Mega trip(v.1) photo trip report.

so once again we hit the road for our annual Mega trip. this year we decided to focus on Florida.

Our original itinerary had us stopping by Six Flags Over Georgia, but Mother Nature had other plans so we had to back out of that one.

Nonetheless, the trip was packed full of parks. this was our itinerary.

1. SeaWorld Orlando

2. Clearwater beach

3. Busch gardens Tampa

4. Boggy creek airboat ride

5. Gatorland

6. 10 days at Disneyworld.

Our first stop is one of my favorite Parks... SeaWorld Orlando. Of course I decided to forget my phone at the rental home, so I wasn't able to grab any pictures.

Key takeaways from my day at SeaWorld...

1. Sesame Street is remarkable! They did a great job with this area. There is no doubt this part of the park is going to be a huge hit with families. there are a lot of interactive activities for the kids, and all the rides that were there before remained only now with a Sesame Street retheme.

2. Mako remains one of my favorite coasters. The air time on this coaster is amazing.

3. we took advantage of the dinner with Shamu package. I highly recommend trying this at least once. The interaction portion of the event was outstanding! And the food was delicious too.

4. Every time I visit this park, it amazes me how well the staff cares for these animals.

On our second day, we decided to make the treck over to Clearwater Beach. We love the beach and visit it every time we're down in Florida ,but for some reason the traffic is always horrendous in that area.

This beach is consistently voted the best beach in America, and for good reason. From the sand to the scenery and the water, it's basically the perfect Beach. There are many restaurants and bars to choose from just out of the beach area.

The sidewalks leading to the beach are lined with entertainers. We caught a father-and-son Duo doing stunts/tricks, and were very entertaining. After the beach we headed back to Disney Springs to have dinner at the Edison. The food was good but it was a bit overpriced. But it's Disney what do you expect? I didn't forget my camera phone today, so here are a few pictures I took.

We made it!

Clearwater beach had a decent crowd as spring break was wrapping up.

The pier has a little shop with souvenirs and snacks. You can also go fishing at the end of the pier.

After the beach we headed to the Edison at Disney springs for a late dinner.

The decor inside the Edison is kind of a throwback to the days of Thomas Edison.

Me and my son decided to split the prime rib. Our whole family are really big foodies ,so you'll notice a lot of pictures of food during this report.

For dessert we opted for the cheesecake lollipop thingy.

After dinner, we decided to check out the newly remodeled World of Disney Store. while I do like the more open layout, it just seemed to be lacking that Disney Magic. I'm sure that'll change over time as they add more things.

I was really digging the throwback shirts.

This was our rental home for the next 5 days before we checked into Disney.

Here are a few pictures from inside the house.

Our room

Our own private pool

The resort also had a public water area.

One last look.

My next update will be from Busch gardens Tampa.

Edison looks really great. I like the cheesecake lollipop presentation, seems really sciency.

Edison looks really great. I like the cheesecake lollipop presentation, seems really sciency.

Yea, it was pretty cool. In the evening on weekends, they have live entertainment as well. the food was good(a bit on the steep side for what you get) and the service is great. Our server was the best server we have had in a long time. I definitely recommend checking it out.

Great report! I had no idea they sold Skyway or Jungle Cruise t-shirts.

Great report! I had no idea they sold Skyway or Jungle Cruise t-shirts.

Thank you.

I came really close to buying that skyway shirt.

agreed with you that the throwback shirts are amazing.

nice pics.. . and looks like y'all had a very pleasant rental space for a week or so.

I'm LIVING for this woman in the lower left tho. . . you can read her mind: WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU TAKING MY PICTURE???? LOL

agreed with you that the throwback shirts are amazing.

 

nice pics.. . and looks like y'all had a very pleasant rental space for a week or so.

 

 

I'm LIVING for this woman in the lower left tho. . . you can read her mind: WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU TAKING MY PICTURE???? LOL

 

Lol...yea, just noticed her.

so for our third day in Florida, we hit Busch Gardens Tampa. The more I visit this park, the more it grows on me. Today was a perfect day to visit as the crowds were light and the weather was wonderful. We decided against getting fast lane and we opted for the meal plan. The food at this place is awesome! especially the barbecue place in the back of the park near SheiKra.

I've always believed that this park is underrated. They have a great collection of coasters, beautiful scenery, great animal displays,great food, and good staff. All the coasters were up and running except for cheetah, but I do believe it opened later in the day.

