Florida – Fifty State Family

Swimming with the Manatees. And in my own urine.

About an hour and a half from Orlando is Crystal River; a town that is home to Kings Bay – a spring fed river system that has also been designated a National Wildlife Refuge specifically to protect the manatees that seek its warmer waters in the winter. Florida has over 900 springs and they generally stay at a constant 72 degrees year-round. The manatees get too cold in the Gulf of Mexico when the waters there go below 68 degrees and they come further inland to survive the winter temperatures. They do this over much of Florida, but Crystal River hosts the most West Indian Manatees in the world.

Capitalizing on this migration of the manatees to places further inland, there are a variety of dive shops that will hire out a boat for a fairly reasonable rate (around 50 bucks per person) and the captain will take you to an area in the bay where the manatees congregate. Our captain supplied us with snorkeling gear, wet suits, and hot chocolate for after the swim. It was so peaceful and beautiful, and it was just us and one other boat in the area. My 8-year-old daughter and I shimmied into our wetsuits and stepped down the ladder off the boat into the water. Those of you who have been in a wetsuit before would know that the suit keeps you warm by trapping a layer of water between it and your skin, and it’s your own body temperature that heats up the water inside the suit in order to keep you warm. I had not been in a wetsuit before and did not know this, but as I entered the water, I suddenly understood why there was hot chocolate offered at the end of the swim. 72-degree water is pretty chilly.

Once accustomed to the water, my daughter and I got our snorkels on and headed over to the rope line that marks the area where only manatees may enter. There were more manatees than I could count on the protected side of the rope line. Occasionally a manatee would leave the protected area and swim right underneath us, and in the clear water, the view was outstanding. One particularly big manatee went past us on its way to the nearby Three Sisters Spring, and we were so close we could see the algae flow on its back as it swam. On others we could see the propeller scars from accidents with boats that were going too fast for the poor lumbering creatures to dodge. By “we” could see, I mean really that “I” could see. The 8-year-old was not much into putting her face into the water. Probably a good thing to note BEFORE you pay for a snorkeling experience.

We followed one manatee to Three Sisters, which was surrounded by rock outcroppings and we swam around to look at the fish swimming all around. It was at this point that I became completely and utterly distracted by the need to pee. That kind of unrelenting, all-consuming urge to pee that prevents you from noticing you’re swimming above a manatee in a purely clear, white-sand bottomed spring. My daughter was and remains disgusted with me, but I peed right there in spring. I took care of the situation the only way I could, really, and quickly came to the realization that when you pee in a wetsuit, your pee stays IN the wetsuit. So now I was swimming around trapped in my own urine. Warmer, yes, but is pee-induced warmth really that gratifying? I say no.

We made our way back to the boat, swimming through the narrow inlet that lead back and forth from Three Sisters and watching as manatees occasionally passed under us to head back and forth as well. Sadly, when we got back to our boat, we discovered that many more boats had arrived while we were by the spring, and an entire human chain was hovering around the rope line waiting for manatees to leave. Things like this, as well as people harassing the manatees, trying to touch and hitch a ride on them, and the general increase of human activity around the manatee’s safe zone are all issues that have created the controversy that surround the swim-with-a-manatee business.

Based on this information, which I did not know before I went myself, I would not go again, nor recommend it to others. But I can definitely advise you to find a bathroom before getting into a wet suit.

Fort Wilderness at Christmas-time

I wasn’t even aware there was this much variety in Santa Mickeys.

On a beautiful Florida winter day, my dad, my daughters, and I went for a day visit to Fort Wilderness. We weren’t staying at the campground, and we weren’t going to any of the parks, but we do like to take advantage of as many free and cheap things to do on Disney property as possible. On this day, we had reserved a golf cart to tool around Fort Wilderness, with the specific intention of driving through the campsite loops once darkness fell in order to see the Christmas lights that the campers put out at their site. I had heard about how the people who stay in RVs and pop ups, and even tent campers put up Christmas lights and displays around their campsites at Christmas and I thought it would be fun to rent the golf cart and check it out.

