Here's to a DRAMA-FREE vacation! A Sept. 2013 PTR, FINAL UPDATE, 9/1!!

[lsenquiz]

I am trying to catch up but skipped ahead to "Day One: Travel Day!". I promise I will go back and catch up on the rest eventually

I feel the same way as you about getting to the airport ahead of time. There are plenty of places at the airport to enjoy something to eat and drink while waiting to board your flight.

I wish you luck on sleeping on the plane! I simply can not sleep sitting up.

I completely agree with you about the Orlando Airport! It is my favorite also.

We have never ridden ME because we live so close. Maybe someday

We are skipping online check in also. I actually enjoy chatting with the CM while checking me in and the last time we did online check in at Boardwalk someone met us at the door with all our stuff and I felt like I missed out on something.

I do think out of all the parks Epcot is a great one to be in for Labor Day.

 

[librarygeek]

Yay, not much longer now! We went on our honeymoon the week of Labor Day, and on Labor Day the parks were completely empty (at least MK, which is where we were). I don't know if it changes year to year but that at least was our experience!

Your idea for a theme party sounds awesome. I love theme parties! We have a lot of themed murder mystery parties here

 

[klacey1]

I'm like you. Total pizza snob but for some reason I absolutely love Pizza Planet. I can deal with Disney pizza!

It has to be a Disney thing! Dominos or Papa John's or any other chain pizza? DISGUSTING!

I am trying to catch up but skipped ahead to "Day One: Travel Day!". I promise I will go back and catch up on the rest eventually

I feel the same way as you about getting to the airport ahead of time. There are plenty of places at the airport to enjoy something to eat and drink while waiting to board your flight.

I wish you luck on sleeping on the plane! I simply can not sleep sitting up.

I completely agree with you about the Orlando Airport! It is my favorite also.

We have never ridden ME because we live so close. Maybe someday

We are skipping online check in also. I actually enjoy chatting with the CM while checking me in and the last time we did online check in at Boardwalk someone met us at the door with all our stuff and I felt like I missed out on something.

I do think out of all the parks Epcot is a great one to be in for Labor Day.

I'm not a great plane sleeper, except the two times we've flown to Vegas and were lucky enough to have three seats for the two of us. I was able to stretch my legs across the seats-- it was wonderful!! Right now, no one is sitting in the aisle seat for our flight down-- fingers crossed that it stays that way!!
I hope you do get a chance to do ME at some point-- it's a wonderful way to begin a vacation!
Yeah, I would not enjoy that online check in experience. Maybe it works for some people, but not us!

Yay, not much longer now! We went on our honeymoon the week of Labor Day, and on Labor Day the parks were completely empty (at least MK, which is where we were). I don't know if it changes year to year but that at least was our experience!

Your idea for a theme party sounds awesome. I love theme parties! We have a lot of themed murder mystery parties here

Oh that's great to know!! How were the crowds the rest of Labor Day week? I've never been in September before!
I have pushed for a murder mystery party! Hmmm, maybe later in the fall.

 

[klacey1]

Day Four: AK/MK
We certainly enjoy a few things in AK, but it’s nowhere near our favorite park. In 2011, we finished everything we wanted to see in three hours! Albeit, we didn’t fit in any shows.

As AK is decently far from the WL, we’ll head to the bus stop at 8 a.m. for the 9 a.m. opening. I think we’ll head to the safari first, as Zach really loved it last trip

Next, we’ll cross way over to the other side of the park so I can get in the single rider line for EE. I love the view from the top of the mountain!

A trip to Dinosaur will be in order next! Primeval Whirl as closed our last trip, so I want to make sure we get in a ride this time.


Depending on the times for Festival of the Lion King, we’ll either see a showing of that or It’s Tough to Be a Bug. We’d like to hit both if possible.


I hate the amount of backtracking AK requires! Both Kali River Rapids and Rafiki’s Planet Watch are favorites, but I can’t work them into our plans that would make sense geographically! Regardless, we’ll need to hit both (probably RPW first).

