SeaWorld

On Monday we had planned to go to SeaWorld. The weather was still historically cold for Florida, so we decided we would go to the store and look for mittens and hats to make the day a little less miserable than the day before! As you can imagine, we weren't the only ones with this idea! I don't think Florida keeps a very large stock of mittens and hats to begin with, so by the time we made it to Wal-mart and Target, they were all but sold out, but we did manage to find mittens for everyone (except Jason who claimed he didn't need them...) and hats for each of the kids. The mittens and hats made a HUGE difference--it was still very cold, but bearable since we were a bit warmer.

Anyway, we finally made it to SeaWorld and this was the first thing we were able to do:

It was so cool to stand that close to the dolphins, hear their sweet sounds, and even touch them. As a special privilege for GKTW guests, we got to do this for free! After that amazing experience, the kids were definitely SeaWorld fans!

Because of our late start that morning, it was already time for lunch so we found our way to the Spice Mill Waterfront Dining for some hamburgers, hot dogs and sandwiches. Then we were ready for some shows. "Believe" the sensational Shamu show was first. While we waited for the amphitheater to open, we watched a shortened version of the "Polar Express" that was part of a special holiday exhibit (it was really the Wild Arctic exhibit), which included Santa at the North Pole, real polar bears, walruses, and beluga whales. Once the "Believe" amphitheater opened, we found some good seats but NOT in the soak zone! While we were waiting for the show to start, we bought a fleece blanket and cuddled close together to keep warm. The show was fantastic! We all "ooohhhed" and "aaahhhed" at the amazing things such a large creature is capable of. We even got to see a baby whale that was born there at SeaWorld in October.

Next we rode several rides in Shamu's Happy Harbor before heading over to see the dolphins perform in "Blue Horizons". This show included several dolphins and exotic birds. It was so cool! We loved watching the dolphins do all their tricks!

Next it was time to find some souvenirs. Parker found another sword that we made sure not to lose this time and plastic replicas of a whale and dolphin. He has played with them almost every day since, feeding them fish and making them do tricks in the air. Connor bought a special SeaWorld notebook and pen, and another activity book, and Kelsey also bought the SeaWorld notebook and pen and the plastic dolphin and whale replicas. We loved our visit to SeaWorld!

Animal Kingdom

The fifth day of our trip was Sunday. We woke up to a cold, wet and very windy day. We got dressed, ate breakfast at the Gingerbread House and then went to church at a local LDS meetinghouse in Kissimmee. Shortly after we got there, we realized Jason's step-uncle was the bishop of the ward! We knew he and his family lived in Florida, but with all the excitement of our trip, we hadn't actually thought much about it... Needless to say, it was fun to chat with him and his wife for a few minutes after the meeting.

We had planned on going to Disney's Animal Kingdom, but with the wet and cold, I wasn't feeling very excited about walking around a theme park all day. Of course, it was just our luck that Sunday was one of the coldest days in Florida history! The same storm hit NC dumping 9 inches of snow at our house in Winston-Salem--it would have been our first "white Christmas" in NC (the kids were extremely disappointed that they missed it--I think a trip to Florida is better than snow, but that's just me...).

Anyway, after church, we headed back to the Village and waited for a bit to see if it would at least stop drizzling. We kept tabs on the weather for a while and when it looked like the rain was about ready to subside, we drove to Animal Kingdom. We did not come very prepared for cold, frigid weather--we only had light jackets--so when the cold wind hit us, we were miserable to say the least! But, we decided to stick it out for a little while. Right after we got there, we were able to meet, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald Duck. Parker gave each of them a HUGE hug and giggled and giggled until we had to drag him away! I think meeting all the characters was one of his most favorite parts of the whole trip.

Then we made our way to Festival of the Lion King, a live, 30 minute "Broadway Style" show that included acrobatics, incredible singing, dancing, and puppetry. It was absolutely amazing (and the theatre was warmer than being outside...)! After that we decided to "splurge" for lunch, so we ate at The Rainforest Cafe, a jungle-themed restaurant, with simulated weather patterns and animated animals. It was REALLY loud, but the food was delicious and it was nice to be warm for a while.

