Hi everyone,
Since I read a bunch of trip reports on here that helped me plan our vacation, I thought I would do a short one as we're completing our trip. This is our last night in Orlando, but I'm doing it now because if I wait until we get home, it will never happen!
Trip was me and DD (13); DH teaches, but has a different spring break than DD. We had originally planned to go to Universal and Sea World/DC, but an unexpected neck surgery in mid-March (mine) messed that up, so we switched to a more low-key trip. I switched our hotel from on-site at US to the Hilton Garden Inn at Sea World.
We flew out on Easter, early in the morning. Southwest was on time all the way, and we got to Orlando about 11:40, picked up the bags, and headed to pick up the rental car from Budget. No lines at any of the rental counters, except Budget, which had a line of about 25 people. It's this way often, I understand. If you rent from Budget it Orlando, join their frequent renter program, and bypass the line. I wish I had ... about 90 minutes later, we had our rental car. Headed immediately to one of our favorite restaurants here that we don't have at home -- Sweet Tomatoes (soup/salad/pasta/bread buffet place). We then picked up a few groceries (the Publix we intended to go to was closed, but we found what we needed at another store), and got to the hotel about 3:30.
After we unpacked, we decided to head to Sea World. We had Discovery Cove tickets, so we had the 14-day SW/AQ passes as well. The park was a fairly easy walk from the hotel distance-wise, but there isn't a great walking path, as others have said. I really don't get this, since they don't offer constant transportation (buses only run a few times a day). In any event, we walked in, had no trouble with our passes (the DC pass system is better than it was a few years ago, since you actually get passes for SW/AQ that are turnstile-ready!). Walked around the park -- saw the dolphins, sea lions, sea sculpture garden, etc., and made our way over to the 7 p.m. Shamu show. We aren't that fond of the show that they have now, as there is relatively little trainer/whale interaction. I know that Sea World had to do this after the terrible accident with one of their trainers, but for us it really takes away from the show. Park closed at 8, so after the show we decided to head out.
The next day was shopping ... spent much of the day at the outlet malls. Had breakfast at the hotel -- it is not free here, but they only charged me a child rate for DD, so it wasn't bad! Not much to report about shopping! We had a quick dinner at Panda Express, because it is also one of DD's favorites, and we don't have it at home.
Tuesday was our DC day. It was our third time there, and we decided to do only the day pass, and not the dolphin swim, since we have done that twice already. We got there at about 7:30, and had a bit of a line for check in, but it wasn't too bad. The weather was beautiful, so for the first time ever we just got vests rather than wetsuits. Had breakfast, which was okay. DD liked it better than I did -- she ate the "hot breakfast," which was eggs, sausage, ham, as well as yogurt and milk. I had the sausage (allergic to eggs), as well as some pastry and fruit. We then had some waiting around to do, because none of the attractions opened until 9 -- one of the lifeguards allowed us to wade a bit in the pool, but we weren't supposed to go in the water or anything until 9. Once they opened up, we headed to the lazy river ... got to the aviary, and a lifeguard said that the rest of the lazy river wouldn't open until 9:30 or 9:45 (?). We got out and fed the birds, which was fun, and then waited until the remainder of the river opened and we could complete the circuit. And then we went around again, and again (I think DD could spend her whole life in there!)
We actually spent most of the morning in the lazy river area. I stopped for a small snack at some point, and then we decided to have a relatively early lunch and then rest a bit, and then go snorkeling. Lunch was just okay. DD didn't eat much of hers (she's a picky eater), and I didn't love mine either, so neither of us ate a lot. (This is not necessarily a bad thing!) We then rested for a bit and headed out to snorkel. Had a great time snorkeling in the reef area ... though DD was a little intimidated by some of the rays, which are gigantic! DD has a waterproof camera and was able to get some good shots, and she enjoyed doing that. We got another snack, then headed to see the otters ... and then after some time there, it was back to the lazy river. At about 4:15 or so we were on what was supposed to be our second to last trip around, and DD was stung by a bee. I decided that was a sign, and we got out and headed to first aid. They put something on the sting to make it stop hurting. By that time we were both pretty tired, so we decided to shower and wind things up. Left around 5:15 and headed to ... Sweet Tomatoes again, at DD's request. (She really loves that place!)
