Travel Journal

If you're looking for a few days of thrills, themes, adventure, and activities here is an itinerary to Orlando and it's theme parks. This includes must haves for the parks and your packing list. Scroll past Day 4 to see a run down of each day plus tips I learned from this trip and recommendations.

To start off with we planned to go to Adenture Islands of Universal Studios and Disneys Magic Kingdom. I felt like these two would be the most fun and enjoyable for both of us. Based on these two events is how I created our whole trip from resturant reservations, pool time, shopping, ect.

We arrived Wednesday at 3pm with eniugh time to check in to our hotel and head to disney springs for some shopping and our dinner reservation at 6:30. Disney Springs is a great place to have dinner because there is so much to do and see, it's so on theme that you feel like you got in free to a Disney park. Provide enough time for you to be able to walk around, go into all the differnt stores, and check out all the cool resturants and their gift shops. Plus they have a huge stage with a band playing live music and alcoholic drink and concessions to sit around and hang out.

We had dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe and it was a 10/10. It was so beautifuly decorated, the outside had a volcano that blew "lave" and rumbled, the food was great, they even had an occasional thunderstorm throughout dinner where it rains, lightentings and rumbles. It was truly a fun experience with the fish tanks, the animals were interactive moving and making noices, and the whole rain forest experience. As for dessert we decided to go to right across the way to Goofys Candy Co. which was so cute and so good, I had been dying to go there ever since I had heard about it. They had all the Disney treat from candy to cupcakes, rice crispies, and so much more. 

After walking around, buying our mickey ears for our Magic Kingdom day coming up we headed out to get some sleep for a long day tomorrow. I do recommed ubering or getting there early enough to figure out parking because its a little confusing and we almost missed our reservation because we had to park so far because we were not prepared to figure it out. I truly suggest if its not too much of a hassle or cost just Uber.

Day 2 being in Orlando we woke up around 8, had breakfast at our hotel and took an Uber to Universal Studios. Today we were most excited about all the fun rides, seeing Hogwarts especially because we just binged the whole Harry Potter Movies. We arrived around 9:30 and i will tell you these lines are long, decided what you believe is worth it before hand. We rode King Kong, The Hulk, Jurrasic Park River Boat, and the Spiderman ride. 

Other then the rides i was most excited about the themes and seeing the esthetics, I loved being able to walk around and immerse yourself in these different movies. Hogwarts was amazing being able to go into Olivanders shop, Toon Lagoon, shopping in the Lost Continent, even Sues world was so cute and fun.

One key thing you need to know about the locker system, you have to get one. You cannot ride rides like the hulk without leving everything in a locker including your phone and or small bag. They are free and heres how you do it. There is an attendant standing around, look for them and they will give you ticket you scan and opens a locker for you. We didnt see the attendant and made the mistake of paying for one just for this one ride. 

We are not the standing around and patience type so we were happy with the rides we got on and our experience so we ended up walking back to our hotel around 3pm wich was only about a 20 min walk and sat at the pool. We got some Wendys and drinks and when I tell you I took the absolute best nap at that pool.

That night we had dinner reservations at 9pm at the Toothsome Chocolate Factory in Universals City Walk and oh my gosh it was so good, another 10/10. There food was so good and there desserts were emaculent. The food was savory and small portioned so if your super super hungry that might be an issue. They had these huge banana splits and crazy decadant milkshakes and other desserts. City walk is just like Disney Springs, its free, lots of shopping and restuarants. After dinner we played mini golf which was so fun and then went back to our hotel around midnight.

Day 3 of Orlando, tody were going to Magic Kingdom. This was a slower morning because we planned to go to the park later in the day to be able to last till the firework show at 8pm. So we had breakfast at Dennys and got to the park around 1pm. Since we planned to be here for the rest of the day I made dinner reservations in the park at 8:30 just after the firework show. We rode Space Mountain, Pirates of the Crribean, Its a Small World, and visted the Swiss Family Treehouse. We saw the Parade and ate some amzing pulled pork sandwhiches right across from pirates of the carribean ride. The only ride i wish we would have got on was the haunted mansion but we did not have time because the firework show was starting soon. The fireworks are amazing, the lights and the music were incredible. I do recommend finding a place to stand earlier then later because it gets packed, your not alowed to sit down so that doesnt matter but its better then trying to squeze in and getting hit in the ankles by strollers. Our was at Tonys Restuarant, a really good Italian spot where Lady and the Tramp Shared there first kiss so it was on theme and romantic for our last night in Orlando.

It took actually forever trying to get back to the car so be prepared for that espcially if you parked in the villian parking lot which i dont recommend because its fun when you arrive you get to ride over to the park on a boat which gives you great views of the castle or you can ride the monorail but at night they only have the boat running and I'm telling you that wait for that to just get back to the parking lot was longer then the rides in the park. 

