Happy Birthday, Dear Dude - A Sept 2010 PTR - 9/22 Trip Report Started p34

[Charleston Princess]

Part of me is because of a cliffhanger, but the other (larger) part of me is very excited to hear this news!!!

 

[anbouk]

Hey Susan! Shouting out to ya I recall your last TR! Sorry to hear that about your mom...she was great in filling us in....in your absence! Hope she is recovering and send her my regards! I am the gal you sent us (my son) a BC PostCard as we went shortly after you...Anna. BTW, all your plans sound fabulous. We stayed at AKV last summer and we had a BLAST! The hotel is awesome and unique. We are in the midst of planning another stay for summer break, too and deciding on which DVC resort for this trip. Oh and Greece, WONDERFUL...I am Greek and have been to Greece many, many times....if you need help, give me a holler! Can't believe Katie is graduating, I recall from your last trippie you were celebrating her Sweet16 . Time sure flies! Stay well!

 

[2_Eagle_Mom]

I have very exciting news. But I am crazy busy at work, so I will have to tell you later. How's that for a cliffhanger? Y'all are gonna FLIP!

Trying to wait patiently....

 

[SummerInTennessee]

Maybe you can tell me the exciting news IN PERSON at the Krystal's drive thru !!

 

[dddisrunner]

Hi Susan! We are Memphis fans because I have family that lives there, well actually right outside in Mississippi, Olive Branch and Hernando, they are all Memphis alumni. I also have family that live in Arkansas and are huge Razorback fans so they try to outdo one another by sending us sporting gear and support their team! BUT my kids LOVE Memphis basketball!!!!

On your alone time, I would head to DHS and see American Idol and Beauty and the Beast, they are both definitely worth seeing and if your DH is not willing then this is the PERFECT opportunity!!

 

[Native NYer]

 

[swwake]

Jumping over from my PTR. You sure do a lot of traveling! How awesome! What a great graduation trip...Greece!!! I would love to do a Meditterranean cruise someday and see Greece and Italy.

Glad to have you join in over here! I do tend to travel a lot - much of it for work, but travel is what our family likes to do with our discretionary income. We think it makes excellent memories.

YAY!! I love shout outs!! I haven't started a PTR... all I can say is I'm trying to be patient waiting for a 40% discount!! Received a 20% PIN, but not good enough I've read several posts from those who have been able to apply discounts to club level, so I'll be giving it a try. If I can't apply, may not go the CL route. Anyway, hoping Disney will release more promos within the next couple of weeks to cover thru the end of the year.

Summer

Hooray Summer is here! Let me know what happens with the PINs. I think you're right that some of them can be applied to CL. Even if not, maybe the 40% will throw you just into the range of being able to do CL anyway. So glad to have you along!

I agree with others about doing things that Chris would not want to do. Sounds like going to DHS in the morning and a massage in the afternoon sounds lovely.

But I would definitely hit some shows or shopping.

Obviously check show times since you have an afternoon massage scheduled. I think B&B doesn't start until the afternoon??

I think I'm leaning toward DHS at this point. Fortunately I have a few months to decide. Oh yeah, tha't's right - many of the shows don't start until afternoon. I don't think Chris would hate Beauty & The Beast, so it may not be bad to miss on my solo day, but he has already poo poo'd AI.

HI Susan! This is great! Thanks for sending me the link,

Tani! Everyone, meet my sister-in-law. Your trip is less than a week away! Y'all are gonna have so much fun! I can't wait to hear all about it. And...elbows OFF the table!

Hey Susan! I've just arrived and have some catching up to do, but I'm super happy to be reading one of your PTRs again!

Hey there and Glad to have you along!

Part of me is because of a cliffhanger, but the other (larger) part of me is very excited to hear this news!!!

Sorry for making everyone wait. I am hoping to get an update posted shortly.

Hey Susan! Shouting out to ya I recall your last TR! Sorry to hear that about your mom...she was great in filling us in....in your absence! Hope she is recovering and send her my regards! I am the gal you sent us (my son) a BC PostCard as we went shortly after you...Anna. BTW, all your plans sound fabulous. We stayed at AKV last summer and we had a BLAST! The hotel is awesome and unique. We are in the midst of planning another stay for summer break, too and deciding on which DVC resort for this trip. Oh and Greece, WONDERFUL...I am Greek and have been to Greece many, many times....if you need help, give me a holler! Can't believe Katie is graduating, I recall from your last trippie you were celebrating her Sweet16 . Time sure flies! Stay well!

Hey Anna! How was the BC trip for y'all? We loved it!! Glad to be back in touch. I would love any tips on Athens and the greek isles. I can't believe Katie is graduating either! I ordered the cap and gown a couple of weeks ago and just about broke down. It all hit me that it's real!

