Trip Report I Did NOT Get Locked Out of the Hotel Room Naked at Busch Gardens! (Sorry. It would have made for good drama!) COMPLETED!

So.....I tried to negotiate another trip to Disney this year with Philmonster, but I knew it was a fool's folly before I even plead my case. He absolutely refuses. "Not until Star Wars opens". GRRRRR. As if we will be able to get near the place once that happens. Or afford it, etc.

BUT...........

I got him to agree to do a Tampa/St. Pete trip toward the end of April. Errr....hurray? Annnyway......

QUESTION:

Are you guys interested in a Busch Gardens trip report during their version of food and wine? If not, no worries, but if you want more insane misadventures from the Thomas party, I'm happy to post them.

Lemme know.

PS - How far is Tampa from WDW? Two or three hours? Maybe I can ditch the monster and take a bus to the mouse one day during the trip.

 

[DisneyJeff]

Oh I do love me some jamaican food, (hubby and I were married there!) maybe when we are there in November, we should take the drive. (45 minutes) Which location did you go to?

OK, I must be a little slow today (I think I need a vacation!!) but when I read your post, my first thought was "She got married at the Jerk Hut???"

 

[DisSplash]

Oh I was so hoping that you had some jerky food photos ...

 

[MinnieM123]

I saw posts on FB recently about a school having their prom at Coronado Springs. I was jealous. Our prom was at a volunteer fire house space lol.

Mine was at a VFW hall. Anyway, it wasn't the Ritz, but it didn't matter. I thought my prom date was so handsome, that I don't think I noticed much about the venue!

 

[Rista1313]

OK, I must be a little slow today (I think I need a vacation!!) but when I read your post, my first thought was "She got married at the Jerk Hut???"

LOL.. no on the beach in jamaica, where the music was a hotel gal with a boom box... not even lying!

 

[bee]

Back to you soon with more about the prom (no we did not crash it!) and a very crowded Busch Gardens Saturday.

I saw posts on FB recently about a school having their prom at Coronado Springs. I was jealous. Our prom was at a volunteer fire house space lol.

Mine was at a VFW hall. Anyway, it wasn't the Ritz, but it didn't matter. I thought my prom date was so handsome, that I don't think I noticed much about the venue!

My prom was an a crappy hotel that has since closed. But my prom date was the girl who would become my wife 7 years later

(Of course, this was the south in the early 2000s so we weren't out yet and told people we were going as "friends." But we knew we were dates )

 

[DisSplash]

My prom was an a crappy hotel that has since closed. But my prom date was the girl who would become my wife 7 years later

(Of course, this was the south in the early 2000s so we weren't out yet and told people we were going as "friends." But we knew we were dates )

My sister did the same thing! Lol! It was the south in 2000, so there is that similarity.

 

[Gabe1]

I saw posts on FB recently about a school having their prom at Coronado Springs. I was jealous. Our prom was at a volunteer fire house space lol.

Oh Wow! No I didn't see that. Im guessing they plopped them in the convention center with hopefully security making sure they were not making it out of the center into guest areas/pools/etc. I had zero idea especially since they bounced Grad Nite's

 

[BuddyThomas]

My prom was an a crappy hotel that has since closed. But my prom date was the girl who would become my wife 7 years later

(Of course, this was the south in the early 2000s so we weren't out yet and told people we were going as "friends." But we knew we were dates )

Coming this Fall to Broadway:

 

[Gabe1]

Mine was at a VFW hall. Anyway, it wasn't the Ritz, but it didn't matter. I thought my prom date was so handsome, that I don't think I noticed much about the venue!

Priorities. My date was so cute, but he and I were just genuinely good friends for years, actually still are. He married one of my oldest friends and they were willed my children should something happen to us. But I got two proms out of that night He went to the North Side HS and then there was my HS, so MUCH FUN WAS HAD. Good Memories.

 

[BuddyThomas]

Part Four - Saturday, in the Park, I Think it was the Fourth of July

Well, it wasn't. The Fourth of July, that is. It was the end of April. But it might as well have been the Fourth of July from how crowded it was. I'm starting right at the parks, because remember, I don't have that many pics for this trip, and I'm borrowing a few of these, but the park was about this crowded:

Grr. But then we learned it was the last weekend of Food and Wine Festival, and Flo Rider was performing, so it all made sense. Most rides had two hour waits or more, so it's a good thing we did almost everything yesterday.

So...what should we do? I guess start by taking a picture of the Monster with an afternoon cocktail in a surprisingly uncrowded space:

You might ask, where is everyone???? Free answer: In ride lines!!

