Life On The Road Wintering in Florida – Hiding from the Cold

Disclosure: A big shout out to Always Online Wireless for keeping me connected while we are wintering in Florida. Without their data services, I would be dead in the water. As always, all opinions are my own.

Greetings from Orange City, Florida. Never heard of it? Neither had I. It’s about 60 miles Northeast from Orlando. We found a campsite with a month long spot and decided to hang out for a bit. We made the drive from Winter Haven and settled in in the pouring rain. Sunny Florida seemed to be just an empty promise.

Little did I know that the entire US was gripped in a massive cold front. There was snow in Alabama, Texas and even Tallahassee. Once I heard this, I was happier with our freezing temperatures. Cold weather in a tiny trailer can get a big boring, though. We decided to pack up the car and head to Alabama to visit instead. It was cold there too but we could sleep in a real bed with a HEATER. Plus I could get my hair done! A little 9 hour drive for a cut and color. Seems normal, right?

While we were in Alabama we got to spend lots of family time together and watch Alabama snag another National Championship title. Then we hopped in the car for the long, long, long return trip to Orange City. Thankfully, the weather had improved a bit.

Disney was calling. We couldn’t wait to go see the mouse. Looking at our itinerary for the next few months had us asking questions aboout the best way to approach Disney. Should we buy day passes, a multi-day pass or an annual pass? The best case would have been to buy a multi-day pass that we could use across a few months. Unfortunately, that is not an option. You must completely use your pass within 14 days of the first visit. That wouldn’t work at all. After crunching all the numbers, we decided to splurge on annual passes. The price is approximately the same as 8 single day passes BUT it also includes free parking (which is $20 per day).

One other thing that clenched it for us was that we are travelling with Cooper. We can’t really do a FULL day at Disney unless we board him. He can’t hold it for that many hours. Our campsite is about an hour drive from Disney (assuming perfect traffic which is NEVER what actually happens in Orlando) so popping home to walk him was not an option. Having unlimited days available to us meant that we didn’t feel like we HAD to do it ALL in one day.

So, we’ve spent many partial days at Disney. We’ve been to Magic Kingdom for 3 or 4 days, Animal Kingdom for 1, Epcot for 2 and Hollywood Studios for 1. We still have a few rides that we need to experience before we leave the area. Unfortunately, we haven’t managed to get fast passes so it may mean we just have to suck it up and wait in line for multiple hours (looking at you Banshee ride at Animal Kingdom). Make sure to check out the Walt Disney World Tips and Tricks post I just published. I asked all my favourite Disney super fans and bloggers to give us their favourite tips. It’s a must read if you are heading to Disney!

Overall, Evan is enjoying all the Disney time and I am enjoying not having to move the trailer. Slowing down has been perfect for us but I find it harder to find things to write about here. Wintering in Florida and avoiding the cold is still worth it though. Thankfully, I have lots to catch up on from our travels. Make sure to check out my latest post about our time in Crystal River, FL.

Until next time!

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