Orlando, Florida

        Orlando Florida, the Sunshine State, is also the happiest place on earth for me. Why? Because I'm a kid at heart forever and my favorite theme parks are there such as Disney World, Universal Studios, and Seaworld. Most of you are hesitant to go on vacation because you're afraid that it will be too expensive or maybe you had been there already but doesn't want to go back because you spent too much money on your last trip. In this blog, I'm going to give you tips on how to enjoy Orlando without breaking your piggy bank.

          So where do I start? 2 weeks ago, we were just in our Wisconsin vacation for Columbus Day. My husband told me that he got this conference that he wanted to attend so me and the girls decided to tag along. Once again, we packed our bags that were barely unpacked from our previous getaway and drove 19 hours from Chicago to Orlando.

           Tips: Last minute flights are always expensive. For family of 4, instead of spending $2000 for airplane tickets, we only spent almost $300 in gasoline. The price of gas was also cheaper as you go further south so make sure to fill your tank.

          Next, my husband's conference was held at the Disney Swan Resort. With the discounted rate, the hotel will still cost us a thousand dollars for 4 nights + $18 parking fee/day + no free breakfast. And because I know that we will be at the theme park and my husband will be at his conference all day, I decided to book an accommodation which was 10 mins away from the Swan and half the price.

So here's the list of our 5 days itinerary when we got to Orlando.

DAY 1:     UNIVERSAL CITY WALK

          After driving overnight, we got to our hotel and went to the City Walk for Dinner. Tip: Preferred parking cost $10 because it's supposed to be closer, regular parking was $5. After paying more, we realized that the distance was not really much of a difference. So just get a cheaper parking and wear comfortable shoes to walk.

          The City Walk was full of life! There were shops and restaurants all over. We had dinner and drinks at Margaritaville. We were tempted to go to Universal Studios but the kids were a bit scared of the Spooky Halloween Fest.

DAY 2:  DISNEY SPRINGS

          We went to Disney Springs (formerly called Downtown Disney) to just hang out and walk around. We made reservations at the TREX restaurant and while waiting, the kids enjoyed digging some fossils in the play area inside. Tip: Even if you're not eating in that restaurant, you can just get in the fossil play area from the shop. Also, the adult menu was a big portion so 2 people can share. Every 15 mins, the restaurant have special dinosaur sound effects.  It was really entertaining!

        Then we went to the Lego store where kids played forever. Disney Springs also had the biggest Disney Store I've ever seen. My girls were never too old to enjoy Disney toys again! And not to mention, Bella's love for chocolate!

DAY 3: BUSCH GARDENS

         We drove 1.5 hours from Orlando to Busch Gardens Tampa. The park was huge! It's a zoo and a roller coaster park all in one. My favorite ride was the Cheetah Hunt Roller coaster and Falcon Fury. The park also had different shows scheduled throughout the day. We were in our slow pace that day that we didn't finish the last section of the park. Kids were okay because it was the Sesame Street area so they were a little too big for that. Tip: Make sure to bring extra clothes to change because the water rides and play area will really make you wet. If your kids are smaller, start on the left side of the park so they can enjoy the Semame Street section.

         I was thinking that we'll have enough time to go to the beach after Busch Gardens but we were all so tired that we just went back to our hotel to rest.

Cheetah Hunt

I conquered the Falcon Fury!

I've never seen so many flamingos in my life!

DAY 4: SEAWORLD

        I was so excited for this day because I love Seaworld and it was my girls' first time there. Our favorites were the Dolphin, Sea Lion and Shamu shows. The kids were just mesmerized seeing a lot of sea creatures that they haven't seen. Since it's Halloween week, they had trick or treating for kids and they were very generous in giving treats. It was very festive!

          Tip: Buy a wristband for the meals because you can eat all you can while you're at the park. The restaurants close an hour before the park closes so make sure to eat your dinner earlier so you can get your money's worth using your dining plan.

         I must say, Seaworld is now one of our favorite themeparks!

DAY 5: ORLANDO PREMIUM OUTLET MALL

          Last day in Orlando, we went shopping in the outlet mall before going to Aquatica Waterpark. But since there were a lot of GOOD DEALS in the stores and its a bit cooler during that day, we decided to just ditch the waterpark and shop more. Tip: Control yourself and don't spend all your money!

