Trip Report Hot, wet, sunny, and too much time in Chilis; a June 2013 Trip Report

Hi folks!
This is my first ever full trip report so I hope you all enjoy it.
We’ve had a fabulous 2 weeks in sunny, slightly rainy, but mostly hot Orlando. We’ve had a lot of new experiences during our trip, more probably for hubster, and most for my parents.
If you would like to read my pre trip report, it’s here:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/its-got-so-bad-theres-even-a-jar-involved-june-2013-ptr.862626/

So we’re not ones to completely focus on Disney on a holiday, but we’ve certainly done more Disney than anything else this trip. I wanted to make sure I got in as much as possible so my planning started at 380 days out, including booking reservations on Christmas and Boxing day, and plenty of scouring the forum for ideas. Sad to say I haven’t been able to fulfill them all (Push you little minx, you alluded me once again!) but have still had plenty of new experiences.

We’ve had a 2 week stay at the Enclave Suites on Carrier Drive which is just off International Drive. Oh boy do I wish we had driven this trip. $12 per person to get to and from the World. No room tax though, but still. And because of all the rain we’ve had, it would have been just swell to have had a dry pair of shoes and clothes waiting in a car on more than one occasion.

I also took 3030 photos on this trip! I said I wanted to take more, but wow, I wasn't expecting to finish with 3030. This isn't including the ones took on James' phone either! Wowza.

Incase you haven’t read my PTR, the cast is as follows:

Me, Clare. 24 years young, dental nurse and Disney nut!

DH, James, 33 years young, dental technician, prefers white knuckle rides to Disney, but is still happy to participate in the goings on in the World.

My Mom, Yvonne, 61 years young, accounts clerk, likes Disney but not so much the heat.
And finally, My Dad, Clive, 63 years young, warehouse man, goes wherever the two women want him to go!



Coming up, Day 0: Longest work day EVER and driving down to London baby!

 

[DisSplash]

I love your trip report!! Your James is such a good sport to put up with all the Disney if he is not as a big a fan as you ... and good luck on booking your next trip on property! Not only are the resorts so immersive in their respective themes, but some of them will save you those really looooong bus rides! Our very first trip was at the Wilderness Lodge and boy did we enjoy the boat ride to and from the MK. It was absolute heaven with two small kids. Since then we've mostly stayed at the Shades of Green (a Dep't of Defense property) which is also pretty nice and very conveniently located next to the Poly. A short walk there, and we just hop on the monorail! I would say that if you are seriously considering a resort stay next time, a hear a lot of people rave about the Boardwalk given its walking access to both HS and EPCOT. My least fave experience on property was Port Orleans. I loved the theming, but the buses were just awful. Always full and never enough of them.
We love Liberty Tree too -- It's like Grandma's cooking to me!

 

[pumpkin7]

Well, there's certainly no shortage of hotels to chose from so we'll probably be spoilt for choice.
I think James secretly likes Disney, he just prefers fast, white knuckle roller coasters so to come down to Disney which is more about the themeing and immersing yourself in magic. He's been twice with me now and hasn't moaned that much! On our honeymoon we didn't even do Universal, we just did Disney. He's a good boy. He probably wouldn't out of choice watch a Disney movie either, but I'm sure once we've got kids, he'll have them on all the time

I was going to upload the next day last night but my parentals internet was playing up and wouldn't allow me to upload anything so I will try again tonight!

 

[epcotisbest]

Looking forward to more great pics...wonderful TR so far!

 

[jkl2000]

OMG I've just looked at that picture on a different monitor to my own. He looks like a lobster! I swear he wasn't actually that red and he doesn't look that red on the camera or on my laptop. But on this monitor at work, wowza...! He looks like a tomato hahaha.

At least it didn't stop him from being very happy about his margarita with a beer in it!

 

[pumpkin7]

Day 7: Rest Day

Ok, so we'd had a few solid park days so today we decided to have a pool day. Except, we didn't spend much time by the pool because it's ssooooo boring! I hate knowing I've travelled 4000 miles to sit next to a body of water.
Anyway, we stayed round by the pool until about 11.30, when James was getting peckish. So, I'll give you one guess as to where we headed.....


Chilis!



