Roll Out Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer: an August Trip Report (Complete!)

[Lynne G]

Awww! Vacation endings are all about what fun we had, looking at the pictures taken, and thoughts about what to do next year.

Just renewed my USO pass, so we may be Orlando bound again next year. Too early to think next year yet, though.

I keep looking for those mini golf coupons. We'll probably go to at least a few of them. We're hoping to get some pool time in too.


Enjoyed your TR.

 

[purplekicks]

I really enjoyed reading your trip reports. Can't wait to hear what you guys are doing next! You gave me so many ideas for our trip.

On your DC trip, you said you got a discount with your season passes. I hope it's $69 for us too. Do you think the dolphin ride was worth it? I couldn't find your TR for New Years when your family did that. I've read mixed reviews on that part. I would rather not waste the money if it isn't.

 

[kaddjr]

Loved your trip report!

We're planning a trip for early June to celebrate DS's hs graduation. He said he didn't want a party- just a trip back to Disney! DH and I talked it over and have decided to go for it.

Anyhow, like your DS, mine is also into retail therapy and I was wondering which outlet mall that Nike Clearance Store is in? We are staying offsite (WBC) and the outlets are definitely on the list of things to do. Thanks!

 

[Lynne G]

I really enjoyed reading your trip reports. Can't wait to hear what you guys are doing next! You gave me so many ideas for our trip.

On your DC trip, you said you got a discount with your season passes. I hope it's $69 for us too. Do you think the dolphin ride was worth it? I couldn't find your TR for New Years when your family did that. I've read mixed reviews on that part. I would rather not waste the money if it isn't.

I hope Gina won't mind if I help with this question. I too have a Platium pass from Sesame Place that gives me discounts at all Busch parks. The year Gina went, the non-dolphin price for Busch passes was $69, and could be used most dates that year. This year, the price is $99, and is limited to dates in the spring and December. You can get all the information on any Busch pass list of inclusives online on their websites.

We did the DC, including the dolphin swim 3 years ago in August. My DD still talks about how fun it was. I enjoyed it too. So, we are going to do an inclusive day at DC this December. How much you will enjoy is your decision. Do you want to feed, take a ride from, kiss, and pet a dolphin? If so, this is a great way to do it in the U.S. There isn't many other places in the U.S. to interact with a dolphin and enjoy a whole park other than at DC.

The Sesame Place's platinum pass is the least costly, though it is a resident restricted purchase. It generally goes on sale at the end of November until the beginning of March. Be warned though, regardless of when you buy the Sesame Pass, it expires at the end of the year, unlike other park passes. So, our 2013 Super Grover pass (the platinum pass) expires at Sesame Place on October 27, 2013, and all the other Busch parks on December 31, 2013.

 

[purplekicks]

I hope Gina won't mind if I help with this question. I too have a Platium pass from Sesame Place that gives me discounts at all Busch parks. The year Gina went, the non-dolphin price for Busch passes was $69, and could be used most dates that year. This year, the price is $99, and is limited to dates in the spring and December. You can get all the information on any Busch pass list of inclusives online on their websites.

We did the DC, including the dolphin swim 3 years ago in August. My DD still talks about how fun it was. I enjoyed it too. So, we are going to do an inclusive day at DC this December. How much you will enjoy is your decision. Do you want to feed, take a ride from, kiss, and pet a dolphin? If so, this is a great way to do it in the U.S. There isn't many other places in the U.S. to interact with a dolphin and enjoy a whole park other than at DC.

The Sesame Place's platinum pass is the least costly, though it is a resident restricted purchase. It generally goes on sale at the end of November until the beginning of March. Be warned though, regardless of when you buy the Sesame Pass, it expires at the end of the year, unlike other park passes. So, our 2013 Super Grover pass (the platinum pass) expires at Sesame Place on October 27, 2013, and all the other Busch parks on December 31, 2013.

