Thanksgiving Break 1999 in Orlando, FL

Thanksgiving break 1999, destination Orlando! Friday Yes, I went to Florida for a whole week. And especially with a superb car... an enormous and elegant Buick. Apparently it was the only car left at the rental car agency!!! We left from the residence hall very early on saturday morning . After picking the other French girls doing the trip with us, we hit the road at 5am. Sitting arrangements were very sketchy for me, as I was assigned the middle 'armsrest' between the driver and the passenger seat on the front. The car was advertised to be sitting 6 people, but they didn't mention 4 of those should be children, not grown adults like what we had. good, at sight of eye, the belt was not going to suit me. And I can assure you it kills your back to sit in that thing, no matter how luxurious the car is! So there I was, folded and trying not to fall asleep so that I could chat the driver up. Well, at least I was not nauseous from sitting on the back seat! We drove for a long time, while passing by Charlotte, Columbia. We visited a bit of Savannah, South Carolina, admiring the beautiful colonial. Then we arrived in Jacksonville, Florida. We then drove along the coast Daytona Beach. From there, we took West toward Orlando. During this long trip, we stopped for breakfast at IHOP, and One ate pancakes in International House of Pancake (IHOP) and a McDonald in Savannah for lunch I believe. We finally got to Kissimee, a suburbia of Orlando, and got to the hotel around 9pm. We came across a lot of traffic as everyone was returning from the parks. But we landed in a cool hotel (Best Western) with swimming pool and jacuzzi for only $34/night, all taxes included. The next day, we were ready to get lunch and do some sight seeing...which in the area meant window shopping. Of course there were plenty of souvenir shops, and also people selling unused passes for the various parks in the area. There were even full books of discounts to many stores and restaurants on the strip, which really tempted us to go to every single one of them!	The unused passes were a big business. Those were tickets valid for 2 or 3 days for Universal Studio and Island of Adventure, or DisneyWorld. And some people used them only for one day. So we got ourselves a pass that would allow us to go to DisneyWorld which includes Magic Kingdom , MGM Studio, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot. We couldn't visit Pleasure Island and Waterpark with those tickets though. So for $110, we got passes for Universal and Disney. It was still very expensive but we had to get into one park at least! We also had to walk a lot and find another hotel for the next following days. We didn't go far though, and found a room in a hotel barely 500m away from the Best Western. The hotel also had free shuttles to Disney and back, which was a good deal. On our way back to the hotel that night, we stopped by a gas station, I cannot remember why,I found a nice orange swimming short. I bought it without trying it out because they had no fitting room. the dressingroom room did not exist. So I got it, with the approbation of some real friends (right Fred?) . Then at the hotel that evening, I tried to get into the super short and couldn't even get my thigh in there! Waht a nightmare...this must have been a negative size..so I had to get back to the gas station and get myself the biggest size they had. Saturday At the Best Western, we ordered pizza, and watched TV. We went to bed quite late, due to some serious chatting. We watched a piece of the Clooney/ Pfeiffer movie One Fine Day, and even the Hokies game, which we won. We were headed for the SugarBowl the following January..yeah! Sunday We had a smooth wake up, despite some chica screaming and crying in the next room. I got ready and went to the swimming pool, next to the palms. Brrrrrrrr, frozen water. There was also a chilly wind. We waited for the jacuzzi to get vacated, and then stayed in there until we almost fainted. That thing would slow your heartbeat in seconds...
©H. Ramaroson

Thanksgiving break 1999, destination Orlando!

Friday

Yes, I went to Florida for a whole week. And especially with a superb car... an enormous and elegant Buick. Apparently it was the only car left at the rental car agency!!! We left from the residence hall very early on saturday morning . After picking the other French girls doing the trip with us, we hit the road at 5am. Sitting arrangements were very sketchy for me, as I was assigned the middle 'armsrest' between the driver and the passenger seat on the front. The car was advertised to be sitting 6 people, but they didn't mention 4 of those should be children, not grown adults like what we had. good, at sight of eye, the belt was not going to suit me. And I can assure you it kills your back to sit in that thing, no matter how luxurious the car is! So there I was, folded and trying not to fall asleep so that I could chat the driver up. Well, at least I was not nauseous from sitting on the back seat!

We drove for a long time, while passing by Charlotte, Columbia. We visited a bit of Savannah, South Carolina, admiring the beautiful colonial. Then we arrived in Jacksonville, Florida. We then drove along the coast Daytona Beach. From there, we took West toward Orlando. During this long trip, we stopped for breakfast at IHOP, and One ate pancakes in International House of Pancake (IHOP) and a McDonald in Savannah for lunch I believe.

We finally got to Kissimee, a suburbia of Orlando, and got to the hotel around 9pm. We came across a lot of traffic as everyone was returning from the parks. But we landed in a cool hotel (Best Western) with swimming pool and jacuzzi for only $34/night, all taxes included.

The next day, we were ready to get lunch and do some sight seeing...which in the area meant window shopping. Of course there were plenty of souvenir shops, and also people selling unused passes for the various parks in the area. There were even full books of discounts to many stores and restaurants on the strip, which really tempted us to go to every single one of them!

The unused passes were a big business. Those were tickets valid for 2 or 3 days for Universal Studio and Island of Adventure, or DisneyWorld. And some people used them only for one day. So we got ourselves a pass that would allow us to go to DisneyWorld which includes Magic Kingdom , MGM Studio, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot. We couldn't visit Pleasure Island and Waterpark with those tickets though. So for $110, we got passes for Universal and Disney.

It was still very expensive but we had to get into one park at least! We also had to walk a lot and find another hotel for the next following days. We didn't go far though, and found a room in a hotel barely 500m away from the Best Western. The hotel also had free shuttles to Disney and back, which was a good deal. On our way back to the hotel that night, we stopped by a gas station, I cannot remember why,I found a nice orange swimming short. I bought it without trying it out because they had no fitting room. the dressingroom room did not exist. So I got it, with the approbation of some real friends (right Fred?) . Then at the hotel that evening, I tried to get into the super short and couldn't even get my thigh in there! Waht a nightmare...this must have been a negative size..so I had to get back to the gas station and get myself the biggest size they had.

Saturday

At the Best Western, we ordered pizza, and watched TV. We went to bed quite late, due to some serious chatting. We watched a piece of the Clooney/ Pfeiffer movie One Fine Day, and even the Hokies game, which we won. We were headed for the SugarBowl the following January..yeah!

Sunday

We had a smooth wake up, despite some chica screaming and crying in the next room. I got ready and went to the swimming pool, next to the palms. Brrrrrrrr, frozen water. There was also a chilly wind. We waited for the jacuzzi to get vacated, and then stayed in there until we almost fainted. That thing would slow your heartbeat in seconds...