Another Florida Catch-Up | Buying too many floral dresses & More Universal Awesomeness!

I’m just going to stop apologising for not updating now.
Friday was a chilled day, so we headed to Lakeland Square Mall for a spot of shopping. We started off in Burlington Coat Factory where I was sure I could buy a winter coat from, but with no avail we headed into the main part of the mall. I haven’t seen a decent winter coat ANYWHERE in Florida so far. I mean, I understand that it’s hot all of the time here, but surely Floridians like to venture out of Florida?!

We headed to another couple of shops, and I bought my first (and probably favourite) floral dress. After that, me and Emma made a beeline for Hot Topic. My inner 14 year old was screaming to buy all the things, but I managed to resist buying a million My Chemical Romance shirts and a handful of band stickers, and left empty handed. Maybe on Friday when we visit the Florida Mall I’ll take home a Hot Topic souvenir. After an obligatory trip to Bath & Body Works to buy my weight in hand sanitisers, we met my parents and headed back. Lakeland Square Mall wasn’t that good, and I wouldn’t recommend the 45 minute drive to get there. Stick to Florida Mall, it’s better, bigger and has a better choice.

We decided to eat at Golden Corral, which was an all-you-can-eat type affair. It was AMAZING. My first plate consisted of caesar salad, bourbon chicken and other stuff. I then had pot roast with mashed potato and veg, with chocolate cake for dessert. Yum!

After Golden Corral, we went to Target. This was our first ever visit to Target and I loved it! I bought floral dress two here. Not as pretty as floral dress one, and I’ll have to lose the bulk of my holiday weight to look nice in it, but it’s lovely none-the-less, and for only $24 I can’t really complain!

Last Saturday saw Mum and Emma horse riding at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort. I almost had a little weep when we went through the Magic Kingdom arch to get there. I miss Disney. While they rode, me, Dad and Nanna ventured to find somewhere we could grab a coffee, but with no avail, we took to the shade of a big tree and I looked up how much it would cost to stay at a Disney hotel. I found that the cheapest was the All Stars Music Resort (aka hell) at £546 for 4 adults for a week. The most expensive was the Animal Kingdom Lodge (aka a milder hell) for £3423 a week for 4 adults. I honestly would HATE to stay on Disney itself. I’d quite like to stay in one of Universal’s hotels (have to save that for when I come without my parents as they’d rather die than stay in a hotel on holiday), but Disney would be an absolute no go for us.

When Mum & Emma got back we went back to the villa for a bit, before me, Mum and Nanna headed off down the 192 to a flea market. Where the next hour and a bit of my life was spent being harassed by sellers there who were desperate to sell their goods, including a couple of Russian women who absolutely reeked of alcohol trying to sell us some very pretty, overpriced, Russian dolls. Never again will I step foot in a flea market.

Sunday, my parents, myself and Emma headed to Universal again. We got there a bit later at 2pm this time to find it pretty quiet.

We bought our Halloween Horror Nights tickets for Friday (SO EXCITED), and headed to Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem first, then mum and I went on Rip Ride Rock It again, mum vowed never to do this ride again. There’s actually a roller coaster that I love that Mum hates! Me and Emma rode The Mummy, and then we all went on Disaster, which really lived up to its name. As when we were approaching the main ride, it broke down. Disappointed.

After a quick stop at Diagon Alley and a go on Escape From Gringotts, we went on the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade and went on the Forbidden Journey and Flight Of The Hippogriff. Thinking this was going to be our last trip to Universal apart from Halloween Horror Nights, I left sad and emotional.

Monday saw us at Sea World. I was in two minds about whether I wanted to go after watching Blackfish and hearing the horrible stories about the killer whales, but two of my favourite coasters are there so I gave in…

We rode Manta first, which is an amazing lying down coaster. But unfortunately got us stuck lying down when we got to the station, meaning we were face down for a good five minutes. Then I got stuck in my seat. Trust me.

We went to see the dolphins next, followed by the Blue Horizons show, which was pretty good, but sort of ruined by the most annoying Sea World employee ever who wouldn’t shut her beak, shouting how she loved this bit, and how “that’s normal” whatever the hell that means.

We rode Journey to Atlantis next, the parents told us that if we sat at the front, most of the splash would go over us. They lied. Me and Emma got off absolutely soaking wet! Me and Mum rode Kraken next, which is always fun. Then the new Empire of the Penguin attraction. The ride was crap, but it was worth it to see the penguins at the end. Their enclosure is much bigger now and they look happy enough!

After that, we went for some lunch by the lagoon. On the way, we got stopped by two Sea World employees who were giving away prizes, all we had to do was act like sea lions… It was fun and we got free fast passes for the family. Not bad considering they’re almost $50 each!

