October 23rd 2005
Shopping , eating and bad weather
Warning this is a very boring day !!!!!!!!!!
Today was going to be a shopping and relaxing day with the plan to visit MGM during the evening magic hours, so there was no urgency on getting out of bed, but as typically happens I am awake by 6.30am and cannot get back to sleep. So I decided I might as well go and get a coffee and paper! It was quiet so I sat by the kiddies pool had several coffees while reading [sad I know, at WDW and I am reading the football reports]
Decided to return to the room about 8.30am, to my surprise Scott is up and ready to go as he cannot wait to go shopping to buy American clothes and trainers, Glenn has no interest so is slow in getting out of bed, but it is no problem the shops will not be open for another hour. Eventually the boys went and had breakfast in the food court, while I studied a road map, this is a first for me lol We have been to Orlando seven times before and the only place I have difficulty finding is the Florida Mall, some holidays my family dont even get there as I have aborted attempts to find it, now it is easy to find for any normal person, it is on the map clearly marked, why do I always have a problem?
After breakfast we head off with plenty of time to spare but as you would expect as we not in a rush I find it straight away, but now we are here before the shops are open, luckily the actual mall is open [but empty], so we were able to go in walk around find the shops we want to go to and also grab a coffee. Once the shops are open Val and Scott are foaming at the mouth to hunt and buy lol, but Glenn is not interested, so we split up the Hyenas go off to hunt down clothes Glenn and I just amble around together. This is quite boring for me [not being with Glenn] but walking around the malls, over the last three years I have worked in the USA for different periods and as we have to stay weekends to get better deals on flights etc, I have spent hours walking around American shopping malls, the Florida Mall to me looks exactly like Eastview Mall in Rochester NY, well apart from the snow, same shops same smells etc.
Eventually everyone is ready to leave [well for today], Scott bought some more hoodys, trainers etc, Val only got a few items [this is ploy to lull me into a false sense of security that she is not going to buy too much on this holiday], we drive back, by a different route [lol] back to the All Stars.
As usual I got a beer and sat by the pool, while Scott returned to the room to try all his purchases on, I had this vision of him having to knock down the wall from the next room so we are able to get into our room by the end of our three weeks, hopefully his money will run out, but then he will start on mine!!!
We decided to eat early so we could go to MGM, so we headed off to the Ponderosa in Kissimmee on the 192, although all I wanted was the buffet, for only $2 more to order a steak as well!! I have to say although the food is not top quality, but for the money it is hard to beat, it cost us $38 for drinks and an unlimited buffet with desert, I had two helpings [I am ashamed to say] of chilli con carne with mashed potatoes, with salad, French fries etc and then finished it off with sponge cake and ice cream, I could not even eat my steak, but that was not a problem Scott the Hoover ate it along with his, god I hate him, not an inch of fat, while I left with my t-shirt stretched to the limit.
When we got back to the car, we were supposed to drive straight to MGM but as it had started raining lightly and with all the weather problems reported i.e. the hurricane, I decided I did not want to drive, so we drove back to the All Stars to get the Disney bus [although with all that food inside me all I wanted to do was sleep lol]. We parked the car and Val ran up to the room to get her poncho, while we walked to the bus stop. As we waited for the bus the rain got harder and then the Thunder and lightening came, although busses where coming they were not picking up apart from DTD and Pleasure Island, Val was getting frustrated as the MGM busses turned up off loaded and just sat there, turned the lights off and drove away, although there had been a sizeable queue we noticed people were going back to the rooms as the weather just continued to get worse. At this point Glenn is very upset and frightened as Scott had been telling him that the hurricane was going to hit the hotel, you can imagine. I decided that I would take Glenn back, obviously Val was annoyed as she wanted to go to MGM [We have come all this way etc], but what is the point going to a theme park when Glenn is shaking with fright, it is pouring with rain, thunder and lightening, hardly an ideal scenario. Val was saying oh my god we are going to be in the room from 7pm, I did tell her she could go to MGM.
Now to help the situation on the way back top the room, the hotel bar looked a welcoming sight, imagine the picture, one crying child, one moaning wife and I have stopped to get a Budweiser, I can see it now captured in print in the paper, man killed by evil look while innocently buying a beer lol.
The rest of the evening was spent in the room, arcade, food court, but still non stop rain, eventually everyone was asleep by 11pm
Tomorrow; Confined to the hotel until 3pm/ Epcot Chef Mickeys and late night at an empty MK
Shopping , eating and bad weather
Warning this is a very boring day !!!!!!!!!!
