The Magnificent Seven, Day I

Welcome back, Internet. 

Without the intention of doing so, we've kind of fallen into the habit of returning to our former home state of Florida every three years since moving back to Michigan. 

After establishing careers and buying a home, we first returned to The Sunshine State in June of 2019, in order to do a circuit of theme parks and visit old friends and stomping grounds. We found a condo on AirBnB at the Blue Heron Resort and fell in love with the place, which was the size of an apartment and was super close to all the touristy crap and our home neighborhood. Paying for a rental car - and parking fees at every theme park - wasn't ideal, but necessary if we needed the freedom to drive ourselves around. This 2019 trip saw us hitting up both Universal Studios parks in order to take advantage of the highly-acclaimed Harry Potter attractions (both our girls were deep in their Harry Potter phase at this time, loving the books and movies), along with two, full days at Disney (Magic Kingdom and Epcot) along with a short, abbreviated visit to Animal Kingdom (all courtesy of the Voigts, who are both Disney employees.)

Thanks to Covid, future trips to Florida were postponed for a couple years, and we ultimately headed back down south in June of 2022. Due to the success and ease of our previous trip, we decided to book another condo at the Blue Heron, and picked up another rental car (and paid all the now-much-more-expensive parking lot fees at the theme parks.) By this point in time, our kids were out of their Harry Potter phases, so we opted to skip Universal Studios this time around and focus on parks under the Sea World umbrella: we hit up Discovery Cove, the Aquatica water park, and finally Sea World itself. We rounded out this trip with two, full, park-hopping days at Disney: Animal Kingdom//Magic Kingdom (Animal Kingdom is a half-day park, honestly), and Hollywood Studios/Epcot (for the brand new Star Wars section, which was still under construction at Hollywood on our previous trip, hence our skipping that park last time around.)

We learned a couple things on these two trips to Florida. First, other theme parks pale in comparison to the level of quality you get (and expect) at Disney. Unless your children are really into a certain franchise, like our kids were when they were young and in their Harry Potter phase, there's no real reason to hit up these Universal parks. Sea World's water-based attractions are also lackluster and geared towards younger kids, so older teenagers (and us adults) became bored with them quickly (the exception being Discovery Cove, which was amazing and we definitely want to do that again in the future at some point.) While Disney definitely costs a lot more than the other theme parks, it's certainly worth it in the long run.

Secondly, the price of AirBnB has skyrocketed over the course of the last eight years, and for the amount you're paying the value of staying off Disney property isn't really worth it anymore. Sure, there's the freedom to move about at your own pace outside of Disney's multiple parks and resorts, but that also necessitates purchasing a rental car (which also have skyrocketed in price in the post-Covid years.) Ultimately, the need of staying off-property and getting a rental car was to visit old friends and familiar locales that we had known in our Florida era of Houghdom, and on the 2022 visit we didn't do much of this at all.

Taking these two factors into consideration, we decided that on our next Florida trip, we would be staying at a Disney resort, and relying on their free (and early) access to all of their theme parks. As we began to plan out our next trip, we would frequently go on three-mile walks around our Chestnut Hill neighborhood with the Johnsons - who go to Disney on an almost yearly basis. They religiously stay exclusively on Disney property, and usually stay at the Pop Century Resort. 

Through the process of selling us on this plan of attack, we began throwing around the idea of doing a Disney trip with the Johnsons - how much fun it would be to not only vacation with Erik and Courtney, but also how much fun the girls would have with their daughter, Ella, who is basically their third sibling anyway. This eventually led to our two families co-planning an exclusively Disney-based vacation, using a registered Disney vacation planner by the name of Katie Keyes (a friend of ours whose daughter, Harper, has done pom with Abby and Ella since 6th grade.)

The ease in which this vacation was assembled is mind-blowing. Outside of the flight purchasing, which Kris took care of, all other aspects of our trip were planned for us and all we had do was send her a payment every month, which we barely noticed since it was month-to-month. All park tickets, dinner reservations, attractions, etc. were handled all through her, and she even provided us with pre-vacation Disney care packages and itineraries. We'll be going through her the next time we end up doing a Disney vacation (which won't be in another three years, considering how painless this time around was.)

