It was our first time to be away from home for Christmas and we celebrated it in Florida, where the weather is warm and sunny. We live in Michigan and it’s really cold here around winter time. So if you are dreaming of a winter wonderland Christmas, Michigan is the place to be! My son Lucas said it feels different to have Christmas with no snow but he doesn’t mind at all celebrating it in Florida, most especially when they get to visit Disney World!
We stayed in Florida for ten days, at three different hotels! You probably think, it is a lot of work to move from one hotel to the next. It is, if you think of it that way but it wasn’t really for us. It is quite an adventure to go hotel hopping and we actually had fun experiencing different environment and services every three days.We first stayed at Lake Buena Vista Resort and Spa, this one is close to Disney World and there is a shopping mall next to it.
This is our third time as a family to visit Disney World and as usual, it never failed us. That’s why we picked this place as one of our itinerary during our Christmas vacation. Disney around Christmas time is nothing like the ordinary, Christmas decorations and trimmings are everywhere. They also have Christmas shows like for example Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom and other Christmas shows at the other parks. In this vacation, we did two parks. The Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.
My kids have an almost five years age gap. My son Lucas is 8 years old and my daughter Olivia is 3 years old. Lucas is no longer into the meet and greet with the Disney characters, he already passed that stage. He just wants to do the rides, his favorites are the Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and The Pirates of the Caribbean.
On the other hand, Olivia loves to meet the princesses and the Mickey Mouse clubhouse characters. So what we did, we split. The boys did their rides and the girls did the meet and greet and mini rides suited for Olivia.For the shows and rides that we can all go together, we meet up. Fast pass is a huge help in scheduling our rides and don’t forget to download Disney app to know the waiting times and to help you navigate around the park. It is so much easier now!
After our Disney excursion, we went to Boca Raton and spend Christmas there with my husbands relatives. We stayed at Renaissance Boca Raton Hotel. It has such a beautiful contemporary interior and exterior design. The rooms are clean and updated. The lounge area by the pool is so relaxing. I can just stay there all day and just enjoy the nice warm weather.The hotel is located in the metropolitan area, so basically it is nearby to almost everything like their upscale mall,supermarket and restaurants.We would love to go back here again on our next visit.
We only spend a couple days at Boca Raton. We didn’t really got the chance to explore the city because of the holidays with the family but that’s totally fine. Besides, it is Christmas and it’s good to spend time with the family most especially to the ones you rarely see. We have tons of fun with them and we also enjoyed our stay at the Renaissance.
Our next destination is the Hammock Beach Resort at Palm Coast,Florida. I love this resort! They have stunning villas and suites range in size from one to three bedrooms, and feature full kitchens, washer/dryers and multiple bathrooms – making them the perfect choice for family retreats. Aside from the big golf course, they also offer a lot of activities:
- Kids Crew program
- Fantasy Waterpark with slide and lazy river, and pools geared to all ages
- Ocean-skim boarding and surfing
- Putt-Putt golf and bicycle rentals
- Full service spa and fitness center
Multiple restaurants and bars appealing to a variety of cuisine interests.
We have tons of fun here. They have everything for the adults and the kids and the view is absolutely gorgeous!
Definitely coming back!
In those ten days vacation, we were literally hotel hopping. Some of you might find that as a hassle, but for us it wasn’t because we like to go to different places and maximize our time. The packing and unpacking might be somewhat challenging for some of you, especially when tagging along kids but it wasn’t bad at all. We eventually learned some tricks as we went along and it is quite an experience to look forward to your next destination every so often.
It is different to be away from the comfort of your home during Christmas, you kind of missed some of the usual traditions you do at home with your kids around Christmas time. I was also extra busy, because everything has to be done earlier, so that we have time to prepare what we need for the trip. So we celebrated Christmas parties with friends and family earlier than usual. The kids also get to open their presents from us before the trip.Then they get to open the gifts from Santa when we get back from our trip.
It was quite stressful getting it all done in time before our vacation and I’m glad it’s over and done before we left.
These pictures were taken before we went on vacation. We have a little gathering with our family before we leave for our trip.
So there you go, Our Christmas of 2016. It was definitely an adventure and I would love to do it again!
Thank you so much for reading and may you have a great day!
