Spring Break in Orlando!

We had an action-packed Spring Break trip to Orlando in early April! We flew on Allegiant Airlines for the first time. It's a low-cost, no-frills airline that flies directly from Norfolk to a few major cities in Florida.  We had to pay for everything extra (choosing seats, flying with any luggage larger than a personal item, and even printing our boarding tickets - although we downloaded the Allegiant app to use electronic tickets and avoid that charge!)  But overall, we had a good experience and we got a great deal on direct flights to and from FL! We flew in and out of Clearwater (near Tampa) because the dates and prices were better than the Orlando flights.

The girls love to fly, and this was the first time we had to pay for Hallie's seat, since she wasn't quite two years old the last time we flew to Texas. 

As soon as we arrived in Florida, we drove directly to Clearwater Beach! It was a gorgeous afternoon, and the girls loved playing in the warm, gentle waves!

Emma loved this sea turtle statue

And Hallie loved the sand between her toes! They had a shaded playground area on the beach, which was perfect for getting their wiggles out after the flight and car ride.

The next day, we visited Legoland in Orlando!

This park is tailored for young kids. Most of the rides and play areas are appropriate for toddlers, or they have a toddler version of the bigger rides nearby for the little ones.

Emma got to drive a motorized car and they gave her a driver's license at the end. She had 3 wrecks in 2 minutes, so I guess their standard is pretty low. Heh!

There were playgrounds and Lego play areas all through the park, so you could only walk a few yards before the kids were begging to play at the next play area they saw.  

There's a boat ride where you're guaranteed to get soaking wet, because the spectators standing near the ride get to spray the boats with water blasters mounted to the walls.  The people on the boat have water guns to defend themselves, too. Dan is turning the water crank for Emma and ducking out of the line of fire while Emma aims the water gun at the boats and gets sprayed in the face. Haha!

Emma got to ride a Lego jousting ride.

Hallie was too young for that one, so she rode this Lego dog statue instead. I'm not sure what exactly she's doing. Probably saying "this hurts my rear end!"

And then the inevitable happened. The law finally caught up with Hallie for all her crimes. Tough break, kid.

The Lego city sculptures were pretty amazing, and there were buttons that put some of the Legos into action. They're pushing the buttons to make the firefighter boats spray water on the Statue of Liberty.

Emma rounded out the day with a spectacular wipeout on the concrete. I made her walk slowly the rest of the afternoon because she had used up all my bandaids.

It cheered her up to visit the Legoland Hotel after we were done at the park. We just went into the lobby and elevator and they were awesome! Lots of Lego statues, displays (like this uncomfortable-looking Lego bed), and a pirate-themed play area. The elevator played dance music and strobe lights as it went up and down.

We spent our third day at the Magic Kingdom!

We arrived early enough to see the welcome show, featuring Mickey, Minnie, and a lot of princesses. It's a great way to start the day there, but you have to be there a little before the park opens.

Belle's story experience was a highlight for Emma. They let the children participate in the story with Princess Belle and put on a show for their parents. Emma got to be Belle's horse, Philippe. 

Cinderella is Hallie's favorite princess. She still talks about her all the time.

They also got to meet Princess Alana (from the Disney Junior TV show)

Hallie skipped her nap altogether during our Legoland day, so she had a rough time at Disney World. She'd fall asleep for a few minutes in the stroller and then wake up with the sun shining in her face and bunch of strangers around her. So we had a few of those stereotypical "family with the screaming toddler" moments, but she shook it off and had a great time overall.

You can barely see Dan and Emma on the ride in this photo, but we made Dumbo our last stop before we found a good place to watch the nighttime fireworks show. Emma was nervous about not liking the loud fireworks, but both girls LOVED the show, and we were glad we kept them out late enough to see it.

We spent our final day in Orlando packing up and shopping for souvenirs. And one of the best parts is that we arrived home on Thursday, so we had a long weekend to recover from our active vacation! It was the best of both worlds.