Days 11-14 - FLORIDA!

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Sorry for the delay in posting the finale to our grand southern adventure, we’ve been having SO much fun in Florida that there hasn’t been much opportunity to sit down and write about it.

Until now! On the plane, in the air, somewhere over the Eastern seaboard.

Wednesday we packed our bags for the final journey south to Kissimmee Florida. We said our goodbyes to Uncle Tom and KK who were such wonderful hosts while we were in Hilton Head.

We decided that one of the stops we wanted to make on the way to our Florida condo was Daytona Beach, so we set the GPS and headed in that direction. The best thing about Daytona is that you can drive your car right onto the beach and take a cruise for miles and miles. We did exactly that, running our rented Ford Explorer through puddles and over sand for 6-7 miles or so. So much fun!

Prior to driving the beach, we had lunch at Caribbean Jack’s which is a huge local seafood place. We had Gator Bites (deep fried alligator similar to popcorn chicken) and nachos for an appetizer, and Heather and I split fried shrimp and fries while Diego got red snapper and Olivia had the Bamboo Burger. Great food and atmosphere!

After our beach adventure we pointed the car towards Kissimmee. After 10.5 solid days on the road, EVERYONE was ready for no more car, some personal space and a dip in our personal splash pool in the condo’s backyard.

We arrived around 6pm and got checked in quickly. Heather, Diego and I quickly hit the pool for some relax time, Livy got her room established and joined us to dip her feet in.

We intended to Instacart some groceries, but by the time we had a grocery list established they were done delivering for the night, so Heather and I headed over to Publix to gather supplies for the next few days along with dinner for that evening. We all shared pizza, chicken wings and fried chicken from their excellent prepared foods section.

By the time dinner was finished it was time to call a wrap to the first of our 4 days in Florida. Everyone headed to bed excited for tomorrow to come.

Thursday morning, woke up, made some breakfast and had a dip in the pool before going to explore the Clubhouse which is the community area of the resort complex. Took a look at their huge pool, the kids tried out the game room and we bought our Disney World tickets right there, super convenient! We ended up purchasing 2-day passes with free parkhopper (in and out to all the parks all day, although we never actually used it).

Heather and Diego decided to stay at the clubhouse for a screening of Toy Story in their movie theater, while I took Olivia back to the condo to drop her off for a nap before heading to the airport to pick up Mom and Dad (Mimi and Papa!)

Nice and easy getting to and from the airport and it was so wonderful to get hugs from my parents. We headed back to the condo to spread the love around even more with the rest of the traveling Tribers.

Thursday evening our plan was to take the kids to Medieval Times for dinner theater, and it was an absolute blast. We were seated in the Green Knight’s section and sat down to enjoy chicken legs, potato, garlic bread and tomato soup.

As it turned out, the Green Knight was the hero that evening and was victorious against the Red Knight who played the villain. We also saw the Yellow, Red and Yellow, Black and White and Blue Knight’s complete in games, jousting, swordfighting and medieval combat. We cheered our heads off for the Green Knight as he bested all comers and won the Queen’s favor.

After dinner, we all headed back to the condo to hang out and spend time together before bed time brought an end to Day 2.

Day 3 - Disney’s Hollywood Studios! First Disney park experience for Heather, Olivia and Diego. We booked Fastpasses in advance for the Frozen sing along, Muppets 3D and the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. Disney has a fantastic program called Disability Access which allows people with special needs to secure a return time for both them and their guests rather than standing in a long line which can be prohibitive. It’s in conjunction with FastPass, so we were also able to secure “Diego Passes” for the Aerosmith Rock n Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror.

Frozen was first, and even at the end of Day 2 we all agreed it was the most fun thing we did, which was totally unexpected by the adults. The show has two singing narrators who take you through the entire movie, with liberal breaks for familiar songs from Frozen. The narrators were incredibly funny people and the show is extremely entertaining, if you’re going to Hollywood Studios don’t miss it!

After Frozen, our next stop was Muppets 3D which is exactly what it sounds like, a 3D Muppets movie inside of a theater that reacts to what’s going on on-screen, for example water spraying the audience, bubbles dropping, realistic holes in the walls when the Swedish Chef and the penguins start fighting...with cannons. Very funny show, to say the least.

