It's been a few weeks since I wrote a blog post, and I think I'm going to have to divide it into two parts: Vacation, and Regular Ol' Life. I'll make this one about vacation, since that's the most fun!
Back in the Fall, we had started exploring some vacation ideas for February break, since the Covid situation was looking a little better in those pre-Omicron days, and the kids' vaccinations were on the horizon. After deciding against a Caribbean vacation and opting for a US destination, the idea of going to Disney and Universal came up. So many little signs pointed us in this direction - friends who mentioned a great deal on airfare, another friend who is a Disney/Universal trip planner, and the pieces fell into place for a super exciting trip. However, the ensuing months of Omicron left us uncertain about our decision, and we felt like we couldn't get fully excited until we were literally sitting on the plane to leave. Miraculously, Covid cases improved in the weeks before our trip, we all stayed healthy, and the trip was a huge success! We visited 6 theme parks in 6 days, squeezing every minute out of this long-awaited vacation.
Our flight itself was a small adventure, because our kids weren't seated with us! Not ideal, but we were very fortunate to have two families from our town on the same flight, and Evie sat with one, and Noah with the other (and yes, we paid for pre-assigned seats for the flight home!).
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| We arrived in Orlando! |
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| We traveled with friends, and the kids loved riding with their besties on the bus to Disney at midnight! |
We arrived to our hotel at Disney around 1:00am, and got to bed at 1:30am. Morning came early, but the sun was shining, and we headed out for Day 1 at Epcot. This was a pretty low-key park (even though we walked 20,000+ steps!), and we were able to take the Skyliner (a gondola) from our hotel to get there. The kids loved visiting the different countries, eating some delicious food, and we especially loved Soarin' Around the World, a ride that simulates hang gliding around the world.
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| Lady and the Tramp is one of our favorite Disney movies! Loved this tribute in Italy at Epcot! |
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| African drums were fun! |
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| China |
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| Norway |
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| Italian pizza for lunch - delish! |
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| Making a wish in the fountain (he told us: "I wish that Covid would go away") |
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| Classic Epcot photo |
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| Pool time! |
Day 2 was a big day - Magic Kingdom! We knew this would be one of our longer days, because we planned to stay for the fireworks celebration in the evening. There is something magical about seeing that big castle when you walk through the gates, and we did quite a few rides, but the lines were long. Our favorites were Splash Mountain and the 7 Dwarves Mine Train, and we also enjoyed a Dole Whip (a refreshing treat on a hot day!). The crowds were busier here, yet somehow we bumped into our friends from Essex, and the kids were able to do a couple rides together. The fireworks show was unbelievable, and it gave me both goosebumps and misty eyes, feeling so grateful to be there.
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| Magical! |
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| Noah and his friend Simon |
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| 50th Anniversary Smoothie |
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| Splash Mountain |
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| We DID get wet! |
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| Dole Whip - who knew this was a special Disney treat?! |
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| Spectacular fireworks show |
Day 3 we headed to a more tranquil park - Animal Kingdom. This was probably our favorite of the Disney parks. It was green and lush, and there were a lot of intriguing experiences. We went on a Safari and saw a ton of animals, we saw a couple of great shows, and rode some really unique rides. Our favorite rides were a river rafting ride (we got soaked!), a Dinosaur simulation ride, and the Flight of Avatar ride, which simulated riding on the back of a banshee. The food here was also amazing! That evening we went to Raglan Road, the Irish restaurant at Disney Springs. Evie wasn't able to dance, but we enjoyed watching the dancers, and she got to meet a couple of them and take a pic!
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Animal Kingdom
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| Up close to this beautiful giraffe |
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| Very wet after the water rapids ride! |
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| This kite show was so cool - the used jetskis over the water to propel huge Disney character kites! |
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| The Lion King show - full of singing, dancing, and lights! |
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| Pool Time |
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| Ironic - this was our hotel! Perfect for the computer geeks! |
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| Irish Party boy |
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| Evie with a Raglan Road dancer |
By Day 4, we were all feeling a little tired, but we were headed to Hollywood Studios, which is home to the Star Wars Galaxy's Edge section of the park. The boys were especially excited to check it out, and I have to say that even as a non-Star Wars person, I was really blown away by it. The Rise of the Resistance is the big ride there, which was incredible! Noah got to design his own light saber, and he loved browsing through all the unique gift shops. In addition to Galaxy's Edge, we loved the Toy Story Land and the Indiana Jones show at Hollywood Studios, but we were running out of steam by the afternoon. We opted to head back and have some pool time to give our tired feet a rest! However, knowing it was our last night at Disney, we rallied and went back to Animal Kingdom for dinner and to see the Bioluminescence - a very cool section of glowing plants in the park! It might not have been our best decision, because Noah spent our dinner curled up on a couch in exhaustion.
