Giving Thanks: Turkey Day at Universal 2015 (PTR for now)

[disappearingme]

Howdy.

We are a family of 15 headed to Universal for Thanksgiving. My in-laws are popping for the trip (as they have done two Disney cruises) - lucky me!

The Fam: G'ma, G'Pa, Oldest Son Sam, Brother John, Wife S and their three darling girls; our family (Steve & me, our three kiddos) and my niece O & her bestie. We are all based in Kansas City.

Tragedy struck our family this past January when O's dad Peter passed away from the flu. It is still shocking to say/read/write that "the flu." In the hospital on a Wednesday night and gone from us less than 36 hours later. So this will be a trip with a hole in our hearts and an angel on our shoulder.

 

[disappearingme]

A little about our family.

Me: Trip planner. Recent Harry Potter devotee. CEO of my my own little biz and my family.

Steve: Hard working husband; works in the family business so sees his mom & dad every day! His idea of travel is a beach in Central America but of course is always grateful for the opportunity to travel (and even moreso, without incurring any cost!).

Dayvon: Our oldest & just a teenager. He is an avid reader & finished the Potter books ages ago. He loves sports (watching or playing); video games & pool time.

Katy: Our only daughter and a real joy. She is game for about anything (board games, math puzzles) and is extremely athletic.

Jaylen: Our baby boy who is now NINE!! He is so fun & sweet. Still crawls into my chair when we are watching a movie.

Here is a pic from our Disney cruise two years ago:

DFN-130721-Formal_Stairs-6417333 by Aimee Gromowsky, on Flickr

Not sure if that pic is going to work.

 

[disappearingme]

I am a trip report FANATIC. I may not chime in on every once but since I have known about the trip (mid March), I have read every current and past trip report. I did the same for both of my Disney cruises and can't believe how much they helped me plan things for my family.

Someone (cough cough, Steve) thinks I go overboard with my planning but hey, when we go to the Beach, he usually gets the no planning adventure he desires.

I knew immediately that I was going to have to get my other two kids and myself to read the Harry Potter series prior to the trip. Total immersion. We are currently on Book Four (audiobooks) although I have zoomed ahead because I need to know what happens to Harry! The boys and I were sorted into Hufflepuff while my daughter is Griffendor. Poor Steve is just a muggle. I am thinking of ordering him a "Potter Stinks" badge to wear.

Voldemort & Harry both being orphans struck me immediately. Since our children are adopted, I watch out for stereotypes about adoption in movies. I like that Harry pushes back to his horrible adopted family and has stopped taking much of their crap. Don't like it when the bad guy is adopted or an orphan so we will see how the plot line with "He Who Shall Not Be Named" goes on.

Taking a cue from another trip report, I have ordered two shirts for our trip. I am sure there are more to come as my kids have flipped out when they saw these:

We also have intermittently watched the movies associated with Universal. We watch the Potter movies after the book is finished but we also have enjoyed Tansformers, The Mummy & the Minion Movie this summer.

That's all for now.

 

[tgpez21]

I love those shirts...so cute! Sounds like you are going to have a great time!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I'm in! You have a beautiful family .

As for your inlaws paying for the trip.....wow . Wonderful, generous people. You would never see MY inlaws doing something like that for their family!!!

Condolences on the loss of your brother in law (I think that would be his relation if I am following your family tree correctly?). Life is certainly a fragile gift, and stories like yours are a real reminder on how much we should treasure time as we know it. What a nice tribute for all of you to enjoy a vacation together with his memory prevalent for all.

Love the shirts . You may find that your DH becomes a Potter-convert once he experiences Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. I was never too keen on the Harry Potter stories but the Universal parks have won me over.....they are THAT well done.

Looking forward to more pre-trip details!

 

[disappearingme]

Thanks Gina for the kind words.

I won't hold my breath on Steve getting Potter-fever.

Lodging

My MIL wants to stay at Lowe's Pacific so I made reservations there in April. We were getting seven rooms with a water view. Made the reservation with the hotel directly. The rooms were $1358 for four nights (9509.15). In early June, I priced it out on cheaptickets and there was a significant price difference. My MIL was worried though because there was no guarantee we could get adjoining rooms (for the families of five). I think it is likely that we would have been able to get adjoining rooms but why argue with my MIL? Life's too short.

More recently , I have been ruminating on getting three power passes in order to get the APH discount at the hotels. We are most likely going to buy our tickets through undercover tourist (buy 2, get an extra day free) and they are around $200.00. So if we get three power passes at 239.99, then we will pay an extra $120 for tickets.

