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Steven Varble -- January 2002 -- Walt Disney World (Offsite)January 14-23, 2002 Because this trip report is soooooo long, here's a chapter heading so you can skip ahead to areas of interest. I always told myself if I ever wrote a trip report, it wouldn't be one of those long rambling ones that are posted. Well, I can see now why they get so long- they're fun to write and bring back a lot of memories! Enjoy! Trip Summary Introduction
Cast of Characters:
Introduction First, I must admit that I have a major Disney addiction. I think I inherited it from my grandfather, who when I was 5, went with the entire family on our first trip to DisneyWorld. This was back in the days when individual tickets were required for rides, and grandpa became obsessed with 'It's a Small World.' He would run to the ticket booths, and purchase additional tickets so we could ride it over, and over, and over and over again. My dad, Mr. Ed, does not remember that part of the trip as fondly as I do ("Oh That Song! Arrgh!"), but the trip definitely began my love of the Disney parks. We returned to DisneyWorld in 1981, not long before Epcot opened, and I fell in love with the whole idea of the place. It wasn't until college that I was able to return again, and was able to work and live at DisneyWorld for and entire semester. It was great, and didn't mind the simple jobs assigned to College Program employees. I worked at the Disney-MGM Studios in Merchandise, meaning I stood at a cash register all day and directed people to the restrooms (and occasionally sold a roll of film or two), and enjoyed every minute of it! Now, I go to DisneyWorld and/or Disneyland every year or so. Sometimes I go with friends or family, and sometimes I go by myself. My sister always asks "If you're by yourself, who do you go 'Whoopeee!' with when you get off a ride?" I guess since I was often alone in the parks when I worked there, I don't mind going solo, and I don't mind 'whoopeeeing' to myself. This trip was to be a solo trip as well, but at the last minute Dad asked if he could go along. Sounded find to me because a) Dad is real agreeable to do just about anything, and b) It's nice to have someone to split the hotel bills! This trip, I decided, was going to be different! I'd always told my friends that a person could enjoy a week at Disney without ever setting foot in their parks. Disney is smart with their ticketing- the Length of Stay passes I usually buy when staying at DisneyWorld always prevented me from taking a day to visit the competitors parks. This trip was going to focus on Universal's Parks and other sights around Orlando. However, as you'll read later, Disney still ended up making a nice profit from me anyway! Finally, I usually fly to Florida, but decided to drive because I didn't have any exact departure dates. Also, there were things I wanted to see and do on the way down to Florida and back. So, Dad and I loaded up the car and we were off! Day 1 - Monday, January 14 - Drive to Tennessee The plan was to leave at 8 am, but I never even wake up until noon, so it was a difficult morning for me. I finally picked up Dad around 9:30, said goodbye to Mom, and we were off- sorta. First, Dad decided we needed to change his cell phone package, so we stopped and got new phone and calling plan, which turned out to be really useful on the trip (nationwide calling for a flat fee). Secondly, I had happened to notice the day before that my driver's license had expired, so we needed to stop to get that renewed. The picture is better than my old license, so I was happy! We finally got going around noon, and drove from Illinois to Kentucky. For those of you who pass through Paducah Kentucky, they have a great rest stop located within the city along the interstate. It is an old mansion converted into a rest stop, and it offers brief tours of the restored home. It's a nice break in a long drive. That evening, we arrived in Nashville, and made the traditional stop at the Opryland Hotel to eat dinner. It's a great place to stop and stretch your legs. If you never been there, it should be a 'must see' if you are in Nashville. The hotel is built around 3 large atriums, which have tropical foliage, fountains, shops, restaurants, and boat rides around a small river. We had supper at Rachel's Kitchen, their casual sit-down restaurant, and decided to head on out to get a couple more hours of driving under our belts before we stopped for the night. A side note, I had heard that the Opryland amusement park had closed a few years ago, and was curious to see what had become of the park. It had been located directly behind the hotel between the parkway and the river. Surprisingly, the park has been razed, and replaced with a shopping mall! Only a few small buildings and the Grand Old Opry Theatre were still intact as an adjunct to the mall. It was odd seeing what becomes of a park when it dies. (With the problems that Universal Hollywood is having, and with the success of CityWalk, it makes you wonder if it will have the same future as well!) We stopped the first night in Chattanooga, and got a suite at a Comfort Inn. I was glad to have the suite, because I had forgotten how bad Dad's snoring could be. It can't be described as just snoring, but more like the noise an elephant would make if being sucked through a straw. I ended up sleeping on the small sofa in the living room trying to get away from the noise. And thus ended Day 1 Day 2 - Tuesday, January 15 - Arrival in Orlando We left Chattanooga, and headed into Georgia, which I like to call the land of cheap gasoline! Gas was 95 cents or less in many locations, which is 30% less than Illinois. We drove through Atlanta, stopped in southern Georgia at a Chik-Fil-A for lunch, and made it into Florida late afternoon. Using dad's new cell phone, I called ahead to the Hard Rock Hotel to make a reservation for that night. I had called the week before, and they had confirmed they had rooms for $129. I thought that was too good to pass up, but since I didn't know exactly when I would arrive, I hadn't made a reservation. By the time I called (about 4 hours before we arrived), they were out of the 'cheap' rooms, and only had pool view rooms left, which meant it was $149. I thought that still sounded good, so I reserved a room for two nights. Even though the plan was to not go to the Disney parks, I insisted we stop at the Disney Welcome Center in Ocala, because it helps build the anticipation of the arrival in Orlando, and you get just a little Disney magic. I also wanted to check the rates for Disney Hotels for some of our additional nights in Orlando. Sadly, their rates had gone back up to normal levels, so I passed. I had also called trying to find a Disney Club rate, but they weren't anything special, so we passed on that as well. Finally, we arrived in Orlando. You could see fireworks in the distance from