Am I a Bad Person for Not Missing Jaws at Universal?

Jaws, a rare original attraction at Universal Studios in Orlando, closed down for good this week. The very last boat did its rounds on the night of January 2, and already construction walls are concealing the Amity area for construction on a top secret (cough...more Harry Potter...cough) project.

The closure announcement had people up in arms. "No! You can't do that! Jaws is a classic!" the angry masses shouted while lighting their torches and sharpening their pitchforks. I'm not sure where these rabid fans were when the ride was actually running these past few years. The only lines I ever saw on Jaws were when they were running a limited amount of boats and thus had very little capacity.

Still, it always sounds good to join in on the Cause of the Day, so the angered Protectors of Classic Universal started petitions and peppered the theme park's Facebook page with rants and threats to never darken its gates again (good, that means less wait time for me and the other saner minds). I wonder if they realized it was all wasted bandwidth. Parks plan their new attractions months, or even years, in advance. The Amity makeover was already a done deal long before they announced it, with a ton of money already invested in it. It's just a bit presumptuous to think a theme park's going to say, "Well, hell, no one rides that thing anymore, but we've got a couple dozen people bitching on Facebook. Let's eat the $1 million we already have invested in the new thing and keep Jaws open for the whining minority."

Sure enough, Jaws closed right on schedule on January 2. Personally I hate mob scenes, so I said my own personal goodbye a couple of weeks earlier. I actually like Jaws myself, but not with the passion of the "Oh my God, I'll die if you close it, you're spitting in the face of history," types. It was enjoyable for what it was: Universal's requisite cheesy ride. There must be an unwritten theme park rule that every park has to have a cheesy boat or Jeep ride. Witness Disney's Jungle Cruise and Rhino Rally at Busch Gardens. Those kinds of rides are fun, but they don't inspire deep passion within me.

Honestly, I was much more sad about the closure of the surrounding Amity area. I'm a carnival games addict, and I particularly love the goblet toss. Although luck plays a big role, you can increase your chance of winning with a little knowledge of bounce and backspin. Over the years I've won enough jumbo prizes to prove that; one day at Universal, I even one three big goblet prizes in one day.

Now, alas, the games were disappearing along with Jaws. Since I rode Jaws once every half-dozen visits or so vs. playing the goblets on every visit, it's easy to see what I would miss most.

I decided to make my last visit at night since Jaws has always been much better after dark. Also, visiting after 4 p.m. means that I can use the express line benefit of my Premier Pass. I figured (and was correct) that they'd only be running a few boats, meaning a long wait otherwise.

Of course, my goodbye trip was twofold. It was also a farewell to my beloved goblet game. I went there first to try my luck before taking my last-ever shark spotting cruise. I started off with one tray of balls, and alas I was stone cold. I didn't even manage to win a small prize, let alone a jumbo.

Normally I'd quit there, but since it was my last-ever fling, I decided to buy another tray. This time, I landed a ball in both a red (medium prize) and blue (small prize) cup. Better yet, the blue was only two spots past the lone yellow cup, which is the big winner. Now, if I could only bank a ball off the one in the blue spot, I could end my Universal goblet game run on a high note. I only had a few balls left; my aim was off with the first couple, although one came close. Then, I hit the sweet spot. The ball spun lazily on the rim of the yellow cup before neatly dropping in:



I was rewarded with a big Scooby Doo, and my husband and I headed off to the next order of business: say goodbye to Jaws.

Once thing I've always loved about Jaws isn't the ride itself, but rather the queue video. It's full of cheesy humor like the kids' show host with a shark puppet and a crazy TV appliance salesman who destroys all the (old-fashioned) TVs with a sledgehammer so the accountants will let him lower the prices. That video is the part I'll miss most. I only got to see a bit of it on my last trip, since the express line moves quickly.

Soon enough, Scooby and I were in our seat, and my husband snapped one last photo for posterity:



You can see that the woman on my left is standing up; it's not just because she's getting into the boat. She tried to stand up for the entire ride. I have no idea why, but she popped up and down like a jack in the box. She'd stand. She'd be told to sit down. She'd reluctantly lower herself, then pop right back up again. Honestly, she was more amusing than the shark battle.

Still, it was a night ride, so that made the fire effects all the more impressive. One thing I have to give to Universal Studios is that they love their fire. Probably the best proof of that fact is the flaming ceiling in Revenge of the Mummy, but Jaws still used up a respectable amount of propane.

