Sue: Chief organiser and planner
Jorge: (DH) Happy as long as he's in Orlando
Rebecca: (DD 8) Happy as long as she gets her own way!
Day 6
Florida Mall & Boma
As we have no pressing plans for today we laze in bed until 8.30am and take our time over breakfast and getting dressed. By the time we leave for Florida Mall its nearly 11am. I am on a mission today as we have a formal dinner coming up in March and, while I already have my outfit, Rebecca does not. We have seen some nice dresses for her in Debenhams at home but they are £45 and I refuse to spend that much on a dress for an 8 year old who will only wear it once. I am out for a bargain! First stop is KB toys for Rebecca. Her holiday money is burning a hole in her pockets again. At least this time its not Disney pins! Amazingly she fails to find anything she wants and we wander around for a while, window shopping. As we are saving ourselves for Boma later we grab a sandwich from the food court and then we are dragged into the Build a Bear shop. At first this seems quite good value, $10 for the bear and Rebecca gets to give it a heart and stuff it herself. Its only when you get to the end of this process are you confronted with the bewildering display of accessories for said bear, including clothing, underwear and even cute little Reeboks. Jorge sneaks across to Abercrombie and manages to choose and buy two t-shirts before Rebecca can even decide on a dress for Emma the Bear who now comes complete with birth certificate. Eventually she decides on a cheerleader outfit and we leave $20 lighter. JC Penneys comes up trumps with a lovely dress for Rebecca, at only $49 it is half the price of those at home so I am a happy bunny.
We return to the villa to drop off our purchases and then head over to AKL for our 6.00 PS at Boma. As with Wilderness Lodge we are awestruck at the scale of it and are glad we have come early to get a look at the animals on the savannah. We are treated with views of Zebra, Buffalo and Giraffe with a guide on hand to answer any questions. Before dinner we head back over to the swimming pool area to see the Flamingo. We nearly run out of time, as we are so engrossed in watching the lifeguards trying to hook a snake, which has taken up residence in the pool.
Back inside we book in for our PS and are told there will be a 15 minute wait just enough time for a drink at the bar. We are called 10 minutes later and are seated right next to the African themed buffet area. I started slowly with the salads etc. while Jorge just piled everything on his plate, not really knowing what he was eating this spoiled the meal for him I think as it was all a bit overpowering. Despite saying she would be adventurous Rebecca came back with Mac N Cheese and Chicken Tenders! Some of the things on the buffet I tried and didnt like but overall thought the food was good. Not sure we would rush back though. By the time we had finished our meal the restaurant was heaving, with about 50 people waiting outside for tables and our poor (and quite elderly) waitress was rushed off her feet. It took a while to get the bill and we left a large tip mostly out of sympathy for her. Overall it came to $85 for the three of us.
Jorge nipped to the loo so Rebecca and I decided to have a last look round the lobby and a CM invited Rebecca to join in with some games. He didnt ask if we were guests of the Hotel so we didnt volunteer the information and Rebecca spent a happy half an hour learning about the food chain. (She didnt know this of course, she thought she was just playing a game. LOL) Unfortunately Jorge didn't see us on his way out and spent 20 minutes waiting by the car! Ooops!
Another lovely day comes to an end all to soon and we all stagger wearily back to the villa for a quick swim and bed. Tomorrow we are going to try something new - Winter Park.
Jorge: (DH) Happy as long as he's in Orlando
Rebecca: (DD 8) Happy as long as she gets her own way!
Day 6
Florida Mall & Boma
As we have no pressing plans for today we laze in bed until 8.30am and take our time over breakfast and getting dressed. By the time we leave for Florida Mall its nearly 11am. I am on a mission today as we have a formal dinner coming up in March and, while I already have my outfit, Rebecca does not. We have seen some nice dresses for her in Debenhams at home but they are £45 and I refuse to spend that much on a dress for an 8 year old who will only wear it once. I am out for a bargain! First stop is KB toys for Rebecca. Her holiday money is burning a hole in her pockets again. At least this time its not Disney pins! Amazingly she fails to find anything she wants and we wander around for a while, window shopping. As we are saving ourselves for Boma later we grab a sandwich from the food court and then we are dragged into the Build a Bear shop. At first this seems quite good value, $10 for the bear and Rebecca gets to give it a heart and stuff it herself. Its only when you get to the end of this process are you confronted with the bewildering display of accessories for said bear, including clothing, underwear and even cute little Reeboks. Jorge sneaks across to Abercrombie and manages to choose and buy two t-shirts before Rebecca can even decide on a dress for Emma the Bear who now comes complete with birth certificate. Eventually she decides on a cheerleader outfit and we leave $20 lighter. JC Penneys comes up trumps with a lovely dress for Rebecca, at only $49 it is half the price of those at home so I am a happy bunny.
We return to the villa to drop off our purchases and then head over to AKL for our 6.00 PS at Boma. As with Wilderness Lodge we are awestruck at the scale of it and are glad we have come early to get a look at the animals on the savannah. We are treated with views of Zebra, Buffalo and Giraffe with a guide on hand to answer any questions. Before dinner we head back over to the swimming pool area to see the Flamingo. We nearly run out of time, as we are so engrossed in watching the lifeguards trying to hook a snake, which has taken up residence in the pool.
Back inside we book in for our PS and are told there will be a 15 minute wait just enough time for a drink at the bar. We are called 10 minutes later and are seated right next to the African themed buffet area. I started slowly with the salads etc. while Jorge just piled everything on his plate, not really knowing what he was eating this spoiled the meal for him I think as it was all a bit overpowering. Despite saying she would be adventurous Rebecca came back with Mac N Cheese and Chicken Tenders! Some of the things on the buffet I tried and didnt like but overall thought the food was good. Not sure we would rush back though. By the time we had finished our meal the restaurant was heaving, with about 50 people waiting outside for tables and our poor (and quite elderly) waitress was rushed off her feet. It took a while to get the bill and we left a large tip mostly out of sympathy for her. Overall it came to $85 for the three of us.
Jorge nipped to the loo so Rebecca and I decided to have a last look round the lobby and a CM invited Rebecca to join in with some games. He didnt ask if we were guests of the Hotel so we didnt volunteer the information and Rebecca spent a happy half an hour learning about the food chain. (She didnt know this of course, she thought she was just playing a game. LOL) Unfortunately Jorge didn't see us on his way out and spent 20 minutes waiting by the car! Ooops!
Another lovely day comes to an end all to soon and we all stagger wearily back to the villa for a quick swim and bed. Tomorrow we are going to try something new - Winter Park.
