My first PTR - hopefully leading to my first Trip Report

[LovingDisny]

Your plans sound fun - I'm excited to be reading along. We arrive at RPR June 13th so we'll miss you but who knows - maybe I'll run into you at the Magic Kingdom on the 14th lol

I'm also traveling with 2 boys (14 and 9 years old) but they've never been to Florida, let alone Orlando.

As for vacation types, I like ALL the vacations. I can do outdoorsy, beach, Eurotrip sightseeing, countless museums, theme parks... I basically don't discriminate on vacation type But as a kid, theme parks always brought butterflies to my stomach at the gates (yes, even a Six Flags did it to me)... I can only imagine what this first trip to Orlando in 10 years will do to me. I already check the Dis daily

Hi, Oh wow, your boys first trip to Orlando! how fun! Yeah, it's shame we will miss each other at RPR, but you never know about meeting up I the MK. it is a small world after all.. ok, it was right there, I had to say it. Thanks for following along.

 

[LovingDisny]

Plans for day two:

I really hope we are not too exhausted because I hope to take advantage of early entry on Tuesday morning. Not sure yet which park will be opening early. I don't know if that schedule is already out, I will have to take the time today and look that up. Doesn't really matter to me though, I am excited to see EVERYTHING at both parks, so we plan to start the day at whichever one lets us in early. Planning breakfast at Islands dining room, so we will have to be up fairly early for that. If we are running a bit behind though, we may just grab something small for breakfast at the 3 broomsticks if its not too crowded. After breakfast we will join the world of Harry Potter, much to the wonder and excitement of everyone in my party. Even my Dad is a HP fan, so this should really be fun for us all. I want to start early so we can take our time going through all of the HP attractions in one park, then ride the Hogwarts express and do the same at the other park.

We may take a break and swim at the resort for bit in the late afternoon, then back to the parks in the evening. Only other set plans for this day is dinner at Margaritaville. I have seen mixed reviews on this place , but really we are expecting sports bar type food. So as long as the burgers , nachos and of course the margaritas are good, we will be happy. My hubby has always been a Jimmy Buffett fan, so he is looking forward to this. The atmosphere looks really fun to me, hopefully my folks will like it as well. I am looking forward to walking around City walk also. The videos and pictures I have seen make me think I should make my 18 year old leave his wallet in the room, with mine too of course, but that probably wont happen. More likely I'll be needing a new empty suitcase to bring things home in.


ok, that was pretty short so I may as well continue with our plans for day three, which will be our last at Universal...... for this trip.

I actually made a breakfast reservation for day three at The Kitchen. My boys really want to go check out the Hard Rock Hotel, and I have read and heard really good things about this restaurant.

after breakfast, I hope to let everyone pick their favorite attractions and experience them one last time, or two last times, however many we can fit in.

we have a Mears van picking us up in the late afternoon around 3:30 to take us to Disney's Coronado Springs Resort. This service was only $60.00 for all 6 of us. When we get home, I will let you know if all was smooth sailing with this transfer.


Well, that is all for the Universal leg of our trip. I'm not sure if I should include the Disney plans here or not, so quickly; with 9 days we plan to hit each park twice, Disney Springs at least once, and a full day to relax at our resort and enjoy the pool! We have many dining reservations including Be Our Guest, Ohana, Le Cellier, Sci-Fi Dine in, The Plaza, 1900 Park Fare, Cape May Café, and Whispering Canyon Café.

only 20 days to go, I don't think I could be more excited. Except if it were tomorrow that is.

 

[tortilla24]

Hi, Oh wow, your boys first trip to Orlando! how fun! Yeah, it's shame we will miss each other at RPR, but you never know about meeting up I the MK. it is a small world after all.. ok, it was right there, I had to say it. Thanks for following along.

They're boys of a good friend of mine and they live overseas so I can't wait to show them all it has to offer. Haha love it! It really is a small world - have an incredible time!

 

[Raeven]

I thought Margaritaville was delicious! I got a burger, fries, and a margarita and all were good.

We're staying Coronado Springs in December, and you have some awesome Disney reservations too!

 

[schumigirl]

Burgers, nachos and margaritas are excellent at Margaritaville.......can vouch for all 3!!!!

