Gaggle of 10 takes on the Universe!

[klacey1]

Hi! So this is my first trip report-- I am disappointed with the small number of TR's on the Universal boards, so even if this isn't fabulous, I hope people enjoy it anyway!
Technically this is a PTR, as we're not leaving until tomorrow, 8/20! We're flying from White Plains, NY on AirTran at 8:20 am. We're due to land at MCO about 3 hours laters. On 8/25, we're flying from MCO at 10:00 am and will land in White Plains at 1:00pm ish, so everyone can rest and get to bed early in order to go to work the next day.
Our itinerary/hotels will follow the list of people going on the trip!
Our cast of characters is quite...interesting. Drumroll pleeeeease!

Me: 40 something single mom with two fabulous kids (20 and 19), one of which is joining me on the trip. My favorite ride at Universal is ROTM!

DD19: After we get back from our trip, she'll only have a week before she goes back for her second year of college Kylie is beautiful, sweet, and her favorite Universal/IOA ride is JPRA.

DSilD: My younger brother's wife Diana is originally from Colombia. She's never been to FL before, but isn't a rollercoaster fan, so we'll see what rides she'll like. She's a lot of fun and is looking forward to the clubs in Orlando!

DNe9: DSilD's son Devin. He's also never been to FL either, but I think he'll go on whatever rides the other kids will. A bit of a mama's boy, but a nice kid who just loves to be included.

DNi11 A: DSilD's daughter Andrea. She went to FL with my daughter and a two years ago for the first time. She's hysterical and great with the oneliners. Her favorite ride is probably Dudley Doright's Ripsaw Falls.

DSilD's Ni14: Did I do that right? DSilD's niece Natalia on her side of the family. Natalia speaks very little English (she's from Colombia) and has never been to Fl. DSilD insists that she's a daredevil and will go on all rides!

DSilD's Ni12: DSilD's niece Catalina. She lives about an hour away from us, and she's a sweet girl. She's never been to FL, and am not sure of ride prefs.

DSilM: My older brother's wife Michelle. Her parents live about an hour away from Orlando, so she'll be sneaking off with her kids to spend time with them. We get along great, and she's a big rollercoaster fan. I know she hasn't been to Universal in years, so not too sure what her favorite ride is.

DNi11 S: DSilM's daughter Sarah. She's very smart and definitely has the "older sister" thing down. Never been to Universal but not the most adventurous when it comes to rides and new experiences, so not too sure what she'll like.

DNi9 E: DSilM's daughter Emily. A sweetheart and very much the "baby" of the family. Also has never been to Universal and apparently is afraid of 3D (???), so it'll be interesting to see how that'll pan out.

Hotels: DD19, DSilD and her kids and nieces, and I will be staying in a 2 bedroom villa at the Marriott Grande Vista resort. I work for the Marriott company and get an enormous discount, so staying onsite is really not a viable option. Our villa has 2 balconies, a king bedroom with an attached bath with a shower and Jacuzzi tub, a bedroom with two queen beds with an attached bath, a living room with a pullout couch, dining room, and full kitchen. I'm interesting in seeing how spacious it really is.
DSilM and her kids will be staying at a Residence Inn in a mini suite with a living room with a pullout and a bedroom with two queens.

We're going to be renting 2 economy passenger cars from ..... to transport us around for the week. With seven staying at one hotel and 3 at the other, I'm not too sure how this is going to work, but we're trying to be very go with the flow and anti-commando this week!

Our itinerary is basically that we don't have one! We all purchased the $99.99 unlimited Universal/IOA/Wet'n'Wild pass. Since we're arriving fairly early on Wednesday, we'll probably end up heading to a park that day. We'll be group travelling to UO/IOA everyday except for two-- Sunday is the day DSilM and her kids will be visiting her parents at DTD and the rest of us will still hit up UO/IOA. The other day is a yet to be determined day, when my DSil's and their kids will all be heading to Wet'n'Wild and DD19 and I will go to DHS for the day. We haven't been there since 2001 and would much prefer the thrill rides there to the disgusting-ness that is Wet'n'Wild. (We're not a big fan of waterparks!)

