Arrived in Florida

We arrived in Florida today! As traditional, we stopped off at the Welcome Center on i95 for some orange juice, pamphlets, and pictures.

We arrived at the house (villa) we are renting out near Champion's Gate. We are going to get settled in and enjoy a few days before hitting Disney this weekend.

Snack Mix for the Drive

when considering all the stops along the way, it takes us 26 hours to drive to Orlando. No stops? 21 hours. But... there is gas, meals, bathroom breaks, getting lost, etc.

I have done the trip in two days (staying at a hotel half way) and it isn't fun. I get tired after ten hours, I don't like driving 75mph-80+ at night, and we arrive to our deatination too late to do anything.

I find it much better to break the trip into three days and arrive in Orlando in the early afternoon.

It can be difficult to stay alert during all those hours of driving. I am driving faster than the laws of men permit, usually feet away from the bumper in front of me - staying alert can be the difference between life and death.

Eating helps me to stay alert. I used to snack on cold french froes during the trip, but, those are a billion calories. I started looking for something better...

Trail mix has too many colories. Popcorn gets boring.

I now ise a healthy mix of popcorn, puff wheat, cheerios, trail mix, and dried fruit (without added sugar). That seems to do the trick!

Packed and ready to go!

I have developed a certain expertise for packing the van for a long Florida trip. Somehow I am able to get everything loaded with room to spare. The van has to hold my office, all the video games, food, clothes, and everything imaginable to support a family for seven and a half weeks.

Cable Bag

when you travel with kids, you travel with a lot of electroics. I come prepared by packing a cable back. The cable bad includes USB cables, mini-USB, AV cords, battery packs, iphone cords, USB chargers, and more!

June Party

We seem to have a party every June: anniversary, graduation, reubiob, or large birthday. Planning for these large parties is a lot of work and competes with getting ready for Florida.

The 2017 party is finished! It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Now I can focus most my efforts towards getting ready for Disney!

Leaving in 16 hours

There are many things that must get done when going on a 7.5 week trip to Florda. Our large master project list is getting right down to the final tasks. The task list gets written and rewritten daily as we make decisions about what will and what will not get done before we leave. Fix the leaky shower? Yes! Weed the flower garden? Maybe.

There is a massive amount of work to do in only 16 hours. It doesnt seem possible we will be ready to leave in time. Most of the time has been spent gathering items, but not packing them yet. Most of our remaining time will be spent packing.

The house security system has been updated. The security cameras repositioned. The house sitters (who will be living there) have been trained and prepped. The pet sitters (who will visit daily) havebeen trained.

Keep following this blog to watch our 2017 adventures!

Disney Dinning Reservations for 2017

Our dinning reservations are done for 2017!

I struggle with these reservations every year because dinning at Disney is very expensive. Nevertheless, we have decided within our personal budgets that it is worth it and something we want to do. We have done most of these meals on every trip we have ever went on. We have pictures over the years showing kids hugging the Disney characters in all the various stages of growing up. We treasure those moments, and have decided to continue them into 2017.

Spirit of Aloha - This is very expensive and we rarely do it. However, our first trip was when my daughter was very young. And since she will be joining us for part of our Florida trip, we wanted to revisit those memories by taking her back again.

Chef Mickey - This is always a favorite and with a huge buffet, our picky eaters are sure to find something to eat. We get a late morning reservation so we get to enjoy breakfast and also some lunch items as they begin to transition to lunch.

'Ohana Breakfast - We love the 'Ohana breakfast - the sweet roles, juice, and breakfast spread. We don't like the long wait to get our table (why can't they get better at that?) but we love every other aspect.

'Ohana Dinner - Mom and Dad get a night out without the kids, right? This is our night. We fill ourselves on endless protein, and then walk along the lake and watch the fireworks. Sure, you can get better meals cheaper elsewhere, but we have so many great memories and look forward to a break from cheeseburgers and fries and where we get to be adults. I understand there have been changes made to the fireworks show - I hope that doesn't take away from our walk along the lake.

I have all the reservations made. I didn't get optimum dates nor times (getting a 6pm reservation is nearly impossible) but have made all the dates and times work well with our schedule.