Researching the best offers in Orlando Fl.

Only a few people know that I am planning my trip to Orlando in the near future. When I don't exactly know but with the rate of the pound to the dollar at the moment I am struggling with my budget.
I started this week by looking into companies that offer sign up sheets and discounts for eateries and shortlisted a few around the 192 area as this is where I'm intending on staying.  These are what I've come up with so far although if anyone else reading this blog can think of any more then please by all means let me know as I'm sure others would be interested. As a tip only sign up the week before you visit as the vouchers don't last more then two weeks.

Food

Blackangus.com - steak house

Ponderosaorlando.com - buffet steakhouse

Perkinsrestaurants.com - all day food and pie!

Restaurants.Ihop.com - pancakes and more.

Goldencorral.com - buffet

Cicis.com - buffet , Italian

Outback.com - seafood and steak house

Tgifridays.com - American style food

Locations.crackerbarrel.com - old country comfort food

Olivegarden.com - Italian

Flipperspizzeria.com - Pizza restaurant

fuddruckers.com - American style food

tonyromas.com/location/international-drive/ - ribs seafood steak

sweettomatoes.com -( im not entirely sure but have been told its nice food)

longhornsteakhouse.com/…/o…/orlando-international-drive/5502 - steakhouse

millersalehouse.com - American style food

brunos192.com - Italian

Shops

Walmart.com/store/5299/coupons - supermarket

mallatmillenia.com - millenia mall

Activities

Bonanzagolf.com - mini golf

Gatorland.com/public/specials-and-promotions/coupon/index.cfm  - gatorland $2.50 off admission 

wildfloridairboats.com/deals-for-humans/ - airboat rides discounts for all

Not forgetting Groupon Orlando which has some fantastic deals throughout the year.

If your visiting on hoiday ensure to sign up to for additional information on orlando area.

Ideas and guidance 

http://www.experiencekissimmee.com/

http://www.osc.org/

https://www.orlandoattractiontickets.co.uk/ 

Apps 

visitorlando.com

disney exprience 

Landry's

kids eat free

Seaworld 

kissimmee travel guide

There are probablly 100's more that I have not added so please feel free to share in the comments box.

when signing up instead of having the different marketing come through to your normal email account perhaps look into opening up another account just for your holiday?

Weymouth sea life centre

Having visited the sea life centre in Weymouth over 7 years ago. I expected the place to be really run down and not as much fish as there actually were.

 When going into the park there is a restaurant on the left and a few other attractions in which you can visit.Car parking is not free and costs from 80p upwards depending on how much time and how busy the sealife centre is so allow for plenty of time.

I was surprised as it was looking a little shabby but all the areas were in the process of being remodeled and new playgrounds being built within the grounds.

The route in which the booklet helps guide you through the different areas was a little dated as was the park but that didn't stop us having a fun experience throughout the 2 hours we were there.  

 Whilst looking around at the mixture of sea creatures its clear to see that the tanks are kept clean at all times and that the fish are cared for a great deal.

My favourite tanks are  the urchins, sea horses and the lion fish. Whether its because I used to keep these myself makes for happy memories.

There is a restaurant on site but as I wanted vegetables we ventured off in the car on a 5 minute drive which was recommend by a local.

The food at the harvester was very filling and was priced well. 

The service was not the best but it was busy, and I expected the service to be a little slower then the normal. I didnt get to take any photos of the meal although I wish I had as it was lovely, but by the time it had been served up I was starving and couldn't wait any longer. 

Motissfont - national trust

Our trip this weekend took us an hour and a half to find. With the sat nav guiding us to the front door of Mottisfont.
Mottisfont is part of the National trust and can be found just outside Romsey in Hampshire.

The grounds are lovely with a secret garden hidden behind walls, a fast flowing river hidden far beyond the fields that belong to Mottisfont.
The breathtaking scenery as far as the eye can see is beautiful.

Bearing in mind that Saturday had been non stop rain all day and night, we still decided to venture to the grounds.

When walking in the grounds the first thing we saw was a young boy around the age of 12 covered head to toe in mud. He said he'd slipped over playing tag with his friends in one of the play area's.

Taking the dogs along the path next to the stream we came across a wooden play area that was surrounded by mud. This had to of been where the young boy had fallen. The trail was arranged in a circular pattern with various obstacles to scale and balance along, which would've been great fun for TJ if it hadn't of been so wet and slippery. Within five minutes he'd had enough of doing the splits on numerous obstacles.

The next stop was where the river splits and causes an over flow point. Now this area is fantastic for the kids. There's an area that feeds of so the kids can pump the water into a trough with different levels. Each level has a barrier which can be raised to allow water to pass through.

The river falls across a smooth stone based area in which if anyone is feeling brave can walk across before it approaches the small waterfall area.

Continuing around the grounds there is an old fishing Hut which has been perfectly preserved with decorations for the keenest of fishermen/women. The stables which is also where the bathrooms are located and a restaurant. Although the price are a little expensive it's no different to any other national trust site.