the Florida Turnpike (Magic Kingdom?) which helped signal our arrival. We headed directly to the Hard Rock Hotel. What a way-cool hotel! Most hotels aren't cool. They are elegant, or nice, or beautiful, but rarely cool. The Hard Rock is cool from top to bottom. The building is California Mission style, and is set in a lush tropical setting. You are greeted by bellhops and clerks all wearing black, and they all seemed to have cool glasses like you see people wearing in New York, but you never see at the optical shop at home. Music was piped in everywhere, including in the pool, and Elvis's jumpsuit was in there in the lobby. Works for me! The room was cool as well. This was the first hotel I had ever seen that had white bedspreads. You have to be pretty confident in your housekeeping staff to have white bedspreads! Framed black and white photos of rock stars hung on the walls, and the room came equipped with a CD player. Plus, we had a great view of the pool. OH YEAH! Dad isn't in to cool, but he thought it was nice and clean. To each his own! After we settled in, we decided to walk over to CityWalk for supper (nightclub/restaurant/shopping district), which was just a 5 min. walk away. It was a Tuesday night, so there weren't many people around, and we ended up eating at the Hard Rock Café. We got a good feel for the layout of Universal- or as they officially call it 'Universal Escape.' They had nice entertainment on the main stage (juggling and acrobats), and everything was appropriately loud and flashy. Now, I need to back up a few years. I had gone to Universal Studios Orlando back when I worked at Disney 10 years ago. At the time, they had the one park, and a big parking lot- your typical Six Flags setup. What a difference 10 years makes! The parking lot was gone, replaced with 2 large parking garages on the edge of the property. They had built a small lake and canals (like Disney) and added CityWalk overlooking the water (like Downtown Disney) and had a road system with bridges and fully mature landscaping (like Disney). Then, they had built two hotels with a third on the way, and added the second park Islands of Adventure. It was set up like a mini Disney World, but all within walking distance of one another using CityWalk as the hub. I was very impressed! They have made a great effort to make it a destination resort like DisneyWorld, and the complex is very, very similar to what Disney is doing in Anaheim with the Disneyland Resort. After supper we went back to the room, and went to bed. It had been a long day. Thus ended Day 2 Day 3- Wednesday, January 16 - Universal Studios Florida I decided the first day would be Universal Studios, because it was to get progressively warmer each day, so we would save Islands of Adventure water rides for a warmer day. Dad agreed that was a good idea. We got a late start, as would be the pattern for the whole trip, and got to the park around 10:30 or so. Upon entering the park, we were instantly recruited from a marketing firm to do some taste test on new products. We ate some chips covered with cheese called 'Toppers!' and then gave our opinion. For about 15 min of time, they gave us $10 cash. (Look for them soon at a store near you, and clogging your arteries in about 30 years.) Our first ride was King Kong. I've heard this might get replaced, and at first was dismayed when I heard that rumor. However, after riding it again this trip, I found it has not held up well over the years. There really is no 'Wow' factor anymore. I used to like it, but it just doesn't have any zing. It's very apparent at the end of the ride, when you see video of the people in your tram inserted into a fake newscast. You can tell that the script was written assuming the riders in the video would look scared, and instead everyone just looks bored. Even Dad, who'd never ridden it before, made the comment "If the rest of the rides are like that, it's going to be a long day." You know your dad is jaded when getting attacked by a 30 foot tall King Kong leaves him unimpressed. Well, they weren't all nearly that bad. Next, we did Jaws, which was fun. The whole idea of a mechanical shark attacking your boat is just silly, and our guide treated it seriously, which made it that much sillier. My favorite line is "Watch out for the High Power electrical Barge!" Uh, no surprise that will have some part in Jaws' finale! The big mistake of the day was taking Dad on 'Back to the Future.' Please note that dad is sixty-something, a licensed pilot, and has really been into roller coasters his entire life. However, motion simulators give him motion sickness. I had convinced him that it wasn't as rough as 'Body Wars' at Disney (which he hates) and that the ride had less motion. Well, I was wrong on both counts. Back to the Future has gotten a lot rougher over the years, and Dad was sitting on the outside seat and kept hitting his head on the ride vehicle. Unfortunately, it made him a little wonky the rest of the day, but we trooped on. At this point, let me note that the park was virtually empty. There were no lines for anything all day. There were so few people, you kept seeing the same families over and over and over. This did allow for us to see everything as many times as we wanted. After lunch, in an empty restaurant except for 2 other groups, we went on E.T. Dad wasn't impressed, but I like the ride system- like Peter Pan got an upgrade. We then headed into the Curious George playland. The Curious George area is for kids, and is a mix between a water park and ball-shooting zone. We stood on the balcony for a while, and shot foam balls at the heads of the moms and dads gathering foam balls for their children. It was fun! It also gave us time for Dad to try to get his equilibrium back after Back to The Future. It was very similar to a kids play zone at Silver Dollar City in Branson Missouri, so it must have been installed by the same company. I then convinced Dad it was time to go on 'Men In Black the Ride.' I'd never ridden it before, but I'd watched the shows about it on the Discovery Channel many times. It has a great queue, which is really recreates the 60's retro feel of the movie. In the ride, you shoot at aliens and other guests with a laser gun. Your score is totaled at the end, and you're given a ranking. Our cars always did poorly (Dad claimed his gun was broken- yeah right!) Unfortunately, when you get hit by an alien or the other riders, your car spins and spins and spins. Dad didn't like that part at all, but he thought the ride was fun anyway. Then we headed onto Twister. Oooh! that was fun watching a small Oklahoma Town being destroyed! It was also one of the few times we used the special feature that comes with staying at a Universal Hotel. At Universal, if you are staying on property at one of their hotels, your keycard will get you to the front of the line. Twister had a small line, and it is important to get a good viewing spot. Well, our keycard worked like a charm, and we got placed in the best spots to see the tornado. Next was Terminator 3D. It is a combination of live action and very good 3D effects on multiple screens. We actually saw it twice, because we liked it that much. We then did Earthquake, the Wild West Stunt Show, Funtastic World of Hanna Barbera (uh oh, simulator ride!) and all our favorites two or three more times! One reason I just love going to Orlando this time of year (January) is that the crowds are so low! After we did Terminator 3D the second time, it made me think about the differences between Universal and Disney's approach to producing an attraction. First, like some other attractions at Universal, this one was rated PG13, and was not recommended for children. Also, as in a lot of rides at Universal, the 'story' of the ride is often presented rather seriously, and frequently the overarching theme is escaping your own death. At Disney, most everything is appropriate for young children (well, if you omit Alien Encounter) and although you may be in peril, you generally are not presented with the idea of you or a main character dying at the end. It gives Universal's attractions a more pessimistic feel. Disney seems to always infuse a feeling of optimism, which I think is one of many reasons they are overall more successful. Well, the day at the park ended at 6 pm. I wanted to see Universal's Portofino Hotel, so we walked over to the hotel and took a look around. It was very nicely themed to the Mediterranean resort of Portofino Italy, and is situated on a lagoon. We walked through the lobby, and looked around the meeting areas. The only thing I noticed that was surprising was that a lot of the trim and detail on the outside of the hotel was faux painted. It was very well done, and reminded me of photos I'd seen of the new Mira Costa hotel at Tokyo Disney Sea, which also has a lot of faux painting. Well, it was time to eat, and I was much to close to Disney World to not go over for a visit. I decided we should head to Disney's Polynesian resort and go to Ohana's for supper. I had heard a lot of good things about it from the restaurant reviews on MousePlanet, so we headed over to try it out. At 'Ohana a mini salad bar is brought to your table, which has salads, sauces, and various side dishes. Then the waiter brings you large skewers of beef, shrimp, and chicken that have been grilled over open flame in the central open kitchen. We ate and ate and ate, and then they brought us the final course- pineapple with caramel dipping sauce. Very good, and we were stuffed! I liked the way the wait staff always called us 'cousin,' because the name Ohana means family (I think... I was getting tired by this time!). After dinner, we hopped a ride to the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa aboard the monorail. I'm always glad they don't check resort ID's, so you can take advantage of Disney transportation without being a resort guest! Dad wanted to rest his feet, so we settled down in the Grand Floridian lobby, and listened to the piano player. Then, before we left, a small orchestra began playing in the balcony. Dad decided it would be nice place to stay sometime. (That is ringing endorsement that Disney should use- "Ed Thinks the Grand Floridian is A Nice Place!") We headed back to the Hard Rock Hotel, and settled in for the night. Thus ends Day 3. Day 4- Thursday, January 17 - Islands of Adventure Dad got a full night sleep- I did not. I'm not sure how Mom has put up with his snoring for the last 40 years. I slept with a pillow over my head most of the night, and would get up occasionally, walk over to his bed, and whack him with the pillow to make him roll over. I hear this is the same technique mom has used for years. We headed out to Islands of Adventure. I was excited, because it's a rare experience to go to a completely new park. I visit parks all over the world, and I was more interested in this park then any other in years. Well, I wasn't disappointed! It is a beautiful park! Part of my work is art direction, so I love good themeing and creative approaches to environments, and this park did not disappoint! The Port of Entry is a very creative blend of architecture and kinetics, and sets a great tone for the day. We headed left, and went directly to Marvel Super Hero Island to ride SpiderMan. It is mix of motion simulator, dark ride, and 3D movie, and was very effective mixing of the three technologies. Unfortunately, we had not learned our lesson from the previous day, and Dad got a little wonky again from the motion of the ride. Even though Dad hated it, I thought it was a great ride. We decided to walk around the park until Dad's equilibrium settled down, and enjoyed the detail of the park. It is laid out similar to Epcot's World Showcase around a lake, although it is different in that you rarely see the lake. Most of the 'Islands' or lands turn their back on the water, so you are very immersed in the themeing of the area. I didn't mind a bit. We passed by Dueling Dragons, the intertwined suspended coasters, and decided to give it a try. Dad's Dramamine had kicked in, so he said he was ready. Since there was no wait, we jumped in the regular line. This queue, as well as all the others all day, was incredible. I think Dueling Dragon has one of the best wait areas I've ever seen! You weave your way through a castle, in which the results of the rampaging dragons can be seen. The castle is filled with bones, slimed knights, and all other kinds of spooky effects to build your anticipation. Before riding, you are given the choice to ride the 'Fire' coaster or the 'Ice' coaster. We chose Ice. It was a very good ride- smooth, not jerky, and the effect of the near misses with the other track riders adds a great dimension. For all you other theme fanatics out there, the only disappointment was once the coaster left the station, the themeing ended. The grounds below the coaster looked like it was completely abandoned. Maybe it was to appear ravaged by dragons, but it looked more like it was ravaged by the lack of budget. But I forgive them, because the rest of the park is very beautiful. We made our way all the way around the lake to Seuss Landing, and decided to go on 'The Cat in the Hat.' I figured it would be something calm for Dad, since he still felt a bit out-of-whack from Spider Man. Well, it didn't work out that way. Cat in the Hat is a dark ride that follows the story of the book. You sit on couches, and it moves you through the story- by spinning! Oh, big mistake. Dad doesn't like cats to begin with, and this ride didn't help! However, I'm a big fan of dark rides, and I liked it! Some of the animatronics were a bit weak, but it had captured the feel of Dr. Seuss. My only criticism was that Universal doesn't try to hide their mechanical systems from view that run the animatronics and other effects. This was