Florida: Day 7- Home

That's it.  The vacation is over.
We needed to pack up and leave by about 9 this am.
The last day of vacation is never fun.  Are you ever ready to get back to 'real-life'?


I am so happy we did this trip. I hope we created some memories that these girls will remember forever. 


Staying in a house was a great idea and I would do it again if we ever go back- definitely the way to go! 


We a pretty uneventful day getting back home.  Steve came to pick us up and thankfully we will have tonight and tomorrow at home before we get back into the swing of things.

Florida: Day 6- Hollywood Studios

Today is our last day at the parks.  We haven't seen Mickey and Minnie yet so that was a must-do on our list today.

We went to the Beauty and the Beast show and the Muppet Vision 3D show.  Hannah and Judy went on the Tower of Terror.  I can't believe that Hannah can do those kinds of rides and I am SO thankful that Judy loves them too.  When they came off of this one, Hannah looked pretty freaked out. She had fun but this was not a ride that she wanted to do more than once.

We watched the wait times on the app all day to see about getting onto the Rockin' Roller Coaster but the wait time never budged.  90+ minute wait all day. 

We went to the Frozen Sing-a-Long.  It was a real good show.  Basically they told a really quick (and funny) story of the movie and had the crowd sing along to the songs from the show.  During Let it Go my girls were signing so loud and when I looked at them they were so happy in that moment.  I couldn't help it and next thing you know the tears were streaming down my face. 

(How embarrassing!)

We had a little snack and then went to the Indiana Jones stunt show.  It was awesome!

I had never been to Hollywood Studios before.  It was cool.  Street performers, buildings and shops.  Tons and tons of Star Wars themed stuff.  There was a large group of Storm Troopers that were walking around that would get large groups of people following them. 

Groups of kids walking through the parks being trained as Jedis and on stage light saber battles between Luke and Darth Vader. 

The last event of the night was the Voyage of the Little Mermaid- a live 3D- glow in the dark type show.  After that, it was starting to get late and dark and it was time to go.

Florida: Day 5- Coco Beach

We drove to the beach today.  The girls first time to the ocean!  It wasn't terribly hot or sunny which was probably better.  A nice day to sit on the beach and watch the kids swim in the water.  They enjoyed playing in the sand and riding the waves.

 

 

There were a ton of birds that kept getting pretty close to our towels and chairs.  As Hannah was playing in the sand she would shoo them away.  Eventually she got up and started chasing them away.  Soon it turned into a game and she was trying to sneak up on them.

We sat and laughed while Hannah ran up and down the beach chasing the birds- LOL

We at lunch at a restaurant in an open air restaurant on the beach and then checked out Ron Jon's before heading home for the day.  Another great day although we are starting to get sad because tomorrow is our last day here.  I am not ready to leave yet.

Florida: Day 4- Golf, Shop, Animal Kingdom

Today the guys are going golfing.  Judy and I planned to let the kids swim and hang out around the house until later this afternoon when we will go to Animal Kingdom.  We didn't think we would need a whole day there and we have an extra park pass and could always go back tomorrow if we feel we need more time.

The girls were so excited to be swimming today.  It was real nice to have a morning to just chill at home.   Around lunchtime we decided to go grab a bite to eat and check out some souvenir shops.

As we were pulling out of the driveway the guys were getting home. They decided to follow us to McDonalds and then would go back home while we went and did some shopping.

We left for the park around 2:00.  Another beautiful day!

 

There was no wait to meet up with some of the characters so we grabbed a few autographs as we went by.  The girls couldn't help but giggle when they realized that Tarzan wasn't wearing pants.

We walked through the gorilla exhibit- of course one of the highlights of the trip for me :-)

Next up was the safari.  It was incredible.

Words can not even describe how awesome it was.  The tour guide drove us through telling us about the animals that we would see along the way.  At one point we turned a corner and we approached an area that looked like it was straight out of a movie.  Animals of all sorts just walking through, all sharing space together.  Giraffes walking in front of us and at one point they were so close to our vehicle that you could have reached out and touched them.

