the Dark Marauder
<font color=red>Proud Redhead<br><font color=green
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2002
- Messages
- 6,121
The last time I was with Adrienne was in July; I flew to TX to be with her. This time, she flew to Orlando to be with me. I'll be seeing her again--I'll be flying to her in Feb. Anywho this is about our weekend. 
Friday:
Adrienne arrived in FL. She texted me along the way to let me know her flight was a-ok. Her flight landed around 315p and my stepmom picked her up. Side note: my dad & stepmom had won a 2-night stay at the Radisson close to Disney through a silent auction. My stepmom took Ad to the hotel (dad & stepmom got a separate room at a reduced rate) to get settled.
I had told my dad & stepmom that I wanted to be picked up from my office at 730p, as I was going to make 830p reservations for Ad & I at Charley's. I managed to be done at work with Time to Spare. But when 730 struck, I looked outside to see if the van was there. No van. I called, only to find out that they had not left the hotel yet. Um, WTH? 
I told both my dad & stepmom to pick me up at 730 because I had 830 reservations. Somehow, they forgot. I was able to call Charley's and have the ressie pushed back to 9p no problem.
Around 8p, the van arrived!
In it of course was mi amor, Adrienne 
. We were very excited to be back together. The four of us (me, Ad, stepmom & dad) headed back to my house so I could change & grab my weekend/carry-on suitcase. From there, Ad & I were dropped off at Charley's, right at 9p. Charley's wasn't very busy. We got seated right away. I had told her how awesome Charley's was. Our server did the full presentation (if you've been, you know what this is). We ordered a good sparkling wine--an asti recommended by one of the staff's Experts. It was very good. Ad ordered the ribeye, I ordered t-bone. With the salad bar, French onion soup, sourdough bread with awesome honey butter and potatoes (I got the sweet potato), we had more than enough. And it was GOOD. The dessert tray was brought out, and we ordered one to go. We got the chocolate cake that is baked with an orange liqueur. This would not be eaten until tomorrow, but OMG. It was huge and so chocolaty and full of yum and good.
After we were done, we headed back to the hotel. I don't know if all Radissons have sleep number beds now, but this one did. WANT. It was so comfy. Being able to adjust the firmness/softness was great.
I had tried sleep number beds at home shows, but never got to truly experience/enjoy one. On future trips, I'd love to stay at a Radisson, provdied the rate is Reasonable. I may want to invest in a sleep number bed in the future.
Saturday:
Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure. Ad has never been. Ever. This would be her first time. I had Connections, so I would be able to get some express passes for us. We went to Universal Studios first. My dad & stepmom would not be with us--they opted to go to the Southern Women's Show.
Here's the list of attraction we did, in the order we did them:
Shrek
Revenge of the Mummy
Horror Make-Up Show
ET (and a tour of Kidzone)
MIB
Jaws
We used the Express only as needed. A lot of the lines were under 25 mins, which isn't that bad. We were done with the Studio by about 1p. From there we headed to IOA. Ad fell in love with IOA. She saw the Hulk coaster and was Intrigued. We went there, then to Storm Force Accelatron. After that, we ate at Cafe 4, since it was right there.
Here's the list of attractions done after that:
-Doctor Doom
-Spider-Man
(we were going to do Ripsaw, but there was a 25 minute wait for express!)
-Jurassic Park River Adventure
(we stopped in Thunder Falls and Burger Digs to check them out, but also because we needed a refill our sipper cup). Ad said she would love to eat at Thunder Falls, as the wraps looked amazing. I told her how Thunder Falls is one of the best places to eat at IOA. That and Mythos. Burger Digs appealed to her, much like Richters, because of the whole "build-a-burger" option. Nothing like loading up on lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles!
-Dueling Dragons, both Fire & Ice
-Flying Unicorn
-The Seuss Trolley, both sides
-Cat in the Hat
By this time, it was about 630p. We were considering going back to Ripsaw and then Hulk, but with only 30 mins, it seemed impossible. We went to Hulk, and ended up giving our unused express to a random family who greatly appreciated it. The final ride on Hulk was awesome.
One small problem happened, though. I was carrying my digi cam in my pocket, as I always do. I'm not sure when, probably after Hulk, but the LED screen cracked.
. All that appears on the cam is a bunch of white. There's no way to tell how many pics are on it, how much energy is left on the batteries, no menu options, nothing. It can still take pics, but there's no way to gauge the accuracy of the pics. My photographer's instinct helped, though. 
And I can still upload pics to my computer. I'll have to invest in a new digi cam with a screen protector before my Feb trip. 
