Why Central Florida Will Amaze You

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🏡 This Episode:
Central Florida is a hidden gem waiting to be discovered! Join us on a journey through the heart of the Sunshine State and uncover the magic that awaits. From the enchanting theme parks to the serene natural beauty, Central Florida has something for everyone. Get ready to be amazed by the vibrant culture, delicious cuisine, and endless adventures that await you in this captivating region. Don't miss out on the opportunity to experience the wonder of Central Florida - it's a destination like no other! Subscribe now for more travel inspiration and start planning your unforgettable trip today.

📖 Chapters:
0:00 - Welcome - Central Florida RV Travel Tips
6:22 - Exploring Central Florida and RV Resorts
15:59 - Exploring Central Florida and Beyond
24:00 - Exploring Central Florida Attractions
30:34 - RV Parks and Equestrian Events
35:35 - National Rally and Alliance RV Community

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Transcript

Ryan : 0:10

Welcome back to the RV shenanigans podcast, brought to you by liquefied I'm Lauren, this is Ryan, and together we are Miller's emotion.

Lauren: 0:18

We had a ranch in Texas that we sold and are now enjoying life in our Alliance valor.

Ryan : 0:23

And we are currently coming to you from the wonderful Tyler Texas. Isn't it pretty we are currently here for a horse show with Lauren and, yes, the windows are open because there's a pasture behind us. Fun fact also, there's a dump tank dump tank-er right there. So the park we're currently in doesn't actually have sewer service. So once a week, twice a week, something like that, thursdays, that's all I know they bring a pumper trunk out and they remove things in a manual way.

Lauren: 0:55

What does every good RVer do? We sit and we watch.

Ryan : 0:59

A lot of the people aren't up here. I happened to come back right before they did it. I don't like pumper services. They're're perfectly nice people, that's not the problem but I just don't because we have so many valve handles on our coach. I'm not the biggest fan of them because, like I came up and they use like a macerator suction system to get everything out a little faster. It's just wearing, tearing the pipes and stuff that doesn't need to happen a lot.

Ryan : 1:22

I'm a big fan of gravity and half our valves were still closed because we have our three valves up front, two grays, one black, and then we have a black in the back as well, so we have total four valves. Plus we have a volterra handle which is a capped, and so we don't get any extra fun when we go to take the cap off. And so they had only pulled the one and then there's a handle above it in that one. So, like the one, the tank that they actually need to dump wasn't being dumped and so that suction was coming in. So just if you're going to have a dump service, my one little disclaimer there is be aware of that and just know that you know they might need you to double check, because you know your rig better than they ever are going to know your rig.

Lauren: 1:58

Yeah, there's no way for them to know all these different rigs.

Ryan : 2:00

Nope. I will say, though, that liquefied for the win, because that helps a lot of that waste and stuff break down already. So big thanks to Matt and the team at liquefied. They're obviously one of our sponsors as well. And speaking of, why don't we just talk about liquefied for a second?

Lauren: 2:15

Well, let's do that.

Ryan : 2:19

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Ryan : 2:54

One of my favorite features is actually this easy measure pour spout. Because it's designed this way, you don't have to bring in other cups or measuring devices of any kind. Dump what you need in for your size tank, put the cap back on and you're done. To learn more about Liquified RV Black Tank Treatment, you can visit liquifiedrvcom. Do us a favor. Please support the brands that support us, because they enable us to be able to bring you the podcast and the regular videos. To purchase Liquified Black Tank Treatment, please see the link down below black tank treatment.

Lauren: 3:30

Please see the link down below all right, what are? We talking about today flow rider the rapper boots with the fur and you're welcome for that. No, florida, because what rvr hasn't been to florida?

Ryan : 3:42

specifically Central Florida. We've been trying to do more destination stuff. After the Super Show we had a lot of interviews and so we're trying to play catch up now on a lot of the places we went, and we spent a significant time in Central Florida.

Ryan : 3:55

Well, significant to us, maybe like six weeks, well yeah, significant to us, and I will say that this is going to encompass things we may have already talked briefly about, like Walt Disney World and Fort Wilderness. We're not going to go into detail on any of that stuff because there's two full podcasts about those two topics. They're literally the two podcasts right before this one. So if you are curious more about that, you can refer back to that podcast or those podcasts, depending on which one you're looking at, when we're done. But we're going to talk about all of Central Florida in this one, because there is a lot going on in Central Florida.

Lauren: 4:26

There, sure is. So where do we start?

Ryan : 4:28

So, as far as RVs and getting around, the one thing you should know is there's a high season and a low season.

