Florida - great to visit but wouldn't want to live there

The parks at a glance! We hit the major 3 parks in this trip: Disney’s Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) and the Animal Kingdom; Universal’s Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Citywalk and finally Sea World.

Disney wins the Theme Park Wars hands down but their margin is not as great as it used to be. The afore discussed line jumping was a big disappointment to me. This used to be one place where you could count on everything being fair. The people at Disney are still tops in the friendly/helpful area. They will go way beyond helping you. When we were in the Animal Kingdom, we had a really great turnover made with puff pastry and cherry pie filling. It was huge and just marvelous. We never saw anything like that again. On our last day at Disney, we had 3 days of tickets left ($2/day). We wanted to see the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom and ride Space Mountain which had broken down the day we were there. That day, a Saturday, was also the only day of the week that they did not have the fireworks. Instead they had a special Princess and Pirate party. This required us to return to see the fireworks but that wasn’t a problem as we had bought some extra days for little money. We had 1 park a day tickets and figured that we could move around as long as we were willing to burn a day’s ticket for each park…..NOT! I inquired before we set off to the outer parks and discovered that 1 park a day meant 1 park a day. The computer system would not allow you to burn multiple tickets to enter a second park on a given day. Once you put your ticket in the machine, you were basically done for the day. You might not even be allowed to return to the park you entered without some gyrations. When we expressed our disappointment as we told them we wanted to return to the Animal Kingdom to seek out another of these delectable turnovers, they started making phone calls to find us turnovers. We waited for about 15 minutes while they made several phone calls trying different schemes to get us turnovers. When we finally told them to forget it, they were trying to set up a deal where we would take the bus over to the Animal Park and would be met by one of the staff at the bus with 2 cherry turnovers and 2 coffees. We said that was just too much of an effort on both their part and ours and I was sure we would find something nearly as good right there in the Magic Kingdom. Our actual plan was to go to the Animal Kingdom and get our turnovers and coffee and then go to MGM and ride the Tower of Terror which we had missed when we were there and grab a second trip on the Rock and Roll(er coaster) which has a great start on the flat with an acceleration of 0 to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds. Since we could only use 1 ticket, we headed into the Magic Kingdom and searched out bakeries. We did find turnovers! They weren’t exactly the same but were close enough. They were a traditional turnover folded completely over the filling whereas the ones we liked were only folded over a ways and the filling was mostly on the top. These had sugar sprinkled over the top so they were definitely good. They also inspired me to buy some puff pastry in the grocery store and some Polaner Allfruit Jam and make some at the Condo. They were great and at the end, I bought some blackberry pie filling to make another batch but never got to it. Sniff!

The MK was busy the first day we spent there. It was a Saturday and we found that there were no fireworks due to the Princess and Pirate Party. The big promotion going on at Disney honors all of the Disney Princesses. The little girls in the park, got princess make overs and bought princess costumes and got all dolled up as their favorite Disney Princess. The park was full of these little princesses. They were so cute. The boys had pirate stuff but we did not see anywhere near as much pirate costumes. They did have Mickey Mouse ears with a pirate bandana over the top hanging down the side and an ear ring in the mouse ear.

While I am on the mouse ears, they seem to have made a comeback. The last couple of times I was there, they were around but were not in great numbers. This time, there were dozens of different types of ears and I really think I saw more on Adults than kids. Among the cutest was a spring band with white mouse ears and a bridal veil down the back. There were some that were blue with white clouds, silver with shiny mirrored ears and even some with characters faces on the ears.

The first day, we took the train around to Frontier Land to avoid the obvious crowds on Main Street. The Thunder Mountain Railroad is still one of my favorites. Splash Mountain was closed for work (I think it was closed the last time I was there). The Hall of Presidents still evokes an emotional response but the Country Bear Jamboree is pretty dated.

