Escaping Snowy New England for Freezing Florida Feb 2015 Final Hours 11/17 p. 23

[natebenma]

Thanks for the tip... I'd heard it is faster to get it inside, but I didn't realize the part about the AAA discount.

That is one of my favorite tips. Ok, you just save 10%, but a buck is a buck so it adds up when you are shelling out $5 per drink, x3 each day.

Is that a pretty seamless process? I've kind of wondered how it worked.

Honestly, it is much better than the fiasco that is the front gate entry! Although we still had the issue of getting behind someone who was not able to get the finger scan to work and you don't move until they do. I know you feel my pain on that.

Kind of like the old Hydrolators at EPCOT, huh?

Did I ever tell you the story...

During one of our early trips to EPCOT, around 1987 PK, Mark and I wanted to go in to see the aquariums without going to the Living Seas movie/attraction. So we waited at the hydrolator exit until some people were coming out. We snuck into the "elevator" and when the door opened we surprised the CM on the other side.

For the record- the hydrolators only went one way. They didn't fake-move after dispatching guests.



Well, at least you got to make up for the missed meal there.

I suppose.


Agree. Not a must do, but fun to see.

Don't think we will be doing Shrek on our August trip.


Great picture.

As is this one.

Thank you so much!!!

 

[natebenma]

Getting your Butterbeer in the pub is a great tip. I was so thankful I'd heard that prior to my first WW visit. Saved a ton of time. Plus, it's darn cool in there.

It really is the best way to get a Butterbeer fix. Plus it was nice taking a break to enjoy it at a table in the Inn.


I did think it was clever the way they incorporated the park hopper ticket to be the "train ticket". Not to mention how clever to basically almost force a person to get a park hopper ticket. Pretty smart.

I think they have been paying close attention to the teachings of the Mouse.


Haha, the boys really do seem to like Lombard's don't they?

Yeah, makes total sense. It's not like they have easy access to fresh, delicious seafood living in New England and all!


I agree on Shrek. I actually haven't done it in a while. But I do know when I do, I enjoy it.

I was really excited to experience it for the first time, but I'm ogre it now.

Sorry for that! Truly sorry!


Aww, that is a great photoshoot.

Thanks! I think so too. And the boys actually were not (too) resistant.

But... uh oh. Next up does not sound promising weather wise.

Wow! You are really good at picking up on foreshadowing!

 

[natebenma]

Well, we can excuse it this once ... TR documentation fails happen to every one.

Thank you!


Yay! I'm glad you finally got to ride the train, and the pictures look cool!

Me too. We will have a couple more rides, but we have obnoxious fellow passengers along for those.


You all seem very intense about killing aliens.

We will have a few more chances to rid the world of Extra Terrestrials (sorry E.T.)


Interesting. I was wondering why you would obscure your own son, but I guess it makes sense for them to add the borders automatically.



I love all of the family pictures! The one of the boys is really great, as is the one of you and Mark by the globe.

Thank you! I do love these two pictures especially. Plus, this will be the only day we are not wearing the same sweatshirts in all the photos.

We have annual passes for US, and I got the Annual Photo Connect, so it will be good for our August trip.


A poem inspired by Seuss Landing?

Indeed.

My favorite trip report chapter was my review of Seuss Landing when the boys were not into it at all!

Oh, the Places we Didn't Go!

 

[natebenma]

You could never have a trip report fail! It's impossible!

Apparently not. But thanks.


So cool that you got a whole train car to yourself. Nice!

It really was nice, especially in contrast to our next two rides.


Love all the pictures you got of the various Harry Potter areas. Your PP (I'm sorry they will always be PP to me) turned out excellent. That mummy picture is a hoot!

Thanks! I love having the park photography plan, no matter what it is called.


Yummy lunch!

Lunch was good, but nothing outstanding.


So what ARE the dates for your August trip? Do we align at all? I am there 8/15-22.

A near miss again! Universal Aug 26-Aug 29, Disney/Beach Club Aug 29-Sept 1.

 

[natebenma]

Only DS14 has done the Universal Water rides, Our last attempt at Splash Mtn, DD9 (who was 4 maybe) was so upset at being wet my DH went and bought her new clothes and shoes at the nearest gift shop. I doubt she's attempted a water ride since I was on stroller patrol with my two youngest

I feel like you have to "plan" for the US water rides because you get insanely wet. Wear sandals. Jurassic Park, followed by Rip Saw Falls, then Bluto's Barges. Then leave the park to change into dry clothes.

