a first timers second chance pre trip report

[hannahsmomma]

I hope everyone will have some patience with me as it has been a very long time since I have done anything like this. My last trip was to disney in 2007 with my exhusband dd then 7 and ds then 2. I honestly thought that trips to Florida were a thing of the past for me and my kiddos. Then we met dh! Now we are all getting a second chance at so many things. We got married last month and when we were thinking about honeymoons we both thought we could not spend all that money on a trip and have all that fun and not take the kids. So we are headed on a family honeymoon next week, 5/20/12. DH spent his first honeymoon at disney and me and the ex took the kids to disney three times. So we wanted soemthing different. I would love to say that I have always wanted to try Universal, but I am a disney girl. Not just because of the magic that is disney, but I know it. I have spent hours and hours researching planning and mapping out our previous trips. But, my kids are older now (DD 12 and DS 7) and after lurking here for the last few months I can honestly say I am thrilled to be "crossing over." Plus dh abd the kids are big harry potter fans.

So here is the tenative plan.

We are leaving VA on Sunday the 20th and driving to Savannah staying the night then arriving at the Portifino Bay Hotel on Monday where we will be staying til Saturday the 26th. I have always stayed on site when I was at disney and am excited to try it out at Universal. I got a great deal with the AP rate and I love! the added perks you get staying on site with the early entry and express passes. The week will pretty much be dedicated to touring the Universal parks (which looking at the weather and a chance for storms everyday of our trip we will probably need it .) The only planned exception so far is thursday the 24th we are going to do a dolphin swim at DC!!!!!!! This is by far the thing we are looking forward to the most!

I will say the big difference in this trip and my previous ones is the preplanning. I have done a lot, but we leave in just a few days and I dont have all the details yet. I used the AP discount code for DC, but now we are thinking we may want to go to seaworld and I think it would be cheaper to pay the regular rate and use the free tickets to go. I havent actually bought the AP yet. Just not sure what to do here, if anyone has any suggestions, please send them my way! And for that matter, any suggestions when it comes to Universal, PBH, or DC I am all ears, just not of the mickey variety this trip

 

[Brownie54]

You'll love Portofino Bay Resort and express pass as well. We will be there Thursday thru Monday with four generations of my family. Look for me and say hi. I'll be the one wearing a Thing 1 shirt, but my shirt says Drunk 1. My wife and daughter will have Drunk2 and Drunk3 shirts!

 

[hannahsmomma]

Too funny. I am sure we will notice you guys, probably by the pool having a drink! Cheers! We can not wait!

 

[Brownie54]

By all means, look for us. The shirts really do stand out<G>. We will wear them Friday. Then you can write about us in your trip report. My wife and I love to hang out at the villa pool, but our grand daughters like the slide so I'm sure we will be at the beach pool also. Cheers to you!

 

[hannahsmomma]

Just got home and trying to find some time to write up a TR. I will just say that our trip was amazing and it was mostly thanks to all the advice I got here!! Wrote up a little about our day at DC, but its going to take some time to write up about everything else!