BUUUUUUT our total hotel costs with the APH rate would be $7897.07 - a $1600 difference. So we have cancelled the original ressies and rebooked six of the rooms with the APH rooms. Apparently with one APH, you can book two adjoining rooms. Perfect.

One of my favorite parts of the Disney cruise were the movies at night while the kids were swimming. I absolutely adored it (although that pool - ewwwww with all those kids). I am hoping the Dive-In movies will be available at that time of year. I also want to visit the Lazy River at Cabana Bay. I'm not even sure how much pool hopping will get done but I do love some pool time.

Up Next: Transportation & Some Reservations

 

[schumigirl]

That is a lovely trip you have planned!!

We adore RPR........such a beautiful hotel, I'm sure you will all love it. Movies should be on in pool area when you go, that's a cool way to chill out at night......

You do have a lovely family and I'm sure the trip will be everything you hoped it will be.........look forward to reading more........

 

[disappearingme]

Thanks SGirl - loved your 18 day trip report.

 

[disappearingme]

The reservations were switched on Friday but not without a bit of drama. On Thursday night, I called and confirmed you can have one APH for two rooms booked.

So I called to book all seven rooms under the APH rate (we are getting three power passes and one preferred pass) and was told by the first gentlmen that my info from the previous night was incorrect & we must have an APH for each room. I told him that I thought that was incorrect. He also insisted that our passes must be activated before we made the reservations. I pointed out that I could make them online & there was no activation requirement. So we parted ways & I called back.

The next woman, Francine, was more than happy to cancel our original room ressies & rebook with the APH rate. It was a pleasant affair. She wanted to know that we must show the APH at check-in (contrary to what I have read on these boards). And if need be, the four of us can go to Universal & activate the passes after we land and before we check-in.

So good stuff & we are squared away on the hotel.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

The reservations were switched on Friday but not without a bit of drama. On Thursday night, I called and confirmed you can have one APH for two rooms booked.

So I called to book all seven rooms under the APH rate (we are getting three power passes and one preferred pass) and was told by the first gentlmen that my info from the previous night was incorrect & we must have an APH for each room. I told him that I thought that was incorrect. He also insisted that our passes must be activated before we made the reservations. I pointed out that I could make them online & there was no activation requirement. So we parted ways & I called back.

The next woman, Francine, was more than happy to cancel our original room ressies & rebook with the APH rate. It was a pleasant affair. She wanted to know that we must show the APH at check-in (contrary to what I have read on these boards). And if need be, the four of us can go to Universal & activate the passes after we land and before we check-in.

So good stuff & we are squared away on the hotel.

So happy that you managed to get everything worked out!!

But oh, isn't it frustrating when you get different information from different people .

 

[sue_88]

Hi, I am looking forward to a trip just one week before yours. So it caught my eye that you were going for Thanksgiving. I am planning on staying at Cabana Bay. But I will likely visit the Loews hotels for fun and possible future trip planning.
I hope you write a report. I would love to follow along.

 

[disappearingme]

Thanks Sue!

 

[disappearingme]

Family Shirt

The nice thing about being married to a printer is I get a lot of printed stuff for free. In the past four years, he has expanded the business to screen printing so I have access to FREE T-SHIRTS!! Wooooot!! We did shirts for the two cruises. The last one being the a recreation of the front of the ship (Fantasy). It sort of looked like a Hawaaiin shirt. Here is a pic of my in-laws with it on.

2013-07-20 12.18.38 by Aimee Gromowsky, on Flickr

Soooo I had Steve start working on it a couple months ago. This is the prototype. We will have it made into womens and mens shirts & possibly different colors although the blue does it justice.

Family shirt for Universal by Aimee Gromowsky, on Flickr

We are the Gromowskys hence the Grominions.

Notice our Guardian Angel.

 

[disappearingme]

Airfare

May 7 was marked on my calendar for a couple of months. That was the day that Southwest would release it's schedule that included Thanksgiving. I called the group reservation desk a couple of times prior to get an idea of when I should call and what info I needed.

The Group Travel desk opened at 5:00 a.m. & I pressed the numbers at 5:01. It gave me the option to have them call me back which I took. They called back at 6:32 and we got the reservations underway. Since I had already looked at the flight info, I knew what I wanted. The entire time on the phone took about twenty minutes. We had to mail a money order in the next fourteen days and we were in. It is a 7:30 a.m. flight on Thanksgiving Day with a return the following Monday. It was not the cheapest airfare available but my in-laws didn't want a non-refundable fare in case anything came up.

