Our Trip to Florida | Part 1 | The Adventuring Abbeys

Derrick & I have been planning a Florida trip for 2 years.
We originally said that we were going to go to Florida in the spring of 2020 – and well, you can connect the dots as to what happened & why we didn’t go.
So, as spring 2021 rolled around, we kind of looked at each other & said, “Well, are we going to plan a Florida trip or not?”

We are kind of spontaneous when it comes to planning trips. After being married for 11 years, I think we’ve found our grove in how we plan & execute road trips & the key seems to be “spontaneity”. In other words, as much as we talked about & formulated a rough game plan (& Derrick requested the time off) for a Florida trip, we didn’t actually book anything (like our Airbnb) until about 2 1/2 weeks before we left.
Is this a bit crazy? Yes.
Does it work for us? Yes.

So, off we went! From where we live in Pennsylvania, it’s about 15 hours to drive to Orlando, Florida.
Now, I’ll pause here, because I know, as soon as anyone hears: “Orlando”, they assume that means we went to Disney World. And, if you know my story (in a nutshell, I worked at Disney World in 2009), you’d probably place money on the assumption that, “Well, of course you did not drive all the way down to Florida & skip going to Disney World?!”
Well, we drove all the way down to Florida & skipped going to Disney World.
The reasoning was two-fold & simple (although heart-breaking). At the time of our trip, mask mandates were still strictly in place. If I’ve learned anything over this last year – it’s that I hate masks because they block my view of my beautiful daughter’s face. And I think that fact is contrasted even more fully because Leander has never had to wear a mask. So, while you see his big giant grin & see him laugh & can watch all of his expressions, all of Braelynn’s smiles & expressions are hidden behind a mask. And that breaks my heart. So, bottom line: I did not want to go to Disney World & have everyone’s faces hidden behind masks. I want to go to Disney & experience everything – including the joy on my children’s faces.
Secondly, because we planned our trip so last minute – we could not secure a reservation at Magic Kingdom at all during our time in Florida. Because of the reduced capacities parks are having to operate under, you have to make reservations to visit almost every park (as of the time of our trip in May 2021) and Disney World is no different. When we looked at maybe possibly making a reservation for going to Magic Kingdom, the earliest day we could go was June. So, that made our decision very very simple.
I was obviously heart-broken to be in Orlando & not able to go to Disney World, but I know that even if we could have squeezed a visit in, it wouldn’t have been what I wanted. So, I’m content to continue waiting.

Okay, with that explained, we hit the road for the longest road trip we’ve ever attempted!

*Disclaimer: about half of the photos in this post were taken with my “professional” camera, while the other half were taken with my iPhone 12 Pro (which has an amazing camera in it).

Remember how I said we seem to thrive in spontaneity? We did not book a hotel for our drive down. We left on Friday afternoon, with the plan to simply drive as far as we could (with the hopes of driving at least 8 hours). We actually ended up driving almost 9 hours and finally stopped for the night in South Carolina, with just under 6 hours left to drive on Saturday.

The kids did amazing in the car – we were so happy (and so impressed). We had tons of snacks, sticker books, coloring books, their favorite toys, the iPad was loaded with tons of new shows & movies, and we brought our Nintendo Switch so Braelynn could play Mario. The drive went way smoother than we’d even hoped & we were so thankful!

We rented an Airbnb in Kissimmee, Florida.
My one prerequisite for where we stayed was that I wanted our own private hot tub & thankfully, I was able to find a townhouse with a private hot tub! Our Airbnb was in a private, gated community – we had 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a washer & dryer, a kitchen, and yes: a hot tub.
I won’t lie: coming home every night after a long day in an amusement park – it was the most amazing thing to put our kids to bed, and then relax for an hour or two in the hot tub with Derrick. Seriously: it was one of the best parts of our vacation. (And honestly: reflecting back, I think it’s what kept us from waking up every morning feeling sore & tired from hiking around an amusement park the day before – each morning we woke up, refreshed & ready to take on the next day.)

We had plans to visit several parks in Florida – including both Fun Spots (there is one in Kissimmee & one in Orlando). Since we got into our Airbnb early on Saturday, we spent our evening at the Fun Spot in Kissimmee, riding our first coasters of the trip.

Yes, Derrick’s face in this photo is my absolute favorite thing ever.

