Tag Archives: downtown disney

March 2011 Trip to Florida – Day 13 (Friday)

Since this was our last full day in Florida, we tried to make the most of it. Matthew and I got up this morning and went swimming before going out. We then headed out for a few hours.

We went mini-putting at Bonanza Golf, an old west mining themed miniature golf course. It was a gorgeous morning, and the course was beautiful. After getting a 24 on the first hole, Christine settled down and did much better after that ๐Ÿ™‚ย  There was even a hole that we all got a hole-in-one on (as long as you could hit the ball, it would go in).

After golfing, we headed off to Kissimmee Go-Karts. We had gotten a coupon that gave us a free lap. It wasn’t much, but neither Lisa or can remember ever driving a go-kart, so we thought we’d give it a try. I went with Andrew and Lisa went with Matthew. It was a lot of fun. We’ll have to try go-karts again another time.

After that, we went to Shell World. They have a golf cart that is covered in sea shells, so of course I had to take a picture of the kids.

Inside the store, they had a fake shark’s head, so I told Matthew to pretend it was eating him. Of course, the others wanted in on it too. At first Christine sat on the mouth and it looked like the shark was biting her bum, but then she decided she wanted to be like the boys.

Eventually we made it home and we jumped in the pool. Andrew is totally comfortable in the water. He is quite a good swimmer. Matthew is very brave now as long as he is close to the edge so he can grab hold of something. He loves wearing a mask or goggles and going underwater.

Even Christine is getting more comfortable in the water. She won’t venture in very far on her own, but will put her face in the water and asks for the mask sometimes.

When in the pool, my job is to splash the kids and throw them when requested. It works fairly well.

Lisa’s job is to try to get the kids back for all of the grief they’ve caused her over the years. You can see she receives great pleasure from doing this ๐Ÿ™‚

We went to The Olive Garden for dinner and had a great meal. We went to the outlet stores again to pick up a couple of things, and then we headed back to Downtown Disney for one last trip. It is beautiful at night with all of the people, and the buildings lit up.

Grandma and Grandpa gave them each a bit of money to get something, so Andrew did some prospecting/sifting. He bought 2 bags of what looked like dirt, and then you can sift them in the water and there are “gems” inside. He was very excited. Matthew and Christine both got to split open some volcanic rock to find a geode inside. Very cool.

We got home rather late, but Andrew still had time to have ice cream. Andrew then headed off to bed and the rest of us had the unpleasant task of cleaning up and packing ๐Ÿ™

Saturday is our last day. We have to be out of the house by 11 am, so we will probably leave by 9 am, and we’re heading out for breakfast. We’ll then be on the road and hope to make it to Jeff & Evy’s place before 8 pm.

March 2011 Trip to Florida – Day 12 (Thursday)

Thursday we headed off early to Aquatica with Grandma and Grandpa.

We were at the park by 10 am, so it still wasn’t that warm outside, but the water was nice, so it was fine.

The waterproof camera we borrowed from Andrea came in handy again.

We didn’t go anything new, just the same stuff as the other day. We played in the wave pool, went along the lazy river (Loggerhead Lane), floated around in Roa’s Rapids, and played in the Walkabout Waters area. Christine found a very small waterslide that she loved and she must have gone down it 50 or more times.

Considering that the park is by SeaWorld, there is a surprising lack of animals/birds/fish in the park. I figured that somehow they would have integrated them more. There are a few Macaw, a large aquarium you see as part of the Loggerhead Lane lazy river, as well as some Commerson’s dolphins that you can see in Loggerhead Lane as well as from one of the water slides. They are black and white, kind of like Orca whales, and they often swim upside down (as you can see in the picture). Apparently that is so they can see prey above them.

You can also see the dolphins from an underwater viewing area. Unfortunately none were swimming by when the picture was taken.

As mentioned before, Grandma and Grandpa did come out with us yesterday and today. Grandma isn’t 100%, but she is getting better.

We got back home around 1:30 and had lunch and then relaxed at the house. We had breakfast for dinner, and then the kids had a bath. They were almost in bed on time, and then Lisa and I went out to go to a few stores.

Friday is our last full day in Florida. We are going to go mini-putting again in the morning, and do some shopping. We’ll then go out for dinner and head out to Downtown Disney one last time.

