Florida 2018 - Magic Kingdom

Now that we are done with Kennedy Space Center and Universal studios it was time to return the car. We are staying at a Disney World Hotel and it includes a shuttle/monorail system to all the parks so you really don't need a car. I figure this means you save about 75 dollars a day in gas, car rental and parking. We dropped the car off and got on their shuttle. The driver said it was faster for both us and him if he took us to the Grand Floridian as long as we didn't tell anyone. They frown upon non hotel guests getting dropped off.

By dropping us off at this hotel instead of at the park it meant he avoided the car line up and we could do security there and catch the monorail. It worked out great as the security line was empty and the monorail drops you off on the other side of security at the park. I now didn't feel bad about tipping him a bit more than normal. He had a beautifully displayed tip jar with high denomination bills from various countries as well as a story about moving to England next week. Might not have been true but his drop of plan worked great so it was worth it.

We started our day on Buzz Light year where I masterfully scored more points then the entire family combined. Being able to shoot space aliens with lasers is a critical skill that I need to teach to others. Our next destination was the Tomorrow Land speedway. It was finally time for Carter to drive the car on his own as he's tall enough and can reach the pedals. I drove with him this time but next time I think he'll be okay with a car on is own. Driving a car on a track where you can only go forward is also an important skill.

We continued our day with our first Fast Pass which Kerry had woken up at 4:00a about 3 months ago to book. We are allowed 3 per day to start and can book more after we've used them. The first was Big Thunder Mountain which is a fast moving train, followed by Splash Mountain where I think we got about as wet as we ever have. We finally convinced Callie to go as we've been trying for years. It has a big drop that you can see from outside which scared her. We knew she had been on much bigger rides though and as expected I think she was a bit underwhelmed.

Next up was the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Space Mountain where we met up with Callie's school friend again. We have plans to go to the same park every day so we expect we will meet up with them when we can. They are already two families and to have three families try to coordinate our days is not a good idea. I saw a group of 12 try to get on one of the rides and it looked like a nightmare. They had to wait on the side until there was enough room on a single train car. It's much easier to get more rides in as a group of 4.

We like to break longer days up so we took the bus back to our hotel for an afternoon by the pool and a snack. There is a very friendly squirrel that seems to be around whenever we are there. It was begging for food at our table like a tiny dog. I think if we had asked it to sit and shake a paw it probably would have listened. Kerry also took some time to do a load of laundry. Another thrifty move of hers is to bring our own laundry detergent and fabric softener. Much cheaper than buying it there.

We started our evening on the people movers with the idea that the wait would be short and we could collect our thoughts. It's a slow moving ride through Tomorrow Land but for some reason it had a line up. We figure it must have broken down for a bit. We had Fast Passed Pirates and after a brief stop to watch a portion of the fireworks we got on to check the recent changes. It seems there is a lady pirate and they auction chickens instead of women. I think the changes are fine but as anticipated they are still controversial. Tomorrow we are at Epcot.

Florida 2018 - Universal Studios

On day two of our trip we headed to Universal Studios Florida. We still had the rental car and it was just a 20 minute drive where we found some reasonably priced parking at $22.00 per day with the option for preferred parking at $35.00. We opted for $22.00. There were plenty of moving sidewalks for the 10 minute walk to the front gate. Security at these places now includes bag checks as well as metal detectors and finger print checks. Gone are the days of just showing your paper ticket and walking in the front gate.

Our plan was to meet up with Callie's school friend at the Harry Potter area. Carter and I made a few stops for pictures with various Simpsons characters along the way. Carter doesn't even know who they are but who wouldn't want a picture with a friendly cop eating a doughnut. Kerry was leading the way until we discovered she was looking at a map for the other park. That's like trying to find Paris with a map of England. She was moving more by feel anyways as we knew Harry Potter was at the back of the park so no harm done.

