Ormond Beach Day 6 and the Last Day

I've been saying Daytona, but we are actually staying in Ormond Beach which is about ten miles north. I thought it was cute that there's an Ormond-by-the-Sea which is the same name as the California, Carmel-by-the-Sea. Cute cute.

The beaches here allow cars with four wheel drive to go out on them. Pretty cool considering that's not common in California. We watched a parade of Jeeps drive pass the condo and while some were envious, we reminded them that those engines don't always last. 

The weather has been a warm 80 and has been perfect for many hours spent on the sand and watching the kids just be kids. Hours and hours of fun in the sun and sand.

And then there's the pool. It has a lazy river and multiple water features, including a very popular hot tub. This condo is called The Cove on Ormond Beach and is a part of Diamond Resorts properties and it's been a really great place to stay. We've had space in our one bedroom condo and have really enjoyed the easy walk out to the beach. They even have lounge chairs and umbrellas that they will drill into the sand for you. Nice feature, but bringing me some fruity drinks and some chips would have really taken the cake. It's a bummer that there isn't a restaurant on site.

There was also a great community room on the lobby level where we had two dining tables and couches to just hang out and chat. It was nice to have this large gathering space for all of us to visit and catch up. The kids had board games and cards to play which was a nice change of pace after all of our hustling around and swimming. Some aloe was applied for certain people whose skin was less excited about the Florida sunshine.

To wrap up our evening, we got takeout again, pasta and pizza for some, and tacos for others. We got food from Genovese's Italian Cafe twice. Pizza on our way out of town the other day, and again tonight. Their food has all been delicious, and it wasn't lost on me that my dad is from Genoa, and therefore was Genovese. They even delivered for free!

Of course there were the obligatory cousin photos and sibling shots. 

A wonderful relaxing day enjoying the outdoors, the ocean, and each other. Until next time everyone! Love you so much, and so happy we all had the means to make this week happen. 

The Magical Kingdom Day 5

And so the saga continues...remember how I apparently didn't have "reservations" for the park but only had tickets to the park? Well guess what? I wasn't the only one! The other half of our party had the same exact issue and for two days had been trying to squeeze seven more, yes seven more tickets out of the system. No dice. So, we did what any other respecting individual would do, we put on our matching Disney shirts, drove to the park that we didn't have tickets reservations for, parked, lugged all of our strollers and lunches and water bottles to the ticket counter, and begged for help. 

And they sent us on the monorail and said, "Good luck, ask the next guy." 

So we did. And we explained the snafu all over again and the gentleman said that this has been happening to thousands of people (and we wondered why Disney wasn't doing something more like emailing those of us with no PARK reservation and telling us!). But we sent the positive mojo into the air and since apparently the parks have more leeway at the gate...he graciously found seven more spaces and we were all let in.

And there were some tears after. Because this was the only park day for some in the group, and we all know that the magic, is in the Magic Kingdom.

And off we went, matching shirts and all!

The park was busy. Maybe it was at 35% but we looked it up online and the daily limit can be 100,000 so that means that 35,000 people may have been wandering around with us, and it felt like it!

We had some younger ones with us so we hit up some of the smaller rides like Astro Orbiters and Peter Pan mixed in with some Space Mountain and Pirates. 

We had ridden a good amount of rides when we stopped in the noon heat for some ice cream and remove our masks....ahhhh. They've never bothered me much before, but this darn heat and humidity! 

The Disney app is where they want all food ordered so late afternoon we ordered our late lunch, after eating the PB&J's we brought into the park. The indoor dining wasn't crowded at all and we enjoyed a nice air conditioned lunch with burgers, fries, salads, and chicken tenders (all staple Disney foods). People were happy and full, and most were ready for more photo ops - like these on the bridge!!!

We waited in line for Splash Mountain for a good 75 minutes - where is the single rider line you ask? They don't have one. Where are the Fast Passes? They don't have them right now. Ugh. It was a little torturous but the baby was whisked away to ride dumbo a few times while we waited. And waited. The ride was great, and they we rushed over the Thunder Mountain Railroad to wrap up the evening. Our last ride in the park.

Oh wait, then there were Teacups.

Even though the park app originally said it closed at 8pm, it became evident at 8pm that it wasn't closing. Checking again revealed that it had been changed to 9pm but our tired feet were pooped and there was only one ride that we missed out on. The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will have to wait for our next visit.

The drive home was energetic at first. The kids were all reliving their favorite ride and talking about how the park compares to the California version (there was a consensus that California has a lot of bonus items that the Florida versions don't have). Soon after, the voices drifted off to slumber and the hour drive back out to the coast was quiet. The smiles that you see on the faces of those you love, those are the best gifts in life.

