Day Thirteen - SeaWorld Again!

Here we are again!

We're due more rain today so decided to try and get everything done before the downpours which are due around 2pm. We had a plan to visit four of the attractions - two happened to be adjacent to each other on one side of the park and the other two virtually directly opposite them across the park.

The car park was looking extremely busy when we arrived so we decided to see if we could get a Rapid Access Pass (which isn't the same thing as the Quick Queue, which carries a charge of $19 per person). The RAP is for guests with disabilities who can't wait in line for a long time. You take your printed ride sheet to the staff member managing the queues and if the wait is longer than 15 minutes, they write a return time on your sheet against the ride. This would have been very handy the ther day when we had to queue for the penguin exhibit. No problem getting the pass but as it turned out we didn't need it!  We marched off to the first attraction - Wild Arctic. (Bernard and Harrison wanted to make this a brief visit to ensure they had time for a swim later at the villa, so no time to hang about!). We'd heard all about Johnny the polar bear the other day so I was keen to see him. Like the Mission: Space ride in Epcot, Wild Arctic offered two versions - mild walking or wild helicopter. Feeling adventurous we queued up in the helicopter line. It turned out to be a simulator a bit like Mission: Space but on a much bigger scale. There were several rows of seats so it wasn't at all claustrophobic. It did get a bit rough at times but with only a lap belt to secure you in place, it was clear that it wouldn't be as dramatic as the Mission: Space ride. Harrison did make a point of highlighting the information regarding those who shouldn't ride, however, as we're in the USA where everybody sues each other and they have to cover their backs, we chose to ignore the warnings! He decided to do most of the ride with his fingers in his ears.  Not sure how noisy he thought the arctic was going to be but it helped him cope!

After we'd landed, we explored the arctic where we were supposed to see a walrus, Johnny the polar bear and a beluga whale.  We didn't see the whale and Johnny was sleeping with his back to us (who could blame him!). There were two walruses in their pool so we watched them playing for a while.

We had half an hour to wait for the next Shamu show and as the stadium was directly next to the Wild Arctic exit, we decided to find some seats before it got too full. It was a good show but rather frustrating that people were entering the auditorium all through the show and blocking our view.

That cheeky bird thought he was the star of the show and stole fish out of the open blue containers on the stage!

The show finished just before 1pm and the sky was starting to look a bit grey. We made our way quickly to 'Journey to Atlantis' a log flume ride (once again ignoring the ride restrictions for Harrison and Bernard!) 

As we passed by 'Manta' one of the rollercoasters, an announcement was being given over the tannoy. The ride had been temporarily closed due to inclement weather. We were unsure whether that would apply to Atlantis because it was predominantly an indoor ride. The queue to access the ride exceeded all queue lines so the pass was definitely needed here. We headed to the Quick Pass entrance and soon found out that all of the rides had been suspended with no information regarding when they may begin operating again. At this stage the storm was still brewing.  We decided to visit our final attraction and then return to Atlantis weather permitting.

Lovely gardens between Atlantis and Turtle Trek.

I'd been looking forward to 'Turtle Trek' and on entering the building we were greeted with a huge floor to ceiling aquarium filled with numerous species of fish and several sea turtles. It was a great distraction until the 360 3-D cinema was ready to admit us. The film documented a turtles life from hatching out of it's egg to fully grown adult and the dangers that it faced along the way.  At the end there was a conservation message. Until now, Harrison has always refused to entertain anything 3-D. I didn't realise that this was a 3-D film until we were told to collect the glasses. It may have helped that they were yellow but he did wear them and watched the film (with his fingers in his ears again!) Bernard and I were really proud of this achievement because we know how anxious pitch black, an unknown film and 3-D effects make Harrison. I had to take a photograph of him recreating the pose:

We exited the attraction and passed by the open top of the aquarium where we could see, amongst several others, a huge sea turtle named Whitney:

Optimistically, we headed back to Atlantis but the ride was still not running. We took the opportunity to visit the penguin shop again and as we came out the reason for the ride suspensions became very obvious - a huge flash of lightning followed immediately by a massive clap of thunder and torrential rain! Everybody ran for cover (in the toilets) and even though it was only a few steps we were already quite wet. The torrential rain continued for about 10 minutes and as it eased off we put on jackets and made a run for the exit. It was quite an experience dodging the deep puddles and trying to pass as quickly as possible under the metal rollercoasters. By the time we left the park it was just English style, persistent rain.