Those goats and sheep are just too darling-- they are the animals I get most excited about seeing at AK!

And that’s really it. We’re usually too hot to do the trails/don’t have much interest in them. If we do any, it’ll be the Maharajah Trek after Kali, probably as the last thing we do before we leave the park.

We don’t like the counter service options in AK, so we use our AK day as a chance to try some of the great CS options at the resorts. This day, I really want to go to the Poly and try the pork nachos at Captain Cook’s. They look so yummy!

From the Poly, I think we’ll take the monorail to CR and then the boat to the WL. I want to get back to our room by 4:00 p.m. so we can change, throw some stuff into an overnight bag, and head out the door at 5:00. I think this will be a great opportunity to take the boat to the MK, as we have a 6:00 p.m. ADR at....

BE OUR GUEST! I’m so glad that after much struggle (lol), we were able to snag this reservation. I cannot wait to eat here. It looks beautiful in pictures and the scallops and shrimp in puff pastry looks TDF! I know Zach will get the steak & I’ll be stealing a fry with some aioli!

I don’t have any post-dinner MK plans. We can stay as long as we’d like. Whenever we’re done, we’ll hop on the bus back to WL to pick up the small duffle we would have packed earlier that day. This is our night at the Universal Resort!

We’ll be staying at Royal Pacific, which is by far my favorite US resort, even though it’s the cheapest! I think it looks like a more modern Poly.




Zach likes it because they have a wide variety of TV channels.

Haha, it’s not like he wants to spend our vacation watching TV! It’s just when we’re relaxing in our room in the afternoon, he wouldn’t mind something beyond the eight ESPN channels! Also, he has to have the TV on to fall asleep, and it’s always a struggle to find something he is okay with.

I would love to walk around City Walk, checking out some of the stores. I doubt we’ll go into any of the bars, but we might end up enjoying a drink in the bar at RPR! It’s very laid back.

We’ll need to be at the IOA gates by 7:30 for 8:00 early entry the next day!

 

[abbybeth]

I haven't done Rafiki's Planet Watch, maybe it should go on the list. We have a running joke that someday we're going to get a pet goat....

I'm leaning towards the shrimp & scallop pastry at BoG too, I'm so excited for that ressie!!!

 

[Mrs T 2009]

Our AK days sound similar!! Haha we can do all we want there in 1/2 a day!

So jealous you get to eat at BOG!!!! Excited for you too

 

[jenny105]

You're so lucky you got a reservation at BoG! I wish they were taking us there on our program but they're not. I'm sure we'll get a tour though.

We have the option to go to AK with our group and we are going to go just to ride Everest. Then we're leaving! LOL. AK is beautiful but not my favorite either.

Sounds like a great day!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

AK definitely does require a lot of backtracking! I feel like there's really no good way to avoid it either.

We love Rafiki's Planet Watch!

Yay BOG! SO exciting! We watched Beauty and the Beast last night and now I'm even more excited for it!

I can't wait to hear about your night at Universal/ Royal Pacific!

 

[klacey1]

I haven't done Rafiki's Planet Watch, maybe it should go on the list. We have a running joke that someday we're going to get a pet goat....

I'm leaning towards the shrimp & scallop pastry at BoG too, I'm so excited for that ressie!!!

Haha, I am all about getting a pet goat. The ones at the Affection Section are so friendly. They all just wanted to be pet!

Our AK days sound similar!! Haha we can do all we want there in 1/2 a day!

So jealous you get to eat at BOG!!!! Excited for you too

Yep, definitely no more than a few hours there for us! I am SO excited for BOG!!

You're so lucky you got a reservation at BoG! I wish they were taking us there on our program but they're not. I'm sure we'll get a tour though.

We have the option to go to AK with our group and we are going to go just to ride Everest. Then we're leaving! LOL. AK is beautiful but not my favorite either.

Sounds like a great day!

Haha, I'd go to AK just to ride Everest! Do you know what restaurants you do get to do on your program?

AK definitely does require a lot of backtracking! I feel like there's really no good way to avoid it either.