Lauren: 4:35

And you can read that as a costly season and a cheaper season as well. True.

Ryan : 4:40

But a lot of RVers snowbirds if you may like to flock to Florida. So just know if you're going to go to central Florida in the winter plan you're not alone, no, you're not planning would be a good idea.

Ryan : 4:53

There's a ton of campgrounds. There's state parks. You have Everglades National Park. That's really more south Florida, but I'll kind of give it a little bit there. There are campgrounds a plenty, but they do fill up, especially your extreme winter months up north. Once you get to Christmas, then January, February and March, it's pretty tough to find a site.

Lauren: 5:13

It's just now, because we're recording this in mid-April and it's just now starting to calm down a little bit down there and people are starting to spread back out as warmth goes back north and we, because of weather, actually got to central florida a day ahead of schedule and we had some trouble finding an rv site, and part of that has to do with our size, but the other was just availability it was, and so we ended up staying one day at disney's fort wilderness one night, sorry, um, at fort wilderness, which was a blast, um, I can't imagine trying to get work done while we stayed there.

Ryan : 5:45

No, that wasn't going to happen, and no, in and around Disney there's a bunch of other RV resorts as well, including the infamous TTO Thousand Trails, orlando. That's right. Apparently, the people that have stayed there some of our friends have said it's one of those things you have to experience. Well, we're not Thousand Trails members and that one's one of their busier parks, especially in the winter, and so that's probably not something that we're ever going to. I never say never.

Ryan : 6:12

But, it's not something on the horizon that we're probably going to experience anytime soon. So why would someone want to come to Central Florida?

Lauren: 6:22

Well, I think you've hit the first nail on the head that, especially during winter, it's going to be warmer there than it is in many other locations.

Ryan : 6:29

It is so obviously. The first thing is going to say that it's the weather right. In the winter it's going to be pretty warm. It can get cold some days, there can be some rain, but on the average it's way better than say Wisconsin, that's right, wisconsin and Ohio. So that's, that's going to be the biggest reason. What's the second reason?

Lauren: 6:44

Unless you like your snow. If you like your snow, then absolutely stay up there up North.

Ryan : 6:49

I like my snow as long as there's skis on my feet, and I know that there's a warm beverage at the bottom of the Hill.

Lauren: 6:55

So the other reasons are going to be some of your big attractions like Disney and, you know, Orlando and all that universal, that sort of stuff.

Ryan : 7:02

And that's a whole lot of Orlando. There's actually quite a bit to do across all of Central Florida. When I say Central Florida, what I'm kind of circling on a map would be Orlando in the center, cape Canaveral off to the east, which is going to be kind of where the cruise terminal is, that's where the Kennedy Space Center is, spacex, all that stuff, all the way over to Tampa on the west side, and St Petersburg, or St Pete as they refer to it as, and maybe even Sarasota a little bit. So you have two different versions of beaches you have Pacific Ocean side and Gulf side, and then you have the center, which you'd think there's not much to do, but there's a ton to do in the center, given that that's where Universal Studios is, disney, all the other things that go into theme park lands, um, down in the orlando area. Plus, you also have one of the more prominent campgrounds. So let's start with campgrounds.

Lauren: 7:55

We obviously talked a little bit about tto a little bit ago, but one of the most popular campgrounds in the country is located in this area and they're in auburndale, florida they also played host to rv unplug season two, which is coming out in a week from this, two weeks, may 28th so that would be camp margaritaville, and even though there are other locations, this one is is the one that we know best and was very popular. There are a lot, lot of amenities there. There's, you know, really nice pools, there's mini golf, there's restaurants, shops, all kinds of stuff. And they have events all the time. Their goal is like resort style entertainment Right.

Ryan : 8:34

And it is pricey. I will say that I mean the cheapest sites. When we were there started about what was it? $125, $135? Something along those lines, which is just a standard back end. They have a lot of pull through so it is a resort, so it's really easy to get in and out of. They want that experience to be good for you and realistically this is what I would call a destination resort. So some rv parks or rv resorts are built in areas where you're really just meant to be there and then go experience whatever it is around you, kind of like by by the Grand Canyon, things that are by national parks or big cities or other things. I would even say TTO is one of those, because it's really there, because it's only 15 miles from Walt Disney World. You know those types of places are there. Margaritaville is really meant to be come for a long weekend or a week stay here.

Lauren: 9:20

Right, they would be okay if you didn't leave for the duration of your stay.

