We had a great Orlando vacation, DH, DD, my mom and me!
Stayed at Mystic Dunes Resort Dec. 17- 23, located right next door to Windsor Hills. Booked through condodirect.com and paid $202.00 for a six night stay in a two bedroom villa (no timeshare tour required). Note: Mystic Dunes called me to confirm our reservation. Their computer had our check-in date for Dec. 16 and said we could feel free to check-in a day earlier at no additional charge. Unfortunately, DD had a cheerleading competition on the 17th and we could leave town until after. A representative offerred a timeshare tour on the phone, I declined. Nobody from the resort asked again! We arrived at Mystic Dunes at 11:30 pm on Dec. 17. Check-in was quick and easy. I requested a refurbished unit... request granted. The villa was huge! clean! and had everything we needed- even luggage carts!
Tickets: I bought tix for DH, DD and myself online. I ordered the SeaWorld tix from SeaWorld Website after deciding not to spring for the Super Grover deal. I ordered two adult tix and got a free child ticket, all eligible for second visit free and purchased the Universal 4 day park-park from Undercover Tourist. Tix arrived in the mail quickly. My mom bought tix at the guest services booth at Mystic Dunes. She got a great deal- SeaWorld 2 day ticket, free parking both days and meal deal for one day for $94 and a 7 day unlimited Universal park-park ticket for $140!
Let me just say that the meal deal at SeaWorld is great, especially if there are low crowds! She was able to go through the lines as often as she wished. Soft drinks and desserts were included. She was thrilled.
SeaWorld- We visited SeaWorld on Sunday 12/18 and Wednesday 12/21. On Sunday we got to the park around noon. We rode Manta, Kraken and the Polar Express Experience. We walked around a bit, learned our way around and enjoyed the ambiance. SeaWorld is decorated beautifully for Christmas!
We enjoyed the Sea of Trees from the bridge. It was fabulous. We called it an early night as we were wiped out from traveling the day before.
On Wednesday, we got to SeaWorld around 4 in the afternoon. The park was not crowded at all! We watched Shamu One Ocean...LOVED it! After Shamu we headed over to Journey to Atlantis (with our ponchos). All of us rode it, stayed pretty dry. Kraken had no wait at all in the evening. We rode it several times as it was walk on. DD and I waited 5 minutes to ride front row. Kraken might just be the best rollercoaster in Orlando! Walked over to Manta- no wait. Rode Manta in the dark- intense! After the rides, we got a beer at the Christmas Market. The atmosphere was so festive, no crowds. We enjoyed it so much. We headed back over to Shamu Stadium and watched the 9:30 Shamu Christmas Miracle Show. This is a MUST SEE show! After Christmas Miracle we saw Winter Wonderland on Ice followed by Holiday Reflections. All of us loved SeaWorld-- very impressed. My mom particularly enjoyed it! This park was so enjoyable we cannot wait to go back. We have so much more to see and do there!
Universal- We went to Universal the same week last year. This year seemed less crowded to us (at least WWoHP). Last year, we experienced mayhem trying to get into WWoHP, this year we had no problem at all. We went to IOA and the Studios on 12/19, 12/20 and 12/22. We rode FJ, single rider. We were on the ride is less than 10 minutes. Dragons had no wait during our visit. We rode fire and ice several times. Rode Hulk, enjoyed Suessland decor. Used ponchos for Jarrasic Park which was very effective in keeping us dry.
Grinchmas Show was FANTASTIC! We got VIP seating from a nice guy working at the queue. The Studios were awesome and of course, seemed less crowded than IOA. Rip Rocket seemed to be closed quite a bit but we managed to ride it twice during our visit. We were approached a couple of times and invited to be in the Macy's parade. We declined the invitation because my mom wasn't interested in any additional walking. 
All and all we had an amazing time. We never waited very long for any rides. We loved the Blues Brothers Holiday Show! Overall, Universal was top-notch!
We did 5 days at Disney last year (before Christmas) and three years ago stayed a Wilderness Lodge, free dining, week before Christmas. Disney is magical, and even more magical during the holidays
BUT our experience at SeaWorld and Universal was more relaxing than a week at Disney. 
I enjoy all the parks: Disney, SeaWorld and Universal. All of the parks are different and offer a different experience.
Our experience with the staff at SeaWorld and Universal was outstanding. The customer service was great, staff was friendly. No complaints at all!
