DramaMama .......... Janet

I have still been working on our downtime at the hotel to try and get all my customers taken care of. 

 

And they (um...we) really appreciate it.  Now if somebody out there would just cancel their pre-Thanksgiving Fort rezzies........

Nice to hear!

Loved, loved the schoolhouse... it looked so pure, so innocent. Made my heart ache a little.

Thanks for the TR! Looks like you guys made a lot of beautiful memories :)

We did. Thanks for reading along!

So,....did you get annual legoland passes?

We are doing a 2 week trip to the fort here in 17 days.....and then again next year.....we bought AP's to disney,...and our plan is 2 weeks now and 2 weeks next year before our AP's run out.... We drive our 5th wheel from Indiana & we have 2 boys 8 & 5, and they are HUGE lego fanatics

I didn't know if a 1 day pass would be worth it or if we should go ahead and do the annual passes? Are they good for 1 yr from the date you purchase or only 2015 season?

Any input on this subject would be GREATLY appreciated :)

Also my boys have been saving there money to buy stuff at Legoland...did they have a good selection of lego sets there? More so than Walmart, or Target?

We did not get annual passes. We did the 2 day pass. It isn't that much more than one. I am glad- one day would not have been enough but we probably would not go again in the next year. They did have a good selection of sets and individual specialty pieces. They have a small store dedicated to mini figs but the selection of pieces was not as good as the little area at downtown Disney.

Clanton is the peach capital of Alabama.  It is located in the geographic center of the state about halfway between Birmingham and Montgomery on I-65.  Thrill's parents have a second home near there so we go a time or two a year.  Clanton is a charming little town with a slower pace of life.  The local Wal-Mart carries an equal amount of Bama and Auburn gear.  Regular interstate travelers through the area notice the giant peach shaped water tower - and how the red "crack" side faces the interstate - known affectionately as the Peach Butt.  If you can't make it to their annual festival, be sure and stop by Peach Park for BBQ, peach ice cream, or (my favorite) fried pies.  Heaton Pecan Farm also satisfies a weary traveler with treats.

Peach Jam is held in mid-June.  Among the festivities are kiddie rides, local musical artists performing, food trucks/trailers (the fried alligator on a stick was amazing), and vendor booths.  A parade through downtown on Saturday morning brings out kids with plastic bags, buckets, or boxes.  Why?  We soon found out that EVERY entrant except the school bands throws candy,  A LOT of candy!  Politicians and hopefuls ride on cars, trucks, and floats.  Churches advertise their upcoming vacation Bible schools.  Beauty queens and courts from infancy to senior citizens sparkle and shine with tons of makeup and enough hairspray to make the town a "no flame" zone.  This town LOVES their beauty queens.  They have a pageant for everything!  There was even a Relay For Life queen and her court.  Our DS finally asked "So who is the main queen?"  I had to laugh and say, "That one in the small car (with little fanfare) with the sign that says Miss Alabama!"  Bless her heart...

A few pics from the parade:

And yes, those are our little guys picking up candy and sporting their Bama jerseys.  Roll Tide.

This float lacked beauty queens but the guys (can't remember what club/group they were) threw great candy.

We will actually be in Corinth visiting family during the Slugburger festival this year so I will try to take lots of pics to share.

Ok, your turn!

Chime in and tell us all about festivals your family attends whether in your town or not.  I know there are some beloved and sometimes strange ones out there!  I have a few to share and would love to learn about more.

Coming up:

The Clanton, Alabama Peach Jam

and

(my hometown) the Corinth, Mississippi Slugburger Festival (and no, there are no snails/slugs in the burger!  Stay tuned to learn more.)

Just a few more pics.

We celebrated Thrill's grandma's 89th birthday while we were down with a trip to one of our favorite restaurants in Fort Lauderdale - The Old Heidelberg German Restaurant.  A little pood forn:

Potato soup

My plate with spaetzle, red cabbage, sauerkraut, and an assortment of German sausages

Thrill's veal Bavarian schnitzel:

We always love going to Thrill's family's church when we are down to worship and see lots of old friends.  It is such a pretty church!

That night we enjoyed seeing the sunset while taking a break from packing to go home.  Photos never do it justice!

Thus ended the trip.  Sad to leave but happy to be home.  We are on the go so much during the summer that since I started this report, we have had a long weekend trip to Alabama and are in the process of packing to go to see my family in Mississippi.  Oh well, time to start a new thread!

