Hersheypark Birthday Fun

My baby, my youngest child turned 15 on June 2nd. I don't even know how that's possible. To say time flies is putting it mildly. I mean, we're almost halfway through 2018!!! I've been so busy lately with work, having my daughter's wedding on my mind, and life in general, planning something for his birthday kept getting pushed off. I finally reached out to Hersheypark to see if we could work together and thankfully (and graciously) agreed! That means this post is sponsored by them.

Speaking of last minute, I also told my hubby it would be awesome if his dad could come with us. He made a phone call to see if Pap could come, and with a few arrangements he agreed! I went online and got him a ticket. Let's talk tickets really quick. Through June 30 if you purchase your tickets you get the kids price. What I like about buying tickets online is that the ticket is valid all summer!

We grabbed Pap since he's not too far from Hershey, PA, and got up to the park around noon. Next time we're staying up there because we always get a late start thanks to me. I'm the person who wants to be at the amusement park when the gates open until they close! I think they're meant to be enjoyed and soaked in as much as possible.

Since we were heading up to Hersheypark for my son's birthday, I wanted the kids to be able to take in as many of the rides and enjoy the waterpark as much as possible. Instead of doing my usual planning of our rides, I let it all play out and the boys chose where to go. Pap and I did a lot of people watching and I took lots of pictures of the rides. I love that this park has something for everyone. He and I went on the Tea Cups and Carrousel. The guys started their rides in The Hallow with the Comet and Skyrush rollercoasters. Fred didn't go to the Super Dooper Looper with the boys, but came to find Pap and I who had been getting drinks, an ice cream cone, and a King Size Shake!

From there we headed to the Boardwalk & Water Rides. We ran across the Hersheypark Band as we walked to the rides. Wow were they fun to watch! They have two new rides this year: Breakers EdgeSM Water Coaster and WhitecapSM Racer. There's so much to do there, and thankfully it's included in your park admission! Pap & I grabbed a couple of low chairs to do some people watching. You can't really watch the Coaster ride, but the Racer is great to wait at the bottom to see who comes out first. Before getting on the Racer, be sure to grab your wrist bracelets. That's how they can keep track of your speed down the ride. Jacob's friend, Aaron, ended up in 2nd place for the day! While the boys and Pap relaxed for a bit, Fred and I went around the Intercoastal Waterway. It was so relaxing.

In case you have little kids, there are a TON of rides for the wee ones. To start you can go to the Bayside Pier with water no deeper than 18". The East Coast Waterworks is a super fun place for the kids to find adventure. Sandcastle Cove is a wonderful place to explore and play in water. Lastly the Shoreline Sprayground is a great place to get wet with sprays, fountains, and jets.

The boys had changed while Fred & I were going around the Waterway so while I changed, the two older boys did the Sidewinder and then the Storm Runner. Those are two rides that would have me losing my cookies. hahahaha

After those two rides, we were all hungry for dinner so we headed to Hersheypark Place. We chose that location because they will celebrate birthdays if you let them know about it, which Pap did! Man am I good at training the men in my life! So, at the end of the meal, they brought my youngest a sundae and sang to him. What a fantastic way to spend your 15th birthday!

With dinner over, the boys headed to a few more rides and Pap insisted Fred & I get our portraits done by an artist. Fred went first and I went shopping! Listen, I needed to find a way to spend my time. Besides, it started raining, and I wanted to be dry for my portrait. I got my Doodle a t-shirt for him to remember his day and then went to the S. Claus & Co. Gift Shop. Every year when we go to an amusement park I purchase an ornament for Christmas. This year's won't include Fred or me because the most "characters" I could find on an ornament was 8 and we'd 9 since we have the privilege of adding my future son-in-law this year. I went with a 7 character one and just put all of the kids' names on them.

I went back to get my portrait done, and the boys were heading back from their rides. The gal who did it was incredible and really captured both of us. The boys never had the chance to get on the Great Bear roller coaster. Even though the rain had stopped they didn't start the ride again. The boys were bummed, but they had such an incredible day, they didn't complain.

I'm already dreaming of when we can go back. I can't wait and we have a lot of summer birthdays! I think any excuse would work: birthday, anniversary, it's summer, it's a warm day, it's Tues (or whatever day you want to insert), etc. I hope you have the chance to get up there this summer and have as much fun as we did.

