Our Marvelous Mardi Gras B2B (with pics!) - April 23rd, 2022

[Green4me]

Jamman54,

 

You and Patti sure know how to take a vacation! 🙂 I hope we run across you guys on a cruise, first bucket is on me.  Thanks for the great review.  We are ~21 days to sail on Mardi Gras for second time this year.   

 

Cheers,

Bob

[Jamman54]

16 hours ago, AKR2011 said:

I love the mini golf photos. DH and I actually research mini golf when we travel and seek out the best courses. This one looks great!

 

We love playing mini golf. Can't wait to play the course at the Dockyard in Bermuda. That course is awesome! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jamman54]

21 minutes ago, Green4me said:

Jamman54,

 

You and Patti sure know how to take a vacation! 🙂 I hope we run across you guys on a cruise, first bucket is on me.  Thanks for the great review.  We are ~21 days to sail on Mardi Gras for second time this year.   

 

Cheers,

Bob

 

Thank you so much! Would love to share some beers with you. Enjoy your return to the Mardi Gras! 

[Joe817]

Wow! What a view! I'm green with envy! 

[Green4me]

Next time you're in Orlando try the Rosen Shingle Creek.  It's set up more for conventions but has a beautiful pool and lots of restaurant and bar choices.    We have stayed at several of the Rosen properties and have not been disappointed.    Our DD is a grad of the Rosen school of Hospitality Management.    It's a part of the University of Central Florida.

 

Safe travels and Happy Sailing....

[Jamman54]

Post Cruise  (May 11th)  -  Universal’s CityWalk & Trouble in Paradise! 

 

We were up at 7am to another beautiful sunny day in central Florida. Today our plan is to head over to Universal’s CityWalk for the day. Once again we had breakfast at the Plaza Garden Restaurant before heading over. On the way out of the hotel parking lot, I hit a speed bump pretty hard. Everything seemed okay until I got near Universal, when we began to hear a clunking sound from underneath the car. I told Patti that we will park, and then check it out to see if we could see anything. Here we are pulling into Universal Orlando…..

 

 

 

Here are the parking rates. Those with handicap placards, like us, still have to pay, but have a dedicated parking area close to the entrance……

 

 

Once parked, we checked as best we could under the car, and really couldn’t see anything. Nothing was leaking, and none of the idiot lights came on the dashboard. We’ll plan on getting it checked out later in the day. It’s a good idea to write down or take a picture of where you parked, just in case you forget later……

 

 

Here we are entering CityWalk…..

 

 

Patti is ready to start her picture tour, and doesn’t need me slowing her down. Normally, I’ll hang out at the Grill & Brew, but it’s not open yet. The Lone Palm Airport Bar is open, so I’ll start the day there, and head over to the Grill & Brew later…….

 

 

The Lone Palm Airport Bar is right across from Margaritaville, and any food ordered comes from there……

 

 

Patti begins her picture tour at VooDoo Doughnuts…..

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Patti is going to hop on a water taxi over to the Portofino Bay Hotel…..

 

 

Here are some views from the water taxi dock…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patti takes this shot of the Lone Palm Airport Bar where I am currently sitting…..

 

 

This is the Grill & Brew where she will meet me later…..

 

 

To be continued…….

[Jamman54]

The water taxi heads over to the Portofino Bay Hotel…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some views of the grounds at the Portofino Bay Hotel…..

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Here are some more views of the grounds at the Portofino Bay Hotel…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patti hops on a water taxi back to CityWalk…..

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Back on dry land, Patti continues her picture tour…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued…..

[Jamman54]

Patti’s picture walk continues……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Patti has met me at the Grill & Brew and orders a tall refreshing drink…..

 

 

We order some snacks. We shared a bar pretzel and a flatbread pizza…..

 

 

 

We had planned on staying longer, but we really needed to get the car checked out. While I was waiting for Patti, I found a location that I could take the car to and find out what was wrong. Here we are leaving CityWalk and walking back to the car…..

 

 

 

 

 

We are in the car, and we are still hearing the clunking sound. Here we are leaving Universal Orlando……

 

 

We got on I-4 heading westbound, and just as I had gotten the car up to speed, we heard a huge clunk, and the car immediately started losing speed. I pulled over onto the shoulder and called AAA. The system told me that we would have over a two hour wait, but within minutes, the tow driver called me and told me he would be there in like twenty minutes.

 

He got us hooked up and towed us to an AAA approved location called Riker’s Automotive & Tire. It was located just off of International Drive, out by Sea World. The people there were so nice. It was late so they wouldn’t get to it today, but they would get on it first thing in the morning.

 

We called an Uber to take us back to the hotel. The first thing we did when we got back was to add another couple of days to our stay, since I didn’t believe that the car would be fixed by tomorrow. We didn’t want to take the chance that we would have to change hotels.

