Orlando, Florida>, Apr 12, 2005
It was a weekday trip to Orlando, Florida. The agenda was to spend two nights at The Nickelodeon Family Suites by Holiday Inn, recently converted from the Disney Family Suites by Holiday Inn. The second day would be spent with the first half at the hotel working with a department and the latter half at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure theme park.
We arrived early afternoon and headed straight for our hotel. It is more for kids but I was excited to see the amenities and their new Water Park, both of them. I wasnâ??t too thrilled to see the kids especially when their motto is â??Where Kids Ruleâ?. After we checked out our rooms, we gathered in The Mall. Thatâ??s where you will find the Food Court. The Nick@Nite Lounge is also located there, a hang out just for adults. We then went out to the water park and watched the first poolside show of the day. A few kids were chosen to play games and get slimed.
Dinner was a buffet in the banquet room since the dining room was still under renovation. There was a wide selection of food for the adults. The kids had their own food laid out on a small table with choices such as little sausages, cheese sticks, and chicken nuggets. The dessert table was full of assortments and toppings you can add yourself.
That evening we watched a free show in the Nick Studios. Two lucky families were chosen from the audience to compete against each other. They play games such as answering Nickelodeon related questions or race against each other to dress up like a Nicktoon character. The loser has the honor of being slimed.
The second day started with the Character Breakfast. The stars were SpongeBob, Patrick Star, Dora the Explorer, and my favorite Tommy Pickles. The staff did a little dance as the Nickelodeon theme song played. The kids loved it. I personally was ready to get out of there and ride some roller coasters. After spending the morning shadowing the servers in the dining room along with a co-worker of mine, the fun was about to start.
We walked through Universal City Walk and met Julie at the Universal Studios entrance. She was with public relations or something. I donâ??t think anyone really bothered remembering her position, we were just happy to get a V.I.P. pass to avoid the lines. We started with Shrek 4-D, a motion simulator ride. It is a 3-D film plus an extra dimension of special effects. You will feel like you are falling down a waterfall or have spiders crawling on your legs.
From Universal Studios, we moved on to the Islands of Adventure. There we rode the Dueling Dragons. At 55mph, you choose between the Fire Dragon or Ice Dragon as they pass each other in opposite directions. The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man was our next ride here. It is a 3-D thrill ride where you will see Spider-Man jumping out at you. The Dueling Dragons roller coaster was the best ride. We rode it several times until it we left for dinner.
We then proceeded to the Universal City Walk for dinner at Jimmy Buffettâ??s Margaritaville. Jimmy Buffettâ??s concert was showing on the big screens. They had a giant blender filled with margaritas. When it becomes empty, a siren goes off and a bucket dumps margarita into the blender. I had the crab cake which I enjoyed with a glass of margarita. The restaurant was crowded and noisy but the company, music, and food were all good. The Universal City Walk is full of restaurants and clubs. There are so many happenings which I would like to return to someday.
The next day we checked out after breakfast. We stopped at the Florida Mall for a bit of shopping before heading home. The mall has 260 stores with the usual shops and of course, The Disney Store.
It was a fun time all crammed into three days and two nights. Definitely not enough time for even half of the Orlando experience.
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