241 Buds..



What a darlin'



We both decided to order the half portion of Texas Chili Cheese Fries. They were super duper nice, although way too much for me.



Chilis!





We decided to have a wonder down I-Drive. Now, I-Drive used to be awesome. So much to do, so much to see. I have to be honest, it's gone a bit down hill. Every single gift shop has the same souvenir junk in it, and most of the restaurants are either closed or have been demolished.

Walking down, we came across Gator Golf, which obviously has real, live, gators out the front!





We passed this guy, who I'm pretty sure used to have much darker skin than this.



And in the souvenir store, we came across... a shark, in a jar!



After going in like a thousand gift shops, James decided he wanted to go and visit the guitar shop that's just opposite from Wet n Wild. I love this store simply because it has a DeLorian outside!



James played some tunes...



The sky was looking a bit evil when we came out so we decided to get on the I-Ride and go and visit one of the outlet malls, as I heard they had a Disney Character Warehouse that I just had to check out. Bloomin' 2 hours to get from one end of I-Drive to the other on that darn bus! We got stuck waiting to get to the I-Ride stop at Sea World because there was an absolutely insane amount of brazillians who decided all to leave Sea World at the same time, and would not stop to let the bus past. Not even the teachers or whoever stopped them! We had to wait for what felt like the entire country of brazil to pass our bus before we could get into the bus stop. Stupid!

They sky was looking even more evil as we approached the mall...



Anyway, we eventually made it to the outlet mall. We went and got a drink, and had a wonder around, but as we'd been held up for so long we pretty much only had time to go to the Disney Character Warehouse and come back, so that's what we did.

I found the Disney Character Warehouse to be pretty neat. They had a lot of old stock in there, like Food and Wine t shirts, and 2012 t shirts at a heavily discounted price. I didn't get a t shirt, but I got this totally awesome watch, which was buy one get one free!



And I got a couple of laptop cases which were also BOGOF. I could have bought shoes and bags and all sorts but I didn't want to spend my budget.

After we'd done our shopping we got back on the I-Ride but did a different route and we were back in half an hour haha.

We had reservations for the Pirates Dinner Adventure for the evening so we went back to the hotel to freshen up and get changed before meeting up with my rentals

 

[pumpkin7]

The Pirates Dinner Adventure. We went to see this show in 1997 on my first trip, and it was awesome! Entry price was $94 a head, but we managed to get tickets from somewhere else for $25 a head.

Conveniently, the show was right across from our hotel, which was great.







We entered. You first went into the bar, where they charge $11.95 a DRINK! What?! The place smelt funny too from stale alcohol. Bleugh.
After about 20 minutes they bought out the appetizers. There was pork gyro, chicken salad, something else and raw carrots and broccoli... yeah, raw broccoli. Gross.












They started the show and set the scene. The Pirates were basically kidnapping a princess to help them find some treasure or something. The microphones kept cutting out so I wasn't really following.
We were seated in the red section, under the rule of the red pirate. (I forget his name). We were pretty close to the front but not in the section where you would be chosen to help. James turned to me and said 'you don't think they will pick us for anything?' and I said no! No way, they have a section at the front where you can pay for guarenteed participation.
No sooner had I said that, the red pirate came up to us and said 'you two, down the front, now!' GREAT!!!
So I was instructed that they had two games, I had to throw bags up to Mr Pirate to win a game, and James had to participate in a game of 'hot potato'. It wasn't too painful as there were a few other people helping out in the other sections too.

So, the show was the same show we saw 15 years ago. The sign outside was the same sign from 15 years ago. The food, was terrible, and the waitresses came round and explained they wanted a tip. You got 2 drinks with your meal, or one alcoholic beverage included in the main price.
It was just an awful experience. If I'd have paid top dollar I would have been asking for my money back! I couldn't take any pictures of the food as the auditorium was dark while we were eating. The show was boring. It just sucked, the whole thing. The Trip Advisor reviews mainly agree.

So after the disappointment of that, whereby the show was only on about an hour and a half, we retired back to the hotel for some kip.

Next up: Day 8: Islands of Adventure!

 

[Allie_Marie]

Loving your TR! Sorry about the bad Pirate experience! But I'm sure the rest of your trip made up for it!!

