cinderelly828
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2014
- Messages
- 129
Following along!
A Super Budget (Like Beyond Cheap) PTR/TR
- Thread starter jsmla
- Start date
jsmla
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2001
- Messages
- 4,498
DH likes it too and it's what I drank back in the day. I prefer amber ales and have gotten spoiled! As part of our cost cutting efforts we've decided to quit having it on hand at home so I should have been happy to have any at all. A 24 count was less than $20 so I loved that part!
MinMou
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2015
- Messages
- 1,638
You got a keeper!
jsmla
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2001
- Messages
- 4,498
One of our former tenant's uninsured house also flooded. They're currently living in their gutted house while they work on it and are nowhere near finishing. She went away with her daughter for a few days. She told DH that she needed to be in a place where she could go into a room and shut the door because they have no doors at home. This is two months later!
lilpixiebabe101
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2008
- Messages
- 1,643
So we finally moved into a new apartment. It's a terrible drive cause I still have to bring the girls from baton rouge by LSU to central and back almost to lsu for work then do it backwards in the evening. But it is so worth it to be able to put the AC on what I want or not have my cooking looked down on etc. His grandmother put a sticker on her AC leaving it on 78 and said do not touch.
Yes I did!!
jsmla
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2001
- Messages
- 4,498
Saturday September 17, 2016
Continued
So, by 2:30 or so I'd arrived, shopped and gotten all settled in at Kingstown Reef. What to do, what to do now? Universal was a bit of a haul from here and I had that room at Portofino Bay on Monday. Aquatica closes at five. That left SeaWorld.
I'm not a huge SeaWorld person although it's not for the reasons you might think. I'm really just not all that interested in wildlife of any kind. To be perfectly honest I must confess that I've spent very little time contemplating the plights of dancing dogs and breaching killer whales. (The whale lobby lost me at the word "killer". I'm generally not a big fan of anything that will, given the chance, kill me. I'm looking at you black bears!) Maybe one day, when I reach some sort of moral certainty regarding my own life choices, I'll get all outraged over SeaWorld. For now I've got me some coasters to ride.
It's probably less than a 10 minute drive from the condo to SeaWorld and in hindsight drive is what I probably should have done. The thing is it was the first night of my big Two Week Going Out with a Bang Solo Extravaganza and I wanted to celebrate. With a beer. Or two. I was very realistic when I began to scale back on the extravagance and kept the beer budget intact. To do otherwise would be to court failure. I don't mind eating a homemade turkey sandwich instead of theme park food but it's a little much to expect me to spend much time in a Florida theme park in September sans beer. This is why I need a condo on the bus route
The IRide Trolley goes right into SeaWorld and has a stop right outside my condo. It also has a neato link on the website that will tell you when to expect the next trolley. Here's a vitally important tip for anyone contemplating taking the IRide: Check the timing before you leave your nice, air conditioned room. Otherwise you may arrive at your stop (already a tad warm from the walk over) to find that it's going to be another half an hour before a trolley shows. A half hour in the baking, broiling heat of a September afternoon in Florida.
Ugh!
I sat there and pouted for a bit. IRide Trolley stop #34 is an extremely unpleasant place to sit and pout with road construction adding noise and dust to the oppressive heat and nothing to do as you wait but watch cars whiz by full of happy vacationers safely in the sober care of their Designated Drivers.
Ugh!
I thought about heading back to get the car but was struck by a sudden brilliant idea-why not walk? I mean, it can't possibly be worse than sitting there (spoiler alert-it was) and maybe the trolley will catch up with me (it didn't). For a deeply out of shape women in her mid-fifties I'm actually a pretty decent walker and, according to Google Maps, it was a 50 minute stroll. After all of that driving it would do me good to stretch my legs a bit, right?
Wrong, wrong, wrong, oh, so very, very wrong! The first few minutes were fine. I was high on first day adrenaline and, more importantly, it was fairly shady. Somewhere about a mile in the shade stopped and the sweating began. Did you know that your feet sweat? Mine perspired so much that the leather straps on my broken-in-but-not-theme-park-broken-in flip flops were soon soaked through. Wet leather on wet feet, in my case anyway, equals blisters, this time two large ones. On advice from the DIS I had acquired a pair of Keens sandals that are fab for wet-footed situations. They're little boy sandals and butt ugly (I am far too tight to pay $100 for the only marginally less butt ugly women's styles when there is a perfectly good boy's pair on clearance for $38.49.) but, boy, are they comfy. Too bad they were neatly stowed away back at the condo.
The next half hour or so wasn't pretty. I limped along on the sidewalk for a bit before throwing in the towel, ditching the flip flops and trudging on in my bare feet. Heaven only knows what passers by thought. I was hot. My feet hurt. I was dying from thirst and this close to calling Uber when I looked up and saw it, a CVS. The angels sang and rays of heavenly light illuminated the brilliant red of that glorious CVS sign. I was transfixed. There are bandaids in there, bandaids and huge bottles of icy cold water.
I put my horrible, awful shoes back on (Can you go into a CVS barefooted in Florida? You can in Louisiana but I've learned from experience that Louisiana might not be the best place on which to base societal norms.) and limped/stumbled into the store.