We love Rafiki's Planet Watch!

Yay BOG! SO exciting! We watched Beauty and the Beast last night and now I'm even more excited for it!

I can't wait to hear about your night at Universal/ Royal Pacific!

Nah, if you want to hit the headliners before they get too busy, you definitely have to backtrack.
Ahh, I need to make a point to watch Beauty and the Beast before our trip!

 

[jenny105]

Haha, I'd go to AK just to ride Everest! Do you know what restaurants you do get to do on your program?

According to my itinerary:
8/26 dinner at American Adventure parlor & dessert party in UK
8/28 lunch at Landscape of Flavors at AoA
8/29 breakfast at Cape May Cafe & lunch on the dream

The rest of our breakfasts & lunches will be during our seminars at the GF convention center. They are giving us dining gift cards to cover meals they do not provide. I'm traveling with one of my co-workers so we made dinner reservations for Chef Mickey's, Garden Grill, and Narcoossee's. It's nice they're giving us gift cards but I think it would be easier to put us on the dining plan!

 

[klacey1]

According to my itinerary:
8/26 dinner at American Adventure parlor & dessert party in UK
8/28 lunch at Landscape of Flavors at AoA
8/29 breakfast at Cape May Cafe & lunch on the dream

The rest of our breakfasts & lunches will be during our seminars at the GF convention center. They are giving us dining gift cards to cover meals they do not provide. I'm traveling with one of my co-workers so we made dinner reservations for Chef Mickey's, Garden Grill, and Narcoossee's. It's nice they're giving us gift cards but I think it would be easier to put us on the dining plan!

Oh that's cool! Landscape of Flavors looks really good! The nice thing about gift cards is you can get appetizers or whatever-- you will have the flexibility the DDP doesn't allow.

 

[klacey1]

Hey guys! I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Ours has been fun but hectic. I mentioned that we were going to have a Canadian party, which was last night. We had such a blast--people really got into the theme and went all out with costumes. When Zach does something, he goes all out, so we had some pretty sweet on-theme food, drinks, and decorations. Oh, and the effort he put into being Robin Thicke was pretty epic. If you want to see pictures, you can find me on Facebook or Instagram (@klacey11)!

Anyway, on with the show! I cannot believe that we leave TWO WEEKS FROM TOMORROW!!! EEEEEE! I have a ton of annoying work to get through before our trip (kill me now), plus my best friend from high school and her boyfriend are coming for a visit this coming weekend. I love them, of course, and only get to see them a few times a year. HOWEVER, them coming that weekend means any trip shopping, etc. will need to wait until the weekend right before our Monday departure! That’s a bit last minute for me!

In MORE trip news, Zach got a call yesterday from one of his best friends from high school who lives in Pittsburgh (so we rarely see him). They were just casually chatting when his friend mentioned that he and his girlfriend are visiting “Harry Potter world” and did Zach want some sort of Gryffindor souvenir? Um, what?! Turns out they’re visiting Disney (with one day at IOA) the same week we are!!! They are arriving the same day we do and are staying at Caribbean Beach! So crazy! They are the nicest people and I can’t wait to hang out with them. Only thing that pinged my planner brain was that they have free dining, but according to Zach’s friend, they have NO plans and no dining reservations!!! He said that because they have the “dinner plan, they’ll have to eat at the hotel most of the time.” No, no, no! The call was pretty rushed because Zach was trying to get ready for our party, so his friend is supposed to call back today so they can discuss more things. Once we figure out what they’re doing, it’d be nice to meet up for a dinner and maybe even a day or parts of days-- I think Biergarten would be fun with more people! Plus, if they’re coaster people, I’d love to have ride buddies and hit everything I usually skip with Zach! (I’m not sure if they like rides or not.)

Onto our next day plans! This day we’ll mostly be at Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure, so if you’re only interested in Disney, feel free to skip!