We may stay at a hotel near the airport the night before but that is still under debate.

So airfare & hotel are done. Now to trip planning!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Family Shirt

The nice thing about being married to a printer is I get a lot of printed stuff for free. In the past four years, he has expanded the business to screen printing so I have access to FREE T-SHIRTS!! Wooooot!! We did shirts for the two cruises. The last one being the a recreation of the front of the ship (Fantasy). It sort of looked like a Hawaaiin shirt. Here is a pic of my in-laws with it on.

2013-07-20 12.18.38 by Aimee Gromowsky, on Flickr

Soooo I had Steve start working on it a couple months ago. This is the prototype. We will have it made into womens and mens shirts & possibly different colors although the blue does it justice.

Family shirt for Universal by Aimee Gromowsky, on Flickr

We are the Gromowskys hence the Grominions.

Notice our Guardian Angel.

Love, love, love the minion shirts!! Great job with the design .

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Airfare

May 7 was marked on my calendar for a couple of months. That was the day that Southwest would release it's schedule that included Thanksgiving. I called the group reservation desk a couple of times prior to get an idea of when I should call and what info I needed.

The Group Travel desk opened at 5:00 a.m. & I pressed the numbers at 5:01. It gave me the option to have them call me back which I took. They called back at 6:32 and we got the reservations underway. Since I had already looked at the flight info, I knew what I wanted. The entire time on the phone took about twenty minutes. We had to mail a money order in the next fourteen days and we were in. It is a 7:30 a.m. flight on Thanksgiving Day with a return the following Monday. It was not the cheapest airfare available but my in-laws didn't want a non-refundable fare in case anything came up.

We may stay at a hotel near the airport the night before but that is still under debate.

So airfare & hotel are done. Now to trip planning!

Having the airfare in place always makes the trip feel "real" and "official"....I don't know about you, but I never really relax and get into the trip planning groove until the plane tickets are purchased.

It must have been a real relief to cross that planning item off the list when there were so many of you to book for! The most I've ever booked airfare for at one time is 4 .

 

[disappearingme]

Postcards from Hogsmeade

A recent hobby of mine is PostCrossing where you send and receive postcards from all over the world. It's a mad obsession with many and slowly becoming one of mine. I check my mailbox every day and it's a bitter pill when there is no postcard. You can send them officially through the Post-Crossing site but there are also unofficial ways to get postcards.

Round-Robins are groups where there are groups ranging from four to fifty where everyone in the group sends a postcard to the other people in the group. These groups can be random or specific (I just joined a Harry Potter Round-Robin.

Lotteries are where someone has a card or two that they want to send and everyone can enter the lottery to get the postcard. A pretty random assortment of possible postcards via the lotteries.

Soooo I thought I might join my Harry Potter devotion to my PostCrossing devotion. I ordered these MinaLima postcards and plan on holding a lottery for ten of them in October. The lottery is going to include the postcards plus I am going to get them stamped from the Hogsmeade Owl Post



Read about the in's & out's of the Hogsmeade Owl Post here:

http://maxandcopost.com/blog/wizarding-world-of-harry-potter-postcards-with-hogsmeade-owl-postmark/

Here are a couple of the postcards

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This might be the part of the trip I am looking forward to the most. Not kidding.




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[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Postcards from Hogsmeade

A recent hobby of mine is PostCrossing where you send and receive postcards from all over the world. It's a mad obsession with many and slowly becoming one of mine. I check my mailbox every day and it's a bitter pill when there is no postcard. You can send them officially through the Post-Crossing site but there are also unofficial ways to get postcards.

Round-Robins are groups where there are groups ranging from four to fifty where everyone in the group sends a postcard to the other people in the group. These groups can be random or specific (I just joined a Harry Potter Round-Robin.

Lotteries are where someone has a card or two that they want to send and everyone can enter the lottery to get the postcard. A pretty random assortment of possible postcards via the lotteries.

