So What Have I Been Doing the Last 12 Months?

I hadn't updated my blog in a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been having fun in Orlando! Here's some of what I've been up to:

Played games at Dave & Buster's on I-Drive, went to a car show at Downtown Disney, watched movies at CityWalk, visited the Orlando Museum of Art, went to the beach at Cocoa Beach, watched a water sports show at Lake Eola, ate lunch at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, drank during happy hour at numerous bars, joined in with karaoke at Rising Star and dancing at Latin Quarter in CityWalk, played Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom at Disney, ate at the Orlando Food Truck Bazaar, shopped at the outlets, drove go-karts in Kissimmee, visited Shamu at Sea World, celebrated Cinco de Mayo at Wall Street Plaza in downtown Orlando, went to a dine-in movie at the Enzian Theater, saw 'Romeo and Juliet' at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater, and much much more. So sorry that I didn't document it all for you! Click on the links above to find out more about all these great places. There are of course still plenty of things left for me to do in Orlando, so I'll do my best to keep you updated from now on. Thanks for reading!

Cinco de Mayo party at Wall Street, downtown

pelicans on the Cocoa Beach pier

Lake Eola park

the outlets!

poster for Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom

Anonymity

You may (or may not) have noticed that I don't put much personal information about myself on this blog. I don't share my name, and there is no photo of me anywhere to be found. Is it because I'm shy and am afraid of becoming too famous? Partly, yes. But my main reason for remaining anonymous is to protect myself from my employers. We have a strict rule about communicating with our clients over the Internet, and I would hate to jeopardize this blog just because one of my clients happened to find me on here and wanted to engage in a non-professional relationship. Those of you who know me personally probably know what I mean by 'clients'.  I don't want to put myself at risk of having to shut down my blog because of a conflict of interest. Therefore I do not include photos of myself or my family, no real names are used, and I won't even tell you what I do for a living. Despite this, I hope you are still able to enjoy reading my blog and following me on Twitter (@FunLifeOrlando)! My anonymity should in no way affect my descriptions of what I'm doing or where I'm going in Orlando. My goal remains the same - have fun living in Orlando and share all the info with you! 

P.S.  If you follow me on Twitter and see that we're hanging out at the same event, feel free to send me a tweet and maybe we'll have a chance to meet in person! 

All Work and No Play?

Judging by the fact that it has been almost exactly 1 year since my last blog post, one might think that I haven't been having any fun in Orlando. But, no, it's not true! I always find time to have fun in Orlando...the hard thing is finding the time to sit down and write about it! As much I as would love to document my wanderings full-time, I (unfortunately) have a real job (yuck) that commands 50+ hours of my time each week. But no pity party here! Having a job is what pays for all my fun in Orlando (duh!). I love sharing all the fun and interesting things that one can experience here in O-town, and I am saddened by the cobwebs that have formed on my blog. So I have resolved to start anew and work harder to update my blog more often. I can't promise that every post will be riveting or heartwarming or über-informative, but at least I'm going back to doing what made me start this blog in the first place - sharing the variety and unexpected pleasures of living in Orlando. Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave any comments about what you think I should write about next!

P.S.  I've still been active on Twitter! Follow me @FunLifeOrlando

Cee Lo Green, Samsung AT&T Summer Krush

I love free concerts! Most of the "free" concerts I attend are actually "included with theme park admission", like the concerts at Universal Studios' Mardi Gras or Summer Concert Series, and Epcot's Eat to the Beat Concert Series. Since I have annual passes to all of the parks, it feels like free to me! I've seen Sugar Ray, Boyz II Men, The Roots, Parramore, Katy Perry, Train, Third Eye Blind, Sean Paul, and more! Having access to all of these shows is definitely a great benefit of my theme park annual passes. 

The Samsung AT&T Summer Krush Concert is different from these shows because it does not take place in a theme park. It really is a free concert, open to anyone who wants to go. This year's Orlando performer was Cee Lo Green. I registered online a couple weeks in advance, printed out my free tickets, stood in line for nearly 2 hours outside Hard Rock Live at Universal CityWalk, and finally got to enjoy the free show. Since the concert was sponsored by Samsung, there was a lot of heavy promotion of their latest products...including booths set up inside the venue where you could play games on their newest phones. They were also giving away a lot of free stuff, including water bottles, t-shirts, light-up mugs, and tote bags. Cee Lo Green's actual performance only lasted about an hour, but it was a fun show! I'm already looking forward to seeing who the Summer Krush Concert will bring to Orlando next year.

my free swag

To see videos from some of the theme park concerts I've been to,
visit www.facebook.com/funlifeorlando
or click around my blog!
Boyz II Men at Epcot
Sugar Ray at Epcot
The Roots at Universal Studios

Harry Potter, the Movie and the Theme Park

One of the coolest things about living in Orlando is being able to enjoy the oh-so-popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure. Since its opening one year ago, this addition to the theme park has been one of the most talked-about attractions and has enchanted visitors from all over the world (including the stars of the Harry Potter movies themselves). Click here to visit my first blog post about the Wizarding World, and here to see my videos of the Frog Choir and Beauxbatons and Durmstrangs. You can also find more photos on Facebook.

