<p>Sorry to hear about Gatorland. I was going to mention that too. We had a great half day there a couple years ago. We haven’t made it to the world’s biggest McDonalds, but I’m told it is worth a look.</p>
<p>Per their web page (<a href=“http://www.gatorland.com)%5B/url%5D”>www.gatorland.com)</a>…</p>
<p>“It’s full steam ahead at Gatorland as the 57-year old theme park races to re-open the historic park on Friday, November 24, 2006 after surviving a fire earlier in the month that destroyed the park’s award-winning Gift Shop and Executive Office.”</p>
<p>sunnyflorida, are they still having problems?</p>
<p>On our recent “Disney” vacation we didn’t set foot in a Disney park. The highlight of our trip was Discovery Cove. It was quite pricey but it was an experience of a lifetime. I’m not a “fish” person and kinda agreed to it as this was exactly the kind of thing D and H would love. I had a blast!! The park is beautiful, they limit the number of “guests” to 500 a day and everything is done wonderfully. Everything (except things like souvenirs and photos) are included. The food was great. We don’t drink but they were A-B products available. Your ticket includes 7 days admission to either Busch gardens or Sea World. We chose the Sea World option (for an additional $10 I think, you get unlimited VIP parking). It was great not to have to spend the whole day but to go for a few hours in the morning or evening.</p>
<p>Our previous visit we stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel and did Universal with D and her friend. We upgraded to the concierge floor and it was definitely worth it. You can walk to Universal and their fast pass is a real one. You show your room key and move directly to the front of the line, no waiting for a specific time. Depending on how you eat, you can offset the cost of the concierge upgrade in food. We had breakfast each morning, in the evening they have hors d’ourves which were substantial enough for dinner for us and they have beer and wine. Later in the evening they have snacks - usually something sweet and something salty. It was a deal for us.</p>
<p>If you eat at one of the monorail hotels (Poly, Contemporary, Grand Floridian) the guard will give you a 2 hour parking pass. Too many people were parking at the hotels and taking the monorail to Magic Kingdom. Security was also stepped up after 9/11. I’ve been told that they have towed cars. Though I find this hard to believe.</p>
<p>I second that the best place to rent a boat or sprite is at one of the Magic Kingdom hotels, we like the Contemporary, because the lake area is so large and you can drive by MK. The sprites are a lot of fun and the pontoon boats are great if you have a large party. </p>
<p>For fireworks, I recommend IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth at EPCOT. It’s not your typical fireworks show. Wine tasting around the world is also fun, if your into that sort of thing. The pastries in France are delicious. Disney is not known for great food, but we do have our favorites. Such as the Cape May Buffet at the Beach Club Hotel and Boma Buffet at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We are Disney addicts so if you have any questions PM me.</p>
<p>We were there last summer. At that time they had a “dine around” plan. We found that plan to be worthwhile. Since you mentioned that you have a picky eater, and you don’t plan on being in the Disney parks for the length of your stay this plan might not be that great in meeting your dining needs. You might still want to check it out. I would suggest trying to make some dining reservations in advance b/c they are hard to get at times. Often there are cancellations if you book same day. BTW, there is a steak restaurant at the Coronado Resort. We really enjoyed the food. The service was not the best, but the food excellent. It was included in our dine around meal plan.</p>
<p>UMDAD,
remember…
Weekie Wachie, Silver Springs (home of the glass bottom boats- still exists), Six Gun Territory, Baseball and Boardwalk, Naples beach- Sharks tooth capitol of the world (still is and one of my favorites), of course St. Augustine (still a great place to visit and a must for all 4th graders), The Fountain of Youth (defunct tourist attraction in St. A’s), Cypress Gardens, Bok Tower…</p>
<p>I must make the correction for the spring training baseball team. The Atlanta Braves have their spring home at the very nice baseball park at Disney. They are having a very good spring season.</p>
<p>My parents are on their way down there tomorrow for a week of games. They say that the facilites at the ball park are top-notch.</p>
<p>My mom used to work at Silver Springs. They were bought out by Disney at one point and we would get employee courtesy passes to Disneyworld. That was sweeet! Of course we could go to Silver Springs anytime we wanted as well but it was a pretty boring place for a teen to go, mostly old folks there. LOL They did add a water park though and that was cool.
Ahhh, the good old days. LOL</p>
<p>Thatmom, that is good to know. I do think that the Osceola Astros still play in the Kissimmee area.</p>
<p>correction- it’s Venice Beach not Naples (Naples is on the west coast near the Everglades- Venice is a little south of Sarasota). </p>
<p>You get one of those chintzy sifters at the dime store (the kind that come with the shovel and pail) and go sit in 15-20 inches of water (the west coast of Florida is like a lake- it kind of laps up at you). You sort of “pan” by scooping the sand up and sifting it at the surface of the water until rocks, shells and gasp, sharks teeth fossils are left. </p>
<p>It’s a family affair- kids, mom, dad, gramps, everyone can do it!</p>
<p>northeastmom, the Houston Astros do their spring training at the Osceola stadium</p>
<p>I thought that Houston has a minor league team (I did not mean spring training) that plays there and that they call themseleves the Osceola Astros. They are a minor league for the Houston Astros (I think they are anyway). We went to a couple of these games years ago. It is really fun to go. They have little give aways and they have drawings for some old bats and balls that the team had used etc. Little kids can run up very close to the players.</p>
<p>It’s not near Orlando, but I always thought Coral Castle near Miami was a great, “kitschy” attraction.</p>