Weekend Trip To Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

This past weekend my husband took us up to Navron, Pennsylvania. It was my Valentine's Day present from him. He planned our buggy ride and got us a bed & breakfast minus the breakfast. Well, they had a breakfast, we just didn't realize it. Next time!

We headed up to Pennsylvania on Friday and made it to Navron which is part of Lancaster County. Fred made reservations at Churchtown Inn Bed & Breakfast. We didn't stay at the main Inn. They have two cottages and we stayed at the Covered Bridge Cottage at the Poole Forge Estate. It's on 23 acres and used to be the Paymasters and is from the 1700s. They have all the comforts of the 21st century, but as soon as you pull up to the stone cottage, you're transported to the past.

We went to the Windmill Family Restaurant which was just outside of town. Cute on the outside and the food was good. Fred got the spaghetti and meatballs which he seemed to love. I got my typical burger and it was delicious! It was huge so I couldn't eat the entire thing.

In the morning we headed out to Ronks which was where we were going for our very first buggy ride. We used A is for Amish Buggy Rides. They have several options for rides: Amish Paradise Trail, Amish Family Tour, Amish Farm Tour, and Custom Amish Tour. As soon as you get to the location, they have petting zoo. When we were there they had 2 llamas, 2 pigs, 2 goats, and a pony. You can get a tiny handful of food to feed them while you wait. We opted for the Amish Farm Tour. Our buggy wasn't really a buggy, but more of a wagon. I'd say there were about 15 of us in it along with our driver, David. He regaled us with stories about Amish life and cracked a ton of jokes.

I had this view of Amish being staunch, cranky, and standoff-ish with Englischers. He wasn't that way at all. He was absolutely delightful! He brought our wagon to the Lapp family farm. David walked us around the farm where we were able to pet horses & calves and hold chickens! Seriously, I was living the dream. I held baby chicks and a hen! It was wonderful.

After our little tour we hopped into the wagon to head back. The buggy rides share the same spot as the Red Caboose Motel & Restaurant. We've already decided that the next time we go back we're going to stay in one of the cabooses. We took a tour and they were really cool! 6 people could fit inside with 4 bunks and a queen size bed.

We drove back to the Lapp farm to take a look around at all of their goodies. They had everything you could possibly imagine: aprons, snacks, dish towels, furniture, and so much more. One of the reasons Fred brought us up there was because we've been wanting to get new bedroom furniture. Thankfully there was a single bedroom set there and we loved it. We also found some wall cabinets that would be perfect in our living room! Of course I saw a fabulous dining room table and chairs. So many things...

The man who builds them was at a meal so we decided to go out to eat lunch. Apparently smorgasbords are the "thing" in Lancaster County. Nothing like 8 soups to choose from, a good dose of homemade breads, and a buffet of salad options. We filled up and headed back just in time to speak to the gentleman who does the furniture. Let's just say we're excited about the possibilities!

Thankful for our handy dandy packet the sweet folks at the Inn created for visitors, we found some delicious places to stop on our way back. To say we bought our weight in baked goods is putting it mildly. One little shop was alongside the road (these are dotted everywhere) and I got my first sampling of chicken pot pie - which is crustless and more like soup, chocolates, and homemade triple berry jelly. On the map was Sadie's Bake Shop. It wasn't far from our cottage. We got some fresh donuts and I picked out a half lemon pie. It was interesting because it had a cake type topping with a small layer of lemon cream. So delicious!

After we got back to the cottage, we chilled out for a little bit and then headed to Shady Maple. This was a smorgasbord that Fred's dad recommended and was also in our packet. Now, I will say that I didn't want to stay because the place is gargantuan from the outside and so was the line! Fred read the website and it showed not to be intimidated by the line. We were probably in line for 15-20 min before we were seated. The food was incredible. The fried shrimp I could've gone back for hour after hour. They had an older gentleman playing the accordion walking around and stopping at a variety of tables. They have an enormous store downstairs that had everything under the sun. As you walk out of the restaurant section there's a little bakery with pie prices better than you'll find anywhere! I'm still regretting not coming home with the chocolate cream pie. BUT, here's where we totally scored...as we were window shopping downstairs, we heard an announcement that any of the baked goods on the table were half off. I pretty much dragged Fred back upstairs and we came home with 2 loves of specialty bread for under $4!!

