finucane
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 21, 2010
- Messages
- 77
I'll say this up front, and my wife will agree 100%, I'm nuts. She must love me though cause she put up with my plan, but it couldn't have been that bad, since we had a blast! What started as a "let's go check out Harry Potter" at IoA, became a 9 day, 3 hotel adventure. P.S. there are pics at the end.
We arrived Friday, June 25 and had no trouble getting our rental car from Enterprise and hitting the road for our first stop Indialantic on the Space Coast. Originally we had planned to arrive on Sunday, but since we (that is I) decided we could save money by flying standby, Sundays flights were not looking good so we (again I) switched to Friday and decided we could spend a few days at the beach. We got lucky with Hotwire and landed the Hilton Melbourne Beach Oceanfront hotel for $75 a night. That price didn't get us the greatest view, we could see the ocean from our room, but really it was mostly the lobby roof between the towers we could see. We were, however, just a 5 minute trip from our room to the shore.
Saturday morning we were up nice and early to hit the beach. Being used to swimming in Lake Michigan, my 6 year old son wasn't crazy about the salt water getting in his mouth and eyes, but had a good time playing in the waves and collecting shells. We then showered up and headed up to Cocoa Beach. Seems my wife is infatuated with any Four Points Sheraton, so we stopped at the Shark Pit Cafe in side of the one in Cocoa Beach. Decent food, but horrible service. Our server disappeared for over 20 minutes while we waited on the bill. Only thing keeping me from losing my mind was that the US World Cup match had just started. We looked around Ron Jon Surf shop for a bit then decided that everything was just a bit too crowded so we hopped back in the car.
I had read about a park to do some Manatee viewing so we headed to Manatee Cove Park in Merritt Island. At first when we got there we thought we had made a 30 minute mistake, but after spotting a trail to the left at the back parking lot we ventured forth. We stared out in to the water for a few minutes and waited in the heat when I spotted something stirring the water. I kept pointing to my wife and son, but they thought I was getting heat stoke. Finally not 5 feet from us a nose popped out of the water. Trouble is being tourists, a manatee nose looks alarmingly similar to an alligators. So when we saw five more start popping out we were not sure to be delighted, or to make a run for it. When a cute head popped out a moment later we were charmed off our feet. We watched them check us out, then when they discovered we didn't bring any snacks, they moved back out a bit further. We stayed until we couldn't take the heat any longer then moved on. This still is one of the highlights of our trip to us.
Since we were in the neighborhood we decided to take a spin up to Kennedy Space Center to see what we could see by car. When we got to the Center though and saw the rockets and Space Shuttle outside we knew we were going to do more than drive by. Thankfully they had evening rates. We were able to see most of the exhibits and ride the Shuttle Simulator in the few hours we had. I think it may be a more fun place to visit once my son understands the history of NASA better, but still a good time.
For dinner we stopped at Fishlips in Port Canaveral. We sat upstairs in outdoor area, but the weather had cooled so it was pleasant to sit near the water. My son was preoccupied with trying to spy another manatee, or dolphin. Our food and particularly our service was excellent. My wife swears they had the best lobster bisque she's ever had.
Sunday morning we did a repeat of Saturday, but instead of going right to the beach we used the hotel pool for a bit. On the small side, but was never too crowded. We had to cut our beach time short to get showered up for check out, then we decided to try Andretti Thrill Park on the way to Orlando. That looked a bit out of my son's league, and after some pleading on his part, we made an executive (parental) decision and moved on. Having no backup plan we just stopped at IHOP for lunch and moved on hoping our room in Orlando might be ready.
Our next stop was Hilton Grand Vacations Suites at SeaWorld. We loved loved loved this place. Fantastic pools, very very friendly staff, and the room had everything we needed to feel at home. Full kitchen, washer/dryer, and two tvs so no arguing (we are fairly easy to please.) The walk out screened in patio, dining room table, and over-sized jet tub were all bonuses.
We were able to get settled in, get groceries from Publix right down the street, and make dinner quick enough to have enough time left over to make our way over to Sea World for a few hours. In just 3 1/2 hours we were able to sample our way around the entire park including petting sting rays, seeing Sea Lion's Tonight, getting through Wild Arctic, and getting great seats for Shamu Rocks. There were no fireworks that night (we were told park attendance was to low for it,) so we headed back to crash.