We refuelled the car ready for tomorrow's journey back to the airport and picked up some lunch at the neighbouring Subway. I've never been in one before - so many choices to make!

We're currently back at the villa, just watched Djokovic defeat Tsonga for a place in the Wimbledon quarter finals and now Harrison is hassling me to go for another swim in the pool. I'd better go because Bernard is resting his eyes ;-)

Day Twelve - Harrison in our Pool!

So the plan for today was to return to SeaWorld to do the attractions that we missed yesterday. In an attempt to avoid the hottest part of the day, we decided to have a relaxing morning and lunch here at the villa before heading off around 15:30ish.

We didn't see Harrison until 11am and then as has become his normal morning routine, he had a bath. By the time he appeared again Bernard was in the pool and asked me to persuade Harrison to join him. Somehow I did, and a reluctant teenager got kitted out in his wetsuit and slowly made his way to the patio door. The door's alarmed and it gives you 10 seconds to exit / enter and close it again.

He approached the pool and tentatively went down the steps into the shallow end. 

He sat on the top step for a while before deciding to try and walk the length of the pool. 

The deep end is five foot deep and I can't touch the bottom without my head going under. 

Harrison discovered that if you keep right against the wall, it's shallower. He walked up and down the pool a few times and also sat on the ledge at the deep end. 

The boys looked like they were having way too much fun so I had to join them!  We had a lovely time together and Harrison's confidence in the water was growing rapidly. 

We were sitting chatting together on the ledge when our neighbours, General and Barb, came out to plant their cucumber plants and photograph an enormous black and yellow spider.  We chatted to them for a while but time was pressing on so I asked Harrison to get out of the water to prepare for lunch. After so much trouble to get him in there, he didn't want to come out!  As he was so keen, we had to let him have a bit more time in the water. It was a shame that it had taken him so long to have the courage to try the pool. Hopefully he'll remember how much he enjoyed it today so that when we come again he'll use the pool from day one. 

After lunch we headed off to SeaWorld. As we drove down towards the I-4 we looked across in the direction of SeaWorld and the sky didn't look too good. The closer we got to the park, the darker it got. By the time we reached the car park, the rain was pouring down and already pooling.  We sat in the car listening to a radio doctor solving callers ailments over the air but the rain just wouldn't stop. The forecaster was predicting another 45 minutes of heavy rain before any breaks in the cloud. People were leaving the park absolutely drenched and shivering. We decided that we'd return to the villa and pack so that we could try SeaWorld again tomorrow. 

Day Eleven - SeaWorld

Phew! What a scorcher! The weather forecast was for 94F today but with the humidity it was around 101F. A good and bad day to go to SeaWorld, but as we're running out of days we had to go. It was good to be there because some of the attractions are designed to be cool but it wasn't much fun walking to them. Every time we got up from a seat, we left behind wet patches!  Thankfully, it was the same for everybody.

We bought two day passes and asked about booking a behind the scenes tour that ended with meeting a penguin. We thought we'd have to do it on our second visit but they'd put on extra tours for today.  We had two hours before the tour so we decided to find the main penguin attraction - Antarctica, Empire of the Penguins. Being towards the back of the park meant that by the time we got there we felt as though we were in a blast furnace. This is now the only way of seeing the penguins so we had no choice but to join a really long queue which was supposedly a 20 minute wait. There were a couple of large umbrellas and some 'rocky' outcrops offering miminal protection but part of the queue was directly in the sun.  Our total wait ended up around half an hour and by then we were very glad to get into the air conditioned building.  Many of the staff were wearing thick coats whereas we welcomed the cold environment. The attraction started with a short film followed by a journey with Puck the penguin chick. Our journey ended by stepping into the penguin enclosure.  Harrison was grinning from ear to ear - so many penguins to watch!  Unfortunately, it was only a very short time before the 32F air temperature became too much for him. Even with my jacket on he was shivering quite violently. He'd waited so long for this experience, it was a shame that he was too cold to really enjoy it.  It was a good job that there weren't any tickets left for the extra 45 minute penguin encounter tour that we'd seen advertised on the website! 

