Happy New Year! Yes, we know it’s a bit late, but hey It’s been a bit of a wild ride of late.
As we move into the new year we want to do away with all of last year’s nonsense, (Rob here). I had Covid just before Christmas and it was not fun. As it stands I’m all good now, just a bit tired still but counting my blessings and want to move on from the constant pandemic chit chat and look forward to this coming year being a year of positive things and travelling.
We’ve been watching LOADS of Orlando related vlogs – it’s the only thing thats kept us sane over the isolation and over the holidays! There has been loads of news out of the parks recently, the main one being that park hopping has returned to WDW!! Whoooo hooooo! Well… we say whooo hooo but we’ve made plans for our next visit and this has thrown another spanner in the works of our current list of plans, but, in the best way. At least now with the park hopping reinstated we can move about with a bit more freedom. It’s not like we get bored at particular parks, but it’s nice to end the day somewhere else. (Cue to us furiously changing our itinerary)…
One thing we are giddy with excitement for is then new Velocicoaster over at Universal, this looks crazy fun. We’ve been following the progress for months now with pics from folks on YouTube and Insta. When they actually started testing the coaster cars, running them around the track makes it seem its not that far away, (mid May its rumoured to be opening). This is gonna be a HUGE huge queue, no two ways about it! But it will definitely be worth it.
Attendance at all the parks in the area is on the up and this is a good sign that things are improving (we hope!), and we hope it continues to improve. Disney have said the current park reservation system will be in place until at least September, maybe longer, but there is still no sign of the Fastpass system being reintroduced. This is due in part to some parts of the parks being used for the socially distanced queues and if the Fastpass queues were also in the same area there would not be enough distance between the queues to allow for social distancing. But maybe, just maybe they may sneak it in – we can live in hope.
Universal have got a few rides down for “seasonal refurbishment work” – the Mummy and the Jurassic Park River Adventure. They should both be up and running again soon.
As it stands we still haven’t seen the new Bourne Stuntacular, as this was on our radar for last year’s cancelled trip. We still haven’t seen a poor review of it, and as a massive fan of the franchise it definitely on my “to do” list.
The Christmas season is properly over now, with Christmas cavalcades and music being now replaced in the Disney parks with the cavalcades going back to the pre-Christmas versions and the more usual Disney music. The Christmas snacks have also all been replaced, and with the new year and new seasons new snacks, food items and more restaurant openings we are excited to see what is coming. The Festival of the Arts has just begun at EPCOT, and vlogs are already coming out showing the fantastic array of food and drink items to try, the amazing art and artists and demonstrations and activities that are on offer at this festival. It looks fun and positive and joyous and we look forward to seeing more footage from their over coming weeks.
At Universal Studios the Christmas decorations are gone, the Christmas Tree Trail packed away for another year and the Tribute Store has closed its doors on the wonderful treats, decorations and merchandise. New snacks and treats will follow and no doubt Universal will be gearing up for Mardi Gras and all of the fun and extra entertainment that brings, as well as hopefully being able to deliver a “real” Halloween Horror Nights event this year. Let’s hope so, as Universal do it so well and it’s legendary!
Loads of new merchandise is coming out too, now that the Christmas merchandise has been cleared away. Disney parks and stores seem to have an abundance of new Minnie ears, lots of new ranges of apparel and plushes and masks, bags and toys and collectibles. Universal too are replacing all of their Christmas offerings with brand new ranges and designs and so far they are looking pretty fantastic. So excited we have the extra luggage allowance with our airline tickets as man we have some stuff to purchase!!
Food… let’s be honest we all love the food in Orlando. From the subs at Earl of Sandwich to the burgers at Shake Shack. Ash and Tiff introduced us to this particular delight, hands down one THE best burgers we’ve ever had. Fact. We often end up talking about food to friends and family who have been to Orlando, it’s a massive thing, “where’s the best steaks” “where’s the best bar?” Well we can say for steaks you CANNOT beat the Longhorn Steakhouse, fantastic food and great service with very reasonable prices. As for the best bar? Well we’ve gotta say for us it’s Wine Bar George. This place has just the right vibe, nice and relaxing with a vast range of wines to choose from, and the staff even remembered what we had the few times we visited. The food here is pretty awesome too – some delicious options and sharing plates.
Next trip we are hoping to try a few more Disney and Universal resort restaurants and also some more places in Disney Springs and Universal City Walk. As it’s just the two of us travelling we can chop and change our plans and try lots of different things as and when we decide. We are also pretty blooming keen to try some half pound cookies from Gideons Bakehouse, and also some super cute looking donuts at the newest donut location at Disney Springs – Everglazed Donuts and Cold Brew. They look soooooooo good and so pretty. Yum yum yum.
So we’ll plough on – getting excited and making plans for our 2021 trip. ‘Cos you have to be optimistic don’t you? We will re-do our planning spreadsheet AGAIN, to now incorporate Park Hopping! We will count the days down until we can make our dining reservations – breakfast with Mickey Mouse yes please. We will make sure we have suitcases big enough to cope with the excessive amounts of merchandise we intend to buy and bring back with us. We will keep watching our lovely friends over in Orlando to see what new things are available to us, and we can then incorporate them into our plans. We will also, a bit nearer the time when things look a bit more certain, book a few more things we think we’d like to do while we are there. We will also carry on adding to the never ending list of snacks, treats, drinks and restaurants we’d like to try – and at this stage feel like a two month trip will not be long enough to accommodate all of our plans.
We’re excited to be able to pack our new Disney, Orlando and Universal items we’ve acquired or been bought this year as presents. We have fantastic T-shirts, fancy luggage tags, stickers, backpacks, ears and all manner of merchandise and Oh Orlando merchandise to wear, use, give out and show off. Gonna be fantastic!
2021 we have high hopes for you……..don’t let us down.
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