Mom/Daughter Spring Break trip to Disney & Sea World (UPDATE: Peru)

[mousetravel]

Join us for some more Mom/ Daughter adventures! And lots of pics!!


We're back from a great Spring Break trip which includes Disney World and Sea World. We had never been to Sea World and wanted to try something different on this trip. And different it was! In a good way! Join our adventures of a road trip, some mishaps along the way, and our fun times on our Mom/Daughter getaway.

ETA: Dates: April 4-April 10



Chapter 1: Us
Chapter 2: Getting there
Chapter 3: Our Schedule
Chapter 4: The hotel (offsite review)
Chapter 5: Arrival Day & Downtown Disney
Chapter 6: Sea World Day 1 & 2
Chapter 7: Magic Kingdom
Chapter 8: Downtown Disney & Chef Mickey's
Chapter 9: Animal Kingdom photopass pics
Animal Kingdom

Update: Peru


Chapter 1: Us!! (Not a whole chapter of us, but a couple of pics )


On our Mom/Daughter trip in 2008
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And in 2009http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn102/***********/DisneyWorld2009010.jpg


Next: Chapter 2: Getting there: Half the fun, or half the battle??

 

[UGAFan0829]

Woo-hoo! I'm here, I'm here--told ya I would be!!

 

[mousetravel]

Chapter 2: Getting there

Half the battle + Half the fun = One whole road trip!!!

The battle started the night before we left. My DD was cleaning the inside of the car for me, when she locked the keys in the car! It was late, and I had to think. My best friend has a copy of all my keys at her house in case of an "emergency" such as this. Well, I called her, and she's in Columbia, SC! OK, thinking again....My Mom MAY have a key and she lives about 15 miles away. I've always had Honda cars, and she's probably got every Honda key ever, except the one I need!!!

Prediction comes true. She comes over with all these Honda keys, and none of them are the right one! Thinking again....So I get back in touch with my friend, who then tells me that her husband has all the kids, and can't bring the keys to me, but my Mom could come get them. OK, time to beg Mom for another favor. She does the task, and I'm saved!!! And I didn't have to pay for a locksmith.

Next battle: Each time I stopped for gas, I'd inspect all my tires. Being on a road trip, 2 girls alone, with car troubles is not a good sight. But I do know how to check the water, oil, and tires. We make a stop at Walterboro, SC, I go around to each tire, and a dang screw is lodged in my tire! OK, calm down, Daddy's on stand by in case I need to reach him concerning the car. He does most of my car repairs and work. He tells me to find the nearest Wal Mart and get the tire "plugged". That's "car talk" stuff, by the way.

I went into the gas station & asked the cashier where the nearest Wal Mart was, and she said 2 exits up! So we go to Wal Mart. Who would have thought SO many people would be at Wal Mart, at 9:00am, on a Sunday, on Easter!! Great! Wonder how long this will take?

The man said it would be about an hour and a half for them to fix it. Yeah, just what I wanted, to be stuck at Wal Mart for over an hour. Again, I try to be calm because it could have been worse. So we stroll around Wal Mart, trying not to spend any $$. I was hoping they'd have a little cafe inside where we could sit & eat. No such luck. They didn't have one.
Luckily, I got out of Wal Mart with only buying a bottle water and a pack of baby wipes for the car!!! My car was ready and I paid $10 for the tire fix!

So we get back on the road, losing an hour and a half. But we still arrived in Orlando about 5pm.


Next: Chapter 3: Our schedule

 

[mousetravel]

Chapter 3: Our Schedule

Week of April 4th- April 10th:

Sunday: Drive there

Monday: Sea World

Tuesday: Sea World

Wednesday: Magic Kingdom, and Breakfast at Crystal Palace

Thursday: Day to rest, and dinner at Chef Mickey's

Friday: Animal Kingdom

Saturday: Drive home

Next: Chapter 4: The hotel

 

[OhMari]

Wow, how lucky for you that workers were in the car maintenance on Easter Sunday.
We drove home on the nite before the 4th of July and we blew a trailer tire. We had to unload and drive 4 more hours home, go to our Farm & Fleet Store, purchase a tire, drive 4 hours back, fix it and drive back home 4 hours. Wasn't fun.

What were your dates. I wanted to do Sea World, but it was the day after the trainer died. So I decided not to.

 

[mousetravel]

Wow, how lucky for you that workers were in the car maintenance on Easter Sunday.
We drove home on the nite before the 4th of July and we blew a trailer tire. We had to unload and drive 4 more hours home, go to our Farm & Fleet Store, purchase a tire, drive 4 hours back, fix it and drive back home 4 hours. Wasn't fun.

What were your dates. I wanted to do Sea World, but it was the day after the trainer died. So I decided not to.

OMG, that's a lot of hours lost and I'm complaining about an hour and a half!

Our Sea World dates were April 5th & 6th.

 

[UGAFan0829]

Bless your heart-1st locking your keys in your car, then having to deal with a screw in your tire. I'm glad that you thought about checking for those kinds of things, or else you could have been in a real mess! Most of all I'm glad that y'all made it there safe and sound. Did y'all stay on property?

I can't wait for more...I'm especially excited to hear about Sea World as I've never been there before!

 

[mousetravel]

Bless your heart-1st locking your keys in your car, then having to deal with a screw in your tire. I'm glad that you thought about checking for those kinds of things, or else you could have been in a real mess! Most of all I'm glad that y'all made it there safe and sound. Did y'all stay on property?