          After picking up my husband from his conference, we went to Disney Boardwalk to kill time before driving back to Chicago since it was rush hour. Parking was free and we took the ferry ride just to have a tour in different areas. The restaurants here were pricey so we just ordered pizza and sat on the patio by the water. The weather was nice. Kids also enjoyed watching the performers on the boardwalk. We wanted to stay for the movie at the park but it was time for us to go.

         Tip: I just realized that if you plan to go to Disney Epcot and Hollywood, to save money for parking, you can park free at the Boardwalk then take the free ferry to those parks back and forth.

          It was an awesome 5 day getaway and a mother-daughter bonding for us! Too bad my husband was not able to join us at the theme parks but I'm sure Florida will be our second home so we'll have plenty of time to do it next time. Tip: Fall is the perfect season to visit Orlando. The weather was not hot and there's lesser people at the theme parks. You'll definitely enjoy all your outdoor adventures! If you plan to stay for 5 days, just go to 2-3 theme parks because at the end of the day, we all get so tired from walking and we need an extra day to recover before going to the other parks.

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Cross Country Driving - Chicago to Santa Monica

          Are you all wondering how we started our roadtrip? About 4 years ago, we wanted to visit our relatives in California. Since the plane tickets were so expensive for 4 people, we decided to just drive from Chicago to Los Angeles and back following mostly the Route 66.

         In this blog, I will give you an overview of our 2 weeks itinerary then I will post separate blogs on some of the states that we explored the most.

DAY 1 -  Colorado Springs

           We drove 14 hours overnight from Chicago to Colorado Springs. We stayed in a hotel then explored some of the tourist spots such as Seven Falls, Garden of Gods and Air Force Base.

Seven Falls

DAY 2 - Vail, Colorado

          About 4 hours from Colorado Springs, we stayed in Marriott Hotel. The place was so quiet since end of May was off season. It was actually nice to be able to stay at a 4 star hotel at a very inexpensive price. Thanks Priceline!

DAY 3- Moab, Utah

          So much for luxury hotel in Vail. It was a busy week in Moab so most hotels were booked. Luckily we found one that was close to the national parks. The next day, we went to Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef National Park then drove to our next destination.

DAY 4 - Cedar City, Utah

          It was a rough drive at night in Dixie National Forest but we made it to our next hotel. In the morning, we visited  Kolob Canyons and Zion National Park. It was snowing and freezing, we were not prepared for that kind of weather!

DAY 5 - Las Vegas,Nevada

          Just 2 hours away, finally a short drive to Vegas. Since the kids were into princesses, we booked a hotel at Excalibur. They gave us a room at the 16th floor and we had an awesome view of Vegas. The girls felt like they were Rapunzel in the tower. At night, we went to watch the shows in the strip. We also met with my ex-roommate who moved there. It was so nice to catch up with good friends.

          Next day, we just relaxed in the pool since it had been so cold in Colorado and Utah. So we enjoyed the sun and stayed there almost the entire morning. Then we realized that we still have to drive 4 hours to southern CA.

DAY 6 - San Bernardino, CA

          First stop in CA, my relatives from my father's side. We had delicious homemade Filipino food. We stayed with them and it was so good for my husband and kids to meet my aunts, uncles and cousins.

DAY 7-8 - End of Route 66 - SANTA MONICA, CA!

          We made it to our final destination! My cousin from my mother's side of the family lived a mile from the beach so we hung out in Santa Monica Pier and beach pretty much everyday that we were there. My cousin also toured us in Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Too bad we didn't see any celebrities.  We also met my college classmates and their families.

DAY 9 - Disneyland

           It was a nice treat for our girls to visit Disneyland. Yes it was much smaller than Disney World, but kids didn't know the difference. They were just in the happiest place on earth!

DAY 10 - Flagstaff, Arizona

          We didn't stay very long in California but it was nice to see our relatives since our immediate families from my side and my husband's were from out of the country. Needless to say, it was time to head back home. But we got few more days left in our vacation so we stopped by Grand Canyon National Park.  As always, Grand Canyon was picture perfect!

DAY 11 - Santa Fe, New Mexico

         Next stop, Santa Fe. The architectures there were so much different from other states. The place was beautiful! It actually reminded us of my husband's hometown in Mexico. We walked around downtown and visited the church. The following day we drove through Taos, NM and back to Colorado Springs.

