Archive for the 'Holiday' category
Well, it’s that time of year again 
It’s actually been that time of year for us since the start of the month with various xmas get togethers going on - have had two christmas dinners already and a fair few mince pies, along with some very nice presents 
My parents are now (I hope!) safely in Oaxaca in Mexico til mid January with my brother and his girlfriend/fiancee (not entirely certain which!) - haven’t heard anything from them but I hope they have a lovely christmas and new year! Looking forward to seeing all the pics when they get back - it’d be nice to know what the probable future wife of my brother looks like after all!
Florida :D
11:02 pmThe fact that typing ‘F’ brought up a drop down box with the rest of this post’s title in it would suggest I’ve used it before, but it’s as relevant now as it was then and why waste precious brain cells on being imaginitive when you don’t have to anyway?
We are, as implied in afore mentioned title, going to Florida again for the last bit of July/first bit of August next year! Big thanks for this go to a certain set of lovely parents who know who they are, and unlike my own dear folks, may actually read this at some point.
Speaking of my own dear folks, they’re off to Mexico in a few months time to visit my brother who now lives over there with his apparently lovely girlfriend who I shall at this rate be meeting at his wedding. What’s remarkable about this isn’t so much that my younger brother is doing brilliantly in a foreign country all on his own and has managed to settle down, but that my parents are not going on any other holidays between now and then which is something of a record.
What with a holiday to look forward to, certain key things looking far more positive than they’ve done in a while, and a weekend of socialising ahead, I’m feeling quite chirpy
Florida :D
12:59 pmAs promised, here’s a huge post about our holiday, mainly so I have a garbled record of it somewhere
Left Exeter on Wed 31st August in the afternoon and went to Kev’s parents’ place via campus and Tesco for plane munchies. Spent the night there (had a gorgeous meal in La Terrazza, a nice Italian in Bridgend), and flew from Cardiff Airport at about 9am, the plane having been delayed a bit when a couple of toads were found that had hitched a lift from Cuba and had to be rescued! An 8 and a half hour flight later, we were in Sanford, Orlando and managed to get park tickets, the hire car and travel to the hotel without incident once we’d gotten used to the tremendous heat, and Kev had gotten used to driving an automatic
The hotel was quite nice - basic but lovely comfy double beds and a nice pool which was all we used there anyways.
Spent our first full day in Seaworld after starting it off with a Ponderosa All-you-can-eat breakfast buffet for $3.99 - pancakes, cakes, fry ups, cereal, fruit, icecream - we had breakfast there every day that were got up early basically Seaworld was fantastic - seeing Shamu, and the sealions, mannattees, dolphins etc was amazing; the shows were brilliant It was here I encountered my first rollercoaster with inversions, Kraken, and after the first time round which left me feeling rather worse for wear as it’s one of the most violent in the area, I enjoyed myself Also went on Journey to Atlantis a few times (water ride) and experienced the only thunderstorm of the fortnight while we were there.
Next day we went to EPCOT - our first Disney day Got there before park opening and had Cast Members from each ride at the entrance who we followed to our first ride once we’d waved off our first sight of a busload of Disney characters Anyways, after that it was Mission:SPACE (simulated shuttle launch to Mars, complete with face pulling back G-force), Test Track (high speed coaster type ride built around 7 car tests), Soarin’ (hang gliding sim over California), Spaceship Earth (slow moving ride through those fantastic Disney animatronics showing the history of comms, narrated by the lovely Jeremy Irons), Living with the Land (educational boat ride through greenhouses - HUGE pumpkins!), and a nice wander around the World Showcase taking us from Canada through France, UK, America, Norway (home to the Maelstrom - water ride type thing) and various other countries in about an hour Had no queues whatsoever so came back to the hotel for a bit, then as it was raining went to Magic Kingdom for the evening rather than the EPCOT fireworks, and had my first go on Space Mountain, Stitch’s Great Escape (complete with odd feelings on back of neck), Buzz Light Year, the Carousel of Progress and managed to enjoy ourselves despite getting drenched and losing my ticket in a fastpass machine and having to get a new one!