All too soon the ride was over. We escaped Bruce the shark once again, and this was the last time I'd ever be that close to falling into his clutches. I'll admit, I did feel a bit melancholy walking away from Jaws and Amity in the darkness, knowing that I'd never experience this little bit of classic Universal Studios again.

On the flipside, I was cheered by the fact that I love most of their newer rides. Yes, I know it's a travesty to say it, but Revenge of the Mummy is a hundred times better than Kongfrontation, and look at Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Islands of Adventure next door. If the new ride is anything like Harry in terms of technology and awe factor, I'll help them level the Jaws/Amity area myself.

It'll be a long, long time until the new section opens and people can judge whether it's worthy of replacing the classic shark. For now, I'll get my "corn factor" on Jungle Cruise and Rhino Rally.

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No Sympathy

When I woke up this morning, the outside temperature was in the 30s, and all four of our resident cats had sought refuge on the bed, creating a big, warm human-and-cat pile. Yes, our heat pump is on, but that little electric contraption is no match for sub-freezing temperatures. This sort of weather needs a big, bellowing gas furnace to keep the cold at bay.

The sad thing is, I get no sympathy when I complain to family and friends back home. Right now, as I type this, it's 19 degrees in Chicago. Instead of looking out at palm trees and green grass, they're starting at a barren waste land. Eventually (although it might take days) it will warm up into the 70s here. Their "warm up" there will probably be in the 40s. I'm sure they'd trade places with me in a heartbeat.

Of course, my concept of "cold" is very skewed now, since my once Heinz-ketchup-thick blood has thinned out to the consistency of cherry Kool-Aid. I handle the heat and humidity like a pro, but let the mercury drop below 70 and I'm shivering like I'm at the North Pole.

I guess I should be grateful that no matter how cold it gets, it's unlikely that I'll ever seen snow again, outside of the theme parks, the Gaylord Palms snow event, or the "snoap" that rained down from the light posts nightly in Downtown Celebration for the holiday season. I just hope things warm up here before January 21, or these brave souls doing the Polar Plunge at SeaWorld might just end up floating around encased in blocks of ice. Me? I'll be the one in the Eskimo parka cheering them on from the sides.

But Do You Actually Visit the Theme Parks?

The local news channels love to cover any little happening at Disney and the other theme parks, even if it's as small as Mickey farting. If it's a slow news day, you'll get breathless promos and break-ins to shows: "Live coverage! A dozen children are under mental evaluation for trauma. Tune in at 10 for an indepth analysis of the length, smell, and decibel level." I guess with the Casey Anthony trial over, they have to grab their news where they can get it.

Unfortunately, this means blowing the tiniest incidents out of proportion and doing some very sloppy research. Last night, Universal had a breakdown on both Revenge of the Mummy, which is a combination dark ride and roller coaster, and the classic E.T. dark ride. Breakdowns are routine. Rides don't run on magic and pixie dust and sunbeams. They're mechanic behemoths that have glitches regularly. It's not at all uncommon for guests to have to be evacuated from those rides if it's more convenient to take them off than to force them to wait for a fix. The only thing odd about yesterday's incident is that two rides in the same park both broke down and needed evacs on the same day and within the same time frame. The malfunctions were so minor that both rides reopened shortly thereafter.

Being a slow news day, the TV stations went to town. You'd have thought that hundreds of people were in grave peril, danging by their fingertips and praying the fire department would rescue them in time before the sweat from their terror caused them to slip and plummet to their bloody deaths. My favorite was WESH 2 because it was painfully obvious that the reporter didn't know the first thing about Universal and was likely relying on a combination of rumor and Wikipedia for her report.

The first thing that made me bust a gut was when she claimed that the poor souls on the rides had waited multiple hours in line to get on them. Uh, on January 1? At Universal? Anybody with even an ounce of theme park savvy knows that January 2 is the start of the off season, and people are already bailing in droves on January 1st. Even at the busiest times, multi hour waits at Universal are rare because everyone's next door at Islands of Adventure clamoring to see Harry Potter.

But the thing that made me use Tivo to go back and make sure I heard it correctly was when she claimed that ironically, Revenge of the Mummy is located in the building that used to house E.T. Say what? Mummy took over Kongfrontation's old location, while E.T. has resided in its present spot in the kids' area since for ever. All I can figure is that she or her writer pulled up Wikipedia or some other online source, read that the Mummy replaced E.T., and missed the small but very relevant point that it happened at Universal in CALIFORNIA. Yes, dear, you're reporting the news in ORLANDO, and you just made yourself look like an idiot to anyone who knows even the most rudimentary facts about Universal.

