Did you know it would take 67 eight hour days to experience every attraction in Orlando? This past fall, we were chosen from hundreds of entries from more than a dozen counties by the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau to experience Orlando for 67 Days of Smiles and share our adventures with the world. We are Kyle Post and Stacey Doornbos, two lucky friends from New York City who got the opportunity to have the best job ever! We literally did more than 120 attractions in 67 days (yes, we were tired!) and documented the entire journey from day 1 to day 67. We wrestled alligators, sang the national anthem at a NBA game, rode every rollercoaster, went skydiving, relaxed at spas, museum hopped and so much more!
Below you will find the blog filled with videos, pictures and more. You can also click on the tabs above to see a category by category breakdown of the 120+ activities you too can experience on your next Orlando vacation.
In addition, if you want real-time updates on Orlando, including discounts and prizes, check out the links to Orlando’s Facebook and Twitter pages on the side columns. Enjoy following our journey – we hope it makes you smile. Orlando certainly has that effect on us!
The video pretty much says it all. We’ve had the time of our lives in Orlando and we’re so sad to leave, but overjoyed to be leaving with so many amazing memories. Thank you to everyone who has followed our adventure. We hope to see you all in Orlando real soon!
These past 67 Days have been a whirlwind From skydiving to airboat rides we have had a blast seeing everything Orlando has to offer! But when it came to our last day it was nice to head back to the place our love for Orlando started way back when we were kids: Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.
We had a great time taking a trip to Neverland, riding Dumbo, and being the Grand Marshalls in ‘A Dream Comes True’ parade. We had the biggest grins on our faces all day long!
At night we headed to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party where children of all ages were able to Trick or Treat, charactors came out in special halloween costumes, and a unique fireworks show took to the sky. It was a blast!
In the end the Magic Kingdom was the perfect way to end our 67 Days of Smiles!
What’s the best way to end the best 67 days of your life? Walk home from the Magic Kingdom to the Contemporary Resort and take in the most magical place on earth from the perfect view point. The California Grill restaurant lets you do just that from the 15th floor of the Contemporary Hotel. Perched on top of the “world”, we sipped champagne and reflected on our past 67 day adventure. Our waiter was wonderful, and the food was exquisite. We loved the lobster risotto, and the ostrich (yes we ate ostrich) was so tender, moist and flavorful. There’s no better place to see the happiest place on earth than here. The sights, smells and of course tastes pervade your senses and let you sit back, relax and take it all in.
The only way to top that dinner is to walk to your room at the brand new Bay Lake Tower, connected via sky way bridge to the Contemporary. This place feels more like a home than a hotel. It was probably our favorite resort that we have stayed in for all of the 67 days for a few reasons. The style matched our tastes perfectly, it had a kitchen, whirlpool tub and the best (and closest) view of the Magic Kingdom available at any hotel anywhere.
Before 67 Days of Smiles, Kyle and I lived in NYC dreaming of the day we would have a car. Literally we would lay in Central Park and say “I can’t wait ’till we have a car”, because the idea of having a car meant that we would have the ease of getting around ourselves and on our schedule. That is exactly what having a Dollar Rent A Car in Orlando has offered us: the ability to travel the city easily and on our own schedule.
And I’ll be honest we LOVE having a convertible! Driving home after a whole day at an amusement park with the top down and the moon hanging over our heads…it was those days especially that I had to pinch myself to believe I wasn’t dreaming (ps If convertibles aren’t your thing…Dollar has a variety of vehicles to fit any need or craving).
The Paramount on Lake Eola is a dream come true! Our two bedroom apartment has floor to celing windows in the living room and master bedroom, a beautiful kitchen, and a porch overlooking Lake Eola. And let’s talk about the amenties….Whoa! The pool area is insane: cabanas, hot tub, and plenty of chairs to catch some rays in. We have spent plenty of nights down at the pool relaxing in the hot tub after a whole day of coasters. Nothing quite relaxes us like that
Saying all this, our favorite part of the Paramount is the location in Downtown Orlando. The new Publix is downstairs so shopping is no hassle. And we are a short walk from everything downtown: movie theatre, park, and more! We have loved coming home every night to the Paramount on Lake Eola…it’s going to be hard to leave.
Imagine sitting on a moonlit terrace overlooking a beautiful Italian seaside town, eating a wonderful meal while listening to live opera singers. Well that was our night tonight at Bice Ristorante at the Portofino Bay Resort! Plate after plate of delicious food kept coming out, along with wonderful wine. This was one of those nights that we had to pinch ourselves to make sure it was all really happening. The service was top notch and the food was to die for. The fresh homemade pasta was incredible and probably the highlight of the meal. Even if you just drop by Bice for a glass of wine it’s worth it for the atmosphere. I would definitely suggest sitting outside as we did, and if you can they really do have live opera singers for all of the courtyard to hear every night at 7:30. It just doesn’t get much better than this. It really doesn’t.
Islands of Adventure is one of our favorite parks in the country. It is beautifully themed, it’s incredibly imaginative and has amazing rides. If you’re not too into Disney, or if you want big thrills this is the place for you. When you go you must ride Spiderman, Dueling Dragons and The Incredible Hulk. All three are knockout thrill rides. The only way you could make this park better is to add a worldwide phenomenon. One with wizards and magic wands. Harry Potter. It’s coming this Spring to Islands of Adventure and it is going to be out of this world. Based on the amazing attention to detail that’s already present at this park it is very clear that the new Harry Potter themed land is NOT going to disappoint!
Since day one of our 67 days we were hoping to make it to Busch Gardens. I’ve known about Gwazi, Kumba and Montu since they were first built and I was like a kid in a candy store when I finally got to see them in person! Gwazi was rough and fast, with lots of unexpected twists and turns… exactly what a wooden rollercoaster should be. Kumba was just beautiful. The way the ride intertwines with itself is an engineering marvel. Montu was INTENSE! It just never let up! Then came the big daddy of them all, our favorite ride at the park: Shiekra. Shiekra takes you to the top of its hill and then hangs you over the edge staring straight down… 90 degrees… before dropping you. It’s just so smooth and so thrilling at the same time. Go to the park just to ride this ride, you will not be dissapointed. It’s easily one of my favorite rides we’ve been on in our 67 days.
On top of all of the great coasters that Busch Gardens offers, we also got to experience Howl-O-Scream. I have to say we were so impressed with it. They may not have had the massive budget of Universal Studios, but they got really creative with their scares. For instance, in one of the scare zones they had guys dressed up as werewolves that were attached to bungees. As you walked by they would jump out from the trees at you only to get pulled back into the darkness again before you even realized what happened. Our favorite part of Howl-O-Scream were the unexpected scares. Normally for Halloween events, parks have designated “scare zones” with smoke, lights and signs to let you know people are going to scare you. Busch Gardens, however doesn’t always provide you with that convenience. Stacey and I were just casually walking through a dimly lit section of the park, admiring the ducks in a pond nearby, when a man dressed all in black came charging at us from behind the bushes. I screamed like a baby. It was THE best scare we had in all of the haunted attractions we’ve been to. Way to go Busch Gardens!
Dinosaur World is filled with everything…you guessed it…DInoSauR! This small attraction is located off of Interstate 4 and is sure fun for anyone who loves animals from the Jurassic Period. More then 150 dinosaurs line the walking paths of the park. Markers through-out your walk will teach you facts about the dinosaurs you are seeing and more! Children will enjoy taking part in daily activities tailored to them including dinosaur bone hunts.
We had a blast taking a stroll through the Jurassic Period at Dinosaur World!
