Review - Florida - Orlando - SeaWorld - Christmas Celebration

This past week my family and I were able to visit SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. Since it was chilly (65 degrees) and rainy, the park had surprisingly low attendance for a holiday week which worked great for us. Despite the rain, the Christmas Celebration was in full swing and most of the food/drink booths were operating.

What is Christmas Celebration?
For a limited time, the park contains holiday-themed decor, opportunities to meet Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and his friends, photos with Santa (before Christmas), an ice-skating show, public ice skating, and over 40 tasty treats at different drink/food booths.

Rudolph and Friends:
Tucked away in the back of the park you'll find an enclosed area called Rudolph's Christmas Town featuring photo-ops with life-sized story book vignettes as well as picture-taking opportunities with Rudolph and his friends. You may purchase photos that are taken by the professional camera crew or take your own. This area opens at 5:00pm EST and is capacity-limited. At the end of the trail is a small market with ornaments, stockings, shirts, etc for sale.



Holiday Treats:
As you know, I really enjoy food festivals and treat trails, so I went ahead and purchased a sampler lanyard at booth #1. 5-sample lanyard costs $35. 10-sample lanyard costs $50. Passholder 12-sample lanyard costs $50. The way it works is every time you order a food/drink marked with a star from one of the booths, they stamp/punch your lanyard. The lanyard is a pretty good deal considering most items were in the $10 price range. Items not marked with a star require additional payment.

There were supposed to be 20 booths, however one of them was closed (Baking Spirits High, #18). Three of the booths (#2, #10, #12) are bars without food options (#10 and #12 do offer one non-alcoholic option). Many of the food booths also serve alcohol drinks (any with a star are part of the lanyard program). Two of the booths serve cocoa (#8 and #14) which are provided in refillable plastic cups (refills start at $0.99).

Here are a few items we sampled and our reviews:

Christmas Comforts (Booth #6)

  Lobster Mac & Cheese Bowl - since the cheese wasn't melted, it wasn't as good as it could have been.

  Traditional Turkey Christmas Dinner Stack - Roasted Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, and Cranberry Sauce - This was actually our favorite dish. Well-cooked and very tasty.

Tottin' Around the Christmas Tree (Booth #11)

  Totchos - Chicken on top of tator tots with shredded cheese, jalapenos and salsa - Worse than it looks. The staff here were so nice. They will customize your toppings (or leave them off) which is great for picky eaters.

  Totchos - Carnitas (braised pork) on top of tator tots with shredded cheese, japanenos and salsa - Just gross. The cheese didn't melt.

Sliders that Sleigh (Booth #9)

Pork Belly Slider - Roasted then Seared Pork Belly, Sauerkraut, Mustard Aioli - definitely not for picky eaters as the flavors are weird
Hot Chicken Slider - Crispy Chicken, Apricot, Serrano Glaze, Pickles - Another miss. The sweet sauce was a little too heated; would have been better without the sauce/topppings.

O'Christmas Sea... Food Delights (Booth #7)

  Seared Scallops - Served with Pumpkin Seed and Serrano Pesto, Mushroom Risotto - It was alright. Kids didn't like it.

  Dynamite Shrimp - Served with Sambal Aioli & Cucumber Slaw - too spicy for most of our family members; next time I would leave off the aioli.

Treat Yo’ elf (Booth #20)

  - Chocolate Dipped Items - Bacon - Not as advertised at all (they used WHITE chocolate on bacon); grosser than it sounds/looks; very disappointing

North Pole Bakery (Booth #15)

  - Loaded Mini Donut Bites - Bananas Foster - Basically, a pile of mini sugar donuts with a squirt of flavored sauce. Just plain gross. The donuts were hard. Not like the advertised picture at all. We also tried the pumpkin pie flavor. Even worse. Stick with the plain sugar mini donuts.

Claus Cookie Co. (Booth #17)
S'mores - Graham Cracker, Melted Fluff, Melted Chocolate - This didn't turn out well for us; it was a big melted sticky mess.
Cookie Decorating Kit - Sugar Cookie Decorating Kit Includes Icing, Sprinkles, and Christmas Candy - this one cookie came in a nice box which we took to-go and decorated the next day. It's just one cookie so not sure it justifies the price if you pay out of pocket.