I had made a reservation for the golf cart months in advance, and if the weather would have been bad, too rainy or too cold, we could have cancelled before 24 hours – but the weather was lovely; partly sunny and 78 degrees. We picked up our cart around 1pm and drove it the length of Fort Wilderness all the way to the end where the restaurants and boat launches are that people take over the to Magic Kingdom. Because I am a cheapskate, we had a packed lunch which we ate on a covered porch while we listened to pleasantly rustic instrumental versions of Christmas songs. The kids ran to the playground while my dad and I lingered on the rocking chairs and enjoyed the music and the weather.

We walked around and found the Tri-Circle D Ranch where the horses that work on Disney property are housed. These are the horses that pull the trolleys down Main Street, pull the wagons that tour Fort Wilderness and Port Orleans Riverside, and pull the wedding carriages. We learned by talking to one of the cast members that the horses go through an intricate training period – where they work in lower populated areas, such as the wagon rides at Fort Wilderness (for the rookies), and graduate up to Main Street. We walked along the beach, watched the pony rides, checked out the gift shop, and then took the boat shuttle over to the Contemporary Resort where we were able to take the resort loop monorail around to the Polynesian and Grand Floridian hotels to check out their Christmas decorations.

We returned to Fort Wilderness around dusk, loaded into the golf cart, and sped off at 15 miles an hour, eager to see the decorations. I was not prepared for the level of enthusiasm shown by the campers. People had lights dripping off the hoods of their campers, strung up all around the camper roof lines, along paths to their camp sites, Christmas vignettes arranged in the front windshields of their RVs, Mickey lamps with Santa hats, nativity scenes, and more blow-ups than I have ever seen in my life, both Disney and non-Disney themed. Mr. Potato Head, Olaf, Sully, reindeer stalls with each of Santa’s reindeer in them – each moving. Star Wars characters, polar bears, and more Santa Mickey’s than you can imagine. I can’t even begin to list the variety of inflatable décor that we rolled past. It was truly incredible. I’m not familiar with the RV world, but from what I gather, there’s quite a feeling of community and that vibe was clear and present here– and what made this collection of Christmas displays all the more Christmas-y.

The pathway went around the perimeter of the campsite to allow visitors to walk around and see all the lighted displays, and a table of Christmas figurines. The castle was actually a front someone placed around their RV!

This was such a festive and impressive display, that the girls and I repeated the experience on another non-park visit to Florida. This time it was cooler weather, and as the evening temperatures dropped and the breeze on our little golf cart got a bit chillier, we stopped at the Settlement Trading Post, the gift shop and camping supply store in the middle of the campgrounds, and grabbed a hot chocolate to drink as we tooled around.

While looking at this image, mentally add some slightly twangy instrumental Christmas music and a view of Bay Lake.

I highly recommend this experience whether or not you are visiting the parks at Christmas-time. In fact, it might be a great thing to do especially if you’re visiting the parks at Christmas-time. Walt Disney World at Christmas can make a magical time of year even more magical, but it’s also very crowded and it can be easy to get caught up in the crowds and rush. Hanging out at Fort Wilderness might just be the peaceful, casual, festive activity that can relax the family, slow the pace, and help everyone enjoy each other and their time together. I know it is one our family’s favorite Christmas memories!

Fishy Green Ale

My older daughter and I are fangirls over the Harry Potter universe (and also zombies, but that’s a post for another day) and during a visit to Orlando, she and I made sure to get over to Universal Studios Orlando to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. You have to have park tickets for both Universal Studios AND Islands of Adventure in order to see all of the Harry Potter attractions (grumble), but we paid that premium and for us, it was well worth the money. We spent 9 of the 12 hours the park was open entirely in The Wizarding World. We marveled at window décor, we stared at the ceilings in the stores, we read the handbills on shop fronts. We spent a significant amount of time looking at wands in a shop that could have been straight out of the books and movies – rather the point, actually. We sat on the stairs by Gringotts and watched magical signs change, the dragon breathe fire, and the hustle and bustle of people in Diagon Alley. We did spells with the interactive wands and generally took advantage of everything the Wizarding World had to offer. Including Fishy Green Ale.