Trying to wait patiently....

So sorry to take so long. Tax season keeps me busy. Hope to do an update in a few mins.

Maybe you can tell me the exciting news IN PERSON at the Krystal's drive thru !!

Oh man I SO wish it would have happened. Dad wanted to find the closest Krystal because I think he and Sierra were both starving. Then we flew right through Murfreesboro. Your wait is almost over though.

Hi Susan! We are Memphis fans because I have family that lives there, well actually right outside in Mississippi, Olive Branch and Hernando, they are all Memphis alumni. I also have family that live in Arkansas and are huge Razorback fans so they try to outdo one another by sending us sporting gear and support their team! BUT my kids LOVE Memphis basketball!!!!

On your alone time, I would head to DHS and see American Idol and Beauty and the Beast, they are both definitely worth seeing and if your DH is not willing then this is the PERFECT opportunity!!

I have several friends and family in Olive Branch. Go Tigers!! Again, I think DHS is what I'm leaning toward right now. Plus, I like to watch the street performers and when Chris is with me, we typically just walk on by.

Ok Ok - coming up!

 

[swwake]

Ok to kill the suspense, here goes...

This week I got my travel books in the mail that I had ordered from Amazon. I've been reading the book about Universal and there just seems to be so much to do. Our plan was to use the Mears shuttle to go to Universal on Saturday early in the morning and stay late, sacrificing a day on Disney property. We would get 1-day, 2-park passes and do the "must-sees" at both parks that day. I thought we might go to CityWalk for dinner or maybe a late cocktail, but I struggled because it seems it might not be appropriate to wear our "day" clothes - the ones we've sweated in and gotten wet in at the parks - to the bars and restaurants at night. So I just figured we'd just miss CityWalk and get over it.

The books all warn not to try to do both parks in a day and that it's much better if you can take a more leisurely pace. (Of course, we have to consider that Universal may be paying these authors to say that! )

Our original plan also included buying the Express passes for an additional ~$25 each. This would give us a single FOTL for each of the popular attractions. We thought it would be very much worth it on our limited schedule.

Well, I was talking to Chris about it, and I was just getting worried that after spending that day at Universal, we'd feel like we want another day and that we've missed a lot. I was also worried that this only left us 3 full days at AKL to see whatever we wanted to see in 4 parks.

So...






drumroll please....










We have decided to add a night to our trip!!!

Not only that, but we will actually add the night to the beginning of the trip and will stay at a Universal on-site hotel for that night. We're pretty excited about getting to see one of these hotels, plus we get lots of extras under the new plan.

1 - Our room keys work as Express passes EXCEPT we are NOT limited to one FOTL per attraction. We can get FOTL privileges at as many rides as many times as we want!
2 - Obviously, we get more time at both parks.
3 - We get early admission to the parks. (This should help with the Harry Potter crowds.)
4 - We get a CityWalk pass for admission to all of its venues.
5 - We don't have to miss a day at Disney!

The downside is that we can't use DME on the way in. But that is the only downside I can find!

So now I have to research the hotels and see how to get the least expensive deals on hotel and park tickets (or buying the package together). I have to research transportationn. I don't know whether we'll rent a car and drive to Universal, park it there and keep it until Chris is finished with his "work day". Or maybe we'll take a shuttle or cab from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel at Universal to AKL.

Southwest's flight schedules for September are not out yet. I am thinking of taking the earliest flight out of Austin on the 14th so we can get to Universal by early- to mid-afternoon and hit the parks. (Originally I was looking only at the non-stop that arrived around 2:30pm.) We should have a good part of the day at one or both parks, then we can get up early and hit both parks again for as long as we'd like. And when we're ready - off to AKL we go!! This way we'll also get to enjoy CityWalk for that one night.

By my initial calculations, this should only cost us about $250 more total than our original plan. That is basically the cost of the hotel room for the night. We will save over $50 by not buying the Express passes, but will probably spend that much or more to get to the hotel from the airport and to AKL from Universal. And the only other added cost is an extra night at the kennel for the dogs, which will be about $60. An additional night at AKL would be $340, so this isn't bad.

We are so excited about this change in plans!

 

[2_Eagle_Mom]

Congratulations on adding a day!

It sounds like you have all the angles covered.

 

[kangaand2roos]

 

[Native NYer]

Congrats on extending your trip

 

[Dancegrl624]

Congrats!!! I have been to Universal (the original) in quite some time. However, I did IOA back in 2006 and it was awesome! The Hulk, Spiderman, Dueling Dragons (or whatever they're renaming it to) and Jurassic Park are the must do's in my mind. The park didn't take us long to get through, but that was before Harry Potter.

 

[Marshay]

GREAT news!!!

I love adding on a day to a vacation -- it's like an extra bonus on top of a bonus!