Let me paint a picture: I'm as red as a beet, panting like a Labrador retriever and have rings of boob sweat crisscrossing the front of my shirt. I'm walking pigeon toed on my tiptoes. My hair has long since escaped my pony tail holder and is straggling across my face. Some of it is in my mouth but I'm too hot, sweaty and footsore to care. Fortunately, I don't think I was within nose range.
Steve, the Very Chipper CVS Guy-"Welcome to CVS!"
Me-(inwardly) "bandaids, water" (outwardly) "Grunt"
Steve-"How can we help you today?"
Me-"waaater" I was too miserable for sentences.
Steve-"Right over....."
I didn't hear the rest because I was too busy limping/stumbling/tip toeing in the direction of his pointing finger. Bandaids, water. I reached the cooler, grabbed the biggest bottle I saw and downed about half of it right there on the spot.
Oooh, that's better! I limped/stumbled/tiptoed over to the bandaids and with absolutely zero eye to economy chose the biggest, cushiest, most waterproof bandages on the rack. I grabbed two different kinds (just in case), ripped them open and sat down and doctored my feet right there in middle of the CVS bandage aisle. I'm not sure if Orlando is prepared for this much class and style.
(One nice perk of solo travel is that there will be no one around to revisit your misdeeds ad nauseam and in perpetuity to suit their own purposes.
Me: I can't believe you left the freezer door open! Again! Everything is thawed! I'm going to be two days cleaning this up! AAAHHH!
DH: Yeah, well, you sat on the floor at CVS!)
Oh, the relief! I was almost giddy with it. I returned to Steve and handed him the half consumed water and mangled bandaid boxes. Steve didn't comment or blink an eye, he even reminded me to use my CVS card. I like Steve, he deserves a raise.
I'm afraid I put the water/bandaid spree on the Visa. I really, truly meant it (as you do) when I said nothing was going on the credit card but my CVS haul would have eaten up all of my beer money. The way I saw it I'd already paid for my foolishness with two huge honkin' blisters and you can't charge beer on a cheapo budget trip, that would be irresponsible. Medical emergencies are okay, right?
I left the CVS light of heart and mind and sashayed SeaWorldward. Thankfully the afternoon clouds were building and the SeaWorld parking lot was actually slightly cooler than the surface of the sun. No entry lines at 3:15 in the afternoon so before I knew it I was inside the park-the Two Week Going Out with a Bang Solo Extravaganza had officially begun!
Beer was first on the agenda. I'd suffered so that I could drink beer and drink beer I would do! I'm looking at my receipts and the venue was the Seafire Inn. All I know is that they had tables with a pretty waterfront view and accepted AP discounts on beer.
I took the picture to document my lovely view but now I can see what I missed then-the sky. Just as I was finishing up my beer the heavens opened and a massive Florida late summer gullywasher began.
I had another beer.
A steady stream of people hurried past and I watched in satisfaction. There would be no line at Kraken and maybe only a short wait for Mako. I had a beer buzz and life was good.
Life was good and would only get better when the coasters reopened. Meanwhile I still had time to make the last Clyde and Seymour show. The theater was maybe half full and I had an excellent seat. I sat and reflected on the loss of the mime, a mixed blessing for me. I both enjoyed and feared his antics which meant I always arrived here way too early just to be safe. I do enough cringe worthy stuff as it is and definitely don't need some guy in face paint pointing it out to a stadium full of people with nothing better to do than snicker at me. It was kinda nice going in five minutes before showtime. Clyde and Seymour is a cute show, corny and upbeat. I like it
Raining again although it was much lighter now. I wandered over toward Mako but it was a no go, ditto Kraken and Journey to Atlantis. The penguin ride was open with an epic (well, epic for SeaWorld anyway) wait. I don't "do" long waits when solo so decided to see the penguins another day. I finally ended up at Turtle Trek.
Turtle Trek is definitely one of those attractions that is better after beer. I really like this one and it's never been busy when I've been. This visit was no exception, I think there were only two other small parties in there. It's a pretty nice show if you like those 360 degree cinema movies which I do.
By the time I was done with the turtles it was getting on for closing time. On the way out I had a look at Stingray Lagoon. Those things are seriously creepy looking, IMHO. I was asked if I wanted to pet one. I was the only guest around.
Perky SeaWorld Girl: Would you like to touch one? It's okay!
Me: (inwardly) Heck no! (Except I didn't say heck, I used another four letter word that begins with H. My inner voice has a bit of a potty mouth.)
PSWG:
Me: Uhm, that's okay.
(awkward silence)
PSWG: Go on, you should try it. They won't hurt you
Me: Uhhhh.
PSWG:
So I caved. I couldn't fight against all that perkiness. For all I know she had some sort of stingray molestation quota to fill. I put out my left hand (I need my right hand, thank you very much.) and gingerly touched the smallest ray with the very tip of my finger, jerking it away before it could become a stingray hors d'oeuvre. The ray was surprisingly soft and velvetly, not at all slimy as I'd expected.
I spent so much time trying to avoid touching a stingray that the park was now closed which was a shame because the rain had stopped and SeaWorld was very, very empty. I had no choice but to make my way home.