Wish us luck and see you in 6 days!

 

[dsmom]

Sounds like you will have a wonderful time! I love to go on vacation with large groups! Can't wait to read your trip report.

I am jelous- I live in Florida now but went to college in White Plains and I LOVE it there!!

 

[tlinus]

sounds great - hope you are having a blast and can't wait for you to return with your trippie and some pictures

 

[jillybeene71]

patiently (or not) waiting for you to return.

 

[Metro West]

sounds great - hope you are having a blast and can't wait for you to return with your trippie and some pictures

 

[macraven]

we'll be waiting for you and the trippie.........

i know you'll have fun!

 

[LeslieR]

Are you home yet?

 

[klacey1]

Hi, everybody! Yes, we've been home for several days but I left the camera at a friends' (showing off the FL pictures!), so once I get that back, I'll insert the camera into the already typed report (or at least, the first day is typed up!)

 

[klacey1]

Until I get my camera back and am able to post pictures, here's a picture-less intro to keep everyone's interest

Day 1, August 20th: Our day began bright and early! I woke around 5:15 and showered, put on the pot of coffee, etc. My daughter woke up at quarter to 6 and began getting ready.
I work in the hotel industry, and all I can say is-- when you take care of the right people, they'll take care of you. I always reccomend a particular limo/car service company to our hotel guests, and I was able to wrangle a FREE Lincoln Towncar to take DD and I to the Westchester Airport, about a 35-40 min drive from our home.
The driver wasn't scheduled to arrive until 6:45, but he showed up around 6:30 and idled in our driveway. Fortunately, we were ready to go, but if we weren't, I would have been a bit perturbed that we would have had to rush.
Unfortunately, the rest of the car ride wasn't too much better. It was absolutely freezing, so DD politely asked, "Can you please turn the air conditioning down a bit?"
And the man's response? "What temperture do you want it at?"
DD's meteorology skills were on the down that day and she didn't know the EXACT TEMPERTURE at which her body is comfortable, so she just said "Uh...just a little bit warmer than it is now..."
"It's at 65 now."
"Uh...okay..."
At this point, DD just gave up and we just put up with it for the rest of the ride. I was aghast that he basically refused to change the temperature of the car! DD and I are pretty sensative to cold, and when you're wearing a tank and sweatpants (me) and a sundress (she), 65 isn't exactly tropical!
Our driver just kept being rude. He turned the radio on (without asking our permission, which, at 6:30 in the morning is a courtesy, I believe) to a Spanish station. Being that DD nor I aren't huge fans of Spanish music, I politely asked that he change the station.
"I don't know any other stations."
Flabbergasted was I.
Therefore, when we arrived at the airport, DD and I removed our own bags from the trunk and said thank you. I know many are probably shaking their heads at the lack of tip, especially considering we didn't have to pay for the car, but to me, that service was unacceptable. DD gave me some flack because she waitressed this summer for the first time and was all too accustomed to rude customers and poor tips, but for me, a tip must be earned. And our driver failed to do so.
I grabbed a quick smoke before we went in, and when we got on line, we saw both DSil M and D and their child companions. After waving to them, we waited in line for about 10 minutes (and prelude to the shortness of lines we'd wait on during the week!) and checked our luggage. While we were going through security, we heard DSil D's named being called over the loudspeaker to return to security. A little nervous, we made our way to the gate and sat with DSil M and all of the kids.
The kids had no idea what was going on and said that DSil D had no problem getting through security. Just as the kids and DD were getting nervous, DSil M's name was also called. It was at this point that DD began to really get tense.
"What do we do if our plane starts boarding and they're not back?....seriously...what do we do?"
DD isn't a worrier as much as a planner...she likes to know exactly what's going to happen during the day at exactly what time. And while she truly loves her cousins, when things interfere in her perceived plans of the day...she'll get peeved at the people around her. (Which definitely came into play during the week!)
Anyway, the DSil's returned JUST as the plane began boarding, so all was well. Not too sure what the issue was, but in my go-with-the-flow-mind, as long as everything was good-- who cares?
The flight was short (2 hrs and 14 mins!) and uneventful. Getting our baggaged at MCO was also painless, as was taking the shuttle to Thirifty and picking up our rental cars-- two PT Cruisers, which for whatever reason, supremely bothered the kids haha.
The original plan was for all ten of us to stay in a 3 bedroom villa at the Marriott Grande Vista. However, after getting the vibes that all 10 of us in one villa was not a smart idea, I reserved a room at the Residence Inn on International Dr. for DSil M and her two girls. Finding that hotel took near an HOUR.
After arriving, and knowing what OUR hotel looked like, I got a touch worried.
Rightfully so.
The Res. Inn was clean and probably perfectly suitable for them, but once we arrived at the Grande Vista (which Dsil M and the girls had to see because we only had two five passenger cars!), the looks on their faces said it all.
The Grande Vista is a gorgeous resort-- truly. A beautiful lake with paddleboating, three pools, a bar with VERY reasonable food and drink prices, spacious rooms, tons of activities...shows up the Res. Inn just a tad!
After checking into our 2 bedroom villa for the 7 of us, DSil M made noises about how difficult it was going to be with the rental cars since their hotel was a good 15 mins away. After some wrangling (and money out of MY pocket hmph), I managed to score them a 1 bedroom villa in the building next to ours.
Now everyone could be happy! Wrong. Once we settled our belongings into our beautiful room, the kids were more than ready to "do something." The adults were exhausted beyond belief, so a park was not an option. Who cares that Tropical Storm Fay's rains were pouring down? The pool it is!
DD watched the kids in the pool while DSil M and I drove to the nearest Publix to pick up food to stock our kitchen! We got bread and pasta and sauce for dinner, and picked up some snacks and breakfast foods for the kids.
Pretty much immediately after we got home, everyone was hungry enough, so we through the pasta on and consumed a decent dinner. (Thanks Barilla!)
Satisfied yet? No way. The kids were in FL. They had energy. They wanted to DO something.
After skimming through DD's guidebooks and DNi11 A remembering "that upsidedown building," we decided to set off for Wonderworks!
I have a lot of good pictures from Wonderworks, so this is probably a good place to stop. Next installment coming soon-- hope I didn't bore anyone too badly with this part!

