Erik & Smisty's Florida Oddventures

[Mr. Starr]

This place looks...awesome. Hilarious TR, thanks for the laughs

[triggernel]

Hey if Dumbledore approves this place, then it has to be pretty frickin' awesome!

 

You're thread, it's like the Stumble Upon of Florida attractions. And I Love it! Never Stop

[brilinjo]

I see you've still got Smisty wearing the Wall-e backpack as a handicap?

[beyondthepalace]

We had fun playing there about a year ago. It was a nice break from the pirate themed courses in the area and its just about as close to ghetto mini golf as you will get in Orlando. Yes the course has a very confusing layout but it just added to the randomness of this place. Usually its pretty cheap to play here and not too far away from us.

[cfc]

Love the shout out, but I have a request...next time don't put my shout out next to Barry's. It violates the restraining order.

 

Also, I've passed this golf place roughly 849372 times as it's right near where we rent our TPR Houses, it's always struck me as kind of boring so we never bothred with it.

 

I thought it looked strangely familiar.

[Moose]

Let's go ahead and get the "photo that Misty is going to kill me for posting" out of the way, shall we?

 

Poor Misty, I would kill you for that photo too.

 

The randomness of the course seems to make the place much more of an adventure.

[frozenflames]

Oh wow, I remember playing this course in 1999. And it's even more confusing trying to keep track of the holes when it's dark out. Also, I'm deeply saddened by the fact that there is now a CiCi's Pizza there. There used to be a steakhouse that had really good Prime Rib instead. But thanks for bringing back some great memories for me!

[Wily J]

Okay, I found this site from a link on Screamscape and have spent the last few weeks lurking and reading.. . and I can't tell you how much enjoyment I've gotten from various TR's and threads I've read.

 

All have been informative and entertaining with Chuck's, Hectors', and of course Robb's standing out (haven't read even a small percentage of everything here so no one should take that as a dis) . . . but I finally decided to register and post just to say how much I've enjoyed the Eric and Misty threads.

 

You guys do the stuff I always had to pass by or didn't have time for or couldn't afford. . and it's just epic.

 

Thank you both for such wonderful TR's.

 

Oh, and I see my old buddy Barry H. posts here. . so hi Barry.

[robbalvey]

I don't think there is a single one of your reports where I don't LOL at least a few times...

[Wily J]

"Monkey Hole" is my new favorite saying. . .

[Wily J]

"Old Drunk Woman Falling Off Tortoise"

 

Newest DCA "fastpass". . .

[Electerik]

Thank you both for such wonderful TR's.

 

Thank you! It's always nice to hear that people appreciate seeing this stuff.

 

But...

 

Barry has friends??

[BarryH]

^Shocking, isn't it?

[Wily J]

Well, Barry and I were mods on the same web site a long time ago and yeah, although we never actually met, I considered him a friend. (We were supposed to meet up at IOA one time but I couldn't make it and it was on me and it's not an interesting enough story to tell here. . .)

 

 

But I always liked Barry. . . although seeing his name and "restraining order" in the same sentence here is not the least bit shocking.

 

 

Looking forward to the next installment of your TR Erik. . keep up the excellent work!

[aimster]

F*** THIS PLACE! Anywhere with free roaming spiders is not cool with me... I know they're useful for fly killing, but I think all spiders should be eradicated ASAP... in fact it semi sickens me there is even a bug museum in the first place... which kinda makes me feel like a dick cause I enjoy Tough to be a Bug... oh well.

 

The KILL EM ALL Ghost

 

i 100% agree with this post, as a severe Aracnaphobe, that is the room from hell, im baffled as to why they have spiders just freely wandering about!

Seconded! I am terrified of spiders and scream like a little girl even if I see a tiny one. Actually, I'm like that with ALL bugs. DO NOT LIKE! One time a big-ass wood spider somehow got in my apartment and I saw it heading straight for my cat. I jumped up, practically thew the cat out of the way, sprayed the spider to death then repeatedly beat it with a shoe to make sure, then sucked it up with the vacuum. Ugh just remembering that totally skeeved me out!

[Wily J]

"Big-ass Wood Spider" would be an awesome name for a wood coaster.

[BarryH]

^^I wonder how you react on Forbidden Journey.

[aimster]

^^I wonder how you react on Forbidden Journey.

I screamed like a little girl. I HATE spiders. Even when I know they're not real. And I saw all of Forbidden Journey with the lights on the first time through because it broke down just as the ride started for me and they ended up cycling everyone through in "default mode". Even with the lights on I cringed when I saw Aragog. BLEGH!!!

[BarryH]

^I wonder what will happen if Spider-Man tries to save you from robbers...

 

I've never had a problem with spiders. I will kill one with a shoe in your honor.

[darienlakerules]

I just wanted to say been a long time reader and I always love reading all your updates. Please keep them coming!

[bhartley]

We just moved to the orlando area last week. We should go to one of the parks together. We already bought our season passes.

 

Bill

[Electerik]

Misty wanted to take her dad somewhere for Father's Day, but he didn't want to do anything that was outdoors (because it's summer in Florida) or that would be crowded (because it's summer in Florida). What he did want to do was go see Green Lantern. So, in an effort to make the occasion slightly more special, we took him to Downtown Disney's AMC "Fork & Screen" Dine-In Theater, which we had been wanting to check out anyway.