Over in Tomorrowland, Space Mountain was broken (down all day). The Alien Encounter had scared so many small children it had been changed to a much lighter ride with Stitch. The ride itself had few physical changes but the story line and the intensity had been lightened up considerably.

The Carousel of Progress broke down while we were on it leaving us hanging between sections of the exhibit watching both at once (when we moved at all). They had a Chinese noodle restaurant but it was closed. There was on really clever ride though. It was based on Monsters Inc and had the little one eyed round character as the host of a stand up comedy club. The whole show was animated but the animated characters interacted live with the audience. That was really cool! The jokes were 8 year old but the effect of the interaction between the animated characters and the audience was compelling.

Pirates of the Caribbean while celebrating its 40th anniversary, has been updated to include Captain Jack Sparrow from the movies that were inspired by the ride. Everything has come full circle. The ride is still fun.

On Saturday, we watched the character parade. When we came back for the fireworks, we discovered that there was also an illumination parade. I had forgotten that one. It was really fun with all the floats and characters covered in lights. They turn down the park lights so the parade lights are even more spectacular. About a half hour after the illumination parade came the fireworks. We watched the illumination parade from Frontier Land and then wandered over to the square in front of Cinderella’s Castle for the fireworks. That was the right thing to do. The show opened with Tinkerbelle riding a wire from the castle down towards Tomorrowland. The fireworks were synchronized to music with a “When you Wish Upon a Star” theme. I really felt like a kid during this show like no other time in the parks. They played the song and fired off the fireworks behind the castle giving the whole scene a surreal look. I stood there with my mouth open and a hint of moisture in the corner of my eye. Cheryl suffered similarly. The MK is the heart of Disneyworld but I distinctly felt that it is being kidded down. The new additions are child oriented; at least one ride was “kidded down”. Tomorrowland in general is more child oriented and Mickey’s Toon Town has been added on the other side.

Epcot hasn’t changed much since I was there with a couple of exceptions. The GM Test Track tries to give you an idea of what it is like to hurtle around an automobile test facility. They run through some bump, turning and braking maneuvers before speeding everything up and throwing you into consecutively steeper and faster banked portions of the track. It had a good feel for the progressively steeper and faster banked portions of the track.

The other ride was called “Soaring”. You were placed in an airplane like seat and strapped in. The scenario played out like a plane taking off at which time the rows of seats went from being in front of each other to above and below each other. The rider was then placed into an IMAX type environment with a rounded screen above, below and around the sides. You seemed to be suspended in several situations allegedly between New York and San Francisco. Wind blew allowing you to believe you really were flying across the countryside. Nice ride, long line. We used the FastPass for this one. The listed wait was in excess of an hour. The FastPass listed time was 2 hours. We got our passes and then hit the other show in that building and then headed over to the next building for “Honey, I shrunk the Kids”. This hadn’t changed much from the last time we were here but was still entertaining. It was a 3D show where the audience is shrunk and everything on the screen gets really big.

I covered the Animal Kingdom and the Disney Hollywood Parks in the second installment so I won’t duplicate them here. One thing I would like to add about the Animal Kingdom Park is the Tree of Life. This huge tree is the centerpiece of the park. Everything else is built around it. The Bug’s Life 3D show is housed within the tree and the line winds its way through the roots of the tree giving you a great view of the “carvings”. There were pseudo-carvings of all manner of animals, bugs, and all manner of creatures. It is truly spectacular and gives you something to marvel at while you are waiting. Did I mention the turnovers??

I briefly covered Seaworld but here is a little more. They have mixed a few rides into their repertoire of live shows. The live shows continue to be their strong points and you could easily ignore the rides. They have a water ride and a coaster. Kraken is the coaster and it is a pretty good ride. There was no line at all here but there was a moderate line at the water ride.