I can't wait for more...I'm especially excited to hear about Sea World as I've never been there before!

As much as me & DD travel by ourselves, my Dad has got me into checking everything, at every stop!!!

We didn't stay on property. Stayed off site at Comfort Inn LBV.
I really don't like spending extra $$ to stay on property because we're rarely in the room, except to get ready and sleep. It saves me a bunch of $$ too, since I'm a single parent. I try to go "budget" as much as possible. The hotel was less than 1 mile from Disney, so I felt like we were "on site" as close as we were!

Hotel review coming up next. We loved Sea World. And when you buy a single day ticket, you get in another day free!! So another bargain for me!!!

 

[mousetravel]

Chapter 4: The hotel

We stayed at Comfort Inn LBV. We also stayed there last year. You can find some great deals on this hotel often on travelzoo. I wrote a detailed review with pictures on the "Orlando Hotels" thread. There was a few negative points that I put in my review, but I'd still stay there again.

You can read it here:http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2442693

 

[UGAFan0829]

As much as me & DD travel by ourselves, my Dad has got me into checking everything, at every stop!!!

We didn't stay on property. Stayed off site at Comfort Inn LBV.
I really don't like spending extra $$ to stay on property because we're rarely in the room, except to get ready and sleep. It saves me a bunch of $$ too, since I'm a single parent. I try to go "budget" as much as possible. The hotel was less than 1 mile from Disney, so I felt like we were "on site" as close as we were!

Hotel review coming up next. We loved Sea World. And when you buy a single day ticket, you get in another day free!! So another bargain for me!!!

I totally understand you being budget minded. Heck, we're a two-income household, and things are hard for us sometimes, so I can understand where you are coming from. The main thing is that you were able to make the trip and that you are able to do things with your daughter!

 

[mousetravel]

Chapter 5: Arrival Day!!

Even with our delay, we arrived at our hotel at 5:00pm. We checked in and unpacked. Then we headed to Downtown Disney. That's what we always have done on arrival day. (But would this be our only day going there??)


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This Minnie Mouse Rice Krispie Treat can be yours for only $49.95!!
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I think I'll stick with our cute, little, delicious cupcake for $3.00!!!!!
We also had a Goofy's slushy drink, but no picture of that!
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Just one of the many "We don't have anybody to take our picture for us" pose!!

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Cute little Easter plush!
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Art of Disney store
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Next: Chapter 6: Sea World Day 1

 

[UGAFan0829]

Awesome pics! DTD is such a great place to spend time, isn't it!! I also noticed that Rice Krispy treat...that thing is huge!

 

[mousetravel]

Sea World


We arrived at park opening.

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn102/***********/Sea%20World/kristi2029-1.jpg




We wanted to go straight to the Dolphin Cove (dolphin petting/feeding) first because I read that it gets crowded throughout the day. So we did. They were so cute! My DD LOVED them. If you've read my other TR, you know how much she loves dolphins, especially getting to swim with them last year!

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There are 2 options at the Dolphin Cove. One is a "viewing" section for viewing only, not interacting. Then there's the "feeding" section (where we were), and you pay $7 for a tray of fish, and you get to pet and feed them in that section.

WELL worth the extra $$$!!!!!!

Next: More Sea World coming up!

 

[taylor91]

Enjoying the trip report so far
We loved Seaworld last year, especially feeding the dolphins on my 18th b'day Looks like you had an amazing time so far
Looking forward to the next instalment

 

[UGAFan0829]

Very cool dolphin pics. When I saw the first one, I knew your daughter was happy as I remember from your last report you saying how much she loves them! How neat that you can pet and feed them! I had no idea that Sea World even had anything like that--guess that goes to show how much I know about it. I have a feeling that after reading your report, I'll want to pay a visit the next time we're down there!

 

[FloraFauna]

I am enjoying your trip report so far.

I can't wait to read the rest of your Seaworld experience. We are going to Seaworld Orlando for the first time (I went 20 years ago when I was single, but DH and kids have never been).

 

[mousetravel]

Enjoying the trip report so far
We loved Seaworld last year, especially feeding the dolphins on my 18th b'day Looks like you had an amazing time so far
Looking forward to the next instalment

Thanks for joining in!

Very cool dolphin pics. When I saw the first one, I knew your daughter was happy as I remember from your last report you saying how much she loves them! How neat that you can pet and feed them! I had no idea that Sea World even had anything like that--guess that goes to show how much I know about it. I have a feeling that after reading your report, I'll want to pay a visit the next time we're down there!

Yes! You need to try to go for sure.

I am enjoying your trip report so far.

I can't wait to read the rest of your Seaworld experience. We are going to Seaworld Orlando for the first time (I went 20 years ago when I was single, but DH and kids have never been).

Thanks for joining in, too! If you have any questions about Sea World, I'll try to help.

 

[mousetravel]

Dolphin Show at Sea World: Blue Horizons

We really enjoyed this show. The dolphins were great!


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After the Dolphin Show, we went to the underwater viewing area.


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Then we went over to the Manatee rescue area. Those things are HUGE!

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A couple of signs through the park:

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[UGAFan0829]

Wow, you got some very cool shots of the dolphins in action!! I loved seeing the Manatees too, they are sooo cute!

 

[taylor91]

I agree, the manatees were amazing and so graceful even though they are huge.
The dolphin show was a definite see though, I really enjoyed it last year and i'm glad you enjoyed it too.
Great trip report so far and i'm loving the photos, especially of the dolphins...so cute