Ryan : 9:24

In fact, they would love it, because that means you're spending your money there instead of somewhere else, exactly, and they've tried to make that possible. And they really have. You can rent your own golf cart. Like Lauren said, they have all the amenities that she already went over. There's pools. There's not a whole lot else in that area.

Lauren: 9:40

No, not immediately. There really isn't.

Ryan : 9:47

It is technically in Auburndale, florida, but it is also very, very close to Lakeland, florida, which is a little bit bigger of a city. So that is going to be the home of the Detroit Tigers spring training. There's a single A club that also plays there. I think they're the Lakeland Tigers, is my understanding. You have restaurants, all kinds of stuff in that area. It is a lot of chains, that kind of stuff. We only went to one off-site with our friends, Harold and Cindy, one night. While we were down there we went to Ford's Garage. It was good it was.

Lauren: 10:12

It was very good.

Ryan : 10:13

I didn't realize the Ford Motor Company had restaurants. That's who owns it. That's the crazy part. But it was good and it was fun to hang out with them. But you know, the thing about these types of resorts for me is I feel like they hit a lot of demographics. I don't think it's us.

Lauren: 10:31

Right, it's not ours Now. We didn't have any issues like with the children making noise or bothering our rig per se, but just understand that people there are on vacation and that's the mentality that they take, and so they're not there working during the week Most of the time. Maybe there are a couple, but for the most part the people we witnessed were there to have a good time.

Ryan : 10:53

Yeah, and they had a good time and they had a good time? Yeah, I don't think when we, when we talk about kids and people that are having a good time AKA maybe a little bit more rambunctious with their drinking, that kind of stuff, don't take that as a knock towards it. We're all for that kind of stuff. I mean, we're fans of Disney, we're fans of doing that.

Ryan : 11:11

But as a full-timer, you know Monday to Friday and even Saturdays, a lot of days we're working during the day. It just happens to be from our RV in nice, places a lot, and so unfortunately for us, like it's, it's a little bit more distracting in those types of places. Even if the kids and everybody weren't around, there's still a tiki bar and a pool and a mini golf course and right, and so it's just setting your expectation right.

Ryan : 11:37

It is, and so, with that being said, I do think that there's the other type of people that prefer more of boondocking and all that which we didn't get to do down there. Unfortunately, Our stay at Camp Margaritaville was actually for the production of RV Unplugged Season 2. And so we were dead to the world.

Lauren: 11:53

That's a really good example.

Ryan : 11:55

And so that's kind of the downside is, we did experience everything there. There were plenty of nights that us and Phil and Stacey and Todd and Steph wandered down to the Tiki Bar, especially in pre-production week, but then as the series went on and the filming went on, obviously sleep was a commodity, so we kind of sequestered down there and then the last few days we went back out again and then before we started heading back to Texas, and everything there was very nice.

Lauren: 12:17

As far as the amenities went, they had fire pits, they had all kinds of stuff and the food was pretty decent.

Ryan : 12:23

The food was actually pretty solid. I will say it's still a quicker. I'm going to say theme park style food.

Lauren: 12:30

Yeah.

Ryan : 12:32

I think it was elevated for theme park food, if you don't know what I'm talking about burgers, chicken fingers, that kind of stuff. It was better than what you're going to find in one of the Disney parks on the average or Universal parks, but it still wasn't like. I was still expecting more flavor. I think that I'm always expecting more flavor, though.

Ryan : 12:48

I think that's a theme we just like the way we like things spicy. So, moving on from that as far as Lakeland, like I said, there's not a lot else to do in that area, unfortunately. We did hear that there's a ton of like state parks that you can go visit in the area. You just have to be careful because there's alligators frigging everywhere. In fact, one of the lakes we were doing some of the shooting in and you'll see it in one of the episodes for RV Unplugged, apparently, the day after we were done shooting, one of the guys that was there helping Derek was like oh yeah, we just saw a 10-foot alligator go right into that water that you guys were just in. I'm like awesome Glad I wasn't in there. Sorry in, like awesome glad I wasn't in there. Sorry, contestants, um, but that's something to be aware of when you're at those parks.

Lauren: 13:36

Um, yeah, and moving down the road to tampa a little bit, we didn't get to experience tampa in all of its glory so we've actually been to tampa several times but, it's always for the super show the rv super show in january, and so we spend so much time at the show we don't really get to go off site too much. We do one big charity dinner.

Ryan : 13:56

We've seen the Elks Lodge twice.

Lauren: 13:58

We've seen the Elks Lodge and we've seen the fairgrounds, and that's about all of Tampa that we've seen.