 

 

As is usual with every attraction in the theme parks, you're directed out through the gift shop. Harrison enjoyed choosing a new addition to his penguin collection.

After this we headed back through the park to the meeting place for our behind the scenes tour.   It was literally that - seeing areas of the park that guests with only general admission never see.  Our tour guide, Alma, started with the hospital area where they care for the rescued animals. For obvious reasons we didn't go into the hospital but we did see and learn about six rescued manatee calves in an outside pool.  We also saw some of the rescue and transport vehicles. 

We got on the open sided bus and were taken to the shark building. There we were offered the opportunity of touching a small shark. All three of us declined!  Next stop was the polar bear enclosure which was empty.  However, we learned about the techniques used to train him so that he could cooperate with the staff to monitor his well-being.  Johnny (the polar bear) is the only animal in the park that staff don't have close contact with. He stands at over eleven feet tall on his hind legs and would consider any human a tasty snack!

Saving the best till last, we were taken to the penguin rehabilitation building. We were met by the keeper who told us about Newman, the female penguin we were going to meet. They can't tell the gender of the penguin initially; it takes a DNA test to determine it and by then the penguins have usually been named. In addition to Newman, they have Fred and Mario who are also females and Julie who's male!

Fortunately for Harrison, this room was nowhere near as cold as the main exhibit so he was able to enjoy a much longer encounter with his favourite animals and spend some (almost) one-to-one time with Newman.

The smile on Harrison's face says it all!  The penguin Harrison bought a couple of hours previously looks just like Newman, so no prizes for guessing its name!

This experience concluded our tour and we entered back into the main park opposite the dolphin theatre. 

Given the weather over the past few days we decided that we should go on the Sky Tower before any possible storms.  To get there, Harrison wanted to go over the wooden bridge spanning the lake:

The Sky Tower gave us a fabulous 360 degree view of the park although the photographs didn't come out very well because there was a black mesh covering all of the windows.

 

The Blue Horizons show in the dolphin theatre was the last attraction that Harrison could manage today. Although the heat was subsiding by now 16:30), he'd had enough (or had another agenda that he wasn't telling us about!) and wanted to head back to the villa after the show.  The show was very good and lasted for over 20 minutes.  It was a mixture of dancers, aerial acrobats, dolphin tricks and birds. Not so keen on the last component so I kept my head down as they flew through the auditorium!  We were seated right up the back under cover which gave us a great view, not only of the performance area but also the holding pools behind the scenery.

After an obligatory stop in the shop, we headed home. I'm very relieved to report that there were no thunder storms here today.  We arrived back at about 19:30 and Harrison immediately ran himself a bath. Once again he couldn't be convinced to try the pool so I went in by myself and swam 10 lengths. That might sound impressive but it only takes about 5 strokes to reach the other end!  The water was the warmest it's been all holiday, so evening is definitely the best time to swim.  Problem is that we're not usually around then.  

Carrying on with the water theme, we decided that we should do some more washing as we were starting to run out of clothes again. It's very quick to do here as the machine only takes about half an hour and then hanging the clothes in our other double oven (aka the garage), they're virtually dry again within an hour. 

We'll be heading back to SeaWorld again tomorrow to attempt to fit in all of the attractions that we didn't have time for today.  We won't go until the afternoon though, to allow the worst of the heat to subside.  We brought the park map home with us so that we can make a proper plan rather than wandering aimlessly and finding ourselves running out of time.