Islands Buffet is excellent......but if you do sleep a bit later don't forget Orchids Lounge in lobby area......it has a load of grab and go items......all really nice.

Nice plans though.........

 

[LovingDisny]

They're boys of a good friend of mine and they live overseas so I can't wait to show them all it has to offer. Haha love it! It really is a small world - have an incredible time!

Thanks Tortilla! You too. Oh, I found your PTR and have been reading through it. You are detailed! I love it!

 

[LovingDisny]

Burgers, nachos and margaritas are excellent at Margaritaville.......can vouch for all 3!!!!

Islands Buffet is excellent......but if you do sleep a bit later don't forget Orchids Lounge in lobby area......it has a load of grab and go items......all really nice.

Nice plans though.........

Thank you Schumi! now that you mention it, I remember you saying that the lounge had great breakfast items. We may just pop in there for a quick bite so we can make it to early entry. Thank you for reminding me

 

[LovingDisny]

I thought Margaritaville was delicious! I got a burger, fries, and a margarita and all were good.

We're staying Coronado Springs in December, and you have some awesome Disney reservations too!

Great, I am glad others can vouch for the food there. Hopefully I will have a detailed trip report for you including all of the Coronado Springs details. May end up helping you on your December trip.

 

[tortilla24]

Thanks Tortilla! You too. Oh, I found your PTR and have been reading through it. You are detailed! I love it!

Aw thank you. Glad you enjoyed it! I'm looking forward to writing a TR when I come back! Time feels like its flying!

 

[gtpoohbear]

We've eaten at a couple different Margaritaville's and always enjoyed it. I didn't book it for our trip this summer just because I figured we should try some things we haven't done before.

I think it's so neat that you are taking your parents! I've tried to take my parents to theme parks, and it's always such a struggle with them. But your parents seem like the type to really enjoy it.

I can't wait to see how your trip turns out!

 

[LovingDisny]

We've eaten at a couple different Margaritaville's and always enjoyed it. I didn't book it for our trip this summer just because I figured we should try some things we haven't done before.

I think it's so neat that you are taking your parents! I've tried to take my parents to theme parks, and it's always such a struggle with them. But your parents seem like the type to really enjoy it.

I can't wait to see how your trip turns out!

Thank you. Yes, I absolutely understand trying some new things! I am excited about my parents also, they are only staying 8 days instead of the full 12 that we are staying, but I really think they will enjoy it. We plan to take lots of breaks , and make sure they know it's ok for them to go relax in a lounge , the room or by the pool when they have had enough theme park magic for the day.

 

[Portugal1000]

Just had one tip about Escape to Gringotts ride. The queue line is really good and sure you will all want to go through as a family but if you want extra rides and don't mind single rider then it's great. We have been last two years in August and used its a lot with zero wait. The first mornin two years ago we had early entry but oh my the queue was huge despite us being there 30 minutes before opening. We wer back up up to the fear factor live show. Anyway we thought oh no. So when we finally got to the entrance we saw the little sign for single rider and no one had been going in. It was still before official park opening at this time as gates had opened earlier. Anyway we asked if we could go single rider and of course they said yes. We ran all the way ( we were pretty excited) and kept wondering why no one in front of us. Kept going on an and on and still no one! Got to stop of the stairs and must have been about ten cast member who gives us a little cheer and said we were the first riders of the day. The main queue with all this hundreds of people hadn't even been allowed through. So we got in the vehicle and waited a while and eventually the cast members said, oh well looks like you are the only ones and off we went. I couldn't believe it. When we got off we went straight back into single rider and got on again straight away but we had company this time. We did same thing last year, it was great.
Infact, it was only last year we actually went through main queue for first time and definitely worth seeing.