Ryan : 14:03

Yeah, the airport now oh yeah, the airport Woohoo.

Lauren: 14:06

So we haven't gotten to experience as much of that as we would like to, but yes it's there.

Ryan : 14:11

Just know, tampa is going to be the home to a lot of the major sports teams in central Florida the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I think that's it, but there is. If you're a sports fan, that's kind of the place to go. Also, your West Coast beaches are going to be over in that area, especially once you get down to St Pete and then a little further South in the Sarasota area, especially once you get down to saint pete and then a little further south into sarasota. There's apparently an island over there ami island, omni island, amai, however, you say that that's supposed to be pretty cool, is it on a marie island?

Ryan : 14:41

ami yes okay so that's over in that area.

Lauren: 14:44

That is supposed to be really cool, but I don't think that's an rv thing no that is a leave your rv on mainland and go visit. I did when I did a leave your RV on mainland and go visit and go visit.

Ryan : 14:52

I did when I did a quick little research on it. There is an RV park not far off the island, on the mainland, but the island itself there are no RV sites but there are rental homes. I believe there's a small boutique hotel, it's not a big.

Lauren: 15:04

No, it's not big, but it's supposed to be just beachy, totally relaxed, family-oriented.

Ryan : 15:10

Yeah, lots of restaurants like mom-and-pop restaurants, think, ice cream shops, that kind of stuff.

Lauren: 15:15

Let's put that on the calendar for next year.

Ryan : 15:17

Just to take a little break and go over there.

Lauren: 15:19

Yeah, that sounds good.

Ryan : 15:20

What do we do with the dogs?

Lauren: 15:22

I don't know that's next. You guys want to watch them.

Ryan : 15:25

Yeah, we will pay you in hugs. So another little tidbit, and some people are going to find this boring. But Central Florida is also home to the Streamsong Golf Resort. I did spend some time there. You do fly into Tampa. It's about an hour hour, hour and a half away from the Tampa Airport. It's actually almost directly south of Lakeland by about 30 or 40 minutes. Really cool golf resort. A little pricey, but if you're in the area and you want to play a cool round of golf by some really famous designers, it is a cool spot.

Ryan : 15:56

I don't know that I'd go out there just to play golf for the one day. It's one of those things kind of take your guy friends, make a weekend of it. But if you happen to be in that area, you can park the RV and then go down there for a few days, hang out, play golf, have some drinks, eat some dinners, that kind of stuff, and then head back to the RV and get back on it Again. That's assuming you're full-time. If you're part-time and you're a golfer, just fly into it. But just one of those things. That's another amenity, that's right there.

Lauren: 16:23

I'll be on the beach Shocker.

Ryan : 16:25

So as far as the rest of central Florida, it's one of those unique things because if you move the further East you move. It's a very different feel. Very Cause there's not as much to do. Like, obviously you get into Orlando. In fact, let's we, we can talk about Orlando a little bit more proper. Um, I've been going to Orlando Well since I was a little kid, but for the last 11 years now I've been going there at least once a year.

Ryan : 16:52

you haven't no um, but it's a pga merchandise show is that one of the largest convention centers the world is called the orange county convention center. It is in the city of orlando, um, and that's in orange county and so I've been going to that area for a long time. Obviously you have your disney. We did a whole episode on disney, we're not going to dive into that. A little further North, in a town called Dr Phillips right, kind of been near close to the airport, you're going to have universal studios Florida, which is comprised of two theme parks about to be three, they're about to open Epic universe and one water park and then an area they call city walk. It's kind of like Disneyney springs as a reference point. So restaurant shopping, entertainment, that kind of stuff.

Ryan : 17:35

Um, there are rv parks up there near it kinda um but again, there's nothing on site, for universal universe is a little bit more spread out, you know you when you talk about disney.

Ryan : 17:47

You hear people talk about the disney bubble. They really want you to stay inside that bubble because then they can control your visuals, the food, everything. And so you have Fort Wilderness, which is their main campground. Like I said, there's off-site campgrounds that are a little less expensive, but now you're outside that bubble At Universal Studios for an RV. You don't really have that option. It's off-site or nothing, or you have to get a hotel room.

Lauren: 18:07

Hey Universal.

Ryan : 18:12

Hint, hint, hint, nudge, nudge. Well, I don't think they have room. They can find room. It's they are lacking even their new theme park. Their third theme park's not actually attached to the other ones, it's not attached to the main resort, and their two newest hotels aren't either. So they're struggling over there. As far as room, I think they're pretty much capped out yeah, land as far as the rest of orlando, there's still a ton of stuff. There's what they call I drive. This is going to be a little more niche-y.

