On this day in 2002.

Hello. I've been checking the diaries to see what I was doing on this day in past years. I haven't gone so far back this time, can you remember what you were doing on the 2nd of February 2002? I can. Me and my boyfriend, Dave, not his real name, I'll spare him the blushes if he or anyone who knows him reads this, arrived at our hotel in Orlando at 5am. The journey had taken longer than it should have done, due to high winds at Birmingham airport. We couldn't take off and had to be bused to Manchester Airport and eventually took off at 11pm. We had a hire car waiting when we landed. 

We were keen to get started on our holiday so only had an hour in bed before we were off out. I'll copy from the diary. We first had breakfast at Denny's then we went to the Magic Kingdom and had the day there. There was a big firework display at night behind the castle. Tinkerbell flew from the top of the tower, we got a good spot for viewing. There was a big light parade, about 30 floats all lit up. Fantastic show, the best I have ever seen. We had a meal at TFI Friday restaurant. I am very tired tonight due to lack of sleep last night. 

Sunday 3rd February. Today we went to Universal Studios. I drove there, it wasn't very far. First we went to the Air Tours meeting, the reps tried to sell us tours, sun cream etc, they gave us a free breakfast. We got into the park at 10.00am, using the tickets that Dave bought from the two boys off the internet. We got in OK. There were only a few rides in this park, most of them were simulators. ET, Twister, Earthquake, and Terminator. Some of them were 3D. Back to the Future was brilliant, Terminator was best of all, Jaws was a boat ride and very funny. Later on we had a meal at the Pancake House. The waiter was a bit annoyed because we only offered the money on the bill. We didn't know that we had to add a service charge. We walked up International Avenue and called into Friday's for a pint. I was dead tired and my legs were aching.

Monday 4th February. We had breakfast at Ponderosa. Then went to Universal Islands of Adventure. The ride, The Hulk was great. A steel coaster sitting on top of the rail, four seats across. We went on it five times. The Spiderman ride was great, 3D, felt like you were really in a Spiderman film. The shows were great, flashing lights, plenty of action. We went back to Ponderosa for dinner then went on the City Walk. We went in a club for a drink, then back to the hotel. 

Tuesday 5th February. Today we went to Disney Studios MGM. Not quite as good as Universal yesterday but still OK. Rock and Roll coaster was inside in the dark, upside down, very good. We played Who Wants to be a Millionaire. We didn't get many questions right because they were mainly about America. The Tower of Terror was quite good. There was a fantastic light show on the lake, we had to get our seats early. Later, we went to Old Town to look round the shops and had our dinner at Ponderosa. Tired, a lot of walking.

Wednesday 6th February. Breakfast at Ponderosa. We went to Busch gardens, Tampa Bay, today. It was 70 + miles along Highway 4. I drove there. I had a headache so I kept off the coasters. I went on the Log Flume and got wet. We went on the Rhino Rally, it was great. Lots of animals at this park. I had a look round by myself while Dave went on the coasters. the weather wasn't so good, it rained, but we had our plastic capes with us. We had our dinner tonight at Pizza Hut, I had a veggie pasta bake.

Thursday 7th February. Breakfast at Ponderosa. Today we went to Sea World, it was mainly animals and shows. Saw the killer whales. I had a walk round so Dave could go on Kracken coaster. I went on Journey to Atlantis, a wet roller coaster. We looked at the shops later on and went back to Ponderosa for dinner.

Friday 8th February. we were late staring today, packed the cases and had breakfast at Ponderosa. Then back to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, for some last goes on the Hulk coaster. We arrived at the airport at 4.15pm . we were all in the plane and ready for take off at 7pm. Started to gain speed, got to the end of the runway and the pilot decided to abort the take off. The brakes went on and we taxied back to the terminal building. The pilot said there was a small problem, and the engineer came and fixed it. We took off at 8pm. I tried to sleep but I only dozed off for half an hour, watched a couple of films. The seats were awful, not much room. We landed at Birmingham at 8.15am.

So there is my little trip down memory lane. It was a smashing holiday. My boyfriend was coaster mad, and this was one of many holidays we had visiting theme parks to ride roller coasters. Random pictures which are not brilliant, I haven't fixed the scanner up, so they are photo's of photo's.

Thanks for popping in. A bit late tonight. Catch you tomorrow. Toodle pip.