Day 6: The Beach, The Ocean, The Relaxation

Today started late by our standards. Todd and I rolled out of bed at 8:30 and enjoyed the quiet morning on our private patio. Our morning coffee and conversation was the most relaxing thing I’ve done on this trip. After 19 years I still love spending time with my guy.

After a slow start this morning we adults went to Aldi’s  We’ve never been to one! What an interesting experience with a quarter for our shopping cart. You get it back at the end, and the store is mostly like a Grocery Outlet. We found lots of food since we went to the store hungry. First mistake right? 

We came home and Toddy cooked us up a delightful breakfast of eggs, bacon, biscuits, potatoes, and toast. Yum and yum. With the clock turning nearly noon by this point, we decided to get our butts moving and head to the beach. The Atlantic Ocean is so much warmer than the Pacific. We wouldn’t dare go in the ocean back home, but the ocean here was pretty nice! Our first day of just hanging out was really nice. 

We found Bathtub Reef Beach, which has a reef but we didn’t head out to it because the tide was high. The water was warm and while a few of us swam, a few just enjoyed the sunshine. 

Working on her winter tan. 

These two just enjoyed the view. 

Don’t those kids look happy?

Where are the older peeps you ask? Grams and Papa stayed back at the house and read books, napped, and just generally laid low. 

So we have settled in for the night and it’s all of 4:30. We have cheese, sausage, crackers, wine, and later - steak, mac n’ cheese, Caesar salad, and mashed potatoes with gravy (we are really catering to everyone’s whim here). Oh, and we have Ben and Jerry’s for dessert. 

Not much exciting here today. We are resting before our next big adventure tomorrow. Stay tuned! 

So the place we are staying is very pretty. It’s comfortable in size, but not quite as clean as we’d like. We are wearing socks around the house. For a party of 8, the three bedrooms and three couches are great. It feels kinda like a cabin retreat, but in the middle of Florida and just 5 minutes from the ocean. It’s been doable for two nights but I don’t think that we’d stay again. It’s hard finding lodging for 8 while on vacation. We have three generations on this trip. When you stay in hotels you just don’t get to hang out and lounge like you do in a house or condo. 

So here are the pictures of our compound. We are having an organic fruit breakfast from the land tomorrow! The first picture is the u-pick garden we can use but there’s just tomatoes and bell peppers ripe right now. 

Oh yeah, it’s the last day of the year. Enjoy your parties! We are hanging in and hanging out. Breaking out the BBQ and making dinner. Sitting down to play cards and we suddenly realized that we can’t watch the NYC ball drop at 9pm....and most of us aren’t staying up until midnight. We shall see how 2019 looks when we wake up and head south to Fort Lauderdale and the Everglades!

Day 5: Kennedy Space Center & a Few More New Experiences

Today we ventured to the coast and within an hour we found the Kennedy Space Center. Wow. What an awesome day. We could have used another two hours there and we spent about 5. There was so much to see and do that we ran out of time before we saw everything. And we saw our first alligator sighting while on the bus out to the launchpad. Eek!

It was really cool to see the actual space shuttle Atlantis. It has gone to space 33 times over 26 years and come back. It really looked like an airplane but the videos we watched told us about how the exterior was made of these tiles that were made to withstand the heat upon reentry to the Earth’s atmosphere. 

Watching videos and seeing the Lunar Lander that landed on the moon was really amazing. Definitely awe inspiring. We got to see the actual control room where NASA controlled the landing.

It definitely made me want to watch Hidden Figures again and see which Apollo they were working on. I loved that the gift shop had lots of female presence. As the mother of three girls it’s important to show that they can do anything they set their minds to. That’s inspiring and scary at the same time. 

So, you should go to the KSC. It was amazing. Get there earlier than we did and take your time taking everything in. It was super cool. $57 well spent. An experience you shouldn’t pass up. 

Some people got hats. 

Around 5pm we took to the highway and went south on 95 for about an hour and a half. It was a calm drive with many sleeping passengers. I was listening to my audiobook Hamilton which is written by Ron Chernow. I’m almost halfway through and it’s due back to the library so back in line I get. The story of my vacations and my reading adventures!

So we arrived at our Airbnb which is something outside of our comfort zone because we are staying in a bit of a bed and breakfast. We are staying at a 10 acre organic farm. Yup. We came to Florida to stay on a farm. They grow their own flowers, fruit, and honey. We are in for a treat when breakfast is served tomorrow! Stay tuned for that. Here’s the link if you wanna check it out! https://abnb.me/hGVrm9fh5S

So after checking in and dropping our bags we set out to find some dinner. We found a little Italian restaurant with an owner from Gaeta (south of Rome, north of Naples). The food was AMAZING! Delightful dinner experience with busy crazy loud Italians all running around. Our hearts and stomachs are full.

