Soaking up fun in Orlando

My idea of a vacation has always followed the “get there, go out” model: drop off our luggage at the hotel and then rush out to the attractions. And why wouldn’t you, especially in a place like Orlando? Even if I could afford several weeks away from work, there still wouldn’t be enough time to visit every theme park, shopping mall, golf course and animal attraction… and my feet wouldn’t stand the strain.

On the other hand, now that the grandbabies are old enough to really enjoy the trip down from Pennsylvania, we didn’t want them to miss a thing. Maybe that’s why it’s easy to overlook such a basic part of vacation: finding the perfect place to relax. That’s why our discovery of Liki Tiki Village – Orlando was such a revelation. This AAA 3-Diamond-rated resort packs enough fun features to make the kids believe they’re living in a theme park. And to think we used to spend our precious vacation downtime traveling from one attraction to another.

Your own 220,000-gallon water park
Brian, the four-year-old, started shouting “Mickey Mouth!” while we were driving by Disney’s front gate (annoying his sister, Becca, who at 5 is much more sophisticated and prefers princesses to rodents). He didn’t stop until we entered the resort and he spotted Liki Tiki Lagoon just a few steps from our villa. We had just enough time to dump the bags and get the kids each a juice box from the kitchen before we were dragged to the water slides, dancing fountains and wave pool that make up the resort’s water park.

“Gramma and Papa Joe need a juice box,” I said to the server as we settled down at Shipwreck Sally’s Bar & Grill for some crispy wings and a cold drink to watch the kids join dozens of happily screaming children diving around the nearby erupting water volcano. Having a personal 220,000-gallon water park must be every child’s dream. Thank goodness there’s a washer/dryer in the villa or I think they would have gone back to their parents still wet.

Becca thought the best part was the paddle boats we used around the little lakes to sneak up on a family of ducks. Our “best part” was collapsing in the townhouse in front of the big TV, children passed out in their room. Someday we might even see the end of that movie.

Castles, kingdoms and creatures
Of course even the most contented kid will want to venture outside the hotel to see the theme parks. Hopping aboard the free shuttle, we headed for Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and Cinderella’s Castle, the whole reason our own Little Princess wanted to come (she even brought her wand). Since we live in Orlando it’s hard for us to get excited about the Kingdom, but we loved introducing the kids to Animal Kingdom, Disney’s largest but least-attended park. It’s full of animals from around the world and I think the young ones could have watched the teenage gorillas run through the African Habitat all day (I know I could).

A few miles up Interstate 4 are the rides and splashing amusements of SeaWorld Orlando, as if our group wasn’t wet enough. We got to the front gate early enough for autographs with Shamu.

Other Orlando adventures
The kids also enjoyed some quiet time at the 12,000-acre Disney Wilderness Preserve, where Becca saw a baby horned owl up close on the hiking trail. We later spent an exhilarating few hours at Boggy Creek Airboat Rides on Lake Toho, where we zipped by several enormous gators basking in the sun, a sight Brian liked a lot better than “those stupid ducks” back at Liki Tiki.

After the airboat ride, Brian couldn’t wait to visit Gatorland, where he stared in awe at giant alligators actually leaping five feet in the air to catch frozen chickens. “That’s gwoss,” Becca said regally, then shrieked with glee when the next one flew up. My idea of a thrill was an afternoon 18-hole round at Kissimmee Golf Club – the joy of spending $25 or less for “late twilight” play after 4 p.m. was better than any jumping reptile.

Rather than hitting a boring restaurant, we thought of taking the kids to one of the nearby dinner theaters, where Medieval Times, Arabian Nights, Wild Bill’s, King Henry’s Feast, Pirates Dinner Adventure and Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede combine food with razzle-dazzle entertainment, usually featuring horses or water. But ultimately, the highlight of the trip was the four of us sitting in our condo’s dining room at Liki Tiki, making dinner and looking at the thousands of pictures we took. And planning for next year.

Ready to plan your own carefree resort vacation? For more information on Liki Tiki Village or other Island One properties, visit http://www.likitiki.com/ or call 800-634-3119.

By Joseph Hayes

Courtesy of visitflorida.com