OKC to Disney World | Ways to Save

This post is specifically geared toward answering questions posed by Epic Charter Schools teachers about saving money at Disney World. If you're not a teacher or from the OKC area you will find that parts of this post don't apply. 

Getting There

Transportation to the Orlando area is one of the biggest ticket items on your family's Central Florida vacation budget. 

In this day and age of discount airlines you may actually find that it's cheaper to fly. Southwest*, Frontier, and Allegiant Airlines all offer direct flights from the OKC area. The flights are just over 2 hours and I've recently booked a round trip Frontier flight with a checked bag for $140.00. If you book during off-peak season there are roundtrip flights on Frontier for $104.00. Discount airlines charge for seat selections but if you don't choose a seat there isn't a charge and they've always seated my son and I together so we don't pay for seats. They also charge for bags and it pays to be selective about what bags you bring. If you're traveling with others you can coordinate packing to save money. My extended family takes an annual vacation together and I am responsible for bringing the hair straightener while my cousin brings the shampoo. 

Driving is also an option. It takes about 22 hours to get from OKC to Orlando and there are interesting things to see and do along the way. You can route south through New Orleans or east through Nashville for added mini-vacation stopovers. Be sure to factor in the cost of fuel and hotels along the way when calculating your drive or fly decision. 

Money Saving Tip: Sign up for a Frontier Airlines credit card and you'll get two roundtrip tickets as a sign-up bonus. 

*Southwest only has seasonal direct flights on Sundays. They do not charge for bags or seats.

Staying There

When deciding where you'll stay consider the type of vacation experience you'd like to have. If you plan to go to the theme parks every day of your visit it will probably make more sense to stay at a hotel on Disney's property because you'll get free parking, early entry perks, and on-property transportation. The Swan and Dolphin Resorts offer teacher discounts. There are also camp sites at Fort Wilderness with fees starting at $55.00/night. Hilton brand hotels (Hilton, Hampton Inn, Embassy Suites, Doubletree, etc...) offer their military and government discounts to teachers so you may want to look at the Doubletree at Disney Springs. Starwood Hotels (Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, Sheraton Suites) also offer teacher discounts. 

However, if a theme park visit is one component of a multi-faceted vacation experience that involves the beach, a visit to Kennedy Space Center, or just a relaxing day around town you may want to stay closer to a beach. We have a condo available for short-term rentals in Melbourne, Florida visit www.livingwellvacations.com for more information.

Visiting Disney World

Disney is expensive but, in my opinion, worth the ticket price because it truly is magical. However, the $4.00 bottles of water are just silly so let's talk about how to save when visiting Disney World. 

First, take plastic, refillable water bottles. You can also take a backpack with snacks. Also, take a poncho because it rains in Florida a lot and you're not going to want to leave the park during a shower or pay for a Disney poncho. If you've got littles take an umbrella stroller.

If you're an annual Disney visitor get the Chase Disney credit card and start racking up those points. If you're an occasional visitor, every few years or perhaps only once in a lifetime the points card may not be your best solution. There are discount tickets available but before purchasing those it's important to decide how many days you'll spend at the park(s) and what exactly your kids (or you) want to see and do. For example, if you have teenagers you may not want to visit the Magic Kingdom. When my son was four he was awed by the Magic Kingdom parade, if you've got littles don't skip that park!

If you know that there is a specific park you want to visit you'll want to buy a ticket for just that park. We like the park hopper pass because we like to hit the highlights of two, three, and sometimes all four parks in a single day - Rockin Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours at MGM then off to Epcot for lunch, Space Mountain, and Guardians of the Galaxy. Next, Animal Kingdom for a safari ride, dinner somewhere in between, and we finish at Magic Kingdom for the fireworks show. It's a fast, furious, and fun experience that's not for the faint of heart! My son is ten and can keep up but I don't recommend park hopping with littles. Check out the Undercover Tourist for discount tickets.

Disney also offers educational youth programs. They require a 10 student minimum but some creative planning with other Epic teachers could result in an awesome learning experience. I'm game if anyone wants to try to put this together. 