Today was going to be a shopping and relaxing day with the plan to visit MGM during the evening magic hours, so there was no urgency on getting out of bed, but as typically happens I am awake by 6.30am and cannot get back to sleep. So I decided I might as well go and get a coffee and paper! It was quiet so I sat by the kiddies pool had several coffees while reading [sad I know, at WDW and I am reading the football reports]
Decided to return to the room about 8.30am, to my surprise Scott is up and ready to go as he cannot wait to go shopping to buy American clothes and trainers, Glenn has no interest so is slow in getting out of bed, but it is no problem the shops will not be open for another hour. Eventually the boys went and had breakfast in the food court, while I studied a road map, this is a first for me lol We have been to Orlando seven times before and the only place I have difficulty finding is the Florida Mall, some holidays my family dont even get there as I have aborted attempts to find it, now it is easy to find for any normal person, it is on the map clearly marked, why do I always have a problem?
After breakfast we head off with plenty of time to spare but as you would expect as we not in a rush I find it straight away, but now we are here before the shops are open, luckily the actual mall is open [but empty], so we were able to go in walk around find the shops we want to go to and also grab a coffee. Once the shops are open Val and Scott are foaming at the mouth to hunt and buy lol, but Glenn is not interested, so we split up the Hyenas go off to hunt down clothes Glenn and I just amble around together. This is quite boring for me [not being with Glenn] but walking around the malls, over the last three years I have worked in the USA for different periods and as we have to stay weekends to get better deals on flights etc, I have spent hours walking around American shopping malls, the Florida Mall to me looks exactly like Eastview Mall in Rochester NY, well apart from the snow, same shops same smells etc.
Eventually everyone is ready to leave [well for today], Scott bought some more hoodys, trainers etc, Val only got a few items [this is ploy to lull me into a false sense of security that she is not going to buy too much on this holiday], we drive back, by a different route [lol] back to the All Stars.
As usual I got a beer and sat by the pool, while Scott returned to the room to try all his purchases on, I had this vision of him having to knock down the wall from the next room so we are able to get into our room by the end of our three weeks, hopefully his money will run out, but then he will start on mine!!!
We decided to eat early so we could go to MGM, so we headed off to the Ponderosa in Kissimmee on the 192, although all I wanted was the buffet, for only $2 more to order a steak as well!! I have to say although the food is not top quality, but for the money it is hard to beat, it cost us $38 for drinks and an unlimited buffet with desert, I had two helpings [I am ashamed to say] of chilli con carne with mashed potatoes, with salad, French fries etc and then finished it off with sponge cake and ice cream, I could not even eat my steak, but that was not a problem Scott the Hoover ate it along with his, god I hate him, not an inch of fat, while I left with my t-shirt stretched to the limit.
When we got back to the car, we were supposed to drive straight to MGM but as it had started raining lightly and with all the weather problems reported i.e. the hurricane, I decided I did not want to drive, so we drove back to the All Stars to get the Disney bus [although with all that food inside me all I wanted to do was sleep lol]. We parked the car and Val ran up to the room to get her poncho, while we walked to the bus stop. As we waited for the bus the rain got harder and then the Thunder and lightening came, although busses where coming they were not picking up apart from DTD and Pleasure Island, Val was getting frustrated as the MGM busses turned up off loaded and just sat there, turned the lights off and drove away, although there had been a sizeable queue we noticed people were going back to the rooms as the weather just continued to get worse. At this point Glenn is very upset and frightened as Scott had been telling him that the hurricane was going to hit the hotel, you can imagine. I decided that I would take Glenn back, obviously Val was annoyed as she wanted to go to MGM [We have come all this way etc], but what is the point going to a theme park when Glenn is shaking with fright, it is pouring with rain, thunder and lightening, hardly an ideal scenario. Val was saying oh my god we are going to be in the room from 7pm, I did tell her she could go to MGM.
Now to help the situation on the way back top the room, the hotel bar looked a welcoming sight, imagine the picture, one crying child, one moaning wife and I have stopped to get a Budweiser, I can see it now captured in print in the paper, man killed by evil look while innocently buying a beer lol.
The rest of the evening was spent in the room, arcade, food court, but still non stop rain, eventually everyone was asleep by 11pm
Tomorrow; Confined to the hotel until 3pm/ Epcot Chef Mickeys and late night at an empty MK
Sounds like the shoppers had their fill and you got a beer so its not all bad, shame about that weather though 
