sharona
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2008
Hi and Welcome! This is my pre trip report for our upcoming FL vacation. I’ve never written a TR before but I have so enjoyed reading about other people’s experiences that I thought I might give it a shot!
After the winter we’ve had, we really really really can’t wait to get out of here and head for warmer climes. We live a few miles north of Boston and have been hit hard this year with one storm after another. I doubt we’ll see our front lawn before April. I’ve been keeping warm and trying to avoid cabin fever by planning and researching our upcoming vacation and hanging out on the DIS forums.
About us: I (takes a deep breath) just turned 50 last week. Eek! Well, I read that 50 is the new 30 and that is aok with me because I don’t feel a day over 25. I work full time and am a photography hobbyist (Nikon all the way!) and a sometimes travel hacker. DD12 (aka Boo) is an awesome kid and a great student. She loves to travel and is very crafty (which she definitely did not get from me) and she is very into “design” (as in mentally spending my money on redo-ing her room). She’s at that very awkward, sweet/salty, tween bipolar stage where she is a full on independent teenager with a badittude one minute and a cuddly and so loveable child the next. My mom73 (aka The General when she is unhappy with someone) is mostly retired but still keeps a part time job to stay busy and socialize. She is a bundle of energy who will NEVER admit to being tired even if she is sitting there snoring. We three travel together fairly often. Mom had never been to CA, so last summer we had a girls road trip and spent 10 days driving from San Diego to San Francisco. We had a ball but it was a very busy trip. This year I promised myself (and them) that we would take some time to sit on the beach and do nothing so we are heading to the FL Keys for 5 days of relaxing and soaking up the warmth. We plan on snorkeling, sailing, exploring and dining our days away. Not sure if I should post much about our Keys days here but if you’re interested, let me know and I’ll plan to add some details.
Of course, the Keys will be great but the vibe there is way too laid back for us to do more than a short visit so Boo and I will be dropping mom off at Orlando airport on 4/23 and heading to the Royal Pacific for 4 nights/5 days of parks and rides! We are also thinking about going for it with 1 epic day at WDW MK to see the new stuff and get our Disney fix as we haven’t been there since 2010.
Mom and I have been to WDW 4 times (twice in the 70s when I was a child) and twice with Boo (at ages 4 and 8).. We all went to Disneyland last summer on our CA trip. We are seriously talented users of the old FP system so I’m curious to see what FP+ has to offer.
I “discovered” Universal last March on a weekend getaway with my friend T who moved to St. Pete a few years ago. We stayed at the RPR and did some very leisurely no kids touring. I enjoyed our time at UO so much that we made time for U/Hollywood when we were in CA in June – Boo and I had so much fun! The General was not impressed (Simpsons on an empty stomach was a mistake) so she has decided to opt out of all future theme park vacations.
In November, Boo and I met up with T and her niece15 for a stay 3 night at the Hard Rock over Vets Weekend. T hooked us up with the FL resident rate once again so we had express pass. I ended up buying APs for Boo and I because we knew we’d be back at least once more before the year was up. Surprisingly Boo, who is not into coasters all that much and who doesn’t like anything creepy scary, is a serious Mummy fan and would happily ride it over and over the whole day. I love it too but even with full dose Dramamine, 2X in a row is my limit. Luckily for DD, T will ride again and again with her while I take pics outside and enjoy a well earned minute without motion! I have a favorite ride too. We’ll see if you can figure it out after reading the TR!
As for HP, T and I both have read all the books and are fans but not omgwishiwasawizard fans. I love how the WWOHP at UO really brought the books to life – it’s truly amazing. Every tiny little detail is perfect. Boo has not shown much interest in HP outside of the parks. We read book #1 together when she was 10 but she was just tolerating it for me, lol. She has seen the first 2 movies but finds Voldemort scary creepy so has been reluctant to watch the rest. She enjoyed FJ and Gringotts quite a bit though and we used the SR line to go back for 2nds and 3rds each time.
Most of our Orlando time will be spent at Universal so I’ll be posting my trip report in the US/IOA Trip Report Forum but will link to it on the WDW TR page when/if I add our MK day.
Next up: Hacking our way to FL and back… well, almost!
After the winter we’ve had, we really really really can’t wait to get out of here and head for warmer climes. We live a few miles north of Boston and have been hit hard this year with one storm after another. I doubt we’ll see our front lawn before April. I’ve been keeping warm and trying to avoid cabin fever by planning and researching our upcoming vacation and hanging out on the DIS forums.
