Looping and Going to the LOOP

Every town has a so called “hot spot”. In the Kissimmee/Orlando area it’s The Loop. Their slogan is “Shop. Eat. Play.” It may not be as catchy as McDonald’s “ba da ba ba ba…I’m lovin’ it”, or Burger King’s “Have it Your Way”, but at least it’s true.  Most of my weekends are spent “looping”. (Sorry, that can’t be found in the dictionary. I’ll explain in a bit). The Loop is a place to hang out really. There are stores, and restaurants, and a movie theatre. If you’re visiting Florida your going to want to do what we Floridians do. It’s like the saying: when in Rome, do as the Romans do. =) Well what we do besides breathe and eat (I’m pretty sure we all do that) is go to the Loop.

Now they advertise it as a “shop at the stores during the day, go on a date to the movies at night” kind of place.  That’s not really what it’s used for. If I’m going to buy clothes I’m going to go to the mall. The mall just has a better variety of stores. If I want to just go to one store to return something or get a certain shirt I have been looking for then I’ll go the Loop. That’s just because the Loop is my backyard basically. But if I am going out for the night with my friends, I’m going to go to The Loop. There is like a secret code about looping though. Lucky for you I am going to let you in on a few secrets. First off you need to know the difference between “Looping” and “Going to the Loop”. Going to the Loop and Looping are two different things. If you are “going to the Loop” that means you are going during the day to shop. Which is perfectly ok, but if you are “Looping” you are going at night to hang out and watch a movie.

GOING TO THE LOOP

At the Loop you have multiple stores, and places to eat. Now since you are going to the loop to shop you are going to want to go either during the week, besides Friday, and anytime before six, or you want to go Saturday or Sunday in the afternoon. This is because at night you are most likely to face a crowd of people just wasting time until their movie starts. And weekends are always busy. If I were you I wouldn’t even bother going on Fridays because you are going to have teenagers everywhere. It’s signature Loop day practically. Plus, why waste your night shopping? That’s the most exciting part of the day. I’m going to give you some hints on the best stores to hit up.

Ok, so there is American Eagle, Aeropostale, Pac Sun and Claire’s. American Eagle is a clothing store that has the latest fashions and such. You are going to want to check that store out if you are the girly, beachy, classy person. The great thing about this store is not only do teenagers shop there, but a lot of their parents do too. It compromises both styles. Aeropostale is more for the kids and teens. It is also a clothing store. It has the same style of clothing; it’s just angled for more of the younger ages. Pac Sun is for you skater surfer people. It actually carries surf boards and surfboards too. That’s totally gnarly. Ha-ha. I tired. Back to stores. Then you have Claire’s. I love this store. It’s an accessories store. So if you’re a guy I wouldn’t recommend you going in there unless you want to get an earring or something. I just got my second hole pierced and I had it done there. They let you hold a little teddy bear too. Ha-ha. It also has head bands, jewelry, perfume, scarves, cell phone charm thingies, etc. If you are looking to just window shop, and we girls do that all the time, this is a perfect store to do so in.

That is basically what you can do at the loop during the day. Of course you can eat food too, but normally people don’t spend hours on end at the Loop. It’s more of an afternoon adventure leisure day thing.

LOOPING

Now this is more of my subject. So like I’ve said, when you looping you’re looking at going on Fridays and Saturdays from seven on. I go all the time with my friends. In fact I just went this past weekend. When you loop you go at seven and you normally watch a movie. But if you’re low on cash or you’re saving up for something you can just stand outside and hang out because people are everywhere and you are bound to know them. I’ve done both. If you are going to the movies here are some tips:

1.      Buy your ticket as soon as you get there. They tend to run out pretty fast.

2.      If the movie you are going to see just came out then I would make sure to go buy my food and find a seat at least 20 minutes before it starts. Unless you like watching scary movies by yourself, or sitting on the stairs. That’s cool too…I guess.

3.      You can’t bring any outside food or drinks into the theatre so if you want to, shove it in a purse or hide it in a jacket you’re holding. But if you get caught I totally didn’t tell you that. =)

4.      Try not to buy most of your candy at the theatre. It’s ridiculously expensive.

5.      If you’re seeing a 3-D movie, be ready to hand over a Hamilton or two Lincolns. (That’s a ten dollar bill or two fives).

6.       Bring a jacket, or you’ll freeze.

7.      If you are seeing a newly released film or you are running late, use the machine by the place where you get your tickets. I don’t know what it’s called, but you can use your credit card and buy your tickets there and not have to wait in line.

8.      If you like to movie hop, don’t try it here. You WILL get caught. There is a person who comes in during the movie and counts the number of people in the theatre and if there is one more person they will make you show your tickets. Not cool.