I opted for a BBQ chicken burger, which was nice, we watched the dancing fountains for a bit before going on the Sky Tower. Emma felt really ill by this point (probably burger poisoning), so we decided to call it a day.

 

After the longest nap ever, we (minus Dad, he was fishing) went to the Orlando Premium Outlets where I bought the ASPCA cat Vans & bag, which I’ve wanted for ages.

 

We went in to the Disney Store too, where I spent way too long deciding which pillow pet to buy. I opted for Dumbo.

 

And also dragged everyone to Forever 21 where I bought floral dress three and four. I saw these in the other Forever 21, but they didn’t have my size. $150 down, we headed home. Not before stopping at Pizza Hut for carry out!

Yesterday me and Emma decided that we needed to fuel our Universal addiction some more. So at 1pm, Mum & Dad dropped us off and we went in alone! It felt so weird without any form of parental guidance.

 

Universal first! We went straight to The Transformers ride, which we hadn’t been on yet! We both really enjoyed it! Like Spiderman but more fun in my opinion, though not being a Transformers fan, I had no idea who was who and what was going on.

 

After taking some photos of “New York” and “San Francisco”, and also some of the HHN props (the big candle with creepy faces in and the VW Beetle), we went into Diagon Alley and waited for Escape From Gringotts. We were seated with people who screamed at absolutely everything, which was hilarious! We had a wander round the shops there, before going on The Simpson’s ride, and then back to “London” for the Hogwarts Express.

Over at Islands of Adventure, we went to Burger Digs for lunch, and then back to Hogsmeade to ride the Forbidden Journey. After a look around Hogsmeade we headed for the pick up point.

After a dip in the pool back home, we had steak for tea and went to sleep!

Today we’re going back to Sea World to see the things we missed, and going to Bahama Breeze! So excited for Bahama Breeze, I’ve been waiting all holiday for their amazing cocktails!

 

 

Florida Catch-Up | Shopping, Aquatica & Islands of Adventure!

Firstly, I’d like to apologise for a few days of missing posts. I’ve either been too busy or too tired to update, so I’ll do a quick run-down of the past few days, and then focus on yesterdays!

On Tuesday we chilled by the pool for most of the morning. The weather was glorious, and we were definitely in for a warm one!

Obligatory pool and legs photo!

In the afternoon, we headed over to Orlando Premium Outlets on I-Drive, it’s bigger than the one we usually go to on Vineland but definitely not as good. Had a walk round the Vans outlet but didn’t buy anything. Then went in Forever 21, which is sort of like a cheap Topshop and is AMAZING. I spent way too long in there and only ended up buying a few things. Some amazing jeans, a pretty floral top, a cute rabbit jewellery stand and a hairbrush.

When we got back to the villa, I had a horrendous headache so went for a lie down. We then headed out to Downtown Disney later – bad idea! It was peeing down the whole way round and we all (me mostly) ended up looking like drowned rats. Never again! Especially due to the renovations of Pleasure Island, the whole thing is upside down and just not a very enjoyable experience. We had a look round World of Disney, which is probably the biggest Disney store in the world! And also got our free Ghirardelli chocolate then went home and went to bed.
————————————
Wednesday was a lovely day spent at our favourite water park – Aquatica. We got there nice and early to see if we could hire a private cabana for the day. We managed to get one overlooking Roa’s Rapids which cost $121, but it was definitely well spent. It included towels, a locker, a fridge with 14 bottles of water, and a concierge serving you food and drink if you wish. We also got a Banana Beach Buffet wristband, which was all you can eat and drink all day. Some of the choices were pulled pork, pizza, chicken legs, salad, pasta, mac & cheese, chocolate pudding and cake.

This is the only photo I took of the day. Mum and Dad at our cabana.

We started off the day on Roa’s Rapids, which is sort of like a fast lazy river. Then went on the family slides, in the wave pool, on the lazy river. Towards the end of the day, Emma and I went in the wave pool which was fun. All in all it was a lovely day. I love Aquatica!

—————————–

Yesterday was one of my favourite parks – Islands of Adventure!

As soon as we got in we headed over to The Hulk and rode that first! I LOVE this coaster. It’s just so fun and I forgot how awesome it was!
We then got some breakfast. Mum, Dad and Nanna had Cinnabon and me and Em went to Starbucks, where I opted for a caramel frappucino and some banana walnut bread, lovely!

For some reason I chickened out of doing Doctor Doom’s Fearfall, despite the fact I’ve rode it tonnes of times. I just really wasn’t feeling it, and it is genuinely terrifying!

The Spiderman ride was up next! We took Nanna on this one and she loved it! Me and Emma went round again and had another go as it was just a walk on.

