Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina
Life is short. Live it well.
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2008
So….we’re back 
. As always in the immediate days that follow our return from the sunny south, I can hardly believe it’s over. Months of preparation, research, planning and excitement all came together into 9 days of fun, sun, and memories. And despite a wrinkle in the plans here and there, it was simply marvellous: every last single second.
For those of you who didn’t check out my pre-trip report, and want to do so before you read the rest of the entries here, you can find that PTR here:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/pt...-2-muggles-celebrate-in-diagon-alley.3372361/
For those that just want a quick summary of the basics before I begin, I’ll give you the Coles Notes version too (though fair warning, I'm generally not very good at being brief
):
We are Gina (41) and Steve (43), and this was a couple’s trip to celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary on May 1st. This was us then:
And here we are now:
(well, that isn’t exactly us “now”….that pic was taken last Christmas during our “Howl-iday” at Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls
…. but close enough!)
We have one son, our beloved Jake, who turned 19 this past January:
[URL=http://s362.photobucket.com/user/threehockeyfans/media/169-659-869_ywk2_53_zpscfd288ad.jpg.html]
(don’t let the Tough Guy pose mislead you….that kid is as soft-hearted and sweet as they come...just don't tell him I said that
'cause he would consider me totally uncool....one has to keep up appearances, you know)
He had just finished his first year of college in April and opted to stay home so he could grab as many shifts as possible while he has the opportunity to stock pile some cash (he’s a very financially savvy young man….he may look, and act, like his daddy, but he has the budget-mindness of his momma). Jake also wanted us to have the chance to enjoy some special time together since the vacation marked a notable occasion for us. I’m not going to lie: it was weird, and not very easy, to leave him behind. But I knew he was more than capable, and had a good support network (my Mom, his girlfriend’s family, and our fabulous neighbours all vowed to make sure he was well cared for in the event of any emergency that he felt he couldn’t handle), so the planning for two went full steam ahead.
With strategies in place for multiple trips to Orlando within the next year, we purchased Premier Annual Passes for both of us: it made sense to go all out with the most expensive passes as they came with a Halloween Horror Night ticket for each of us (we are travelling again in October…..couples trip #2!) and free Express after 4 pm, among other benefits (8 free bottles of water per person, free preferred or valet parking, dining and shopping discounts, etc.). We are owners at Sheraton Vistana Resort and would be staying there again for this trip, though not with our timeshare weeks: those are reserved for October and Christmas. After comparing pricing at Cabana Bay and the onsite Universal resorts, we snagged a great deal via Skyauction on a one bedroom villa at SVR, being mindful of the budget considering we have three vacations planned for 2015 alone. Did I mention I have a tendency to be a bit budget conscious?
Our culinary mission for this trip was to try as many new places as possible….when not travelling with the (somewhat finicky and less adventurous) kiddo, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. From an attractions perspective, we wanted to conquer as much of Universal as we could manage, but in a way that we really took the time to enjoy the parks. We’re definitely not the commando type, so you won’t read about us running from one ride or show to another, trampling anyone at rope drop, or following a printed touring plan to maximize every second of every day. We had a list of special items we wanted to eat and drink, from Butterbeer and cauldron cakes to a Flaming Moe and a Clogger Burger, and a pretty generous schedule……other than pre-booked tickets for the Orlando Eye, the balance of the week was pretty much ours. Crowds were projected to be reasonably low, so we had high hopes (coupled with managed expectations).
We pre-purchased the Photoconnect annual pass (for those who are unfamiliar with that product, its like Universal’s version of Memory Maker/Photopass), plus I was armed with our own two cameras, and as a result…..we ended up with a lot of photos. A LOT
. Like, more than 1000. If somewhere along the way I start overdoing it on the pictures in this report, someone please speak up and say so. I can sometimes go a little overboard in my enthusiasm! 
I have a significant amount of uploading to Photobucket and resizing to do before posting, but hopefully that won’t slow me down too, too much.
My big Steve had lost 41 pounds since January after we committed to a healthier lifestyle for 2015 and beyond, but the diet and exercise plans were put on hold for this vacation. We would eat what we wanted, when we wanted, and undo the damage once we got home. We hoped that the vast amount of walking and swimming we would be doing would counterbalance at least a smidgen of our indulgences, but now that we’re home and I’ve looked at some of the photos, I really am not so sure. There will be a lot of food porn in this report: you may want to adjust your waistbands now
.
We were scheduled to depart from Syracuse, New York on Friday, May 1st as the sun rose. Being from Canada, that meant we had a bit of a road trip to kick off our vacation, so we embarked on our grand adventure under sunny skies on the afternoon Thursday, April 30th. That’s where we’ll begin…..in the next post.
To anyone who stops in to read along: welcome aboard! Whatever you do, don’t be shy: feel free to add your comments, ask questions, or offer up your suggestions-for-next-time. With another trip just 150 days in the future, I’m all for learning what to do better on the next round
.
So pull up a chair, get comfy, grab a Butterbeer (okay, make it a Coke Zero and use your imagination!