9.      If you have time, go to the photo booth thing by the concessions stand. My friends and I always make a point to stop and take goofy pictures. It’s worth the $3.00. Trust me.

Most movies tend to start around 7 or 8 at night so that gives you some time to kill. You can shop around a little but around 8 is when most clothing stores are closing. Since it’s like a secret code thing to go to the Loop on Fridays and Saturdays, you are going to see a lot of people you know. You are going to arrive with friends of course, but you’ll see others there. My best friends and I don’t go to the same school as me and I have met a lot of their friends by going to the Loop. That’s another thing. You meet people. I actually met my ex-boyfriend there. Ha-ha. Good times…

Oh! I almost forgot about CVS. Yes, I am talking about the pharmacy store. A lot of times before the movie starts I go there and grab a couple of 99 cent bags of candy to sneak into the movies. And if I am just hanging out there, I go and look at everything in there. It has books, magazines, hallmark cards (who doesn’t love a good hallmark get well card? Especially the new singing ones). One time my friends, Betsy and Brittany, and I went to see a movie but it was already 9:30 and we missed all the movies, except for the one at 11 something but we decided that was too late. So we went to CVS and were just looking around and we ended up catching some guy putting shampoo bottles in his jacket. We saved the day! Well kind of. But it makes for a great story. Me, taking down the shampoo robbers, one bad guy at a time =)…just kidding. That same night we bought chalk and went to Britt’s house to color her drive way at like midnight. It was fun.  

MOVIES PLAYING

The main attraction for the Loop is the Regal Cinema Theater. They have at least 15 movies always playing. Right now you can see movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Disturbia, or 28 Weeks Later which I have all seen. My favorite of the three is Disturbia. It has been out for a while though so if you want to see it, hurry up. It is incredible. The first ¾’s of the movie is spent building up suspense so the last ¼ is spent screaming and covering your eyes non stop. (I’m a big scardey cat for scary movies so of course this next part may not be how you react to the movie). To make a long story short, a young boy who is on house arrest gets bored out of his mind and starts to use binoculars to watch his neighbors for entertainment. His new neighbor scares him though, and one night he can swear he saw him kill a woman. He and his buddies investigate and it all leads up to one night that the neighbor takes his mom and is trying to kill his mom, his friends, and him. I got so freaked out I started saying the “Our Father” prayer. Ha-ha-ha. It’s funny now that I look back on it. I loved it because instead of like every other scary movie where the gasps and girly shrieks, yes guys we know you scream like that =), seem to be equally spread out through the whole movie, they packed it all to the very end.

NOTES:

1. If you have to go to the bathroom after your movie ends go to the bathroom that is still inside the theatre area, not the one by the doors. Everyone goes to that one and if you have to go bad enough you might not make it cause you’ll be waiting in an obscene line.
2. After the movie, go get a yummy scoop of ice cream or low fat frozen yogurt at Ben and Jerry’s. You can get a small cone for free if you show them your movie ticket, and it’s conveniently right next to the theatre.
3. If you are hungry after your movie and it’s late, and more than likely will be, go to the Wendy’s in the Loop. It’s the only food place open and anywhere in town will be too crowded. It’s right there anyways.
4. For safety reasons don’t go around the side of the buildings. There always seems to be some creeps lurking behind there.
5. There are police all around the entrance to the movies and they circle around the Loop at night on the signature Loop days so don’t try anything stupid unless you like being caged up and eating cafeteria food. Hey, it’s less people hogging up my fresh air, I won’t care, but I have a feeling you might.

FOOD

I lied earlier. This is more like my kind of subject. =) There are a lot of places to eat at the Loop. There is Chili’s, Macaroni Grill, Johnny Rockets, Wendy’s…I could go on and on. I’ll give you a little taste of it. Ha-ha get it? Taste? Food? Ha-ha. Anyways, when I go looping I usually go to Wendy’s. A-because it’s cheap. B-because it’s fast to get and eat. When I’m not in a rush and I have some change to spare, I love to go to Panera Bread. It takes just a tad longer. I figured you knew all about Wendy’s but I’ll tell you a tad about Panera. It’s a soup and salad and sandwich kind of place. It’s healthy and yummy. I recommend the tuna melt if you’re into tuna. Their tea isn’t half bad either. I had to add that because people from the south are huge, and I mean huge, tea people. Then you have Chili’s. I could rant and rave about this place. I am their number one fan when it comes to the Explosion Salad. Make a note to try it. Honestly I have never eaten anything else there because I love that so much. Oh and you have to try their salsa; It's salty perfection. Mmmm…..