Here is my report for my trip to Central Florida. We went during spring vacation in 2000 to celebrate Scott's graduation from high school and Marc's confirmation. Hope you enjoy it!
(Click on any picture to see a larger image.)
TRANSPORTATION
Departing from Boston's Logan airport proved to be a real adventure. We had alot of things that needed attention right before we left so we got a late start to the airport. Central parking at Logan was packed so we had to park in one of the satellite parking lots. When we arrived to check in our bags, SURPRISE, our flight had been cancelled. We tried to get on standby for the next two flights but, being it vacation week, every flight was full. After pleading our case at the Delta counter, were put up in the Hilton Hotel for the night. The next day, we flew the early shuttle to LaGuadia and they first class on to Orlando.
ACCOMMODATIONS
Our "base of operations" in Florida was the
Comfort Suites Inn
on Turkey Lake Road. You will notice I didn't just say "Orlando" because once you leave the airport, you will see no less that 6 Comfort Suite Inns along the way to the one on Turkey Lake Road. Comfort Inn has comfortable rooms Our room had a small lounging area with a sofa separated by the 2 double beds by a waist-high divider. The rooms are very quiet. One night there was a senior prom at the pool. Even though we had a first floor room that faced the pool area, you really couldn't hear very much noise. The bathroom is part of the sink/mirror area which made it difficult to answer the call of nature when some else was freshening up. The pool area was very nice with a jaccuzzi and bar area. The bar would serve pizza and sandwiches until about 10. All in all, not a bad place, but we never spent much time in the room. We were always out by 8 and didn't get back until late in the evening.
DAY 1: MAGIC KINGDOM & MGM
Our first stop was Magic Kingdom. We managed to hit all of the usual rides. Not alot has changed at the Mousefarm, except I was surprised to see that "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" is gone (what is left of the submarines are scattered about the parks. One is at Typhoon Lagoon and is used as an underwater viewing area). There are attempts to be more interactive, like the "Honey I Shrunk the Audience". While we waited for our turn to go on the Skyrider, a huge thunderstorm came through. Because lightning was spotted, they closed the ride. We also went via the shuttle to MGM Studios. I was disappointed in MGM because it was packaged and presented as a big advertisment for ABC-TV. Even the attractions were based on ABC sikcoms. We went back to the Magic Kingdom for the evening. Marc and I finally got on the Skyrider. We saw the fireworks which were neat. Before the fireworks start, Tinkerbell (a real person!) comes out of the top of the castle and goes screaming across the park on a runner cable with giant sparklers. We took the ferry through another rain shower back to the parking lot.
DAY 2: JACKSONVILLE/ST. AUGUSTINE
On Sunday, we motored up the coast to visit Judy's friend Marie and her husband, Randy. They live in a beautiful development away from the big city. We had a great chicken barbecue and spent a very relaxing afternoon. Great to recharge the batteries after a long day at the Magic Kingdom.
On the way home, Marie and Randy show us some sights in St. Augustine. It was late in the afternoon and alot of the sites had closed for the day but it was great to see some of the old buildings.
DAY 3: EPCOT CENTER
Epcot Center is a great place to experience alot of interactive exhibits. This is the first time we were able to enjoy the "fastpass" system. You can get a ticket to show up at a later time in the day and avoid really long lines. We saw a new exhibit that featured sodas from around the world. It was great to sample them all. Some were OK; some I wouldn't wash my car with. We tried to visit as many pavillions as we could.
By far, the coolest thing I have ever done at Disney is Epcot's DiveQuest at the Living Seas Pavilion. It was my first experience meeting a shark (even if he was well-fed!). It was such an exciting dive that I have devoted an entire page to it. Click on the DiveQuest patch to go there!
We ended the day by watching the Millenium Fireworks. It is a great display of pyrotechnics launched from barges in the lagoon in the middle of the countries pavillions. There is really no bad place to view the fireworks. We watched them from the bridge connecting the countries pavillions to the exhibits at the front of the park. Unfortunately, the battery in the camcorder drained filming the DiveQuest so we only have stills. One of those times when I wished I had gotten a spare battery pack.
