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. 

Back to Busch Gardens with Emma

Every time I write a post about theme parks, I feel like I'm working on their marketing team. I just really like them and now that Emma likes Elmo, there is no better place for us to go. Unfortunately, I don't think that we will be going there in a while. I broke my tibia at the gym last week. I'm using crutches and this will be the case for at least 2 to 3 months. I'm very upset about the whole situation. We were going to Colombia tomorrow for 10 days and we decided to cancel the trip. It could be possible to go but I know that the best is to take care of this injury. 

Lory's Landing

Looking at the Flamingos

Snack time

The sunday before I got hurt, we went to Busch Gardens for less than 3 hours. It was enough time to catch the last Sesame Street show, ride the carrousel, look for Elmo and also see the birds at Lory Landing. Emma was very lucky because the park was almost empty and no kids were in line to meet Elmo. He played with her for a few minutes, she grabbed his nose and was not scared at all. She also had the chance to see Abby Cadabby and also grab her nose.

A Very Furry Christmas

Sesame Street Safari Area

Elmo's Trek House

At the Carrousel

We ended up buying more souvenir pictures

Emma & Elmo

Abby Cadabby

Her face after touching Abby's nose is why we keep going back

Safari of Fun Days with Elmo and Emma

I have posted a few pictures of previews visits to Busch Gardens before. I'm a big fan of having at least one annual pass for theme parks in Florida. We currently have the Busch Gardens and Sea World Pass. Emma's first trip to Busch Gardens was last month. She has been there twice since then. This time, we explored a new area of the park: the kids zone!! I never spent too much time here since my nephew was "too old" for Sesame Street when it opened a few years ago and my other nephew lives in California. Now that I care about activities with kids, our annual pass is great! We have more friends that also have the pass and they have kids that are about Emma's age. I was surprised to see how much Emma enjoyed the live show. We show her videos of Elmo a few times, but it was the sweetest thing to see her clapping and smiling to the Sesame Street characters sing and dance. I wish the show was a bit longer. They only sing 3 songs and then they go to the picture areas. We ended up buying 2 picture frames with the (overpriced but totally worth) pictures of her first day at Busch Gardens. Most of the attractions are for toddlers so I know that we will keep going back many weekends.

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.

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.