Walt Disney 2020
Day 6: Disney Springs: Balloon flying, boat cars, and terrible bowling skills kinda day with T-Rex.
Today was a "sleep in" type of day even though I'm so used to being up early that it wasn't much of a sleep in day for me. But, Sakari made the most of it...so much that I ended up having to wake her up for breakfast and to get her going for the day.
We didn't have a theme park planned for the day (trying to spread out the parks every other day) but I did have plans to head back to Disney Springs to do some activities today and I promised Sakari "no shopping" for me. I ask Sakari if she wanted her coat and got the reply "My skin is my coat". Alrighty then. I was taking mine just in case (even though I didn't end up using it).
We loaded the address back in the GPS...I bet you can guess what happens next...it took us a different way there! It took us the way of going in town and not on the freeway. This time we came in from a different direction and was able to get right into the parking lot with no issues and no U-turns. Ohhhhh, ok, I see why it took me this way now. Much easier and no $1.00 tolls! Me likey.
We found our "I can't walk far" parking spot and headed to the elevator to go upstiars where we would, once again, have to walk all the way down to the other side of the parking lot, around the barriers, and back down to where we started at. They scanned our heads with this little brain monitor to see if there was any intelligence inside. She said "ok". What do you mean ok? I've had years and years of college education! I should be more than "ok". We were hurried along to the contraption that tells if there's any medal objects on you. Once again, we were "ok", even though I have plenty of medal in my foot now so I really don't understand these things.
We got our approval to head into Disney Springs and down the escalator we went to our first attraction. We were riding the hot air balloon.
History: Aerophile Balloon Flight: 8 minute tethered
ride in the world's largest hand-painted helium balloon.
This balloon was custom-built for Disney and filled
with 210,000 cubic feet of helium and ascends up to
400 feet in the air. The basket holds 29 people. Great
panoramic views up to 10 miles away on clear days.
Tickets are: $20 per adult 10 and older & $15 for
children.
Ok, so it wasn't really a "hot air" balloon, but a helium balloon. I wondered why I didn't see any flames during our first visit. I wonder how they fill this thing up and how often.
We paid for our tickets and headed in line while we watched others on their ride. I couldn't wait to get pictures of Disney from here. Sakari had her Disney shirt on I bought here and thought she wouldn't wear.
Then it was our turn. Everyone got on and went around in the circle. The basket of the ride is round and the walkway goes around the edges. This is where you stand. The middle is completely open.
Up, up, and away we went. Soaring high above Disney Springs. It was at that point that I noticed we really hadn't been everywhere here and missed a lot. But, it was ok. I promised Sakari no shopping today and only activities. I mean I can always window shop as we walked by right?
We could see everything up there. However, we didn't know what anything was or what direction any of the theme parks were. It was weird that the "driver" of the balloon wasn't telling us anything. Usually they at least tell you what direction to look in and what is that way! I had to ask him "where is Disney?" He pointed in the direction on the other side of him. Well we couldn't see that way from where our spot was. I ask him if the balloon turns and he told me "no it's stationary". Well don't that bite! That was one of the main reasons I wanted to go up in it...to take a picture of Disney from there. Main reason, not only reason of course. I wanted the experience and to take pictures and of course to allow Sakari to experience it as well. But still...I was very disappointed in our positioning on the balloon.
We noticed a plane in the sky. It was going in weird directions. Then all of a sudden we noticed that it was spelling something. Now I know that the ride says 8 minutes long, but it really did feel like we were up there a very long time. This plane spelled out a very long sentence and we were up there long enough to see most of it. Here's the beginning of it.
It was time to come back down and the ride was neat, just not what I expected. I've been in hot air balloons before and today, I think I was expecting some heat! It was another somewhat chilly day but not too bad that it bothered me too much and I'm a cold natured person and don't tollerate the cold air too much.
I knew the next place I wanted to go and I just knew it was going to be the neatest thing ever! We were headed to the Amphicars! Now this is a bridge that we hadn't noticed before and we were about to head that direction.
The Amphicars....oh how neat. I have seen video's of them online but never really seen one in person and I knew that Sakari didn't know anything about them so this was going to be a treat! I REAL EXPENSIVE TREAT!
We made our way over and went into the
store to purchase our tickets. The ride is
$125 for up to 3 people (due to COVID
they aren't allowing the 4th person in the
front seat even though the driver was almost
sitting in my lap when I was in the back
seat). With tax, this "ride" ended up being
close to $140! You can get a $25 discount if you
eat at their restaurant. But, we already had
reservations for later that night. This ride last
20-25 minutes, according to their website. I can
tell you that it was EXACTLY 20 minutes too by
my pictures.