In the end, the Houghs tackled all four Disney parks over the course of seven days, and the Johnsons - who would be arriving a day after us and departing a day earlier - ended up doing three. We plan on doing this sort of vacation every year or every other year from this point forward (though we gotta skip next summer because we have to buy Abby a car and take care of Alayna's open house/graduation crap and all that.)

So here you go, America - the first installment of this year's Hough Family Florida Vacation.

Behold. . .

Day I

The Return South, or The Establishment of Headquarters

This morning was brutal, make no mistake about it. Our flight departed for Orlando at 10:15am, so in order to get to the airport early - and accommodate for the two hour drive down to Detroit and have Kris' uncle Wayne drive our van to the airport for us (like we do every time) - we had to leave the house at 6am. This would've been manageable had we gotten full nights of sleep, but Yours Truly woke up wide awake at 2:30am and began stressing out over last-minute things to pack, secure around the house, etc. And we all went to bed around 11pm. Long story short, Kris managed to get about six and a half hours of sleep, while the girls and I averaged about three and a half. Not ideal.

Abby, being Abby, took selfies throughout the day for her social media presence.

We were fortunate that we hit zero traffic on our two-hour drive downstate (which can't be said for the northbound folks, as you can see here.)

Arriving in scenic downtown Romulus, around 8am.

We arrived at Wayne's house and stayed long enough for everyone to use the bathroom, more or less.

Saying hi briefly to Wayne's bear of a dog, Captain.

Wayne dropped us off at the Detroit Metro Airport on time (a short five-minute drive from his house, tops), then drove Kris' van back to his house, where it would chill out in his driveway for the next week.

With our current American Express Gold Card, we get a ridiculous amount of Delta miles, but also a perk that allows each passenger flying to check a bag for free. We dropped off all four suitcases, free of charge, which meant that Yours Truly was the only person who had to stow a bag (my tactical backpack, which held the delicate expensive stuff like my SLR and laptop) in the overhead compartment (my three roommates only had small, personal items to stow under their seats.)

Setting off towards the Delta terminal. . .

At the Tram Station

Morale high, energy low aboard the tram to our gate.

Another Abby selfie while waiting to board our flight at the gate.

A random coming-back-from-using-the-bathrooms selfie on a moving escalator (or whatever you call those things when they're horizontal.)

My roommates, waiting to pre-board.

On both flights on this trip, our seats were separated by multiple rows, two and two. As usual, Kris and I both offered the girls the scenic window seat and we'd sit in the middle next to a stranger. When Alayna and I got to our seats, we realized that we had one of those rare window-less seats, and Alayna became super annoyed. You can see how tired I am here, I was to that halfway delusional state at this point.

Before take-off, Abby offered to switch seats with her and Alayna jumped up to Kris' row, which had a window.

Taking off from Detroit (all these window pics are courtesy of the Cannonball.)

Abby sent this pic up to Kris and Alayna on our family text thread. I never was able to fall completely asleep - being on an Orlando-bound flight means the plane is filled with screaming children - so I drifted in that half-sleep/half-awake state for two hours. Incredibly frustrating.

They fared a lot better up in the window row, I guess.

She did this the entire flight, I assume.

Another Abby selfie for you, in case you needed it.

I'm surprised neither girl slept on the flight down - they must've been too excited.

Coming into Florida.

Not sure what this hole in the window is, but I'd be concerned.

Descending into Orlando, at the end of our uneventful flight.

The Orlando International Airport.

Picking up our luggage after disembarking the plane, we were happy to find all four pieces of luggage were present and in good condition. Always a roll of the dice when one's traveling.

With the luggage secured, we found a bench outside and Kris called us an Uber. The only downside to staying on Disney property is that they discontinued the free shuttle service from the airport to the resorts, so you have to go with a service like Uber (or a taxi, if you're Amish) to get there. We only had to wait like five minutes because Uber drivers literally circle the airport like vultures waiting for their next fare.

