Day Five: International Drive and The Outta Control Magic Show

After four amusement parks, this was our "slow" day. We had a leisurely breakfast buffet with pompom potatoes, Mickey Mouse waffles, bacon, fruit, sausage and biscuits and gravy... all that healthy American food. We moved from the fancy Royal Pacific to a complete dump on International Drive called the Rosen Inn at Pointe Orlando. I really struggled with finding a hotel here because there were so many to choose from. In the end, we chose this place because it had the best location and great Trip Advisor reviews. We knew we would be going to Wonderworks and I wanted to be within walking distance so we did not have to wait around for the trolley bus or try to find a taxi afterwards. This hotel was across the street. In addition, it had a I-Drive trolley bus stop right in front. There was a Walgreen (which was tiny though) across the street and a Dave and Busters two doors down. The car rental place was also close by. Location wise, it was perfect. But once there, I realized that other hotels were also within walking distance. The Hilton Homesuite was about a 5 minute walk away, on the map, it was two trolley stops so I thought it would have been too far. Next time, we will DEFINITELY be staying there instead.

For a cheap place, it was clean and the interior was renovated but the building was ancient and old, the staff cranky and generally very meh... If you are on a really tight budget, then it is a decent choice. But I wouldn't stay here again.

We headed out to the Premium Outlet after breakfast. You never know what you'll find at outlet malls. Some times there are nothing at one shop and then tons of stuff at another. I've never completely struck out and it was a highlight for me. There are two Premium Outlets in Orlando and I had trouble deciding on which one. One had Aerosoles... my favorite shoe store and I needed shoes... The other had Children's Place... The other shops were all at both.... What to do??? As usual, I choose the kids over myself. But I was not disappointed. Only wish I had bought MORE... especially souvenirs at the Disney shop and the Bath and Body Shop.

The kids and Hiro then went to Dave and Busters for lunch and games. I went to do a few errands and went back to the hotel hoping to catch a bit of the Steelers and Broncos playoff game. They LOVED Dave and Busters. The food, big cheese and bacon burgers. And the games, Hiro and Rio hit the jackpot a few times so they ended up with a huge loot of candies, a mug cup for me!, inflatable toys, etc. It was a highlight for them. It was far better than the Chuck E Cheese down the road.

Here is Wonderworks, a sort of science museum... It has mixed reviews. But the dinner show here
is suppose to be great. 

At first, I was disappointed because the regular guy was on vacation but Brian Staron did not disappoint us. The show was brilliant and it catered to non-native English speakers as the audience were from Finland and Nigeria and Venezuela and of course Japan. Hiroshi laughed uncontrollably throughout. The all you can drink beer helped his English...

Rio, again, was chosen to be the main assistant which he did well at. It was comedy/magic show with all you do eat pizza, salad and Costco sheet cake... and drinks.

See how toasted Hiro is? Yes, he walked into a telephone pole outside... We laughed so hard. It was yet another highlight of the trip!

We did the laundry that night and some clothes shrunk in the dryer. Rio went to bed in his street clothes and when I asked him to wear his pyjamas, he replied, "This has been one of my luckiest days and I don't want to ruin it by finding out that my pyjamas got small." Fair enough.