 

[DisSplash]

It sounds like I-Drive turned into "I-not-bother-Drive." That's too bad. So, apparently, was your Pirate meal experience. Yuck! But at least it looks as if you all were enjoying some of the 'fun' of it, if not simply each other's company. We have yet to venture out of the "World," and had thought about doing that, but now I am not so sure .... So did the Chili's people start calling you all by name? At the very least, they should have given you a free appetizer seeing as how you two are "regulars" and appear to be keeping them in business!
Cute photos of you and your family!

 

[pumpkin7]

It sounds like I-Drive turned into "I-not-bother-Drive." That's too bad. So, apparently, was your Pirate meal experience. Yuck! But at least it looks as if you all were enjoying some of the 'fun' of it, if not simply each other's company. We have yet to venture out of the "World," and had thought about doing that, but now I am not so sure .... So did the Chili's people start calling you all by name? At the very least, they should have given you a free appetizer seeing as how you two are "regulars" and appear to be keeping them in business!
Cute photos of you and your family!

It has gone really down hill. It's a shame because it used to be awesome. My parents were shocked and they haven't been since 2003. We went in 2010 and it's even changed from then.
Yeah, we still had a good time at the Pirates show but it wasn't because of the show itself. It was entertaining to a point but there's only so many times you can watch the same aerial acrobat do pretty much the same routine over an hour and a half.
The reviews speak for themselves : http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUs...irate_s_Dinner_Adventure-Orlando_Florida.html
Personally I'd save your money and do something Disney instead.
They didn't know us by name in chilis but I got the distinct impression they kept thinking 'not these guys again!' haha. Especially on the night I had to go and retrieve James as he had been there for 3 hours and was completely blottoed. That day hasn't come up yet, but it was very embarrassing!

 

[alissafalco]

I love chilis

 

[alissafalco]

Great report I loved your photos

 

[pumpkin7]

There's still 7 more days worth left yet!

 

[DisSplash]

It has gone really down hill. It's a shame because it used to be awesome. My parents were shocked and they haven't been since 2003. We went in 2010 and it's even changed from then.
Yeah, we still had a good time at the Pirates show but it wasn't because of the show itself. It was entertaining to a point but there's only so many times you can watch the same aerial acrobat do pretty much the same routine over an hour and a half.
The reviews speak for themselves : http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUs...irate_s_Dinner_Adventure-Orlando_Florida.html
Personally I'd save your money and do something Disney instead.
They didn't know us by name in chilis but I got the distinct impression they kept thinking 'not these guys again!' haha. Especially on the night I had to go and retrieve James as he had been there for 3 hours and was completely blottoed. That day hasn't come up yet, but it was very embarrassing!

Oh boy! Looking forward to reading that!

 

[jkl2000]

When I see that Chilis in October, I'm going to go wild. I might have to make one out-of-world trip there just to experience it!

 

[pumpkin7]

Chilis is freakin' sweet! 241 Bud and wine, fab food, and always local if you're staying next door ha.

 

[pumpkin7]

Day 8: Island of Adventure

James was a bit Disney'd out by day 8, so we decided to head off to IOA today. The sun was shining, and it was hot hot hot!
We had breakfast and jumped on the shuttle bus.



We could see this flashing at night from our hotel.



It was pretty empty too.







Christmas Shop!



THE HULK!!



So, upon entering, we thought we better head straight over to Harry Potter as we'd never seen it, and I knew it would get popular. We aren't massive HP fans to be honest. We haven't read all the books and haven't seen all the films, and Daniel Radcliffe grates on me with his poor acting skills... and don't get me started with Emma Watson! Argh!! Still, we headed off in that direction.







This picture would be awesome if it weren't for the crane in the background!!



We soon stumbled upon Hogsmead.

 

[pumpkin7]

I have to say, seeing the snowy roof tops of Hogsmeade in 30 degree heat was pretty awesome.





And here were all the people.



We decided to go on Forbidden Journey before it got crazy busy. It was already at 60 minutes as we entered the queue.





I thought the castle was pretty amazing.









We got into the single rider line in the end. It was a lot quicker, and we still got to sit together. This annoys me at Uni. You either wait in the line or you go single rider. Or you pay for FP when half the time it's not even worth it.
Still, the ride was really good. We were trying to figure out how they did some of it and its just really clever. I particularly like the floating candles in the load area.



