MsPennieLane
<font color=660099>Self-confessed Disney addict<br
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2003
- Messages
- 904
Tuesday 20th Jan
We get up to find it quite warm and the pool is empty apart from one person so I decide to go in. The steam is rising off the pool and its lovely and warm. Its a different story once I get out its freezing! I go back up to change and we have breakfast at Everything Pop. They do a mean breakfast pizza with scrambled egg, cheese, sausage and bacon bits. They also do a breakfast bagel which is scrambled egg and cheese with a sausage patty, similar to Maccys but much yummier. We decide to hit the malls today. We aim for Florida Mall but stop at Circuit City and Best Buy first to look at laptops and iPods. We only do about a quarter of Florida Mall. I pick up an Eeyore t-shirt at the Disney Store for $6, bargain. We stop for a fruit smoothie then head into Old Navy where I buy about 5 tops and hubby gets the bargain of the day his long sleeved t-shirt costs only $3 after many reductions. We stop at Walmart on Sandlake Road much more than the Super Center on the 192. We buy a comb for me, shaving gel for hubby and a few more bits. Were peckish so stop for lunch at Checkers. $8 for 2 double chilli-burgers, chilli-cheese fries and a large coke the size of a small bucket. Gorgeous food, way better than any other fast food place. And it beats Pop Centurys chilli-cheese fries hands down. We head back to the room rather than Millennia Mall as were shattered. I end up falling asleep for nearly 4 hours oopsie so we end up going to Downtown Disney about 8ish. We have dinner in the Wolfgang Puck Café 40 minute wait for an inside table or immediate table for the outside but next to one of those huge heaters so we opted for outside. Hubby has the Puck Burger and I have bacon wrapped meatloaf with garlic mash. Its divine. The portions are huge and they serve you bread to start too. With drinks and tip its just over $40. We wander through a few shops on the way to Pleasure Island.
I love this photo
We get in, get our hand stamps and given wristbands. We aim straight for 8 Trax, which plays nothing but 70s and 80s music. Its fantastic. Its empty when we go in but within an hour, its quite full and the dancefloor is packed. The queue for the bar is manic and it takes Andy over 10 minutes to get served. Its quite reasonably priced in here too. There is a waiter doing the rounds asking if we want drinks, shame he wasnt a few minutes earlier! I dont get on to the dancefloor as its heaving but have a little boogie in my seat instead. We stay here until 11pm and head straight for the hotel.
Weds 21st Jan
Its off to Discovery Cove today so were up early having breakfast at Everything Pop. Their cheese Danish pastries are heavenly. We have this breakfast nearly every morning til the end of the holiday and it costs about $7 for 2 pastries and a bagel for me, very good. We arrive at Discovery Cove just before 9am. Theres quite a few cars here already. We sign in and they take our picture. By the time we wander to the next desk, our cards are ready with our piccies printed on them. These will also be our 7 day passes to Seaworld. Were given a brief tour and have a complimentary photo taken.
We pass a shop and hubby buys some shoes for wearing in the water and on the beach. We get our wetsuits and go change. The people they have in charge of the wetsuits are very good at picking what they think will fit you. I struggle with mine at first but I get it on fine in the end very weird, Ive never worn a wetsuit before. Our time slot for the dolphin interaction is 12.05pm at the Sea Horse Cabana so weve got nearly 3 hours to wait. We find a couple of loungers and spread our stuff out before heading for the pool. The water is so warm, its gorgeous. Youd never think it was still January. There are 2 waterfalls at the end of the pool that you can stand under, very strange and very loud. Hubby cant swim so hes careful at first but gets braver. The pool isnt too deep, it comes to the top of our chests and hubbys just over 5ft 6. We spend most of the morning here before breaking for some pop and a pretzel.
Before we know it, its 12pm so we head for the cabana to wait for the rest of our party. We then watch a brief video about the dolphins and were split into 4 groups. Each group is allocated 2 trainers. There are 7 of us in our group, a nice small number I thought. By this time I am officially bricking myself. Were led out to the dolphin pool and its freezing. Our dolphin is Roxy. We get to see a baby dolphin being trained up as well, so cute. At first, Roxy wont stay put she wanders around for a bit. When she finally comes over, we get to stroke her and feel her tail. The way she obeys commands is incredible. The trainer shows us the dolphin in depth, pointing out marks and her belly button etc. We all over to her for a kiss and give her some fish. Im a little nervous at first but she is very gentle. We do some tricks with her before being given a ride on her. As hubby cant swim, he doesnt want to swim in deep waters with Roxy but the trainers say he can do a shallow ride instead, so I stay with him so he can keep his calm. The ride is incredible, what a feeling. After 20-25 minutes, its all over but wow, what an experience! Its a little off-putting having official photographers and people videoing it around you.
