Category: Adventure Reports

Categories
Florida

Visiting Universal Orlando’s The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Our Christmas presents this last year to the kids were tickets to Universal Studio’s Harry Potter World and coupons for Butter Beer. They couldn’t have been more excited to open them on Christmas morning as we had talked about this for months beforehand. Unfortunately, for them, we wouldn’t be going until the end of January so they still had some more waiting to do!

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We were joined on this adventure by my younger sister who flew out from Utah for the week to hang with us in Orlando (see: We Have a Visitor in the Airstream). It was great having her along as she is a huge fan of all things Harry Potter.

When We Visited: January 25, 2016

Ages of Kids: 10, 8, 5

Where We Stayed: Bill Frederick Park at Turkey Lake

We did a bit of research to decide what exactly we wanted to see in the park. Our friends over at TakeThatExit.com gifted us the Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando and while I was skeptical at fist, it actually proved fairly helpful!

The book has a description of each ride and how scary it is, plus touring plans for the parks. They even have a 1 day, park hopper touring plan we used for our visit. We tweaked the plan a bit to fit in Seuss Landing and a stunt show, but otherwise we followed the outlined plan and everything went great!

Harry Potter Land (or The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, as an employee nicely corrected us) is split between the two parks: Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.  If you want to visit both parks (and you really do) you have to get a park hopper pass. We found this was totally worth it as we spent most of our time exploring just the Harry Potter themed areas, as the rest of both parks were either too intense for the ages of our kids or did not interest us.

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Start with Diagon Alley

We started our day at Universal Studios in Diagon Alley. They’ve recreated the brick wall which is the entryway from the Muggle world to the magical Wizarding world. I couldn’t believe the excitement on my kids’ faces as they stepped through! We explored the shops, visited Ollivander’s and the Wand Ceremony, and rode the Escape from Gringotts which had a super short line early in the morning. Cara rode it once and then promptly decided she never wanted to ride it again. Definitely a little too intense for our 5 year old, but the older two thought it was great!

There are also two different puppetry performances from of  tales of Beedle the Bard and we were able to watch “The Fountain of Fair Fortune” while munching on our snacks from the sweet shop.

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Speaking of sweets, one of our kids’ main reasons for visiting the park was to try Butterbeer. Not only do they sell straight up Butterbeer, but also sell it frozen, hot, as ice cream and also as fudge. Definitely need to try them all! Butterbeer is sold in both sides of the park, so don’t stress if you only make it to one. I really wanted to try a pumpkin pastie, but by the time I made my decision late in the day they were all sold out. Lesson learned – don’t wait to buy your snacks!

The kids received money for Christmas from Grandma & Grandpa to spend while at the park and they had a great time deciding which treats to buy. Both Rachel and Cara bought a Chocolate Frog, and Andrew was adventurous enough to buy Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans. There were a few he threw away, but he dared Cara to try a dirt flavored bean. That didn’t end so well! We also tried Fizzing Whizbangs, salt water taffy, and Exploding Bon Bons, but I think the Butterbeer Fudge was definitely my favorite treat.

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Visit London & King’s Cross Station

After exploring Diagon Alley, we headed back to “London” and visited Stan and the Knightbus. Stan was pretty entertaining and we got a good look at a possibly Airstream upgrade. Just kidding.

Next, we entered Kings Cross Station and found our way to platform 9 and 3/4, where we boarded the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade Station, which is over in Islands of Adventure. This 5 minute ride saves a 20 minute walk, but was an unexpectedly awesome ‘ride’ all by itself! While sitting on comfy seats, you experience beautiful scenes out the magical window, and witness the shadows of shenanigans just outside your compartment. The return ride was different still, and made it an all around wonderful experience. 

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Explore Hogsmeade

Once off the train in Hogsmeade, we wandered through the shops on our way to Hogwarts and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. We knew this ride would be too intense for Cara, so we took advantage of the child swap program. The line snakes its way through the castle (the dungeons, outside in the Herbology lab, past Dumbledore’s office, etc.) which Cara really enjoyed and then we hung out in a small room near the ride loading area where they were playing Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on a video screen. Fairly fitting I thought.