We found Diagon alley which was done perfectly in the spirit of the books. It wasn't marked and you had to go through a break in a brick wall that opened up to an area that perfectly matched what you would expect for Harry Potter. We had to wait a bit before meeting our group as they had arrived a few minutes before us and were already on one of the rides. This gave us a chance to explore a bit and we quickly realized that Universal Studios seems to be more about merchandise than rides. There was only one ride and about a dozen stores. Still fun to explore.

After we found everyone and they went on the Gringots ride one more time while the line was short it was time for selecting a wand or in Harry Potter world, where the wand chooses you. There is a 5 minute play and Callie's friend got chosen to star. The merchant got very into the scene and the room has several effects including lights, sound and shelves that react poorly when you cast the wrong spell to find your wand. Callie choose the 'non interactive' wand which was still $46. I think it probably costs about $2 per wand to make based on the volume they are selling.

Wand choosing was incredibly chaotic and if you go I recommend you see the play and then go around the corner where you can just pick the wand you want and buy it. The actual wand store is more mysterious with lot's of box opening and closing. It was good to get that finished so we could try the other highlight of the day. Butter Beer which figures quite prominently in the books. I would characterize it as a caramel flavoured cream soda that has been coloured yellow and even comes with a foam top. Probably terrible for you but still very tasty.

Three 12 year old's don't make decisions quickly so Carter and I took one of these moments to go check out the Transformer's ride. This is where I realized that I am not a fan of the style of Universal Studio rides. They tend to be 4D where there is a 3D screen and a car that you ride that shakes you around. I don't do well with this style ride and have to spend most of the time with my eyes closed to avoid getting too dizzy. The ride doesn't move much but the addition of the screens is too much. They still seem like fun rides for those moments I do open my eyes.

Transformers was a sign of things to come as every major ride seemed to be 4D. Kerry and the kids had a great time on Jimmy Fallon Race Through New York and The Mummy. By the time the Mummy came along, I figured I could stay outside with my eyes closed which worked out better for everyone since Universal asks that you keep your bags off the ride which means a lot of time putting things in lockers. We also did the Shrek ride which is a theater show with seats that bounce up and down and water gets sprinkled on you to match the scene.

At this point it was time for us to split up. We had paid for the park hopper pass where Callie's friend only had a ticket for a single park and was planning on coming back for the other park. This meant she couldn't join us on the Hogwarts Express which travels between the two parks. The train leaves from the 9 3/4 platform and you even get to walk through a wall. Everything looked great but it was a bit anti-climactic as when you are on the train you are just viewing a screen for the window. There are shadows moving in the hallway but everything is over pretty quick.

The second portion of Harry Potter land was just as amazing as the first but this time was focused on the out doors. There is a perfect replica of Hogwarts that houses the Forbidden Journey ride. The estimate for the right wait time was somewhat deceiving and we had to stuff everything in a locker again but the ride itself was worth it. I got to see about half of it since it had some real portions in addition to the 3D screens where I kept my eyes closed. The kids and Kerry went on the Hippogrifth ride to finish off our Harry Potter experience.

The second park had areas like Hero Island and some bigger coasters like The Hulk. This ride was way to much for Callie, Carter, and I, but Kerry had it on her list of rides she wants to do. The wait was longer than anticipated which of course adds to the drama and she confirmed it was not a ride we would want to go on. We finished the day on the Jurassic park ride since it is a water ride and it was too cold to walk around wet. After a quick desert we walked back to our vehicle at the end of a 12 hour day. Universal Studios is definitely for older kids and people not as ride wimpy as me. You'd need at least a full day per park to do everything.

Florida 2018 - Kennedy Space Center

We started the day with breakfast in our room which we brought from Canada to save money on at least one of our meals each day.  Things get expensive when you have to add 30% to every price you see. Although our main destination this spring break was Disney World we added a few new destinations to our trip to Florida. The first was a trip to the Kennedy Space Center which was about an hour from our hotel so we needed to rent a car for our first couple days. The shuttle for the car rental place picked us up at the hotel and with the help of Google Maps we made it to the Space Center just as it was opening.