Lauren: 18:31

I don't even know the best Kitchy.

Ryan : 18:33

Kitchy. It's going to be things like the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.

Lauren: 18:37

Right.

Ryan : 18:38

They've got the big bungee swinger flyer thingamajigger.

Lauren: 18:42

That is fun.

Ryan : 18:43

The Orlando Eye is there, which is their big Ferris wheel, that kind of thing. There's still a ton to do and you can get one of those like passes that's what I was just gonna say, yeah where you can do a bunch of that stuff at a one fixed cost, and so from that perspective it's kind of cool.

Ryan : 18:58

Um, there's not. The more in the downtown you get and this is true with most cities, just like orlando the more downtown you get, the less rv sites there are, or the less rvs you want to actually tell like I wouldn't imagine towing down, I driveDrive.

Lauren: 19:09

Oh my gosh. No, there's no way. I'd want to do that. I barely want to drive down. I-drive sometimes.

Ryan : 19:14

In fact, that's another thing I wouldn't.

Lauren: 19:16

Right.

Ryan : 19:17

It's just so traffic. It's not that it's bad.

Lauren: 19:19

I mean, the only thing I can equivalent it to in my brain is like trying to drive down the strip in Vegas. It's just so traffic-y that it's not worth it sometimes.

Ryan : 19:28

No, that's a good analogy. Just, the hotels aren't as nice. Well, some of the hotels aren't as nice. There's a few that are good. You're also gonna have a top golf down there. You're gonna have a ton of restaurants. Find the local stuff. That's the only thing I'm going to tell you is. Like you know there are. It's Orlando. It's very commercialized with the theme. When you get off property, every chain restaurant and their brother has a place there. Try to find the off-the-beaten-path places. Obviously, if you're staying at Disney or Universal and you're eating there, it is what it is. Those are technically chain places but because they're specific to those parks, that's a little different. But avoid the Chili's, that kind of stuff. There's a place called Miller's Ale.

Ryan : 20:10

Oh, yeah, which I think they just call the ale house. Um, I'm trying to remember what people we know in the area have taught me, which is not much, but what?

Lauren: 20:21

ouch, no, and I think last time we went we were in the area trying to find it is kind of difficult to find those mom and pops's places. We ended up at a Carrabba's one night and it's just kind of like you can get that anywhere. Do try to find that local flavor.

Ryan : 20:37

And if you are in your RV, just know that because it's chains. I think if we had the choice between cooking for ourselves or chains, we'd almost rather cook for ourselves. Yeah, because at least now we're getting it the exact way we want it and, to be honest, I don't think we're bad at cooking, so that helps.

Lauren: 20:51

Very true.

Ryan : 20:52

So moving a little bit further east now and this is where we get a little disclosure. This is mostly research we've done. We have not spent a lot of time east of Orlando, but one of the most popular reasons there's really two big ones that people go from Orlando and east.

Lauren: 21:09

I know that the drive is only about 45 minutes to an hour to the coast from like downtown Orlando. Do you know what the two are? Well, I was hoping you were going to say the cruise port because I would like to experience that one.

Ryan : 21:18

What's the other one? We're going to come back to that. You got one space center.

Lauren: 21:20

Yeah, you got them.

Ryan : 21:23

Science and cruising which, I'll be honest, I, like you said you know there are a bunch of ports all around Florida, the largest being the Port of Miami because it's close to the Keys and the Bahamas and everything else. The second largest is actually Cape Canaveral, so it's the home of Disney Cruise Line, carnival, royal Caribbean and Norwegian. All have cruise ports there. Then you also have the cruise port in Tampa. They only service, I believe, carnival and Norwegianian, and it's smaller terminals. The the channel is not as big there so they can't get the bigger ships in, so a lot of the bigger ships stay in miami or in cape canaveral. So, with that being said, the cruise port there. So that's a big reason, especially for disney. Disney also has disney cruise and so there's a lot of people that will take a longer vacation and they will do a stay at Universal Studios.

Lauren: 22:18

No, they won't. They'll stay at.

Ryan : 22:19

Walt Disney World and then they'll jump on a ship. So they'll do like four or five days in the parks and then they'll do like a three or four night cruise and some people that do more. They'll do more on one end or the other, or they'll do seven night or whatever. Does Disney still have like the transport that goes helps you get from one to the other? They do.