After lunch, we braved the cold again and headed to "Africa" to Kilimanjaro Safaris. The Kilimanjaro Safaris tour begins in the Harambe Wildlife Reserve where we boarded a rugged open-sided safari vehicle for an expedition through the wildlife preserve. We saw several animals including gazelles, cheetahs, elephants, hippos, lions, antelope, giraffes, and wildebeest. We were glad the animals were out and about in the cold so we could see them.

After that we rode The Wildlife Express Train to Rafiki's Planet Watch. Here we were able to meet Rafiki and Jiminy Cricket. We walked around the building which is dedicated to the preservation and conservation of animals. After we took the train back to "Africa", we were done with the cold, especially Parker. We all felt chilled to the bone and couldn't wait to get in the car and crank up the heat! When we got back to the Village, we ordered dinner in from Katie's Kitchen and then went to bed, hoping for a warmer day on Monday.

Check back in for our next adventure at Sea World!

Christmas at Disney Hollywood Studios

The fourth day of our trip was Christmas. We weren't expecting much from Santa in the way of presents because he was in on the plans for the trip which was a pretty amazing present. However, we did have a Christmas tree in our villa and we brought our Christmas stockings just in case. Sure enough, when we woke up, we found our stockings full of candy along with a few small presents under the tree. We opened the three presents and found the Lego Harry Potter Wii game, a Disney Scene It board game, and a Toy Story 3 DVD. Jen and I also gave the kids some small gift bags with a couple of souvenirs from Magic Kingdom and $20 of extra spending money since they had already spent their money from Hanesbrands and Grandma & Grandpa Romney. Since we still had two more Disney parks to visit and Sea World, we figured they were going to see a few more things they wanted to buy.

Once we had eaten breakfast, visited Keaton's Korral for horse rides, and taken our requisite ride on the carousel (again all served by volunteers on Christmas day . . . amazing) we headed out for our planned visit to the Disney Hollywood Studios theme park. The fact that it was Christmas Day hadn't slowed anyone down from visiting the theme park. In fact, Magic Kingdom reached capacity around 10:00am that day so there were a fair amount of people at Hollywood Studios who couldn't get in to Magic Kingdom. It was packed as usual, but with our special passes from Give Kids the World, we were still able to get through a full day's worth of activities without spending the entire day waiting in line. Our first stop was the Beauty and the Beast show. It was really fun and everyone enjoyed seeing this story played out live on stage.

We then headed out to the Pixar area and rode the Toy Story Mania ride. It was really fun. I got the high score in the family despite having to play one-handed because my other hand was busy holding Parker's 3D glasses in front of his eyes because they were too large for his little head ;)

Our next stop was the animation building where we were able to meet several Disney characters. There were pretty long lines for each of the characters so each child was only getting a brief visit with each character. However, Disney really goes out of their way to make sure the families from Make-A-Wish and Give Kids the World have a good experience. So, when we walked up to get a look at the characters, they immediately turned to the group of people waiting and told them that they had a VIP here, their "friend Parker", and that he was going to spend a few minutes with the character before the line would start moving again. The character would then turn their full attention to Parker and give him a big hug, shake his hand, pat him on the back, and get a few pictures. Then they would turn their attention to the rest of us. Kelsey and Connor got to spend a few moments with them and we would get a family picture. It was really fun. We saw Mr. Incredible, Mrs. Incredible, Frozone, Lots-o-Huggin' Bear, and Mickey Mouse in his costume from "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Parker, wearing his new Spiderman shirt, got compliments from all the characters. Frozone especially was interested in Parker's web-slinging technique and they took a moment to compare notes (Frozone slings ice but seemed to think the Spiderman technique would come in handy). Lots-o gave Parker one of his signature hugs. This was also Parker's first visit with Mickey Mouse and he was really looking forward to it. Mickey did not disappoint.