DAY 4: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS/ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE
For Day 4 of our trip, we drove just down the road apiece to Universal Studios. The action attractions in this park are really neat. I think they are even better then Disney. Since this is a movie-based operation, all of the attractions have a movie theme to them. We did Twister, Earthquake, Jaws, Back to the Future, and the newest attraction, Men in Black; Alien Attack. These rides are definately not for the faint of heart. Lots of noise, action, and fireball explosions. Judy got to star as a shopper extra in Earthquake. It was a demonstration to show how the blue background screen is utilized for realistic backgrounds. We happened to be at the park for the grand opening of the Alien Attack ride. Will Smith was there to open it to the public. After all the smoke and explosions, they opened the ride. We only had to wait about 20 minutes but by the time we were done, the wait was easily 3 hours.
Then we went over to Islands of Adventure. This turned out to be a big dissapointment. It is mainly rollercoaster rides, a big tower ride and alot of rides for small kids. I don't know if it was because we were so tired from spending alot of time at Universal or what, but this park didn't do a thing for me. I was really hoping that the Jurassic Park ride would be good but it was really wasn't anything except walking around a museum. They did have a pretty good water ride there. After walking around for awhile, we decided to go get some chow at a Friday's sportsbar and call it a day.
DAY 5: MANATEES/ UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
Marc and I took a break at mid-week to snorkel amongst the manatees. These incredibly gentle creatures are a must see for anyone who enjoys exploring marine life. To see images from our manatee encounter, as well as all my other pictures from the deep, click on the picture of Marc and the manatee and head on over to my Manatee Page in the Scuba section.
Since Judy and Scott are not into aquatic life, they went back for another go at Universal Studios. They went to all the attractions we had missed the day before. Judy was really excited about the new Flinstone's movie because it depected life in pre-historic Las Vagas. Strange but when the movie came out, it didn't seem to last too long! We all met back at the hotel in the afternoon and finished the day by relaxing by the pool.
DAY 6: TYPHOON LAGOON/DOWNTOWN DISNEY
Our last day was spent at the Typhoon Lagoon water park. This is a really nice place to get wet and cool off. In the middle of the park is a giant wave pool where a huge 10 foot wave comes up to the beach every 3 minutes. That is a blast! Circleing the park is a river raft ride. You can get on anywhere. Just grab a float and hop on! There are a couple of waterfalls along the way to cool off and a spot where people squirt you from the shore. There are 2 water slides. The Kowabunga is the "extreme" slide (hold on to your suit!). There is also Shark Reef where you can strap on a mask, snorkel, and fins and go snorkeling along a reef and see all kinds of parrot fish, tangs, and lemon sharks.
Downtown Disney was a bit of a bust. There are expensive shops and other attactions. The only problem is you pay to get into these other attractions. The boys went into DisneyQuest; sort of a high-tech amusment park. They were charged around $30 each. We walked the length of the strip and finally had a nice dinner while the boys were doing DisneyQuest. We tried to get into the Rainforest Cafe but there was a three hour wait!
The next day, we headed back home, exhausted but filled with memories of a great trip to Central Florida. A great time was had by all!
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Our "base of operations" in Florida was the
Comfort Suites Inn
on Turkey Lake Road. You will notice I didn't just say "Orlando" because once you leave the airport, you will see no less that 6 Comfort Suite Inns along the way to the one on Turkey Lake Road. Comfort Inn has comfortable rooms Our room had a small lounging area with a sofa separated by the 2 double beds by a waist-high divider. The rooms are very quiet. One night there was a senior prom at the pool. Even though we had a first floor room that faced the pool area, you really couldn't hear very much noise. The bathroom is part of the sink/mirror area which made it difficult to answer the call of nature when some else was freshening up. The pool area was very nice with a jaccuzzi and bar area. The bar would serve pizza and sandwiches until about 10. All in all, not a bad place, but we never spent much time in the room. We were always out by 8 and didn't get back until late in the evening.
