Spring Break in Orlando Florida>>>>>>>>>>>>

[jholbrook]

Since my son has been on Spring Break from school for the past week, we decided to fly down to Orlando FL to spend a few days with my father.

Here's my son reading "Dilbert" while we wait to board our flight:



Grabbed a quick shot of our choice of wrist wear for the flight - me in my GMT Master II, and he in his "training Rolex" Invicta 8926:



The next morning we made a bee line for the pool!





I think I kinda got the camera wet when I took this one....



Oh well...since the camera is wet, might as well see how it works underwater!







The pool water temperature was perfect!!!



Submerged wrist shot of the Submariner:



Shot from the bottom of the pool:



The next day we did some golfing at a small and less than spectacular (read cheap) course which was a good choice to dust the cobwebs off our game - first round of the year for both John and I:



The course had quite a bit of water:





After spotting these two big fellas trying to stay warm on this overcast day, we decided not to go after any balls which landed near the water....



My GMT Master II 3186 and the Parachrom Bleu hairspring performed flawlessly....much better than my game. I did manage a par on the last hole...<sigh>....



The next day we decided to go to Universal Studios in Orlando. John had a friend from school who was also vacationing in Orlando that week, so we picked him up and headed over to the park:



John in the first of many lines today. I did spring for the "fast pass" option which cut the lines down considerably and made the whole experience MUCH more enjoyable.



We first went over to the Islands of Adventure side of Universal:





We started the day out on the Spider-Man ride, which is a favorite. John rode the Hulk roller coaster, but Dad doesn’t do roller coasters…heh.



Then we headed over to Jurassic Park:







Here’s a photo with John and his friend from school. Apparently Andrew’s mother has the smarts to actually pack warm cloths in case it gets chilly in FL.



Despite the chilly temperature it was a beautiful day:



Soon it was time to break for lunch – John is a big basketball fan, and picked this NBA themed restaurant:



After lunch, we headed over to the Universal side of the park:



Not having had the good sense to pack anything with long sleeves, I was forced to pay exorbitant park prices for sweatshirts:



Those familiar with the Universal Park (me and my family have been coming to the park since about 1992) may have fond memories of the Back to the Future ride. Last year that ride was eliminated and was replaced with the new Simpsons ride (corresponding with the release of their big screen movie). I’ll miss the Back to the future ride, but the Simpsons ride was hilarious.





The view from the top once you’re inside:



The souvenir shop is a Kwik-E Mart!



We then hit several of the Universal rides – Terminator 2, Men in Black, Disaster, Twister, and Jaws. The Express Tickets REALLY helped – we would have never made it through so many rides without it.







After dinner we decided to take in a movie at the theater within Universal – Monsters vs. Aliens:



After the movie it was time to head home – park closes at 9pm:



So long Universal!



Out last day in Orlando was spent at the pool again. I went down to the dock to see if I could spot any gators.



I soon spotted my old friend I saw when I was here in February – same spot too. Apparently he likes it:



I tried to get closer for a better photo, but he swam off:



My son thought it wasn’t such a great idea for me to chase after alligators and suggested I chase something more my size:



Given that I turn 39 in two weeks, I wasn’t sure if I was still quick enough to catch a lizard (those suckers are quick!). I used to love to try and catch lizards when I was my son’s age and we lived in Florida. I’m proud to say I’m not completely over the hill:



We headed back home to Ohio the next day. We had a great time even though the weather wasn’t what we hoped for. Hopefully we’ll have better weather during our family trip to Hawaii this June. Hope you enjoyed the photos!

[kurvenfeger]

Original von jholbrook
Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Yes, I did! Thanks for sharing!

Original von jholbrook
We had a great time even though the weather wasn’t what we hoped for.

Why? Don't you guys like the sun???

[alicia]

"training rolex"

thx for sharing

[jholbrook]

Originally posted by kurvenfeger

Original von jholbrook
Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Yes, I did! Thanks for sharing!

Original von jholbrook
We had a great time even though the weather wasn’t what we hoped for.

Why? Don't you guys like the sun???

You're most welcome. I LOVE the sun...we just didn't see enough of it. It was quite chilly for this time of year in FL (I used to live there).

[Fox77]

good pics

and nice family trip

[COMEX]

Wonderful trip and a perfect son, John!!!!

CU on "FB"

[AndreasL]

Thanks John; it looks like a great trip with Your son.

[ferndale]

ohh!! very nice
next time in florida (i hope feb. 2010), we have to visit universal-studios again!

[buchfuchs1]

Krustyland.

[Baron1811]

Thanks John. Pretty nice pics. Bubbles would be cool on the subpool picture.



Best regards

[retsyo]

Nice photo story...

[Eddm]

Great! Thanks for sharing John!

...but honestly, when i read "springbreak" & "Florida" i was kinda expecting something a little bit different....

[Moehf]

Original von Eddm
Great! Thanks for sharing John!

...but honestly, when i read "springbreak" & "Florida" i was kinda expecting something a little bit different....

Thank you John, great story and pictures!

[jholbrook]

Glad you liked the photos guys!