate at Backlot Express before using our last FP+ for Indiana Jones, after the show we left the park. Called at Twistee Treats ice cream Parlour LBV, I had a banana split, biggest I have ever had, Karen had a large waffle cone Matt an large Icee Float, $11 for all 3, best icecream out here. Karen and Matt went to the pool for an hour, I fell asleep in the room.

Evening meal we ate at O'Charley's, never been before but I bought a restaurant.com voucher recently. Someone told me years ago if I could get one its worth trying. I have tried every trip since but never managed until this time. Cost $5 for a $25 voucher, minimum spend $37.50. They have 9 dishes on the menu at $9.99, Karen had a chicken pasta dish I had shrimp pasta, both great value for $10, a lot larger meals than I expected for the money. We missed happy hour but full price was only $2.99 for a pint of Bud Light, fresh yeast rolls are also brought out (and a 2nd lot without asking) Matt had Prime rib pasta, which cost slightly more at $12.99. We shared a new pie on the menu, Bluberry & lemon, it was OK but probably shouldn't have ordered, we were all full. Bill came to $49 less $25 = $24 + $9 tip. Definitely worth full price, even better with the voucher.

After meal had a walk around Michaels next door then the Outlet North Idrive, finished off with a few drinks in the room before bed.

 

[disneyholic family]

WOW!!!!
the frozen stuff looks like sooooooooooo much fun!!!!

love your picture at ToT....
Matt's a man after my own heart with the map holding bit!!!