Inserted here is horrible/hilarious story of how my son and I used the jet tub to relax when we got back. He is a huge fan of bath tubs so this one was swimming pool sized as far as he was concerned. When we were done I got out to dry off and he stayed in while it drained. The tub is essentially in the master bedroom with only a cut out separating the bedroom area from the tub and a vanity sink/mirror. When the water had half drained my son begins to explore what the buttons on the tub do. When he got to the jet button there was still enough water in the tub for the intake valve, but the upper jet was out of the water and water then begins to shoot through the cutout and of course, on to my relaxing wife in the king bed. I couldn't get to it in time to save us from having to spend our first night on the sleeper sofa. One of those stories that, at the time, was the low point of the trip, but will, of course, be the story we tell for ages.
Monday was spent as an entire day at Sea World. We fed the rays, my wife and son fed the dolphins ( my wife said it was one of the best $14 she ever spent - 7$ per person.) Actually we wife enjoyed it so much that we went to guest services and checked in to the tours they have. We decided on combining the Behind the Scenes and Dolphins Up Close tours over the VIP tour since that one was more ride and show oriented, and we wanted more animal interaction. After making reservations for those for Wednesday, we caught Blue Horizons, rode Manta (Manta turned out to be my favorite coaster on the trip!) and Atlantis (my 6yo rode Atlantis, but he wasn't crazy about it,) saw Manatee, Sharks, Penguins. My son rode the rides in Happy Harbor then we headed back to the Hilton for a break and dinner then spent the evening in the pool. We were able to catch the fireworks from Sea World from the pool area (it's just across the street from Sea World.) Fireworks at a pool was certainly a highlight for my son.
Tuesday we headed over to Aquatica (we had a length of stay ticket for both) I'm pretty sure that was the hottest day on our trip; the digital thermometer at the wave pool stayed steady at about 97. However, even though we had been in Florida a few days and already had base tans, we were only able to last about 3 hours out in that sun. It was a great 3 hours, and we may have stayed longer, but when putting some sun screen on my son, he got it mixed in his eye. That together with some chlorine sore eyes was enough to make him think he had 3 degree chemical burns in his eyes so we had to call it a day. If we go again we may try to plunk down for a cabana (I wish,) or at the very least reserve a chair/umbrella package. If you go, we all agreed that Roa's Rapids are a blast that you might pass up.
After a nap and another homemade dinner at the hotel, we headed back to Sea World and caught Pets Ahoy and returned to see Shamu Rocks again. This time they did do the fireworks show Reflections (I think I was watching the fountains dance more than the fireworks) to end the evening.
Wednesday we had to say good-bye to the Hilton (and our full kitchen) and we showed up, once again, at Sea World for our two tours. The Behind the Scenes tour took us to the care center for injured sea turtles and manatees, as well as the tanks for new dolphins, we then got to pet a small shark, view a "secret" polar bear den, and then get up close and pet a penguin. Great tour with lots of info and some fun hands on stuff. We then ran immediately to meet our second group for Dolphins up Close. This took us backstage of Blue Horizons (my favorite show we saw) where we were treated with an up close look at the trainers working with a false killer whale (think of a mammal somewhere between a dolphin and an Orca, you did know Killer Whales are actually in the dolphin family, didn't you?) My son loved the false killer whale in the show, so to see it up close was a real treat for him. We then moved back to the care center (I think they call it Norad?) to see the turtles, manatee, and dolphins again. Then you moved on to work in small groups with a trainer during some light training with the dolphins. During that my son got to give "our" dolphins hang signals for them to do tricks, and we all got to give Bailey and Ariel plenty of pats and belly rubs. Super fun tour, and if Discovery Cove is too rich for your blood, this is a cheaper substitute (cheaper being $50 adult and $40 for ages 3-9.) However, it now makes my wife really want to do Discovery Cove on our next visit in 2011.
