Jillian, Author at On the Go in MCO

Things To Know On The Go: SeaWorld Wild Days 2016 Tips

After getting to experience the first day of Sea World WildDays, I’ve got a few Things to Know On the Go to share with you!

1- Pick up a Wild Days Event Map/Guide at the front of the park! This will help you locate the special Wild Days activities (and if you want to become a Junior Animal Ambassador, you’ll need the map to collect your stamps). Special Activities include- three different types of Explore Zones, Feed the Animals, Inspiring Stories, the Feature Show, and the Block Party. These activities are marked on the guide, and they will have special markings and signage in the area to help identify them.

2- if you collect the animal information cards from the Animal Ambassadors around then park, check with the event table by SeaWorld Rescue Store to find out what locations will have the special Wild Days exclusive cards! There are 2 each weekend for a total of 6 cards.

3- See the Feature Show!! Make sure that you get to there early. They will fill to capacity, and you don’t want to miss them. The shows are at 1 p.m. & 3 p.m. in the Nautilus Theater. January 23rd-24th is Penguin Lovers Weekend with Julie Scardina; and January 30th-31st is SeaRescue Weekend with the SeaWorld rescue team.

4- Watch the New “Ocean Discovery” killer whale presentation. You can learn all about killer whales and other species of whales during this special educational show. It’s an interactive, 30-minute presentation showing and telling you about the animals’ adaptations, habitats and behavior. This is a special presentation and it is in addition to the regularly scheduled One Ocean show.

5- Stop by the SeaWorld Rescue Store with your completed card (6 stamps from any of the 14 zones) to collect your Junior Ambassador prize! Stay for the block party! Located at the front of the park, it’s a fun filled way to end your day in the park. Music, characters, bubbles, and a great time!

Did you get to SeaWorld WildDays for Wild Weekend with Jack Hanna? Or are you planning on stopping by for a different weekend? I’m hoping to go all three weekends! Definitely getting good use out of my annual pass!

Bass Pro Shops Orlando Family Summer Camp

The Family Summer Camp is winding down at Bass Pro Shops; but don’t you worry- you still have time to participate! The Family Summer Camp is going on through Sunday, July 26th, with workshops being held on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday! The best part is all activities, workshops, and crafts are FREE!

The kids workshops are just under 30 minutes each, and they include a class, a handout with questions, a scavenger hunt in store, games and a coloring sheet, and you receive a pin for participating. There are 9 workshops in all. They also have a lanyard, while supplies last.

Workshop schedule:

Tuesday

12 pm Bird Watching

1 pm Fishing

2 pm Archery

3 pm Kayaking

4 pm Backyard Adventures

Thursday

12 pm Archery

1 pm Shooting & Hunting

2 pm Travel Safety

3 pm Water Safety

4 pm Camping

Saturday

12 pm Fishing

1 pm Water Safety

2 pm Shooting & Hunting

3 pm Kayaking

4 pm Bird Watching

Sunday

12 pm Shooting & Hunting

1 pm Archery

2 pm Travel Safety

3 pm Camping

4 pm Backyard Adventure

In addition to the workshops they have an Archery Range, Casting Buckets, and a Daisy BB Gun Range (Some age restrictions apply) from noon until 5 pm.

We love the staff at the Orlando location. Even though he is a little bit too little for some of their activities on his own, they are really great and get on his level to help him.

Last, but definitely not least, our favorite parts are the crafts, they are from noon-2 pm (although ours usually has them through 5 pm!) For the final week, (Tuesday the 21st, Thursday the 23rd, Saturday the 25th & Sunday the 26th) they will be making a lady bug clip magnet.

This is the bee wind chime that he made on the first week!

Make sure you stop in to see the activities if you are in the area. They are a lot of fun and very informative! See their website for more details!

SeaWorld Christmas Celebration

It’s Christmas time again!! SeaWorld has brought back their Christmas Celebration and it bigger and better than ever! New Shows, decorations, and Atmosphere Entertainment have been added to this year’s festivities! As always, these events are included in your regular park admission!