That's the one I plan on getting. I have called 3 times and spoke to 3 different people and they all said I could get the pass even though I don't live in PA but I needed to come pick it up in PA, which would give me the opportunity to take the kids to Sesame Place too. They also said I could do the 6 month payment plan. The one they are selling now is good through December 2014. She said they wont be offering the one through 2015 until June 2014.

 

[Lynne G]

That's the one I plan on getting. I have called 3 times and spoke to 3 different people and they all said I could get the pass even though I don't live in PA but I needed to come pick it up in PA, which would give me the opportunity to take the kids to Sesame Place too. They also said I could do the 6 month payment plan. The one they are selling now is good through December 2014. She said they wont be offering the one through 2015 until June 2014.

Right, you don't have to live in PA, but I read somewhere it's sold to residents of a few states.

I bought mine at the discounted price of 25% off the price it was last November. I had no intentions of going to any Busch park in 2012. I was, however, going to this year. So, we've used the pass 2 times at Sesame Place (DD and I only), and the family: 1 time at SW San Diego, and will be using it at SW Orlando, DC, Aquadica, and BGT this December. It's a decent return on what I paid for our family of 4. Free parking and food and store discounts too is a nice perk.

If you have never been to Sesame Place, and I don't know the ages of your kids, but my teen will have no parts of going there, and my tween only went there to enjoy the water part, and then we left. It's a very small park, and half of it is water things.

Oh, and check out the SW and other parks board. Many have activated their Super Grover at a different Busch park, and some have paid the shipping fee, and had activated passes shipped to them. So, unless you want to spend time at Sesame Place, there may be alternatives to having to activate it there.

Have a great time on your vacation!

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Gina a brilliant trip report, shame about the thunderstorm on your last mini golf game, but ice cream and a swim in the pool wasn't too bad a way to end the day

So glad you all had a good time and thanks for sharing

I'm really in the mood for our upcoming trip, we are staying at Windsor Hills so will be near Giordanos for a SMALL pizza!

Here's to planning your next one

 

[purplekicks]

Right, you don't have to live in PA, but I read somewhere it's sold to residents of a few states.

I bought mine at the discounted price of 25% off the price it was last November. I had no intentions of going to any Busch park in 2012. I was, however, going to this year. So, we've used the pass 2 times at Sesame Place (DD and I only), and the family: 1 time at SW San Diego, and will be using it at SW Orlando, DC, Aquadica, and BGT this December. It's a decent return on what I paid for our family of 4. Free parking and food and store discounts too is a nice perk.

If you have never been to Sesame Place, and I don't know the ages of your kids, but my teen will have no parts of going there, and my tween only went there to enjoy the water part, and then we left. It's a very small park, and half of it is water things.

Oh, and check out the SW and other parks board. Many have activated their Super Grover at a different Busch park, and some have paid the shipping fee, and had activated passes shipped to them. So, unless you want to spend time at Sesame Place, there may be alternatives to having to activate it there.

Have a great time on your vacation!

I have boy/girl 15 month old twins so they should enjoy the park, which is why I don't really mind going. The older teens will still be in school when I go get them in May. The babies will be almost 2 then.

 

[Lynne G]

I have boy/girl 15 month old twins so they should enjoy the park, which is why I don't really mind going. The older teens will still be in school when I go get them in May. The babies will be almost 2 then.

Your little kids will have a great time at that age. What fun, twins! I'd pack a change of clothes, there's many places to get wet, and depending on when in May, it may be hot enough to enjoy the water areas. You can easlily do the park in 1 day. We live less than 1 hour away from it.

 

[purplekicks]

Your little kids will have a great time at that age. What fun, twins! I'd pack a change of clothes, there's many places to get wet, and depending on when in May, it may be hot enough to enjoy the water areas. You can easlily do the park in 1 day. We live less than 1 hour away from it.

They definitely keep me busy, that's for sure.

