It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year – an offsite, non-Disney, Christmas TR

I always forget about the college rivalries in the US.....partly because its a non-issue with our Canadian teams, and partly because I'm not much of a sports fan (outside of our Toronto Raptors, Blue Jays, and Maple Leafs, of course). The latter of that group often makes me want to give up watching sports altogether :rolleyes2 .
Go, Sens, Go!!!:duck:
 
What better way to spend a cold, snowy day than to read all 19 pages of your trip report! Loved it! My son saw the aquatic a pics and says, "Ooh, mom! I want to go there!"
 
I guess that means no Tequila shots???

Blech.....I can't stand Tequila :sick: . We house sat for our neighbours across the street last February while they were away on a cruise to Mexico. They brought us back a lovely gift box of 4 (maybe 5?) different Tequilas.....from dark to clear. I tried the one that was supposed to be the "weakest" and I don't think my esophagus has ever recovered. My eyes watered for an hour.

How sweet Jake stopped to have lunch with you! I miss moments like those with my mom now that she lives 2 hours away.
I would have been upset having to wait an hour for food.

That's exactly why I am savouring these moments when I can get them.....once he graduates at the end of April, he may end up far from home as he pursues the career of his dreams. We may not always have these opportunities for impromtu Friday pizza dates.....and I will miss that.

Awww! Totally understandable. With dd away at university I know what it would mean to me to have a surprise lunch visit. :)

You must be getting excited to have your girl back for reading week in February! I know Jake's GF is looking forward to getting a little love from her Momma and Dad when she goes home for the break.

Go, Sens, Go!!!:duck:

You didn't just say that :eek: . And here I said I'd vote for you if you ran for Prime Minister.

In our house, they are referred to as the Senaturds :o .

What better way to spend a cold, snowy day than to read all 19 pages of your trip report! Loved it! My son saw the aquatic a pics and says, "Ooh, mom! I want to go there!"

:welcome: my friend! Glad to have you join us!! Sorry to hear you are being bombarded with snow and cold......we've been feeling your pain here in the frosty north. You're not in the path of winter storm Jonas too, are you? If so, please stay safe!!

Aquatica is a GREAT waterpark :thumbsup2 ... so bright and fun and pretty. If you guys enjoyed Wet 'n Wild, you would love the more tropical feel of Aquatica with its sand beach and lush foliage. And the kids areas are so amazing!! Perfect for little ones the ages of your kiddos!

That was awfully sweet of Jake! Happy Friday, Gina!!!

Thank you so much!! :goodvibes Happy Friday to you as well!
 

My kiddos are all pretty little (oldest being 12 and youngest is 1) and we have had lots (perhaps too much- lol) of togetherness due to cold/snow the last few weeks (and now super togetherness as we hunker down from Jonas)...but I am reminded as I read this about your son that time goes so quick and I need to appreciate getting to spend so much time with them. Very happy for you that you could have a lunch date with your son. Happy weekend!
 
We were but the areas south of and east of us got it a little worse. We have maybe 8 inches or so. Just enough to make it fun for the kids! :)

One thing I love is how you guys find such unique enjoyment over restaurants that we tend to overlook because see them everyday! My kids agree with you about Steak n' Shake! They love their fries and shakes!!

Also happy to see Steve winning you some more stuffed toys for your collections! I think it's so sweet! I am surprised that they didn't have any Christmas themed ones though..

Oh, and I REALLY think you should post what your hat at Dick's restaurant said.. I died laughing at the guys' hats! Definitely won't be taking my kids there though! Lol! Yikes! I can see it now.. I really want to try the eye, but I don't know if Hubs and My oldest would do it..
 
Pizza with your son sounds delightful. My DD is into cooking (a bit) and will make tea for us once or twice a week which is really nice :)
 
Wind so strong we need to dig out our doors, cannot open them right now. So dreaming of warmth! Thankfully the electricity is still working, or I will have some mad kids. I fully expect both kids to shovel. Well, that may be a dream too. LoL

Nice of DS to enjoy an unexpected meal with you.

Follow on!
 
