PTR: A Spring Fling on the Dark Side ...2 Muggles Celebrate in Diagon Alley!

[pigletto]

Oh I'm sorry friend, that sounds like an awful day!!! I've had them.. the ones where you are pretty sure you should have just stayed in bed.
I'm not surprised Jake's car was stuck. All of the side streets and parking lots around here look pretty much the same. We didn't get our road plowed until around supper time today. Quite a few folks got stuck today just trying to get up the hill.

I hope tomorrow is much better for you!!

ETA) Oh and I count the day we leave for the airport hotel as day one too!! It's always the most exciting day of the trip!

 

[Lynne G]

Yep, we had freezing rain on Monday, then freezing rain and snow today. Right now it's below freezing, so nothing is moving either. I had to scrape my car three times now, each time it was covered in ice. Funny, you could see rain drops frozen on the hood.

Well my kids are voting more and more for cruising. At first we were going to go out of California, but no lines generally go in August from California. So, now we are looking at leaving from Florida or Puerto Rico. I was thinking more like Alaska, but the prices to fly there are pricey. So, I still have my Universal AP, maybe we'll fly into Orlando, spend a few days at Universal, then either drive to PC or Miami and cruise. Hmmm, I like to plan, but right now, with DD's schedule not yet known, I hate to make any concrete plans. Though I just paid for her soccer club this year, and taxes are due, both income and property, so what we may be doing may be what's left from all the payments.

Hope your day was better. We not only are below freezing still, the wind is making the windows whistle. Yes, the thought of nicer weather is getting stronger.

Can't believe your trip is not that far away now. Wahoo!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Well, the morning has started out a little less stressful than yesterday. Steve is back at work today (still not feeling 100%, but better). Jake made it to and from his classes without either getting stuck in the snow or locking his keys in the car. The boss is smiling and less testy. I have had time to take a breath between tasks this morning. Must be the sunshine .

I am trying to find some time to go over our tentative plans for which park to visit on each day. I hesitate to even use the word "plans", because we love being flexible (and our AP's will let us move park to park at or leisure), but still.....we need a bit of a sense of direction. I thought I had it all worked out until I noticed that Undercover Tourist had a crowd calendar with recommended parks. Comparing it against the DIBB's busy day guide noted some conflicting recommendations....so now I'm not sure if my original plans are the best or not . Muddying the water even further is that five of our 8 days are listed as "slow" by Orlando Informer and at the cheapest price point for Express Passes, meaning Universal is expecting lower crowds during that time as well. So maybe it doesn't even matter which park we go to on which day?

The Queen of Overthinking . That would be me.

I am also starting to pay a little more attention to car rental prices, now that we are just over 11 weeks out (wow, that sounds better than 79 days!). We are currently holding a Dollar reservation for a full size for $165 USD taxes included. Steve really, really wants Alamo, but so far, they're at least $50 off that price (plus 25% or more exchange).....so not doable just yet. We've only ever used Alamo and Budget, so Dollar is a bit of an unknown for us....which is why, I guess, we're a little more hesitant to give it a try.

Steve and I were chatting the other day while we were enjoying a dip in the Y pool (it tends to be a great opportunity for our vacation planning conversations) and I was surprised (and freakishly delighted) to hear him mention how excited he was for the character meets at Universal. The Uni characters (Dr. Doom, Spiderman, etc.) are much more his style than Mickey Mouse and the princesses . I hope we can get a whole bunch more of fun pics, like these:



79 days!!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Yep, we had freezing rain on Monday, then freezing rain and snow today. Right now it's below freezing, so nothing is moving either. I had to scrape my car three times now, each time it was covered in ice. Funny, you could see rain drops frozen on the hood.

Well my kids are voting more and more for cruising. At first we were going to go out of California, but no lines generally go in August from California. So, now we are looking at leaving from Florida or Puerto Rico. I was thinking more like Alaska, but the prices to fly there are pricey. So, I still have my Universal AP, maybe we'll fly into Orlando, spend a few days at Universal, then either drive to PC or Miami and cruise. Hmmm, I like to plan, but right now, with DD's schedule not yet known, I hate to make any concrete plans. Though I just paid for her soccer club this year, and taxes are due, both income and property, so what we may be doing may be what's left from all the payments.