The in-park souvineers are wallet-busters and it's difficult to avoid them but I saw another blog where the mom bought Disney branded merchandise beforehand (from less expensive places, like Wal-Mart or Target) and then the night before they visited the parks Tinkerbell brought her littles a gift. I don't buy souvineers for my son, if he wants something he needs to spend his own money. I do, however, give him opportunities to earn trip money in the months leading up to a vacation. 

In the end, I think the best way to save money at Disney is through prior planning. Sometimes, I like to take off-the-cuff unplanned vacations but when the ticket prices are high it's better to know exactly what you'd like to do so you're not paying for things that don't interest your group. Good luck and enjoy your vacation!

Havana, Cuba

Old Havana City Center

art|culture: Havana, Cuba

Forbidden Fruit

I've wanted to go to Havana since my early twenties. I think that desire came in part from the fact that it was forbidden to American travelers and in part from the Godfather II movie. I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart. (smh) We traveled in June of 2017 and were lucky that the trip happened at all. About two weeks before our departure date President Trump revoked the previous administration's semi-open travel rules for Americans in Cuba. Fortunately, our trip occurred during the grace period prior to the new rules taking effect. Whew. 

We flew via Southwest Airlines from Dallas to Havana because there are only a handful of American airports authorized to fly to Cuba. There were ten people in our group and we were nervous about entry into Cuba because none of us had ever traveled to a communist country. As is often the case, we fretted over nothing - entering Cuba was easy-peasy. Our longest wait at the airport was to get Cuban money (CUCs). 

The money part of this trip was the trickiest to navigate. Because Cuba is an embargo'd country our banks do not do business with their banks. This means that US travelers cannot go to their bank before going on the trip and exchange US dollars for Cuban currency. You also cannot exchange for Cuban money at US airports. But that's not the worst of it, the lack of banking integration also means that US credit cards do not work in Cuba. This was a cash-only vacation, which, for most of us, was uncharted territory. Not surprisingly, Debra, a financial adviser, did the best at managing money and basically became a loan shark for the rest of us. Also not surprisingly, Chris and I were probably the worst at managing our money - the day before we left I spent most of our remaining CUCs on art and told Chris we'd need to eat crackers until we got back to the land of consumer credit. Kudos to him for being all-in for that plan.

Desi and I being Desi and I while responsible
Debra organizes things in her purse.
Note to self: Always take Debra on vacation.

Speaking of art, the Cuban art was the most pleasantly surprising part of this trip. Cuba is a communist country with a command economy, which means the government owns and controls most industries. Conversely, America is a democractic country with a capitalist economy, which means individuals or corporations own most industries. If you buy Cuban cigars or Havana Club rum you are supporting the Cuban government. However, Cuba has been ever so slowly inching away from the command economy and turning select industries over to individuals. For example, if you stay in a fancy hotel near the Cuban capital you are supporting the Cuban military because hotels are government-owned but if you stay in a casa paticular booked via airbnb.com you are supporting Cuban individuals. I've digressed into politics and economics (yawn). Let's get back to the art.

Art

The Cuban art industry was one of the first that the government handed back to the people. The artists pay a flat 15% fee or tax to the government for all sales. I think it was the uniqueness of this situation that allowed Cuban art enterprises to develop as robustly as they have. If a Cuban national could better provide for his/her family by creating art perhaps he/she would take more time to learn to create art. And, perhaps that results in more artists per capita. I have no research to support this theory - nobody does because you can't really get good sociology data from the Cuban government. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong, but I can tell you that the Cuban art scene is worth the trip. 

Cuban art is varied. Some is tropically vibrant, as you'd expect from an island, while other artworks are dramatic, monochromatic, political, and at times violent. 

We call this one "Little kid, big knife"
I am unable to credit the artist because we don't know who it is.
However, I'd love to, so if you know please tell me!

We found two places for art-shopping. The first was on the Paseo del Prado promenade in Old Havana. On Sunday afternoons the promenade turns into a glorious open-air art market. 

