So here I am writing this blog post at ten o'clock at night. My son and his bestie are fast asleep in my basement. My youngest daughter is sleeping over at her friends place. My oldest is in her room reading and my second oldest is due home any minute. I love knowing that I can book people's travel and make their dreams come true and write my blog and my kids are happy. I am no longer commuting 3 plus hours a day. Super is on the table at a reasonable hour and the kids enjoy extracurricular activities.
So if my children played such an active role in my decision to change my career and find one that would allow me to be home with them and be flexible to allow me to volunteer at school, go on field trips, run them to scouts and swimming and rainbow than I would have to believe they play a major role in how we vacation.
My mom stayed at home with us until my brother and I were in high school. She ran a daycare in the house for about a dozen years and then finally worked away from home. So for many years we survived as a one income family. It was much easier to back then, then it is now. However it also meant that we did not go on exotic vacations. We did many day trips to zoos and such and we did do a few years in Quebec City (driving) and Niagara Falls but that was it.
Our children are growing up with technology that has the world at their finger tips. My son is doing a summer reading and math program (it is not school, lol) and they are talking about the wildfires in BC. Kids know about Tornado Alley in the states. They have read about Tsunami's. Watching Youtube videos on everything from somebody playing your favourite video game, unwrapping kinder egg toys or checking out where you are going on vacation is super easy to do.
So do kids of today have bucket lists? At what age do you start asking them about travel? Do you think your kids play a role in where you go?
When we made the decision to go to Disney it was as much about me as it was the kids. Yes I have a bit of an obsession with all things Disney. I had never been to Disney as a child all my visits have been as an adult. I wanted to see the magic and excitement through their eyes and I did and because my son was so young hoping to get this again with our next visit.
When we decided on our next big family vacation that would also allow me to research for my travel business cruising was my choice. So with kids in mind I then had to narrow down to kid friendly cruise lines as well as itineraries and timing. So for Christmas 2016 we gave our children an envelope telling them we would be cruising December 2018 on the NCL Getaway and the ports would be Roatan, Harvest Caye, Costa Maya and Cozumel. They spent days watching videos on the ship and researching the destinations. Yes the vacation is far away but they are still very excited about it and talk about it all the time. This year for Christmas we are giving them another envelope this one will tell them that we will also be spending a week in Orlando in 2018 and doing Disney World and Universal.
So yes kids are very influential when it comes to family travel. Older kids may want to travel to destinations where they can provide a helping hand in some way. These opportunities exist or they may want to visit the places they are studying. My best friends son has a bucket list. One of his top destinations to visit is Japan. He is obsessed with Japan. He has done many school projects on the subject. Now as you can guess my friend is similarly Disney obsessed so she is hoping with the expansion of the Disney cruise line they will add Asia to their itineraries and that is how they will visit Japan and the Asian Disney parks.
So while I am busy planning our awesome vacation for 2018 I am also thinking ahead to the future and where I want to take my kids next in the pursuit of more on the job training. I am thinking a European Adventure may just be in the works to explore our Family History.
Drop me a comment and tell me how your children influence your travel!!!
Check me out www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca or www.exclusivetoyoutravel.com
www.facebook.com/stephaniethettravelagentnextdoor
Here is a video of the Getaway courtesy of Norwegian Cruise Lines
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UVP8fo2NsQ
Showing posts with label Universal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Universal. Show all posts
Thursday, 27 July 2017
Friday, 21 July 2017
Islands of Adventures -Seuss Landing
Universal was for the longest time a single park and then they did an expansion to include Islands of Adventure, City Walk now Volcano Bay and 5 on site hotels. Not too mention they have Harry Potters's Wizrding World that spans both parks. Islands of Adventure is broken up into several lands. I will be honest I have not been since 2001 so have not experiences Harry Potter for myself but this will be rectified as part of our December 2018 vacation.
So my favourite part of the Islands is Seuss Landing. I am a very big Dr, Seuss fan. Who doesn't love Horton, The Cat in the Hat, Mr. Brown and Sam I am. I grew up with these books and my children have grown up with these books.
Seuss Landing has three rides The Cat in the Hat. On this ride you hope on to a sofa and get to ride through the story book of what happens on a rainy day and your mom is not home. You can only imagine how your sofa will spin about to catch all the crazy action of the Cat along with Thing One and Thing Two. The second ride is the Caro-Seuss-el as you can guess all those crazy animals that Seuss have created in his books come to life as the animals on the Carousel. You will not find any horses here. I will be honest my mother and I both rode the Carousel (remember this visit was pre-kids) The last ride is One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. This ride you are in fish cars that go up and down and you can fire water at the other cars as well as hope to miss some of the spray, The day we went was rather cool so we did not brave this one. Although as you can imagine they are all relatively tame kid friendly rides.