true as well later in the day on Dudley Do-Rights Rip Saw Falls. Well, Dad was now completely ready to hurl, so we paused for while in the kids water play zone. I was running around trying to see how all the effects worked, and got blasted by a fountain. RATS! Now I was going to be wet for the rest of the day! Dad thought it was funny, so I'm glad I was able to be of some entertainment value. Well, Dad wanted more time to recover from the evil Cat in the Hat, so I went on Spider Man again alone. We had used the hotel keycard to bypass the line the first time, but I decided I wanted to see the themeing of the line this time. It was also well done, and set the tone for the ride, and I got a bonus of seeing the real live Spider Man. He was in the line to take pictures with guests. Dad was feeling better, so we decided to try Dr. Dooms FearFall, which is a pair of tall towers that shoot you up in the air using compressed air. Dad loved it! It is a simple ride, which definitely gives an adrenaline rush. There was some story about how Dr. Doom was sucking fear out of your head, but despite the 3 times we rode it, I could never hear the audio quite right. That was true on many of the rides- the "story" was lost by bad audio, which was usually caused by music being too loud to hear someone speaking. Just a small criticism, but why bother if you can't hear it. Since I was already wet from the fountain, we decided try Dudley Do-Rights Rip Saw falls, which is an elaborate log ride. It was nice, and has some good drops and turns. Again, like the Cat in the Hat, the animatronics' mechanics were very, very visible, which detracted slightly. We both got very wet, so we headed onto Jurassic Park, which is also a water ride. We got about halfway through the ride, and were about to be attacked by meat eating dinosaurs, when the ride stopped. We sat for about 10 minutes until it finally restarted, and we headed up the big hill to be eaten by a Tyrannosaurus. Now comes the bad part of the day. It is no mystery that the ride ends with a big splash down in a pool, with water going everywhere. Well, we headed down the hill, and the boat hit the water, and stopped violently. My head flew forward, and I whacked my nose/upper lip on the padded restraint bar. Yoww! I've gone to parks my entire life, and this was my first injury! I've always heard about stupid people getting hurt because they do stupid things, but I was just sitting there like I was supposed to do! Well, I thought I'd broken my nose, although Dad says I looked Ok. (My modeling career is safe!) But the inside of my face quickly swelled up, and it was hard to breath on the right side! My teeth were also bleeding slightly. My big fear was the meat-eating dinosaurs would smell the blood and attack again! Now, we were all wet, dad was motion sick, and I was bleeding and injured. All I could think was - Time for lunch. We headed to Mythos, because we like to eat at least one 'nice' sit-down meal each day. The restaurant is beautiful, and set on the lake, and is a cross between a wizard's cave and a Cheesecake Factory restaurant. The food was very good- I had chicken, Dad had the cheeseburger. I kept fiddling with my nose, claiming it was broken, but it was starting to feel better. We were both happy that this was a slow lunch where we could both recuperate. Our waitress was very attentive, and we appreciated the time she spent talking with us about the park. Part of this had to do with the fact that there were very few other customers, since the attendance was so low! After lunch, it was time for dueling dragons once again. Dad took more Dramamine, and we tried the 'Fire' side. We waited in the special line for the front seat, which was great- it makes it a much more thrilling ride since you can't see the track, and there is nothing below your feet. Dad found it a bit too thrilling, and decided that next time we would sit farther back. Then we headed to the Hulk coaster. It doesn't have a lift hill, but rather linear induction motors (or some other catapult system) which shoots you out over the lake and through a bunch of twists and turns. Dad liked it, although he thought it was a bit rougher than Dueling Dragons. Then it was time for Poseidon's Fury. This was an unusual attraction, which I really liked. It is basically a walk through, with about 100 of your closest friends. The story was incomprehensible, but was just a framework for a couple of really good effects. I won't spoil them here, but don't let the unintelligible story and clumsy start turn you off. Like the Spider Man ride, it was exciting to see something new and different. The day ended riding favorites again and watching the Sinbad stunt show (some of the same stuntmen from the Universal show). During my final ride through Spider Man, something went wrong, and a lot of the effects didn't work and projections were not running. I didn't mind, because I was able to see how the ride was put together. Despite the motion sickness and facial fracture, both Dad and I really enjoyed Islands of Adventure, and were not disappointed. It was a great mix of theme park and what I call a 'coaster park.' Thrilling rides, good themeing, and lots to do. I hope they are successful with it. After the park closed, we headed out for dinner. Again, Disney beckoned, and we went to Downtown Disney for dinner. We ate at Wolfgang Puck's Express, and looked around shops. I love the Disney Gallery/Art of Disney store, and the Disney Home store, and ended up buying Birthday presents for my nieces and nephews. Dad doesn't like to shop, so after an hour or so we left. We had checked out of the Hard Rock that morning, so we needed find a new place to stay. There was a Comfort Inn in Lake Buena Vista that was inexpensive, and I wanted my own room to get away from Dad's snoring, so we checked their rates. $29 per night sounded good, so we took two nights, and retired to our rooms. My first night of peace and quiet on the trip! Thus ends day 4 Day 5- Friday, January 18 - Celebration and Cirque Du Soleil Today was free day! I forgot to mention earlier that we had no definite schedule for this trip, and were instead just winging it. We decided not to go to a park, but just do some of the things on my 'look around Orlando' list. One of my interests is urban planning, so I wanted to see Disney's town of Celebration, which they had developed on the southern part of their property. Dad dabbles in real estate, so he thought it was a good idea as well. We got a late start, and headed down to Celebration. I was surprised that it was located so close to the clutter of the 192 hotels and other tourist junk around Disney. We headed to downtown Celebration, and parked the car. It is a beautiful city! Yes, it seems a bit Stepford Wife-ish, but that's Ok with me- I could get used to it! Dad saw signs for model homes, so we decided to go through them. The homes were all very well