A Holly Jolly Christmas.....in Orlando! December 2015 PTR

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

It's been important to me to make this trip as festive as we can, even if the weather feels anything but Christmas-y. It's taken us three years to get back to Orlando to celebrate the holiday season, and who knows when it will happen again . Some things, like our SeaWorld day, will have a definite infusion of Christmas cheer purely by the nature of the attraction, but other things have been tougher to Santa-fy.

You can imagine my delight, then, when I read tha the Orlando Eye has Decked the Halls .... or shall I say, decked the capsules ... and introduced "Frostival":

https://www.officialorlandoeye.com/news/2015/november/frostival-news/

They have decorated four of the capsules in various holiday themes in celebration of the festive season: gingerbread, candy canes, winter wonderland and Night Before Christmas. For a small fee, you can upgrade your flight to the themed pods and enjoy holiday music as you make your rotation. You can even have Santa join you for your ride. While I think having Santa along might be a bit much for my guys, I'm definitely considering upgrading our tickets to one of the holiday capsules if they have availability on our date. I think we also might try to ride after the sun goes down, so we can enjoy the Christmas lights to their fullest.

I called on Friday to inquire if we could upgrade our tickets, and they said absolutely. The upgrade fee? $5 a person. I can totally handle that....even with the dreadful exchange rate!!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

GET OUT!!!! I would love to meet you for a drink or a quick hello if it works out. After posting together all these years it would be so nice to say hi!
We are debating between Bonnet Creek and the Vistana and it will come down to price and availability. It would be nice to say hello at the pool wouldn't it?

You know I would be there in a heartbeat! Vistana has some great end of April rates on Skyauction right now. Just sayin' ... no pressure, lol!

Drinks at the Tiki Bar would be my treat!

 

[KathyM2]

OMG I'm here!! I can't believe you are going back already lol Didn't you just get home??? I'm excited for you and I look forward to hearing about some of the other fun things you have planned outside the parks or...most of the parks I should say. And how fun that you are still getting a taste for Disney...though I have to say, it would be hard to be THATCLOSE and not go in..but at that time of year maybe it will be so insane as to not even be tempting...)

 

[minniebeth]

Following! And early (for me!)~
Love reading your trip reports and can't wait to read about your next Orlando adventure!
Jake sounds like a super fine young man! What an awesome field he has chosen to enter, sounds like already makes a difference and will continue to do so!

My family is heading to Disney in January for the Marathon Weekend (which is now really more like a week). We won't be doing any parks (too exhausting with the run schedules), so I'll be eager to see what new fun you find! We may try to find some fun, low key activities to do outside of the Disney bubble~

Enjoy your time before your trip, as excited as you are, it IS a wonderful time of year! Best wishes getting ready to go, too! So much fun in the pre-trip excitement!

(PS~ Boxing Day~ I know what that is, thanks to Holidays Around the World at Epcot! Lol... What a cool holiday! (?) ( Tradition?)

 

[JaxDad]

I bet he'd love a little scooter to help him get around. Every guy (even the little ones) loves a motorized vehicle .

It would probably be something kid-powered (not motorized) like this:

It's cheaper, and easier to get around town! But you're right--he'll probably love it (at least for a few days)!

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Yes, yes, yes!! If you happen to see us, don't be shy (heaven knows I'm not ) and do come up and say hello. It's always cool to have the chance to meet fellow Disers in person .

I tried to get Jake to consider the college program.....how convenient would that be when we came to visit? Hae you ever thought about staying at SVR to be closer to your DD? Or maybe that's too close for her? (I'm the mother of one of those late-teens, I know that sometimes he'd rather have ME on the other side of the city!! )

We stayed at SVR last month for Thanksgiving for the first time and had a great time. Rates for Christmas and New Years were much higher so we decided on Windsor Hills and Windsor Palms seeing as this is our 4th trip to Orlando this year .

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

It would probably be something kid-powered (not motorized) like this:
View attachment 139090
It's cheaper, and easier to get around town! But you're right--he'll probably love it (at least for a few days)!

Even as an adult, I think that looks ridiculously fun! What a great idea .

We stayed at SVR last month for Thanksgiving for the first time and had a great time. Rates for Christmas and New Years were much higher so we decided on Windsor Hills and Windsor Palms seeing as this is our 4th trip to Orlando this year .

