July 4th at Universal Cabana Bay Resort | Motherhood Unplugged.

I always thought we would take our boys to Disney World for the first time while they were toddlers and the purpose of this trip was to do just that but we ended up changing our minds last minute during our stay. Read on to learn why.

We ventured to Orlando, Florida for a quick family getaway for the Independence Day weekend. This was my first time flying with JetBlue and we all loved the experience. There was lots of legroom, reclining seats, space for carryon luggage without extra fees, free wifi via Amazon Prime and televisions in the headrest. I will definitely consider JetBlue again when booking our next trip. I decided to book our trip through bookit.com, one of my go to websites for hotel packages. I chose to stay at the Universal Cabana Bay Resort. Universal Cabana Bay resort was like walking into a time machine and coming out back in the 1950's. Everything about the hotel revolved around this era of time from the cafeteria furnishings to the Jack LaLanne gym to the V05 shampoo in the bathrooms + the old school car collection parked out front.

The weather during our trip was mostly cloudy and rainy but we were able to spend plenty of time outdoors swimming in the pools on both sides of the resort, using the waterslide and even the lazy river. Our boys LOVE to swim so this resorts water activities were perfect for them and their age. I used my room key to purchase two water tubes for them to use on the lazy river and we were able to deflate them to later use at home. We mainly ate at the Bayliner restaurant closest to our building no. 6. I am a vegetarian for the most part so I ate from the salad bar, which was only .60 per ounce. There were lots of options for pescatarians as well. My kids love pizza, just like most American children, so they survived on that along with their daily force fed veggies. Ha! I like to workout on a daily basis while at home so I brought my sneakers and a set of resistance bands to use in their gym. I always check a hotel for a decent gym because I will go through withdrawal if I can't lift lol #addict I was not familiar with the legacy of Jack Lalanne previous to using this gym; however it was both comedic and informative for me after viewing all the trophies and paraphernalia.

We also decided to go bowling as a family for the first time there since it rained one evening and the pools were closed. We spent approximately $120 USD for a family of 4 including food. We played for 75 mins and definitely enjoyed our time spent there watching the boys bowl and my husband gushing over how high his score was in comparison to mine. (rolls eyes) Additionally, we spent time in their arcade playing various games, most of which were a bit too advanced for my boys ages but nonetheless I think they enjoyed the experience overall. One of the main attractions at this hotel is that it is attached to the Volcano waterpark. We considered going to this attraction since it was within walking distance; however after watching the video on the kiosk I discovered there wasn't very much different there that the hotel didn't already offer for a 3 +5 year old. This leads me to the reason why we opted out of Disney this time around. I spoke with a few moms with children my kids ages about going and the overall sentiment was that we should wait until the age of 7 or 8 to go. One mother of a 5 year old mentioned that she took her two older girls at that age and they didn't remember ever going. I also visited Disney around that age and the only reason I know I went is because I saw the picture and my mom told me. I suppose if we did go it would have been more for us than them but that rationale could also be used with any travel so young. Personally I decided not to spend the $600 on one day of Disney and to instead put that money towards our next trip this winter. I'm not going to lie and say that there wasn't a semblance of regret upon leaving Florida but I think that mores comes from 'societal' pressure one may feel to 'keep up with the Kardashians.' lol

Overall our trip was a success including traveling with two rambunctious boys, tantrums, refusal to eat.... you know the typical day in the life of every mom. I did circumvent some of the toddler turmoil by packing two folders full of fun distractions and this worked brilliantly. I purchased folders from the Target dollar section (love that aisle) and filled them with bandaids, colored pencils, small blank notebooks that I had left over from a party, a frog in slime because boys... as well as a $1 pack of flashcards for them both. We used these while waiting for the plane, in flight + downtime in the hotel room. I will be sure to restock these for every trip going forward and they only cost me $5 in total for each. Wise investment indeed!

Have you ever had a similar experience while on vacation where you planned for one big thing but ended up changing plans? Let me know....

Check out our full video of the vacation on our Youtube Channel.

Happy Travels!

#travel