When I became the Orlando Theme Parks Examiner for Examiner.com, I just assumed that I should have annual passes for all the Central Florida parks and, better yet, actually visit them so I'd know what I'm talking about. Apparently the TV news stations don't feel the same.

Speaking of theme park knowledge, I'm putting together some ebook theme park guides. My first guide is about Walt Disney World, but it's more of an insider's view than an actual "This ride is here, that show is here" tour of the park. I hit on things like common ticket scams and other Orlando con jobs, where to find coupons for location attractions, things to do for free, and the like. The next ebooks will be more in the traditional vein, and I promise that none will claim that the Mummy replaced E.T.

The Illogical Shortcut

When I moved to Celebration, Florida, I knew that traffic would be a constant headache because I was moving into the heart of Tourist Land. It's manageable most of the time, but at peak times like the holidays it's best to stay home as much as possible or learn all the alternate routes, since main roads like 535, 192, and I-4 turn into veritable parking lots.

Ironically, one of the best shortcuts is driving through Disney property. You'd think that traffic would be worse right in the Belly of the Beast (or, better yet, Belly of the Mouse), but that's not really the case. I know it sounds illogical, but Disney World is actually the best shortcut during the peak season.

Most of the people who stay on site at the Disney World hotels seem to depend on the internal transportation system. Those who stay offsite clutter up the roads outside the resort much worse than they do around the theme parks. When I use Disney property as a shortcut, I mostly avoid the parks anyway. I tend to cut from Celebration to Crossroads (535) if I-4 is backed up and I'm heading to SeaWorld or Universal, or I bail off of West 192 at Black Lake or Sherbeth and take the back roads back home. The tourists are trying to get TO Disney World rather than wanting to drive THROUGH Disney world, which makes the illogical sounding shortcut a real time saver.

Of course, when you drive on Disney property, you're one of a tiny minority of locals in a sea of lost, confused tourists. The stress you save by not being in traffic is somewhat replaced by being surrounded by a predatory forest of cars that might "attack" by swerving into your lane, abruptly coming to a stop from 40 m.p.h., or some other type of dangerous behavior at any time. After a while, you actually develop a sixth sense on what a tourist is likely to do and the spots where they're most likely to do it.

I do pity the tourists a bit. Florida is famous for lanes that suddenly turn into "right turn only" or "left turn only" with literally no warning. I can just imagine some sadistic Sunshine State traffic planner saying, "If we have to deal with their tourist antics, we'll at least make them suffer a bit. The locals will learn where those lanes are, and they can laugh at the out-of-towners who get suckered into making turns they never wanted to make."

Fortunately, all of the mayhem is over for a while now. Peak season ended today, and the tourists are all heading back to real life after their holiday vacations. The streets are already blissfully deserted and I can take the main roads without relying on Mickey for my shortcuts. Still, I don't mind driving through Disney, even if it adds a bit of time to my trip. I've lived in Celebration for years now, yet I still get that little thrill at driving through the Walt Disney World gate. I guess a little part of me will be a tourist forever.

A Look Back on 2011 - Exciting Year at the Florida Theme Parks

One of the main reasons I moved to Celebration, Florida, was because of my love of Disney World and the other Central Florida theme parks. When we made the big move, the only others we were familiar with were Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Living in Celebration meant learning more about SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, too, since they were now easily accessible.

The theme parks are part of my leisure time, and they're also work. As the Orlando Theme Parks Examiner and a freelance writer doing articles and guides for Disney World and the other parks, visiting them is a necessity (albeit one I love). In reflecting back over 2011, I pinpointed my five favorite theme park events in 2011. Here there are in no particular order (and there's a related story in my Examiner column):

-Legoland Florida opens on the site of the old Cypress Gardens theme park. Yes, I know I said these were in no particular order, but I have to put this one first because opening a brand-new theme park is big news. Well, okay, it's not 100 percent brand new. It retains some elements of Cypress Gardens, like many of the roller coasters, the carousel, the very cool Island in the Sky, and the gardens themselves. But it's amazing how much has changed and how quickly it was put together. In March, I was taking a helicopter ride over the construction site. In October, I was watching the opening ceremony where the final gold brick was snapped into place to signify the park's completion.

Even though Legoland Florida is meant mainly for kids between the ages of 2 and 12, adults can find lots of enjoyment there. I love strolling through the gardens, getting a birds-eye view on Island in the Sky, and looking for new details in Miniland USA. Some of the rides are fun for "big kids," too, but I warn you: the roller coasters are real knee bangers.

