Pretrippin' 2016: Keep your ears open for funny quotes!

[LowesChevy]

Walt Disney World is one of those places that you will hear people say the craziest things. No joke!

Make way...

So a little background

I did not write a post trip report from last year’s visit-2015, but it was an awesome trip. We have had some family issues and I never got fully in the mood to let me keyboard come alive after we returned home. It had been a tough year, but the three of us (DM, DF, & I) are all incredibly excited to go as things have calmed down. Nothing is more terrifying than not knowing what to expect in life, but we have learned that we can face any battle and prevail.

We are DVC members and travel to Florida every year from PA. We dove into DVC when BLT was announced-perfect location and great financial sense for us being 8-10 day trippers and deluxe resort lovers. BLT has been great, it has its issues: sometimes rooms are not ready at 4 or 5 PM once or twice, but we have been able to obtain something for our inconvenience each time. In 2012 we had bed bugs in our 2 bdr unit at BLT—that was a fun one. Click on my profile and there should be a trip report link from that year about it—no lie. One of the worst things that has ever happened to us on vacation, but things happen. Some things are beyond your control and no amount of planning can prepare you for that. We still love Disney and have for over 30 years!

We have received some great news that we will have 4 extra guests next year for our trip! My brother, nephews and sister in law will be joining, so that makes our hearts very happy. Can’t wait to start that one too J

Here’s the plan…for the 3 of us

September 21st Drive to CLE to stay overnight and catch flight the next morning.

September 22nd-25th Universal: Royal Pacific Resort

Park to park visits

Take a drive down the old Space Coast Highway some afternoon

September 25th-28th Bay Lake Tower

September 28th-Oct 2nd Beach Club Resort



Next up the day to day!

 

[LowesChevy]

The Universal Side of the story--working on my Pre trip report for our first leg at Universal, which you can catch here...

http://disboards.com/threads/universal-studios-pregamming-september-2016.3537300/

 

[LowesChevy]

Wednesday the 21st

I plan to work a half day in the morning, maybe till 1. DF will probably want to roll about 3:30-4 PM. It will be rush hour, but there isn’t much to do if we leave too early and we certainly don’t want to be driving much in the dark. I’m going to be that kid who has to drive their parents around at night because they are getting too old to see lol!

The tradition has been to drive to Cleveland the evening before because the flight is usually very early in the morning! Like 7:30 AM, but it has since been pushed back to around 8:30 or 9 AM. It is a relief to be able to sleep a little longer in the morning. It is only about an hour later-better than waking up at 4:30 AM. We find our excitement is difficult to contain and with such an early wake up, DM and I never really fall into a deep sleep knowing it is an early wake up. I don’t know if anyone else has this problem, I mean what a problem to have right?! Not complaining! The drive is almost 2 hours by the time you get to the airport hotel, but it beats having a close connection. Traveling is stressful enough, a direct flight is superb. This is the only thing I dread about moving to Arizona—much more challenging getting to WDW!

We visit a mall to shop, often we don’t buy anything because it is purely for entertainment, but if there is a Nordstrom or Dillard’s around look out credit cards! Being Pooh sized and living in a small city like Erie, the department stores do not offer the selection that CLE or PIT has. Every once and a while a stop at the Florida Mall is a fun diversion for an afternoon, but anymore going off property isn’t needed. The expansion of Disney Springs will definitely damper on the need to leave—good for Disney! Dinner is usually at Bravo or Cheesecake Factory-chain places we do not have in town.

Get a good night’s sleep for action for tomorrow!

Get ready the arrival day plan

 

[LowesChevy]

I never feel completely relaxed until those wheels hit the runway in Orlando!

Arrival Day: September 22nd

-Fly into MCO-flight from CLE is usually around 2 hours
-Get bags & rental car
-Head to Miller’s Ale House for lunch. No doubt these beasts will be ravenous. Breakfast is coffee and a donut from Dunkin’ or a bagel sandwich from Bruegger’s at the airport. I carry a lot of snacks too because you never know when you will get stuck or delayed, plus I am diabetic. Items that travel well like beef jerky, Kind Bars and dried apricots hold well and don’t get squished or crushed from travel. Miller’s Ale House is a joint on International Drive that we discovered many years ago. They have a huge beer selection, which DF loves of course, and a menu with many choices including fresh fish, fried shrimp, burgers, sandwiches and lots of other goodies.
-Check in at Royal Pacific-room probably won’t be ready, but get plastic tickets and photos taken for Express Pass. Maybe take a dip at the pool if the room is ready or take the boat to City Walk for a relaxing beverage at Margaritaville.
-Dinner will probably be at Antojitos. Despite some service issues the last time, the food is awesome as far as I’m concerned. We are are big on Tex Mex and Mexican food so a big hit with us.

