Vacation!

Vacation is possibly the most wonderful word in the English language. It connotes nothing less than happiness, freedom, and high caloric foodstuffs. Vacation is like pizza...........even a bad pizza is still pizza. And, lest we forget, it is most certainly not being at work. Win win!

This vacation was assembled more or less due to convenience. Tia had a conference in Orlando that went from Sunday til Tuesday. So, herround trip flight was paid for, as were hotel transfers, baggage fees, and 4 days at a nice resort hotel. So, why not extend it and take me along for the ride?

The plan, which I followed through with happily, was for me to enjoy the hotel amenities while Tia attended her obesity conference. The hotel largely accommodated. We stayed at a Marriott resort/conference center hotel which had 6 pools, a water slide, at least 3 hot tubs, a golf course (damn shame I don't golf), a state of the art gym (seriously as good as any I have paid to be a member of), and a number of restaurants on site. However, it was also an expensive cab ride (so we learned) to get to pretty much anything else around it and you were not going to get anywhere on foot. As you may assume, they took full advantage of the fact that you were stuck there to jack up the price of any and all services. Internet was $15/day (comped for conference attendees), parking another $15/day for self parking and even more for valet. But, mostly they caught you on the food. It is a shame really, because it is a beautiful resort and one you could easily spend days at just hanging around the grounds and yet I would never be compelled to go back because, despite a price tag of $239/night, very little was included. For half the price you can get much much more.

By contrast, we spent the second half of our vacation at a Best Western near the entrance of Universal (we walked the mile from our door to the entrance of the park itself). The hotel had a laughably small 'fitness room', an average pool, and slightly lackluster furnishings (though it was clearly recently renovated). However, it was also about the same cost for three nights there as one at the Marriott, they threw in free parking, free internet, and a free breakfast. Oh yeah, and if you wanted to use it, a free shuttle to the theme parks at well. And they boasted about 6-8 restaurants within a half mile radius (some within 100 yards). It wasn't high end, but it was far better than I thought it would be and I would definitely go back should I be compelled to visit Universal in the future.

On to the theme parks!

- We began with Discovery Cove on Wednesday. The weather could not have been more idyllic (the entire trip through Friday honestly.....low to mid 80s with scarcely a cloud and low humidity). The park doesn't consist of much. You pay a flat fee and it includes all day access to a large saltwater pool full of stingrays with 6 foot wing spans (seriously impressive and always within touching distance), schools of colorful fish, and a shark tank. You also get to swim in a freshwater lazy river and hang out in an Aviary with the most social birds I have ever seen (they land all over you while you feed them). Probably the most fun part of the day, and maybe the trip, involved us playing catch with some birds that are related to terns and will fetch sticks from the air if you throw them, even taking them from your hands on occasion. Additionally, admission includes unlimited food, beverages (even grown up ones), and snorkel gear. Plus, there are a limited number of people allowed through the turnstiles daily. For additional money, you can have a 'dolphin experience', but we felt badly about it and skipped it. Overall, I would say it was really pleasant, but for the price it isn't something that I can recommend without some caveats, but we really liked it.

- Day 2 found us at Universal Islands of Adventure. It is the newer of the Universal theme parks and has a large array of rides including the new Harry Potter themed area. The park looks great, with the most minute details taken care of (like the trash cans in the Dr. Suess themed area, which were oddly shaped and brightly colored). The rides varied in there levels of success, though all were similarly nonsensically plotted (usually some variation on the theme of going along with the hero on a quest of some sort). The nice part was, as we had hoped, the theme park was largely empty. The longest we waited for a ride was 30 minutes for the Potter ride, but most were less than 5 or 10. We started the day getting drenched on two water themed rides and the rest of the day drying off in the warm sun on the rest of the rides. We ended up doing everything but the hulk themed roller coaster (I have been on it before and found it a bit lurchy) and finished up shy of the park closing. Most notable was the new Potter village, which was very well done and highly detailed (even had Moaning Myrtle talking to you in the bathroom), and the Poseidon adventure.

- On our final day, we went to Universal Studios. The weather finally turned a bit and we had bands of rain that whipped through the area every hour or so. The park was busier since it was Friday, but there was less to see and do so that worked out (plus most rides are fully indoors). Oddly our 2 favorite rides were there, The new Simpson's ride was the most impressive (as was the Shrek 4D, in spite of an utterly nonsensical holding area that seemed entirely devoid of any connection to the ride itself). Also, our least favorite ride, the Mummy roller coaster which was incredibly short and not exceedingly well done. Additionally, they probably ought to just kill off the T2 attraction as it is increasingly dated (especially when Arnold Schwarzenegger is on screen). Overall, still worth it in the context of the discounted pass for multiple parks, but would probably lean towards Islands of Adventure if you had to choose just one to throw money at.

More to come as always.