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Also in Hogsmeade is a fairly tame roller coaster themed after Hagrid’s Hippogriff (Cara loved this one), The Dragon Challenge (a set of “dueling” dragon roller coasters themed after the Tri-Wizard Tournament), performances by the Frog Choir and students from both Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. We ate lunch at the Three Broomsticks, which was pretty good, and the bathroom haunted by Moaning Murtle was also a really fun surprise!
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Seuss Land for Little Kids

Many of the rides we enjoyed were really too wild for little Cara. She was an incredible sport as we used the child-swap system of those rides. During the afternoon, we took a break from Hogsmeade and headed over to Seuss Landing for something more her speed. She loved every minute, and her joy was rewarding for all of us.

We also watched the Eight Voyage of Sinbad Stunt Show since we were in the area at the right time. Lots of flames, sword fights, and plenty of ridiculous banter to keep us entertained.

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While not quite to Disney levels, Universal has done a great job with the details of the magical Wizarding World. We loved catching a glimpse of Hagrid’s “Monster Book of Monsters”, and even found ourselves a Howler.

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With her money, Cara decided to solve all our mail problems with the purchase of an owl she’s dubbed “Hedwig” (never mind that Hedwig is white – we don’t pay that much attention to detail).

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We had a fabulous time! We did take the train back over to Diagon Alley to finish up with one more ride on Gringott’s and some Butterbeer ice cream. We thought we’d stay for the fireworks in the main area of the park, but they were such a disappointment (and frankly rather boring) that we left early.

Overall, the kids (and adults) were super happy, and we were impressed that we were able to cover both sections of the park in one day!

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Categories
Florida

The Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida

Most of our activities are chosen and planned by Jess as we travel. I spend much of my time working and don’t always adventure with the family. Every once in awhile, I choose a place that I’m particularly interested in, and Jess and the kids are awesomely accommodating. My chosen adventure this time was a week of Space Stuff at Cape Canaveral. In addition to witnessing a rocket launch, we spent a day exploring the Kennedy Space Center.

Headed to the Kennedy Space Center with Kids? Check out these tips!

We had camped at the crowded but conveniently located Manatee Hammock Campground, a county campground just south of Titusville, Florida. We watched the launch from the edge of the campground, and it was only a short drive as we headed over to the Space Center.

Date We Visited: February 6, 2016

Ages of Kids: 10, 8, 5

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We don’t often pose as a complete family, so here is one of us, looking completely normal. The NASA ball is cool, but also notice the shuttle booster in the background.

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I’ve been a minor space nut all my life. One morning a few years ago the kids wandered into my home office to say hello. I was streaming one of the Space X ISS Resupply rocket launches, and they asked what it was. I paused for a moment, and then explained that there were astronauts living in a spaceship in orbit around Earth, and this was a mission to send more food and science experiments. It was such a cool experience to share with my kids. We watched video tours of the International Space Station, and have since spotted the space station as it streaked across the night sky.

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Visiting a veritable mecca of space travel was a continuation of that experience. Learning alongside my kids about various space travel accomplishments was a wonderful experience. Just inside the gates is the Rocket Garden, where they have a variety of rockets on display. The early days of space travel were a strange and wonderful thing. The kids piled into one of the spacecraft used to first circle the earth.

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There are many things to see at the Space Center, but after the Rocket Garden we headed quickly to the Bus Tour. The tour is included in the admission tickets, and includes a drive by visit to a few launch pads. It was amazing to drive by the huge crawling platforms that were used to move rockets between assembly buildings and the launch sites. We also drove past one of the Space X launch sites and saw (at a distance) the ULA rocket that we watched take off a few days later.
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Cape Canaveral is a huge area dotted with launch pads, but most of the space is just empty wilderness to maintain a buffer around launches. Explosions on the pad or in the air are hugely problematic, but having ‘nothing’ around the pad helps to slightly simplify things in the event of a disaster. All that area is free range for the wildlife, including alligators and an incredible variety of birds. The bus drove right by two bald eagles, just sitting right by the road. View blocking heads present for… uh… scale.

