Nickelodeon Suites Resort

The Nickelodeon Resort Suites (a.k.a. The Nick Hotel) will cost you a fortune. The hotel is currently undergoing repairs, so some of the rooms are updated while others look rundown. (We got a truly weathered room.) The rest of the hotel makes up for what our accommodations lacked. There are two wonderful pool areas with large water slides and mini water slides with splash areas for the smallest guests.

Believe it or not, we skipped all the theme parks in Orlando (Disney World, Epcot, Disney Animal Kingdom, Legoland, Sea World, Aquatica, Discovery Cove, Universal Studios, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and I hesitate to mention the Holy Land Experience for the hardcore Jesus fans.) Our time was limited, we went to party with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the idea of struggling with the kids with different height restrictions on rides just needed to be saved for future years when they are both over 48 inches.

The Nick Hotel has plenty to do and didn't let us down. You can meet Nickelodeon's top characters, take in a series of 4D movies, get slimed, party like a rock star at the pool, throw pies at your parents (or kids) and much more. We spent most of our time jumping and sliding at the pools.

Meeting the Celebrities at the Nickelodeon Resort Hotel

Mommy! Mommy!  Its Dora the Explorer.

Dora the Explorer's best friend Boots the monkey.

Sponge Bob Square Pants

Sponge Bob Square Pants rules the Nickelodeon channel. Getting the chance to say hello and be photographed alongside your kids' favorite TV friends makes it hard to stop smiling. Serene loved Dora the Explorer and Dora's best buddy Boots the monkey. And the whole family was exited to hang out with the A-lister himself, Sponge Bob. There are multiple opportunities to snag a photo with your favorite celeb daily. And for an extra price, you can make arrangements to enjoy character breakfasts, as well. (We partied with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.) The hotel photographers keep the lines running quickly. They will take pictures from your camera, as well as the professional shots you can buy at the hotel.We spent an afternoon playing paparazzi with the Nick stars.

TMNT: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Heroes in a half shell.

                                Leonardo (Leo)                                                            Raphael (Raph)                                          

                                    Donatello (Donnie)                                                  Michelangelo (Mikey)

                                                                One of the enemy Foot Clan

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles burst onto the Saturday morning cartoon scene in the late 1980s and remained popular through most of the 1990s. As Alex describes them: "They are teenagers, who became mutant turtles after mutagen was poured on them, and they learned to become ninjas." That's a pretty fair description of Leonardo (the leader), Donatello (the smart one), Raphael (the tough guy) and Michelangelo (the funny guy). The turtles live in the sewers of New York City and are trained by the all-knowing Sensei Rat, Master Splinter, who also acts as the boys' adoptive father. They fight the Krang, the Foot Clan, Dog Pound, Fish Face, Baxter Stockman, the ultimate bad guy known as Shredder, and slew of other enemies, most of whom are also mutants or at least aliens from other planets.

Last year, Nickelodeon brought TMNT back and now there is a new generation of kids addicted to these characters. So much so that we flew to Orlando, Florida to spend the weekend with the turtles, enjoy a pizza dinner with them and engage in a ninja training at the Nickelodeon Suites Resort. The Nick Hotel is offering special TNMT weekends through the end of the year.

Brevard Zoo

 

At the Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, Florida kids can zipline atop the tapirs, impalas, lemurs, kookaburas and hundreds of other animals. The exhibits will introduce you to the wilds of Florida, Africa, South America and Australia.

Airboat Tours in Florida

 

 

If you want to see dozens of Florida alligators up close, then there is no better way than to speed through the everglades in an airboat. With the wind whipping through her hair, Serene dozed off on mommy's lap as our airboat captain skirted the top six inches of water racing pass gators galore.

GRAIL Rocket Launch

When the GRAIL rocket launched on September 10, 2011 from Cape Canaveral, Floria, Alex and Serene had front row seats at the blast. When your dad is a rocket scientist, rocket launches are among the perks. The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission are two small spacecraft launched by a Delta II rocket to the moon. The twin spacecraft will work in tandem to map the gravity field of the mooon for scientists to better understand the moon's interior and thermal energy. 

Sports Illustrated Swim Suit Edition Cover Model 2031

Move over Elle, Giselle, Cindy, Heidi, Kate and Christie.....Ladies, your days are numbered on the runway. Make room for Serene basking here in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

Future Astonauts Visit Kennedy Space Center

 

Cruising the High Seas

It turns out 2 ½ years is the absolute worst age for a child to board a cruise ship and expect to have some fun. Not quite potty trained, Alex was banned from any of the “Ship Mates” big kid activities in the Youth X-Club like the slide, ball pit, swimming pools and more. A little too big for the “Toddler Time” in the baby room, he wasn’t welcome to play with little ones there either. That doesn’t leave much for a little guy with a lot of energy trapped aboard a floating vessel.