We went round to the comic book store where Emma bought a Deadpool t-shirt, and then headed over to Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge Rat Barges. NEVER AGAIN! I’ve rode this before, but I never got as soaked as this before! I was literally drenched through and it took me ages to dry. We went in the “human dryers” which seemed to make little difference, and moved on. We decided not to ride Dudley Do Right’s Ripsaw Falls because we didn’t want to get wet again. Through to Jurassic Park now where we went on Jurassic Park River Adventure, which was great as usual. For some reason I really screamed going down the drop and the photo is both hilarious and horrible at the same time.

Lunch time now, we went to Burger Digs, which is our usual IoA restaurant of choice. I opted for a grilled chicken sandwich, fries and salad.

After lunch, it was time for Hogsmeade!

 

We took Nanna on the “Hogwarts tour” (or Hogswash as she called it). And then rode Forbidden Journey. This ride is great. It’s a simulator “robo-coaster” ride, where you’re stuck on the end of a robotic arm and swung all over the place. It’s fun though! After that we rode Flight of the Hippogriff (me and Em went on twice), and then Dragon Challege, which is ace. I actually kept my eyes open during it this time too (last time I shut my eyes the entire way round). We also met a lady from Boston who sat on our row, she thought it was amazing how we were from England and “sounded just like in the movie”.

Then finally, it was time to ride the Hogwarts Express!

It was absolutely amazing and everything I thought it would be! Needless to say, by the time we got to “London”, I was well and truly feeling like a wizard. So much so, that I headed straight for Ollivanders and bought a wand!

Almost $40 and Voldy’s wand acquired, I felt so powerful! We were going to ride Gringotts again but the wait time was 30 minutes (which is good, but we didn’t want to leave Nanna outside for that long). Back to Kings Cross now for the return trip to Hogsmeade!

HULL TRAINS! 😀

Nanna and Mum going through the wall at Platform 9 and 3/4.

Excuse my face, but wand and Hogwarts Express selfie.

Emma on the Hogwarts Express.

We arrived back in Hogsmeade where I bought a $13 Butterbeer, just for the souvenir cup. Worth it though. I drank half of it before deciding I didn’t like it, so chucked at least $8 worth of Butterbeer in the bin.

We wandered through to Seuss Landing where we went on the Cara-Seuss-El, One Fish Two Fish and the Cat in the Hat ride, then headed out. It was at this point that we seriously started to get tired, and we took the long, arduous trip through City Walk to the car.

On the way home we stopped at Walmart for some stuff for tea, got home, went in the pool, ate, went to sleep.

Hopefully today we’re going shopping, so I’m gonna do some serious spending! Catch you soon!

 

 

Sea lions, sunny Wales, and spending time with family.

Now we have the first post out of the way, I can carry on blogging like this is my fiftieth post, not my second.
As I write this, I’m sat my living room after a four hour drive from hell back from my grandparents in the “sunny” seaside town of Rhyl, North Wales. I put sunny between quotation marks because, well, it wasn’t. We had a little peek of sun earlier on today, but that’s exactly what it was – a peek.

I drove the 160 odd miles there on Thursday evening, and it was probably the longest drive I’ve ever done. In fact, it didn’t strike me that I hadn’t done a long motorway drive in a year or so until I was half way down the M62, rain hammering down, windscreen wipers on full, going about 30 miles an hour with people overtaking me left, right and centre. Not to mention the fact I’d forgotten to take my sunglasses off. So not only was my vision impaired by the rain, but I was that moron who was driving in the rain with sunglasses on.

To make matter worse, I almost missed my turning, and to make matters even worse than that, some senseless woman abused my personal driving space by cutting me up and almost ramming into the side of me. When we caught up to her later, my sister informed me that she was twirling her hair between her fingers and staring at herself in her rear view mirror, so I’ll let her off on the basis of being cursed with the dreaded contemptuousness.

Alas, after panicking at twisty roads and steep hills, I did manage to get me and my sister, Emma, to my grandparents bungalow in one piece.

Apart from eating some lovely chicken casserole, cooked by my lovely Nanna, I didn’t really do much because I was shattered so just fell into bed and fell asleep almost instantly. It was nice to stay with my Grandparents and sleep in an actual bed. Usually we come with my parents and are exiled to the floor of the study, so a bed was very welcome!

On Friday, I met up with Annie, a friend, and housemate from university. It was so nice to see her and catch up because I hadn’t seen her for a good two months since we left for summer. We went to a lovely pub in Rhuddlan called Morfa (which translates as marsh apparently). I had a chicken club sandwich with side salad which was pleasant, but as I don’t really eat bread much anymore, it made me feel horrid for a couple of hours.

After eating, Annie and I parted ways, and Emma and me went on the Great Supermarket Tour of Wales 2014. First stop, Sainsbury’s. (I’d just like to add in here how bad the signal and 3G is on 3 network in North Wales, but for a second in Sainsbury’s car park, I got 4G for the very first time ever – a monumental occasion). I’d seen a lot of stationary when we popped in earlier so wanted to have another look. Everyone who knows me, will know I’m an ample stationary enthusiast. After loading my trolley full of goodies, I decided that ASDA would be cheaper, so left empty handed.