After leaving Sea World we headed on to Universal Studios. We checked in to the Royal Pacific (yes, our third hotel,) right at check-in. We had no delay on our room and got checked in, got our tickets from the kiosk, and headed to our room in under 10 minutes. After a little settling in I rushed my family out the door to go "check stuff out." A short water taxi rider over to Citywalk later, we were wandering in to Islands of Adventure.
I already did a rundown of our Harry Potter experience in another post http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2503368 I know this is getting wordy so if you're still reading you can catch that part later. After WWOHP we headed back to our room, exhausted. If you think reading this is exhausting, imagine how we felt.
Thursday we spent all day at Islands of Adventure and made full use of our Express Pass fueled room keys. My personal favorites were Spider-Man and Dr. Doom's Fearfall. I also now have a soft spot for the Cat in the Hat ride as well. One negative, however, was our mistake in purchasing the meal deal. Don't get me wrong, the deal is a deal, you can eat all you want, all day. The trouble is you have to wait in an hour long line to do it. So if you want seconds, that'll be another hour. The food isn't horrible, and we figured for the price we paid we would save on buying lunch and dinner separately. Trouble is this may be one of the only times in our lives we had more money than time so paying a few extra dollars to eat somewhere less crowded would have been worth it.
Friday we finally took it a little easier and slept in then wandered in to the Islands Dining Room for the breakfast buffet. It was a little pricey, I think $17 for adults and $8 for the boy, but the omelet station, cinnamon roll, fresh strawberries and cream, and mango juice really helped me ignore the final price on the bill. That plus I ate a lot more than I just listed.
After the feast we headed off the Universal Studios. We got on everything but Hollywood Rip Ride, The Mummy, and the Barney Show, all things my son wanted to skip. Although I think he was tall enough to meet Rip Ride's 51" minimum. We particularly enjoyed the Simpson's ride and I thought the guy running Disaster was awesome. All in all, good fun. We covered that whole park by 2pm and headed over for a late lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. My son had a blast playing with the huge Microsoft Surface Rock Wall they had. It's a giant touch screen menu of every artifact in the Hard Rock catalog. Who's it is, what they did with it and which location it is displayed at. I can't do it any justice describing it, it's something to be experienced. Something else hard to describe, but should be experienced, is the Grilled Granny Smith Apple & Provolone Burger I had. This is the first burger in memory that I didn't need a drop of ketchup with. After lunch we waddled back over to Islands of Adventure for more Seuss Landing, more WWOHP, and more Dr. Doom and the Hulk. After closing we then hit (yes with the 6 year old still in tow) Margaritaville for a very late dinner. Actually I was still so full from breakfast and lunch, I just ordered a strawberry shortcake which really hit the spot after another brutally hot day. My wife got a weird tex-mex tasting Corn and Crab Chowder. Not horrible, but I wouldn't recommend. We had a lot of fun out on Margaritaville's porch as the MC was keeping the festivities family friendly (we were not the only parents that should have had Child Protective Services called on us,) and he was a wiz with balloon animals. After a while my son was getting to the point where I thought he may have finished off my Perfect Margarita, since I couldn't do it, and we had to drag his partying butt back to the boat taxi.
Saturday was our last day in Florida so I "let" my wife and son sleep while I snuck back over to Islands of Adventure for the early opening for hotel guests. After getting FJ, Dragon Challenge, Spiderman, and some shopping out of the way, I headed back to the room to wake up the family to get packed up and head back to see our dog. We still had a few hours to kill before our 3:50 flight so we all headed back to the park one more time and still got on most of the Seuss Landing and some of the Marvel rides before having to high tail it to the airport.
All in all, if you got though all this, you can see now what I put my family though. What the trip taught me though is how valuable planning is. The best parts of our trip where the parts that I had planned out. The toughest was the part on the Space Coast that we added on at the last minute. Lots of bickering about what to do next since we only had ideas of what to do, not a plan. That is what I love so much about this site and hope to contribute more to in the future. Thanks if you toughed it out to the end!!
First morning in Florida
Sea World (if you couldn't tell)
WWOHP (again if you couldn't tell)
The Wesley's car is there, but it's hidden.
