Family Vacation - Arrival at Disney - Our hotel check in story

After our swim with the manatees and a shower at the hotel we hit the road for Disney.   We were only 1 hour 15 minutes away.   It was a nice drive, but there was heavy traffic (and a young teenager who thought he owned the road because he was in a big, old, beatup pickup and gave me a friendly gesture).

We had reservations to stay at a "moderate resort", specifically Port Orleans French Quarter which is one of Disney's on property resorts.    I had called and made reservations for an ADA (barrier free) room adjoining another with two queens in each a few months before, and our reservation was confirmed and paid in full months before arrival.   

Well, this is a LONG story, but the Readers Digest version is:  they gave away our room, had no record (at the hotel level) of our ADA needs, and made us wait 4 hours until the could find us another ADA room.  The nice people at special requests had made notes each time I called and confirmed they had our reservation entered correctly.  I called 6 or more times because I was following my gut and wanting to have this trip go smoothly, thus felt the need to confirm weekly we were being assigned the right room!   In 2010 when we went to Disney, they goofed it up then, too and put us in three rooms (instead of two) but one of the rooms was around the corner in a different building.    The goal is to have the other Melissa and Linda to help with the kids and Ellie, so I get some true vacation.

When Eric the manager at Port Orleans told me we had no special requests noted, I called special requests directly and spoke to a nice man named Bartholomew (sp?) who confirmed I DID INDEED have an ADA adjoining room booked.  BTW, this all occured after being told by the reservations people that I had to pay the extra money to stay in a moderate as none of the value (cheaper) hotels had a room that suited our needs, they were all booked.

SO, Eric the manager magnamaously stated we were being placed at the Wilderness Lodge and that we wern't being charged the extra for the Deluxe resort.   (Better bet we wern't being charged!)   Linda's flight had arrived and we had more people to take to the new resort than the van would seat, so Eric gave us a voucher for a cab.   I thought it would be fun for the kids and Linda to take the cab, so as soon as we had a room key I sent her on her way to get situated at the Lodge.  

Linda and the kids taxi driver took them to the wrong resort.   He dropped them at the campground instead of the lodge.   Mike, Melissa, Ellie and I had time to finish "playing" with Eric and the reservation snafu, load up Ellie, drive to the other resort, unload Ellie and some luggage, and head to the room to find that Linda and the kids were nowhere to be found.   They ended up showing up 1/2 hour later and had quite an ordeal to share.    Needless to say, our first day at Disney was shot as now it was after 7pm (we got there at 2pm) and we were all frustrated and beat.

Each of the non-ADA rooms had a queen and a set of bunks.   The ADA room had a king.

Hotel Lobby

The lobby has a geyser type bubbler spring which then goes outdoors, down a waterfall, and into the pool.   Pretty cool.

Some of the waterfall rocks outdoors leading to the pool

There is a geyser at the lodge which overlooks Bay Lake.   You take the boardwalk path (above) to the boat landing where you can get a ferry to the Magic Kingdom.

The Wilderness Lodge was very nice.    Now that I have stayed in a value, moderate, and deluxe resort I can offically say  don't waste your money on the deluxe resort unless you need a room with 10 more square feet.    Every room at Disney has been clean, well maintained, comfy pillows and beds, and themed beautifully no matter what category it is in.

Family Vacation part 2 - Manatees

For our first night in Homosassa, Mike and Ellie were resting in the hotel room as Melissa and I ran around exploring with the kids.  We were told there was a great seafood place off the beaten path, where the locals eat.   Sounded great.    There were two roads that lead to the gulf from where we were.   The first one we already ventured down to get to the beach where I took the picture of Sarah holding the sun.   It was about 8 miles long and very curvy.   We were surprised how long and curvy it was and thought it was a one of a kind!   Were we going to be surprised.   So, to get to this great local eatery, you had to venture down a 10 mile SUPER curvy road with water on both sides of you!   I've been on some mountain passes that are switchbacks and white knuckle drives.   They can't compare to this road!    On our way out I made mention of feeling like I was starring in a new version of  Deliverance.   I anticipated hearing "Dueling Banjos" twanging away from the side of the road.    Literally 10 miles (and three sets of tires) later we arrived at this quaint fish restaurant.   It seemed very busy for something that was so difficult to get to.   We were seated and surprised at the menu selections!   There were some great choices (well, unless your Melissa S who has a discriminating pallet).   You should not before watching this video that we hadn't really slept since leaving Michigan the day before!

