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Our Orlando, Florida Vacation!

There is so much stuff to do in Orlando! We'll definitely be making Florida an annual vacation spot from now on!




In this blog post, I'll be sharing with you tips on how we made this a very affordable trip, how we budget for trips, and the many attractions we visited, and other places in Orlando we didn't have time to visit but definitely plan to!


Okay, so let me give you the rundown! We took a 7 day trip to Orlando, Florida and had the time of our lives! We can't wait to go back (a couple of our kids cried when it was time to leave)! We booked a vacation package through our favorite airline at a VERY reasonable price! The vacation package included roundtrip flights for our family of six as well as a two-bedroom villa at a beautiful resort about ten minutes from Disney World. I'll give you all the details below!

“We took a 7 day trip to Orlando, Florida and had the time of our lives!”

Let's start with our airline of choice.

What Airline Did we Use?

We love Southwest Airlines! We typically fly Southwest Airlines because of price and the first come first serve seating can be convenient at times also. We always make sure we check-in 24 hours before the flight and sit close to the gate we're boarding once we get to the airport. We have a child under six years of age, so we get to board family boarding. This is very important because we are traveling with four children and need to find six seats (or at least two sets of three seats) together. Call me overprotective but, I refuse to let my kids sit by strangers on airplanes for hours at a time. And I'm sure other passengers would rather not sit by other folks' kids either, so this is crucial for us!

"We typically fly Southwest Airlines because of price and first come first serve seating can be convenient at times also."

Get There Early!

If you don't enjoy dragging children through the airport running for dear life trying not to miss your flight, I suggest you plan to get there a couple of hours early. Our flight was leaving at 7:55pm and we didn't get to the airport until shortly after 7. This was just poor planning on our part. Not only were we already running behind but, we also didn't factor in the time it would take to unpack the car and the eight minute walk from the parking garage to the baggage check-in.


By the time we got to security, it was around 7:35pm. We only had 20 minutes before the plane took off. As I stood there staring at those dreadful plastic security bins roll across the conveyer belt, I gave up all hope of making our flight and prepared my mind to catch the next one. I counted sixteen bins between the six of us that had to be screened (5 tablets, 2 laptops, 2 wallets, keys, a keyboard and mouse (that I didn't even know my son had thrown in his carryon bag), shoes, belts, 6 backpacks, 3 stuffed animals, etc.) It was complete mayhem! The security people were doing all they could to hurry us along so we didn't miss our flight but, I think they had given up hope too.


"I gave up all hope of making our flight and prepared my mind to catch the next one."

Just as we made it past security and sat down to slip our shoes back on, we heard an announcer say our gate number was closing. Husband grabbed three of the kids and took off towards the gate. I was left dragging the 5 year old. I was running with her so fast, her feet barely touched the ground...LOL. A lady in uniform yelled out if we were the Myers Family. We yelled back that we were and she motioned for us to hurry up. We made it on that plane by the skin of our teeth at 7:50pm.


Families, don't be like us. That was the most stressful, chaotic run through the airport I've ever encountered! It's only fun in movies...not real life. We had about two minutes to find seats together and sit down. Of course this was a full flight...of course (sigh). Luckily, everyone on this particular flight was in a good mood and extremely helpful. A few people switched seats so that my family and I could sit together. God bless those sweet people!


"Families, don't be like us. That was the most stressful chaotic run through the airport I've ever encountered!"

We arrived at Orlando International Airport safe and sound. After taking a shuttle to baggage claim, standing in line for over two hours to pick up our van rental (whose systems abruptly stopped working so they had to do everything manually) , and getting to the resort, it was 3 o'clock the next morning! We didn't get to bed until around 4 am.


We rested for the first couple of days and then the fun began!


Where did we stay?

We booked a beautiful two-bedroom villa at the Holiday Inn Vacations at Orange Lake Resort. It was an absolutely gorgeous resort with loads of stuff for the kids (and adults) to do. There's so much to do, there's really no need to seek fun outside the resort. There's several resort style pools with private cabanas, restaurants, stores, two arcades, kayaking, paddle boats, a lazy river, golf, and daily activities (classes) you can enjoy.



Places we visited while there

We tried to stuff as many activities as possible in the seven days we were there. There are so many things to do in Orlando, we could have been there an entire year and still not seen all that Orlando had to offer. But here's what we did manage to see:


First two days we were there, we didn't do much. It took us two days to recuperate from the flight in. We mostly just ate out at regular restaurant chains you can find anywhere and hung out at the resort.