Ryan : 22:36

It's a secondary charge and so if you have reservations, they used to sell land and sea packages they don't sell them together like that anymore, but you can still make them yourself, so like if you find a cruise you want to do, then you can book your walt disney world stay before or after. I think what was happening is they were flooding the parks too much Because they always did pre or post, and I think they just said and some people wanted to change stuff and they just said you know, we're going to stop bundling it and we'll just let you do this, and if you do that, you can book the Disney Cruise Line transportation to pick you up from your hotel. The cool thing about that is they will pick you up from your hotel but they will also take your bags from you there all the way to your stateroom.

Ryan : 23:13

Oh, yeah, okay, and so kind of like what the Magical Express used to do.

Lauren: 23:16

Oh, back in the good old days.

Ryan : 23:17

Right, which, if you're not familiar with that, it was a bus service that Disney owned that would pick you up at the airport. But when you checked your bags in your home airport, you would put your own tag on it from disney and it was marked a certain way and they had their own baggage handlers I'm not really sure the term that would get it and then take it to the park. So you never had to go to baggage claim to pick up your stuff. You just magically went to your hotel room. It took some time, it wasn't just instant.

Lauren: 23:42

I mean, you'd be there for three or four hours no, but you didn't have to wait at bag baggage claim you got to go get on the bus and everybody sang mickey songs and it was an experience it was bring back the magical express well, and what I think they're trying to do is there's a there's a company called bright line which is a train service line.

Ryan : 24:00

Uh, there's a high-speed train now that connects miami, fort lauderdale and cape canaveral, and they just expanded into orlando. Good, so the train track only goes as far as the airport at the moment. So so if you are cruising out of Cape Canaveral and you don't have your RV and you fly into MCO or the International Airport in Orlando, you can actually jump on the Brightline train and go right to down there and then you can take a bus or an Uber to your hotel or to the cruise terminal, depending on where you're going and when you got there and all that kind of stuff. As long as I play Disney music and we get to sing the whole way, I'm good Headphones and a sound booth. So Cape Canaveral obviously is a big cruise port. All of those cruises you can catch there. I know that there's some RV parks that do allow storage they actually specialize in that stuff to where you can suck your slides in and you can still power, but you're not on sewer water. It's a lot less expensive than a full site and they're a lot smaller, obviously, but you can store your rv there while you go, which is a really cool thing, because not always do you want to rent a whole site for a week while you're on a cruise, kind of thing, right? Um, assuming you don't have dogs and have to board them, and all that too.

Ryan : 25:05

Um, the other thing that they're most well known for is the kennedy space center, so this is where NASA has done most of their launches, all the way back to the Mercury missions, which is pre the Apollo moon landings and all that stuff. So this, combined with the Johnson Space Center in Houston, make up most of NASA. They also now lease land out to SpaceX as well as other individual companies. So if you ever hear of like a Falcon 10 heavy rocket that launches or the Starlink satellites that launch, this is where they launch from. There is also the Johnson Space Center Visitor Center, so they'll take you through all the stuff. They have the rocket park. Both versions of the space centers in Houston and Cape Canaveral have this. Obviously, in Houston, that's where mission command, mission control the people that are in charge of the mission, mission control, mission control is, and so the launches and everything else is down in Cape Canaveral, so they're a little different.

Lauren: 26:04

And we did get to look at the one in Houston.

Ryan : 26:07

We did.

Lauren: 26:07

And I will say that, if the one in Florida is comparable or even better, it's a really neat experience and it's something you don't see anywhere else, I believe it's better because the facility is just larger and you actually get to go, assuming there's no launches.

Ryan : 26:19

You actually get to go to the launch pads where the Apollo missions took off and see that stuff, and then they have more of the things that actually went to space. I mean, don't get me wrong, they have plenty of it down here too, but because a lot of it landed here, like all the space shuttles, this is where they landed was Cape Canaveral, and so you know they have their own shuttle. I believe Atlantis is the one that's on display there.

Lauren: 26:42

And admittedly I am a nerd, but I'm not a space nerd, and I found it really neat.

Ryan : 26:47

Yeah, I think it's one of those things that I don't know, that I'd drive all the way from Orlando just for the Space Center, but if we were doing a cruise, I think I would.

Lauren: 26:57

I really thought it was that once in a lifetime I'm not a space nerd but I would drive an hour just to do this. Facts.

Ryan : 27:08

The way I would do it personally is, if we were going to do a cruise, I'd go a full day early, kind of like what we did. So we took an Alaskan cruise and we wanted to see Seattle Spoiler. We didn't care for it Not that we don't dislike Seattle, but it just wasn't our cup of tea. We went out a full day and a half early, so we landed. We had the whole next day and then the next morning we got on the ship, so we had a whole, or you know a few days at Disney.

