Day 6: Thursday, July 23rd
Part 1
I’ll go ahead and tell you this one will have a LOT of pictures. This is due to 4 big things that happened on Day 6: the Orlando Eye, Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, One Man’s Dream (for what will likely be the last time!) and the Frozen Fireworks (my first time seeing fireworks at DHS!).
So this was going to mostly be “explore Orlando beyond the parks” day. I didn’t accomplish quite as much as I wanted to because I slept much later than I had planned. I guess my body needed to get caught up on some rest after the last few busy days. Plus that king size bed at the Fairfield Inn was about the most comfortable hotel bed I had ever slept in. So they had that going for them for sure.
But a delayed start is better than no start at all.
So I headed to an area I hadn’t been to since…oh, 1992ish I believe. Some of you weren’t born then. Don’t talk to me. (I kid…kinda…lol.) I-Drive 360 was to be the first stop of the day. If you aren’t familiar with this, it is on International Drive, between Sea World and Universal Studios.
This “$250 million entertainment destination” (as it is referred to on their website) opened in the spring of this year. Since this was such a new thing, I was very excited to check it out. I bought a combo ticket for all 3 attractions: the Orlando Eye, Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum and the SeaLife Aquarium. The cost of the combo ticket is $49.00 if you buy it the day of. You can save $10 though by purchasing it online at least one day in advance.
Love this that that was in the main area as you entered the building. This display was designed and assembled by the Master Model Builders at LEGOLAND Florida. It was 9 feet tall and 10 feet wide, containing over 60,000
LEGO bricks and taking 160 hours to build. How cool is that?
First up was the Orlando Eye.
I was most excited about this! I was so happy that the weather was good when I arrived. I had been worried that it would be yucky and I wouldn’t be able to see anything. But I got lucky and it was a beautiful day. Slightly cloudy and in some of the pictures they look like dark clouds, but it was mostly really nice. And I was even more lucky that there weren’t many people there at all. The first thing you do is stop for a little photo opp. From there you head into a short 4-D film that is quite cheesy, but short. And then it is time for your ride! I was very happy to get a capsule all to myself! I definitely wasn’t expecting that to happen. I’m generally not exactly scared of heights. But sometimes in certain situations it can bother me to realize how high up I am. Usually I’m good though if I have a solid floor below me and I don’t look straight down. I wasn’t totally sure how I would handle this little trip 400 ft in the air. But it was actually completely fine. There is a small bench with a pole in the middle of the capsule in case you need to sit down or hold on. (When it got to the very top I did choose to have a seat for a moment.) This thing was incredible! I LOVED how much you could see. It moved so smoothly. And it was nice and cool inside. Each capsule has 2 tablets that you can use to find out more about what you are looking at in each direction, and each side of the capsule is also labeled with the direction you are facing, for those that are directionally challenged. Lucky for me I am not though. I quickly found all the major things you would want to look for up there. Downtown Orlando, Universal, SeaWorld, each of the Disney Parks, etc. It was beyond cool to see so much. The “flight” lasts 30 minutes from start to finish and I enjoyed every second of it. I would most definitely do this again! I was told later by someone who works near there that I should try to get on it next time right at sunset or right as the fireworks are about to go off at one of the parks. Ah! Can you imagine? They even have a thing where you can book a “private capsule” and have champagne during your flight. Um, hello romantic. A sunset flight in a private capsule at sunset with champagne? Or during the fireworks? Perfect engagement moment if you ask me. Not that you did. I’m just saying.
Needless to say, this was a great chance to get some fun pictures!
Universal Studios...you can see Cabana Bay to the left and a little bit of the Harry Potter stuff in the back...and of course all the cranes! Lots going on over there.
Spaceship Earth!! And Tower of Terror just over to the left from there.
Downtown Orlando!
And I had to get one with my favorite geodesic sphere in the distance...you can barely see it. But it counts.
More Orlando Eye pics in Part 2...