Sunday morning we woke up leisurely to check out at the Inn. I took a few pictures of the little street they're on. Actually, across the street is an Episcopal church that the Inn owner mentioned President Washington attended in the 1700s. Pretty cool.

We took off and headed to a church one of Fred's college friends attends. It's a huge church and their coffee bar/bakery was incredible. The drive home was pretty great. We took back roads and stopped at a terrific little antique shop. Sadly, their computers were down and we'd spent our cash back in Lancaster. I think Fred & I need to do more trips and one being where we visit all of the antique shops we can find. Those and bakeries! Trust me, I'm still recovering from all of the baked goods!

Effectively Using The My Disney Experience App

The gal who ordered our tickets for us mentioned the My Disney Experience section at the Disney website when she was giving me a few suggestions, but honestly, I blew her off. I just didn't want to bother and I didn't want another app on my phone. I'm not a huge fan of apps, especially one I'm only going to use for a week.

Flash forward to our first day at Walt Disney World and Fred kept telling me about the time for this ride, the time for that ride. And just so we're on the same page, I just rolled my eyes at him and went along my merry way. I can't even tell you at which point I finally gave in and downloaded the app.

Alleluia! So maybe they were both right about how much I would want to have it handy! There are so many uses it for it, some of which we didn't realize until Day 3 at Hollywood Studios. So, let's go through the many and amazing uses of the My Disney Experience App (you can also use the website).

First, you can check ride & character wait times! What I love about that is you can determine a plan of action while you're at each park. If you're in Tomorrowland and it shows short ride times for Pirates of the Caribbean and Magic Carpets of Aladdin, you can make a b-line to Adventureland. If you have some free time, but don't want to ride anything, you could see how long the wait is for the characters.

FastPass+ organization! You can check what time your FastPass+ is as well as set up new ones. You can go into the day you're planning, see how many FastPass+ you have available for you and the group, and then see what's available. You can remove a FastPass+ that anyone in your family has and switch it to another one if you need to.

How do you get where you want to go? If you're at Animal Kingdom's Flight of Passage and want to get to Kilimanjaro Safaris, you can click on the ride and it'll give you the option of looking at a map to see how to get there! It's awesome!

If you're trying to figure out something at one of the parks you can click on the icon, it'll open up in the app and tell you:

• What park it's in, which area, and the specific location
• Find it on the map
• Get directions
• Times
• A little synopsis
• Wait times
• If a FastPass+ is available
• If it's a ride & the type of ride such as "Thrill Type"

You can order food without standing in line! On our 3rd day at Walt Disney World, we were at the ABC Commissary walking into the order line when the gal standing at the front asked us if we wanted to order our food at the table using our MDE app. We were all, "Say what?! That's a thing?!" We went to a table, talked about the menu, and then Fred ordered for us through the app. There's a special pick up space for people who order using the app so when they called our name, we just headed over and grabbed it. Wish we'd know about this feature on day 1! lol

And one of my favorite features is the My Photos section. You can buy a Memory Maker so that you can download photos and videos captured during a 30 day window. Then for each park you can find out where the official Disney photographers are. AND, every time you get your photo taken with a character, they can scan your wristband or the QR code on the app. It was really fun to go through the photos after I found that part in the app. I loved seeing the quick clip of Fred and Buddy at the top of The Tower of Terror.

No matter how you look at it, this is the app to have! I thought I'd have it for a week and here we are at the end of September and I still have it. I just love going in and looking at it to see what the wait times are, which characters are available that day, etc. When you go, be sure you download it!

Visiting Animal Kingdom - Walt Disney World Day 1

Going to Disney World had me absolutely giddy! Since everyone was along for the ride and really had no idea what to do down there, I pretty much had everything planned out for us. I think next time I'll make sure we look at all of the parks to see what rides they all want to do. My plan was to wake up early every single day and spend our day in wide eyed wonder until the very last firework at night. My family didn't share my enthusiasm.

We started our four day excursion to Walt Disney World at Animal Kingdom. Fred once again had to do two trips to bring everyone. He dropped Brieanne and I off first. She and I immediately headed for  Pandora - The World of Avatar. It was pretty amazing to see how incredibly detailed Pandora was.

First, before I go any further, download the My Disney Experience app! I absolutely wasn't going to do it. I thought it was dumb. I mean, really, I didn't need that. I had it all planned out. HA! Then as the day went on, my hubby kept telling me the ride times and when our first FastPass was. Let me tell you, it will be your favorite app! I still haven't taken it off my phone.