History: The BOATHOUSE® is the only place in the world that offers this experience in a vintage Amphicar. These rare cars drive on the land and enter the water with a splash, for a 20-25 minute tour of the landmarks of Disney Springs.
The fleet of Amphicars were purchased from private collections worldwide and there were less than 4,000 of these unique amphibious vehicles produced during the 1960's. Now, there's only 400 worldwide today!
They go about 7mph on the water and 70mph on land and that's why they are known as the Model 770. They were produced in Germany between 1961-1968, with around 3,000 of them making it to the US. For you car enthusiast, the car has a rear-mounted Triumph 1,124-cc inline-four which is rear wheel drive on land and has twin propellers mounted just behind the rear axels. The front tires steer the Amphicar out on the water by acting as rudders.
The owner spent 8 years trying to convince Disney of this idea. He is the mastermind of the popular themed restaurants like Rainforest Cafe, Yak & Yeti and T-Rex Cafe. The plus side was several former US Presidents owned these cars and took people rides in them. The hard part was making sure the cars would stay running and afloat and needed to be as sink-proof as possible. The factory pumps would allow 150-200 pounds of water to enter the hull before they would start pumping water out. The car was redesigned by this owner to include high-volume pumps, allowing water to pump out of the hull faster than it came in. There were actually 3,200 hidden components that he reworked from the exhaust to comfort and leg room. This required $65,000 to $75,000 worth of upgrades to each car.
If you want to read the full article on these cars, written by Hemmings, (it's very interesting) then you can find it here ----->
We got into the car (all of us in the back seat) and they closed the door. The driver immediately started making jokes. "Whatever you do, DON'T pull on this door handle or we will become a submarine". "No worries, this is the second time I've drove this thing and I'm an expert now". We laughed and giggled and knew this was about to be a good time.
A photographer came out and took our pictures sitting in the car. It was the only picture he took of us. I honestly think it would have been nice for him to take a picture of us entering the water and the big splash and also a picture of us sitting in the water in A CAR! It is more than doable because this place is a restaurant, which runs along the dock and there's an outside eating area on the back of it, backed up against the water. There's so many opportunities to take pictures entering and on the water. If I worked for this place and was the photographer, I would be bringing in so much money from these extra pictures!
Annnnndddddd.....here we go....weeeeee
I couldn't believe what a big splash it made! It was so fun and interesting. Our boat captain really reminded me of a skipper. He had bright red hair and the hat. You could tell he enjoyed his job.
As we putted around the Sassagoula River from one end to the other he would point out things and talk to us. Very nice guy.
This was so neat and you sat so low down to the water. Of course I was busy snapping pictures of everything! We headed from one side to the other. It was so pretty. There was a resort there and the lawn was full of birds. Santa was also out on the lake with his reindeer. For some reason I only caught the reindeer going by and not Santa way behind it. The Jolly old man must have been going too slow.
We headed down by the Aerophile Balloon and circled around.
Our 20 minutes was up and we headed back to dock. He revved up the engine and we went from a boat to a car in no time flat. Up the ramp we went while admirers were onlooking with excitement. The Captain got out and told us to stay in as they turned us around. The car parks on a round circle of concrete that happens to spin and turn the car back to facing the boat ramp and ready for the next ride. How cool.
After we were done with the cars, we went into the shop to see our pictures. There was 1 couple in front of us looking at theirs and they were cute. He went to go pull ours up on a screen and couldn't find them. He checked several times...still no pictures. We waited and waited and nothing. He said maybe the photographer still had them on his disc and he would check. We still waited and waited. Finally I said "I need a snack!" I spotted an gelato ice cream shop right out front and said "Let's just head over there and maybe by the time we get done, they will find our pictures!"
We headed to Vivoli il Gelato and man the choices were tough! They had everything you could think of and no prices for what I wanted! We knew this was about to get expensive but hey, their advertising worked because they had a sign out front with a picture and I knew I wanted what was on that picture!
I looked on their menu online and don't see it on there (or anything close to it) but I do know it had a "Christmas" name to it so they might not have it anymore. It had red velvet cake in it with the gelato (which might have been vanilla bean) and salted caramel sauce with whipped topping and cake sprinkles. It was all situated in this oversized waffle cone. I WAS IN HEAVEN! It was as amazing as the picture! No wonder they put it out there for display to all the people walking by!
