KevinTHFC
16-08-2004, 18:53
Well day 10 was the day after Charley.
We thought we would have a morning at Sea World. Going south on the 27 towards the I4 we noticed a number of trees and signs that had been blown down, for example the bottom half of the McDonalds sign just before the I4 junction was missing. I realised we were a little low on petrol but was not too concerned as there are plenty of petrol stations around Sea World. The dirve up the I4 was incredible not only for the damage that could be seen but also for the sheer weight of traffic handing out of Orlando back to Tampa. Cars were bumper to bumper all the way from the 27 junction upto north of Sea World and I guess beyond. We assumed that these were people who evacuated from Tampa to Orlando, with hindsight I bet they wished they stayed in Tampa.
The Sea World area appeared to suffer quite a lot of damage and when we got there the power was off and the park was closed, decided to go to the Mall at Millenia as that was further North and most damage seemed to be the West. But first we needed some fuel.This started to become a concern when all the garages in the area had fuel but no electricty. All of the traffic lights in the immediate area were also out and drivers seemed to resort to four way stops at all junctions which was a great idea as this really helped the traffic to flow. At some of themore major junctions there were policemen, state troopers etc helping the flow.
Much to my relief we finaly found a petrol station open and filled up. Bought an Ipod as an early christmas present for Nick - seemed good value at $299 for a 20gb from the Apple store at Millenia.
Thought we would spend the afternoon at the pool, not a good idea for although the weather was fine in the morning it was pretty rough in the afternoon for long periods of time with repeated Tornado warnings fo Polk County.
Day 10 decided to have an early start and get to Universal for opening time. The crowds were very light and we headed straight for Shrek 4D which was great, then whizzed around ET, MIB (several times),Jaws and the joined the 15 minute queue for the Mummy with Lauren whilst the wimps headed off to childrens play area. I could not believe how big the queing area is for the Mummy ride it just stretches on and on and on. However, we just continued walking until we reached the area with the steps and joined the end of the queue. Lauren was very nervous but I had convinced her she would enjoy it and I was really looking forward to our first ride on the Mummy. Then disaster... the ride was having technical difficulties that they were investigating... 15 minutes later we gave up queing and headed out to find the others. Major Bummer! The weather had been superb all morning so we headed back to the villa for a swim and a relax. Wrong again, the weather changed and chucked it down all afternoon.
Kevin
We thought we would have a morning at Sea World. Going south on the 27 towards the I4 we noticed a number of trees and signs that had been blown down, for example the bottom half of the McDonalds sign just before the I4 junction was missing. I realised we were a little low on petrol but was not too concerned as there are plenty of petrol stations around Sea World. The dirve up the I4 was incredible not only for the damage that could be seen but also for the sheer weight of traffic handing out of Orlando back to Tampa. Cars were bumper to bumper all the way from the 27 junction upto north of Sea World and I guess beyond. We assumed that these were people who evacuated from Tampa to Orlando, with hindsight I bet they wished they stayed in Tampa.
The Sea World area appeared to suffer quite a lot of damage and when we got there the power was off and the park was closed, decided to go to the Mall at Millenia as that was further North and most damage seemed to be the West. But first we needed some fuel.This started to become a concern when all the garages in the area had fuel but no electricty. All of the traffic lights in the immediate area were also out and drivers seemed to resort to four way stops at all junctions which was a great idea as this really helped the traffic to flow. At some of themore major junctions there were policemen, state troopers etc helping the flow.
Much to my relief we finaly found a petrol station open and filled up. Bought an Ipod as an early christmas present for Nick - seemed good value at $299 for a 20gb from the Apple store at Millenia.
Thought we would spend the afternoon at the pool, not a good idea for although the weather was fine in the morning it was pretty rough in the afternoon for long periods of time with repeated Tornado warnings fo Polk County.
Day 10 decided to have an early start and get to Universal for opening time. The crowds were very light and we headed straight for Shrek 4D which was great, then whizzed around ET, MIB (several times),Jaws and the joined the 15 minute queue for the Mummy with Lauren whilst the wimps headed off to childrens play area. I could not believe how big the queing area is for the Mummy ride it just stretches on and on and on. However, we just continued walking until we reached the area with the steps and joined the end of the queue. Lauren was very nervous but I had convinced her she would enjoy it and I was really looking forward to our first ride on the Mummy. Then disaster... the ride was having technical difficulties that they were investigating... 15 minutes later we gave up queing and headed out to find the others. Major Bummer! The weather had been superb all morning so we headed back to the villa for a swim and a relax. Wrong again, the weather changed and chucked it down all afternoon.
Kevin