Short Trip Report Pt.2 - 2nd Week

[phaedra]

We had hoped the parks would be quieter the second week but we were wrong!. Once again waiting times for the larger rides were around 1 hour with Universals Fast Passes selling out around 10:30 - 11:00.

Once again we opted for the 'late start do 1/2 a day' option for most days but made the effort to go to Universal early on Thursday to get passes for Shrek. We went for relaxing visits seeing the shows and leaving most of the rides to those willing to stand in 86f for an hour!.

SeaWorld was as usual the quieter park and we did 3 afternoons/evenings here taking in the Shamu Rocks America show and Odyssea. We also did the Saving a Species Tour which cost $50 for 4 of us (with AP discount), this lasted an hour and was almost interesting!, we saw a few manatee and dolphins in their pools but the only contact with the animals was feeding a very small dish of live grubs and fruit to about 15 birds at the end of the tour, Miriam kept getting grubs dropped on her by the birds and Charlotte wouldn't go in the bird cage at all!. Next time we'll try the Predators Tour and report back on that.

Having had our plans for spending time with our friends in Spring Hill messed up we rang Katie to ask if she could use the microwave we'd bought when she went to Kentucky, after a chat with Katies mom we took a second trip to Spring Hill (97miles each way!) on the Friday morning and left it with them, Katie had left at 6am for the 800 mile drive to Kentucky!. We decided to do Weeki Waachi Park and pulled into the car park around 12:30, checked the notice board and the park closed at 3:30 so $85 for about 3 hours?, a quick family meeting and we decided to head for Homosassa Park instead!. We drove off up the I-19 with no map and about 1/2 hour later found the park. $50 to get in but we got coupons to save 20% off our next visit.

Homosassa Park is home to 7 female manatees, a collection of aligators, panthers, owls, otters and various other animals including several million squirells which seemed to be everywhere!. It's a nice place for a quiet day out and take a picnic lunch etc. The park is very nicely kept and there is a small but informative educational building with lots of interesting stuff for adults and kids to look at. We had lunch in the restaurant which had a fair range of food and was reasonably priced (National Trust take note!), we had the usual burgers/fries/corn dogs/sodas and everyone was happy!, the burgers were handmade and came with lettuce & onion with all the sauces etc. being available for you to put on or not as required, a much better idea we thought!.

Having spent 1/2 a day happily we decided to head back to the hotel as I didn't fancy getting lost when it got dark!, we stopped at a Walmart on the way and picked up hot munchies for the trip back, chicken strips, corn dogs and potato wedges. Another quick stop for gas and a very large hot chocolate and a coffee for $1 each and we were on our way getting back to the hotel around 9pm to find they hadn't fixed the dead AirCon which we'd reported the previous day

After several calls to reception the engineer finally turned up, opened the access panel in the bathroom and whacked the motor which spang into life, it then worked for all of 5 mins and died again. After a few more calls we were told it couldn't be fixed and we would have to move rooms if we didn't want to bake, so at 10:30 we moved, all the way to the room next door!, luckily we'd packed most of the cases etc. on Thursday evening as we didn't want to start packing after being out all day on Friday.

Saturday morning we did a final shopping trip for odds & ends we'd forgotten and spent a coupe of hours in SeaWorld having an ice cream and watching the dolphins. The trip to Sanford was quiet and the I-4 was trouble free.

Arriving at Sanford we dropped off the van and headed for check-in, 'did we know our fight was delayed?' well we did now!, it was delayed 2 & 3/4 hours!. MyTravel check-in were remarkably unhelpful, not only had they lost any trac

[steph_goodrum]

Jeff
Glad you had a good time.
It sounds like there is one other thing that would would have made the holiday, why not try a villa instead of an hotel and you can really get some r&r in as well. Theres nothing worse than when some of the family want to sleep and you darent put the tv on etc. I'm usually up first and on the occasions weve used hotels I'm usually up andout for a walk around 6-7 as I dont adjust to the time very well rather than sit in the room trying not to disturb hubby and daughter.
At least with a villa you have all your facilities there and more than you would get in an hotel (especially the pool). It makes the whole experience so much better for everyone.

