News & Stories
With Spring Break, summer and a long winter holiday on the horizon, have you considered Orlando for vacation? Maybe you think your kids aren't old enough, the distance seems a bit too far, the crowds a bit overwhelming or the ticket costs make your heart skip a beat. For the second time in twelve months, I was faced with the fun, yet terrifying task of planning a trip to Orlando. Our first visit was pure leisure with seven days of Walt Disney World across the four parks. Our second visit was to support my husband running the Walt Disney World Marathon, so I knew I would need to plan a bit differently. Would it be possible to tone down Disney, crank up a little bit more of what Orlando has to offer and still have just as much fun? We had an amazing five days at Magic Kingdom, LEGOLAND Florida, Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament, Crayola Experience Orlando and Orlando Science Center and I'm sharing my tips for a magical vacation at a fraction of the cost.
Our Orlando trip was quite flexible and I was eager to visit Orlando Science Center, a favorite of our friends that live nearby. I knew the museum had exhibits for preschoolers but I wasn't so sure what to expect. Boy was I ever surprised! Imagine a science museum virtually ENTIRELY for kids! It was just our luck that we visited on the first day back to school from winter break for Orange County schools, so we had a lot of the museum to ourselves with mainly preschoolers, no tourist hordes and no field trips.
On a day of rest during our week-long Orlando trip, I mentioned to my oldest son that we had a special dinner planned. "Donuts?! I really hope it's donuts," was his response. Imagine his surprise when we approached a medieval castle! Our family was about to enter the Middle Ages to dine like kings and queens while cheering on knights at Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament.