Day 16, Bye Bye Orlando, Hello Las Vegas!

June 15, 2012
We checked out of the timeshare by 9am, shipped off our boxes, ate breakfast and went to the Premium Outlet Mall.  Apparently, Tony and I were not finished shopping.  We purchased some more souvenirs and an additional wheeled suitcase to carry-on the airplane.

We had a long flight from Orlando into Las Vegas.  It was a 4 hour and 40 minute flight.  Fortunately it was non-stop and we got to ride in one of the newer 737-800 series planes Southwest had.  It was only 3 weeks old.  We had more head and leg room.  The seats were more comfortable.  And the ambient lighting kept changing to match that of the outside timezone so the passengers didn't have as much jetlag coming off the plane and crossing 4 timezones.  But like all airplanes and long plane rides we've taken with a baby...there has to be a time that calls for a diaper change.  Blech!  And yes, Emelia had hers.  And yes, the airplane bathroom is SMALL and NO there was no diaper changing table.  I had to lower the lid to the toilet and change her on that.  Good thing we are little people.

We arrived safely in Las Vegas, NV.  We were all very hungry so after dropping off our things at Nana & Papa's vacation house, we went to Green Valley Ranch to eat.  The buffet closes at 9pm so we ate in the 24 hour Cafe.  The food was good however, Taylor said the scrambled egg made her throat itchy and Emelia was too tired and pitched a huge fit.  I think she was ready to come home.  We went back to the house and got a good night's rest.

Day 17, We come home!

June 16, 2012
We got a lazy start because we knew we had until 9:30pm until we left Las Vegas and got back into Tucson.  We ate lunch at The Buffet at The Bellagio.  Boy is that a good buffet.  They had a champagne brunch in honor of Father's Day weekend.  Fortunately, the lady who was running the lines only charged us for 4 buffets knowing that the girls didn't eat much.  Anthony out ate everyone!  I think he had 6 plates of food.  Whatever it was, I know he went up a lot of times to get food and dessert.  I must say though that they serve some REALLY GOOD coffee!

After lunch we walked around the Miracle Mile Shops.  The one thing that Tony and I did purchase were new wedding bands.  His became too big because he lost weight and mine, um...let's just say baby weight from 4 babies doesn't help your fingers too much.  So we ended up purchasing Titanium bands this time around.  Since we are so active, those bands can withstand a good beating and we can look married again.  :)

When we got to the airport we ate a quick snack and then went to sit at our gate.  The 3 little ones were so exhausted and our plane was delayed waiting for crew to arrive that they fell asleep in their chairs.  Fortunately, they woke up long enough to board the plane and then went back to sleep.

We had a wonderful trip.  We would do it again.  It was hard to return to work and get back into the groove but we made some great memories and bonded with our kids.  I think our kids bonded more with each other as well.

Day 15, Souvenir Day!

June 14, 2012
We always set aside 1 day for major souvenir shopping.  Today was that day.  The kids are allowed to pick out anything they wanted that they can afford to buy.  We woke up a little later in the morning, did laundry and packed up most of our clothes so we weren't trying to do it so late at night and then went to Downtown Disney.  We ate lunch at Earl of Sandwich and the kids purchased the rest of their souvenirs.  Of course no vacation day is complete without a torrential.  We took shelter inside the Lego Store for about 30 minutes while it rained.

We got back to the timeshare at a reasonable hour and watched the new DVD Tony purchased on the Making of Walt Disney World and finished packing.  We learned from previous trips to Orlando, Fl. that we should pack a box and ship some items home so we aren't fumbling with a ton of luggage and boxes at the airport.  We ended up shipping back 2 big boxes of clothes and some souvenirs.

Day 14, Hollywood Studios

June 13, 2012
We woke up early to try and make the opening of Hollywood Studios so we could ride Toy Story Mania again without too long of a wait.  We were in the park at 9:30am, the park opened at 9:00am and there was already a 60 minute wait time.  We ended getting Fast Pass which allowed us to ride the ride anytime between 11:30-12:30pm.  So we took the kids to stand in line and meet Woody and Buzz Lightyear.

We still had time to burn before our FastPass time so we went onto the Backlot Tour.  Tony ended up
volunteering to be one of the tour extras.  He's always wanted to do this and this was his opportunity.  He had a blast.

