Cynthia, James, Jordan, Kevin, Sylvia & George take a trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida January 28 - February 4, 2026
Cynthia wanted to do something special for Jordan's 22nd and Kevin's 9th birthdays, so she planned a trip to Florida. The plan was to visit DisneyWorld and Universal Studios. This trip was also coupled with a few days visit to Apopka, FL to visit Hope and Steph. Little did we know that Florida was about to experience an Arctic blast of cold air creating colder temperatures that Florida has not seen in many years.
Above, Cynthia sports a stylish Pikachu headphone set on our plane trip to Florida. The other two pictures show the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Resort in Orlando. The middle picture does not do the mural justice since it was a moving screen with the horses galloping across the lobby behind the registration desk.
After check-in, we headed to Wal-mart for snacks and toiletries for the hotel room, and before heading back, we stopped in at Cheddar's for drinks, food and then more drinks. We were feeling good when we made it back to the hotel. The pictures shown were taken at Denny's the next morning where we went for a Grand Slam breakfast before heading out to Universal Studios Epic park.
Universal Studios: Epic...
The second day there, we went to the Epic park at Universal Studios! It was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the mid-60s!
The first big attraction that we went to was Mario Land! In fact the kids were so enraptured by the park, they stayed for about 3 hours!
Needless to say, Kevin and Jordan were immursed in the experience. Sylvia is shown in the last picture, below, with a "mushroom" hat!
Not being much of a Mario fan, Sylvia and I broke off from the group and went immediately to the Constellation Carousel which we rode with all the other little kids.
After that brief ride, we next bumped into a Frankenstein/Horror park. As you can tell by the casket that I'm in (below), I didn't survive the experience too well!
It was a spooky park with lots of artifacts from various horror movies with Frankenstein being the main show. Of note, in the middle picture (below) you can see the ride we were on! You may have to expand it but note the people strapped in chairs being thrown around the scary inner castle! In the third picture, Sylvia made a new friend!
This is us taking a rest while we wait for the group to come out of the Mario Land park.
Below are several more of the various rides and parks that we saw that day.
It was a great beginning to our first visit at the magical park!
Below, you can see us trying on various hats at a gift shop. Kevin seems to have struck 'gold' with the biggest chocolate coin he had ever seen.
It was a very full day of sights, sounds and rides, but alas, after spending about 9 hours at the park, we were pooped! Ok, I'm mainly talking about Sylvia and me, 'cuz the rest of the group was still ready to party! So it was time to head out and eat a late supper at Delmonico's Italian Steakhouse! The meal and waitress were great! The waitress was a transplant from New York, thick with a NY accent and funny as hell!
Epcot...
Then came one of Disney's most famous parks... Epcot! It was a 'must' on Jordan's list of parks to visit!
It was either fortunate or unfortunate, depending on your experience, that the first ride we hit was a space ship ride! We all became part of a space mission and the ride was INTENSE! Several in the group had a vertiginous and nauseating experience from the ride itself. It took several minutes to wear off! But soon, we snapped back to normal and were ready for the next experience!
Here we are, below, not long after the space ride ready to eat ice cream and fancy macaroon cookies!
Below, James and Kevin stand next to a statue of Miguel & Dante, his dog, from the movie Coco! The next two pictures were taken on a futuristic ride. You can see futuristic George in the last pictures, supposedly living his best life.
Then it was time to explore a little bit of China. Yes, we snacked on some eggrolls while we shopped at the stores. It was brief and time to move onto Germany!
I have to admit that the best thing about Germany was the bakery we went to. Great desserts were purchased including huge caramel-coated cookies and extra chocolatey cakes!
Italy was next! If we hadn't had so many desserts in 'Germany', I would have purchased some cannoli but we did enjoy the sights. Above, is Sylvia posing in the first picture with a Mona Lisa background. The second picture of her is in the painting 'Scream' by Edvard Munch. The original painting is suppose to symbolize modern anxiety and existential dread. Surprising is the fact that it was painted in 1893, so I guess those problems existed way before our modern times.
We then had a quick pass through Mexico complete with margaritas and a boat ride! Next on our tour was Norway! There were some beautiful wood carvings including Freyja (first one) and Loki, the god of mischief! In the third photo, Jordan is unsuccessfully trying to remove Mjolnir(the hammer) from Thor!