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| Galaxy's Edge |
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| Building a light saber |
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| Giant AT-AT walker |
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| Rise of the Resistance |
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| Gift shop fun |
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| We LOVE Yahtzee! |
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| Slinky Dog rollercoaster |
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| Evie was done with Star Wars |
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| A Goofy sighting! |
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| Last ride on the Skyliner |
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| 50th Anniversary of Disney! |
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| Bioluminescence - so cool! |
It felt a little sad that our Disney vacation was coming to an end, but we ate some Mickey waffles, packed up our things and headed off to Part 2 of our trip at Universal on Saturday morning. It was an easy ride across town, and the hotel at Universal was like walking into luxury. They took care of everything, and we hopped on the water taxi to head off to another day at the parks! The big draw for us at Universal was Harry Potter/Hogwarts, but we didn't realize how much other great stuff is also at Universal. Minions, Jimmy Fallon, The Simpsons, Dr. Seuss, Marvel Superheroes, Jurassic Park, and Cartoon Lagoon (featuring Popeye, Betty Boop and all the old time comics). We did a brief stop in each of the sections, but we focused most of our time at Hogwarts.
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| The kids said they like my homemade waffles better! But these sure are cute! |
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| On to Vacation Part 2! Welcome to Universal! |
Much like Star Wars/Galaxy's Edge, it felt like we were transported into the Harry Potter stories. On the first day, we quickly ordered some Butter Beer and the kids each got an interactive wand. There were several storefronts where they could perform a spell with their wand (open a book, lift a feather off the table, make water come out of a fountain, etc.). We rode the Hogwarts Express train, and finally had our first glimpse of the castle. After riding the Flight of the Hippogriff (rollercoaster) and the Jurassic Island Adventure, we headed back to the hotel. We had a great dinner at the pool that night - the kids got to swim while their food was being prepared, and there was an outdoor movie playing at the same time. Matt and I enjoyed some adult beverages and dinner by the pool.
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| The Knight Bus |
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| First Butter Beer |
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| Yummy! |
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| Shopping for wands at Olivander's |
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| Evie's wand description |
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| Noah's wand description |
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| Trying out the wands |
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| Money Exchange at Gringott's |
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| Hogwart's Express train |
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| Flight of the Hippogriff ride |
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| The Hogwarts Castle!! |
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| The perfect dinner scene |
Day 6 was our last park day, and while it was sad, we were also reaching our threshold of crowds, lines, and walking! We got to the parks early and started with Hogwarts. We did a phenomenal ride inside the castle, and the kids had lots of fun picking out some treats at Honeydukes. We rode the most soaking water rides (Ripsaw Falls and Bluto's Rapids) and walked around with wet underwear, socks, and sneakers for hours (thank goodness it was hot out!). After a stop at the Chocolate Emporium, we headed back to our hotel for a swim and then some dry clothes.
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| Dr. Seuss Red Fish, Blue Fish ride |
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| After Ripsaw Falls (the ride behind us) - can you see how wet we are?! |
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| We dried off in the "People Dryer", but we were still wet |
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Matt grew up loving The Simpsons! We didn't spend much time here, but next time we will!
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| Chocolate Emporium |
We had heard that there was a Mardi Gras parade at the park that evening, but we were all feeling exhausted. Somehow we mustered the energy to return to the park and end our vacation with a bang, and we are SO glad we did! The Mardi Gras Parade was like nothing I've ever seen. The floats were elaborate, there were dancers on stilts, great music, and the kids collected a ton of beads. They were just beaming, and it was the best way we could end our trip!
We had a little time the next morning to take it easy and enjoy the pool for a bit before we headed to the airport. While we hated to leave, we felt like we packed a ton of fun into our time in Orlando! It was a busy week, filled with wonderful moments that we will hold on to for a lifetime. We are so grateful for this time and for all these experiences, and we can't wait to travel again!
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| Headed home! |
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| The kids were awesome travelers! |
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| Happy to be sitting together for our flight home! |
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