Another Trip to Florida...

A few weeks ago, Rachel and I went on yet another fabulous trip. We seem to be doing a fair bit of traveling these days, this year especially. This last time we went to Orlando Florida. Since Rachel has done so well at USBank the last few years, we have gotten to go to quite a few places, at the bank's expense. It's a tough life I know. Anyway, Florida. So we went and stayed at the J.W. Marriott Resort. It's a pretty nice hotel, but not the nicest one the bank has put us up in. That honor was won by the Westin Hotel in Whistler BC. But I can't complain about the Marriott either. We were on the 17th floor or something like that and had a great view from our balcony.
Here is some video, and in case you don't have speakers to hear the video commentary, the last part of me looking out the window and pointing is me trying to explain how the hotel created a swimming pool with a river that has a current in it that you can swim against, without an elevation change. Which means that you can basically go around in circles in the pool/river without having to climb out or up. It's done with large jets strategically placed along the river and in the pools. It must cost a fortune to run it all. I thought it was great. You can see that the room was pretty nice in the video too. The morning I got there (Rachel had come in the night before) we went to EPCOT Center. If you don't know, EPCOT is Disney's attempt at re-creating cultures from around the world. I think that there are like 12 different countries that they have represented. Each country's pavilion has unique buildings in that country's style, authentic food, and people from the represented countries work in those areas. So for instance, in the Norway Pavilion had Norwegians working there, because we heard some of the tourists come up and start talking to the employees in Norwegian. Same in the China Pavilion. Then you can visit Morocco, France, the U.K., Mexico, Germany, Italy, Japan, colonial USA, and Canada. Ok so that's 11. There are a few rides there, but the lines are SOOOOOOO LOOOOOONNNNGGGG!!! I went on the GM Test Track ride and waited about 30 minutes for a three minute ride that wasn't all that exciting. The Mission: Space ride was pretty good. 45 min for that ride, but you got to pilot a space craft to Mars and it really felt like you were doing it. You get into this little pod and there is a heads up display and a joystick and buttons to push. The pod is attached to a giant centrifuge and it pivots up, down, left right and goes forwards and back. It's a pretty good effect, and even a little disorienting as you go from blasting off, to weightlessness in outerspace to twists and turns piloting through a debris field and then through a winding canyon before coming to a stop. I'd do it again, but I would get a FastPass first (a FastPass holds your place in line without you actually having to be there).
Then that night we went to the Marvel Superhero Island. I didn't take my camera for some reason, so I don't have any photos. But it was crazy awesome. The Bank rented the entire park for our exclusive use. They served a buffet dinner in the streets between rides. And it was gourmet food, too. Pan crusted snapper, beef tenderloin, some weird chicken dish that I didn't want to try, lots of food. But the best part was the rides. They kept the three best rides open for us. That meant no lines, no waiting. You went to the ride, got on the ride, rode the ride, got off the ride, and went right back around and got on again. The Incredible Hulk roller coaster was AWESOME! You get on and start moving up the first big hill, where they've got you chained and you move slowly upwards. But then you notice that at the top of the hill, before you start down the other side, there is a twist. And you wonder how you are going to make the twist going at this slow speed. About that time, you are slammed back into your seat as your car is shot forward and up the rest of the hill. And then you start screaming. That roller coaster was the best coaster I have ever been on. Period. Not the longest, or the highest but definitely the best. The most action, twists and turns and loops and upside down and nonstop action till you are brought to a quick, almost jerky stop where you get off and run around to the other side to do it all over again. I rode more than a few times. Then there is the Spiderman ride. Not quite the same as the Hulk, but just as fun. Rachel was able to ride on this one. This one is like you're inside one of the Spiderman comic books. You play the part of a photographer, and your job is to get Spiderman on film, doing what he does best. But it all goes horribly wrong when you encounter Doc Oc, Venom, the Hobgoblin and other Spiderman villains engaged in a plot to take control of the city, or world or whatever. They all attack you in turn and Spiderman comes to save your butt each time. But what really makes this ride cool is that it's all in 3-D. At the beginning, before you get on the ride, you grab your 3-D glasses. Then as the ride starts, Spiderman comes and explains whats going to happen. He swings out and lands on the front to the car you are in, and it looks like he is really there, two feet in front of you. The Hobgoblin throws his pumpkin bombs at you, and as they explode around you, you feel the heat as the car is equipped with a device that blows really hot air in your face. Some water gets splashed around during a part, and you get a little wet. Then you fall from the top of a building and it really feels like you are falling and Spiderman saves you at the last minute. It was great. I rode that ride more than the Hulk. The third ride was one of those rides that take you up in the air, and then let you drop. Not all that exciting, and it made me a little sick after eating so much. I only went on that one once. But the night as a whole was AWESOME!
The next day was a free day and so Rachel and I went down to the pool and ad a good time floating around the pool and relaxing in the sun. I got a little sunburnt, but not bad. That night was a big awards dinner hosted by the bank, and Rachel received her award for being an awesome banker, and of course I messed up the shot of her getting the award. I've done it every year. This year I even practiced... The next day we came home. In the Orlando airport the is a NASA store that I visited. It was kind of a whirlwind trip, but it was a lot of fun.