The gang: Myself, DW, DD, BIL, SIL, DN6, DN3, Aunt
week two: (3) teen girls, Friend, his wife and their three kids
Sat 6/12
Left Norfolk, VA @ 3am and drove to Orlando, arrived around 3pm. Hit a little traffic around Jacksonville but other than that is was a uneventful trip. Stayed at Universal's Portafino Bay Hotel. What a wounderful Hotel and with front of the line access in Universal parks what a great deal. Had dinner at Hard Rock Universal. What a lively place and food was good. Again used Hotel key to gain access to Hard Rock.
Sun 6/13
Universal Studio: Did the Mummy ride. Had to wait a long time because ride keep breaking down
This was a fun ride but not worth the wait. With little ones we did Twister, E.T., Jimmy Newtron, Shrek, Terminator and saw a few street shows. Had a late check out (3pm) at Portafino Bay and checked in at Orange Lake CC off 192. Orange Lake was nice but did not have that WOW feeling I was looking for. Arrived at IOA around 6pm. Rode the Hulk, Spiderman, Popeye and Dr Suess Land.
Mon 6/14
Sea World: Aunt arrives around noon. Have not been here in about 6 years and the park has changed for the better. The addition of the roller coaster and water ride has given this park a lift. I enjoyed the many animal shows and event took time out to attend a brew master class. With rain coming this was a good safe/dry place to hang out and event taste a few cold beers. Rain but a damper on the fireworks, but this was a wouderful park and a must do while in Orlando.
Tue 6/15
Chef Mickey Breakfast: This is a must do with little ones. Having breakfast with Mickey was a great way to start the day. Food was good and service was outstanding. Golf at Orange Lake CC around noon. Boy was it hot
but we made it. Arrived at the Yacht Club around 8pm to board Breathless to see EPCOT Illumination show. This was a great show and being on the water made us feel like we had frount row seats. Got to meet Ben whom I had talked to on this site. He had the pontoon boat .
Wed 6/16
Magic Kingdom: This is where I feel most at home. Saw the new 4D show Philpharmagic (sp) this was wounderful and a must see while in MK. Did the rest of Fantasyland and headed to the Haunted Mansion. Saw the Hall of Presidents show for the first time and enjoyed the heck out of it. Did Splash and Thunder mt. Off to Adventureland and PoTC. Yes had a Dole whip. Tomorrowland was our next stop. By this time the wife was starting to have problems with her legs. Swelling and turning red. More to come. Space mt was outstanding and I think we rode Buzz 5 times. Short stop to Toontown and the park was done. We sat done for dinner around 9pm and picked a spot for Wishes. Skiped the parade but could see it from restaurant in Tomorrowland. With the Fastpass we did everything on our list and then some. Finished the night at the hospital getting wife's legs checked. She had an infection, received a shot and pills to take. This had happen once before at Christmas. In bed and asleep around 3am.
Thur 6/17
Aunt leaves. 830am Breakfast with Princess's in EPCOT Norway: This is a very good breakfast. Wife goes back to resort for some RR. We hop over to MGM for the day. Rock'n' Roll and Tower of Terror are must do's. saw many great shows and had a wounderful day at MGM. Next was Arabian Nights dinner show. This is a very well put together show. The ending is, well it will bring a tear to your eye.
Fri 6/18
Followup visit at hospital. Everything was getting better. This was our wedding ann. so I had scheduled a helicopter tour of Orlando. This was our first time in a helicopter but once we get took off what a rush. Orlando seem so large until you see it from the air. We flew over SW, US, IOA, and all the WDW parks. Magic Air adventure is who we used.
Sat 6/19
Sleepppppppp
Typhoon Lagoon was our target this day. Spent most of the day in the water and had a somewhat relaxing day. Pickup DD friends (three teen girls) at airport around 9pm.
Sun 6/20
Fathers day. Golf followed by shopping at Downtonw Disney. Friend and his family arrive around 4pm. Back to resort in time to watch US open golf tour. then off to dinner at Outback.