The hubby went simple and just got a Butter Pecan ice gelato in a waffle cone. He said it was really good.
I believe Sakari ended up with a Peanut butter Caramel shake which consisted of peanut butter, salted caramel gelato, milk, caramel sauce, peanuts and a cherry. She took her first bite and squealed with excitement. She was just as happy as I was about her selection. "Try this!!! It taste just like peanut butter!!!" It was good I have to admit.
While we were sitting there enjoy our scrumptious food, we started talking about the pictures from the boathouse. The more I thought about it, the more I thought I really didn't want to pay the outrageous price for 1 photo (I think it was around $40-45 plus tax). It was a great experience and I got plenty of pictures (just not of all of us in the car together) and we can say that we rode in these unique cars that are very rare and only a few left, not to mention the only place you can ride in these. I probably wouldn't do it again unless I had someone with us to take pictures of us out on the water while they stayed on land.
After our "snack", which was really filling, I once again ask Sakari if she wanted to 1) go bowling or 2) go to the movies. I was secretly hoping she would pick the movies so I could sit down longer. But, she was quick to pick bowling instead. Hey, at least I didn't get a "I don't care" out of her this time.
Off to Splitsville we went.
We checked in at the counter and I believe it was $17 pp to bowl and you got 1 1/2 hours of bowling in with no one beside you (due to COVID). I was unsure about trying to get my foot into bowling shoes because to this date (after my accident) I have yet to be able to get my foot into regular shoes with the backs on them. I have been wearing a size bigger (size 9) to be able to get my swollen foot in a shoe with the backs out of them, so I tried a size 9 1/2 with the bowling shoes. It was a struggle to get it on, but I did manage. Of course, the other foot was really floating in this size 9 1/2 shoe, which made it really hard to walk.
We headed to our lane on the 1st floor. I was kinda disappointed that we didn't get a lane on the second floor but oh well.
I have to admit I was super scared of walking on this slick bowling alley floor. It really freaked me out, especially in these bowling shoes. They have always been slick to walk in on that floor and with my foot/leg, I was just petrified. I took it nice and slow and found that I just really can't bowl like I should with this leg. I think I did better at the mini bowling on the ships compared to here. I was so stiff and just plain awkward...which gave my family the chance to beat me at this game.
Man I had to zoom in on the above left picture there for a moment to make sure that was Sakari. She's getting so tall. She's now 5'4" and I'm 5'6". She's almost as tall as me and Kendra (who is also 5'6"). Wow!
All of our games were absolutely terrible. I don't think we have EVER bowled this bad before. Like we were all under 100! Sakari was doing pretty bad this time around as well and we ended up putting the bumpers up for her. She didn't feel so embarrassed about it when people a few lanes over had a guy, who looked to be a teen but yet taller than us, also had the bumpers up. I think I did end up with no wins and daddy won a game and Sakari won a game. I'm a very competitive person and I walked away a sore loser. We managed to get 2 games in before our time was "almost" up (maybe 10 minutes left). We told Sakari she could go ahead and just take all the turns in the last minutes and she did a few and said she was done too.
I headed upstairs (where the only restroom that was working was located) and found the bowling alleys up there were neat along with other games to play too that I had never seen before in my life (feather bowling).
We gathered our things and headed out but we first had to stop and take a picture of the Christmas tree.
Outside it was already dark. I hate this getting dark by 6pm thing. It just really sucks but at least that meant all the Christmas lights were on by now.
We had reservations at T-Rex for 8:15 and still had some time to wait. We tried to go over and see if they would let us in early like they did at the Rainforest Cafe. However, it was much later than when we went to the RFC than now and this place was popping in there! Absolutely NO openings and lines a mile long for that place. Well, I guess we would have to kill some time now.
Sakari had wanted to go to the "Art Corner" that she had seen over by the Rainforest the other night. So, we headed off that way. It ended up being a place with artist that would draw whatever you wanted them to draw. I decided I wanted a picture of Sakari done, I thought it was a caricature, and we decided on a colored one. The one thing I thought was weird is they needed an actual picture of her to do the drawing. They said they could combine pictures if we wanted. But, she was not allowed to take her mask down for the picture even though they had some chairs at least 8-10 away from the artist.
I took forever trying to locate a "good" picture of her that was up to date and at least with her hair down and looking appropriate. Those appropriate days don't happen too often, especially with us being on vacation and her being out of school. I really had to dig!