 

[natebenma]

Awesome pics! Isn't photo connect a great deal when you consider the outrageous prices they are asking for the individual ride photos! I believe I heard them telling someone $25 for one photo!!!! It was pretty easy to use as well. How do you remember to take your food pics before digging in? We're usually 2/3 of the way through eating when it occurs to me, lol.

As I mentioned above, we got the annual Photo Connect package for $49 (before the price increase)

:

Food porn is my passion!!!! Camera at the ready. It annoys my family so I have to take the pictures really quickly so they can start eating. I photography my meal last.

 

[natebenma]

Sorry, Dee (I was missing a bit due to personal family stuff). Love the update and all the photos.

Have a great time on the school trip.

I hear you, all too well, on the family stuff!

Thanks for your wishes about the class trip.

 

[natebenma]

OOh - the train windows look cool!

I don't mind getting wet on rides as long as my feet stay dry. Last trip was our first going on Kali River Rapids. Amara and I wrapped our feet in ponchos. Teagan refused to and her feet were just soaked. After a few minutes, she started to get blisters. I swapped out her socks and, dear lord, you could have dropped a yak with the smell. I know some day I'll look back with fondness on the days they didn't have to spend forever getting clean. But for now, my kids just smell bad a lot of the time.

Same here. If I know we are doing water rides I like to either wear sandals or bring them along to change into.

Wet socks are awful. Teen smells are awful! Did I mention that last night was our high school graduation. I help with the overnight after grad activity. My job was check in and taking all of the clothes/bags from the students overnight and locking them in my car. I was greeted with a less than pleasant smell when I went to drop off the bags this morning. Sweat, Axe and perfume.



"Drop a yak" Love it!!!

 

[natebenma]

So cool you finally rode Hogwarts Express. Did they sell chocolate frogs and every flavor jelly beans?

Sadly, no sales of frogs or beans, but what a great idea! But plenty available in every gift shop in the parks!

 

[tarak]

Same here. If I know we are doing water rides I like to either wear sandals or bring them along to change into.

Wet socks are awful. Teen smells are awful! Did I mention that last night was our high school graduation. I help with the overnight after grad activity. My job was check in and taking all of the clothes/bags from the students overnight and locking them in my car. I was greeted with a less than pleasant smell when I went to drop off the bags this morning. Sweat, Axe and perfume.



"Drop a yak" Love it!!!

My oldest has freakishly large feet. She's 12 and wears a women's 8.5, which is what I wear after having had four kids. She borrowed my sneakers once and it took two days in the garage with baking soda dumped in them to get the smell out. On the plus side, if she needs dress shoes, she can borrow mine. I just make her wash her feet first.

My son is way too young to care about how he smells. I'm hoping the Axe phase passes him by.

 

[irene_dsc]

I keep forgetting, too! Aug 6-12, I think. I have been so busy that I haven't started doing any reading or research about the trip, which is really bad because this is our first time doing a trip like this.

Yellowstone is very cool! Are you camping or staying at a hotel? In the park, or nearby? How long? We did a family trip a few years ago - road trip from Chicago, camping in the park, plus Grand Tetons. I highly recommend white water rafting (with a guide) on the Jackson River by the Tetons if you have time. But then, our family likes rafts.

Also remember - Yellowstone is huge! And traffic goes really slowly, due to scenery and wildlife. Restaurants aren't very good, and expensive, and spread out, so bring lunch to eat as a picnic (but be bear safe...) But, the scenery is spectacular!

 

[natebenma]

I did manage to catch up on the Beach Club FAQ thread, but I never got a chance to get caught up here!

Off to Disney for 5 days. 3 actually. Have to be at school at 11:30 this morning, flight is at 3, should be at ASMo around 7:30 or 8 pm tonight. Back on Friday.

MK in morning Tues, EP in morning Wed (nights are up in the air). Thurs- AK in morning, HS after lunch (FP ToT, RnR, Star Tours), resort break then MK until 1 am.

Have a great week, everyone!

Dee

:

 

[KatMark]

Have a great time, Dee. Safe travels and no sitting in a corner this time.

 

[afwdwfan]

Hey, just thought I'd tell you that I convinced DW to go see Jurassic World on Saturday. We have a local drive in theater. We usually go there once or twice every summer. Usually to see whatever the Disney or Pixar movie is that is being released that year. But this weekend they had a double feature of Jurassic World and Pitch Perfect 2. She wanted to see PP2, so I managed to convince her to go. We took the kids with us. DD slept and DS watched most of JW. Don't worry. I'm not trying to traumatize a 5 year old. I made him watch JP with me before we went and he still wanted to see the dinosaurs.

I thought it was great. Maybe not quite as good as JP was, but still awesome.