The sea lion show had a pirate theme and was kind of hokey. The dolphin show was excellent and, of course, the headlining Shamu show “Believe” was excellent and certainly worth waiting for. Shark Encounter is still rather spectacular as you ride a conveyer belt in a tube through the shark filled tank. The Water-ski show was not operating although the stadium and boats were there. It was a pleasant day and nice at the end since the parking was all within walking distance and there were no long lines to get onto park transportation like you found in Disney (of course, the park is much smaller and draws smaller crowds).

The universal complex is unique. It has 3 with 2 parks and a central common area of restaurants and clubs. The Universal Studios section is directly related to the making of movies. The rides and shows are all movie or movie making oriented. Disaster is an old ride with a new front end. They show you all about making special affects disasters and then put you in the middle of one. The disaster is the old part of the ride and puts you in a subway station when the disaster strikes. There was a monster makeup show that was entertaining but a little condescending to its audience. The “Jaws” ride was old and tired. Alien Encounter (Men in Black) hadn’t changed but was still fresh and entertaining. You are given a ray gun and sent into an environment rich in Alien targets. At the end, you are given a score based on your ability to shoot the aliens instead of just looking at them. I turned out to be the best alien hunter in our group with scores of 30,000 to 70,000 and me with 770,000. No bragging, just facts!!

The second park is Islands of Adventure. While this is still movie oriented, it consists of more mainstream rides doctored up to resemble movies. Their best coaster is the “Hulk”, a coaster with a first climb that looks rather ordinary but utilizes Air Craft Carrier Launch (like) technology. I believe that the fastest part of the ride is the top of the first hill. You then corkscrew off the top of the hill and the rest of the ride is pretty normal. They also have a side by side hanging coaster where your car comes within a few feet of the other coaster’s cars. You climb the first hill side by side with the other car. It is a pretty good ride but does thrash you around a little more than the Hulk.

There is a Jurassic park section with a ride through a Jurassic park section. There is also a great log flume ride. One of the best I have seen. The final drop is tops.

Citywalk is the central part with the restaurants and clubs. There is a lot to do here. Emeril has a restaurant there. Reservations are recommended although they claim that they take some walk-ins each night. The chef (not Emeril) was giving the wait staff their instructions and telling them about the night’s menu while we were walking past. We did not eat there this trip but we did the last time we were there. We still list that dinner as our best dining experience.

Well, that about wraps up our trip. The trip home was fairly uneventful. We set out to see how far we could get on Saturday. We wanted to be home for the Super Bowl. At 10:30 pm, we were still driving and were within 5 hours of home so we decided to keep on rolling. As soon as we made that decision, we hit bottom and the rest of the trip was quite painful. We did get home at about 6:30 am and went to bed. The game shall remain undiscussed but the good news was that we got our car back (remember the Toyota in section 1) on Wednesday. Ben’s Auto Body in Portsmouth, New Hampshire is the best place to do business with. They took charge while we were gone and we had the car back soon after we returned.

We are in deep planning for our next trip. We are planning on leaving in the middle of April and have reduced to options to 2: back to Alaska or down to the Southwest. Lots of good reasons to go in either direction but no decision yet.

See you back here real soon.

C&C

Paradise has its shortcomings!

Another gorgeous day in paradise! It is really nice to take a day off from having fun and just relax. Company is coming at noontime. This is the same cousin that we went to the Cape with last spring. They come to Florida from Michigan each winter to get away from the Michigan cold. We will spend a couple of days visiting parks with them and just visit to catch up on old times, family and friends.

The weather here has been pretty decent. The locals complain because it is cold but we are decked out in our shorts and light sweatshirts. The temperatures have been in the 50s and 60s with occasional ventures into the low 70s in the mid afternoon. For a brief time each day, we remove the sweatshirts and cavort in just t-shirts. The afternoon they arrived, we spent sitting around one of the many pools here in the complex. Some of them may be heated but this one wasn’t and the only people there sat in the sun. Other pools had people in them telling me they might be heated.