 

Now, this isn't exactly a new concept. But we had never tried anything like it before.

 

The entrance to the fancy stuff. (Near Planet Hollywood.) If you just want normal movies (without food), there's an entrance on the other side. (By DisneyQuest.)

 

 

You buy the tickets inside the lobby. Which is nice, because it's Florida. (In fact, I was still a little wobbly from the heat outside, if this photo is any indication.)

 

 

If you think you can guess what movie Erik & Smisty are about to see, email your answer to "greenlantern@youidiot.com" and maybe someone will send you something! (But probably not.)

 

 

You can actually order appetizers and such at the bar while you're waiting for your movie to start. Note that the bar's name is "MacGuffins."

 

The theater is semi-age restricted. You must be 18 or older, or accompanied by someone who is. Which makes sense. We did see a handful of children, but I'm pretty sure they were all there to see the new Jim Carrey penguin movie. So this might be a good choice if you find children ruinous to your movie-going experience.

 

 

If you're not sure what the bar is named after, have a nice sit down and maybe it'll come to you.

 

 

How it works:

 

1. Your food will be delivered shortly before the previews start, which means that you'll be done eating about 1 minute into the actual film.

 

2. No one will offer you dessert. You must summon the server if you want that.

 

3. Your server will not look like this.

 

4. It's going to be really expensive.

 

 

This photo is pointless.

 

 

The menu is more extensive than I expected (this is just part of it), though there's no steak or lobster to be found here. Pasta, quesadillas, burgers, salads and sandwiches make up the bulk of it.

 

 

Note how far back from the "table" the chair are. That was kind of weird. Anyway, I had the brisket quesadilla. And while it was quite good, it was a little slight considering that it was $11. Misty got the Bistro Chicken Mac & Cheese, which was also quite good, about the same price, and plentiful. Her dad got a chicken quesadilla and onion rings, and her mom got chicken tenders and fries. Three soft drinks between us, and no desserts. Total price before tip: about $63.

 

That doesn't include the actual movie tickets, incidentally, which were $11 a piece.

 

Was it worth it? Well, I mean, I enjoyed it. It was pretty cool, and it did feel like we were doing something "special." But it's probably not something that just the two of us will feel like we need to do on a regular basis.

 

 

There was also an option for unlimited popcorn for $7. And drinks have free refills. So you could probably just do that and endlessly snack throughout the movie, summoning your server whenever you run low on something.

 

Of course, either way, you're really gonna have to pee about midway through.

 

It's also worth noting that the theater was fairly bright, even while the movie was showing. Brighter than the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater at Disney Hollywood Studios, to be sure. It didn't bother me, but it was a bit distracting to Misty. And there's no getting around the fact that the servers are a distraction, no matter how much they try not to be. Ours was also not very good. Her response time was ridiculously slow. But most of the other guests did not seem to have that problem.

 

I was just thinking about dessert when the check was dropped off. So then I decided against it. And this is *me,* the guy who usually orders dessert first. Now, I know they tell you that you have to summon your server if you want anything else, but this really seems like a wasted opportunity on their part. Even though it would be a distraction from the film, the servers should ask you if you want dessert at about the midway point. I bet they'd sell a ton of it. After all, you're doing a thing where the whole point is to eat, and you're not eating anymore. Plus, the menu had lots of good dessert options. But I didn't see anyone in the theater getting any. Problem.

 

Still, it was certainly worth doing once. I'd give a B.

 

Of course, I also liked Green Lantern. Your mileage may vary.

[MayTheGForceBeWithYou]

Interesting concept...don't know what to make of it though.

[BarryH]

Great photos! I've always wanted to check out the place.

 

There's a similar theater in downtown Orlando called the Plaza Cinema Cafe. I went there once and it looks nicer than the AMC. Plus, they have these big Captain Kirk chairs to sit in. You have to order and pick up your food at concessions. You put your food on a big arm rest on your Captain Kirk chair. I think food was around $10-$15, but I only had a large soda for like $5.

 

Here's the website: http://www.cobbtheatres.com/plazacinema12.aspx

[WFChris]

The Arclight Theaters in Los Angeles tried this concept for a while, but took a more upscale angle on it. You would pay about $25 per movie ticket and still had to pay for food and beverage. Servers would deliver everything, and it was actually really cool. Unfortunately, it was a $100 date EVERY time so was not very popular.

 

Eventually, The Arclight ditched the dining concept, and lowered their ticket prices to about $14 or $15. They still have a restaurant and bar in the lobby, and you can still bring the food (and alcohol) into the theater. They have a very strict NO cellphones rule, including simply turning the screen on....one strike and your out. They also have a dude give a little spiel at the beginning about the rules and movie information. Also, they charge full adult price for children under 6 to discourage bringing them! Finally, they offer 21+ screenings here and there, q + a sessions with actors from older movies preceding a screening, and other silly little 'events.'

 

This concept works great for them and they expanding in the area pretty quickly.

 

I guess the point is, every time they try this concept out here, it fails. The only place out here that still does this shows 80's movies and its not that expensive of an ordeal. I am curious to see how long the concept lasts out at Disney World.