Archive for April 2010
When we went to bed last night, Parker and I didn’t know what we were doing in the morning because our parental units hadn’t figured all of that out yet. When we woke up, we were read the verdict…Universal Studios Islands of Adventure! Anything with “Adventure” in the name can’t be too bad, right? It lived up it is name and it WAS an adventure!
We were there just as the park was opening and things weren’t even supposed to be rolling yet, so we were shocked to see rides going. We took full advantage of that, though, and had Hulk, Jurassic Park River Adventure, 2 tours through the Pteranodon Flyers, High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, The Cat in the Hat Ride, If I Ran the Zoo, and Spider-Man all done before lunch! The longest we waited was about 20 minutes at Fish and Cat in the Hat, but otherwise we sprinted straight through the ropes and hopped right on board, which was awesome.
After lunch, though, things changed and it got really busy. That didn’t stop us, though, and we took another lap around the islands to play on Popeye’s ship, tour the Jurassic Park Discovery Center (Parker said “Is this ANOTHER dinosaur museum?”), and a few other things before checking out Poseidon’s Fury. This thing looked awesome from the outside, but the wait was NOT awesome. Almost an hour later, but we were treated to an exciting show of noises, sounds, and an interactive battle of the Gods! It was time for us to cool down, so we hung out at the Mystic Fountain…a water sculpture that could see us, talk to us, told jokes, and squirted people. It was hilarious! Finally, we rounded out The Lost Continent area by taking in the Sindbad show before heading back to Seuss Landing for another go-around on the Trains and a few other last-minute rides (another trip to Spider-Man for Daddy and another ride on the Flyers for me).
We. Were. Beat. That Florida sun is hot and we walked a ton today, so we had a quick dinner then back to the hotel for a shower and bed. We have to rest up…more fun to be had tomorrow!
Florida – Day 6
Today, we didn’t even leave the gates of Gulf Harbor…everything we wanted to do was right here! We woke up lazily and watched a little TV until we worked our way over to the marina pool. We haven’t ever been to this one, so it was pretty exciting! It was really big and had a hot pool, too. Lots of other people must have thought this pool was cool because it was packed!
While we were swimming, Daddy jumped over to the Harbor Café and grabbed us some lunch to keep our swimming energy up. I had a grilled cheese and chips and Parker had a super-big hot dog. Mommy and Daddy had some sort of wrappy thing but they got chips, too, and Parks and I helped them finish all of those. Then, back to more swimming until we hit about the 4 hour mark in the sun, which was a pretty good time to retire for a little rest. We went back to the house and watched TV, had some snacks, and lounged around to recharge for…swimming excursion #2!
This time, we jumped over to the Tamarind Cay pool where it was much less crowded and a little more shaded. We really liked playing in the waterfall and swimming around with the whole place to ourselves. Another few hours of sun and splashing under our belts, and it was time to call it a day. We came back to the house, had some dinner, vegged out on even more TV (hey, its vacation!) and then hit the hay to rest up for tomorrow.
Look out Orlando, you’re up next!
Florida – Day 4
In case you missed the memo, you can track our trip and some of our updates here: http://trackmytour.com/1603
What do you know…the Easter Bunny found us in Florida! He must have a Garmin, too! We awoke to baskets run-ith-ing over and eggs with money hidden all around! After a quick run-through of all the loot, Momma had clothes laid out and ready to jump into to get our Easter Sunday underway. We started with traditional Easter breakfast…Dunkin’ Donuts! We wolfed down a dozen donut holes and a couple of donuts and came to the conclusion that there’s nothing like Gibby’s back home in Lebanon!
We then headed to Walgreens (Publix is closed on Easter!?!?!) to get some Aloe, more SPF, and snacks (everyone has a slight burn from our six hours at the beach yesterday…but NOT Momma!). After stocking up, we checked in at the outlet but many stores were closed for the holiday…outlet shopping must wait until tomorrow, but we played on the playground for a bit and then it was time to head to the Fort Myers Imaginarium!
Our first stop once inside was the stingray/horseshoe crab touch tank. I was a little hesitant, but quickly warmed up and started touching all the creatures in the tank. Parks, not so much. We then headed to dinosaur room to check out all the animatronic dinos. I like the long necks with the babies in the nest. We also played a super cool interactive sports game on a big screen. Daddy is already drawing up plans to put one in our basement! Daddy and I went in the hurricane simulator. Momma and Parks watched as my whirly skirt really whirled! There were many other hands on exhibits including a puzzle area, a toddler area with a train for Parker to play with, some weather displays that included touching a cloud and standing in a rain storm! Whew! That was all in the first room!
On our way to the “Theater in the Tank,” we took a look at some animals in tanks: sharks, ball pythons, frogs, alligators, (one that Daddy very funnily put head into…then I did it) spiders, and Nemos. There was even a bird that danced when you sang to it. We busted out our ABC’s and Jingle Bells while the parrot got its groove on!
We were then on the move to see the Dino movie shown in 3D. Parks and I loved it! We really sat in an old water holding tank! It made sense once Momma realized the whole museum was previously a water treatment plant! Pretty cool stuff. Out to the car for a quick snack, then a live animal show where I got to touch a python! We then walked outside to a pond area where there were Coi fish that were bigger than Parker! We got to feed them and some turtles, too!
Back inside, we watched a stingray feeding. Daddy bought me a sticker that said, “I fed the stingrays” so that I could feed the stingrays. What it really should have said was, “I ALMOST fed the stingrays.” Even though I was very patient holding a small decapitated sardine, they never came over to take my fish. Oh well, it was super fun anyway.
Back to the tank again to watch another 3D show about saving the planet. Parks almost fell asleep, but we still had enough energy to revisit the first room before calling it quits for the day. Good find, Daddy!
For dinner, we stopped at Prawn Brokers. I got the buttered linguini, Parks got the chicken strips, and Momma and Daddy got some sort of fish, fish, and more fish stuff! I think I saw a shrimp tail in there somewhere, too!
We are finishing our day sitting at the harbor watching the big boats come in and playing Bimini Ring. Another day in Fort Myers…dominated.