Day 5: Universal Studios/IOA
Our resort, Royal Pacific is a short walk to Islands of Adventure. Since the park opens at 8 (early entry for hotel guests), we’ll leave our room by 7:15. We’ll need to check out and leave our overnight bags with bells services. I forgot to mention that the night before, when we check in, we’ll need to put our park tickets into a machine in the RPR lobby. Apparently it takes your photo and prints out a little pass that you show to the ride operators for unlimited Express Line access. You used to just show your room key, which I think was less complicated. This way probably deters people from using old room keys, though.

Once the park opens, we’ll head straight to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Ahh, I’ve visited three times and it never ceases to amaze me...

The detail is just incredible, and the Forbidden Journey is the most amazing ride. I’m hoping we can ride it twice during early entry.

We’re not interested in the wand show, so we’ll just check out the stores before they get too crowded. I know they were going for authenticity, but gosh those stores are tiny! A breakfast butter beer (cold, not frozen!) and pumpkin juice will certainly be in order:


I love the Dragon Challenge coaster, so I may hit that if lines are non-existent. Flight of the Hippogriff is a kiddie coaster that actually goes really high-- you get a great view of the Hogwarts castle from its peak.

At this point, we’ll be ready to move on and go to the Marvel section. Spiderman is one of my absolute rides in all of Orlando (an amazing moving simulator/4D rides), and Zach loves it too. After we ride that, we’ll leave IOA for the time being and walk on over to Universal. I LOVE how easy it is to park hop between those two parks! It’s a 10 minute walk, maximum!

The first two rides there for us are the two newest, which we’ve never done: Transformers (another moving simulator ride. I’m not sure if it’s 3 or 4D) and Despicable Me (you sit in cars that stay in one place that pitch and move in place). I rode Despicable Me in both of its previous forms-- Jimmy Neutron’s (with Nick characters) and Hanna Barberra, both of which I thought were cute! So I’m looking forward to Despicable Me in particular! I’m not a Transformers fan, but I love that type of ride, so I expect I’ll enjoy it!

Next stop is The Mummy, which is my absolute favorite ride in Universal. It’s not TOO intense of a coaster that Zach won’t ride it, but it still has a great thrill.

Sorry, Zach, I didn’t realize your eyes were closed in this pic!

Men in Black: Alien Attack is a shooting game at which I am SO much better than Buzz! ...maybe I know a “trick” for getting an extra 100,000 points? I don’t think it’s a trick-- I just press the red button when Will Smith tells me to!


I’m imagining by this point we’ll be pretty hungry. We’ll need to ride The Simpsons and then make a decision. Should we grab lunch in the new Simpsons area OR go back to IOA at this point and eat at Three Broomsticks?! I think we’ll decide how we feel that day. The pictures of the food places in the Simpsons area look amazing, but we didn’t eat at Three Broomsticks our last trip and regretted it.

Wherever we eat lunch, we’ll head back to IOA when we’re done with the Simpsons ride. I’d like to re-ride our favorites and maybe hit some water rides?! I remember getting absolutely soaked on their rapids ride the last time I rode it (like 5 years ago, when I was on a big trip with my extended family), but we discovered two summers ago that Zach loves rapids rides, so we might have to hit it for him!

Last trip we finished with both parks around 3 p.m. due to our express passes. I’m thinking it’ll probably be similar this year. I want to hit more rides, but last trip we had a sit down lunch (at the Hard Rock Cafe-- yuck!), so we’ll make up that time this year. Whenever we’re done, we’ll go back to RPR to pick up our bags and then cab it back to WL.

This is our relaxing night! I want to really enjoy the amenities of the WL-- maybe we’ll hang out in the Territory Lounge. The maple donuts they serve look amazing! Even just hanging out in the lobby would be nice. Dinner will be counter service. Ideally, we’ll find food we like at Roaring Fork, but to be honest, I’m not impressed with the menu on AllEars. I’m used to the variety of choices at Riverside Mill. It doesn’t seem like there’s many options at Roaring Fork, at least not options we are excited about. Fortunately, there’s great CS close by! We can take the boat to the Contemporary and eat there, or take the monorail to the GF or Poly. We love visiting the GF and eating dinner there would be a good opportunity to do so!

