Our Hotel Hangout Day in Orlando - 2024/03/05

Sometimes the kids will surprise you. When we asked what their favorite part about Japan was, Disney, Universal, Tokyo, the zoo, etc., they said they really liked hanging out at the hotels with the lounges with all the free food and drinks. Okay... Well Theresa happened to have a free night stay that is expiring soon and there's a hotel with a lounge here in Orlando. Let's make a couple fun days out of it! 

Ha, but to start our day, we all got our eyes checked, including getting them dilated. Luckily we're all good on vision! No glasses for now! 

Krispy Kreme has a promotion today for a free donut! So yeah, since we're nearby we stopped in! 

Our room for the night. T got upgraded to a suite! Looks great! 

And you've got to get snacks for a fun hotel night. Trader Joe's are everywhere in California, but here in Orlando they're a little hard to come by. 

The kids saw there was a hunt for Craig the Crane and that they could win a prize if they found him. 

So they looked through the store and found him above the cheese section. 

And got a lollipop for their prize. 

Right at 5pm, the hotel lounge starts serving food for dinner. We made sure we arrived right on time for it. 

Ooh, chicken skewers! Fried hummus pies (a new one for me, but delicious). Fruits, nuts, cheeses, meats, unlimited drinks, coffee. I was wondering what dinner might be, but I think we're not leaving here!

We found a very cozy section off the main room with lounge chairs instead of a table with chairs. I turned off the TV and we all sat and read books or played games together. 

Alli wanted to get a picture with this pretty pink tree. 

We basically sat in here the rest of the night, enjoying the free drinks, snacks, and the time to relax. 

The kids, always on their best behavior, made friends with the workers keeping the food and snacks stocked. One in particular came over and asked if they liked chocolate? What about chocolate chips? What about chocolate chip cookies? Of course they said yes, and he came back a short time later with two giant chocolate chip cookies from some other area of the hotel. They certainly didn't have them out here in the lounge. We gave him plenty of thank you's and the kids gave him hugs. He said they reminded him of his grandchildren. 

Well we turned off the TV in our area because I don't want to hear the news drone on and on. The main sitting area did not. Apparently 2 guests were making comments on the reporting, things got heated, voices were raised and loud swearing at each other ensued. Um, headphones kids. Security was called and a short time later one of the guests was escorted out of the lounge while 4 men in suits talked to the other person. Before this, we'd told the kids to be on their best behavior in the lounge because it's normally a place for adults to come relax. In this case, they were much better behaved than the adults! 

Bedtime. Since it's an open room, after reading to the kids, they went to sleep while T and I hung out in the bathroom doing research for our next adventures. 

The next morning, right back over to the lounge where breakfast is wrapping up. Alli loaded up on her favorite fruits and vegetables and anything else she might want. 

We'd thought they might kick everyone out after breakfast hours, but no, you're still allowed to be there. There's just limited food options out. All the drinks are still there though! 

Are you ready to go out and have fun for the day? 

No, they're happy to hang out here a little longer. 

But before too long, we headed out to have fun! It's Wednesday which means the nearby Dave & Busters has half-priced games! 

Don't you have this one at home? 

Yes, but this is on the bigger screen. 

Coin pushers are addictive. 

And they're super happy when they win the biggest prize possible! 

And special prizes? Those Minecraft pigs are cute. 

Lunch, by special request, was Olive Garden right next door. The pasta was tasty, but the breadsticks were so burnt on the bottom they were inedible! Come on Olive Garden. Quality Control! 

Our hotel room came with late check-out, so we availed ourselves to another visit to the lounge before it was time to officially check out of the room. 

Our friend Fabio is working again tonight! And this time he brought 3 large cookies to the kids! Thank you! 

And we're still hanging around while they put out food for tonight dinner snacks. Alli found an entire plate of cucumbers. 

There were tasty cream puffs and cheesecakes, plus hamburger sliders, cheeses, meats, and other tasty offerings. 

Even more cucumbers? You're going to turn green! 

We hung out and watched the sun set towards the west from our view on the 26th floor. 

This was a great staycation getaway! We had lots of fun just hanging out and chilling!