Now, back to Pandora. Brieanne and I got in line for the Na'vi River Journey. I think the wait was about an hour by the time we got there. Thankfully they have fans blowing down at various intervals. It was stinking hot at 9am! We got onto the ride after about 70 minutes and the rest of the family was getting to the park. They took the Wildlife Express Train over to Habitat Habit! where they got to see an aardvark having its annual exam. Then they went to the Affection Section where they got to pet and see farm animals.

Our first FastPass+ was for the Kilimanjaro Safaris so after the Na'vi River Journey, Brieanne and I made our way to Africa while we waited for the rest of the family. We walked through Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail and African Birds. Sadly we didn't make it to the Maharajah Jungle Trek to be able to see the tigers.

We all met up at the Safaris and it was so cool! I remember it from years ago and it was still just as wondrous. Seeing all of those animals really makes you feel like you're on a safari. And yes, I know what that's like since I did an actual safari in Kenya.

Our lunch that afternoon was at Tusker House with Donald Duck and friends. We had fantastic buffet that had an African flair. I was like the little kids when the characters came into our section. My kids were all, "Mom, sit down, let the little kids go see them first. They'll come to our table." I'm sure my face fell. What if they DIDN'T come to our table? What if they missed us? lol I had nothing to worry about. They each took the time with us as we took a variety of pictures. One thing to remember with meals you've reserved, if you don't cancel within the time Disney specifies, you'll be charged a fee for each person.

While we were walking around at some point, I decided I needed a lanyard. Well, that took me to the deep end and I really haven't recovered. I became a pin trader. Oh my goodness...I didn't realize how addictive it could be. The one tip I have for pin trading, get a handful of the inexpensive pins that are in bags that are surprises. They're the cheapest and you can trade them with employees who probably have better ones. Trust me I found some great ones and missed one I'm still kicking myself over.

We finally got our family photo in front of the Tree of Life before we headed to the Primeval Whirl. As soon as everyone was done with the ride, the heavens opened up and gave us a downpour for under ten minutes. That's the best part of storms down in Florida is that they are so short lived. We brought down the cheapest ponchos you could ever find, but honestly, unless you're determined to walk in the rain, they weren't necessary. You could find shelter easily and wait it out. Heck, they ran the Primeval Whirl and TriceraTop Spin throughout the whole storm!

Then we split up 3 and 3. Three went to ride Expedition Everest and three went to help me find a Dole Whip. I'd heard the most amazing things about it, and absolutely had to try it. Since it was hot as Hades I figured it was the best time to finally sample it. Well, I was underwhelmed. lol I know, for all my Disney friends out there, they're reacting with horror. It's ok. We tried lots of other treats and loved them.

After Fred, Amber, and Buddy rode Expedition Everest not once, but twice, they met up with us and we headed back to Pandora to try out the Avatar Flight of Passage. I had high expectations with wait lines upwards of 190 minutes. Yes, you read that right. One hundred ninety minutes! It's a 3D ride on the back of a mountain banshee. It. Was. Incredible! I was so glad we were able to experience it together. If you take a second while on the ride, you can look around and watch everyone else experiencing it. Don't look for long because you don't want to miss a second of the flight. This is a FastPass must!

It was dinner time by the time we got out and we decided to eat at Satu'li Canteen. The food was good and interesting. It took us quite a while to decide what to have because the options were so different. Amber and I wanted to try the Night Blossom and Mo'ara Margarita. I'd wanted to try the Night Blossom since I saw a picture of it. We opted not to add the Unadelta Seed which would make it glow in the dark with a souvenir cup. It was almost $10 more. lol

From there we made our way over to the Tree of Life to watch the Awakenings nighttime spectacular. I'd heard it was amazing, but I wasn't prepared for how wonderful it was. They have several "short" shows to watch as they lead up to the spectacular. The photographers kept reassuring us we'd know when it started. Boy did we ever! I have to admit, I got very emotional watching it. It reminded me of when my children were little and it ended with the lion on the tree. You don't want to leave without experiencing it!

The rest of the crew headed back to the time share. I opted to stay back because I wasn't ready to leave yet. Besides, I might find a pin to trade with someone! I actually moseyed around the park and ended up watching part of the River of Lights nighttime spectacular. Wow, was that impressive! I didn't get to see all of it because my chariot arrived before it was finished.