Mon 6/21
BIL, SIL, DN, & DN leave Rest of group head off to EPCOT
Test Track and yes I did Mission Space. I waited late in the day around 7pm to ride this. I have a problem with motion sickness and did not want to be sick all day. I'm happy to say I felt fine after this ride. Wife was starting to see the redness coming back in her legs so back to the resort for her. We camped out for Illumination and rested until it was show time. Illumination was great from land but I would rent the boat again.
Tue 6/22
Sleeppppppppppppppp
Shopping was the main thing for today followed by Medieval Times for dinner. This show was good (we have seen it before) and the teen girls just loved their (yellow/red) knight. Yes he won that night.
Wed 6/23
Magic Kingdom: Followed the same plan as week before and this park went very well. Wife used wheelchair and this worked well for her. This time we found a seat in front of the Castle for electric Parade and Wishes. This is were me met CM James and CM balloon men Nick and Patrick. Enteract with the the CM whenever you can. These guys were great. Everythime James went by our group would do the wave for him.
Thur 6/24
Universal Studios: This park was very busy. Again we headed to the Mummy to stand in line for 1/2 hour only to be told ride was broken down with no repair time in sight. I'm sorry but for a new ride it has a lot of problems. But we pressed on. Wife used wheelchair again and it made a big difference no leg problems. The Express system here does not seam to work as well as at WDW. Maybe it was just me. We were able to ride most of what we wanted and ened up having a pretty good day.
Fri 6/25
IOA This was the girls favorite park. This is the park for the thrill rider. For some reason this park flowed better using Express pass then did US. We had very short wait times, some ride were walkons. Again a wheelchair was used and wife had a good time.
Sat 6/26
Sleeeppppppppp Boys played golf and girls went shopping. Spent some time at the pool then we packed up and got ready to return home.
Sun 6/27
Loaded the Van and left around 8am and arrived at home around 8pm. Their was very little traffic problems.
Well this is it. Orlando 2004 is in the books. Talk has already started about Orlando Trip 2008. Need time to rest up and save up.
week two: (3) teen girls, Friend, his wife and their three kids
Sat 6/12
Left Norfolk, VA @ 3am and drove to Orlando, arrived around 3pm. Hit a little traffic around Jacksonville but other than that is was a uneventful trip. Stayed at Universal's Portafino Bay Hotel. What a wounderful Hotel and with front of the line access in Universal parks what a great deal. Had dinner at Hard Rock Universal. What a lively place and food was good. Again used Hotel key to gain access to Hard Rock.
Sun 6/13
Universal Studio: Did the Mummy ride. Had to wait a long time because ride keep breaking down
This was a fun ride but not worth the wait. With little ones we did Twister, E.T., Jimmy Newtron, Shrek, Terminator and saw a few street shows. Had a late check out (3pm) at Portafino Bay and checked in at Orange Lake CC off 192. Orange Lake was nice but did not have that WOW feeling I was looking for. Arrived at IOA around 6pm. Rode the Hulk, Spiderman, Popeye and Dr Suess Land.Mon 6/14
Sea World: Aunt arrives around noon. Have not been here in about 6 years and the park has changed for the better. The addition of the roller coaster and water ride has given this park a lift. I enjoyed the many animal shows and event took time out to attend a brew master class. With rain coming this was a good safe/dry place to hang out and event taste a few cold beers. Rain but a damper on the fireworks, but this was a wouderful park and a must do while in Orlando.