-Star Tours reopens at Disney's Hollywood Studios. This was such a cool event in so many ways. I love what they did with the ride, which now features C3PO prominently and which has multiple versions. It will quickly become a vendetta to ride it multiple times so you can see as many as possible.

But perhaps most cool of all was being there for the opening and standing within spitting distance of George Lucas as a voice intoned, "Darth Vader, meet your maker." There were designers from Industrial Light & Magic on hand, too, and even Anthony Daniels himself. Meeting him was a major geek-out for me.

-Cheetah Hunt opens at Busch Gardens Tampa. Busch Gardens is Central Florida's roller coaster mecca, and Cheetah Hunt is a worthy addition. SheiKra is still my favorite, both for its airtime and its sheer size, but Cheetah Hunt nips at its heels. It seemed to run slower when it first opened, but once it broke in, it became an airtime machine. The launches give it a uniqueness that make it a nice counterpoint to the existing coasters. The lines get extremely long at peak times, but it's almost walk-on in the quiet season so you can get your fill of the speed.

-SeaWorld debuts its One Ocean show. I miss the "Believe" orca show, but "One Ocean" is a worthy successor, and I really love the first song. Having lived in Celebration for many years now, and being a SeaWorld passholder who visits the park regularly, I know the orcas' names and can usually tell them apart. I love how One Ocean gives them an opportunity to showcase their individual personalities. Of course, Shamu himself (i.e. Tili) still comes out at the end to soak the audience as only he can.

-Universal Orlando has its first Halloween Horror Nights tweet-up. The Central Florida theme parks are really embracing social media in general and Facebook and Twitter in particular. This year, Universal held several Halloween Horror Nights tweet-ups, starting before the event even began. Of course I was there to get a sneak preview, and better yet, I won a spot on a group tour through one of the houses with TJ Mannarino (you'll know who that is if you're an HHN fan). My even luckier husband nailed a spot at the team preview of the event. It was a great way for Universal to build even more excitement for Halloween Horror Nights (not that they really need to, since the rabid fans are usually already whipped up into a frenzy by September).

Below are some video highlights of the events. I have my fingers crossed for even better theme parking in 2012, although 2011 will be hard to beat:

Legoland Florida Grand Opening Ceremony:

Interview With Anthony Daniels and Designers from Industrial Light & Magic:



Flashback to Cheetah Hunt Construction at Busch Gardens Tampa:



One Ocean Orca Show Highlights at SeaWorld:



Halloween Horror Nights Tweet-Up Q & A Session at Universal Studios Orlando:

A Celebration of the New Year 2012

It's hard to believe that it's nearly 2012 already, not just because 2011 went by so fast, but also because it's been nearly eight years since I started this blog. I remember wanting to move to Celebration so badly and wondering what it would be like to live in Florida. That seems like only yesterday, but in the blink of an eye I'm suddenly a (fairly) long-time Florida resident.

On the plus side, living in Florida is everything I ever hoped it would be. It's late December, yet the sun is shiny, the grass is green, and I don't even need a coat. I spent the entire season visiting the Christmas celebrations at Disney World, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Universal/Islands of Adventure, and Legoland Florida, and before that it was another year of fun at Halloween Horror Nights and Howl-O-Scream. I'm still not tired of hearing the Illuminations fireworks while sitting in my family room every night.

But some things have changed for the negative here in Celebration. We were lucky enough to buy Duloc Manor before the real estate bubble peaked. After that peak, there was the big bust, with aftershocks that are still affecting Celebration and all the rest of Florida. If you drive around our once immaculate town, you'll quickly be able to pick out the foreclosures, with their ragged appearance and overgrown lawns.

Still, I've never once regretted my decision to move to Celebration, Florida. It's my home now; Publix has replaced "da Jewels" as my grocery store of choice, I no longer long for a basement, I ask for "unsweetened tea" because I barely remember that I used to live where that was the default, and my regret at no longer getting to eat at Lawry's anymore is dampened by places like Sweet Tomatoes, Sunny's BBQ. I even found a Mexican restaurant in Kissimmee, called El Tenampa, where the food rivals anything you can get in Chicago's Hispanic neighborhoods. They even have horchata and a wide array of aguas frescas.

I've been very busy with my writing career and other endeavors. I'm building up a list of ebooks on Amazon.com with topics ranging from Disney World and the other theme parks to personal finance and becoming a travel agent. I'm going to try to find the time to post to my Celebration, Florida, blog more regularly, too. I think it's an appropriate time because life in Florida has entered a new phase...well, actually, it's been in that phase for a while now. It's still a great place to live, and you can get some fantastic bargains if you move to Celebration now, but it's very different from the place I blogged about in 2004. Welcome to Phase Two!

