DoingFlorida

6365 Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway

Princess4lyf — Sat, 19 May 2012 12:18:25 GMT

We are due to fly out in 4 weeks time and are staying at a villa 6365 Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway. Does anyone know what time the check in point for getting the keys shuts? Has anyone else stayed in this area before?

May 19 � Micky Dolenz at the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival

DoingFlorida News — Sat, 19 May 2012 09:40:46 GMT

Guests who have attended Epcot�s Flower Power concerts (part of the International Flower & Garden Festival) over the years have enjoyed performances from many artists with one of the most popular frequent performers being Davy Jones from the Monkees. Earlier this year his sudden death was announced which shocked fans and colleagues. One of his former band mates from the Monkees, Micky Dolenz, was approached to see if he would perform at Epcot on the dates Davy would have performed. Micky agreed and took to the stage at the America Gardens Theatre for the first show last night.

Micky is the first to agree that there is no way to replace his friend. �David was the brother I never had,� he says. �I only wish I didn�t have to appear in his place, but rather perform beside him � which I did as a surprise last year during a few of his concerts.�

May 18 � Star Wars Weekends opens & a look at Droid Factory the experience

DoingFlorida News — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:29:03 GMT

The new Droid Factory experience has opened just in time for Disney�s Hollywood Studios annual Star Wars Weekends, read more here. Here�s video from Tatooine Traders shop where the new Droid Factory is located. Just for the Star Wars Weekends there will also be a smaller temporary fixture that can be found inside Darth�s Mall merchandise tent. The availability of some droid pieces will change frequently so there will always be new designs to be made.

The Star Wars weekends began today with many queuing to buy the special limited Star Wars merchandise and fans queued over night to make sure they secured a celebrity autograph fast pass. Here�s a look at the Storm Troopers out this morning watching over guests arriving at Disney�s Hollywood Studios.

Jack's Trip report part 16

Jack — Fri, 18 May 2012 07:28:03 GMT

Monday 16th

After a mighty biceps workout we set off for Universal studios.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day and we got there just as the park opened.
My goodness it was unbelievably quiet!

The riders walked straight onto rip rockit and then we all went round to the MIB ride.
Again we walked straight on and afterwards I bought the ride photo for my eldest. (It’s her favourite ride.)
Next we went to the Simpsons ride and were surprised to find we had to wait 20 minutes to get on.
Great ride though!
We were all a little hungry by now so we did the ET ride and then went over to the Horror caf� for some brunch.
We’ve never eaten there before but have always fancied it so it was good to finally get it done.
It’s a canteen style set up but the food was delicious and piping hot.

Two shows back to back were next as we went straight from the, excellent, animal actors show into the horror make up show.
All good fun as ever!
There was a short wait for the disaster ride but nothing too taxing.
Always good to see Christopher Walken in action, that part of the attraction is entertaining and very clever.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped off at the shops and my eldest bought some sketchers trainers.
It was round about this time that I felt the onset of ‘American man flu’ so I went back to the hotel room for a little nap whilst my eldest and Mrs Jack continued to shop.

That evening I still didn’t feel 100% so we decided to eat close to the hotel and opted for sizzlers.
Mrs Jack had a chicken dinner whilst the girls and I had the buffet.
All very nice but nothing spectacular.

No cocktails for me tonight (I only just managed a Bud lite or two) I bought some flu capsules from the hotel shop (Lite Bite) and was tucked up in bed by 9:30pm.

Wet'n'Wild.

Justice Socks — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:58:21 GMT

Not long now.

Blastaway Beach™ Fact Sheet

Attraction Description:
 A secluded, beach-themed area for families with kids of all ages

 One entrance/exit to the area

 Featured attraction – giant, sandcastle-themed playground

 The area will have dedicated seating amidst lush, tropical landscaping

Attraction Size:
 An acre in size; including a sandcastle-themed playground, pools, landscaping and seating

 Largest waterpark playground in Florida

 The sandcastle playground will span two pools (upper & lower), covering over 15,000 sq ft and over 85,000 gallons of water

Attraction Experience:

 Guests will get splashed by over 160 soakers, jets, waterfalls and cannons as they explore a giant sandcastle

 Splash in two pools, upper and lower

 17 slides throughout upper and lower pools

Location:

 Replaces current Kids’ Park

 Located towards entrance of the park

Wet ‘n Wild’s Other Attractions:

 THE BLACK HOLE™: The Next Generation A Wet ‘n Wild classic just got better, as your two-person hydra capsule blasts off into a mysterious void featuring pulsating light, dynamic effects and cosmic energy.

