natebenma
Beach Club Dee
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2008
I'm Dee. Some of you know me from the Beach and Yacht Club FAQ in the resort forums here on the DIS, which I manage in my “spare time”. Some of you know me from past trip reports. I am pleased to make the acquaintance with anyone I have not met before.
:
I work very part time at a historical farm/museum. I also volunteer at my boys’ schools. I have been president of the middle school parents’ organization for the past 6 years. I have been treasurer of the PTA, and a few other groups, as well.
That's me on the right
I have known my husband Mark since 7th grade. We started dating when we were Sophmores in High School and have been married for 28 years. He is a manager of a programming/development team for a large software company. He has a nightmare commute from our home into Boston, 2 hours each way, on a good day. This winter, we have not seen many “good days”
My two sons are Nate (16) and Ben (13). Nate is a junior in High School so we are in the vortex of very scary experiences like driving lessons and looking at colleges. Nate has always been a smart but carefree *cough* lazy *cough* kid. He was an annoying teen for a couple of years, but nothing too horrifying. Now he is starting to really come around, getting motivated at school and is fun to be around. I am starting to miss him already!
Ben is a smart and talented kid. He is an excellent student in all of his subjects at school and he has been performing with a community theatre group and his middle school drama club for the past few years. His last role was the Black Knight in Spamalot.
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Details, Details!
Our trip was Monday February 16- Friday February 20, 2015, during the boys' winter vacation.
Our flights were on Jet Blue, scheduled to leave Boston at 7:35 am and arrive in Orlando at 10:57. Our return flight was 6:35 Friday night, arriving in Boston at 9:24.
We don’t like to drive on vacation, so we arranged round-trip transportation from MCO to the Hard Rock with Ed Korgan Travel for $95 plus tip. This was the 3rd time we used Ed’s company.
This was our third trip to Universal Orlando. I remember being on a plane to Florida on our way to Disney several years ago, sitting next to a family with a teen boy and girl. They were only going to the Universal parks. I didn’t understand how someone would go to Orlando and not visit the Mouse at all. I get it now.
Our first trip, July 2011, was 4 nights at the onsite Portofino Bay. We did 3 days at US/IoA, 2 half days at Sea World and we surprised the boys with an all-day visit to Magic Kingdom in the middle of the trip. We stayed club level at Portofino, which was a rookie mistake. We love club level because of the quick and convenient pre-park breakfast, but the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened at 7 am to onsite guests, the same time as the lounge opened.
In July 2013 we did a 3 night Hard Rock/4 night Beach Club split stay. LOVED the Hard Rock, but we didn’t book club level because once again, the park opening coincided with breakfast.
This year, we booked a standard room at the Hard Rock for 4 nights ($350/night). Because we had 5 days planned visiting the parks, and US/IoA only sells tickets with a maximum of 4 days of entry, we purchased Annual Passes, which were just $20 more than the 4 day tickets ($220 per person, I think)
I stalked the US website and the US Resort forum on the DIS so that I would be able to pounce on an AP discounted rate for the room when it was released. In mid-December, the discounts were released, however there were no regular rooms available. BUT, club level was just $9 more per night from what we booked. During our trip, Islands of Adventure opened at 8 am and breakfast started at 7 in the lounge.
No-brainer!!!
We changed to club level room, but we decided to keep that secret from the boys, who would not be expecting that at all.
**************************************************************
All of our previous family trips to Florida have been in the summer.
There was the boys’ first trip to Disney/Sea World in 2004.
Then we returned to Disney in July 2008, 2009 and 2010, The basis of our tongue-in-cheek titled 3rd Annual We are "NEVER" going to Disney in the summer again TR,
In July 2011 we visited Universal with one day at Disney’s Magic Kingdom -
Welcome, Foolish Muggles! IoA/US/MK/SW July 2011
In June 2012, I chaperoned Nate’s 8th grade class trip to Disney 145 Middle Schoolers Wicked Awesome or Epic Fail???
We returned to Florida in 2013 for a Universal/Disney split stay- Hijinks and Shenanigans (but not much Mayhem) at The Dark Side and Disney,July 2013
Hears No Evil. Speaks No Evil. Sees No Evil. Refuses to Participate
And finally, last August I did a solo visit to Disney for a major meet-up with many of my DIS friends- What Happens at the Beach Club...
Some of these trips were very wet, and all of them were HOT!
When we planned this years’ trip to Universal Studios during the boys’ February school vacation we were really looking forward to touring the theme parks in cooler weather.