We hadn't originally planned on doing the Kennedy Space Center on our first day but Callie's friend from school got in at 2:30a and our plan to meet up with them at Universal Studios wasn't going to work. They asked if we could switch up our plans which worked out okay because we had the car for two days. The only hiccup was that our tickets to the Space Center didn't start until the following day. Apparently we weren't the only people with this problem and were able to use our tickets anyways.

We started our day with a tour of the rocket garden. Unlike SpaceX launches, rockets from the 60's were not reusable so rockets that actually flew in space are at the bottom of the Atlantic. The rockets in the garden however were mostly real rockets, that just never launched. After the tour we went to the Shuttle Atlantis building. This wasn't here the last time I was here and was constructed to house the real shuttle after it was decommissioned with the end of the shuttle program. At $100 million  the presentation was amazing with real shuttle hanging from the ceiling and other great displays.

The highlights included a shuttle launch simulator, life sized models of the Hubble Space Telescope as well as portions of the International Space Station. The space station exhibit was a bit frightening with a glass tube suspended about 50 feet above the ground that you had to crawl through. Kerry did not enter.

After the shuttle building we got in line for the bus tour to the launch pads. This was my only complaint about the whole day. They didn't seem to have enough buses running to keep the lines manageable.

The tour itself was great. We got to see the shuttle launch building where they assembled the shuttles as well as the launch site for SpaceX which recently launched a car into space. SpaceX decided to build their own building which doesn't surprise me since they are in this for the long run and renting space with other companies doesn't mesh with that. The tour also stopped at a building where you can get lunch and see the original Apollo rockets which are absolutely massive. There are only 3 left in the world that were originally planned for further moon launches and the presentation was great.

After lunch we got back on the bus and stopped by the gift shop before going to see an IMAX show. This was a good day to have the option to be inside. As we were walking to the gift shop, there was an announcement that we needed to get inside due to lightning. We slowly made our way there and after a few minutes of shopping realized why. Rain, wind, lightning and thunder had us trapped for about 45 minutes. We couldn't even go to another building while the storm was over us and there were apparently even tornado warnings. Other than the long lines and almost tornado, it was a great day.We even got to see several gators on our bus tour!

Florida 2018 - Getting There

Question - What time do you leave for the airport when your flight leaves at 6:30a? Answer - You leave at 11:00p the day before of course. I should clarify that we booked a flight out of Seattle to save money on airfare so it doesn't really make sense to then stay in a hotel the night before. Getting up at 2:00a just seemed like a disaster so that left leaving late the night before with the intention of having a bit of a nap in the airport and sleeping on the plane. We were the only car at the border when we crossed and our drive down was very quick. Carter and I slept while Kerry and Callie played various Disney tunes. We dropped our car off at a long term parking lot and took a shuttle to the airport where we arrived approximately 4 1/2 hours early for our flight. Our plan to sleep at the airport didn't work out well because they decided 2:00a was a good time to drill concrete and for some reason they play an incredibly loud announcement about the size of your carry-on every 5 minutes. Things got a bit better once we were able to check in and get through security.

The best thing about getting through security was we were able to find some older style seats without the stupid bars in between each seat so you could lay down. We had a 3 hour lay over at Chicago and finally arrived in Orlando around 8:00p despite some crazy weather. Our plane had to circle for about 30 minutes and it seems we were lucky to land at all. Callie has a friend that is coming to Orlando at the same time and their plane got diverted to Tampa. By the time they got into their hotel room and into bed it was 2:30a in the morning local time.

We got to our hotel room around 10:00p local time and were pleased to find that the dining area was still open. We were quite hungry though after ordering our food we realized we were not American portion hungry. We each got our own meal and in hindsight could probably have gotten away with 2 or 3 meals split between us. The food was excellent but a bit on the expensive side. Good value for the amount of food we did get.

