New Orleans was hard to leave, it would have been great to have a few more days to explore, but knowing we were coming into an amazing week with the Fisher’s it made it less difficult. We spent our last day in New Orleans riding the street car to the French Quarter and exploring. I enjoyed some French pastry, went in and out of shops and just took in the unique atmosphere of the French Quarter. The kids really enjoyed this. It is such a different city compared to any they have been to before.
After leaving New Orleans on the Saturday morning we headed to a beach that has been on my bucket list for many many years, Pensacola Beach. I have always wanted to come to a Gulf Beach, the warm water, white sand and blue green water make it super appealing to me. I really love the ocean and just being by the water, but this view was so amazing. We came in on a day where the Blue Angels were performing an air show. I love air shows, so being on an amazing beach watching the tricks in the sky was perfect. The kids loved the warm water and it was definitely enjoyed by all! Most people assume I never get in the water, but it takes warm water and hot air for me to get in. Something we never get at home lol!
The next day we arrived in Orlando along with the Fisher family who flew in from home. We love travelling with the Fishers. Our kids are like siblings and all get along so well. We have planned vacations with them in the past and it is always a great time, so we were beyond excited to share this adventure with them.
Our first day was Universal. This was a theme park that all of the Harry Potter fans were excited about. We knew we would never be able to cover everything. We paid for their 2 parks in 1 day tickets. This allowed us to visit both of the Harry Potter areas of Universal and ride on the Hogwarts Express. We arrived bright and early and headed right for the first Harry Potter section of Universal. It was amazing. You literally walk through a little ally and then are warped into everything Harry Potter. I am not a huge fan like the others, but it was truly amazing. Everything was so well done. We went into a little shop to pick out a wand. We let Ella pick it for everyone to share since they are $50. She is the biggest fan and is on the 5th book. All of the kids loved using the wand to activate things around the village. Once we were done exploring we took the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmead. This was amazing as well, but a short time after we arrived there the power went out affecting the rides in this area of Universal, so we decided to move to a different area of the park.
On our way the Seuss area caught our eye. I have always been a huge Seuss fan, especially during my time caring for children. This area was amazing. The rides were cute and fun and everything was so colourful. It was my favourite area of this part of Universal. After we were done playing there, Alex, Sam, Nate & Bekah headed for the Hulk ride. They all wanted to do it as it was the number one thrill ride and it flipped you upside down for most of the ride. While they waited we checked out some of the Marvel section. Noah’s favourite was of course the arcade lol!
The power came back on in all areas of the park and we were able to go back to the Harry Potter area and ride the simulator ride they had been wanting to try. I avoided most rides, before we left for our trip I had some severe sciatic nerve issues that had bothered me most of the trip. I made sure I didn’t do any of the intense rides that would cause me more issues. Luckily I am not a huge ride person, so I didn’t feel like I was missing out. We had a great day at Universal, but it isn’t a theme park I will return to. It was great to see Harry Potter, but outside of that it was super expensive for what our family does at theme parks. The waits were super long and without the use of anything fast pass related, we didn’t get to ride much.
Our second day was Sea World. I have been excited for Sea World since I was a little kid and it did not disappoint. It was amazing. The kids enjoyed some shorter line waits, super fun roller coasters and everyone enjoyed the marine life. We took in 2 shows during the day and both were amazing. We did the Killer Whale Show and the Sea Lion Show. Both were at least 10 times better than what I had seen anywhere in the past including Marine Land.
The park was well done and had a great mix of everything. We spent the whole day here and loved it. We went home for supper and then decided to come back for their Electric Ocean event at night. They have a number of different night shows. We went to see another killer whale evening show as well as the finale show which was a mix of fireworks and a light show. It was spectacular. I haven’t seen anything like it before and would highly recommend it. I really loved Sea World and can’t wait to go back again some day.
Our third day was a beach day. We wanted to take all of the kids to a Florida Beach. I had heard great things about Cocoa Beach, but was warned that it may be super busy so we may want to try a surrounding beach instead. We decided to leave early and chance it. So glad we did. We found super cheap parking right by the beach and it wasn’t busy at all. We spent 2 hours at the beach. One of my favourite moments was seeing Dolphin’s swim and jump in the distance. It was so exciting to see from the shore. The kids had fun playing with their friends on the beach. We left the beach, found some yummy ice cream and then headed home for the kids to have a dip in the pool at the condo and do some shopping.
