Hello all! This will be a different kind of TR as we spent only one day at the Magic Kingdom and one day at Sea World but if anyone likes to read how NOT to vacation over the holiday break then this is probably the trip report for you.
It wasn't all bad; we had a 5 bedroom house in Bellavida Resort near 192 and 535. We were 20 minutes from Disney Springs and about 30 minutes from Universal and Sea World - if it weren't for the insane amount of traffic down here. The house was pretty great, with a private screened-in pool and spa in the back yard. It's a gated community and while the security was a bit of a hassle with three vehicles, if we happened to be in the one with the parking pass we were just waved on through. Taking an Uber home, though? The security charade was unnecessary and overdone.
This trip is from my perspective; I'm a 41 year old single guy who lives alone on purpose. So you can imagine when my mother suggested that 10 of us take a trip together I was less than enthusiastic. But she was paying for pretty much everything so I thought . . . how bad can it be? And we're going to Disney. Even on the worst possible day to go to Disney (and 12/27 was close), it was still Disney. Also on the journey was my teenage niece, her dad (my brother-in-law; my sister passed a few years ago), my step-brother and his wife and their kids (4 and 7) and my single stepsister. Also was mom and step-dad. I flew down on 12/23 with BIL and niece on Delta. We got lucky and had no one in the row across from us so we both had two seats to ourselves. I can't imagine that we'll get that lucky tomorrow when we fly back.
MCO was crazy, like always, but worse. We had to wait for mom and stepdad to pick us up. I grew up on a farm and they still live there so the traffic in the baggage claim arrivals area of MCO was a bit much for them. So was the traffic over here to the resort community. We went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner and then Walmart the first night, which took way too long. But it was Walmart in Kissimmee on 12/23 . . . should have expected that!
On Christmas Eve we had brunch at a place called Se7en Bites that was recently featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. There was a line outside to get in, but it was short and the food was good. I had French toast and bacon served in a stack (I had my eggs on the side because I don't like eggs). They also had craft sodas fountain-style. I was glad to try Agave Cream Soda; it was good. We hung around the house the rest of the day, swimming in the pool and went to Family Dollar and Ollie's in search a few more supplies. We ordered Pizza Hut for dinner and I went to bed early. (That's a theme.)
Christmas Day we got up, had a pancake breakfast, and relaxed before heading to The Oceanaire for a fancy 1pm dinner. It's at Pointe Orlando, next to the Convention Center. I could have spent more time here exploring but we were so stuffed from our high dollar steak and seafood that we just returned home. We went mini-golfing at Pirate's Cove, a small putt putt place near the house and had milkshakes at Steak and Shake.
The next day it was time for the sub-family with the kids to arrive. Step-sister volunteered to go pick them up from the airport. Mom and I went to Disney Springs. We arrived via Uber (driver didn't speak English so it was an eerily quiet ride) and walked from the West side to the Marketplace and back. I hadn't been here in a few years so it was very cool to see all the work they've done on the place. We stopped in a couple shops and Mom bought a new shirt at World of Disney. We had lunch at The House of Blues. We were seated right at 11:30 when they opened. I had the pulled pork and Mom had a burger. It was fine. Then we saw "Wonder" at the AMC. The movie was great; I really enjoyed it. We Ubered back, this time with a much friendlier driver. We had a little bit of a hard time figuring out where to go to get picked up but once we located the bus loop it all made sense. Dinner was burgers with the whole family out by the pool.
Finally, it was Magic Kingdom Day. I - the veteran Disney lover that I am - spent time the night before getting everyone to download the app, adding our tickets to MyDisneyExperience, picking out a few FP+ from what was available, and giving a brief overview of the park to those who'd never been. The plan was simple - arrive at 7:15 at the latest for an 8am open. We parked in Peter Pan 212, took the tram to the TTC, breezed through security, and boarded a bus to the Magic Kingdom. We walked right in the turnstiles, rented a stroller for the kids, and I was starting to wonder if people had been exaggerating how bad the crowds were going to be.