Tue 6/15
Chef Mickey Breakfast: This is a must do with little ones. Having breakfast with Mickey was a great way to start the day. Food was good and service was outstanding. Golf at Orange Lake CC around noon. Boy was it hot
but we made it. Arrived at the Yacht Club around 8pm to board Breathless to see EPCOT Illumination show. This was a great show and being on the water made us feel like we had frount row seats. Got to meet Ben whom I had talked to on this site. He had the pontoon boat .Wed 6/16
Magic Kingdom: This is where I feel most at home. Saw the new 4D show Philpharmagic (sp) this was wounderful and a must see while in MK. Did the rest of Fantasyland and headed to the Haunted Mansion. Saw the Hall of Presidents show for the first time and enjoyed the heck out of it. Did Splash and Thunder mt. Off to Adventureland and PoTC. Yes had a Dole whip. Tomorrowland was our next stop. By this time the wife was starting to have problems with her legs. Swelling and turning red. More to come. Space mt was outstanding and I think we rode Buzz 5 times. Short stop to Toontown and the park was done. We sat done for dinner around 9pm and picked a spot for Wishes. Skiped the parade but could see it from restaurant in Tomorrowland. With the Fastpass we did everything on our list and then some. Finished the night at the hospital getting wife's legs checked. She had an infection, received a shot and pills to take. This had happen once before at Christmas. In bed and asleep around 3am.
Thur 6/17
Aunt leaves. 830am Breakfast with Princess's in EPCOT Norway: This is a very good breakfast. Wife goes back to resort for some RR. We hop over to MGM for the day. Rock'n' Roll and Tower of Terror are must do's. saw many great shows and had a wounderful day at MGM. Next was Arabian Nights dinner show. This is a very well put together show. The ending is, well it will bring a tear to your eye.
Fri 6/18
Followup visit at hospital. Everything was getting better. This was our wedding ann. so I had scheduled a helicopter tour of Orlando. This was our first time in a helicopter but once we get took off what a rush. Orlando seem so large until you see it from the air. We flew over SW, US, IOA, and all the WDW parks. Magic Air adventure is who we used.
Sat 6/19
Sleepppppppp
Typhoon Lagoon was our target this day. Spent most of the day in the water and had a somewhat relaxing day. Pickup DD friends (three teen girls) at airport around 9pm.
Sun 6/20
Fathers day. Golf followed by shopping at Downtonw Disney. Friend and his family arrive around 4pm. Back to resort in time to watch US open golf tour. then off to dinner at Outback.
Mon 6/21
BIL, SIL, DN, & DN leave
Rest of group head off to EPCOTTest Track and yes I did Mission Space. I waited late in the day around 7pm to ride this. I have a problem with motion sickness and did not want to be sick all day. I'm happy to say I felt fine after this ride. Wife was starting to see the redness coming back in her legs so back to the resort for her. We camped out for Illumination and rested until it was show time. Illumination was great from land but I would rent the boat again.
Tue 6/22
Sleeppppppppppppppp
Shopping was the main thing for today followed by Medieval Times for dinner. This show was good (we have seen it before) and the teen girls just loved their (yellow/red) knight. Yes he won that night.
Wed 6/23
Magic Kingdom: Followed the same plan as week before and this park went very well. Wife used wheelchair and this worked well for her. This time we found a seat in front of the Castle for electric Parade and Wishes. This is were me met CM James and CM balloon men Nick and Patrick. Enteract with the the CM whenever you can. These guys were great. Everythime James went by our group would do the wave for him.
Thur 6/24
Universal Studios: This park was very busy. Again we headed to the Mummy to stand in line for 1/2 hour only to be told ride was broken down with no repair time in sight. I'm sorry but for a new ride it has a lot of problems. But we pressed on. Wife used wheelchair again and it made a big difference no leg problems. The Express system here does not seam to work as well as at WDW. Maybe it was just me. We were able to ride most of what we wanted and ened up having a pretty good day.
Fri 6/25
IOA This was the girls favorite park. This is the park for the thrill rider. For some reason this park flowed better using Express pass then did US. We had very short wait times, some ride were walkons. Again a wheelchair was used and wife had a good time.
Sat 6/26
Sleeeppppppppp Boys played golf and girls went shopping. Spent some time at the pool then we packed up and got ready to return home.
Sun 6/27
Loaded the Van and left around 8am and arrived at home around 8pm. Their was very little traffic problems.
Well this is it. Orlando 2004 is in the books. Talk has already started about Orlando Trip 2008. Need time to rest up and save up.