Sea of Trees:

The Christmas Light and Music show on the lake (called Sea of Trees) was really nice. The trees turned different colors according to the songs.

Other Photo Ops:


Details:
Christmas Celebration at SeaWorld Orlando ends January 2nd, 2022.
For specifics and hours, click on the Seaworld Orlando Christmas Celebration website

Overall Family Ratings:

• 16 year old - Liked the Turkey Dinner; enjoyed riding Mako several times (since the line was so short)
• 12 year old - Liked the plain cocoa; enjoyed Mako ride
• 7 year old - Couldn't ride any of the big-kid rides due to his height and didn't really like the "baby" rides; liked the White Chocolate flavored cocoa
• 15 month old - Really liked Sesame Street land

Review - Florida - Orlando - Walt Disney World - Epcot - Cookie Stroll

There's something magical and wonderful about the holiday season around Walt Disney World. You will find decorations (holiday trees, lights, ornaments, snowmen, etc). Epcot features its annual Festival of the Holidays with special foods and merchandise. It's not as big as the Food and Wine Festival, but it's still lots of fun. It also features the delicious Cookie Stroll where you "stroll" to different food booths and purchase cookies to eventually earn a free cookie.

What is the Cookie Stroll?
When you arrive at the festival, stop by one of the food booths and grab a passport booklet. It's free.

When you flip to the back of the passport booklet, you will find the Cookie Stroll info. With each cookie purchased (at $2.50 each), you will get a stamp. After you purchase 5 cookies (total price $12.50), you will be able to get a free completer cookie.

The 5 cookies don't have to be unique (meaning you can purchase several of the same cookies and still earn a stamp for each one). For example, you can buy 5 gingerbread men and get 5 stamps.

What Cookies are there?

Holiday Hearth Desserts (near Port of Entry) - Gingerbread Cookie

Yukon Holiday Kitchen (in Canada close to the Gardens) - SNICKERS Doodle Cookie (*contains chocolate and nuts)

L'Chaim! Holiday Kitchen (between France and Morocco) - Black and White Cookie (tastes like lemony cake cookie; *contains chocolate frosting)

America Holiday Table (in America near Santa and the Tree) - Chocolate Crinkle Cookie (*contains chocolate)

Bavaria Holiday Kitchen (in Germany) - Linzer Cookie (2 cookies)(was a bit messy with the powdered sugar)

Holiday Sweets and Treats (near Port of Entry, across from Holiday Hearth Desserts booth) - Completer Cookie

We lucked out and got not only the 50th anniversary completer cookie but also an ornament and a shake.

Overall Family Review:

• 16 year old - Favorite = Linzer Cookie
• 12 year old - Favorite = Linzer Cookie
• 7 year old - Favorite = Black and White Cookie
• 1 yeaar old - Favorite = Snickers Doodle Cookie

Review - Texas - Dallas - Dallas Arboretum - Bugtopia and the Pumpkin Patch

2021 marks the 16th anniversary of Autumn at the Arboretum (or what our family likes to call the Pumpkin Patch). This year, the pumpkin village has moved from the wide open field on the right to a more cozy tree-covered area on the left behind the Jonsson Color Garden. And there is Bugtopia (giant bug sculptures) running at the same time which kids will love. You will see the bugs integrated with the pumpkin village.



Pre-registration and pre-purchase of tickets is still required - you can do this at the gate via a QR code. When you purchase tickets on the website, you will select the time slot you desire to enter (sold in increments of 15 minute slots) and it's a great way to see which times are busier than others. Also be sure to add parking to your order and if you desire to visit the Children's Gardens, add those tickets too. Members must also pre-register (and add parking and Childrens' Garden as well). Link to info is at bottom of post.

Pumpkin Village:


Bugtopia:

The Arboretum has over 90,000 pumpkins/squash/gourds throughout the entire park. You can even purchase one to take home with you (while supplies last). Kids will find a fun little maze to run through. Lots of spots for pictures. It does get busy on weekends so try to come early or late in the day.


Details:
Dallas Arboretum website for tickets, hours, directions, etc.
Bugtopia and pumpkins are on display until October 31st 2021.


