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!