We made a quick getaway to Florida between Thanksgiving and Christmas break this year, and it was wonderful! Early December may not be typical vacation time, but we decided to take some time off before Jeff's busy season at work starts and he gets consumed with accounting duties until the spring. Mary and Dean were our travel companions and we had a great time together! I used to think it would be weird to celebrate Christmas in a warm place, but after this trip I am convinced it would be the best thing ever.
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| Seriously, high 70's in December? A dream. |
A little sunshine therapy can go a long way. I'm hoping it will get me through another NEw England Winter : )
There was a BJ's restaurant right by our hotel, so a lunch stop there was imperative. Love their Pizzookies!
Our main objective for the trip was to see the new extension of Harry Potter World. Walking through King's Cross to enter Diagon Alley was so magical : )
Most of our pictures were taken at Harry Potter World. Yes we had access to all of Universal Studios, but Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade were so cool that we spent 99% of our time there!
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| If you dial 'MAGIC' into the receiver someone from the Ministry of Magic answers! |
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| Skulkin' aroung Knockturn Alley |
We almost bought Jeff this authentic Weasley sweater at Madam Malkins' Robes for all Occasions.
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| Platform 9 3/4 was amazing! |
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| An old prop from Half-Blood Prince? |
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| You get to ride the hogwarts express in actual train compartments! |
It was fun to visit Hogsmeade and Hogwarts Castle again during Christmas time!
We spent the next day at Disney World! Talk about an action packed vacation. Two parks are twice as much fun! And everything was all decked out for the holidays, it was beautiful.
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| I loved all of the christmas decorations covering the park |
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| happiest kids in the happiest place on earth |
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| Swiss Family Robinson Tree House makes for a pretty cool tour. |
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| The spitting camel |
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| Christmas Parade through Disney World |
We took a raft across the river to Tom Sawyer Island, which was really cool to explore. You could spend a good chunk of the day just navigating through the trails, caves, and forts that dot the island. We heard that Magic Kingdom hides five Tom Sawyer paint brushes around the island and if you find one you can turn it in to a disney staff member in exchange for a group fast pass. We were searching for a while when one of the "trail guides" told us they no longer did that. We were sorely disappointed. However, the gentleman did inform us that they were trying to reinstate this old tradition, so maybe next time we visit we can find ourselves a paint brush : )
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| Eye spy one Jeff somewhere in the fort |
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| Shootin' from the fort on Tom Sawyer Island |
I was really hoping one of us would be lucky enough to pull the sword from the stone. Alas, it was not to be ... this time anyway.
We rode roller coasters and tea cups until we were sick. Literally. We rode the tea cups so many times and spun that cup so fast that we all had to lie down for a good 25 minutes. But it was worth it.
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| The only good photo we got while spinning at tea cup lightspeed. |
On our last day in Florida we drove down the coast to Cocoa Beach. It was a little overcast, but the beach was still lovely. Jeff and I are jealous of the Florida waves.
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| bad hair day at cocoa beach |
Everything seemed to be in holiday decor, which was funny to see since it looked like summer. We kept the radio tuned to christmas music in our car and it sure put me in the mood for Christmas!
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| Christmastime in Florida : ) |
Also got to visit the Barnes while we were in Florida! Merry Christmas to you all!
Now that is what I call a winter vacation. We got back to Boston and it was 7 Degrees and I thought to myself, can we stay in Florida until spring? Glad we had the chance to get some sun and make some warm memories to carry us through the winter : )
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