Butter Beer is the go-to flavor experience of choice among visitors to the Wizarding World. You can get it in soda form, you can get it warm, frozen, as ice-cream, as custard, and as fudge. But, if you look around, past all the hoards with their Butter Beers, you’ll see a couple of brave souls holding a cup of green liquid with blue popping bubbles in the bottom, and that is Fishy Green Ale.

Not a great picture of Fishy Green Ale, but you get the idea; a milky, mint green cold drink with blueberry popping bubbles.

The drink is described as being minty with a hint of cinnamon with blueberry juice filled bubbles that pop and release the juice in your mouth when you bite down on them. I was perplexed by the flavor profile. Mint and cinnamon? But I promise you, it’s not strongly mint, and I wouldn’t have guessed cinnamon. And of course, who can resist topping off a milky mint/cinnamon drink with a pop of blueberry surprise in your mouth? We couldn’t, that’s who. But this is definitely a drink it took us a while to decide if we liked. The evolution went a little like this:

Ugh, what?

Hmm. Let me try that again.

Is that really mint?

Gross!

Okay, maybe not that bad actually.

Come on, Rowling, who would even think this up?

Let me try that again…

Is that…blueberry?
I don’t think I like this, but I’m not sure.

I kinda like this.

I have a set of pictures featuring my daughter’s face as she struggled to process this drink, but as she is a private person and doesn’t like her picture everywhere, I have drawn a recreation below.

I would almost definitely recommend you try the Fishy Green Ale. Maybe not. You might like it. You probably will.

The dragon above Gringotts that breathes fire at random intervals in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

The Real Disney Dream – Dropping off your Kids

My mom, my two daughters and I went on our first Disney cruise this last June – the first time on a cruise ever for me and my girls – and I have many favorite things about my experience on the Disney Dream. I will have several entries about my cruise here at some point, but for now, let me tell you about one of those favorite things: Kid’s clubs!

I love my children. Which includes my youngest daughter. But let me tell you that one of the highlights about my recent Disney cruise was the fact that I got some time without her. That sounds awful, and is the kind of sentence that, if she reads it now, would make her sad. So I won’t show this to her. But her future self is totally going to get it.

When we first boarded the ship, we did what most newbies did, and toured it. One of the first things we checked out was the kid’s clubs. Here’s the thing; the Disney cruise line has excellent kid’s clubs. One of them, Edge, is just for ages 11-14 and my social little girl took to it immediately. I mean, don’t get me wrong, we did plenty of family stuff; meals together, Castaway Cay, shows, hanging out on the deck, the Aquaduck, and the pool, but it was also very nice to be able to hang out in the kid-free zone of the ship and just relax as only adults without little kids present can. Quietly.

In preparation for our cruise experience, I had YouTubed the Disney Dream and knew that there was a kids club for ages 3-12 called the Oceaneer’s Lab that looked ultra-themed and really cool and it was where I figured my 11-year-old would like to hang out when she wanted to do kid’s stuff. It has directed activities such as building race cars, making cookies, a science station, and a detective mystery to solve. There are also movies, navigation simulators, video games, an animation studio, a craft studio, and all kinds of kids to play with. There’s security, too, kids cannot check themselves in or out on their own and there are several cast members manning the ingress and egress gates of the club. Everyone has to register to be able to go to the club, and all the information pops up on a screen for the cast member to see – your stateroom number, allergies, and any other pertinent information. Right next door is the Oceaneer’s Club. Also designed for ages 3-12, this area has several specifically themed play rooms; Andy’s room, Pixie Hollow, and a Millennium Falcon room. There’s a magical interactive play floor, and more directed activities here as well; A Jedi training experience, story time, and Playtime with Mickey – where Mickey and pals will play games and puzzles with the kids.

