Disney Springs 2021

After spending time at Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, we took the weekend off to rest.  On Saturday morning we checked out of our hotel and had plans to check in to our next lodging later that afternoon.  To pass the time we went to Disney Springs.  I had read online about their Christmas Tree Stroll and thought it would be a fun idea to try.  

Pre-covid they had a section dedicated to Disney themed Christmas trees that you could walk through.  We did that back in 2017 and loved it!  Now, they spread the trees all throughout Disney Springs.  The Christmas Tree Stroll is like a scavenger hunt to find all of the trees.  You pick up a map at participating locations and set out to find each one. We got our map at Planet Hollywood.  When you find a tree, you put the themed sticker on your map to mark the spot.  It was fun, free, and a great way to pass some time.

 

 

the Frozen tree

 

the Moana tree

 

 

the Toy Story tree

 

the Star Wars tree

 

In between hunting trees, we made a stop by the M&M store.

 

Our map partially completed.  There are 20 trees in all to find. I wish I had taken more photos of each one.  They were all really cute.

 

It was a beautiful, sunny day.  I love to watch the hot air balloon go up and down.  We got to ride in it during our 2017 Disney trip.

 

Everything at Disney Springs looked very festive for the holidays.

 

When you complete your map you return it to the same location.  Your "prize" was this button.

 

 

The boys with their maps and buttons.

We had planned to eat lunch at Chicken Guy! like we did back in 2020, but it was very hot and extremely crowded that day at Disney Springs.  Instead, we left and went to eat at a  Chick-fil-A that was close-by.

 

 

This Guatemala coffee sign was on display at Chick-fil-A.  We remembered it from our last visit there.

 

We picked up some groceries and then checked in to a nearby condo where we would spend the next week.  Thanks to a friend, we got to enjoy the condo for a fraction of the cost. The rest of the weekend was spent watching SEC football, swimming in the pool, and resting.   

 

On Monday we had a park reservation for Hollywood Studios.  I will share about that day next.

Flying to Vegas (Road Trip out West Post 1)

This trip served many purposes.  The main purpose was to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.  We also made it a field trip and just overall fun family vacation.  Everything about it was amazing!  In my next several posts I'll break down our trip and share with you some of the fun memories we made.  

We initially planned for the trip to start in Phoenix.  We were flying with SkyMiles so I had been keeping a watch on flights for months.  I was checking Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, and even Albuquerque.  The tickets for Las Vegas dropped the most so we decided to fly in and out of there.

                                            leaving our home in Antigua heading to the airport

                                       The boys played with Lego's while we waited to board.

                                                          at the Guatemala City airport

We were scheduled to leave Guatemala at 1:00 p.m. and arrive in Las Vegas at 12:20 a.m.  (I was thinking that was late.) We were about an hour late leaving Guatemala but still had plenty of time to make our connection flight in Atlanta.

                                              boarded for the Guatemala City to Atlanta flight

                                                  We were very excited to be flying again!!!

                              We enjoyed getting to see the tops of the volcanoes from our window.

                              First meal in the U.S.A.- Chik fil A.  We could not wait to eat there!

Just before boarding time in Atlanta they announced that our flight would be delayed.  We were almost three hours late leaving.  That put us arriving in Las Vegas around 3:30 a.m. and getting to our hotel around 4:30 a.m.  Not a great way to start a long road trip but we made the best of it. 

We passed the hours letting the boys run around the airport.  They loved going back and forth on these walkways.

 

We also rode the train for what seemed like hours.  We just got on and stayed.  It was great entertainment for the boys.  

We enjoyed seeing this lunch box exhibit in the airport.  It was a fun trip down memory lane for David and I.  I was a little sad not to see my Holly Hobbie one though.

                                             boarded for the flight from Atlanta to Las Vegas

                                            the lights were so pretty as we got close to the city

 

Yay!  We arrived.

                                                                 We were tired but excited.

Looking at the city lights from the airport parking garage while we waited on our car to be delivered.  I felt bad that someone had to get out at that time of the morning and bring it to us!

We rented this Hyundai Accent through Turo.  It was our second time to use Turo and we have had positive experiences both times.  It is like the Airbnb for car rentals.  They are in many major cities.  Check them out if you need a rental.

We drove to our hotel and tried to get a little rest before starting our trip.

Next I'll post about our visit to the Hoover Dam.