So, what better way to commemorate the end of the Harry Potter movie franchise than with a visit to Universal's Islands of Adventure and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! First, of course, I had to watch the movie. It was early in the afternoon when I arrived at the AMC Universal Cineplex at Universal's CityWalk. Even though it was opening weekend, the afternoon shows were still available (I noticed that the 7pm show was already sold out). The movie was great! Everything I was hoping for, and more. Adventure, excitement, love, tragedy, heroism, good vs. evil, and a happy ending.

Hog's Head

After the movie, it was time to head straight to the Wizarding World. Our first stop was the Hog's Head Pub for a nice cool mug of frozen butterbeer. After that, we strolled the shops of Hogsmeade and stopped to listen to the Frog Choir. There was a 90-minute wait for the Forbidden Journey, so we decided to skip it today and just meander through the rest of the Wizarding World. I know that there are thousands of people all over the world who are dying to visit this theme park, and I know how lucky I am that I get to visit almost whenever I want. A great benefit of living in Orlando!



All in all, it was a lovely Harry Potter-filled afternoon. I got to watch the final movie and visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter all in one day. Although the movies are over, the experience lives on through the theme park. Thanks J.K. Rowling, and thanks Universal Studios!

Dinner at Downtown Disney

 Some family members were in town for a few days, and invited me to join them for dinner near their hotel at Downtown Disney. On Monday night, we went to the Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant. I'd never been there before, and was looking forward to trying it out. We sat at a table towards the back, away from the main stage, so that the loud music wouldn't bother the kids. But I did get up to sneak a closer look at the entertainment. They had a small group of Irish dancers doing a jig, and a live band that followed their performance. It was great! I was ready to break out in a dance myself, but headed back to our table to check out the menu. We ordered a round of Guinness, and the battered cocktail sausages as an appetizer. For dinner, it was chicken and mash for me and beef curry pie for my husband. Others at our table ordered fish and chips, and shepherd's pie. I'm not usually a fan of Irish cuisine, but the food was good! I'm glad I had the chance to try it!

The next night, my family invited me back for another dinner at Downtown Disney. This time, it was Fulton's Crab House. We had to wait awhile for a table, especially since the fierce rain brought in large groups of people at once. I was starving by the time we got seated! But luckily our server brought us lots of bread and crackers with crab dip. For dinner, I had the Atlantic salmon. It was served with shiitake mushrooms, and it was absolutely delicious. Others ordered Parmesan-crusted tilapia, mussels, crab cakes, and snow crab legs. One member of our group said the fish tacos he ordered as an appetizer were the best he'd ever had. Although the meal was pricey, it was delicious and a lot of fun. Oh, and I was able to show my Disney annual pass for an extra 10% discount!

So, thanks to my out-of-town visitors, I was able to dine at these two restaurants that I had never been to before (honestly, we usually eat at Pollo Campero). To see more of my photos from Raglan Road and Fulton's Crab House, check out my Facebook page. And in case you're wondering what else there is to eat at Downtown Disney, here's a list of all their dining options:

Bongo's Cuban Cafe (yummy!)
Fulton's Crab House
House of Blues Restaurant
Portobello (Italian food; I've never eaten there)
Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant
Wolfgang Puck Cafe (never eaten here)
Cap'n Jack's Restaurant (never eaten here either...never really notice it either)
Earl of Sandwich
Pollo Campero
Paradiso 37 (brand-new!)
Planet Hollywood (I'm not really a fan of their food)
T-Rex (don't really like their food either)
Rainforest Cafe

There you have it! For more info on these restaurants, click here. 
Thanks, and have fun!

Star Wars Weekends 2011

"Star Wars Weekends is an annual special event at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park that celebrates the legendary Star Wars Saga and the animated television series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday of each weekend, you can join celebrities and characters for special shows, panels, presentations and more!" - from the Walt Disney World/Star Wars Weekends website

This year, Star Wars Weekends took place on May 20-22, May 27-29, June 3-5, and June 10-12. I honestly think I have become a bigger Star Wars fan simply because of this event at Disney's Hollywood Studios. It is so neat to see the characters walking around the park, and really interesting to attend some of the special activities and shows. You  can't help but get caught up in all the Star Wars excitement.

Check out this video of Ray Park, aka Darth Maul, doing a brief light saber demonstration during one of the celebrity autograph sessions. 

An extra special part of this year's Star Wars Weekends included the reopening of Star Tours: The Adventures Continue! I love the new 3D effects, as well as the fact that you can get a different experience every time you ride. Now you have the possibility of traveling to different destinations with different characters, so riding once is not enough!

I definitely recommend Star Wars Weekends to anyone who has even just a tiny bit of interest in the Star Wars series. There is lots to see, lots to do, and lots of fun souvenirs to buy! Check out more photos on my Facebook page!