And so the trip that seemed to not be able to happen, happened. Through some faith, trust, and maybe a little pixie dust ;)

Pizza and a Coastal Drive aka Day 4

We spent some time lingering at the pool today as we were getting ourselves to adjust to the time and the temperature. Half of our party had a timeshare presentation to attend, so the rest of us ordered some pizza to go, grabbed an entire roll of paper towels from the condo, and mapped out the scenic route back to St. Augustine to see the fort Castillo de San Marcos. The scenic route included a drive through Flagler Beach which has a home featured on Beachfront Bargain Hunt Renovation and yes I saw the home and it was super cool for this HGTV fan  

So, we've all been told that the United States settlement started out in Jamestown, Virginia, but this city St. Augustine claims to be "the oldest city in America." So how can that be? Well, since we love history, we mapped out the scenic route north and kept telling the kids "just 10 more minutes" as we trudged along the coastal highway. My driving partner and I knew it was only about 10 minutes longer to take this way but it was a million times more beautiful and lovely.

We passed through Flagler Beach, which I've seen on House Hunters Renovation and drove through other beachy spots that made us question why we pay to live in California. When we arrived at our destination, we remembered. The humidity.

So St. Augustine claims to have been settled by the Spanish 42 years before Jamestown was. Juan Ponce de Leon, who many streets are named after here, explored this area after landing in 1513. Then 52 years later Pedro Menendez de Aviles founded the settlement with about 2,000 who set sail from Spain in search of...a better life? Free land? Riches? Gold?

There were Natives there of course, the Timucua Indians, who were coerced to convert to Catholicism. Sir Francis Drake, a British pirate, landed and sacked the town. Because of the constant threat of outside enemies, in 1672 the Spaniards constructed Castillo de San Marcos and it was our first destination today. 

The mask mandate on federal property was harder to swallow as the temperatures were climbing today. It's warming up! We talked to rangers and learned a lot about the fort, while the kids walked through rooms and learned about how the town was originally Spanish, 

then under the 1763 Treaty of Paris it was ceded to Great Britain becoming the 14th colony, The 1783 Treaty of Paris (yup, there's were two!) then ceded back to Spain because apparently there were only 13 colonies in the new United States of American, then through the Adams-Onis Treaty in 1819 it was ceded to the United States. So Florida is the forgotten 14th colony huh? Who knew??? 

I hyperlink these things so you can double check my history lesson - which I found fascinating. Who says you only learn at school :)

So we hike around the fort, find a park called Project Swing for kids to run around, and wait for the other half of our party who may have very well bought another timeshare...we don't really know.

Once they arrive, we find that on a weeknight, nearly all of the places Yelp has directed us to for dinner are closed, and we eventually find ourselves not at a seafood restaurant but a BBQ joint. Yup - BBQ in a beach town - go figure! I did capture this cool shot of what claims to be the oldest wooden schoolhouse in America. Who am I to argue?

The food was decent, nothing to write home about, but the place was big and allowed for us to have lively and loud chats about finances, the stock market, kids, vacations, COVID, and whatever else entered our minds. A nice night spent around a table with decent food and superb company.

Group shots before we left and another hour drive back to the condo and the anticipation of our next big day.

St. Augustine Beaches Day 3 and Deli Food

We might have gotten a slow start out the door and may have enjoyed the wonderful ocean view from our condo balcony...

And then it started pouring. The clouds had held it in so long that they finally decided that the rain needed to be released and it dumped. We listened to it for awhile before we were made aware that up north, it was clear. So we packed up the rental van with a few extra children from the other families joining us, and made our way one hour north to St. Augustine Beach. 

We parked our booties on some smooth sand and watched the kids play in the water and make sandcastles. Sand is messy. It gets everywhere. I have to say, I might prefer the pool. Since we might have arrived quite near lunch time, I headed to a grocery store just across the way and grabbed some deli sandwiches and snacks. Once back at the ocean, the rest of the party realized they needed food and decided to grab some seafood at a local restaurant. We stayed and watched all humans under age 18 enjoy the water and the ocean.

After said humans were showered off and ready to get out of the sun, we headed south to another beach known for shark teeth. The search was on for some, while others simply enjoyed the waves, and some rather enjoyed the people watching. The weather was warming up for sure and it was evident that some in the party were not applying sunscreen as thoroughly as needed. Some red skin was peaking through and some was simply covered up by now in the hopes that the sun wouldn't find it.

One short drive back over the bridge led us to the historical town of St. Augustine  - founded way back in 1565 - where some small streets with no cars led us to shops and souvenirs galore. The kids had fun wandering around and exploring as the sun was beginning to set. The area wasn't too crowded which was nice considering that only half or so were wearing masks. We tend to be more overcautious than we might need to be. 

We learned a little about the history of the town as we were trying to find a place to hang out. There's a Slave Market on the map. That was shocking and disturbing. Albeit historical, but sad nonetheless. 

Ice cream was found. People were happy. 

The hour drive south to Daytona was filled with giggling voices playing "Mafia" in the back of the van. A throwback sound to our own girls being little and silly in the car on trips. Nostalgic to say the least. They grow old too fast. 

There was talk about adding an adult to the bottom of this tower, but a trip to the ER didn't sound like the best way to end the day. 

