The Walkers do Orlando 2018

[Mad Dog]

So close to getting upgraded to upper class there.

Were you able to meet up with Mark before your departure?

 

[Scott W.]

Were you able to meet up with Mark before your departure?

Yeah, we did. Was good to meet up even if it was only for 15mins.

That was a very mixed journey. The flight was great in premium economy but the rest not so much. Since I’d barely drove, I didn’t need to put gas in the car until I returned it and it wouldn’t take a full tank for some reason but the woman at the drop off said it was full and didn’t charge anything.

We arrived a bit later at the airport than expected and the TSA line was 45mins long. By the time we got through, we hadn’t ate yet so we went to Burger King that took about 40mins to get served and get the food then there wasn’t any screens displaying the gate number for flights but luckily our flight was one of the first we encountered but our flight was delayed by about half an hour.

Arriving in Glasgow was a complete joke. From touch down to getting kerb side took an hour and 45mins. We spent more time waiting on our cases at Glasgow than it took for us to arrive in Orlando, go through passport control, get our bags, pick up our car and drive to Disney and check in. Brutal after an 8 hour flight.

Back in the flat now and it was warm when we left so we left a few windows open and it’s currently 2C and the house is freezing.

Tucked up in bed currently with our cat back in the house for a small sleep before the jet lag destroys me tomorrow as I return to work where I have a huge pile of work to be done this week.

Back to reality.

Edit: the battery in the thermostat has died and the heating won’t turn on.

 

[Mad Dog]

Yeah, we did. Was good to meet up even if it was only for 15mins.

That was a very mixed journey. The flight was great in premium economy but the rest not so much. Since I’d barely drove, I didn’t need to put gas in the car until I returned it and it wouldn’t take a full tank for some reason but the woman at the drop off said it was full and didn’t charge anything.

We arrived a bit later at the airport than expected and the TSA line was 45mins long. By the time we got through, we hadn’t ate yet so we went to Burger King that took about 40mins to get served and get the food then there wasn’t any screens displaying the gate number for flights but luckily our flight was one of the first we encountered but our flight was delayed by about half an hour.

Arriving in Glasgow was a complete joke. From touch down to getting kerb side took an hour and 45mins. We spent more time waiting on our cases at Glasgow than it took for us to arrive in Orlando, go through passport control, get our bags, pick up our car and drive to Disney and check in. Brutal after an 8 hour flight.

Back in the flat now and it was warm when we left so we left a few windows open and it’s currently 2C and the house is freezing.

Tucked up in bed currently with our cat back in the house for a small sleep before the jet lag destroys me tomorrow as I return to work where I have a huge pile of work to be done this week.

Back to reality.

Edit: the battery in the thermostat has died and the heating won’t turn on.

Glad you got a quick chat with Mark. I just spoke to him & he & Sam had a great cruise with Disney....We just got hit with a cold streak this weekend. Temperatures in the 50's F, and that's tough since we were high 80's and low 90's before that. Weather here is all over the map in Sept. in Oct. most always. Leaving with my brother in about 7 hours for Orlando. I'm tagging along with him on a 6 day business trip. Seems like I just miss you by a day or two everytime you're down there. ....So I get to see Mark & Sam again when I'm down there. They are two of the best people I have ever met.

 

[Teebin]

We just got hit with a cold streak this weekend.

Tell me about it... I dressed like an Eskimo this morning to go to the store.

 

[Mad Dog]

Tell me about it... I dressed like an Eskimo this morning to go to the store.

brrrrrr!!!! and driving to an Orlando that's going to be too hot with mid 90's forecast daily. I'll feel like a roast taken out of the freezer and put in the oven. ....Glad I'm not paying money for this trip.

 

[Scott W.]

I should really get back to this before I forget everything.

Tuesday (I can't believe this was almost a week already :'()

We spent most of the day in the hotel. For breakfast we went to the kitchen for a buffet. There wasn't anything special but the food was good and relatively cheap for $23 each and that includes drinks which felt like a rarity. I was sure to take a few donuts and fruit for the room later.

After breakfast, we got our drink on by the pool. The roof above the restaurant was getting it's roof replaced and I felt so sorry for the workers. It was a hot one and they're on top of a roof watching 50 people have fun in the pool below.



After getting sufficient drink and sun, we went back to our room to rest before heading for dinner at Amatista Cookhouse which was excellent and I mentioned it earlier. After we went to check out Aventura and drop off @JoeCamel coin.