Be Careful What You Wish For!!!
Next up: Are We There Yet???
:
I work very part time at a historical farm/museum. I also volunteer at my boys’ schools. I have been president of the middle school parents’ organization for the past 6 years. I have been treasurer of the PTA, and a few other groups, as well.
That's me on the right
I have known my husband Mark since 7th grade. We started dating when we were Sophmores in High School and have been married for 28 years. He is a manager of a programming/development team for a large software company. He has a nightmare commute from our home into Boston, 2 hours each way, on a good day. This winter, we have not seen many “good days”
My two sons are Nate (16) and Ben (13). Nate is a junior in High School so we are in the vortex of very scary experiences like driving lessons and looking at colleges. Nate has always been a smart but carefree *cough* lazy *cough* kid. He was an annoying teen for a couple of years, but nothing too horrifying. Now he is starting to really come around, getting motivated at school and is fun to be around. I am starting to miss him already!
Ben is a smart and talented kid. He is an excellent student in all of his subjects at school and he has been performing with a community theatre group and his middle school drama club for the past few years. His last role was the Black Knight in Spamalot.
*******************************************************************
Details, Details!
Our trip was Monday February 16- Friday February 20, 2015, during the boys' winter vacation.
Our flights were on Jet Blue, scheduled to leave Boston at 7:35 am and arrive in Orlando at 10:57. Our return flight was 6:35 Friday night, arriving in Boston at 9:24.
We don’t like to drive on vacation, so we arranged round-trip transportation from MCO to the Hard Rock with Ed Korgan Travel for $95 plus tip. This was the 3rd time we used Ed’s company.
This was our third trip to Universal Orlando. I remember being on a plane to Florida on our way to Disney several years ago, sitting next to a family with a teen boy and girl. They were only going to the Universal parks. I didn’t understand how someone would go to Orlando and not visit the Mouse at all. I get it now.
Our first trip, July 2011, was 4 nights at the onsite Portofino Bay. We did 3 days at US/IoA, 2 half days at Sea World and we surprised the boys with an all-day visit to Magic Kingdom in the middle of the trip. We stayed club level at Portofino, which was a rookie mistake. We love club level because of the quick and convenient pre-park breakfast, but the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened at 7 am to onsite guests, the same time as the lounge opened.
In July 2013 we did a 3 night Hard Rock/4 night Beach Club split stay. LOVED the Hard Rock, but we didn’t book club level because once again, the park opening coincided with breakfast.
This year, we booked a standard room at the Hard Rock for 4 nights ($350/night). Because we had 5 days planned visiting the parks, and US/IoA only sells tickets with a maximum of 4 days of entry, we purchased Annual Passes, which were just $20 more than the 4 day tickets ($220 per person, I think)
I stalked the US website and the US Resort forum on the DIS so that I would be able to pounce on an AP discounted rate for the room when it was released. In mid-December, the discounts were released, however there were no regular rooms available. BUT, club level was just $9 more per night from what we booked. During our trip, Islands of Adventure opened at 8 am and breakfast started at 7 in the lounge.
No-brainer!!!
We changed to club level room, but we decided to keep that secret from the boys, who would not be expecting that at all.
**************************************************************
All of our previous family trips to Florida have been in the summer.
There was the boys’ first trip to Disney/Sea World in 2004.
Then we returned to Disney in July 2008, 2009 and 2010, The basis of our tongue-in-cheek titled 3rd Annual We are "NEVER" going to Disney in the summer again TR,
In July 2011 we visited Universal with one day at Disney’s Magic Kingdom -
Welcome, Foolish Muggles! IoA/US/MK/SW July 2011
In June 2012, I chaperoned Nate’s 8th grade class trip to Disney 145 Middle Schoolers Wicked Awesome or Epic Fail???
We returned to Florida in 2013 for a Universal/Disney split stay- Hijinks and Shenanigans (but not much Mayhem) at The Dark Side and Disney,July 2013
Hears No Evil. Speaks No Evil. Sees No Evil. Refuses to Participate
And finally, last August I did a solo visit to Disney for a major meet-up with many of my DIS friends- What Happens at the Beach Club...
Some of these trips were very wet, and all of them were HOT!
When we planned this years’ trip to Universal Studios during the boys’ February school vacation we were really looking forward to touring the theme parks in cooler weather.
Be Careful What You Wish For!!!
Next up: Are We There Yet???
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