Originally I had planned on getting 3 day park passes, but the more I thought about it-2 days is plenty. That is 2 days of early entry and the express pass for most attractions, we should be able to do everything we wish in 2 days. I’m past the “rollercoasters are fun!” age lol, the Mummy and Potter rides will jolt my body around enough! Only going every other year has helped build up the excitement even more.



September 23rd

-Get up and grab quick breakfast at the lounge and head to Universal
-Minion Mayhem then head to Diagon Alley
-Head towards MIB, Springfield etc
-check out T2 or Make Up Show
-lunch at Mel’s Drive In
-Transformers
-Ride Hogwart’s Express to IOA
-See where the afternoon takes us. DF wants to take a drive down Irlo Bronson/Hwy 192 to see how things have changed. Disney does a great job keeping folks on property we hardly ever cruise around anymore. Plus with length of stay tickets and our APs we might as well be at the parks.
-We may pop over to Disney Springs to activate our Annual Passes & purchase TIW, one less thing to do Sunday before heading to the MK. It takes some time and Guest Services there is air conditioned!

Dinner: still deciding between

Hard Rock-always a classic. I love drinks at the Hard Rock when we are near one. The food is good too—maybe more for lunch with appetizers
NBC Sports Grill –something for everyone-chain restaurant food
Bubba Gump-if it’s not crazy busy. We will probably eat at the one at Mall of America when we go to visit my brother and nephews in December’ish
CowFish-looks interesting-DM is picky about her burgers and she doesn’t eat fish…so not likely
Toothsome-looks weird
Emeril’s- there will be plenty of $30-$40 entrees at Disney-I will pass
Margaritaville-the one location that the food is decent (Key West they only worried about drinking haha) We went last time and had great service despite it being homecoming dance night for a local high schoolVivo-eating at Mama Della’s tomorrow night. Love Italian, but not that much!

That is one aspect about Universal I like-no need to plan 180 days ahead of time. Although when everyone is tired, cranky, hungry and can’t decide where to eat on a rainy night it stinks then! From past experiences I can tell you J


September 24th

-Grab breakfast at the lounge again and head right to IOA
-Head for Hogsmeade
-Spiderman, Kong, Suessland
-Ride Hogwarts Express back to Universal
-Back to CityWalk for pizza lunch at Red Oven, which was great the last time we dined there/Or Hard Rock for lunch
-Rest a bit at the room quick
-DF and I go back to the parks. DM will probably want to nap. Plus because of HHN the parks aren’t open late for us.
-Dinner at Mama Della’s at Portofino-hopefully it is not raining!



September 25th

-Have some breakfast, pack up and head to Disney!!

 

[LowesChevy]

Tickets

Still have not bought park tickets yet, not that there is a rush. Another perk of Universal Parks is the more laid back planning. However, when you buy a Disney package you arrive on your vacation paid in full, so that has perks too. I purchased our APs in July, so I have had time to recover from that expense. I’d rather be paid in full before I arrive so you know how much you can spend on souvenirs, meals and extras etc.

I am debating on whether or not to buy them via my AMEX card, which gives you access to a lounge at Universal Park or just to buy them with another card. Seems neat—looking forward to the DVC lounge at Epcot too. Although with AMEX you have to pay the balance at the end of the month, which I have the cash, but do I want to have to pay it out before the trip. It is open from 12-5 PM so not sure if we would actually need to get to use it really. The 10% on park merchandise is a great perk for me, so that be all I need.

Plane tickets are set. As I mentioned above we should arrive around 10:30-11:00 AM more than likely. The prices were only slightly higher than what we paid last year. Not a bad deal in my opinion. The flight times are convenient for us and we do not need to depart too early on Sunday. Like departure day, having to wake up early is a drag because you miss out on some later night fun. Later morning is the perfect time for us-2 hours in the plane, then about a 2 hour ride back to Erie.

Rental car—DF decided on a full size sedan. We like to rent mini vans, since they tend to have captain’s chairs for the 3rd adult, but being Orlando, the capital of family vacations, they cost waaay to much. A full sized sedan will be plenty of room and hit the right price.