Our guy showed up in a Toyotal Corolla, which fortunately had enough trunk space to accommodate our four suitcases. The girls all squeezed in the back and I sat up front with the driver. . . who didn't speak a lick of English.

This dude drove like a menace - driving ten mph over the speed limit at all times and swerving in and out of traffic with zero regard for anyone's safety. He had some weird Latin/Caribbean station blasting and was living his best life.

Arriving at Pop Century, he misplaced his wallet and couldn't communicate to us what he was looking for, but after multiple hand gesturing we realized he had left in on the front passenger seat and I was sitting on it.

Upon pulling in to the resort, he helped us unload our suitcases, which justified us giving him a tip at all - he was incredibly reckless driving, but nice enough. At least we got there in one piece.

Pop Century has employees come out to meet arriving guests with tablets so you can check in to your rooms without having to go through the hassle of using the front desk at all. We all had MagicBands for this trip which not only served as park admission tickets - and credit cards - but also room keys, so the girls headed straight up to our room while Kris and I headed inside the main lobby.

I'm a dumb ass and had accidentally shipped three Amazon packages to Pop Century instead of my home address over the last two or three weeks. Allow me to explain: we had scheduled an Amazon grocery delivery for the week - food and drinks for the room, etc - and had entered in Pop Century's address for our Amazon Fresh cart (because, you know, that's where they'd ultimately be delivered to.) Sometimes, when checking out via Amazon' standard cart system, it sometimes defaults (I guess) to your Fresh cart address saved on file. Consequently, I had to pay a $6 per package 'handling fee' to the resort so that they would hold on to my packages, buuuut. . . . whatever. At least I was able to pick them up. Lesson learned.

Checking in to the room. We had requested to stay in the '50s section of the resort, which is centrally located close to the cafeteria/gift shop, the Skyliner (which transports guests gondola-style to multiple parks) and has a quieter pool of it's own (the main pool, in the '60s section, is nicer, but way louder and crowded since it's the main pool.) We were stoked to end up where we were.

A personalized screen on the TV for us upon our arrival.

Another downside to staying on property was the fact that our living space was dramatically reduced: no separate bathrooms, no separate sleeping areas, no full kitchen, no washer/dryer set up. 

The saving grace to the bathroom situation - because we have two, teenage daughters who take FOREVER getting ready in the morning - was that the toilet/shower section of the bathroom was separate from the mirror/sink section. This allowed multiple people to use the bathroom at the same time (which was a Godsend.)

Alayna and Abby demonstrate how to set up the second bed (which was the one they ended up sleeping on.) When not in use, the bed converted to a table and chairs set up, which was super convenient.

Took us about an hour to unpack our suitcases, staking claim to various drawers and cubbies around the room and stowing the empty suitcases for dirty clothes storage underneath me and Kris' bed (which didn't fold up.)

Our Amazon delivery came around 4pm, and we were able to nab a luggage cart from the front desk to haul up our grocery order. 

We focused on breakfast foods (bananas, coffee creamer, protein bars, etc.), snacks for the parks, or when hanging around poolside and in the rooms at the end of the day (popcorn, pretzels, assorted mini-bags of chips, candy, etc.), waters, zero-sugar energy drinks, along with booze (seltzers mostly, since it was going to be hot-as-balls this week.) 

Abby tests out the luggage cart.

The weather was flawless - sunny and hot - so after all the groceries were put away we ventured down to the '50s section pool area.

This is about as crowded as this pool ever got, which was a far cry from the much more-crowded 'Hippie Dippie Pool' that you'll see later and in subsequent posts.

You can't tell from this angle, but this pool is shaped like a bowling pin. 'Cause, you know, the 1950's. . .

This was strictly for decor, as these bowling balls are fake and cemented to the rack (and yes, I tried removing them, to no avail.)

I brought down our trusty Go-Pro camera for some pool pics and video while we were down there.