Overall Family Review:

• 16 year old - Enjoyed posing with the bugs
• 12 year old - Enjoyed posing with the bugs
• 7 year old - Enjoyed posing with the bugs
• 1 yeaar old - Was fine taking pictures with pumpkins

Info - Walt Disney World's planned Disney Genie+ and how it compares to other parks

Well, the news that Disney is finally moving to a paid fast pass system just broke millions of hearts. It was inevitable considering all the other theme parks charge for fast passes, but with Covid and the millions of dollars in lost revenues, it was the perfect storm to implement it. You can still wait in stand-by lines, but we all know how much longer you will wait in there as fast pass purchasers will be ushered ahead of you making stand-by lines that much longer. It's almost a requirement to get a paid fass past if you want to maximize your ticket for the day.

So how will Disney's new paid pass system work and how will it compare to other parks?

Disney will offer 2 add-on options. One is the Disney Genie Plus(+) which will cost $15/ticket/person and offer fast pass for 40 tier-2 or lower rides. The second is the Lightning Lane for the Tier-1 popular rides (such as 7Dwarves Mine Train, Frozen Ever After, etc) whose prices will vary depending on crowd levels and be limited to 2 options per day per person.

Amusement Park	Fast Pass Name	Fast Pass Cost	Number of Uses
Disney World Orlando	Disney Genie+	$15/ticket/person	Unlimited per day?
Disney World Orlando	Lightning Lanes	$variable/person	Limited 2 rides per day
Universal Orlando	Universal Express	$79.99+ per person	Once per ride
Universal Orlando	Universal Express Unlimited	$109.99+ per person	Unlimited
SeaWorld	Quick Queue® Unlimited	$14.99+ per person	Unlimited
Six Flags	Flash Pass - Bronze	$50+ per person	Limited options
Six Flags	Flash Pass - Gold	$80+ per person	Limited options
Six Flags	Flash Pass - Platinum	$115+ per person	Unlimited

Hope that helps!

Review - Texas - Waco - Mayborn Museum on Baylor University Campus

I'm slower than a mammoth at posting these reviews from our Waco day trip several weeks ago. *grins* So we visited the Mayborn Museum which is located on the Baylor University campus right after seeing the Columbia Mammoths at the Waco Mammoth National Monument.

Note - there is a lot of road construction in this area right now so take extra caution and time to get through it.


The Mayborn Museum is in a huge red brick building with free parking out front. At the time we visited (May 2021), masks were required. We were able to use our ASTC reciprocal membership to get in for free (for ticket prices see information down below).

Also, please note, the Play Waco Hall was still closed at this time. Some hands-on exhibition components within the Natural and Cultural History Wing and the Bill and Vara Daniel Historic Village may be unavailable. Check the website for the latest re-opening details.


The first thing that will greet you when you enter the museum is the giant T-rex dinosaur (on loan from the Perot Museum) named "Stan".


There is a whole display dedicated to Baylor University and some of its history. They had a neat video of some amazing sports accomplishments as well as original mascot costumes and some various props. Very neat even if you're not a Baylor Bear fan.


The museum features a really well-done Western history display with a buffalo, longhorn cow, teepee and a log cabin. You can peek into the log cabin.


There is a small space dedicated to the Waco Mammoth National Monument and a replica of the dig site made with glass floor.


There are several natural science areas including Forest-themed room with creatures and plants found in a forest and a Cave-themed room with bats.


Upstairs on the second floor is the hands-on children's museum. Each room has a different theme (such as Colors, Water, Sound, etc). Although it appears many of the activities were removed thanks to Covid, there were still plenty of things to do.

Overall Family Ratings:

• 16 year old - Enjoyed the interactive area
• 11 year old - Enjoyed the interactive area
• 6 year old - Enjoyed the dinosaurs downstairs and the interactive area upstairs

Mayborn Museum
https://www.baylor.edu/mayborn/
Address: 1300 S. University Parks, Waco, TX 76706
Hours: Monday-Saturday 10am CST - 5pm CST; Sunday 1pm CST - 5pm CST
Tickets: Children (2-12 years) $8.00; Adults $10.00