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.

Hello Florida!

We recently returned from an amazing trip to Florida.  Our purpose in going was to attend a work meeting.  When we found out the meeting location would be Orlando I got busy planning us a few days of vacation before it started. My next several posts will be all about our trip.

I had mentioned an upcoming trip to Florida on my Christmas Day post.  The boys got a surprise box telling all about the trip.  Inside was a countdown chain for it.  We put it on our refrigerator that afternoon and began getting ready.  I had the chains divided into weeks meaning we had four weeks and three days from Christmas.  Lining it up like that made it easier to see how much longer we had to wait.

You can imagine their joy when it was finally time to pull off the last ring.  

We flew out early on a Sunday morning.  Our driver picked us up at 4:00 a.m. to take us to the airport in Guatemala City.  There was some confusion on the date.  The driver had also arrived at 4:00 a.m. the day before to pick us up.  Needless to say, our last day of packing and getting ready started early.  Add to it the fact that our power was out most of that day was not fun.  Anyway, this was a second attempt.  I am just glad the driver came back and we got to the airport without any issues.

 All boarded and ready to go!

A view from the plane in Guatemala City.

Guatemala City 

Somewhere over the ocean.

We flew American on the trip there.  I was so excited to see they served Dr. Pepper on the flight.  It is my favorite!!!

South Florida

 

The water and views were so beautiful!

Landing in Miami. It was my first time to fly through there.

It was one week before the Super Bowl.  There was a lot of advertising in the airport.

  

Next stop, Orlando.

Waiting on our vehicle at the Orlando airport.  For the few days we were there before our work meeting we rented a vehicle from a company called Turo.  I was very leery of it when David first mentioned it.  After a lot of research and reading reviews I warmed up to the idea.  Turo is a car sharing marketplace.  We have heard it described as the "Air B&B of car rentals".  We had a very positive experience and we would recommend it to anyone.  We would definitely use them again, if needed, on future travels.

Who doesn't get all excited when they see this sign?  

 Advertisements in the hotel lobby.

one of our favorite rides!

The hotel had a lot of sandy areas with hammocks.  The boys wasted no time heading out to play.

That night we ate at Cracker Barrel for supper.

We then stopped by a few souvenir shops on the way back to the hotel.

We got back to the hotel just in time to watch the fireworks from Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.  It was a pretty sight.

We began the next morning with a trip to Walmart.   I cannot tell you how excited we were!  The boys chanted "Walmart!, Walmart!, Walmart!" all the way there.  Yes, we have Walmart in Guatemala City but it is not the same.  Afterwards we headed to Disney Springs.  We passed under the sign again.  I think I took a picture every time.

Arriving at Disney Springs

I had read online about Guy Fieri's restaurant there and wanted to try it out.  It is called Chicken Guy. We went for lunch.  They serve chicken tenders with over 20 sauces plus salad bowls, sandwiches & fries.  The fries were our favorite part of the meal.  We would go back just for more of those.

They love to watch Guy on the Food Network.

I think he stopped at every water fountain he saw.  It was not because he was thirsty but just because he could.  We cannot drink the tap water here.  It always blows their minds while in the States that water comes out of those fountains and you can freely drink it. 

 A view from the Coca-Cola store.

A photo with the bear.

 grrrrrr......

We loved seeing Guatemala coffee for sale.

Visiting the Lego Store.

 

They got to learn how to operate this cool Lego machine.

Enjoying the fish at the Rainforest Cafe gift shop.

We spent the whole afternoon walking around.  It was so much fun!

That evening we had supper at Steak 'n Shake.

One last picture before bedtime.  It was hard to go to sleep because the next morning we would be up early heading to Magic Kingdom.   The excitement was off the charts!  I'll share about that fun day next.