Attractions
Attractions are the one big thing that I always need to be conscious about reigning myself in on
. With so many awesome things to do in the Orlando area, I could happily pack our days full from sun up to sun down. Of course, we also want a certain amount of relaxation in a Florida holiday……otherwise when we go home, we feel as if we need a vacation from our vacation……so it leaves me a little torn during the planning process.
The boys have requested “balance” for this trip …. a mix of busy days and others devoted to relaxation and enjoying the resort. Brittney, being new to all things Florida, would happily see it all and do it all (a girl after my own heart
). I am hopeful that I’ve devised a plan that will appeal to everyone.
I’ve already mentioned that we’re planning to pick up tickets to the Tampa Bay Rays game on Sunday, May 6th while the Toronto Blue Jays are in town. Those tickets go on sale on January 12th, and with a little luck, we’ll have a good selection of seats from which to pick that are within budget……both ours
and Jake’s. Oh, how I wish that lousy Canadian dollar would soon show some improvement against the American buck
. While we’re in St. Petersburg for the game, hopefully we can find some time to visit one of the Gulf coast beaches: in all of our trips, we’ve yet to spend time soaking up the sun and sand of the Gulf. So far, the game time for May 6th has not yet been announced, so until we have that information, any other activities for that date will be deferred. I’m hoping for an afternoon game so we could picnic on the beach for dinner.
Our other main activities this trip will focus on the Seaworld family of parks: SeaWorld, Aquatica and Discovery Cove.
This was an easy choice for us. We’ve had annual passes to Universal for the past couple of years, so we’ve pretty much seen and done everything at those parks for the last several trips. Considering those tickets would be quite expensive for Jake and Britt’s limited budget anyway, Universal was an easy scratch.
Disney, too, was fairly easy to cross of the list, simply due to the cost for Jake and Brittney, as well as the amount of advance planning that’s required (which drives Steve and Jake both bonkers). After visiting the Flower & Garden Festival at Epcot last year (at which we had SO much fun), I was a little sad to take a pass on that park this spring, though.
We had the most
amazing day last May, thanks to the generosity of a wonderful friend who provided us admission with her CM guest passes
. We owe this sweet girl such a bucket load of thanks. What incredible memories we created that day……and Steve gained a whole new appreciation for the park which he had previously and steadfastly assured the world was his “least favorite”.
Much as I’d love to give Brittney her first taste of Disney, I don’t feel right in asking them to absorb that kind of a cost (one day tickets for each of them, plus dining for the day, with the 30%+ exchange rate). So, we’ll have to defer our next visit to the Flower and Garden Festival until
next spring.
The SeaWorld parks were an easy choice, then: they’ve been family favorites for years. They’re a place we can go to have a consistently good guest experience, with manageable crowds and no need to micromanage every second of our trip 180 days in advance. We can switch out plans if poor weather or exhaustion or anything else happens to pop up unexpectedly. That flexibility, all on its own, breeds relation. And as a happy bonus, Jake and Brittney already have their active annual passes from their September trip, so their park admission will be absolutely free for the entire trip
.
Steve and I, on the other hand, will have to purchase our AP’s when we get to the park. With a little good planning, we’ll get three vacations out of those passes before they expire: May and October this year, and hopefully the last week of April/first week of May in 2019. We are excited to get back to SeaWorld after a year and half’s hiatus: while our Universal and Disney adventures have been a ton of fun, there’s something comforting about coming back to the peaceful pace of a SeaWorld getaway. And there’s dolphins……can it get any better?
We’ll rent a cabana for our Aquatica day(s) …. how many days is still up in the air. I tentatively have two full days set aside for SeaWorld, and one for Aquatica, but Britt and Jake were sort of hoping we’d reverse that plan. They’re water babies at heart. If it happens to be a scorcher of a week, we may just end up switching things up and spending an additional day keeping cool at the water park.
Our big splurge for this trip, of course, is our day at Discovery Cove. Hands down, our very favorite park in Orlando, by an easy margin. And since its our 25th anniversary, we’ve opted to go whole hog and treat us all to a day of indulgence with dolphin swims for all and the Elite package upgrade (which includes a private cabana for the day, a souvenir buoy delivered to us by a dolphin, the largest photo package, a souvenir tote bag, and beach towel).
We surprised Jake and Brittney with that news on Christmas. I thought poor Britt was going to cry……they did the Dolphin Encounter at SeaWorld in September, and she thought THAT was the pinnacle of awesomeness. The prospect of an in-water session with a dolphin at DC, combined with the whole Discovery Cove “experience”, has her absolutely poised to burst with excitement
.
Even though we won’t be purchasing our AP’s until we arrive, the reservations staff at Discovery Cove were kind enough to let me book with the passholder discount on the good faith that we’ll have AP’s to show by the time our DC day rolls around. While the final total still made me catch my breath a tiny bit, it was certainly less expensive than a formal 25th anniversary party would have been…..and MUCH more our style
.
Hopefully Mother Nature will smile on us that day. Of all the days of our vacation, that’s the one for which I’m praying for sunshine
.
I’ve got two “resort days” planned into the itinerary: it will be nice to have some time to relax by the pool and enjoy all the wonderful amenities offered at the Vistana. On one of those days, we hope to sneak over for a short visit to Disney Springs: Britt has yet to visit there, so that will be a new experience for her, too.
If we happen to make it there early in the day, I may just treat us all to a ride on the Characters in Flight balloon. Steve and I did this in October when we travelled with his brother, Joe, and sister-in-law Lisa….and it was SO much fun!
I’d also like to take the kiddos to the Coke Store to enjoy a beverage on the rooftop bar.
We did the Tour of the World in the fall, and it was interesting to sample 16 different Coke products from around the globe……even though some of them are obviously a regionally acquired taste
.
I’m sure there will be some mini golf thrown in for good measure……the SeaWorld parks all close at 5 or 6 pm that week, so mini golf is a fun after-dinner activity once the heat of the day has passed. Groupon is always my go-to for those passes, and I’ll be watching for deals there in the coming months.
117 days to go
.
aboard once again!
. Swimmin' weather! 
. This winter, it seems like we just can't win.
.
. It makes the days feel oh-so-long. When do you leave for sunny Orlando/
(it's only $35 each, less 10% for the passmember discount). So far, we've done their VIP Tour (disclaimer: we won this won on their anniversary year as part of their promotion in the parks), the Wild Arctic Tour, the Behind the Scenes Tour, and the Dolphin Encounter (the latter x 2): all absolutely worth the cost. As an animal lover, I can't get enough of them!!
.
. I may have to google last year's schedule and see if I can determine a trend.