At some point during my earlier epic trek to SeaWorld I'd made a solemn vow to Uber home but as I made my way to the pick up point I saw the IRide stop just a little ways over. This time I checked the timing link and a trolley was due in just a few minutes. I decided to give it a try and save a few bucks. The stop was also very empty and the waiting area was under cover. My trolley pulled up right on time and I boarded. (Tip: You need exact change here.) The driver asked everyone where they were headed before he let them pay, something I appreciated. I'm terrible about boarding the wrong bus, train, subway, donkey, etc. and ending up somewhere I really don't want to be. It was nice to know that I wouldn't be exploring one of Orlando's less desirable neighborhoods this evening.
The trolley was very empty which was great because I'm pretty sure I smelled like a billy goat. It was a quick ride too, I think it only made one stop before we reached my condo. The park closed at 6:00. I probably didn't leave till five minutes or so after that and was "home" by 6:45.
Once back at the condo I had a nice, very long, very hot shower because:
a) I was extremely gross. I had sweated more this afternoon than I have in a long, long, time, probably not since my days of slave labor in Memaw's butter bean patch.
b) It was vitally important that I remove all traces of any stingray cooties from my person before I made dinner.
Dinner was a black bean taco and "Mexican" rice followed by a little more unpacking, TV and an early bedtime.
Spends:
$11.55 on bandaids and water at CVS
$15.32 on beer
$2.00 on the IRide Trolley
Total for today:
$28.87
Continued
So, by 2:30 or so I'd arrived, shopped and gotten all settled in at Kingstown Reef. What to do, what to do now? Universal was a bit of a haul from here and I had that room at Portofino Bay on Monday. Aquatica closes at five. That left SeaWorld.
I'm not a huge SeaWorld person although it's not for the reasons you might think. I'm really just not all that interested in wildlife of any kind. To be perfectly honest I must confess that I've spent very little time contemplating the plights of dancing dogs and breaching killer whales. (The whale lobby lost me at the word "killer". I'm generally not a big fan of anything that will, given the chance, kill me. I'm looking at you black bears!) Maybe one day, when I reach some sort of moral certainty regarding my own life choices, I'll get all outraged over SeaWorld. For now I've got me some coasters to ride.
It's probably less than a 10 minute drive from the condo to SeaWorld and in hindsight drive is what I probably should have done. The thing is it was the first night of my big Two Week Going Out with a Bang Solo Extravaganza and I wanted to celebrate. With a beer. Or two. I was very realistic when I began to scale back on the extravagance and kept the beer budget intact. To do otherwise would be to court failure. I don't mind eating a homemade turkey sandwich instead of theme park food but it's a little much to expect me to spend much time in a Florida theme park in September sans beer. This is why I need a condo on the bus route
The IRide Trolley goes right into SeaWorld and has a stop right outside my condo. It also has a neato link on the website that will tell you when to expect the next trolley. Here's a vitally important tip for anyone contemplating taking the IRide: Check the timing before you leave your nice, air conditioned room. Otherwise you may arrive at your stop (already a tad warm from the walk over) to find that it's going to be another half an hour before a trolley shows. A half hour in the baking, broiling heat of a September afternoon in Florida.
Ugh!
I sat there and pouted for a bit. IRide Trolley stop #34 is an extremely unpleasant place to sit and pout with road construction adding noise and dust to the oppressive heat and nothing to do as you wait but watch cars whiz by full of happy vacationers safely in the sober care of their Designated Drivers.
Ugh!
I thought about heading back to get the car but was struck by a sudden brilliant idea-why not walk? I mean, it can't possibly be worse than sitting there (spoiler alert-it was) and maybe the trolley will catch up with me (it didn't). For a deeply out of shape women in her mid-fifties I'm actually a pretty decent walker and, according to Google Maps, it was a 50 minute stroll. After all of that driving it would do me good to stretch my legs a bit, right?
Wrong, wrong, wrong, oh, so very, very wrong! The first few minutes were fine. I was high on first day adrenaline and, more importantly, it was fairly shady. Somewhere about a mile in the shade stopped and the sweating began. Did you know that your feet sweat? Mine perspired so much that the leather straps on my broken-in-but-not-theme-park-broken-in flip flops were soon soaked through. Wet leather on wet feet, in my case anyway, equals blisters, this time two large ones. On advice from the DIS I had acquired a pair of Keens sandals that are fab for wet-footed situations. They're little boy sandals and butt ugly (I am far too tight to pay $100 for the only marginally less butt ugly women's styles when there is a perfectly good boy's pair on clearance for $38.49.) but, boy, are they comfy. Too bad they were neatly stowed away back at the condo.
The next half hour or so wasn't pretty. I limped along on the sidewalk for a bit before throwing in the towel, ditching the flip flops and trudging on in my bare feet. Heaven only knows what passers by thought. I was hot. My feet hurt. I was dying from thirst and this close to calling Uber when I looked up and saw it, a CVS. The angels sang and rays of heavenly light illuminated the brilliant red of that glorious CVS sign. I was transfixed. There are bandaids in there, bandaids and huge bottles of icy cold water.
I put my horrible, awful shoes back on (Can you go into a CVS barefooted in Florida? You can in Louisiana but I've learned from experience that Louisiana might not be the best place on which to base societal norms.) and limped/stumbled into the store.
Let me paint a picture: I'm as red as a beet, panting like a Labrador retriever and have rings of boob sweat crisscrossing the front of my shirt. I'm walking pigeon toed on my tiptoes. My hair has long since escaped my pony tail holder and is straggling across my face. Some of it is in my mouth but I'm too hot, sweaty and footsore to care. Fortunately, I don't think I was within nose range.
