The kids had no idea what we had planned once we reached Kissimmee Florida. The drive from Cocoa Beach to Kissimmee was only a couple hours with traffic. We couldn't check into our house until 3p, and we had to checkout at 11a, so we had some time to burn.
We decided to eat up the clock at Disney Springs which is a "Disney" Destination, but really a massive shopping center with a lake and restaurants. We saw amphibious cars, a giant dragon and life size Star Wars models made of Legos. There was also a 3 story Coca Cola Store with a soda shop on the rooftop deck that had one of a kind flavors. We spent a few hours here customizing our fast pass bracelets and of course surprising the kids with the news. I can imagine during non covid years you could spend an entire day here, but with many of the character meets cancelled and the special events on hold we got what we went there for and headed to the vacation rental.
The house we stayed in was a 100 year old home that tall ceilings and big windows. The floors were old worn hardwood and it had a hand formed pool in the backyard that made for a peaceful oasis basically any time of day. We really enjoyed this home and the beds were comfortable. The only downside was its proximity to the road and the stop lights. Lots of traffic noise all hours of day and night. However, it still made for a great place to lay our heads after the long days of Disney we had ahead of us. We did also end up catching a medieval times dinner one of the nights that we didn't go to Disney. I was surprised at a couple things. 1 was the amount of food that was served and wasted and 2, my knight I was certain should have won. The horses were beautiful and the event overall was very enjoyable.
Our tickets to Disney were for midweek with the hopes that the attendance would be down. It was already running at 30 percent capacity, so the thought was we wouldn't have to spend much time in line. Overall the longest we waited at any park was about 90 minutes for the Tower of Terror, all the other lines were less than 45 minutes or so.
We went to Disney Epcot on Tuesday which has a few rides and some fun experiences. I know now that much of the visit to this park is the different foods. We ended up packing all of our own food and only ended up getting ice cream, so I cant tell you much about that aspect. Epcot is a very large park and we did what my watch thought was 10 miles of walking. I think my favorite part was the Frozen ride and the look on Avas face when she saw Olaf!
The next park we visited was Walt Disneyworld Magic Kingdom. This park had a lot of fun rides. We of course did "Its a Small World" which was one of Krystals bucket list items, and we did "Splash Mountain" which was mine. Ava and Lance were so awesome the whole time. Those kids are fearless. They went on every ride we did. "Mickeys Haunted Mansion" was a ton of fun too. The grandeur of the Main Street and Cinderellas Castle look really neat on TV, but they are totally different in person. We rode the monorail when we left and saw some of the in park resorts which look like a real blast with their pools and other activities. I am not a big people person so this was an exercise in not strangling people, but overall after the food, tickets, and parking is paid for I can feel the perceived magic and draw to return. It really is a once in a lifetime experience.
Our last park was Disney Hollywood Adventures. The one ride I really wanted to go on was "Star Wars Rise of the Resistance". A couple of things like way the line is routed through the Star Wars environment and sanitation protocols during COVID led to Disney creating a virtual queue for this ride. Basically I had to set an alarm to be on the Disney App the moment the queue opened and reserve our virtual spot in line. I was ready with phone in hand at the specified time and hit the button the moment it opened.... still ended up in 59th place.... but hey, that meant we had a ticket to ride. This ride was incredible. From the time you start walking towards the ride entrance through to the end. They have Storm Troopers and actors dressed in full Empire uniforms with poor disposition to people sympathetic to the resistance. You wander past the deck of the Death Star with a full army of Storm Troopers and at one point they attempt to interrogate you for information before you escape in a robotic pod that zips you around past full sized AT-ATs dodging blaster fire and narrowly escaping the light saber of Kylo Ren. Your pod gets you away from the death star and you make it to the meet up with the Resistance. Unfortunately you only get to go once. Fortunately this park has a ton of other fun rides. Lance and Krystals favorite was the "Rock 'n' Roller Coaster" featuring Aerosmith which takes place inside a building so you cant see where you are going until you get there. Avas favorite was the Tower of Terror. This was another long day, we say multiple parades and Ava got to meet almost every princess. My favorite part of all 3 days was that I didnt throw up.... it was really damn close though.
This was our last week in Florida. It accounted for 1/4 of all the time we spent traveling. I cant say I wouldnt do it the same way next time. We made incredible memories in Florida that I will not soon forget. Our next stop from here is Savannah, GA for a night and then to Charleston, SC for week. I am so excited to see the East Coast.
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