Stuff Parents Need

Thanks to the Orlando Science Center for providing complimentary admission tickets. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

As we planned our fall family vacation to Orlando this year, it was really important to me (and to my attendance log!) that a few of the days be educational in nature. I read a little bit about the Orlando Science Center online and it sounded like a place that had a fair amount of hands on activities for kids, so I figured we could spend a half a day there before we ran out of things to do.

I was SO wrong, and in the best possible way. The Orlando Science Center is, without question, the very best children-focused science center I have ever been to, and I’ve been to quite a few! We arrived when the facility opened, and left shortly before it closed and had a completely amazing day, despite not doing even remotely close to all of the things available here (if I lived in the area I’d get an annual pass in a heartbeat!).

One of the first exhibits you will encounter at the center is a citrus farm. This entire room is set up to mimic the path Florida oranges take, from tree to farmer’s market stand or grocery store, and both of my girls spent a great deal of time here picking and processing oranges. We had great conversations about farming and how much work goes into bringing these oranges to our local grocery store, and how it all starts in this general area of the country.

The museum also has an entire exhibit space dedicated to the movement of water. This was another area where my girls spent a lot of time. I noticed that they were both very focused on various experiments they conducted with creating dams and with figuring out how to get water to move from one section of the exhibit to another. I marveled and the clever design of this area, because it succeeded in getting kids to roll up their sleeves and to become tinkerers, problem solvers and inventors within minutes of arriving.

I also noticed that throughout the museum (which is several stories high!) volunteers and employees were stationed to work with kids one-on-one or in small groups, conducting science experiments on the spot, and encouraging a spirit of inquisitiveness and hypothesis testing.

No matter which exhibit we checked out, we would quickly find something that was completely irresistible to kids (like this area where kids could get balls to levitate in the air! Darah spent half an hour here figuring out how to get more and more balls floating!). I just can’t emphasize enough what an incredible job the Orlando Science Center does of drawing kids in and getting them to ask, “How does this work?!”

The top floor was the area we visited last, and aside from the citrus farm, I think it was definitely our favorite area. If I had to do it all over again I might have started at the top floor, actually (I think a lot of people naturally begin at the bottom and work their way up, so it could be a great way to beat the crowds a bit if you come soon after it opens). One section had breathtaking dinosaurs and other ancient creatures on display (as well as an archaeology pit for little diggers), and the other side was focused on our planet, and more specifically, on weather and other natural phenomenon here (like earthquakes).

We got to spend some time at a mock up of a news station and make our own weather update, and we also got to do some really amazing hands on experiments that allowed us to create clouds, watch how a tornado is formed, and mimic the waves of a tsunami to better understand exactly why they happen.

 

In addition to all of these amazing exhibits, the Orlando Science Center also had countless areas designed for movement and play, as well as rest and reflection. It also has an on-site Subway restaurant which means that lunch prices here do not bring sticker shock, and that’s a welcome change for tourists, I must say! This place is not something to check out for 2-3 hours. It is 100% worth an entire day on your agenda in Orlando. You will learn a lot, and so will your kids, and it will stick with them. We’ve been back home for 2 weeks now and my kiddos are still talking about this place and have asked if we can go again the next time we are in the area. That’s high praise when you keep in mind that on the same trip these kids also went to the big theme parks that most of us associate with the area. Orlando Science Center still stands out as an amazing day for them, and it does for me, too! I very, very highly recommend Orlando Science Center and I personally can’t wait to get to go again!

Thanks to Crayola Experience Orlando for hosting our visit. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

When you think of Orlando, you most likely think of one or two different big theme parks, as those are attractions that draw people in, not just from all over the country, but from all over the world. But the metropolitan area has quite a few other hidden gems that many tourists to the area never even see, and I hope to help change your mind about that today and encourage you to find the time to visit Crayola Experience Orlando.

This attraction is located within a mall, but don’t let that fact fool you into thinking that it is small and therefore, possibly not worth your time. It’s quite huge, actually, and can take anywhere from 3 hours to a full day to experience, just depending on your kids and their particular interests. We spent 5 hours there and only left because the parents, not the kids, were exhausted. 🙂

To have an absolutely amazing time at Crayola Experience, I have some key tips for you.