After we were done with IOA, we went to Margaritaville. There was an hour wait, but we opted to wait. Adrienne was wanting some onion rings (blame Burger Digs, Mel's, and Richter's for that). We wandered around CityWalk for a while, and our pager went off after about 45 mins. Nice. She ordered the cheeseburger in paradise (sans cheese) and I got a grilled tilapia sandwich. They were both very good.
From there, I called my dad to let him know to pick us up. We headed back to the hotel and my dad & stepmom wanted to try the cake from Charley's. He also wanted to see about getting a French Vanilla cappuccino from 7-11. Ad & I went, as the walk wasn't bad. Yes, we walked. I also picked up a Pumpkin Spice Latte that they had, then we walked back to the hotel.
OMG. The cake was amazing, and the Latte? Delish! I usually don't like coffee, but that was just so tasty. All four of us also partially watched the Red Sox game (dad's a Sox fan) for a while, until SNL was about to come on. Ad & I retired to our room at that point.
Sunday:
Yes, today. Epcot and Goodbye.
We woke up today and the plan was to go to Epcot. I had made reservations at the Garden Grill for lunch. I had eaten there before, plus my dad had a 50% off coupon. It was all four of us today at Epcot. The plan was to be at Epcot until about 345p and then take Adrienne to the airport. My dad headed for Soarin to get fastpasses while me, Ad, and my stepmom explored the aquarium part of The Seas. Around 1130 (we arrived around 10a) we headed for The Land. We had a few mins to spare, so my dad, Adrienne, and I headed downstairs to ride the boat ride in The Land.
The last time I had been on the boat, it was at night. Everything looked fake at night. In the daylight, everything looks the way it should. After the ride, we headed back up to the Garden Grill. Lunch was so good. It consisted of the following:
Cornbread/sourdough bread with yummy butter. Roasted turkey, flank steak, catfish, green beans and carrots, and potato casserole. Dessert was an apple cobbler. Absolutely divine. The Garden Grill is also a character dining experience, which my stepmom loves.
After lunch, we did the following attractions:
Journey to Imagination
Test Track
Mission Space (just me and Adrienne, more intense version)
Soarin'
After Soarin', it was time to go. It took maybe 30 mins to get to the airport, tops. I went with Ad as far as I could before I had to say goodbye. I really really really don't like saying goodbye to her. Even though I'll be seeing her again in Feb, it still hurts to have to leave her. I'll admit, I did cry on my way out of the airport.
I enjoy the limited amount of time I'm with her, but the goodbye, I dislike. 
Overall, it was a very good weekend.
Pics are here
Friday:
Adrienne arrived in FL. She texted me along the way to let me know her flight was a-ok. Her flight landed around 315p and my stepmom picked her up. Side note: my dad & stepmom had won a 2-night stay at the Radisson close to Disney through a silent auction. My stepmom took Ad to the hotel (dad & stepmom got a separate room at a reduced rate) to get settled.
I had told my dad & stepmom that I wanted to be picked up from my office at 730p, as I was going to make 830p reservations for Ad & I at Charley's. I managed to be done at work with Time to Spare.
But when 730 struck, I looked outside to see if the van was there. No van. I called, only to find out that they had not left the hotel yet. Um, WTH? I told both my dad & stepmom to pick me up at 730 because I had 830 reservations. Somehow, they forgot. I was able to call Charley's and have the ressie pushed back to 9p no problem.Around 8p, the van arrived!
In it of course was mi amor, Adrienne . We were very excited to be back together. The four of us (me, Ad, stepmom & dad) headed back to my house so I could change & grab my weekend/carry-on suitcase. From there, Ad & I were dropped off at Charley's, right at 9p. Charley's wasn't very busy. We got seated right away. I had told her how awesome Charley's was. Our server did the full presentation (if you've been, you know what this is). We ordered a good sparkling wine--an asti recommended by one of the staff's Experts. It was very good. Ad ordered the ribeye, I ordered t-bone. With the salad bar, French onion soup, sourdough bread with awesome honey butter and potatoes (I got the sweet potato), we had more than enough. And it was GOOD. The dessert tray was brought out, and we ordered one to go. We got the chocolate cake that is baked with an orange liqueur. This would not be eaten until tomorrow, but OMG. It was huge and so chocolaty and full of yum and good. After we were done, we headed back to the hotel. I don't know if all Radissons have sleep number beds now, but this one did. WANT. It was so comfy. Being able to adjust the firmness/softness was great.
I had tried sleep number beds at home shows, but never got to truly experience/enjoy one. On future trips, I'd love to stay at a Radisson, provdied the rate is Reasonable. I may want to invest in a sleep number bed in the future. Saturday:
Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure. Ad has never been. Ever. This would be her first time. I had Connections, so I would be able to get some express passes for us. We went to Universal Studios first. My dad & stepmom would not be with us--they opted to go to the Southern Women's Show.