Hope your day was better. We not only are below freezing still, the wind is making the windows whistle. Yes, the thought of nicer weather is getting stronger.

Can't believe your trip is not that far away now. Wahoo!

Ha! I must have been typing while you were posting!

Our neighbours across the street just returned on the weekend from a cruise out of Miami. They LOVED it! (and brought us home some mighty potent tequila from their port stop in Mexico....now I know why Steve has always called it "to-kill-ya")

We actually considered a cruise for May when we learned that we were switching our May timeshare to Christmas. Prices out of Port Canaveral were very, very reasonable. Fears of seasickness kept us from taking the leap. I may have to give a 3-day voyage a try at some point in the future, just to test the waters (pardon the pun).

I hope your weather gets better. We're enjoying a "heat wave" today (balmy highs of -5) before we crash again on Thursday, when its only going to be -17 (-30 overnight). For the record, its 17 Celsius in Orlando right now. Sigh!

 

[bankr63]

So is it just me or is there a Universal commercial on tv every 30 minutes these days?! I must have seen 15 of them this week alone and I don't watch a ton of television. It sure is making me excited for this trip I'll tell you!

36 days to go!!!!

I didn't realize until now that we will be overlapping. We'll be sure to wave as we pass through Uni.

28 days from now, I expect I will be somewhere around Harrisburg PA stopping for some lunch on the long drive down. Think that's about right. We leave Ottawa at 6:00 am, and plan to make Charlotte NC before we stop.

Our excitement this weekend was ordering our Uni tickets from UT We actually had to set a basic schedule before we could order so we know how many days to get.

In a nutshell

Day1: driiiiiiiiivvvvvvveeeeee (14 hrs) ; overnight in NC.
Day2: driiiivvvveee (10 hrs) and arrive at first resort (Silver Lake) - basic groceries and explore the resort
Day3/4: DHS and Uni, also must attend a 90 minute "owner update" presentation to secure the great rate. Will probably do DQ one evening as well
Day 5: Check out, pickup A+ at MCO, check in to 2nd resort SVR. More stock up and settling in
Days 6-11: one visit AK (probably early week), 2nd visit Uni, one visit MK (probably last day - we like to end with fireworks), one day Sarasota (probably hottest/sunniest day), and 2 (yes 2!!!) down days.

Actually I realize there is no waterpark in there anywhere, we may end up squeezing that into a down day. And there will likely be a fair bit of retail therapy. Even with the depressed C$ there are deals to be found...

As our FP+ window is just opening, does anyone know if I can make FP+ reservations for days we "might" go and then release then when we decide? We know the order we want to do the parks, but not the days. So was thinking that I could hedge my bets by making reservations for the park we are most likely to attend. Actually the times I can secure might influence which days we go to which parks...

 

[Lynne G]

Ha! I must have been typing while you were posting!

Our neighbours across the street just returned on the weekend from a cruise out of Miami. They LOVED it! (and brought us home some mighty potent tequila from their port stop in Mexico....now I know why Steve has always called it "to-kill-ya")

We actually considered a cruise for May when we learned that we were switching our May timeshare to Christmas. Prices out of Port Canaveral were very, very reasonable. Fears of seasickness kept us from taking the leap. I may have to give a 3-day voyage a try at some point in the future, just to test the waters (pardon the pun).

I hope your weather gets better. We're enjoying a "heat wave" today (balmy highs of -5) before we crash again on Thursday, when its only going to be -17 (-30 overnight). For the record, its 17 Celsius in Orlando right now. Sigh!

Oh I have terrible motion sickness. I start taking medicine before we sail. Oddly, and thankfully, neither kid has that sickness. They like heights too.
Glad to hear things got better. Us, too, we will be even colder by the week-end. Well, I just paid my heating bill, so it is STILL winter.