#1. Arrive Before Opening

Get to Crayola Experience 5-10 minutes before the doors are supposed to open. The outside area has some great sculptures and your kids will want to get to inspect them thoroughly. And then you’ll be one of the first in line when the doors actually do open, and that gives you a huge advantage because you can knock out a few of the activity stations that tend to form lines rather quickly first.

#2. Do These Activities First

If you’ve never been to Crayola Experience before, how are you supposed to know which activities to do first? Well, I’ll let you in on that little secret! Go ahead and check out this map to get more familiar with the lay of the land. After you get your tickets and walk up the stairs into the large main room, the very first activity you should do is Wrap It Up. This is where you get to select a crayon color from a kiosk (each kiosk is associated with a particular color) and custom make a label for it. As the day progresses, lines form at these kiosks, so take care of this first thing! We decided on our general colors and crayon names on the car ride over to save even more time.

After your crayons are made, head toward the back of the building to Drip Art, which is another activity that forms a line once the crowd size grows. It’s so much fun, though, as your kids will have super fun art projects to show for it. Right next to this activity is Melt & Mold and I suggest you go ahead and do this one, too! We were able to get all 3 of these popular activities done within the first 45 minutes of the place being open, which was so great!

#3. Take a Seat and Grab a Crayon

While the kids are playing at various activity centers throughout the day, be sure to sit down with them and grab some crayons (they are VERY easy to find!) and color, too. I saw lots and lots of adults coloring. It’s definitely encouraged, not to mention, really fun.

#4. Don’t Rush

You probably can technically do everything at Crayola Experience in 2-3 hours, but I really don’t know why you would want to rush through it at all. I want to encourage you to let your children engage in creativity. You might be surprised by just how long they want to spend doing things like coloring a dog (30 uninterrupted minutes!) or coloring different characters and then bringing them to life on the computer (another 30 uninterrupted minutes!).

There is so much to do and see at Crayola Experience, and it’s all best done if you just take your time and opt to be present and be co-creators with your kids. Two of our favorite activities came toward the end of our time there, when we discovered the Meltdown activity center, with vat after vat of melted crayon wax that could be used to make art. Every member of my family spent a lot of time working on pieces that we gifted to each other once we were finished. It was such an unusual way to get to use crayons!

We also got to have some great quality time together at Modeling Madness, as we sat around the table together and played with the modeling clay. We got to talk about some of our favorite activities of the day and things we were looking forward to doing during the rest of our vacation.

Crayola Experience Orlando was a fantastic way to spend a good chunk of our Saturday. We made great memories and got some fun new ideas for art projects back at home. I very highly recommend this as a place to go for half a day (or more!) while you are visiting the city. Your children will love it, and so will you!

And if you are looking for educational opportunities for your kids and are local, Crayola Experience does have offerings for homeschool groups (15 or more) as well as for school groups. As a homeschooling mom, I counted our day here as a field trip school day because of all the creating and learning the kids did throughout the day. I also took a look at some of the teacher resources that the Crayola corporate website makes available to anyone with interest. Definitely take a look!

Discount Offer!

I’m so pleased to be able to offer my readers a discount on the price of admission! Simply head to tickets.crayolaexperience.com and use promo code SPN and you’ll be able to snag a general admission ticket for $16.99 ($22.99 is the regular price, so score!).

 

Thanks to Medieval Times for providing complimentary tickets. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Everyone knows that there is no shortage of entertainment in the Orlando area for kids and families. But what if you want to be thoroughly entertained AND to learn something new? And what if you could also have a great meal at the same time? You definitely can have this great experience at Medieval Times!

Before our trip, I was browsing the company’s website to see if they might have any educational resources so that I could give me kids more context and really enrich the overall dinner show experience for us all, since the Medieval time period is not something they really know much about at this point.

I was VERY pleased to see that Medieval Times is well equipped to handle school groups, homeschoolers, and really anyone who wants to combine some great learning opportunities with all the fun in store. There is a page where you can request resources based on the ages of your kids and get pdfs that are thorough and very helpful, all sent to you immediately (and free of charge!).

