Travel & Vacation: Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort (Orlando, FL)
Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort
Our “Home Away from Home” during our stay in Orlando was at the Walt Disney Swan & Dolphin Resort. We didn’t spend a large amount of time actually in our room, although it was nice to crash some place comfortable every night after a busy day of exploring. Our room (I think each room had the same) had a mini-refrigerator and plenty of space to put food and snacks.
We did all our breakfasts and dinners (except one) in our hotel room. For our lunches we packed sandwiches to take with us in our backpacks so we wouldn’t have to stop and eat. I shared a few tidbits about earlier resort and the neat pools they have on the resort. The only thing that really bothered the girls about the resort was that the fish on the signs and around the hotel did not actually look like a dolphin (something they pointed out to me on multiple occasions). They still loved it though!
Fun jungle gym. Great place to vent out any extra energy the kids may have had.
The ducks were very friendly. We were walking on the sidewalk when this duck decided to take a stroll with us.
Waiting with smiles for the bus to arrive. Sometimes we didn’t wait very long and other days it took longer before the bus arrived.
I had fun hanging out with the girls while Jake was in his conference!
Wild crew. Not sure how the girls sustained all their energy throughout the days and late into the evenings. We had a blast!
The girls were standing in the walkway for our hotel. It was really beautiful at night.
Our Mickey and Minnie Mouse in front of the fountain after a very long day at the park.
Our balcony overlooked this walkway outside of our hotel.
It was mesmerizing watching all the lights change colors.
It was very relaxing to sit out on the balcony at night, listen to the music from below, and watch the different lights fade in and out.
Pretty trees….
Several nights the kids would eat there dinner on the balcony so they could watch the lights.
You could even smell some of the great food from the restaurants nearby as you relaxed on the balcony.
I don’t know if it was the pretty lights, music, smell of good food, or the fact we were sitting down after walking around all day, but we spent a good bit of time hanging out on our balcony every night as everyone relaxed for the evening and got showers done before hitting the bed.
Goodbye Orlando….until next time! We had a great trip! Many fun activities happened and memories were made. Now it’s time to head on home!
Travel & Vacation: Walt Disney World Epcot (Orlando, FL)
Spending the day at Epcot
Thankful for a chance to spend time with the family at Disney’s Epcot. It was so much fun. The kids kept up remarkably well and had great attitudes the entire busy day. I am grateful for kids who love to learn and explore new places. They just soaked in all the neat stuff going on at Epcot in. The second day was not as hot which was nice too.
They got me to go on Mission Space again. This time we went on the Orange ride which is more intense. Let’s just say I was looking a little green after this ride, thankfully this picture was taken before take off.
Jake and Brina cruising along
Image Works was a cool place to explore
Playing music at Image Works
Our own little Mickey Mouse. Karlie wanted the black hat and ears.
Our own little Minnie Mouse. Brina wanted the headband with a red and white Minnie Mouse bow.
Walking with Dad, so exciting!
Sweet girls.
All smiles
Pausing graciously to let me take a picture even though she’s worried about missing something!
Brina Bee
On the move
Taking in all the cool sights around her
We found a place that engraved names onto leather bracelets.
The girls have unique names which makes it impossible to find items with their names on it so we got these for them as a souvenir. They were fascinated watching the worker do the engraving and proud of their bracelets.
Travel & Vacation: Disney Epcot’s Countries Around the World (Orlando, FL)
Hanging out together at Epcot
The kids loved learning about the various countries in Epcot’s World Showcase. We got to see many shows, talk with a lot of people, learn about the countries, visit the Kid’s Epcot sections and more. We were not able to get a lot of pictures from the actual shows because several of them do not allow photography during the presentation.
At the China World Showcase we got to watch the Dragon Legend Acrobats! It was fascinating. They did some awesome jumps and tricks over basically a thin carpet pad and cement.
She flipped up into this chair which is being held by one of the guys on their team.
Neat formation
The flying jumps were awesome, even if they made me a little nervous
A stunning performance!
The girls loved talking with all the people at the Kidcot stations at every country. They had their passports stamped and signed in all the different languages around the showcase.
Hanging out with Daddy
Beautiful tower lit up at the Morocco World Showcase
Hanging out in Morocco
On our way to visit Canada
Beautiful gardens in the Canada World Showcase
Canadian Lumberjack Show takes place on the Mill Stage. It was a neat competition including axe throwing, log rolling, sawing, and more.
The red and blue team competing on a log in the water.
Giving the kids in the crowd “high fives”!
Those on the front row did get a little wet from this competition, but the girls thought it was awesome
It was a neat show to watch. The kids were able to get up front and see everything which was cool.
Travel & Vacation: Epcot’s Gardens (Orlando, FL)
Our wild crew at Epcot!
Our family had a blast exploring Walt Disney World’s Epcot park. It was a lot of fun seeing all the beautiful sculptures made out of greenery all over the park. Many Disney characters were represented in the gardens. It was the kids first time visiting Epcot. They loved it so much we chose to do it 2 days instead of just one. Thankful for the opportunity to spend time with my family while seeing these amazing creations.
