Thank you Gaylord Palms for hosting our family. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Summer time means road trips, beach vacations and family visits. Unfortunately, we knew this year was going to be different. We knew we wanted to get a road trip in before school starts. We fortunately ended up at the Gaylord Palms! It was extremely important for my husband and I that we went some where safe and that had activities at the resort so we wouldn’t have to leave. We spent 2 nights at the Gaylord Palms and our stay was amazing.
After the 6.5 hours drive to Kissimmee, FL we arrived at the Gaylord Palms. They had two different parking options available, self-parking or valet. We did contactless check-in through the Marriott Mobile app, which I loved. There was a mobile key option so you didn’t have to stop at the front desk on your way to your room. Check-in was at 4 but we were allowed to check-in earlier. I also appreciated the fact that face mask were required in the public areas and their were hand sanitizer stations throughout the resort. We immediately felt at ease once we seen all of the precautions the staff took to keep their guest safe.
Once we got to the room, the kids were ready to see all that the resort had to offer. They had their own room, that connected to ours and balcony with an amazing view so they were excited. We spent the first hour just looking down into the open-air indoor atrium. It was filled with beautiful trees, plants and some of Florida’s cool sea animals. After the kids had a chance to look over the map they were ready to hit the Cypress Springs Water Park that was at the resort. With our bathing suits on and mask in tow, we headed down for some water fun. The water park and outdoor pools were just what we needed. There were slides for the big kids and adults, a section for the my one year old to swim and play and premium seating and umbrellas for lounging. I knew with-in the first 10 minutes that the kids would want to spend the entire stay at the water park. Greg and I grabbed drinks and food from the Sandbar right on the side of the pool and watched the kids have the time of their lives. I loved that there wasn’t a large crowd, we still could social distance and enjoy ourselves.
After a few hours of splashing around, we headed back to our rooms. That didn’t mean the fun stopped. At 8:30 they had a light show in the atrium where we had a perfect view from our room. We watched movies, talked and ate snacks until it was time for bed. The next day we decided to go explore more of the atrium. Greg and I grabbed coffee from The Cocoa Bean Coffee House. We walked around getting a closer look at the sea animals while Ryann completed the Florida Scavenger Hunt. Our plan was to visit the Arcade but the kids had so much fun at the water park they wanted to head back. We ordered lunch from the sandbar again and the food was amazing! Lennox and I had the quesadillas, Ryann and Zay had the crispy chicken tenders and Greg decided on the burger. The kids wanted to stay in the water for as long as possible and I had no objections. I could swim with them or just relax in the loungers.
Sad about it being our last night there we decided to grab some pizza and hang out a little more in the atrium. There was plenty of seating to sit and enjoy your food. They have several restaurants with great food to chose from but in case they were closed when you were ready to eat there are plenty of restaurants in the area with delivery options. Our 2 nights at the Gaylord was exactly what we hoped, fun, relaxing and safe. Its a great family resort with great amenities. I loved that we didn’t need to leave the resort at all. It is also a few minutes from Disney so hopefully the next time we visit we can make a Disney stop.
