‘Orlando’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Review: Kona Cafe {Polynesian Resort, Disney World}

May 29, 2013 · Narrative

If money were no object and someone asked for a hotel recommendation at Disney World, I will always recommend the Polynesian Resort. When we visited Disney a few years ago, when Nick was four, we found ourselves continuing to go back to the Polynesian Resort time and time again.

For, what I consider, the best gift shop out of all the resorts.

For the awesome character family-style breakfast and dinner at ‘Ohana.

For the gorgeous environment.

And now, after our most recent trip, I can say that another draw of this particular resort is that they have the self-serve Dole Whips, a must-eat when visiting Disney World.

When we arrived on the Friday night of our weekend away, after checking into our hotel, we headed straight over to the Polynesian Resort, intent on killing two birds with one monorail trip.

Dinner. And (our first ever) Dole Whip.

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Visit: Sea World {Orlando, Florida}

May 28, 2013 · Narrative

If you’ve been reading Sweetnicks for any length of time, or know Madeline in real life, it’s no surprise that she’s obsessed with dolphins.

Like obsessed.

She can rattle off random dolphin and other sea mammal facts like no other, and it’s a healthy interest that hasn’t waned in the last few years.

If she ends up being a trainer at Sea World or working with dolphins in some other capacity, I can safely say I predicted it way back when.

When we went on our Spring Break vacation back in March, and we were very close to a Sea World location, I tried my darnedest to get us there. But because a visit to Sea World wasn’t offered as an excursion, it meant I would have had to rent a car, which is fine. But our ship didn’t dock until 1 pm, Sea World was about an hour and a quarter away, and even though Sea World was open later, the car rental would have to be returned by 6 pm. There was just no way to make it work that would preserve both my sanity and my wallet, try as I might.

But I had a back-up plan.

When the location of the Food Blogger Forum was announced as Orlando, I knew I’d have another chance.

Anything for my kids.

So the Food Blogger Forum weekend arrived, and all the surprises came out. A plane trip. A weekend away. Disney World.

And oh! Hey! We’re going to Sea World! You can touch dolphins!

She could not have been happier.

Weekend Photos in Review {DisneyWorld + Food Blogger Forum}

May 21, 2013 · Narrative

When it comes to blogging, there are definitely some wonderful opportunities and perks. Which is a nice balance for all the effort we put into our work, both in what you see and behind the scenes. One such opportunity was the Food Blogger Forum this past weekend. When I found out that it was going to be held (for the second year in a row) at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, a plan quickly came together.

Bring the kids.

And don’t tell them anything.

You have no idea how hard a secret that was to keep. So many logistical details to arrange. Several friends slipped in front of the kids last week, but thankfully they didn’t catch on. Nick was invited to two birthday parties and a sleepover for this weekend, and just couldn’t understand why he couldn’t go. Just trust me.

Madeline has been dying to go on a plane for the past eight months or so (she has never flown), and mentions it rather frequently, so that was going to be a surprise for her all by herself. Not to mention the actual destination (and the extra surprise I had for them on Sunday).

I made our flight reservations to leave on midday Friday, and sent them off to school none the wiser. They each had notes in their backpacks to alert their teachers that I would be picking them up early, but the kids had no idea.

As soon as they were both in school, I quickly finished packing and taking care of last minute details.

I had decided to have as much fun as I could with telling them (because I had kept the secret for so! very! long!), and broke it up a bit into pieces (the plane, and then the destination).

First, I picked up Nick. He wasn’t completely shocked to see me (the kid has a crazy intuition like no other that really is unnerving sometimes). He got in the car and asked what was going on. I told him that we were going to pick up his sister next and then I would fill them in.

I saw her walking down the hall towards me, wringing her little hands. I bent down, took her hands in mine, gave her a kiss, and told her not to worry. That nothing was wrong, and it was a good surprise. Her teacher told her the same thing.

Once they were both in the car, I gave them each a wrapped package and told them that this would be their first clue as to what was going on.

(The only thing they knew is that we had plans of some sort on Saturday)

They opened up the packages, which contained small United planes. Did you know you can get planes for practically every major airline on Amazon? I thought it was perfect.

They saw the planes and asked all sorts of questions. I said that we were going away for the weekend, on a plane, and then when we got to the airport, I would tell them where we were going.

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