I'll be honest, I didn't like Aventura one bit and I feel a little bad saying that since I know people are staying there or about to. I can see how it can be appealing for most but it didn't do anything for me. It felt sterile like a hospital and lacked any atmosphere. The roof top bar was even worse. The drink menu while trying to be kind of fancy completely missed the mark. The view was good but at night time, you're not really seeing much and they should really be doing more with the volcano across the road.

Afterwards, we headed to Strongwater Tavern which was excellent. Great and well educated bar staff who helped us pick a few drinks that would work well for us and he found the perfect drink. Our waiter was complaining about how quiet it was at this time of year but in a nice way to us and explained just how busy the bar can be, especially since this is a hotel aimed for convection goers and people with their company credit cards that allows him to get creative with his drinks when cost isn't an issue. We sat outside on the balcony (Thanks to @Mad Dog for the tip) and this is a must for us to return to, maybe around sun set some night as it's a great place to relax, watch the boats going in and out and the drinks are excellent. I'm also now a rum drinker apparently, I was sure to have a few on the flight home.

We had a nice stumbly walk down to the boat to head back to CityWalk about midnight and it was almost a little creepy walking through CityWalk with almost nobody in it.

Edit:

Glad you got a quick chat with Mark. I just spoke to him & he & Sam had a great cruise with Disney....We just got hit with a cold streak this weekend. Temperatures in the 50's F, and that's tough since we were high 80's and low 90's before that. Weather here is all over the map in Sept. in Oct. most always. Leaving with my brother in about 7 hours for Orlando. I'm tagging along with him on a 6 day business trip. Seems like I just miss you by a day or two everytime you're down there. ....So I get to see Mark & Sam again when I'm down there. They are two of the best people I have ever met.

I know I always seem to miss you by a few days. I think our next two trips will be slightly later in September so hopefully something will work out.

Florida 2020 is already in the early stages of planning.

 

[JoeCamel]

I should really get back to this before I forget everything.

Tuesday (I can't believe this was almost a week already :'()

We spent most of the day in the hotel. For breakfast we went to the kitchen for a buffet. There wasn't anything special but the food was good and relatively cheap for $23 each and that includes drinks which felt like a rarity. I was sure to take a few donuts and fruit for the room later.

After breakfast, we got our drink on by the pool. The roof above the restaurant was getting it's roof replaced and I felt so sorry for the workers. It was a hot one and they're on top of a roof watching 50 people have fun in the pool below.

View attachment 7901

After getting sufficient drink and sun, we went back to our room to rest before heading for dinner at Amatista Cookhouse which was excellent and I mentioned it earlier. After we went to check out Aventura and drop off @JoeCamel coin.

I'll be honest, I didn't like Aventura one bit and I feel a little bad saying that since I know people are staying there or about to. I can see how it can be appealing for most but it didn't do anything for me. It felt sterile like a hospital and lacked any atmosphere. The roof top bar was even worse. The drink menu while trying to be kind of fancy completely missed the mark. The view was good but at night time, you're not really seeing much and they should really be doing more with the volcano across the road.

Afterwards, we headed to Strongwater Tavern which was excellent. Great and well educated bar staff who helped us pick a few drinks that would work well for us and he found the perfect drink. Our waiter was complaining about how quiet it was at this time of year but in a nice way to us and explained just how busy the bar can be, especially since this is a hotel aimed for convection goers and people with their company credit cards that allows him to get creative with his drinks when cost isn't an issue. We sat outside on the balcony (Thanks to @Mad Dog for the tip) and this is a must for us to return to, maybe around sun set some night as it's a great place to relax, watch the boats going in and out and the drinks are excellent. I'm also now a rum drinker apparently, I was sure to have a few on the flight home.

We had a nice stumbly walk down to the boat to head back to CityWalk about midnight and it was almost a little creepy walking through CityWalk with almost nobody in it.

Edit:

I know I always seem to miss you by a few days. I think our next two trips will be slightly later in September so hopefully something will work out.

Florida 2020 is already in the early stages of planning.

After Strongwater you will be looking to @Disneyhead for tips on a rum cruise next. Thanks again Scott and hope to meet up on one of your future trips.

 

[Scott W.]

After Strongwater you will be looking to @Disneyhead for tips on a rum cruise next. Thanks again Scott and hope to meet up on one of your future trips.

I think I must have missed you by about 20mins this time but next time is a must! I'm going to get @Skold coin posted out tomorrow at work.

