Finally have time to finish up the rest of our trip report....
So that Friday Nov 30, we did the Mauiva Air Tour and it was perfect! Kaston got to pilot the plane over Epcot, Universal, etc. and it was awesome! We then headed to Epcot. As I was saying in my earlier post, it was mine and my husbands fav park as it is geared towards adults, although our kids LOVED Mission Space! Saw the Candlelight Processional with Whoopie Goldburg. Loved all the foods and drinks and music and shopping (although we only bought a blanket). The Epcot fireworks were the very best of all parks, IMO.
Best ride at Epcot: Mission Space
Most magical: fireworks show
Tip: Save money on food by buying 1 thing from each country and sharing it. Although you may only get 1 or 2 bites, you'll be full and have had tried at least 1 thing you've never had before!
Sat Dec 1: Magic Kingdom
Breakfast at GKTW
It is amazing. The nostalgia is amazing (although the fam did not like the Tiki Hut too much!) It was SUPER packed as they were filming the Christmas Day parade and they did not have the regular scheduled parades that day (super bummed) except the electric light parade.
Highlight: Space Mountain and fireworks
Tip: Utilize the train. It's a huge place and the train makes stops around the park.
Sunday Dec 2: breakfast at GKTW, checked out, had ice cream one last time, went to House of Hope, so sad to leave
We then headed to Sea World!
We got to feed the dolphins and they sat us front and center at the Shamu Christmas show. We were not just splashed, but soaked! It was the end of the night so it was OK. Also, don't forget the Polar Express. That was fun. Kaston finally got up enough nerve to try a roller coaster and we ended up riding both coasters twice because he loved it so much!
Highlight: Shamu Show
Tip: if you do not want to get wet, politely ask the greeter to sit you somewhere else but still close.
After Sea World we didn't have a plan so we just winged it the rest of the week (we extended). We decided to drive to Cocoa Beach that night and wake up to the sun rise over the Atlantic. My family had never seen the ocean so it was a magical time for them! We swam and relaxed and collected sea shells. Just what we needed.
Tip: Stay at the La Quinta by the Pier...it was awesome and only $100 night, ocean front, hot breakfast included, heated pool.
Tip: watch out for jellies!
Tues Dec 4: Went to Kennedy Space Center (we asked for tickets before we left). We only had about 3 hours so we didn't get to see everything. Was pretty great though.
Highlight: the bus tour
Tip: allow more than 3 hours!
The reason we only had 3 hours is we were to be back in Orlando by 2:00 to meet up with professional wakeboarder Shaun Murray AT HIS HOUSE!!! Shaun Murray is to wakeboarding like Shaun White is to snowboarding. And he invited us to his house and Kaston boarded with him behind his personal boat AT HIS HOUSE!! It was an amazing experience for him as well as us!
After about 3 hours hanging with Shaun and his family, we headed to Clearwater Beach! We stayed there Tues and Wed night and got to see the sun set on the Gulf! While on our way there, we discovered Clearwater Marine Aquarium, home of Winter the Dolphin and the place where they filmed the movie Dolphin Tale! What an awesome treat it was for us! Although we had to pay for tickets for once, it was well worth the drive and the money!
Highlight of Clearwater: the seafood! Frenchy's is the best!
Tip: They have awesome street performers and vendors every night by the pier. The Gulf is calmer than the Atlantic so the kids loved snorkeling for sea shells! WalGreens has great souveniers!
Thursday we drove back to Orlando, hit a couple of outlet stores (13 y.o. request) and checked in to Disney's All Star Music Resort. It was AMAZING!!! Nobody does it like Disney guys! This was the cheapest Disney hotel we could find and it was awesome! The kids swam a bit then we headed to Downtown Disney for dinner. It is an amazing place and I so wish we would have gotten there earlier in the day. We could have spent all day there.
Highlight: the World's Largest
Disney Store (although it was complete madness!!)
Tip: If you have older kids that want to Disney Quest, give yourself plenty of time. We didn't understand what it really was and waited too long to check it out. Do your research.
Fri: checked out and headed home!
What an amazing trip we had...once in a lifetime!
Tips I've learned since being home...
it's OK if you didn't get to do everything-it gives you the opportunity to have an excuse to go back!
Photopass: UTILIZE IT!! Have a picture made by everyone you see with a camera, when you see them because they won't be there later! We got some great pics but passed a few photographers that we shouldn't have. It is complimentary and when you order your disk online it is free. You can either do the disk or just download. I downloaded and it would have been $169!!!!
If you see something you want to buy in the parks, buy it when you see it because you can't find most of it online! I was totally and super sad about this.
Take lots of pictures and write down what you did for the day at the end of he day so you can remember it. But don't get too caught up in it and end up missing the magical moments!
Go with he flow. That's part of the adventure (or at least for us planners) Do your homework and have some sort of plan to manage your time appropriately, but things will change, and you will be tired, so just go with it. We did this...I was the Commander and the Husband was the Navigator. I told him what was on the agenda and he made it happen to the best of his ability. He navigated the parks and maps and took care of food. We never made reservations and did just fine. We just didn't do any formal dining in the parks...we saved that for the ocean!
Once we got into the parks, he just took over. I told him what we were wanting to see and do and he led us. It was a great partnership! Although not everything was "checked off the list" some of it was beyond his control and I was OK with that. And don't forget, my kids are 10 and 13 so we were able to really pack it in. It was tiring but we just pushed forward and had time to relax at the beach! (and a few drinks here and there helped too! Epcot has great margaritas in Mexico!)
Sooooo excited for you all to go on your trips! Just wait for the most magical time of you and your families lives!
Hi! I'm Holly. I'm new to both this thread and the DISboards, so bear with me. I'm mom to Austin (5) & Evan (3), and wife to Dan. Austin was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on 1/20/10 and is scheduled to finish treatment on 3/26/13. Woo hoo! He has been saying for some time now that he wants to "go to the castle and see the fireworks." Every time a Disney movie comes on and they show the castle in the beginning he says he wants to go there. When we were referred to Make-A-Wish and they found out what he wanted, we made the (hard) decision to wait until he went off-treatment to go. He has been pretty dependant on IVIg (antibodies) to stay healthy and not have constant fevers.
Any suggestions? She really loves all the princesses.
Our chapter has a whole rainbow of colors! Bryans is bright yellow with black printing, mine is bright orange with white, Austyn's is red with black and Carter's is bright teal blue with white. We should look very colorful and stand out!
I will have to take a pic of them and post.