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The main stop of the bus tour is the Saturn V center, dedicated to the Saturn V rocket and our exploration of the moon. The main feature of the center is of course a Saturn V in all of it’s glory. The sections were slightly separated for easier viewing, but were otherwise present, laid down through the building. Rockets are really stacks of rockets. Each stage has a fuel tank and an engine that burns the fuel to provide thrust. You generally need a stage for each phase of a mission. As each phase burns out it separates and drops off, making the load lighter and easier to accelerate for the next burn. Rockets delivering satellites to Earth orbit commonly have 2 stages. The Apollo missions to the moon had a much more difficult job which required many more stages and engines in different configurations to make the trip there, AND the trip back. The massive size of the rocket is impressive, and exploring and learning about them was a serious highlight of the tour.

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Cara took to my suggestion and wore her Buzz Wings. The wings were originally part of a costume Cara had, and as she grew the wings were the only part of the custume that still fit. They have traveled with us, and though she doesn’t always wear them they come out her and there. Seeing her wear them as she wandered around looking at space stuff was especially cute.Kennedy Space Center_12

After exploring the rockets and exhibits at the Saturn V Center, we jumped back on the bus for a ride back to the Johnson Space Center. Our next goal was to see one of the spacecraft of my youth: The Atlantis.

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Pictured above (with children for scale) is the main fuel tank and solid rocket boosters that boosted the Space Shuttle fleet into space. After entering the main doors we entered a presentation room with projection screens all over the walls and roof. Our introduction video was quite impressive, but the coolest part was when the wall behind the front screen opened to reveal the Atlantis on display. The Atlantis was amazing to see in person. It served for many years as part of the three shuttle fleet, running an amazing number of missions to space. The shuttle fleet was the main method of transporting and building the International Space Station and other space tools like the Hubble Telescope.

The moment the screen opened and I walked up to see Atlantis was my personal highlight of the entire day.

Around the ship itself was quite a number of displays, including mockups of the interior and exhibits to learn about flying the shuttle. The kids loved the slide, which we managed to not get a picture of.
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Another area we visited twice was the play structure by the Rocket Garden. It was a wonderful display, and provided the kids plenty of unstructured relax time. We have learned that our kids to better on structured activities (tours, museums, etc.) if they can mix in some wiggle time. We also ate lunch here after I retrieved our lunch cooler from the truck.
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We also viewed the 3D IMAX movie about an Atlantis mission to repair the Hubble Telescope. The movie itself was breathtaking, and I felt like it gave us a good view of what life in space was really like. The wonderful views of Earth, and of Atlantis in action made the time spent there worthwhile.

We loved our visit. The kids had fun, and Dad got his space fix in. We completed our space experience a few days later when we watched a rocket launch up into space.

And just for posterity, here is another of those whole family poses.

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Categories
Florida

Our Dolphin Encounter at Marineland, Florida

Our Dolphin Encounter at Marineland in St Augustine Florida

Rachel has an intense love of dolphins, so when I told her we had the opportunity to visit Marineland near St. Augustine, Florida and participate in one of their dolphin encounters I’m pretty sure everyone in the campground heard her squeals of delight!

When We Visited: February 23, 2016

Ages of Kids: 10, 8, 5

Location: Marineland Dolphin Adventure – just 30 minutes south of St. Augustine on the eastern Florida coast.

Marineland offers a variety of dolphin encounters to fit different needs, and we chose to go with The Immersion which is a 30 minute encounter including time both in shallow water as well as swimming in deep water with a dolphin.

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Upon arrival, we were greeted warmly by all the staff. Before our actual dolphin experience began, we were treated to a tour of the grounds and facility by Terran who manages education for the facility. We loved her enthusiasm, experience, her patience and interaction with my kids, and her  knowledge of both the marine life and the history of Marineland.