Next was a brief visit to a Canadian outpost! Note Sylvia wearing some fluffy Mickey ears!
As the long day, turned into nighttime, we took some beautiful night pictures of the Epcot Ball! It was another long day as we headed to the parking lot, but not before stopping at a coffee shop on the way out to purchase drinks and donuts. (As if we hadn't eaten enough throughout the day!)
Hollywood Studios...
The next day was a little different! The weather report indicated that there was an arctic blast of cold air coming into Florida! Because of this, Sylvia and I slept in late and took advantage of the hotel amentities! Not to be deterred, James, Cynthia, Jordan and Kevin went on to Hollywood Studios! The weather actually held up nicely for about 8-9 hours so they were able to see most of the park! The group apparently survived their meeting with Darth Vader and his storm troopers!
After a brief visit to Toy Story Land, they headed to THE TWILIGHT ZONE TOWER OF TERROR! Also, below, they bumped into Daisy Duck and ate at a 50's-style diner! Note the year on the calendar behind Jordan and Cynthia. It says "1952", the year I was born! (And I think that's my TV hanging on the wall!) They were able to ride all of the rides they wanted and said that most of the day was warm and pleasant, but towards the end of the day around 6 pm as they were leaving, that Arctic Cold front came in. The temperature dropped rapidly into the high teens overnight with a 25 mile an hour wind behind it. We did brave the weather to head to the Outback to eat, but clearly it was time to head inside the hotel for comfort!
WonderWorks...
The next day we had planned to head to Hope and Steph's house in Apopka. It was a cold morning so considering the weather, we stopped at Wonderworks Museum for an inside adventure!
Wonderworks was filled with quirky hands-on exhibits! Below, Sylvia is trying to dance out a piano number, ala the movie, BIG! with Tom Hanks! Jordan is having her fun in a sandbox, and that swirling tunnel made for a crazy walk through. (I could only do it with my eyes closed!)
Hope and Stephanie...
The next 3 days in Apopka with Hope and Steph were a lot of fun!
We settled into our new hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn in Apopka chosen for it's proximity to Hope's place! The first picture shows Kevin sitting on the fountain outside the hotel! We then headed to Hope's place for a special Italian dinner! Also there at her house was Bruce and Nina Riggins, close friends of Hope and Steph. Nina made a big pot of meatballs and macaroni salad. Both were delicious. Added to this was italian sausage and peppers, potato salad and a variety of side snacks. It really was a feast! After the meal, we all played a fun card game called, "Screw your neighbor." In the third picture (above), you can see that I lost to Sylvia and Jordan!! Jordan decided to stay at Hope's place during the last couple of days of our trip as the rest of us headed to our hotel! The next morning we met at Metro Diner for breakfast! Still quite cold, we decided to stay mostly indoors. After breakfast and a little shopping, we headed to the Regal Cinema. Some of us watched Jason Statham's new movie, SHELTER, while others went to see ZOOTOPIA 2. Later that day, we met up with James' brother who had recently relocated to the area and the 13 of us had dinner at Miller's Ale Steakhouse!
The last day in Apopka started off with a quick meal at Hall's Feedstore on 5th. There were several merchants in a small building with a variety of different foods to choose from. To Cynthia and Jordan's delight, there was even a full bar there!
We then took a brief trip to a small town, Mount Dora, about 30 minutes away that had a number of cute small shops and restaurants! We spent about 3-4 hours exploring this area. In the middle picture below, Kevin is beating Hope at a strategic game of checkers! Sylvia and I are enjoying a pina colada! You can see that I drink mine much faster than she does! As our trip was coming to a close the night before we left, we met up again with Hope and Steph at a Japanese restaurant called Fancy Q to dine on great food including sushi! Needless to say, we had a fantastic trip with lots of sights and meals. I guess the saying is true... All things (good or bad) must pass!
Below are two very short videos (each about 5 seconds) of the parks:
Not being much of a Mario fan, Sylvia and I broke off from the group and went immediately to the Constellation Carousel which we rode with all the other little kids.
After that brief ride, we next bumped into a Frankenstein/Horror park. As you can tell by the casket that I'm in (below), I didn't survive the experience too well!