DAY 12 - Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs

         We were debating whether to drive through Amarillo, Texas or Colorado.  But since the weather was bad in the south, we just drove back to Colorado Springs. We stayed in Cheyenne Mountain Resort (highly recommended!) where we just relaxed and used their amenities since we already toured the area from the beginning of our trip.

DAY 13 - St. Louis, MO

          Once again, we did our overnight drive from Colorado to Missouri. Though we lived so close, it was our first time in St. Louis.  We stayed in Drury Hotel and it was walking distance to the Arch.

DAY 14 - Home Sweet Home "Chicago, IL"

          Driving back home, we stopped by Springfield, IL and checked out Abraham Lincoln's house. It was really nice to see lots of places but as the saying goes, "There's no place like HOME".  Believe it or not, we had to take an extra day off to rest before going back to work. It was really an awesome and affordable first road trip. We loved it that's why we just kept on doing it every year!

          If you would like to know tips on how to make your vacation inexpensive, please check out my previous blog on "Top 10 Reasons to have a Vacation".

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Wisconsin Dells in the Fall

      It's Fall season and we were looking for an awesome and affordable vacation place for the kids this Columbus Day weekend. I had few places in mind but we didn't want to do a long drive so we just went to Wisconsin Dells. If you've never been to the Dells, this is a good time to go because it's off peak season and most accomodations are inexpensive. For a new adventure, we booked a treehouse on Mt. Olympus Campground.

 

Here are few things to do in Wisconsin Dells:

1.  Mt. Olympus Indoor Aquatic and Theme Park
          It was nice to have the park almost to ourselves. There's not too many people so we were able to do all the slides and rides multiple times without waiting.

2.  Leatherberry Acres
         Believe it or not, we also got free tickets to the pumpkin farm. The weather was perfect that we didn't even need to wear a jacket at that time. Kids' activities include wagon ride, petting zoo, slides, haystacks and hayrides. We also did the cornmaze as a family. I was feeling claustrophobic and scared. Good thing my husband was a good live GPS!

3.  Downtown and Riverwalk
          There are lots of shops and restaurants in downtown. Here we had lunch at Monk Restaurant where they served good burgers. Then we went to the Riverwalk and enjoyed the nice scenery and fall colors. Surprisingly, many of the trees were still green at this time. Before we left downtown, we stopped by for ice cream.
   
          There are many other things you can do in downtown such as Ripley's Believe it or not, Indoor Golf, MagicQuest, and Miniature Golf.




       





      We didn't get the chance to do bonfire at night because the weather got colder and colder. Instead we enjoyed more family time in the aquatic and theme park as well as our treehouse. It was another fun vacation! So if you're thinking of a weekend getaway this Fall, check out Wisconsin Dells!

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Six Flags Fright Fest

    Columbus Day Weekend, the kids had 4 days off. The weather was really nice, in the 60s, and it was the perfect time to do the Fright Fest at Six Flags. We arrived at the park after lunch because we planned to stay there until night time. The park was nicely decorated with Halloween Theme. I noticed that there were so many people, it was about 4x more than when we usually go there (we've only been there about 8x this year). We already knew that our plan of hitting the roller coasters were not gonna happen because it will be at least an hour wait for one ride. So we decided to just chillax and walk around the park to check what Fright Fest was all about.

     First, we watched "Love at First Fright" where the spooky characters  performed their musical show. After that, kids went for a kiddie ride while I fell in line forever for a snack. I didn't enjoy that part! Around 6pm, we watched the parade of all the fright fest characters along Hometown Square. 

     As we walked along the park, there were different scares in each section such as clowns, zombies, lumberjacks, and vampires. They had no mercy! The kids were so scared of them and oh yes, they got me too! Six Flags also had a cemetery section where everyone can walk around and take pictures. For grown ups, there were different haunted houses for an extra fee. Since it was getting late and cold, we opted to do  just one indoor roller coaster ride then went home.

     It was a spooktacular adventure for us! If you plan to go, there's few more weekends left to do this. Make sure to bundle up because it gets cold at night. If you're taking your little kids, go early and enjoy the rides without the scares. For older ones, stay late, be a good sport and check out all haunted houses. If you have a dining pass, plan to eat early because the lines are always long. If you don't have a season pass for next year, this is the best time to buy  because you can go to Fright Fest for free this year.

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