 

[SallyG]

Hi Klacey1! Just started reading. Can't wait to hear more and see some pics!

 

[klacey1]

Sorry, sorry, sorry!
It has been forever-- I have been incredibly busy, but here is the promised second edition:
*** I am having trouble with my pictures. I don't think Snapfish allows pictures to be publicly viewed. Either I will attempt to load the album to another site--what do most people use??--or if people wanted to give me their email, Snapfish lets you send an entire album to someone's email address, and people can view it that way.

Day 1: Nighttime
Everyone except for DSil D was Wonderworks bound! She was tired and wanted to sleep. Now, I truly love my niece/nephew and their cousins were nothing but delightful. HOWEVER, baby-sitting was not something I wanted to during my only vacation of the year! Unfortunately, this was not the only time this happened during the week. Most of the burden fell on DD, who sought escape on her laptop occasionally at night and on her cell phone with her boyfriend frequently.
Anyway, the nine of us trouped to Wonderworks.
Overall, this was not a bad first night activity. Not too strenuous, and even though it had rained all day and we feared it would be crowded, it was fairly empty. The make-your-own roller coaster line, which DD19 and DNi Andrea and then DSilD's Ni Catalina/Natalina both did, took about 45 minutes. My main complaint with the roller coaster being on the top floor is that the rest of us grew bored and restless waiting for the girls, and had there been more floors, we could have left and explored more instead of just waiting in the same room for 45 mins.
We spent about 2 hours there, which I believe is the general time the place itself reccomends people stay. Everyone found something they liked-- the bubble making, hurricane simulator, lying on the bed of nails, virtual air hockey.
We stayed about until 10 ish and then headed home. Everyone fell asleep pretty early, as we were told that even if it torrentially rained, we were donning our ponchos and taking on Universal Studios!

Universal Studios to follow!