Blissikins' Boo To You CBR Trip Oct. 2015! **Actual TR post AK** Aug. 2017

YAY you got to go to TREX! how fun!!!! i'm sure you were all laughing with his picture on the wall! I would have!!!

so.. NHL is different? How?
Hawks lost last night... BOOOO
 
so.. NHL is different? How?
Hawks lost last night... BOOOO

Boooo!! Hawks are my chosen NHL team.

NHL is a much faster game, our top league is where NHL players retire to once they're too slow to play in mainland Europe! :rotfl2: We're a bit more physical too in terms of fighting, and the refereeing is MUCH much worse. There are rule differences too, but I don't know NHL rules well enough to be able to tell you what they are! Our top-flight league is only ten teams too, two conferences of five teams, and you play the teams in your own conference more often than the others (so the better teams play each other more often than the poorer ones, and vice versa), we have one play-off weekend (two semis and a final) rather than a series…League title is worth more than the Play-Off title, it's pretty different. It's enjoyable to watch because that's what we're used to, but when we had friends over to visit from Canada they commented on how slowwwww the game was! It's still very much a minority sport in Britain. No teams have their own arenas, they are all rented venues so if a bigger-paying artist wants the venue, your game gets bumped to another (usually mid-week) date. 100+ of our fans had paid to fly to Ireland for the weekend for a game, One Direction wanted to book the venue instead for a re-arranged show at short notice, hockey date got rearranged. The venues don't care. When I do the next update I will compare the Amalie arena to ours, you'll see what I mean!
 
Sounds like a plan! Pretty much your telling e you have the slow mans hockey! LOL
Pretty much!!

The One With Lightning and a Meteor Shower! Pt. II

Off to Tampa we go!!

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We chose not to rent a Sat-Nav this time, and we didn’t bring our own from home. The plan was to rent one if we decided we needed to. Instead, we downloaded the “Navmii” app which I can’t recommend highly enough! I’m sure it would be even better if you actually had a data connection on the road, but we were able to download the route for our journey in the hotel (it runs off Google Maps), and it got us to where we were going every time. I would definitely recommend it over paying to hire one from a rental company. Very handy for late-night trips to Wal-Mart and, of course, our trip to Tampa. I guess most of you are thinking “It’s pretty much just one road...How hard is it?!” Well when you’re already driving on the “wrong” side of the road, you need all the help you can get! It was a nice drive, we got to see a different bit of Florida than we did last trip (we went the other way and drove to Kennedy Space Centre last time), and we took full advantage of having a country station available on the car radio. All in all, an enjoyable trip! We couldn’t find the car park that we were meant to be in when we arrived at the Arena, so we just went into the nearest one. That worked in our favour later when we were toting shopping back to the car in the scorching heat!


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Tram!


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You may have noticed by now that John has no awareness of the camera whatsoever. I soon get bored of cropping his head and/or random limbs out of shots and just leave him there, wandering around obliviously. We soon discovered that this was the boring side of the building!


I’ve never been to an NHL game before, so I had no idea just how much goes on around the arena before the game! Forgetting that I was getting the nice cool air-con of the car, I was thinking perhaps it was a bit cooler here than in Orlando. People were wandering around with their jerseys on, I even saw a guy in a hoodie, and started to wonder if my jersey would be warm enough. Then I opened the car door. How on earth were those people dressed like that? What’s wrong with them?! If anything it was even HOTTER than it had been in Orlando! How was that guy wearing a hoodie not melting into a puddle on the floor? Of course John had to fit in, because he’d acclimatised (ha!), so he put his jersey on too. I opted to carry mine as I was already sweating an unattractive amount. I thought there was something crawling on my back at one point. Nope. Sweat. How do people live like this?! I’m so pale I’m practically translucent, and I don’t handle the heat well on hot days in England. I’m genuinely amazed I didn’t die, or at least get sick with heat stroke, that day. I’ve never been that hot in my life! It turned out we’d parked on the side of the building furthest away from the entrance too, so we set off on the trek around the building.