Lady and the Trump
Mickey Mouse instead a garden of flowers.
Beautiful flower gardens at Epcot. This was taken while passing through on the monorail.
Snow White
Kiddos in front of Beauty and the Beast
Pausing for a moment! These were my two favorite characters from Beauty and the Beast
My sweet girl.
They did an amazing job making these garden sculptures come to life!
Monorail, flower gardens, and lake.
Cinderella and Prince Charming
Hanging out next to Winnie the Pooh Bear (his red balloon glowed at night).
Look out for Captain Hook
Brina liked the Frozen garden!
Karlie, of course, liked the Buzz Lightyear
Tinker Bell
Too cute!
The Frozen characters garden at night
Beautiful garden across the water from where the boat drops you off at Epcot
Travel & Vacation: Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf (Orlando, FL)
Fun times playing miniature golf!
While in Orlando the girls and I got tickets to play miniature golf. The golf course was across the street from our resort so it was a short walk. We went to Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf. It was a lot of fun playing together even though we lost 3 balls. We quickly realized that we would not be playing any professional miniature golf soon with our crazy scores, but was a great time.
It was a warm day, but they had several courses with shooting water that seem to help cool it off. After playing 18 rounds of miniature golf we headed back to the hotel for lunch in the room then out to the pools to have some more fun. Thankful for some time with the kids.
Brina was the only one that didn’t loose a ball. I lost mine on the first hole in the bushes. Karlie managed to lose 2 balls throughout our adventures. The workers let us get more balls at the counter. The girls both got “hole in ones”, but I never got one (2 shots was my lowest par).
Hole 1 – each hole had a storybook with information and cute sayings on it.
It was bright and sunny that day!
Brina ready for her next hit.
This hole was in a cave. It was cool. Both girls got a hole in one on this one.
So close…. They were concerned a few times about me accidentally hitting their balls further away from the hole (a couple of times it was a valid concern).
The greenery around the course was beautiful!
Found a spot in the shade to rest for a minute.
They had some cute decorations. This elephant sprayed water when you shot the ball through the middle of the base.
Lining up for a good shot. This was harder than you think.
Travel & Vacation: Kids Wilderness Explorers Program at Animal Kingdom (Orlando, FL)
Learning about the Wilderness Explorers program!
While at Animal Kingdom the girls participated in their Wilderness Explorers program. It was a great having a chance to stop at the various stations throughout Animal Kingdom, get a sticker, and learn about a variety of educational animal topics. They quickly figured out that they just needed to look out for workers wearing the Wilderness Explorer uniforms (brown, tan, and orange). They wore the orange bags with stickers. In order to get their sticker for that activity they had to participate in an activity and / or listen to a presentation.
It was fun and educational. The only thing that we had problem we had was occasionally with missed a sticker because we couldn’t find the worker. This is a wonderful program especially for kids who can read or enjoy learning about various animal educational items. You can get a Wilderness Explorer book, your first sticker, an explanation, and a Wilderness cheer.
Looking through their Wilderness Explorer books to check where we need to go next.
Learning about a variety of animal sounds!
Standing in front of the Tree of Life looking through their Wilderness Explorer packets!
Travel & Vacation: Welcome to Disney’s Animal Kingdom (Orlando, FL)
A day at Animal Kingdom with these two chickies!
The girls and I went to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando, FL recently while Jake was at a conference! They were very excited to check out all the animals in the park. We packed in a full day at Animal Kingdom. We arrived early and were one of the last few to leave at closing. The crazy thing is we still didn’t get to everything we wanted to do, but we definitely did a lot. It was a great day with my girls. Both girls LOVED it, but Animal Kingdom was probably Brina’s favorite place to visit (which isn’t a big surprise for those who know her).
Pretty bird….was the first comment I heard from the girls as we entered the park.
A pair of beautiful birds perched on the branch.
Having a blast!
A Wallaby eating its morning treat. At first we thought it was a kangaroo until further investigation. Must be in the same family though because there are similarities.
Karlie and Brina in front of a gorgeous waterfall in Animal Kingdom.
Starting to get more crowded. The tree in back is the “Tree of Life” and has over 300 animal figured carved into it. Very fascinating to see up close.
Hanging out in line. They were troopers even in the longer lines. We took the time to get something to eat and drink whenever we spent a decent amount of time standing in lines. Thankfully, it wasn’t the busiest season so at Animal Kingdom the longest line we waited in was the Kilimanjaro Safari for an hour in the Africa section which was well worth the wait (I will be sharing more about that safari in a later post).
Big black fish swimming right beside us.
Going through the waterfall as we head into the Tree of Life for the “It’s Tough Being a Bug” Show!
Bug Eyes!!! They are ready for the show! Such a great show and one of their favorites for the day. Wish we had time to do it again!
Africa was one of their favorite places to visit while in Animal Kingdom. It had great music, the Kilimanjaro Safari tour, Lion King, and more fun activities to do.
Musical entertainment shortly after entering the gates into the Africa section. They had people playing on and off all day. Fun upbeat music.