The Celebrity Infinity docks at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. The eleven story ship carries 2100 passengers and 900 crew. It boasts a couple of swimming pools, the Aqua Spa, several restaurants for casual and fine dining, dance floors, a movie theater, casino, high end duty free shopping, and a collection of different musicians and comedians to entertain. While they claim excellent service, Pedro the stateroom attendant was much more helpful than anyone at the Guest Services, where you end up spending hours waiting in line every day because of one mix-up or another. The internet package for a few days of floating at sea will cost you more than a month’s rent, and you won’t be able to find ‘hot spots’ to use it outside business service office.

The four day trip cruise was suppose to make a ½ day stop in Key West, FL and then head south to Cozumel, Mexico for snorkeling and shopping, but after the ship’s navigation system broke down and we ended up marooned in Key West and rerouted for a few hours in the Bahamas as a consolation prize.

So, while the cruise wasn’t quite all it was advertised and Celebrity doesn’t deserve any praises, Alex did make friends with the pizza guy after 5 trips a day to get a slice, raced the elevators up-and-down, and learned how to eat ice cream in a cone. But, the highlight was his hours breaking the rules splashing in the Jacuzzi --- oops, hope those swim diapers work!

3-2-1 Blast-Off

If you ever want to know what it feels like to launch into outer space, then you’ll have to take your aspiring astronaut to Kennedy Space Center (KSC), and ride the new Shuttle Launch Experience that will lean you back, blast you off and make you feel like you are traveling at 4g’s into the Milky Way. Since I tend to get freaked-out by something as tame as a tilt-a-whirl, I used my “get-out-of-the-activity-because-I-have-to-take-care-of-the-baby” card and Alex & skipped it altogether. But, the rest of the family said it was totally cool.

Alex’s dad is a genuine NASA rocket scientist, so a family trip to check out the rockets was almost inevitable. Almost forty years ago, Kennedy Space Center was the place where humans lifted off the Earth to travel to the Moon. And, today it is the place where astronauts launch aboard the Space Shuttle and travel to space.

In our visit there, we barely scratched the surface of everything there is to see and do. Alex cruised through the Rocket Garden in the stroller, got his photo snapped in front of the Vehicle Assembly Building where they put the shuttles together before placing them on crawlers that go at super-slow speeds to carry them to the launch pads, and ran laps below the Apollo / Saturn V Rocket, the most complex machine ever built. Where else on the planet can your toddler do that?

I can’t wait to go back when Alex is a little bit older. But, who knows, maybe someday he’ll actually fly into outer space!?

Don't Let Your Kid Get Eaten by an Alligator!

When families visit Orlando, Florida, most kids go to Disneyland, Epcot Center, Universal Studios or SeaWorld. Alex got to go to Gatorland for some “swamp stompin’ adventure!” Gatorland is the alligator capital of the world. Visitors can catch the Gator Jumparoo Show where alligators jump several feet vertically out of the water to compete for lunch. Or, you can get your photo snapped on the back of an eight-footer at the Gator Wrestlin’ Show. Alex and I decided to hand-feed a pack of ‘em. It was awesome! You can buy raw wieners and drop them into the big pond where gators line up along the edges waiting for you. Or, you can sign up for the VIP feeding and get right up close to them without any fences between you. (I recommend keeping your toddler held tightly in your arms for this tour.)

So what's the difference between an alligator and a crocodile? It’s mostly the snout. What’s the difference between Gatorland and one of those giant theme parks? Not having to keep your kid on a leash. Alex ran around the park carefree with happy giggles. He splashed at Gator Gully, rode the Gatorland Express and had up-close-encounters with alligators, crocodiles, emus, turtles, goats, llamas, parrots and more. We weren’t rushed, didn’t have to stand in line, spent way less money and could see it all. Only along the adventure walk around the gator-packed lake did I have to make sure he kept his hands and toes inside the fences.

For the jet set mom, it’s tempting to seek the big adventure. For baby, everything is a big adventure. So, if you are dying to take your child – alone – to one of those big theme parks, make sure she/he can handle the heat, the people and the time it will take to drive, park and explore. Otherwise, for the little guys and gals, try something more their size. For us – a visit with giant alligators was the perfect stop. Mickey & Minnie and the Magic Castle will be there for the next trip.