On Wednesday we went to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping and walking around. A lot of that is under construction; it looks like they are putting in a food truck area, and they had already brought it some food trucks from some of the parks (there was an Animal Kingdom themed one, a Fantasyland themed one, etc.) We did not eat at any of those. We did our shopping, had lunch at Wolfgang Puck's quick service, and shared a Ghiradelli sundae. By mid-afternoon it was getting really hot, so we came back to the hotel and jumped in the pool. Had a light dinner in the room with stuff we'd bought earlier in the week.
Thursday was our main SW day. We got there at opening and went to the dolphin feeding, which was fun. Then did the dolphin show, walked around the manatees and turtles, went to the sea lion show (DD's favorite part), and also went to Antarctica. We had QQ, but only used it for Antarctica; DD did not want to do any rides by herself, and I can't do them. I thought Antarctica was really cool -- you do get really, really close to the penguins. It's definitely much better than the Penguin Encounter that was there before. We ate lunch at the Expedition Cafe in Antarctica; we both had the Chinese food (orange chicken for DD, pepper steak for me). It was very good -- mine was not as hot temperature wise as I would have liked, but it was a cut above your normal theme park food. (This is not on the all-day dining, I don't think, so beware if you have that!) Expedition Cafe reminded me a bit of Sunshine Seasons at Epcot -- it is in that same style, at least. After lunch we went over to Wild Arctic to see the beluga whales, which are my other favorite thing. By then it was mid-afternoon, and DD was getting tired -- she does not like to be hot (and it was very hot), and the park was also getting pretty crowded, so we decided to go back to the hotel and rest. After we rested, we went out to dinner and came back early to go to bed.
Today was AQ. I intended to get up early so that we could be there when the park opened at 9. I forgot to set an alarm, so woke up at 8:45, and figured that wasn't going to happen. Fortunately two wrongs make a right, because we got to the park about 10, and I realized that it actually didn't open until 10 -- I also forgot to check the hours. So we did get there at opening after all. Went it, got our locker and charging wrist bands, and headed for the slow lazy river. After we went around that a couple of times, we headed to Roa's Rapids, where we spent a lot of time going round and round -- DD loved it. I liked it also -- but not quite as much as she did! Finally dragged her out of there for a snack at around noon, and we then went to the wave pool for awhile. After a bit of time there, it was back to the rapids .... we went around a bunch of times together, then I got out and she went around a bunch more times, then I got back in with her and we went around a bunch more. It was fun, but by the end I was sick of it, and it was getting crowded. We walked around the park a bit more -- she did not want to do any of the slides by herself, and it was getting close to closing time, so we left around 4:15 or so to go back to the hotel (park was scheduled to close at 5).
Tomorrow we are going to go over to the Boardwalk at Disney and spend a couple hours there just walking around before we head to the airport. Should be fun -- we usually stay in that area when we go to Disney.
All in all we have had a really good time, and some much needed time away from the cold winter we had at home. For the most part we have been happy with the Hilton -- as I said, it's an easy walk to SW. We drove to DC and AQ, so I'm not sure how it would be getting there either by bus or walking. The room is clean and nice, and spacious enough for the two of us. There have been some other guests on our hallway that are very noisy, but I called the front desk about them one night and they took care of it right away (they were gathered in the hallway right outside our room at 11 p.m. making tons of noise ...) The breakfast here is pretty good, though it does cost quite a lot. I think you can get some kind of breakfast deal added to your room rate, which would make sense if you were eating it every day; I knew we wouldn't be, so I didn't do that because it would not have been worth it for us to pay for it for every day. We also did not get any type of dining deals, because I knew we'd be eating most of our meals outside the parks.
I'm happy to answer any questions anyone has!