 

[natebenma]

My son is way too young to care about how he smells. I'm hoping the Axe phase passes him by.

Ben is not into Axe yet, maybe it will skip him too.

Yellowstone is very cool! Are you camping or staying at a hotel? In the park, or nearby? How long? We did a family trip a few years ago - road trip from Chicago, camping in the park, plus Grand Tetons. I highly recommend white water rafting (with a guide) on the Jackson River by the Tetons if you have time. But then, our family likes rafts.

Also remember - Yellowstone is huge! And traffic goes really slowly, due to scenery and wildlife. Restaurants aren't very good, and expensive, and spread out, so bring lunch to eat as a picnic (but be bear safe...) But, the scenery is spectacular!

We are staying in the Explorer Cabins- just outside of the park. Dee's philosophy is "Camping is a hotel without a pool". I think we are there 6 nights. I so need to revisit our plans!!!

We will be kayaking, visiting the Wolf and Bear rehab facility and we have two organized tours of Yellowstone. Upper and Lower loop???

This will definitely be a different kind of trip for our family!

Have a great time, Dee. Safe travels and no sitting in a corner this time.

Thanks! I didn't sit in the corner, but I visited it for old-times-sake. I asked my friend to take a picture and at this point, nobody asks why. They just do it.

Hey, just thought I'd tell you that I convinced DW to go see Jurassic World on Saturday. We have a local drive in theater. We usually go there once or twice every summer. Usually to see whatever the Disney or Pixar movie is that is being released that year. But this weekend they had a double feature of Jurassic World and Pitch Perfect 2. She wanted to see PP2, so I managed to convince her to go. We took the kids with us. DD slept and DS watched most of JW. Don't worry. I'm not trying to traumatize a 5 year old. I made him watch JP with me before we went and he still wanted to see the dinosaurs.

I thought it was great. Maybe not quite as good as JP was, but still awesome.

Sounds like a great night.

You'll get no judgment from me! Probably let Ben watch JP when he was 4. He was a real dino freak! As my dad liked to say "Ben has more dinos (toys) than there were in the dinosaur eras"

:

 

[natebenma]

It's official!

I am now juggling 3 Trip Reports in progess.

For those of you who have not made it over yet, I invite you to join in on

Travel With Teens: Take Two "I Can Organize This Trip In My Sleep!"

.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Okie doke well we will see how good your juggling skills are now lol!!!
I'm struggling to read trip reports atm so in awe of you actually writing them on too of everything else you do!

 

[natebenma]

Okie doke well we will see how good your juggling skills are now lol!!!
I'm struggling to read trip reports atm so in awe of you actually writing them on too of everything else you do!

I seriously need to finish some of these. I go to Yellowstone in early August and then Universal again/Beach Club 2 weeks later. I already have a title for the Beach Club report with the gals...

 

[natebenma]

When I last updated this report, over a month ago, my family had returned to the Hard Rock around 3 pm after our first morning at Islands of Adventure and then Universal.

I posted the following poem:

The sun did not shine
It was too wet to play
So we stayed at the Hard Rock
The rest of the day




We stopped at the club level lounge for a few snacks- drinks, trail mix, bags of chips. The boys napped and Mark and I spent some time exploring the Hard Rock.

I was determined to find the short-cut to City Walk from the front of the resort, through the parking lot. Ironically, we had used this shortcut when we stayed at the Portofino back in 2011, but during our 2013 trip, we used the longer pathway from the Hard Rock pool to City Walk.


We found the shortcut by going down the stairs near The Palm restaurant.


























Walk through the parking lot, until you spot a 'break' in the trees/bushes on your right. There is a pathway hidden at parking spot #627. A short path to the parks comes out near the bus stop at City Walk.





We also found that it had started to rain.





Continued in Next Post

 

[natebenma]

We returned to our room and woke the boys at 5:15. We decided to stay put for a bit and get some appetizers from the club lounge. Apparently, that was a VERY popular idea!

The lounge, and even the hallways, were very crowded. We were able to sample a few meatballs and fried macaroni and cheese, but then those selections were wiped out by the crowds. They switched over to BBQ chicken skewers, but I’m not sure we had an opportunity to try those. The crudité platter and cheese and crackers were all gone. There were corn chips, but the salsa was empty.
















Beer and wine were served and a specialty drink, “French Kiss” was offered. I grabbed a beer.











As we were walking back and forth to our room with our plates, we encountered 3 kids who looked to be about 5 years old. They were banging on a bunch of doors saying “I think these are our rooms” There were also some older girls, about 9-10 years old, eating outside in the hallway. I got the impression that they were locked out of their rooms. No clue where any of the parents were.

Continued in Next Post