Oh It's A Jolly Holiday With Katie! - Beach Club / Grand Floridian

[DisneyKid4Life]

I’ve been super busy studying for exams and writing essays.

WOW, you totally deserve a Jolly Holiday. Might I suggest WDW and DLP?

I can’t believe that we will be back at Disney in LESS THAN FOUR MONTHS!

Oh that's right, how could I forget?

Magic is everywhere, if you know where to look.

My mantra!

And have no fear. Your pictures in and around the Grand are fabulous, so I totally get taking as many as possible.

I had to run back, and it was pretty embarrassing. I felt really bad for holding up the other family, but I didn’t take long, and thankfully everyone was nice about it.

Oh my goodness, I would have freaked!!! On a prior trip, I've had a travel partner leave her ticket in the car in the Universal Parkade, but that wasn't anywhere near what this could have been. Can you imagine discovering this when you arrive? Oh my that would be rough.

I bet the big guys at Disney are kicking themselves for letting this go to Universal!!

I always wonder about this. Just think, Disney could have had this AND at the same time kept Universal from getting it. I'm kind of glad that Universal did though. Competition is a good thing.

Dis-folk, please hear my cries.
Do anything you can to not bring a bag to Universal!!!

Best. Advice. Ever.

I think this is the same area that the new King Kong/Skull Island attraction is coming..

Super excited for Jurassic World and SUPER DUPER EXCITED for the Kong attraction.

gain, raise your hand if you're excited for the Full House reboot - Fuller House!!.

Um.... No.

we went to a theme park here in England called Alton Towers, and Jamie spent a FORTUNE winning THIS GUY.

Well, you know the old saying... Nothing says True Love like giant stuffed toys.

We thought this minion looked slightly like Walter White?!

OMG Heisenberg!!!!

And we saw some cool decorations for Halloween Horror Nights!

I miss Horror Nights.

And I pushed the red button…

And BOOM…

100,000 BONUS POINTS!!!

YES!!!!! ALWAYS PUSH THE RED BUTTON!!!!!

 

[Fastpassminus]

Love the Universal updates! Glad you had a better time on Mears this time.

I haven't been to Universal since 1996! It's on my must do list in the next few years!

 

[pkondz]

That means a lot coming from you! Thank you!! Although I'm sure you'd get a better photo than I could

I doubt that! Those pics are terrific!

Even at 23 I felt kind of naughty eating chocolate in the morning.. My mother would not approve..!!

Oooooh, you rebel, you!

I'm just so glad I remembered them before we'd set off, and not when we were at the front gates of Universal...!!

That would definitely not have been good.
I wonder if you would have gone all the way back to get them (assume two hours roundtrip) or just bought new passes? $$$$$

Oh my, tell me about it... Avatar does not interest me in the slightest.. But hopefully I'll still appreciate Avatar Land?! I don't know.

We were just discussing this on another thread.
I'll reserve judgement until after it's done.
Who knows? Maybe it will be great?
I think I mentioned something along the lines of:
"Let's put a ride based on the Abominable Snowman in AK!"
"What? That's a terrible idea! It should be only about real animals!"

<< (kinda looks like he's lost an eye..)

Yes it does!

the pathetic-ness of the tune goes so well with the epic-ness of that scene

I didn't know naff wasn't universally known.. maybe I'll change it.

No! Don't! I love that word now!

I do! I actually just edited my post to include this, and a bit more of an explanation as to why we found it funny

Went back and read it.
I actually found an online article about what the suit is theoretically made of.
Titanium, carbon and other exotic materials.

Ooh ooh ooh, bonus points for guessing..?!??! Gaston maybe?!

Maybe I'll consider the points.
But no. Not Gaston.
It was just a nice little unplanned moment.
You'll see.

Oh I know, I learned this when I had to try to carry it around the theme park..!!!

It says "pigs rule" - but I do understand the confusion!!!

Oh! Pigs rule! Totally looks different in the picture.

