Day Two Discovery Cove...

What we took with us in our rucksack today: 

*Mobile phone charger.

*Waterproof case for phone.

* Change of clothes.

*Discovery cove cup.

When entering Discovery cove the walk is so peaceful and care free.

Booking is a must and I would recommend to anyone to go. 

The price of the ticket weather you pay to swim with the dolphins or not, includes 14 consecutive  day tickets to Seaworld and Aquatica (you can also pay to upgrade and include Busch Gardens) with free car parking. I fyou choose to go with out discovery ticket passes it costs $18 - $20 a day.

Meet and greet with Lucy the sloth.

 Again this morning we were up super early and got to Discovery Cove for 8.15am. 

There is a buffet that is through out the day providing various foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The food is served from 8.30am - 4.30pm every day.

Not only is there a buffet restaurant there are snack area's  throughout the park which serve snacks and drinks.

First to be in the pool.

We ate breakfast and headed to the locker area's to get sun creamed up and to place the important things in the lockers. These are also free of charge. The sun cream is animal friendly and very thick to put on but works a treat. 

Once the water was tested and we were allowed into the lazy river there was no stopping us.

Bird aviaries here we come. 

Although I loved just sitting and floating and just relaxing through out the day. TJ started to get bored. ( There's only so many times a 9 year old child can go round the lazy river by himself).

After the first attempt to get TJ to come in the ray lagoon with me, where he freaked out really badly and ended up hurting my arms. We gave it a miss till he'd calmed down.

 After another trip around the lazy river it was lunch time.
Now this I've been looking forward to for months as I love their cheesecake and strawberries!

After Lunch there was lots more time to relax and venture around the whole park including a slow walk / swim over the reef. 

 Such an amazing day was had at Discovery Cove and we cannot wait to go again but until then I have so many brilliant memories that I won't be forgetting in a hurry.

Our first evening in Orlando

We stayed at the Ramada Gateway on West Irlo Bronson Highway. Although not the most expensive or the best that money could buy, TJ and myself loved every minute of being there.

Check in went smoothly and so did finding our corner room. Expecting the room to be smaller then a postage stamp like all the English hotels, we were shocked to find our room had 4 rooms. Bathroom, wash area, bedroom and a kitchen area which consisted of a mini fridge (with a freezer), coffee machine and storage along with a dining room table.

The room was awesome and soon after we found we'd opened the cases blew up the pool toys and went into the pool to relax for a short while. 

Before I realized it was almost 9.30pm and our first day in Orlando was almost over.

Quick stop at the local Dollar tree to get the basics ( plastic bowls, bottles of water, spoons and a carton of milk). Dollar tree is about a 8 minute drive away making it easy to get to and even better when Super Target and Publix is opposite and next door.

Publix next to buy some snacks for the parks and basic food to eat in the room - of course Chips Ahoy original and m&m's were on my must have list.

Back to the pool again to eat in the warm air and bed. 

Our stay on the Queen Mary ship.

From the docks this magnificent boat looks amazing for an 86 year old thats seen over 800,000 passengers and troops on board and traveled a distance of over 600,000 miles in the 31 years in the maritime life.

She was purchased by the City of Long Beach CA. In 1967 and has remained here for over 40 years.

Along the promenade deck there was various rooms to go to which included the children's playroom exhibit. this room is fully blocked off by windows but as you can see its a replica of back in the 1940's. Although the toys and chairs have not been used or played with for many years they are still in pristine order.

Whilst being on board we felt the sudden urge to eat and as we were on the promenade desk the Chelsea chowder house seemed to be the only one that was open. 
Within minutes of walking in the waitress had served us and got our drinks order, which at this point was lovely and very much needed as we'd not been anywhere after getting our hire car. 
Once we ordered our food it was served within 20 minutes steaming hot and tasting absolutely fantastic. I ordered the Chicken Pasta Alfredo in a white wine sauce, this tasted and smelt magnificent but I could not finish the meal even with my massive appetite I ate as much as I could and I still had over 1/4 of the bowl left to eat.

My Father ordered the Fish and Chips.... such a typical English man. I was a little surprised when the waitress had asked if he wanted vinegar as this is the first time I've been asked in the USA on holiday about vinegar. 

The view from our table was amazing we could see as far as the eye could see. 

From one side of the boat the view of Long Beach and the Skyline were clearly visible throughout our stay. We watched the a few boats pass by and asked our waitress if the building that was in plain sight was the aquarium,  turned out it was the convention centre and the aquarium was past the little village that could be seen next to the marina.  

The room were kept in the condition they would have been when the ship was still being used as a cruise liner. 

Our room had two single beds in that were against the wall, both had bedside cabinets and air vents close to the beds also. 

The room was very out dated but looked as it would have during her sailing days except for the flat screen television in the room.

The bathroom on the other hand I would not recommend flushing the toilet in the middle of the night due to the loud bang when flushing with the foot bar. 

If you are tall please be aware that the shower in our room was very low. I am short but I still found that I had to bend at the knees a little when  washing and rinsing my hair as the shower is positioned around about 5ft high. 

 Staying on the Queen Mary Ship was amazing and I would do it again if given the chance. 

I did not find any problems or hear any noises throughout my stay, nor did I see any ghosts but each to their own as I do not believe this may have clouded my judgement as to whether the ship is haunted or not.

Perhaps in your visit you can tell me what spooky goings on you heard or saw to change my mind on whether ghosts exists.