Steve, the Very Chipper CVS Guy-"Welcome to CVS!"
Me-(inwardly) "bandaids, water" (outwardly) "Grunt"
Steve-"How can we help you today?"
Me-"waaater" I was too miserable for sentences.
Steve-"Right over....."
I didn't hear the rest because I was too busy limping/stumbling/tip toeing in the direction of his pointing finger. Bandaids, water. I reached the cooler, grabbed the biggest bottle I saw and downed about half of it right there on the spot.
Oooh, that's better! I limped/stumbled/tiptoed over to the bandaids and with absolutely zero eye to economy chose the biggest, cushiest, most waterproof bandages on the rack. I grabbed two different kinds (just in case), ripped them open and sat down and doctored my feet right there in middle of the CVS bandage aisle. I'm not sure if Orlando is prepared for this much class and style.
(One nice perk of solo travel is that there will be no one around to revisit your misdeeds ad nauseam and in perpetuity to suit their own purposes.
Me: I can't believe you left the freezer door open! Again! Everything is thawed! I'm going to be two days cleaning this up! AAAHHH!
DH: Yeah, well, you sat on the floor at CVS!)
Oh, the relief! I was almost giddy with it. I returned to Steve and handed him the half consumed water and mangled bandaid boxes. Steve didn't comment or blink an eye, he even reminded me to use my CVS card. I like Steve, he deserves a raise.
I'm afraid I put the water/bandaid spree on the Visa. I really, truly meant it (as you do) when I said nothing was going on the credit card but my CVS haul would have eaten up all of my beer money. The way I saw it I'd already paid for my foolishness with two huge honkin' blisters and you can't charge beer on a cheapo budget trip, that would be irresponsible. Medical emergencies are okay, right?
I left the CVS light of heart and mind and sashayed SeaWorldward. Thankfully the afternoon clouds were building and the SeaWorld parking lot was actually slightly cooler than the surface of the sun. No entry lines at 3:15 in the afternoon so before I knew it I was inside the park-the Two Week Going Out with a Bang Solo Extravaganza had officially begun!
Beer was first on the agenda. I'd suffered so that I could drink beer and drink beer I would do! I'm looking at my receipts and the venue was the Seafire Inn. All I know is that they had tables with a pretty waterfront view and accepted AP discounts on beer.
I took the picture to document my lovely view but now I can see what I missed then-the sky. Just as I was finishing up my beer the heavens opened and a massive Florida late summer gullywasher began.
I had another beer.
A steady stream of people hurried past and I watched in satisfaction. There would be no line at Kraken and maybe only a short wait for Mako. I had a beer buzz and life was good.
Life was good and would only get better when the coasters reopened. Meanwhile I still had time to make the last Clyde and Seymour show. The theater was maybe half full and I had an excellent seat. I sat and reflected on the loss of the mime, a mixed blessing for me. I both enjoyed and feared his antics which meant I always arrived here way too early just to be safe. I do enough cringe worthy stuff as it is and definitely don't need some guy in face paint pointing it out to a stadium full of people with nothing better to do than snicker at me. It was kinda nice going in five minutes before showtime. Clyde and Seymour is a cute show, corny and upbeat. I like it
Raining again although it was much lighter now. I wandered over toward Mako but it was a no go, ditto Kraken and Journey to Atlantis. The penguin ride was open with an epic (well, epic for SeaWorld anyway) wait. I don't "do" long waits when solo so decided to see the penguins another day. I finally ended up at Turtle Trek.
Turtle Trek is definitely one of those attractions that is better after beer. I really like this one and it's never been busy when I've been. This visit was no exception, I think there were only two other small parties in there. It's a pretty nice show if you like those 360 degree cinema movies which I do.
By the time I was done with the turtles it was getting on for closing time. On the way out I had a look at Stingray Lagoon. Those things are seriously creepy looking, IMHO. I was asked if I wanted to pet one. I was the only guest around.
Perky SeaWorld Girl: Would you like to touch one? It's okay!
Me: (inwardly) Heck no! (Except I didn't say heck, I used another four letter word that begins with H. My inner voice has a bit of a potty mouth.)
PSWG:
Me: Uhm, that's okay.
(awkward silence)
PSWG:
Go on, you should try it. They won't hurt you Me: Uhhhh.
PSWG:
So I caved. I couldn't fight against all that perkiness. For all I know she had some sort of stingray molestation quota to fill. I put out my left hand (I need my right hand, thank you very much.) and gingerly touched the smallest ray with the very tip of my finger, jerking it away before it could become a stingray hors d'oeuvre. The ray was surprisingly soft and velvetly, not at all slimy as I'd expected.
I spent so much time trying to avoid touching a stingray that the park was now closed which was a shame because the rain had stopped and SeaWorld was very, very empty. I had no choice but to make my way home.
At some point during my earlier epic trek to SeaWorld I'd made a solemn vow to Uber home but as I made my way to the pick up point I saw the IRide stop just a little ways over. This time I checked the timing link and a trolley was due in just a few minutes. I decided to give it a try and save a few bucks. The stop was also very empty and the waiting area was under cover. My trolley pulled up right on time and I boarded. (Tip: You need exact change here.) The driver asked everyone where they were headed before he let them pay, something I appreciated. I'm terrible about boarding the wrong bus, train, subway, donkey, etc. and ending up somewhere I really don't want to be. It was nice to know that I wouldn't be exploring one of Orlando's less desirable neighborhoods this evening.