After Muppets, it was time to use our D-pass for the Rock and Rollercoaster. The most interesting thing about the coaster is that you don’t go up a hill and let gravity propel you through the rest of the ride. Instead, you’re propelled from 0-60 in less than two seconds while pulling 5G’s. It’s intense! From there, it’s a pretty standard roller coaster, although a lot of it is in the dark. It’s a lot of fun, very short ride but enjoyable.

I headed over to secure us another D-pass for Tower of Terror, and then we had about an hour to kill before Indiana Jones which was big on Diego’s list. We wandered around Toy Story land a little bit, taking pictures and people watching.

Indy Time! We headed over to the Stunt Spectacular to watch Indy and Marion (really Eric and Stephanie) putting on a great and very exciting show with the help of the production crew, additional stunt performers and extras from the crowd.

After Indy, we had one more attraction to experience. The Tower of Terror! Mimi and Papa decided they would prefer a quiet drink and snack at the Brown Derby right nearby, so we all dropped our bags and stuff with them and headed over.

Tower of Terror is a Twilight Zone themed thrill ride. The backstory is that a lightning strike back in the 30’s shorted out the elevator and vanished the people who were in the elevator before it plummeted to the basement. The ride is a moving platform with seats (and seat belts of course) that culminates in a 8-story drop straight down in free fall. There was a fair amount of actual terror for Diego, as he didn’t know what to really expect and the free fall is intimidating and overwhelming. Afterwards, everyone agreed that it was a fun ride but now it’s been done and there’s no reason to do it again. Except me, I think it’s fun and would totally ride it again 😊

That wrapped up our first day at Disney! We stopped off at Publix to grab a few essentials before heading back to the condo for hangout time. Heather ordered pizza and wings and a few other comfort foods and it was all delicious.

Saturday morning, Heather, Diego and I headed over to the big resort pool so Diego could go on the water slide. After that, Mimi and Papa and Adam and Diego piled into the car to head for the Magic Kingdom around 2pm. Heather and Olivia stayed behind for a brief while as Olivia wasn’t feeling very well, they Ubered over to the park later to join us.

We parked the car and headed for the Monorail station that takes you over to the Magic Kingdom. For guests, there’s only two ways to get across the water to the island that Magic Kingdom is built on. You take the monorail or you take the ferry boat. We took the silver Monorail over, and took the ferry boat back later in the evening.

We had FastPasses for Monsters Inc, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Splash Mountain originally, but there was a parade just about to start when we arrived so we canceled Monsters and did that instead. After the parade, Adam and Diego and Mimi and Papa headed for Liberty Square and the Hall of Presidents. That’s been on my list for every Disney trip I’ve ever taken, but it’s always been closed up to this trip. Amazing show, you can’t believe how realistic the animatronic POTUS’ are until you see them live and in person. I was very impressed that the entire audience kept it classy and didn’t boo or throw a tantrum when President Trump made his speech and performed his part.

After Hall of Presidents, I headed over to the Haunted Mansion to secure a D-pass for our group. Diego had a fruit bar while waiting, and then headed towards Cinderella Castle to link up with Heather and Olivia who had just arrived.

Now that the whole group was together, we walked over to Pirates of the Caribbean. Such a fun ride! The whole show has been updated to include thematic elements from the movie franchise it was inspired by. Pirates is a log flume ride and we all enjoyed the tour through Tortuga and all the crazy scenes the pirates get up to. At the end, Captain Jack Sparrow appeared in a treasure room singing Yo Ho. So much fun.

A bucket list item for several of our party at Disney was a visit to one of the places that offered Dole Whip which is pineapple or vanilla (or swirl) soft-serve ice cream. Absolute delicious! Heather and Olivia ordered theirs with pineapple juice as a float and that was really good too.