Day Ten

For the past couple of days Harrison's been up at 7am and run himself a bath. Looks like we'll be amending the design of his bathroom so that we can fit a small bath in. Shame he won't even dip his toe in our pool or the sea though.

Another rest day today. Bernard has set up a way of making voice only calls through Google. We had to register a US number to get our own Google phone number, so he used the one in the villa. To test it out, Harrison called his nanny and grandad and nanny and grandpa and we had a lovely chat with them all.

We watched more Wimbledon today so didn't go out until early afternoon. 

Ready to go out. Reading his new 'Famous Scientists' book whilst waiting for us. Very impressed considering his iPad is in the bag right next to him!

Bernard and Harrison went to the Ford showroom to look at a Mustang and an Edge. Over here the Mustang costs the equivalent of £13,000 whereas to buy one in the UK would be at least £30,000! The Ford Edge is the next size up to our Kuga and the dealer told Bernard that if he was to buy both cars, they could do him a deal of around £32,000 for both. That's BOGOF in UK money!  Meanwhile, whilst they were having lots of fun in the car showroom, I was enjoying looking at art and craft supplies in a Hobbycraft type store. 

Around 17:30 we joined the rest of Florida on the I-4 to head back to the Florida Mall.  We'd only just started our journey when the radio presenter gave out another weather warning for lightning and torrential rain. Same story as yesterday except this was the worst lightning activity they've had so far. Great! We made it to the mall and ran from the car to the entrance. Once inside we could forget about the storm, although Harrison (our resident weatherman) told us when the storm had passed so that it was safe for us to return home.  

Day Nine - Daytona

This trip was originally planned for tomorrow but after looking at the tour availability we realised that if we didn't go today that Harrison will miss out altogether. There's still no guarantee that we'll get a tour of the speedway circuit but with 'restricted mode' in operation for tomorrow and Saturday, this was his best chance.

Over the past few days travelling around a couple of things have stood out:

1) if you want to buy a new car there's not likely to be a wait because all of the dealers we've passed hold huge stocks. The BMW dealer had a multi-storey car park full! 

2) the road toll system is very inefficient. On some roads we were stopping several times with barely a mile or so in between. You have to drive to a cashier (there are no credit card options) unless you have the exact coins (which we never do). It's usually between $1 and $1.50 a time which doesn't sound too bad but starts to add up when you're stopping 7 or 8 times on one road. The other frustration is that it really slows your journey down as there's usually only a couple of booths open that everybody without a fast pass has to go through.

After a long, boring journey we arrived in Daytona. As usual the I-4 had a lot of congestion so we took an alternative route. This seemed to confuse our sat nav app because it started working upside down and stopped talking to us! In the end we stumbled across the speedway by accident and without any wrong turns.

The heat hit us as we got out of the car. Fortunately it wasn't far to get to the entrance. There were three tours left with availability - one was leaving in ten minutes. We hurried to the departure point but unfortunately there were a few people in front of us and only 5 spaces in the tram. We decided to get some lunch (which was very reasonably priced) and wait for the next tour which was due to leave at 2pm.

Getting on and off this tram for 90 minutes in 36C heat was a challenge for everybody. We were all rather damp by the end of the tour! It was extremely thorough though; we got taken onto the track, into the VIP suite and all round behind the scenes. Despite the heat, I was really pleased that we were able to get on a tour because this was on Harrison's 'to do' list and we're doing our best to tick everything off it! 

A few photos for all the racing fans:

The start / finish line

The top floor of this building is reserved for the presidential party

They're upgrading the seats. Currently they measure 18 inches across but they've had many complaints that they're too small. The new seats are 22 inches. Although a whole new section of seating is being added around the top, there will be a reduction in the total number of seats available.  This is because they are removing the front five rows from the bottom tier; all of the seating on the other side of the track ( including the VIP boxes that we went in) and adding in the larger seats. There has been approximately a 65,000 attendance reduction over the past few years due to the economic climate so everybody who wants one, should still be able to purchase a ticket. They can currently seat 250,000 people!  The multicoloured seats are a media trick. If cameras focus on the spectators, it looks as though the event is a sell out, even if it isn't.  On a race day, they can have up to 250,000 RVs camping in the ground. The speedway covers around 450 acres.