The trolley was very empty which was great because I'm pretty sure I smelled like a billy goat. It was a quick ride too, I think it only made one stop before we reached my condo. The park closed at 6:00. I probably didn't leave till five minutes or so after that and was "home" by 6:45.
Once back at the condo I had a nice, very long, very hot shower because:
a) I was extremely gross. I had sweated more this afternoon than I have in a long, long, time, probably not since my days of slave labor in Memaw's butter bean patch.
b) It was vitally important that I remove all traces of any stingray cooties from my person before I made dinner.
Dinner was a black bean taco and "Mexican" rice followed by a little more unpacking, TV and an early bedtime.
Spends:
$11.55 on bandaids and water at CVS
$15.32 on beer
$2.00 on the IRide Trolley
Total for today:
$28.87
Last edited:
elaine amj
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2012
- Messages
- 6,180
Thanks for sharing all your ups...AND all your downs! How horrible a person am I that I am sitting here giggling over your poor blistered feet?
dvc at last !
DVC Member 2006!
- Joined
- May 27, 2006
- Messages
- 3,483
This is the most entertaining TR I have ever read - more please !
Love the CVS adventure !
Sorry about your flooding.
Love the CVS adventure !
Sorry about your flooding.
Judique
Dis Veteran, Beach Lover at BWV, BCV, HHI, VB
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2003
- Messages
- 13,177
Up until you told us you were a fifty something I was thinking of you as a thirty something. (Neither to be construed as a negative!)
Good for you to get out and have an adventure! Your humorous account is very entertaining. I have a trip in a couple of weeks that will be pretty tame in comparison, but it will be a solo trip also. Even to the point where when I have a beer it will be Odoul's...
Good for you to get out and have an adventure! Your humorous account is very entertaining. I have a trip in a couple of weeks that will be pretty tame in comparison, but it will be a solo trip also. Even to the point where when I have a beer it will be Odoul's...
momof2gr8kids
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2009
- Messages
- 2,159
Loving your trip report and looking forward to seeing how great your super cheap budget trip turns out. So often you hear people on these boards state how they could never go if they can't do this or that or have to cook or do laundry! Sorry about your flood, but glad to see you're finding some time for fun throughout it all!
jsmla
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2001
- Messages
- 4,498
Sunday September 18
5:30 AM
I'm an early riser by anyone's standards and vacation is no exception. It's really dark in Florida at 5:30 so I made coffee and snuggled back down in the bed to watch the news for a bit, rolling out for good around 7:00. Normally I would have passed the time poking around on the DIS but Kingstown Reef charges for internet which is a bit of a rip-off IMHO.
Breakfast was Cheerios, a banana and coffee. I packed a snacky lunch of a peanut butter sandwich and half an apple, made lavish use of my bandaid stash, donned my Keens and set off for SeaWorld.
9:00 AM is a bit early for drinking, even for me, so I opted to drive today, it took less than 10 minutes. Parking was free with my Annual Pass. SeaWorld has a fairly strict policy re bag lunches so I left mine in the car and made the short walk over to the park, arriving a few minutes after opening.
SeaWorld was much busier today so I made a beeline for Mako but there was already a 20 minute wait
From where I stood I could see that Kraken was not running
What to do? I took a look at my map and saw that the first Blue Horizons show would begin in a few minutes. If you're not familiar with SeaWorld the Dolphin Theater is all the way across the park from Mako. I took the shortcut through Antarctica (the penguin ride was closed) and hustled over to the theater stopping off somewhere along the way to snag a cup of iced water.
I reached Dolphin Stadium overheated and a tad late, the show had already begun. The trainers were showing off some special whales. I'm sure they mentioned the type of whale but, like I said, I'm really not all that interested in wildlife and it escaped me. They were a lot smaller than Shamu.
The whole show was a bit of a bust, IMHO. The aerialists weren't flying and the special whales flat out refused to cooperate. This gave the trainer an excellent opportunity to launch into a "We're not evil, you are." spiel which went something like this.
SeaWorld Trainer: You see, we never make an animal do anything unless they want to. Today our special whales would rather hang out at the gate than entertain you good folks. Isn't that fascinating?
Me: (inwardly) Nope
SWT: Well, if you don't like it it's you that's evil, not we here at SeaWorld. You should be mesmerized by all of this natural behavior. It's not every day that you can spend an inordinate amount of time watching three vaguely whale shaped figures bob around just under the surface of the water at the far end of the pool. (Or something like that.)
Me: Well, slap me on the butt and call me Ursula then because this is stupid.
After a while, too long really, they moved on to the dolphins who were in a much more cooperative mood and the rest of the show went on. The dolphins were great but I missed the aerialists and could have done without the flock of parrots that flew right over my head. Flying wildlife ranks just behind things-that-want-to-kill-me on my list of animals that I'd rather not encounter.
Next up was Pets Ahoy. I love this show! The young ladies here are exceptionally wholesome and cheerful and I'm not afraid of most dogs and cats. I love dogs, especially Molly, our little Shih Tzu. Isn't she the cutest thing?