I really need to finish this report before I forget what all we did on the trip!  Plus, I have an idea for another thread....

Anyway,

I believe I left off with us leaving Legoland and heading to the Hollywood, FL area.  Thrill's parents, grandmother, and aunts and uncles live there.  

We got in some relaxation, pool time, shopping, and even some touristy type stuff.  

The boys got to pick a pineapple that was ripe in GG's (Great Grandmother) backyard.  

My MIL took us to the old Davie Schoolhouse.  It was the first school in the Everglades.  My FIL had gone to first grade there and later, while working for the school board, had an office in the same building.  We toured the building and joined in with their field trip experiences provided for area kids in summer camps.  The boys got to make homemade ice cream (shaking it in a big can), squeeze their own orange juice with antique juicers, play marbles and jacks, tour a house with train displays, tour a replica of a frontier home and wash cloths with a rubboard and wringer.  

They had an awesome group of teens facilitating the tours.  They come from lots of area schools and get community service hours.

With 2 retired teachers for grandparents and parents that are teachers, our vacations often include SOMETHING educational!   :protip:

My FIL took us out to the Sawgrass Recreational Area to ride an airboat in the Everglades.  I had never done that and it was really cool.  Our boat captain was a hoot!  Although that sort of thing could be very cheesy, this particular family owned attraction handled it with class.  We did see a few gators while on the boat and our captain was a great teacher about all things pertaining to alligators, the Everglades, and how their environment is threatened/how we can help.  After we got back from the ride we went into the area they have with rescued animals and learned even more.  (A serious problem in the South Florida metro area comes from people buying exotic animals for pets and then, when they realize they can't care for them, they dump them in the Glades.)  There was no gator wrestling (thank goodness) and all the workers were very respectful of the animals.  

Our boat:

Our captain:

River of grass

Meeting a baby gator:

More later...

Welcome!  You will love camping in a PUP at the Fort!  

Bring on the questions!  We are a crazy crew of campers - from the big RVs to tents - so someone here should be able to answer anything.

Also, if you want Fiends to stop by, post your site # on the thread here.  You may get a visit!  If not, no biggie, we understand that, too, sort of...

But, if you run into any problems while at the Fort, just start an emergency thread here.  If there isn't a Fiend on the Scene, there will most likely be someone here who can point you to the right mechanic, urgent care for people or pets, etc.   

So glad you jumped in!

Love it!  Congrats!  It is similar to what we hope to get.

I haven't forgotten about this report; we just got home and got into projects.  I have been up to my eyeballs in pulling off wallpaper and scraping popcorn ceiling in a bathroom rehab.  Yuck!  We have a short weekend trip to AL planned and then I will get back to this.  

For his part, Thrill Shakespeare is writing that dissertation trying to finish this PhD!!!!  Happy thoughts, prayers, etc, appreciated.

That is a great pic of Chase watching the show.  Pictures like that of our kids make me just want to know what is going on in their little minds!

Just think, for the price of staying a month you could own a really nice RV and stay where the action is...

It's a series of trays going from large square holes to smaller ones.  Drop the bricks in the top and shake and it sorts by sizes.

 

Does a pretty good job.

Is that the one that looks like the big yellow Lego head?  We saw that at Target.  Looked cool.

I would settle for them not being all over the floor....

Enjoy your trip!  May your stay be relatively bug free.  

Who am I kidding?  

Oh well, may you not be eaten alive.  

The Cypress Garden Ski Team still put on shows. They perform on Lake Mirrow which is about 3 miles away from Legoland, across from the Hospital, and is free to view. It is on the 3rd Saturday of the month and feature many of the original group.

That sounds neat!  While we were hanging out by those benches we were able to watch them rehearse for the show. We had a great view of the dock they take off from and glide onto (no costumes and basically just doing some of their tricks).  They were sweet to wave at us as they came by.

Nice TR. Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks!

They are still doing a water skiing/jet skiing, lego themed show there. It has a "small" flavor of the original shows, but is heavily Lego/Pirate themed.

We saw parts of it as we criss-crossed the park a time or two.  We never made it over to watch it all the way through.  I must say it was impressive to see Lego costumed skiers.  

 

 

I think it'll survive just on the Lego name, but have repeat visitors they will need to keep adding attractions and do better upkeep on the displays.

 

I agree.

