{"id":62141,"date":"2013-05-21T08:00:09","date_gmt":"2013-05-21T06:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.misterunique.de\/?p=62141"},"modified":"2025-05-21T23:20:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T21:20:28","slug":"road-trip-through-florida-my-travel-diary-part-7-orlando-action-and-fun-at-universal-studios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.misterunique.de\/?p=62141&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Road Trip through Florida \u2013 My Travel Diary \u2013 Part 7 \u2013 Orlando \u2013 Action and Fun at Universal Studios"},"content":{"rendered":"

13.03.2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

Orlando<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"orlando\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Five days of Spring Break in Panama City Beach were now behind us<\/strong>, and I have to admit\u2014yes, it had been an epic time, seriously amazing\u2014but we were actually glad to be back on the road again, with an exciting new destination ahead: Orlando! Yiiipppiiihhh! The world-famous theme parks were waiting for us over the next few days. But before reaching Orlando, we had the longest leg of our road trip ahead: nearly 540 kilometers, mostly along the highway in our SUV. First, we left Panama City and headed inland via Interstate 75 toward Youngstown.<\/p>\n

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The Attack of the Monster Pizzas…<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Since I thought it would be smarter to grab something to eat along the way rather than sitting down for a leisurely breakfast right at the start\u2014risking our whole schedule in the process\u2014the girls were already a little grumpy. To be fair, I had hoped we\u2019d find a food spot pretty quickly, but once we left the city\u2026 nothing. Nada. And to make things worse, I was starting to get hungry myself. All I could think was: „Damn, that backfired.“<\/p>\n

The GPS was taking us along the same route we had driven a few days earlier for Spring Break, so I knew we\u2019d be passing a Pizza Hut in a little nowhere-town called Blountstown<\/strong>. Rather than continuing to complain that we should\u2019ve just had breakfast back in Panama City Beach<\/em>, Melly and Mary had already drifted off into dreamland, their heads leaning against the backseat windows.<\/p>\n

They only noticed we had arrived when I hit a speed bump pulling into the parking lot\u2014and boom, they were instantly wide awake. At first, all eyes were still gleaming with joy\u2026 but that quickly changed when we found out that we had missed the lunchtime \u201cAll-you-can-eat\u201d deal by just 30 minutes<\/strong>. I could feel the mood in the car shift instantly.<\/p>\n

Of course, I\u2019d been looking forward to that buffet myself\u2014imagine going wild on everything from pasta to pizza to those legendary cinnamon rolls. But well, nothing we could do about it now. So we each ordered a regular pizza. Regular<\/em>, as in normal-sized. But hey\u2014what\u2019s \u201cnormal\u201d in the U.S.?
What we ended up getting would easily pass for XXL pizzas<\/strong> back in Germany.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_2776\"<\/a>
\nOur table was completely hidden beneath a mountain of pizzas. I already knew we wouldn\u2019t be able to finish these mammoth slices and that we\u2019d end up taking some of them home as pizza to go.<\/p>\n

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We ran into a little problem when we stood in front of the car with four pizza boxes and had no idea where to put them. The car was packed to the brim \u2014 right up to the lower edge of the upper lip. After a round of grumbling from my two sweet divas, they had no choice but to place the boxes on the floor and rest their dainty little feet on top of them until the pizzas were devoured. Both Kathy\u2019s and my pizza ended up beneath her feet.<\/p>\n

Now before anyone screams in horror \u2014 \u201cHow could you?! That\u2019s disgusting!\u201d \u2014 let me assure you: the pizzas were safely sealed in cardboard boxes, and no one had to press their bare feet into melted cheese. laughs<\/em><\/p>\n

The journey continued. We finally hit the highway entrance, which meant we’d be on a straight shot to Orlando now \u2014 cue the monotony. My travel companions, stuffed to the gills, had already drifted back into their dreams. Paddy\u2019s mixes (aka Patrick Pfeffer) \u2014 Totally Patrick<\/em> \u2014 were playing from the USB stick he had loaded for us back at his place. Other than that, the car was silent.<\/p>\n

And then it happened. Somewhere between Tallahassee and Live Oak, my eye started to itch. Without thinking, I rubbed it with my finger.<\/p>\n

Damn. My contact lens had shifted.<\/p>\n

When a lens fits so perfectly that you forget it’s there, you also forget in moments like this that there’s something in your eye. Now it was stuck somewhere off to the side, forcing me to squint slightly just to make the discomfort bearable.<\/p>\n