Packing-it is a bit too early for laying out a lot of clothes. My aunt is coming to spend the night tomorrow and my little cousins will undoubtedly want to spend the night before school starts. My house is a happening place! I did on the other hand start planning out what camera equipment I’m going to bring along with me. Not a professional by any means, but I have taken some classes and workshops and learned many techniques. I also visit a number of blogs and sites to get tips and practice.

Other than that just watching that calendar!

 

[LowesChevy]

Working for the weekend…

The work day is nearly over for me and boy have I been looking forward to the weekend! My soccer match is earlier tonight so I can go to bed early. You know you are old when one of the earliest nights to bed during the week is Friday!

Requested the ponchos on the daily run to Walmart today, so those will be set. Gathering toiletries and other accessories for the pack pile in the spare room for now. The forecast is for hot, hot, hot around here, not unusual, but surprising. A few more dips in the pool in the coming weeks before it is time to close it up for the season.

We have our annual garage sale coming up the week after Labor Day weekend. That is always a good spare change fund raiser for the trip, plus a general decluttering of the house is helpful before fall.

I made little FP+ & ADR cheat sheets for the trip. I thought maybe I would make a little armband like quarterbacks wear for their play calling. I don’t know about you guys, but sometimes the MDE app doesn’t work as fast as it should for me. I think the concept is great, but the execution suffers at times. I should know the times in and out, but I am on vacation to relax too!

Everyone have a great weekend!

 

[LowesChevy]

Made it through another week and this one has a long weekend at the end of it. Twenty days to go and starting to feel it!

There is a lot of busy work to complete this weekend. Our garage sale is next weekend, so we need to sort through a lot of items that need to be sold. I have some older cookbooks to price and other items that can’t be sold on ebay reasonably. Hoping to make some dough for a new wide angle lens before we leave, but we’ll see! Maybe I want a new camera for Christmas J

We have a local kitchen ware supply store that offers knife sharpening once a month, so that’s where I will be headed tomorrow morning. It is a great service-otherwise this chef would have to send her babies out of town to be sharpened. On the way back, Debs (DM) and I will stop at Sam’s for a few items and grab a few packs of Disney gift cards with the discount. It is a nice little perk-a couple of bucks is a couple of bucks!

Last year was the first time I ever played fantasy football and it was a lot of fun. I know I can do much better this year at least. I think our draft is Sunday morning, then we have a birthday party later that night.

Not anything big planned for Monday. Probably swim in the pool as the days are winding down around here for that! Looks like a honey of a weekend-beautiful weather for us. I plan to spend some time outside this weekend—I tend to like to spend most of my time indoors, but before winter starts to take hold, I need to get my butt outside. DM and I have been walking at night to get us ready for the trip so that helps too.

Taco salad for dinner and soccer tonight on the agenda. Tomorrow we are into the teens!!! Everyone have a safe holiday

 

[LowesChevy]

15 to go…

It is hard to believe that we drive to Cleveland two weeks from today!!! We received our MBs yesterday—I ordered them for our BC reservation because DM really likes purple otherwise I would have declined them like the BLT reservation. No AP ones since I we haven’t technically activated them yet, but next time. I used old ones on my Disney Christmas tree as ornaments so they get their use.

Praying for good weather Saturday for our yard sale, but the forecast is for rain at times. Hopefully not a good old fashioned Erie wash out weekend yikes. I have set some old cookbooks out I no longer need; some older cell phone cases since some folks have given their older devices to their kids or use them mainly for music etc; clothing items; and a number of household items from my grandmother’s house that need to go to new homes. The extra cash and free space will be lovely.

Looking over the monorail schedule and being annoyed by the resort monorail not operating till 8:30 when you have 7:45 AM breakfast ressies at Kona 2 mornings. Well what can I do? Maybe the monorail will actually be running early, take a cab or just drive over. I can’t worry about too much at this point. What is frustrating is that folks here on the boards know more about the schedule than many of the CMs!

The airport hotel ressie is made, just need to rent a car and make a reservation for Mama Della’s. Vacation life is good, work life is insane right now! NFL season is a huge season for us with printing pitchers and cups. It is a great problem to have, but boy I can’t wait to get out of here for a while too!


Check in with you all again soon! Ta ta

 

[LowesChevy]

6 days to go!