Sunday we went to Universal Studios, home of the ET ride (complete with cycling past the moon - really well done), Back to the Future (best simulator evar!!), and Men In Black. Saw the Beetlejeuce and Blues Brothers shows while we were there, and rounded the day off with a brief venture into Islands of Adventure where we went on Dueling Dragons. Had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe which was very cool I didn’t like Universal quite as much as Disney - there just isn’t the same attitude or atmosphere…..very good fun all the same tho
Monday we went to Blizzard Beach - I’m not good in the water so this was a challenge but I managed to find things to do that didn’t get me submerged for the most part. Tuesday we did MGM Studios - RocknRollercoaster Starring Aerosmith (favourite coaster possibly), Muppetvision 3D, The Great Movie Ride (favourite slow moving animatronic type ride), the Backlot Tour, Beauty and the Beast, Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Star Tours, Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and Lights! Motors! Action all in one day! Saw loads of film props, got caught in a flash flood, and witnessed a man catching fire and an explosion or two - brilliant In the evening we went back to EPCOT to see the fireworks there. Bought ponchos while we were there as it started raining, and sat in the gardens between France and the UK These really are breathtaking, even in the rain
Wednesday was Animal Kingdom day. Didn’t spend so long here - did the Kilimanjaro Safari and the nature trail - tigers :D Went on the Rapids and got drenched which we remained for the rest of the day whilst we did Dinosaur and watched the Tarzan Rocks and Festival of the Lion King shows, both of which were amazing. They’re building a new ride here - Expedition Everest, which looks as if it’ll be very cool, so next time we’ll have to try that one 
Thursday we did Magic Kingdom - Splash Mountain (which broke down), Big Thunder Mountain (which we had to ourselves), Country Bear Jamboree, Haunted Mansion (which broke down), Cindarella’s Carousel, Mad Hatter’s Tea Party (tea cups can be quite a thrill ride with Kev at the helm), Snow White, It’s a Small World, Winne the Pooh, Space Mountain (again), Pirates of the Carribean, more Big Thunder, the Spectromagic parade and the Wishes Fireworks to end it all! Tinkerbell didn’t fly as it was too windy but they were fantastic regardless!
Friday we had a lie in and revisited Islands of Adventure where we did Sipderman, the Hulk coaster, and a a couple of unseen things in Universal (Shrek 4D and Jimmy Neutron). Spent the rest of the holiday revisiting theme parks, lying in a bit, eating at TGI Fridays, seeing MGM’s Fantasmic lights/water/fireworks show, and going to Typhoon Lagoon, my favourite of the two Disney Waterparks I think. As we had no queues for anything, we got things done quite quickly which was a shame in one way, but meant we could take things slowly the second week which was good.
Anyways, we landed in Cardiff at 4.30am Friday, spent the day at Kev’s parents’ place again, came back to Exeter Friday night, and then spent Saturday celebrating James and Roz’s wedding goodness. Yesterday we played snooker with Kev’s brother and his gf and then went over to DaveB/various others for pizza, tv and general merry making - good three weeks all told!
And back again…
2:30 amWell, Florida was AMAZING - will make a longer post on Monday while I’m at work and looking for something to do (I could cry at the thought of going back!) but for now, know it was AMAZING!
Have just been to the wedding of the now Mr and Mrs Seward - nice service with added Star Trek and a great party in the evening I’m sure they’ll be very happy together and yes, I am jealous that they’re off on holiday despite the fact I’ve just had one :p I must get myself one of those wedding things one day - they’re fun
Holiday :D :D :D
7:52 pmWell, I’ve finished my last day in work for three weeks, and am now fully in holiday mode Collected our travellers’ cheques and cash today so now the only things left to sort out are packing, some planning of what to when we get there, and some swotting up on directions by yours truly
Can’t wait
Home alone
3:09 pmI’ve had the place to myself this past week so have been keeping myself occupied by chatting online and watching tv, which I don’t do that much of normally. Have mostly been watching US sitcoms such as Spin City, Third Rock From the Sun and Friends, and any films that have happened to come on. Tonight I think I’ll see Kiss the Girls, as much for Morgan Freeman as anything, although I may decide on a dvd instead, who knows.