Working artist at the Paseo del Prado art market

The second art-shopping opportunity is at the Almacenes San Jose, which is a warehouse market in Old Havana. I found the prices to be a little higher here than at the promenade market but still very affordable when compared to American art prices.

San Jose market

Luckily, we spent our money on art at the end of the trip and prior to that still had money for other Havana treats, like classic cars, sangria, and scuba diving. We dove two of the five days we were in Havana. The diving wasn't superb but it was interesting. 

Scuba Diving

Diving is also government-owned and because it involves boats it has an added layer of complications. You see, the Cuban government is a bit picky about boats leaving the island. Prior to our first dive our dive master had to get all sorts of information and then go through an approval process with government officials at the marina. The steps went like this:

1. Dive master and diver to marina office.
2. Board dive boat.
3. Dive boat stops at government police-type station.
4. Dive master takes our passports into station.
5. Dive master comes out of station and boards jet ski to another locale with police officer.
6. Dive master returns and we leave to dive but stay within view of the mouth of the harbor.

Waiting for dive master to return from jet ski approval trip.

Getting permission to dive took longer than the dive itself. We disembarked from the Copacabana Hotel for our second day of diving and that was much easier, I assume that was either because we were diving from a dinghy boat or had already been approved. 

Group selfie after Copacabana dives.
Our dive master was William Dafoe's doppleganger.

We took classic car taxis to our dive locations and anywhere else we could. 

One of our drivers, Alfredo, told us that his car was previously owned by both his father and grandfather. It took a push start early in the morning but overall these old cars drove pretty well. Cuban drivers are better than Jamaican drivers, although they do this odd thing with one way streets where they back down them instead of circling the block. Apparently the direction the car is facing is more important that the direction it's actually driving when it comes to one-way traffic laws in Havana. We also hired two classic cars for a half-day driving tour that included a trip to Hemingway's home, Finca la Vigia. 

Finca la Vigia must have been a wonderful retreat back in the day. It's only about 10 miles outside of Havana so it wasn't overly secluded but walking around one could envision how it must have felt private. Hemingway spent about 20 years in Cuba, toward the end of his life, and wrote Old Man and the Sea here. This fiction story won the Pulitzer Prize and was a contributing factor in Hemingway's Nobel Prize award in 1954. And. I. can't. seem. to. finish. it. Seriously, I've tried a couple of times but I find it tedious. I'm going to try again this summer, wish me luck. Sometimes, I think I'd like to retire to a south-of-the-border, Finca la Vigia style retreat but, alas, I'm not a world-renowned author so I'll likely retire in Florida with the other nothing-to-complain-about-happy-go-lucky-untortured-souls.

Speaking of creatively brilliant but sadly tortured souls, shortly before our trip we watched the Netflix movie Papa: Hemingway in Cuba, which depicts Hemingway toward the end of his earthly journey. Of course, Finca la Vigia is promenently featured. It looks very much the same. The pool, the terrace, the boat, and the foliage all remind you of the film. If you haven't seen it yet give it a go, it's entertaining and educational.

Hemingway's Boat - Pilar
Taking American boats to Cuba was no problemo before the revolution.

By the way, classic car tour prices are negotiable, in fact, everything is negotiable if you speak the language. Chris and my mom both speak Spanish pretty well so we did okay with most of the pricing, except when we got swindled.

Food & Drink

Chris, Debra, Leslie, and I were swindled our first full day in Havana and it was the most pleasant swindling ev-ah. We were annoyed with ourselves for allowing it to happen but our swindlers were entertaining so we mostly just joked about it for the rest of the trip. The scam went like this - we were tired and hungry after diving and a local suggested a restaurant to us. We followed him and were then served two drinks each, without ordering. Then we were served food, which we did order. Nothing had prices and we didn't press the issue so we were handed a bill at the end for almost $200. Oh well. 