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We learned that Marineland originally opened in 1938 as Marine Studios – a facility for Hollywood filmmakers to shoot underwater footage! How cool is that? Instead of filming out in the ocean, the founders wanted a place where they could simulate the ocean environment but still have great lighting for filming. They built the large tanks with plenty of windows to let in natural light. They were unprepared for the general public appeal, however, and since then they’ve opened their doors for millions of guests to observe marine life up close and personal.

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Although the facility has evolved over the years, Marineland is dedicated to conservation, science, and education. They figure if we can love and respect dolphins and other ocean life we will be more inclined to help protect them.

After our tour, Terran dropped us off near the dolphin habitat where we waited for our experience to begin. We were given some background on the dolphins, their typical day, and talked a bit about dolphin anatomy before changing into our swimming suits and donning our life jackets.

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Our dolphin friend for the day was named Zac, and he was great! We were able to pet him, give him kisses, feed him fish and Jello-O (for reals!) and spend time playing in the water.

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I was also very impressed with the trainer assigned to work with us. She was fun, obviously loved her job, and was great with my kids.

Although our experience was overall incredibly positive, there were two frustrations I feel the need to mention.

One frustration was that we just had a larger group. There was a smaller group of two in the water at the same time, and they were able to move more quickly through various interactions that just took our group of 5 (with 3 kids!) longer. I’m so grateful for the photos we have, but it also just took a long time to get each of posed with Zac and I think my kids would have preferred to be interacting or playing with him instead. Plus it was just bright outside and being a photographer I knew we’d all be squinting anyway!

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My only other frustration was the snorkel masks. At first I thought it was a fabulous idea, but that quickly changed. We were able to go out into the deeper water and watch Zac swimming underwater. Unfortunately, even though we tested Cara’s snorkel before getting out there, she still had problems with it not sitting right or letting in some water (hello! She’s 5!).  Then she’d get frustrated because she’d miss what was going on and even threw a small tantrum that frustrated me.

We were also able to watch Zac jump pretty high and going from under the water to out was kind of cool, but mostly hard to see out of the snorkel when your face isn’t under water.

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With kids its always to hard to gauge their abilities, so I totally understand why they have their program set up the way it was, but I think I could have skipped the deep water part and been just fine.

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After Zac towed us back to the shallow area, we played for a few minutes and then said good-bye! My kids were surprised how fast the time went by and were sad to leave.

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We did have a fabulous time, and if you ask Cara what her favorite thing in Florida was she’ll tell you “swimming with dolphins!”

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Being up close to such an amazing creature was fabulous, and I’ve always been impressed with the intelligence and friendliness of these aquatic animals. The staff at Marineland were very accommodating and friendly and we had a wonderful afternoon!

Sponsored post :: We were provided with a complimentary immersion experience at Marineland in exchange for us sharing our honest opinion and experience with you. As always, all opinions are our own. 

Categories
Kentucky National Parks

Visiting Lincoln’s Birthplace in Kentucky

Visiting Lincoln’s Birthplace helped me feel reverent and inspired knowing that such a great man had a humble beginning and relied on God.  
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When we arrived at Lincoln’s Birthplace we first went to the Visitor Center and got our  Jr. Ranger Books. Then we went to see the video about the history of the park. It talked about Lincoln’s childhood, how their family worked, and life on the farm. Afterward we went to see the exhibits inside the Visitor Center.  There was a recreation of the inside of Abraham’s old childhood cabin, and next to the recreation was a display of tools we needed for an activity in  our Jr. Ranger books.  
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After the exhibits we went outside to the Memorial. It looked surprisingly similar to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. We climbed the 56 steps representing Lincoln’s 56 years of life, and went into the memorial. In the memorial there was a recreation of Lincoln’s old childhood cabin, it was bare but it still was cool seeing a really old cabin that president Lincoln grew up in. I also liked the roses on the ceiling.

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Next, we went outside and walked to Sinking Spring which is a spring that never goes dry. It was the source of water for the Lincoln family during the winter months. The sun was shining and felt warm so we sat down for a while and enjoyed the sunshine.
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Last we went inside and turned in our Junior Ranger books and got the badge. It was our first metal badge!