I am honestly soooo excited for this night! I know we’ll be pretty tired at this point and just hanging out will be so welcomed!

 

[Mrs T 2009]

I've yet to go to universal studios.
It looks like so much fun!!
Ah, someday!!

Eeeek!!!!! I can't believe you leave in two weeks!!!!!
And so awesome friends will be there too!!

 

[blabbermouth]

Ok, read the last two updates!

Sounds like two pretty busy days, so it'll be nice to have the night to relax back at WL. Is WL what inspired your Canada party? Cute theme by the way!

Yay for BOG!!!

It's funny you say that you'll get through both parks by 3, my friend who we're going with said she thinks it'll take a full day (not back at Disney for dinner) and we're just going to the studios. Oh well, time will tell I guess! Either way, we'll use that night for relaxing too.

DH is nervous that the rides are too crazy there, so I told him your BF doesn't even like some rides at WDW, but will ride the Mummy, so that made him feel a bit better since he'll ride everything at Disney. He might chicken out of Rip Ride Rockit though!

 

[abbybeth]

I added you on instagram - I'm argyle24!

 

[cdhale]

Ha ha. The dinner plan.

 

[Dancegrl624]

Oh gosh...if anyone desperately needs a TA it's Zach's best friend!!! I work with so many clients that don't think they need to plan anything but then when they follow my plans they are forever grateful!

 

[jenny105]

I died when I saw the picture of Zach on FB! Great costume! Hashtag and all lol.

Sounds like Zach's friend needs you to steer him in the right direction. I can't imagine going there with the dining plan and not having one ADR!

 

[klacey1]

I've yet to go to universal studios.
It looks like so much fun!!
Ah, someday!!

Eeeek!!!!! I can't believe you leave in two weeks!!!!!
And so awesome friends will be there too!!

Definitely make time to go to Universal some point in the future! I love those parks!

Ok, read the last two updates!

Sounds like two pretty busy days, so it'll be nice to have the night to relax back at WL. Is WL what inspired your Canada party? Cute theme by the way!

Yay for BOG!!!

It's funny you say that you'll get through both parks by 3, my friend who we're going with said she thinks it'll take a full day (not back at Disney for dinner) and we're just going to the studios. Oh well, time will tell I guess! Either way, we'll use that night for relaxing too.

DH is nervous that the rides are too crazy there, so I told him your BF doesn't even like some rides at WDW, but will ride the Mummy, so that made him feel a bit better since he'll ride everything at Disney. He might chicken out of Rip Ride Rockit though!

Haha, we just thought a Canadian party sounded fun!
I think we'll get through the parks by relatively early just because I've been to them sooo many times and know what's worth doing and what's okay to skip. We don't stop for any of the shows, either, which take up a lot of time.

I added you on instagram - I'm argyle24!

I followed you back!

Ha ha. The dinner plan.

I know, right!

Oh gosh...if anyone desperately needs a TA it's Zach's best friend!!! I work with so many clients that don't think they need to plan anything but then when they follow my plans they are forever grateful!

I know!! If we knew they were going earlier (before they paid off the trip), I definitely would have directed them to a fantastic TA like you!

I died when I saw the picture of Zach on FB! Great costume! Hashtag and all lol.

Sounds like Zach's friend needs you to steer him in the right direction. I can't imagine going there with the dining plan and not having one ADR!

Haha, I can't tell you how long he spent making the hashtag. It's his pride and joy!
I have been bugging Zach to call his friend!! I can't handle this. I almost sent the girlfriend a message on FB about the need to make reservations, but since I've met her once or twice, I don't know how she'd handle it.

 

[princess_momma]

Your plans sound sooooo amazing!! AHHHHHH!! And that's so amazing that your friends are going to be there the same time! Funny how that works!

Your Universal day will be great. I AM SO EXCITED FOR HOGSMEADE! Love, love, love! I'm re-reading all the books now.

Do you have a lot left to get ready?