Lauren: 27:37

That's more like it.

Ryan : 27:38

Then take the train over, because that sounds like more fun than a bus.

Lauren: 27:41

There we go.

Ryan : 27:42

And then you know, I don't know how long the Kennedy Space Center and all that stuff would take.

Lauren: 27:50

So let us plan your vacations and let us live vicariously through you.

Ryan : 27:55

Or we could just go do it.

Lauren: 27:57

All right, what else on on that side?

Ryan : 28:00

So as far as the rest of central Florida, you know it's without getting into like Everglades national park and a lot of things that are South Key West and all those things, without going too far North. Just know when you get there Florida is big Like you don't realize how big Florida is you?

Ryan : 28:17

don't realize it. Yeah, I know we're kind of coming back to travel, just think of it as a full circle thing. But it's funny because you cross that, the border near Alabama, georgia and all that into the well for us coming from Texas up in the Panhandle and you're like we're in Florida and then you have another day and a half of driving to get to Central Florida, because it's for us it was six hours across Florida and followed by another four hours South of Florida, and so there's not, it's. It's kind of like Texas. Texas in that way is depending on where you enter and exit the state. You can be there for a day and a half, especially with an RV.

Lauren: 28:52

Even longer in Texas. But yeah, you can.

Ryan : 28:54

You can be there for a long time, and so it's everybody thinks that Texas is this state and everything out.

Lauren: 28:59

East is kind of smaller, compact and it is on the average florida's, not that well, and I think it's because also you enter through that panhandle so you have to drive all the way through it.

Lauren: 29:07

People that are coming from the north wouldn't have to necessarily drive in that same way, but there was one thing that we didn't talk about, okay, and I figured this wasn't on your radar, so I I'm surprising you with this, and this is something that I want to do one of the times that we are in Central Florida. Send help, yes, because it's a protected event, and I'm not sure where else in the world that you can do this. I want to swim with the manatees.

Ryan : 29:34

You can swim with them.

Lauren: 29:35

Yes.

Ryan : 29:35

For some reason I thought you could go with them and you could kayak around, but you couldn't swim with them. Yes, for some reason I thought you could go with them and you could kayak around, but you couldn't swim.

Lauren: 29:40

Well, maybe you can kayak with them. I want to.

Ryan : 29:41

I want to be in the water with the manatees that is something that there's a lot, and there is another thing we're going to talk about, too, that I also forgot about oh yeah so yeah, obviously a lot of places in florida the water stays warm in the winter and so a lot of sea life migrates there from the north, and manatees being one of them.

Ryan : 30:00

As the gulf gets cooler and the areas that they're in, they swim to all the little inlets that stay warmer and they kind of hang out in there in the summer yes, but they are protected and you can't just jump in and swim with them, and so there are certain dedicated programs.

Lauren: 30:13

Please don't just jump in and pet the manatees like a a spider monkey. So that's my disclaimer, but there are certain programs and places that will guide you with that.

Ryan : 30:25

So, depending on where you're staying, just know, you could probably just Google it and find a whole bunch more information than I currently have Between an hour and two from where we were staying. Yeah, so, in addition to that, if you are into horses and all that stuff, ocala is a little bit of a capital of that.

Lauren: 30:41

It sure is. There's the World Equestrian Center and, fun fact, they have RV parking and, depending on the event that is or isn't going on, you can park there if you're not attending the horse show. And my understanding is it's pretty reasonable, concrete sites, easy to get in and out of.

Ryan : 30:56

I think, and it seemed to be pretty open In fact, fact when we were coming down. I know that you said they had availability. Yeah, we're coming down, we just wanted to get further, so I'll call us. Still is another hour and a half ish from where we were trying to land, and so we wanted to keep coming down south towards orlando plus fort world and this disney world.

Ryan : 31:13

Come on yeah, and I think they were actually comparably priced when we got down to it the world equestrian center versus the fort but I do think where you can get have an advantage if you're trying to find a last minute spot in central florida, especially in the winter is that I think a lot of people assume that you have to be showing a horse right part of world equestrian. That's not necessarily the case. Now they do hold sites for special events because obviously, like if we were going to a horse show there with st Stella and we would need a site they can't just get like if we don't know we're coming till three weeks prior, they still have to have somewhere for us to stay, but anything they don't. It's supposedly a very large RV park and so they'd still have quite a few sites. So Again, for the price, it's more of an availability situation.

