I'm back from my vacation! :D Here's how it went:

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16th

My mother and I got up at 3 AM to get ready for an Uber driver to pick us up and drive to the airport. It is there that some of my extended family met us up after transferring over from another flight. Together, we all flew down to Orlando and got our rental van to go have lunch at Applebee's (I had riblets).

After a stop at Target for groceries, we checked into our Airbnb at Emerald Island Resort, which really has an exclusive feel to the gated community. Once we unpacked, I got to swim in the backyard pool, which turned out to be rather cold (we couldn't quite figure out how to get the heat working). I eventually discovered a billiards table and a foosball table in the double garage and played on them. Later on, I got a little drowsy from the long day in getting up so early and took a nap. My brother-in-law cooked up a gnocchi dinner for all of us to have. Realizing that there were a few more grocery items we forgot to get, I joined him on another Target run and then returned to the house and slept.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 17th

After a good breakfast, we all went over to Universal Studios, starting with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter section in the Diagon Alley area, We rode Escape from Gringotts, ate lunch at the Leaky Cauldron (we all had fish and chips), and took the train over to the Hogsmeade section.

In the Hogsmeade section, I got to try some Butterbeer (which was very creamy and delicious, plus I took home a souvenir mug), rode Forbidden Journey, stopped to purchase my own Harry Potter wand, and rode the train back to Diagon Alley.

After dinner at the Fast Food Boulevard restaurant in the Simpsons section of Universal, we rode more rides, including Men in Black Alien Attack, The Simpsons Ride (twice!), Fast and Furious--Supercharged, Transformers - The Ride 3D, and Shrek 4D.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18th

This day was spent at Universal's Islands of Adventure. We enjoyed the Harry Potter section so much, we decided to go back and ride both Forbidden Journey and Flight of the Hippogriff.

Next, we walked through the Jurassic Park section to eat lunch at The Burger Digs, rode the Jurassic Park Adventure ride, and got to do the Raptor Encounter (which we actually got to have pictures taken with Blue, a velociraptor that's actually a life-like puppet, and that was really cool).

Then we wandered through the Marvel section and rode the Incredible Hulk Coaster, Doctor Doom's Fear Fall, and The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man.

Realizing how long the line was for Skull Island: Reign of Kong was earlier in the day, we decided to save it for last. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to do the Discover Center in Jurassic Park and decided to see the Nighttime Lights at Hogwart's Castle instead before heading back home for supper.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19th

This day was spent at Animal Kingdom.

We started in the Africa section and did the Kilimanjaro Safari ride and walked through the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail. I managed to take plenty of pictures of the animals during the ride.

Next, we walked through the Asia section to have lunch at the Yak & Yeti Local Food Cafe (I had spicy rib bits) and saw this show called "UP! A Great Bird Adventure," which is a bird show featuring the characters Russell and Dug talking about various bird species.

To keep the kids entertained, we wandered through Dinoland USA and rode Triceratop Spin and Primeval Whirl (which we had Fast Passes for). Afterward, we sat through It's Tough to Be A Bug!

Knowing how extremely popular the Avatar: Flight of Passage ride was (it was at least a 4 hour wait, believe it or not!), half the group went on the Na'vi River Journey, and the other half rode on Expedition Everest (twice in a row). For Expedition Everest, even though we had Fast Passes for it and were allowed to use it only once, a very kind Cast Member gave permission to let us use the Fast Pass lane to go on the second time around.

Then we went on a dark and intense ride called Dinosaur twice, saw the Rivers of Light show, returned to Dinoland USA since the kids liked the rides there very much, and finally caught the end of a light show at the Tree of Life before heading home.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20th

This day was spent at Epcot. Here are the following rides and attractions we did:

-Frozen Ever After
-Soarin' Around the World

(For lunch, I had a sushi donut at the Takumi Table in the Japan section of the World Showcase)

-Mission Space, which we had a Fast Pass for (I did Orange mission first, and it's quite intense)
-Journey into Imagination (with Fast Pass)
-Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival (we watched "Get a Horse!" "Piper" and "Feast")
-The Seas with Nemo and Friends
-SeaBase (an aquarium that's themed to "Finding Nemo")
-Mission Space again (I went on the Green mission, which is less intense than the Orange one)

(For dinner, I had orange chicken with steamed rice at the Lotus Blossom Cafe in the China section of the World Showcase)

-Reflections of China (a short film in 360-degree Circle-Vision)
-Disney on Broadway concert (featuring Ashley Brown and Josh Strickland, who respectively played the parts of Mary Poppins and Tarzan on Broadway, and WOW, can they really sing!)
-Spaceship Earth
-Test Track (with Fast Pass)
-Gran Fiesta Tour starring The Three Caballeros
-Illuminations: Reflections of Earth (a light show)

During this visit, I purchased a few souvenirs for myself, including a small deer plush, a large plush version of a Mickey Mouse ice cream bar, and some Zootopia pins.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21st

This day was spent at Magic Kingdom.