This one deserves a larger view
He thought he'd be next on the board for under-aged Butterbeer drinking
Yes, I fit on FJ
Various Universal pics
All the pics I've put up so far can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/25848446@N02/sets/72157624454448286/
We arrived Friday, June 25 and had no trouble getting our rental car from Enterprise and hitting the road for our first stop Indialantic on the Space Coast. Originally we had planned to arrive on Sunday, but since we (that is I) decided we could save money by flying standby, Sundays flights were not looking good so we (again I) switched to Friday and decided we could spend a few days at the beach. We got lucky with Hotwire and landed the Hilton Melbourne Beach Oceanfront hotel for $75 a night. That price didn't get us the greatest view, we could see the ocean from our room, but really it was mostly the lobby roof between the towers we could see. We were, however, just a 5 minute trip from our room to the shore.
Saturday morning we were up nice and early to hit the beach. Being used to swimming in Lake Michigan, my 6 year old son wasn't crazy about the salt water getting in his mouth and eyes, but had a good time playing in the waves and collecting shells. We then showered up and headed up to Cocoa Beach. Seems my wife is infatuated with any Four Points Sheraton, so we stopped at the Shark Pit Cafe in side of the one in Cocoa Beach. Decent food, but horrible service. Our server disappeared for over 20 minutes while we waited on the bill. Only thing keeping me from losing my mind was that the US World Cup match had just started. We looked around Ron Jon Surf shop for a bit then decided that everything was just a bit too crowded so we hopped back in the car.
I had read about a park to do some Manatee viewing so we headed to Manatee Cove Park in Merritt Island. At first when we got there we thought we had made a 30 minute mistake, but after spotting a trail to the left at the back parking lot we ventured forth. We stared out in to the water for a few minutes and waited in the heat when I spotted something stirring the water. I kept pointing to my wife and son, but they thought I was getting heat stoke. Finally not 5 feet from us a nose popped out of the water. Trouble is being tourists, a manatee nose looks alarmingly similar to an alligators. So when we saw five more start popping out we were not sure to be delighted, or to make a run for it. When a cute head popped out a moment later we were charmed off our feet. We watched them check us out, then when they discovered we didn't bring any snacks, they moved back out a bit further. We stayed until we couldn't take the heat any longer then moved on. This still is one of the highlights of our trip to us.
Since we were in the neighborhood we decided to take a spin up to Kennedy Space Center to see what we could see by car. When we got to the Center though and saw the rockets and Space Shuttle outside we knew we were going to do more than drive by. Thankfully they had evening rates. We were able to see most of the exhibits and ride the Shuttle Simulator in the few hours we had. I think it may be a more fun place to visit once my son understands the history of NASA better, but still a good time.
For dinner we stopped at Fishlips in Port Canaveral. We sat upstairs in outdoor area, but the weather had cooled so it was pleasant to sit near the water. My son was preoccupied with trying to spy another manatee, or dolphin. Our food and particularly our service was excellent. My wife swears they had the best lobster bisque she's ever had.
Sunday morning we did a repeat of Saturday, but instead of going right to the beach we used the hotel pool for a bit. On the small side, but was never too crowded. We had to cut our beach time short to get showered up for check out, then we decided to try Andretti Thrill Park on the way to Orlando. That looked a bit out of my son's league, and after some pleading on his part, we made an executive (parental) decision and moved on. Having no backup plan we just stopped at IHOP for lunch and moved on hoping our room in Orlando might be ready.
Our next stop was Hilton Grand Vacations Suites at SeaWorld. We loved loved loved this place. Fantastic pools, very very friendly staff, and the room had everything we needed to feel at home. Full kitchen, washer/dryer, and two tvs so no arguing (we are fairly easy to please.) The walk out screened in patio, dining room table, and over-sized jet tub were all bonuses.
We were able to get settled in, get groceries from Publix right down the street, and make dinner quick enough to have enough time left over to make our way over to Sea World for a few hours. In just 3 1/2 hours we were able to sample our way around the entire park including petting sting rays, seeing Sea Lion's Tonight, getting through Wild Arctic, and getting great seats for Shamu Rocks. There were no fireworks that night (we were told park attendance was to low for it,) so we headed back to crash.
