Florida Vacay Phase 2: Walt Disney World

We got off the boat early Friday morning and booked it straight to Epcot.  Epcot was the area of Disney World that I remembered best from my trip there 18 years ago, but we all quickly realized that we were a bit more out of our element here than when we go to Disneyland.  We rarely remembered to grab maps and therefore rarely knew where the closest restrooms were, the best route to get where we wanted to go, etc.  We rode the major rides like Mission Space and Soarin' and explored some of the countries (China, Germany, and Japan) at the world showcase.  We ate lunch at Teppan Edo in the Japanese pavillion.  Leila had had a really rough night the night before and got pretty grumpy mid-afternoon.  So my parents took us Ziebarths to the rental house to rest up for the rest of the evening.  We let Leila crawl around like crazy, I got some work in, ordered a pizza, and watched some of the Olympics.

Jason plays the bongos...sorta

Strategizing

My Little Trooper

Where's Jason?

Scary Troll

 Saturday morning our little family took it easy again.  We slept in while everyone else went to Animal Kingdom (Jason only had a single-park pass for this day).  Then my parents came and picked us up in the afternoon and we met up with everyone at Hollywood Studios.  We were able to watch the Indiana Jones stunt show, hit most of the major rides (including Rock n'Roller Coaster, Star Tours (Ashley was the Rebel Spy!), Tower of Terror (SOOOO much better than California), Toy Story, and the Backlot Tour), and watched the Beauty and the Beast show.  We ate dinner at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater which was awesome! The tables were all set into car bodies (or flying saucers for our big party) and they had a bunch of old cartoons/sci-fi clips playing on a giant movie screen.  Way fun!  We also got caught in the rain, and it wouldn't be the only time.  There was a thunderstorm most afternoons we were there.  Sometimes we were on our break at home and other times we were right in the thick of it.  They were certainly intense storms!

Singin' in the Rain

My Darling Hubby!

Sunday was a day to rest, recuperate,swim, and bid farewell to some of our group.  Jason, Ashley, and Taylor flew out that afternoon so that Jason and Taylor could get back to work.  I was a selfish wife and chose to stay and play another week.  Ashley and Taylor were supposed to fly out early in the morning but ended up missing their flight.  So we had one last family meal at IHOP and had time to snap a few family pictures before they had to go back to the airport.  I'd made a Belle dress for Leila and so she got some pictures taken too.

Monday we made our way to the Magic Kingdom (by far the most inconvenient to reach--you have to take both a parking tram AND the Monorail/Ferry Boats to get to the gate).  We felt more at home here, but I was still amazed at how different it is from Disneyland.  Everything is so much more spread out and there are a lot more attractions.  We hit the classics like Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Big Thunder, Buzz Lightyear, It's a Small World, Jungle Cruise, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pans' Flight, and Pirates of the Caribbean.  Each was familiar, but there were a lot of differences too.  Some I like better in California (Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Small World, and Pirates) while others I prefer the Florida version (Splash Mountain, Winnie the Pooh, Haunted Mansion, and Big Thunder).  Then there were the "new" attractions (for me anyway) like Mickey's Philharmagic and Monster's Inc Laugh Floor (where my dad was picked to buy the entire audience churros).  Leila sported her Minnie Mouse sunhat and everyone was good to help me out with her.

Awww!

Creeper Jori

Most Boring Ride

Fell Asleep During the Fireworks

Tuesday we made our way back to Universal Studios with the intent of soaking up even more of Harry Potter.  Unfortunately the crowds kind of dampened our morning.  We still managed to have a good time though.  We revisted some areas of the park and met up with one of my mom's friends and her son and husband (the creator of RideMax).  The water rides were an absolute must since the sun was scorching and it was just as humid as ever.  Jared, Annie, my dad, and I all waited for what seemed like forever to go through Ollivander's wand shop (a 10 minute presentation).  The details that were put into everything were astounding, including some of the broomsticks that were used in the movies.  I made sure to buy myself a wand (a replicate of Ginny Weasley's) and more yummy butterbeer.  I counted the day a success and called it a day in the late afternoon along with my mom and Jori.

Longest Line Ever!

So worth the price of admission!

Wednesday was a park hopper day.  In the morning we went back to Hollywood Studios.  The Winters met up with us again and Jared was awestruck to be following a RideMax plan with the RideMax guru.  We made sure to hit all of our favorite rides (especially Tower of Terror and Rock 'n Roller Coaster) before going to lunch at the Primetime 50s Cafe--another really fun restaurant.  The setting was like a 50s home kitchen.  The waitress even yelled at you if you put your elbows on the table and made you finish your food (by spoon feeding you if needs be).

My helpers!

We wore this girls out, constantly

After a break at the rental house, we left Annie with Leila and went back to Epcot for a couple hours.  Even though we weren't there very long, we managed to get a lot in (thanks to RideMax).  We saw the Chinese acrobats, rode the rides for Norway and Mexico, visited the French and Moroccan pavillions, tasted sodas from around the world at Club Cool, and ended the evening with a journey on Spaceship Earth.  Annie did a great job babysitting and it was a good (much-needed) break for me.