We enjoyed our character meal. When some came out, DS wouldn't be around, but DD was a ham.

And yeah, I play that how low can I go for a rental car. I have yet to get as good as the year before. I will always rent though, as I like coming and going as I please. I have no preference. I had Alamo this last time, and it had been some time since I had used them.

 

[sk8jdgca]

Have you signed up for sweet tomatoes email coupons? They are great. Also I think that the buffet you were thinking to go to has closed. I think I read that somewhere.

 

[pigletto]

I don't know if anyone on this thread is planning on purchasing any Orlando Groupons, but I just went to take a look and noticed a banner at the top that gets you an extra 20% off up to three local Groupons. There are a few exclusions and it ends tonight. It might be worth a look if you were planning on buying anything from the Orlando Groupon site. I'm going to see if there is anything I want. The extra 20% will help me offset the exchange.

ETA.. And Gina.. I just saw that there are a few Manatee Tours on there! It would be great if you could use the promo on those! I hope it works out for you!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Actually I realize there is no waterpark in there anywhere, we may end up squeezing that into a down day. And there will likely be a fair bit of retail therapy. Even with the depressed C$ there are deals to be found...

Have you checked Aquatica's website for waterpark deals? They have had some shockingly good prices lately....$8 and $28 per person.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Have you signed up for sweet tomatoes email coupons? They are great. Also I think that the buffet you were thinking to go to has closed. I think I read that somewhere.

Yup, we saw that Wood Grill had turned into a Golden Corral. Dang it! We are now on the lookout for something to replace those plans .

I haven't signed up for the Sweet Tomatoes coupons just yet, but plan to do so before we leave. I find that many of those initial sign-up offers expire after a very short time, so I didn't want to sign up too soon. Thanks for the reminder, though!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I don't know if anyone on this thread is planning on purchasing any Orlando Groupons, but I just went to take a look and noticed a banner at the top that gets you an extra 20% off up to three local Groupons. There are a few exclusions and it ends tonight. It might be worth a look if you were planning on buying anything from the Orlando Groupon site. I'm going to see if there is anything I want. The extra 20% will help me offset the exchange.

ETA.. And Gina.. I just saw that there are a few Manatee Tours on there! It would be great if you could use the promo on those! I hope it works out for you!

I saw that too!! And couldn't find anything that I wanted to buy....can you believe it?!?

I did give the jet skiing a second look, though. It was so much fun in August . I have been hoping that the Hollywood Drive In Golf might pop up again before May (it, surprisingly, has been featured on Groupon before) but alas, no luck just yet.

Those manatee tours look awesome, but they all expire before our Christmas trip (we are not planning on doing the manatee thing until December, as its something the kids really want to do). I have a feeling Groupon will become my best friend in the fall!

 

[pigletto]

Darn. I was hoping that would help you out. I couldn't find anything either! I wish the Blue Man Group tickets were still there. It's not a must do but I could be convinced for the right price. What I did see was a really good Groupon for the spa at Portifino Bay. I am not really a spa kind of gal (don't like strangers touching me.. go figure) but I got all excited because I thought it would be an awesome Valentines gift for my husband. He's always complaining about his back and would love a massage. Alas, that package was sold out. I don't think he'd be as excited about a cucumber seaweed body wrap or whatever the heck was left.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Darn. I was hoping that would help you out. I couldn't find anything either! I wish the Blue Man Group tickets were still there. It's not a must do but I could be convinced for the right price. What I did see was a really good Groupon for the spa at Portifino Bay. I am not really a spa kind of gal (don't like strangers touching me.. go figure) but I got all excited because I thought it would be an awesome Valentines gift for my husband. He's always complaining about his back and would love a massage. Alas, that package was sold out. I don't think he'd be as excited about a cucumber seaweed body wrap or whatever the heck was left.

Have Blue Man Group tickets been on Groupon before??

Ooooohhhh....that one I would LOVE!

And I just LOL'd imagining your patient DH trapped in a cucumber seaweed body wrap. Gave me my evening giggle!

 

[chiamarie]

Ha! I must have been typing while you were posting!