BIL and niece and I lined up on the Tomorrowland side of the castle hub for rope drop (Space Mountain) while the rest of the crew were on the Liberty Square side of Fantasyland so they could hit Peter Pan. After the welcome show, we were off to the races. I showed them where to go for Space Mountain and while they rode I had a leisurely solo journey on the PeopleMover. It was delightful. I met up with them after they finished and we rode Buzz Lightyear together. Then I had suggested we traverse the park and head to Pirates to use our first FastPass. BIL was loving everything; he's never been. After Pirates we did Big Thunder (sign said 10 minutes, it felt more like 15). I got nauseous but I have never really liked it anyway. Then we rode Haunted Mansion, reluctantly because the sign said 45 minutes. It was more like 8. Then we headed to Cosmic Ray's (10:06am) for lunch because we were starved and hoped to avoid the crowds. There were no problems getting anywhere at this point and we felt like we were on a lucky roll.
Meanwhile, the other group rode Peter Pan, It's a Small World, met Belle and Ariel, and were meeting up with us for our Little Mermaid FP+. We walked on and when we came out, there was a drastic difference in the crowd. They had packed peanut butter sandwiches and so they ate those while we marveled at the mass amounts of people. The crowd was now at the terrifying levels I'd been promised. The 7 year old wanted to ride the Tomorrowland Speedway but the line was long and we ended up back by the train. So we dumped the stroller, rode the train to Main Street, where it was stopped because the parade was coming. We used the newer, formerly backstage area to bypass the crowd and headed back into Tomorrowland. They decided to ride Monsters, Inc while BIL and niece were going to try Space Mountain again. That three-hour posted wait time caused them to go do other things. I rode the Carousel of Progress to try to find some peace and quiet. Then I wandered over to Liberty Square, where I thought about visiting the Hall of Presidents, but it was packed and I didn't feel like standing inside with all the people. So I found a seat outside the Christmas store and watched as a woman berated "JJ" from the Muppets show for five minutes about something that was clearly outside of his control. Once she was done with her tirade (he was so cool under pressure) he started the show. It was fun. I made my way back over to Tomorrowland to meet up with the family who had just finished Stitch. They hated it. (Shocker.)
Mom wanted a family picture so I marched everyone back towards the hub, thinking there was almost always a photographer on the bridge. There wasn't. We asked some random woman in the hub to take our photo and she did. The Fantasy Faire show in front of the castle started immediately after and we watched that before the family with kids wanted to stay while Mom, BIL, niece and I were ready to go.
We left via monorail, had no issues getting to our car, and had a wonderful Arby's meal to go. The other group reported that they rode the Speedway and didn't do much else before also calling it a day. BIL actually went back over around 6:30 and watched the fireworks and rode Space Mountain again. He said it was insane, he almost saw a couple of fistfights over fireworks spots, and it sounded like I made a great decision to stay home and . . . go to bed early.
I had toyed with the idea of going to Universal the next day, but the tickets are so expensive and I knew I wouldn't last more than a few hours with the kinds of crowds we saw at the MK. So I decided not to. Instead, the family decided (well a couple of them) that we should have lunch at the Cheesecake Factory at the mall at 1pm... If I had known that this was at a mall, I would have never gotten in the car. It took us over an hour to go the 12 miles to the place and when we got there they said it was an hour and forty five minute wait for our party of 10 (well, duh.). BIL and I and niece ate at the food court and Ubered back, taking another hour to get home. It was miserable. I ordered Jersey Mike's from UberEats and . . . went to bed early.
Today was a trip to Sea World and it was quite lovely. We started our day with Antartica and I loved that. The dramatic reveal of the live penguins at the end of the ride was thrilling and I actually loved the cold weather in the exhibit. Given that's its only about 55 degrees here today and windy, it felt even more authentic. Then we saw the manatees and turtles via the Turtle Trek. I opted out of the 3-D movie experience but the rest of them enjoyed it. We saw the 11:00am Dolphin Days show, which was great and had Pizza on our way to Shamu Stadium. The killer whale show really has lost something without the humans interacting, but I totally get it. Finally, we went over to the Sea Lions and Otter show before having enough of the cold weather and vacation-at-large and called it a day.
I've learned that I never want to come down here over Christmas again. I learned that I love Sea World, though, and want to come back and spend more time there when I can explore on my own a bit and enjoy all that the park has to offer. I wish I had the energy to stay for all the holiday themed stuff tonight but my feet hurt and I'm just kinda done. Plus, I don't like thrill rides and my BIL and I neither one would have fit on any of the coasters anyway. I would like to try the Journey to Atlantis water ride next time. It was just too cold today.
