Florida 2020: Orlando Cat Cafe

In our quest to find non-theme park activities in Orlando, we discovered our new favorite place: The Orlando Cat Cafe. The Orlando Cat Cafe is a feline rescue organization, that as of our visit, has placed over 929 cats in new homes.

Located in a quiet shopping center, The Orlando Cat Cafe is split into two halves: The cafe and the cat playroom. The cafe portion is open to everyone and had viewing windows to see the cats. The coffee and cat themed desserts were delicious. Guests visiting the play room can bring cafe food and drinks inside.

Entrance to the cat play room involves making advanced reservations and paying an eight dollar hourly fee. The fee goes towards care for the cats, all of whom are from the SPCA Florida. Children are allowed in the play area, but there are many rules to keep the cats safe and calm in their environment.

Although it felt a bit like cheating on our own cats ( Slinky and Tom) we visited The Orlando Cat Cafe twice, since we loved it so much. An employee even gave us a frequent visitor punch card. It seemed like a majority of the other visitors were on a mission to find their perfect cat, and there is quick turnover for cats getting adopted, which is of course wonderful.

Here are picture of The Orlando Cat Cafe.

Due to Covid, we were not free to walk around the play area. We had to stay in our assigned corner of the room. If the cats didn’t wander into our area, staff members would bring a cat over with toys to entice them. For those looking to adopt, the staff brought over cats that they felt would be a good fit. For example, there was a single guy living in an apartment who wanted a quiet cat, so they found one with the right temperament. I can’t say enough good things about The Orlando Cafe Cafe and the caring people who are trying to match cats to humans.

We discovered our perfect match in a black and white cat named Todd. Todd was the sleepiest, most snuggle-bug that I have ever met. He was just so sweet. We seriously contemplated ways to get him back to Colorado, and I think had we not learned that he was already spoken for, that we would have filled-out adoption papers. He was picked up by his new family while we were at the cafe. It was bittersweet, but we hope he is having a good life that is filled with optimum napping spots!

Todd was clearly our favorite, but we also enjoyed playing with the other cats. The Orlando Cat Cafe had an abundance of kittens who were so friendly.

In Colorado we have a cat cafe called The Denver Cat Company. It’s also a great organization, but The Orlando Cat Cafe edged it out for the friendliest felines. If we lived in Orlando, we would certainly be adopting a new family member!

As an added bonus, we discovered a British pub across the street. Friar Tucks was just like a typical village pub in England: no frills decor, delicious food, and chatty patrons. On our first visit, we had dinner, which included Scotch Eggs for Dan- his favorite. We went back for a full-English breakfast on our final morning in Orlando. The food is both good value and authentic. They even have a small shop with British import items, like Cadbury chocolate. We learned that Florida has a large British community, so it’s another reason to love “The Sunshine State.”

We hope to return to Florida in 2021 with the kids, and we will definitely visit both The Orlando Cat Cafe and Friars Tuck. They are Orlando gems.

Florida 2020: Congo River Golf

We love mini-golf and decided to try to play at every course in Orlando. Probably the best course was Congo River Golf. They have many locations, and we played the East Orlando course. We arrived late at night on a weekday in September and practically had the place to ourselves.

Congo River Golf is split into two courses: Stanley and Livingstone, each giving us the story of the famous explorers. I’ve probably never been to a better themed mini-golf course. It has waterfalls, rivers, caves, a crashed airplane, boats, et…every aspect is highly themed.

In addition to playing mini-golf, we were also given a list of items to spot as we walked through the course. For example, we needed to look for a mask and for spears, when we found them, we were to note the hole on our score cards. Since we were playing through so quickly, we didn’t keep up with the game, but I think it would add an additional fun factor when the course is crowded and the waits are long.

The holes had spinner games to add additional challenges to the golf. Due to covid, we thought it best not to touch the spinners, but I like the thoughtful touches to add additional elements to the mini-golf experience.

My favorite hole was waterfall themed, where you had to hit the ball over the edge of a very steep hill. There was no way to control the ball or utilize any sort of skill, but it was fun to send the ball over the edge.

After playing mini-golf, we got to feed the baby alligators, which was the best part of the evening. I could spend all day feeding the gators. They are adorable and so gentle.

Congo River Golf is one of the best, if not the best, mini-golf course in Orlando. The theming is top-notch and the course is a challenge. I look forward to exploring their other locations.

Florida 2020: Sea World Orlando

Although our original trip had not included plans to go to a theme park, we couldn’t resist. We used the concierge at our hotel to purchase one-day tickets to SeaWorld Orlando. I have been to SeaWorld San Diego many times, but this was my first time visiting the Orlando park. Dan had not visited since he was a child. We were both so excited.