), and join in. Let’s have some fun with this 
.[/URL]
. As always in the immediate days that follow our return from the sunny south, I can hardly believe it’s over. Months of preparation, research, planning and excitement all came together into 9 days of fun, sun, and memories. And despite a wrinkle in the plans here and there, it was simply marvellous: every last single second.For those of you who didn’t check out my pre-trip report, and want to do so before you read the rest of the entries here, you can find that PTR here:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/pt...-2-muggles-celebrate-in-diagon-alley.3372361/
For those that just want a quick summary of the basics before I begin, I’ll give you the Coles Notes version too (though fair warning, I'm generally not very good at being brief
):We are Gina (41) and Steve (43), and this was a couple’s trip to celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary on May 1st. This was us then:
And here we are now:
(well, that isn’t exactly us “now”….that pic was taken last Christmas during our “Howl-iday” at Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls
…. but close enough!)We have one son, our beloved Jake, who turned 19 this past January:
[URL=http://s362.photobucket.com/user/threehockeyfans/media/169-659-869_ywk2_53_zpscfd288ad.jpg.html]
(don’t let the Tough Guy pose mislead you….that kid is as soft-hearted and sweet as they come...just don't tell him I said that
'cause he would consider me totally uncool....one has to keep up appearances, you know)He had just finished his first year of college in April and opted to stay home so he could grab as many shifts as possible while he has the opportunity to stock pile some cash (he’s a very financially savvy young man….he may look, and act, like his daddy, but he has the budget-mindness of his momma). Jake also wanted us to have the chance to enjoy some special time together since the vacation marked a notable occasion for us. I’m not going to lie: it was weird, and not very easy, to leave him behind. But I knew he was more than capable, and had a good support network (my Mom, his girlfriend’s family, and our fabulous neighbours all vowed to make sure he was well cared for in the event of any emergency that he felt he couldn’t handle), so the planning for two went full steam ahead.
With strategies in place for multiple trips to Orlando within the next year, we purchased Premier Annual Passes for both of us: it made sense to go all out with the most expensive passes as they came with a Halloween Horror Night ticket for each of us (we are travelling again in October…..couples trip #2!) and free Express after 4 pm, among other benefits (8 free bottles of water per person, free preferred or valet parking, dining and shopping discounts, etc.). We are owners at Sheraton Vistana Resort and would be staying there again for this trip, though not with our timeshare weeks: those are reserved for October and Christmas. After comparing pricing at Cabana Bay and the onsite Universal resorts, we snagged a great deal via Skyauction on a one bedroom villa at SVR, being mindful of the budget considering we have three vacations planned for 2015 alone. Did I mention I have a tendency to be a bit budget conscious?
Our culinary mission for this trip was to try as many new places as possible….when not travelling with the (somewhat finicky and less adventurous) kiddo, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. From an attractions perspective, we wanted to conquer as much of Universal as we could manage, but in a way that we really took the time to enjoy the parks. We’re definitely not the commando type, so you won’t read about us running from one ride or show to another, trampling anyone at rope drop, or following a printed touring plan to maximize every second of every day. We had a list of special items we wanted to eat and drink, from Butterbeer and cauldron cakes to a Flaming Moe and a Clogger Burger, and a pretty generous schedule……other than pre-booked tickets for the Orlando Eye, the balance of the week was pretty much ours. Crowds were projected to be reasonably low, so we had high hopes (coupled with managed expectations).
We pre-purchased the Photoconnect annual pass (for those who are unfamiliar with that product, its like Universal’s version of Memory Maker/Photopass), plus I was armed with our own two cameras, and as a result…..we ended up with a lot of photos. A LOT
. Like, more than 1000. If somewhere along the way I start overdoing it on the pictures in this report, someone please speak up and say so. I can sometimes go a little overboard in my enthusiasm! I have a significant amount of uploading to Photobucket and resizing to do before posting, but hopefully that won’t slow me down too, too much.My big Steve had lost 41 pounds since January after we committed to a healthier lifestyle for 2015 and beyond, but the diet and exercise plans were put on hold for this vacation. We would eat what we wanted, when we wanted, and undo the damage once we got home. We hoped that the vast amount of walking and swimming we would be doing would counterbalance at least a smidgen of our indulgences, but now that we’re home and I’ve looked at some of the photos, I really am not so sure. There will be a lot of food porn in this report: you may want to adjust your waistbands now
.We were scheduled to depart from Syracuse, New York on Friday, May 1st as the sun rose. Being from Canada, that meant we had a bit of a road trip to kick off our vacation, so we embarked on our grand adventure under sunny skies on the afternoon Thursday, April 30th. That’s where we’ll begin…..in the next post.
To anyone who stops in to read along: welcome aboard! Whatever you do, don’t be shy: feel free to add your comments, ask questions, or offer up your suggestions-for-next-time. With another trip just 150 days in the future, I’m all for learning what to do better on the next round
.So pull up a chair, get comfy, grab a Butterbeer (okay, make it a Coke Zero and use your imagination!
), and join in. Let’s have some fun with this .[/URL]
.
.