The hours of these clubs? 9 am to m-i-d-n-i-g-h-t. This means you have free babysitting – where the kids will have a ball – at almost any time of day, during the entire length of your cruise. The great thing is the Disney cruise can be as family-friendly as you want it to be; if you want someplace for your child to play for an hour, for the length of a quiet dinner, at night while you go to the silent disco, or while you tour Nassau, you can be (almost) assured that your child will have fun. I say “almost” because I did witness a pretty sad sight one day as I was passing by the Oceaneer’s Club; a small boy, no more than five, who had been crying up in the area by the gates where the cast members monitor who is being signed in and out. I happened by during what must have been a shift change and one cast member was explaining to the other that the child had been there since 9am (it was 3 when I passed by), and had been upset for the whole time, and his parents had not come for him. My heart broke for the little guy. While I certainly did enjoy my child-free moments on the cruise, this was just a very long time to leave a sad little boy and not come back for him.

There is, by the way, It’s a Small World Nursery, for kids ages 6 months to 3 years. This service is one that you need to reserve ahead of time and does charge for its services, but a very nominal fee.

There are clubs for the older kids, as well – Edge (ages 11-14), and Vibe (ages 14 – 17), on different areas of the ship from where the younger kid’s clubs are. And while the Oceaneer Club and the Oceaneer Lab were so cool, Edge is where my daughter was drawn to. It’s a bit lighter on the theming, one might say “more mature” if one was eleven, but just like the younger kid’s clubs, Edge has both organized and independent activities to choose from. My daughter participated in a dance competition, trivia, and learned how to draw a Disney character. There was always a movie playing, plus video games, foosball, dodgeball, and other activities such as a pirate challenge and improv. My daughter’s favorite thing? Meeting and hanging out with other kids. For this club, unlike the clubs for the younger kids, parents do not sign kids in and out. The kids can come and go as they please. This meant that if a kid got hungry, they simply walked down one flight of stairs and went to the buffet, or the ice-cream machine or the drink station, or – who are we kidding, the ice-cream machine. This lack of signing in and out is also what made me wary of this service at first.

You see, I am a bone fide worst-case-scenario worrier. I don’t have a stomach ache; its most definitely a tumor. My kids aren’t just out of my sight for a minute; they’re definitely kidnapped. So for me to let my 11-year-old go back and forth to Edge on her own is a testament to how secure I felt once I got familiar with how things worked on the ship. A fantastic feature, and the one that put me most at ease, was the set of Wave phones that are located in the stateroom. I have a cell phone, but my daughter doesn’t. And you don’t get great cell service on board anyway. But the Wave phones are a courtesy service that is designed to help parties communicate on the ship despite spotty cell service. At first, I just saw it as expensive tech on our desk in the stateroom and told my kid to leave it alone. But she insisted with a confidence in technology that only those under age 25 have, and we gave the phones a try. It was great! I could contact her from anywhere on board. She could phone me when she got to the club and phone me when she was hungry and going down for food (ice-cream). I could phone her when it was time to meet up again for dinner or a show. Or just to see her and tell her I love her (in case she reads this before adulthood).

The option of a kid’s club made our cruise so relaxing. My youngest daughter’s love of Edge allowed my mom and I some time to just hang out together on the forward deck or to go to the spa – and it also allowed for my older daughter to have some time with just her and her grandma. So, while the Disney Dream is a wonderful family experience, the kids club help you to customize what that experience looks like and gives everyone a little of what they want!