 

Like the picture of your boys on the bench :)

Thanks.  I thought they looked sweet so I had to take the pic.  You know, for those moments when you are having trouble remembering what that looks like?

Time for an update!

I will finish up the Legoland portion of the trip report with a few pics from the Cypress Gardens area.  

But first, some background:

You can read all about it here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypress_Gardens

An excerpt from that site:

Billed as Florida's first commercial tourist theme park,^[2] Cypress Gardens opened on January 2, 1936 as a botanical garden planted by Dick Pope Sr. and his wife Julie. Over the years it became one of the biggest attractions in Florida, known for its water ski shows, gardens, and Southern Belles.^[3]

It became known as the "Water Ski Capital of the World" because it was the site of many of the sport's landmark firsts and over 50 world records were broken there. During World War II, soldiers visited and waterskiing was introduced for their entertainment.^[3] Numerous movies were filmed at the park, including portions of This is Cinerama, the first feature filmed in the wide-screen format, and a string of Esther Williams films and TV specials in the 1950s and 1960s.^[4] In the 1950s the Southern Belles attraction was introduced, in which young women dressed in the crinolines reminiscent of the Antebellum South. During the American Civil War Centennial young men dressed in Confederate uniforms would be photographed with the Southern Belles. In the early 1960s a custom photography boat named Miss Cover Girl was introduced, and the park became a popular site for the filming of television commercials.

Many celebrities and dignitaries have skied and visited at the park, including Elvis Presley, King Hussein of Jordan and his son and successor, King Abdullah II. It was also the site of a Johnny Carson special.^[5]

Competition for guests increased after Walt Disney World Resort opened nearby in 1971. In the early 1980s the Popes retired and transferred the park to their son, Dick Pope, Jr..

In the 1980s book publisher Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich purchased the park along with SeaWorld, Circus World(later rebuilt as Boardwalk and Baseball) and Stars Hall of Fame.^[6] Harcourt sold most of the businesses toAnheuser-Busch in 1989.^{[citation needed]} Busch continued to operate Cypress Gardens until April 1, 1995, when a group of the park's managers, led by Bill Reynolds, bought the property.^{[citation needed]}

Under President and CEO Reynolds, the park operated until April 13, 2003, when it closed after a prolonged tourism decline following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. 529 people were put out of work with three days' notice.

There were other attempts to make it a viable theme park, but nothing was ultimately successful.  The Merlin Entertainment Group bought it in 2010 and announced it would make it into a Legoland park.

Now, having married into a Florida family, I heard about Cypress Gardens for years - the beauty of the grounds, the cheesiness of the entertainment, etc.  Probably the most I knew about it came from  an MST3K short.  For those who may not know about MST3K, it stands for Mystery Science Theater 3000 - a TV show that began on local cable in MN and eventually ended up on Comedy Central and Sci Fi.  The show involves Joel (later Mike) and the robots he has created having to watch really bad "B" movies and commenting on them - sitting in silhouette in front of the screen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Science_Theater_3000

Some of the critiqued movies are painfully good, but the best are really the shorts - unintentionally funny educational videos from the 1950s and 60s.

If you haven't seen it, check out Aquatic Wizards:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKTm-RT0m-E

Portions of the gardens have been kept intact, others added in more recent years.   It is quite pretty and neat to be able to see some of the same areas pictured in the MST3K short.  

After visiting the gardens we exited the park and ate lunch at the Ruby Tuesdays located at the edge of Legoland's parking lot.  After lunch the in-laws headed home to South Florida and we re-entered the park to take advantage of the water park.  

Located at the very back of the park, there is another ticket entrance, bath/changing rooms, a gift shop and lockers.  Life vests are available.  After changing we did the lazy river (you can build with big legos as you drift along).  Then we went to the wave pool.  Next we tried out the slide area.  I liked how this area was angled so that every slide emptied onto one side.  You can let your kids explore and see them emerge every so often.  As a non-swimmer I liked that these slides emptied into long flumes, not pools.  There are taller water slides that Thrill and DS1 went to check out but just as they got there the slides were shut down due to wasps.  We really enjoyed our time there; I feel the water park is nicely done.

The water park closes an hour before the rest of Legoland.  We changed and headed back through the park for a ride on the Chima themed water shooter ride.  Should have kept the suit on..... Oh well, we were soggy anyway.  After some shopping it was time to head to the truck and drive on down to South Florida for a week with family.  I will share a few pics from our fun down there in the next installment.