Our final day in Orlando, at this point were exhausted and our feet are done. we went shopping for some suvenirs at some little shops around and then we headed home. The reson I love driving to Orlando is because theres nothing more convienent than having your car, taking whatever you want, and bringing back as much as you want. Like we literally bought a lime bush on the way back that we saw at a gas station. Overall we had an amazing and eventful trip for just a few days.

Her is an outline of the itinerary & packing

Day 1:
- Arrive by 3pm
-Dinner reservations at Rain Forest Cafe in Disney Springs at 6:30
*look into the other restuarnts as well their all really cool and different vibes
- Shop & walk around Disney Springs
*must go to Goofys Candy Co. & World of Disney
- Got to sleep early to wake up early tomorrow
(Travel outfit, tropical dinner outfit + comfy shoes, sleep clothes)

Day 2:
- Have breakfast at hotel
- Go to Universal at 9pm
- Leave by 4pm
- Lay out by pool and have lunch
- Dinner at 8 at Toothsome Chocolate Emporium in City Walk
*look into the other restuarnts as well city walk as fun themes as well
- Play mini golf at City Walks Hollywood Drive-In Golf
(Universal outfit, bathing suit, dark/classy themed dinner outfit + comfy  shoes, sleep clothes)

Day 3:
- Go out for breakfast
- Magic Kingdom by 1pm
- Parade typically at 3pm
*check schedules online
- Firework show at 8pm
- Dinnner at Tonys Restuarant at 8:30
(disney outfit, light jacket for at night if cold season, sleep clothes)

Day 4:
- Get brunch
- Last minute shopping
- Head home
(travel clothes)

Must Haves For Parks
- Portable charger
- Collapsible water bottle
- Small backpack/ fanny pack
- Hand sanitizer
- Motion sickness pills





Top Spots in Santo Domingo
April 11, 2024

A girlfriend of mine, Ellie and I booked a last minute trip to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for 4 days to get away and just do whatever we wanted when we got there. Our thing is nice restuarnts, shopping, and vibes. And we got all of that and more. This is the best place to go with a friend or few to get out and into a new city where you can experience whatever you feel like that day whether its the local life, beach day, relaxation, history, adventure, or city life. This trip felt different then every other trip I've been on, it's so hard to describe in words but the whole things was immaculent.

Best place to go for a calm beach club vibe. It's great to go have lunch or spend the day that have tables lounge chairs, sections, canopys, all sitting on a floating dock above crystal clear water. They have the most amazing mojitos as for the food we didnt try it.

Part of exploring new countries is learning the ways and lifestyles of those around the world, what stuck out to me in Italy about their lifestyle is majority of people walk or take the train both which are convienent, easy, clean, and cheap. Trust me if I lived there I would definetly not be stuck with a car payment every month. So I'm going to explain to you all that I know about the transportation and getting around in Italy because for me that was a huge concern before going that I tried to figure out but nothing compared to what I actually learned while I was there.

First of all we walked so much. We would would walk an hour away from the apartment to different monuments, to shop, to eat, even to go out at night. Here's the simple key, comfortable walking shoes. Put them on with a dress, no one cares! What I did was carry a pair of sandals or heels in my bag for later that day when we were going to dinner or for pictures. The walk is enjoyable, there's so much to see and take in, I swear around every corner is some beautiful church, plaza, or fountain that you would miss by taking a car! We only took the train to places over an hour walk from our apartment including different cities 4/5 hours away from Rome.

This is the wesite to book your train tickets, trains run constantly througout the day so you dont have to book to far in advance. There are also kiosk in most train stations/stops to easily buy them there. If your flying into Rome the train station is connected to the airport, we took the train from the airport to our apartment with all our luggage and had no problem whatsoever. So I recommend taking your time getting off the plane, going through customs, then purchase a ticket for the next train at the kiosk and your good to go.

The metro is right in the heart of Rome but doesnt go very many places, there's 2 routes and they have been building a 3 route for 4 years now but as they dig they keep running into artifacts which causes them to stop until the artifacts are preserved. Which is so cool to me because it just shows how rich in history Italy is. We only rode the metro and bus once because we got on the wrong train in a small town at 10pm and the next train wasnt till a couple hours later. Moral of that story, when a train is "running late" make sure you check it's the right one before getting on it. But anyways The bus was very clean and comfortable. The metro wasnt bad at all, a bit confusing at first because we never took the time to figure it out due to not needing it.

Train tickets can be anywhere from $3 to get to Tivoli (45 min from Rome) and $30 to Amalfi (4 hours from Rome) which is a great and affordable way to travel the country. My tip to you is book your train tickets for the next morning the night before and then throughtout the day book the tickets through your phone so you have the flexability to wander as you please. The website is very easy to use, if its in Italian press the 3 bars on the top right corner and it'll give you the option to convert it to English. If your ever confused they have train attendants that you can ask, mostly everyones very friendly and helpful. 

I hope you find this bit of information helpful for your next trip to Italy and gives you a little piece of mind about the transportation side of things.

P.S. as of our last trip in September 2022 mask are required on all forms of public transportation, bus, train, metor, uber, so be sure to have one on you at all times! Specifically they require the n95 mask.