We had a wonderful day at the park, but if I had to pick one thing to complain about it would be the parks hours. Tickets weren't necessarily cheap, and they close the park at 7. Add in the $25 parking, and it just seems that they should be open a little later than they are. This in no way affected the great time we had at the park ,in my opinion I just think they should have been open a little longer. there was quite a bit that we didn't have time to get to that we would have been able to get to had they been open another hour or two.

Onto some pictures....

This is where we will be spending the day.

First ride of the day was cobras curse. This was a particularly exciting ride this time around, because my son was finally tall enough to ride.

We have never been thru the standby line, and I'm glad we did this time. There was some great theaming.

I spy an RMC!

I was going to join this guy for a salad.

But opted for the food court instead. The food portions in this place were large, and delicious. I didn't take a picture, but we had an Italian combo plate.

Cheetah hint was not running. Neither were these guys.

Scorpion was next on the list. It was also my sons first upside

down coaster of his life. He loved it!

I bet nobody else has this shot.

Kumba was running great, and the new paint job really looked good.

We missed this by a few weeks.

Its amazing that they got all of this finished in 2 weeks.

Log flume doing its thing.

This coaster never disappoints.

I love the theaming!

A few years ago, it was converted into a floorless coaster.

One last look at the splashdown.

It was feeding time again. We ended up trying everything on the menu. It was all great!

If you cant see it, that cake had my name all over it.

After eating, we took the kids over to explore the Sesame Street area. We ran into this guy!

There is a lot for the kiddos to do in this area.

I sooo wanted this shirt.

After letting the kids burn off some energy, we went to check out more animals.

The kids enjoying the penguins.

I hit the john on the way out of the park, and noticed the anheiser Busc logo still on the faucet.

had a great time at the park today, and this right here gives me an excuse to return next summer.

ran into these guys on the way out of the park which makes a perfect segue and to our next stop. Boggy Creek airboats.

I'll post those pictures tomorrow.

LOL.. glad to see I'm not the only one who takes pics in BGT bathrooms (tho I took pics of the mosaics in the toilets by Montu).

that Cookie Monster shirt is awesome. . I totally would have picked that up!

great pics, and congrats on the kiddo graduating to big-boy coasters - including 1st UpsideDown! Scorpion is a great one for the first time.

Did you get to ride Falcon's Fury?

I paused for a moment at the $25 parking. what??? That's nuts (and Six Flags price gouging level). . .I don't recall us paying for parking at all when we went to BGT a couple of years ago. Hmm. . wonder if it was included in our 4 day passes? (that also included a day at SWO).

LOL.. glad to see I'm not the only one who takes pics in BGT bathrooms (tho I took pics of the mosaics in the toilets by Montu).

 

that Cookie Monster shirt is awesome. . I totally would have picked that up!

 

great pics, and congrats on the kiddo graduating to big-boy coasters - including 1st UpsideDown! Scorpion is a great one for the first time.

 

Did you get to ride Falcon's Fury?

 

I paused for a moment at the $25 parking. what??? That's nuts (and Six Flags price gouging level). . .I don't recall us paying for parking at all when we went to BGT a couple of years ago. Hmm. . wonder if it was included in our 4 day passes? (that also included a day at SWO).

Thank you.

Yea, the parking fee has always been there. They do sell a combo ticket that includes parking, but we didn't have that particular ticket this time around.

Falcon's Fury is a great ride, however we missed out on it this time around.

so today was supposed to be the airboat ride followed by Gatorland. We had purchased a combo ticket to do both, however the airboat ride took up a lot more time than what we anticipated and we got a late start, Gatorland closed at 5. With that being said we did the airboat ride and saved our tickets for Gatorland for another day.

this was the first time on an airboat for all of us. They offer several different tour options ,we chose the half hour tour which ended up working out really well. The half hour tour showed us everything that we wanted to see. It really was a blast flying through the swamp in an airboat.

The airboat driver seemed to know the area really well and knew where all the hot spots were for Gators. We stopped several times to get a close-up look at alligators, and the driver answered several questions. We got a lot closer to the gators than I expected. The airboat itself is pretty loud, but ear protection was supplied. Life jackets were also provided for children.

After the airboat ride we were able to explore several small attractions that they had to offer. Those things included a Indian village, gator feeding, picture spots, and bike trails. We bought a small bag of feed for the gators. They also have picnic areas as well.

