This HUGE post, you might wonder what it's for. No, I am not catching up on any family activities. Josh and I celebrated our 10th anniversary, and to pamper ourselves we booked a trip to Orlando, Florida. Why you ask? BECAUSE WE WANTED TO!!! Anyways, we had sooooo much fun, and we wanted to share with everyone all we did. So I will give you a run down of all our activities... Just in case your curiosity got the best of you!
We left Thursday night and stayed with my grandma. Our flight from SLC left at 7am so we had to be there a few hours early, you know to deal with all the security crap. Here is a photo from the plane. The fog was so crazy down on the ground but once we got above it, it was beautiful.
We landed in Florida around 4pm EST, got our rental car then drove to the Hotel. We definitely wouldn't recommend it, but it was ok for the two of us. We hurried and changed and left for dinner and a show. (Our goal was to try new and different foods, ones we can't get at home)
FOOD OF THE DAY: Italian
We got to the Aquos Theatre at Universal's City Walk. It was really neat. We saw "The Blue Man Group"- W O W!!! They were so talented and funny. There were times when we were crying because we were laughing so hard. It was also incredibly LOUD! But we managed ok, after the ringing in our ears died off!
After a good nights rest we decided to take on SEAWORLD!! This was the one thing we both really wanted to do, so we did it first. It was so amazing to see all those animals. The thing I loved about it was that it was a combination zoo/theme park. There were shows to go to, animals to feed and see, and rides to ride. It took us the whole day, but we managed to do everything but one ride- the MANTA! We went to three different shows. The first was the Sea Lion and otter show. It was so funny. They did a Pirate show, and told corny jokes, and it wasn't timed perfectly but it was great. The animals were so funny and we had a blast.
Then we went on a ride- in which we got SOAKED!! Yeah, it was an awesome log ride. Since we were already wet we thought it'd be OK if we sat in the splash zone for the whale show. We were the third row back and narrowly escaped being dowsed in water. Not everyone was so lucky. The show was amazing- there was even a baby killer whale that was only a few months old. The baby took part in the show just following his mama around. These animals are just magnificant, and they were a joy to watch.
After lunch and another ride we hit the dolphin show. Now this was a show. There were dancers, acrobats, high divers, trapeze artists, macaws, and of course the dolphins. I wish we had video of it because I could watch it over and over and over again. It was just amazing what the trainers and dolphins were doing. Our jaws were just dropping to the floor over and over as they did each new trick. This by far was our favorite show!
After a full day at SEAWORLD we were tired and hungry.
FOOD OF THE DAY: Brazilian
(There were more Brazilians than Americans throughout or whole stay- it was pretty cool)
The next day was UNIVERSAL STUDIOS! Oh it was so much fun. There was so much to see and do. We lucked out and the lines for all the attractions weren't very long. We saw so many characters from different things. Josh's favorite was taking a picture with Marilyn Monroe. I got to take a picture with one of the minions from Dispicable Me! We saw the delorian from Back to the Future and a whole lot of other things. See for yourself...
It literally takes a whole day to go through the park. I can't imagine what it would be like during the peak season. Again after a full day walking through UNIVERSAL we headed out to eat and rest our weary feet.
FOOD OF THE DAY: Carribean (can i just say YUMMY?)
Apparently Universal is split up into two sections, one is UNIVERSAL and the other is ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE. This is where we headed for one of our final days. Josh and I are both Harry Potter fans and so we headed to this section first. Of course everyone else had that idea too, but it still wasn't bad. It was so amazing to be in Hogsmeade. We drank butterbeer (butterscotch creme soda) while we were standing in the line that took us through Hogwart's castle. There were paintings that talked to each other, we got to see the Potions dungeon, Dumbledore's office and the Herbology classroom. It was an amazing ride that took us to the Quidditch Pitch and we fought dementors and spiders among other things. Way cool. We also rode the dragon challenge. We had to do that twice because I blacked out the first time. These roller coasters are absolutely amazing.
After Hogsmeade we went straight to Jurrasic Park. The one ride there was the log ride- it was broken down for most of the day, but we eventually got to ride it. It was so cool. It takes you through the park just like the movie and then at the end- VERY WET!!! So fun though. We had fun taking pictures of all the dinosaurs for Tommy- he loves that stuff.
Well, the beautiful sunshine wasn't there that day, instead it was overcast and breezy. Right in the middle of the day it POURED rain on us for about an hour or so. Still we traveled around looking at all the fun things- like Cartoon Land. (notice all the ponchos? They are good for rides and rainstorms- we never got one though)
One of the many places was Suess Landing. Very kid friendly, but since we didn't have any kids with us, we skipped most of it. But it was still fun to see all the buildings and characters.
Then it was onto the Marvel Comics area. Huge rides, and lots of comics. This was fun. They did a quick parade of Captain America, Storm, Rogue and Spiderman. I do mean quick. They rode past one way then turned around and rode by again, it took about 2 minutes. We got a quick picture,oh well. The rides were fantastic, especially after all that rain.
Again, it takes the whole day to get through the park and see all there is to see. My poor feet still hurt, but it was way worth it.
FOOD OF THE DAY: Joe's Crab Shack
Our final day, we decided on a whim to go SHARK FISHING! Oh, you saw correctly. We chartered a boat to take us on the ocean and fish for sharks. Unfortunately we didn't catch any, but one guy caught an angel shark (looks like a sting ray), and I caught a blue fish- very tiny, but really sharp teeth. We saw dolphins, and sea turtles in their natural habitat which was very cool.
We also were fishing near the Kennedy Space Center- where they launch the rockets. The captain was explaining very cool things about that. Normally I do not like fishing. I had a lot of fun being out on the ocean though.
After all that fun it was time to head home. We left sunny Florida- 76degrees and after several hours ended up back in SLC where it was 11 degrees. Can we say REALITY CHECK? It was definitely cold coming home.
We had so much fun, but we are really glad to be back home. We sure missed all the kids and can't wait to take them to Florida too!