What I think cheapens the experience is that as soon as youre out of the water, youre whisked straight into look at your photos and endure an almighty sales pitch. A few people back out and the sales people arent happy about it. We definitely wanted pictures but we still find the whole thing a bit off-putting. The people are very pushy in my opinion but there you go. We pick 3 pictures 1 of each of us with Roxy and 1 of us together. We also buy the video so leave the tent $114.50 lighter but its worth every penny. We both decide were hungry so we go for lunch. There is a lot of choice and Im very impressed, considering lunch is included. Hubby has the beach burger with fries and I have fajitas with both steak and chicken. I have a side salad with it and we both pick dessert why not, seeing as its included and they look gorgeous. Hubby has cheesecake and I have chocolate mousse with a bit of squirty cream and chocolate flakes on it. Drinks are also included so we opt for some diet pepsi. The food is out of this world. We let our food go down a bit then head back into the water. We grab some floaters and head off around the lazy river. Hubby clings on as it is sometimes 8ft deep. My only problem with this is that there are no signs to tell you which parts are deep and which are not. There is only one sign that says 8ft deep. When you arrive, youre given a big string bag containing towels, sunscreen thats safe for the dolphins and a snorkel and mask each. Hubby decides to try snorkelling and I cant get him out of the water, he loves it. I give it a go too and its great fun. Neither of us enjoy snorkelling with the fish and rays in the other pool so we stick to the main one well, if you can call them pools, theyre more like stretches of ocean! There is also an aviary and a ray pool but we dont visit these. By 3.30, weve had enough so we pick up our photos, change and then check out. Our complimentary photo is nice so we take it with us. Were exhausted but very very happy. The day was worth every penny, and both of us would highly recommend the experience. It really is wonderful.
We head back to Pop Century, shower and change and head to Chilis for dinner. I have boneless buffalo wings followed by the chipotle blue cheese and bacon burger and hubby has the turkey sandwich. A bargain meal at $23 including drinks. Were both shattered to we head back to the hotel for bevies and I conk out in front of the tv early.
our complimentary photo
I'll be posting some more pics later as we've finally had them developed
We get up to find it quite warm and the pool is empty apart from one person so I decide to go in. The steam is rising off the pool and its lovely and warm. Its a different story once I get out its freezing! I go back up to change and we have breakfast at Everything Pop. They do a mean breakfast pizza with scrambled egg, cheese, sausage and bacon bits. They also do a breakfast bagel which is scrambled egg and cheese with a sausage patty, similar to Maccys but much yummier. We decide to hit the malls today. We aim for Florida Mall but stop at Circuit City and Best Buy first to look at laptops and iPods. We only do about a quarter of Florida Mall. I pick up an Eeyore t-shirt at the Disney Store for $6, bargain. We stop for a fruit smoothie then head into Old Navy where I buy about 5 tops and hubby gets the bargain of the day his long sleeved t-shirt costs only $3 after many reductions. We stop at Walmart on Sandlake Road much more than the Super Center on the 192. We buy a comb for me, shaving gel for hubby and a few more bits. Were peckish so stop for lunch at Checkers. $8 for 2 double chilli-burgers, chilli-cheese fries and a large coke the size of a small bucket. Gorgeous food, way better than any other fast food place. And it beats Pop Centurys chilli-cheese fries hands down. We head back to the room rather than Millennia Mall as were shattered. I end up falling asleep for nearly 4 hours oopsie so we end up going to Downtown Disney about 8ish. We have dinner in the Wolfgang Puck Café 40 minute wait for an inside table or immediate table for the outside but next to one of those huge heaters so we opted for outside. Hubby has the Puck Burger and I have bacon wrapped meatloaf with garlic mash. Its divine. The portions are huge and they serve you bread to start too. With drinks and tip its just over $40. We wander through a few shops on the way to Pleasure Island.
I love this photo
We get in, get our hand stamps and given wristbands. We aim straight for 8 Trax, which plays nothing but 70s and 80s music. Its fantastic. Its empty when we go in but within an hour, its quite full and the dancefloor is packed. The queue for the bar is manic and it takes Andy over 10 minutes to get served. Its quite reasonably priced in here too. There is a waiter doing the rounds asking if we want drinks, shame he wasnt a few minutes earlier! I dont get on to the dancefloor as its heaving but have a little boogie in my seat instead. We stay here until 11pm and head straight for the hotel.