Hooray for Halloween (in Orlando it Starts in September)

People often complain about the Christmas season starting early. Once upon a time its kickoff was after Thanksgiving, but now it's here before the last jack o' lantern leaves the shelves. And speaking of jack o'lanterns, Halloween starts earlier now, too, especially since I live in Tourist Land. In Chicago the local haunted houses opened in mid-October. In Central Florida, they usually kick off in the last weekend of September.

Our two main Florida gigs are Halloween Horror Nights (Universal Orlando) and Howl-O-Scream (Busch Gardens Tampa). Both are big blow-out bashes full of haunted houses, scare zones and shows. I celebrated my first Halloween when I was literally only days old, so my blood runs orange at this time of year.

This year, I thought the fun would start today (Thursday, October 23) with Scream Cam at Busch Gardens. Each year us lucky media folk get a sneak peak at one of their houses, with a camera aimed directly at our faces to capture our screams. I figure that's a fair enough trade off. This year it started even earlier; I received an invitation to the Team Preview of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal on Wednesday. It's mainly for employees, but this year they invited some bloggers to come for a very special treat. We were issued flip cams and allowed to do something that is normally a HUGE no-no: film inside the houses. We only got an hour to do it, and then Universal collected the cameras to edit what we had captured. We all had to agree not to post any details of our sneak preview until Thursday night/Friday morning as midnight rolled into a new day.

My husband and I decided to park in the garage, even though we get free valet with our Premier passes. Uh oh, bad idea! The line stretched so far back that for a minute I thought I was flashing back to the opening days of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We get free Preferred, which is in a much better location in the garage, but I had no idea whether they would honor it at night. They did, thank goodness! Just another reason why I'm a huge Premier pass fan; they make it up in Valeet and Preferred parking fees alone, not to mention that you get free non-peak Halloween Horror Nights tickets too.

CityWalk was jammed back with people, but we finally made it to the globe and entrance arch where we were to meet the P.R. person. I itched with anticipation as we watched the crowd swell. It looked like a peak night, not just a limited preview. My husband taped the video that plays over the entrance; since it's outside, we didn't have to worry about the same prohibitions as posting our inside footage. Soon enough we were escorted inside, along with bloggers from the major Halloween Horror Nights websites. It felt good to be among people who are just obsessed with Halloween events as I am. Each of us was assigned to an escort, handed a flip camera with brand new batteries and turned loose in the park. Thankfully I own the exact same type of flip camera so there was no learning curve.

My husband had been studying the event map on http://www.hhnrumors.com/ (one of the sites that was also there) and had made some sort of plan in his mind. I had mentally plotted out which houses I wanted to see, but I deferred to him because he seemed to have created his plan for efficiency and I wanted to tape in as many houses as possible. I knew it would be a bit different than my usual experience since I would be narrated and wielding the flip, but it will still give me (and hopefully my readers) a flavor of what they were in for.

Actually the worst part of using the flip was the fact that Security is so engrained with the "No video or photography" rule that a good part of my tape audio is, "You have to put that camera away," spoken by various Team Members in various houses. I tried wielding my yellow neck badge but it's not very readable in the dark so I usually had to convince them that yes, I really did have permission to do it. Oh well, I'd much rather have them be paranoid because I hate it when people try to do flaash pictures during the event (at least our cameras were not very intrusive). Hopefully they'll keep up the same level of enforcement.

We actually made it through five of the eight houses with the camera and got some scare zone footage too. We then hit the last three houses and the Bill & Ted show. I am still waiting for the edited footage, which I should get sometime on Friday, but in the meantime here are some quick impressions of the houses. I don't want to go into detail because this was technical rehearsal, so things may change, plus I don't want to spoil anything.

Horror Nights: The Hallowed Past - A must do for any Halloween Horror Nights fan, if only for the wonderful memorabilia and scenes from favorite housese of years past. I won't say which ones, but my most cringe-inducing scene of all time was there and it still made me cringe as much as ever. I will warn that the spinning tunnel of doom can be found in here; I don't consider that a spoiler, since you find it somewhere every year. I want to go through this one many more times just to catch the amazing detail. This is one of the two houses entered by the Barney theater.

Catacombs: Black Death Rising - I definitely felt like I was in the catacombs in this one, and there were a ton of good jump scares and plenty of disorientation. Overall I actually noticed quite a few strobes this year, which is one of my favorite haunted house elements because of that disorientation factor. It primes you for the attack. This is the other Barney theater house.