Lauren: 31:55

It is and it's not going to be a resort. It's not going to be amenities, anything like that. It's full hookups. But you're not going to find a restaurant on site necessarily, and it's not going to have a pool, that sort of stuff.

Ryan : 32:05

So compared to other equestrian facilities it's amazing, it's top notch. Like the one we're currently at. We said in our intro just a little bit. We're on a gravel site and of course it's about to start raining, which means we're going to be on a mud site. Yes, we don't have sewer, so they do pump outs, and we do have water and electric, which, at the end of the day, is fine.

Lauren: 32:23

And no Wi-Fi here.

Ryan : 32:25

No, yeah, there's no Wi-Fi, there's no clubhouse. In fact, there's probably only about 20 RVs, trailers right over there. But again, it's about where you are and if, if you're showing a horse, being able to be on property and it's the same for world equestrian that's, the priority is being able to be close to your animals so that you don't have to drive in 30 minutes check them, because there's some mornings that trainers and grooms will get up at 5 00 am oh yeah and be down there to check on them everybody and then be ready to show by 7, 30 or 8.

Ryan : 32:51

And then the flip side that they won't be done, showing until 5, 6, 7, sometimes later in certain scenarios, so they might not be out of there until 10 o'clock.

Lauren: 32:59

I was going to say we'll do a night check around 10 o'clock and then a lot of the grooms are back there 5 or 6.

Ryan : 33:04

And so being on site is a big deal, so not to bore you with horse show stuff, but it's the reality of our life.

Lauren: 33:09

That's right.

Ryan : 33:16

So that's going to the area. Please know that we really meant this to be combined with our disney world and fort wilderness. There's just so much into those two places, even though they're in one place. It's like an inception moment, um um that you know. We obviously cover central floor in this one. So if you're curious more about walt disney world or rving at disney or staying at fort williams, make sure and check out those two podcasts from last week in the week prior that's right, and if you have any questions, feel free to reach out and let us know also this is coming out early enough now if you are going to be coming to the 2024 alliance national rally in indiana, we would like to hear from you.

Lauren: 33:53

Yes, yes, please.

Ryan : 33:55

We are more than likely I almost don't want to say this doing at least one live podcast from there some way somehow.

Lauren: 34:05

Well, that sounds like a good plan. I'm excited for all those details.

Ryan : 34:09

The problem is I haven't been given those details, so I just know we've been asked to do it. I said we'd love to do a podcast. This is not florida harvey super show situation. We're doing three a day, we're gonna do one, we will do it live and I'm we're gonna do something a little bit different. We want it to be more of a listener q a style show. So what we want is, if you are coming to the national rally, reach out to us. We'll let you know as soon as we know what time and where on the grounds we're going to be, and we're actually going to have mics set up in the audience so you can come up and ask questions, and we're going to get a handful of people to come have the show with us, like some people from Alliance and maybe some other friends that happen to be in the area as well. I know Matt's going to be there.

Lauren: 34:59

And allies, with you guys being there. If you have a topic you want us to cover, make sure to let us know, or?

Ryan : 35:01

a guest Ahead of time, if you have a specific guest you'd like us to chat with at the show. It's going to be one of our longer shows, probably close to 45 minutes to an hour.

Lauren: 35:09

Last time you said that we were in here for nearly two hours.

Ryan : 35:12

It happens, that's.

Lauren: 35:14

Phil's fault.

Ryan : 35:18

I'm jumping on the bandwagon. That's phil's fault? No, we do, and that's that's some of the best podcasts we've had is when those conversations can just go so we love it.

Ryan : 35:25

Just know that that can be a longer one, and the best part is we get to hang out with everybody, like you guys. If you're going to be there, just know if you don't have tickets already. The national rally it is sold out. There is a waiting list. You can get to be there. Just know if you don't have tickets already. The national rally it is sold out. There is a waiting list you can get on, but there's no guarantees you'll get in. Also, for future reference, if you'd like to come and you don't own Alliance and you're thinking about buying an Alliance, you can come on Um. They do have a what they call other brands um category, which is essentially where you can come.

Ryan : 35:52

You have your own lot, and so whether you have well, it doesn't matter what brand any other brand any other you can still come experience it that's what I did last year and just know that it's a very welcoming community of people, so it really doesn't matter what rv you have they'll, they'll welcome you with open arms you got it thank you guys, so much for listening, as always. A big thanks to the team over at matt's RV Reviews and Liquified for sponsoring the podcast.

Lauren: 36:17

Yes, thank you so much.

Ryan : 36:18

And we will catch you guys next week.

Lauren: 36:20

Bye you.