done, and we were very impressed. The realtor said the home sales and development was going so well, that the city would be done 3 years ahead of schedule. Housing costs was higher than comparable homes around Orlando, but it seemed a much more livable community. For lunch, I told Dad that the Animal Kingdom Lodge had a buffet, plus you got to wander the hotel and see live animals. He thought that a great idea, so we made our way to the Lodge. The gate guard at the hotel informed us the buffet was only open for breakfast and dinner, but that we could eat at the food court, so we decided to go ahead. Well, the lodge is beautiful! The food court was just OK. After lunch, we wandered around the hotel, and checked out all the animals on the savannas. Here's a tip: If you go one level below the lobby level, and walk out into the guest wings, there are balconies with great views of the savannas with rocking chairs so you can sit and relax. Dad deemed the hotel very nice, but we wanted to see the rest of the homes in Celebration. So after picking up tickets for the evening performance of Cirque Du Soleil, we headed back to Celebration. The remaining homes were the small cottage style homes, and not as impressive. However, they were still nicely done. We then drove around the far reaches of Celebration, and headed back to Downtown Disney to see Cirque. Now, dad and I had seen Cirque Du Soleil in Las Vegas about 7 years ago, which is the only other trip that he and I had gone on alone (Mom was in London, so us guys decided to go to Vegas). Dad hates theatre, hates new age music, and despises men wearing tights, but for some reason gets past those hang-ups and LOVES Cirque Du Soleil, which has all those! He can't even pronounce it ("That Circus Dooo-Leee Show"). The show was excellent, and was visually, athletically, and emotionally very satisfying. Where else can you see a flock of flying doorways flying above an acrobat with a tail balancing a lit birthday cake on his head! After dinner at Wolfgang Pucks Express, I took Dad back to the hotel, and went back to Downtown Disney to go shopping. I have always enjoyed the attraction posters from Disney World, and they had them available at the Disney Gallery, so I bought a few for my Dining Room. I also bought myself a new Mickey Mouse watch that I had been wanting. My Disney Club card even got me 10 percent off, so I was happy! Oh those Disney people keep getting my money, and I'm not even staying there! And thus ends Day 5 Day 6- Saturday, January 19 - SeaWorld We decided the Comfort Inn in Lake Buena Vista was such a good deal at $29, we would stay another night, even though it was a little rough around the edges. (well, that description is being kind...) However, since the weekend was the Martin Luther King holiday, they informed us the hotel was full- even though it claimed to be the largest Comfort Inn in the world! They said they would be happy to refer us to one of their sister hotels, which are all owned by the same businessman. They wanted to send us to someplace called the Rosen Center for the same rate. Hmmmm.... Well, come to find out, the Rosen Center is a 25-story convention hotel by the Orange County Convention Center on International Drive (the NICE end of International Drive!). Normal rate is closer to $200 per night or more. OYEAH! We'll take 2 rooms! So we settled into our new rooms at the Rosen Center, with our views of South International Drive and Sea World. Although not too fancy- meaning we didn't feel out of place, it is a good, clean, solid hotel, which has an excellent location. We found out later that day, many people know about Comfort Inn's habit of referring people to the Rosen Center, so they will often call the Comfort Inn at times when they think the hotel will be full trying to get the referral (busy weekends, holidays, etc.). That's an excellent tip you can try sometime! So now that we'd wasted the entire morning, we took the free hotel shuttle to Sea World, which was only a few blocks from the hotel. Dad thought Sea World was just a dolphin show with a hot dog stand, but was pleasantly surprised to see it was an entire park. I'd never been to Sea World before, so I had to quickly brush up on my theme park navigation/scheduling skills so we could get the most out of the day. At Sea World, you are given a schedule of all the shows for the day, so I tried to plan out a schedule to see the majority of the attractions before we started. Since it was so late, we decided to eat lunch first. It was odd that even though it was lunchtime, the food service was so slow!! We had to wait for them to make our food, even though they had an extremely limited menu, and could have easily been making it ahead of time. I'm not one who tolerates inefficiency very well! (Here's a tip to the manager of the Sea World restaurants- if all you serve is chicken sandwiches, then don't act surprised when someone orders one!) The first show we saw as called Cirque De La Mer, which was a low budget attempt of Cirque Du Soleil. It was described as Exploring the Mysteries of the Incas, but besides the stage set, it had NOTHING to do with Incas. The show was 35 min long, and had about 10 minutes of athletic acts (very good gymnasts, and some aerial acrobats) and the rest was guest interaction with a funny comedian. He was very good, although his extended 15 min bit about boxing had NOTHING to do with the Incas. I kept thinking "Did the Incas invent boxing?" or maybe they invented comedians? Well, after the entertaining but inconsistent show, we decided it was time to see Shamu. You can't go to Sea World without seeing Shamu! The huge stadium was only about half filled, and Dad and I kept moving around until we found seats that weren't in the "splash zone." All the shows have areas called the splash zone where there is a definite possibility of getting wet. Both Dad and didn't feel the urge to get soaked with water that Shamu had been living in for most of it's life. The whales did the typical tricks- jumping, fin waving, etc... which come to find out is about all that whales can do. I didn't expect them to recite poetry or anything, but I thought they maybe had something new up their sleeves, or fins. Their big trick, which was more fun than I expected, came last. Right before the end of the show, the hosts announced repeatedly, and showed warnings up on the big jumbo-tron, that if you didn't want to get wet, please move to the back of the stadium away from the front 15 rows. This announcement was made probably 10 times, and a lot of people moved to the center mezzanine level. Then, they warned that you can still get wet on the mezzanine, but most people just stayed put. Then out came the really big Shamu (sorry folks, there are lots of Shamus) and proceeded to do its one big trick- Soak the audience! My favorite was watching a lady standing on the mezzanine who thought she was safe get absolutely