We stayed at Hollywood Studios all day long.  I even went with the older 3 onto Rockin' Roller Coaster.  That was a fun ride!  We left Hollywood Studios and went back to Downtown Disney for a bit of shopping. This concluded our Theme Park adventures.

Day 13, Happy Anniversay!

June 12, 2012
13 years ago today I was a Princess for a day and married a handsome Prince.  We've known each other for 18 years and everyday has been wonderful.  Tony, Thank You for being an awesome friend, confidante, husband and father!  You have made all my dreams come true and our life together is better than a fairytale with a Happily Ever After!

Day 12, More Aquatica and more Magic Kingdom!

June 11, 2012
We had so much fun at Aquatica that we decided to take a chance and try it again.  Afterall, we did have length of stay entrance passes for the Sea World Parks while we were there.  The rain cleared up and the sun was out and it was another beautiful day.  Yes, it was humid but we were at a water park so we didn't feel it as much.  We arrived early right at opening hoping that we could rent another cabana without making an advance reservation.  We told the kids that we would only stay for 4 hours if we couldn't get a cabana otherwise we'd stay all day long if we were able to get a cabana.  We stayed all day long!

This time the cabana was near the smaller kids splash area.  We were also there so early we had at least an hour and half in that area with very few kids.  All 4 kid sized slides were open and Taylor and Emelia were able to ride them.  Being that I was on that side alone with the girls while the boys went "big slide" riding, I was nervous that Emelia wouldn't understand or be able to navigate up and down the stairs without me.  Fortunately, Taylor helped her out somewhat and the lifeguard helped to get her on the slide and push her down where I could catch her in the pool at the bottom.  Emelia was also wearing a life preserver that would send her floating face up if she had lost her footing at anytime.

As I was waiting for the girls to come down the slide, I noticed that the other 2 slides were ones where you had to ride down in a 2 person raft.  The front of the raft didn't have a hole in the bottom so Emelia could sit in it without falling under the raft and the back of the raft was the traditional inner tube style.  Taylor carried her raft up the stairs and came zipping down.  After seeing a few other people send their little ones down that 2-3 slide, I mustered up the courage to do the same with my two girls.  Sure enough, they both LOVED it!  At that time, I wasn't able to get them up the stairs, into the raft and down into the bottom of the pool to catch them before they came down the slide so I really took a chance and hoped that Emelia stayed seated and the girls didn't capsize.  They were just fine and took 2-3 more rides down before Tony and the boys came back to check on us.

I made them all stay in that area so the older ones could take Emelia down the slide while Tony and I watched and caught them at the bottom of the pool.  Then Tony and I took turns getting Emelia down the traditional water slide while the other one caught her at the bottom of the pool.  Eventually she got so used to coming down by herself, that she started to navigate her way up the stairs and to the top of the slide to come down.  The lifeguard on duty really helped her out getting seated onto the slide which was awesome.  Then it was time for lunch and Emelia pitched a small fit but eventually her hunger won out and we ate lunch.

Afterward we rested in the cabana for 45 minutes and then went out to the kid's pool.  By this time the rafts were all being used and the place was crowded.  So we went into the wave pool and the kids rode some waves.  Emelia really didn't like when the waves were going so every 12 minutes she'd get out of the pool and go walking in the sand.  I knew she was extremely tired by that time so I carried her back to the cabana and she slept while I read and the older kids and Tony went back onto the big slides.  When they got back, it was time for us to eat an early dinner and leave.  I had packed extra clothes so we all changed before we went to eat and left from the restaurant.

Of course, we were already changed and it was only 6pm when we left Aquatica, and being the crazy folks we are, we went to Epcot Center since it was open until 9pm.  We figured we would take in Epcot and then head into the Magic Kingdom afterward since it stayed open until 1am on Tuesday morning.  So rode the monorail into Epcot Center, rode a few rides and as we were boarding the monorail to head back over to the Ticket and Transportation Center to go to The Magic Kingdom, we saw lightening in the sky.  Not wanting to take the chance with a bunch of rain and the rides being closed we opted to head back to the timeshare and relax and start again bright and early.

Day 11, Soak Zone and Working Day

June 10, 2012
Since Taylor was so upset about not being able to get wet during the Shamu show and we didn't get a chance to see the Sealion and Otter Show we went back to Sea World before I started working.  First, Tony and I had to go to the timeshare presentation.  The kids went with us and hung out in the recreation center and Emelia stayed with us during the presentation.