Our friendly and entertaining swindler :)

Our other dining experiences were much, much, much more affordable. In fact, we ate the majority of our meals at a three story building across from the Cuban capital that housed a restaurant on each floor. We never made it to the middle floor restaurant (Los Nardos) but thoroughly enjoyed the food and sangria served at both the top (can't remember) and bottom (D'Lirios) floor restaurants. We were told they share a kitchen and the sangria was the same pitcher of deliciousness at both restaurants. The portions are huge and sharing is a good idea. 

In addition to sangria, we, of course, tried the mojito, cuba libre, and the Hemingway Daquiri at the Floridita. The Floridita has been in Havana since 1817 and is reportedly the bar where the daquiri was invented. It was also a favorite watering hole for Ezra Pound and Ernest Hemingway. They have commemorated Hemingway's patronage with a bronze statue of Papa Hemingway bellied up to the bar. There is definitely a Hemingway cult in Havana.

I kind of have a thing for Hemingway.

There are also Fidel Castro and Che Guavara cults. If you visit, and you don't like these men, keep that to yourself. 

Che

The Cuban people are amazing, they really are. They're friendly, happy people who are usually smiling and it's emotionally uplifting to be around them. They are collectively very nice and they are pro Castro and Che. I struggle a little bit with how so many nice people can champion documented murderers. My theory is that they overlook the murders and community hardships because they are a proud people who are staunch defenders of their heritage. They were able to remain decidedly Cuban because of these men's revolutionary leadership. I used to say that we messed up with the Platt Amendment because after the Spanish-American war we could have made Cuban a nice, American resort island. (I know that's a crappy American thing to say.) Now that I've visited I understand that I was wrong. Cuba may be poor and she may be isolated but, in my opinion, that's largely been to her benefit because she's home to a proud group of people with a strong cultural identity. And, when you disembark the plane in Havana you do not walk outside to view the homogenous, beige scene you see at the majority of our American cities. Havana is fantastically unique. 

Key West, Florida

relax|beach: Key West, Florida

by Beth Powell

The Florida Keys are one of my favorite areas and I've visited several times. The Keys are a narrow stretch of islands along the southern tip of Florida. The archipelago extends 127.5 miles and are joined together by highway A1A. which, during that particular segment, is also named U.S. Highway 1. This is one of the best cruises in the US. You'll begin at that coastal-urban buzz of energy that is Miami and end at the Southernmost Point of the United States where a buoy will mark your arrival and serve as your first photo op.

Southernmost Point Buoy, 2011

Nearby is the southernmost beach.

Southernmost beach, 2011

If a person can have a city soul-mate then Key West might be mine. It's warm, funky, friendly, artistic, and tolerant. It makes mistakes and, as such, it doesn't pass out harsh judgments. It's features include beaches, water sports, fishing, diving, music, a literary tradition, and fabulous food. Oh, and speaking of the city's mistakes, who's ready for a history story? Shelby is! Greta is! 

In 1982, the mayor of the Key West tried to secede from the United States, declaring Key West it's own independent country, and calling it the Conch Republic. Texas is basically always threatening secession but these were Floridians so, what prompted this move? The answer lies in this quote that you may have heard before: "It snowed in Miami during the 80's." (As an aside, in 1977 actual snowflakes did fall from the sky to the Miami shores.) However, the quote I've shared is referencing one of cocaine's nicknames and not precipitation. Cocaine use and addiction were big problems then and arguably still are but that's a conversation for a different day. If you don't believe me watch the movie Scarface. 

Cocaine mostly came from Columbia, entering the US primarily through South Florida - Miami and also the Florida Keys. In an attempt to fight the drug trade, road blocks were often set up on U.S. 1, which is the only road in and out of the Keys. These road blocks became a deterrent to tourists who didn't want to spend their vacation caught up in all that hassle. Key West relied heavily on the tourism industry and as a result of these road blocks found itself under additional economic pressure. Therefore, the mayor decided secession was his answer. Mr. Mayor was arrested, and the secession was short-lived, but the name stuck, and to this day the Keys are referred to as the Conch Republic.

