Floirda was AWESOME!

[KarlaB]

We got back late last night. We had SO much fun - can't believe how fast it went. :bawling: The weather was in the 90's the whole time - the high here today is supposed to be 34 and we actually had a dusting of snow on the ground this morning! UGH! There was just no slow transition back to reality! LOL! Be sure to let me know if I missed anything exciting here! :)

* Just saw that I spelled Florida wrong - hello! Is there a way to edit the thread topic? Ugh! I guess it's too soon for me to be attempting to type again! LOL! *

[Marla]

Welcome back Karla...it sounds like you had an amazing time in Florida...what part were you in?

I would take Florida weather any time...the sun, the sand, the blue skies....8)

Don't worry...we'll forgive you for the typo...that's what happens when you are on holidays from the computer :computer: for too long :lol:

[angie r]

I didn't even notice the typo until you pointed it out!! I am so glad you had a great time. It is so nice to get away!

[darlene]

Welcome Back! I am totally green with envy! LOL
Glad you had such a great time.
So....where is our postcard that you should have sent us????
:)

[AnnW]

Glad you had fun!!!

[Diane]

Originally posted by KarlaB
We got back late last night. We had SO much fun - can't believe how fast it went. :bawling: The weather was in the 90's the whole time - the high here today is supposed to be 34 and we actually had a dusting of snow on the ground this morning! UGH! There was just no slow transition back to reality! LOL! Be sure to let me know if I missed anything exciting here! :)

* Just saw that I spelled Florida wrong - hello! Is there a way to edit the thread topic? Ugh! I guess it's too soon for me to be attempting to type again! LOL! *

I'm glad to hear that you had a good time!!! :biggrin: I am SO anxious for some nice weather... At this point I'd die for a 90 degree day! LOL After that it must have been very hard coming back to our icky 34 degree weather... AND snow. 8o I think that the hardest part of taking a vacation is coming back and trying to get back into the swing of things... LOL Glad to see you're back!

bye... :wave:

[Mickey]

Welcome back, Karla! Glad you had fun! Sorry you had to wake up to snow! :(

[KarlaB]

Thanks gals! It is nice to be back on here :computer: and get caught up with all of you! :) Dh has been sick since last week. He got worse towards the end of our trip and went to the dr today. He has an ear infection and pneumonia. At this point I can handle the snow, but just wish he would get better!

Marla - We were in Orlando. We went to Magic Kingdom, MGM and Animal Kingdom. Tiring when packed into 4 days, but lots of fun! :)

[Diane]

What a rotten time for your dh to get sick... poor guy. :bawling: I hope he starts feeling much better real soon. :)

[Marla]

Originally posted by KarlaB


Marla - We were in Orlando. We went to Magic Kingdom, MGM and Animal Kingdom. Tiring when packed into 4 days, but lots of fun! :)

I had such a great time there when we took the kids 2 years ago. We too went to Magic Kingdom and MGM...but we didn't get a chance to go to Animal Kingdom. Was the Lion King show still at the Magic Kingdom...wasn't it amazing?

[angie r]

I want all the details Karla! We leave June 1 for 4 days there also.

I hope dh is better fast!!

[Amy]

Welcome back!! Boy that WAS a short trip wasn't it? Im so glad you had an awesome time!

[KarlaB]

Marla - We saw a Lion King show at Animal Kingdom that was wonderful! Dks loved it! Actually we all did! :)

angie - What do you want to know? Anything specific? We bought the 4 day hopper passes - definitely worth it to save time standing in line at each park. We have 1 day left on each ticket, but they don't expire so now we "have" to go back some day!! :yippee: Also, definitely use the "Fast Pass" options - they save lots of time and you can do something esle until it's your turn to go on. We also hit an outlet mall while we were there that had a store that sold official Disney merchandise that didn't sell at the parks. I got some good deals there! :) Hmm,what else.... Let me know if you have any questions - I'll help if I can! :) Where are you guys staying??

[Marla]

did you get a chance to check out downtown disney?

[angie r]

Did you go to one of the character breakfasts?

We are staying at Port Orleans. We already have our hopper passes, but I heard the fast pass system was a waste. What exactly is it?

Did you go to any of the water parks?

I am such a planner, organizer I am stressed out already trying to think about how to get my 3 & 5 year old to enjoy everything!!! I need to breathe deep!!!

How did you end up not using one of your days?

Where is the outlet mall? We are flying in the day before our start at Disney and staying in a Holiday Inn with a KidSuite. Then 4 days at Disney then 3 days on the beach at Daytona.

[darlene]

Originally posted by angie r

Did you go to any of the water parks?

Then 4 days at Disney then 3 days on the beach at Daytona. [/B]

Hi Angie. This is almost ancient history but.....when dh and I went almost 12 years we loved Typhoon Lagoon (great river tube float) and weren't as crazy about River Country (more like a beach). Unless things have changed alot over the years, (mind you we went before we had kids!LOL) I would suggest if you had to pick just one, pick Typhoon Lagoon.

We also went to Daytona Beach....it was awsome (especially to this Canadian girl who is used to cold/dirty lakes to swim in!).
Not sure how kids would like it though.....may be a let down for them after being at DisneyWorld.

Someday we will get back down that way.....IF the CDN $ ever bounces back!