Then the drawing started. We all talked about Sakari being an artist and going to the art school at home and I was a proud momma to show them some of her drawings. Now those I do have on my phone and plenty of them! They were impressed and talked about how they got into art and what their jobs have been in the past. They told her it would be so easy for her to do the drawings they do but she quickly told them "I DO NOT draw people AT ALL". She says she can't and she won't even attempt it. This is the child that drew stick people for more than half her life before I convinced her that people wore clothes and they weren't a stick. Still to this day she refuses to draw people but can draw bodies now.
Since she was an artist, he ended up drawing
a picture of her being an artist and drawing
a picture.
She told him that she likes to draw monsters and
weird creatures she creates in her head. So, of
course he ended up drawing a picture of her
doing a drawing for her "customer", which happened
to be a monster!
It read "Sakari...in artistic action! Draw! Draw!
Draw!" and the monster customer saying "She
is...AMAZING!" LOL So appropriate!
It was time for our reservations at the T-Rex Cafe and we headed that way and checked in.
Sakari has always been a big dinosaur fan since she could talk and I'm pretty sure her first words were dino. She was never the type of kid that really played with dolls. She wanted DINO'S! She had boxes and boxes of them. As a matter of fact last month I just sold her entire collection she had (over 300+) of dino's and as they walked out the door with their new owner, I'm pretty sure a tear went down her face. So, I knew she was going to love this place....and she did.
It's basically the same as the Rainforest but with dino's and she can still proudly name them all.
It was definitely a neat place. I think I liked it better than the Rainforest. It seemed as though all the dinosaurs had babies as well. So, they must like living there too. ;)
Every so often there would be a storm, just like at the other place.
Before our reservations, I had told the hubby I was going to "go light" this time and I really wasn't as hungry as last time. However, by the time we got here....this was my definition of "go light"....
The Boneyard Buffet. Slow roasted St Louis style Ribs, Fire-Roasted Rotisserie Chicken, slaw and fries. Whew! Sakari ended up helping me eat a lot of it.
Sakari was really looking for the "dino nugs" she had at the rainforest. But the weird thing is, they didn't have dino chicken nuggets here. Like um....this is the dinosaur restaurant but you only have regular chicken nuggets instead of the dinosaur shaped ones like at your sister restaurant...just across the water? Someone messed up on this menu stuff here!
So she settled for Dexters corn dogs...which is super weird because she has never ever ever liked hotdogs and just recently she has started eating corn dogs (only) but still not hot dogs. She definitely prefers her fruit over fries. Why are they serving my child corn dogs that belong to this other kid named Dexter? Did he not eat his?
Both this place and the Rainforest really try to push their souvenir cups. They will ask over and over. "We have cotton candy and Very Cherry and....and...all in a souvenir lightning glass cup how's that sound?" Well, it sounds more expensive than a regular cup that I won't have to carry around and my child never uses again because it got put in the dishwasher and then warped and the light went dead! "It comes with free refills"....so...you're saying that a regular glass of lemonade or soda does not come with refills??? "Well, yes, it does". Ok then, this is not helping your case of trying to push a useless cup on us. The weird thing is, they keep asking the children about ordering this and trying to get an "approval" from them like I didn't even exist. Both places. Had I not been paying attention and paying attention to my surroundings and taking pictures like I normally do, they would have pulled this little stunt off under my nose.
The hubby had a Meteor Meatloaf which consisted of a homemade meatloaf ball (honestly I don't think they made it at home, I mean who has time for this and who brings it in?) with BBQ sauce, red skinned mashed potatoes, and fried onion rings on top.
All the food was good and we cleaned our plates then went around taking pictures and watching the light show.
After we paid our bill and gathered our things, Sakari says "hold on" and scribbled something on the napkin with her crayons that came with her kiddie menu...
Then out we went...
It was a great experience and we all loved it. Too bad they don't have any of these places back home. We'd probably frequent the place. LOL
It was another expensive day at Disney Springs despite this being a "free" place to go to. It probably costs us just as much as going to one of the theme parks by the time we were done here. There's definitely some neat things to do that will suck you dry and dry we were.
We put our location into our GPS and believe it or not, it took us back the way we came here....through down town.
Arriving at home I prepared Sakari for the following day letting her know that this would NOT be a sleep in type of day.
We headed off to bed shortly after arriving home because it was already late and I needed my rest for tomorrow.
Here's a video of our day which includes our balloon flight, our car boat ride, bowling and of course T-Rex.