We could hear the party before we actually saw it. I was blown away with the building being covered in banners, and the team taking the same billing/advertising as acts like WWE and Taylor Swift. Over here hockey is very much a minority sport, and our games are often bumped out of the arena if a big act wants to play there on a night we have already booked. To see it treated with such respect was miles away from what we are used to at home! We climbed the steps to a massive paved area...Wow!


For comparison...This is our arena at home during the season:

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Now look at how amazing the Amalie arena looks!

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Even the pillars are logoed.


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Wow.


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I never did find out if I made it on to the broadcast! We were pretty close though.


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Massive screens playing highlights, a DJ, food trucks, outdoor bars, news teams set up all over the place...It was crazy! I’ve never seen anything like that in my life for a hockey game. It was really funny seeing people’s reactions to us, wandering around. I wish I’d filmed it actually. There’s a fair bit of orange on our jerseys, so clearly from a distance we were lumped in with the Flyers fans. But then the Flyers fans realised that it wasn’t their jersey, so they were bemused too. I was pretty surprised that no-one talked to us, everyone we spoke to at home who’d been to a game said that the fans were really friendly and wanted to know where they were from, what hockey was like in the UK, etc, but we obviously confused the ones outside a bit too much because no-one wanted to chat! Oh well! Time for my second favourite pastime after taking: SHOPPING! You know by now everything’s bigger. I don’t have to say it. We were in the team store for a good 30mins. A friend of ours had asked for a jersey, John wanted a jersey, I didn’t know what I wanted but I needed to buy something, because it was my first NHL game and I wanted a souvenir. This was not going to end cheaply! I’m fairly certain John only ended up with one jersey from the actual team store. Plus the one we picked up for our friend. They had some home opener commemorative pucks, so obviously we needed a couple of those, and I got a cool hoodie that looks like a jersey. I also wanted a T-shirt but I couldn’t decide which one, so I did that annoying thing I do where I decide to think about it and save money, leave the store, and immediately decide I need one as we’re heading off to somewhere else. Sometimes impulse purchases are good. They save time later. I never learn.


We decided to take our purchases back to the car so we didn’t have to worry about keeping track of them during the game. It was during this trip to the car park that I had a run-in with Florida State Police. Yup. Now is the time. I have to come clean about my brush with the law.


I love spotting wildlife.

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We do not get these jurassic-sized dragonflies at home!


Florida is heaven for me with the lizards and different birds and random roaming rabbits and squirrels. Well as we were hurrying along the main road around the arena, a squirrel wanders out of the bushes into the middle of the sidewalk a way in front, and looks at us. Obviously, I say hello to it, because I cannot be taken out in public if you don’t enjoy the shame of your companion having random conversations with wildlife (I blame growing up with Disney movies). Mr Squirrel makes to head back into the bushes, and suddenly makes a U-turn and sprints for the road which is teeming with rush-hour/pre-game traffic, complete with a patrol car on the side of the road and the policeman stood in the middle directing cars. Mr Squirrel makes a break for the road right in front of the patrol car, by the policeman, seemingly about to head under the tires of a passing truck. Without thinking (it’s amazing how often those two words describe my day to day actions) I yell out “NO!! NOT THAT WAY! YOU’LL DIE!!!” The policeman, who can’t see the squirrel and so has no idea of its impending peril, is now looking around for a small child or other human person running into the road, and also (I presume) rather concerned that a random foreign voice is screeching about death when all he’s meant to be doing is directing rush hour traffic. As he looked over at me I’m exaggeratedly and apologetically mouthing “Sorry! There was a squirrel!” as John drags me off down the street muttering something about police there being armed.

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He doesn’t look concerned, does he? We saw him again on the way back from the car. Given that the policeman was still in the same spot, I limited squirrel interaction to a photo and a polite nod in his direction this time.