After dessert, it was time for Splash Mountain, one of the best rides at Disney and our second log flume of the day. Splash Mountain tells the story of Song of the South with Brer Fox and Brer Bear chasing after Brer Rabbit. They finally catch him and decide to throw him into the Brier Patch, without realizing he lives there and it’s exactly where Brer Rabbit wants to go to get away from his pursuers. At the top of the mountain you crest the drop off and it’s 80 feet down the log flume to the bottom and get at least a little wet if not pretty drenched. When you’re done, you’re treated to a rousing chorus of Zip-a-Dee Doo Dah, which is still in my head 18 hours later.

After Splash Mountain it was time to use our D-pass and head for the Haunted Mansion. It’s always a fun ride through the Mansion, seeing the ghosts and ghouls. The Mansion is one of Mom’s favorite attractions and it was a good time. Afterwards, Diego had had enough fun and he and Heather left via Uber to head for the condo and some relax time without stimulation.

Mimi and Papa and Olivia and Adam soldiered on, grabbing dinner at Columbia Harbor House for a little seafood action. I got the Trio Platter which was fish, shrimp, chicken nuggets and fries, hush puppies and I also got some macaroni and cheese. Mom and Dad ordered chicken salads and Livy got salmon with rice and veggies.

After dinner it was about 8:15pm and we wanted to get a good spot for the fireworks at 9:15. We thought we would be slick and camp out on a good spot for an hour or so. Literally every one of the 50,000 other people in the park also had the same idea, except they had it about an hour before us. You can’t imagine all the people just plunking down where they stand to sit for an hour before the show. I remembered some tables with umbrellas from earlier in the day at the parade, so Liv and I headed over to see if there was any chance of getting one. They were all full but there was some space on a low brick wall where we could sit down.

Suddenly we realized that the residents of one of the tables right in front of us was packing up to leave! We asked if they were leaving and if we could have their table, and they said yes! Perfect!!! All set up for the show in half an hour. When Mom and Dad joined us, I ran off to get some drinks (soda, water and this non-alcoholic Mint Jelep Lemonade slush thing that sounded good. When I came back, the remaining Tribers had managed to move up a row of seating to an even better table.

The fireworks display and projection show is second-to-none, just breathtaking. I tried to FaceTime with Diego and Heather so they could watch too, but the connection was bad and we eventually gave up. After the fireworks, the mass frenzy of humanity started to collectively head for the door. Did I mention that there’s only two ways onto the island (Monorail and Ferry). Well, there’s only two ways as well, other than the Disney Bus service. We opted for the Ferry as the line appeared to be shorter. It took us about an hour and a half to physically leave the park, but we finally arrived at the parking lot, gathered up the car and headed back to the condo. Heather and Diego were sleeping but the four of us hung out (Adam, Livy, Mimi and Papa) for a little while in the backyard, with Mom and I cooling ourselves down in the pool for a bit.

Tiredness took over as it was after 1am with an early morning ahead, so I said my good nights and headed for bed.

I set my alarm for 4:30 but accidentally turned it off in my sleep. Woke up at 5:30am to Heather gently rubbing my hand to inform me that it was already the time we planned to be out the door headed for the airport, and that we really needed to get moving! We did well, getting packed up, loaded up, hugs and love all around with Mimi and Papa and on the road to the airport at 6:20am. Our flight was at 8:30 and I had to return the rental, so I dropped Heather Livy and Diego at the Southwest gate and went to take the car back. No problems, and Orlando has a nice tunnel that takes you right from car return to the terminal without a shuttle or any delays. Caught right up to Heather and the kids and we got all checked in and bags on the way. TSA Precheck (the best if you travel frequently) got us through security quickly, and we had about 40 mins to spare before passing through Gate 109 onto the plane and pointed towards home.

Well - It’s 10:20 in the morning on Sunday and we will be landing in Rochester in about 25 mins. It’s been a fantastic vacation with my family and I’m so happy we did this. Also quite happy we’re very nearly home and will be able to see our Gracie girl and Butter, maybe take a dip in our own pool and eat our own food on the way to sleeping in our own beds.

I know it’s not a Disney phrase, but there’s no place like home. <3 Thanks for reading everyone.

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Comments

[George]

Wow!
I'm so glad it all went so well for all of you. The blog is so well done I almost feel like I was there with you. You folks ROCK!!