One Day at a Time

The week in review:
Monday: slow start before heading toward Coco Beach and hanging out with MIL's friend at Playa Linda. Went past the launch pads and storage facilities at Cape Canaveral, and saw where the shuttle was supposed to land on the following day (would have had to get up a 4:30 am if we wanted to actually see the shuttle land). I'm always up for a day at the beach, but must admit the wind was a little strong. The surf was quite high, and apparently there was a strong undertow warning in effect lingering from hurricanes. Still had fun playing in the water, though, and got a nice little sunburn on my back. On our way back, we stopped to visit some hammocks, but I got less than 1/4 of the way before having to turn around because the mosquitoes were so vicious. I preferred luxuriating (such as it was) in the A/C and shade while reading my book to being eaten alive in 90 degrees + humidity.

Tuesday: far and away the best day I had. Went to Seaworld, right across the street from our condo/resort (not necessarily walking distance to the entrance, though, especially with the amount of walking to be done through the day). First show we saw was the sea lion and otter show. I only got a few pictures because of camera battery issues, but it was pretty darn fun/funny. The trainer/actors were very good at rolling with the punches when things didn't go quite right or the audience wasn't participating enough. Got to pet dolphins and feed stingrays (hoovers--you put the food between your fingers and hold your hand flat in the water--the rays come up and hoover it out of your hand--very cool feeling). Went on my first ever loop-de-loop roller coaster (the Kracken) and now normal rollercoasters/rides will never cut it again. We also discovered that many of the water rides also have fountains with which apparently innocent and dry bystanders can make riders even wetter. Had to cut MIL off from the quarter supply.... Instead of Shamu's "I believe" show, we got to see an orca mom with less-than-24-hour-old baby, plus some footage of the actual birth the previous day. Loved Seaworld, just loved it. But if I get the opportunity to visit again, I'm going to California instead of Florida.

Wednesday: drove over to Tampa to visit Busch Gardens. More loop-de-loops for me--step FIL went on the Kracken with me, but called that his limit. Busch Gardens has a super cool ride, the SheikRa. You go up 200 feet, then they drop you down at a 90 degree angle. Do a few loop-de-loops, and go up and get dropped again (from a slightly lesser height). Best ride I've been on in a loooonnnnggg time. Lots of good rides at the Gardens. Good 4D pirates film: get to feel the escaped snake at your feet, the bats flying just over your head, and the spray of the water. Best opportunity we had was the extra $ safari where we got to feed a giraffe. An inch of prehensile tongue for every foot of giraffe. Also really enjoyed Busch Gardens, though not quite as much as Seaworld (I'm a real sucker for ocean life).

Thursday: this was definitely the lamest day for me. Went to Epcot; I really wasn't interested in much of anything until the World Showcase, but it was so late when we got there, we didn't have time to explore very much. Went on a few cheesey slow lame rides in Epcot, then did the Mission to Mars. I don't usually get motion sickness, but the G-force kind of addled me for the rest of the day. Enjoyed the Epcot aquarium, but didn't really see anything super cool or new. Went on the Soarin' ride which sort of simulated hang-gliding, and also took a boat ride through the greenhouses with experimental gardening techniques. The imagination center was better than I expected, only because I got to learn about Figment, a Disney character rarely seen ("Figment" of your imagination, a little purple dragon who appears with somebody or other on a certain Disney show). Only really had time to visit Canada, Great Britain, Morocco (for dinner), Germany, and Norway in the World Showcase. There were several street acts that we missed, and lots of shopping that we missed due to timing. Neat fireworks show at the end. My overall reaction to Epcot is don't go unless you have kids who are interested in educational type activities, and if you feel you have to go, spend as more time in the World Showcase than Epcot center per se.

Friday: Animal Kingdom kind of made up for the disappointment of Epcot. We split up from the 'rents, which may have also helped me enjoy the day more. You don't have to pay extra for AK's safari, but you also don't get the up-close-and-personal experience. Cool nonetheless. Watched all sorts of critters, including fairly large fruit bats, several varieties of monkies, all sorts of birds. Rode the Kali River ride and didn't get quite as soaked as we did at Busch Gardens on a very similar ride (one difference between the Busch parks and the Disney parks--the Disney parks seem to accept and accommodate bags and backpacks, whereas the Busch parks do not--you have to have someone hold your bags or put them in a 50-cent 1-shot locker). Also went on their new ride, Expedition to Everest, where the coaster goes up to a place the tracks have been destroyed, then backwards through the dark, then forwards again to be chased by the Yeti. No loop-de-loops, not quite as cool as the loop-de-loop rides, but still quite fun.

Theme parks we visited in order of preference: Seaworld, Animal Kingom, Busch Gardens at the top. Numbers 2 and 3 are very close, and both of them are not far at all from number 1. Epcot, on the other hand, is a distant, distant 4. I probably would have preferred almost any other park to that one, but it was one of my original selections. Just thought it would be cooler than it was.

Saturday was probably the worst day of all: the plane ride back. The airport at Orlando was crazy--they funnelled seven lanes into one to go through security, then branched out again. Waited forever to go through security. And of course the liquid restrictions made flying even more of a nightmare. That in and of itself would have been tolerable. But the flight, oh heaven spare me from ever having a flight like that again. Husband and I had to sit across the aisle from each other, two rows of three seats each. The row ahead of us had 2 children (one a lap sitter), there was 1 in my row, and there were 4 children behind us. All under the age of 4. All screaming their heads off at one point or another, but never at the same time. Pretty much constant screaming for the whole 3 hour flight. Kid in my row insisted on keeping the shade down, and he & dad each got up twice. It's so nice to be back in quiet environments with fur-children who don't scream.

'rents behaved for the most part. Still have a lot of quirks that just annoy me, but we survived.