I should have taken the next opportunity to exit the highway and fix it properly. But I knew if I pulled over now, all three of them would instantly wake up, and that beautiful silence would be gone.<\/p>\n

So I decided to brave it with one squinty eye for another 60 kilometers, until I just couldn\u2019t take it anymore. I exited the highway and aimed straight for the next McDonald’s.<\/p>\n

Just as predicted: all three girls were suddenly wide awake.<\/p>\n

I fixed the lens in the restroom, we each grabbed an Oreo McFlurry, and then we hit the highway again. There were still about 150 miles to go, and twilight was slowly settling in.<\/p>\n

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Next Stop: Orlando \u2013 The Mecca of Great Entertainment<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Before we arrive in Orlando, I want to share something that happened during the drive. You can be on the highway for hours, covering a long stretch in a single day, and barely see a single State Trooper (the U.S. equivalent of the German autobahn police) on the road. Strangely enough, though, you do<\/em> see them quite often parked on the side of the highway, having pulled someone over. On this particular leg of the trip, I must have seen that happen ten to fifteen times. Considering how invisible they are while driving, it\u2019s quite remarkable \u2014 and it still doesn\u2019t answer the question of how they manage to stop so many cars without being seen. Strange!!<\/p>\n

Anyway, back to the journey. When we arrived in Orlando, it was around 9:30 p.m. and already dark outside. For the next three days \u2014 until Saturday, March 16th, 2013 \u2014 the Radisson Orlando \u2013 Lake Buena Vista would be our new home.<\/p>\n

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You know that one? You arrive and the first thing that happens is you get completely screwed over…<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Right at check-in, we spotted a stand to the left of the reception desk promoting all the major theme parks\u2014probably where we were supposed to pick up our tickets. The stand looked a lot like those last-minute vacation booths you see at every airport. The woman there flashed us her brightest toothpaste-commercial smile. She must\u2019ve immediately seen it in our faces: we had absolutely no clue<\/em> about how or where to get tickets for the parks.<\/p>\n

We were so tired and out of it from the long day on the highway that we were the perfect prey that evening\u2014ripe for the picking. She handed us brochures and park maps for Disney and Universal Studios, began making complex mathematical calculations on what each three-day package would cost us here versus there, and then dropped the magic word: „Discount.“<\/strong> That got our attention right away.<\/p>\n

It was a bit like Pavlov\u2019s dog\u2014you know, the famous behavior experiment where the dog starts salivating at just the sound of a bell, because it learned that meant food was coming. Well, for us, the bell was the word \u201cDiscount.\u201d<\/em> She had a brilliant idea: we could each save $50 on a 3-day ticket. The only catch? We just had to show up the next morning at 7:30 a.m. at the Sheraton Hotel, attend a \u201cshort and informative presentation\u201d (which even included free breakfast!), and afterward, we\u2019d get our discounted tickets.<\/p>\n

Why on earth didn\u2019t the four of us realize this was a giant scam floating right above our heads? Why didn\u2019t we see it? I even signed something saying we\u2019d attend the next morning. To this day, I\u2019m still shocked at how careless I was in that moment. Oh, and of course we paid for the \u201cdiscounted\u201d tickets right then and there with our credit cards and got a receipt to present at the Sheraton the next day. We were still all smiles and even thanked her for her help. facepalm<\/em> Then we disappeared into our room.<\/p>\n

March 14, 2013<\/strong><\/span>
Orlando, Florida<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The night was short. We all had to be in the hotel lobby by 7:30 a.m. sharp, where a bus would pick us up and take us to the Sheraton. So naturally, we were up at the crack of dawn. None of us looked fresh\u2014\u201cwrecked\u201d was more accurate. The only thing lifting our mood at that point was the thought of finally visiting Universal Studios, which we\u2019d chosen for the day.<\/p>\n

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When the Sheraton took us hostage\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We weren\u2019t the only ones on the bus. There were a few families with kids, and maybe three or four couples\u2014all of them probably looking forward to scoring cheap tickets just like us. The ride wasn\u2019t long; after about 10 minutes we arrived at our destination: the Sheraton headquarters, which also happened to be a massive hotel complex with several main buildings and a giant pool area in the middle.<\/p>\n

We were dropped off and immediately greeted by a staff member who was clearly waiting for us. He led us into the main building, where the first thing they did was take the carbon copy of the paper I had signed the night before. Only then were we allowed to have breakfast.<\/p>\n

