Our Florida vacation

No paper review this week. Instead, I stumbled upon notes buried in my blog.org entries. With Buffalo now cold and snowy, reminiscing about last June's hot Florida vacation seemed fitting.

True to our tradition, we drove there from Buffalo, relishing the two-day road trip. Road trips are our love -- in 2018-19 we had crossed the US East-to-West and then West-to-East. I had documented the East-to-West drive here. This time, it was North-to-South, all the way to the southernmost point of the US—the Key West Islands.

Yes, the driving was a bit tiring. But with our new SUV, good audiobooks, and sightseeing on the way, it was enjoyable. We Hotwire'd the hotels for the drive at around afternoon of each driving day. That is how the Demirbas family rolls.

Our AirBnB in Orlando was at a resort. It was a 5 bedroom rental. We were able to get it cheap at $200 a day after taxes and everything. It was very comfortable, and we enjoyed the lazy life at the resort.

Oh God, everything is big in Orlando! We hit the Walmart close to our rental for some amenities, and it was the biggest Walmart I have ever been to. And the most crowded. It looked like people were raiding the place, because the shelves have been emptying, while staff was perpetually busy restocking.


We visited Orlando for DisneyWorld --a quintessential dad-duty in the U.S. and a rite of passage for American kids. DisneyWorld is big (duh!) and complicated. You have to do your homework and know your stuff. It is like applying to college, you have to do a lot of reading. First decide which one to go. Then learn about the map and rides.  Explore virtual queues; navigate through Genie, Genie+, and individual ride fastlanes. Assess if any are worth the purchase. Fortunately, things weren't as daunting after we entered the park.

We went to the Hollywood studios. We had a swell time.

But I had my gripes. Orlando is like a sauna. Sweating became routine during ride waits, even in shade. When we were at the queue for the stupid Slinky Dog rollercoaster, it got closed due to a thunderstorm and we waited for it for 2+ hours. In door waiting is another story; it is a good covid incubation ground.

Star Wars props were impressive and well-executed. It was an immersive atmosphere. The rides used screens,  but they felt real enough. The in-place rides' jolting motion didn't sit well with me.

The rides hit me hard. I think I have sensitive inner ear, and even elevators may trigger lightheadedness for me ever since I was a boy. So the rides really took a toll on me. I felt like throwing up after all of them. The slinky dog ride's acceleration and sharp turns did me in, worsening my dizziness.

The rides were very hard on me. I think I have a sensitive inner ear. Ever since I know myself, I may get lightheaded even on the elevator. So the rides really took a toll on me. I felt like throwing after all of them.

Even on the "Runaway Railway" ride, described by the doorperson as a "slow train ride," I struggled. Well, the ride was far from an easy ride! At the beginning of the ride, the train breaks into wagons, navigating various rooms with jolting motion. In one room, the wagons even waltz under Daisy Duck's instruction. Yeah, right, a slow train ride--the doorperson surely messed with me.

Motion sickness folks, steer clear of the "House of Terror."  The elevator accelerates to the 5th floor and drops freely to the 2nd floor and repeats this a couple times. What was I thinking? While waiting in the queue, I had been hearing the screams of people from the ride and I was seeing the windows open at the 5th floor. Why didn't I skip this one? I guess I was embarrassed because my 7 year old daughter was very eager to do this. When the ride was over, she screamed "This is awesome, let's do it again!" And all I could think was that "let's never do this again."

There was a crazy roller coaster ride, called Rock and Roll or something, where the doorperson said the ride goes upside down 3 times. Based on my experience with the other doorperson, I skipped this one. My son and older daughter braved it, while the rest of the family went to the Muppets 3D show -- a delightful choice. Earlier in the day, we had gone to Frozen, and after that the Indiana Jones show. We had timed those shows really well, with no wait time in between them. Those shows were my favorite, as those were the only ones I didn't get motion sickness.

After a week in Orlando, we headed back up north towards Buffalo, but after 30 minutes of driving, on a whim, we did a U-turn, and continued Southwards to Miami, and visited Miami beach. The next day we drove all the way to the Key West and visited the islands. I guess we were feeling spontaneous and adventurous. We really enjoyed the travel, and wanted to do more of it immediately after we returned.

Another thing worth mentioning was that we had been to the AlNatour restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, and it was very good.