Happy New Year!!!
Stayed at Mystic Dunes Resort Dec. 17- 23, located right next door to Windsor Hills. Booked through condodirect.com and paid $202.00 for a six night stay in a two bedroom villa (no timeshare tour required). Note: Mystic Dunes called me to confirm our reservation. Their computer had our check-in date for Dec. 16 and said we could feel free to check-in a day earlier at no additional charge. Unfortunately, DD had a cheerleading competition on the 17th and we could leave town until after. A representative offerred a timeshare tour on the phone, I declined. Nobody from the resort asked again! We arrived at Mystic Dunes at 11:30 pm on Dec. 17. Check-in was quick and easy. I requested a refurbished unit... request granted. The villa was huge! clean! and had everything we needed- even luggage carts!
Tickets: I bought tix for DH, DD and myself online. I ordered the SeaWorld tix from SeaWorld Website after deciding not to spring for the Super Grover deal. I ordered two adult tix and got a free child ticket, all eligible for second visit free and purchased the Universal 4 day park-park from Undercover Tourist. Tix arrived in the mail quickly. My mom bought tix at the guest services booth at Mystic Dunes. She got a great deal- SeaWorld 2 day ticket, free parking both days and meal deal for one day for $94 and a 7 day unlimited Universal park-park ticket for $140!
Let me just say that the meal deal at SeaWorld is great, especially if there are low crowds! She was able to go through the lines as often as she wished. Soft drinks and desserts were included. She was thrilled.
SeaWorld- We visited SeaWorld on Sunday 12/18 and Wednesday 12/21. On Sunday we got to the park around noon. We rode Manta, Kraken and the Polar Express Experience. We walked around a bit, learned our way around and enjoyed the ambiance. SeaWorld is decorated beautifully for Christmas!
We enjoyed the Sea of Trees from the bridge. It was fabulous. We called it an early night as we were wiped out from traveling the day before.On Wednesday, we got to SeaWorld around 4 in the afternoon. The park was not crowded at all! We watched Shamu One Ocean...LOVED it! After Shamu we headed over to Journey to Atlantis (with our ponchos). All of us rode it, stayed pretty dry. Kraken had no wait at all in the evening. We rode it several times as it was walk on. DD and I waited 5 minutes to ride front row. Kraken might just be the best rollercoaster in Orlando! Walked over to Manta- no wait. Rode Manta in the dark- intense! After the rides, we got a beer at the Christmas Market. The atmosphere was so festive, no crowds. We enjoyed it so much. We headed back over to Shamu Stadium and watched the 9:30 Shamu Christmas Miracle Show. This is a MUST SEE show! After Christmas Miracle we saw Winter Wonderland on Ice followed by Holiday Reflections. All of us loved SeaWorld-- very impressed. My mom particularly enjoyed it! This park was so enjoyable we cannot wait to go back. We have so much more to see and do there!
Universal- We went to Universal the same week last year. This year seemed less crowded to us (at least WWoHP). Last year, we experienced mayhem trying to get into WWoHP, this year we had no problem at all. We went to IOA and the Studios on 12/19, 12/20 and 12/22. We rode FJ, single rider. We were on the ride is less than 10 minutes. Dragons had no wait during our visit. We rode fire and ice several times. Rode Hulk, enjoyed Suessland decor. Used ponchos for Jarrasic Park which was very effective in keeping us dry.
Grinchmas Show was FANTASTIC! We got VIP seating from a nice guy working at the queue. The Studios were awesome and of course, seemed less crowded than IOA. Rip Rocket seemed to be closed quite a bit but we managed to ride it twice during our visit. We were approached a couple of times and invited to be in the Macy's parade. We declined the invitation because my mom wasn't interested in any additional walking. All and all we had an amazing time. We never waited very long for any rides. We loved the Blues Brothers Holiday Show! Overall, Universal was top-notch!We did 5 days at Disney last year (before Christmas) and three years ago stayed a Wilderness Lodge, free dining, week before Christmas. Disney is magical, and even more magical during the holidays
BUT our experience at SeaWorld and Universal was more relaxing than a week at Disney. I enjoy all the parks: Disney, SeaWorld and Universal. All of the parks are different and offer a different experience. Our experience with the staff at SeaWorld and Universal was outstanding. The customer service was great, staff was friendly. No complaints at all!
Happy New Year!!!