Air side at the Key West Airport

One of reasons I really enjoy the Keys is that they are not overrun with blatant commercialism like the rest of Florida, most of the United States, and frankly a decent amount of the world. You can get a Big Mac in 93 different countries and you can get a Coca-Cola in every country. (You shouldn't be able to get a coke in North Korea because Kim Jong-il is a dangerous human rights decimating lunatic and, as such, we've placed an embargo on US goods there, but China cross-ships it to the people in Pyongyang.) 

Now, I'm not saying you can't get a coke or Big Mac in the Florida Keys, because you can, in fact there are 3 McDonald's restaurants in the Keys. What I'm saying is that the area is not as commercial. There isn't a Wal-Mart in the Keys. Did you hear me? No Wal-Mart, and since Wal-Mart and commercialism are synonyms, I think we can safely claim that commercialism is at least dampened in the Florida Keys.

Another reason I like the Keys is that they have personality. America is supposed to be a place that values rugged individualism, where every person has a chance at living out their own Horatio Alger story, pulling themselves up by their bootstraps and going from rags to riches. In reality, many of our cities lack individuality, and the poor typically stay poor, but that's yet another topic for a different blog. Back when I was a road warrior it became obvious that the United States had largely become homogenized.  For example, many airports are located in city outskirts, and most cities have the same strip-mall covered suburbs with out-parcels repetitively occupied by Chili's, Red Lobster, McDonald's, Taco Bell, and the like. Consequently, it's now to the point that upon exiting the rental car facility Cleveland looks like St. Louis, and Charlotte, and Oklahoma City and, well, you get the picture. 

The United Chili's of America
(A graphic I created  about 6 years ago to illustrate the homogenization of the U.S.)

The artist Jasper Johns painted The Map in 1961, and it exemplifies, at least for me, this idea of American homogenization. He's blurred all the state lines and replicated color schemes across the entire nation completely ignoring regionalism. For example, the color scheme in California and Kentucky are similar, but in 1961, California and Kentucky were most certainly culturally dissimilar. To some extent they still are today but removing the differences in geographical terrain, I'll bet you can find places in California that have the same sign cluttered horizon as in Kentucky. I own a copy of this painting and it reminds me to enjoy variety, when and where I find it. 

Jasper Johns, Map

To be clear, I'm not picking on Chili's, I like Chili's, their Southwest Egg Rolls are yum-O, but I can get Southwest Egg Rolls in Oklahoma, and as I've previously mentioned, when I travel I'm looking for something different, preferring to experience local cultures and local flavors. This philosophy comes from my gypsy-soul mother who has had a longstanding travel rule that when you're on vacation you absolutely, positively must eat something new. (I've adopted the same rule so consider yourself forewarned should we ever travel together.) There is no Chili's, Red Lobster or On the Border in the Florida Keys. There are a lot of local restaurants to choose from, and more importantly, in Key West, there is the paradise that is Blue Heaven. 

In my humble and admittedly limited opinion, Blue Heaven is the best breakfast/brunch spot in the whole wide world. You have to save your pennies before going because you'll want to start every day of your vacation there and, I'm telling you, it's worth skipping lunch at home once a month to have the money for this splurge. The restaurant itself is a funky experience, most of the seating is in a tree shaded courtyard, where you'll find local musicians strumming acoustic guitars on a makeshift stage, a center bar sporting an awesome Bloody Mary, and chickens ranging freely. (Chickens free range all over town.) 

Blue Heaven's bar & stage

Once you're seated, please trust me and order the Lobster Benedict. It is out of this world tasty. The hollandaise is key-lime based for a nice twist on the old favorite, and the thinly sliced bacon is the perfect crispy complement to the softness of the muffin, egg and lobster. Oh, the lobster, the sweet delectable lobster - it's perfectly and extravagantly delicious! After your first bite, you'll experience culinary rapture followed by guilt. You will begin thinking you don't deserve to eat the rest, but you do, we all do. We all sin and we all deserve this little slice of Heaven. If you skipped lunch once a month back home you can afford to eat it every day, and if you didn't, whip out the credit card anyway, because it's that good.