We got a good laugh in the snack bar. They wanted $10 for a hot dog, but only a couple bucks more for a steak.

We all had a great time, and would definitely do it again in a few years.

Onto some pictures....

There are airboats out there.

Lots of activities for everyone to do while waiting for your airboat ride.

You can get a family photo in a mock airboat here as well.

Ever feed a gator? If not, you can do so here.

This was the Indian village. They had demonstrations, but we seemed to keep missing them.

The view from the airboat. The boat held about 15 people.

This is just one of several gators we got near.

The only tree around.

This was not an animatronic.

The driver passes around items found in the swamp, and explains what they are.

The kids had a blast!

Hot dog or steak?

Went back to Disney springs for the evening to do some shopping before we check into our resort in the morning. Stay tuned for a MEGA Disneyworld trip report.

for the first part of our Disney World trip report we checked in to Disney's Port Orleans Resort. This Resort is sprawling,as it has several buildings situated with a huge layout. This is probably one of the most visually stimulating resorts on Disney property however there are a few negatives to this Resort as well.

Let's start with the pros...

1. The landscaping and grounds are kept in immaculate condition.

2. The rooms are well-situated, and have plenty of room to maneuver around in.

3. The food court, Lounge, check-in area, store, arcade, and all other services are located in one building.

4. There are lots of amenities.

5. This is the only Resort on Disney property that has Night Time Entertainment in the lounge area.

The cons...

1. This is a sprawling Resort and not recommended if you are pushing around a stroller, or have issues walking. Even though we were the closest set of rooms to the main building it still took us 15 minutes plus to get to our room from the bus stop which was located at the main building.

2. There are several bus stops throughout the resort, and it may take you a little while to get to your building if you're one of the last stops.

3. The layout of the buildings is confusing and lacking of elevators.

Overall we enjoyed this Resort, however I think we would choose another Resort next time around. It just wasn't a good fit for our particular family, but it may be for others. Being that we had a stroller, it really took a lot of effort to get back to our room through the Maze of corridors, lack of ramps and elevators, and sprawling layout.

The landscaping and grounds of this Resort are beautiful. The pool area has nice water slide as well as a large pool. They also have a shuttle boat that'll take you to Disney Springs directly from the resort and back. One of the highlights for me at this resort was the night time entertainment in the lounge. I believe his name was yee-ha Bob, and he kept everybody entertained.

We splurged a little, and upgraded to the magic rooms. These rooms are probably the most heavily themed rooms on all of Disney property. The headboards even light up in a LED firework show when you press a button on the side of the bed.

During this trip we were resort hopping. We started out at Port Orleans riverside for 3 nights, then two at Animal Kingdom Lodge, and then finish the trip off with 3 nights at All star movies. Disney made it easy for us by transferring our luggage in between resorts.

Being that we spent so much time at the resorts and theme parks, this part of the trip report will be broken up into several parts.

Let's start with our first Resort and first Park of the trip.... Port Orleans Riverside and Epcot.

The rug don't lie. This is where we're staying tonight.

The check in lobby is beautiful.

As is the entire resort.

The check-in area has these huge paddle fans on the ceiling that move back and forth.

A look of the grounds from our building.

Let's take a quick peek inside their magic room. I tried taking pictures before the kids destroyed the room, but I was unsuccessful.

The headboards of the bed light up when you push a button.

everywhere you looked in here there a little touches of Disney Magic. Even the sink was themed to Aladdin.

After getting settled into the room it was time to head over to Epcot. Being that we used to Resort Gate entrance to the park, we were able to check out The Sky Ride being built.

This is what the resort gate looks like.

Epcot was looking awesome is the garden and Flower Festival was going on.

Our first stop was Mexico, as we had lunch reservations.

we had a water side seat, and where able to watch the boats as they went bye.

After lunch since we were in the Mexico Pavilion we decided to do the boat ride.

But no boat ride for us today, as it was broken down.

We had better luck on the other boat ride living with the land.

no matter how many times I do this ride, it just never gets old.

Next up was Saurin. while I still really enjoy this ride, personally I prefer the older version better.

Test track is always a good time.

Time to design the fastest car in the world

This was our car!

Onride photo!

No trip to epcot is complete without partaking in some Beverly.

Spaceship earth is always a fun, relaxing ride.

Being that our first day was only really a half a day at the park, before you knew it was time for illuminations.