Our first stop was Elmo’s Christmas Wish – Elmo, Cookie Monster, Grover, Zoe, Rosita all make their Christmas wishes! There is tons of singing and dancing as the friends all make their wishes for Christmas and help Elmo make his wish. This is a must do for the little ones! Little Man was very excited to see his favorites on stage! He also loved the bubbles and “snow” coming down from the ceiling!

After we left the show, we headed to the waterfront to see the Sea of Trees. Crazy!! SO MANY TREES, over 100 of them! They were everywhere; and the colors and music were so festive. I absolutely loved seeing all the dancing images on the trees: candy canes, Frosty the Snowman, gingerbread men and more. It was 10 minutes of magic!

After the Sea of Trees we headed over to O Wondrous Night, the Greatest Story Never Told. We were greeted to a friendly guitar playing singing Christmas songs! What an amazing show! It’s the Christmas Story in a way you’ve never heard before- through the eyes of the animals! The show is filled with wonderful performers, singing traditional Christmas songs, fun puppetry and an actual living nativity! We loved the performance (little man did get kind of antsy, it’s a 30 min show)! Little man’s favorite part was when all the live animals started coming out!

We wen to see Shamu’s Christmas Miracles next. They had a saxophone player for a preshow. I always love the night time Shamu shows! This one was no exception! They whales performed between videos of people telling about their miracles. They had a heart touching video of the first Baby Shamu! We had a few moments where the whales didn’t want to perform, but that happens. We definitely want to come back and see it again!

We ended the night with Winter Wonderland on Ice. We found out earlier in the day that they are skating on real ice, not a synthetic surface. Such a festive ice skating show! Fantastic skaters and some of my favorite Christmas songs, and a new fun one for us “Hot, Hot, Hot Chocolate!” My favorite part was when Pete and Penny Penguin came out to ice skate!! We loved how the fountains and the trees danced to the music too, it was very immersive.

Immediately after the show is Holiday Reflections: Fireworks & Fountain Finale. If you are already there for Winter Wonderland on Ice you don’t need to move, you have a great spot for this finale!

The only things we missed out on during our visit to SeaWorld Orlando’s Christmas Celebration was the Polar Express, the snow flurries on the waterfront, and meeting Santa Shamu! We will definitely be back to see them!

Power Rangers Super Megaforce Weekends

Power Rangers Super Megaforce Weekends at the Nick Hotel

Nickelodeon Suites Resort, the only Nick-themed resort of its kind in the world, will host two exciting Power Rangers Super Megaforce weekends this October.

httpv://youtu.be/DzWZtwUDFBA

The themed weekend, which will take place on October 24-26, will be jam-packed with Power Rangers Super Megaforce fun with all six Rangers costumed characters, including the brand new Silver Ranger.

These Super Megaforce weekends of adventure and excitement will feature a variety of activities for guests including:

Autograph and photo opportunities with the live-action cast of the television series. (October 17-19 only)
Photo opportunities with the Power Rangers costumed characters. (October 24-26)
A super-charged Power Rangers lunch, featuring “Train Like a Ranger” sessions with all six Power Rangers Super Megaforce characters on October 25 (12:30 pm and 2:30 pm) and October 26 (12:30 pm and 2:30 pm) for $17 for ages 4-12 and $33 ages 13 and up.
Power Rangers-themed activities and crafts.
A sneak peek screening of an episode of Power Rangers Super Megaforce.

Power Rangers Super Megaforce Weekends are a really great chance to learn more about the show and the really talented actors that are part of it! If you are a fan, you definitely won’t want to miss the chance to be a part of a great experience at the Nick Hotel!

In addition to the Power Rangers weekends, the hotel’s annual Halloween “spooktacular”, Nick-Or-Treat, will occur each weekend in October. Guests can trick-or-treat across the property with some of their favorite Nickelodeon friends, including SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer. They are also encouraged to bring their own costume.

“So far, 2014 has been filled with incredible experiences for our guests. Hosting the Power Rangers Super Megaforce live-action cast and two Power Rangers weekends in October is one more way we are bringing one-of-kind experiences to the hotel,” said Tony Aslanian, director of sales and marketing for Nickelodeon Suites Resort. “We have several great stay packages to compliment these special event weekends that kids and families are sure to enjoy.”