 BRAIN WASH™ Hypnotizing water thrills await as you and your friends encounter a splashing dose of group therapy on this unique water ride. Lose your grip on reality, but not your grip on the two or four-person tube, as you climb the walls on the six-story extreme tube ride with a 53-foot vertical drop into the 65-foot domed funnel. It’s mind blowing!

 DISCO H2O™ Prepare for a trip to the funky 1970’s. Board a four-passenger tube down an enclosed flume toward a watery disco nightclub - complete with lights, disco balls, and, of course, those groovy hits of the seventies.

May 17 � Guests invited to a Birthday party for Busch Gardens� cheetahs

DoingFlorida News — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:46:38 GMT

Busch Gardens will soon be celebrating the one-year anniversary of their Cheetah Hunt attraction. There will also be a birthday celebration for the group of female cheetahs in Cheetah Run who came to Busch Gardens in January last year. All seven of the female cheetahs were born within weeks of each other, with the first birthday on April 30th and the last on May 28th. Six of the cheetahs came from a conservation center called Cheetah Outreach in Cape Town, South Africa. Their names are Nave, Sula, Oronsay, Pego, Qi and Tiree. The caretakers at Cheetah Outreach hand-reared six of the seven cheetahs that now call Tampa home. The seventh cheetah, Jenna, was raised at the De Wildt Shingwedzi Cheetah & Wildlife Ranch, which aims to ensure the long-term survival of the cheetah and African wild dog.

On May 27th festivities will taking place throughout the day with the highlight being the cheetahs being treated to a giant birthday �cake�.

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Jack's Trip report part 15

Jack — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:33:30 GMT

Sunday 15th

I went to the gym for a triceps workout then got the gang together to go and check out Wonder works.
We absolutely love the theme parks but the days there are knackering so I counted today as a bit of a breather.
Wonder works was great fun!
(I wouldn�t recommend the roller coaster simulator though, very unpleasant sensation)
We lay on a bed of nails, blew giant bubbles and stuck our hands in water as cold as that the titanic sank in!

It was real good fun.
At about 11:00am we drove to the Fuddruckers up at Festival bay mall for our brunch.
This was yet another first for us and the buffalo meat burger I had there was superb.
It was another contender for best burger of the holiday!

After a lovely meal we had another look round the shops where my eldest bought some books.

We returned to the hotel for a short time before taking a trip up to the Titanic experience on I-Drive.
What better time to visit this attraction than the 100 year anniversary of the actual sinking.
So in we went for the walk through guided tour ($98).
This was very good and well worth a visit.
The guy that took us round played the part of an Englishman who was on board with his wife and 9 children.
He stayed in character for the whole tour and was very entertaining and knowledgeable.
I didn�t care much for his attempt at an English accent though it was somewhere between dick van-dyke and crocodile Dundee!
No photography allowed so no pictures of this part of the holiday I�m afraid.
We all thoroughly enjoyed it and even found it a little emotional towards the end as the actual sinking was described in detail.
At the start of the tour you are given a boarding pass with an actual traveller�s identity on it and at the very end you have the rather morbid opportunity to find out if you died or survived.
We stopped off in the gift shop for a few souvenirs and then headed back to the hotel.
My youngest and I then had a nice little rest whilst Mrs Jack and my eldest went to play pirates golf.

That night we were scheduled to eat at Perkins so we took the I-ride trolley there and were quickly seated.
We didn�t stay long though because it soon became apparent that they no longer sold alcohol and had run out of diet coke!
Not good enough I�m afraid (with all the choice on I-Drive) so we left and took a stroll around the corner to TGI Friday�s.
Another superb meal here and the cheesecake desserts were particularly delicious.
My cocktail of choice was the �lightning lemonade�
Yummy!
We then enjoyed a walk all the way back to the hotel on what was a lovely warm evening.

And so to bed.

May 16 � Phineas & Ferb: Agent P�s World Showcase Adventure at Epcot opens next month

DoingFlorida News — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:05:19 GMT

Disney has released drawings showing how the new Disney Phineas and Ferb: Agent P�s World Showcase Adventure in Epcot will look when it opens. The new adventure with Phineas & Ferb will replace the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure which will close this Friday, May 18th.

Disney Phineas & Ferb: Agent P�s World Showcase Adventure will open late June. During the adventure guests will transform into secret agents to help Agent P thwart some of Dr. Doofenshmirtz�s most daring plots. Agents will use a high tech detection device called a �F.O.N.E.� or Field Operative Notification Equipment to receive clues for each case. Solving the clues will take agents to different places throughout seven World Showcase countries at Epcot � Mexico Pavilion, France Pavilion, Germany Pavilion, Norway Pavilion, Japan Pavilion, China Pavilion and the United Kingdom Pavilion. Agents will scour each country for clues, evil �Inators,� and help Agent P defeat Dr. Doofenshmirtz.

