Nemo14's Week in the Florida Sun!

We just got back from our traditional President’s week vacation in Florida. Since we travel with a group of 10 or more, we always rent a house with pool and hot tub, which really works well for us. Our cast of characters includes DH and me, DD(22), DS(18), my niece(20) and her boyfriend (who had never been to FL), my 2 nephews (17 and 13), their grandparents, Bill and Linda (my age, who raised the 3 kids when their mom passed away 11 years ago), and their daughter(38?) Linda is battling a very serious bout with colon cancer, and consequently tires very easily. She’s quite a trooper though dispite what she is going through.

Usually my family flies down and the other family drives, but this year money was pretty tight so we drove too. DS is in college now, but he had Monday and Tuesday off, so he agreed to come down with us, then fly back Tuesday night. DD teaches in NH and did not get the week off, but hated to miss the trip, so DH and I gave her a free ticket we had from SW and she took a personal day on Monday then flew back Monday night (more of her story later).
We left on RI Friday night, stopped on Long Island to pick up DS at Hofstra University, then continued our drive, catching up with the others somewhere in Delaware. Nothing too exciting on the drive down, but we did stop here for gas early Saturday morning!

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Nemo14

Nemo14

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Soarin’ had a 90 minute wait, so we skipped it in favor of the single rider line at Test Track, followed by a 20 minute wait for Maelstrom. The boys were hungry again, so we stopped at the American Pavillion for a quick bite. My nephew had promised his GF back home that he would bring her something back from Japan, so he and the others shopped while I scouted out a place for us to watch Illuminations. The crowds weren’t too bad, so we found a decent place, and watched with a family from New Hampshire who had never been there before.

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Nemo14

Nemo14

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So our 3 park day came to an end - MK tomorrow for the P&P party!
Some parting photos of Epcot....



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Nemo14

Nemo14

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Friday was our final full day in Florida, and our plans were to hang out at the house in the morning, pack up as much as we could, then head over to MK for 4 pm for the P&P party. Linda was still pretty tired, so she and Bill stayed back at the house, and planned to catch up with us later at the MK.

We did our traditional start at Jungle Cruise, but had the worst skipper we ever had. She actually forgot her script for a while, and the parts that she did remember she did with so little enthusiasm that the humor was pretty much lost. We walked on to Pirates next – still one of my favorites!

From there we headed to Splash, but no one wanted to get wet, so we skipped it in favor of Big Thunder, which we did twice since there were no lines. We caught the train over to Toontown (or whatever the current name is and took our favorite pathway over to Tomorrowland. We did Buzz Lightyear twice, and TTA, then stopped for a cream cheese pretzel. By then Bill and Linda had arrived so we met them at the Laugh Floor, which everyone really liked.

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Nemo14

Nemo14

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
By this time it was time for the party to start, so DH, Linda, and I sat and listened to the DJ while the rest of the group rode Space Mountain. After another ride on the TTA, we headed over to HM. We hadn’t been on since the refurb, and we all loved the changes. We missed the parade this time, but scouted out a place to see the fireworks, which were just awesome! Since we had a very long day of driving ahead of us, we started making our way out of the park, but opted for a quick ride on It’s a Small World first just to let the crowds out first.
a few party pics:

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Just a few observations about the changes to the P&P party. We really missed the chocolate! Getting the beads was fun, but in all seriousness, if I had a young child who was given a handful of jewels the size that was given out, I’d be really upset. We saw a little toddler choking on one in the line coming out, and I’m sure there must have been others. Those things are really a choking hazard! The crowds at the party were much bigger this year than last year too, but it was still a lot of fun and waits for the rides were quite minimal.
 
Nemo14

Nemo14

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So Saturday morning was the day we all dreaded – packing up and leaving. Despite some late sleepers, we were on the road by 9:30, and DH and I were having lunch with friends in Jacksonville at noon. We spent a few hours with them at their new home, then said our good-byes to the Florida sunshine and headed north for the long drive back to RI.

Our trip this year was so great, but bittersweet as well. We all fully realize that this will probably be our last one like this for a long time (we’ve been doing these February trips since 2000), and quite probably our last with our dear friend Linda. We are all so grateful for all the times we’ve had together, and know that these are the memories our kids will cherish.

I'm not sure why my photos of Sea World and Busch Gardens didn't load, but I'll see if I can figure it out tomorrow.
 
H20Babie

H20Babie

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the great TR. Looking forward to the SW pics!

I am also very glad you got to spend some time with your dear friend in the magic. I hope those memories will tide you both through the rough times.
 
DisneyBunny

DisneyBunny

Active Member
Nemo14 said:
Our first stop of course was SSE! The new refurb was much better than I had expected, but our screens in our car didn’t work, so they let us ride it again. This time the screens worked, but the pictures on the characters were of someone else, not us, but it was still much better than I had heard.

Then it was on to ClubCool to get the Newbie to try a Beverly…..and a quick visit to the little Epcot memorial display

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I loved that guy from Horizons... *sniff*

SO glad to see you!! :wave:

We're happy you're home :)
 
dandaman

dandaman

Well-Known Member
Nemo14 said:
On Tuesday we drove to Tampa to visit Busch Gardens. Our family hadn’t been in several years and the other family had never been. It’s not my favorite since I’m not a coaster freak, but it was still fun and very pretty. I thought of Canadian Danny so many times that day!!!
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Word. :D

Looks like you had a great time!
 
Nemo14

Nemo14

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I think I solved the photo problem - time will tell!

First set - Sea World! for Danny, Kracken!

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