Guests can book their Power Rangers Super Megaforce weekend stay by visiting NickHotel.com/Power-Rangers.

Join the Nick Hotel Club.
Follow us on Twitter @nickhotel.
Join our Nick Hotel Facebook Fan page.

Easter Activities at Bass Pro Shops!

Bass Pro Shops is hosting fun Easter activities this weekend and next weekend! They include Easter egg hunts, crafts, and pictures with the Easter Bunny!

Each activity has different times and days so make sure you’re paying attention if you want to hit them all. We ended up just missing the Easter egg hunt, which is held during the Easter Bunny’s carrot break, so we missed him too.

The Easter egg hunt is on Sunday the 13th, Saturday the 19th, and Sunday the 20th. Registration starts at 1:30, and the hunt starts promptly at 2pm. It’s for ages 2-10, and after you collect 5 eggs, you return to registration to exchange them for candy. The Easter Bunny was on carrot break from 2-3pm while we were there on Saturday the 12th.

The Easter Bunny is at Bass Pro Shops all week! Sunday the 13th, Saturday the 19th, Sunday the 20th, he’s there 11am-4pm. Then Monday April 14th through Thursday the 17th, he’s there 6pm-8pm. Friday the 18th, he’s there 2pm-7pm. Bass Pro Shops also have some great photo packages, and you get a free 4×6 photo just for visiting!

They have crafts as well at Bass Pro Shops, different ones depending on which weekend you are there. Sunday the 13th from 1pm-4pm is coloring a plaster Easter egg magnet, and then Friday the 18th from 4pm-7pm, Saturday the 19th and Sunday the 20th from 1-4pm is making a bunny frame or a scratch art bunny.

Little Man coloring his egg

His Easter egg magnet

For an additional fee, Bass Pro Shops also had a face painter who had some really cute designs! All in all, a super event and we’ll be back next weekend for more Easter fun!

Sea World’s Just for Kids Festival

Sea World is hosting the Just For Kids! Festival on Saturdays through April 12, 2014; and, it’s included with your park admission! Don’t let the name fool you though, it’s definitely family friendly! While it is kid-centric, it brings families together for fun activities, rides, Animal Ambassadors, and more!

We were given a festival map as we came into the parking lot. They are also available at the Ocean Adventure areas as well. The map is the perfect size for your little one to help navigate. It has all the Fun Stations mapped out for you with just a few main park locations for reference points.

Just for Kids Festival map

The stars on the map are the Ocean Adventure areas. That’s where your kids can go on an educational and fun trip around the park. They have games and information at each of the four stops. After you complete your activity, the bottom of your map will get a punch and you get a limited edition Explorer’s card! The stations are really easy to spot too- there is a “take an Ocean Adventure” sign along with Just for Kids! banners like the one pictured here:

Ocean Adventure activity

The Ocean Adventures are spread out around the park, but not too spread out! One thing that I loved about this is that they never excluded Cole. He’s almost two, so he’s really into doing these fun things like the matching games, but he’s not quite old enough to answer questions about oil on penguin. Some of them they let me help him with but some tailored their activity to be more his level. It was tons of fun!

After you complete all four Ocean Adventure activities, you get a ticket that allows you to go to one of three stores and turn it in for a special surprise!

The four limited edition cards.

Another fun part of Just for Kids is the Rockin’ Rockhopper Party in Antarctica that starts at 11am. A DJ is there with some rockin’ hoppin’ music to get everyone moving. There are even special penguin guests who come out and party with you! They have games, snacks, face painting and you can even see live penguins! You don’t want to miss out!

As always, there are lots of great Animal Ambassadors to wow and amaze! It’s neat to see all the different animals and to hear their stories. The SEA Garden is home to one of the Ocean Adventures, many of the Animal Ambassadors and special story tellers.

Animal Ambassadors

Story time!

A highlight for my little one was the Elmo Rocks! show. He couldn’t stop talking about Elmo all weekend! Be sure to get there early as the show is only performed in the earlier part of the day and there are only a few shows.

