I promised myself (I know I did!!!) that I'd never visit the swamp and succumb to the pressures of the "Capitalist Pig" lure of the Orlando theme parks and Lord Disney. Yet... I find myself, and my family, on a plane south to sunny Orlando during an extra long SRSB Christmas vacation. Janie and the kids had all mentioned this destination as something they'd like to try. I'd also chatted with a lot of folks who had gone with family and volunteered the thought that it is "very" worth seeing. With all this in mind, we made the decision to go for it and use a longer than usual Christmas vacation to get all hands to Florida under warmer skies and "dis-tractions" that had nothing to do with work.

So off we went on the hunt for information... and very quickly learned through our research that Disney is the "Grand-Daddy" of marketing tourist destinations. Our first clue was the full scale DVD that arrived at our door 7 distinct business days after our first online encounter. No screwing around!!! Next were the myriad of attraction and resort e-mails and packages that flooded my e-mail account from Disney, SeaWorld, Universal and Orlando tourism. And of course, the thoughts from all those that had gone before us, with some very helpful dos and don'ts when it comes to a vacation in Orlando. We had many friends share their on the ground experience in the Orlando area and used this in our planning.

The next step was to get online, where we sourced some remarkably helpful Disney, Orlando based, and private websites in order to nail down what worked for us as far as accommodations, transportation tips/tricks and attractions information/costs/tickets. All was purchased before we were in flight. On this trip, as in our trek to Cuba, Eileen bravely ventured with us and was her usual "spirit" self... blending in nicely and rolling with all the punches during the ups and downs of such an excursion. We decided, taking into consideration our own thoughts and listening to the kids take on Disney, that an off Disney accommodation that bridged attractions beyond Walt Disney World (WDW) was the way to go. It worked just fine!!!

As in past websites, we've chronicled the "goings on" over the time we spent in Florida. We visited seven theme parks in seven days and the pace was a bit torrent... add to that the pace of any of these sites during the Christmas holiday season and you're looking at a pretty "feverish" agenda. Regardless, our approach has always been to see as much as possible while on the ground during our vacations and we rarely "lay on the beach" when it comes to visits. Hang on for the ride as we keep up with the WDW, SeaWorld and Universal theme parks!!!