US and IOA will be soooo totally cool. I definitely want to hear and see all about the hotel (which one?) and the whole FOTL access. We are hoping to get to US/IOA next May when we go back to WDW (hopefully).

The HP park sounds like it will be terrific, too. I'm very excited for you!

 

[Circusgirl]

What a fantastic plan! I can't wait to hear about your time at Universal. Way to maximize!!!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Hurray for the extra night! Your trip will be so much fun!

 

[swwake]

Congratulations on adding a day!

It sounds like you have all the angles covered.

Thanks! We're still pretty darned excited.

Hooray! Thanks for the banana dance!

Congrats on extending your trip

Woo hoo!

Congrats!!! I have been to Universal (the original) in quite some time. However, I did IOA back in 2006 and it was awesome! The Hulk, Spiderman, Dueling Dragons (or whatever they're renaming it to) and Jurassic Park are the must do's in my mind. The park didn't take us long to get through, but that was before Harry Potter.

We went in '97 when we took Katie to WDW at age 5, but haven't been back since. Never been to IOA, so we're excited about that. I think they are renaming DD "Dragon Challenge".

GREAT news!!!

I love adding on a day to a vacation -- it's like an extra bonus on top of a bonus!

US and IOA will be soooo totally cool. I definitely want to hear and see all about the hotel (which one?) and the whole FOTL access. We are hoping to get to US/IOA next May when we go back to WDW (hopefully).

The HP park sounds like it will be terrific, too. I'm very excited for you!

Yeah, Marsha, I don't know how this "long weekend" has somehow expanded to 8 days and 7 nights! I was looking at Royal Pacific, but now I'm looking into Hard Rock because it feels more "us" and it's only $15 more for the night. And it looks like it might be a closer walk to the parks and CityWalk (not sure).

What a fantastic plan! I can't wait to hear about your time at Universal. Way to maximize!!!!

Yeah, we think it's a pretty fun plan. We'll see how it works out. We still ave quite the loyalty to Disney though. Thanks again for posting on Mom's guestbook!

Hurray for the extra night! Your trip will be so much fun!

Yay!!!

 

[swwake]

Well..... guess what?

Today, I booked our outbound flights! And...we got quite the deal!

A little background: Southwest flights aren't out until the end of March. Southwest and JetBlue are the only non-stops to Orlando, and I don't like JetBlue's outbound times, and we have travel vouchers for Southwest, so I had planned to wait for the September fares to be released.

But, looking at the flight schedules, the best I can predict, the earliest non-stop gets in at 2:20pm. The earliest flight with stops gets in at 12:45pm. The parks will close at 6pm that night, so by the time we would get to our hotel, then to the parks would be around 4pm for the non-stop or 3pm for the earlier flight. We were really struggling with only having 2-3 hours at the parks, when the 2nd park day was the whole reason for adding the day to the trip.

So....I went on Expedia and Kayak the other night and started researching earlier flights. The earliest flight is on Continental, connects in Houston, and departs at 5:45AM!!! But it gets in at 10:52am, giving us plenty of time for a half-day at the parks.

I went straight to Continental's website today and started to book the flight (just one-way). I had some miles, but it won't let me use miles to book a one-way trip (fine print). Then I saw that it would let me buy miles with Amex points and that triggered something. I went to the Amex site and checked out purchasing with reward points.

Even though you can't buy a one-way ticket with miles on Continental.com, you CAN buy a one-way ticket using reward points on Amex. So, I had 229,000 points and it only cost about 25,000 to buy both flights. I got the flights for FREE!! You can't beat that!

Next, I am trying to find the best (or FREE) deal on the hotel for that night. Then on to park tickets (looking at Underground Tourist - I think that's what it's called).

 

[Dancegrl624]

Great job on getting free flights!!!! If you subscribe to mousesavers.com, they send out newsletters on the 15th of every month with a link to undercover tourist. By getting the newsletter, it will save you a little bit more than just going to the UT site. If you sign up today, you should definately get the newsletter in a few days!

 

[swwake]

Great job on getting free flights!!!! If you subscribe to mousesavers.com, they send out newsletters on the 15th of every month with a link to undercover tourist. By getting the newsletter, it will save you a little bit more than just going to the UT site. If you sign up today, you should definately get the newsletter in a few days!

Undercover Tourist!! That's it! Thanks for reminding me. I also get the Mousesavers newsletters, so I'll wait to buy our Universal tickets until at least March 15th (maybe later).

 

[swwake]

What do y'all think of TGM? Worth the money? I can get a whopping $4 discount as a former client. I can't remember if I felt like it was worth the $21.95 the first time. With very low crowds in September, I'm not sure if I'll need extra info on touring plans and crowd calendars. Thoughts?