There is a spot where you can see the egg and nest that Horton sat on and yes you can sit on it too. There is a show with the Grinch, the nameless character from Green Eggs and Ham and the Cat and the Hat (not too forget Thing One and Thing two). It is quite Circus McGurkus Cafe Stoopendous (they have character breakfasts here seasonally). Needless to say this section of the Islands is much tamer than the rest and will be a nice place to start or finish up especially for families will small children or with those who are young at heart.
Of course these pictures are from the non digital camera so they had to be scanned for you to enjoy!!
As always any questions or comments are always welcome and if you have a chance you can check me out at the following places!!
www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca or www.exclusivetoyourtravel.com
www.facebook.com/stephaniethatravelagentnextdoor
So my favourite part of the Islands is Seuss Landing. I am a very big Dr, Seuss fan. Who doesn't love Horton, The Cat in the Hat, Mr. Brown and Sam I am. I grew up with these books and my children have grown up with these books.
Seuss Landing has three rides The Cat in the Hat. On this ride you hope on to a sofa and get to ride through the story book of what happens on a rainy day and your mom is not home. You can only imagine how your sofa will spin about to catch all the crazy action of the Cat along with Thing One and Thing Two. The second ride is the Caro-Seuss-el as you can guess all those crazy animals that Seuss have created in his books come to life as the animals on the Carousel. You will not find any horses here. I will be honest my mother and I both rode the Carousel (remember this visit was pre-kids) The last ride is One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. This ride you are in fish cars that go up and down and you can fire water at the other cars as well as hope to miss some of the spray, The day we went was rather cool so we did not brave this one. Although as you can imagine they are all relatively tame kid friendly rides.
There is a spot where you can see the egg and nest that Horton sat on and yes you can sit on it too. There is a show with the Grinch, the nameless character from Green Eggs and Ham and the Cat and the Hat (not too forget Thing One and Thing two). It is quite Circus McGurkus Cafe Stoopendous (they have character breakfasts here seasonally). Needless to say this section of the Islands is much tamer than the rest and will be a nice place to start or finish up especially for families will small children or with those who are young at heart.
As always any questions or comments are always welcome and if you have a chance you can check me out at the following places!!
www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca or www.exclusivetoyourtravel.com
www.facebook.com/stephaniethatravelagentnextdoor
Tuesday, 4 July 2017
Walt Disney World
So as a Family Travel Specialist I of eat, sleep and breath Disney. The funny thing is I never went to Disney as a child. My first visit was January 1998 just after the huge Ice Storm. Many people in the outskirts of Ottawa were still without power.
Walt Disney Work was still celebrating their 25th Anniversary so Cinderella's Castle was still done up as a huge Birthday cake. Animal Kingdom had not yet opened and Hollywood Studios was called MGM and Disney Springs was Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island (an adult only venue in the evenings).
This vacation lead to my mother and I doing Disney 4 years in a row. We did branch out doing visits to see Busch Gardens in Tampa, Sea World, Kennedy Space Center, Discovery Cove and Universal which that first year only had the one park and has expanded greatly since then.
The nice thing is that these parks are constantly expanding and adding new things so your vacations will constantly evolve. It is "not" like being dragged to the same museum every summer on your family vacation.
2001 marked my last solo trip with my mom as shortly after that I met my husband and we married the following year. My parents continued to go to Disney together over the years bringing back presents and stories for their five grandchildren.
I finally got to return to Disney in August 2011 with my children, my husband, my parents and my brother and his family. Eleven of us together, 3 rooms at the All Star Movies Resort. First time ever visiting in the heat of the summer, and I have to tell you summer, Disney and I do not go hand in hand. So we are headed back to Disney in December 2018. Yes I have a countdown and yes it is painfully over 500 days away!!
This picture is courtesy of disneyeveryday.com (Norm Robbie). I would have used one of my own but when I went to Disney that year I still had a regular camera (digital were just coming out) and my pictures are currently packed away in a box.
Walt Disney Work was still celebrating their 25th Anniversary so Cinderella's Castle was still done up as a huge Birthday cake. Animal Kingdom had not yet opened and Hollywood Studios was called MGM and Disney Springs was Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island (an adult only venue in the evenings).
This vacation lead to my mother and I doing Disney 4 years in a row. We did branch out doing visits to see Busch Gardens in Tampa, Sea World, Kennedy Space Center, Discovery Cove and Universal which that first year only had the one park and has expanded greatly since then.
The nice thing is that these parks are constantly expanding and adding new things so your vacations will constantly evolve. It is "not" like being dragged to the same museum every summer on your family vacation.
2001 marked my last solo trip with my mom as shortly after that I met my husband and we married the following year. My parents continued to go to Disney together over the years bringing back presents and stories for their five grandchildren.
I finally got to return to Disney in August 2011 with my children, my husband, my parents and my brother and his family. Eleven of us together, 3 rooms at the All Star Movies Resort. First time ever visiting in the heat of the summer, and I have to tell you summer, Disney and I do not go hand in hand. So we are headed back to Disney in December 2018. Yes I have a countdown and yes it is painfully over 500 days away!!
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