Gina do you do pre trip reports? Hopefully you guys will plan to come in August so I can follow your planning as you go. I got lots of good ideas from you. We are definitely going to Giordano's. I am stalking Groupon and Living Social for mini golf coupons, and I would like to do the orchard tour in the big truck.

Do you find it better to leave rest days in between or to plan something each day? I guess I want to get all I can out of Orlando in 12 days.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Wow, there has been some nifty chatting going on here today . Sorry I haven't had a chance to respond before now....I've had a couple of "those days" at work this week . Not much time for Disboarding...not even on my lunch hour!

Awesome trip report for an awesome vacation! Thank you so much for sharing your memories and for posting so many great photos!

Awww! Vacation endings are all about what fun we had, looking at the pictures taken, and thoughts about what to do next year.

Just renewed my USO pass, so we may be Orlando bound again next year. Too early to think next year yet, though.

I keep looking for those mini golf coupons. We'll probably go to at least a few of them. We're hoping to get some pool time in too.

Enjoyed your TR.

Loved your trip report!

We're planning a trip for early June to celebrate DS's hs graduation. He said he didn't want a party- just a trip back to Disney! DH and I talked it over and have decided to go for it.

Anyhow, like your DS, mine is also into retail therapy and I was wondering which outlet mall that Nike Clearance Store is in? We are staying offsite (WBC) and the outlets are definitely on the list of things to do. Thanks!

Thanks all. It was fun having you revisit my memories right along with me!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

On your DC trip, you said you got a discount with your season passes. I hope it's $69 for us too. Do you think the dolphin ride was worth it? I couldn't find your TR for New Years when your family did that. I've read mixed reviews on that part. I would rather not waste the money if it isn't.

I hope Gina won't mind if I help with this question. I too have a Platium pass from Sesame Place that gives me discounts at all Busch parks. The year Gina went, the non-dolphin price for Busch passes was $69, and could be used most dates that year. This year, the price is $99, and is limited to dates in the spring and December. You can get all the information on any Busch pass list of inclusives online on their websites.

We did the DC, including the dolphin swim 3 years ago in August. My DD still talks about how fun it was. I enjoyed it too. So, we are going to do an inclusive day at DC this December. How much you will enjoy is your decision. Do you want to feed, take a ride from, kiss, and pet a dolphin? If so, this is a great way to do it in the U.S. There isn't many other places in the U.S. to interact with a dolphin and enjoy a whole park other than at DC.

The Sesame Place's platinum pass is the least costly, though it is a resident restricted purchase. It generally goes on sale at the end of November until the beginning of March. Be warned though, regardless of when you buy the Sesame Pass, it expires at the end of the year, unlike other park passes. So, our 2013 Super Grover pass (the platinum pass) expires at Sesame Place on October 27, 2013, and all the other Busch parks on December 31, 2013.

Thanks Lynne for chipping in on my behalf! Much appreciated when I was tied up today!

We got our passmember rate at DC with annual passes to Aquatica......it was our most cost effective route, and well worth it at $69 pp for DC. Sadly, that rate seems to be a thing of the past, so for our next trip (which will hopefully be August 2014) we will likely go with the regular priced DC admission ($179 pp for the day resort package) which will give us unlimited admission to both Aquatica and SeaWorld for the duration of our trip.

The dolphin swim was a great experience. Definitely something to do at least once. We did DC twice in 2012, once with the dolphin swim and once without (on the "without" trip, we rented a cabana instead ). If the budget won't allow for the extra cost of the dolphin experience, DC is still an awesome day....but if the finances allow, its really wonderful to do.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Gina a brilliant trip report, shame about the thunderstorm on your last mini golf game, but ice cream and a swim in the pool wasn't too bad a way to end the day

So glad you all had a good time and thanks for sharing

I'm really in the mood for our upcoming trip, we are staying at Windsor Hills so will be near Giordanos for a SMALL pizza!

Here's to planning your next one

Thank you, Mrs Doubtfire!! You were a fun gal to have as part of this thread .

