Orlando, FL

[Road Guy]

One neat thing central Florida has is all the clear (cold) springs and rivers you can enjoy on a 95 degree day- @Dark Knight is probably the expert but when I lived in Valdosta we used to head to these to escape the summer temps - pretty cool- they have some you can raft in, snorkel, just swim, etc... just don't go into any of the caves under water
(And the cold water keeps the gators out)

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/springs/orl-trav-springs-intro-story.html

 

[knight1fox3]

So far have been to Hollywood Studios and Epcot. Both pretty cool. A lot to see and the crowds are pretty large. Public transit is fairly decent (bus and monorail) but the traffic infrastructure seems largely inadequate for the volume of people that are in this area on a daily basis. I believe this might be due to an imbalance of traffic engineers vs. storm water engineers. :dunno:

In general, this area is EXPENSIVE! If work wasn't paying for half of this trip, it would make quite a dent. I'm fairly certain I'll be encountering some resistance from the finance folks when I submit my expense report. And my meals have been modest with no booze! ldman:

 

[Road Guy]

Can you expense the Disney turkey leg?

 

[knight1fox3]

Can you expense the Disney turkey leg?

I saw a guy walking around with one of those! Looked fantastic. I'm sure I could pass that off as "lunch"? :dunno:

 

[Road Guy]

They are really good, but have a lot of bones

 

[csb]

We're considering a VRBO or AirBNB to help reduce costs. Here's hoping a serial killer wants to have two ladies stay for a few days. 

 

[knight1fox3]

We're considering a VRBO or AirBNB to help reduce costs. Here's hoping a serial killer wants to have two ladies stay for a few days. 

What about Bernie's beach house as an option? :dunno:

 

[csb]

What about Bernie's beach house as an option? :dunno:

 

[Supe]

Always knew that actor looked familiar.  Who knew he'd be the democratic runner up one day?

 

[knight1fox3]

I would NOT recommend the breakfast with Mickey & Friends at the Contemporary Resort. BEFORE tip, for the (3) of us, it was $115 for buffet style. Meaning it was no better than Country Kitchen. On top of that, MiniFox said he wasn't feeling too good but we decided to press on. Which then resulted in him throwing up on the table. I only wish he had waited until the server brought the check to do that. Some funny looks from other parents around us. Just told them we all had a late night out drinking.

 

[MA_PE]

I would NOT recommend the breakfast with Mickey & Friends at the Contemporary Resort. BEFORE tip, for the (3) of us, it was $115 for buffet style. Meaning it was no better than Country Kitchen. On top of that, MiniFox said he wasn't feeling too good but we decided to press on. Which then resulted in him throwing up on the table. I only wish he had waited until the server brought the check to do that. Some funny looks from other parents around us. Just told them we all had a late night out drinking.

even years ago when my kids were small the "character breakfasts" were a complete waste of time and money.  So are the stupid "autograph" books that force you to seek out and "meet" all the characters or look like a bad parent.

years ago we did the "hoop-de-doo review"  https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/cabins-at-fort-wilderness-resort/hoop-dee-doo-musical-revue/

it wasn't cheap but there was plenty of decent food and beer and the show was pretty entertaining

 

[Road Guy]

yeah we never even thought about those character breakfast with 3 kids. We would normally stay off site where they had free breakfast, would take as many snacks in the park as we could and then eat one meal on Disney, and then force the kids to endure hunger games until we left and grabbed something near the hotel.

My kids have said their fondest Disney memory is one time they had this passport book and you had to do a scavenger hunt all day and if you got your book complete you got a free t - shirt. It was raining like hell and my kids were persistent about getting their books stamped. we were soaked but they had a good time at least...

 

[snickerd3]

We did the disney meal plan which includes the character breakfasts at no additional charge.  So we had a character breakfast everyday to make sure we got our money's worth.  We also did the Character dinner at the revolving restaurant at Epcot.  It also made sure we got to see the important characters in a climate controlled environment and some personal time with the characters at the table.  We then only had to wait to see the Toy Story folks...cuz you can't not see Buzz and Woody.  

Ditto the Contemporary Mickey Breakfast...if we had paid outright that was way too expensive for a buffet.  The Lilo and Stitch breakfast at the Polynesian was probably the best value for the money...family style with as much as you wanted.    

 

[snickerd3]

Donald at the Comtempory...minisnick looks so little in this pic and it was only like 3.5 yrs ago.  

 

[youngmotivatedengineer]

Took the 2 little kids last year to Disney as we had friends who were getting married at Disney. I would highly discourage doing character breakfast and if possible try to avoid them at lunch time also. Although the kids loved seeing the characters for the few lunches we did, each character lunch ended up being about 2 hours long which is a long time when trying to maximize the attractions you stop at. 

 

[csb]

Thanks, everyone! We're not going to Disney, because we're exhausting our nerd at Universal Studios, Kennedy Space Center, and still possibly the airboat tour. We want to see gators. 

 

[Road Guy]

Just drive down any road next to a canal to see gators

 

[MA_PE]

Thanks, everyone! We're not going to Disney, because we're exhausting our nerd at Universal Studios, Kennedy Space Center, and still possibly the airboat tour. We want to see gators. 

sounds like a good plan.  Both are very cool.  It's pretty far south of Orlando but when many years ago we were visiting the in-laws down in Boca Raton and  went to Billy's Swamp Safari and took an airboat ride.  It was a great time.

 

[RBHeadge PE]

Thanks, everyone! We're not going to Disney, because we're exhausting our nerd at Universal Studios, Kennedy Space Center, and still possibly the airboat tour. We want to see gators. 

I'm surprised you didn't see any at KSC/CCAFS. They're in pretty much every freshwater body.

Alternatley you can look in any of the stormwater ponds in between the tarmac at the airport. I usually see a few before every takeoff.

 

[csb]

And the other wildlife Florida has to offer- egrets, manatees, elderly...