After we had a wonder around Hogsmeade. I love the attention they've put into the shops, like the book shop has a quill writing on it's own, and the toilets have Moaning Mertle in them! Though it's a shame you can't go into many of the shops.





Next, we went over to Dragon Challenge, eventhough it's the same ride, I thought they'd rethemed it very well.

 

[pumpkin7]

Next up, we decided we couldn't leave without trying Butterbeer! So we joined the queue. I left James in the queue while I took some pictures.









Butterbeer! I just had the normal one. I hated it. It's like ice cream soda, but I hate ice cream soda! Hah. Also, the froth on top started to curdle in the heat, so it put me off a bit. I drank some of it but had to bin it in the end as I just didn't find it refreshing at all.



We decided just to follow the park around after that.



DANGER! CLASHING THEMES ARGH!!





We decided to head over to the River Adventure first, as we were getting a bit warm, but I chickened out and ponchoed up.

And seen as we were ponchoed up, we did the rest of the water rides, first up being Dudley Do Right. Man, this ride looks like it needs some love. Much of the plastic making up the characters was in need or repair, and there were areas that I'm sure were meant to have something happen but nothing happened.











Straight after we went on the Bilge Rat Barges. Again, we wore ponchos, but it was a bit of a waste of time:



There was also a young lad filming on this ride. He had a camera strapped to his chest. He did tell us his youtube name but I can't remember it! So annoying! That would be an ace video to have.

 

[pumpkin7]

It was approaching lunch time so we decided to share a burger at the comic strip cafe.



My trusty trainers had gotten soaked on the Barges so I found a spot outside to dry them off.



A burger and a drink came to like, $18, and it looked like slop.



Once we'd eaten our slop burger we headed over to Marvel Island.











Spiderman was at 60 minutes so we got in the single rider queue, which was still a good 30 minutes but still.





Spiderman looked much better than the last time we rode with it's shiny new digital projection, though I couldn't help thinking it was very similar to another ride we'd recently been on.....



Dr Doom's Crappy Fear Fall!
Sorry, they need to make this a free fall drop. We've been on a 400ft free fall drop in spain and it's harrowing. This has an initial ARRRGGGHHH and then it's like, oh, is that it? I can see my hotel from here!' I was having a rather concerning conversation with the guy next to me who said he snuck his kid in last time they were there as he was under the height limit but he thought he was going to fall out, but he didn't, so it was ok... I was like WHAT?!

Next up was the HULK! I was annoyed as when we joined the queue, there was no single rider line, then all of a sudden, they opening it up, but we were pretty much at the front so it was too late.



We also went on Storm Force. I know it's just tea cups but it's so much fun.



We decided to stop for a drink at the bar near the entrance of the park.





The sky was looking evil again, and after a while, the familiar roar of the HULK stopped, indicating it was getting rather close.

 

[pumpkin7]

He was happy, he got beer.







One of my shoes had dried, the other, had not so I looked like I had odd shoes on!



Impending dooooooooom!!



The Lagoon





James with Hogwarts and the Jurassic Park visitor centre. I was gutted the tryceratops encounter wasn't open, but we found the sign and had a photo infront of it.





With the rains impending dooooooooooom approaching, we decided to head over to Zeuss Landing to see what we could do there.





We decided to queue up for the train ride. By this point the storm was very close, and they'd stopped this from running too.



After announcing on the tannoy it had closed, we decided to wait anyway as it was raining. To keep us entertained, one of the staff members started singing nursery rhymes. You're Happy and You Know It was first, and it was a sight to behold everyone doing it in unison in the ride queue. We then had a few others, BINGO! and after a while the music came back on and the queue, which had got a great deal shorter, started moving again.
They loaded us onto a train, but just as we were about to depart, we had to get off again as they had to close, again! Very annoying. I think we were in this queue for about an hour but they kept everyone entertained with more nursery rhymes.





DOOOOOOOOOOOOM



There weren't many people left by the end.



I totally didn't get this train ride at all, but then again, I've never read any Dr Seuss so that's probably why ha!

The cakes in the shop at the end looked super yummy.