All of the animals at the show are just as cute and, if I'm honest, much, much more talented than our two. Molly is very sweet but probably not the sharpest tool in the shed. I have a feeling that if it were her job to push the lever to open the show we'd all be there for a very long time. As for the feline member of the family, Devil Cat Iggy is an extremely nervous animal and would almost certainly take off for Atlanta the second you released him. If I went to this show and saw nothing but a cat doing exactly as told it would be impressive enough. I suppose could ask Iggy to walk all over my newly disinfected kitchen counters or perhaps shred the armrests on the leather LazyBoy and he might cooperate but that's pretty much it.
Devil Cat Iggy really isn't supposed to be here at all. Our daughter's college boyfriend rescued him when he was a two day old kitten in need of hourly feeds. Since I was the only one home all day I agreed to take care of him until he was weaned, it would be for six weeks tops. That was in July, 2009. In September 2009 DD and the boyfriend broke up and DD's sorry ex never sought custody of his cat. Devil Cat Iggy is ours. Forever. Oh, joy.
I have another reason for liking Pets Ahoy and it's a little sad but kind of nice in a way. Waaaay back in 2003 DD and I were waiting at the SeaWorld rope drop when an older gentleman team member (Joaquim) offered to help us to plan our day. He was extremely helpful and we chatted for a while. Joaquim was extremely well spoken seemed a little over qualified for rope duty. He had the air of somebody who is used to being in charge.
The plan worked like a dream and we enjoyed our morning very much. We decided to see Pets Ahoy before grabbing lunch and there we ran into Joaquim. He was the greeter at the entrance. DD and I stopped to thank him and tell him how helpful his advice had been. He was glad to hear it and asked us to stop by on our way out.
After the show Joaquim asked about our lunch plans. We had none and he offered up his 30% discount at Sharks Underwater Grill. I really don't care for most counter service and quickly said, "Yes, please!"
He walked us over to the restaurant, introduced us, had a whispered conversation with the hostess and left. We were escorted to a gorgeous table and had a delicious, relaxing, deeply discounted lunch.
Later in the day as SeaWorld was closing we stopped by Pets Ahoy to thank Joaquim for his help. We got to chatting, mostly about our day at SeaWorld. I finally had to ask how he ended up working in a theme park and the story came out.
Joaquim was from New York and had spent his life working in investment banking. His only child joined him in that field and she, along with her husband, died iin the tragedy at the World Trade Center. Joaquim retired from banking, gathered up his wife and grandchildren and moved to Orlando. He only worked at SeaWorld to fill his days while the kids were in school.
Then he showed us the picture. It was of his daughter and her family. I looked at the photo, my heat aching for this man and what he'd lost, and froze. An older version of my own beloved DD smiled back us from that picture. Joaquim's daughter and mine could have been twins. Same brown hair, same large, round grey eyes, same wide cheerleader smile, same pretty much everything. It was eerie and heartbreaking at the same time.
Joaquim: "I hope you don't mind but I saw your daughter and had to speak to you."
No, Joaquim, we didn't mind.
I slept in DD's bed that night.
5:30 AM
I'm an early riser by anyone's standards and vacation is no exception. It's really dark in Florida at 5:30 so I made coffee and snuggled back down in the bed to watch the news for a bit, rolling out for good around 7:00. Normally I would have passed the time poking around on the DIS but Kingstown Reef charges for internet which is a bit of a rip-off IMHO.
Breakfast was Cheerios, a banana and coffee. I packed a snacky lunch of a peanut butter sandwich and half an apple, made lavish use of my bandaid stash, donned my Keens and set off for SeaWorld.
9:00 AM is a bit early for drinking, even for me, so I opted to drive today, it took less than 10 minutes. Parking was free with my Annual Pass. SeaWorld has a fairly strict policy re bag lunches so I left mine in the car and made the short walk over to the park, arriving a few minutes after opening.
SeaWorld was much busier today so I made a beeline for Mako but there was already a 20 minute wait
From where I stood I could see that Kraken was not running What to do? I took a look at my map and saw that the first Blue Horizons show would begin in a few minutes. If you're not familiar with SeaWorld the Dolphin Theater is all the way across the park from Mako. I took the shortcut through Antarctica (the penguin ride was closed) and hustled over to the theater stopping off somewhere along the way to snag a cup of iced water.
I reached Dolphin Stadium overheated and a tad late, the show had already begun. The trainers were showing off some special whales. I'm sure they mentioned the type of whale but, like I said, I'm really not all that interested in wildlife and it escaped me. They were a lot smaller than Shamu.
The whole show was a bit of a bust, IMHO. The aerialists weren't flying and the special whales flat out refused to cooperate. This gave the trainer an excellent opportunity to launch into a "We're not evil, you are." spiel which went something like this.
SeaWorld Trainer: You see, we never make an animal do anything unless they want to. Today our special whales would rather hang out at the gate than entertain you good folks. Isn't that fascinating?
Me: (inwardly) Nope
SWT: Well, if you don't like it it's you that's evil, not we here at SeaWorld. You should be mesmerized by all of this natural behavior. It's not every day that you can spend an inordinate amount of time watching three vaguely whale shaped figures bob around just under the surface of the water at the far end of the pool. (Or something like that.)
Me: Well, slap me on the butt and call me Ursula then because this is stupid.