Once we got our energy back, we headed to Icon Park! This park was so much fun and had so much to offer. There's a total of 8 attractions packed into this one park! There's also restaurants, shopping, face painting, henna tattoo artists, and much more! Since we knew we wanted to see everything this park had to offer, we purchased the play pass which gives you access to all the attractions. We ended up spending two days here (cause there was so much to do and see). I definitely recommend!


Sea Life Aquarium

This aquarium did not disappoint! My kids thoroughly enjoyed all the different sea life, interactive games throughout the tour, and the nifty décor. There was plenty to see and do here!

The Wheel at Icon Park

Okay, so The Wheel offered a gorgeous view of the city of Orlando standing at 400 feet tall! I have to admit, my fear of heights didn't allow me to enjoy this ride. I spent most of the ride with my head buried in my lap. Dang you, acrophobia!!! But, the rest of my family thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful views of Orlando. I also enjoyed the video from the peak of the wheel that my husband recorded for me while on the wheel. The views were stunning!


Museum of Illusions

Museum of illusions was a huge hit with the kids (we got a kick out of it too)! Endless mind games and tricks of the eyes. You literally couldn't believe what you were seeing. This place was so much fun.


Madame Tussauds Wax Museum

Madame Tussauds had all the stars! Not only did they have all of our favorite actors, entertainers, and professional sports players but, they also had well known inventors and famous super heroes that we all know and love!


7D VR Game Ride

I was unable to ride the VR game because I had to sit out with my 5 year old. I was worried the zombie game the rest of the family wanted to play would be too scary for her. So I took her on the Pearl Express Train while the rest of the family enjoyed the game. They gave 10's across the board! They loved it so much, they went on a second time.

The little one and I had a fabulous time on the Pearl Express as well. My only complaint is the ride was too short for what they charge.


Arcade


This arcade was much like any other enjoyable arcade except this one had a mirror maze! This was hilarious and loads of fun! And guess who hit the jackpot inside the arcade! Yes....over 2,000 tickets, baby!!!




Orlando Star Flyer

Yeah...so...no...LOL... This is the Orlando StarFlyer! My 8 year old was the only one brave enough to want to ride this ride. Which of course I wasn't going to let my child get on this monster alone. So we skipped this one. I'm sure it would be an amazing adrenaline rush for most thrill seekers but this wasn't for us. Maybe next time, StarFlyer!


Of course, we couldn't come to Orlando and not visit Walt Disney World! We only visited one of the four parks (that's all we had time for), which was Epcot. I've heard people say that Epcot is the least fun park of the four. If that's the case, I can't wait to visit the other three because we had a blast at Epcot! We were there nearly open to close and still didn't get to see everything. My favorite part was the trip around the world and the Grand Fiesta Tour. I think I probably picked up a souvenir from every country! There's eleven countries total including Japan, Morocco, France, China, America, Italy, Mexico, United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and Norway. This park was absolutely beautiful!


"My favorite part was the trip around the world and the Grand Fiesta Tour."

The kids favorites were the Test Track and the Mission: Space rides. Warning; if you ride the Mission Space ride, start out with Earth then move on to Mars. My twelve year old nearly threw up after riding Mars and was queasy on and off for the rest of the day. Earth is a little less "stimulating" than Mars.



Budget & Planning

Planning ahead has always worked for us. We know we want to take a vacation every quarter so we save accordingly. We sit down and plan our trips out. We price the entire trip (flights, hotel, car rental, entertainment, shopping, food). Then we figure out how much money we need to save each month leading up to the trip in order to fund said vacation. Simple as that!

Another way we save money is by bundling our flights and hotel together when we book the flights. It typically comes out cheaper when you bundle as opposed to booking separately. My advice is to price both and pick the cheaper of the two. The main reason we love Southwest Airlines is because their "wanna get away" prices are unmatched (in our experience). We're a family of six so we're always sniffing out deals!


Another tool we use to find cheap flights is Google Flights. We have found some amazing deals there as well.


Conclusion

Overall, we had an incredible trip to Orlando, Florida! I encourage every family to take time to vacation, even if it's a staycation or only once a year. If flights are out of the question, then take road trips. Take lots of pictures and enjoy each other to the fullest! You'll be so happy you did!



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