But our excitement for a nice breakfast faded quicker than you can say \u201cScam.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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Bitte hier unterschreiben…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What the Sheraton had laid out for us here was the cheapest of the cheap. Hardly any selection, and what little was offered was completely tasteless. Even the coffee was awful. And then it began. Hotel sales reps started swarming the tables like moths drawn to a flame. All of them armed with brochures and iPads\u2014and the sales show was on. We were right in the middle of an American-style timeshare pitch. *oh god. We had been lured here under false pretenses, and now we were stuck with the consequences.<\/p>\n

Our table was still untouched, and I encouraged my ladies to please keep eating, because as long as we were still chewing, no rep would bother us. But with that kind of slop, it wasn\u2019t easy. And then it was over. A gum-chewing guy in a suit sat down at our table.<\/p>\n

First, he gave us a short monologue, then showed us a promotional video on his iPad, and finally handed us a questionnaire asking about our vacation needs and preferences.<\/p>\n

To shed some light on what the whole purpose and intention of the Sheraton actually was\u2014why they lured us here and what they were trying to sell us\u2014it was quite simply this: a vacation for life. For a certain amount of money, ranging somewhere in the five- to six-figure range, which could be paid off in monthly installments, we would have been able to enjoy 3 to 5 weeks of vacation per year at any Sheraton hotel worldwide or within an affiliated hotel group\u2014free of charge. Smart move. That\u2019s how you bind people to your hotel brand.<\/p>\n

Certainly interesting for some, but the way they tried to bait people and pressure them into signing something during their well-deserved vacation\u2014well, to me, that already felt borderline criminal. We didn\u2019t want to play along, and so I told our gum-chewing salesman that we had been informed the day before that the whole event would be short\u2014not 90 minutes, as he had just claimed when we asked. He pointed to the sheet I had signed and called his supervisor. She left the room and came back a few minutes later with the paper I had signed, pointing to the fine print. Unfortunately, there it was: 90 minutes.<\/p>\n

As the saying goes: what\u2019s spoken doesn\u2019t always match what\u2019s written\u2014and in this case, what\u2019s hidden in the fine print. So we had to switch to plan B and made it very clear we weren\u2019t interested and repeatedly emphasized that we would not be signing anything today, under any circumstances. He didn\u2019t care at first and coldly continued his sales pitch, blabbering on, showing us two more promotional videos, and then asked us to follow him to another building where he wanted to show us a model apartment.<\/p>\n

We trailed behind him, bored and unenthusiastic. After showing us the apartment on the fourth floor and leaving the adjacent building, he finally gave up, and the nightmare seemed to be over. We were told we could now collect our tickets in a nearby room and finally head to Universal Studios. It was already 9:30 a.m. But even there, we didn\u2019t receive the actual tickets\u2014just some kind of voucher, which we were supposed to exchange for the real tickets at the park entrance.<\/p>\n

Now, we waited, as instructed, behind the building in the complex for a bus that was supposedly going to take us directly to the park. But the bus never came. Our mood grew increasingly sour. So we marched back to the main building, where the sales event was still in full swing, and approached the supervisor we had already met. After a brief argument, she gave in and promised to immediately call a taxi to take us to the park.<\/p>\n

I think she saw us as a disturbance\u2014bad for the vibe of the event\u2014and wanted us gone as quickly as possible. Honestly, she was absolutely right about that. But even the taxi took forever to arrive. In the meantime, we warned every tourist we saw not to sign anything. And they started rushing to move us further away from the other guests, since people clearly noticed what we were doing.<\/p>\n

Eventually, the taxi arrived. During the ride to the park, we let out all of our frustration\u2014not just about the event, but especially about the woman from the night before. We swore we\u2019d give her a proper piece of our mind that evening.<\/p>\n

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I can\u2019t believe this is really happening \u2013 we finally made it to the park! Universal Studios, here we come!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Once we arrived at the park, our mood instantly lifted. We were excited for everything the day had in store\u2026 we wanted nothing but FUN!
Universal Studios is part of a massive entertainment complex called the Universal Orlando Resort, which also includes another theme park: Islands of Adventure.
In addition to the two parks, there\u2019s a third area that\u2019s freely accessible at any time \u2013 the CityWalk. It features restaurants, a large multiplex cinema, and various other entertainment venues.
To reach either of the parks, you have to pass through this area. Eventually, the main path splits: to the left lies Islands of Adventure, and to the right, Universal Studios.<\/p>\n