Karlie trying out her musical talent!
Brina going all out!
Swinging around on their jungle gym!
Another one taking a rest!
Rodrigues Fruit Bats hanging around at Animal Kingdom. Wonder what they eat….if you guessed fruit you are correct. All the ones in the section we visited were male. Did you know that their bat wings are made out of similar material that our eyelids are made out of? They were fascinating to watch!
Beautiful tiger lounging peaceful and keeping a watchful eye on the visitors.
This tiger was literally on the other side of the glass from us. It’s fur looked so soft, not sure it would have been a good idea to pet the big cat though!
Deer enjoying a rest in the shade.
Love the colors on this feathered friend.
Mesmerized by all the activity above them!
So much fun. They were on the go and soaking all the cool animal sights in throughout the day.
Mount Everest at Animal Kingdom. The mountain is the host for the Expedition Everest roller coaster. We all agreed that it was probably a little more than we wanted to do, but it was super cool to watch!
They had a blast! Waiting for the bus to take us back to the resort. Thankful for an chance to spend the day with the kids at Animal Kingdom and all the fun memories as well as activities we did that day!
Travel & Vacation: Downtown Disney (Orlando, FL)
Walt Disney World – Where Dreams Come True! We made it!
Recently our family had the opportunity to go to Orlando, FL. Jake had a work conference and the girls and I tagged along. He spent the majority of the week working, but was able to join us at the end for some fun family time together. We got up at 3 am on Monday morning and made the drive to Orlando. The kids slept the first few hours and entertained themselves the remaining distance with books, games, a movie, and more. Thankful for kids who travel well. They love going on road trips.
We made good time on our way down to Florida so we decided to stop for a little bit and stretch our legs at Downtown Disney. We still had a some time before we could check into our hotel and Jake heading off to the conference. It was a beautiful sunny day and Downtown Disney wasn’t too busy. There was some construction going on at Downtown Disney and from what we hear it will soon no longer be called Downtown Disney, but rather Disney Springs.
Mickey Mouse! Made out of greenery!
The Lego store Downtown Disney had some amazing lego displays. This dragon breathing fire on the knight was in front of their store. It was massive!
Jake and the girls standing next to another lego display!
This dragon was actually partly in the water! Very neat!
Snow White and the 7 dwarfs working around the mine.
Outside of the T-REX Restaurant
Inside the T-Rex Restaurant and gift shop!
This was a ride you could go on in Downtown Disney. It looked like fun, but we were not there long enough to investigate it further.
Hotel with a flower Mickey Mouse across the water from Downtown Disney.
Look out for that alligator! It actually comes out closer to you and opens it’s mouth much to the fascination of the kids.
The girls always love the fish tanks inside the Rainforest Cafe. They also have a neat gift shop just watch out for the python (I have learned to look out for this creature from a past encounter)!
On the outside of the Rainforest Cafe is a volume. The volcano erupted as we were walking by. Very cool to watch. The random explosions probably lasted about 5 minutes. The kids loved it!
Learning more about this pretty white bird.
Frozen! Thankfully, it was a warm sunny day for us!
Karlie and Brina near the Disney Christmas shop!
Having fun in Downtown Disney!
Three shirts with familiar faces on them!
Had to sit on the bench next to Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet!
Once Upon A Toy was a neat shop. The girls brought their spending money and looked around this store a couple times during the week we were there. The Disney items are really neat, but for their budget were a little pricey. They ended up coming home with most of their money because they wanted to shop around for better prices instead of spending it all in one place. Glad to see them choosing to wait on some items.
Walking through Downtown Disney with Daddy!
Travel & Vacation: Nighttime Fun at Walt Disney World
Still going strong!
The girls were still going strong after a full day at Disney! We had just watched the Electrical Parade & Firework Show and the girls still wanted to do some more. So we decided to keep on going and we ended up staying until midnight when the park closed! They had a blast, but crashed immediately after they got into the van. For more posts about our Disney adventure you can go to Walt Disney World or Rides & Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade or Walt Disney World (part 2) or Disney’s Electrical Parade & Firework Show posts.
Karlie riding the train, it was a quieter ride after going on Space Mountain
Brina going for another ride on the train
Someone’s having fun!
Pull harder!
Hanging out in Eeyore’s house
One more ride on the carousel, this time at night!
Travel & Vacation: Disney’s Electrical Parade & Firework Show
Disney’s Electrical Parade
Another one of the highlights at Disney was their electrical light parade and the firework show. The girls LOVED it (so neat)! I can see why so many people stay for this event! Thankful for a chance to spend the day at Disney with family and friends. For more posts about our Disney adventure you can go to Walt Disney World or Rides & Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade or Walt Disney World (part 2) posts.
Watching the Disney’s Electrical Parade, super cool!
Fireworks at Disney
Amazing fireworks over the castle
Beautiful fireworks
The castle changed colors throughout the firework show
Watching fireworks at Disney
The firework show at Disney is awesome!
The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Explore with a good attitude, look for fun, and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