Blue Heaven's Lobster Benedict

After treating yourself to the Lobster Benedict you can spend the rest of your day enjoying water sports, like taking SeaDoos around the island and occupying space south of the Southernmost Point.

South of the Southernmost Point

Or, you can visit the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum. Hemingway first visited Key West in 1928, he took a ship from Paris to Havana, Cuba and then came into Key West. During the transoceanic trip he began a war novel, while he was in Key West he finished it and titled it "A Farewell to Arms."  He and his wife decided to stay in Key West and the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum was where they lived. There are a lot of other interesting details of their story but I'll let your tour guide fill you in on them during your visit. 

Hemingway Home Front

Hemingway was an early riser who wrote in the mornings and went exploring or fishing in the afternoons. This is where the magic happened.

Ernest Hemingway's writing studio

Sometimes, in the afternoons, his exploring led him to Duval Street where he fed his drinking habit. He was a regular at Sloppy Joe's Bar. The original Sloppy Joe's was located around the corner from today's Sloppy Joe's and is now called Capt Tony's Saloon. Be sure to read the newspapers on the wall at Capt Tony's. Hemingway was still living in Key West when Sloppy Joe's moved. It is reported that he enjoyed cocktails at both establishments. 

Capt. Tony's Saloon a.k.a. original Sloppy Joe's

Present day Sloppy Joe's (although this picture was taken in 1999)

Speaking of Duval Street, the following is a courtesy warning. As I previously mentioned, the city has a tolerant nature and promotes creativity. As a result, it hosts a thriving alternative culture. If that's not your thing don't go during their festivals, especially Fantasy Fest in October. If it is your thing, definitely go to Fantasy Fest. I've heard the body painting is amazing. I personally like creative, laid back places during non-festival times. The festivals and large parties are overwhelming for me. 

I have a lot more to say about this town, but will hold back so this entry doesn't ramble on for too long. On that note, I'll close now with the understanding that there will be future entries about the Florida Keys.

Sunset from a Duval St rooftop, January 2013.

Allegiant Air Review

Allegiant Air is a no-frills airline that offers direct flights during the summer months from OKC to Sanford, FL.

No-frills means you pay airfare and then add-on prices for everything else, like seat choices (prices vary), carry-on bags ($36.00), checked bags ($50.00), and in-flight refreshments (prices vary).

The direct flight and the low prices appealed to me. We spent a little less than $200.00 per ticket, with 2 carry-on bags and no checked bags. Since there were 3 of us we came in right at $600.00 for flights. If we had driven we would have spent approximately $300.00 on fuel plus 2 extra nights in a hotel, which probably would have come in at another $300.00. So, for three people it was essentially a wash to fly and we didn't need the 2 extra days added to our trip.

The plane we flew both directions were older MD-80s (still outfitted with ashtrays), but both our inbound and outbound flights were on time (yeah!) and not overbooked (double yeah!). Sanford is a small and easy to navigate airport with on-premise rental car agencies. On the flight home we pulled into the airport at 7:30 am, then returned the car to Hertz and were through security by 7:46 am. Easy-peasy. (Note that we did not check bags.)

The sketchiest thing about the entire experience was this bathroom sign. Why do I need a special disposal place for straight edge razors?

Central Florida

A Central Florida trip is not for the faint of heart. Tackling theme parks sunburns your nose, bruises your feet, tries your patience, and drains your wallet. I knew all of this going in because I lived in Central Florida during my twenties and not only did I visit the parks for entertainment I also worked in the parks managing sign/graphics projects. I've logged many hours in Orlando's theme parks and ended up viewing them as overcrowded concrete jungles teeming with visitors from countries who have different cultural norms about personal space. Theme parks can be accosting. At this point, you're bound to be asking yourself why on Earth I went. That answer is easy, because my kid wanted to go and he earned this trip. It was his trip, not mine.