I think dinner tonight is BBQ so that the stepfamily can watch football. I'm sure that I will . . . go to bed early. Flight back tomorrow will be crazy and its 18 degrees at home. Wish us well!
It wasn't all bad; we had a 5 bedroom house in Bellavida Resort near 192 and 535. We were 20 minutes from Disney Springs and about 30 minutes from Universal and Sea World - if it weren't for the insane amount of traffic down here. The house was pretty great, with a private screened-in pool and spa in the back yard. It's a gated community and while the security was a bit of a hassle with three vehicles, if we happened to be in the one with the parking pass we were just waved on through. Taking an Uber home, though? The security charade was unnecessary and overdone.
This trip is from my perspective; I'm a 41 year old single guy who lives alone on purpose. So you can imagine when my mother suggested that 10 of us take a trip together I was less than enthusiastic. But she was paying for pretty much everything so I thought . . . how bad can it be? And we're going to Disney. Even on the worst possible day to go to Disney (and 12/27 was close), it was still Disney. Also on the journey was my teenage niece, her dad (my brother-in-law; my sister passed a few years ago), my step-brother and his wife and their kids (4 and 7) and my single stepsister. Also was mom and step-dad. I flew down on 12/23 with BIL and niece on Delta. We got lucky and had no one in the row across from us so we both had two seats to ourselves. I can't imagine that we'll get that lucky tomorrow when we fly back.
MCO was crazy, like always, but worse. We had to wait for mom and stepdad to pick us up. I grew up on a farm and they still live there so the traffic in the baggage claim arrivals area of MCO was a bit much for them. So was the traffic over here to the resort community. We went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner and then Walmart the first night, which took way too long. But it was Walmart in Kissimmee on 12/23 . . . should have expected that!
On Christmas Eve we had brunch at a place called Se7en Bites that was recently featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. There was a line outside to get in, but it was short and the food was good. I had French toast and bacon served in a stack (I had my eggs on the side because I don't like eggs). They also had craft sodas fountain-style. I was glad to try Agave Cream Soda; it was good. We hung around the house the rest of the day, swimming in the pool and went to Family Dollar and Ollie's in search a few more supplies. We ordered Pizza Hut for dinner and I went to bed early. (That's a theme.)
Christmas Day we got up, had a pancake breakfast, and relaxed before heading to The Oceanaire for a fancy 1pm dinner. It's at Pointe Orlando, next to the Convention Center. I could have spent more time here exploring but we were so stuffed from our high dollar steak and seafood that we just returned home. We went mini-golfing at Pirate's Cove, a small putt putt place near the house and had milkshakes at Steak and Shake.
The next day it was time for the sub-family with the kids to arrive. Step-sister volunteered to go pick them up from the airport. Mom and I went to Disney Springs. We arrived via Uber (driver didn't speak English so it was an eerily quiet ride) and walked from the West side to the Marketplace and back. I hadn't been here in a few years so it was very cool to see all the work they've done on the place. We stopped in a couple shops and Mom bought a new shirt at World of Disney. We had lunch at The House of Blues. We were seated right at 11:30 when they opened. I had the pulled pork and Mom had a burger. It was fine. Then we saw "Wonder" at the AMC. The movie was great; I really enjoyed it. We Ubered back, this time with a much friendlier driver. We had a little bit of a hard time figuring out where to go to get picked up but once we located the bus loop it all made sense. Dinner was burgers with the whole family out by the pool.
Finally, it was Magic Kingdom Day. I - the veteran Disney lover that I am - spent time the night before getting everyone to download the app, adding our tickets to MyDisneyExperience, picking out a few FP+ from what was available, and giving a brief overview of the park to those who'd never been. The plan was simple - arrive at 7:15 at the latest for an 8am open. We parked in Peter Pan 212, took the tram to the TTC, breezed through security, and boarded a bus to the Magic Kingdom. We walked right in the turnstiles, rented a stroller for the kids, and I was starting to wonder if people had been exaggerating how bad the crowds were going to be.
BIL and niece and I lined up on the Tomorrowland side of the castle hub for rope drop (Space Mountain) while the rest of the crew were on the Liberty Square side of Fantasyland so they could hit Peter Pan. After the welcome show, we were off to the races. I showed them where to go for Space Mountain and while they rode I had a leisurely solo journey on the PeopleMover. It was delightful. I met up with them after they finished and we rode Buzz Lightyear together. Then I had suggested we traverse the park and head to Pirates to use our first FastPass. BIL was loving everything; he's never been. After Pirates we did Big Thunder (sign said 10 minutes, it felt more like 15). I got nauseous but I have never really liked it anyway. Then we rode Haunted Mansion, reluctantly because the sign said 45 minutes. It was more like 8. Then we headed to Cosmic Ray's (10:06am) for lunch because we were starved and hoped to avoid the crowds. There were no problems getting anywhere at this point and we felt like we were on a lucky roll.