Weds 21st Jan
Its off to Discovery Cove today so were up early having breakfast at Everything Pop. Their cheese Danish pastries are heavenly. We have this breakfast nearly every morning til the end of the holiday and it costs about $7 for 2 pastries and a bagel for me, very good. We arrive at Discovery Cove just before 9am. Theres quite a few cars here already. We sign in and they take our picture. By the time we wander to the next desk, our cards are ready with our piccies printed on them. These will also be our 7 day passes to Seaworld. Were given a brief tour and have a complimentary photo taken.
We pass a shop and hubby buys some shoes for wearing in the water and on the beach. We get our wetsuits and go change. The people they have in charge of the wetsuits are very good at picking what they think will fit you. I struggle with mine at first but I get it on fine in the end very weird, Ive never worn a wetsuit before. Our time slot for the dolphin interaction is 12.05pm at the Sea Horse Cabana so weve got nearly 3 hours to wait. We find a couple of loungers and spread our stuff out before heading for the pool. The water is so warm, its gorgeous. Youd never think it was still January. There are 2 waterfalls at the end of the pool that you can stand under, very strange and very loud. Hubby cant swim so hes careful at first but gets braver. The pool isnt too deep, it comes to the top of our chests and hubbys just over 5ft 6. We spend most of the morning here before breaking for some pop and a pretzel.
Before we know it, its 12pm so we head for the cabana to wait for the rest of our party. We then watch a brief video about the dolphins and were split into 4 groups. Each group is allocated 2 trainers. There are 7 of us in our group, a nice small number I thought. By this time I am officially bricking myself. Were led out to the dolphin pool and its freezing. Our dolphin is Roxy. We get to see a baby dolphin being trained up as well, so cute. At first, Roxy wont stay put she wanders around for a bit. When she finally comes over, we get to stroke her and feel her tail. The way she obeys commands is incredible. The trainer shows us the dolphin in depth, pointing out marks and her belly button etc. We all over to her for a kiss and give her some fish. Im a little nervous at first but she is very gentle. We do some tricks with her before being given a ride on her. As hubby cant swim, he doesnt want to swim in deep waters with Roxy but the trainers say he can do a shallow ride instead, so I stay with him so he can keep his calm. The ride is incredible, what a feeling. After 20-25 minutes, its all over but wow, what an experience! Its a little off-putting having official photographers and people videoing it around you.
What I think cheapens the experience is that as soon as youre out of the water, youre whisked straight into look at your photos and endure an almighty sales pitch. A few people back out and the sales people arent happy about it. We definitely wanted pictures but we still find the whole thing a bit off-putting. The people are very pushy in my opinion but there you go. We pick 3 pictures 1 of each of us with Roxy and 1 of us together. We also buy the video so leave the tent $114.50 lighter but its worth every penny. We both decide were hungry so we go for lunch. There is a lot of choice and Im very impressed, considering lunch is included. Hubby has the beach burger with fries and I have fajitas with both steak and chicken. I have a side salad with it and we both pick dessert why not, seeing as its included and they look gorgeous. Hubby has cheesecake and I have chocolate mousse with a bit of squirty cream and chocolate flakes on it. Drinks are also included so we opt for some diet pepsi. The food is out of this world. We let our food go down a bit then head back into the water. We grab some floaters and head off around the lazy river. Hubby clings on as it is sometimes 8ft deep. My only problem with this is that there are no signs to tell you which parts are deep and which are not. There is only one sign that says 8ft deep. When you arrive, youre given a big string bag containing towels, sunscreen thats safe for the dolphins and a snorkel and mask each. Hubby decides to try snorkelling and I cant get him out of the water, he loves it. I give it a go too and its great fun. Neither of us enjoy snorkelling with the fish and rays in the other pool so we stick to the main one well, if you can call them pools, theyre more like stretches of ocean! There is also an aviary and a ray pool but we dont visit these. By 3.30, weve had enough so we pick up our photos, change and then check out. Our complimentary photo is nice so we take it with us. Were exhausted but very very happy. The day was worth every penny, and both of us would highly recommend the experience. It really is wonderful.
We head back to Pop Century, shower and change and head to Chilis for dinner. I have boneless buffalo wings followed by the chipotle blue cheese and bacon burger and hubby has the turkey sandwich. A bargain meal at $23 including drinks. Were both shattered to we head back to the hotel for bevies and I conk out in front of the tv early.
our complimentary photo
I'll be posting some more pics later as we've finally had them developed
Great pictures too.