When we got back to the arena doors were open, so we headed inside. There was a massive line (more just a massive clump of people, actually, “line” is being overly generous to their organisational system!) to get through the metal detector. The closer I got to the front of the crowd, the less I minded waiting. Really, this was one occasion I wouldn’t have mind being picked for a random pat-down. Wow! Whoever hires the security at the Amalie Arena...I applaud you. Excellent choices. ;)


I don’t think I’ve ever been in an arena this big!

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The O2 in London is pretty big...I’m fairly certain this is bigger!


I’m glad we went in a little early, it was nice to soak up the atmosphere! We had originally debated going for cheaper seats and going to both games that were on while we were in Florida, but ended up going to one game in seats that were twice as expensive! I’m glad we did, as we had an excellent view! We chatted a little with the people near us, the guy next to us was a little shocked that I knew the National Anthem, I don’t know why (I just change “our” to “your”...still makes sense!).

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For my 18th birthday, my in-laws bought me a huge framed print of Eric Lindros in a Flyers vs NYR game. I never would have believed one day I would watch a Flyers game in person!


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Face-off!


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It was a fantastic game! We got our money’s worth as it went into overtime, and joined in with the celebrations afterwards. There was a party somewhere else in the Arena after the game, but we decided to go and find food instead. We followed the crowd and headed to Hooters a short walk from the Arena for a quick dinner where we watched the game highlights all over again. Then it was back to the car and off on the long drive “home” to CBR.


Next Up: Back to Disney!
 


Wow what an experience and as you say so different to what we have over here - although I've never actually been to an ice hockey game here either :rotfl2:
 
Hockey is one of the BEST sports! Football will always be #1! Clearly i am a Blackhawks fan..
So glad you were able to experience it! SO FUN!!! So happy for you guys! PHEW! thank GOD you were there to save the squirrel! That traffic cop should be giving you a medal!
 
[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]
Wow what an experience and as you say so different to what we have over here - although I've never actually been to an ice hockey game here either :rotfl2:
You should go! Great sport. :)

Hockey is one of the BEST sports! Football will always be #1! Clearly i am a Blackhawks fan..
So glad you were able to experience it! SO FUN!!! So happy for you guys! PHEW! thank GOD you were there to save the squirrel! That traffic cop should be giving you a medal!
:rotfl2:I know, right?! He should be grateful, another senseless traffic death prevented!!

Well, what a bizarre couple of days. A guy broke into our garden (well, slid a fence panel out of the base, nothing was actually broken) and chopped down one of our trees. WT-Word-that-can't-be-used-in-front-of-preschool-toys?!! It was a housewarming gift from my grandparents, grown in the garden where my Mum grew up, so I'm devastated that it's gone. :( The police are coming to speak to us later so that's probably all the detail I should give right now! But I had to at least mention it, as it explains why I was in desperate need of a cheer-me-up day.

Some women go clothes or shoe shopping, some go to a bar, some stuff their faces with chocolate…My husband knows how to cheer me up: A trip to the travel agent!

Now, this was purely a pie-in-the-sky, bucket list, price it up for the sake of it visit. We'd talked about it for our 10th anniversary next year, we've tentatively discussed adding a little onto our mortgage when we move house this summer to pay for it. We know our favourite travel agent doesn't mind spending a while doing quotes, and the store was dead so we weren't wasting anyone's time but our own. Nothing is booked…At this point until we've moved we can't really decide if we are booking anything at all for next year (caravan in Blackpool, maybe!!)…But I'm just going to leave this here…
 


I'm so sorry about your garden break in, that sounds like a very bizarre thing to do :confused3

How sweet that your hubby knows how to cheer you up. The GF is a gorgeous resort but (Mummy hat on here) it's not worth adding on to your mortgage for. Out of all the Disney resorts we've stayed at my Husband puts the GF last :rotfl2:
 
I'm so sorry about your garden break in, that sounds like a very bizarre thing to do :confused3
Thank you! It was truly bizarre. It's all settled now though thank goodness. The police were lovely and I'm happy that it's resolved and settled now. I feel safe again! We have brackets on order to secure the fence, it taught us how easily the panels can be removed, so a good thing came of it, it gave us a lesson and we are improving our security.