 

[hogwartsdropout]

Yes you can! You can go up to the concierge desk in your hotel and ask them to book you onto the Mears Shuttle Bus for tomorrow/a couple of days time, and they'll make the call right then and there to book you in super easy! Yeah, $20 return per person, so it cost Jamie and I $40 total, rather than the $80 in taxi fares the week before! The only thing to remember is that it's quite popular, and you may be the first pick up, and the last drop off! So they could pick you up, then pick up 3 other families from 3 different hotels, then drop those 3 families off at Discovery Cove, Sea World, AND aquatica, before dropping you off at Universal... (Our 2012 experience was similar to this ) So I recommend booking a couple of days in advance and getting booked onto a nice early bus

That's wonderful, thank you!! Where are you guys staying on your next trip?

 

[vrajewski10513]

Hi Katie! I'm a little late to the party, and only through half of day 2 so far but I just wanted to say hello and that you and Jamie are SO FRICKIN CUTE. I'm really enjoying your writing and look forward to catching up! I'm with you on the love for Gaston, he is by far my favorite character interaction at WDW. Tiana is also one of my favorite Disney princesses and is far too underrated IMO. My husband and I have the same type of touring style as you guys do. If I try to push him for too long in the Florida heat he gets grumpy so I try to take afternoon breaks as well.

AAAAAAND, I just realized that we were there at the same time too! My husband and I visited 9/9 - 9/16/14!

 

[courtneybelle]

Ugh that view of the Wedding Pavilion! I could cry!!!

Your pics of the scenery at Universal are so good, they look professional!!

So Jurassic Park is one of my favorite movies and I'm very excited for Jurassic World...but I'm actually too scared of that ride at Universal and Dinosaur because of how close the dinos get to you. I'm such a weenie!

 

[mlegerto]

Hey! Sorry this took so long, it's been a busy few weeks! But this is a good idea, and of course I can screenshot my playlists! Is it just the parks music you're interested in? Here's my parks playlist, but I also have a lot of music from the movies if you wanted those too, just let me know!

I tend to just listen to this playlist, but I also like to search 'Disney parks music' on Youtube, there are loads of playlists on there with area music loops and general background music from the parks

Thanks so much Katie! You're the best! I know what I'm doing with my Friday night haha.

 

[blklotus]

We disembarked, and I cheerfully dragged a slightly disgruntled Jamie over to Diagon Alley!

OHMYGOSH! Why didn't you ride the Hogwarts Express over? It's SO AMAZING, and different both ways! We ended up getting stuck with a slightly stinky family once, though, and that was...less than desirable. I am also obsessed with the Wizarding World so even that couldn't totally ruin the experience. I have about a million pics from when we were there in February, and about four times a day I want to eat butterbeer ice cream.

 

[beckyx3]

Hey friends!!!!
So it’s been almost a month since my last update, but I’m back!
I’ve been super busy studying for exams and writing essays. But the worst of it is over, and I’m so excited to be back on the DIS!
I can’t believe that we will be back at Disney in LESS THAN FOUR MONTHS!
I’ve promised myself that this trip report WILL be finished by the time I go!
So let’s get this rolling again!!

Ahhh I know the feeling! Halfway through my semester my professor just up and disappeared so it's been really chaotic. It's almost over but I only have about 10 days from the end until my next semester starts

(I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet, but we’d brought some Kellogg’s cereal variety packs from home that we had for breakfast each morning. This is one of my favourite travel tips!)

That's a great tip! I was thinking about doing something like that for this trip. Maybe cliff bars or something.

“In 2012 we also had a bad experience with the Mears shuttle bus that took us to Universal from Port Orleans Riverside.
It was cheap at $20 each return, but it seemed to take aaaaaaaaaages to get there.
I think we got the shuttle at about 9:30am. Between picking people up from a bunch of other resorts, and dropping off at Sea World, Discovery Cove AND Aquatica, we didn't get to Universal until around 11:30am!”

Well I’m pleased to say that this was a much better experience!

That's great to hear you had a better experience this time! I guess it all depends on how many people they're picking up and what parks everyone's going to?

(Raise your hand if you're excited for Jurassic World this summer... )

(Again, raise your hand if you're excited for the Full House reboot - Fuller House!!... )

After our tasty lunch we headed back to Marvel Island to look for a t-shirt for Jamie. He’s a big Marvel fan!

Huge Marvel fan over here! I was never interested until Disney bought Marvel but everything they do is awesome! It's so much fun. Ricky is not a fan though

And we saw some cool decorations for Halloween Horror Nights!

