In article ,
says...

On Wed, 15 May 2013 14:31:06 -0400, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

On 5/15/13 2:25 PM, wrote:

Busch Gardens in Tampa is a lot better than anything in Orlando with a
lot less traffic.
The animals there don't look as "caged" as they are at Disney.



I like Tampa and St. Pete. Wife's grandmother lived there for decades,
and when we visited, I loved picking fresh citrus fruit off her trees. I
liked the beaches, too.

I had family in St Pete for most of my life, I spent every summer
there from about the 4th grade until I graduated High school and I
owned a condo in Treasure Island for a quarter century.
I did watch Tampa Bay change from a sleepy little retirement community
to a megopolis. now Pinellas county is one of the most densely
populated counties in the US and the most densely populated county in
Florida.

I remember Pinellas county being nothing once you left St. Pete. You
could go just about anywhere on the coast and find nice marshes to go
blue crabbing and get an ice chest full in no time. Tarpon Springs was a
treasure at the time!

My memory of Kissimmee was the endless shops selling t-shirts...around $12.00 for 10.
Seems to me there was a place where you could go see alligators for a fee.
This would have been the early 90s.
My most vivid memory of that trip was loosing our 12 year old son at Disney and then losing our 10 years old son at Epcot Center.
Yes, found both....the youngest after searching for hours.

In article ,
says...

On Wed, 15 May 2013 14:39:07 -0400, iBoaterer
wrote:

In article ,
says...


Busch Gardens in Tampa is a lot better than anything in Orlando with a
lot less traffic.
The animals there don't look as "caged" as they are at Disney.

Now, I remember going to Busch Gardens for $1.00 a carload in the late
'60's with my parents. There was no amusement park, but was a lot of fun
riding the tram around, and I'll agree it's a lot nicer than Disney.

Busch gardens is an African motif these days with lots of African
wildlife running around in fairly open areas.

Yes, but the amusement park part of it doesn't get near the people that
Disney does, thankfully.

On 5/15/13 3:10 PM, True North wrote:
My memory of Kissimmee was the endless shops selling t-shirts...around $12.00 for 10.
Seems to me there was a place where you could go see alligators for a fee.
This would have been the early 90s.
My most vivid memory of that trip was loosing our 12 year old son at Disney and then losing our 10 years old son at Epcot Center.
Yes, found both....the youngest after searching for hours.



I remember the Tee-Shirts of Kissimmee, too. There's not much else about
the town I recall, other than the same "See the Gators" exhibit. We were
there in the mid 1990's; wife was taking a two or three day state exam
in one of several large classrooms in a building owned by the Tupperware
company. Widely used facility...the CPA exam was being given there at
the same.

The Orlando area is pretty congested.

One other memory....to get a free breakfast for the family, and out of curiosity, we took one of the tours selling time sharing.
We were warned by friends that it can be a hard sell tour and they were correct.
I wouldn't do that again...and yes, I resisted buying a week in a new condo development just so we could spend vacation time in Orlando each year.

On 5/15/13 4:21 PM, True North wrote:
One other memory....to get a free breakfast for the family, and out of curiosity, we took one of the tours selling time sharing.
We were warned by friends that it can be a hard sell tour and they were correct.
I wouldn't do that again...and yes, I resisted buying a week in a new condo development just so we could spend vacation time in Orlando each year.


Been on one of those in Virginia Beach. We were told it would take an
hour and in return we would get pretty good dinners at three very good
local restaurants. It was raining that morning, so it wasn't a beach
day. Sales pitch took two hours, we said no, but we did get three good
dinners for two at two of our favorite restaurants and one we'd never
previously visited.

A time share, to me, is a horrifically stupid purchase. The owner of the
time share gets to sell the damned thing 52 times. We did stay at a
Disney time share a few years ago, though, and the place was first class.

In article ,
says...

On 5/15/13 3:10 PM, True North wrote:
My memory of Kissimmee was the endless shops selling t-shirts...around $12.00 for 10.
Seems to me there was a place where you could go see alligators for a fee.
This would have been the early 90s.
My most vivid memory of that trip was loosing our 12 year old son at Disney and then losing our 10 years old son at Epcot Center.
Yes, found both....the youngest after searching for hours.



I remember the Tee-Shirts of Kissimmee, too. There's not much else about
the town I recall, other than the same "See the Gators" exhibit. We were
there in the mid 1990's; wife was taking a two or three day state exam
in one of several large classrooms in a building owned by the Tupperware
company. Widely used facility...the CPA exam was being given there at
the same.

The Orlando area is pretty congested.

Orlando is now, it didn't used to be bad at all. There's some cool
things to see and do in Kissimmee, but not for those who do the tourist
thing and don't want an adventure.

On 5/15/13 5:05 PM, iBoaterer wrote:
In article ,
says...

On 5/15/13 3:10 PM, True North wrote:
My memory of Kissimmee was the endless shops selling t-shirts...around $12.00 for 10.
Seems to me there was a place where you could go see alligators for a fee.
This would have been the early 90s.
My most vivid memory of that trip was loosing our 12 year old son at Disney and then losing our 10 years old son at Epcot Center.
Yes, found both....the youngest after searching for hours.



I remember the Tee-Shirts of Kissimmee, too. There's not much else about
the town I recall, other than the same "See the Gators" exhibit. We were
there in the mid 1990's; wife was taking a two or three day state exam
in one of several large classrooms in a building owned by the Tupperware
company. Widely used facility...the CPA exam was being given there at
the same.

The Orlando area is pretty congested.

Orlando is now, it didn't used to be bad at all. There's some cool
things to see and do in Kissimmee, but not for those who do the tourist
thing and don't want an adventure.



Staying two nights in Kissimmee seemed adventure enough. If there is a
compelling reason to revisit, what is it?

On Wed, 15 May 2013 07:59:14 -0400, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

Morally Bankrupt ‘One Percenters’ Exploit Handicapped
To Skip Disney’s Long Lines

===

Nice try Harry but I'm not a "One Percenter" and I've never been to
Disney World.

On 5/15/13 9:07 PM, Wayne B wrote:
On Wed, 15 May 2013 07:59:14 -0400, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

Morally Bankrupt ‘One Percenters’ Exploit Handicapped
To Skip Disney’s Long Lines

===

Nice try Harry but I'm not a "One Percenter" and I've never been to
Disney World.



Whoosh.