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Being at Lincoln’s Birth place made me feel happy that Lincoln was such a great president and reverent that he called upon God when he was at a time of need. That is what I like about about Abraham Lincoln.

When We Visited: Nov. 11, 2015

Ages of Kids: 10, 8, 5.5

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Categories
Featured Destination Florida National Parks On the Water

Canoeing Nine Mile Pond in Everglades National Park

Canoeing Nine Mile Pond in Everglades National ParkVisiting the Everglades has been a travel goal for some time. Despite setting a goal to make it there, we had somehow managed to not spend much time researching our options.

We planned to spend a few days there in our usual slow travel style. Our early research indicated that we should get good verizon service at the Flamingo campground, and that would provide the needed opportunity to work.

Upon arrival I set about trying to configure my assortment of antennas and booster technology to secure the expected signal. Try as I might, I could not manage any usable signal. A few tests from the truck (also outfitted with a booster) in sections of the Flamingo area also failed to find a usable signal.

Without good signal, our visit was going to be much shorter. Our real goal of the visit was to get out and experience the everglades from a boat. There were boat tours available, but what really interested us was a canoe rental. Rentals were available right there in the marina, but also at a lake back up the road called Nine Mile Pond. This pond contained a canoe trail marked by poles along the way, and promised paddling through mangrove forests as well as the open glade.

We picked this option, and set about making it happen. We ended up renting two canoes from the concessionaire near the Flamingo Visitor Center. Unfortunately, a large group beat us to the rentals already located at the pond, so we paid an extra $45 to have two canoes transported up there. Frustrating, but worth it.

We arrived at the pond with life jackets and paddles, and retrieved the canoes from the concessionaire. In just a minute we were in the water, paddling across a small lake to the start of the trail.

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As we followed the trail out of the lake, we immediately plunged into the mangroves. We became immediately grateful for two things. First, the trail markers. All long the canoe trail were poles stuck in the ground. Each marker bore a number which could help us choose the right direction as we paddled. Without those markers, it would have been impossible to find our way through (or out!) of those mangrove forests.

Canoeing in the Everglades

Canoeing in the Everglades

Padding through mangroves is beautiful, but the paddling trail was often narrow and often turned quite sharply. Thus, the second thing we became grateful for: mangrove roots. The roots of the mangrove trees grow out from the trunk of the tree above the waterline, and grow outward before plunging down into the water. The result of this root growth pattern is a natural ‘bumper’ of sorts that made paddling a little easier. When we missed a turn or edged too close to the trees, the natural edge created by the roots prevented us from paddling too far under the trees.

The mangrove forest eventually broke apart, and we found ourselves in more open sections of the glade. Glades are sunny, open areas in a forest. The Everglades are named for this, with plenty of open glade areas that stretch far into the distance. At the midpoint of our paddle, we came into a large glade that was a wonderful cross between a meadow and a lake. The area was covered with water shallow enough to allow grasses to grow. From near the waterline, it looked as though the meadow was grassy and solid enough to walk across it. Instead, we got to paddle through it.

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The meadow contained a shortcut that allowed us to cut our paddle in half. We took the shortcut and had a snack, and then headed continued along the trail back to the truck.

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It is hard to describe just how beautiful and unique this adventure was. At times like this, I’m really grateful that Jess captures so many wonderful scenes during our adventures. As you consider my description and compare it with her pictures, I’m sure you’ll agree.

I’m reasonably good paddling a canoe, but Jess struggles when conditions are difficult. On the second half of our paddle, She really hit her stride, and was navigating through the mangroves like a pro. I even had the chance to teach a few new paddling strokes to Rachel, who was in the front of my boat. Cara sat in the middle between Rachel and I, and took turns paddling in the more open spots.

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The shortcut made our paddle the perfect length at just under two hours. With that adventure completed, we headed back to pick up the Airstream and head back into the land of signal. I look forward to a time where better timing (and/or better signal) allow us to visit the Everglades longer. Despite our short visit, I cherish the adventure we had.