:)

[kat]

Sounds like great fun. We planned a trip years ago, then decided to cancel at the last minute because youngest ds just would not ride anything. We tried little theme parks (he wouldn't even get on the horse at Wal-mart. :lol: ) We did not want to go that far, spend that much money, spend that much time in line, only to have him not want to ride.

Would love to go now. He's 12, surely he'd ride something.

A couple of questions. 1. "Fast Pass" options , and 2. "hopper passes" What exactly are they and what is the extra cost? I have an idea, and think they are self-explanatory but want to make sure.

[Ryleigh]

Glad you had a great time. It just goes by too quickly though doesn't it.
dh and I enjoyed the Lion King show too. We hope to take the dk's this summer but will have to see what happens.

Hope your dh is feeling better :sick: It's not nece feeling yucky anytime but even worse when it's your holidays.

[angie r]

Originally posted by kat
A couple of questions. 1. "Fast Pass" options , and 2. "hopper passes" What exactly are they and what is the extra cost? I have an idea, and think they are self-explanatory but want to make sure.

The hopper pass is your ticket to all the parks. You can come and go to all the parks in the same day. I think fast pass is a system to not have to wait in line for rides.

[KarlaB]

Okay, I am definitely not an expert on this by any means, but I will try to answer some questions. :)

Marla- We did go to downtown Disney. I have been there in the past and this time we didn't spend as much time there. We ate at Rainforest Cafe and did some shopping. The dks loved the Lego spot! :)

angie- We didn't do the character breakfast this time, but we did it a couple years ago at Epcot. Oldest ds was just shy of 2 at the time and was scared. :( I didn't know how they'd react this time, so we didn't do it. Turns out youngest ds LOVED the characters when we saw them at the parks and even let Tigger hold him! :) We also skipped the water park this time, but we have been to Typhoon Lagoon in the past and had a lot of fun there! I heard Blizzard Beach is one of the top 10 water parks in the nation(?), but I'm not sure what ages would enjoy it best.

As far as the Fast Pass - it saved us time because some rides had over 2 hour waits! ugh! We probably only used the Fast Pass option about 8 times total. One time we didn't use it for the Peter Pan ride and we waited for over an hour in line. The guy letting people in let in like 50 people from the FP line and only 15 from ours, so it took forever to get through. Some ride lines weren't as bad as this though. At each ride they post the wait time and the FP return time, so you can just decide at each ride as you approach it. We decided to just do three days of parks while we were there and to just swim and shop on our last day. There are 3 day Hoppers, but our hotel didn't sell those so we bought the 4 day to avoid long ticket lines each day.

Which Holiday Inn are you staying at? We stayed at the Holiday Inn Family Suites - I think it's just a couple years old and it's HUGE! We were supposed to have a Kid Suite and when we got there they had given it away, so we had a "romance" suite the first night and we got a kid suite for the next three. They took $20 off each night for this inconvenience. :)

I think there are actually a few outlet malls in the area. The one we hit was on Vineland - off of 535 or 536 (I'll have to check for sure) and just opened in June.

Sorry this got so long! Hope I helped a little.

kat - Like angie said, the hopper pass is your ticket to all the Disney parks. You can come and go to all the parks in the same day. Fast pass is a system to not have to wait in line for rides - no extra cost. You scan your ticket and get another ticket telling you when to return. You can go do something else and then return to the Fast Pass ride and avoid waiting in a long line. Sometimes it is just quicker to stand in line for 1/2 hour rather than get the fast pass.

[kat]

Thanks for the info. Long waits in line with impatient kids doesn't make me want to rush to Disney. I went on my senior trip in '76, but now there is so much more to see and do. Is 3 days even enough?

[KarlaB]

Originally posted by kat
Thanks for the info. Long waits in line with impatient kids doesn't make me want to rush to Disney. I went on my senior trip in '76, but now there is so much more to see and do. Is 3 days even enough?

I sort of came home feeling like we weren't even there! :bawling: But on the other hand with little kids I couldn't imagine being there any longer unless we would have just hung out at the pool, etc. It gets to be a lot for them to keep on going, especially with the heat and being off schedule. 4 days seemed short, but I think a whole week would have seemed too long with the ages of my dks. I think they were glad to be back home and just play! :)

[Leigh]

Okay so now I am jealous. I WANT TO GO HOME!!!! Okay now that I have that out of my system, I am so glad that you had a great time Karla. Sorry to hear about ds. Hope he is feeling well soon.

[KarlaB]

Thanks Leigh! You'll be home before you know it. And, you are so lucky to call such a fun place HOME! :)

[angie r]

We are staying at Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort. They have a movie theatre in the hotel! They also have internet access so I don't miss you all too much!! That is just the first day though. If we ever go again I will not stay in the park like we are this time. The rooms are small and have no ammenties. At the Port Orleans we have to pay $10 extra dollars per day to have a small refrigerator in our room. For what we are paying.....(well, what my in-laws are paying) that is crazy.


I am thinking that the pool at our hotel will be enough of a "water park" for my kids (3 & 5.) I don't want them to get sunburned!!

I am ready to start packing now!!!

[KarlaB]

June will be here before you know it! I wish I could go back with you! It is so much fun!! :) I agree about the water parks - I'll save those for when the kids are older. It's nice to just have time at the hotel pool and to be able to go back to your room as needed.