Weekend in Orlando

A couple of weeks ago, we decide to spend the weekend I'm Orlando. I had to use my hotels.com account and Orlando is just a short drive away. We decided to stay in the Downtown Disney area since we didn't have plans to visit the theme parks. Emma is obsessed with Mickey and Minnie Mouse so I wanted to give her a "Disney experience" without the long lines or the summer heat. I decided that the best was to find a character dining restaurant. At the same time, it was Andre's birthday and it was. A good excuse to over pay for a breakfast. 

I tried to get reservations with Chef Mickey, the restaurant where Mickey Mouse is. Apparently there is only one Mickey and you need to book several months in advance. We found a reservation at the Cape May Cafe located in one of Disney's hotels. The characters at the Cape May Cafe were Minnie Mouse, Donald and Goofy. I have to say that the food was really good! I wasn't expecting good food with this experience and I was surprised. I can easily say that it is probably the best breakfast buffet that I've ever been to. 

Emma was a little scared at first. I really thought that she would run towards Minnie instead if hiding from her. She did give kisses to all of the characters and we took their pictures several times. It was hard to get a good one. We had to seat in a room with poor lighting. I told the host that it was Andre's birthday. We sang happy birthday and he got a cupcake with a candle and a card signed by Minnie, Goofy and Donald. It was really nice. 

The rest of the weekend we spent it at our hotel pool, taking naps with Emma, and walking around Downtown Disney. There are many things to see and do there. My favorite is just to walk around, eat something, have a Ghiradelli ice cream for dessert and shop at the biggest Disney store (The world of Disney). I used to go to Bongos, Gloria Estefan's restaurant, a long time ago. They have a live band and the food is good. I haven't been since 2010 so I hope that it is still as good as I remember. There is also a permanent Cirque du Soleil show, "La Nouba", that is worth watching if you are ever in Orlando. I have seen other Cirque du Soleil shows and  La Nouba is still my favorite. 

We had a great time in Orlando. It felt like a nice vacation. Next time, I want to stay at a Disney hotel. We loved the Beach Club Resort. This hotel has a beautiful pool, a beach, movies outside, bike rentals, restaurants with characters, transportation to the theme parks and everything was just picture perfect. I will keep an eye for Florida resident specials during low season. I'm sure that we will be back many weekends to Orlando. It never gets old. 

Night out in Orlando

For months I was waiting for Fonseca's concert. Fonseca is Colombian and one of my favorite singers. He was playing at the Hard Rock Live in Orlando. I got the tickets back in January right after Emma was born. I assumed that by the time she was over 3 months we would be sleeping the whole night and that my mom could babysit one night. No big deal! The reality is we are still waking up at night and my mom had a hard time making her fall asleep. I didn't know that babies love routines. Since she was not in her home, she wasn't happy. We got back from Orlando after 2 am and Emma woke up at 5:30 am. This showed us that even with a babysitter, going out will never be the same. However, we had a great time at the concert and walking around Universal's CityWalk.

On Giving Thanks...

Thanksgiving is not an important holiday for me. I've lived in the United States for almost 13 years and turkey is not my favorite food. However, I like the idea of giving thanks and the 2 paid days off are always welcome. I usually travel abroad since November is low season for international travel. Last year we went to Ecuador. This year we had plans to go to Peru. Since I am 8 months pregnant, I am not allowed to get on an airplane anymore. I'm Tampa bound and I plan to enjoy the days off doing the best thing to do this weekend: Shopping!!!!

Black Friday is probably the craziest and busiest shopping day of the year. I'm not planning to join the masses on this day. I am planning to go during the weekend to an outlet mall since they have great sale specials during holiday weekends. 

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

The only choice we have to make is which of the 3 nearby outlet malls we should go to. There are 2 in Orlando and one in Sarasota. It takes about the same time to get to both. The only difference is that the Orlando Outlets have more stores and that since it is a tourist destination they are always PACKED! Black Friday or not, parking is impossible and you feel like they are giving away everything for free because of the excitement of the shoppers. 

One of the things to do when you come to the U.S from other Countries is to shop!! My friends from out of town always ask me which outlet is the best. They are all great, but it depends what you want to buy. They all have Coach, Ninewest, Lacoste, Polo, Banana Republic, Gap, Jcrew, Michael Kors, Nike, Guess, BCBG, Ann Taylor and many other stores. 

Ellenton Premium Outlets

This outlet is typically my choice when I don't want to go to a massive place and I don't want to spend all day shopping.  There are over 130 stores with a great selection and not many tourists. Parking is easy and I love the drive to Sarasota. The only store that is different here is the Saks 5th Avenue that has a great selection of shoes, dresses, designer jeans and all other amazing Saks merchandise at great prices. 

Photo Credit: www.premiumoutlets.com

Orlando Premium Outlets - Vineland Avenue

This is typically my choice when it comes to shopping in Orlando. Probably because it is closer to Tampa. Traffic getting in the parking lot and even out can be tricky. There is only one main exit road and unless you are familiar with the back roads you will be in traffic for a long time. There are over 150 stores in this mall. Some of my favorite stores that are not found in the other outlets include: lululemon, Prada, Burberry, and Tory Burch. My sisters like it because there is a Toys r us outlet store for their kids. The 7 for all mankind store is always a must for me, but you can also find one in the International Drive Outlets. 