I got to be perfectly honest, I think luminations is just okay but it's definitely ran its course. I'm exciting to see what the new show brings. That's it for the first part of the trip tomorrow will be will be visiting Hollywood Studios.

Great photos, especially of Port Orleans Resort. That's the one that appeals the most to me when we finally get to Disney World, both for the affordability and the amenities. Hopefully the Skyride will help with the transit issues around the resort so long waits for a bus are a thing of the past.

Thank you.

It's a great Resort and I'm sure you'll love it.

agreed.

love seeing pics of the resorts, since we've never stayed (both times we've been, we stayed at Hilton at Downtown Disney (cheaper as we can use points, but considered a Disney property in that we get extra Magic Hours/ship park purchases to hotel benefits of being at an official property)

thanks for sharing.

agreed.

 

love seeing pics of the resorts, since we've never stayed (both times we've been, we stayed at Hilton at Downtown Disney (cheaper as we can use points, but considered a Disney property in that we get extra Magic Hours/ship park purchases to hotel benefits of being at an official property)

thanks for sharing.

Thank you.

Our goal is to stay at all of them. So far we have stayed at...

1. Coronado

2. Pop century

3. Polynision

4. Art of animation

5. Wilderness lodge

6. All star movies

7. Animal kingdom lodge

8. Port orleans's riverside

Onto our second day.

Today we are at Hollywood studios. This park has typically been a "one day and done" park for us, but that is starting to change. With the addition of toy story land, and the soon to open star wars...that has changed. This park is also home to one of my favorite rides at Disney...tower of terror.

During this visit we were able to hit up most of the big attractions, and check out the new lighting McQueen racing attraction. We also had dinner at 50's prime time.

Check out the pictures here...

First thing we ran into was the stormtroopers.

They also had the green army men.

The kids have been wanting to see the new playhouse Disney show, so here it is.

Finally got to check out toy story land, and it did not disappoint. The theming was amazing!

The star attraction is the slinky dog coaster.

Even the theaming in the line was amazing. the attention to detail was crazy good.

Even the bathrooms are decked out.

The only negative of toy story land was the food offerings.

The alian saucer ride was a family friendly ride.

For lunch, we ate at 50's prime time. Love the theaming in here. It's like you are in grandmas dinning room in the 50's.

I chose the combo plate.

My wife chose the chicken. Both dishes were delicious.

After lunch, we were able to catch a few minutes of the star wars show.

The lightning McQueen show just opened about a week before our visit, so we were anxious to check it out.

What could be behind that door?

Its lightning McQueen of course.

The show lasts roughly 15 min, so you never have to wait long as the show runs non stop all day.

Our next stop was over at G force records.

Love this coaster!

After the limo ride, we took a ride on the monorail to our dinner at chef Mickeys

That's it for this update. Stay tuned for animal kingdom lodge and more parks in the next update.

Today we checked into animal kingdom lodge. What an amazing resort! The entire resort is absolutely beautiful, and the attention to detail is remarkable.

We went with the pool view room over the Savannah View. It was literally a couple hundred dollar difference between the two. The Savannah view room is very expensive, and you're not even guaranteed to have animals come close to your room. There are several viewing areas throughout the resort to view the animals.

On top of that, there is a lot of activities for the entire family to enjoy together at this Resort. The food options are plentiful and we really enjoyed dinner at Boma.

Here are some pictures from the resort, and a few from our day in the theme park.

The emersive lobby.

At the opposite end of the lobby, you can get a great view of the grounds.

The pool at this resort is HUGE!

There are several viewing areas throughout the resort where you can get a good view of the animals.

I definitely recommend checking out the night vision event they have out by the Savannah. This activity is free and they have military grade night vision goggles.

the theaming in our room was wonderful.

A selfie, and bathroom area.

The view from our patio. There is a pool out there somewhere.

We were able to sit on the patio and watch the movie by the pool, right from our room.

Random picture of the counter service food area.

Dinner at Boma was a highlight of our trip.

Dinner was amazing! The soups were wonderful. I fell in love with the mushroom soup.

The zebra domes, and other desserts were a hit as well.

The food is delicious, but it can be pricey. Thank God for the dinning plan.

Being so close to animal kingdom was also a bonus.

Pandora was amazing!

Once again, the attention to detail was great.

We had lunch at satuee(sp). It was odd but good.

Just outside the restaurant, they have a power suit demonstration.

We broke down on the dinosaur ride. Sat here for a half hour.

Lots of great picture opportunities at this park.