[Rhosyn]

I agree never adjust to the time until 4-5 days later, I'm up at 3 in the morning and have a swim, then watch t.v cup of tea or 4 have another swim, and wake everybody at about 7 to go to the parks, villa every time.:)[msnsmile] best time to have a swim dark and the pool to yourself.. can not beat it.

[Jules]

Great report Jeff, i agree with Steph and Beryl, you'll hve to try a villa next time.
I also agree with you regarding charter flights and i'm only 5'3''. Also found the staff at My Travel desk at Sanford very unhelpful when they couldn't find any record of the car upgrade we had arranged in the UK, it took an hour of arguing and waving of My Travel receipts before we got what we had paid for. We wrote a letter of complaint to the UK head office and didn't even get an apology, guess who we don't fly with any more!!

[steph_goodrum]

We enjoyed Homossassa Springs when we went last year Phaedra, it was Christmas and they were doing decorated trees in one area. Different groups had a small christams tree to decorate and they had obviously put a lot of effort into their designs, some were schools, or other group organisations or family trees and some in memory of lost loved ones etc but it was nice to look at them all especially as there were a few groups working on them when we were there.

Was the hippo still there?

[phaedra]

Hi Steph :)

No sign of a Hippo (apart from Miriam bending over now and again!) :)

We've had villas before, but with just the 2 "little ones" and it being in school hols the hotel was a much cheaper option.

We're looking at a combination for our return in December, 6 nights in various hotels while we run around between Kissimmee, Tampa & Spring Hill and then 2 weeks in a villa.

The only problem is with Christmas being on a Saturday this year, for the best combination of prices and flights, BA to Gatwick then US Airways to Orlando via Charlotte with 34" seat pitch :) we've come up with going between the 10th and 30th, I've sent a couple of enquiries for 3 bed villas for the 16th to the 30th but I'm not hopefull!. Next option is somewhere like the Marriott Residence Inn near SeaWorld, a 2 bedroomed suite with free hot breakfasts is about £700 for 2 weeks.

[george]

Where can we find part 1?

[phaedra]

"Where can we find part 1?"

It's the next thread down, underneath this one :D

"Short Trip Report Pt.1 - 1st Week"

[chrisj]

Jeff

Great trip report

[steph_goodrum]

"No sign of a Hippo (apart from Miriam bending over now and again!) "

You realise we could resort to blackmail ... how much is worth not to tell. I thought the hippo was one of their longest residents but may have got it wrong.

How about a townhouse or condo thatdoesnt have its own pool, that may come nearer budget and still give you extra space and privacy over hotel.

[phaedra]

There are lot's of hippos at Busch Gardens, I've got some nice photos from our previous visits :)

We've looked at townhouses etc. but nothing is set yet. We plan to do Busch Gardens, Seaworld & Universal the first week or so then Disney for the last two with odd visits to SeaWorld and Universal if the kids want to.

I'm basically at the stage now where I'm just the driver/bag carrier while the rest of the family do the rides etc., I almost ended up getting a wheelchair at Universal the 1st week as I'm not used to walking any distance and my knees were the worst they've been for a long time. I think it was only my pride that stopped me and after the 1st week the knees eased off due to the nice 86f heat :D

We may end up booking with TCD as they do 34" in Sunshine Upper Deck at about £300 more than DIY but it's a direct flight so saves flight changes and about 4 hours exra flying and waiting time.

No doubt this will all change the nearer we get to December!, we don't even know if our friend Katie will be home as her course in Kentucky ends in August and she then has to see where she can get a placement for the rest of her training, her mom & dad were talking about moving nearer Tampa as her dad does a 90 mile round trip each day to work!.