Then we headed over to Sea World.  It was a sunny and humid day.  It started out cloudy and like a dope I didn't put on any sunscreen...I got some color on my shoulders and face.  Not quite a full sunburn but I'm almost there.  Taylor and I ran ahead from the parking lot into the park so we could get to the backside of the park and get into the soak zone of Shamu Stadium.  We sat in about the 5th row from the front and didn't get as wet as I anticipated.  Which was just fine for me despite Taylor complaining that she wanted more water on her.  We then went back to the play area for the little ones and the older kids and I rode on the Flying Fiddler which is a very mild version of Tower of Terror and a Shamu Express roller coaster which is a smaller version of The Barnstormer.  Tony took Emelia onto the Swishy Fishies which is a tame version of The Tea Cups.  After playing for a bit we went into the Sealion and Otter Show.  It was very cute and the kids had a great time and laughed a lot.

Afterwards, it was time to head back to the Vistana and relax and log into work.  The kids and Tony took a good long nap and played and watched T.V. with each other while I worked and updated the blog posts with our vacation adventures.

Day 10, Sea World

June 9, 2012
We made it over to Sea World as a change of pace from Disney.  We got there at opening and stayed until close.  Tony started off his day by riding the Manta.  It's a huge roller coaster and at one point during the ride you are actually riding face down looking at the ground.  Jackson and Taylor were too short to ride and Anthony wasn't quite ready to conquer that ride.  He said he would ride it when he is "16 years old and much thicker."  So me and the kids stayed on the ground and I allowed the boys to take Taylor to view the small aquarium exhibit.  Then we went to Journey of Atlantis and Tony and the older kids rode that ride.  According to the boys it's a cheesy version of Splash Mountain with a huge drop at the end.  Emelia was happily eating snacks confined to the stroller.  After Atlantis, Tony rode the other big coaster called the Kraken.  Then we saw the Whale and Dolphin Show called Blue Horizons.  It was the first show of the morning so the animals and the trainers were just starting their day.  It was a decent show although both Taylor and I didn't understand the storyline behind it.

Then it was time for us to each lunch and then see more exhibits and shows. Sea World has an All Day Lunch Pass and at certain restaurants you can get all you can eat food.  Being that our family is so large and we were staying in the park all day, we had to take advantage of this meal option so we could eat both lunch and dinner in the park.  We brought our own snacks with us and having an unlimited supply of bottled water from the park restaurants really helped.

After lunch we went over to Dolphin Cove and fed the dolphins.  While we were waiting in line to feed the dolphins, the kids went to feed the stingrays at Stingray Lagoon.  The kids then went to ride on Wild Arctic (3D ride) while Emelia slept in the stroller and I had a small snack.  Then it was time for us to see the Shamu show called One Ocean.  This was an amazing show and there were 5 Killer whales (Orcas) in the pool at one time.  One thing that Tony and I noticed is that none of the trainers got into the pool with the Orcas.  I think with the recent trainer/whale mishaps of the last few years, they are really trying to discourage this.  I kind of missed seeing that but I also wouldn't want to see a trainer injured by a whale either during a show.  We then needed to allow Emelia time to play and near the Shamu Stadium there is a small kid's play area with rides and play structures and a water splash pad for the little ones under 54" could play and ride.  Unfortunately, the weather was starting to turn bad and right after Emelia and I got off the carousel they closed the play area.  So we headed over to the Sealion and Otter Stadium so we could see Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island show.  Due to the storm being right on top of the park, they delayed the show and eventually had to cancel it.  Fortunately the stadium is covered and we were in an area that was cooled by high powered fans so we were very comfortable.  The rain was horrible, the lightening was all around us and the thunder was loud.  The aftermath of that storm though left ankle deep water in the Stadium and some people's strollers wheels were under water.  We parked ours up on higher ground on an incline and with the new stroller rain cover and an additional poncho, the seat stayed nice and dry.