soaked! I don't know why, but it was fun sitting there watching the audience scream as they got thwapped with Shamu water. After Shamu, we continued on to the other shows. The Dolphins do the same act as Shamu: jump, wave their fins, and then splash the audience. Then we headed to the Clyde and Seamore show (Seal, Walrus, Otter). It was a comedy show with corny jokes that was nicely entertaining. Dad's favorite part was an otter than waved goodbye to the audience. It was actually a pretty good trick because he was out on the stage all by himself, waving for over a minute. Now it was time for some of the rides. I was disappointed to see that the 'Journey to Atlantis' log ride was down for rehab, as was the 'Terrors of the Deep' shark encounter. Both were two attractions that I really wanted to see. However, 'Kraken,' the roller coaster, was running, and had hardly any line. Like the other parks, Sea World had fairly low attendance, so the crowds were light. Dad took his Dramamine, and we boarded Kraken. OOOEEE! What a good coaster! It isn't the fastest, and it isn't the tallest, but it is the loopiest in Orlando, and it's very smooth. It doesn't have any rough spots or jerkiness, which Dad appreciated. He liked it so well, and his Dramamine worked so good, that we rode it 2 more times. We never did figure out exactly what a 'Kraken' was, but I think it was some type of sea eel that would induce vomiting by spinning unsuspecting tourists. We then moved onto the water ski show. The show was very good, and had some impressive stunts, and along with Kraken helped improve our opinion of the park. After the show, we went to 'Wild Arctic,' which is a motion simulator that delivers you to the arctic animal area. Luckily for Dad, they have one simulator that doesn't move, so he was able to get through the exhibit without losing his lunch. I thought it was a very well done exhibit, although I noticed that some of the animals were exhibiting repetitive disorders. Having worked at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, I have become more aware of the toll that caging animals can do to their mental states. Many large animals confined to small environments will begin to repeat behaviors over and over. I was a little disappointed to see such behaviors at Sea World, because I had always assumed they had more resources to help avoid those type of problems. Overall however, I think they do a good job in caring for the animals. Well, for the rest of the day we visited manatees, penguins, and even touched some stingrays (slimy!). As the park was closing, we finally made our way to the Dolphin encounter. Just like you can pet stingrays, Sea World has a dolphin petting area. It is basically a big pool, in which you lean over and stretch out your hand, and try to convince a dolphin to let you pet it. The host of the area told us that the dolphins were tired, and would probably not let us pet them this late in the day. He was right! Those dolphins know exactly how long human arms can stretch, and they swim just inches out of your reach! Well, it was time to go. We decided SeaWorld was a nice, clean park, but not worth a second visit (our tickets were good for two days- buy one day, get the second day free!). Since we could see the tower of our hotel from the Sea World exit, we decide to walk back. Big Mistake! We had forgotten that the toll way was between us and the hotel, and we ended up taking a very long 45 min. walk! We decided this night for supper we would try the Boma African buffet at the Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, since we had missed it the day before. We were able to get a priority seating for 9:15 (it would have been earlier if we had been staying on Disney Property) Dad decided to nap until supper, and I headed out to Point Orlando Mall to see what was up. It is a shopping and entertainment area north of the Orange County Convention Center. Attached to the mall, they had a WonderWorks interactive science/arcade/museum. The building looks like and mansion that has been dropped upside down on a warehouse, and the illusion is done very well. I wandered in to check out the lobby, and was surprised to see a game of Tic Tac Toe in which your opponent was a live chicken. You don't see that every day! On the way back to the hotel, I saw a coral snake in the mall, and a teenage girl was trying to coax it into a plastic cup. Not a smart idea. I headed back to the hotel and grabbed dad, who changed his clothes because he smelled like fish from the dolphin encounter (be careful when you lean on the dolphin ledge!) We drove to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and made our seating. The place was packed! I expected that it would begin to empty out by 9:15, but it was a really hopping place, as was the entire hotel. Our waiter described the food, and how the different buffet stations worked, and we were off. Even though we are both technically low-fat healthy eaters, we threw out that lifestyle for the night and tried everything. The food was not as foreign as I expected. It was basically normal meats and vegetables with unusual spices or presentation. It was very, very good, and were both stuffed. The fact I had 5 desserts and dad had 7 didn't help! The only complaint - a very noisy restaurant! We looked at the animals on the savanna again before we left, and were surprised to see they were out at night, and then headed back to our hotel. And thus ends day 6. Day 7 - Sunday, January 20 - Kennedy Space Center As I said before, we had no schedule, so we decided today to head over to the Kennedy Space Center. After a quick hour drive, we arrived in the parking lot. Last time I was at the Space Center, you paid a small admission to get in, and then bought additional experiences (IMAX movies, tour of the launch sites, etc. ) Now, you pay a flat admission, and you get everything, which is a much, much better system. Again, fairly low crowds greeted us at every location. As always, since we seem to always seem to get a late start, we had lunch first. Then we boarded a bus to go out into the nether regions of the space center. First on the trip was a drive-by of the assembly building, and then a stop at a viewing platform to see the launch sites. Dad kept commenting that 20 years ago, he got to wander around in the assembly building. Times have really changed. Then, we boarded the bus, which took us to the second stop, which was about the Apollo missions and moon landings. I had heard that Disney had assisted with their displays, and this building definitely reflected that- professional presentations mixed with an emotional heart-tug! After a recreation of a launch, you get to see great displays on rockets, the moon landing, and other interesting exhibits. They do a very good job showing the sacrifice and triumph that it took to begin our exploration of space. It made me happy to be an American. We then returned