The girls took their sweet time getting down to the pool - you know, because they had to 'get ready' first - then took an exuberant amount of time applying sunscreens and tanning lotion.

My roommates.

My wife, being special.

Accidentally had the camera set to 'video' instead of 'photo' while trying to take a family selfie. Oh well, you get the idea.

Kris will be really happy I posted this one to the Internet. . . 

Yet another Abby selfie for you. 

After a couple hours in the pool, we decided we were funned out and headed back up to the room.

Giant statues and artwork surround this resort, and are themed to the different decades. The '50s has a lot of 'sock hop' and bowling stuff, giant statues (like this one, which was probably 30 feet in height) of Lady and the Tramp, crap like that. In later posts you'll see how the other decades are themed, so I'll save those for another time.

Our second-floor room opened up to a forested section of the resort which enclosed one of the rare smoking sections of the resort. Would have been nice to open up to the pool area, but whatever.

Checking the date/time accuracy of the Go-Pro after taking it down to the pool area (I hadn't checked before, like a moron.)

After changing out of our pool outfits, we decided to venture down to the main building of the resort, which houses the front lobby, a fancy arcade, a gift shop (of course), and a vast cafeteria.

The poolside bar in the '60s section (which I only frequented a handful of times, as $18 for a 12-ounce pina colada is a bit extreme in my opinion.)

The giant Hippie Dippie Pool, the main pool - and guest hub - of the resort, located in the '60s. It's even more centrally located than our '50s building, but far more congested and busier (i.e. louder.)

The Cafeteria. You basically grab a tray and go up to either of the five sections to order your food, then once you have everything you want, you take your tray to a checkout station and a cashier rings you up.

Aside from a coffee/ice cream/booze station, and a series of coolers with grab-and-go snacks, sandwiches, desserts, and drinks of all kinds, there were three, main 'meal' lines. I took pics of the menus of each so we could reference them throughout the vacation. . .

Yeah, there was definitely unhealthy food to be had, but they also had lots of healthy options, which was great for Kris and I because we always watch how we eat. And the prices were reasonable, too - most of the time we could get away spending less than $60 on a dinner for four (far less than one would at the parks.)

After dinner, the girls and I were running on fumes and returned to the room to veg out in front of the TV and wind down. By this point it was almost 7pm and the three of us were operating on three hours of sleep. Kris was wide awake and full of energy (having gotten a full night of sleep the night before), so she set off on her own to explore the resort a bit. She took all these pics as she wandered through the different 'decades' of the park, like this one (clearly in the '80s section.)

In the '70s section, somewhere.

Lizards were everywhere down here, and Kris felt it was necessary to get a picture of one (as if we didn't live with these things running all over our yard when we used to live in Florida.)

I had one of these as a kid, but it was the far-cooler Dungeons and Dragons model.

Meanwhile, back in the room, the girls watch the second Avatar movie (most of our family movies were Disney movies this week, unsurprisingly) and relax on their phones.

Kris, venturing through the '60s section again.

I took a few more pics around our room to showcase how we had set everything up for the week. All three of my roommates were packing multiple Disney Ears for this trip.

My collection of fantastic, super-tacky, tourist shirts (polos for the parks, cut-off Hawaiians for the pool and resort.)

The girls laid claim to the sink area (obviously.)

No need to pack body wash, shampoo, or conditioner for this trip (which saved a ton of space), as Pop Century stocks their own in the shower (and it's awesome.)

The famous Disney LoungeFly mini-backpack - a theme park staple, and one of their biggest merch store sellers. Alayna got a Spider Man one for Christmas to use on this trip, and Abby got a Winnie the Pooh one (at some point) to use, but she never ended up using it (preferring instead to use a simple, black string back all week.)

Kris came back as the girls were tearing through classic, Disney animated films (the room's TV came loaded with Disney+ - of course - so we were able to log in to our account and access our stuff.) We turned in around 8:30pm - which annoyed Kris, seeing how she was still wide awake - but we had to get up around 5:45am the next morning for our first, big day at the parks: Animal Kingdom. Stay tuned. . .

- Brian