Around the World in 13 Hours

At the end of the third day of our vacation we moved from the Universal Studios area to the Disney Area and we spent a little more money on our accommodations.  I did get a great deal through Expedia and we loved staying at The Disney Caribbean Beach Resort.

We woke up bright and early and headed to EPCOT!

Our first stop was Spaceship Earth and Misson Space.  The kids loved going to Mars and that we each had a job to do.  We would revisit this ride 13 hours later right after I slammed a beer in England and I'm happy to say that I did not throw up!

We had a great time walking from country to country and the kids really enjoyed getting their passport stamped at each destination.  We love to travel and they now have more ideas for where they'd like to go.  Too bad their Dad has no desire to leave the country.

We had lunch in Mexico at the San Angel Inn.  It was a unique experience and the food was great!

I really enjoyed Germany, because my children are part German and we're planning a German Christmas.  I really just liked the beer.

Keith surprised me with dinner at Chefs De France in France.  I was so excited because I love all things French!  Fries, wine, cheese, Julia Child and saying Oui*!  Click here to see what I ate in France.

Soon it was dark and time for the IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth.  We were looking for a good place to watch the fireworks when we saw a roped off area right at the entrance.  Keith asked what that area was for and the security guard asked if we had a Chase Credit Card.  We did and found out it was a VIP area for people with that card.  Being in Debt FOR THE WIN!!

It was such a long day and I could barely walk back to the bus for the short 10 minute ride back to our Pirate Room!  What a great day and a fantastic surprise for the kids when we returned to our hotel.  More about that another time.....

*Do not google the word Oui.  It's a naught magazine for men.

Other posts about Orlando:

Universal Orlando
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Take Offs and Landings

Great Things...On The Way

I feel like I have so much to say about our trip to Orlando but I don't know where to start.

 I want to tell you about how we escaped from our semi-crappy hotel in the dead of night during rush hour with a cab driver that didn't read or speak english and I really want to tell you about all of the food and drink I had.  If you're at all interested in that part, I'll be telling those stories over on The Rookie Foodie.  (hint hint...go follow that blog)

I want to tell you about how my kids are still on Florida time and are up at the crack of dawn this morning and that I have ZERO desire to leave my house today.

I want to tell you that I thought about Owls during the whole trip and why. (hint hint...it's about Christmas)

And I really want to tell you about the very eventful flights in both directions and how my husband believes that I'm cursed and likely doesn't want to travel with me anymore.

Instead, I'll leave you with one funny Mallory story.

We were standing at the bus stop waiting to go to Disney Epcot when a man asked if we were from Colorado.  Both Alex and iKeith were wearing Bronco hats so everywhere we went people commented on them.  Mallory looked at him and said, 'How did you know that?  Is it because we speak english?'

The entire bus stop busted up in laughter!

Side note here: Apparently....we visited Orlando with half of Europe.  While American children are toiling away until Thanksgiving...Europe is on Fall Break and as my dear UK friend put it, it's bloody cold there!   We heard lots of accents and other languages.

Okay...one more funny story.  This one about iKeith.

Our shuttle bus from our hotel to Sea World and Universal Orlando was driven by a guy named Terry. He was so much fun and had the whole bus singing songs.  One day...we ran out of songs and he asked for suggestions.  My kids had been practicing a song that they have to sing TODAY at a book store and Keith broke out in that song.

He taught all of these Europeans a song about a turkey hiding in the woods to avoid being killed for Thanksgiving Dinner!  I found it so funny because they don't celebrate Thanksgiving.