 

[Scott W.]

Wednesday.

I went to SeaWorld on the hope that Infinity Falls might have the walls down and start a soft opening but it turned into a crappy day. I love SeaWorld but this visit was awful. I think SeaWorld is in horrible shape.

So it started off with getting a breakfast in the park, we went into the Starbucks but it's not a Starbucks, it's a bakery that sells Starbucks coffee at a hugely inflated price $8 for a coffee which is almost double the standard price and I opted for a cupcake (Healthy I know but it looked like the most edible option) and Laura went for a croissant. The cupcake was terrible and the croissant was worse.

We went and watched the dolphin show which is now just constantly talking about happy the dolphins are to be there with very little spectacle although there is a heavily pregnant woman in the show currently which made for some interesting viewing. I figured she would just be on the sidelines but nope, straight into the water doing the corkscrew manoeuvre through the water with two dolphins.

Mako was still great, easily the best coaster in Orlando and in my top 5 ride for Orlando. $2 to rent a locker though, I tried to do the $10 for a day and use one as often as I wanted but every time I tried, it kept totalling to $16 for I figured I was cheaper to do it as and when I needed it.

After Mako, I seen on here that the walls were down Infinity Falls which put a spring in my step but no soft openings. I did get to briefly meet Dan from Midway Mayhem which was easily the highlight of my day at SeaWorld.

After we went to watch the Shamu show which is now kind of boring without the divers in the water and considerably shorter. The screens in the stadium are in desperate need of a refurb and the stock video footage is beyond parody.

Laura has never been on Wild Arctic before and what a mistake that was. That has to easily be one of the roughest rides in Orlando. Violently being throwing about, the doors were swinging open and it's just overall bad. I don't remember the 90s being this bad and what's weird, it looks like it was made in the 80s.

What the hell have they done to Journey to Atlantis? :deadhorse: I used to love that ride, it was the major stepping stone to riding coasters for me and they've just destroyed everything good about it. After the drop, we also stopped for about 5 mins before the smaller drop that drenches you. I can't believe how bad of a shape it's in, especially after a relatively recent renovation.

By this point, I couldn't be bothered riding Kraken and wanted to get on Manta and leave. Big mistake.

I don't know how but a certain part of me some how managed to get trapped on the seat and as you going into the flying position, all my weight transferred to that spot. It was bad. Really bad. So bad, I gave serious thought about screaming and trying to get the coaster to stop at the mid brake run but I knew that would just take longer and make things worse. What also made it worse is that the coaster was kind of rough and since this was the only coaster they were running two trains on and the other train hadn't left the station yet, I had to wait for a few minutes at the last brake run. Never again.

Leaving SeaWorld feeling sore and hungry, we opted to go to Disney Springs since I forgot to get my nephew a Mickey doll and we were kind of in that neck of the woods. We went to Chicken Guy was surprisingly quiet and cheap and honestly, fantastic. I loved it. it ticked all the right boxes, the sauces were great, everything tasted fresh and just overall excellent. It could be that I was so hungry that anything could have tasted great but I think it was more the food.

After that, we headed back to the outlets to see if they had improved any since the last trip and the shopping bags really started to pile up. We hadn't really intended to do ch shopping this trip but we still managed to go home with 3 overweight suitcases.

After our shopping, we decided to give Culvers another shot and it was still awesome. That's now became my go to place when thinking about fast food in America. Universal were also their business of the month offering a discount to all staff which I liked. It's small things like that that make it feel like a small business.

 

[JoeCamel]

Wednesday.

I went to SeaWorld on the hope that Infinity Falls might have the walls down and start a soft opening but it turned into a crappy day. I love SeaWorld but this visit was awful. I think SeaWorld is in horrible shape.

So it started off with getting a breakfast in the park, we went into the Starbucks but it's not a Starbucks, it's a bakery that sells Starbucks coffee at a hugely inflated price $8 for a coffee which is almost double the standard price and I opted for a cupcake (Healthy I know but it looked like the most edible option) and Laura went for a croissant. The cupcake was terrible and the croissant was worse.

We went and watched the dolphin show which is now just constantly talking about happy the dolphins are to be there with very little spectacle although there is a heavily pregnant woman in the show currently which made for some interesting viewing. I figured she would just be on the sidelines but nope, straight into the water doing the corkscrew manoeuvre through the water with two dolphins.