Garrett worked very hard in school last year, as a second grade student, and was near completing 2nd grade math by Christmas. As an incentive to keep him working hard I told him he would be rewarded with a trip to Harry Potter World if he also finished 3rd grade math before the end of the school year. He loves Harry Potter, as do my mom and I, so we both kept encouraging him to finish. He got it done and earned his trip. I want him to understand that good things come to those who work hard and achieve above and beyond what's expected. 

Day 1: Getting there

My mom, Garrett and I took a direct flight from OKC to Sanford, FL, which is a town just North of Orlando, on the discount airline Allegiant Air. (Allegiant Air Review.) After landing we stopped for lunch at Gator's Dockside in Oviedo, FL, and at step 2,986 Garrett tried fried gator tail for the first time. Our family has a tradition that we must try new foods while on vacation and this has led me into various culinary adventures, like haggis in Scotland. I didn't love the haggis but G liked the gator tail. 

Gator's Dockside, Oviedo, FL

We bee-lined to my friend Rebecca's house after lunch because I was excited to see her. Rebe and her daughter Nicole were gracious hosts for most of our trip. Rebecca, Kelly and I all lived in the same small apartment complex in the early 2000's and had loads of fun together. We also sat and watched the terrifying scenes of 9/11 together. We've got history. Rebecca and I spent time catching up and I was reminded that she is one of the most authentic people I know. I enjoy being in her presence. My mom is friends with Rebecca and Kelly also. Once, the three of us  hosted a dress up, chocolate covered strawberries and champagne party and I amateurishly bought strawberries without hulls so my mom, who was supposed to just be a dressed up party-goer, whipped up some paraffin wax chocolate covering magic for the strawberries and saved the day. Rebecca is also one of the most stylish people I know. Her house is adorable, here's a picture of her dining room to give you a taste. I will be shamelessly stealing ideas from her.  We ended day 1 at 5,050 steps.

Day 2: 

Friday was our first full day so we scheduled the most exciting adventure for our "fresh feet day." Fresh feet are an important consideration for theme parks and perhaps for any type of travel for those of us in the over-40 crowd. 

We spent a small fortune on tickets that gave us access to both parks because  and 

 are located within Islands of Adventure while  is in Universal Studios. Additionally with the two park pass you get to travel between them via the Hogwarts Express. 

Garrett was super excited to buy a new wand with the money he'd been saving all summer so he led us into the first gift store he found and a shop worker told us about the interactive wands at 

This is such a cool experience for young magicians. Using each child's birthday, the shop workers help the children pick out a special wand that's just for them. Garrett actually ended up picking a random date to get his personal wand because he didn't like the wand associated with March. These personal wands are all from the interactive wands section which means the kids (and some adults, mom & I) get to perform magic within  Remember, magic is forbidden in muggle world. The wands come with a map showing the locations of interactive displays where the magic happens.

Performing magic!

We explored Diagon Alley and rode the Escape from Gringott's ride, which is a 3-D multi-dimensional ride and it's AMAZING. There are videos of it on YouTube but, if you're planning a trip in the future, don't spoil the ride by watching those videos. After we escaped Gringott's we walked around Diagon Alley a bit more and at step 9,034 G drank some babbling potion mixed in Gilly Water.

A little later he tried some butter beer which he didn't love but mom and I did. The frozen butter beer is even better. (Thanks Nicole for that tip!)

We then went back to the Hogwarts Express so we could explore Hogsmeade but the train was down so we walked through Universal Studios and rode the Minions ride, which is also pretty cool. Universal has done such a good job making Harry Potter World seem like separate areas that when Garrett was walking through Universal he said "I have to get out of this muggle world!" At one point, later in the day, we did take the Hogwarts Express from Diagon Alley to Hogsmeade and I'm so glad we did because going through the wall at platform 9 3/4 was G's favorite part of the whole trip!

Right after he went through the wall

Back in we trekked up to to ride  Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. I loved the Gringott's ride but I may have loved this ride even more. Getting on and off is tricky because the seats keep moving and there's a people mover under your feet but, setting that aside, the ride is nothing short of spectacular. Again, skip the YouTube videos and experience it firsthand.