Orlando Premium Outlets - International Drive

There are over 180 stores in this Outlet and you don't get to see all of them in one day. I usually plan what I want to buy before I go. Some of the stores that can only be found in this Outlet are Victoria's Secret, Champion, Forever 21, Aldo, and Ugg. There is a Pinkberry to take a break. There are a few better options for food apart from the food court. This is the newest Outlet mall in the area and in my opinion the best option. 

A Day in Sea World (Again)

After living in Florida for  over 12 years, it is hard to believe that my first visit to SeaWorld was less than 6 months ago. I have the annual pass for SeaWorld and Busch Gardens until next April. The real reason to buy the annual pass was the Latin music festival that they have every year. One of my favorite bands from Cali, my hometown, was playing in SeaWorld last April. I went to the concert with a friend from Cali. We had fun, but sadly we didn't get to see much of the park. I wanted to go back for a while and never made the time to go. Also, I had morning sickness and this summer was extremely hot. Finally, Andre and I went last weekend. 

I don't get tired of saying that SeaWorld is amazing!!! I think that this is a park that kids and adults can enjoy. I insist that if I had been here as a kid, I would probably be a marine biologist instead of an engineer. 

Caribbean Flamingo

Sleepy Flamingo

The dolphin cove is where everyone gets to be a kid again. You can watch the dolphins above and below the water. There are feeding times where you can buy dolphin food for $7. 

My favorite part of the whole park is the dolphin cove's underwater viewing area. This is the most peaceful place in Sea World.

The star of SeaWorld, Shamu, has been long gone but all the orcas are still called Shamu. Their show is incredible. We got soaked when the orcas went around splashing. I have to admit that it can be a bit cheesy because of the trainers dancing, but if you ignore that and concentrate on the whales it is absolutely amazing. 

Whale Kiss

 The rescued turtles and manatees share an aquarium. You can see them from below while on the line for Turtle Trek, a new 3D show.  Lines are not boring when you have a huge aquarium to look at.

Rescued Turtle - missing front arm

Rescued Florida Manatees

Pelican Pointe

I couldn't go in any of the roller coaster. What looks special about Manta is that is upside down, it probably feels like flying. I will have to wait until next year to find out. Kraken is supposed to be really good as well.

We saw a few other exhibits, but I still have more to explore. There are also several behind the scene tours that I would love to do. Hopefully we will be back before the annual pass expires.  I want to see the penguins which will have their own Antarctica exhibit next Spring. It is impossible to see the theme parks in just one day. They are huge and there are lines for most of the exhibits. If you are not a Florida resident you can't get the annual pass. However, most parks allow you to return the following day for a very reasonable price. 

First Time at SeaWorld Orlando

After living in Florida for 12 years is a little hard to believe that I had never visited SeaWorld. This is probably the only theme park in Orlando that I never visited before. Maybe because I only went to theme parks if I had friends in town and most of them wanted to go to Universal Studios or Disney. The real reason to buy the annual pass this year is that SeaWorld and Busch Gardens have a Latin music festival this month. One of my favorite bands from Cali, my hometown, was playing in SeaWorld last weekend. I went to the concert with a friend from Cali. We had fun singing (screaming) all of El Grupo Niche songs. 

I have some issues regarding animals in captivity, but at the same time this is the only way that we can see them and fall in love with them. I love animals, I want to touch them and feed them. At the same time,   I feel guilty because of people like me they probably will never be free. If you ever watched the documentary The Cove you will feel guilty as well. Besides my guilt, SeaWorld was amazing!!!! If I had been here as a kid, I would probably be a marine biologist instead of an engineer. 

The first thing that we did was buying food the dolphins. You have to pay $6 for the food.  This was the first time that I touched a dolphin and I will happily pay again to feed them. The $20 picture that the SeaWorld photographers took of me wasn't that good and I decided not to buy it.

$6 dolphin food

Beautiful Bottlenose dolphins

me and a happy dolphin

Under the dolphin pool there is an aquarium. It was beautiful and with Enya songs playing it was really peaceful. I could have stayed there for hours watching the dolphins swim. 

We had some time before the concert and headed to the dolphin's show.

I did a few videos of the concert but they are really painful to watch. The image is shaky from the dancing and our voices are NOT that great. Their most popular songs are about Cali and when you live far away they sound even better. 

El Grupo Niche, SeaWorld

El Grupo Niche

After the concert we went to see the killer whale's show. It was perfect since the show lasted as long as the rain. This was my favorite show. Orcas are beautiful. The trainers are not allowed to be in the water with the whales after a trainer was killed during a show a couple of years ago. 

Orcas kissing

Photo credit: www.seaworldparks.com

We didn't have enough time to see all the shows or exhibits. I was not rushed to see everything in one day. I still have about half of the park to see and one year to go back. I didn't take my DSLR, but I will on our next visit and take better pictures.