The photo doesn't show how steep the track is

We briefly cooled down in Volusia Mall opposite (although the credit card warmed up very quickly!) then we headed to Daytona Beach - it had to be done ;-)

We arrived just after 6pm and the beach had to be cleared of vehicles by 7pm. This actually worked to our advantage because it should have cost us $3 to park but the ticket booth was closed. That's $3 saved towards the road tolls! 

This was a complete contrast to yesterday's beach experience. Firstly, no problem parking; there was a very welcome cool breeze which took a lot of the heat away from the sun and finally we didn't see any badly burnt bodies compared to the countless number we saw yesterday.

We stayed on the beach until the lifeguard truck with loud speaker and flashing lights drove past telling everybody to leave. It was a lovely end to a good day. However......

As usual, Harrison kept a very close eye on the clouds and noticed a storm was brewing in the direction of Orlando.  We turned on the car radio and listened to the severe weather reports. Soon enough, straight ahead of us we could see some dramatic lightning going from the clouds down to the ground. The sky grew steadily darker and the rain started. Before long we could barely see in front of us and the roads had turned into rivers. This was definitely the most dramatic storm we've witnessed so far. Would have preferred to watch it from the villa!

Day Eight - Clearwater Beach

We all woke up later today. Yesterday's heat and lots of walking must have tired us out.  Fortunately we were still at home (but up and dressed!) when the management company knocked on our door at 10:30am. There was an engineer outside our house needing access to fix the phone line. Apparently the boxes were very old and we weren't the only ones to have lost service completely following the storm. It must have been a severe storm because they've not had this problem before. Anyway, box was completely changed and line up and running again in 20 minutes.

We decided to head west today to visit the coast near Tampa. The traffic into Clearwater was very slow due in part to yet more roadworks! This state is going to look very different in a few years time.... It looks as though another six lane road is being built adjacent to the current one. Judging by the amount of traffic, I think it'll be very welcome!

Having said that, it's all very well making it easier for people to access Clearwater Beach but you also need to make provision for them to park their vehicles. The main car park next to Pier 60 was supposedly full. It was coned off and had a policewoman in a golf cart type buggy guarding the entrance. We could see several empty spaces which was rather frustrating as there was nowhere else to park near the main beach. We cruised up and down the promenade hoping that somebody would relinquish their parking space but nobody did. We carried on into the less 'attractive' part but decided that it would be too far to walk back to the beach in sweltering heat. Harrison's nose has been streaming again for the past couple of days and the heat is making walking quite hard going for him.

Lunchtime view

As we drove back towards the nicer area we spotted an entrance into a well screened open air car park with an empty space! In actual fact there were a few spaces and it was reasonably cheap to park ($2.50) considering it was right next to the beach. This suited us even better than the other car park. We walked straight out onto the beach and headed for the sea. We didn't bring any swimming gear or towels with us because we knew that Harrison wouldn't want to be in direct sunlight for very long.  

We didn't plan to stand in height order! 

Once at the water's edge I kicked off my sandals and waded into the sea. It was sooo warm. Much warmer than our pool. I wished that I had brought my swimming things. It would have been worth it, even for a very quick dip.  There was a strong backwash though and a lot of shell pieces and seaweed were being dragged backwards each time the water receded. Not a nice feeling around my legs! Despite that, I really enjoyed my brief paddle. 

After that, we went for a short walk along the water's edge and then headed back to the car as Harrison was finding it hard going. He didn't say anything (in fact he didn't speak at all - just nodded and shook his head) which made me specifically ask him how he was. 

It was a lovely outing, even if it was only a brief visit.  The drive in and out of Clearwater was very picturesque too:

Meet Winter, Hope and Nicholas. All orphaned as calves and now residing in Clearwater Marine Aquarium (a marine rescue centre). Winter lost her tail and was the star of the film 'Dolphin Tale'. Hope, who lives in the same tank as Winter, has joined her for the sequel filmed last month - Dolphin Tale 2.