Here's the list of attraction we did, in the order we did them:
Shrek
Revenge of the Mummy
Horror Make-Up Show
ET (and a tour of Kidzone)
MIB
Jaws
We used the Express only as needed. A lot of the lines were under 25 mins, which isn't that bad. We were done with the Studio by about 1p. From there we headed to IOA. Ad fell in love with IOA. She saw the Hulk coaster and was Intrigued. We went there, then to Storm Force Accelatron. After that, we ate at Cafe 4, since it was right there.
Here's the list of attractions done after that:
-Doctor Doom
-Spider-Man
(we were going to do Ripsaw, but there was a 25 minute wait for express!)
-Jurassic Park River Adventure
(we stopped in Thunder Falls and Burger Digs to check them out, but also because we needed a refill our sipper cup). Ad said she would love to eat at Thunder Falls, as the wraps looked amazing. I told her how Thunder Falls is one of the best places to eat at IOA. That and Mythos. Burger Digs appealed to her, much like Richters, because of the whole "build-a-burger" option. Nothing like loading up on lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles!
-Dueling Dragons, both Fire & Ice
-Flying Unicorn
-The Seuss Trolley, both sides
-Cat in the Hat
By this time, it was about 630p. We were considering going back to Ripsaw and then Hulk, but with only 30 mins, it seemed impossible. We went to Hulk, and ended up giving our unused express to a random family who greatly appreciated it. The final ride on Hulk was awesome.
One small problem happened, though. I was carrying my digi cam in my pocket, as I always do. I'm not sure when, probably after Hulk, but the LED screen cracked.
. All that appears on the cam is a bunch of white. There's no way to tell how many pics are on it, how much energy is left on the batteries, no menu options, nothing. It can still take pics, but there's no way to gauge the accuracy of the pics. My photographer's instinct helped, though. And I can still upload pics to my computer. I'll have to invest in a new digi cam with a screen protector before my Feb trip. After we were done with IOA, we went to Margaritaville. There was an hour wait, but we opted to wait. Adrienne was wanting some onion rings (blame Burger Digs, Mel's, and Richter's for that). We wandered around CityWalk for a while, and our pager went off after about 45 mins. Nice. She ordered the cheeseburger in paradise (sans cheese) and I got a grilled tilapia sandwich. They were both very good.
From there, I called my dad to let him know to pick us up. We headed back to the hotel and my dad & stepmom wanted to try the cake from Charley's. He also wanted to see about getting a French Vanilla cappuccino from 7-11. Ad & I went, as the walk wasn't bad. Yes, we walked. I also picked up a Pumpkin Spice Latte that they had, then we walked back to the hotel.
OMG. The cake was amazing, and the Latte? Delish! I usually don't like coffee, but that was just so tasty. All four of us also partially watched the Red Sox game (dad's a Sox fan) for a while, until SNL was about to come on. Ad & I retired to our room at that point.
Sunday:
Yes, today. Epcot and Goodbye.
We woke up today and the plan was to go to Epcot. I had made reservations at the Garden Grill for lunch. I had eaten there before, plus my dad had a 50% off coupon. It was all four of us today at Epcot. The plan was to be at Epcot until about 345p and then take Adrienne to the airport. My dad headed for Soarin to get fastpasses while me, Ad, and my stepmom explored the aquarium part of The Seas. Around 1130 (we arrived around 10a) we headed for The Land. We had a few mins to spare, so my dad, Adrienne, and I headed downstairs to ride the boat ride in The Land.
The last time I had been on the boat, it was at night. Everything looked fake at night. In the daylight, everything looks the way it should. After the ride, we headed back up to the Garden Grill. Lunch was so good. It consisted of the following:
Cornbread/sourdough bread with yummy butter. Roasted turkey, flank steak, catfish, green beans and carrots, and potato casserole. Dessert was an apple cobbler. Absolutely divine. The Garden Grill is also a character dining experience, which my stepmom loves.
After lunch, we did the following attractions:
Journey to Imagination
Test Track
Mission Space (just me and Adrienne, more intense version)
Soarin'
After Soarin', it was time to go. It took maybe 30 mins to get to the airport, tops. I went with Ad as far as I could before I had to say goodbye. I really really really don't like saying goodbye to her. Even though I'll be seeing her again in Feb, it still hurts to have to leave her. I'll admit, I did cry on my way out of the airport.
I enjoy the limited amount of time I'm with her, but the goodbye, I dislike. Overall, it was a very good weekend.
Pics are here
)
DETAILS man....give us more 
Ad's a very lucky gal!