Enjoy your trip....I see yours is coming up very soon!!!! I am super jealous .

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

They definitely keep me busy, that's for sure.

Gina do you do pre trip reports? Hopefully you guys will plan to come in August so I can follow your planning as you go. I got lots of good ideas from you. We are definitely going to Giordano's. I am stalking Groupon and Living Social for mini golf coupons, and I would like to do the orchard tour in the big truck.

Do you find it better to leave rest days in between or to plan something each day? I guess I want to get all I can out of Orlando in 12 days.

I have never done a pre-trip report thus far..... I had thought about it on more than one occasion, but couldn't ever come up with enough engaging material to write about during the planning process .

We always plan a little something unique for each day, even if its small (like a trip to the outlets, or time at the beach, or mini golf in the evening). For the big park visits, though, definitely not an every day thing on a summer visit.....its just too hot for us Canucks . We find we burn out (pardon the pun ) much more quickly in the heat. Ideally, I'd do a "busy" day, then a "down day", then a busy day, then a down day, etc. Go all out, then recover before round two . Then you also have some wiggle room if Mother Nature fouls up your outdoor plans.

It makes a difference for us, too, though, that we have had 4 trips in 2 years (five in total since our first visit in 2009). It makes us less desperate to fit it all in when we know there's a good likelihood we'll be back. For those first couple of trips, we were busy every second of every day. Now, we just try to add something new to each getaway and take the vacations a little slower. Its an easy approach to take when we've been to each of the major parks at least once, and all the waterparks but Wet N Wild.

On our next vacation, I'd like to visit the Florida Aquarium in Tampa. There's a dolphin cruise with my name on it .

 

[naomiatx86]

lol, we'd probably drive you crazy .

You guys can just leave at the water parks- my legs are so white I need all the sun time I can get. lol!

 

[Girldreamer02]

Say it isn't so, I'm so sad to see your trip report has come to an end, but also super thankful that you finished. So many people leave ya hanging! I hope to visit a few water parks in orlando someday. Even if they aren't the disney ones. I haven't been to a water park in ages and would love it!

I have gone in august twice to disney and it is indeed super hot in the parks. The two times I went was with my sister and we would duck out in the hottest part of the day and go hang out by the pool or take a nap in the room. Most often it was a nap. We are kicking around plans to go around the week of christmas in dec 14' My sister and her husband want to go with us and see either bay lake towers or the villas at grand flordian. We haven't made any for sure plans yet. Lots of deciding to do and plenty to be planned since ds has only been in august and her dh has never been. Gasp!

 

[shalom]

Saturday, August 31st. Homeward bound.

The only thing I don't like about your trip reports is that they are over too soon. Although your approach is definitely better than mine, where it can be a month... or more ... between posts.

We stopped and refuelled the Jeep, and dropped it off at MCO. We hopped the tram to terminal and caught one last glance of that Florida landscape we love so much.

I never saw the appeal of the whole "tropical paradise" thing, but I have to admit Florida's winning me over. Wouldn't want to live there year 'round, though! Plus I've lived all over the States and really love the Great Lakes area, especially Lake Michigan.

No time for our traditional Nathan’s hot dog on this tour through MCO, which was a bit of a disappointment

Isn't it funny how important family rituals can be? At least your son's old enough it's just a disappointment -- when my older son was six or so, that kind of thing would be a disaster.

Sorry Steve wasn't ready to go, but that map makes me smile. I must be easily distracted by the Finger Lakes -- I hadn't noticed before what a big scoop the south east end of Lake Ontario takes out of New York.

To cheer the fellows, Jake decided on Friendly’s. Because every good vacation should start and end with ice cream .

Hear hear!

They didn’t last long, though, when this little face appeared at the French door at the top of our entrance way stairs:

Such an adorable kitty! And prompt but patient, too.

Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us.