Well, eventually, we had to get on a line too and we decided to go for Congo River Rapids:

It's basically the same thing as Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom. Here is a random YouTube video of it:



And here is what I looked like after it was over. A drowned rat, and both of my eyeballs had clearly popped out of my head and been reinstalled incorrectly.

If I ever make that face again, someone please come to my apartment and shoot me in the head.

That shirt I am wearing is from the Broadway show, Once on This Island, which just pulled an upset and won Best Revival at the Tony Awards on Sunday (over My Fair Lady, which had been expected to win). It's pretty much my favorite show of all time, so shameless plug, although I guess not so shameless since I don't really have anything to do with it aside from having seen it about five times. But if you are in NYC, see this. It is basically a reimagining of The Little Mermaid:



Sheesh, this trip report is all over the place. Well, I told you I didn't have that many pictures, and it's been a while, so I'm doing my best, dammit!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ummm, err....uhh, ehhh........where were we?

Oh yes. I was soaking wet, trying to save my ancient phone from drowning, and Phil made a new friend:

I think they are gonna get along great!

Now, you may be wondering, if this is Food and Wine Festival, why are there no pictures of food or wine? Well...that is a very good question and here is the answer: Unlike EPCOT, Busch Gardens Food and Wine is confined to a very small area, and is not all over the park. And it is in an area that is not really that convenient to get to - in an out of the way nook, in the shadow of a roller coaster that is no longer operational. So we decided to try to do rides during the day, and Food and Wine Festival starting around 6PM (park was open until 10).

Well, it was mobbed. Mobbed more than I have ever seen Disney. Here is the one and only picture I took t at Food and Wine. Phil Monster, are you ready for your close up?

That is the entrance to the Food and Wine area, and I know it doesn't look that crowded, but trust me, it was insane.

We bought a 12 ticket tasting thing (so, 12 tastings) for around fifty bucks each, and we could barely get to any of the tasting huts. Grrrrr.....

Anyway, just to give you an idea what the whole thing looked like, here is a Tim Tracker video of a press preview event to this year's festival. Clearly, he and Jen liked it more than us, but then again, they got all their stuff for free at the press thing.



So........Food and Wine didn't exactly work out for us. And as we sail into the sunset on this portion of a rather dull trip report that is trying too desperately to be entertaining, here is a Phil Monster against a sun setting over a Tampa savannah (If you look closely, you can see giraffes in the background). PS - What the hell is he wearing????? A Hawaiian shirt and striped shorts???? What the??? I let him go out the door in that?? (I just noticed this now - I did not even notice it on the trip - senility is clearly setting in.)

Back to you soon with another portion that is hopefully more interesting. Or something.

 

[Gabe1]

Part Four - Saturday, in the Park, I Think it was the Fourth of July

Well, it wasn't. The Fourth of July, that is. It was the end of April. But it might as well have been the Fourth of July from how crowded it was. I'm starting right at the parks, because remember, I don't have that many pics for this trip, and I'm borrowing a few of these, but the park was about this crowded:

View attachment 289774

Grr. But then we learned it was the last weekend of Food and Wine Festival, and Flo Rider was performing, so it all made sense. Most rides had two hour waits or more, so it's a good thing we did almost everything yesterday.

So...what should we do? I guess start by taking a picture of the Monster with an afternoon cocktail in a surprisingly uncrowded space:

View attachment 289775

You might ask, where is everyone???? Free answer: In ride lines!!

Well, eventually, we had to get on a line too and we decided to go for Congo River Rapids:

View attachment 289785

It's basically the same thing as Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom. Here is a random YouTube video of it:



And here is what I looked like after it was over. A drowned rat, and both of my eyeballs had clearly popped out of my head and been reinstalled incorrectly.

View attachment 289788

If I ever make that face again, someone please come to my apartment and shoot me in the head.

That shirt I am wearing is from the Broadway show, Once on This Island, which just pulled an upset and won Best Revival at the Tony Awards on Sunday (over My Fair Lady, which had been expected to win). It's pretty much my favorite show of all time, so shameless plug, although I guess not so shameless since I don't really have anything to do with it aside from having seen it about five times. But if you are in NYC, see this. It is basically a reimagining of The Little Mermaid:



Sheesh, this trip report is all over the place. Well, I told you I didn't have that many pictures, and it's been a while, so I'm doing my best, dammit!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ummm, err....uhh, ehhh........where were we?

Oh yes. I was soaking wet, trying to save my ancient phone from drowning, and Phil made a new friend:


View attachment 289795
I think they are gonna get along great!