Be sure to stick around for the end of the day too. The Shamu Dance Party, at the front of the park in Village Square, starts one hour before park close and lasts until 30 minutes after park close. There is a stilt walking emcee, music for the whole family to enjoy and dance to, and Shamu and his crew are there! Unfortunately no pictures of the party because we’ve had plans that caused us to miss it the first two weekends, but we’ll be there for the third one!

Have you been to Sea World’s Just for Kids Festival yet? What was your favorite part? We are excited to go again this weekend and hopefully next weekend as well!

Baby Care Center- Magic Kingdom

This post is the third in a mini series, there will be four total; one for each theme park. If you have a Disney, Travel, or Mommy blog (or any other kind of blog you think this could fit into) and are interested in using this post and the ones that follow, please contact me! Part one was Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and part two was Epcot. This time we will be exploring Magic Kingdom.

The Entrance

The Baby Care Center at Magic Kingdom is located right next door to First Aid, between Casey’s Corner and Crystal Palace.

Unfortunately it is my least favorite location out of the parks, but, don’t get me wrong, I’m still very grateful that it’s there. Since I usually travel alone with the little one (while my husband is at work) I have to juggle all our stuff. That’s one super helpful perk of having a stroller, it’s a place to stow things & babies have a lot of things! Just like Epcot, the Magic Kingdom Baby Care Center does not allow strollers inside. You have to park them at the door.

Signage

When you walk in the door, you’re greeted with a curio cabinet showcasing the baby products available for sale inside.

Curio with merchandise

As you pass the display, the nursing room is on the right. Also like Epcot, this one is a community nursing room. Four padded rocking chairs in a very dimly lit room. It’s soothing, but I wish it was a tad brighter; it takes some time to adjust between that light level and the bright Florida sun outside. Also in the room are two small tables and some outlets for pumping or phone charging. Unlike Epcot this one has 2 doors, an in door on one end and an out door on the other end. Be aware if you sit on the out door wall and the door opens all the way, you can pretty much see into the park. So if you are on the shy side when it comes to nursing in public, I’d stay away from that wall.

Blurry, but a shot of the other 3 rockers from the 4th rocker.

The out door, see how your in line with it if you’re in the rocker on the left?

Continuing on from the nursing room is a very large feeding/play room! It has a TV, some books and a big layout. It has 3 high chairs, 4 kid sized tables, lots of child sized stools, and 8 full sized chairs.

Feeding/play room

To the left of the feeding room is the changing room. They have 5 large padded changing tables, a hand washing sink and a restroom.

One corner of the changing room.

Another corner of the changing room, with the sink.

The next, and final room is the kitchen. Just like the other Baby Care Centers, it has a sink, microwave, bottle warmer, mini fridge; and it also sells any baby necessities that you have run out of or forgotten.

Kitchen

List of items available

A fun fact- this Baby Care Center, then called Baby Services, has been around since the opening of the Walt Disney World Resort! “Facilities for changing infants, preparing formula, warming bottles. Babysitting not available in Theme Park. Babysitting services available at hotels.”

Stay tuned for our last Disney installment of our Baby Care Center series, Disney’s Animal Kingdom!

Santa’s Wonderland at Bass Pro Shops

Are you lucky enough to have a Bass Pro Shops nearby? We are, right in Festival Bay Mall in Orlando! Now through Christmas Eve, Santa has set up his Wonderland right in the middle of Bass Pro!!

Santa’s Wonderland

They have several game & activity stations set up in the store. Most of them are right in the immediate area of Santa, but the ornament decorating is in front of the big fish tank (at least it is in the Orlando location).

The first thing we saw walking into our Bass Pro was the AMAZING Christmas tree! I loved the rustic simplicity of it!!!

The big tree!

Then you smell popcorn, fudge, and cinnamon nuts! The first activity you come upon is Little Man’s favorite, the carousel! Lots of outdoorsy animals – bears, deer, polar bear, reindeer, moose! We rode it twice, and he wanted to go again! (We went again for week two and he went crazy when he saw the carousel! Of course we had to ride it on this trip too!)

The carousel!