Before I end explaining our first day I must mention our wonderful travel agent. Kerry did the initial booking but our other travel agent always calls into the hotel later to see if there is anything special they can do for us. In this case this meant asking from a room that was a bit closer to the pool. Due to construction at the hotel, the only option was a 4th floor 'preferred' room near the secondary pool and close to the front entrance. We're also close to the first bus stop so we should always get a seat on the bus. I highly recommend BK Travel.

Callie's New High School

This year Callie is in grade 7. That means that next year Callie will be in high school. I'm okay with it but I think it will drive Kerry mad. She's pretty much been within 100 ft of Callie her entire life with the exception of dance which is 4 blocks away. High school is only 2k but it might as well be another planet if you talk to Kerry.

In January we had an opportunity to go check out the high school Callie will be going to. Since Kerry is a grade 7 teacher she does this every year but it was the first time I've ever been. I had heard some bad things about North Surrey from work colleagues however I've discovered that was all old news.

The high school was rebuilt in the early 90's so anyone that had gone to North Surrey before that time had been in a rickety old wooden building. The new building was much more modern and way more than what I was expecting. There is a great art studio, wide open cafeteria, lot's of computer labs, two gyms, a band room and even a stage with seating. What impressed me the most however was the woodworking and machinery area. They've got an enormous wood shop and a separate machine shop as well as an automotive area with two car lifts. Apparently the school offers first year apprenticeships to several trades. As much as university has worked out for myself and Kerry it may not end up being the best direction for our kids. Hands on capabilities are disappearing and the trades may have the best job opportunities. Still a few more years left before they have to decide but it's good to know they will have options.

Sledding at Cypres

We don't get a lot of snow in Vancouver however we are only a 30 minute drive to the local ski hills so we try to go at least once per year. We attempted a trip last year but were a bit late getting on the road and the mountain was full by the time we got there. This year we were much more careful about understanding what time the mountain opened. The mountain wasn't technically full last year however there was no more parking up top which meant we would have had to shuttle up which is a bit of pain with smaller kids and your sleds.

Our annual tradition is to go with the Kilden's. Ryan isn't a big kid but I'm pretty amazed at how long he lasts walking up and down. This year he outlasted both Callie and Carter who got a bit bored and went to the snack shack early. (I was there too.) Next year I want to do tubing instead. I've never been and neither have the kids and I think if we bring some of their friends they will last a lot longer. The tube parks are great because they include a lift and the tubes are much more comfortable.

Gingerbread House Extravaganza 2017

We continued our on again, off again tradition of making gingerbread houses again this year. It's a fairly involved process to create all the parts and I refuse to purchase a kit so it seems we've been doing it every second year lately. This year the plan was for each of the kids to invite two friends. I make all of the parts using a form from Lee Valley. One year I think I'll try just doing parts by cutting them out because I think it's a lot easier. I like the form because the parts come out very consistently sized and are designed to fit together. They also have imprints of the doors, windows etc. so it's a bit easier to decorate.

The last time we had kids over we had their parents over as well which I think was a bit to hectic. We had to visit with the parents and the parents felt inclined to help put together the houses which was a bit of a disaster. It was much easier for the kids to decorate themselves and have me put them together. I don't have any specific trick other than using soup cans and lot's of icing. I made one at a work function this year and we only had teacups instead of soup cans. It worked but I think we left one of the cups in the house.

We did the party like a grown up party with appetizers and non alcoholic beverages. Callie and her friends are the first picture and Carter and his friends the second picture. Not a huge difference in overall house quality however Callie and her friends had a lot of fun decorating the yards. I think they made each house a theme from a book series they are reading. I have no idea which one so I don't quite understand them. Everyone had a lot of fun and I really enjoyed eating the roof off of Callie's which was solid peppermint chocolate wafers.