So, almost a year ago, Stephen and I signed up for a $150 4 day/3 night stay in Orlando that had to be used within a year. Once we would go, we got the $150 back. We knew we'd be busy, but also knew we'd really need a vacation and this was just insurance on making sure we actually went. Well, we were getting close to our year mark since we couldn't go during pilot training, and decided we were still going to do it between all of Stephen's TDYs and the stress of having a new baby. It was super stressful trying to plan it since Stephen was gone so much, I was at home alone with a colicy baby, and we were moving only a couple weeks later. But, we're so glad we went!
We were a bit worried about all the traveling with a 2.5 month old, but he did great! We got to the airport and started loading up the stroller with all our stuff. It's amazing how much stuff one little baby needs for only a weekend! Going through security was different and way more stressful! We had to carry him while everything was scanned, but then putting the stroller back together while everybody else's stuff keeps rolling down the belt and we don't have enough hands to carry all our stuff off to the side got us many looks for being "those people." Sorry! We're first time parents, first time flying!
Once it was time for us to load, we suffered again because we couldn't figure out how to get the stroller to lock while folded up. Luckily we were surrounded by the other families with small children and someone showed us how! The rest of the flight was pretty normal. I fed him on the up, he slept, fed him on the way down. There was a nasty thunderstorm just as we flew in. We were actually the last plane to land for about 2 hours. Because of the weather, they couldn't unload our baggage, so we got to hang out in the airport for an additional 2 hours. We got dinner and dessert, and checked out the Disney and SeaWorld shops they had. We finally got our stuff, got our rental car, and headed to our resort hotel. By the time we got checked in, we pretty much just went to bed. As I was feeding Tyler his last bedtime feeding, we started to hear explosions! We looked outside and saw tons of fireworks! We relocated to the balcony to watch. What a great view!
The next day we slept in and then went and got some breakfast items and snacks from the grocery store. We then walked around some of the nature preserves they have near our hotel. It's crazy how dense and green everything is! We went and listened to the presentation to get our $150 which included going to a really nice Cuban restaurant. We both really liked the plantain chips they have!
After the presentation, we went and got ready for our night. We went to Downtown Disney, which was really fun! They had lots of music performers, dancers, and DJs. Tyler got his groove on and all the ladies swooned over him! They have lots of Disney stores, but lucky for our wallet, not a ton of baby clothes or items. We did end up getting a really neat book of 5 minute Pixar stories. They also have the Lego Imagination Center. Pretty much a huge store of Lego's. Stephen's dad would be in heaven! :) We also ate dinner at a Wolfgang Puck Restaurant. If you don't know who he is, he's pretty much the most famous gourmet chef (along with Gordon Ramsey). It was really good! I got to try my first sushi! We finished the night with a little dancing and fireworks.
The next day we woke up early and headed to Universal Studios! We originally weren't planning on going to one of the parks, but we decided this will be the cheapest it ever will be, and probably the easiest since we only have 1 baby, and not 3+! They have this really cool thing called child swap which also helped us decide to go. You wait in line as a family, then when at the front of the line they have a designated room where one parent sits with the children who aren't riding while the other parent and children ride, then once they're back, the parents swap! You only have to wait in line once, so it doesn't take forever to both ride the rides! It was awesome! I ended up feeding Tyler multiple times in the child swap rooms, which also allowed us to more fully enjoy our time at the park! Anyway, we also decided to go to universal studios because of Harry Potter World. We just finished reading the series together and so this was kind of our reward to ourselves!
That was where we spent most of our time: Diagon Alley! You get to walk through the red brick wall and then it's seriously like another world! It was so much fun! We checked out all the shops and got souvenirs at Quality Quidditch, Weezely's Wizard Wheezes, Olivander's, and Madam Malkin's. Of course a trip to Diagon Alley is not complete without having some Butterbeer Ice cream at Florean Fortescue's, watching a wand choose a wizard, or a trip into Gringotts. We also snuck into Knockturn Alley to check out Borgan and Burk's. It really was amazing! They have a dragon in top of Gringotts that actually blows fire! Tyler wasn't too sure about that the first time we saw it!
We did also look at other parts of Universal Studios! We went and saw the Shrek 4D movie, did the Transformers ride, and shot some aliens as Men in Black. We also got to watch a show of Fear Factor Live which was pretty cool as well! We decided that after another trip into Diagon Alley, we would call it a day.
Once we got back to our hotel, we decided that Tyler needed to experience the pool for the first time! He did great! He wasn't a fan of it being so cool, but he did enjoy splashing around for a little bit!
The next day was traveling back home. Nothing really exciting happened. We did decide we would need to go back to universal studios so we could ride the Hogwarts express and check out hogsmead. And we also brainstormed a list of locations for our next family vacation!