March 2011 Trip to Florida – Day 7 (Saturday)

It’s hard to believe we’ve been here for a week now! At least we still have another week to go ๐Ÿ™‚

Today was supposed to be a slower day, but it didn’t really turn out that way. Grandma and Grandpa weren’t feeling well, so they stayed home while we went out. We went out for breakfast at Sizzlin’ Grill. They have a breakfast buffet that is $3.99. It wasn’t world class meal, but hey, for that price, you can’t complain too much. There was loads of food (eggs, ham, oatmeal, sausage, cereal, pudding, jello, salad, ice cream … I know, a weird mix), but for the 5 of us including tax and tip it was only $30.

After that we headed to Hawaiian Rumble Adventure Golf. It was a gorgeous day today, so it was nice to be outside enjoying the sun. Christine was free since she is 3, and Lisa was keeping score and taking pictures, so we just had to pay for the 3 boys.

At one point, the couple behind us saw Lisa taking a picture of us and offered to take a picture of all of us.

Andrew tried hard and did fairly well. Matthew would never let the ball stop and just keep hitting it, and would then tell us he only had 2 or 3. Christine would just randomly pick a number. “Christine, what did you get on that hole?” “Um, 17.” I think her total score was something like 170.

After golfing, we headed back to Downtown Disney again for the boys to buy the LEGO that they wanted. We also walked around a bit further up the walkways. We got as far as the Harley Davidson store, and got a picture of each of the kids on a big bike.

We also went to Shell World and got some groceries.

After being out for much of the day, we went back to the house and swam for an hour or so before dinner. After dinner the kids had their showers and then headed off to bed. Christine went to bed a little early, and when Andrew went in to sleep in the other bed in her room, we found Christine asleep slitting up. Her leg looked a little uncomfortable, too.

The rest of us just vegged out for the evening.

Sunday will be another day of rest, and then Monday we think we are headed back to SeaWorld, Tuesday to Aquatica, and Wednesday back to Busch Gardens. The week’s weather looks like it is going to be awesome!

March 2011 Trip to Florida – Day 5 (Thursday)

Today was a pretty dull day. It rained for most of the day, so we went to Florida Mall. It is a huge mall with an Apple Store, Pottery Barn, a Disney Store, and more. We had a hard time finding Tangled toys at the Downtown Disney store, but we were able to find a stuffled Pascal and some other toys at the mall. Matthew and Christine were excited. Christine also got a nightgown and Andrew got an Alien stuffy from Toy Story.

The kids had some quiet time in the afternoon, and then we were able to swim.

After dinner Jeff and Ryan showed up. On Friday the boys are headed to a Blue Jays Spring Training game, and the girls are headed to the beach.

March 2011 Trip to Florida – Day 3 (Tuesday)

The weather was beautiful again on Tuesday. I’m not sure what it got up to, but it must have gotten up to 22-25ยฐ C. We swam in the morning and then headed off to Downtown Disney Marketplace.

We were there for around 3 hours. It is a beautiful place. The sun was shining, there were lots of people around, and the stores are great. We started off in the main Disney store so we could try to find some princess things for Christine.

We were originally looking for some gloves or a tiara. We saw both, but Christine chose an Aurora toy instead. We couldn’t believe how many girls were going through the Bibbity Bobbityย  Boutique. What a money maker for Disney!

Another main destination was the LEGO store. Unfortunately, the existing store was under renovation, so they had a temporary location setup. They had lots of sets to buy, but that was about it. They only had one “life-size” character to get a picture of, and there was no place outside where the kids could build things. It was disappointing, but the boys still managed to make a list of a half dozen sets they wanted.

We went in a bunch of other stores, and then headed back home for lunch and some quiet time. The kids aren’t able to fall asleep at their normal time, and get up earlier than normal in the morning, and after a few days, they were getting particularly annoyed with one another. Andrew also wasn’t feeling that great. By mid-afternoon they had gotten up and we went swimming again.

We had an early dinner and then dropped off Grandma and Grandpa at the outlet mall that Lisa and I were at earlier in the week. The rest of us headed back to Downtown Disney.

We went by the T-Rex Cafe and the kids dug for dinosaur bones.

We also went into a couple of other stores that we had already gone in to earlier in the day. My camera battery had died, so I needed to take some more pictures.

We had a great day, and I’m sure we’ll end up back at Downtown Disney a few more times before we go.

On Wednesday we are going to Busch Gardens…