 

[pigletto]

All caught up. Yet another wonderful trip report my friend!!
I thought of you often on what was supposed to be our vacation week, and hoped you were having a great time!
Looks like you did, and I can't wait to hear your plans for the next one. I personally vote for you to do a pre-trip report. I'd be a reader for sure!
I've considered one but I am one of those people who would start it excitedly, and then I would end up feeling obligated to continue because I started it, and then I would resent it. I have trip report commitment issues.

So get to planning August 2014

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Say it isn't so, I'm so sad to see your trip report has come to an end, but also super thankful that you finished. So many people leave ya hanging! I hope to visit a few water parks in orlando someday. Even if they aren't the disney ones. I haven't been to a water park in ages and would love it!

I have gone in august twice to disney and it is indeed super hot in the parks. The two times I went was with my sister and we would duck out in the hottest part of the day and go hang out by the pool or take a nap in the room. Most often it was a nap. We are kicking around plans to go around the week of christmas in dec 14' My sister and her husband want to go with us and see either bay lake towers or the villas at grand flordian. We haven't made any for sure plans yet. Lots of deciding to do and plenty to be planned since ds has only been in august and her dh has never been. Gasp!

Christmas week is spectacular, but bear in mind its BUSY. Busy-like-you-have-never-seen-it busy . The decorations are gorgeous and its just so darn festive, but if you are not prepared for the crowds, its going to be a shocker.

We met up with a poor young family on the boat to DTD from POR on our Christmas vacation this past year, and they were sooo upset....I just felt horrible for them. They had been to AK earlier in the day, and got on 3 rides in 9 hours. They had two wonderful little boys, and I hated seeing them so downtrodden. The magic got lost for them amidst the masses.

Definitely try to squeeze in a waterpark or two someday. Well worth a trip!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

The only thing I don't like about your trip reports is that they are over too soon. Although your approach is definitely better than mine, where it can be a month... or more ... between posts.

I never saw the appeal of the whole "tropical paradise" thing, but I have to admit Florida's winning me over. Wouldn't want to live there year 'round, though! Plus I've lived all over the States and really love the Great Lakes area, especially Lake Michigan.

Isn't it funny how important family rituals can be? At least your son's old enough it's just a disappointment -- when my older son was six or so, that kind of thing would be a disaster.

Sorry Steve wasn't ready to go, but that map makes me smile. I must be easily distracted by the Finger Lakes -- I hadn't noticed before what a big scoop the south east end of Lake Ontario takes out of New York.

Hear hear!

Such an adorable kitty! And prompt but patient, too.

Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us.

LOL, I will admit the bypassing of the Nathan's hotdog caused a lot of frowns all around. I seem to remember Jake muttering "well, how's THAT for ending off the trip on a crappy note!!" as he pulled his carry-on through the airport toward security . And I think Steve was equally downtrodden about it!!!!! Its amazing the parallel between the stresses of arrival day vs. the stresses of departure day. On the trip there, nothing can get you down....on the trip home, missing a hot dog is a major disappointment . First World problems, right there.

The Great Lakes region is lovely.....in the summer. I think ideally, I would love to live here at home from Victoria Day (your Memorial Day) until our Canadian Thanksgiving (early October).....then winters in Florida from mid October to the end of May. Yep, I could happily be a Snowbird. Hopefully my retirement plan will perform accordingly!!!! I have about 27 years to make it all happen .

My wee kitty is anything BUT patient . The old girl (she's almost 15) was stark raving FURIOUS with us, and boy, was she vocal about it . She seemed to forgive us a little when the bag of Temptations was produced, and Momma gave her a big ol' belly rub. It generally takes her about a week before she's back to normal, and returns to her aloof self. I always feel so guilty to leave her behind. Thank goodness our neighbours are incredible people who love her up regularly while we are away. God love 'em, they even videotaped her on a couple of house visits during this past trip, to let us see how happy she is while we're gone . She misses us, sure, but she's not crying in the corner like I pictured in my mind!!