Vacation 2012 Part One

We made it to Florida and back for our vacation without too much incident.  We made it to Florida in one piece and without much incident.  We flew out on Saturday on Southwest and our boarding group was first so the girls both got window seats.  Kris had some interesting characters sitting next to her on the flight to Florida and on the flight coming back.  More on that later.

Our first full day in Florida was spent just knocking around my parents' house.  It was our anniversary and Kris and I didn't really want to do anything in particular.  We drove to Walmart to get a few things and then took the girls to the flea market in Marion for Sunglasses and cases.  The rest of the day was spent pretty much lounging around while the girls swam.  Then we went to some Greek place in Lady Lake for dinner with my folks.  We went to bed early because Monday we had planned on going to Hollywood Studios.

The park opened at 9:00 AM on Monday and the plan was to get to Hollywood Studios between 9:30 and 10:00.  I figured that would give us plenty of time to let the traffic thin out and we wouldn't have to worry about the crowds getting in.  Boy was I wrong.  First, once we got off of highway 27 we hit a traffic jam.  So it took almost 40 minutes to go about 7 or 8 miles.  Then, once we got to Hollywood Studios there was a huge line to get in because everyone had to go through security and have their bags searched.  That took another 10-15 minutes so it was almost 10:30 by the time we got into the park.  Plus, it was HOT!  The day topped out at about 95 degrees, but the heat coming up off the pavement felt like walking on a lava field.

 

The first thing we did was get fast passes for the Tower of Terror and then got in line for the Aerosmith roller coaster.  This was Alison's and Sarah's first time on roller coasters.  Sarah was all for it, but Ali was very apprehensive.  I pretty much told her she was going on so she whimpered and whined about it while we were in line.  She kept asking if there were loops and I kept telling her no (because they were corkscrews, not loops).  But I had forgotten that there actually were a couple of loops too.  My bad.  Oh well.  After we got off Alison was mad, and crying, why I don;t know exactly, because it was all over.

 

Then, as soon as we got off the roller coaster, it was out time at the Tower of Terror.  That one was like pulling teeth to get everyone to go on it.  Alison was even worse with her crying.  Sarah and Kris were ok, though afterward I had to hear about how much they hated it.  Sarah actually bit Kris's shoulder during one of the drops.

But now it was over and done.  I don't think it was all that bad, but I was alone in that assessment.  The other attraction we wanted to go on was the Toy Story Mania one.  However, we found out while in line for the Rockin' Roller Coaster that there was a 2 hour wait for it, and the fast pass time was between 5:30 and 6:30 PM.  Then by the time we got off of the Tower of Terror, the fast passes were gone for the day, and we didn't want to sit in line for two hours in the heat, so we skipped it all together, which was sort of a bummer.  The rest of the day was spent going to shows and other filler type attractions (the 3-D Muppet movie, special effects tour, Indiana Jones Stunt Show).  It was pretty much stuff where we were either in air conditioned buildings or in covered areas so we could avoid the direct sun beating down on us.

My mother had told us to avoid going to the Disney parks on Monday because that is the day when everyone who comes into Orlando over the weekend will go, plus, it was the start of the summer vacation season, so the parks were going to be crowded.  But we were trying to avoid the rain that was forecast for later in the week and Monday was the best chance to not have any.  I am just glad we didn't go the the Magic Kingdom, because that crowd would have been even worse.  By about 5:00 the girls were burned out (and so were we) from the heat just walking around the park from attraction to attraction, so we left for home, and as soon as we got back, we hit the pool to cool off and then just tried to relax for a bit before going to bed.

Tuesday was the day we were planning on going down to Clearwater Beach.  Sarah wanted to go hit the tourist shops and St. Petersburg was recommended to us.  My plan was to leave late in the morning and then go down the full length of the beach in St. Petersburg.  My parents' neighbor came over and when we told her where we were going and what we were planning on doing, she told us to make sure we went to John's Pass.  By the time we got there is was early afternoon and very hot.  We stopped at a small t-shirt shop in Clearwater Beach and Sarah and Alison each found a couple of things for very cheap.  I told the girls to not get bogged down with buying things in the very first shop, because we had 30 miles to go down the beach.  So we drove slowly (actually the speed limit) looking out at the Gulf and the inner channels and hotels/condos, keeping an eye out for some nice looking shops.  There were a few, but they seemed to be chain stores, because we saw them at every beach along the way.  We finally got to John's Pass and there was a little shopping village just across from the beach, so we stopped and walked around for a bit going into all the shops.  We got a few things, some unique things we didn't see anywhere else, and after about a hour and a half, we took off.  We kept driving down the beach and I showed the girls the hotel that I stayed at when I was 12 or 13 on Treasure Island.  I couldn't believe it was still there, or at the very least hadn't been knocked down for a big, high rise type hotel or condo.  When we stayed there it was a Howard Johnson, but now it was just some private hotel.  The restaurant is now a Waffle House, which is probably a good thing.  The girls weren't all that impressed.  Maybe next time we'll go and lay out on the beach for the day.

Coming back though we got stuck in a traffic jam in Tampa.  I hate driving in Tampa, and I was hoping that the rush hour would be over (about 5:30 when we got going), so it took a little longer to get home than I had planned.  But again, once we got home it was pool time to cool off and relax for the night.