Been getting a lot of headaches lately (got one now in fact) - I think partly due to staring at monitors all day and partly due to holiday induced stress! Either that or my eyes have improved again but if it ceases bothering me while in Florida I’ll assume it’s computers If not I might try the opticians again…
Speaking of Florida, everything is now pretty much sorted I think. Still have to collect travel monies and pack but other than that nothing really to do
Tickets :D
3:47 pmWe had our plane tickets arrive yesterday for our now very rapidly approaching trip to Orlando, so now all we’re waiting for are park tickets and car hire stuff and wotnot Really looking forward to it now, especially as I’ve managed to secure three weeks off from the bank holiday to the 16th September!
Have also now finally started reading the latest Harry Potter book, having been re-reading the previous ones up to now, and so far it’s proving to be very very good indeed Looking forward to seeing the new film of book 4 in a few months as that one should have the Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament in it….if done well that should look amazing!
Wheeeeee :D
3:05 pmJust paid the balance on our holiday!!! :D
The day after the weekend before
12:55 pmWell last weekend lived up to its expectations anyway Had a very pleasant evening at the Offs (omg their flat is nice!!) and borrowed a book showing pictures of various deadly looking rides that I am expected to try out come September! Watched Supersize Me while we were there which proved an interesting insight into America, McDonalds and the dangers of fatty foods in general. 30 days on the ‘McDiet’ and the guy had gained 24.5 lbs and was well on the way to killing his liver!
Saturday was fun, altho Dave was poorly 
Still, I think some fresh air and company helped and he came back to ours afterwards to come and admire Kev’s new Mac Mini and generally hang out
Yesterday was also fun - gorgeous lunch and was nice getting out of Exeter for a bit, although the travelling was a little tiring (and I wasn’t even driving!)
Parents are now in Brazil with my brother in Mexico - I’m hoping for three weeks of non-stress You’d think it’d be difficult to create stress from across the ocean but this is my family and they can do it if they try hard enough!
Wheeee holidays :D
11:16 amPaid the last of the deposit for our holiday this morning so I’m all excited again at the moment! Now just the small matter of saving up for it after xmas……
Was in a good mood before that actually as have got loads of things to look forward to this week. Going out for Pizza Hut and bowling tomorrow night with our ex-housemates who got engaged over the weekend (yay!) and then a friend of ours from uni is coming down over the weekend and we’re going to hopefully go and see Bridget Jones Diary: Edge of Reason which I have been looking forward to ever since I found out there was a sequel to the first book! I *love* that woman!
Haven’t mentioned gaming in a while have I? Have given Sims 2 a break for the past few weeks (overdosed there somewhat!) and after a spell where I wasn’t in the mood to play much, have now got into Age of Mythology at which Kev beats me every time, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, and have revisited Saga of Ryzom as its having a 14 day free trial. You’ll recall I didn’t much like this the first time round - I’ve gotten more into crafting this time and have to say I’m liking it a lot more
Other than that, essay deadline looms for the 3rd December and am addicted to Strictly Come Dancing
That is all.
FFS! And yet, WHOOP!
4:50 pmOUR HOLIDAY IS BOOKED!!! Two weeks in Florida taking in as many theme park related activities as possible await next September and I can’t wait!
Sims 2 is really quite fun I got friendly with a bloke and asked him to move in with me and gained $50000 dollars into the bargain He does seem to be in love with 4 other sims tho and engaged to someone else…..oh well!
Mmmmm - weekend
10:19 amHad a good weekend, much needed after last week!
Spent the day with my parents on Saturday which resulted in a nice lunch in the Cowick Barton not far from where I live and a few new Winter-related garments Then spent Sunday largely playing The Sims/Sims 2 which are worryingly addictive it seems and obviously contain the gaming equivalent of whatever it is they put in Pringles that makes you unable to stop eating them!
Anyways, am now back in work and this week is already shaping up to be as hectic and disorganised as the last one ….leaving at 4 today though to go to the travel agents and get clued up as Kev and I are hoping to go to Florida next year Much saving up may result!