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Big thunder Mountain

Sally — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:34:29 GMT

It feels like this has been closed for ages, anyone know if they are doing anything huge?

Very clever Disney

Sally — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:30:21 GMT

Not Disney World but still is good, have a look at this (I had to download flash first) made us smile http://www.giantsteps20.com/

credit card at Walmart

Sally — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:59:03 GMT

:confused:How does it work at the walmart tills if you want to pay by credit card? I remember paying at Abercrombie store years ago and had to sign on some funny machine thingy, do they have a chip and pin machine?

Jack's Trip report part 14

Jack — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:45:09 GMT

Saturday 14th

Having had beautiful weather (mid 80�s) throughout the holiday so far this particular day was really weird.
When we left the hotel for Islands of Adventure it was just like a typical morning in the UK.
It was overcast, gloomy and cool.
The girls moaned a bit but personally I didn�t mind it. Although the sun was hiding it wasn�t cold and it made a change not to feel that sting of the sun on my forearms.
Once at our destination we were, yet again, pleasantly surprised at how quiet it was first thing.
We headed straight for Spiderman and walked on with no queuing at all.
Its one of our favourite rides and all the new enhancements were very impressive.
My youngest and I (the �riders�) then dropped back for a go on Hulk before moving onto Dr.
Doom.Next we headed over to the Harry potter ride and, with a wait time of 20 minutes, this was the only real queue of the day.
It�s a brilliant queue (as queues go) so the time whizzed by and we thoroughly enjoyed the ride.
Afterwards we stopped off to purchase the photo ($32) then �the riders� rode the blue part of dragon challenge.
We then had brunch in the Cat in the hat caf� and, although I�m not a fan of the canteen style restaurants, thoroughly enjoyed our chicken sandwiches and pizzas.
Next up was the Jurassic park river ride.
I�m sure this has changed slightly as we got squirted (soaked) with water part way round and I�ve never had that before. Also I'm sure we got to see the T-rex at the end for much longer than usual?
We were well and truly soaked afterward but I didn�t care, it was all great fun.
Islands of adventure is my favourite park and, although we didn�t get every thing done, we had a really great day.

Afterwards we dropped into Walmart for some supplies and also had a quick look around the dollar tree next door.
While we were in there we had our first bit of rain....all finished by the time we came out though so the timing was perfect.
We really do prefer the April weather compared to August.
That evening we took the I-Ride trolley up to Chilli�s and toyed with the idea of doing the tallest sling shot in the world.
We did it in 2010 and it was such a phenomenal experience that, for now, I wanted to keep it as a one off special so we watched it go up once and then went to eat.
Chilli�s was superb and the highlight for me was a drink called a �Coronarita�.
It was really good and turned out to be my favourite drink of the holiday.

One of those balloon modellers came up to us while we waited for our food and (it must have been the coronaritas) I agreed to let him make us something.
He must have been fresh out of balloon modelling school because he couldn�t do any of our requests and the �heart� he ended up doing for us was useless!
Balloons aside we had great food, great service and a great night.

And so to bed

May 16 � Fantasyland Expansion model now on display at Disney�s Hollywood Studios

DoingFlorida News — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:22:12 GMT

A new exhibit is now available for guests to see in the One Man�s Dream exhibit at Disney�s Hollywood Studios. The model for the New Fantasyland expansion, which was on display during the recent Summer to Remember press event and at last year�s D23 Expo, is on show from today. How long the model will be on display hasn�t been announced.

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May 16 � Preview of what�s happening at Downtown Disney Car Masters Weekend

DoingFlorida News — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:10:21 GMT

Downtown Disney Car Masters Weekend returns to Downtown Disney in a few weeks, click here to read mor about it. Now in its second year, celebrates everything "Cars" there will be meet and greets with Lightning McQueen, Mater, and Finn McMissile, as well as plenty of other activities. Here�s a look at what guests can expect to see at the Car Masters Weekend.

May 15 � Summer Nights at SeaWorld return next month

DoingFlorida News — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:19:42 GMT

SeaWorld Orlando�s nighttime spectacular �Summer Nights� returns again for the 2012 Summer season. During �Summer Nights� guests can see exciting, nighttime shows, including a high-energy, rock �n roll Shamu Rocks, the hysterical duo of Clyde and Seamore in Sea Lions Tonite, and Reflections, a spectacular fireworks and fountains finale. Guests can watch the fireworks from the Waterfront Village or from the all seater Bayside Stadium.

Summer Nights at SeaWorld is included with park admission and will take place every evening from June 23rd until August 12th.

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