For breakfast, Steve and I headed to the Marketplace (he had roused himself without my intervention, and was showered and ready to go), which was super conveniently located just a stones throw away from our building. Not only did it offer a selection of grocery items, health and beauty aids, alcohol, clothing and gift items, it also featured a full service deli and a Starbucks. We had noticed (the previous day) on the sign outside that they offered breakfast sandwiches at the Starbucks/deli, so I figured wed give them a whirl. We had vowed to eat less substantial breakfasts on this trip (too many morning meals spent at buffets on previous trips had us feeling rather bloated by mid-vacation) so a breakfast sandwich seemed just about right . We had the fridge stocked with healthy beverages in the villa (orange juice and milk) from our expedition to Walmart the day prior, and a supply of Tim Hortons coffee for brewing our favourite taste of home, so we didnt have to pick up anything to drink with the sandwiches.
For $3.99 each ($4.25 with tax), we could select from either a bagel (any flavour), a croissant or an English muffin, add egg and cheese, and our choice of sausage, bacon or ham. While the friendly staff prepared our order, we explored the offerings of the Marketplace.
With our bag of sandwiches in hand, we headed back to the villa to wake the boy. As I predicted, it was much easier to get him moving with the smell of sausage wafting past his nostrils.
I waited too long to get the pic, and when I did, Steve's bagel sandwich was gone-zo. But I fed him. I promise.
Breakfast was good. Really good. Happy family all around.
Fed and dressed, the boy was eager to embark on his shopping adventures......so we piled into the Jeep and made the short trek to the days first stop: the Florida Mall.
While we knew we were in for a full mall tour before we were done, we also knew that the first stop had to be one place, and one place only for our basketball-lovin boy:
Remember when I said hes the girl Ill never have? Well then, it shouldnt surprise you when he made a beeline for this section of the store:
A pair of basketball shoes (in his school colours...very important), new basketball socks, and a pair of trainers later.........we continued our retail therapy at the remainder of the stores. Hollister. Champs. All the places we dont have at home. Steve got a couple of pair of new sunglasses from one of the little kiosks. I am sure the stock market must have gone up that day, as Jake in particular worked diligently to stimulate the Florida economy.
Following the Florida Mall, the next stop on Jakes retail wish-list was the Lake Buena Vista Factory Outlet stores. En route, we stopped at Popeyes (another fast food joint we enjoy but dont have in our little corner of Canada) for lunch but for some reason, I missed getting any photos (bad mother). After an appropriate amount of Cajun-inspired sustenance (cause shopping can work up quite an appetite, you know) we arrived at our second stop of the day.
This was our first visit to these outlets. We are loyal fans of the Premium Outlet malls (both locations). But since this mall was so very close to our resort, there was no reason not to give it a whirl. Jake had spotted an Under Armor logo on the signage, so we knew if they had nothing more that appealed to him, hed still be happy.
Overall, it was a very successful outing. Jake and Steve both snagged some GREAT deals at Under Armour. I got a cheap pair of new Crocs. We sampled chocolates at the Lindt outlet. We checked out several other stores as well as we worked our way from one end to the other.
We made the two-minute drive back to the resort and unloaded all our purchases of the day.
With an hour or two to spare before would embark in search of dinner, we opted to take in one of the activities hosted by the FUN team at the Vistana.
Did I hear someone yell "BINGO"?
. I hope he knows how much I appreciated his kindness!!
Just glad that I could help! 
but yet you patiently provided yet another awesome and detailed response. You rock! 
). National lets you pick your vehicle, right?
This is my first time posting but I have read all of them since joining the DIS.
The idea of sharing a villa with any of my family members (with the exception of my mom) makes me want to throw myself to the alligators at Gatorland 
. Apparently they have had lots of rain down there this summer....one lady we chatted with said it had rained every day for three months....so that likely explains why the water is higher. 
And I always approve of a basketball court -- you'd think they're cheap enough they'd be everywhere, especially since you can pair them with a tennis court but, at least in our system, they're kind of unusual. 
), which gives you access to a lot of good deals, although admittedly they're mostly offseason. 
. We would definitely have to do more pondering before we ever decided to move forward with a purchase. There are so many pros and cons to both sides to consider!
... but it was very bearable overall. And incredible weather! So much sun and so little rain, except for a couple of afternoon thunderstorms early in our week. We could not have asked for better!!!
. Even the chocolate covered ones with the vanilla cream inside 