How sweet that your hubby knows how to cheer you up. The GF is a gorgeous resort but (Mummy hat on here) it's not worth adding on to your mortgage for. Out of all the Disney resorts we've stayed at my Husband puts the GF last :rotfl2:
He's definitely a keeper! Don't worry, the way I worded it was very flippant but adding money to the mortgage was mentioned in the same conversation as "When we win the lottery..."

I'm curious, what did your husband put above GF? If anything the Poly edges it verrrrrrry slightly for me, but it's not John's style. GF was my dream honeymoon destination, but the ILs had a stunning place in the mountains in Nfld at the time, so we went there instead. Now looking back I'm glad as I wouldn't have had the energy to do my first ever WDW trip after planning and organizing our wedding, but it's always been at the top of the bucket list! More likely is we'll just have a night or two there at the end of our trip as a special anniversary weekend.
 
First off, Baxter is adorable! Second, I swear every picture I see of you I think "wow, she looks like Amy Adams!" Finally, ah, so glad to see your TR including signs from the Dark Side. We are surprising our kids with this in October so great to see what to expect! And GFlo for next time? Holy cow! Funny, we are doing a delayed celebration of our 10 year anniversary (which is in May) and doing V&A dinner (we'll have to sell one of the children but sacrifices must be made). So I'm a bad influence and will say do it! :P
 
First off, Baxter is adorable!
Thank you! I'm biased but he's amazing! He's changed our lives for the better, definitely. Terrible at hide and seek though…
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Second, I swear every picture I see of you I think "wow, she looks like Amy Adams!"
You're too kind! I wish I had Princess Giselle's team of cleaning animals! :rotfl2:

Finally, ah, so glad to see your TR including signs from the Dark Side. We are surprising our kids with this in October so great to see what to expect!
There's more from The Dark Side later in the trip! I love it there. It's a bit different coming from the UK I guess as flights are so long (9hrs) that I want to cram in as much as possible when we're in Florida, but I can't imagine going to Orlando and not going to Universal!

And GFlo for next time? Holy cow! Funny, we are doing a delayed celebration of our 10 year anniversary (which is in May) and doing V&A dinner (we'll have to sell one of the children but sacrifices must be made). So I'm a bad influence and will say do it! :P
Haha! I'm the bad influence in this house, John is my Responsible Adult. I'm happy to bid up your listing on eBay, I'm sure a decent-sized child could get you a night at the GF, just inflate the shipping charges a bit. :littleangel:

John asked if I wouldn't like to save the GF trip for a bigger anniversary…"Because how would we top that?" Flying first class! A park view suite! Deluxe Dining Package! GF and then a cruise package! There's always a way! Life has made me very much a "Seize the day!" kind of person. I'll have waited for 10 years already! I was tempted by the idea of a vow renewal in the park now that that is a service offered, but that would definitely mean downgrading the hotel, and the smallest package is 2-4 guests, and we don't have any guests over there (or who would be able to travel with us)…so…probably not. Unless we get a random stranger ordained over the internet like Joey from Friends, and buy them a day ticket. But I'm guessing that's not Disney Legal! It would make for an interesting ride photo though, get them to sit in front of us on something like 7DMT, something where we'd get a video as well, you know, get our money's worth. :rotfl:
 
I'm curious, what did your husband put above GF?
I asked him and my eldest DD last night and they both say POR is their favourite resort :confused3 they're a strange pair :rotfl2: I liked the GF, except our view was shocking, but hubby didn't feel relaxed there and definitely didn't think it was worth the money. Everyone likes different things though!
 
i was LOLing at him 'hiding' what a goof ball!

