X-PLORE and XEL-HA

#1 recommendation for Cancun (and life). Go to X-PLORE and, if you have time, XEL-HA.

X-PLORE is the coolest "theme park" i've ever been too. Basically, it combines all the fun outdoorsy stuff in one place. They have 2 different zipline courses. One has a water slide and the other has a zipline where you go over crocodiles! There are canals through caves with stalagmites and stalactites that you can float through or sit on "boat" and paddle with your hands. They even give you fins for your hands! There's also 4-wheel-drive cars that you can drive on a few courses and through caves. It's not Disneyland, you don't ride on tracks. They just tell you to use your discretion....sweeeet!! This amusement park would definitely be illegal in the US.

XEL-HA is fun, but only if you like water. Yeah, there's unlimited good, margaritas, tequila shots, long islands, etc... but I don't really think drunk snorkeling is very fun. There's some fish to see while snorkeling, a really really long river, some cliffs to jump from, etc. It would have been nicer if it was warmer.

Here are some x-plore and xel-ha highlights:

 

 

 

 

Isla Mujeres

For some reason a few people recommended that we visit La Isla de las Mujeres and Chichen Itza (the Mayan Ruins). Since we visited Tulum a few years ago, we decided to pass on Chichen Itza and opted to take a ferry to the island.

When we got off the ferry, it felt like I was leaving a cruise ship - super touristy. Vendors were asking us to buy necklaces, random trinkets, and tours. There were also several golf carts and companies trying to offer us the best deal.

Since there were 5 of us, we bartered around for a 6-passenger car. Overall, I was unimpressed by the island. We drove around in our little golf cart for a while, but it wasn't really what I expected. There was a small turtle farm (one building) and some ancient ruins (a few old bricks....) It was a little bit depressing to see some of the parts of town with buildings falling apart too. We stopped for some lunch and drinks at a restaurant with an impressive view and got some scenic photos, but that's about all there was.

Here's a map of the island. We pretty much drove around the whole thing in a few hours...

Outskirts of the city

  Random view from the turtle farm

Beverages :)

The Westin

Our hotel was AMAAAAZING! Here's the view from our room!

Since we went in January, it was a little overcast and windy. It wasn't ideal for playing in the pool and sunbathing....

Our pool was still INCREDIBLEEE! It's just like the one in Modern Family... (the episode where they are on vacation in Hawaii).

I've decided that when/if I go back to Cancun, I will be staying in the resort... and only leaving to get tacos from my favorite taco stand.

From Miami to Cancun

We get off the airplane and of course we have to go through customs. The line is so long (because there are so many tourists). The line moves slowly as the officials take their time checking passports and another 30 minutes drag by before we finally make it out of customs.

Instead of several carousels filled with luggage, our suitcases have already been taken off the carousel and arranged in lines across the floor. We're lucky enough to find our few suitcases with bright green tags, but Andria's bag is missing. After about another 30 minutes of searching, we decide to report the missing bag to an agent. He tells us that they will deliver it to our hotel when and/if it arrives....

I speak to a random worker in broken Spanish and ask about another flight coming in from Miami. Luckily, there is! So we wait another 15 minutes and we see another round of luggage starting to come out.

Then, we see Andria's little blue suitcase with the rainbow luggage tag roll into the airport. Thank god! 

After checking in, we walk to a store nearby... to buy tequila and margarita mix. :) It's not my fault that they have margarita glasses AND a blender in our room...

Also, we found some BOMB tacos. She recommended these special tacos (I forgot what they were called) that she adds cheese and pineapple too. The lady was super nice and talked to me in Spanish as well!

Sorry the photos are a little blurry, I was too excited....

Cancun in a nutshell

Cancun was nice.... however, I'm not itching to go back anytime soon. The resort was amazing and I wish I had spent more time there. It's a great place to relax and it's always best to ask locals where to eat. I found out about our taco shack by asking our taxi driver using my broken spanish.

I didn't really need to walk to downtown Cancun. We only made the trek because there was a Hard Rock Cafe. There was nothing to see on the way there and it was a totally different world being away from the resorts. The clubs looked pretty raunchy during the day-time, but I guess it's like that in San Francisco too. I'm not sure if I would want to have the typical crazy spring break in Cancun.

I would totally go back for X-PLORE... but I think I made that pretty obvious.

If I wanted to go to a tropical paradise and relax, my destination would be Hawaii. :)

Universal Studios

In Florida, there are two parks for Universal: Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure.

Universal Studios basically has the same attractions as the one in California... so it doesn't excite me too much... However, instead of having a behind the Studio tram tour, they do presentations of the various special effects (tornado, lighting, earthquake, fire, horror) in different shows and stations. It's cool, but I like the tram ride better, which is probably why I'm wasn't that impressed. 

I also just think that Islands of Adventure is way cooler! Aside from having the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, there's a Comic book land - they feature X-Men, Pop-Eye, the Hulk, Spiderman, Betty Boop, etc. My all time favorite ride is definitely Spiderman tho. My second favorite (a close-second) is Harry Potter, but it gets negative points for scaring me so much! The Incredible Hulk roller coaster is pretty awesome too.\

in the world of Marvel Comics

& Marmaduke!

Craving for Butterbeer

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The #1 reason that I wanted to go to Orlando.

We should have been prepared for a crazy day the minute we parked our car. We arrived in the lot at 10am and we strolled our way down the City Walk. Families sprinted past us, but I figured their kids were just excited to be on their way to an amusement park.

We finally get inside the park around 1030am and made it to HARRY POTTER LAND (as I like to call it). We were greeted by the Hogwarts Express and paused for a picture with the friendly conductor.

We pushed our way through Hogsmeade and noticed lines forming outside the stores. Yes, lines to get into Honeydukes and Olivanders. We decided that we need to find the main ride before exploring the other attractions. 

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The line was already out the castle and overflowing into a differently themed section of the park. 90-120 minute wait!! I think I'm spoiled because I usually get some kind of hook up to cut the line... but still. We opted for Butter Beer. The frozen one tastes like a butterscotch icee with whipped cream. It was a little sweet for my liking... but I'm going to say I enjoyed it because it was $12.95!! with the souvenir cup. so it better be worth my money.

The castle was awesome! I eventually got on the ride and I don't want to spoil it for anyone.. but it's really fun (and scary too)! It was the first time I've laughed and screamed on a ride because I was so overwhelmed with emotions.

EPCOT

I've been to Florida so many times, but I still have fun every time ago. I always get to travel with someone new and it always makes the adventure worthwhile. This time, I was lucky enough to bring Andria!

Who needs to travel around the world when EPCOT gives you a little taste of every country? Even though I'm always hungry, we opted out of eating a big lunch and instead we snacked our way around the world.
Fish and chips in the UK (we also saw Alice from Wonderland?) and pastries and coffee in France.

fish and chips!

goal: go to france and eat dessert

Other highlights included Morocco, Italy, Japan, and China (we found Mulan!). Who even needs a passport? Hopefully, you can identify which countries we're in!

 

I'm going to try to post more about my trip this weekend. Even though I went two months ago... It will be a slow update...