I am glad we were able to use one of our timeshare weeks for our Christmas stay, as I'll wholeheartedly agree....rates from virtually all other sources (including Skyauction) are painfully high for the holiday season.

4 trips in one year......now THAT is quite the travel accomplishment! (colour me jealous.....just a tiny bit )

 

[ArwenMarie]

That's so cute. Only $5 a person isn't bad.

Yeah riding with Santa would be a bit much LOL

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Happy Tuesday .


I will admit to suffering from the onset of vacation brain these days . I looked at the calendar as I was eating breakfast this morning and thanked the Lord that we’re now well under the two-week point. My brains have felt almost scrambled over the last month, and with a number of Christmas functions on deck from now until the 18th, I don’t think my focus is going to get any sharper. I had so many things whirling around my mind last night, I tossed and turned right through until the alarm went off. At this rate, the bags under my eyes are going to be bigger than Santa’s toy sack!!


The Vistana finally announced the details of their annual Breakfast With Santa at Zimmie’s for Christmas Day. We haven’t given Zimmie’s another kick at the cat since our first (and disappointing) experience on our first stay in 2013, so we’re hoping that the recent refurbishment and new menu have brought an improvement since then. We will try to snag an early seating so we can still arrive at SeaWorld for park opening or shortly thereafter…..but if we’re dog-tired by that point in the vacation and need an extra hour’s sleep before a full day at the park, we’ll forego seeing Santa over breakfast and make a point to visit him following our ride on the Polar Express instead . I love having options. (I know I may always seem like I'm planning for the worst, but it really does make me feel better to have a "Plan B" waiting in the wings, just in case)


Steve is back at the doctor this afternoon, so we hope to have some idea of when his stitches can come out by later this afternoon. He has been banned from swimming by the surgeon since the procedure was carried out, so we’re all a little anxious to get back in the pool for our evening swims at the Y. On the other hand, though, we want to make sure he’s healed and free from any infections before heading out of the country, so we're not rushing things if the doc thinks he needs a few more days or a week with the stitches in place. It was definitely tight timing for his surgery…..even an extra week of healing time would have been good piece of mind before this trip!


We’ve been watching car rentals prices on a daily basis but not surprisingly, there’s been zero movement in rates . We’ve also been monitoring the long range forecasts with interest….both locally and for Orlando…..to see if there’s anything of concern on the horizons. So far, it looks like we may have a damp commute to Buffalo (they’re calling for rain/snow with a high of 2 degrees Celsius….35 F) but no major snowfalls predicted just yet. That's our biggest concern, getting to the airport safely and flying out on time. Orlando’s projections are all over the map, depending on which source we look at……so we’ll be packing just about everything from swimsuits to hoodies to be safe and going with whatever Mother Nature chooses to hand us.


And speaking of packing, I am planning Sunday evening as my official Pack & Organize Night. I think knowing that most of that is completed before embarking on a very busy final work week (well, 4 days actually) will alleviate a lot of pre-vacation stress .


We spent some fun time last night as a family (while watching the Raptors play, of course ) tweaking the itinerary a little bit. Steve has decided that he might like to make an early morning pilgrimage to Universal on one of our “off” mornings while Jake enjoys the opportunity to sleep in. Turns out my Steve-o is hoping they might have a Christmas minion at the sledgehammer game in IOA, and wants the chance to add to my growing collection. Considering last night’s animated conversation, it might be wise for me to consider packing an extra travel bags to avoid any departure day headaches again on this trip .


10 days to go .

 

[sk8jdgca]

Did you check your visa rewards points? I got a decent price through there and it's all in points!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Did you check your visa rewards points? I got a decent price through there and it's all in points!

Yes ma'am . I've been checking there (as well as carrentalsavers.com) every single day. Best they can do is $425 CDN for a full size car. My SUV is only $272 USD...even converted, we're only looking at roughly $370 Canadian and a bigger vehicle to boot.

 

[Lynne G]

Yep, I am so glad I reserved Alamo for my trip, I'm at the same price as you for a full size, for 9 days. Have never seen it better and now almost double what I have. Both times, October and this one, I reserved several months before, and that was the best price.

Two weeks for me, not that I am counting! LOL

Can never have enough Minions.