It was an amazing first day at Disney World. I was sad because it meant that the next day Amber was heading back to Minnesota. This is the last time I will have all 4 of my kids with me on a vacation like this. Next time Brieanne will be married and who knows where everyone else will be. Remember, it's been 13+ yrs since our last vacay!

The FastPasses I'd get for Animal Kingdom are:

Animal Kingdom: Avatar Flight of Passage, Expedition Everest, and Na'vi River Journey

Our Second Day At Universal Studios Florida

When we headed to Universal Studios Florida in the morning, my hubby made two trips. He dropped my oldest daughter and oldest son off first, and then came back for the rest of us. He played chauffeur for two days while we had 6 people for a 5 person Prius. It was easier the day before when we went to Islands of Adventure with the driving, but I appreciate him doing the driving!

We may have the same walk...

We joked around as we headed there that Amber would be riding the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit™ with my oldest son. We were kidding that it would be the first thing she did, but it turned out to not be a joke when my son said, "Ready to ride the coaster?" So, off they went. Not in this lifetime will you see me on that ride! Ha!

From there we headed off to Diagon Alley™ to see what wonders awaited us. Amber is the one who started with the Harry Potter series so I knew she'd really be fascinated with it. Once again, the developers did a phenomenal job. They know how to transport visitors into the world of Harry Potter. We walked through all of the shops. The kids made some purchases and then got in line for Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts™. It was about an hour wait and they'd probably been in line for 30-45 min, but my youngest decided to do the single rider line. He was one of the next ones on when the ride shut down. Unfortunately, they shut down for the rest of the day. Thankfully they gave them express pass tickets for another ride and used it on the Despicable Me Minion Mayhem™.

While my crew was waiting in line for the roller coaster, I headed to Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour to get some ice cream. That was a long line, but it was a way to pass the time. I got two scoops: Salted Caramel Blondie and Chocolate. I wanted to move out of the way to get some good shots of the fire breathing dragon. As I did, I tipped over and I dropped my entire ice cream. That was such a bummer!

Now, like I said, Universal Studios has really cornered the market on the virtual reality rides.  The TRANSFORMERS: The Ride-3D was pretty amazing! I liked it better than the Spider-man one at Islands of Adventure. That was a ride I could've done over and over again! And yes, I kept my eyes open on that one.

Shrek 4-D was ok. It was a "experiential" ride is how I'd explain it. The theater seating gives everyone the same view. Occasionally you could feel spits of water, the seats would jostle around, and puffs of air would touch your back. Not my favorite ride, but I think little kids would love it! I sort of felt the same with the Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon™. Buddy wanted to do it because he loves Jimmy Fallon so we all went. I think the best part was the entertainment before the ride from the Ragtime Gals.

I got in line to do the Revenge of the Mummy™ because I thought it might be a virtual reality ride and I was totally onboard with all of those! Turns out that it's an actual roller coaster. Yea, I left that ride faster than you can say, "hieroglyphics!" The guys all seemed to enjoy it.

We went to Mel's Drive-in for lunch. It was a good, quick meal that we all found something to fill up on. I had been wanting a burger for a couple of days and it fit the bill. It was a fun 50s themed restaurant. I was surprised that we found seats for all of us because that place was bustling with people!

This phone box was a hoot! My son wasn't able to get it to work the first time he was in it. I went in with him the second time. There's a rotary phone in there and he said to me, "I don't know how to dial on this phone." I nearly died!

The last ride I remember doing before we left the park was the MEN IN BLACK™ Alien Attack™. It's a fun shooting game. This was another ride we did as single riders. The youngest was able to sit in the single seat behind ours. I got the most shots/points for our car! When Fred got to us, the boys went with him and they all got way higher points than I did. lol I'm sure they cheated.

When we were leaving, the Rockitt roller coaster is one of the last things you see. This was the last coaster the kids ended up riding. That straight up ride isn't to my liking, but a couple of my kids absolutely love those types of rides. More power to 'em!

We ended the day with Brieanne and I taking a shuttle back to the time share. What a miserable experience. I definitely wouldn't recommend it for our time share. It was suffocating and only dropped us off halfway to our building at the villa. Thankfully it was the last time we were going to use it. Fred was going to just make two separate trips for the next day. Thanks honey!