Orlando, Florida

Published 2021

The adventure began at the Minneapolis airport. This was the first time flying for all of our kids and they were excited. With their suitcases packed we wheeled our way to our terminal to await our flight. Once on the plane we all settled in for our 3 hour flight. Everyone enjoyed watching movies and eating snacks while the plane took us from the top of the US down to the bottom. We have always drove to all our or previous destinations and everyone was happy for the quick hop down to our vacation.

Once the plane landed we took the tram over to get our rental vehicle before heading to the hotel.

After we got settled into the hotel we decided to go check out Disney Springs. I guess it used to be previously called Downtown Disney. We checked out the shops, got some ice cream and went to Goofy's Candy Store. It was a really enjoyable place to go and explore to kick off our time in Orlando.

Back at the Homewood Suites by Hilton we soaked up some sun at the pool for a couple of hours. There was a nice size pool with a splash pad at one end; there was also a basketball court the kids enjoyed using. The room we stayed in had a kitchen with a full fridge which we stocked up for the days we would be there. The hotel ended up being a perfect location for us for what we planned to do and is right next to SeaWorld. That evening we ate dinner at the Bonefish Grill which was pretty decent food. It wasn't my favorite meal of the trip though. After that we made sure to get some rest before we headed to Universal Studios the next day.

Bright and early the next morning we entered the Universal Studios, Orlando Themepark. We got park hopper tickets that allowed us to also go to Islands of Adventure; which turns out that they are connected at the front gate and then also by the Hogwarts Train. You have to have the park hopper pass to be able to ride the train. We only had time to take the train one way and want to go back to do the 9 3/4 platform.

The Harry Potter areas of both of the parks did not disappoint and were the first place we headed to.

We made our way around through the magical shops and enjoyed a frozen Butterbeer which was fantastic! I wish I had gone back and had another while we were there and is high on the list for whenever I get to return. We also found some fun souvenirs including a Hedwig backpack and some love potion! Make sure to watch for the dragon breathing fire as well. It was really awesome.

The first ride we went on was Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, and it was more than we expected. After exploring the area for awhile more, Scarlett and I left the rest of the group as she was not tall enough to ride most of the rides. So we headed over to the Dr. Suess area of the park. It was super cute and had a bunch of rides she could go on.

We saw as much as we could see before we were all tired of walking around. We went back to the hotel where we rested, took naps and ordered in some food.

After our rest and refuel, 5 of us went back for some more rides and to find a few more souvenirs, which the boys did in the Simpson area of the park. Favorite rides of the evening were Transformers and Revenge of the Mummy. We had such a fun time at the park and one day was plenty enough for us. Whenever we can come back we will make sure to have the fast pass tickets. We spent so much of our time standing in line. After seeing how much time is wasted just standing in line its a must to pay extra for the passes. The rides were so fun and the kids did so good waiting but you could cover so much more ground with the fast passes. We were happy we left for a few hours to rest as well. We were also surprised by the water and light show that they had just before the park closed. It was so cool! We hope to return again soon.

The next day we made our way towards the coast to Cocoa Beach. We had a tent and chairs rented for the day right by the pier which was so nice. We rented that and the surf boards from the Flohana Surf School, located under the pier. We did an hour lesson and you get to use the boards for the whole day. The kids want to try surfing again and Michael got super burnt because he never left the water.

The restaurants on the pier were limiting how many people went up at a time due to covid but we made the most of each trip up for drinks and food. An overall great location for a day at the beach though.

Next on the agenda after a sun filled day was a stop at the Ron Jon Surf Shop which was HUGE! A person can get lost in the maze of colorful surf themed shirts and other beach items. We all found some awesome items to remember our trip to the shop and crossed that off the list of things we waned to see on this trip.

After a big day at the beach we were all hungry and I had a couple of places on my list I had made of places I wanted to eat. We ended up at Fat Kahunas which was some of the best food I have ever eaten. I was obsessed. The format for getting a table wasn't the usual protocol as they didn't take reservations or have a formal check in. It was a small place and you had to let the waitresses know you were wanting a table and then you stuck around hoping one opened up. Once seated we enjoyed a wonderful meal. I highly recommend taking time to have a meal here. They are not open every day though and only from 5-9pm, at least when we were there that was the deal.

After a wonderful dinner watching the sunset we went for ice cream at The Fat Donkey where the line down the block let us know this was "the place" to get ice cream. I had the Jack Smashers Key Lime Cone and it was really good.

The next day we didn't have anything planned which was good because Michael was a bit crispy from the day of surfing and didn't want to do much of anything. The rest of the boys decided to go to Top Golf and the girls and I went to SeaWorld. It got up to 92 that day and we were so hot. We watched the sea lion and dolphin shows and looked in some shops but didn't make it to the Orca Show. We were just over the heat and didn't want to wait around anymore. The shows we did see were a lot of fun though!

The next day we flew home with memories of sunshine and a really fun time.