Ryan tried a bunch of new foods that were included in my "fisherman's platter".   It was delicious and a very good value!   It had shrimp, fish, scallops, clams, (something else I am forgetting) and hush puppies.  Wonderful thick cut fresh cole slaw, too.   Outside of the restaurant was a holding tank for the seafood.   It had the sound of trickling water and definitely smelled fishy.   You know everything you ate was freshly prepared.   What a great meal and a fun memory.

After our meal we headed back to the hotel room and took some dinner for Mike and Ellie.   There was plenty of leftovers from our meal; thankfully neither of them minded eating our seconds.

On Monday we slept in a bit (I was awake around 7 and tried to go back to sleep).   Our plans were for Mike and I to take the kids to swim with the manatees.    We headed off to River Ventures for our 9am adventure.

This group of photos were all taken by Sarah.   For Christmas she wanted a camera.   It turns out she is quite the photographer!

This time of year there are hundreds of Manatees in Crystal River.   The gulf of Mexico gets cold and the manatees retreat to the springs of the river which are a constant 72 degrees.

The river being warmer is a sanctuary for the manatees.  There are literally roped off areas which humans are prohibited to enter.   This is the only place in the world it is legal to interact with the manatees.   You cannot approach them or disturb them when they are asleep.   You have permission to swim on the surface with your snorkel, not to dive or pursuit one in any way.   If a manatee swims up to you, you can reach out with "one hand" and touch or scratch it.  You are threatened with state and federal fines, up to $100,000 and several years in jail if you break the rules, so the tour company and our Captain made sure we knew very well what the guidelines were ahead of time.

The first stop on the river only Sarah and Ryan saw a manatee.   It seemed to me we were not to see them which made me very disappointed as swimming with manatees was on my bucket list.   Captain Larry loaded us back onto the boat and took us further upstream.

Upon arrival at the second stop I was absolutely flabbergasted to see there were literally hundreds of manatees hanging out taking naps.   When we got off the boat it only took a few minutes of calmly floating on the surface to have them approach you.   It turns out manatees really like to chew on the anchor rope.   The captain said he thinks it feels like teething for a baby and may help floss their teeth.   The rope was a magnet for manatees!    They were lined up along the rope waiting for a turn to chew.

I floated along (as did Mike and the kids) enjoying the HUGE gentle creatures in the water with us.  I knew they were big, I had no idea just how big they were.   Some of the biggest bulls were as huge as a VW bug.   I was amazed at their grace and gentleness as one of them swam from behind me and up underneath me, bumping my belly as if to say hello.   There were so many of them that our group each had a private turn with a manatee.  Sarah had a baby who took a liking to her.   This "baby" was still bigger than me, and had the wiskers of an old man.   Their skin is like leather, thick yet soft.   When they first come up river from the gulf they have barnacles and algae on them.   Once the fresh water takes hold, the barnacles fall off and the algae is eaten away by symbiotic fish.   This is how you can tell if they are new arrivals or have been hanging out in the warm spring water for a few days.

Captain Larry has an underwater camera on the trip and River Ventures makes available for purchase the photos he takes.   Here are some of the photos Larry took.

Our tour group consisted of our family and this nice couple and their boys from the East side of MI.   The Dad and young son stayed on the boat while Mom and older boy swam with us.

Yummy rope

Ryan and Sarah

This was the baby manatee who hung out by the kids.   It wanted it "armpit" scratched and would have stayed here as long as you were willing to scratch.

The baby who liked the kids

Sarah told me I would be in trouble if I posted this pic of her "spread Eagle" online, so here it is!  ;-)

The roped off area left rear was LITERALLY overflowing with Manatees resulting in them sleeping in the area directly outside the rope.

A recent arrival from the gulf still has algae on its skin.