We arrived for the 10am park opening and the heat was already intense.

Due to Covid, we had to make reservations a day in advance. Masks were mandatory at all times, except when eating or drinking. This wasn’t a huge deal, except for it was definitely hot and we were sweating buckets. Cast members walked around the park to enforce the masks and social distancing. All of the queues had spacing markers and the arena shows had sections blocked-off to promote distancing. When the show ended, we were dismissed from the area row by row. At the front entrance, our temperature was taken, which couldn’t have been easier, as we just had to keep walking through a screening tent. The process didn’t even make us slow down. We observed employees spraying the rides vehicles with sanitizer between guests and loading attractions in a spaced-out manner.

As a former theme park employee, I was very interested to see how SeaWorld would handle Covid. This was my first theme park visit in 2020. I was impressed. I felt safe at SeaWorld and felt like the employees were knocking it out of the park- pun intended.

We snapped some pictures at the entrance, including my obligatory flamingo shot.

Our first ride a coaster called Manta. Rays of all sorts are my favorite sea animals and I hopped in the queue without realizing that it was a flying type of coaster, where you ride belly down. I had never done this type of coaster and it was terrifying. I would have cried, but I was too stunned by the intensity. Besides being one of the scariest rides that I’ve ever experienced, it was uncomfortable as the blood rushed forward in my head from the positioning of the ride. I can’t imagine getting stuck on Manta during a malfunction. Never again will I ride Manta. I did appreciate the gorgeous aquariums in the queue. I also think the theming of a flying style coaster is appropriate to the how Manta Rays physically look and glide through the water.

Somehow, I agreed to ride a second coaster immediately following Manta. The queues were virtually empty, so we wanted to take advantage of the low crowds. Kraken is an older coaster and bit of a rough ride, but not terrifying like Manta. I could handle it.

Next we hopped on Journey to Atlantis, a hybrid ride that combines flume/coaster/dark ride elements. I rode this many years ago at the San Diego park and I’m here to report that it has not aged well. The story is loose and it didn’t help that many show elements were broken. Dan had not previous ridden it and was caught out when it switches from a flume to a coaster, which is a great trick, but otherwise this attraction needs an overhaul. We got soaking wet and did the dumbest thing possible; we headed to the Antartica to visit the penguins.

It was so, so, so cold.

I wanted to see the other Antarctic animals, like the Polar Bears, but our teeth were chattering. We needed to be outside in the furnace. The day was heating up and we were soaked to our underwear, so we decided to leave the park and go swimming at our hotel. Our plan was to return in the evening.

A few shots as we exited the park.

We really needed to take the midday break. I think we would have needed the break, even if we hadn’t been wearing masks, but the masks definitely didn’t make it easier. We returned around 6pm and went straight to the Sea Lions Tonite show. Sea Lions Tonite is a SeaWorld classic, featuring groan-worthy comedy and cute animals. It was always one of my favorites. The current iteration pokes fun at the other SeaWorld shows and attractions, unfortunately, it didn’t do much to give information on the animals. The complete lack of an educational element was disappointing.

Next, we went to the shark exhibit. I love the immersive tunnel. I always think of the Jaws film where the shark breaks through the tunnel and the tourist run screaming. The experience is always serene, unlike the film.

After visiting the sharks, I had to brave Mako, the tallest and fastest coaster in the park. I actually loved Mako. It was smooth and thrilling, without being utterly terrifying like Manta. We rode it twice. The first drop is incredibly steep and my mask nearly flew off!

The best ride in the park, which we rode four times, was Infinity Falls. Infinity Falls is a rafting ride with a surprising elevator element followed by an enormous drop. It’s crazy and dizzying with both show elements, and tons of water. We got soaked, so wet that Dan splurged on pricy souvenir towels. I could have ridden this all day, it was so much fun and a perfect way to cool down in the steamy Florida humidity.

We capped the day off with fireworks. Many of the other parks have eliminated fireworks due to covid crowd concerns, but we felt that SeaWorld handled it well and we felt properly spaced from other guests. It was magical and made us feel like we were having a normal summer.

We had a great time at SeaWorld and even discussed getting annual passes as they are currently such a good deal. I wish we had more time to spend seeing the animals. I’m curious to see how they have changed the Shamu Show as part of their shift to animal education, rather than showing tricks. Having worked for a zoo, I know that SeaWorld is making efforts to change with the times, and I also know that both education and conservation are a big part of their mission.