When you are planning your arrival time, note that doors open about 1 hour and 15 minutes before the dinner show actually begins. I highly recommend getting there right when the doors open because the back yard section of the castle consists of a Medieval village that basically serves as a museum showcasing daily life and important skills and trades of the time. It has a surprisingly large number of artifacts that are at least a few hundred years old, as well!

It is fascinating, but it is also easy to miss, as you are ushered into a great hall within the castle while waiting for the show to begin, and you access the outside grounds via a rather nondescript set of doors simply marked as an exit. Definitely don’t miss out on the treasure of the grounds. It is open before the show, as well as after, and there are staff members on hand ready and willing to answer your questions!

Once it is time to begin the feast, you are ushered into the arena based on the color of the crown you receive (there are 6 different colors, representing the 6 different knights who compete in the challenges). While it took a little while for the seating to take place, I appreciated the fact that it was well organized, and definitely designed to keep folks from rushing into the arena and causing problems.

Dinner is served without utensils, as utensils weren’t really a thing during this time period. That’s also just consistent with all of the dinner shows I’ve been to, and I imagine it’s a cost saving measure. I totally brought plastic spoons in anticipation of being asked to drink my soup. Here’s the full list of what we ate!

And if you want to know my thoughts on the food taste/quality, I’ll be happy to share! I thought the soup was fine but forgettable (though my youngest child absolutely INHALED it, so she was definitely a fan!). The bread was good but not amazing. The corn was way overcooked and soggy. The herb-basted potato was so salty that I only ate one bite. The pastry was a slice of pound cake, as I recall, and it was simple but very yummy. I didn’t go for the coffee. So overall, not my favorite meal that I’ve had at a dinner show, with one very significant exception: the roasted chicken was BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS the very best chicken I have ever had at a dinner show, and possibly ever had EVER. It was so magnificent and juicy and flavorful that it honestly didn’t even matter what I thought about everything else that I ate. SO GOOD, Y’ALL! I want the recipe!

Now let’s talk about the entertainment! There are knights competing in some friendly competition, and there is a King and his daughter, the princess, who seem to have a lot of lines that help move the story of the evening forward. Truth? I had a really hard time understanding the king, and therefore, following the story. But it honestly did not impact how fun it was to watch the knights and the horses, because they were all AMAZING performers!

The audience was really involved in the show, spurred on by the knights who kept the crowds cheering. If a knight performed well in an event, he was gifted a flower by the princess, and then he would throw the flowers into his cheering section. Yours truly caught one of them!

We were all especially blown away by the powerful hand-to-hand combat scenes that the knights performed. After explaining to my youngest that the scenes were choreographed and that everyone was going to be safe and sound, we were all able to just get into it and ooh and ahh as we watched sparks fly when metal hit metal. The sight of them battling in elegant medieval armor—intricately designed breastplates, shining chainmail, and ornate helmets—made the entire show feel so immersive. It left me wondering what it would be like to wear such detailed craftsmanship, to feel the weight of history in every piece. Those men really gave it their all, and it made for an amazing show! The horses were also supremely well-trained. It was spectacular and just so much fun!

We attended this show on the evening we arrived in Orlando for our “roadschool” adventure. It’s a great thing to do on your first night in town, for sure! I very highly recommend checking out the teacher resources that are offered for free, and I suggest spending as much time as you can in the medieval village checking out artifacts and reproductions to help your kids get a better understanding of the time period. You are in for a great show and a great opportunity to grow your minds a bit! Cheers to a fun family outing!

Thanks to Universal Studios Orlando Resort for providing complimentary park tickets. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Last week my family was in the Orlando area, soaking up many fun adventures and making great memories. We spent 2 days exploring 2 of Universal’s 3 theme parks, and we were especially focused on what holiday entertainment offerings were in store. Based on our experiences, I have 3 main suggestions for anyone heading to Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure between now and New Year’s Day (or next holiday season, with entertainment beginning sometime in mid-November so be sure to check calendars!).

