Saturday, December 8, 2018

Light Up UCF in Orlando: Christmas Fun for the Whole Family

Disclosure: this is a sponsored post. All opinions stated are genuine and my own. 


We recently took a trip to CFE Arena in Orlando, Florida (on the University of Central Florida campus) to visit their Light Up UCF event. There's my darling grandbaby, acting like she's a Gingerbread cookie. She gives me sweet smiles when I take her picture.



There's her daddy, giving me a sweet smile, which is rare. Usually he makes a face at my camera, like his little bro. is on the left. 👀


Oh wait, there we go... that's the son I know in my pictures (and love just the same). :) I thought this little area was so cute for photos. It was right next to the area where you could get a picture taken with Santa Clause. Of course, we had our picture taken with him. As the kids have gotten older, moved out and have lives of their own, it's harder to get them all together, so when we do, I usually get a pic. Put Santa in there, and even better! 😊🎅


There were also a few rides for which you could buy tickets, and a stage the kids could get on and play. My granddaughter and this little girl were waiting in line together and became instant best friends. The little girl told her that she had to wait her turn in line. My baby grand walked up to her and held her hand and they were inseparable until we all parted ways, quite awhile after they met...they played together, laughed together, and even had a picture taken with Santa. We didn't buy it, we just had them to take it because the little girl jumped in when my kids were there, so the photographer zoomed in on the 2 of them to show them the picture and make them happy...which it did. We were all laughing at how easy it was for someone their age to just pick up with the kiddo next to them and become instant BFFs. My oldest spent most of his time in this area following his little one (with her new friend) around.


My 2nd oldest and youngest paired up to play ball for a good part of the time, 


and my daughter paired off with her young man...they wear each other's clothes (if you follow my Insta you know this already ;) ) and they're having a baby (if you come here often, you know that too). ;) Juan has a signature on his shirt because we'd also just taken in a Harlem Globetrotters show that was playing inside of the arena, and he wanted to get an autograph from Hi-Lite, a player he's liked for awhile. 


In this area there are also several restaurants where you can eat. We went in to have dinner at one of them, and it was almost dark when we came out.That was significant because at night, they're lighting everything up! The lights on the building change colors and the palm trees are either lit up on their trunks, their fronds or both.


There is a skating rink there too, which I found mildly amusing since we are in the middle of 'let's-wear-our-shorts-even-though-it's smack-dab-in-the-middle-of-cold-weather-in-most-places' weather. Quite a few people were enjoying it though, and I suspect my youngest would have loved it if everyone hadn't been along (not everyone wanted to ice skate that day). Thinking about it though, it's pretty amazing that we can run an ice rink in temperatures where ice shouldn't even be able to form. Just to note it, the rink had a live DJ.


Parking was free in the garage right across from the event, and even though there were quite a few people attending, there were still a lot of parking spaces available.


In this picture you can see the Ferris Wheel that was there, and just to the right of it was a swinging boat ride. We were more about just hanging out and watching the grand enjoy herself, so we didn't ride either, though I'm sure we'd have loved them both if we had decided to do so.


If we had stayed a little bit longer, the lights would have twinkled and changd in sync to Christmas songs playing and snowfall coming down. We had a long drive home, so we didn't stay for it, but it was still a really fun way to spend some quality family time together, and I was so glad we took the trip.


Light Up UCF is open now and runs through January 1st, 2019. Learn more about this fun event by visiting the UCF Arena website. You can also follow them on Facebook and/or Twitter.

23 comments:

  1. Sure looks like quite the spot indeed. All with Santa is a win. Can be harder to get everyone together as the older we get.

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  2. Orlando is so magical during the holidays. Wish I was visiting this year.

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  3. This sounds like so much fun. That gingerbread photo was great! I love photo ops.

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  4. This seems to be a fun event. I love how spontaneous you all are and how you made the visit so fun and enjoyable.

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  5. This looks like a fun family activity. Everyone from your clan seems happy to be there! Enjoy the time together

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  6. This sounds like a really fun trip and perfect for the holiday season to do with the family.

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  7. That's an interesting read. It's easy on eyes and pics. Looks like you had a great time with family. Lots of fun and activities.

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  8. CFE Arena in Orlando looks so pretty! Perfect place for a mini holiday with your family. The pictures are gorgeous

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  9. OMG Th first pics alone has gotten me SO hungry hahahaha looks like you all enjoyed it and the pics are so fun! Happy holidays!

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  10. Such a fun spot for a family to spend the day. Your granddaughter is sweet enough to eat, so she fits right in with pretending to be a gingerbread girl. And I love the family photo! I figure as soon as Mariah graduates college and moves to Canada (we'll see if that plan sticks) family gatherings will be few and far in between here too, so we'll have to bust out the camera for fun family photo ops like these too :)

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  11. Those are really cute ginger bread designs! Christmas is really in the air!

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  12. This looks like so much fun! Wish I could go there but it's not gonna happen. Maybe next year...

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  13. Looks like a ton of fun. My kids would love this

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  14. I lived in Orland many years ago. I feel like it's the best place to go for Christmas activities because everyone goes overboard to compensate for the fact that there's no snow :)

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  15. Seems like you had a lot of fun with your family. I'm going to have to check out CFE area whenever I'm in Orlando.

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  16. Christmas is one of the best times in the year. Love the lightning and decoration

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  17. Looks like the whole family had lots of fun! I can't wait to go with my little one!

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  18. It does look like fun for everyone. There's something to entertain every age.

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  19. I went to UCF and graduated in 2002. Wow, has it changed. I live about a half hour away now, and I've never taken my family to this event. It looks super cute. I think my children would really love it. I will need to take them next year.

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  20. The lights are so beautiful! What a sight to see!

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  21. I seriously cannot express how much I LOVE the giant gingerbread men! Those are fantastic!

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  22. I've not seen the holidays around a warm climate, seeing Christmas lights on a palm tree is a first for me! I love the gingerbread cookie decorations!

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  23. Those cookie stand photos are so fun! My boys would pose with them. One of their favorite books was The Gingerbread Man, when they were little.

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