Our fourth day was one of the days that most of us had been looking forward to, our Magic Kingdom day. We woke up super early so that we could be there before the park opened. The Fisher’s had purchased the Photo Package and we were linked to it, so we wanted to get some pictures taken and hopefully arrive early enough that we could ride on the Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train. It is a popular ride and we were not able to get a Fast Pass for it.
Walking into Main Street America was pretty impressive. I read the Disney Customer service before I applied to Automattic and I was excited to see all of the great things I heard about. Everyone was excited to see the castle. This was all of our first time at Disney so it was amazing to experience this excitement together. We managed to be able to ride the Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train and still in time to make it to our first fast pass. I was Ain rough shape after the ride. I didn’t remember this one and thought it was similar to the other Magic Kingdom rides that were a slower pace. It is a fast paced roller coaster and after that my sciatica was not great. Luckily with some ibuprofen and no crazy rides, I was doing better.
We were able to do quite a bit with our Fast Passes at this park which made it so much nicer. Less waiting for rides. I loved looking around at everything. SOOOOOO much to take in. Mid afternoon we watched the Parade and wow! The floats were truly well done. I have been excited about this parade for a while and it was perfect.
This was our long day, we decided we would stay at the park until the fireworks were over. It was a long day, but an amazing one. I will be writing a full Disney post so I will go into all of the details about the two parks then. For now, I have to add that the Fireworks show was truly spectacular. I loved that it was a mix of lazer lights and fireworks. The fireworks went through different Disney themes and it was so well done. It was a great finish to the amazing day.
Our 5th day was Disney Animal Kingdom. I was excited about this park. Right from the beginning I loved that there was more shade here and the park felt much cooler overall. With the Animal Kingdom theme it was so beautiful and at times it was hard to believe I was in a theme park. Each section was beyond well done, but after all it is Disney. We tried the same trick at this park and the kids were able to get on Avatar. I did not chance the ride, but heard it was truly amazing.
For me my favourite part of Animal Kingdom was the shows! We watched 3 of them, Nemo, Lion King and the Bug’s Life. They blew my mind. The Lion King was my favourite and I was truly mesmerized the whole show. I would see them all over again and more. I couldn’t get enough of them here.
We ended our day around supper because the weather was starting to turn. Everyone, but me had tried to go on the River ride and ended up having the ride shut down after they started down the river. A huge thunder and lightening rain storm came. I was under cover, but when I met up with them, realized they had been on the ride. Everyone was beyond soaked, but had a great laugh about it. 🙂 With everyone so wet we decided to go home at supper and call it a night. It had been a super busy past few days.
On our last day we decided to sleep in a little, relax in the pool at the condo and head to Disney Springs. I had heard from a few friends that we can check out the resorts so we decided to try one that I had been recently told about, Port Orleans. After some shopping, picture taking and some treats at Disney Springs, we took the ferry over to this resort. It was super well done and looked a lot like the French Quarter of New Orleans. We went into the lobby area after exploring the outside of the resort. The pool area was amazing. Inside the kids found an arcade to play in. After playing some games we went to the restaurant where they had Mickey beignets. Sandy was super excited to let the Fisher’s try this yummy treat we had been enjoying in New Orleans. They were delicious. I actually liked these ones best. 🙂 After a bit more exploring we headed back on the ferry and home to have supper, swim and pack for our trip home.
I can’t say enough how amazing this week was. We knew we were cramming a ton into this week, but we were not sure that we would ever be back when we booked everything and especially since the kids are growing up so quickly and with Alex graduating this may be her last chance until she is an adult. It was well worth cramming it all in and seeing each of these parks. There are some I would do over again and other parks that we didn’t explore that I would next time. It will be a few years before we come back but we will return. We were so thankful that the Fisher’s could do this with us. Our kids were so excited to see them as they had been missing familiar faces and the kids all had a great week together. It was truly a magic week. 🙂
I Dream of Summer 
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