Destination: Orlando, Florida
When: January 17-22, 2007
Travelers: Mom (Me, Shelli, 35), Dad (Ross, 31), Riley (7), and Sydney (5)
Another memorable trip to Florida! Boy, do the kids enjoy it there. Back in October we spent nine days at Disney World and loved every minute of it. This time we managed to not do anything "Disney" even though it was hard to stay away. We found a lot of other attractions to keep us busy and entertained.
Day 1: Our flight left Minneapolis at 3:45pm on Wednesday, January 17. We picked the kids up from school at lunchtime and made our way to the airport. We always use Park-n-Fly and appreciate their service and efficiency. Our flight was on time and got us to Orlando at about 7pm. We picked up our rental car from Alamo and headed out to find our hotel. We chose to stay at the Springhill Suites near the convention center, right in between Sea World and Universal Studios and just off of the popular I-Drive. The location was perfect for us. I checked in quickly and was given room 205. However, the room was already occupied by another guest. No worries. We were switched to room 206 which is where we stayed for the duration of our trip. We had 2 beds plus a pull out sofa, good sized bathroom with a separate vanity area, a work desk with free internet access and a kitchenette area with a mini fridge and microwave plus some cupboard space.
The room was plenty big. There was a TV in the bedroom area and a TV in the living area, which was nice for the kids. However, when the sofa bed is set up, there is very little room to walk between the end of the bed and the TV stand (maybe 8 inches at most.) The work desk was nice to set up my laptop. Internet access was plug in and free, although my wireless located the neighboring hotel's wireless access! The bathroom was large. The DOUBLE shower heads were fantastic! Water pressure was amazing. No complaints about the room itself.
On the days we left the "do not disturb" sign on the door, housekeeping left us a bag hanging on the doorknob full of fresh towels. That was so nice! On the days we let housekeeping in, they did a great job at taking care of everything.
The hot buffet style breakfast was wonderful. English muffins, eggs, sausage patties and cheese made for great breakfast sandwiches along with the fruit, yogurt, pastries, oatmeal, cereal, breads, bagels, and of course, those delicious malted waffles. What a great way to start each day. Coffee was hot and on all day long.
The pool was small, but the water was very warm. Warm enough for our kids to swim in the 70+ degree weather. There were plenty of tables, chairs and loungers on the pool deck.
I used the laundry room once. Each load was $1.50 to wash and to dry, and the machines were quite efficient.
I made a few purchases in the gift shop (medicines, snacks, etc.) The gift shop is very small, but it has just about anything you could ever need. I also used the business center to print directions to some attractions we found.
In the hotel handbook you will find a list of restaurants that deliver to the room. We ordered from the Four Seasons a few times. It is a Chinese restaurant with DELICIOUS food! Very courteous, very good, I highly recommend them! So, on to Day 2!
Day 2: Since we had some kitchen facilities in our room, we decided to stop at Walmart for some groceries and miscellaneous items. I can get pretty creative with a microwave and mini-fridge these days! We then headed east on the Beachline Expressway to Port Canaveral. Don't forget some cash for all those tolls! It was fun to see the Disney and Carnival cruise ships docked in port, especially since a friend of mine just disembarked from the Disney ship that very day! We stopped at a tourist information center and picked up some Cocoa Beach information before heading to the Cocoa Beach Pier. We poked around on the pier a bit, then made our way down to the sand and water. Of course the kids had a blast playing in the water, sand and chasing the birds. The weather wasn't great, but the waves were really rolling for the surfers. I had read some information on the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Titusville, and since it was free, we decided to check it out. This place was so neat! We drove the Black Point Wildlife Drive which took us a few hours. We saw tons of bird species (if you are into birdwatching, this place would be ideal for you!) as well as real, wild, alligators. Very cool! We went to the manatee observation deck and saw two manatees near the river bank. It was a long day in the car, but we got to see so much.
Day 3: Sea World, here we come! This was our first time at Sea World and we were so excited! We arrived right at opening and stayed the entire day. We timed everything (by accident!) perfectly and were able to hand feed stingrays, dolphins and sealions. We saw every show and the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales which were very impressive. We loved Sea World!
Day 4: On to Universal Studios! Once again, we arrived at park opening, which you just have to do no matter what park you visit in Orlando. On top of our list to do was the Spiderman ride. We were not disappointed! Back in the Jurassic Park area, we explored the Discovery area and witnessed a baby T-Rex hatch from his egg. Sydney especially loved this. The kids met Jimmy Neutron, Shrek, Donkey and Fiona, Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat, and Shaggy and Scooby Doo. Too fun! The longest we waited in line for any ride was about 30 minutes. Back in the Curious George town there is a large "Ball Factory" where you can fire and shoot balls in a multi-level game room using air guns, suck up the balls with huge vacuums as well as a variety of other activities. Unfortunately, the large roller coasters were just too large for our family (read, the kids) so we didn't get to experience them this time. We're working up to them, though!
Day 5: This was our quiet day. We didn't have much planned, so we started the day at the world's largest entertainment McDonald's for breakfast. They have a "bistro gourmet menu" here so you have more options that just a Big Mac. I picked up some Orlando attraction guides while the kids played and saw a coupon for a place called the Green Meadows Petting Farm in Kissimmee, Florida. I also found a coupon for a place called Full Speed Race and Golf which had an indoor, black lit, 18-hole mini-golf course. Since both sounded fun and both were in Kissimmee, off we went! We stopped at Green Meadows first and all I can say is "Wow!" This place was fantastic! We were taken on a tour of the beautiful farm, but were free to wander however we'd like. We chased chicken, turkeys, pigs, goats, ducks, and sheep, rode a hay ride, train and horses, milked a cow and completely enjoyed our day. If you have children who enjoy animals, you must go here! I thought we'd be here for an hour or so, but ended up staying for several and loved every minute of it. We headed over to do some mini-golfing. Too fun! We were the only ones there and had a blast. The black lights and glowing paint were very neat. It was all done in a racing theme with monster trucks, cars and motorcycles on the walls, etc. We all enjoyed it here.
Day 6: Time to head home. We spent the morning packing up, ate breakfast at the hotel and eventually started out for the airport.
Another great vacation in the books!