The next morning, we headed to Seaworld. Jan and Dave wanted to visit Shamu. We drove in and got a parking place right next to the entrance. We walked in, got our map and schedule and attacked the park. The first thing on the agenda was a sea lion show with a pirate theme. It was decent if not hokey. I have sensed a theme around the various parks that has changed many of the shows to kiddie level plot lines. More on that later. Shamu was only scheduled to perform twice in the whole day so we set up a schedule based on attending the 1:30 pm show. Our schedule based on this one event moved us willy-nilly around the park. I am not sure how many times we crossed the park but it was not the best way the attack the park. The show schedule said we should be at the Shamu 45 minutes before the show but there were not many people in the park so we got there 15 minutes early and were shut out (small crowd, 5500 seat theater?? Go figure!) Later, we were told that the early show always fills up in case people don’t want to stay for the end of the day.

I have noticed, by this time, that there are way more places to eat and buy things in all of the parks. They have all added more upscale places to eat which include meals rather than just fast food. Salads and wraps and ribs and smoked turkey legs have all made an appearance pushing the dogs, burgers and chicken nuggets into the back ground (don’t feel badly though, those fast food items are still big sellers.) There was a Chinese noodle restaurant in Tomorrowland but it was not open the Saturday we were there. One park (Universal) even had a food plan where for 19.95 for adults and 9.95 for children you could eat all day in various selected eateries.

Which gets me to “FastPass”? Years ago, FastPass was set up so that people wouldn’t have to always wait in long lines to get on the rides or shows. You were given a ticket with a magnetic strip when you arrived in the park and could put this ticket into any FastPass machine at a specific ride and get a ticket that was good at some future time of the day. You would then come back and go on the ride without waiting in the long lines that were always formed at these popular rides. I seem to remember that you could have 2 of these tickets outstanding at any given time. Disney still has the FastPass system in place but you are only allowed one ticket at a time. Before you get your ticket, there is a screen that tells you when you will be able to come back. They give you an hour’s grace (e.g. 12 to 1) and you may then go off and do something else while your imaginary surrogate stands in the line for you. This is still a good system. It allows you to bypass the lines for popular items but still see them. It is regulated by you only being allowed to have one out at a time so you can only use 4 or 5 of them in a day. Of course, someone has found a way to take that away from you and make it available to anyone with money. Universal took away the general FastPass system and put one in place that you pay for. With their FastPass system, you buy a FastPass and can use it to go to the head of any line; all day. As near as I can tell from a chatroom, it is $40 for Universal and $50 for Islands of Adventure. The FastPass is a single park ticket above and beyond the entrance fee. The universal FastPass people not only get in line ahead of you, they seem to get all of the front row seats in the shows. I am not sure that I like that.

While I am complaining, there was one more thing that bugged me. In the past, Disney has been the best keeper of the lines that I have ever seen. There were no shenanigans in the lines at Disney. There was definitely no cutting in line. That seems to have changed. There were two major types of line jumping; big groups and small groups. The big tour groups, predominantly South American, travel through the park in large groups using one or more “leaders” with triangular flags on sticks. These groups consist of children I would estimate from 10 to 14 years of age. They are simaliarly dressed (there were yellow, electric green, black with red, etc.. They travel in a large pack throughout the park at a high rate of speed. Once they get near a ride or show, the front section with a leader will speed up and pass groups of people and turn into the ride. Then, the leader will block the entrance until all of their numbers are in the line. Any stragglers cut the line to join up with their group. The other group is the small group consisting of one or more families traveling together. The parents will get in line and the kids will go off to some other ride. When the parents get close to the front of the line, they will call the kids on their cell phone and they will jump the line to get up with their parents. The parents don’t have to put up with the kids complaining about having to stand in line and the kids, well they don’t have to wait turn. Without trying to be prejudicial, 90% of all of these people spoke Spanish. Disney, who would never have allowed this in the past, seems to turn a blind eye to it these days.

Guess I’ll take a break and come back with a better attitude.