Mako was still great, easily the best coaster in Orlando and in my top 5 ride for Orlando. $2 to rent a locker though, I tried to do the $10 for a day and use one as often as I wanted but every time I tried, it kept totalling to $16 for I figured I was cheaper to do it as and when I needed it.

After Mako, I seen on here that the walls were down Infinity Falls which put a spring in my step but no soft openings. I did get to briefly meet Dan from Midway Mayhem which was easily the highlight of my day at SeaWorld.

After we went to watch the Shamu show which is now kind of boring without the divers in the water and considerably shorter. The screens in the stadium are in desperate need of a refurb and the stock video footage is beyond parody.

Laura has never been on Wild Arctic before and what a mistake that was. That has to easily be one of the roughest rides in Orlando. Violently being throwing about, the doors were swinging open and it's just overall bad. I don't remember the 90s being this bad and what's weird, it looks like it was made in the 80s.

What the hell have they done to Journey to Atlantis? :deadhorse: I used to love that ride, it was the major stepping stone to riding coasters for me and they've just destroyed everything good about it. After the drop, we also stopped for about 5 mins before the smaller drop that drenches you. I can't believe how bad of a shape it's in, especially after a relatively recent renovation.

By this point, I couldn't be bothered riding Kraken and wanted to get on Manta and leave. Big mistake.

I don't know how but a certain part of me some how managed to get trapped on the seat and as you going into the flying position, all my weight transferred to that spot. It was bad. Really bad. So bad, I gave serious thought about screaming and trying to get the coaster to stop at the mid brake run but I knew that would just take longer and make things worse. What also made it worse is that the coaster was kind of rough and since this was the only coaster they were running two trains on and the other train hadn't left the station yet, I had to wait for a few minutes at the last brake run. Never again.

Leaving SeaWorld feeling sore and hungry, we opted to go to Disney Springs since I forgot to get my nephew a Mickey doll and we were kind of in that neck of the woods. We went to Chicken Guy was surprisingly quiet and cheap and honestly, fantastic. I loved it. it ticked all the right boxes, the sauces were great, everything tasted fresh and just overall excellent. It could be that I was so hungry that anything could have tasted great but I think it was more the food.

After that, we headed back to the outlets to see if they had improved any since the last trip and the shopping bags really started to pile up. We hadn't really intended to do ch shopping this trip but we still managed to go home with 3 overweight suitcases.

After our shopping, we decided to give Culvers another shot and it was still awesome. That's now became my go to place when thinking about fast food in America. Universal were also their business of the month offering a discount to all staff which I liked. It's small things like that that make it feel like a small business.

View attachment 7928

:jawdrop::jawdrop::''thumbsdown::thumbsdown::toast::toast:

 

[Mad Dog]

I'm refreshing this thread to give a little respite from the CV burden. This is one of the best trip reports on IU....from our good UK friend, Scott Walker.....Enjoy.

 

[SkiBum]

I'm refreshing this thread to give a little respite from the CV burden. This is one of the best trip reports on IU....from our good UK friend, Scott Walker.....Enjoy.

Enjoyed but still scoffing at your reaction to Cedar Point. Too puny. Agree that Corkscrew and Blue Streak are rough (Corkscrew should have both a chiropractor and knee replacement doctor stationed at the exit) but the other coasters are relatively smooth. Of course, I rode RRR two years ago and, while it was a little rough, I didn't think it was that bad. Granted, my 25 year old self would argue with my current 50 year old self when I tell my coaster buddy that I need a break to avoid motion sickness after rushing through coaster lines one after the next.

 

[Mad Dog]

Enjoyed but still scoffing at your reaction to Cedar Point. Too puny. Agree that Corkscrew and Blue Streak are rough (Corkscrew should have both a chiropractor and knee replacement doctor stationed at the exit) but the other coasters are relatively smooth. Of course, I rode RRR two years ago and, while it was a little rough, I didn't think it was that bad. Granted, my 25 year old self would argue with my current 50 year old self when I tell my coaster buddy that I need a break to avoid motion sickness after rushing through coaster lines one after the next.

It wasn't just me. UK Trigg, a huge coaster fan, I'm really not, had the same opinion of those coasters mentioned. We left early. He was disappointed in the park that was on his bucket list.. I liked CP more in it's earlier days and through 80's/early 90's. . and I've been there a ton of times, going way back to the early 70's, so I'm certainly not a newfie on the park. I used to live fairly close to the park, 40-45 minute drive.

 

[Scott W.]

My FP+ windows opens tomorrow.