Thursday was my day at Animal Kingdom.  This was a neat park but I feel like they could do a lot more with it.  We were only there half a day and I felt like we got most of the highlights in.  We rode Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids, and Dinosaur.  We watched the Festival of the Lion King (which, as soon as I sat down in the theater I realized I'd seen before--in Hong Kong!).  We walked the treks to watch the animals and went on safari where we saw elephants, giraffes, tigers, rhinos, lions and more.

 The rest of the evening was spent packing and cleaning so that we could be 100% ready to leave the house early the next morning because our vacation was coming to a close and we were heading home--after a morning at Magic Kingdom.

Unfortunately the flights home weren't nearly as smooth as the flights out.  For starters, I was exhausted.  Leila doesn't sleep well when she's not in her own crib, so I hadn't had a good night's sleep in 2 weeks.  Leila wasn't doing great either.  She was cutting her top 2 teeth on the trip and she'd started to get a sore bottom and was pretty cranky first thing in the morning.  Little did I know it was a sign of things to come.  She must have caught some intestinal bug which resulted in her needing a diaper change every hour, which did NOT help her sore bottom.  She screamed her way all the way through airport security and had a couple meltdowns on the plane.  Thank goodness I wasn't travelling alone with her!  We didn't get into Salt Lake until midnight and therefore didn't make it home until after 1.  Boy, was I happy to be home with Jason.  And even more so that we got back on the weekend so he could take care of Leila for a couple of days before he had to go back to work.  Leila and I pretty much slept all weekend and it took her well over a week to get over her diarrhea/sore bottom.  Even so, it was still the vacation of a lifetime filled with memories that will be shared over the dinner table for years to come.

Florida Vacay Phase 1: Bahamian Cruise

For Jared's graduation/pre-mission trip, he decided he wanted to go to Florida on a Disney cruise and that he wanted the entire family to come with him.  Such a sweet boy!

Ready to go!

We left on Friday, August 3 on three different flights at different times.  Leila and I joined up with my parents, Jori, Jared, and Annie while Jason eventually met up with Ashley and Taylor later that night for a red eye into Orlando.

It was the first of many late nights, but Leila did surprisingly well on the flights.  We were all melting as soon as we stepped outside of the airport (poor Leila was dressed in fuzzy warm PJs that I quickly had to take off her) and it was after midnight!  We caught a few hours of sleep at our rental home before the red eye peeps joined us and we headed off for our first day at Universal Studios Orlando.

The main draw here was The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  We walked through Hogsmeade, were in awe of the dominate presence of Hogwarts, explored the castle as we waited in line for the Forbidden Journey, mounted flying dragons on Dragon Challenge, and enjoyed Butterbeer slushes and Pumpkin Juice.

Welcome to Hogsmeade

Hogwarts Express

We bid farewell to Harry Potter and explored more of the Islands of Adventure park.  My favorite rides, to no one's surprise, were the water rides, especially the Jurassic Park River Adventure.  We did all three water rides back-to-back and got drenched to the point where we were dripping for at least an hour after.

So hot and sleepy!

After my honeymoon, I decided I was not a big roller coaster fan--at least not the crazy kinds where they spin you every which direction and seem intent on jerking your head around as much as possible.  Yet I still got talked into going on the Incredible Hulk Coaster.  Over an hour in line and I couldn't even keep my eyes open once I got on the ride.  It was definitely time for a lunch break after that one so that my head could stop pounding.

My superhero!

After lunch, we went into Universal Studios proper where my favorite ride was the Revenge of the Mummy. I apparently didn't learn my lesson from earlier with Hulk and decided to go on the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.  We went in the single rider line to try and decrease the wait time but still ended up waiting for over an hour.  By the time we got to the top and were close to being boarded, the ride kept breaking down.  Then we discovered that there was at least one group ahead of us who were trying to ride together (remember, we were in the SINGLE RIDER line) and the worker was not making them break up.  We eventually got on and I enjoyed it much more than Hulk but was still pretty much done after that.

On Sunday morning we got up and went to the Magic Kingdom to try and work out our annual pass upgrades.  What a nightmare this turned out to be!  We were at Guest Relations for about 2 hours before it all got sorted out.  Thankfully we'd gone to do this then instead of waiting until we got back from the cruise and wasted our theme park time.  Everyone but Jason (who didn't have a Premium Disneyland pass to begin with) ended up with Disney Premier Passports.  We felt so privileged!

What a sight!

It was then time to make our way to the cape so we could board the Disney Dream for a lovely 5-night Bahamian cruise!

All Aboard!