Inserted here is horrible/hilarious story of how my son and I used the jet tub to relax when we got back. He is a huge fan of bath tubs so this one was swimming pool sized as far as he was concerned. When we were done I got out to dry off and he stayed in while it drained. The tub is essentially in the master bedroom with only a cut out separating the bedroom area from the tub and a vanity sink/mirror. When the water had half drained my son begins to explore what the buttons on the tub do. When he got to the jet button there was still enough water in the tub for the intake valve, but the upper jet was out of the water and water then begins to shoot through the cutout and of course, on to my relaxing wife in the king bed. I couldn't get to it in time to save us from having to spend our first night on the sleeper sofa. One of those stories that, at the time, was the low point of the trip, but will, of course, be the story we tell for ages.
Monday was spent as an entire day at Sea World. We fed the rays, my wife and son fed the dolphins ( my wife said it was one of the best $14 she ever spent - 7$ per person.) Actually we wife enjoyed it so much that we went to guest services and checked in to the tours they have. We decided on combining the Behind the Scenes and Dolphins Up Close tours over the VIP tour since that one was more ride and show oriented, and we wanted more animal interaction. After making reservations for those for Wednesday, we caught Blue Horizons, rode Manta (Manta turned out to be my favorite coaster on the trip!) and Atlantis (my 6yo rode Atlantis, but he wasn't crazy about it,) saw Manatee, Sharks, Penguins. My son rode the rides in Happy Harbor then we headed back to the Hilton for a break and dinner then spent the evening in the pool. We were able to catch the fireworks from Sea World from the pool area (it's just across the street from Sea World.) Fireworks at a pool was certainly a highlight for my son.
Tuesday we headed over to Aquatica (we had a length of stay ticket for both) I'm pretty sure that was the hottest day on our trip; the digital thermometer at the wave pool stayed steady at about 97. However, even though we had been in Florida a few days and already had base tans, we were only able to last about 3 hours out in that sun. It was a great 3 hours, and we may have stayed longer, but when putting some sun screen on my son, he got it mixed in his eye. That together with some chlorine sore eyes was enough to make him think he had 3 degree chemical burns in his eyes so we had to call it a day. If we go again we may try to plunk down for a cabana (I wish,) or at the very least reserve a chair/umbrella package. If you go, we all agreed that Roa's Rapids are a blast that you might pass up.
After a nap and another homemade dinner at the hotel, we headed back to Sea World and caught Pets Ahoy and returned to see Shamu Rocks again. This time they did do the fireworks show Reflections (I think I was watching the fountains dance more than the fireworks) to end the evening.
Wednesday we had to say good-bye to the Hilton (and our full kitchen) and we showed up, once again, at Sea World for our two tours. The Behind the Scenes tour took us to the care center for injured sea turtles and manatees, as well as the tanks for new dolphins, we then got to pet a small shark, view a "secret" polar bear den, and then get up close and pet a penguin. Great tour with lots of info and some fun hands on stuff. We then ran immediately to meet our second group for Dolphins up Close. This took us backstage of Blue Horizons (my favorite show we saw) where we were treated with an up close look at the trainers working with a false killer whale (think of a mammal somewhere between a dolphin and an Orca, you did know Killer Whales are actually in the dolphin family, didn't you?) My son loved the false killer whale in the show, so to see it up close was a real treat for him. We then moved back to the care center (I think they call it Norad?) to see the turtles, manatee, and dolphins again. Then you moved on to work in small groups with a trainer during some light training with the dolphins. During that my son got to give "our" dolphins hang signals for them to do tricks, and we all got to give Bailey and Ariel plenty of pats and belly rubs. Super fun tour, and if Discovery Cove is too rich for your blood, this is a cheaper substitute (cheaper being $50 adult and $40 for ages 3-9.) However, it now makes my wife really want to do Discovery Cove on our next visit in 2011.
After leaving Sea World we headed on to Universal Studios. We checked in to the Royal Pacific (yes, our third hotel,) right at check-in. We had no delay on our room and got checked in, got our tickets from the kiosk, and headed to our room in under 10 minutes. After a little settling in I rushed my family out the door to go "check stuff out." A short water taxi rider over to Citywalk later, we were wandering in to Islands of Adventure.