Havoc: Dogs of War - Another good house for jump scares, startles and disorientation. It's behind Simpsons/Men in Black.

The Orfanage: Ashes to Ashes - This is Cindy's house (in the Jaws queue); she's the"lost icon" who has finally come into her own. I didn't get a lot of quality scares in this one, although that could well improve as the event goes on. I was more intrigued by the use of fire...yes, you will see real fire. I was amazed that Universal was actually going to use it since safety is a huge concern for haunted houses. They do it in a way that looked plenty safe even to a fire paranoic person like me.

Psychoscareapy: Echoes of Shadybrook - I love the Psychoscareapy franchise, especially "Home for the Holidays," but this is a much darker version of the theme. Don't expect a comedy house with light-hearted lunatics. This soundstage house is a dark spin on things with some very interesting effects.

Hades: Gates of Ruin - This one (a soundstage house) will assail your nose as well as your eyes, and it's another great jump scare house.

Legendary Truth - I don't want to spoil the effects in this one (a soundstage house), but trust me, it's good...really, really good. They had one particular effect I've only seen once before, back in a haunted house in Indiana. It made me leap in the air because it was so totally unexpected. I love how Universal brings back some of the good old stuff but ups the ante with the new stuff too.

Zombiegeddon - This is the year's comedy house, over in the Disaster queue. Everybody loves zombies, although quite honestly I must say I liked the scare zone even better than the house. The zone mixed zombies and Mardi Gras. Dfinitely a winning combination.

I know my opinion will change...often quite drastically...over the course of the event so I just wanted to give some generalities. For example, last year I was really "meh" on Leave it to Cleaver, but it became my favorite house by the end of the season. Same thing with Doomsday in 2008, ironically located in the same spot.

I'm hoping to have that coveted in-house video before we leave for the official Halloween Horror Nights grand opening on Friday, but in the meantime here is the video that plays at Universal's front entrance archway. When you're done watching it, check out my Orlando Examiner articles, including Halloween Horror Nights tips, by clicking here.

Little Mailbox of Horrors

It's fun being a travel writer who specializes in theme parks...well, most of the time. I get to ride roller coasters, review resorts and restaurants. and generally have a good time all in the name of work. However, things turn sinister when September rolls around. That means it's almost October...and almost time for Central Florida's annual terrorfests, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal and Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens.

My first clue that my favorite season was near was getting the finger from Busch Gardens. You can see it for yourself below:



The severed finger in a jar came courtesy of Sylvie, the 2010 icon and head of the rock band MyX. As you can see, she has a unique way of getting back at former boyfriends (and hapless guys who just happen to cross her path).

Then, along came an innocent looking letter from Universal, including a flash drive inviting me to the media opening event and purporting to contain a special sneak peek of the event:



Alas, poor Heather Summers (the narrator) is stopped in her tracks by Fear himself. He's the 2010 icon, and you can see what he does to her by clicking here for my Examiner article, which contains the video.

But that wasn't all. Soon enough, the following letter showed up in my mailbox. Apparently poor Heather was having more trouble with Fear:



And what could be in this special box?



It's all wrapped up in a bloody piece of burlap:



Aha, a special branding iron with the mark of Fear:



Here's the XX branding iron in all its glory:



I'll be covering both Halloween Horror Nights and Howl-O-Scream this weekend, so click here to join me on Twitter for live tweets.

Dining with Donald and Goofy at Disney's Vero Beach Resort, plus champagne brunch

Note: This is a companion piece to my Examiner article, which can be read by clicking here.

What would a Disney resort be without a character breakfast? Disney's Vero Beach resort is no exception. It has a breakfast with Donald and Goofy on Saturday mornings, so of course my husband and I had to check it out. It's held in Shutters and runs till 11 a.m. We decided to make a late reservation so it could act as both breakfast and lunch. That also turned out to be perfect timing for the character appearances, since both Donald and Goofy showed up shortly after we were seated:






We got photos and autographs with the duo:



There were plenty of kids in the restaurant, but I noticed we weren't the only childless adults either. We watched the character interactions, and they spent a lot of time with the little ones. It was more relaxed than many of the crowded character meals at Disney World (I highly recommend the Garden Grill at Epcot if you want a relaxed experience; it's probably our favorite character meal on property, and Mickey and friends usually make it around to every twice there). We watched the wee ones having a blast playing with Donald and Goofy.