We still had some time in the park so we ate a leisurely dinner.  On our way towards the exit we stopped and saw the street comedians.  The show really left a big impression on the kids because every chance they get they try and reenact scenes and lines from it.  We left the park about 30 minutes before closing.  One thing that Tony and I noticed is that with all the little "extras" that Sea World has you pay for such as the food for feeding the animals, playing the midway games and souvenier photos, you can actually spend more in Sea World than you can at the Disney Parks.  And that is with the all day food pass too and we even brought our own snacks with us into the park.  So you definitely have to be careful and budget more per day for Sea World than you do at a Disney Park.  I think you spend more on the extras at Sea World because there are less rides to ride on and more shows so you end up consuming more food and drink at each show than you would if you were to stand in line to ride a ride.

The rain had passed and we weren't completely exhausted so you know what that meant for our family...Another late night at The Magic Kingdom!  This time we had the goal to get Taylor onto Space Mountain.  We had about 4 hours left in the day so we drove over to the M.K., picked up more Sorcerer Cards and headed straight into tomorrowland to get Fast Passes for Space Mountain.  We then rode on the Tomorrowland Speedway.  Anthony is finally tall enough at 54" (maybe he's a little taller) to drive by himself so that's what he wanted to do.  Jackson, Emelia and I rode together.  He's not tall enough to reach the pedal but he can drive.  And Tony braved a car with Taylor behind the wheel.  Then we rode on Carousel of Progress which Emelia LOVED.  She kept dancing to the song and kept waving to the animatronic dog on stage.  Then it was time for Space Mountain.  Emelia and I stayed in Tomorrowland to wait for the others and went over to the outdoor dance club 626 so she could dance to the music with Stitch and Chip and Dale.  Once we were finished dancing, I took Emelia onto Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin.  The wait time was only 5 minutes and the rest of the family was not finished at Space Mountain.  She had a blast trying to fire the gun and spinning us around in the cart.  By the time we were finished, the others were finished and we all rode on The People Movers.

While we were in The Magic Kingdom, it didn't rain at all.  The weather had already passed while we were at Sea World and the evening was absolutely beautiful.  We then loaded Emelia back into the stroller and headed through the back way to the outskirts of Fantasyland and me and the older 3 rode on The Barnstormer.  Emelia is too short for that ride and she was so tired she actually fell asleep on the walk over.  Since most people were in Main Street watching the fireworks and parade, The Barnstormer and the Dumbo ride only had at most a 10 minute wait time.  Taylor and I rode on Dumbo while the boys went onto The Barnstormer 2 more times in a row.  I think they felt empowered and a little independent because they were able to ride all by themselves without an adult present.  Then it was time to head towards the front of the park.  However, we did stop and ride on Winnie The Pooh and got soft serve ice cream treats for our walk out of the park.  By this time it was 10:50 p.m. and most people had either gone home for the evening or were waiting on Main Street for the 11:00 p.m. Electrical Light Parade.  The only real long wait we had was to get onto the Ferry Boat and head back to the Ticket and Transportation Center.  By this time though, the exhaustion had set in and all 3 older ones started dragging.  It's a good thing we parked up close at the TCC and had a short walk back to the car instead of having to ride the tram.

Day 9, Star Wars Weekend

June 8, 2012
We woke up a little later than we anticipated but we packed up the car and checked out of The Westgate Towers and headed over to Hollywood Studios.  We started the morning with Toy Story Mania.  It was so crazy and so packed!  We ended up waiting in the stand-by line for about 2 hours to ride the ride.  Fortunately, the wait was completely indoors and Emelia was able to run around for a little bit and eat snacks.  The Fast Passes were gone until 7:00pm and there was no way we were going to stay that long and we didn't want to tie up our tickets with the fast passes until that time either.  While we were in line Tony went over to Rockin' Roller Coaster and got fast passes for him and the kids.  After Toy Story Mania, we met up with a co-worker of mine and his family and rode The Great Movie Ride together.  Then we split up and it was time for Rockin' Roller Coaster.  It was their first time and they thoroughly enjoyed the ride.  Since Tower of Terror is also on that side, Tony took the kids onto it as well.  Taylor liked it but was not overjoyed by it.

Meanwhile, Emelia and I had a light snack of fresh fruit at a picnic table waiting for those guys to come back.  After the others got back, Tony got us all food for lunch.  Apparently Emelia REALLY wanted french fries because while she was sitting on Tony's lap eating her lunch a lady walked near us to her table and Emelia eyed her french fries and held out her hand pointing following the lady with her head as if to draw the fries closer to her.  All of a sudden the lady came by with her tray and tried to give Emelia a bunch.  We kept telling her "no thank you" but Emelia's face lit up and the lady kept insisting.  Finally we settled for her giving Emelia one french fry for each hand.  Remember, it was Star Wars weekend at Hollywood Studios..."The Force Is Strong With Her."