Now, you may be wondering, if this is Food and Wine Festival, why are there no pictures of food or wine? Well...that is a very good question and here is the answer: Unlike EPCOT, Busch Gardens Food and Wine is confined to a very small area, and is not all over the park. And it is in an area that is not really that convenient to get to - in an out of the way nook, in the shadow of a roller coaster that is no longer operational. So we decided to try to do rides during the day, and Food and Wine Festival starting around 6PM (park was open until 10).

Well, it was mobbed. Mobbed more than I have ever seen Disney. Here is the one and only picture I took t at Food and Wine. Phil Monster, are you ready for your close up?

View attachment 289800

That is the entrance to the Food and Wine area, and I know it doesn't look that crowded, but trust me, it was insane.

We bought a 12 ticket tasting thing (so, 12 tastings) for around fifty bucks each, and we could barely get to any of the tasting huts. Grrrrr.....

Anyway, just to give you an idea what the whole thing looked like, here is a Tim Tracker video of a press preview event to this year's festival. Clearly, he and Jen liked it more than us, but then again, they got all their stuff for free at the press thing.



So........Food and Wine didn't exactly work out for us. And as we sail into the sunset on this portion of a rather dull trip report that is trying too desperately to be entertaining, here is a Phil Monster against a sun setting over a Tampa savannah (If you look closely, you can see giraffes in the background). PS - What the hell is he wearing????? A Hawaiian shirt and striped shorts???? What the??? I let him go out the door in that?? (I just noticed this now - I did not even notice it on the trip - senility is clearly setting in.)
View attachment 289806

Back to you soon with another portion that is hopefully more interesting. Or something.

It is that impact of LuLaRoe

Matching poke dots with patterns and fine stripes with patterns. Apparently dots and stripes have become neutral.

While LuLaRoe does have some men's clothing it is mainly women's but the overall fashion world has been impacted by their mixing of bold and less bold mixtures. Seeing it all over now.

 

[MinnieM123]

PS - What the hell is he wearing????? A Hawaiian shirt and striped shorts???? What the??? I let him go out the door in that?? (I just noticed this now - I did not even notice it on the trip - senility is clearly setting in.)

An interior designer for a hotel company that I worked for (years ago), told me that stripes and patterns can work together nicely. But the main point is to balance out the two. She said that you can only go "big" with one of the elements (pattern or stripe), and then the other element would have to be scaled down in size, so that it would be complementary. I don't think Phil's outfit was horrible, but I think it would have looked better if the stripes in the shorts were thinner, to balance out the Hawaiian design on the shirt.

And here is what I looked like after it was over. A drowned rat, and both of my eyeballs had clearly popped out of my head and been reinstalled incorrectly.

I love this picture! Those eyes!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Part Four - Saturday, in the Park, I Think it was the Fourth of July

So........Food and Wine didn't exactly work out for us. And as we sail into the sunset on this portion of a rather dull trip report that is trying too desperately to be entertaining, here is a Phil Monster against a sun setting over a Tampa savannah (If you look closely, you can see giraffes in the background). PS - What the hell is he wearing????? A Hawaiian shirt and striped shorts???? What the??? I let him go out the door in that?? (I just noticed this now - I did not even notice it on the trip - senility is clearly setting in.)
View attachment 289806

Back to you soon with another portion that is hopefully more interesting. Or something.

My husband recently wore some fun patterns too, it was plaid shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. I think he had an inkling that they didn't really go together and asked me about it before he left the house. It was a funny sight and I wish I had taken a picture before he changed into just khaki shorts.

 

[dizfan917]

My senior prom date eventually came out as did I, so we were the perfect "couple". She even wore my mother's prom dress that my great-grandmother made.

I did wardrobe and props on the second national tour of ONCE ON THIS ISLAND (the bus and truck). I absolutely LOVE that show and never got tired of it the whole time we were on the road. Since then I've designed it three times and choreographed (HA!) it once. I miss Papa Ge being a man, but the new version looks pretty cool!

 

[bee]

My sister did the same thing! Lol! It was the south in 2000, so there is that similarity.

Lesbians...we're everywhere!

Coming this Fall to Broadway:
View attachment 289770
View attachment 289771

OMG how have I not heard of this??? Definitely going!

 

[LeighM]

Tampa definitely does Food and Wine differently than Williamsburg. When I was there the kiosks were spread though out the countries in easy to see spots. People just walked by them not interested.

 

[LeighM]

Mine was at a VFW hall. Anyway, it wasn't the Ritz, but it didn't matter. I thought my prom date was so handsome, that I don't think I noticed much about the venue!