Then we moved on to the highlight of the day: the Star Wars Jedi Training Academy. As you may know, Kelsey is a major Star Wars fan. Connor also to a lesser but still significant extent. We had a reservation for them at the academy that afternoon. They were brought up to the stage area and were given Jedi robes, light sabers, and were assigned a Jedi instructor. In the middle of learning some new light saber moves, the class was interrupted by Darth Vader and Darth Maul who arrived through a cloud of smoke and attempted to lure the young Padawans to the dark side. Kelsey and Connor then had to use their new skills to defend themselves against Darth Maul. Needless to say, they were a bit intimidated but they held their own and managed to keep from joining the dark side (despite Connor's natural affinity toward the villain in every story). In the end, the Sith were unsuccessful getting any of the young Padawans to join them and left. Kelsey and Connor were then given certificates naming them official Padawan learners and were encouraged to continue honing their Jedi skills. It was really cool.

The rest of the day we spent watching the Indiana Jones stunt show, the Pixar Block Party Bash parade featuring many of the characters from our favorite Pixar movies, and capped off the day with the Fantasmic! show which was really cool. It was a fun way to spend Christmas day. Once again we were grateful and humbled by all the volunteers, staff, and cast members who spent their Christmas day giving our family a magical experience.

Islands of Adventure

On Christmas Eve, we headed to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. Kelsey, Connor, Jason and I were so excited when we learned that we would receive tickets to Universal Studios because that meant we would get to go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! We are huge Harry Potter Fans, so this was an exciting day for us. When we made it into the park, Harry Potter had already reached capacity! We decided to go to Dr. Seuss Landing first and try Harry Potter later. Parker has really enjoyed watching "The Cat in the Hat"on PBS kids lately and so we thought he would enjoy this part of the park which is completely dedicated to Dr. Suess stories. It was so much fun!

There are several rides based on different Dr. Seuss books and everything has that whimsical, zany feel like the Dr. Seuss stories. There are even "whos" walking around. We all enjoyed riding The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Caro-Seuss-el, The Cat In The Hat, and If I Ran The Zoo. Our special pass from GKTW again allowed us to walk right on most of the rides!

After we had had our fill of Dr. Seuss Landing, we decided to try The Wizarding World of Harry Potter again. We were hoping our special pass would actually get us in even though it had reached capacity. And amazingly, they let us right in! IT WAS AWESOME!!! It literally feels like you are walking into one of the Harry Potter movies. The first thing you see is Hogsmeade and The Hogwarts Express.

And then you see this...

The Hogwarts Castle.

I had to just stand there for a minute and look at it all, because is was SO cool! We were so excited to be there even though it was packed (notice all the heads in the picture). We were all able to ride Flight of the Hippogriff. But only Jason, Kelsey and I were able to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. This ride actually takes you inside the castle. It was amazing! After that, Connor had to buy a wand--he had been anxiously waiting and planning for this, weeks before our trip! He used almost all of his spending money to buy a wand. Can you guess who's wand he picked out? Here he is trying it for the first time...

Kelsey had also been saving her money for Harry Potter World. After walking through Honeydukes, Zonko's, and Dervish and Banges, she picked out a real chocolate frog and a Gryffindor hat.

By the time we were finished with all that, Parker was getting irritated, hungry and restless (he's not much of a Harry Potter fan...yet), so we left Harry Potter and went back to Dr. Suess Landing to eat at Circus McGurkus Cafe Stoo-pendous and then we headed over to Marvel Super Hero Island. Unfortunately, Connor and Parker were not tall enough to ride almost all of the rides there and the Spiderman ride was broken! So, we just decided to walk around and see some of the shops. Well, it just so happens that Spiderman was visiting the first shop we went to! We were able to talk to him for a minute and take a picture with him. Parker was thrilled to find out from Spiderman himself that they shared the same name (Peter Parker forthose of you who don't know Spiderman's true identity...).

We couldn't leave the shop until Parker had his very own Spiderman shirt. He had to put it right on and he practiced his "spidey" fingers the rest of the day. You can probably guess that Spiderman is the new favorite Superhero at our house.

Shortly after that, we decided to head back to the Village. What a great day we had at Universal Studios! Check back in for our Christmas Day adventure at Disney's Hollywood Studios!