1. The Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle

Friends, I cannot emphasize this enough: this is a MUST SEE!!! Every evening at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, beginning at 6 pm and reoccurring every 20 minutes, thereafter, Hogwarts Castle becomes the screen for a light mapping display the likes of which I have never seen before. It was nothing short of magical, and it caused viewers (including myself) to gasp and awe and burst into cheers multiple times during the roughly 7 minute display set to music.

There is some strategy that you need to employ in order to have a positive viewing experience. First, I recommend that you get yourself to Hogsmeade no later than 5 pm, as I noticed some people beginning to find their places to view this event by that time. If you are there on a weeknight, I don’t think you will find it necessary to line up that early, but that might be the case for a weekend. Since I had Express Passes, I rode Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey twice in a row, and then rode Flight of the Hippogriff right after (one ride is inside the castle, and the other is right next to it). It was about 5:40 by then and the crowds were getting significant. I asked a cast member for the best viewing location for the light show, and he said it was in the Hogsmeade village, right next to the key chain kiosk. I judged by the growing crowd size that I’d have a hard time reaching that area, so I just stayed put at my location, halfway between the Hippogriff ride and the archway back into Hogsmeade. It’s also a pretty good location, if you ask me!

I tried to watch this display for a second time on our second night, taking the Hogwarts Express from the other park back over to Hogsmeade. It drops you off at the front entrance to the village, which is still a fair walk from the castle, and at this location you are not yet able to see the castle. When we arrived at 5:50 pm the crowd size was so huge that it wasn’t even possible to walk to a closer location to view the event. So let that be your warning: get yourself close to the castle early on! And as you can see by the photos, it is worth whatever hassle you may have to endure. It was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen, and I know that’s a strong statement to make, but I mean it!!!

For all the Harry Potter fans reading this, do note that Diagon Alley over at Universal Studios Florida is also decked out for the holidays and snow falls there from time to time throughout the day, and you can also listen to some fun holiday song and dance routines that entertainers perform. But the crown jewel is the lighting of Hogwarts, for sure.

2. Universal’s Holiday Parade Featuring Macy’s

At Universal Studios Florida, there is a evening parade at 5:00 or 5:30 (depends on the day, so check your info map!) and it runs down the streets of New York City and features Macy’s balloons!

I am a faithful Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade viewer, so getting to see some of these fantastic balloons up close and personal made me absolutely giddy! I can cross getting to see this type of parade off my bucket list now because Universal Studios made it happen for me on the streets of New York!

The floats were also top notch. This parade lasts about 30 minutes and is so very much worth your time! Santa is on the last float (just like the Macy’s parade!) and he lights the huge Christmas tree in the area with his magic and makes it snow, so be sure to stay for the very end! Hopefully you have at least 2 days in the park because it is tough to see this parade and to get a good viewing spot for the Hogwarts castle lighting all in the same night (based on my experience).

3. All Things Dr. Seuss

Seuss Landing is an entire section of Universal’s Islands of Adventure, and my whole family just loved it! The style of everything in this area is totally Seuss-like which makes it so whimsical and fun even on its own. But the holiday decorations are also over-the-top here, and very worthy of your time to just bask in and enjoy! You can feel like an honorary Who of Whoville, and you know those Whos LOVE Christmas!

Be sure to note the scheduled show times for the live performance of Grinchmas, which is a condensed retelling of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. The show takes place on one of Universal’s stages behind the park, which makes it a 6 minute walk (you are directed by cast members to make it easy). I mention this because you really need to be there by 10 minutes before the scheduled show time in order to get a seat (and if you are there during a higher crowd time, I’d suggest getting there sooner). I was extremely impressed with the performers in the production, with the makeup (those Who noses were PERFECT!), the costumes, the fantastic singing, and the set design. It was magical and gave me all the great Christmas feels! Don’t miss this one!

There are many more things in these 2 parks that are special and magical just for the holidays, but these were our family’s very favorites. I hope you enjoy your holiday visit to Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure! Let me know what you enjoy the most or if you have any questions I might be able to help answer!