September 13, 2016 - Disney World Cousins Style AND Cruisin' the Bahamas for Tanya

Elisa's Daily Scoop
​

Howdy folks!!!

Well, the week is progressing - second day of the school week - wow, once Monday passes, the week just seems to fly.

Same routine this morning, except, we mixed things up a bit and me and Gianna had sweet potatoes for breakfast.  

They are seriously healthy for you and a low glycemic food (they do not spike your blood sugar level) so they are good for maintaining a healthy weight.

As far as today goes, well, I'll be doing some "Birthday" planning for Kelsey.

My little baby will be turning 10 years old tomorrow. Double Digits!! Hard to believe how fast these past ten years have gone by.

I remember when my little chicken bone was born at only 4 lbs 10 oz!! And that was at full term!

She was just a little peanut. More about Kelsey tomorrow on her big day!

In the meantime, I'll be getting ready with a small ice cream cake for us to celebrate Kelsey's birthday tomorrow. It's just going to be me, Gianna, Punkin and the birthday girl for this "mini" celebration. Thursday night is the family celebration.

I also have to get a donuts for my birthday girl to bring into school tomorrow to share with her classmates.  

That's what she wanted this year.  So, mom will head off for Dunkin' Donuts at the crack of dawn to be sure she is able to bring in a fresh batch!

In a few weeks, the cousins will be re-united once again - this time in New York.

Tanya will be making a few-day pit stop here in The Big Apple prior to heading south to Florida, where she and her gang will be doing a cruise in the Bahamas before heading back to The Sunshine State to meet our gang for a weekend of fun in Disney World!

We couldn't resist this opportunity with our cousins to enjoy Disney World together.  Additionally, since it was happening in October, when the annual Epcot Food & Wine Festival is happening, AND it's both mine and Cosette's birthday - how could we ever say no!!

This trip is going to be a little different.  In all the other years we have gone to Disney World, our stay has always been at least a week long.

Our visit this time, will be (sadly) only few a long weekend.  Additionally, we usually make it a habit to visit all four theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom.  This time, we'll only be hitting Magic Kingdom and Epcot.

But, you know what, it's going to be great nonetheless and we are mixing it up a bit with some different activities!!!

Unlike some of our other Cousins Trips, this one will have Tanya and Elisa going our separate ways throughout.

I'm going to tell you a bit about the highlights:

The girls and I will be hitting the Magic Kingdom once by ourselves and once with the whole Cousins gang.

Then we'll spend a third day in Epcot all together.

When you visit Disney World as much as we do, as we are Disney Vacation Club members, you've pretty much seen and done everything.  But, since Disney does a great job of adding new attractions and events, we do our best to stick to the tried and true favorites and throw in a new thing or two.

So....this trip, on our day alone in Magic Kingdom, we will be hitting a bunch of rides and attractions including the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Ride.

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Magic Kingdom (c)travelincousins.com

I was so saddened to read on the Disney website that the Thunder Mountain Railroad is closed for renovation while we are there!  Darn!! This is by far, our favorite ride in Magic Kingdom.

Thunder Mountain Railroad, Magic Kingdom (c)travelincousins.com

I'm pretty sure we'll find some solace in the eating end of things on this trip.

First, we have dinner planned for Tony's Restaurant, which was Kelsey's request and secondly, and even more exciting, I've booked us for a sweet-filled evening at  Fireworks Dessert Party at Tomorrowland Terrace

​Imagine watching the spectacular Disney Fireworks from way up high, while feasting on a spread of desserts!!

The kids are totally stoked about this!!

Fireworks Dessert Party at Tomorrowland Terrace (Disney.com)

Yummy Desserts (disney.com)

And even more desserts (disney.com)

That of course, leaves two other days that we will be roaming both Magic Kingdom yet again, as well as Epcot with our cuz gang.

Gianna took the bull by the horn and already ordered Fast Passes (which saves you time on the lines) for Space Mountain, Mickey's Philarmagic and Splash Mountain.

