Orlando 11 July 2024 - The sunshine state and the surprise.

All holiday, the children have been teased about a coming surprise. This works better on Robbie than it does on Madelyn.  Robbie cannot stop his need to guess even though he knows he will not be told, there is always that small chance that he will cause a slip and get some more information, and slips there were, but I'm not sure he cottoned-on.

The surprise for me, this morning, is rain.  The forecast says it will clear up about 11:35, and it has stopped falling by 11:30.  That's great, because the surprise is intended for the afternoon.  Florida claims to be the 'sunshine state'.  We have had mainly cloudy days, which takes away a little of the excessive heat that I am so poorly adapted for.

We head for the surprise after lunch at the Lazy Dog.  This is a very nice restaurant, and I find something on the menu without salad - Chicken Teriyaki and wild rice.  Jo and I arrived at the same meal from different pages on the menu.

Then it's onwards to Universal.  The first impression is that the place is enormous.  The impression is spot on.  Not everything is enormous though, the parking spaces are average (for America), and the car door touches the car next to us. Cue angry American woman, who looks at her car and can't find a mark.  You're here to enjoy yourself, so do that, or if not at least get a life.   We have young children with us, so the activities we can take part in are limited - but not that limited.

Here are the activities we queued for:

Minions- Villiancon - shooting on a moving walkway.

I scored 277240, which I suspect was a very poor score.  There were at least another 2 digits available on the display.

Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon. 

This is a 'simulator ride', unfortunately for me the 3D glasses do not fit over my glasses, so most of the effect is lost. I did appreciate the New York shots and graphics though.

Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts

The Wizarding World is amazing, it is open to the outside and yet remains cooler than the surrounding area. It is London, but it is not modern London, the feel of the place if just right. Gringotts is amazing, with each of the tellers doing their own thing. There is a dragon breathing fire, when it does, you can feel the heat. There are various shops, all beautifully themed, and Olivanders, where a wand can find you and extract your cash.

Butterbeer is made with Creme Soda and caramel, with whipped cream on top, and is a must-try drink when visiting the Harry Potter world. Below, Robbie has posed with the appropriate 'beer moustache'. 

KrustyLand - Kang & Kodos’ Twirl ‘n’ Hurl - alien octopus ride

I sat this one out, but listened to the commentary from a number of rides during the 20-minute wait. I was impressed with how different each of the commentaries were, there were very few repeats. 

Trollercoaster

A traditional roller coaster for younger children, with a trolls theme. We sat and waited and watched as evening arrived. 

Towards the end of the evening, we ate in the 1960s diner.  They had run out of Cobb salads, but it was close to closing time, so was not really unexpected.

As we were eating, the finale display began.  Using the water fountains, fireworks and programmed drones, we have a spectacular light show that lasts around 20 minutes and summed up our visit brilliantly.

 A fantastic day enjoyed by all.

Orlando 10 July 2024 - I need more space

The view for lunch - in the Saturn V display

Early in the morning, we left the holiday home (villa) for the Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral).  This is the location of America's main launch pads.  It is where the Saturn V took a few very privileged astronauts to the moon, and one to go around it twice and never land.  Can you name him?

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor complex is operated for NASA by Delaware North.  That tells you a lot about the centre, before you even start.

This is my day.  Everything else on the holiday is for the children and others in the party.  So we start by visiting the Saturn V.  This iconic rocket 'is' the space program - well for me at least.  We board a coach, that takes us to the Saturn V centre.  The bus is like a guided tour and plays a video to entertain us on the 20-minute journey.  There is also plenty of wildlife - we are on a reserve, and we may see some.

Most of the interactive displays show the Activate Windows screen.

 

The bus arrives and there is a long wait outside some huge doors.  Every part of the trip is designed to enhance the dramatic.  We go through a launch 'replay' for Apollo 11, seated above the actual launch control room.  The presentation is well put together and helpful in understanding what happened.

Everywhere, the wild-life cleans up after the humans.  These two young birds fight over the scraps.

Immature Boat-tailed Grackles

Finally, we get to see the Saturn V, on its side. 

Manned Moon Landings

There is lots to do. I spend a lot of time marvelling at the technology, and the 2 million systems that must work together perfectly to get men to the moon and back safely.  NASA achieved this 6 times - a remarkable achievement, and completed in a very short time frame.

We also visit the Mars expedition talk, which is a little underwhelming.

The Space shuttle Atlantis display is very good.  You can get reasonably close, and a real feel for the size and complexity of the shuttle, whose original design is not that far from a paper aeroplane. 

There are many piloting simulations and other similar activities around the site. Many are only partially functional (BROKEN!).  This is not NASA, and gives a poor impression, but I guess things have moved on. Everything is outsourced. Yes, I know aerospace companies worked with NASA on this stuff, but WITH is better than FOR.  No longer are we in a world of excellence and exploration that the Apollo and Space shuttle programs exuded.  Now we are commercial, and it seems that today's space programs are closer to the laying down of the railways, than the development of the steam engine.

Never mind, for me the excitement has gone, and will only return when the headline is "Mission to Mars". I firmly believe we should be there by now.

The title of the blog entry "I need more space" is one of the advertising slogans in the various shops. It is intended to be ironic.

Orlando 9 July 2024 - British in a foreign land

I received the Wi-Fi code for the holiday home, courtesy of Karen's 'hotspot', overnight.  Now we are properly up and running.  

The first task, for today, is to pay for the pool heater. This will be by electronic transfer.

First Bank - I select the international payments page - "Something went wrong, clear your cache and try again - you can call us".  I re-tried, with VPN in my country - no difference.  Of course, I can't call them, that would cost me more than the pool heater, because calls from America to UK are stupidly expensive - 25p / minute, with my provider.  This is just profiteering.

Second Bank - No problem, I just need all these details - and on and on, which I don't have.  I send the request for details to the owner, who wants to try another way.

So, both UK banks (I only have two with me) and my phone provider have conspired to make this IMPOSSIBLE.  This is typical of my experiences with banks when I'm oversees.

I have been travelling to America for over a decade now, and these simple things are still just as difficult - nothing changes.

Finally, Karen paid the fee, and I paid her in Sterling.  That may sound OK, but it has transferred the currency conversion risk to an innocent third party.

We had lunch in the British Pub, which also had a British food and drink section, where we, at last, get some proper tea.  The food was very good, and served by a lady from Bishop Aukland.

The main event of the day is Legoland.

The entrance to Legoland

It was a good time, although tiring and hard on my limited legs.  The children bough Lego brick keychains with their names engraved on. We went on various rides - them more than me, of course, and got a little damp as the rain started to fall gently.  A good time was had by all.

In the evening, I stated to catch up with my blogging.