Day 4: Epcot Adventures

We are close to 18,000 steps today and we aren’t home yet. As I write, we are sitting in Disney Springs which is like downtown Disney but way bigger, way more crowded, and way bigger. Oh did I say it was bigger? This place is a destination in and of itself. Finding parking involved stalking people as they got off the elevator and then trying to follow them to their car without anyone noticing you.

Epcot is probably my favorite park here. I just love history and I love traveling. Today we went around the world. Stopping first back in time with cavemen and the Greeks who first invented papyrus (paper). That is the ride that is inside that huge ball that is so iconic of Epcot. It’s a really amazing ride as it travels through time and shows you how mankind has evolved, developed, and changed the world.

Next we hopped over to the Living with the Land ride which is really cool. It’s a boat ride that shows you how agriculture is changing and how technology is helping gardeners grow more with less soil. There were examples of vertical gardening and even fish farming. It’s a pretty educational ride in my opinion.

Next we had Fast Passes for Mission Space which is a simulator ride. Guess what? I only close my eyes for about 70% of that ride. Guys, my motion sickness is no joke. Cool ride. The line said 45 minutes but we were out in 20. That’s the way to make a Disney family happy!

Next up was the comedic adventure of Turtle Talk. If you haven’t spent 15 minutes sitting down and listening to Crush learn about human people, you should. It’s hilarious and a nice break in the day.

The countries! Our world traveling began in Canada, the UK where a sighting of Mary Poppins excited Grams.

Then we walked through France, China, Morocco, Japan, the USA oddly enough, and finally Mexico. It was a whirlwind of food sampling and cultural exploration. Pictures below.

We rode a boat ride inside this huge pyramid, that really should be changed to be a Coco ride, but I digress...and another boat ride that surprised the dickens out of us when we went backwards down a waterfall! It was a very cool ride and the Frozen theme was spot on. Grams, Papa, and I waited in line while the thrill seekers went on Test Track which is a Car-like ride but faster.  Then they jumped in line with us and avoided waiting the 60 minutes.

Guys, there’s more. We watched a few Disney Pixar shorts and enjoyed the break, then rode Soarin’ and hightailed it out of the park. The oldies are sitting in Disney Springs people watching and waiting for the shoppers to get their fill. We are looking forward to getting back to our beds and resting for our trip to the coast tomorrow. The Disney World experience was fantastic in a nutshell. Lots of time spent bonding and laughing in line. Commiserating about tired feet and sharing stories about the rides. I’ll remember all of that more than anything else. 

Day 3: Hollywood Studios and 4 or 5 Tired People

Not everyone in our clan is tired, but some of us are so tired we’ve considered renting scooters. How did we manage only 9,000 steps today? We left the park at 5pm and went to the condo to play cards, drink wine (only some of us), and eat corn dogs and mac n cheese. Our game tonight is George. A card game that grams loves and yet I’m kicking everyone’s butt.

So today was Disney Hollywood Studios. Up and in the park by 9am and fading fast at 4pm. But we did see a lot today. Hollywood Studios has a new Toy Story Land. Pictures below.

We saw a very cool documentary video about Walt Disney and all the failures he experienced before becoming what we know today as Disney. That sure is a lesson in life, huh? You gotta fail forward. I thought Harrison Ford said that but Google told me it was Will Smith. So he’s a smart guy. We should listen to him. Fail forward. Learn and grow. Okay, life lessons with Gina is over.

Before the documentary we rode Toy Story which is exactly like DCA’s ride. We were happy because after the Buzz Lightyear fiasco we were prepared for disappointment. But alas, we were pleased!

Oh we rode The Tower of Terror! Yes! It’s the real thing here in Florida. They have no plans to change it to Guardians like in DCA so you’ll have to come over here to get your hotel thrills. You won’t find me in the picture because I believe in gravity, and did you know that the ride pulls you faster than gravity??? I can’t handle it. Too much for me. I waited for the photo to pop up and most of them look happy.

We also caught the Indiana Jones stunt show which was actually very entertaining. Fun fact, did you know that in Disneyland the ride does not have images of Harrison Ford like they do of Johnny Depp? That’s because Ford wouldn’t allow his image to be used. So....Disney just added a character named Indy and he happens to look a lot like Ford.

Disney trivia is one way we pass the time while in line. We waited for only Toy Story today and that was about 90 minutes. We gave up on the other rides. Day 3 and we are fading. Fading fast people! Jess and Caleb are still at the park. We left them. They have Uber. We aren’t bad parents. We aren’t.

Moving on. The last thing we did today was watch the Beauty and the Beast show. It’s a musical and it was delightful. A few spots of humor and some very fancy costumes. And that’s it. We went home. We shopped. We ate. We laughed and tried not to cry about our hurting feet. And now we are listening to music via Spotify and playing cards. Fun. Fun. And more fun. Family is the best.