I don't think there would be much sitting around poolside today... It's a balmy 46 and windy here in Orlando!! :flower: That is why I am inside reading catching up on your trip report! :D...

We do have the time here to pick and choose our good weather days, and just being out of our northern winter (for a while) is enough for me. We do like these days for shopping, walking Disney Springs, and checking out houses for sale in the surrounding areas. We have gotten to learn so many of the neighborhoods.:drive:

You guys lucked out with the weather at Christmas! I don't like the Florida humidity, but it would be nice to get some days in the 70's.....:smooth:
 
My kiddos are all pretty little (oldest being 12 and youngest is 1) and we have had lots (perhaps too much- lol) of togetherness due to cold/snow the last few weeks (and now super togetherness as we hunker down from Jonas)...but I am reminded as I read this about your son that time goes so quick and I need to appreciate getting to spend so much time with them. Very happy for you that you could have a lunch date with your son. Happy weekend!

Yep, time passes way too quickly ::yes:: . Enjoy every moment with your little ones....even the snowed in days where you're all suffering from house-itosis!!...because all of a sudden, those babies are all grown up and you're wondering where time went!
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We were but the areas south of and east of us got it a little worse. We have maybe 8 inches or so. Just enough to make it fun for the kids! :)

One thing I love is how you guys find such unique enjoyment over restaurants that we tend to overlook because see them everyday! My kids agree with you about Steak n' Shake! They love their fries and shakes!!

Also happy to see Steve winning you some more stuffed toys for your collections! I think it's so sweet! I am surprised that they didn't have any Christmas themed ones though..

Oh, and I REALLY think you should post what your hat at Dick's restaurant said.. I died laughing at the guys' hats! Definitely won't be taking my kids there though! Lol! Yikes! I can see it now.. I really want to try the eye, but I don't know if Hubs and My oldest would do it..

We heard they had Christmas minions earlier in December, but they didn't have any out when we were there. I had been secretly home for a Stuart or Bob in a Santa hat :santa: .

Most of our TV channels are US-based, so we get to see all the commercials for these awesome American chains but rarely get the chance to dine there. Its always exciting when we finally get to try a place that we have seen advertised!!

Pizza with your son sounds delightful. My DD is into cooking (a bit) and will make tea for us once or twice a week which is really nice :)

Aw, that is so sweet! Good memories being made :goodvibes .

Wind so strong we need to dig out our doors, cannot open them right now. So dreaming of warmth! Thankfully the electricity is still working, or I will have some mad kids. I fully expect both kids to shovel. Well, that may be a dream too. LoL

Nice of DS to enjoy an unexpected meal with you.

Follow on!

Oh Lynne, that stinks :( . I hope your electricity is still on and you're still warm!! Of course, I think Jake would be less worried about losing the heat than he would be the ability to charge his phone :rotfl2:. Fingers crossed you're able to unbury yourself without too much shovelling.

I don't think there would be much sitting around poolside today... It's a balmy 46 and windy here in Orlando!! :flower: That is why I am inside reading catching up on your trip report! :D...

We do have the time here to pick and choose our good weather days, and just being out of our northern winter (for a while) is enough for me. We do like these days for shopping, walking Disney Springs, and checking out houses for sale in the surrounding areas. We have gotten to learn so many of the neighborhoods.:drive:

You guys lucked out with the weather at Christmas! I don't like the Florida humidity, but it would be nice to get some days in the 70's.....:smooth:

46 degrees? That's swimmin' weather up here in the frosty north ;) :rotfl:.

It's -14 here right now, which is 6.8 degrees Fahrenheit. BUT....we had sunshine today, which was nice for a change. After a week of my windows on the car being frozen cold, I can finally role them down and use the drivethru again at Tim Hortons. Its the little things that make us so happy durin the winter time :lmao: .

We have about 18 inches of the white stuff here in MD, and it is still coming down! Dreaming of warmth and sunshine....

18 inches :scared1: . Holy moly, that's a LOT of snow!! :faint:

Fingers crossed the worst of it is over for you!!
 