We then shared a  Dole Whip and the girls sat by to watch a street show before we went into the Lion King show.  It was quite the production!

We walked around a bit and then made our way to the roller coaster, Expedition Everest.

Later named the "Mommy Killer".  I don't do well on fast moving things lately.  Ever since the girls were born my motion sickness has been ridiculous.  I wasn't going to go on the ride until I started getting hassled by the family.  "Fine.  I will do it but it will probably make me sick."

The ride started out ok but it was starting to get dark so you couldn't see very well.  That was not helping my situation.  I could hear Hailey screaming from behind me and I started to worry about her.

Then we got to the top of a hill and stalled there for a minute.  Then as we started to move we could feel that we were moving backwards......OH NO!

This ride was probably pretty awesome for someone that could handle it. 

Eventually it was over after a lot of speed and a lot of quick movements.  Get me off of this thing!

Hailey was the only other one happy that this was over.

I needed a few minutes to sit down so Hannah and grandma decided to go on the ride a few more times to give me a break.

The park was now closing and it was time for us to leave.

 

We stopped at Texas Roadhouse on the way home and as soon as I smelled the bread they dropped off to the table I felt like I was going to lose it.  I needed to go.  We weren't too far from the house so Brian drove me home while the others waited for their food.  He made it back just in time!

Although I was sad to miss out on the family dinner, it felt so nice to just sit and relax with the lights off- falling in and out of sleep.

Florida: Day 3- Magic Kingdom

Today is Magic Kingdom day!         

                                                                                                   

It is so cool walking into the park and seeing that castle for the first time. 

We had a few rides set up with our Fast Pass so we started out heading to the Jungle Cruise.

The tour guide on the Jungle Cruise was AWESOME! 

After that we made our way to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

Outside of the ride there was a stage set up and we hung out there for a few minutes while people gathered around.  We figured there was going to be a show.

Soon the show started and then they asked for a few volunteers from the crowd. Hannah had her arm up and was chosen! 

 

After Hannah was done swashbucklin' we enjoyed the ride and the rode Big Thunder Mountain.

The wait times were not too long.  This was a perfect time of year to be here.  The crowds were light, the weather was perfect!  Hannah was really excited to take in her first roller coaster!

We drove the cars at the Tomorrow Land Speedway.  The cars were a little hard to drive for the girls but Hailey and I had a fun time laughing while she bounced us around the course.

The girls and grandma went on the Mad Hatter teacups.  I love that their Grandma is able to do those kind of rides with the girls.  Especially the ones that spin! 

 

The It's a Small World ride only had a 20 minute wait when we walked by so we jumped in line.  It was fun to see that the ride hasn't changed much since I was little.  The girls prefer the roller coasters and fast moving rides.  These types of rides remind me of Disneyworld the most.  Of course when we were growing up and came here there was nothing on earth like it.  We didn't know about robots and animatronics, nowadays, these are just not that exciting because these kids are growing up with holograms and hand held computers.  I am glad they could still appreciate the spectacle- maybe not blown away by the technology but definitely appreciated the costumes and decorations.

Nico and Agustin recommended the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor.  It's a comedy show where they pull people out from the crowd.  Judy was featured in this production!  It was super funny! 

Good call boys!

We walked through Fantasyland and made our way into a souvenir shop. Inside a woman approached the girls to see if they wanted to take some pictures in the studio, it was one of the photo spots in the parks.

We ate lunch at Casey's and the girls took part in the street party/parade.

 

I looked at the app and saw that the Haunted Mansion had no current wait so we ran over there and got right in.  When we got out it was starting to get dark.  Still not very late but it is winter and therefore the sun goes down early in the evening.

The castle is so pretty at night.  All of the architecture around the park is so fun to look at.  It's almost like the movies come to life.  The Beauty and the Beast castle was one of my favorite areas.

We were able to do the Peter Pan ride, Space Mountain and the Under the Sea show with the Little Mermaid.

We watched the fireworks, which were fantastic, and then got some ice cream.

 

Another great day!

I am so happy that we were able to do this and give our kids this experience.