Three Days in Orlando, Florida: Yay!

Earlier in the year Chuck and I discussed taking the kids to Disney Land. We didn't think we could afford to do it this year, but when my daughter wanted to meet up with us for a little vacation, we tossed around a few ideas. We eventually settled on Orlando, Florida in November.

Since we were going that far we decided to plunge right in and do it right, and go to Disney World.

When I started looking for deals on flight and hotel I was surprised to find a steal on a resort hotel with flight. The resort room was actually a duplex with two bedrooms and two baths, a kitchen, dining room and living room. It was perfect. And there was a 12-acre water park on site. Truly, this was thousands of dollars less than what I was looking at for Disney Land, and Disney Land is closer for us.

We spent the first day with Jewel, Bjorn and Parsla at Sea World after we all met Chuck's sister, Carla, and her husband for breakfast at The Golden Corral not far from our resort. They live an hour and a half away from where we were in Orlando.

Sea World was a lot of fun. We saw the dolphin show and the Shamu show, went on a couple of rides and looked around at the wild life there. The dolphin touch tank was another stop, but they didn't come close enough to us. Parsla was excited to have Sean with her, and wanted him to ride on her stroller. That was the only day we spent with them, because they were afraid Parsla wouldn't be able to handle all of the parks.

Our second day was spent at Islands of Adventure. I think we all liked it best. We loved the rides there. The Harry Potter ride was our favorite. That Harry Potter area is amazing. Really. It looks exactly like the castle, and the little town where he buys his wand, and the broom, all of it. Amazing!

And as we were walking out of Hogwarts, the Beaubaxton girls and guys marched past us. There were many guys and girls in the Hogwarts robes. It was enchanting, and I'm not even that big of a Harry Potter fan.

A close second on our list of rides was the Spider Man ride. It had great 3-D effects, and was thrilling.

Chuck and I went on the Jurassic Park ride, which was a meandering boat ride that took us through Jurassic Park and eventually down a log flume type run. We rode it twice. The first time we didn't really get wet at all. We sat in the same row the second time, and somehow we got drenched.

Sean had his picture taken with the Green Goblin, a character from the Spider Man series. Sean is a huge fan of Spider Man, and luckily as he was packing I suggested that he bring his Spider Man T-shirt. I had no idea what to expect, but thought he might be glad he brought it.

He was so excited to get his picture taken with the Green Goblin. While we stood in line for the photo, he said, "Oh, no. I'm wearing this Spider Man shirt. He's really going to put the hurt on me."
And I was so glad that when he got up there the Green Goblin was completely offended. He pulled the shirt and folded it over, then pulled Sean's arms across his chest so you could just barely see that it was a Spider Man shirt.
(Thank you Green Goblin! You made a little boy's day!)

Disney World was our last stop on our last day. We started early in the morning and went to Magic Kingdom. Our plan was to take a break at lunch time and spend some time at our water park at the hotel, then go back for the fireworks at Disney.
That day was a bit overcast, but humid. It sprinkled a little, but never really rained. The kids got in the pool after lunch, and had a great time.
We went back after dinner for the fireworks display. We rode a couple of rides while we waited. One of them was a runaway train ride in the Old West area of the park.

Sean isn't much of a roller coaster kid. He decided he would go ahead and try it. He admitted it was fun, but a little too much for him. We went on another one that was a haunted mansion. That one was just really cool. It felt like we were in a real mansion. The details were unbelievable.

It was difficult to find a good spot, but we watched the electrical parade. That was pretty cool. Then it was time for the show at the Cinderella castle. I wish we could have been in front of the Cinderella Castle for that. We weren't. Then the fireworks started, and they were really above us and behind us. Next time we'll know better, and we'll make sure we are somewhere we can actually see the whole display.

It was a great family vacation. The kids got along the whole time, and we had so much fun every day. We were so glad to spend a day with Jewel, Bjorn and Parsla, too. Vacationing together was a great idea. I sure hope we can do it again.