I know she and Cosette are psyched to hit the coasters together.

We haven't as yet made "eating" plans for either day, but I'm pretty sure that because of the Food & Wine festival going on in Epcot, there will be an abundance of food (and drink!) from which to choose that will fit both vegan and vegetarian alike.

As far as rides and attractions go in Epcot, if you know me, you know my favorite one is Soarin'!
Next assignment for Gianna is to secure fast passes for this amazing virtual reality experience!

Epcot at night - beautifully illuminated (c)travelincousins.com

My all-time favorite ride in Epcot (c)travelincousins.com

Lots to look forward to!!

As for today, well, I already cooked dinner - a spinach and cheddar quiche. I love cooking dinner early and getting it out of the way.  

Plus, my girls are so famished when they get home from school, I usually give them dinner then, and then later on, we have a lighter meal.  It's been working out well.

Check out Tanya's side for more about her Bahamas cruise and things she has planned while in Orlando!

-E
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 11 DAYS

Disney and more!

Hello Guys and Dolls!

How's everyone doing?
​Things are going fine over here. It's actually raining a bit outside - which I ALWAYS welcome and love!

It was so cute that when Cosette had gone with my mom to pick Mika up from school that she found they were dressed the same - like twins! Totally unplanned.

Cutie Pies (c)travelincousins.com

Aww cousin love (c)travelincousins.com

Then later in the afternoon after the kids had showered and when we were about ready to leave for Long Beach, both Cosette and Dominic realized that they too were thinking alike and totally coordinated! LOL  

Lavender style! (c)travelincousins.com

After grabbing a bite over at our favorite little hole in the wall Thein Dang (where the food is DELISH), the kids were back at rehearsal with the choir and already beginning to work on Christmas songs!!

I was busy in a travel meeting with the parents, just catching everyone up with the latest findings and updates to our 2017 planned trip up to Idaho. It's a year away, but if we don't stay on top of things, it'll be here before we know it.

It's also another Tuesday and therefore it's TRAVELIN' TUESDAY here at Travelin' Cousins! 

Today the focus is on our upcoming trip to Orlando, and the Bahamas. But of course as you know, we'll be bopping on over to NY for a short 4 day visit before making our way down to the Sunshine State!

There is definite excitement in the air as we are quickly approaching our Quadrennial Family trip to Disney World and surrounding parks!

I love doing this trip and have been looking forward to it all year, I'm not of the type who likes to over do things and then get bored. Neither did I ever want my kids to get "bored" with any of these parks, which could've been quite easy to do - since Disneyland and California Adventure is right in our backyard.

We've made it a point to put plenty of time between visits and to make each visit a special one!

October has been noted by many as the best month of the year to visit Walt Disney World due to temperate weather, low crowds, and its seasonal events. 
This will be our 3rd time visiting in the month of October, and just in time for the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot (my favorite park) and the  Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party - which we do not plan of attending, but love to see the park all decked out in fall color and decoration!

(c)travelincousins.com

We've also visited Orlando and Florida during other months of the year, and October quickly became my favorite. We are actually going back next July (Are we CRAZY?!...see more below).

While of course we all know that I spent my entire year traveling here, there, and everywhere. But there is just something about going to Disney World  that captures the attention on friends and family.

Family visit at Magic Kingdom circa 2008 (c)travelincousins.com

There is always such interest in joining us for a fun filled time at the parks...unlike on my other trips (possible because most of these people consider me to be somewhat of a Vacation Nazi).

But in any regard this trip is not unlike the others and we will have quite a group of friends and family all having fun together!

There will be days the it'll be us with our friends, Andrea & Jayson who are coming out from SoCal. Andrea's boyfriend who is coming out from Texas. Dave B, who will make his way out there for an extended weekend and to go to Kennedy Space Center (which he is very excited about). Dave C. and the kids Aunt Shirley and cousin Brian who are coming up from Fort Lauderdale, and of course Elisa and the girls!! With the possibility of special appearances from my cousin Jimmy, and others!