to the visitor center and toured a mock up of the Space Shuttle, a weird exhibit on robots, and a 3D IMAX movie about a city in space. I liked it all, and appreciated the effort to bring space exploration to life. It made me realize how difficult it is to make the complex issues of space travel understandable to the general public. Most people seemed to be more interested in buying mugs at the gift shop than actually learning about our space program (Confession: We bought a mug at the gift shop!) The space center closed around 5:30, and we headed back to Orlando. Because it was our last night in Orlando, I decided to do my traditional last Disney meal, and eat at 'Beaches and Cream' between Disney's Yacht and Beach Club. Dad has always liked eating there as well, so he agreed. Before we ate, we decided to walk around the lake, and see the Boardwalk and other sites. Now, I had seen pictures of the new Mickey's Sorcerer's Hat at the Disney MGM Studios, so I convinced Dad to walk over to the park to take a look at it through the gates. Even though he was tired of walking all day, he agreed, although I may have slightly underestimated how far the walk was. He is so agreeable to do anything, even thought he could care less. Well, I got to see the hat with my own eyes, and although it's fun as a temporary icon, I hope it goes away in a year or two. I'm afraid they'll leave it in place like the Mickey hand and wand on the Epcot's Spaceship Earth. In general, I really like the temporary major transformations they do (like turning the castle into a big pink birthday cake for Disney Worlds 25th anniversary) but think those things are best if taken down when done. My fear is the hat is there to stay. Well, dad was beginning to complain about the walking, so we took the boat launch back to the Yacht and Beach club. We were seated at the counter at Beaches and Cream, and had a great final supper of a burger and chicken sandwich. We topped it off with a Banana Split and a Chocolate Brownie Mudslide (there goes the lo-fat diet again!) I was sad because it was our last night in Orlando, but the ice cream made me feel better! It was time to go back to the hotel to drop off Dad. I decided to go back to Point Orlando, and see a movie (Vanilla Sky). They have a really cool movie theatre called Muvico (or something similar- Muvido? Menudo?) The screens have stadium seating with fold-up armrests, which we don't have at home, and the theatre has a theme! The theme is a child's dream, and the lobby features children's book illustrations that tell a story, and a large blimp/ship hangs from the ceiling below a starry sky. I just love Orlando! Thus ends day 7. Day 8 - Monday, January 21 - Daytona, St. Augustine, Disney's Hilton Head Resort Well, having no schedule, we left late and drove to Daytona. Why you ask? Because I've never been there. Dad goes down every year to a motorcycle convention, but I'd never seen it. Well, I was disappointed. Daytona, especially the area around the pier, was pretty skanky. There were lots of T-shirt shops and fast food places. Dad thought it would be nice to eat on the pier, but the restaurant was closed for the winter season. We ate at a dirty Burger King behind the Adams Mark hotel, and decided to head north up A1A. Happily, Daytona gets better the farther north you go. They had the beach open so you could cruise up and down the strand, and I insisted we do just that. Driving on the beach was fun- windows down, sunroof open, and girls in bikinis! Dad even got into the mood and called my sister in Illinois just to brag, and hold the phone out so she could hear the crashing of the waves. He can be so mean. We decide to stay on A1A and go onto St. Augustine. We arrived in time to experience the first rain of the trip, but decided to tour the fort and old town anyway. St Augustine has the oldest stone fort in the US, as well as a bunch of other of "the oldest fill-in-the-blank" sites. I found it all interesting, and actually learned a thing or two. One thing I learned: even when surrounded by history, all people really want to do is shop! It surprised me to find many of the historic buildings had become tourist shops. After a couple hours, we continued up A1A through Jacksonville, and I pulled out my Disney Club card and coupons, and called to see what kind of rates I could get at Disney's Hilton Head Island resort. Happily, they had a rate of $89 for a one bedroom villa, or $119 for a two-bedroom villa. From the description by the reservation guy, I decided a one-bedroom villa would be enough for the two of us, because the living room had a sleeper sofa. I reserved us a villa for the night, and we headed up to South Carolina. After about 3 hours, we finally arrived on Hilton Head Island after dark. This made it very hard to find the hotel! The reservation guy warned me there would be no signs for the hotel until we were just outside the gate, and he was right. But when we did finally find, it WOW! First, let me describe Hilton Head. It's a large island covered with trees, with nice homes, upscale shopping centers, championship golf courses and hotels hidden in every nook and cranny all over the island. You can barely see anything because it's all built in and around the trees and marshes, and feels very natural. On top of that most of the island areas are in gated communities called plantations, so it can be difficult to get around. In fact they warn in the hotel literature that you can get heavy fines if they find you in areas that you are not suppose to be! Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort is on a small peninsula/island with a marina cove on one side, and natural marshland on the other. The hotel is built under and around old palmetto trees and live oaks dripping with moss. There are about 20 buildings of various sizes housing the villas, and there is a central pool building and main lodge for the various resort activities. It reminded me, sorta, of the Disney Institute and Tree Houses, in that you feel very removed from everything, even though you are not. After a quick check-in, we drove to our room (Building 19, close to parking) Very, very nice! It had an entry way with washer and dryer, kitchen and living room with a big TV and all appliances, as well as a small deck. The bedroom had a king bed, entry to the deck, and a bathroom with a whirlpool tub and additional vanity. Overall, the spacious villa had the feel of a South Carolina low country fishing lodge. I was impressed! No restaurants on property were open this late, so we went out for pizza. Dad was tired, so he retired to his room, and I decided to walk around the property. It was so peaceful, and the marsh area was very tranquil with stars overhead (I don't think I've ever appreciated a marsh before!) It was also at this time I realized why we had such a good rate- there was hardly anyone else on property. I had been walking around for