Our first stop was Magic Kingdom. We managed to hit all of the usual rides. Not alot has changed at the Mousefarm, except I was surprised to see that "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" is gone (what is left of the submarines are scattered about the parks. One is at Typhoon Lagoon and is used as an underwater viewing area). There are attempts to be more interactive, like the "Honey I Shrunk the Audience". While we waited for our turn to go on the Skyrider, a huge thunderstorm came through. Because lightning was spotted, they closed the ride. We also went via the shuttle to MGM Studios. I was disappointed in MGM because it was packaged and presented as a big advertisment for ABC-TV. Even the attractions were based on ABC sikcoms. We went back to the Magic Kingdom for the evening. Marc and I finally got on the Skyrider. We saw the fireworks which were neat. Before the fireworks start, Tinkerbell (a real person!) comes out of the top of the castle and goes screaming across the park on a runner cable with giant sparklers. We took the ferry through another rain shower back to the parking lot.
On Sunday, we motored up the coast to visit Judy's friend Marie and her husband, Randy. They live in a beautiful development away from the big city. We had a great chicken barbecue and spent a very relaxing afternoon. Great to recharge the batteries after a long day at the Magic Kingdom.
On the way home, Marie and Randy show us some sights in St. Augustine. It was late in the afternoon and alot of the sites had closed for the day but it was great to see some of the old buildings.
Epcot Center is a great place to experience alot of interactive exhibits. This is the first time we were able to enjoy the "fastpass" system. You can get a ticket to show up at a later time in the day and avoid really long lines. We saw a new exhibit that featured sodas from around the world. It was great to sample them all. Some were OK; some I wouldn't wash my car with. We tried to visit as many pavillions as we could.
We ended the day by watching the Millenium Fireworks. It is a great display of pyrotechnics launched from barges in the lagoon in the middle of the countries pavillions. There is really no bad place to view the fireworks. We watched them from the bridge connecting the countries pavillions to the exhibits at the front of the park. Unfortunately, the battery in the camcorder drained filming the DiveQuest so we only have stills. One of those times when I wished I had gotten a spare battery pack.
For Day 4 of our trip, we drove just down the road apiece to Universal Studios. The action attractions in this park are really neat. I think they are even better then Disney. Since this is a movie-based operation, all of the attractions have a movie theme to them. We did Twister, Earthquake, Jaws, Back to the Future, and the newest attraction, Men in Black; Alien Attack. These rides are definately not for the faint of heart. Lots of noise, action, and fireball explosions. Judy got to star as a shopper extra in Earthquake. It was a demonstration to show how the blue background screen is utilized for realistic backgrounds. We happened to be at the park for the grand opening of the Alien Attack ride. Will Smith was there to open it to the public. After all the smoke and explosions, they opened the ride. We only had to wait about 20 minutes but by the time we were done, the wait was easily 3 hours.
Since Judy and Scott are not into aquatic life, they went back for another go at Universal Studios. They went to all the attractions we had missed the day before. Judy was really excited about the new Flinstone's movie because it depected life in pre-historic Las Vagas. Strange but when the movie came out, it didn't seem to last too long! We all met back at the hotel in the afternoon and finished the day by relaxing by the pool.
Our last day was spent at the Typhoon Lagoon water park. This is a really nice place to get wet and cool off. In the middle of the park is a giant wave pool where a huge 10 foot wave comes up to the beach every 3 minutes. That is a blast! Circleing the park is a river raft ride. You can get on anywhere. Just grab a float and hop on! There are a couple of waterfalls along the way to cool off and a spot where people squirt you from the shore. There are 2 water slides. The Kowabunga is the "extreme" slide (hold on to your suit!). There is also Shark Reef where you can strap on a mask, snorkel, and fins and go snorkeling along a reef and see all kinds of parrot fish, tangs, and lemon sharks.
Downtown Disney was a bit of a bust. There are expensive shops and other attactions. The only problem is you pay to get into these other attractions. The boys went into DisneyQuest; sort of a high-tech amusment park. They were charged around $30 each. We walked the length of the strip and finally had a nice dinner while the boys were doing DisneyQuest. We tried to get into the Rainforest Cafe but there was a three hour wait!