We decided to take our first trip to Disney World, at the end of September 2017. Our three kids have birthdays that are all toward the end of the year. This week long vacation was kind of an early birthday present. The vacation plan consisted of one day at Disney and the rest was fun in the sun swimming. The kids had never seen the ocean before so I definitely wanted to have them experience a real beach.
Our first stop was at Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was a long way up the mountain but it was totally worth it! (There were some beautiful homes on the way up.) The view was breath taking. The clouds were moving in so we wanted to hurry and gets some photos before it started to rain.
After staying in a hotel in Chattanooga, we left early in the morning and headed to our destination. Only 8 more hours of "Are we almost there yet?". We really wanted to have this trip while all three kids are still under the same roof. Josie is getting older and will be out of school soon. My husband and I want to get as much family time as we can.
As we made it in to Florida, you could see the damage that was still being cleaned up from a few weeks earlier. Hurricane Irma had hit the state hard. You could see where new palm trees were replacing old ones that were knocked down by the wind. Florida is such a strong state with amazing people that take care of it.
Finally we see the Walt Disney World sign! Of course, Austin wants to go to Disney now but we still have to get settled into our hotel.
We had reservations at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resorts for the entire stay in Florida. I have to give my husband credit for the hotel he picked out. Our resort was awesome! I would love to go back. Our reservation consisted of a master suite, 2 full size beds in a guest room, two bathrooms, living room, dining area, full kitchen and a washer and dryer in the room. Also, there was a little balcony off the living room. The hotel is not even a mile away from Disney World.
Once we had our stuff put away, we put on our bathing suits and checked out the pool. That would be more like checking out the many different pools- kiddy pools, a pool with a big wrecked ship to play on, regular pools for the grown ups. The resort definitely wants to make sure you don't get bored.
Another early, exiting morning for us and a big day for Austin. He turned 5 that day. The receptionist at the hotel said to ask for a birthday button when we're in the park. Once we walked in the gate, he got his button and we let him pick out some mouse ears. He picked out some birthday ears. Every where we went, he was told happy birthday. He wore this hat on and off for weeks. We picked two parks to spend the day, The Magic Kingdom and Epcot. I expected for park to be big but still didn't expected it to be so massive. I would definitely recommend researching where you want to go and where things are at. It can be overwhelming.
We watched the Festival of Fantasy Parade going down the main street. It starts at 3 p.m. everyday in The Magic Kingdom and then it ends in Frontierland.
I love the detail that Disney World puts into everything. In the Magic Kingdom, there is a store that looks like the giant from Jack and the Bean Stock is about to come through the ceiling.
Austin needed a quick nap while on the monorail to Epcot.
The first place we went in Epcot was Spaceship Earth. The ride, in this geodesic dome, is very educational. It takes you on a journey through time showing the development of communication. The dome is rumored to be closing in 2020 for updates.
Finding Nemo and Undersea Fun was really cute. Austin and some other little kids got to sit down and do the Turtle Talk with Crush. A little boy up front asked Crush some questions and Crush answered them.
Epcot was a great park for the adults. The International Food and Wine Festival was going on when we were there. You could taste food and wine from around the world. Actually there are 11 country's that they have- Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, United States, Japan, Morocco, France, United Kingdom and Canada. We didn't have time to sample much but we loved the atmosphere. The dome was all lite up across the lake and then fireworks began going off.
The next day, we headed out to Cocoa Beach for the kids first time at a real beach. Austin had his pale and shovel all ready to go. On the way to the beach, I realized that we forgot beach towels. We stopped at a drugstore and bought some very expensive towels. Of course, it was my own fault for not remembering them. Oh well.
We stopped at Ski Deck Tiki Bar and Grill for some lunch. We all tried something new. We ordered a plate of fried gator to sample with our meals. Doesn't really taste like chicken and it's very chewy.
Ron Jon Surf Shop wasn't far from the ocean and we wanted to take a look inside. My older son really liked looking in this store. I think we would all make good beach bums. The surf shop is a pretty cool building inside and out.
We made it to the beach! The first thing I noticed on the beach were all the sea shells that were lined up by the shore. I'm guessing the hurricane had something to do with that. I've never seen that before. You had to be careful not to cut your foot while walking past them to the waters edge. Everyone had a lot of fun finding sea shells and playing around in the water. Dylan actually found a big conch shell.
We had a great time on our vacation and hope to do more traveling soon. If your ever around these areas, check them out.
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