I ended up not going to my prom. I wasn't dating anyone and I was going to ask a guy friend of mine to go with me because we were neighbors and had the same group of friends. But a friend knew I was going to ask him so she cut me off after class and got to him first. Everyone else was paired up so I didn't even bother going LOL.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I ended up not going to my prom. I wasn't dating anyone and I was going to ask a guy friend of mine to go with me because we were neighbors and had the same group of friends. But a friend knew I was going to ask him so she cut me off after class and got to him first. Everyone else was paired up so I didn't even bother going LOL.

I wish I hadn't gone to my Jr. Prom, my date was a jerk and didn't want to dance or anything, he said everything was stupid. I think he was the stupid one. Although he did say I looked nice. I wish I had gone with friends to that prom or not bothered to go at all. My date my senior year was awesome and I had a great time with him and we had other friends with us. Both of my Proms were in my high school gym, nothing fancy. A lot of kids at the school I teach just go as large groups of friends and have a great time.

 

[LeighM]

I wish I hadn't gone to my Jr. Prom, my date was a jerk and didn't want to dance or anything, he said everything was stupid. I think he was the stupid one. Although he did say I looked nice. I wish I had gone with friends to that prom or not bothered to go at all. My date my senior year was awesome and I had a great time with him and we had other friends with us. Both of my Proms were in my high school gym, nothing fancy. A lot of kids at the school I teach just go as large groups of friends and have a great time.

What's funny is that my guy friend could be a jerk to a lot of people. We got into many yelling matches because I always called him out on his attitude (our last fight was close to 15 years ago and we haven't talked since - there was no growth since high school so I just cut my losses). I don't exactly know what all happened between those 2 at the senior prom but I do know he was ignoring her the following Monday when she came into class all smiles and bouncing trying to talk to him. Even though karma totally bit her on the a$$, I still felt bad for her. It was painful to watch and it happened in front of the entire class.

 

[BuddyThomas]

Part Five - Prom Night at Embassy Suites

SO...we had all these local restaurants that we wanted to try for dinner, but we stayed at Food and Wine too long, and had too little food, and too little wine because it was so crowded, and by the time we got back to the hotel, it was almost 11PM. And Tampa, at least the Busch Gardens area, seems like it rolls up its sidewalks at around that time, and nothing much is open. So we decided we would just east at the hotel restaurant, Mangroves....but when we walked into the lobby of the hotel, this was happening:



PROM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is actually a video from the off-Broadway production of CARRIE ,THE MUSICAL, from a few years ago, but since I don't have any actual pictures of the prom kids, that will have to do. If you wanna look at the entire CARRIE musical, here is a very good video:



In the meantime, Phil and I had dinner at the very generic Mangroves:

That's a stock photo, but that's about how empty it was when we went there. I had a veggie burger and Phil had some sort of pasta thing. Exciting, I know.

Every once in a while, some prom kids would run by, but aside from our waiter, that was the only sign of humanity that night. When we finished, I told Phil that we should go crash the prom (it was in a giant conference room type area) and see if the prom queen got a bucket of pig blood dumped on her, but he was being cranky and just wanted to go to bed. Grrrrr.....I just love going to bed at 11PM on a Saturday night while on vacation. What am I? 50 or something?? Don't answer that!

Well, Mr. Grumptacular went straight to bed, and because it was Embassy Suites, I slammed the bedroom door and went to the living room area and had myself a good old fashioned late night tv party!

The music from the prom below was pumping through the floor, and I guess the kids had rooms there too, because you could hear all sorts of laughing and screaming and running around going on through the walls. Hey, I had no intention of complaining. Prom comes only once in your life, and I was glad everyone was having a good time. Even me. You know we had a big old bottle of booze in the room, and I was having a wonderful Saturday Night Live cocktail party. Party of one, true. But I guess sometimes that is okay.

The next day arrived as most next days do, and this was Adventure Island day!!!

Now, for those who don't know, Adventure Island is Busch Gardens' water park, right next door. And guess what? Once again I have no pictures of this, because my phone was locked in a locker. Dammit, this report is turning out to be a real challenge to post, but in case you are curious about the water park, here is a video from YouTube:



Phil got a sunburn, I got a stubbed toe, and we both got a little tipsy on very overpriced water park beers.

Adventure Island is no Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach, but it was fun all the same. I think I will pick this up again tomorrow with a really excellent Greek restaurant called Acropolis that our driver recommended for dinner, and the next day, we head to St. Pete Beach!!!

Back to you soon.