We had a partially sunny day in the morning and then the rain set in later in the afternoon. Since it was still raining, we figured it was time for us to leave and check into the new timeshare The Sheraton Vistana Resort.  Even though the Westgate provided us with elevators to our room and we had a 3 bedroom lock off timeshare where the kids could run around a lot between the 2 apartments, the Vistana is a larger version of a nice hotel suite.  It feels a little more like home to us despite having to walk our luggage up 3 flights of stairs and the suite only having 2 bedrooms so someone has to sleep on the couch.

We did venture out again and went to Dick's Sporting Goods and Babies 'R' Us.  Tony wanted a rain jacket so he didn't have to deal with ponchos anymore during our trip and we purchased a stroller cover for the stroller since our ponchos weren't keeping the rain out of the seat portion.  The nice thing about those stores is that they were in the same strip mall right next to each other.

Day 8, Liberty Tree Tavern

June 7, 2012
Another rainy day...but we got to sleep in.  The kids and I welcomed the sleep.  I think we ran them ragged by staying at the parks until almost closing time the previous few days.  We went into Hollywood Studios for a few hours.  Tony and the boys rode on Tower of Terror while the girls and I saw Voyage of The Little Mermaid and Playhouse Disney.   We then met up on the Tower of Terror side to see Beauty and The Beast Live on Stage.  Of course as it has done to us in the past, it started to sprinkle and just as the show was starting it started to down pour.  We had covered the stroller with ponchos again knowing that this would happen but it still got wet.  It was a good thing we did because the rain was so heavy.  After that show we went to see The Muppets in 3D and left.

We then went back to The Magic Kingdom and rode rides until it was time for us to eat dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern in New Orleans Square.  This is my favorite Disney restaurant.  It's not a character meal but it's an all you can eat meal complete with garden salad, turkey, roast pork, sliced beef, stuffing, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, sauteed green beans with garlic, sauteed summer squash and onions, rolls with sweet butter, and for dessert we had apple cake a la mode.  The setting is Colonial Times and we sat in The Jefferson Room.  Before dinner, there was light rain.  During dinner was torrential rain which completely soaked the stroller despite our best efforts to cover it with extra rain ponchos.  After dinner, we walked back to the tram in almost ankle deep water.  We went back to the timeshare and did laundry, showered up and packed up so we could check out early and head over to Hollywood Studios the next day to see some of Star Wars Weekend.

Day 7, High Tea

June 6, 2012
Tea anyone?  Taylor's transformation into a princess lasted for almost a full 24 hours.  Tony got me and her reservations at The Grand Floridian to have a "Perfectly Princess tea party" in the Rose Garden.  We met Rose Petal who entertained the girls with stories and songs.

Each girl received a crown, friendship charm and her very own American Girl style Disney doll dressed as Aurora.  The girls got their own pot of "princess tea" (apple juice), finger sandwiches made from peanut butter and jelly and turkey and cheese with assorted fresh fruit.  Of course no tea party is complete without cake.  The "Queens" (me and the other moms) received our own pot of rose tea, finger sandwiches made of seafood salad, egg salad and curry chicken salad, assorted cheese and crackers, fresh fruit and of course cake.  Since Taylor has a strawberry allergy, the waitstaff was very accommodating to her and gave her grape jelly instead of strawberry and made her a separate dessert of vanilla sponge cake over chocolate sauce and whip cream instead of the white cream cake with strawberry sauce that I had.

The highlight of the tea was being able to meet and visit with Princess Aurora who presented each girl with her very own long stemmed tea rose.  Princess Aurora met individually with each girl and they all waltz around the room together.

At the end of the tea party, each princess was paraded through the hotel lobby, up the winding staircase to one of the Disney stores where they got to name their new best friend doll.  Taylor named hers "Ashley."  For the remainder of the trip Ashley had been sleeping next to Taylor keeping her company.  After the tea party, we met up with the boys and Emelia who enjoyed a character breakfast at 1900 Park Fare inside the Grand Floridian hotel at the same time we had our tea and rode the monorail back over to The Magic Kingdom and rode more rides until the park closed.