Orlando vacation ~ Day 2
Our home timeshare unit at Carriage Hills in Barrie, Ontario is a two bedroom that can be divided into a one bedroom and a studio. Our studio is very complete with a decent fridge and cooking surface but unfortunately this is not usually the case.
We exchanged once into The Hammocks Resort at Marathon in the Florida Keys and their “studio” was just a regular hotel room with a microwave. The dishes and cutlery were in a milk crate on the bed and we had to do the dishes in the bathroom sink. We were not happy!
The studio at Celebrity Resort – Orlando, where we are staying for the week, is much better than that but sill not up to the standards of our home unit. The one bedroom we have been upgraded to, however is very nice. This is an older resort but well kept. When it was first built I imagine it was quite spectacular.
The Timeshare Bribe
You are under no obligation to attend a sales presentation when you stay at a timeshare resort but they will always offer you a bribe to do so. This being Orlando, the bribe was for discounted attraction tickets and also included breakfast. Since we had not yet had an opportunity to get any groceries the free breakfast was an irresistible incentive.
I guess the decision to attend a presentation or not depends on how you value your time. The offer was for a $200 discount on tickets we were going to buy anyway and the old style high pressure sales presentations are very rare these days. Generally you spend a pleasant 90 minutes chatting with a resort representative and, in our case, since we are writing a book about vacation ownership it was a chance to gather more information.
We chose the 2 Day Touch of Magic pass for 2 which gave us admission to two major and one minor Disney theme areas. The regular price of the ticket is $404 but we paid $196. This does not include parking which costs another $14 a day.
How can a young family with a couple of kids afford a vacation here? The 5 day Park Hopper pass for four costs $1,132, plus parking, plus food. And the exit of every ride is a gift shop selling overpriced junk. Sure glad all our kids are grown – although it is great to see their faces when they see the Magic Kingdom for the first time.
Off To Costco
We were in no particular rush to see the Mouse and needed to get some groceries for the week. So, it was off to Costco. Other than the new North Eleuthera Shopping Center, there is nothing much larger than a US convenience store on our island so, for us, shopping at Costco is an event in itself. We tried to stick closely to our shopping list so we will not have to throw stuff away at the end of the week.
We tried, but this was Costco. The new 1.5 terabyte hard drive was such a good deal and Vicky always needs wants new shoes. That shirt would look good and only $15 for three LED flashlights – you can’t turn that down.
So we went a little overboard but not nearly as bad as we used to. Probably the thought that we will be leaving for our new adventure soon and have to pare our possessions down to what will fit in a couple of suitcases.
Avatar in Imax 3D
We are both huge science fiction fans and have been looking forward to the opportunity to see the new James Cameron film, Avatar. Fortunately it was still playing for a few more days at the Regal Pointe Imax 3D theater on International Drive in Orlando.
Wow!
The trailer can’t come close to the experience of seeing this movie in Imax 3D
We were totally blown away by Avatar. There is so much hyperbole and hype about most everything these days so it is difficult to express just how good this movie experience is. The story is simple and easy to follow but beautifully told. James Cameron has taken the time (2 hr 40 min) to let you get to know and care about the characters. Just about every scene includes a special effects of some sort but they are so seamless you accept them as part of the world the film creates.
This is another triumph by the Weta Digital group that did the effects for the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Update March 8 – Weta Digital won the 2010 Oscar for best visual effects
As a regular widescreen movie this would be one of the greats, but in 3D you become part of the actions. Thankfully there aren’t any cheap 3D tricks with objects thrust out at the audience, the 3D effect is simply used to make you feel a part of the action.
When you add Imax to this mix with its five story screen the immersive effect is further enhanced and for 2-1/2 hours you are transported to another world.
Do we recommend this move? You bethca! Don’t miss it and if you have opportunity to see it in an Imax theater, it is truly a life-changing experience.