Thursday, December 24th:


We invited Dean and his leading lady to join us for our day’s adventures, but they had plans of their own: following Jake’s raving about the great deals he had found earlier in the week, they were heading to the Nike Clearance Store to do some shopping before returning to their condo at Indian Rocks Beach. We were, too, were leaving Orlando behind for most of the day: we had reservations for a one-hour airboat tour at Wild Florida in Keanansville. After showers and some chit chat over a pot or two of coffee, we all decided to have breakfast together before splitting up and picked Ponderosa in Kissimmee.





Jake actually had been itching to give Ponderosa’s buffet a try in Orlando, ever since we had been to one in Syracuse a few years earlier (where he was obviously quite impressed, considering he wanted to return). He was curious to see if the Florida locations were as good as those in the North.


It was very, very quiet in there that morning.....I would say under 10 people in the entire restaurant when we arrived (it did pick up a bit as time wore on). The buffet, however, was nicely stocked and the restaurant itself was very well staffed. We were seated immediately and three men wasted no time in filling their plates from the multitude of breakfast options.








Their buffet wasn’t quite as expansive as Golden Corral’s (lacking more of the non-breakfasty stuff that GC offers, things like chipped beef in gravy and fried chicken) but there was still a TON of choices. If it’s a breakfast food, they had it. Eggs cooked every way imaginable, breakfast meats and potatoes presented in a variety of forms, and quite possibly the BEST buffet waffles and French toast that I’ve ever eaten :thumbsup2.





That blueberry sauce was heavenly :cloud9:.


Jake was thrilled to learn they had an omelet station, and even happier to note that the chef who staffed it was VERY generous on the ingredients. They put so much “stuff” in the omelets, they turned out HUGE!





In addition to the standard breakfast fare, they also had quite a substantial selection of cakes and other desserts (which I initially thought strange, but perhaps lots of people have dessert for breakfast when they are on vacation in Orlando? :confused3). We didn’t have any (my sweet tooth was more than satisfied with the syrupy French toast and fruity waffle toppings) but they looked really tasty. Dean did take one for the team and tried some sort of peanut butter mousse at my bidding (it looked like PB flavoured whipped cream ... "let Mikey try it, he'll eat anything") and he said it was really yummy. But...for breakfast?? :confused:


Overall, we were pretty impressed with this location. The buffet was clean and well maintained, buffet items were fresh and refilled promptly, and our server was simply excellent....drinks were refilled very promptly, plates were cleared away, and anything we needed brought to the table appeared within seconds of requesting it. We had signed up for the Ponderosa email club before travelling, and had a coupon for one of our breakfast buffets for free (a $9.99 value). Our total, then, for three buffets and two bottles of juice (Jake had water) was $26.28 including tax, plus tip.


Golden Corral is still our preferred breakfast buffet, but this was very close in quality and value ::yes::.


In the parking lot, we exchange hugs and Merry Christmases and went our separate ways. Dean’s fiancé wanted to check out the adjacent souvenir shop before they proceeded to the Nike Clearance Store, so we gave them detailed directions on how to get there, then piled into the Equinox to begin our commute to Keanansville :drive:. We weren’t 100% sure how long it would take to get there, so we thought it was best to leave a little on the early side to ensure we’d arrive well before our 11:30 am airboat tour.


The commute to Wild Florida really was quite easy, though admittedly a good distance from Orlando. I want to say it took us about 45 minutes to make the drive, but it may have been a little less. Their website directions were spot on and super easy to follow, plus the GPS has no problem taking us right to the front gates. There were no tolls, no traffic, and it was a very peaceful journey. We were remarking, though, as we drove through miles of farmland and ventured further and further from the city, that it seemed we were driving to the middle of nowhere!!