Meanwhile, the other group rode Peter Pan, It's a Small World, met Belle and Ariel, and were meeting up with us for our Little Mermaid FP+. We walked on and when we came out, there was a drastic difference in the crowd. They had packed peanut butter sandwiches and so they ate those while we marveled at the mass amounts of people. The crowd was now at the terrifying levels I'd been promised. The 7 year old wanted to ride the Tomorrowland Speedway but the line was long and we ended up back by the train. So we dumped the stroller, rode the train to Main Street, where it was stopped because the parade was coming. We used the newer, formerly backstage area to bypass the crowd and headed back into Tomorrowland. They decided to ride Monsters, Inc while BIL and niece were going to try Space Mountain again. That three-hour posted wait time caused them to go do other things. I rode the Carousel of Progress to try to find some peace and quiet. Then I wandered over to Liberty Square, where I thought about visiting the Hall of Presidents, but it was packed and I didn't feel like standing inside with all the people. So I found a seat outside the Christmas store and watched as a woman berated "JJ" from the Muppets show for five minutes about something that was clearly outside of his control. Once she was done with her tirade (he was so cool under pressure) he started the show. It was fun. I made my way back over to Tomorrowland to meet up with the family who had just finished Stitch. They hated it. (Shocker.)
Mom wanted a family picture so I marched everyone back towards the hub, thinking there was almost always a photographer on the bridge. There wasn't. We asked some random woman in the hub to take our photo and she did. The Fantasy Faire show in front of the castle started immediately after and we watched that before the family with kids wanted to stay while Mom, BIL, niece and I were ready to go.
We left via monorail, had no issues getting to our car, and had a wonderful Arby's meal to go. The other group reported that they rode the Speedway and didn't do much else before also calling it a day. BIL actually went back over around 6:30 and watched the fireworks and rode Space Mountain again. He said it was insane, he almost saw a couple of fistfights over fireworks spots, and it sounded like I made a great decision to stay home and . . . go to bed early.
I had toyed with the idea of going to Universal the next day, but the tickets are so expensive and I knew I wouldn't last more than a few hours with the kinds of crowds we saw at the MK. So I decided not to. Instead, the family decided (well a couple of them) that we should have lunch at the Cheesecake Factory at the mall at 1pm... If I had known that this was at a mall, I would have never gotten in the car. It took us over an hour to go the 12 miles to the place and when we got there they said it was an hour and forty five minute wait for our party of 10 (well, duh.). BIL and I and niece ate at the food court and Ubered back, taking another hour to get home. It was miserable. I ordered Jersey Mike's from UberEats and . . . went to bed early.
Today was a trip to Sea World and it was quite lovely. We started our day with Antartica and I loved that. The dramatic reveal of the live penguins at the end of the ride was thrilling and I actually loved the cold weather in the exhibit. Given that's its only about 55 degrees here today and windy, it felt even more authentic. Then we saw the manatees and turtles via the Turtle Trek. I opted out of the 3-D movie experience but the rest of them enjoyed it. We saw the 11:00am Dolphin Days show, which was great and had Pizza on our way to Shamu Stadium. The killer whale show really has lost something without the humans interacting, but I totally get it. Finally, we went over to the Sea Lions and Otter show before having enough of the cold weather and vacation-at-large and called it a day.
I've learned that I never want to come down here over Christmas again. I learned that I love Sea World, though, and want to come back and spend more time there when I can explore on my own a bit and enjoy all that the park has to offer. I wish I had the energy to stay for all the holiday themed stuff tonight but my feet hurt and I'm just kinda done. Plus, I don't like thrill rides and my BIL and I neither one would have fit on any of the coasters anyway. I would like to try the Journey to Atlantis water ride next time. It was just too cold today.
I think dinner tonight is BBQ so that the stepfamily can watch football. I'm sure that I will . . . go to bed early. Flight back tomorrow will be crazy and its 18 degrees at home. Wish us well!