I am so sorry someone broke in what a terrible thing! WHY! I mean who would someone break in for a tree?!?! that is beyond bizarre!
 

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Makes me laugh every time. Shepherd's Pie with beef? Do wizard shepherds look after cows rather than sheep?!

Does anyone else notice anything odd about this menu?? (Besides the Shepherd's Pie with beef) Since this is a family board, I won't point it out....:o

Really enjoying your TR! Makes me so anxious for our trip next year (hopefully)!!
 
Does anyone else notice anything odd about this menu?? (Besides the Shepherd's Pie with beef) Since this is a family board, I won't point it out....:o

Really enjoying your TR! Makes me so anxious for our trip next year (hopefully)!!


You need to spell it out for me.. I am not fully awake either.
 
Oh Mylanta! Your squirrel story had me laughing out loud!!

I'm glad you had such a good time at the hockey game. Hockey is one of my favorite sports, even though I don't get to as many games as I would like. Your seats were amazing!
 
Just checking in to confirm that yes, I am still alive! Busy, but alive!

This is the week we've been waiting for since we got back from our trip...BONUS WEEK!! :cool1: We were plotting and scheming on the plane ride home of what we need to do on our next trip, and decided that since John gets an annual bonus at this job, that would make a perfect deposit for our 10th Anniversary trip, giving us over a year to pay off the balance. Tomorrow is BONUS DAY!! :bounce:



......Aaaaaaaaaaand three weeks ago my car died. Got towed, got it fixed enough to get it driveable (for an unspecified short period, they guessed "a month or so..."), but it is currently in palliative care on the driveway, waiting to be limped to a dealership for trade-in/scrapping. *le sigh*

So, it looks like when we find a replacement, I will be driving around in our Dearly Departed Disney Deposit for the forseeable future. :(:guilty::headache::mad::furious::furious::furious::furious::furious:

I am SO grateful that we have the money coming just when we need it to sort out the car issues, don't get me wrong. We would be in a fix without it, at the moment we are sharing one car but that's not a long-term solution. I'm just so heartbroken that we've looked forward to this week since October and now it's "ruined" in terms of booking our trip. :(
 
Oh No oh No oh NO.. I am so sorry!!!
I just went though the same thing!! STUPID CARS!!!

I hope everything gets fixed soon and you can start your next vacation!
 
Booo for car troubles!!! But I feel your pain with having to share a car. My husband and I have been sharing a car for 8 years! Disney will always be there :)
 
Oh No oh No oh NO.. I am so sorry!!!
I just went though the same thing!! STUPID CARS!!!

I hope everything gets fixed soon and you can start your next vacation!
I was sat waiting for the tow-truck and thought "Ohhh, I just read about Mo's car problems...Now look at me!" Stupid cars indeed, I don't know how they know, but they know just when to break down!!

Booo for car troubles!!! But I feel your pain with having to share a car. My husband and I have been sharing a car for 8 years! Disney will always be there :)
:worship: Eight years of car sharing? You're a saint! Perhaps we just have awkward shifts, but nope, does not work for me AT ALL. I need my little car! Thank goodness it's over!

Yes I have a new car! I got a Fiat Panda. Random stock photo as I don't have one on my phone! It's exactly the same.
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Super cute, fits the requirements (5-door, room for a wheelchair, high enough for elderly/disabled relatives to get into/out of comfortably), job done. Now back to saving up for Disney, haha! In memory of our Dearly Departed Disney Deposit, as-yet-un-named car (there are no Disney pandas...Did you ever notice that? Not with names/main roles, anyway. All we've come up with so far is Ming-Ming and Ting-a-Ling from an ancient episode of Rescue Rangers!!) is flaunting this in the back window:

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I bought some sign-writer vinyl on eBay and got creative! :lovestruc

Coming soon: Back to the trip report (you all thought I'd forgotten, didn't you?)! The notebook has been FOUND! :dogdance:
 

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