We chose to have our dinner at the tusker house.

The food here is great. Lots of choices.

There is also a lot of character interaction at this restaurant.

One last look at animal kingdom before we head back to the resort for a swim.

Stay tuned for my next update from the magic kingdom.

Great reports! The Studios was always a day park in my opinion, but it required you to plan accordingly to see all of the shows. Now the Studios is drifting closer to having enough attractions to keep you busy without seeing any shows.

Great reports! The Studios was always a day park in my opinion, but it required you to plan accordingly to see all of the shows. Now the Studios is drifting closer to having enough attractions to keep you busy without seeing any shows.

I agree!

it can be quite a challenge to time all the shows just right.

Great report!

That blue thing at Satu'li Canteen is fantastic. We also like the stupid burger pods. Apparently they're on the kids menu now but we had no shame as 2 grown-ass adults walking in and ordering them (though I did substitute the milk that came with it for a beer which may be a first).

Thanks!

My kids got the burger pods, and said they tasted a lot like a McDonald's burger. I agree about the deserts. We had the chocolate one as well, and it was very good.

I'll post some more pictures tomorrow night, I'm just too tired tonight to do it.

sorry about the delay and updates, but life's been pretty hectic.

Today's update comes from the Magic Kingdom. During our trip we were able to spend three and a half days at the Magic Kingdom which gave us plenty of time to experience all of the attractions. Dome of them multiple times.

During the three and a half days at the Magic Kingdom we were able to have meals at Liberty Tree Tavern, Polynesian Resort ohana, and Crystal Palace. We also had a lunch at I believe it was called Park Plaza at the end of Main Street.

The park was busy, but the lines seem to move really fast and we waited no longer than 35 minutes for one attraction. The rest of the attractions we were able to score some good fast passes for. The only attractions that we skipped over we're Hall of Presidents and Tom Sawyer Island.

All in all we had a great time at the Magic Kingdom. The only negatives that I can think of ,and I really had to think hard were that there was some effects not working on Big Thunder and Splash Mountain.

I noticed the waterfall on the lift Hill on Big Thunder was not working during any of our visits. Did they get rid of this effect or was it just down for maintenance?

Splash Mountain had quite a few effects not working and look like it was need of a refurbishment. One thing that kind of stood out to us was the rabbit that hops around the fence was not working, and greasy hand prints all over the wall behind it.

Neither of these things had any effect and how much fun we had. The spark Still Remains one of my favorite parks in the world.

We were also able to check out some of the Tron coaster construction going on. I've included a few shots of that in the photo portion. This is going to be a welcome addition to the park as it really was in need of another big ticket attraction.

Speaking of photos let's get on to them shall we...

Magic Kingdom is home to several these boat rides

It's a small world as one of them

The other one is Pirates of the Caribbean

I love this ride but I do prefer the Disneyland version slightly more.

We wants the redhead!

one of my personal favorite attractions at the park is Carousel of Progress

There are several scenes throughout the attraction

Right next to Carousel progress is another one of my favorite rides in the park the People Mover! from the People Mover ,we were able to get some great shots of the Tron construction going on.

There were also some photo opportunities over in the line for Barnstormer

Looks like they didn't want the train coming through here

Dinner at Crystal Palace is always a big hit with the kids

Speaking of food ,this park has more snack options than any other Park. This was some ice cream concoction from Tomorrowland.

This was the hey hey themed ice cream cone from the Dole Whip stand

One of my favorite desserts are the churros with a dipping sauce at Pecos Bills.

I apologize I didn't get a picture before the plate was destroyed, but the desserts at Liberty Tree Tavern were remarkable as well.

This view never gets old

Lots more coming from the Magic Kingdom, including our check in at all star movie Resort..... stay tuned!

Wow, what a trip. Since I live in Florida now we rarely do more than a 2 or 3 day park trip anymore but this report really makes we wanna take a full week and and take everything in.

If you don't mind me asking which community was that first rental house in? We've done a few of those and loved them, just curious where that was.

Wow, what a trip. Since I live in Florida now we rarely do more than a 2 or 3 day park trip anymore but this report really makes we wanna take a full week and and take everything in.

 

If you don't mind me asking which community was that first rental house in? We've done a few of those and loved them, just curious where that was.

it was Windsor at Westside in Kissimmee Florida.

https://www.pulte.com/homes/florida/orlando/kissimmee/windsor-at-westside-209319