Things to do in the Magic Kingdom in the Rain

Look super-cool wearing ponchos
Laugh at husband who is too cool to wear a poncho and is dripping wet
Enjoy the lower crowds since THIS MUCH RAIN means more sensible people have left the park
Get frigidly cold every time you enter any indoor space because despite ponchos, you are still somehow wet and the A/C is cranked up
Dance in the puddles during the Tomorrowland Dance Party
Realize why you’re so wet despite wearing ponchos
Go under the water-misting robot just for the irony
Save poncho for next day to wear on water rides, primarily to embarrass your family

We did not die at Payne’s Prairie.

If walking your snack-sized children unprotected through alligator infested prairie land sounds like a great time to you, then I recommend Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. It is conveniently found just a few miles off I-75 for easy access on your way to or from Orlando; when your children become jaded by the animatronic animals at the Disney Parks, treat them to actual mortal peril and they just may become more appreciative of the idyllic Disney version. Or, better yet, maybe they’ll actually love Wild Florida!

We went to the La Chua trail which is a walking trail through the far north end of the 32 square mile preserve, and although I had nothing to offer as proof, I assured the kids they would not be eaten by alligators. The trail starts off paved and winds under some giant old oak trees draped in Spanish moss. We passed under an old train trestle and through a barn. Here we got an exciting preview of what we would see; on the wall of the barn is a white board and markers for visitors who are exiting the park to leave messages for those who are entering. People left lists of things they had seen: herons, wild pigs, deer, snapping turtles, snakes, and one person described seeing an alligator jump up and try to snatch a bird. We also knew from the ranger at the entrance that there were bison and wild horses, one with a baby.

Continuing on, past the signs that ascertained our certain death should we approach any and all wildlife, the paved trail became a boardwalk, taking us past the Alachua Sink. We watched herons picking their way through the water hyacinths and smaller black birds flit right on top of them. They did not attempt to harm us.

The boardwalk came to an end and a packed earth trail running beside the Alachua Sink began. The Sink is a huge water-filled sink-hole and when the water level is high and backed up, the prairie becomes a giant shallow lake where alligators like to congregate. A seriously unbelievable amount of alligators. My older daughter was the first to spot them. On the opposite bank of the Sink were about 20 alligators basking in the sun. Cool. We continued on and in another few yards we came upon a 10 foot alligator right off the trail basking in the sun. Cooler. We were within thirty feet and on the same patch of land as this wild alligator. Standing there in such close proximity to this huge creature with no fence to separate us was so surreal and unforgettable. It was right there! I picked up my toddler.

As we continued along the trail, we saw a few gators that were swimming – just heads moving forward in the water – and several much smaller gators in the shallow water on the sides of path. We also saw a couple of really big, brown wild pigs eating on the opposite side of the Sink. Further up, because of recent heavy rain, the trail was submerged. Not much, about ankle deep. I figured we were hearty enough to ford a smallish alligator infested waterway. The kids thought we were absolutely not. I pointed out to them that I saw some guy who passed us on his way back to the entrance with muddy feet and carrying his Tevas, so he must have crossed and survived. My oldest child wisely pointed out that we don’t know how many people he started out with. True, but as he didn’t appear to be in shock and mourning, I figured no deaths had occurred and I could carry the toddler across, lest she be eaten. It really was only a little water so we trekked, bare feet squishing through the thick mud that stank of sewer, the 10 feet or so to the unsubmerged part of the trail. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it very far before there was another part of the trail that was submerged, and this time I couldn’t see around the bend of the trail to verify lack of alligators or poisonous snakes, so we ended up turning back.

The full trail is about three miles, and there is no shade along the way, so be prepared with sunscreen and water.

Our visit to Paynes Prairie was a completely unforgettable experience. I will be returning and hopefully can make the whole circuit. We were there for probably an hour and a half, so it’s not a long day’s outing. If you’re squeamish about being eaten by an alligator yet still want to appreciate the native Florida wildlife, there are other parts of Payne’s Prairie to see. The La Chua trail is several miles away from the official park entrance, and from that entrance, you can walk a paved trail and climb an observation tower so you can enjoy the animals from a more protected vantage point.