After a ride on the Monorail to get to the entrance, these are the rides and attractions we did:

-Splash Mountain
-Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
-Jungle Cruise (I didn't go on it, but half of our group did)

(We had lunch at the Colombia Harbor House in Liberty Square)

-A Muppet show in Liberty Square
-The Hall of Presidents
-The Haunted Mansion (with Fast Pass)
-Pirates of the Caribbean (with Fast Pass)
-It's a Small World
-Space Mountain (with Fast Pass and rode on twice since we loved it so much)
-Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor

(We had dinner at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe, and I had a pulled pork sandwich)

-Carousel of Progress
-Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin

During our visit, I bought a tiny glass fawn resembling Bambi that's covered in a glass dome.

We managed to catch just the very end of the Happily Ever After fireworks display, and I must say that this one blows all the other fireworks shows I saw on my trip out of the water; it's that unbelievable. After a ferry ride back to the parking lot, we headed home.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22nd

This day was spent at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

While half of the kids stayed behind to swim in the backyard pool and eventually meet us later after lunch, the rest of us took an Uber ride to the park. These are the rides and attractions we did:

-The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
-Muppet Vision 3D
-Beauty and the Beast, Live on Stage

(We had lunch at the ABC Commissary, and I had chicken strips, an orange soda and a S'mores Cookie, which a few park guests were amazed by how elegant the dessert looked)

-Voyage of The Little Mermaid (Prepare to get yourselves wet if you ever do this show, FYI)
-Star Tours (with Fast Pass)
-For the First Time in Forever: A "Frozen" Sing Along Celebration
-Twilight Zone Tower of Terror a second time (with Fast Pass)
-Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular (with Fast Pass)
-Star Wars: Path of the Jedi (a show featuring a number of familiar Star Wars characters in costume, including R2-D2, C-3PO, Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Chewbacca, Darth Maul and some Stormtroopers)
-Walt Disney Presents
-Toy Story Mania!

We didn't have time to do Slinky Dog Dash like we wanted since it was so popular (even when it was close to closing time), so we used Uber to get back home and rest for the evening.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23rd

This day was at three parks, which is certainly unheard of in my perspective.

Our first stop was at Animal Kingdom again to try the Pandora: Flight of Passage ride. We knew how extremely long the line for it would be later in the day, so we planned ahead and left very early after 7 AM. However, a number of guests who were staying at the Disney Resort had earlier access into the park while those who weren't (which included us) stayed behind a rope. Once we were let in, I ran as fast as I could to get in line and save a spot for everyone in my group to catch up; I was practically first before everyone else in that waiting crowd. There was an expected wait time of 3 hours, but we managed to get on the ride in about 80 minutes. After riding it for myself, I can definitely see why it's so popular; it is certainly magnificent at what it has to offer in terms of fulfilling the rider's senses, including the sights and smells. Much of the time, I felt I was really flying in Pandora on the back of a Banshee. My advice for those who want to ride this 3D flying simulator: Do this ride first and get there very early! I can't stress this enough.

The rest of the day was spent at Universal Studios Florida and Universal's Islands of Adventure. After lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp, we did the following rides and attractions:

-Revenge of the Mummy (twice in a row)
-Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit
-Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon
-Universal Orlando's Horror Make-Up Show
-The Simpsons Ride (I didn't ride since I felt tired from the heat)
-Animal Actors On Location!
-E.T. Adventure

Since I felt woozy from all the intense and fast rides I did, I decided to stop and wait while everyone else rode The Incredible Hulk Coaster and Doctor Doom's Fear Fall again.

When we got back to the house, it was time to pack up and be ready to leave for the airport early the next morning.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24th

After having checked out of our Airbnb and dropping off our rental car at the airport, we all said our goodbyes and departed for our respective flights home.

Looking back on this trip, I got to say that it is one of the best I've ever had, especially since I had not been to Orlando in over 20 years. A lot of things in the parks may have changed since I was a kid, but it was still fun to relive the familiar rides/attractions and try out some new ones. I'm so glad I went, and this is a vacation I'll never, ever forget.