Waiting in line for Forbidden Journey

Garrett also really enjoyed the Hippogriff ride and rode it three times. It jerked me around too much so I was once and done. These are the pics from my one ride.

Hagrid's House

Buckbeak

We spent 10 hours at Universal and ended our day with Cheeseburgers in Paradise at Margaritaville. It was a great day and we ended it at step 19,243.

Day 3: 

At zero steps for the day Garrett crawled in bed with me and said "Mama, I learned a lot about Jews and work camps this summer." This summer he watched half of the movie The Boy with the Striped Pajamas and he became engrossed in the novel Prisoner B-3087. I let him because the current "us versus them" rhetoric scares me. He went on to tell me that he thinks it is terrible that the Jews were treated so horribly and he doesn't think God was too happy about it. (For sure He wasn't.) As I cuddled my 8-year-old boy part of me was sad that his innocence is trickling away while another part of me was happy that he possesses a great deal of compassion. 

Garrett and I met my dear friend Kelly and her kiddos, Ryan and Katie, at Disney's Hollywood Studios while mom hung back at Rebe's and chilled for the day. Garrett immediately recognized what a sweet person Kelly was and told me "she's so nice." She really is, she's definitely one of the top five nicest people I've ever known. Sometimes you have to spend time with someone to understand how much you missed them. I missed this girl! Garrett loves Star Wars right behind Harry Potter so we chose Hollywood Studios as our starting point because it's got the Star Tours ride. We started at the Star Wars Launch Pad and watched a movie telling us about the upcoming movies in the Star Wars franchise and we saw some conceptual art of the new Star Wars parks Disney will be adding. I am a huge Star Wars fan and I can't wait to geek-out at the new attractions! Um, so anyway, we also ran across some Jawas at Launch Pad.

  

and we narrowly avoided Storm Troopers

after which we perused the Star Wars artifacts

Millennium Falcon's Chess Board

Then we walked over to ride Star Tours, which is a simulator that's been around for quite a while and is still pretty cool. On the way, Kelly pointed out that one of our graphics projects had been taken down the year before. (Kelly works at Disney, so she's in the know on all things Disney.) I'm posting a pic of it here to memorialize it. It was pretty cool.

The 122' Sorcerer's Hat.

We saw C-3PO and R2D2 at the Star Tours ride.

Kelly treated Garrett to Kylo Ren's light saber and I got him a Jedi robe. He's a full-on youngling now.

My youngling

After a quick lunch we rode Tower of Terror, an oldie but goodie. G loved it and decided it was his 3rd favorite thing on this trip.

Ryan, Katie and Garret in line for Tower of Terror

G & K being scared before T of T

Kelly and kids took their leave of us to get weekend organizing done and we tooled around Disney for a little while longer before heading back to Rebe's. We ended day 3 after 24,353 steps.

Day 4: Cocoa Beach

A beach day is a relatively inexpensive way to enjoy Florida and, in theory, relax. We chose Cocoa Beach, visited Ron Jon Surf Shop and lunched at the Cocoa Beach Pier. We stayed at the Hilton Beachfront hotel and rented G a boogie board. This had to be the best $10 I've ever spent. He loved it and never came out of the water. It was his 2nd favorite thing on this trip.

I spent a lot of time in the water making sure Garrett was good with the waves. He is a strong swimmer thanks to Dr. Nancy Obsorn and crew at USAO's swim lessons. I am so glad we went year after year for his lessons. As I was in the water fighting the waves over and over again a theory dawned on me. People who live at the beach are stereotyped as being laid-back. I think this may be because they swim in the ocean and fight the waves. You get a lot of frustration out fighting those waves and it exhausts you so you sleep well. A method for expelling frustration and an abundance of good sleep almost has to be a recipe for laid-backness.

We logged another 6,792 steps in Cocoa Beach ending the day at 31,145.

We flew back to OKC early Monday morning and on the flight home G told me this was the Best. Vacation. Ever. I ended the trip with a renewed interest in theme parks, these new rides are fantastic and I really enjoy my kid having fun. My inner-geek simply cannot wait for the new Star Wars adventures!