We explored the ship, starting overindulging ourselves on the good food that was always only a few steps away, slept, and had dinner(Pacific Rim Cuisine) at Animator's Palate where we met our servers for the week, Vijay (from India) and Natasha (from Scotland).  Vijay managed to guilt me into feeding Leila more table food than she'd ever had before, and she loved every bit of it.  Each night he would bring her a plate of macaroni and cheese (of which she would only eat a small portion then Aunt Annie willingly polished it off) and eventually added in fruit, ice cream, custard, and cupcakes.  I guess the rest of us were being spoiled, why not her too?

Here we go!

Settling into their stateroom

The main lobby/atrium of the ship

Straight for the ice cream

Trying not to think about being sea sick

The next morning we had docked at Castaway Cay, Disney's privately-owned island.  We disembarked and hiked almost to the other end of the island (or it least it felt like that) before we found a spot to settle into.  It was so hot and humid that we all anxiously jumped into the water.  We'd rented these floats which were my favorite.  It was so relaxing!  Leila had a blast swimming and splashing everyone.  We ate lunch on the island at Cookie's Too and then Jason and I took Leila back to the ship so that she could cool down and take a decent nap.

On the gangplank

Jared and Taylor jetskiing

Relaxing

Splishin' and Splashin'

One Happy Grandma

Float Raft

Before the evening's festivities began,  I took Leila to the splash pad where she enjoyed running her hands through the fountains.   Each evening there was a show of some sort.  Sunday night I didn't go because I wasn't feeling well and needed to lay down.  But I wasn't about to miss out on any more of the fun.  We dropped Leila off at the on-board nursery (called It's a Small World) so that we could fully enjoy the Golden Mickeys--and "award show" where many of the classic Disney songs were reenacted.  It was so much fun!  After the show, we picked up Leila (who had received the Sweetest Smile award for the evening) and headed off for dinner (Continental Market) at the Enchanted Garden.  We had the late seating for dinner (8:00pm) so we usually didn't finish until after 10 at which point Leila was more than done for the day and begging to go to bed and I happily obliged her (especially since she didn't sleep well at night so we needed all the sleep we could get).

Tuesday morning we docked in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas.  Everyone kind of divided up this day.  My dad, Jori, Jared, and Annie went off on an excursion so that the three kids could swim with dolphins.  My mom (who had been to Nassau the year before) opted to stay on board and relax.  We dropped Leila off at the nursery again (which she loved) and headed into town with Ashley and Taylor to do some shopping.  We hit up the straw market and wandered the streets until Leila's time at the nursery was just about up and I raced back to the ship to pick her up.  She loved being at the nursery because they just let her crawl around to her hearts content.  No one was forcing her into strollers or carrying her around everywhere.

That evening the entertainment was Disney's new movie, Brave.  Since they were only showing it in 3D and Leila was already being a bit of a stink, Jason opted to stay out with her while I went with my family.  If you haven't seen the show, I certainly recommend it.  As usual, we ended the day with dinner.  This time we were at the Royal Palace for a French dinner complete with yummy creme brulee.

Wednesday was our day at sea, so we basically just drifted all day with the buildings of Nassau on the horizon.  There were lots of naps, LOTS of food, and some card games this day.  Jason played Bingo and very nearly won.  The main entertainment for the evening was a comedy show, but since Jason hadn't gotten to see Brave the night before, we dropped Leila off at nursery and went and saw this instead.  It was also Pirate night on the ship so for dinner (a Pirate's Menu) we were back at the Royal Palace and were instructed to dress up like pirates.  We were all given pirate bandannas and Jason bought a sword and hook.  Leila definitely made the cutest little pirate!  The night ended with a fireworks show, but we were already in bed by the time that kicked off.

Party!

Arrrrgh!

Towel Monkey

Thursday we were back at Castaway Cay.  This time around we did more activities other than just vegging in the ocean.  First up, we rode bikes around the island.  Jason and Grandma opted to stay with Leila so I could go enjoy myself.  I don't know if there would have been a more beautiful place to ride bikes.  The only downside was that it was so hot and humid we all looked like we'd been swimming in the ocean by the time we were done.

Realizing it is the last day of the cruise

Leila had another nursery time scheduled, so Jason took her back on-board while the rest of us ate lunch.  Then he met back up with us so that we could all feed and swim with stingrays!  Weird but way cool (as long as you don't think too much about how it was these creatures that caused the Crocodile Hunter's demise)!  

Feeding the stingrays

Afterwards, I went and picked up Leila for the last time.  They gave me a little bag full of pictures they'd taken of her during the week and another award: the Most Adventurous.  Then, I took her back to the splash pad so that she could get in her water time too.  About this time our first thunderstorm of the trip rolled in so I was glad to be back on the ship.  This was our last night on the ship (boo!) so we had a farewell dinner back at the Animator's Palate.  We said many thank yous to Vijay and Natasha and stuffed ourselves one last time.  

One messy (but happy) girl

We love Vijay and Natasha!

The next morning we would disembark and begin phase 2 of the vacation: Disney World!