We have had a great time with our Pats Shirts. One or the other or both of us has worn them pretty much all of the time. We get comments from both Pats fans and Giants Fans. At this point in the season (week before Super Bowl), everyone is either a Pats Fan or a Giants fan as those are the only two teams left playing. In one park, one of the bag checkers sent Cheryl to a Non-existent line against a wall where there was nothing else. She looked confused but did as she was told. She looked funny standing there all by herself. The man then started laughing and waved her back to the line. He said he was a Giants fan and was from NY and couldn’t resist. They both had a good laugh and became friends for life. We have gotten these reactions everywhere except that there are more Pats fans and we are in the majority.

The Backpack has become the most used carry device everywhere we went. There are small ones and big ones and some that look like you could spend a couple of weeks in the wilderness. They are more than just carrying bags. They are weapons. People will wedge into a small space sideways and then turn and back up making enough room for their entire family. Backpacks are a little like driving the motorhome. If you do not have a good concept for the size of the entire unit you can cause mayhem around you.

We hit everything we wanted to: Disney (4 parks), Universal (2 parks and Citywalk) and Seaworld (just one lonely park). We did avoid the water rides (nuff said). I hit every coaster in sight. Cheryl hit most of them but did take a pass on a couple.

Well, here we are on the road again, headed home. All trips must come to an end. I have been a little lax about writing as the weeks went on but I will try to catch up in the next segment. We just crossed over into Georgia leaving Florida behind. We had a really good time but were busy most of the time. We struggled to take a few days just to sit around and use the resort’s facilities but failed miserably. We did use 3 of the resort’s pools (there were 5) but just sat around in the sun 2 of the times. Yesterday, we did hit the “other” pool in our complex; the heated one. Cheryl went in but I sat reading my book soaking up the rays. The pool was quite warm but few people were there as the weather was not ideal. We started getting things packed in the early am and about 11:00 changed to go to the pool. While Cheryl was gathering up her things, I stepped outside to find it pretty dark. So dark, in fact, that I checked my glasses to see if I had my sunglasses on. At about the same time I realized that I didn’t have them on, I noticed raindrops on the glasses. I started laughing out loud as I noticed that it was raining. Cheryl opened the door and said: “that laugh can only mean one thing…its raining!”

Later on, we went to the pool in bright sunshine. There was a hot tub at the pool and a sauna as well. I checked out the sauna. It was pretty nice and hot. Unfortunately, my doctors have recommended not using them (or hot tubs for that matter). We also used the basketball court. I hadn’t shot baskets since I left Birch Drive (14 or 15 years ago??) (longer for Cheryl) It didn’t take long for the pain to set in. We moved up to the tennis court but were already pretty much done in. There was a nice beach volleyball facility but there were only 2 of us. We watched a couple of teenagers try to play one on one and didn’t figure to try that one.

We checked out at 5 am. The desk was staffed but the person who was staffing it did not seem to know how to use the equipment. He was unable to give us a receipt. He spent about 10 minutes trying and then gave up. I will have to check the computer in a few days to make sure they charged it correctly. I did check the bill as of yesterday and it was ok (if you call $3.99 a day for a resort fee to cover things relatively few people use ok).

The road up through Orlando was quiet. A few trucks and some cars bur not too much else. This section of Interstate 4 is usually very busy regardless of the time. I could not get comfortable in the car and turned the driving over to Cheryl right after we hit 95 in Daytona. We soon took a break and got coffee and something to eat. My blood sugar was somewhat out of control and once I checked it, took some insulin and ate a small bite. That seemed to make me feel a lot better. I have had trouble with my blood sugar on this trip. Eating out a lot has been rough. I really have to get everything back in line. I tend to be a lot looser on what I eat when I travel and eat out a lot. In Alaska, we were on the road for 4 months but didn’t eat out much. We had trouble finding some of the special foods that I use but it was much easier to control the blood sugar.

I am going to send this off and drive for a while. When I come back, I will talk about the parks. See y’all in a while.

C