                      WOW!!

Elisa and the girls (who go to the parks much more often than we do) have decided to stick with the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, while we will also be doing Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios at Disney, and then both Universal Studios and Universal's Islands of Adventure to mix things up, and of course to take Cosette over to see both Hogwarts (which she's been to and LOVED) and the Wizardly World of Harry Potter - which will be a first for all of us! And of course as mentioned earlier the Kennedy Space Center, not to mention our cruise. 

                      WHEW!!

I guarantee that by the end of this trip we are gonna be pooped and it'll take another 4 years for us to be able to do this marathon all over again!

​The beginning of our trip down to Florida will only be a sampling, as we tease our park going tastebuds with a visit to Universal Studios and one to Animal Kingdom - which I'm so glad now has later hours!

Then it'll be Dave C., the kids, myself, Andrea, Robin, and Jayson all embarking on a cruise to the Bahamas!!
Andrea, Robin and Jayson are all first time cruisers, while this is only the second cruise for Dave C. and the kids. 
And off to the Bahamas we shall go...

The beautiful archipelago sprinkled over 100,000 square miles. An ecological oasis featuring 2,000 breathtaking islands and cays and boasts the clearest water on the planet—with a visibility of over 200 feet!
You can see your toes as easily as you can the world’s third largest barrier reef. 

With a distinct mix of historic appeal, modern attractions and ecological wonders, our visit is sure to be memorable.

With so much to see and do, if you could believe it, I'm still narrowing down exactly what we are going to be busy with and what excursions we might take part in while on the islands.
​What I do know is that Jayson is looking forward to getting in some snorkeling!

Credit: bahamassnorkel.com

When we get back to Florida is when the majority of our park going will happen. And I'm the type who does not like to bounce around at the parks (I feel it is a huge waste of time).
I prefer to take my time going from "land to land" seeing and taking everything in and of course taking plenty of pictures!

I've gone to parks with some friends who have no game plan at all, and just wander and do the bouncing around thing - which did I mention I absolutely HATE! So of course we won't be doing any of that. And since Disney does always add new things and keeps it exciting, it's always nice to start early in the morning (at opening) and see as much as possible, going on rides in each of the "lands" before moving on to the next, generally not leaving until closing time. 
So maybe now you can understand why we are gonna be pooped by the end of this trip!

While of course there will be a ride or two that it makes plenty of sense to go and grab FAST PASSES for. Some of these rides are just always busy, even with the lack of crowds. And thus the "plan of attack" for the parks will be laid out in advance and discussed the morning of (otherwise my crew with the exception of Cosette would totally be confused).

And of course there are certain rides that we are each looking forward to more than others, and like Elisa, Soarin' at Epcot IS actually one of them! 

I'm totally stoked to ride the new version of this flight motion simulator attraction.

It used to be Soarin' over California and is now Soarin' around the World - and that is something that I can definitely get excited about!!

In other travel news:
I spent some time yesterday working on a trip that is a rather a variety and multiple trips all rolled into one. We plan of traveling to Virginia - to do some visiting (that we are unable to do this year), and from there head up to NY - this is when I'd like to fit in going to see Assateague Island and the Wild Ponies...Click here to read more
Then after visiting in NY, we'll head up to New Hampshire and Lake Winnapeasaukee. 
Following this visit, we will go back to NY and then road trip it over to Chicago for a few days.
Then, and there is more...
We will fly down to Florida and cruise the Western Caribbean hitting places like: Grand Cayman , Honduras, Belize, and Cozumel, Mexico.
And then back to Miami for the MLB All Star Game and festivities!!!
Lots of planning for this one, which you'll be a part of as the months go by.

Now, I've got to get to the gym and take Cosette to her horseback riding lesson, hopefully we'll have time to go shopping for her Birthday dress/outfit and then pick Dominic up for his class. And then back home for some din din.

Hope you guys have a delightful day!

​-T