There was a slot car race track set up, along with RC trucks, a laser shooting arcade, a duck shooting gallery & a model train! There are even tables to color holiday pictures and write letters to Santa! These are all available store open to close.

Activities

Other fun things include free weekly crafts (while supplies last)!! They do them by the big fish tank Monday-Friday 5-7 pm, Saturday-Sunday noon -5 pm, and Thanksgiving & Christmas Eve from 3-5 pm. We’ve done the first two, a wooden ornament & a felt penguin ornament. Other crafts are Popsicle stick reindeer ornament (November 25-December 1), stuffed Santa ornament (December 2-8), candy cane owl ornament (December 9-15), reindeer gift bag (December 16-22) & cookie decorating (December 23-24).

Making ornaments

After you finish your craft, head over to Santa’s Wonderland, where you can get a free backpack clip (while supplies last) for the first 125 kids to visit each weekday, 5-7 pm. The first two were a Christmas tree & a candy cane, then comes a gingerbread man (November 25-29), Santa’s sleigh (December 2-6), a stocking (December 9-13), a snowman (December 16-20) & Santa in a chimney (December 23-24, 24th is 3-5 pm). They are MUCH bigger than I thought they’d be, I was pleasantly surprised! Little Man likes playing with them too!

Backpack clips

The highlight of Santa’s Wonderland is, of course, the big man himself Santa! He’s got a nice set up with reindeer this year! Santa’s times are different than the crafts so be sure to check before you go. You get a free 4×6 picture, with the option of a photo package. Packages start at just $15. Both times we’ve gone, there hasn’t been a wait; but later in the season Santa should get very popular! If Santa’a line gets longer than a 30 min wait, the Bass Pass will allow you to go check out the rest of Santa’s Wonderland and Bass Pro and when your time is up, come back to see Santa!

Santa and Little Man

Have you visited Santa’s Wonderland at Bass Pro Shops? Let us know what you think!

Halloween Spooktacular Fun For Little Ones

I don’t know about you, but I love Halloween! It is such a fun time of year with all the parties going on everywhere!

Last year was little man’s first Halloween, but at 6 months, he was more cute than anything else. We didn’t do too much more than a “costume” and some pictures. This year he’s big enough to go and have fun!

I jumped on the opportunity to take him to SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular this year! Costumes, candy, dance parties and characters, what fun!!

We really had a great time at SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular! Overall it seemed to REALLY be geared towards the little ones, and that was perfect for us. My favorite things are that this special event is included in your regular park admission, it is during regular park hours (i.e. no late nights!) and there are lots of activities going on during Spooktacular!

Little man’s favorite things are the bubbles everywhere, the trick or treat trail (where he could hold his bag closed and try to give his candy/snacks back to people), the dance party and the characters!

One of the things available at a small addition fee was cookie decorating. He had so much fun playing with his cookie and eating it!

It wasn’t very crowded at all while we were there, it was quite nice! Unfortunately this event is only available a few days in the season – just weekends in October, so we were only able to go once. Next year it is definitely on our must do list! Have you been to SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular? What was your favorite part?

Baby Care Center – Epcot

This post is the second in a mini series about the Baby Care Centers at Walt Disney World, there will be four total; one for each theme park.

For the first post we went to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and for this installment we will be traveling to Epcot.

Signs to the Baby Care Center.

Epcot’s Baby Care Center is located in the Odyssey building next to First Aid. It’s about as centrally located as you can get in a park with a lagoon in the middle. Strollers can’t come into this Baby Care, but there is parking right outside the doors.

Stroller parking area, right outside.

When you first walk in, there is a little lobby area with a couch, usually occupied by dads or grandparents. There is a short hallway & then you are usually greeted by the Cast Member stationed there.

Little lobby.

To the right is the little play room. There is a TV in there playing Disney Channel or a Disney movie, several chairs for sitting, & some toys for the kids to play with. A minor thing to consider, there is no food allowed in this room.

Play room.

A little further down the hall on the right are full sized adult restrooms. A nice thing to have right there. The hallway ends with the changing room. There are four large, nicely padded changing tables in this room, along with a hand washing sink.

Roomy changing tables.