Since I read a bunch of trip reports on here that helped me plan our vacation, I thought I would do a short one as we're completing our trip. This is our last night in Orlando, but I'm doing it now because if I wait until we get home, it will never happen!
Trip was me and DD (13); DH teaches, but has a different spring break than DD. We had originally planned to go to Universal and Sea World/DC, but an unexpected neck surgery in mid-March (mine) messed that up, so we switched to a more low-key trip. I switched our hotel from on-site at US to the Hilton Garden Inn at Sea World.
We flew out on Easter, early in the morning. Southwest was on time all the way, and we got to Orlando about 11:40, picked up the bags, and headed to pick up the rental car from Budget. No lines at any of the rental counters, except Budget, which had a line of about 25 people. It's this way often, I understand. If you rent from Budget it Orlando, join their frequent renter program, and bypass the line. I wish I had ... about 90 minutes later, we had our rental car. Headed immediately to one of our favorite restaurants here that we don't have at home -- Sweet Tomatoes (soup/salad/pasta/bread buffet place). We then picked up a few groceries (the Publix we intended to go to was closed, but we found what we needed at another store), and got to the hotel about 3:30.
After we unpacked, we decided to head to Sea World. We had Discovery Cove tickets, so we had the 14-day SW/AQ passes as well. The park was a fairly easy walk from the hotel distance-wise, but there isn't a great walking path, as others have said. I really don't get this, since they don't offer constant transportation (buses only run a few times a day). In any event, we walked in, had no trouble with our passes (the DC pass system is better than it was a few years ago, since you actually get passes for SW/AQ that are turnstile-ready!). Walked around the park -- saw the dolphins, sea lions, sea sculpture garden, etc., and made our way over to the 7 p.m. Shamu show. We aren't that fond of the show that they have now, as there is relatively little trainer/whale interaction. I know that Sea World had to do this after the terrible accident with one of their trainers, but for us it really takes away from the show. Park closed at 8, so after the show we decided to head out.
The next day was shopping ... spent much of the day at the outlet malls. Had breakfast at the hotel -- it is not free here, but they only charged me a child rate for DD, so it wasn't bad! Not much to report about shopping! We had a quick dinner at Panda Express, because it is also one of DD's favorites, and we don't have it at home.
Tuesday was our DC day. It was our third time there, and we decided to do only the day pass, and not the dolphin swim, since we have done that twice already. We got there at about 7:30, and had a bit of a line for check in, but it wasn't too bad. The weather was beautiful, so for the first time ever we just got vests rather than wetsuits. Had breakfast, which was okay. DD liked it better than I did -- she ate the "hot breakfast," which was eggs, sausage, ham, as well as yogurt and milk. I had the sausage (allergic to eggs), as well as some pastry and fruit. We then had some waiting around to do, because none of the attractions opened until 9 -- one of the lifeguards allowed us to wade a bit in the pool, but we weren't supposed to go in the water or anything until 9. Once they opened up, we headed to the lazy river ... got to the aviary, and a lifeguard said that the rest of the lazy river wouldn't open until 9:30 or 9:45 (?). We got out and fed the birds, which was fun, and then waited until the remainder of the river opened and we could complete the circuit. And then we went around again, and again (I think DD could spend her whole life in there!)
We actually spent most of the morning in the lazy river area. I stopped for a small snack at some point, and then we decided to have a relatively early lunch and then rest a bit, and then go snorkeling. Lunch was just okay. DD didn't eat much of hers (she's a picky eater), and I didn't love mine either, so neither of us ate a lot. (This is not necessarily a bad thing!) We then rested for a bit and headed out to snorkel. Had a great time snorkeling in the reef area ... though DD was a little intimidated by some of the rays, which are gigantic! DD has a waterproof camera and was able to get some good shots, and she enjoyed doing that. We got another snack, then headed to see the otters ... and then after some time there, it was back to the lazy river. At about 4:15 or so we were on what was supposed to be our second to last trip around, and DD was stung by a bee. I decided that was a sign, and we got out and headed to first aid. They put something on the sting to make it stop hurting. By that time we were both pretty tired, so we decided to shower and wind things up. Left around 5:15 and headed to ... Sweet Tomatoes again, at DD's request. (She really loves that place!)