We had our second meal at the villa tonight. It's actually quite tricky to cook a proper meal here with just one saucepan (no lid), one frying pan and no baking trays. There is a blender though!  

Whilst we were eating dinner the phone rang so Bernard answered it. This morning's repair didn't last long because the line is dead again! 

We're currently sitting outside in the dark by the pool. It's still about 30C at 21:30 but without the sun burning down on us, it's completely bearable. Bernard is keeping an eye on the weather reports because another storm is due and just north of us a flood warning has been issued!

Day Seven - Epcot

Can't believe we've already been here a week! Good job my watch tells me which day it is because we keep losing track!  So much to do but so little time. We'll just have to come back again :-)

Today was going to be a trip to Sea World but we're waiting for a reply to our email regarding the suitability of the penguin encounter. They only have tickets left for the weekend so I hope we hear back soon or we'll just have to take a chance. Harrison is very keen to meet the penguins face to face and not through the glass - even though it will be 0 degrees in the enclosure!

As you can see by the title, we ended up in Epcot. This must be the hottest day so far - we were  roasting! The weather forecast said that it would be warming up and it really has! We started off in Spaceship Earth, with a quick trip through history, and felt quite at home being narrated through the ride by Dame Judy Dench.

The ride was inside here

Created on the ride

Next, we went on a mission to Mars in an attraction called Mission: Space.  This ride had two options; green - mild or orange - intense journey.  As I'm here with two individuals in less than perfect health(!) we opted to be in the green team. Everything was fine until we got into our 'spaceship'. It was a tiny little capsule with just four seats side by side. Overhead restraints came down and then the dashboard / control panel moved towards us until it nearly touched the restraint. The doors closed both sides and four of us were trapped in a tiny metal capsule approx. eight feet across with approx. eighteen inches in front of us and just our seat backs behind us. I frantically searched for an emergency ride stop button, in case we needed it, but there wasn't one! Fortunately we all had a special job to do during the 'flight' (aka press a specific button when told!) and I wondered if this was to divert attention for the claustrophobic people. Once the ride started though, it was really good but I was quite relieved that it ended when we landed safely on Mars and that we didn't have to fly back to earth again.

We survived!

Harrison in mission control (after the ride) helping his team, Triton, to win the space race.

We carried on the theme by visiting the journey into Imagination.  The main character in this attraction is a really cute lilac dragon called Figment who I 'met' when I came with my friend Kerry and her family in 1988 or 1989. It was so long ago I can't remember the exact year! 

We left the future land and entered the world showcase. We explored the various countries stopping in the United Kingdom to watch some street entertainers and Italy for the most expensive pasta 'snack' ever. Couldn't call it a dinner because it was served in a bowl the size of a tea plate and cost $90 (including tip), for the three of us. 

The restaurant in Italy where we ate.

Pasta with chicken and bacon. It was delicious, just not much of it!

To get over the shock we took a trip on the fijords in Norway and then found a bench to watch the evening laser and firework show from. I went on a hunt for ice creams with orders from Harrison and Bernard. I located a seller not far from where we were sitting but transporting three large cones back a few hundred yards was not very successful in 35C heat! By the time I got back to our bench I had chocolate and vanilla rivers running down my hands and dripping onto my feet. Instead of coming to help me when they saw me the boys just watched and laughed.  The ice creams made a huge sticky mess on all of us but they were really tasty!

We were joined on our bench by a lovely American family but the announcements about the laser and fireworks started making Harrison nervous. He also spotted a large cloud in the sky and was convinced we were going to have a storm. Que iPad to take his mind off it!

Legoland Windsor need to come over here to learn how to get everybody out of the park quickly at the end of the day. There were several lanes open from the car park which made leaving the venue completely stress free (unlike the single lane maze that Legoland create in the UK). 

This photo, although blurry shows you how hot it has been today. At 21:40 it was still 31C and that was after the car had been driven and cooled from standing in the heat all day!