Looks like fun!  I love all the Lego creations.

 

There is a small indoor Legoland in Dallas.  When it opened I heard it was geared towards the 5-8 crowd and my son was already older so we never went.  I have a 2 year old now so I am thinking in a few years we may make a trip down there for him.  

You probably have a good 2 - 3 years until it will really hold his attention.

It's a more relaxing type of park, not all of the crazy running around trying to see everything in a day atmosphere.

 

BUT, they do need to figure out how to get the line queues to move faster.

It does have a different vibe.  The guests are pretty much young families.  I saw few teens and only very agile senior adults.  No scooters, no rushing to one or two specific rides.  The load thing?  They could use some WDW training.  They would ask us how many in our party and then still split us up.  Only one time did I hear them ask for "group of 2?" to fill a ride.  Some rides have adult seats and kid seats.  There aren't signs to tell you that, you just have to figure it out when you don't fit and then they say, "oh, you'll have to wait for the next one."   :faceplant2:

That's the one thing we noticed about the park on the last visits. Faded blocks, broken displays. I think they underestimated the ferocity of the Florida sun.

They have added quit a bit since they opened. The Chimera land was new and so was the farm building and water park.

The hotel is a major addition and looks impressive.

The hotel looks impressive from the outside and the online room pics are sweet.  However, at $350 a night, I doubt we'll ever stay there.

I'm in!

We've been on the fence about venturing over to legoland (we fly down so it would be a hassle really). But for what it would end up costing, it's probably not worth it.

Your son's face on the safari ride is hilarious and so is your FIL sitting with the old Lego man.

It would be a haul from WDW if you had to get a taxi.  

I put that pic of DS1 on because I thought it was fitting, but he wasn't really like that very much on the trip.

Looks like they've added a couple of things since we've been there.  Tough to say though, little man was only 10 weeks at our visit so I was a little preoccupied :)

 

You definitely would have been!

Great job so far.  The photos are great, and the commentary is even better- there's some funny stuff there!

 

Thanks for writing this report. I've never been to LEGOLAND, and I don't anticipate any reason that I would visit there in the immediate future.  It looks like a great place for families with young children.

 

I'm looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

 

TCD

Thanks!

Great trip report. We have debated on going but will wait until the grandson visits.

 

However, young son #2, young son #1 with his family and inlaws are going to Legoland California. I am interested in hearing how they like it.

Thanks.  You'll have to let us know what they think.

If you lived in the area, this would be the way to go

 

The Merlin AWESOMERPASS.

 

$149 YEAR INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING

 

LEGOLAND

 

LEGOLAND Water Park

 

Orlando Eye

 

Madame Tussands Orlando

 

Sea Life Orlando

 

LEGOLAND Discovery Center Atlanta

 

Collectors Edition Welcome Kit

 

Free Parking

 

10% off retail, dining LEGOLAND Hotel Stay

 

Bonus Brick Time (early entrance starting May 16 )

 

Newsletter

 

$15 off guest tickets to LEGOLAND (up to 6)

With the $17 a day parking this would really be a great deal for locals.

So exciting!  Wishing you the best on the journey and looking forward to reading along!

I'm in!  Great pics of the kids.  We stayed in a Cars suite at AoA a few years ago.  We loved it.  

WDW can be overwhelming to any kid; it must be insane to anyone with processing issues. However, you as a family, read his cues and know his triggers, so I am sure you helped him have an amazing time.  Can't wait to read more!

The trucks have to use the Atl bypass you don't and it will save you time to stay on I75 and go straight through ATL. but don't do that in Macon once you get there the Macon Bypass is the faster route.

The by-pass is 475.  It is quick and the roads are in better condition that I 75 through the city.  If you need gas or food the Zebulon Road exit is a good place to stop.  (Also has a Wal-mart, Kroger, Lowe's (east side of the interstate), and -I believe- an auto supply store (west side).    

One last question. What is the best way to handle Atlanta. We will be coming in on a Saturday morning. We have talked about going around. Any suggestions?

On a Saturday morning we would say plow right down the middle.  Weekdays the by-pass would be better.  You would loose a good bit of time going around and traffic shouldn't be bad then.  We'll pray for good traffic from Atlanta to Macon.  It could take one hour or three!  

I will jump back in tomorrow evening. We did the 10 hour drive home today from South Florida. I am tired but glad to be home. More pics coming!