Soooo I thought I might join my Harry Potter devotion to my PostCrossing devotion. I ordered these MinaLima postcards and plan on holding a lottery for ten of them in October. The lottery is going to include the postcards plus I am going to get them stamped from the Hogsmeade Owl Post



Read about the in's & out's of the Hogsmeade Owl Post here:

http://maxandcopost.com/blog/wizarding-world-of-harry-potter-postcards-with-hogsmeade-owl-postmark/

Here are a couple of the postcards

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/xxsqeY'][/URL]
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[URL='https://flic.kr/p/xhgPt1'][URL='https://flic.kr/p/xxsqeY'][URL='https://flic.kr/p/xxshkS'][/URL][/URL]
[URL='https://flic.kr/p/xxsqeY'][URL='https://flic.kr/p/xhgPt1'][URL='https://flic.kr/p/xxsqeY'][URL='https://flic.kr/p/xxshkS'] [/URL][/URL]
[URL='https://flic.kr/p/xxsqeY'][URL='https://flic.kr/p/xhgPt1'][URL='https://flic.kr/p/xxsqeY'][URL='https://flic.kr/p/xxshkS']This might be the part of the trip I am looking forward to the most. Not kidding. [/URL][/URL]
[URL='https://flic.kr/p/xxsqeY'][URL='https://flic.kr/p/xhgPt1'][URL='https://flic.kr/p/xxsqeY'][URL='https://flic.kr/p/xxshkS'] [/URL][/URL]
[URL='https://flic.kr/p/xxsqeY'][URL='https://flic.kr/p/xhgPt1'][URL='https://flic.kr/p/xxsqeY'][URL='https://flic.kr/p/xxshkS'] [/URL][/URL]
[URL='https://flic.kr/p/xxsqeY'][URL='https://flic.kr/p/xhgPt1'][URL='https://flic.kr/p/xxsqeY'][URL='https://flic.kr/p/xxshkS'] [/URL][/URL]
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Very cool hobby! The lucky folks that get the Hogwarts postcards will sure be thrilled .
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[disappearingme]

Ohhh 75 days until departure. Exciting.

My beloved father-in-law was recently hospitalized for a stroke. He spent three nights in the hospital and was then transferred to a rehab facility attached to the hospital. The docs initially told him it was going to be two weeks at the rehab facility - he was out in three days! It is nothing short of a miraculous recovery. The day after he went into the hospital was so bleak - we just had no idea how it was going to turn out. I lost my father ten years ago and to see my husband go through thinking that his dad was going to die was heartbreaking. Doc said the stroke was in part caused by the stress of losing his son Peter. So harsh.

On our previous family vacation, both my MIL & FIL were very active and involved with everything (they are super healthy people in general). We will see what happens at Universal.

So grateful he is okay.

 

[disappearingme]

I am sketching out our days & it will go something like this:

Thanksgiving
We arrive at MCO in the late morning. We have rented two vans (a 15 passenger van that I will definitely not be driving and a mini-van). We can use the mini-van to do short errands, etc. . .

We will eat at the RPR buffet soon after we arrive. Both of these articles are from last year but they break down what is available.

http://orlandoinformer.com/page/articles.html/_/universal/events/thanksgiving-2014

http://www.wesh.com/orlandomyway/or...icious-buffets-for-thanksgiving-2014/29640424

Ecstatic that I won't be cooking/hosting Thanksgiving. Woot. After dinner, we are headed to the Parks. Both parks are scheduled to be open until 8:00. I am pretty much targeting Harry Potter after dark on that night. Want to just see and explore a bit. No big rush - just out and about. There might be some wand shopping. And if I don't get picked for the Ollivander's show, I am going to be absolutely crushed. Not really but kinda.

Friday

It's VIP Tour Day! I somehow conned my in-laws to spring for the VIP tour. It was the day we bought the airline tickets and I forwarded them some info I had read. They are very much "you can't take it with you" people. We will have two guides and probably split at some point (adventurous & non-adventurous). Mythos is the lunch destination. It runs from 9-5. I will break it all down in another post.

After the tour, relax and eat by the pool (hopefully!).

Saturday

We are headed to Cocoa Beach for beach time. I know we might be just dipping in our toes but no way we come to Florida and not see the ocean. I haven't scoped out lunch yet.

We are headed to the Luau on Sat night. Excited b/c I think they will be lighting a Christmas tree that night.

Sunday

Park day. For a 8:00 a.m. Early Entry, my little family of five will be at the gate at 7:30. What we do will depend on what interested us the most on the VIP tour. Of course, we have to do Men In Black b/c I have read two different articles on how to get the high score - mwahahahahahah. We will convene for dinner as a Family but have not nailed that down. City Walk most likely. We once ate at an Emeril's restaurant in Las Vegas as a family (this is when there was only one grandchild). Oh my goodness - I have never had service like that before or since. They did a butterfly service where we were all served our meals at once. It was magnificent. Not sure if that's where we will land on this trip. I am taking shorts and jeans only. Open to suggestions. And it's a Sunday so a sports bar sounds right up my alley (GO CHIEFS!).

Monday

Our dreary dreaded departure where we will decend on the MCO with all the other Thanksgiving passengers.