I already did a rundown of our Harry Potter experience in another post http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2503368 I know this is getting wordy so if you're still reading you can catch that part later. After WWOHP we headed back to our room, exhausted. If you think reading this is exhausting, imagine how we felt.
Thursday we spent all day at Islands of Adventure and made full use of our Express Pass fueled room keys. My personal favorites were Spider-Man and Dr. Doom's Fearfall. I also now have a soft spot for the Cat in the Hat ride as well. One negative, however, was our mistake in purchasing the meal deal. Don't get me wrong, the deal is a deal, you can eat all you want, all day. The trouble is you have to wait in an hour long line to do it. So if you want seconds, that'll be another hour. The food isn't horrible, and we figured for the price we paid we would save on buying lunch and dinner separately. Trouble is this may be one of the only times in our lives we had more money than time so paying a few extra dollars to eat somewhere less crowded would have been worth it.
Friday we finally took it a little easier and slept in then wandered in to the Islands Dining Room for the breakfast buffet. It was a little pricey, I think $17 for adults and $8 for the boy, but the omelet station, cinnamon roll, fresh strawberries and cream, and mango juice really helped me ignore the final price on the bill. That plus I ate a lot more than I just listed.
After the feast we headed off the Universal Studios. We got on everything but Hollywood Rip Ride, The Mummy, and the Barney Show, all things my son wanted to skip. Although I think he was tall enough to meet Rip Ride's 51" minimum. We particularly enjoyed the Simpson's ride and I thought the guy running Disaster was awesome. All in all, good fun. We covered that whole park by 2pm and headed over for a late lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. My son had a blast playing with the huge Microsoft Surface Rock Wall they had. It's a giant touch screen menu of every artifact in the Hard Rock catalog. Who's it is, what they did with it and which location it is displayed at. I can't do it any justice describing it, it's something to be experienced. Something else hard to describe, but should be experienced, is the Grilled Granny Smith Apple & Provolone Burger I had. This is the first burger in memory that I didn't need a drop of ketchup with. After lunch we waddled back over to Islands of Adventure for more Seuss Landing, more WWOHP, and more Dr. Doom and the Hulk. After closing we then hit (yes with the 6 year old still in tow) Margaritaville for a very late dinner. Actually I was still so full from breakfast and lunch, I just ordered a strawberry shortcake which really hit the spot after another brutally hot day. My wife got a weird tex-mex tasting Corn and Crab Chowder. Not horrible, but I wouldn't recommend. We had a lot of fun out on Margaritaville's porch as the MC was keeping the festivities family friendly (we were not the only parents that should have had Child Protective Services called on us,) and he was a wiz with balloon animals. After a while my son was getting to the point where I thought he may have finished off my Perfect Margarita, since I couldn't do it, and we had to drag his partying butt back to the boat taxi.
Saturday was our last day in Florida so I "let" my wife and son sleep while I snuck back over to Islands of Adventure for the early opening for hotel guests. After getting FJ, Dragon Challenge, Spiderman, and some shopping out of the way, I headed back to the room to wake up the family to get packed up and head back to see our dog. We still had a few hours to kill before our 3:50 flight so we all headed back to the park one more time and still got on most of the Seuss Landing and some of the Marvel rides before having to high tail it to the airport.
All in all, if you got though all this, you can see now what I put my family though. What the trip taught me though is how valuable planning is. The best parts of our trip where the parts that I had planned out. The toughest was the part on the Space Coast that we added on at the last minute. Lots of bickering about what to do next since we only had ideas of what to do, not a plan. That is what I love so much about this site and hope to contribute more to in the future. Thanks if you toughed it out to the end!!
First morning in Florida
Sea World (if you couldn't tell)
WWOHP (again if you couldn't tell)
The Wesley's car is there, but it's hidden.
This one deserves a larger view
He thought he'd be next on the board for under-aged Butterbeer drinking
Yes, I fit on FJ
Various Universal pics
All the pics I've put up so far can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/25848446@N02/sets/72157624454448286/