No matter where I go, I ALWAYS seem to find an ASDA. It’s like I’m magnetically attracted to it. The ASDA in Rhyl however, isn’t to my taste. The freezer aisles are right at the front of the store, so it just looked odd. So after a quick once-over, I bought some cool sticky notes and book markers and left.

ASDA was right next to a beach, Kinmel Bay I believe it was called. So we had a wander down there, and swiftly vacated when I saw the Liverpudlian chavs drinking Strongbow while their clamorous offspring dripped ice cream all over their grubby fingers. Not exactly the atmosphere I want to be part of, really.

Back in the car and back towards my Grandparents house, we tried to find a parking space on Rhyl’s promenade, but with no avail. I really fancied a go in the arcades too, but never mind, it looked very full of the same types we saw at Kinmel Bay anyway, which made me realise that Rhyl is a mecca for Liverpudlian holiday makers.

Back to Sainsbury’s now for the fourth visit of the day. And then back to my Grandparents where we at chicken, salad, coleslaw and potatoes. My sister then decided she wanted some melted chocolate and marshmallows, so we were back in the car for Sainsbury’s round 5. I know, I know, totally extirpating my own diet (not sure if I’ve mentioned but I’m currently following the Slimming World diet plan and have lost three stone so far). But I did have some melted chocolate, and some marshmallows, albeit sugar free, they tasted like nothingness. And the night was just a downward spiral from then on, dipping anything I could get my hands on in the melted chocolate. The abundance of chocolate and self loathing, from eating a huge amount of said chocolate, made me tired so I went to bed.

Up nice and early for a day at the zoo on Saturday!
Much to the disgust of Emma, my alarm went off at 8am and we were up, ready and out of the house by 10. Only half an hour after I wanted to be. I’d not been to the Welsh Mountain Zoo in years and it was a lot different, and a lot bigger than I’d remembered.

After me becoming ludicrously hysterical while driving up the mountain – I am not used to hills, driving up hills, and certainly not stopping and starting on hills, so this was quite a problematic task for me – we finally made it to the very quiet zoo car park. I was expecting an assemblage of more Liverpudlian tourists, due to it being a Saturday, but much to my surprise, we were one of only a few cars.

*cue photos of cute animals that you probably won’t care about*

We saw sea lions, flamingos, emus, snow leopards, lemurs, tigers, red pandas (literally the cutest little guys I’ve ever seen) and loads more. It was a lovely day and well worth the £10.95 (£9.95 + Gift Aid) admission fee.

The hoards of tourists turned up at about half past 1, just as we were going round the last part of the zoo. Which made me glad we woke up that bit earlier as I’m not very good at waiting half an hour for someone to move their pram (complete with child), which is blocking the exit door of the alligator enclosure. I’m also not very good at navigating myself around screaming children who are running after ducks, rabbits and turkeys in the “petting zoo”. Personally, I didn’t think that ducks and turkeys enjoyed being coddled by toddlers but who am I to judge?!

Despite this, it was a brilliant day and worth the entry just to see the view from the top of the mountain. Absolutely breathtaking:

Here’s Emma, pretending to enjoy the view (and the wind) in a Snapchat I sent to my parents:

After a delightful day at the Welsh Mountain Zoo, me and Emma headed back to Rhyl. Not without stopping at Sainsbury’s on the way home (of course), to get some chicken and a brown roll for lunch. Emma had McDonald’s, but I was trying to be good after the melted chocolate debacle from the previous night.

My efforts to be good were futile, Nanna and Granddad took us to a little pub called The Red Lion for dinner.

The Red Lion’s slimming choices were few and far between. I opted for a Welsh steak burger with chips, a side salad and the most amazing salsa I’ve ever eaten in my life.

It was okay, nothing to write home about, but it was lovely to have a meal out with the grandparents, and even lovelier that they treat us to the meal! The only downside was the fact we were seated right in the middle of 70th birthday so when the lady who’s birthday it is walked in to twenty odd people singing ‘happy birthday’, it was a little awkward, but funny nonetheless.

Spending time with my Welsh Nanna & Granddad was really great, and it was sad to leave not knowing when we’ll see them again.

I’m home now and ready to start another exciting (or not so exciting, depending on how you look at it) week. I have my first scheduled radio show tomorrow which I’m really thrilled about! You can listen to it here: http://hullrecoveryradio.disc-vol.org.uk if you so wish.

I hope that in time, my posts are a bit more orthodox. I feel like this one is all over the place, but I’m sure I’ll get into the swing of things soon!

Noson dda! (Welsh for good night, although it probably isn’t because it’s from Google Translate, and we all know how accurate that is…).