 

[LovingDisny]

Just had one tip about Escape to Gringotts ride. The queue line is really good and sure you will all want to go through as a family but if you want extra rides and don't mind single rider then it's great. We have been last two years in August and used its a lot with zero wait. The first mornin two years ago we had early entry but oh my the queue was huge despite us being there 30 minutes before opening. We wer back up up to the fear factor live show. Anyway we thought oh no. So when we finally got to the entrance we saw the little sign for single rider and no one had been going in. It was still before official park opening at this time as gates had opened earlier. Anyway we asked if we could go single rider and of course they said yes. We ran all the way ( we were pretty excited) and kept wondering why no one in front of us. Kept going on an and on and still no one! Got to stop of the stairs and must have been about ten cast member who gives us a little cheer and said we were the first riders of the day. The main queue with all this hundreds of people hadn't even been allowed through. So we got in the vehicle and waited a while and eventually the cast members said, oh well looks like you are the only ones and off we went. I couldn't believe it. When we got off we went straight back into single rider and got on again straight away but we had company this time. We did same thing last year, it was great.
Infact, it was only last year we actually went through main queue for first time and definitely worth seeing.[/QUOT

Thank you for the awesome tip! You are right, I want to go through the queue at least once, but we don't mind at all taking the single rider line later on!

 

[LovingDisny]

UPDATE: We are getting very close now! Just trying to get the kiddo's through this last week of school, then off we go! My oldest son is graduating High School, so we have to wait until after the ceremony of course. He tried to use my excitement for vacation to get out of sitting through the graduation ceremony. Ummmm NO! He goes to a very big school, I can't imagine why he doesn't want to hear the names of his 784 classmates , but we have to watch him walk across that stage! I'm sure it won't be that bad. They call they names pretty quickly when there are that many students. I am actually glad I will have a few days after school is out to get everything ready to go. Not worrying about getting them up in the morning or doing homework in the evening will free up time for me. I've been buying little things every time I go to the grocery store or Target. I have the pop up hamper to put in our room. Last trip I also bought these little plastics baskets and they worked out great in the room, so I am taking those again. I put one on the dresser to organize the sun block and things like that. one the bathroom, then we each use one to put our personal things in when we get back to the room. If I don't have some way to help everyone stay organized, the boys tend to fling their things from one of the room to other.

We have a 7:00am flight and my Mom has been watching a lot of news reports regarding the delay's getting through security. I had already planned on being at the airport at 5:00 just be on the safe side. And to alleviate my Mom's stress as much as possible. The only she worries about more than flying itself is missing her flight. Now, I am thinking we may need to go earlier. Has anyone had experience with this recently?

Mom really does not like to fly at all. Well, let me amend that, she hates to take off and land. While we are in the air, she is fine. Before we take off though..... completely terrified. She clings to my Dad with a death grip that is painful to watch. This is really the only aspect of our trip that I am worried about. I can't plan, organize or really do anything to alleviate her fear. The rest of the trip has been planned to my best ability and we tend to roll with the flow whenever the plan goes to heck. But, I really wish I could do something to help Mom. We tried anti-anxiety meds, but she doesn't like taking them... Dad's plan is to get her a drink or two.. We will see how that goes. Oh did I mention that we have a layover? Yep, she has to go through the take off and landing process twice . So far her excitement at going on the trip has overridden her fear, I just hope that carries her through when we are actually in the airport! So, good wishes and prayers are welcome if you care to throw some our way my Dis friends!

 

[Lynne G]

Good wishes and good thoughts that Mom does well at the airports and on the planes.

I'm not a fan of flying either, but I take motion sickness medicine that helps, and I try to keep myself busy during take off and landing. I actually like the early morning flights, as I can sleep and we get to our destination earlier, to have the rest of the day to relax.

Getting close! That is exciting.

And yep, my DS is also graduating high school with close to 1,000 kids. You bet, I will be waiting to hear his name called in that mass of kids. It's just such an important rite of passage.

 

[Raeven]

I'm just like your mom I hate ascending or descending. It's not so much of a fear thing now that I've done it before (last time was our first flight) but it gives me a little headache, and if it's too bumpy I do cling onto my boyfriend's arm a little

 

[schumigirl]

Oh bless your mum! Hope the flight goes well for her........I love flying......turbulence and all........but can't be fun for someone who doesn't love it......and she has to do it twice........yep, maybe a drink is a good idea if flight isn't too early.........good luck, it is getting close......

 

[macraven]

i'm so excited for your trip too !!

 

[LovingDisny]

Thank you all for the good advice, great tips and well wishes! They are all greatly appreciated.