Attending Mom 2.0 Summit 2017 in Orlando, Florida

This post about Mom 2.0 Summit in Orlando is written by me and may include affiliate links.

I’ve been blogging for almost 9 years and have been to Mom 2.0 Summit four different times (including this year in Orlando, Florida). I’ve been to Laguna Niguel twice, Atlanta and Orlando. Next year, Mom 2.0 will be in Los Angeles and I’m so excited to go because it’s within driving distance! I love reuniting with bloggers I’ve known for a long time, meeting new bloggers and networking with brands. There are also some really good courses you can take and presentations you can learn from and be inspired by.

This year, I left early in the morning and jumped on the Amtrak train. I love taking Amtrak because it’s a nice ride, I don’t have to deal with traffic and I can work on my computer while heading down to Union Station in Los Angeles. Whenever I travel on Amtrak, I always pay the extra money for business class seats. Totally worth it!

Once I got to Union Station, I took an Uber over to LAX. I’m super excited about this next flight I go on because I can go through the TSA Pre line – woo hoo! With TSA Pre, I had to apply online, go to an approved office for a background check and fingerprinting, and then pay $85 (good for a 5 year membership). With the TSA Pre, you can speed through security and don’t need to remove you shoes, laptop, liquids, belts, and light jackets. There is usually a TSA Pre line as well, which is much shorter than the regular security line (I don’t believe this is present for international flights though).

When I arrived in Florida, it was late and the airport was EMPTY! I had quite the experience with Uber at the airport (not a great one) and ended up taking a taxi to the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes. It’s a beautiful hotel and on a gorgeous property. The only times I’ve stayed at the Ritz-Carlton have been when I attended Mom 2.0 Summits. I can see why they’ve had so many conferences at the Ritz-Carlton. It was budget friendly to stay there by having 3 other roommates (4 of us in total). These ladies were awesome and we’ve even talked about rooming at future conferences!

The next day was somewhat relaxing and I had a chance to hang out with my little sister (there will be another post on this soon). Before I left to hang out with her, we had our first room drop. It was a special delivery from Olive Garden – Rise and Wine! We were all craving Olive Garden…and guess where I went to lunch with my sister? That’s right! All-You-Can-Eat Soup and Salad with Breadsticks – hee hee!

The next day, I headed to register for Mom 2.0 and picked up my name badge and welcome swag bag.  Afterwards, I networked with some bloggers and brands. I’ve always loved Olive Garden and was so glad that they were one of the sponsors for Mom 2.0 Summit 2017!

The next day, we started the morning early. I even saw the sun rise! I honestly hadn’t even considered going to the Yoga session sponsored by Motrin because (1) it was early and (2) I suck at it! But….I did it….the best I could. I would probably try it again. Heck, maybe I could even do better next time!

After Yoga, we headed back to the room to get ready for the day. Once we were ready, we headed to breakfast on the lawn and it was dang good!!! They had fruit, scrambled eggs, and BACON!! I may have eaten 5 or 6 slices of bacon that morning, but it’s bacon!! And I wasn’t the only one who did that either (sorry ladies, I love you). Hee hee!

I was pretty tired after the early morning yoga and breakfast, so I took a power nap. Then it was off to the rest of the day. At Mom 2.0 Summit, they have what they call a Passport. The goal is to visit every brand’s booth and have them stamp your passport. At the end of the conference, one lucky attendee wins a Prada Purse! While I would have loved to win, I was not the winner, but was excited for the blogger who did win.

One of the highlights of the day was meeting Barry Watson, star of the new show, “Dating My Dad.” I honestly didn’t even know who he was, but had made a comment about him to a friend as we passed by because he kind of looked like a movie star. Not sure what it was, but there was something different. That was when my bud, Jennifer, commented and said, “Isn’t that Barry Watson?” I was like, “Who?” Then she told me who he was. Now, most people would continue walking, but not me! That’s right! I walked up to him and asked him if his name was Barry. What a dork I must have looked like! However, we did get a picture with him in the middle of the hotel lobby – ha ha! I would totally do it again, too!

That night, we headed to the Cabana Party and it was nice! I loved the appetizers from Olive Garden (Spinach Dip and I honestly cannot remember the other food), plus delicious Mediterranean Margarita. It was so good! I can’t wait for it to arrive in Olive Gardens everywhere! We also discovered that we really loved G.H. Cretors Organic Popped Corn. Oh my gosh – I wish I could have taken more home, but we shared with our roomies and polished off two bags that night.

After the Cabana Party, the four of us roomies headed down to the pool. Joanne and I braved it and got into the pool, which was so comfortable and warm. After a little bit, we decided to jump in the hot tub and it was so relaxing! Once we had our hot tub fix, the four of us headed to the room and ordered Chinese food to be delivered. Then we sat back, relaxed, turned on some movies and did what bloggers do (work on our laptops).

The next day was a pretty busy one. We enjoyed breakfast out on the lawn again (yep – complete with eggs, fruit and bacon). Then we headed to the remaining booths to get our Passports stamped and filled out. After visiting some of the booths, I headed to the Dove Real Beauty Suite and got my hair done. They had cookies in the shape of doves and champagne. I felt so pampered and relaxed, not to mention the fact that I loved my hair with the big curls! My hairstylist was a real sweetheart and did a great job!

After getting my hair done, I met up with Jen and we signed up to test drive a 2017 KIA Sorento. They even let us take it to lunch at PF Chang’s (I love that place)! I love the KIA Sorento! In fact, it’s my favorite KIA model to drive.

I was really craving PF Chang’s, so I’m so happy the KIA team let us go to lunch during our test drive. For lunch, I ordered Lettuce Wraps (oh so good!) and Beef with Broccoli. It was a good lunch!

Later that evening,  I had dinner with my mom, stepdad and sister. I didn’t realize that you had to RSVP for the Iris Awards and when I did realize it, there were no remaining seats available. I was kind of bummed about that, but glad to have a nice dinner at Cheddar’s with my family.

After dinner, my mom and I headed to the movies and watched, “Snatched.” It was a really funny movie! In fact, it was way better than I thought it was gonna be. I would totally watch it again as I laughed pretty dang hard! I’m really glad that I got to spend time that night with my mom before I headed home. I always enjoy laughing with her and spending time together. Plus, it was perfect timing with Mother’s Day just around the corner. Love you mom!

Overall, I really enjoyed Mom 2.0 Summit 2017 and am looking forward to attending next year’s conference in Los Angeles, California. A big thanks goes to the Mom 2.0 Summit team for all the planning and preparing they did to make it a successful conference! If you’re looking to plan an Orlando vacation, be sure to check out the variety of Orlando hotels to create the best experience possible!

Did you attend Mom 2.0 Summit 2017? What was your favorite part?
Are you attending next year’s conference?