It was rather amusing, then, that we spotted this sign as we pulled into the parking area:





Ha ha! So they, too, knew it felt as if we had driven to the end of the earth to get here!! :rotfl:


We parked the Equinox and made our way to the main building at the entrance. On the way, we passed the large truck that facilitated ranch tours:





I filed the tour away in the back of my brain.....it could be a great idea for a new experience on a future trip! :idea:


The main building functioned as the check-in point for the ranch and airboat tours, and was a remarkably large themed gift shop. We handed our confirmations to the young ladies at the counter, who verified our reservations (booked and paid months and months before, at a 20% discount using a promotion code that I found online) and encouraged us to enjoy the animal park while we waited for our tour time to arrive. Admission to the exotic animal park was free with the purchase of an airboat tour, but could also be purchased separately if airboats or ranch buggy rides aren’t on your vacation wish list.


Outside of the main building, there was a large picnic area for guests to enjoy, with a few of these fellows “roaming” about:





(Authentic as they looked, they were just for show :).....though these were the only animals we saw at the park that weren’t real!!)


The entrance to the animal park was just adjacent to the picnic area, so that’s where we headed.





Through the park, the animals were grouped together by species or country of origin. We visited a variety of beautiful birds first, some who were caged and others who were roaming about on yet another hot, humid day.














Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he! Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, gay your life must be ha ha ha!





This guy was HILARIOUS! We were strolling past the cage when, perfectly clearly, we hear “Hello! How are you?”. It stopped us dead in our tracks, as we were the only ones in that area, and it was both loud and as crystal clear as if the words were spoken by an adult human. Jake walks slowly back to the bird, and inquires with a raised eyebrow... “what did you say?”. And the bird very clearly replies: “Hello! How are you!”. :p





I was excited to find they had an entire section dedicated to my favourite Florida animal: the alligator! :love:











Of course, the area came with the requisite visitor warnings :lmao::





This section features a TON of alligators of every age and size. Some were swimming in the pond, others were lounging on the banks.

















The entire park had some great informational signs in each of the areas, so as you had the opportunity to meet the various animals you could learn a little more about them too.








I could have spent all day in this area alone, indulging in some alligator love. But, there was still a whole lot more to explore....so we trundled onward :tiptoe:.


To be continued....popcorn::.
 
I've been wanting to Kayak at one of the state parks one of these trips...but when I see these pics of the alligators, I think maybe not so much!

And yes, Thunder Bay. 15 hrs isn't too bad - we did 47 hr round trip tour out west a couple years ago and it was fine. If we go to Disney at Christmas it will be driving..30 hrs 1 way...but I've always wanted to do it. We love road trips, kids are great in the car. Helps that there's seating for 7 so they can be separated. :)
 
I definitely don't think you're an idiot, but you must have thought me a bit mean to imply your DS is not so intelligent nor have much common sense! I'm sorry about the misunderstanding! We love our college rivalries down here.


Lol. I thought the same thing when I saw Jake wearing the (Criminole) FSU shirt after seeing him wear Gator apparel all the time, I thought ugh, he can't be wearing that. It is not uncommon to see a lot of Gator fans up here in Ontario since Jesse Palmer is from Nepean, Ont. I even have a convertible with licence plate G8TRS 1
 
Oy, so....yesterday I looked into Escapology; and apparently sometime in the last 7 or 8 months (the last time I've been there) they've changed their policies. You can play in a room by yourself for an added fee, or play in a room with others (I think it's a max of 6 people per room). And I only just learned this because I looked into going last night. Ugh, so annoying.
 
Checking in with 30 inches of snow, though even more where it is drifted. Swept off my car yesterday afternoon, but it has another foot and a half on it this morning. Time to clear it again. We too have beautiful sun, even if it is below freezing and still with 35mph winds. No real melting yet.

We are not fans of any buffets, but that one did look nice.

Another place for us to visit. My DH still talks about the orange grove ride, so I may be stalking it for this year. We do not mind driving all over Florida. We thought nothing of driving to Tampa twice besides the orange grove. Yeah, lots of Florida is rural. Flat too. Not like where I live.

Funny, after this storm, DH said my coworkers decision to retire at the end of December to Florida, was a good idea. We have residents that live part time in down South in the winter and come home in the summer. Many a snow birds head to Florida. For now, neither will be us.


Ok, dreaming over, nice pictures and glad to see all enjoyed.
 














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