about a 1/2 hour and hadn't seen a soul! After checking out the marsh, main lodge, and the marina, I went back and went to bed. I was happy! Thus ends day 8. Day 9 - Tuesday, January 22 - Hilton Head, Savannah, Drive Home With the sunshine, we could see the property much better, and dad agreed that it was very, very nice. For those of you keeping score, that's the fourth hotel he's thought was 'nice.' We decided to check out Disney's Beach House, which gives you access to the beach. The beach house is about a mile across the island. It is in a restricted area, so you have to use a special pass if you take your car, or the hotel will drive you over. You can also rent a bike, or walk if you wish. The beach house was very nice. It has a pool, changing rooms, small snack bar (closed for the season) and a gathering space with free popcorn and hot chocolate. Dad and I grabbed a couple cups of popcorn and decided to check out the beach. Hilton Head has beautiful beaches, some of the most beautiful in the US. This time of year it is a bit too cold to swim, but it was still nice seeing the water and walking in the sand. Hilton Head has fine white sand beaches, and fairly natural coastline, which supports a lot of wildlife like sea turtles (unlike Daytona where you can drive your car on the beach). They also have seagulls, which have quickly learned that Disney gives away free popcorn, and they are waiting there for the next unsuspecting group to show up! Dad and I were basically attacked by the seagulls, as were every group that came onto the beach from the beach house. It was hilarious seeing the birds move on to each new group that emerged, and the reaction of the people. Dad has a history of feeding seagulls pizza at resorts in Mexico, so he was demonstrating to me an others on the beach how a flying gull will eat right out of your hand. Well, he claimed they don't bite, but I must have gotten a bird of little brain, because it bit my finger! That was the last popcorn they got from me! While back in the beach house, we got some more popcorn and hot chocolate, and played a game of checkers. I can see how relaxing this resort can be, and is a nice change of pace from DisneyWorld hotels. However, the point of this trip was not to relax (I can do that at work!), so we moved on. Since we had a car pass for this area of the island, we decided to check it out. The homes were all very nice, and many overlooked either golf courses or the ocean. We found an open house, and decided to take a look. The realtor informed us the townhouses we were touring were on the last oceanfront property on the island, and the house we were in was priced at $3.5 million (!) I'll take three! Well, after passing up that real estate opportunity, we decided to head down to Savannah, Georgia for the rest of the day. I had always heard and seen a lot about the historic city, and wanted to see it for myself. It was the setting for movies and books (Forrest Gump, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) and is known for being one of the most beautiful cities in the south. It was one of the few major Southern cities that weren't burned during the civil war. Well, we drove down, stopped at the visitor center, and got walking tour map. The historic district of Savannah is built around small squares- about 30 in all. Most are surrounded by old homes and churches, and are filled with large live oaks dripping with moss. Some have fountains or statues, and some even have burial plots of famous southerners. I was disappointed by how much encroachment there had been in the district. The central area was very nicely preserved, with lots of restoration going on, but the edges had been severely compromised. One square was even gone, being replaced by a parking garage! Reading more about the city, I learned their preservation and restoration efforts have only been appreciated recently, so I hope they are able to have many years to continue the work they have started. Dad wasn't impressed, and we both agreed that we would rather live in Hilton Head. We decided to hit the road, and try to get to Chattanooga that night, so we could arrive home the next day in decent time. I won't go into detail about supper (a Hooters outside Savannah- hey we're two guys, what do you expect!) and the drive onto Macon, Atlanta, and Chattanooga was uneventful, except for a huge rainstorm. Atlanta driving is bad enough without a downpour to complicate matters. We stopped in Chattanooga at the King Lodge for the night ($29 per night!) DO NOT STAY AT THE KING LODGE!!! I repeat DO NOT STAY AT THE KING LODGE!!!! What a pit! I was scared that I'd catch some awful disease from the sheets, and dad thought it was so gross he didn't even use the pillows. However, they did get a nice selection of cable TV channels! The glass is always half full to me. Thus ends day 9 Day 10 - Wednesday, January 23 - Nashville / Home After a bad night at King Lodge, we drove onto Nashville. We decided our last hurrah of the trip would be to look around downtown Nashville. After driving around and getting lost, we found the Ryman Auditorium- previous home of the Grand Old Opry, and parked the car. They have very nice walking tours of the downtown, and restaurants with live country music. You can determine our taste in music by where we ate- the Hard Rock Café. I thought it appropriate because we ate at the Hard Rock Café in Orlando at the beginning of our trip, and this was a nice bookend at the end. We then got in the car, and headed home to Central Illinois. Seven hours later, there were no more trees dripping moss, no more white sand beaches, no more splashing whales, no more rockets to the moon, no more acrobats with birthday cakes on their heads, no more dinosaurs with attitude, and no more 30 foot monkeys with banana breath to attack our car. There wasn't even a nice maid to pick up our towels from the bathroom floor. We were home. Well, it was nice getting to spend time with my Dad, and I appreciate the fact that we could spend 10 days together without getting on one another's nerves. I don't think many families could do that! I also was glad to see a lot of what Orlando has to offer outside the Disney parks. However, next time I'll probably be back staying on property and visiting their parks exclusively. They'd better watch their backs however, because Universal is trying hard! Our waitress at Universal even told us they were working on the plans for a yet un-named third gate. I'll be there when it opens! If you've actually read this whole report, I hope you were able to learn a few things to help you on your trip. Also, if you've actually gotten this far, I think you deserve a medal! (or a good psychiatrist to assist you with some kind of obsessive disorder!) Till next time... Good Things
Bad Things:
Steven Varble Slvarble99@cs.com Mail a Comment to Steven Varble |
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