On Wednesday we went to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping and walking around. A lot of that is under construction; it looks like they are putting in a food truck area, and they had already brought it some food trucks from some of the parks (there was an Animal Kingdom themed one, a Fantasyland themed one, etc.) We did not eat at any of those. We did our shopping, had lunch at Wolfgang Puck's quick service, and shared a Ghiradelli sundae. By mid-afternoon it was getting really hot, so we came back to the hotel and jumped in the pool. Had a light dinner in the room with stuff we'd bought earlier in the week.
Thursday was our main SW day. We got there at opening and went to the dolphin feeding, which was fun. Then did the dolphin show, walked around the manatees and turtles, went to the sea lion show (DD's favorite part), and also went to Antarctica. We had QQ, but only used it for Antarctica; DD did not want to do any rides by herself, and I can't do them. I thought Antarctica was really cool -- you do get really, really close to the penguins. It's definitely much better than the Penguin Encounter that was there before. We ate lunch at the Expedition Cafe in Antarctica; we both had the Chinese food (orange chicken for DD, pepper steak for me). It was very good -- mine was not as hot temperature wise as I would have liked, but it was a cut above your normal theme park food. (This is not on the all-day dining, I don't think, so beware if you have that!) Expedition Cafe reminded me a bit of Sunshine Seasons at Epcot -- it is in that same style, at least. After lunch we went over to Wild Arctic to see the beluga whales, which are my other favorite thing. By then it was mid-afternoon, and DD was getting tired -- she does not like to be hot (and it was very hot), and the park was also getting pretty crowded, so we decided to go back to the hotel and rest. After we rested, we went out to dinner and came back early to go to bed.
Today was AQ. I intended to get up early so that we could be there when the park opened at 9. I forgot to set an alarm, so woke up at 8:45, and figured that wasn't going to happen. Fortunately two wrongs make a right, because we got to the park about 10, and I realized that it actually didn't open until 10 -- I also forgot to check the hours. So we did get there at opening after all. Went it, got our locker and charging wrist bands, and headed for the slow lazy river. After we went around that a couple of times, we headed to Roa's Rapids, where we spent a lot of time going round and round -- DD loved it. I liked it also -- but not quite as much as she did! Finally dragged her out of there for a snack at around noon, and we then went to the wave pool for awhile. After a bit of time there, it was back to the rapids .... we went around a bunch of times together, then I got out and she went around a bunch more times, then I got back in with her and we went around a bunch more. It was fun, but by the end I was sick of it, and it was getting crowded. We walked around the park a bit more -- she did not want to do any of the slides by herself, and it was getting close to closing time, so we left around 4:15 or so to go back to the hotel (park was scheduled to close at 5).
Tomorrow we are going to go over to the Boardwalk at Disney and spend a couple hours there just walking around before we head to the airport. Should be fun -- we usually stay in that area when we go to Disney.
All in all we have had a really good time, and some much needed time away from the cold winter we had at home. For the most part we have been happy with the Hilton -- as I said, it's an easy walk to SW. We drove to DC and AQ, so I'm not sure how it would be getting there either by bus or walking. The room is clean and nice, and spacious enough for the two of us. There have been some other guests on our hallway that are very noisy, but I called the front desk about them one night and they took care of it right away (they were gathered in the hallway right outside our room at 11 p.m. making tons of noise ...) The breakfast here is pretty good, though it does cost quite a lot. I think you can get some kind of breakfast deal added to your room rate, which would make sense if you were eating it every day; I knew we wouldn't be, so I didn't do that because it would not have been worth it for us to pay for it for every day. We also did not get any type of dining deals, because I knew we'd be eating most of our meals outside the parks.
I'm happy to answer any questions anyone has!