The main house has 3 different levels which can be accessed via different areas. Ground floor can be accessed through the side of the building. Around the at the maids entrance towards the back you can find a small door which leads upstairs to the first floor.
Ive not visited the second floor but have been told it is trickier to find as you need to ask a staff member to visit it because of the very small staircase. Here you can find an alligator in the bath tub. (A former member of the household once kept one in the tub, and so the tradition is kept going with this stuffed reptile).

Do you believe in fairies???

I most certainly do. I love the idea that fairies are real and it makes it easier now that you can buy fairy kits.
TJ and I recently recieved a fairy flower pot.
The pot has a little door in it where the fairy is housed.

According to www.myfairygarden.co.uk (love the animation of the characters) Our fairy is called Blossom.
Blossom is the fairy of Spring time which really suits this character from the hair down to her stance.
In our flower pot pack included fairy - Blossom, flower pot and mustard seeds.
We have planted the seeds and now waiting to try our plants once grown.

The website contains games including garden diary quiz, flower puzzle, garden puzzle, colouring in and making something for fairy ideas.

As soon as the weather gets a little better we shall be creating our little fairy garden with our fairy flower being main feature and taking all the ideas from the website and putting them to use.

Kinetic sand - its amazing!

Earlier this week I received my kinetic sand kit, I have tried a cheaper version of this before and found it OK, so I had high hopes for this kit. It did not fail to deliver.

Lately Sunday seems to be our family fun day, we've been cooking roast dinners for the whole family including my 3 nephews, brother and sister in law. So why not open the sand up as a surprise.

 This was a complete success, all four kids and four adults loved it. 

The kit included Purple sand, a tray, a small shovel/spade and three moulds ( crab, castle and starfish).

The kinetic sand can be shaped into any shape but once the mixture has started to break up it falls apart in what I can only describe as fluffy soft sand. 

 The sand holds together really well once formed and doesn't break apart as long as it is left in that position. The small soft grains are so soft that my two year old nephew was giggling as it fell onto the blue table.

  

From the ages 2-34 years old we all played with the sand for almost an hour before dinner was served. The various building abilities from person to person. I myself made a fantastic wall while others tried to sculpt a dog out of the sand.

My nephews loved it so much ( 2, 9 and 12) they've asked for different sets each for Christmas. That's an easy thing to get and not a bad price either for the hours of fun they will all be having. 

Bellz! The challenging magnetic game

When the nephews come round to play there's only one thing to do, crack open the newest game in the house. This game has a magnetic wand with four different colored bells.

The idea of the game is to choose a color bell and to collect all the bellz of that color without touching or collecting any other color on the wand.

When collecting the bellz its harder then you'd think to collect one color. I love a challenge in a game though.

 
The youngest nephew dove straight in with a little help from his Dad they managed to get 3 before picking up any other colors. This ended their go. With the oldest nephew taking charge collecting 5 bellz and then TJ then taking his go and collecting 3 it was my go. Taking just 2 bellz before my turn was over I found the game to be very frustrating but fun at the same time.

The end results after a little cheating from the nephews and TJ, I lost pretty badly with the nephews drawing and TJ wiping the pouch clean of his colors. 

Overall the game was highly entertaining and kept us all busy for about 45 minutes. We played best out of 4 games and I still lost but enjoyed every second.

Bonus print is the way forward

Animal kingdom from the sky

Typhoon lagoon 

  I'm fed up of seeing the same calendar on all my friends walls and thinking I wish I'd done something different. So I did this year I have decided to make my own calendar with my own pictures. I added all my favorite holiday snaps and the end result was amazing.

Discovery cove - TJ and my nephews 

I cannot wait to start seeing my favorite photos at the beginning of every day on display.

The display to do this was easy to I decided which photos I wanted for each day and made the choice of background if I wanted it ( which I decided it looked better without) and uploaded the pictures and waited less then a week for the calendar to arrive.

 The photo album was a little bit trickier due to my internet going down on various occasions during the uploading time. Which was due to poor service provider problems.

Queen Mary Ca.

  When choosing to do a photo album there is so much to take into consideration including photo size, writing (if any), How many photos per page?  

Disneyland Ca.

 The photographs I chose were placed automatically in the album as each folder uploaded from my computer. I found this helped me as it saved time on trying to decide which photographs to choose and put up as my favorite. You could place up to nine pictures per page including captions if needed. 

When the photo albums came back I was amazed at how well they have turned out with such clear pictures and writing on each page. 

Calico and Barstow Ca.

 This picture was printed on a board and came with the fixtures ( no nails) so it could be hung straight away. Again the quality of the photo is amazing. This photo was originally taken on my phone and zoomed in slightly. The photo has come back arger then the original so no doubt it would have had to have been blown up a little to fit the board. 

The image was taken whilst visiting Calico ghost town near Barstow California. 

 I have had another picture printed on to wood but as it holds a direct view of my sons face I have decided not to put it up. The picture quality again for this photo is fantastic and so clear.

It's amazing how they've done it too I never thought about printing straight on to wooden planks before.

 Bonus print have impressed me so much that I will now only use them to print my photos and I print a lot as I also scrapbook.

The prices are the best put there to and if you sign up for email updates they also have some really good offers running most of the time.