The final countdown is over - we're here!

[juliebro]

Having trouble with cut and paste on my Playbook. Too tired to fix it now. Will try again tomorrow.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Great day again. We are planning on doing the giraffe feeding at BG. Did it quite a few years ago and really enjoyed it and I prefer the animals whilst DH and DD go on all the rides

Are you on food overload yet? By the end of 3 weeks we sometimes "spurge" on some baked beans and just have beans on toast for lunch

Glad the weather has improved and hope you manage to get on Lake Dora

 

[juliebro]

Great day again. We are planning on doing the giraffe feeding at BG. Did it quite a few years ago and really enjoyed it and I prefer the animals whilst DH and DD go on all the rides

Are you on food overload yet? By the end of 3 weeks we sometimes "spurge" on some baked beans and just have beans on toast for lunch

Glad the weather has improved and hope you manage to get on Lake Dora

We have never done any of the Animal Encounters but did think about it yesterday. However we weren't sure which to do and decided not to bother in the end. Maybe next time.

Food overload? Definitely! We felt like that after a couple of days! We have been having cereal most days for breakfast and sharing a snack at lunchtime. We don't eat American style food at home so we will definitely be on grilled chicken and fish with simple veg and salad when we get home and back into our regular exercise regimes!

 

[juliebro]

Went back to SeaWorld today and the plan had been to do the rides. However Manta was having its annual maintenance and so was closed. We did manage to get on Kraken and Journey to Atlantis. We also watched Shamu show and,for the third time, the Clyde and Seamore show. We have noticed that some of the cast are better than others and we thought it was the best one today that we've seen.

When we left we went to AKL and had a look around. It’s a while since we were last there. I forgot to mention that we did a bit of shopping first at LBV outlet.

Dinner was At Cracker Barrel.

Visiting Bok Tower and Gardens tomorrow.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

I love to read your updates just before I go to work!

I have put Bok gardens on my list for October so again, I am looking forward to your next report - have a good day

 

[juliebro]

Just at the Polynesian. Have had a great day at Bok. Even did some geocaching!

We ate at a real out of the way fishcamp called Cherry Pocket.

More details later.

 

[amacspad]

Sound fun, how long are you here for, we leave on fri

Debs x

 

[juliebro]

Sound fun, how long are you here for, we leave on fri

Debs x

it was a really chilled out day and seemed a million miles away from SeaWorld. Not a buggy to be seen!

We leave on Saturday. What have you got planned for tomorrow? We are planning to go to Lake Dora and rent a small catamaran.

 

[juliebro]

Some photos from today at Bok Tower, the Pinewood Estate and Cherry Pocket

 

[juliebro]

As I posted earlier, we went to Bok Tower and Gardens today. We got there shortly after 9 am and parked up by the visitor centre. The centre is manned by some really pleasant volunteers and they recommend watching a short video in their theatre first before getting a map and exploring the gardens etc.

The video was short but gave us a really good background as to the origins of the 'singing' tower and gardens and the founder of it, all of which added to the experience.

Edward Bok establised the gardens in 1929 as as gift to the American people. He'd been a poor immigrant from the Netherlands and arrived in the USA at the age of 8. He became very successful in the publishing business and wanted to give something back. He certainly did that!

There is so much to see (particularly if you also visit the Pinewood Estate) and we didn't leave until after 4 pm. For lunch, we shared a tasty sandwich in the Blue Palmetto Cafe at the Gardens.

The gardens are beautiful and there is a lot of wildlife to observe too. Squirrels are all over the grounds. One of then even jumped on me! And there are plenty birds to see too. We also saw a wild tortoise.

The carillon plays in the tower every half an hour. The bells were created in a foundry in Loughborough. The tower itself is stunning too, although the public cannot go into it.

It's probably not the sort of place that children would enjoy, but ideal for anyone interested in nature, gardens or philanthropy. We spotted that they had some geocaches and had read Wayne's posts about geocaching, so we decided to give it a try. We found one (pictured in prev post) but not the second.

We strolled around and it was so peaceful and quiet, compared to the parks.