After a while, too long really, they moved on to the dolphins who were in a much more cooperative mood and the rest of the show went on. The dolphins were great but I missed the aerialists and could have done without the flock of parrots that flew right over my head. Flying wildlife ranks just behind things-that-want-to-kill-me on my list of animals that I'd rather not encounter.
Next up was Pets Ahoy. I love this show! The young ladies here are exceptionally wholesome and cheerful and I'm not afraid of most dogs and cats. I love dogs, especially Molly, our little Shih Tzu. Isn't she the cutest thing?
All of the animals at the show are just as cute and, if I'm honest, much, much more talented than our two. Molly is very sweet but probably not the sharpest tool in the shed. I have a feeling that if it were her job to push the lever to open the show we'd all be there for a very long time. As for the feline member of the family, Devil Cat Iggy is an extremely nervous animal and would almost certainly take off for Atlanta the second you released him. If I went to this show and saw nothing but a cat doing exactly as told it would be impressive enough. I suppose could ask Iggy to walk all over my newly disinfected kitchen counters or perhaps shred the armrests on the leather LazyBoy and he might cooperate but that's pretty much it.
Devil Cat Iggy really isn't supposed to be here at all. Our daughter's college boyfriend rescued him when he was a two day old kitten in need of hourly feeds. Since I was the only one home all day I agreed to take care of him until he was weaned, it would be for six weeks tops. That was in July, 2009. In September 2009 DD and the boyfriend broke up and DD's sorry ex never sought custody of his cat. Devil Cat Iggy is ours. Forever. Oh, joy.
I have another reason for liking Pets Ahoy and it's a little sad but kind of nice in a way. Waaaay back in 2003 DD and I were waiting at the SeaWorld rope drop when an older gentleman team member (Joaquim) offered to help us to plan our day. He was extremely helpful and we chatted for a while. Joaquim was extremely well spoken seemed a little over qualified for rope duty. He had the air of somebody who is used to being in charge.
The plan worked like a dream and we enjoyed our morning very much. We decided to see Pets Ahoy before grabbing lunch and there we ran into Joaquim. He was the greeter at the entrance. DD and I stopped to thank him and tell him how helpful his advice had been. He was glad to hear it and asked us to stop by on our way out.
After the show Joaquim asked about our lunch plans. We had none and he offered up his 30% discount at Sharks Underwater Grill. I really don't care for most counter service and quickly said, "Yes, please!"
He walked us over to the restaurant, introduced us, had a whispered conversation with the hostess and left. We were escorted to a gorgeous table and had a delicious, relaxing, deeply discounted lunch.
Later in the day as SeaWorld was closing we stopped by Pets Ahoy to thank Joaquim for his help. We got to chatting, mostly about our day at SeaWorld. I finally had to ask how he ended up working in a theme park and the story came out.
Joaquim was from New York and had spent his life working in investment banking. His only child joined him in that field and she, along with her husband, died iin the tragedy at the World Trade Center. Joaquim retired from banking, gathered up his wife and grandchildren and moved to Orlando. He only worked at SeaWorld to fill his days while the kids were in school.
Then he showed us the picture. It was of his daughter and her family. I looked at the photo, my heat aching for this man and what he'd lost, and froze. An older version of my own beloved DD smiled back us from that picture. Joaquim's daughter and mine could have been twins. Same brown hair, same large, round grey eyes, same wide cheerleader smile, same pretty much everything. It was eerie and heartbreaking at the same time.
Joaquim: "I hope you don't mind but I saw your daughter and had to speak to you."
No, Joaquim, we didn't mind.
I slept in DD's bed that night.
Last edited:
cheapster316
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 24, 2014
- Messages
- 339
I have been living this report. Your humor and story telling are very entertaining.
I really teared up about your Joquim story.
I really teared up about your Joquim story.
Judique
Dis Veteran, Beach Lover at BWV, BCV, HHI, VB
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2003
- Messages
- 13,177
Sunday September 18
5:30 AM
I'm an early riser by anyone's standards and vacation is no exception. It's really dark in Florida at 5:30 so I made coffee and snuggled back down in the bed to watch the news for a bit, rolling out for good around 7:00. Normally I would have passed the time poking around on the DIS but Kingstown Reef charges for internet which is a bit of a rip-off IMHO.
Breakfast was Cheerios, a banana and coffee. I packed a snacky lunch of a peanut butter sandwich and half an apple, made lavish use of my bandaid stash, donned my Keens and set off for SeaWorld.
9:00 AM is a bit early for drinking, even for me, so I opted to drive today, it took less than 10 minutes. Parking was free with my Annual Pass. SeaWorld has a fairly strict policy re bag lunches so I left mine in the car and made the short walk over to the park, arriving a few minutes after opening.
SeaWorld was much busier today so I made a beeline for Mako but there was already a 20 minute wait
What to do? I took a look at my map and saw that the first Blue Horizons show would begin in a few minutes. If you're not familiar with SeaWorld the Dolphin Theater is all the way across the park from Mako. I took the shortcut through Antarctica (the penguin ride was closed) and hustled over to the theater stopping off somewhere along the way to snag a cup of iced water.
I reached Dolphin Stadium overheated and a tad late, the show had already begun. The trainers were showing off some special whales. I'm sure they mentioned the type of whale but, like I said, I'm really not all that interested in wildlife and it escaped me. They were a lot smaller than Shamu.
