Florida Ecosafaris Ziplining I Never Thought I Would!
You will hear me talking about my recent trip to Florida on several of my posts but this is one post that you will want to read. The event was brandcation and the theme was adventure. If anyone, knows anything about me, I am less than adventurous. If I cannot rationalize it in my head I just don’t do it. But I figured I would bite the bullet and face my fears, that, and I couldn’t be a chicken.
Friday morning we headed off to Florida Ecosafaris, a 4700 acre wildlife preservation, for an experience of a lifetime. We were all going ziplining, and that meant jumping off of high places, and dangling from cables in mid air. I am the one who watches this stuff on tv and says “NO WAY would you see me doing that.” There were three groups of 12 and we all were assigned our particular times to head out to the zipline. We all had to get weighed in (no worries this is for safety), and then we were given our times to go. I was feeling calm, cool, and collected, then I realized we were the first group to head out…FIRST!!!! I can think of a million things I would love to be first at, first in line for free chocolate, first in line for a good show, or whatever thing that doesn’t involve heights and jumping LOL.
We arrived where we met our guides Alvin and Anna (love these guys!), got ourselves suited up in our harnesses, put on our helmets, and we were off. We arrived at this tower of stairs that felt like it was swaying in the wind and they assured us that 26 people could fit way up there on this tiny little platform. We climbed up this mini tower for what seemed like forever and we all stood there huddled together, all securely latched to out respective cables overhead. Then, one at a time we stepped up to take a leap of faith and put our trust in our guides, our harnesses, and all the gear that held us. Anna attached my pulley to the cable, and hooked up my harness and says off ya go to Alvin waiting on the other side. My instructions were to keep my feet up, and make sure I grab the rope on the other side. I had my momentary panic attack, and off I went, I was so worried about grabbing the rope on the other side that I didn’t even care that I was dangling in the air by some tiny cable. My landing was a little rough on my first zip, but it got a little easier as we went along. I can honestly say that I was having a good time, and felt a great sense of accomplishment that I was able to do it.
You can see my first zip, ignore the rough landing LOL.
Our last few zips were a little more challenging, and involved a much higher take off point, a couple of bridges over an alligator and then our final zip to solid ground. At the end I had a renewed confidence in myself and a great relief to be standing on grass. The experience was wonderful and the people at Florida Ecosafaris welcomed all of us crazy mommy bloggers with open arms, and I think that I might even try to go ziplining again.
Florida Ecosafaris, also offers many other things to do!
Coach Safaris
Your two-hour Coach Safari will take you on an adventure deep into the 4700 acre Forever Florida wildlife conservation area preserved just as nature intended. This pristine site boasts nine distinct Florida ecosystems and an endless array of natural flora and fauna including alligators, black bears, white-tail deer, nearly two hundred species of birds and the endangered Florida panther.
Horseback Safaris
Experience natural Florida just as the founding settlers did – on horseback. Forever Florida boasts some of the best riding in Central Florida featuring historic trails first used for horseback riding by Native Americans back in the 1500’s. Enjoy a one, two or three hour adventure through the 4700 acre wildlife conservation area which covers nine distinct Florida ecosystems.
Ziplining Safaris
See the wilds of Forever Florida like never before – from high up in the treetops! Our NEW Zipline Safari will take you on a two and a half hour adventure like none other, reaching heights of 55 feet and speeds up to 25 mph!
If you want to experience Florida in a different way outside of Disney, this is a great way to have a fun filled adventure with your family. Florida Ecosafaris offers you a wide range of experiences and programs worth exploring while you are visiting. Thank you to Florida Ecosafaris, for such a wonderful welcome, and for such a memorable first time adventure and experience for me that I will never forget!
Global Resort Homes and Big Thank You
I am back from wonderful and pretty spectacular trip to Florida on an event called Brandcation. The main sponsor of the event was Global Resort Homes and they put us up in some pretty nice resort homes for our 4 day stay in Kissimmee Florida. The houses that we stayed at were beautiful resort homes.
I arrived in the evening on Thursday and headed over to our house so I could get rid of my luggage and go next door to meet up with the girls. When I walked into our home, I was pleasantly surprised at how much space there was and how big all of our rooms were. I was excited to be here! Everything was nicely laid out, and even the dining tables were set.
The kitchen was beautiful and decked out with all stainless steel appliances and plenty of counter space. This is a huge plus when you are vacationing, because you can have all of the amenities of home while you are away on vacation. Each home was equipped with some of the basic cooking utensils and pans that you would need to make food while you are in the house and no need to over pack because you have your own washer and dryer.so you can toss in a load and go for a swim in your own private pool and hot tub. I didn’t get the chance to take a swim, but the pool is heated and looked very inviting.
This was much better than staying in a hotel room, because you had space to just move about. There were eight of us staying in our house, and yet we all could find that we had space to either sit in our rooms, take a shower, or just hang out downstairs, I never really felt crowded at all.
Check out this video by Blondie over at Good Golly Miss Blondie of our house!
The best part about Global Resort Homes is their locations to nearby attractions. We were just minutes from the front gates of Disney. I had rented a car and even though I wasn’t used to driving in Florida, finding my way to the Magic Kingdom was very easy and literally just minutes from our Florida vacation home. We were also very near to local grocery and department stores, so it makes it easy to get the stuff you need for your stay. After staying in just a hotel room with the four of us in Florida previously, I can honestly say that I appreciate having access to basic needs in the comfort of a home rather than just a single room. For me it is nice to be able to put your kids down for a nap in one room, and you can be doing things in another. If anything it is worth staying in one of these homes for the sheer practicality of it. It is also surprisingly inexpensive to stay there off of Disney property.
Brandcation was awesome, but it wouldn’t have been possible without a place to stay. Thank you to Global Resort Homes for such a warm and inviting welcome. You can check out Global Resort Homes for your next family Florida vacation and become a fan on the Global Resort Homes facebook page. They are also sponsoring a really wonderful contest so you can experience first hand Global Resort Homes.
Bounce Houses Now Bouncing At Brandcation
I am at Brandcation and the theme is adventure, and it wouldn’t be complete without having a little kid like fun. For me, I live vicariously through my own boys, and just love to see them get a kick out of having fun. With up coming Winter months, it gets harder to entertain them and well, wear them out. I have always wanted to get them a Bounce House.
As a kid growing up I never even had the chance to get in one of these things. Every kids event we go to, they always have the big commercial bounce house, and it seems to be the center of attention. My boys love these things and it is a great energy release for them.
So while I am having great fun here at Brandcation, we are getting the chance to win one of these fabulous bounce houses for our kids courtesy of Bounce Houses Now. I think it would be a great addition to our big empty playroom downstairs, and perfect for our gigantic back yard in the warmer months. An inflatable bouncer like this would be fun for all the kids in our neighborhood, and I would be the mom of two very thrilled four year old little boys.
Bounce Houses Now, has a ton of bounce houses to choose from, for both residential and commercial use. They have everything you can imagine on their site too, and I would love to have one for my boys. They are all pretty cool looking. DO they make these things for adults????
So if you see me standing on my head or doing something crazy and out of the ordinary, it is so I can bounce in the door from Brandcation with a very special surprise for my kiddos! Wish me luck!!!!