After we left we drove to Cherry Pocket Steak and Seafood Shack. It's a real old-style Floridian 'restaurant' and the service and food were really good. They serve lots of traditional southern-style food, including gator. DH had catfish and I had a Bayou Platter, which had catfish, oysters, scallops and shrimps.

We then went to the Poly and sat on the beach watching Wishes.

Tomorrow we're going to Lake Dora and doing the catamaran trip around the lake.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Great information on Bok, it may not be to dds taste but I still think we will go for a few hours. Pinewood estate will be closed though in November.

The 'shack' where you ate is certainly different, although the food looks good!

Enjoy the rest of your holiday

 

[wayneg]

Good to see someone else doing some Geocaching

 

[amacspad]

it was a really chilled out day and seemed a million miles away from SeaWorld. Not a buggy to be seen!

We leave on Saturday. What have you got planned for tomorrow? We are planning to go to Lake Dora and rent a small catamaran.

Sounds a bit boring compared to all your exploring but we still have loads of dining plan credits to use up so going to MK, AK & HS today and Epcot & DD tomorrow, hope you have a good day!

Debs x

 

[juliebro]

Sounds a bit boring compared to all your exploring but we still have loads of dining plan credits to use up so going to MK, AK & HS today and Epcot & DD tomorrow, hope you have a good day!

Debs x

Not boring at all! We've just not had any time this year to do any Disney parks, as we had a number of other things on our 'must do' list that have been on the list for ages! We have decided that we have to get the Disney parks on the 'must do' list for next year.

How have you enjoyed the first Disney trip without your DD?

We're off to Manny's shortly and then to Boardwalk. Had a really fun time on the catamaran trip.

 

[amacspad]

At first it was really difficult, even had to fight back the tears a few times but once we got into the swing of things having a brill time, really don't want to go home and already thinking when to come back next year! how hot was it today? Just got back to the room for a cool down then deciding where to go later, might go back to MK as not been there at night time this trip yet! Have a good night!

Debs xx

 

[juliebro]

The catamaran trip was excellent. I've taken some photos but they are on my camera and I'll need to upload them tomorrow or when we get home to UK.

There were 6 two-person catamarans and we all had 2-way radios. The guy who runs the trips (Bud Craig) also owns the company that builds the boats. He led the tour across Lake Dora and through the Dora canal into Lake Eustis and guided us via the radio, pointing out various interesting wildlife etc on the way. The boats are very manoeuvrable and quite fast. The overall experience lasted about 2.5 hours and we thought it was really good fun.

After the tour we went to find somewhere in Mount Dora to have a light lunch. We shared a tasty pastrami on rye sandwich at Cody's on 4th which had free wifi and served good iced coffee too.

After a wander around the town and then by the lake, we left and went to Downtown Disney for a while and then went to Manny's (again!) for dinner.

Afterwards we went to the Boardwalk and watched the Epcot fireworks from the bridge and then went into the Atlantic Dancehall. We'd never been in there before but quite enjoyed it. It wasn't busy but the atmosphere was friendly and a few people were dancing. The sound system was amazing and the interior of the place is well worth a look. There's no entry charge but you have to be over 21.

It's getting late now and we're tired, so I'll post some photos another time. We're going to Aquatica tomorrow.

 

[dixonsontour]

Enjoying all your photos.

We went to bok tower when DD was a toddler and had a great day.

Have some lovely photos of her in the grounds. It was ideal for her as she could have some freedom and walk around (in the parks I had one of those rein backpacks on her) Everyone else there was a pensioner who made a fuss of her

Never been to cherry pocket but is on my 'one day' list.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Sounds like a lovely day at mount Dora.

We must make the effort and go to Mannys, it must be good as everyone keeps going back

Enjoy your day at Aquatica.

 

[juliebro]

Had a lovely chilled day at Aquatica. I rode the Roa Rapids with DH and then settled down to read a book while he did the slides.

We left the park at 5pm and then went to Tony Roma's for dinner.

Sadly we fly home tomorrow night but intend to make use of the LBV checkin service so we can spend some time at Sea World before going to the airport.

We've had a wonderful holiday and really don't want to go home!

 

[dixonsontour]

Have a safe flight home