Halloween Horror Nights always sounds awesome but that stuff scares me so bad. I wish you could just walk through during the day even though that completely makes it lose it's purpose

Gr8 update

 

[BibbitybobityLu]

I know how you feel-I am so far behind on everything! I have been trying to get this reply done for three days!! I'll get there in the end!

Of course, the first thing I did when I got up was take more photos from the balcony

(Yes, I’m obsessed.)

You say that like it's a bad thing!

OMG! This photo??!! So perfect!

I headed back to the room to get Jamie up and ready (like the toddler that he is).

(I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet, but we’d brought some Kellogg’s cereal variety packs from home that we had for breakfast each morning. This is one of my favourite travel tips!)

I totally do this too! DF always looks at me like I am a lunatic but he is always the one he polishes them off the second we get somewhere!

I also had a couple of the Grand Floridian chocolates that we’d been given yesterday!

Grand Floridian CHOCOLATES?!?!?! Best thing EVER!

Whilst our driver was sorting out our payments and return tickets, I realised…

I’D LEFT OUR UNIVERSAL TICKETS IN THE ROOM.

My reaction when I realised:

I’d forgotten about my “no bags at Universal” rule, so I had a bag to lock away before every ride.

Face-palm!

Urg! I hated having a bag at Universal! Those lockers are awful! After we got off the Mummy ride we went to get our bags out and the stupid thing wouldn't open! We had to wait forty minutes to get someone to open it!

The Hogwarts castle is SO BEAUTIFUUUUL.

I bet the big guys at Disney are kicking themselves for letting this go to Universal!!

I have to admit that they did good with this....not that I actually have any idea what it should look like!
I don't really understand the whole Harry Potter thing....please don't hurt me!
But it does all look really cool! And your photos are awesome!

Dis-folk, please hear my cries.
Do anything you can to not bring a bag to Universal!!!
Last week we had everything shoved into our pockets. It was a little uncomfortable, but SO worth it!

Preach it sister!

(Raise your hand if you're excited for Jurassic World this summer... )

*puts both arms in the air*

That photo is brilliant!

But OF COURSE while we were still walking towards our seats, the woman on the end who had sat down pulled the lap bar down and rammed it hard into the side of Jamie’s leg!

We obviously could have laughed this off, but this woman just turned away and completely ignored us, and didn’t apologise or anything!

Urg! People like that are the worst. Seriously people!

(Again, raise your hand if you're excited for the Full House reboot - Fuller House!!... )

*Raises own arms and everyone else* *Jumps up and down until its on Netflix*
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello Uncle Jesse...

But unfortunately, we were fooled once again by the fries/chips/crisps language barrier!!!

We ordered our sandwiches and the guy asked us if we wanted chips with them.

In our British minds, chips = fries. So we excitedly said YES PLEASE. Only to be presented with, what we would call CRISPS. AKA, potato chips.

FACEPALM!

I feel your pain. Also this happens one someone offers me a biscuit in America....and they give me something akin to a scone. When I was expecting a chocolate digestive! Not the same thing!

However, I DO remember that there were dogs barking CONSTANTLY throughout it, because we were sat right next to the fire hydrant water feature that has a bunch of dogs playing in it!)

That is too cute!

As you can see, this is an IRON Man shirt.

But, you know… That slogan works too I guess..?!

Edit: As @pkondz has pointed out, Iron Man's suit is not actually made of iron.
Jamie also acknowledged this at the time, but also said he was pretty certain it wasn't made of steel either.

Regardless, we found it amusing, because surely the slogan:

"My boyfriend's abs are made of iron!"
goes better with a picture of Iron Man

than the slogan:

"My boyfriend's abs are made of steel!"

.... and a seemingly random picture of Iron Man..

It just doesn't make much sense.

Especially since Man of Steel is Superman....you would think they would get there superheroes right

As we left Islands of Adventure we had a little look around another store, and Jamie fell in love with this giant minion!

Screw the shipping cost I would buy that sucker!

Side story: A couple of years ago we went to a theme park here in England called Alton Towers, and Jamie spent a FORTUNE winning THIS GUY.

OMG did you see that crash on The Smiler?!?! How freaking scary is that?!

We thought this minion looked slightly like Walter White?!

Its a lucrative biz you know...

THIS IS ADORABLE!!!

(He’s 17 and loves it with no shame )

Boy after my own heart!

Most are questionable, but the following one inside the Simpsons ride is extremely blatant!!

