A Day in Orlando without a Theme Park Ticket

There is so much to do in Orlando that is not inside the gates of a theme park and we had never experienced any of them before.  For me it’s just been hard to justify going “off campus” when we are forking out so much $$ to enjoy all the perks of staying “on campus.” 

We played putt-putt on Saturday morning in the sweltering April heat and really had so much fun.  In driving around we saw so many other things we wanted to experience…..we’ll have to go back soon!

Not sure who won the golf game. Our score keeper lost his pencil!  But I think maybe all of us got at least one hole in one!

The kids had fun posing for pics outside the pirate ship façade of the course.

We spent the afternoon at the hotel pool. Have I mentioned that the Swedish National Cheerleading team was staying at our hotel and was beside the pool all day!?!?!?  As Aunt J said, Will was just a tad too young to know what he was missing!!!

The children had a ball swimming, making friends and then playing “Monkey in the Middle” with me and Matt. Some other children joined us…..and it was all fun and games until some 10 year old kid jumped on me like a squirrel monkey (get it, Monkey in the Middle/Squirrel Monkey???!?!??!!) and put a huge gash on my back with his I’m guessing ragged nails. Thank goodness we had Avery’s prescription antibiotic ointment with us!  At that point, we decided to go inside. Especially since blood was running down my back….kind of ruins the mood for other pool patrons!

We had a little surprise planned for Avery that evening.  An American Girl doll store opened in Orlando not long ago and it was very close to our hotel so we made plans to go visit the store and I talked Matt into letting us have dinner in the American Girl Bistro. I’m so glad he caved because that was the highlight of the trip for Avery.

She knew we were going to the store but I don’t think she really understood what that meant and after a long day in the sun she didn’t want to go. I finally had to tell her about dinner at the Bistro to get her out of the hotel room.

We left too early….way too early. We assumed Avery would want to spend a lot of time in the store, but really, she didn’t. In fact, she grew upset and wanted to leave after only about 20 minutes into it.  I say that but know that she did have a good time in there. I will never forget the look on her face when she introduced Sunshine to her “twin.” Some other poor lady will never forget the look on my face (aka my death stare) when she remarked that Avery’s dolls weren’t real AG dolls. Um, yes they are.  Don’t be talking smack about my “grandchildren”!!!!!

Will, well he wasn’t having that much fun!  But because he knows how important Sunshine is to Avery, he was very excited for Avery, especially when he pointed out the Bitty Baby section to her.

I should backtrack and say that this mall in Orlando was CRAY-CRAY. It took us probably 15+ minutes of driving around to find a parking place and that was only after I did my pet peeve, which was follow someone in the parking lot to their parking place.

We tried to move up our ressies but couldn’t so we decided to go into the mall and see what there was to see. All of the glorious people of Florida is what we had to see.  Let’s just say that between Avery’s monogrammed angel-sleeve chevron dress to my Jack Rogers sandals, well, we sort of stuck out!

But we walked around a Game Stop (yes we went to Florida and went shopping in a Game Stop) where Will got some Pokemon cards and a Skylanders thing (yes, Will spent his vacation spending money on stuff he could have bought in Raleigh) and then we walked around a toy store.  Everyone was tired and hungry so we went to a food court and the kiddos got some dessert before dinner at the Orange Julius. Oh yeah! And let me just say that the food court people watching takes that task to a whole new level!!

 

Finally we head back to the AG store for dinner and thankfully they could seat us 30 mins early.  This is where the fun began for Avery. When they brought out those little high chairs for her girls and started making such a fuss, well, she was in H-E-A-V-E-N.  I can’t say enough about the particular server we had…she was excellent, attentive (except when we ran out of water) and wasn’t pushy at all.

 

They brought out little cups and saucers for the girls and from that moment on, everything Avery got, the girls got some too. Table manners and “keeping your bum in the seat” sort of went out the window that night I guess.

See, Will was being a very good spirit!

The menu was so neat…..Avery got a miniature hotdog and hamburger, Will got buttered pasta, Matt got a yummy club sandwich and I got a grilled cheese and tomato soup combo.  I thought this would break the bank but I was pleasantly surprised at our bill! Not that it mattered….when you are on vacation you really can’t put a price on the happiness of your little girl.