Well, for DD, not enough labeled clothes. LOL

Hope Steve's stitches come out and healed well before you go. Make sure no cuts or other, as my brother got a nasty infection from swimming in a pool. Seems it got in him via a small cut he had on his leg. I remember we swam at Aquadica when it was 62 degrees when we got there. Since the Roa Rapids were the warmest, where do you think I stayed most of the time? We brought lots of towels from the hotel, and used all of them to keep warm. Was fun, as not very crowded and it did get warmer throughout the day. Yes, us northerners don't mind the air temperature when the water is heated.

I too am hoping a smooth trip to the airport. So far, most have said where we will be will be low 70's and high 60's in the day, and low 60's in the night. I'll take it. We might be swimming too, though in a heated pool.

I should stay away from Groupon. Found some more to use while on vacation. Well, we should eat good, and have some fun.

So glad to see Jake happy, and yes, I'd vote for the festive pod, but no Santa. Even my kids would not be happy if Santa was riding in the same pod. You'd see some not so nice faces if I did that!

Besides, both our trips are Christmas presents:

coming after all.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Yep, I am so glad I reserved Alamo for my trip, I'm at the same price as you for a full size, for 9 days. Have never seen it better and now almost double what I have. Both times, October and this one, I reserved several months before, and that was the best price.

Two weeks for me, not that I am counting! LOL

Can never have enough Minions.

Well, for DD, not enough labeled clothes. LOL

Hope Steve's stitches come out and healed well before you go. Make sure no cuts or other, as my brother got a nasty infection from swimming in a pool. Seems it got in him via a small cut he had on his leg. I remember we swam at Aquadica when it was 62 degrees when we got there. Since the Roa Rapids were the warmest, where do you think I stayed most of the time? We brought lots of towels from the hotel, and used all of them to keep warm. Was fun, as not very crowded and it did get warmer throughout the day. Yes, us northerners don't mind the air temperature when the water is heated.

I too am hoping a smooth trip to the airport. So far, most have said where we will be will be low 70's and high 60's in the day, and low 60's in the night. I'll take it. We might be swimming too, though in a heated pool.

I should stay away from Groupon. Found some more to use while on vacation. Well, we should eat good, and have some fun.

So glad to see Jake happy, and yes, I'd vote for the festive pod, but no Santa. Even my kids would not be happy if Santa was riding in the same pod. You'd see some not so nice faces if I did that!

Besides, both our trips are Christmas presents:

coming after all.

Love, love, love the Minion pics!!!

I agree on the car rentals....very odd pricing trends for these last two vacations as compared to the "norm" up to now . My Christmas rental was booked back in March.....MARCH!!! Who'da thought that would be the rate that would stand till the end? (certainly not me)

What cool things did you pick up on Groupon?? (inquiring....I mean, nosy ... minds want to know, lol!) I have been consciously making an effort NOT to look on these last few days before travelling....it pains me to say it, but our itinerary is full. If I don't see the deals, they won't haunt me at night .

I am reasonably sure we will end up at Aquatica for at least an afternoon. The long-range forecast looks favourable for temperatures, especially for us hearty northerners. Roa's Rapids is hands-down my favourite attraction in the whole park, so even if the cooler air "forced" me to stay there for the entire time, I'd be a happy girl. It's such a hoot!

I cannot believe our trips are almost here!!! Have you started to pack yet?

 

[pigletto]

Gina, I'm also finding the car rental situation bizarre. It pretty much followed a somewhat predictable pattern until maybe a year or two ago? And then everything seemed to turn on it's head. I am just starting to look now, but as soon as I see something halfway decent I'll be grabbing it. We're looking at close to $300 for a standard car right now. Yuck.

And Aquatica!!! I can't remember if I told you how much we loved that park last March. Even dd and I who aren't waterpark girls usually. We loved it so much that both kids asked to go back when we started planning this trip.
DD and I laughed so hard trying to get out of Roa Rapids and shooting right by the exit. It was a really great day!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Gina, I'm also finding the car rental situation bizarre. It pretty much followed a somewhat predictable pattern until maybe a year or two ago? And then everything seemed to turn on it's head. I am just starting to look now, but as soon as I see something halfway decent I'll be grabbing it. We're looking at close to $300 for a standard car right now. Yuck.