I cheered a huge “OMG YAAAAY!!!”

Jamie looked at my score, AND HE WAS HORRIFIED.

You gotta be careful these guys are super sensitive if you beat them at something typically guy related...DF HATES it when I beat him on one of his precious video games! He will throw a major sulk! So mature! I don't even like them! That makes it worse....

Jamie was so mad. He said “WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME TO DO THAT!”

And I was just like “Dude, why on earth would I tell you”

It was GREAT.

Ah true love! Who said romance is dead!​

 

[deannaf87]

Hahhahaha THE RED BUTTON. I remember riding that ride with my parents and sister in 2002 and I was the only one who heard the red button dialogue. They were all so shocked that my score was so high. The red button is legit.

 

[Leshaface]

Whoa this is really cool!

I headed back to the room to get Jamie up and ready (like the toddler that he is).

Yep I've got a couple of toddlers myself

Whilst our driver was sorting out our payments and return tickets, I realised…

I’D LEFT OUR UNIVERSAL TICKETS IN THE ROOM.

My reaction when I realised:

Oh my gosh, I would have FREAKED! Thank goodness no one cared that you needed to run back to get them!

I bet the big guys at Disney are kicking themselves for letting this go to Universal!!

Seriously. Could you imagine if Disney had this??

Dis-folk, please hear my cries.
Do anything you can to not bring a bag to Universal!!!
Last week we had everything shoved into our pockets. It was a little uncomfortable, but SO worth it!

This would be really, really hard for me honestly. These are my necessities: Phone (already has a camera in it that is suitable enough), chapstick/lip gloss, gum, water bottle, credit card, ID, hand sanitizer and sunglass case All this fits in a small purse but definitely not my pockets. OH and DH always gives me his wallet to hold.

(Raise your hand if you're excited for Jurassic World this summer... )

I'm sooooo excited for it!

Jamie and I were able to mimic one of our favourite videos:

Okay did not expect that

And the real music that plays really excites me.
I’m actually listening to it as I write this, and it’s making me smile!

Yep the music is seriously the best! I'd die if Dinosaur at AK could play Jurassic's background music I'd sit there all day on a bench and just listen

I’ll definitely be filming a bit of atmosphere when I go this year!

Ooh yay!

I can see his neck seams!That's just terrible.

We decided to skip the two water rides here because we were already soaked.

But wouldn't that be the best time to ride it?!

This tripped me out for a second I was like, wow what upper body strength to do this!

(Again, raise your hand if you're excited for the Full House reboot - Fuller House!!... )

I feel that me, you and @BibbitybobityLu could form a Fuller House Club with how excited we all are

Oh this just looks too good. Ughhh

Edit: As @pkondz has pointed out, Iron Man's suit is not actually made of iron.
Jamie also acknowledged this at the time, but also said he was pretty certain it wasn't made of steel either.

Regardless, we found it amusing, because surely the slogan:

"My boyfriend's abs are made of iron!"
goes better with a picture of Iron Man

than the slogan:

"My boyfriend's abs are made of steel!"

.... and a seemingly random picture of Iron Man..

It just doesn't make much sense.

He LOVES giant plush toys.

Who doesn't love giant plush toys?! Freaks, that's who.

Oh my gosh that's massive. Do you still have it?? I feel if/when you guys get married one day, your house will be filled with large stuffed plushes and neither of you will seem to mind!

I need one of these in my life.

So I gambled with my life.

And I pushed the red button…

And BOOM…

100,000 BONUS POINTS!!!

Jamie was so mad. He said “WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME TO DO THAT!”

And I was just like “Dude, why on earth would I tell you”

This is great! Gosh, men are so competitive with us ladies. I think it's cause we do everything good and they feel at games it's the only chance they got...and then we go and take that away from them. Like a true boss!

 

[BibbitybobityLu]

I feel that me, you and @BibbitybobityLu could form a Fuller House Club with how excited we all are

Erm...YES!! Where do I join??

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Erm...YES!! Where do I join??

I'm also in for the Fuller House club.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

No bags at Universal is definitely the way to go.

The water rides at Universal are DEFINATELY no joke. Splash Mountain is a light sprinkle compared to the US water rides!

Your sandwiches from Blondie's look really good! If that potato salad is anything like the potato salad at the Boulangerie at US, I will agree that it is VERY good.

