Orlando, Florida vacation highlights!!

Hey Friends,

I just got back from a 7-day Fantasmic Orlando vacation today.  It was one of the best vacations I have ever had with so much fun, entertainment, and lots and lots and lots of walking :D.  Yes, you guessed it right!! I went to all the 4 Disney theme parks, both Universal parks, and Sea world!! 7 days - 7 parks!! I am just giving you the highlights right now and watch out for the informative park details coming up in upcoming posts for each park, its attractions and shows, some very  useful tips, and lots of fun!!!!

First of all, I booked my vacation through orlandovacation.com site where they have package deals of hotel + theme park tickets and you can customize how you want your tickets for however many days you want to plan for.  I looked around their site, looked at which hotels they have in their list and researched some of them to find the one with lowest rate and better amenities.  Also I checked the theme park ticket prices and compared them to the actual park tickets that they sell at the park.  The difference is not much at all but the best part is that you don't need to worry about your tickets buying at the park (or stand in the line), instead your tickets will be delivered to your hotel.  I researched around as to which hotel to choose and decided on Baymont Inn and Suites in Kissimmee (7601 black lake rd) which had the lowest hotel rate per ($47/night) day plus it had free breakfast, free wi-fi, free shuttle to the parks and parking at the hotel.  They do charge a resort fee of $5.09 per night but this is something that every hotel charges, so it's not new.  Now, I am sure some of the other hotels offer the same thing but since this hotel was sponsored through the site, I went with this one.  I had also checked out their customer reviews and most of them were positive with some negatives here and there but all in all this hotel seemed decent, so I finalized on this one.

For theme parks, I was looking around 6 or 7 days at the park but wasn't sure.  When I called orlandovacation.com customer service, they said there were having a promotion deal going on where you pay for 3-day Disney parks and you get 5-days Disney park base tickets.  So then I finalized on the 7 day vacation where I will spend 4 days at 4 different Disney parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot), 2 days at both Universal parks (Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure), and 1 day at the Sea world.

Keeping all this in mind, I call the orlandovacation.com people and book the hotel and the theme park tickets, the booking is done in no time, they gave me the reservation number, and told me that I will get the hotel confirmation in email and will get the theme park tickets directly at the hotel.  Fantastic!!  The booking was done in minutes and then I had nothing else to take care of except the airline booking and transportation to/from hotel/airport which we booked through Mears transportation.

This was a vacation for me and my brother for 7 days (excluding the days we get there and we leave from there) from May 23 - 31, 2011, and it was the vacation of lifetime, taking lots of memories back with us.  Each park is different from one another and unique in its own way, but they all have one thing in common - lots and lots of walking!!

But more on that later, because I am going to give you a detailed update on what we covered in each park, how you can avoid long lines, and specially what you should avoid b/c you don't want to waste time on some of the stupid rides which look great but are nothing worth waiting in line for.  If you have kids then my details might not be helpful for you at all because me and my brother were on foot constantly to cover as much ground as possible in one day at each park and let me tell you that we covered everything at all the parks (and skipped some of the stuff that was either silly or that we didn't care about).

So stay tuned!! :)

A big milestone completed!!!

Hey Friends,

I write this post to let you all know with such happiness that I presented my master's project presentation last Friday and it went great.  I passed the presentation and now I am officially done with my master's degree.  My master's project was the only thing pending in completion of my master's degree and now it's done.  It's been long wait but every second of it is worth it!!  I will probably get the degree in couple of months but it's a huge relief and no more projects or assignments to worry about.  It did take me little longer to finish the project since I had to extend it for couple of reasons but the end product has been great.

I want to thank my project professor who has been very helpful and supportive in everything and I have learned so much from him during my time in grad school.  I have met so many people who have become my friends for life and also want to thank them for making my time at grad school so much fun and exciting!  This is a major milestone completed on my part and I can't be thankful enough to all the people who have played part in it.  My mom plays a big role in completion of this achievement because it was her who made me apply for masters and then supported me so much these 3 years to help me finish it.  I am not the only one graduating today with masters degree, but my mom is also graduating with me who has helped me so much from time to time.  Last, but not least, I feel so blessed and fortunate and want to thank God for always keeping his hand on me and showering me with blessings, giving me the push when I felt no motivation, cheering me on successful outcome....

Thanks to all my family and friends to walk this journey with me and cheering me on, giving best wishes, and all the support and love you all have given me :).

Now that I have some time on my hands, will be more active in writing the blog entries, trying new cooking experiments, and who knows what else? 

Until then, see ya!