Most people think of the Gaylord properties for their incredible conference experience. I myself had attended one before and was blown away, so it was the first place I wanted to explore when we arrived in Kissimmee. They are the finest chain or resorts that I’ve ever seen. Where else can you see bananas growing from trees inside the hotel? What I loved about the Gaylord Palms is that it caters to both families and just adults. They have separate pools on the resort grounds. South Beach Pool is for adults 18 and older and then the Cypress Springs Family Fun Water Park that has the coolest treehouse structure that the kids will want to spend all day at. If you are in town for a conference, I’d bring the whole family to join you because they will have a blast. We spent one of our days just relaxing by the pool. The treehouse has fun water slides coming off of it along with water guns and a giant bucket that dumps water on the whole structure every couple of minutes.
Gaylord Palms has partnered with Dreamworks to offer some great character experiences for the kids. Some include character dining experiences, but my favorite that I’m bummed we missed was the Crack-A-Lackin’ Pool Party and Live Stage Show that was followed by the Splash ‘N’ Screen movie! There is a big screen and stage right next to the pool so you can watch everything from in the water. Kids favorites like Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar and now Rise of the Guardians.
We had another fun afternoon in the Arcade located in the Everglades atrium. We loaded up a Game Room card and played air hockey, fruit ninja, and more collecting tickets virtually to exchange for prizes. I haven’t been to an arcade in quite a long time because I didn’t realize how modern everything was now. Everything is loaded on your game card to save on paper (from the tickets), and you don’t have to worry about getting handfuls or change for each machine.
If we weren’t playing poolside, we were exploring the different areas around the Gaylord Palms resort. The various atriums have fun hidden treasures to discover. From giant fish, alligators and turtles to an herb garden castle and more. My daughter would say let’s go explore the jungle today. Along with the great stuff, you’ll see the Gaylord Palms also house lots of great restaurants. My favorite was the Sunset Sam’s Fish Camp, where you can dine on a 60′ sailboat. All of the food we had at the resort was fantastic.
You have a few options for rooms in Gaylord Palms; there are suites and also guest rooms. Then you have the option of a regular room or and atrium view. I highly suggest going for the atrium view. You have your own balcony overlooking one of the amazing atriums and landscape. It has two chairs that you can sit and relax on. We would put the kids to bed and go out on the balcony with a glass of wine and enjoy the sights and sounds the atrium offered. Gaylord Palms is a luxury resort, but it’s one that I would gladly spring for when planning a family vacation because of all the great kid-friendly activities that are offered to only resort guests. You can spend days just exploring the resort itself because it is so beautiful.
The Gaylord Palms hosted my family, but all opinions of the resort are 100% my own.
