To Orlando and beyond

After such a grey wet start to the year I thought it was about time I was transported back to Florida. One of the sections of the Voyage Award is Explore my World and to satisfy this you can travel to a foreign country. Guess where I went in July 2015. I’ve put off doing this write up for so long as I had so much to say and so many photos I didn’t know where to start. I thought now with a 6 month gap the memories may have faded and I would be able to not get carried away. But once I started thinking about it and looking at photos it brought back the memories and even small things I’d forgotten about so here goes and I’ll try not to bore you.

The Voyage Award is a challenge so my challenge was to keep everyone happy and still fill every waking minute being a tourist in Orlando . There is too much to do to rest.

I started as I meant to go on on July 4^th. It is Independence Day and this is USA we HAD to go to Disney, we HAD to be there early as the news reports said they were expecting Park full signs to go up by lunch time (I hadn’t come all this way to be denied entrance) We HAD to see the 4^th July fireworks and we HAD to see the Electrical parade. So up at 8:30 and out….we achieved everything except the electrical parade.

Let me set the scene its evening, its rained solid for a couple of hours so we bought ponchos, my glasses broke so I had to wear sunglasses in the dark and I wore my bucket hat to keep the rain of my glasses. But I'm still smiling. This is my favourite photo of the day.

Picture mad Englishwoman abroad and you will be close to my look.

Random memories:
Families wearing matching tee-shirts with “The xxxx family vacation” printed on. Apparently we are not doing that next time.

99% of people wearing stars and stripes on their tee-shirts on 4th July (even the family vacation tee -shirts)

South American school parties, don’t think there were anyone left to go to School in South America, they were all here.

Going to Hollywood Studios and it snowed in the street for the Frozen parade and then going to watch a Frozen sing a long and it snowed in the theatre!

My husband would say the best part was the Star Wars ride which we went on approx 6 times but he would be wrong. It was the snow. But in true Florida style it also rained very heavily and we stood again watching fireworks in the rain in our Disney ponchos.

Universal Studio memories were sitting waiting for 2 hours for the rides to re-open when they were closed as a thunderstorm was approaching and when we eventually gave up they opened 5 minutes later. Going back to the same ride on another day and it was closed for mechanical reason. Returning in the afternoon and queuing watching the black clouds roll in and with announcements that rides may close. Eventually getting on said ride and 10 minutes later getting off absolutely soaked to the skin (did I mention it was a water ride) My Disney poncho was absolutely no use whatsoever. Maybe the magic only works in Disney.

We went beyond the glitz of Orlando to NASA and a whole different world. Marvelled at the rockets and touched a part of the moon and experienced a rocket take off….and no rain!

We shopped and ate and never managed to finish the huge American portions and even unlimited Coke loses its thrill after the 2^nd glass and in a place where dreams do come true had afternoon tea with Audrey Hepburn and met the President.

 

I confused a waiter when I wanted no dressing on my salad “You do know it’s a salad” he asked me and tried several times to give me a dressing and couldn’t understand how I could have no dressing. The waitress in Bahama Breeze who asked my daughter if she could “borrow” her hair elastic that was on her wrist as she had forgotten hers for work. She borrowed it but we never got it back, does she not know the meaning of borrow?

But special thanks to the Check in man at Orlando airport who even though one case was overweight let it go as the others were under and to the security checker who held my passport up and said “Who is this?”in a very accusing manner. It’s me I replied holding my hair away from my face. Those who know me know my hair has grown a bit in the last few years

It was fabulous and 2 weeks is not enough but that was all we had. Just as well I don't think we would have lasted any longer.