lisagirlyUK
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2004
- Messages
- 252
Hi again,
Im back in the land of the living following on from my last message from Sanford airport. I have made loads of notes and will post a trip report in due course. In the mean time, her are some highs and lows:
Lows:
Flights there and back - both heavily delayed by 'techincal problems' - 10 hour delay going out there and 6 back. On the flight to Sanford, this meant we landed and picked up our car at 4am instead of in the evening - H had never driven an automatic or on the other side off the road before - that and the fact that he had been awake for over 24 hours made it a very long and nervous drive to our villa (plus wrote of our first day as we were so exhausted)
Going with all my family - not so much a low but I wouldn't go with all my family again. They really couldn't cope with the heat and are all heavy smokers so myself and H were getting a tour of all the smoking zones in the Magic Kingdom!! That was when we decided to break off and do our own thing most of the time and meet up now and again.
Pirates Dinner Show - sorry but I though it was awful - you are told to come 1 1/2 hours before the show and were basically standing about in a holding area before the show. When we went through, the plates and cutlery were filthy, the food was awful and the show was really bad - it was really poorly lit and we couldn't work out what was going on or who was talking as there wasn't any spotlights on them. There is also a lot of violence in this show - not your usual stunt punches but Pirates getting each other on the floor and repeatedly stunt kicking each other in the stomach and jumping on their head!! We had a 3 year old with us and this was not suitable at all for her. (no mention of this when we booked though)
Hurrican Charley: It hit pretty badly - we were lucky - it just tore the pool netting. But there was lots of people without homes, water, electricity. It did affect the holiday - the parks apart form a couple of them were open the next day but not at full capacity - due to staff and CMs having more important things to deal with at their homes. There was also quite a few dead animals including peoples pets by the roads which I found heartbreaking.
The weather never really got back to normal after the hurricane - we had lots of stormy weather after it too and got caught out in the parks a few times and had to go home.
The Highs:
Dolly Parton Dixie Stamped - Loved it!!!! A really good show with loads of talented people and animals - and the food was gorgeous!! creamy veg soup and biscuit followed by chicken, baked potato, corn on the cob and then apple pie - yumm!!! H was dreading going to this but admitted he loved this too!
Bush Gardens - thought this was fab - loads of animals, great rides, shows and plenty for the little uns - plus the gift shops were mega cheap - I got some real bargains and saw the same items in a shopping mall for double the price.
Sea World - for the same reasons as above - absolutley loved it!! - we went here twice.
MGM Studios - loved this too - we booked a Fantasmic Dinner Package and had a fab meal at Hollywood & Vine and then went to see Fantasmic which was brilliant!!!
All in all it was a good holiday but the 2 big dampeners were Hurricane Charley and the weather in general and also the flights out there and back - plus we also had to complain to the management company because they were coming and going to the garage in the villa for storage without telling us about it which I though was out of order.
Would we go back? Yes I think we would - just me and H - maybe 1 week in the keys and 1 week in Orlando doing the bits and pieces we didnt get to do this time.
I do think we tried to take on too much - the parks are so huge and we tried to do them all and eat out and do shopping too - it ended up almost killing us!! I now need a holiday to recover form this holiday!!! LOL!!! How you lot do it with kids, I just dont know!!!
Anyway, full trip reports will be heading your way soon!
LisagirlyUK
Im back in the land of the living following on from my last message from Sanford airport. I have made loads of notes and will post a trip report in due course. In the mean time, her are some highs and lows:
Lows:
Flights there and back - both heavily delayed by 'techincal problems' - 10 hour delay going out there and 6 back. On the flight to Sanford, this meant we landed and picked up our car at 4am instead of in the evening - H had never driven an automatic or on the other side off the road before - that and the fact that he had been awake for over 24 hours made it a very long and nervous drive to our villa (plus wrote of our first day as we were so exhausted)
Going with all my family - not so much a low but I wouldn't go with all my family again. They really couldn't cope with the heat and are all heavy smokers so myself and H were getting a tour of all the smoking zones in the Magic Kingdom!! That was when we decided to break off and do our own thing most of the time and meet up now and again.
Pirates Dinner Show - sorry but I though it was awful - you are told to come 1 1/2 hours before the show and were basically standing about in a holding area before the show. When we went through, the plates and cutlery were filthy, the food was awful and the show was really bad - it was really poorly lit and we couldn't work out what was going on or who was talking as there wasn't any spotlights on them. There is also a lot of violence in this show - not your usual stunt punches but Pirates getting each other on the floor and repeatedly stunt kicking each other in the stomach and jumping on their head!! We had a 3 year old with us and this was not suitable at all for her. (no mention of this when we booked though)
Hurrican Charley: It hit pretty badly - we were lucky - it just tore the pool netting. But there was lots of people without homes, water, electricity. It did affect the holiday - the parks apart form a couple of them were open the next day but not at full capacity - due to staff and CMs having more important things to deal with at their homes. There was also quite a few dead animals including peoples pets by the roads which I found heartbreaking.
The weather never really got back to normal after the hurricane - we had lots of stormy weather after it too and got caught out in the parks a few times and had to go home.
The Highs:
Dolly Parton Dixie Stamped - Loved it!!!! A really good show with loads of talented people and animals - and the food was gorgeous!! creamy veg soup and biscuit followed by chicken, baked potato, corn on the cob and then apple pie - yumm!!! H was dreading going to this but admitted he loved this too!
Bush Gardens - thought this was fab - loads of animals, great rides, shows and plenty for the little uns - plus the gift shops were mega cheap - I got some real bargains and saw the same items in a shopping mall for double the price.
Sea World - for the same reasons as above - absolutley loved it!! - we went here twice.
MGM Studios - loved this too - we booked a Fantasmic Dinner Package and had a fab meal at Hollywood & Vine and then went to see Fantasmic which was brilliant!!!
All in all it was a good holiday but the 2 big dampeners were Hurricane Charley and the weather in general and also the flights out there and back - plus we also had to complain to the management company because they were coming and going to the garage in the villa for storage without telling us about it which I though was out of order.
Would we go back? Yes I think we would - just me and H - maybe 1 week in the keys and 1 week in Orlando doing the bits and pieces we didnt get to do this time.
I do think we tried to take on too much - the parks are so huge and we tried to do them all and eat out and do shopping too - it ended up almost killing us!! I now need a holiday to recover form this holiday!!! LOL!!! How you lot do it with kids, I just dont know!!!
Anyway, full trip reports will be heading your way soon!
LisagirlyUK
) and going off on your own.
I think it sounds a good idea not to go away in a big family group again