 

We walked across the street and had dinner at Miller’s Ale House, and then we went back to the hotel for the night. Tomorrow is going to be a big day!

 

To be continued…..

[CeleBrat]

23 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

This is where you will find the Fitness Center……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And...I spy a "Patty" reflected in the window!

[Jamman54]

41 minutes ago, CeleBrat said:

And...I spy a "Patty" reflected in the window!

 

Yep, there she is! 

[WhiteOptima]

Darn those speed bumps!  My husband always tells me I am supposed to slow down not speed up when I go over them🙄

[sp2]

The suspense is killing me! 

[Saint Greg]

6 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

 

We love playing mini golf. Can't wait to play the course at the Dockyard in Bermuda. That course is awesome! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

water hazards and sand traps? Sure that’s mini golf? You just use a putter there?

[Jamman54]

42 minutes ago, WhiteOptima said:

Darn those speed bumps!  My husband always tells me I am supposed to slow down not speed up when I go over them🙄

 

The funny thing is I knew it was there, I just wasn't paying attention. 😖

 

38 minutes ago, sp2 said:

The suspense is killing me! 

 

Anyone want to venture a guess as to what the diagnosis is and how much it will cost to fix it? 😎

[Jamman54]

11 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

water hazards and sand traps? Sure that’s mini golf? You just use a putter there?

 

Yep, it's mini golf, not a pitch and putt. Putters only. You can check it out when you're there later this summer. 😊

[Saint Greg]

14 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

 

The funny thing is I knew it was there, I just wasn't paying attention. 😖

 

 

Anyone want to venture a guess as to what the diagnosis is and how much it will cost to fix it? 😎

I’m going to guess the speed bump just knocked something loose and it’s a cheap, easy, quick fix. Just labor.

 

Edited June 18, 2022 by Saint Greg

[canes20]

9 hours ago, Jamman54 said:

 

The funny thing is I knew it was there, I just wasn't paying attention. 😖

 

 

Anyone want to venture a guess as to what the diagnosis is and how much it will cost to fix it? 😎

[Jamman54]

Post Cruise  (May 12th)  -  All fixed, so our last day in Orlando! 

 

We were up at 7am to yet another beautiful day here in Orlando. We are on pins and needles waiting for the call from the repair shop. At 7:30am the call came. I had broken the left front axle. Oh boy, how long will it take, and how much would this cost us? He told me that the parts were already ordered, and that the car would be ready this morning! He told me that with my 10% AAA discount the total would come to $471 with tax. BIG, BIG sigh of relief. I was thinking that I had done a grand in damage at the least!

 

So here is our plan. I will stay and wait for the call that the car is ready, and will call an Uber to take me over there. Patti is going to purchase a one day I-Trolley pass for $5. These trolleys, actually buses, run the length of International Drive, and you can hop off and hop on at any one of 38 stops.

 

We decide to walk over to Denny’s for breakfast……

 

 

I order a western omelet and Patti orders pancakes and eggs. While we were eating, I get the call that the car is ready. Sweet! After we are done eating, I call for an Uber to pick me up here at Denny’s. Patti is going to begin her journey down International Drive. We’ll get back to her momentarily.

 

The Uber is there within five minutes, and ten minutes later I am at the repair shop. The guys at the desk told me that a ten inch piece of the axle was missing. I guess that was the big clunk that I had heard before I finally pulled over. They told me that we were lucky that when the piece broke off, that it didn’t do any additional damage. I thanked them profusely for getting the car fixed so quickly, as we were driving back to New Jersey tomorrow morning. They assured me that there wouldn’t be any problems, and that I also had a 12 month warranty on the repair. So I want to give a huge shout out to Riker’s Automotive & Tire. If you are visiting in the area, and you need your car serviced, I highly recommend them!

 

Riker's Automotive & Tires

 

After I left Riker’s Automotive and Tire, I took the car for a test drive, and it was running perfectly. I stopped to fill up with gas for tomorrow’s trip, then went back to the hotel to hang out at the pool and work on pictures for the review.

 

Now, let’s get back to Patti. Her first stop was going to be Icon Park, which is only a few blocks walk from Denny’s. She walks past Pirate’s Cove Adventure Golf, which we played the other day……

 

 

 

 

 

She has arrived at Icon Park…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

Edited June 18, 2022 by Jamman54

[Jamman54]

Patti continues her tour of Icon Park……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Patti continues her tour of Icon Park……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be continued……

[Jamman54]

Here are a couple more Icon Park views….

 

 

 

There’s no way in the world that you get me on that thing…..

 

 

 

Patti hops on the I-Trolley and makes her way down International Drive. After several stops she makes it to Gator Golf. We’ve played mini golf there many times over the years…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a couple more stops, Patti hops back on the I-Trolley and heads back to the hotel.

 

To be continued…….