Oh look at me, I'm gonna go touch the butt. - Sheldon from, "Finding Nemo"

Hello all, it's Tan here.

It's been a pretty crazy month for us both, which is why we haven't been able to write an update.  So if we've ruined your Christmas because you were looking forward to a blog entry, we're sorry.  If it was me, I would have re-read our previous posts and pretended I was reading them for the first time.

Now that we've got that out of the way...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to our wonderful readers!  We hope you had a great festive season and that 2014 will bring you more joy and happiness than ever.  Jennie and I are quite excited about this year for obvious reasons...  I don't think I've ever looked forward to a year ahead as much as I have this one.

Happy New Year!  I'm looking forward to seeing this again!

I was originally going to write about what my groomsmen and I will be wearing for the wedding, but I realised that Jennie had demanded, threatened me with physical violence if I didn't comply, asked me to write about other theme parks in the Orlando area.

This is something that we are not very familiar with as outside of the Disney World parks, we've only been to Universal Studios - and that was only because we wanted to see Harry Potter world.

It's Hogwarts!  Did you know that there's a pretty sweet ride inside?

Universal Studios have divided their resort into two different theme parks;

• Islands of Adventure - Book Themed.  Harry Potter, Dr. Seuss, Jurassic Park (it was a book before it was a movie, okay??) and Marvel Comics
• Universal Studios - Movie and TV Themed.  Transformers, The Simpsons, The Mummy, Terminator and more

Jennie and I have only been to the Islands of Adventure Park, but were very impressed with the quality of attractions.  Universal have really done an excellent job here.  I think it is much better than their California resort (which is quite good in its own right)

It's more than just a theme park - it also has shops, restaurants, and fight clubs (it does not have fight clubs)

The Harry Potter world is the best attraction in my opinion.  Not just because we're big Harry Potter fans.  The makers have really emphasised attention to detail, making it a very immersive experience for visitors.  It is the closest a muggle can get to being a wizard/witch/dark lord.

You can even hatch a dragon!!

Jennie is the Queen of Dragons.  Wait, wrong book series...

Try the butterbeer (it's non-alcoholic!) even if you're not a fan of the books.  It's loaded with sugar, cream and God knows what else.  But it tastes awesome, and you're going to be on holidays, so those calories don't count...

Butterbeer!  It's not butter, it's not beer.  Don't ask me what it is, just drink it.

Okay, that's enough about Universal.  Go and find out for yourself and tell me what you think of it.

Next up...

Legoland!!

Luke, I am your LEGO...

Up until about twenty minutes ago, I didn't know this place existed.  Now all I want to do is go here and assemble bricks until my fingers bleed.  Kinda like Bryan Adams did in that fateful summer of '69.  

He wants you to think it was from playing his guitar, but in the 80's, "playing the guitar" was code for assembling lego bricks.  True story.  Google it if you don't believe me.  Here, I'll wait...

...waiting...

...still waiting.  Are you done yet?

...OMG I can't believe you googled that.  You must be more gullible than I am!!

Back on topic - Legoland.  I've never been to any of the Legolands.  All I know is I want to go because I love Lego.  Who's coming with me??

Our Lego R2D2.  Yes, that's a Tie Fighter in the background, and an X-Wing on the shelf above.

Other parks:

• Busch Gardens - We haven't really heard much about Busch Gardens.  All that we know is that it was originally opened in the late 50's to help the owners market their beers.  These days, it is an African-themed park with animals and stuff.  It's in Tampa, so if you're in Orlando, it'll be a one hour drive.
• Dinosaur World - we saw it on the way to Tampa.  We know nothing about it other than it has dinosaurs.  Go here for more information: OMG!!! Dinosaur World!!!
• Seaworld - Has fish and stuff.  If you want to see happy dolphins, orcas, eels, and fish, get a boat and sail out to sea.  If you want to see an unhappy version of the aforementioned animals, go to Seaworld!  Sorry, that was uncalled for.  They're treated quite well, but I do think the bigger fish/mammals should not be confined to such a small area.  Here's a photo of seals to lighten the mood...

Seals!  Lots of kisses from a rose here.  Geddit??

• Wet 'n' Wild - The theme park, not the *ahem* video...  It's a water park.  It has massive waterslides, fun multi-person slides, and relaxing pools if you just want to chill.  I'm not sure if the weather in September is conducive to enjoying a water park but if time permits, I'm going to give it a go!

This looks like fun.  Who's with me??

• Kennedy Space Center - Not really a park, but an attraction well worth visiting.  The last time Jennie and I were here, we saw the second-to-last ever shuttle launch!
  
  Seeing the launch in person is up there in the top ten highlights of my life.  The Space Center is more than just a place to watch rockets and shuttles get launched into space, it is also quite educational.  There is a shuttle simulator, a guided tour, interactive displays and a whole bunch of other cool space stuff.
  
  We've always said that when we have kids, we'll take them to the Space Center just cause it's both fun and educational

Pre-launch

We have lift-off!  The sonic boom that comes off that thing is incredible!

Rockets and other cool stuff!

So those are some of the other parks you can go to in Orlando if you have time.  The more I write about these activities, the more I realise that it'll be tough to fit in even half of the things we have written about in this blog.

We hope it has given you some ideas if you're attending our wedding.  We also hope that it has generated additional excitement for later this year!

Thanks for reading!