Forgot to mention that Em got stuck on Toy Story. The ride wouldn’t release and was threatening to keep her. We told them they could trade us for fast passes to all the rides but it was a no-go. It wouldn’t have been worth it. She’s kinda the best. We like her. 

This entire blog was written out of chronological order because I’ve walked for three days  and had two glasses of wine. Send me to bed!

Day 2: The Animals are Wild Here

Day 1 topped out at 17,344 steps and day 2 was just 13,227. That’s because the Animal Kingdom is a smaller park, according to Jess. And it might also have something to do with the lines we stood in. Line 1 was for Avatar Flight of Passage. Grams and I bonded for about 90 minutes while everyone else went and rode nearly every ride in the park.

Yup. 90 minutes, AND THEN they joined us for about 90. Oh guys, this trip is not for the weak of patience. So the consensus on the ride was that it was digitally amazing. A cross between Disney California Adventure’s Soarin’ and those motorcycle video games at Chuck E Cheese. Everyone loved it. I, on the other hand, kept my eyes closed for about 98% of it because the 3D images were making me sick. My motion sickness gets me again. The land was pretty amazing. 

The ride was really 4D and you can feel the Banchee breathe between your legs are you ride it. It was pretty amazing. But alas, we adventured to the Live Nemo Show. It’s a lot like DCA’s Aladdin, or the new Frozen Musical. We sat in the bubble zone but sadly didn’t get much action. 

And to top off our day, we grabbed some grub and went to stand in line for the Safari truck tour. We were pleasantly surprised to only wait for 90 minutes. We got in line ready to suck it up for 125 minutes and they surprised us by getting us on faster. Kinda odd when you’re happy about waiting 90 minutes huh? We saw animals!!!!

After the animals, we rushed to the bathroom because two sodas and a long wait and a long ride later...well you get the point. 

And last, but certainly not least, we waited for 180 minutes for the  Na’vi River Journey. It’s like a Pirates if the Caribbean ride without the drops. The ride was pretty. That is how our group described it. The wildlife design was super cool. The setting landscape was detailed and lite well. Worth two hours of a wait? Eh. Nobody thought so. But we played heads up and we laughed. We laughed and laughed. It was good. The day was good. 

A stop at the busiest Walmart we’ve ever seen, and frozen pizza, mac n cheese, and a pot pie later (maybe a little wine) and we are all sitting around the table talking. The best time of the day in my opinion. 

Day 1: Magic Kingdom and Just a Few Other People

Yup. There were just a few other people in the happiest place on earth (or the east coast DL if you like the original DL better -jury is still out for our crew). It’s Christmas break in Florida and there are a few other people who decided to vacation like we did. But that’s okay. Our bunch, plus the addition of our new son-in-law Caleb, are going to have a fabulous time no matter how long the lines are, and yes, they are loooooong. Magic Kingdom is the park with the most rides similar to our regular Disneyland in sunny California. Luckily it’s sunny in a Florida in December and that’s why we are here. And Todd gets extra time off between Christmas and New Years so he doesn’t have to spend those vacation days we covet so dearly.

Our first ride was A Small World and while it was neat, it’s not as decorated as the California one. Meaning, there are no added characters to this one and there was very little holiday decor added. We hit Pirates and Astro Blasters which is TOTALLY different from the California one. Whoa - like waaaay different. Not in a good way sadly. The blasters are not movable so the game is much more challenging and the game doesn’t light up so you don’t really know if you’ve hit your target. Eh, it wasn’t our favorite. Only an hour and a half wait. Uh huh. That wasn’t the worst today.

Congrats to the newlyweds!

As you can see, we take this ride seriously. We got to ride Ariel, Haunted Mansion, The Jungle Cruise, and a few people broke off and rode Winnie the Pooh, Splash, Space Mountain, and Monsters (which turned out to be a super funny comedy show that interacts with the audience). But the ride we waited three hours for, uh huh, was called Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. It was a new roller coaster and an incredibly smooth ride which Katie explained to us is because of the new technology in roller coasters where the track is high tech. It was enjoyed by all, even though we may not have thought it was three hour wait worth it, you tend to build those long term relationships while standing in line with tired feet and a nearly dead phone battery. The ride was cool, but the company, is always the best part. And in the middle of the three hour line? Ice cream stand!

So if you’re wondering why on earth we would go to DisneyWorld over Christmas break when it seems like half the country is visiting with us, it’s because we love our time as a family. I write this as we all sit around the dining table of our condo, at 10:30pm, heating up frozen pizzas, drinking a little wine, and reflecting on our day. It’s gonna be a great two weeks. Stay tuned!