And Aquatica!!! I can't remember if I told you how much we loved that park last March. Even dd and I who aren't waterpark girls usually. We loved it so much that both kids asked to go back when we started planning this trip.
DD and I laughed so hard trying to get out of Roa Rapids and shooting right by the exit. It was a really great day!

We have a full size rented for April/May for $200 all-in, which should have been more than large enough since it was *supposed* to be just the two of us travelling again. Now (because life with young people is never dull! ) we need a larger vehicle if at all possible since not only Jake is planning to join us, but his Sunshine is also aspiring to come. I haven't had much time to devote to our April trip with Christmas roaring up on us, but I'm soon going to have to re-set and start looking forward to spring. Hoping we can snag an SUV or minivan for a somewhat reasonable rate.....the exchange is such a killer!

I am so happy you loved Aquatica when you went!! Roa's is an attraction like none other....I am almost surprised that none of the other competitor parks have tried to replicate it with something similar. It beats a wave pool for me anyday. I'm not a thrill seeker as you know, but this is such a good compromise of fun without fear. I see from the passmember site that they are offering double discounts on cabana rentals during the month of December (only reserveable at the park on the day of your visit, on a first come first served basis). That would bring a cabana rental (with large locker, private fridge, towel rentals, bottled water, and cabana service) down to a ridiculous $39.20 for the day. Assuming we can get a nice enough day for a waterpark, I'm thinking I may have to splurge!

In other news, I bought our annual SeaWorld & Aquatica PhotoKey today. I figure we'll want to take advantage of the special photo opportunities at SeaWorld on Christmas Day, plus then we can use it again in April and October. Regular price was $149.99 plus tax, but the passmember rate was $134.99 taxes included. Every little bit of savings helps .

 

[bankr63]

Oh now that's odd. Mods moved you to Disney PTRs even though you aren't going to Disney...

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Oh now that's odd. Mods moved you to Disney PTRs even though you aren't going to Disney...

Yeah, I am rather disappointed by that. I personally don't think it fits here, but them's the breaks. I guess there really isn't a good place for a non-Disney, non-Universal, offsite Orlando PTR here on the Dis, so here it shall be.

I was actually just in the midst of typing out a little Friday update:



We are officially down to one week from departure. I hope to be on the road at this time next Friday. I also hope the weather is as spectacular for travel day as it is today: we've got sunshine and are on our way to a record high here in the non-frosty north.

I have arranged for our neighbours to look after our house while we're gone, which is a great relief and a big to-do item scratched off the list. I have ordered our US cash from the bank and will pick it up next week. The packing is poised to begin on Sunday. We are starting to make a conscious effort to eat our perishables and avoid food going to waste in the fridge while we're away.

The Orlando weather is looking pretty good if the long range forecasts have any merit. Mid to high 70s most of the days......lots of cloud cover but not a whole lot of rain projected. All in all, we are pretty pleased that it looks like we'll be flashing our pasty white legs in our shorts most of the week.

Steve got his stitches out today, and so far all looks good with his incision. They have put some sort of tape on it to ensure the skin continues to knit itself back together. He still has to be very careful this week so as not to reopen the wound (no stretching or heavy lifting) so hopefully another week of healing time will put him in great shape for the trip!

I can hardly believe its almost here....I am having one of those days whether I don't know if I am excited or overwhelmed .

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Doing the rental car happy dance!

I finally got my rental vehicle down to something reasonable.....I just picked up an intermediate SUV with Budget for $249 Canadian via the Royal Bank Visa Rewards website. By the time exchange was factored in to the $272 US that we had been holding since last March, this is a savings of about $120 Canadian for us.

No codes, no coupons, just a great rate (and an added bonus....I saved another $20 by using the Visa points I had accumulated....so our out of pocket cost was really only $230. Whoop!)

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Great going Gina, it's all systems go - but it seems like you have had a busy year anyway.

Hope Steve's hand is alright by the time you go, I seem to have missed what happened there!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Great going Gina, it's all systems go - but it seems like you have had a busy year anyway.

Hope Steve's hand is alright by the time you go, I seem to have missed what happened there!

Thanks my friend! His incision is not in his hand, though, its in his side. About half way between his arm pit and his waistline. Like he's a Build A Bear and its a hole to add his stuffing .