Pre-Trip Report - Countdown to DC & BG trip!

[czycropper]

WHO: Me, and my 11 & 9 year old DDs-all beach/water and roller coaster (DH is staying home with our new rescue golden retriever & renovating our powder room-hey, it will keep him busy )

WHAT: Trip to Florida to visit my 90-year old Dad in Clearwater, go to Discovery Cove and Busch Gardens

WHEN: Friday, May 22nd - Wednesday, May 27th

This is a surprise trip to see my Dad down in Florida. My DDs don't have the slightest idea that we're going since I have kept silent which has been the hardest thing I've done in a longgggggggggg time. Yep, I'm one of those real big planners that consults the family then makes the "best" decision usually one that in the end turns out to be the best but not everyone agrees at first

Ok! so all our clothes are in a box ready to be shipped and I can't wait!!!! I'm shipping most of our clothes, beach towels & snorkel gear to my Dad so all we have to do is have carry-ons.

So here's the schedule as it stands right now (any comments are appreciated):

Friday, May 22nd - Unfortunately just found out that my DDs don't have school that day because they didn't use all their snow days, so.....I'm going to pack the last minute stuff while they are watching TV downstairs, sneak the carry-ons out to the car while they are taking the dog for a walk, have them dress nicely by telling them that we're having lunch with DH at a nice restaurant near his office and to bring their purses since we may have to go shopping afterwards - yep, I'm already teaching them to shop , pick up my DH and he'll drive us to the airport. Once we get to the airport is when they'll be told that we're going to see Paw-Paw!

Saturday, May 23rd - beach day and dinner with some college friends.

Sunday, May 24th - get them up REALLY early and drive to Discovery Cove. This will again be a surprise. My youngest DD LOVES dolphins so I can't wait to see her face . Then the other surprise is dinner with some of my distant cousins.

Here's a question for y'all - should I get a hotel room for after DC since we're going to be eating with family afterwards? I'm not sure what to do. Any advice is greatly appreciated....

Monday, May 25th (Memorial Day) - another beach day. I love the fact that my Dad's condo is right on the beach so we won't have to drive just walk across the street

Tuesday, May 26th - Busch Gardens day and the 4th surprise - we're meeting a neighbor & her DD is a classmate of my DD11 that day at the park. I'm still working on what to do first at the park so any recommendations for BG experts would be great! We are all coaster fanatics. Both DDs can ride the big coasters - we rode Gryffon at BG-Williamsburg a few weeks ago - my DDs rode it least 4 times a couple of those times in the front row!

Wednesday, May 27th - beach in the morning, flight is late afternoon.

Thanks for reading and giving any/all comments!

 

[Tillikumtrainer]

Great job, I have already suscribed so I cant wait to hear abour your fun, I am doing one myself im leaving in six days:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=31713167#post31713167

 

[tampaman]

A couple of thoughts:

1 - Make sure you plan the driving well. Clearwater is quite a bit west of Tampa, so make sure you check your times on that. And traffic can be crazy at the rush hours, so avoid it if you can. Sounds like you should be ok though. BTW - this shouldn't be a problem to/from Clearwater but avoid I-275 from the bridge into airport & downtown because the construction is terrible.

2 - Busch Gardens is awesome for coaster people. Get there a little before opening time and go straight to Mantu since you can walk on first thing and get in the front row. I would ride twice if you can handle it. Then take the Skyride to Sheikra and ride as much as you can handle. Then I would hit the water rides before they get busy. You will be left with long waits for Gwazi and Rhino Rally due to slow queue lines, but honestly Rhino Rally isn't very good. I would do the animals and such later in the day while the lines are longer.

You could also hit Gwazi then Sheikra and go back for Montu after the water rides if you prefer. Montu doesn't have bad lines but I love the front row and you can ride the skyride afterward instead of walking to Sheikra like everyone else. Its a long hike from the front of the park to Sheikra and sometimes BG will do a staggered opening and open Sheikra at 9:30 or 10am.

 

[czycropper]

tampaman - thanks for the advice I'm sure that my DDs are going to want to ride Shekira & Mantu as many times as they can

Quick question - my Dad is actually in N. Reddington Beach - how's the traffic getting over to Tampa from there?

9 days & counting