The whole show was a bit of a bust, IMHO. The aerialists weren't flying and the special whales flat out refused to cooperate. This gave the trainer an excellent opportunity to launch into a "We're not evil, you are." spiel which went something like this.
SeaWorld Trainer: You see, we never make an animal do anything unless they want to. Today our special whales would rather hang out at the gate than entertain you good folks. Isn't that fascinating?
Me: (inwardly) Nope
SWT: Well, if you don't like it it's you that's evil, not we here at SeaWorld. You should be mesmerized by all of this natural behavior. It's not every day that you can spend an inordinate amount of time watching three vaguely whale shaped figures bob around just under the surface of the water at the far end of the pool. (Or something like that.)
Me: Well, slap me on the butt and call me Ursula then because this is stupid.
After a while, too long really, they moved on to the dolphins who were in a much more cooperative mood and the rest of the show went on. The dolphins were great but I missed the aerialists and could have done without the flock of parrots that flew right over my head. Flying wildlife ranks just behind things-that-want-to-kill-me on my list of animals that I'd rather not encounter.
Next up was Pets Ahoy. I love this show! The young ladies here are exceptionally wholesome and cheerful and I'm not afraid of most dogs and cats. I love dogs, especially Molly, our little Shih Tzu. Isn't she the cutest thing?
All of the animals at the show are just as cute and, if I'm honest, much, much more talented than our two. Molly is very sweet but probably not the sharpest tool in the shed. I have a feeling that if it were her job to push the lever to open the show we'd all be there for a very long time. As for the feline member of the family, Devil Cat Iggy is an extremely nervous animal and would almost certainly take off for Atlanta the second you released him. If I went to this show and saw nothing but a cat doing exactly as told it would be impressive enough. I suppose could ask Iggy to walk all over my newly disinfected kitchen counters or perhaps shred the armrests on the leather LazyBoy and he might cooperate but that's pretty much it.
Devil Cat Iggy really isn't supposed to be here at all. Our daughter's college boyfriend rescued him when he was a two day old kitten in need of hourly feeds. Since I was the only one home all day I agreed to take care of him until he was weaned, it would be for six weeks tops. That was in July, 2009. In September 2009 DD and the boyfriend broke up and DD's sorry ex never sought custody of his cat. Devil Cat Iggy is ours. Forever. Oh, joy.
I have another reason for liking Pets Ahoy and it's a little sad but kind of nice in a way. Waaaay back in 2003 DD and I were waiting at the SeaWorld rope drop when an older gentleman team member (Joaquim) offered to help us to plan our day. He was extremely helpful and we chatted for a while. Joaquim was extremely well spoken seemed a little over qualified for rope duty. He had the air of somebody who is used to being in charge.
The plan worked like a dream and we enjoyed our morning very much. We decided to see Pets Ahoy before grabbing lunch and there we ran into Joaquim. He was the greeter at the entrance. DD and I stopped to thank him and tell him how helpful his advice had been. He was glad to hear it and asked us to stop by on our way out.
After the show Joaquim asked about our lunch plans. We had none and he offered up his 30% discount at Sharks Underwater Grill. I really don't care for most counter service and quickly said, "Yes, please!"
He walked us over to the restaurant, introduced us, had a whispered conversation with the hostess and left. We were escorted to a gorgeous table and had a delicious, relaxing, deeply discounted lunch.
Later in the day as SeaWorld was closing we stopped by Pets Ahoy to thank Joaquim for his help. We got to chatting, mostly about our day at SeaWorld. I finally had to ask how he ended up working in a theme park and the story came out.
Joaquim was from New York and had spent his life working in investment banking. His only child joined him in that field and she, along with her husband, died iin the tragedy at the World Trade Center. Joaquim retired from banking, gathered up his wife and grandchildren and moved to Orlando. He only worked at SeaWorld to fill his days while the kids were in school.
Then he showed us the picture. It was of his daughter and her family. I looked at the photo, my heat aching for this man and what he'd lost, and froze. An older version of my own beloved DD smiled back us from that picture. Joaquim's daughter and mine could have been twins. Same brown hair, same large, round grey eyes, same wide cheerleader smile, same pretty much everything. It was eerie and heartbreaking at the same time.
Joaquim: "I hope you don't mind but I saw your daughter and had to speak to you."
No, Joaquim, we didn't mind.
I slept in DD's bed that night.
I was following your Super Budget Trip with great interest.
Have just finished my own (sort of) budget solo trip. My intention is not necessarily to have a budget trip but it tends to go that way sometimes because of my vacation style.
By that I mean the way I eat, where I stay, how I travel and my ticket choices.
Lodging - DVC member and hotel point collector to get free room nights.
Travel - driving - I just like to have my own car so I can lollygag around or whatever.
Ticket - Disney AP for the next year but some trips I use single day tickets or whatever the special is.
Eating - pretty much done with Disney restaurants but do eat some Disney treats and use my kitchenette for breakfasts. Will do a meal or two at Disney restaurants and counter service food options. Often choose offsite dining because it may be what I like or it is convenient. Love a bowl of Cheerios with sliced bananas!
When I'm not solo, costs increase in tickets and food categories.
I am interested in your final tally of costs and hope you have time to come back to this thread to update.
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