Latte Lover
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- Joined
- Sep 2, 2003
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Thursday 20th October 2011
After a leisurely breakfast of tea and warm cinnamon buns, we spent some time packing a suitcase with the things we wont need on the cruise next week.
Then it was time to head over to Aquatica for the day.
Gary, Joh and Daniel dropped Nat, Matthew and Ellie at Universal Studios and then went for breakfast at Dennys before meeting us at the entrance to Aquatica at 10am.
The weather today was a little cool for me. highs of 72 degrees and it was the breeze that made it a bit chilly early on. The sun was lovely and bright though.
We chose sun loungers in the sun and then went off to try the river rapids. So much fun! Like a lazy river but faster. You wear a life jacket so you can just let yourself be pulled around in the current. Half way around I heard the others shouting from behind me, but Daniel and I couldnt stop in the current so had to keep going and went around again and caught up with them. Garys wedding ring had slipped off in the rapids. He reported to the life guard who said he would send a diver in to look for it. We all swam around and around looking for it but it was impossible. The water is too bubbly and whizzes you round too quickly and we would never have been able to stop even if we spotted it. Later on, Joh went to guest services to see if a diver had been able to find it and incredibly, they had! I think it may have been caught in a filter. Joh joked that Gary would be disappointed he was starting to think he would be a free man!
We had some lunch then went on some slides. There are some great ones, although the one where the tube goes through the dolphin pool is not as good as it looks. You dont really get time to see the dolphins as you whizz down the tube. You get a much better view of them when you go on the slow lazy river, which we did next.
I really did enjoy our day at Aquatica. It wasnt crowded, the slides were good and I loved the river rapids.
Daniel enjoys a big slice of water melon:
We left the park around 3.15. Joh , Gary and Daniel headed to Universal Studios to pick up Nat, Ellie and Matthew, while Tony and I drove down International Drive to have a mooch in the shops.
We all met up again at Friendlys for dinner.
Everyone enjoyed their meals. Tony and I both had Ginger Chicken with stir-fried veg and rice which was delicious and on the 550 calorie menu!
Joh had this yummy-looking BBQ chicken sandwich :
Matthew had a pile of sliders:
Ice-creams or Fribbles were enjoyed by all of us afterwards. (Fribble = extra thick milkshake) Joh wanted to try Garys vanilla one, but he refused to share, so the nice waitress brought Joh a Mini one for her to try.
Nat told us about her day at Universal Studios. Their aim of the day was to ride Rip, Ride, Rocket which they managed to do twice, despite it constantly breaking down. The park wasnt too busy so they managed to get everything done that they wanted to do and had a good day.
After dinner, everyone came back to the Sheriton to see our apartment, although it took us a while to get there as Tony and I went the wrong way after getting in the wrong lane. We blamed the Sat Nav for not telling us whether the ramp was on the left or right. This is the first year we have used a Sat Nav and sometimes it is easier just to look at the signposts!
This evening we all had to spend some time packing. It took some organising as we had 2 cases which will be left at Wilderness Lodge (we are staying there tomorrow night) and transported by Disney to The Beach Club Villas ready for when we get back from our cruise. The other two cases had our cruise stuff in. We managed to get it all done, leaving a few things out to go in a small bag ready for tomorrow and Saturday.
We were so tired after all that sun and water today, so had an early night.
Tomorrow: Madeira Beach for Tony and me, Islands of Adventure for the others.
After a leisurely breakfast of tea and warm cinnamon buns, we spent some time packing a suitcase with the things we wont need on the cruise next week.
Then it was time to head over to Aquatica for the day.
Gary, Joh and Daniel dropped Nat, Matthew and Ellie at Universal Studios and then went for breakfast at Dennys before meeting us at the entrance to Aquatica at 10am.
The weather today was a little cool for me. highs of 72 degrees and it was the breeze that made it a bit chilly early on. The sun was lovely and bright though.
We chose sun loungers in the sun and then went off to try the river rapids. So much fun! Like a lazy river but faster. You wear a life jacket so you can just let yourself be pulled around in the current. Half way around I heard the others shouting from behind me, but Daniel and I couldnt stop in the current so had to keep going and went around again and caught up with them. Garys wedding ring had slipped off in the rapids. He reported to the life guard who said he would send a diver in to look for it. We all swam around and around looking for it but it was impossible. The water is too bubbly and whizzes you round too quickly and we would never have been able to stop even if we spotted it. Later on, Joh went to guest services to see if a diver had been able to find it and incredibly, they had! I think it may have been caught in a filter. Joh joked that Gary would be disappointed he was starting to think he would be a free man!
We had some lunch then went on some slides. There are some great ones, although the one where the tube goes through the dolphin pool is not as good as it looks. You dont really get time to see the dolphins as you whizz down the tube. You get a much better view of them when you go on the slow lazy river, which we did next.
I really did enjoy our day at Aquatica. It wasnt crowded, the slides were good and I loved the river rapids.
Daniel enjoys a big slice of water melon:
We left the park around 3.15. Joh , Gary and Daniel headed to Universal Studios to pick up Nat, Ellie and Matthew, while Tony and I drove down International Drive to have a mooch in the shops.
We all met up again at Friendlys for dinner.
Everyone enjoyed their meals. Tony and I both had Ginger Chicken with stir-fried veg and rice which was delicious and on the 550 calorie menu!
Joh had this yummy-looking BBQ chicken sandwich :
Matthew had a pile of sliders:
Ice-creams or Fribbles were enjoyed by all of us afterwards. (Fribble = extra thick milkshake) Joh wanted to try Garys vanilla one, but he refused to share, so the nice waitress brought Joh a Mini one for her to try.
Nat told us about her day at Universal Studios. Their aim of the day was to ride Rip, Ride, Rocket which they managed to do twice, despite it constantly breaking down. The park wasnt too busy so they managed to get everything done that they wanted to do and had a good day.
After dinner, everyone came back to the Sheriton to see our apartment, although it took us a while to get there as Tony and I went the wrong way after getting in the wrong lane. We blamed the Sat Nav for not telling us whether the ramp was on the left or right. This is the first year we have used a Sat Nav and sometimes it is easier just to look at the signposts!
This evening we all had to spend some time packing. It took some organising as we had 2 cases which will be left at Wilderness Lodge (we are staying there tomorrow night) and transported by Disney to The Beach Club Villas ready for when we get back from our cruise. The other two cases had our cruise stuff in. We managed to get it all done, leaving a few things out to go in a small bag ready for tomorrow and Saturday.
We were so tired after all that sun and water today, so had an early night.
Tomorrow: Madeira Beach for Tony and me, Islands of Adventure for the others.
I hope that was the last!