Friday afternoon’s are hard to begin with, but there is much light at the end of the tunnel. LFC plays this afternoon as a rematch to the Pasadena pre season match we caught in July. Its’ gonna be nervy!



I have my pedicure tomorrow at noon and I am going to have my stylist paint my nails red and paint little black Mickey heads from the bottom corners. I saw it on Pinterest of course-everything on there is fun! I’ve also been pinning some photography tips and must have shots.



Dad and I will do online check in and I will finally purchase them Universal tickets later today. My soccer match isn’t till later tonight. In the meantime I can print the CM appreciation cards and prepare a folder that I place paper copies of all of our reservations in just in case there is an issue of some sort. Royal Pacific Concierge sent me a lovely email with their services and food offerings during our stay. We have also received our Welcome emails from Disney about our upcoming stay at BLT. I’m sure the Beach Club will forward one soon as well.



The forecast looks hot and rainy. Sounds like a normal forecast for September. It has poured rain on numerous trips, sometimes it lasts, but normally it rains and gets more muggy. Last year one of our last days was pretty much a washout, but we went for it and hit the shows at Epcot. We finally were soaked pretty well through our ponchos and headed back to the resort, but you’ve got to make the best of it when you can’t go as often as you would like. Wet socks and shoes are usually what will drive me crazy and if those underwear get soaked time to find something else to do lol! hopefully it’s the usual rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon followed by a clear up in the sky.



Also time to get everything else that needs to be packed, charged, or filled done. Everyone have a great weekend and I will check in with you Monday!

 

[LowesChevy]

Happy Monday!!

At least it is for me! I am wired-the excitement has gone to my brain and made it forget about everything else. Well it tried at least!

The weekend was good-Saturday I had my toes done and got bright red with little Mickey Heads to be more festive. The weather was lousy, but we didn’t really have anything planned besides errands, so no big loss. Yesterday we celebrated my twin cousin’s birthday and their kids and all of my little second cousins came over to swim, eat cake, and enjoy food out of crock pots. ‘Tis the season for crock pots. They got probably the last swim in the pool before we close it up. It is a little iffy this time of year since it does stay warm for another couple of weeks. It has been a hot summer so no complaints.

Yesterday I also printed out CM appreciation cards and HOPEFULLY I will use them all! Last year was great overall, but 2014 I did not have many good reasons to award CM appreciation cards. They are fun and I think the majority of the CMs get really excited that someone takes the time to say thank you. I certainly would.

Finally, I bought the Universal tickets last night as well. Printed them out and handed off to DF for safe keeping in his folder. I need to organize my folder, but everything is coming together. Need to charge my current camera battery and pack up the camera carry on. The back ups are charged, but I was playing around Friday with the fish eye and manual focus.

Mom and I have our meditation this evening, so we will be tied up. However I imagine I won’t be able to sleep the next few nights, so I can still get some things done tonight. Bras and shorts are what remain on the clothes list! Those are two items I do not have an excess of, so I have to wait till right before the trip. We will have laundry at Bay Lake Tower and we tend to plan the trip with a laundry break in the middle. Mom and I always over pack, but I would rather have more than not enough! Especially with the heat, our outfits don’t last too long and in the evening we usually at least change our shirts before dinner.

Looking forward to our evening in Cleveland too! I need to stop at Penzey’s for some spices-stock up for the holiday. I also requested a stop at Crate and Barrel, which is right by where we will grab dinner, so no biggie. I need some dimpled beer mugs and they have a great selection of glassware to choose from in store.

Time is ticking…check in with you soon!

 

[LowesChevy]

So sitting here are work trying to remain calm. It has slowed down here and did get a few big projects rolling this week, now I won't feel so bad! only working a half day--if I stay or come back after lunch, you always feel like there is something to do and never leave.

Soon--Off to the chiropractor and then hair stylist. I didn't intend to wait so long for my hair cut, but I was lucky not to burn in AZ in July! I should be ok, just need to grab my hat if the sun is out for long periods of time.

Then home for some lunch and finish up packing the carry on and suitcases. I need to erase some shows off my DVR so it doesn't go into overload. We have Time Warner, or whatever their name is this week, and the box holds so many shows, but it starts to act goofy if it gets near 60% capacity. Like what's the point then? Well I am rambling...see you all very soon. I will be working on my trip report of course and don't forget to follow along on Instagram @theerikagrimm Thanks for noticing!