Our "Magical" Summer Vacation to Orlando

It's been 4 years since our last family vacation, 2 years since our last "Adults only" vacation. Finally! We kicked off the summer with a trip to Orlando.  

Big kid and little kid had a great time overall. One thing I didn't expect was for big kid to feel homesick.  I thought he would thoroughly enjoy our trip now that he's older.  Overall he had a great time. Little man, well he's gun-ho and up for anything.  

First stop: Animal Kingdom
There's no secret that big kid is fascinated by animals and even wants to become an animal rescuer. It was only natural that we would explore Disney's Animal Kingdom.  Our first ride was the Kilimonajaro Safaris - what a great 20 minute ride through the African savanna. Big kid had his binoculars ready. We got to see many animals in their 'habitat". 

We rented a wheelchair to help big kid get around and not get tired.  This made it smoother for us though a little bit of a workout. Big kid wasn't into the rides so we made the best of it and saw other animal exhibits along with the Finding Nemo show and had the boys take pics and autographs with Disney Characters.  They got to meet Donald Duck, Chip n Dale, Baloo and King Louie, Pluto and Goofy. Later in the afternoon we saw the Parade with all the characters. The boys loved it.  We left shortly after since it began to rain.  Would love to go back and see the other attractions/rides. 

Next Up: Universal Walk, Legoland, Downtown Disney, T-Rex Cafe and Sea World.  Legoland was cute.  The boys both got on a few rides, enjoyed the Lego sculptures and we were able to enjoy the water park for about an hour before we got kicked out due to the rain.  Yup, it rained every day like clockwork after 2pm.  Since our day was cut short at Legoland we decided to head over to Downtown Disney and enjoy a late lunch at the T-Rex Cafe.  The boys LOVED this place. What boy wouldn't love animated Dinosaurs, meteor showers and theatrics every 10 minutes? Food was ok, overpriced but the atmosphere made up for it. Ponchos in hand, we made the best of it in Downtown Disney in the rain. 

SeaWorld was awesome (my favorite). Too bad we didn't have enough time as it was our last day there and then it .... drumroll.... rained. Again. Torrential. By 3pm we called it a day and headed for the airport.  

Overall we had a great time, got to see a lot of things, would love to go back to SeaWorld, have more pool time and get to see family and maybe friends next time around.  I did get to see my uncle who I haven't seen in over a decade. Overall we had a great time.  Now for a vacation from the vacation.....
 








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