Oh, that Iron Man shirt... FAIL, Universal, EPIC FAIL.

Hooray for pushing the red button!!! Whomever pushes it always seems to win!

 

[Tardisblue]

I can't believe I read the whole thing...

Holy Crap! Insane amount of detail, kudos. Really enjoyed reading it, how do you get time/money to do these extended stays and not at any rinky-dink hotels either!?

 

[HikingBelle]

Dis-folk, please hear my cries.
Do anything you can to not bring a bag to Universal!!!
Last week we had everything shoved into our pockets. It was a little uncomfortable, but SO worth it!

Love the update! And thanks for the pro tip.

 

[purplelover88]

I'm a little behind on commenting but I'm here and can't wait to finish reading about your trip

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

Hi sister! I think we have both been neglecting our time on the DIS
I'm late to reply too! But loved the last update! I OFFICIALLY HAVE MY NEXT TRIP PLANNED!!! Which I am pretty sure you saw on FB already but it gave me an excuse to type in all caps and use that awesome dancing smiley emoji guy I am trying to decide if I want to do a day at Universal/IOA - I really want to see the new Diagon Alley and all that and I think Jacob would love the Seuss land and Despicable Me and Spongebob stuff BUT, I am only going for 7 days and I don't really know if I want to leave the Disney bubble. Decisions decisions! Your pics aren't helping, because the HP stuff looks so amazing! But look at my ticker - obviously I don't have enough time to decide LOL

Wouldn't it be BRILLIANT (oh there I go with my British slang again) if you were there in Dec 2016? And we just so happened to meet up? I know you're already going in Sept so that's most likely not a possibility but I just thought I'd throw that out there

Looking forward to the next installment and seeing more Disney stuff! Oh and more Grand Floridian! Because I can never get enough of that gorgeous place I don't get to stay there but my wonderful parents are loaning me some DVC points for my trip and Jacob and I will be staying in a studio at Bay Lake Towers - I am excited about that because I am in love with the location and the look of the rooms. Should be great!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Simpsons have done some great parodies of Disney over the years. "Soarin' over Springfield" was a pretty obvious one, and the closing credits of that episode played very similar music

Haha, I need to check out Soarin' over Springfield! The Simpsons cracks me up so much I love the one with the monorail, me and Jamie always sing the song when we're on the WDW monorails

OMG thank goodness you remembered you'd forgotten your tickets before you left the GF!

I'm loving how quiet Universal was, we're venturing over there for the first time next September so fingers crossed it's that quiet for us too

How funny about the red button

I know!!! Imagine if we'd arrived at Universal before we realised we didn't have our tickets... UGH that makes me feel anxious just thinking about it!!

Yay I hope you enjoy Universal! And yes, remember to listen out for him telling you to push the red button!

WOW, you totally deserve a Jolly Holiday. Might I suggest WDW and DLP?

Oh that's right, how could I forget?

My mantra!

And have no fear. Your pictures in and around the Grand are fabulous, so I totally get taking as many as possible.

Oh my goodness, I would have freaked!!! On a prior trip, I've had a travel partner leave her ticket in the car in the Universal Parkade, but that wasn't anywhere near what this could have been. Can you imagine discovering this when you arrive? Oh my that would be rough.

I always wonder about this. Just think, Disney could have had this AND at the same time kept Universal from getting it. I'm kind of glad that Universal did though. Competition is a good thing.

Best. Advice. Ever.

Super excited for Jurassic World and SUPER DUPER EXCITED for the Kong attraction.

Um.... No.

Well, you know the old saying... Nothing says True Love like giant stuffed toys.

OMG Heisenberg!!!!

I miss Horror Nights.

YES!!!!! ALWAYS PUSH THE RED BUTTON!!!!!

MISS YOU ROB!

Love the Universal updates! Glad you had a better time on Mears this time.

I haven't been to Universal since 1996! It's on my must do list in the next few years!

Thanks, I'm glad you've enjoyed them so far! Universal has changed so much (for the better, in my opinion), I really hope you get to go soon!

That's wonderful, thank you!! Where are you guys staying on your next trip?

No problem! We'll be at the Poly in September It's our first time staying there - I'm so excited!! From your ticker I'm assuming you'll be at the Wilderness Lodge soon?! I'd love to stay there one day too!