Continuing back down the hall (as if you were headed to the exit), you have the feeding room/mini gift shop. This room has a few small merchandise displays of Baby Mickey & Minnie plush, rattles, bibs, & onsies. This area has a child sized table and chairs along with high chairs and regular sized chairs for adults.

The feeding room, with merchandise.

The next room is the kitchen & supplies room, very important!! They have filtered water, a microwave, sterilizer, bottle warmer, & a sink. They also carry all those forgot to grab before you left the house/hotel items or things you just run out of. They have bottles, pacifiers, diaper kits, food, sippy cups, formula, juice, sunscreen, sundries & some childrens medicines!

Kitchen/merchandise shop.

Items available for sale.

Last but not least, is the nursing room. Not my favorite of the four parks, but at least it’s there! This nursing room, unlike the ones at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, which I’ll cover later) is a public one. Only nursing mothers are allowed in the room, but it still holds 4 at a time. The room is quite large, it has 4 non-padded wooden rocking chairs, each side of the room has a small table between the 2 chairs, outlets all over the room for pumping or charging a cell phone, and there are dimmer lights over each chair. If the room is set up properly by the Cast, the four chairs all face the center of the room. A lot of mothers will turn their chair around to face the wall instead. Most of the time when we’ve gone in there, we’re either the only ones or there is only one other person in there. Only once have I ever gone in (and we go at least once a month) and there been a wait, all 4 chairs occupied and one lady nursing sitting on the floor. That is far from a normal day though!

Door to the nursing room.

Chairs in the nursing room.

Of all four Baby Care Centers, this is our second most visited and our third favorite! Stay tuned for our next installment!

Baby Care Center – Disney’s Hollywood Studios

This post is the first in a mini series visiting the Baby Care Centers at the Walt Disney World Resort. There will be four total; one for each theme park. This time we will be exploring Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

For those who don’t travel to Walt Disney World with young children the Baby Care Centers are completely ignored, or, in some cases, are unknown entirely. Being a Cast Member at the parks I have known exactly where each one is and what they offer. Did I know before I started in 2001 and got my park tour? Probably, but being in the 20 and under group, I would have to say I am sure it was ignored. Now being a mom to a newborn, the Baby Care Centers are my (and Cole’s) new favorite stop!

Disney’s Hollywood Studios would have to be my favorite park for getting in and out of with a little one by myself. I have to walk from the car because the stroller, diaper bag and baby in the car seat are just all too much for me to deal with if I don’t have an extra set of hands. Add that to an almost hour drive to the park, and it’s about time for Cole to want a diaper change and some food! Here Baby Care is located just inside the park on the left within Guest Relation, which, in my opinion, is the only downside. It’s the smallest of the Baby Care Centers, but even during Star Wars Weekends over Memorial Day weekend it wasn’t very crowded in the center. It was, however difficult to get in the doors to Guest Relations because *they* were busy.

When you first walk in, you are greeted with a lobby/seating area complete with a TV playing children’s programs (in my experience here it’s usually Little Einsteins), a padded bench, ottoman, two chairs and three high chairs for feeding the bigger little ones.

The lobby/seating area when you walk in.

There is also a mini kitchen, with a sink and microwave in here.

Kitchen

Then off to the left are two private rooms for nursing. It’s a cozy little room with a curtain door, dimmer light, outlets, a rocker with a padded seat, and small bench. They are small, but I can bring either of my strollers (I have a regular Chicco stroller and then a Baby Trend jogging stroller) in there with me and there is plenty of room for me and Cole. I doubt a double, inline or side by side, would fit and the Disney ones are too wide I think to fit in there though. While he was still small, (and not too wiggly) and I’m usually by myself, I would use the small bench to go ahead and change Cole’s diaper using my travel changing pad. I didn’t want to get him all settled back in the stroller just to take him out in the changing area and do it all over again.

One of the nursing rooms

Finally on the right side of the lobby is the changing area. It’s spacious and has two changing tables, a hand washing sink and even a restroom with a child sized toilet.

Changing area.

Of all of the Baby Care Centers, this is our most frequently used one. It’s our second favorite!

Stay tuned for the second part of the series- Epcot!