One of the springs bubbling up in the bottom of the "bay" area.   Captain Larry took us down a narrow passage where only one manatee hung out.   This area was too treacherous and shallow for most manatees.   In the photo three down you can read about CeeCee and his story and why he would hang out back in the bay area. 

This photo shows remnants of poles inserted in the spring bay area which used to be a manmade fence.  The fence was built by Jaques Costeau and his staff.  It used to keep manatees in the bay springs area where the humans rehabbed sick or injured animals.  

The three of us back in the springs bay area where CeeCee and the man made fence were.  Ryan and Emma were too cold by this point in the trip and decided to stay on the boat and play with the other boys in our party.   The "Dad from Detroit" agreed to supervise the kids which allowed us to swim off and explore with Captain Larry.

This is CeeCee (a boy) who was injured as a juvenile and rehabbed at Sea World.   He hung out with the dolphins during his rehab time and now exhibits dolphin like behavior now that he is released.   He is fitted with a tracking device which sends GPS signals to the folks who track his movements.   It is illegal to interact at all with CeeCee, disturb him in any way, or interfere in his "natural behavior".  No petting, no swimming up to, no interactions at all due to the tracking device.   He was a very handsome boy who appeared to want "us humans" around him.

This trip was awesome!   They give you 3 hours to hang out and swim with the manatees.   It was worth every penny and was an amazingly memorable experience for all of us.   It was a great way to start our trip and now I can offically cross it off my bucket list.

Family Vacation!

We are very blessed to enjoy a big family vacation once every few years. We all are Disney aficionados, and with Miss Ellie's mental status that equal to a three year old, she loves Disney, too!

Miss Ellie's health is failing, she continues to progress in her decline. Lately it has been much faster that it was previously. This made me want to take a family vacation sooner than later.

In November I called Disney and made reservations for January. They were offering the Disney Dining Plan for free with your reservation. I intended to stay at a value resort, but when I told their "Special Requests" department of our ADA wheelchair accessible needs was promptly informed there were no value rooms available during our travel times. I was informed we would have to pay the difference to stay at a Moderate resort (costing a few thousand more than the original rate). This story will continue...

Mike and I, Sarah, Ryan, and Emma are a big travel party on our own. Add Miss Ellie and a friend, Melissa S to come along and help me care for Ellie and we fill the van! We are unable to fly due to Ellie's conditions. Mike's Mom decided to fly down and join us for our trip, too. That puts us at a party of 8!

We left for Florida on Saturday at 6pm (originally intended to leave Sun am because the other Melissa had to work, but she ended up not working so we left early!) Not having planned on leaving when we did, I had been up since before 8am that day. Melissa and I kept each other awake with stimulating conversation until about 5am, we had made it to GA. Mike was able to sleep quite awhile during the night and took over driving. I napped on and off (while navigating for Mike) through GA. We rolled into Florida about noon on Sunday. Our first night we had no plans. Having read about Homosassa and Crystal River we decided to jump off the interstate and putter around the gulf side of the state. We ended up at a nice hotel in Homosassa. Mike was beat, as was Ellie. We left Mike and Ellie in the room to nap and Melissa, the kids and I headed off to have some fun exploring.

Our first stop was Homosassa State Park. It was a nice place! It was more of a "zoo" and a state park combined. There were many animals to see.

Rode the tram back to the entrance.   We had a great driver!

Emma likes the baby gators!

and the not so baby gators!   Ryan keep insisting these were fake, til he saw one blink!  

These were NOISY birds!   Every few minutes one would start to vocalize and cause a chain reaction of noise - it sounded much like a car alarm!

The Eagles were beautiful!   All these birds were there due to injury, etc and needed rehab and human care.

Much like me when I was their age, the girls really like pink flamingos!



Excited to see some Manatee!

After we enjoyed the state park, we drove out a very curvy 8 mile long road to another state park on the gulf.   It was a little chilly, so the weren't able or willing to swim.   Ryan and Emma barely touched the ocean, but Sarah pulled up her pant legs and went for a wade.   It was sunset, we got these awesome shots.

No, she doesn't tend to be a "cold" person.

Ryan is at that "cool" stage on this trip.   There is rarely a nice shot of him smiling.   He didn't have attitude, just liked to pose stoically for all the shots.

Sarah holding the sun!