Mickey wasn't there in person, but he was represented by the tableware:



After our photo and autograph session, it was time for food. The breakfast is plated, but it's all you can eat. It starts off with a fruit plate and a nice variety of danishes (I saved a couple for a snack later):






Mickey was on the butter too:



And of course there were Mickey waffles! In addition, you get breakfast potatoes, sausage, bacon and scrambled eggs. There was more than enough for the two of us, although hubby did request another Mickey waffle:



I definitely recommend this meal because I never feel like a trip to a Disney property is complete without eating with the characters.

There is a champagne brunch at Shutters on Sundays that doesn't feature characters, but it does have bloody Marys and mimosas:



It is a buffet and is more upscale, with a large variety of seafood, plus sushi, cheeses and fruits. You can get a made to order omlette or choose from various hot items like fish, eggs benedict, carved to order meats, crepes, crab soup and plenty of other goodies. Some of the cold selections and the omlette station are shown below:
























The buffet was a great send-off before we headed home on Sunday. We booked 11 a.m., which gave us time to pack the car and dine right before hitting the road. It is a special treat for seaood lovers like my husband, although I was quit content with the eggs benedict and omlettes.

I can't really compare the champagne brunch to anything at Disney World, but it did remind me of the Palo brunch on the Disney Magic and Wonder cruise ships. It wasn't quite as upscale as Palo, but it was a hearty meal with many tempting items.

Fine dining and fun dining at Disney's Vero Beach Resort (trip report, part two)

(Note: the companion article to this blog entry, on Examiner, can be found by clicking here.) There are two sit-down restaurants on-site at Disney's Vero Beach resort, as well as a quick service outlet called Bleachers near the pool. The Green Cabin Room, which is the lounge, also serves food during certain hours. There are plenty of off-site restaurants, too, if you want to save money or explore other areas, but my husband and I set our sights on the resort options. Since we were only visiting for a weekend, we wanted to make sure we tried the two sit-down eateries. We've heard that the burgers are excellent, too, but alas, we didn't have time for a fast meal on our whirlwind trip.

Sonya's is the more upscale of the two sit-down restaurants, on a par with the signature dining places at Disney World. Shutters isn't too far behind it, although the atmosphere is more casual. You may get sticker shock if you're not used to Disney World restaurant prices, but DVC members do get a discount.

We wanted to experience both fine dining and fun dining. On the fun side, Shutters has a character breakfast and a Sunday champagne brunch. But first, let's start with the fine dining, which encompasses our arrival night dinner at Shutters and our Saturday dinner at Sonya's.

Both Shutters and Sonya's offer reservations, and they accept walk-ups too. We did a walk-up on Friday night at Shutters, but we made reservations for our other meals at the check-in desk when we arrived. Below is the sign that greets you at Shutters, which is located on the pool side of the resort (you walk through it to get to Sonya's):



The overall menu is seafood heavy, but there are other options for people who prefer turf to surf. We started off with the conch fritters on our server's recommendation, and they were amazing! My husband wanted the calamari because the dipping sauce sounded appealing, so we got some of that sauce as well as what regularly comes with the fritters. We most definitely didn't regret the choice:



What's a Disney restaurant without fresh bread? In this case, it was corn bread (yum) and salt-topped rolls:



For dinner, I chose the triple tail, which I had never had before. It was the fresh fish of the day, and it turned out to be very mild, like a mahi or tilapia. It was served with a mango sauce, field greens and delicious vanilla rum flavored mashed potatoes:




My husband opted for the Old Bay-seasoned steam pot. He loved mussels but wanted a bit of a variety, so it was perfect for him. He gave me the crab legs, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could actually taste the seasoning. I've gotten steamed crab legs at Joe's Crab Shack with Old Bay, and I've never been able to taste it there:



Initially we were sad we had missed the seafood buffet at Shutters, which is only offered on Thursdays, but soon enough got over it because we both loved our meals. The only regret was getting too full to try dessert.

The next night we went to Sonya's, which was dressier than we expected. I don't know if there is a specific dress code, but based on the other patrons we were glad we had brought golf shirts (some were even more dressed up than business casual). You get to Sonya's by walking through Shutters:



I love the artisan cheese plates at the Disney World signature restaurants and was very excited to see something similar offered at Sonya's. Alas, I forgot to take a picture of my cheese plate, which included four varieties with raisins on the vine, honeycomb, and home made compote, but it got a big thumbs up from me. Of course, I could probably live on Disney cheese plates. My husband liked his curried she crab soup, as did I, but we are both big curry fans.