About us: I (takes a deep breath) just turned 50 last week. Eek! Well, I read that 50 is the new 30 and that is aok with me because I don’t feel a day over 25. I work full time and am a photography hobbyist (Nikon all the way!) and a sometimes travel hacker. DD12 (aka Boo) is an awesome kid and a great student. She loves to travel and is very crafty (which she definitely did not get from me) and she is very into “design” (as in mentally spending my money on redo-ing her room). She’s at that very awkward, sweet/salty, tween bipolar stage where she is a full on independent teenager with a badittude one minute and a cuddly and so loveable child the next. My mom73 (aka The General when she is unhappy with someone) is mostly retired but still keeps a part time job to stay busy and socialize. She is a bundle of energy who will NEVER admit to being tired even if she is sitting there snoring. We three travel together fairly often. Mom had never been to CA, so last summer we had a girls road trip and spent 10 days driving from San Diego to San Francisco. We had a ball but it was a very busy trip. This year I promised myself (and them) that we would take some time to sit on the beach and do nothing so we are heading to the FL Keys for 5 days of relaxing and soaking up the warmth. We plan on snorkeling, sailing, exploring and dining our days away. Not sure if I should post much about our Keys days here but if you’re interested, let me know and I’ll plan to add some details.
Of course, the Keys will be great but the vibe there is way too laid back for us to do more than a short visit so Boo and I will be dropping mom off at Orlando airport on 4/23 and heading to the Royal Pacific for 4 nights/5 days of parks and rides! We are also thinking about going for it with 1 epic day at WDW MK to see the new stuff and get our Disney fix as we haven’t been there since 2010.
Mom and I have been to WDW 4 times (twice in the 70s when I was a child) and twice with Boo (at ages 4 and 8).. We all went to Disneyland last summer on our CA trip. We are seriously talented users of the old FP system so I’m curious to see what FP+ has to offer.
I “discovered” Universal last March on a weekend getaway with my friend T who moved to St. Pete a few years ago. We stayed at the RPR and did some very leisurely no kids touring. I enjoyed our time at UO so much that we made time for U/Hollywood when we were in CA in June – Boo and I had so much fun! The General was not impressed (Simpsons on an empty stomach was a mistake) so she has decided to opt out of all future theme park vacations.
In November, Boo and I met up with T and her niece15 for a stay 3 night at the Hard Rock over Vets Weekend. T hooked us up with the FL resident rate once again so we had express pass. I ended up buying APs for Boo and I because we knew we’d be back at least once more before the year was up. Surprisingly Boo, who is not into coasters all that much and who doesn’t like anything creepy scary, is a serious Mummy fan and would happily ride it over and over the whole day. I love it too but even with full dose Dramamine, 2X in a row is my limit. Luckily for DD, T will ride again and again with her while I take pics outside and enjoy a well earned minute without motion! I have a favorite ride too. We’ll see if you can figure it out after reading the TR!
As for HP, T and I both have read all the books and are fans but not omgwishiwasawizard fans. I love how the WWOHP at UO really brought the books to life – it’s truly amazing. Every tiny little detail is perfect. Boo has not shown much interest in HP outside of the parks. We read book #1 together when she was 10 but she was just tolerating it for me, lol. She has seen the first 2 movies but finds Voldemort scary creepy so has been reluctant to watch the rest. She enjoyed FJ and Gringotts quite a bit though and we used the SR line to go back for 2nds and 3rds each time.
Most of our Orlando time will be spent at Universal so I’ll be posting my trip report in the US/IOA Trip Report Forum but will link to it on the WDW TR page when/if I add our MK day.
Next up: Hacking our way to FL and back… well, almost!
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), but mostly everyone is patient with my need to take photos. You should consider posting on the *Universal photo of the day* sticky! I was just there encouraging others to post more regularly so we can all have real images to help us look forward to our upcoming trips!
We have often had to travel during school vacation, too, and - for obvious reasons - this is usually the most expensive time to fly. I agree that if you are willing to fly a day earlier, you can find more availability and cheaper rates. Good for you! 
Won't know for sure if we're going until I see the SW December schedule and maybe not even until September when DD starts 7th grade and we see what her standardized testing schedule and school workload looks like as she'll have to miss at least 1 day maybe 2.
on your SW companion pass and your other travel hacks! Wow!!! Just wow!!! It's obvious you put a lot of planning and research into your plans. 
Welcome!! Love snorkeling too and DD is pretty good at it for her age. I'm still working on our plans for the Keys. Trying to keep it loose since our vacations are usually structured. Looking forward to seeing how we handle a more casual itinerary. We're not much for laying around the pool so I'm planning to have some ideas of what we might like to do and then play it by ear each day when we're there. Hopefully this will work out. It kills me not to have reservations for everything lol! Totally against my nature.