For our first full, official day in Florida, we went to Sea World Orlando.
Derrick & I have actually been to Sea World before – it was the day before we got engaged (and the day after my last day working at Disney World). Derrick flew down to Orlando in August 2009 to help me drive home from my time in Florida, & we went to Sea World (and Magic Kingdom) before we started our drive back to Pennsylvania.
I remember tiny pieces of being at Sea World in 2009, but I don’t remember much – so I felt like I was coming to a brand new park.

The Orca show was a massive hit – we all just loved it!

Can you tell – Braelynn was freezing in the penguin exhibit after being outside in the 95º weather!

We let Braelynn & Leander get into the hot tub that night & they loved it just as much as we did!

Day 2, we drove out to the west coast of Florida to visit Busch Gardens Tampa!

We didn’t realize it until we were entering the park, but Braelynn was tall enough to ride Scorpion – which is a looping roller coaster (in other words, it goes upside-down).
She’s never gone upside down on a roller coaster before, so this was a huge stepping stone for her! It literally made her Daddy’s heart burst with pride that she was so excited to ride & wanted to ride again & again.
(They’re in the front row of these next two photos.)

Day 3, we swapped our plans around a bit (after realizing that we were visiting Florida during Cinco De Mayo) and went to Sea World’s waterpark: Aquatica on our Day 3! We had a blast there – the kids just loved it!

After Aquatica, we stopped very quickly at the Fun Spot in Orlando – their wooden coaster (that Derrick was really looking forward to riding) was under construction, so we snagged a few rides on the other two coasters in the park & the carousel & called it a day.

That night, we decided to check out the pool & playground area that our Airbnb was in!

Day 4 took us back out to Busch Gardens Tampa!

I asked Braelynn to take Derrick & I’s photo and after taking the one on the left, she commanded us to “Kiss!” and she snapped the one on the right.

We stayed at Busch Gardens until mid-afternoon, when we headed out to find a beach!
Derrick & I aren’t huge beach people. We like to visit – stick our toes in the sand, ride a few waves, build a sandcastle – and then we’re done. Braelynn was SUPER pumped to visit a beach though, so off we went to Clearwater!

Don’t let these photos fool you: Leander was not impressed by the beach. He did not like walking in the sand, and then we got him down to the water & he hated the waves. Finally, the seagulls caught his attention & he chased them for a solid 20 minutes. After that – he had come to terms with the sand & water and was “okay” with it.

To Braelynn’s delight: she found tons of shells at the spot we were at at Clearwater Beach!

Day 5 (and our last day in Florida), we went back to Sea World. Overall, we had the best experience at Sea World, so we wanted it to be the last park we visited. And it did not disappoint.

Turns out, our kids do not like meeting characters (guess we’ll need to work on that before we go to Disney World!) At least Leander got this close before high-tailing it out of there – Braelynn would not let go of my shirt & hid behind me the whole time.

Real live big characters were terrifying – but these little statues were completely cool.

Our last night in the hot tub!

Day 6 of our vacation was a driving day. We wanted to visit Busch Gardens Williamsburg on our way home, which meant we needed to drive 11 1/2 hours when we left Florida. It was a long day in the car, but again, the kids did amazing and we made fantastic time (way better than we had hoped!!)

Day 7 found us at Busch Gardens Williamsburg (which is a park we’ve been to before – so we know & love it). The last time we were at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, I was very pregnant with Leander, so I couldn’t ride anything (in other words, I was very excited to visit & get back on my favorite coasters there!)

Just in case you were wondering what it looks like to go to an amusement park with a roller coaster enthusiast YouTuber, and his photographer wife – this pretty much sums it up (photo by Braelynn).

And that was (sadly) the end of our trip! Busch Gardens Williamsburg is only about 5 hours from home, so our last day of driving wasn’t too bad at all.

Honestly, our time away flew by (like every vacation does). We had the most delightful, run, & relaxing time, and honestly, I can’t believe it’s already over.
Don’t worry: since the trip went so smooth – we’re already trying to figure out when we can go back, and this time to visit Disney World!!

If you’ve made it this far – you deserve a gold star.
But I’m just here to say: there’s more. You know I took tons of video of our trip & I’ve compiled it all into a 10-minute highlight video. It’s my absolute favorite thing ever & I can’t stop watching it.
I figured this post was already WAY too long to add that video on at the end here though, so stay tuned – I’ll be posting that video on Thursday!!