Sonya's features bread with three butters. One is regular, one has roasted red peppers, and one has garlic and chives:






Sonya's had a triple tail, but I forced myself to try something different. I got the salmon because of its preparation style, which included heirloom tomatoes. It was indeed a tasty option, and I shared the huge portion with hubby:



Of course, he had his own big meal to deal with. He took our server's suggestion and opted for the scallops. They are as large as they look, and the sauce was a great addition:



Once again, we were much too full to have dessert.

In my next entry, I will report on our dining fun hanging out with Donald and Goofy for breakfast and enjoying mimosas and bloody Marys at the champagne brunch. Click here if you missed part one of this trip report.

Disney's Vero Beach, a comprehensive trip report (part one)

Note: This is a companion article to my Examiner article. Click here if you haven't read it already.

My husband and I have discussed visiting Disney's Vero Beach ever since we moved to Florida. For those who are not familiar with it, it's a 211-room Disney Vacation Club resort on the Atlantic Ocean about two hours away from Disney World. It's not near theme parks, nor much of anything else, so it's the perfect place for some rest, relaxation, swimming and sand castle building. There are restaurants and activities for kids and families, like a pool with a water slide, bike rentals, and miniature golf, spa, and music in the Green Cabin Room lounge in the evenings. We thought it would be a neat place to spend a weekend, so we were very excited when Disney invited us to check it out.

There are several ways to get to Vero Beach from the Disney area (192, 528/95 and the Florida Turnpike). We chose the turnpike on a friend's advice, even though it takes you a bit out of yoour way and racks up tolls. It was worth it, as the two-hour drive was smooth sailing. We were greeted by a familiar Disney Vacation Club sign at the entrance:





Below is the check-in area. We arrived on Friday afternoon around 4 p.m. and there were a few people, but no line. Things did get busier at the desk on Saturday, although never unreasonble. Our room was ready (check-in time is actually 3) so we were able to park in the garage below the building and head right upstairs.





Our room was in the main building on the second floor, right by the elevators. The good part is that it was extremely convenient. We didn't need to use the elevator because there is a nearby staircase down to the main level from that floor, and the Green Cabin Room was on our level for easy access in the evenings. I was worried about hallway traffic because of the elevator, but I didn't really notice much. I always travel with a while noise machine, which helps a lot. The cute towel animal that was waiting to greet us is pictured below. The bad part was that we could hear our next door neighbors through the wall. Thankfully they were not wild late-night partiers. There was also a wedding on our second night, and I could hear the DJ and music in our room. I think they cleared out around 11 p.m. tho' so it didn't disrupt our rest.

Below is the cute towel animal that was waiting for us in our room:



There are DVC villas with separate bedrooms in other parts of the resort, including three bedroom freestanding cottages that reminded me of the treehouses at Saratoga Springs, but ours was a standard room with two beds. Size-wise it was equivalent to the deluxe resorts at Disney World It also had DVC amenities like a small refrigerator, microwave oven, paper plates, plastic cutlery, a toaster and coffee maker. You can see the beds below:



We also had a table and two chairs, which would be handy for eating in the room (although we stuck with the on-site restaurants):



There was a flat screen television with a DVD player. The radio by the beds has a docking station for iPods and MP3 players too, and the electrical outlet is well positioned for plugging in computers, cell phones, etc. DVC members get free wireless internet, or you can purchase it:



Below is the bathroom area, which has a toilet and tub that can be closed off from the sink. The hairdryer is hanging on the wall:



Below is the kitchenette area:



There are towels you can use at the pool or out at the beach:



All of the rooms have balconies. Ours overlooked the parking area and was tucked into the roof line so it had a solid wall, but most of the others have see-through railings. That's especially nice if you have an ocean view room:



Here is an example of the artwork in the lobby areas:



Here is the view just outside our room, looking at the staircase and Green Cabin Room, which faces the ocean:



There are many little sitting areas and alcoves around the hotel:



Here is our first view of the beach:



The pool has a neat little water slide and is kept warm and comfy. There is also a nearby hot tub, which we used in the evening. You can get food, rent bikes and play miniature golf in this area too. The pool is a very popular spot:



More beach shots. You can rent chairs and umbrellas:



The water was stirred up by Hurricane Igor during our visit:



Some made a sand castle earlier in the day:



More beach views:











Here are the various rental rates:




There is also a sign listing beach conditions and warnings:





We had a very full experience as we tried to do as much as possible in our brief weekend visit. The next parts of this trip report will cover the on-site restaurants, including Sunday brunch and a character meal; the spa; and fun activities, including miniature golf and the evening campfire (smores...mmmm!).