Animal Kingdom Disney Day 2 and the Beach

I spent all night worrying about the tickets for Magic Kingdom and kept trolling the app trying to get reservations. Eventually, I decided that we could just get the kids two tickets into the park and we could hang out in Orlando or even go to a less popular park like Epcot. While in line for the Avatar ride, I decide to do just that. Two tickets open. I book the kids and immediately go back and try to get us in as well. Two tickets open. It's weird that four tickets were a no go, but two tickets at a time worked. Thank goodness.

So it's set. We can go to Magic Kingdom in a few days with the entire family. I could finally rest my mind and enjoy the day.

Avatar is a pretty amazing area of the park. The floating lands above your head seem like they are hovering for real. The designers of this land were simply brilliant. Although the park is at reduced capacity, the lines were still a bit long for our taste. There are no fast passes due to the decrease in capacity, yet some lines were still 60 or 75 minutes long. 

Thankfully the park has a lot of shaded area for waiting in line, but unfortunately for us, some of this park has hills and our older legs are getting a bit tired. We remind ourselves that grandma did this trip with us twice, once at age 65 and again at 75....so, we shouldn't be this tired. We did get a little wet as the clouds drizzled on us from time to time. The weather is always humid here, but the clouds seem to be holding some rain that feels desperate to drop.

This is a much smaller park and we didn't plan to be here very long. Since it opened at 8am, we are wrapping up most of the park by around noon. We decided that instead of getting some park food for lunch, we'd prefer some more of the Cheesecake Factory that we had for dinner last night. 

We head off to grab lunch and say goodbye to the Animal Kingdom. This time we sat inside (still a novelty after a year of COVID takeout) and got a BLT, more lettuce wraps, and more flatbread - because it was really good the first time.

After a delicious lunch and some doggy bags to go (aren't their portion sizes incredulous?), we drove the 1.5 hours out to Daytona Beach to meet up with the rest of the family. The beach was warm and the weather was less humid by the water. The kids enjoyed so many hours at the beach before half of the party broke off to go to a timeshare presentation luau - we ordered dinner via Uber Eats and played some board games in our condo. 

Have you ever heard of The Cat Game? Wow - it's kind of like Pictionary where you draw a picture and others guess it, but it all revolved around Cats. We spent a few rounds laughing and having a great time with this new game - I'd recommend it for some fun family game nights.

As 11pm rolled around we realized that our day had been quite full with one Disney park, an afternoon at the beach, and a rousing game night. Sleep was needed.

Disney Day 1 Hollywood Studios

DisneyWorld's new requirements for reservations seemed doable when we booked this trip. I purchased tickets online, selected my dates, and saw that the parks we wanted to visit were available. I clicked purchase and thought we were good to go. A month later as we stood at the ticket window, the Disney employee told me that we didn't have a reservation. 

Say what? I was shocked. Here we were, standing at the window for Hollywood Studios and the lady says that we don't have park reservations. The confusing part is that if Disney knew that I was coming on this specific date, why didn't I get an email from them that I didn't in fact have a park reservation? To me, this is how Disney needs to improve their system. 

But, apparently the parks also have some leeway with their own capacity at the gate and the kind worker made us reservations and we were allowed to enter. They were also able to make us a reservation for the next day at Animal Kingdom, but the big issue was that our tickets were good for five days and there were no available reservations for the Magic Kingdom. Ugh. We traveled all this way and might miss out on the one park where we were meeting family.

But off to our park adventure! Hollywood Studios was a fun day despite the masks. The most shocking part of the day was how many of the shops were closed. Due to distancing issues, it seems that the small merchandise shops were mostly closed. 

The highlight of the park is the new StarWars land. We hadn't seen the Florida version yet, but it's nearly identical to the California version. The big new feature is the Rise of the Resistance which we haven't ridden in California. The ride is so new that it has a reservation system as well - oh joy. Since we didn't know that it opened at 7am, when the park didn't actually open until 9am, we are late to the party for reservations before 1pm. Luckily there is another window that opens at 1pm and Katie was on the app and ready to get in the virtual queue. 

We were like number 150 or something and amazingly our number was up around 7:30pm just before the park closed. The ride is an awesome mix of simulation with guest experience. You board a ship and are taken hostage. After being taken to another room and "interrogated" someone from the resistance frees you and you join the resistance to battle against the First Order. 

There were plenty of other rides like Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway and of course the Toy Story land has a few rides that you can't find in California Adventure. Plenty of fun to be had!

We took plenty of funny photos throughout the day and as it heated up we indulged in some slurpies to cool off. We even got some blue milk to end the day as we walked around and begged to get into the Cantina - that place is always so busy! Something to save for the next trip!

I fretted and worried all day about how we were going to get into the Magic Kingdom and went to bed that night worrying that all of this was for nought. Since we left the park with tummies expecting some food, we ordered online at the Cheesecake Factory, which was two minutes from our hotel, and picked up a delicious dinner. Spaghetti with meatballs was actually a big bland, but the caesar salad and lettuce wraps were a hit, as was the flatbread pizza. Happy stomachs ready for another busy day at the park. Good news on those park tickets to come!