Our neighbours across the street just returned on the weekend from a cruise out of Miami. They LOVED it! (and brought us home some mighty potent tequila from their port stop in Mexico....now I know why Steve has always called it "to-kill-ya")

We actually considered a cruise for May when we learned that we were switching our May timeshare to Christmas. Prices out of Port Canaveral were very, very reasonable. Fears of seasickness kept us from taking the leap. I may have to give a 3-day voyage a try at some point in the future, just to test the waters (pardon the pun).

I hope your weather gets better. We're enjoying a "heat wave" today (balmy highs of -5) before we crash again on Thursday, when its only going to be -17 (-30 overnight). For the record, its 17 Celsius in Orlando right now. Sigh!

I highly recommend trying a 3 night disney cruise. I know, you're more of a Universal/SeaWorld girl. (And you know I am, too ) But, I have only sailed on Disney, and am too terrified to try another cruise line. And they have had me fall in love with cruising. I've only really been on cruises with other adults, and there are so many areas that are adults only; that it's wonderful! And their private island, its just so beautiful, especially the adult beach they have! I am trying to talk the DBF into the newly released 7 night western caribbean that has a star wars day at sea next spring. The pros to cruising; all you can eat; unpack in one place and get to see lots of different places. Words simply cannot describe how much I have fallen in love with cruising. My first couple of cruises were when I was a teen; and I did get a tiny bit motionsick; but as an adult I haven't had an issue. Well, other than once we're off the boat; it took me about 6 days to get my land legs bag!


Also, yes. It's been SOOOO cold down here in florida the last few days. It's made for some very cold overnight shifts I've had at work this week! I would like our mild winters to return ASAP!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I highly recommend trying a 3 night disney cruise. I know, you're more of a Universal/SeaWorld girl. (And you know I am, too ) But, I have only sailed on Disney, and am too terrified to try another cruise line. And they have had me fall in love with cruising. I've only really been on cruises with other adults, and there are so many areas that are adults only; that it's wonderful! And their private island, its just so beautiful, especially the adult beach they have! I am trying to talk the DBF into the newly released 7 night western caribbean that has a star wars day at sea next spring. The pros to cruising; all you can eat; unpack in one place and get to see lots of different places. Words simply cannot describe how much I have fallen in love with cruising. My first couple of cruises were when I was a teen; and I did get a tiny bit motionsick; but as an adult I haven't had an issue. Well, other than once we're off the boat; it took me about 6 days to get my land legs bag!


Also, yes. It's been SOOOO cold down here in florida the last few days. It's made for some very cold overnight shifts I've had at work this week! I would like our mild winters to return ASAP!

I have heard A LOT of positive reports of cruising, though I must admit that no one I know personally has ever given Disney's cruise lines a try. I am sure its something we'll try at some point....and yep, it will be a short one for the initial experiment. Just in case .

Sooooooooo.........how cold is it? Cold enough that us Canucks would be wearing a hoodie?

We'll be waking up tomorrow to a crisp -23 C .......-10 F for my American friends. And that's without the wind chill.....don't even get me started on that!

1 month and 8 days to spring!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Morning everyone,

After battling a cold for the last two weeks, I woke this morning with a rather nasty case of croup….so I’m barking like a seal and finding respite in the frosty air outside. Unfortunately, I’m one of the few odd balls that never grew out of that childhood illness….even at 72, it still hits my mom from time to time. Definitely some family genes I wish I hadn’t inherited!!

We purchased our tickets yesterday for the Orlando Eye, the SEA LIFE Aquarium, and Madame Tussaud’s Wax Musuem that are all opening this spring in the new Orlando Eye complex on Sand Lake Road. You can check them all out here:

https://www.officialorlandoeye.com/

https://www.visitsealife.com/orlando/

https://www.madametussauds.com/orlando/

3-attraction passes were a very reasonable $35 per person, advance purchase……which was surprisingly less than what we had expected. However, these tickets aren’t for our May trip: we won’t use them until we travel in December with the kids, as they are both very interested and excited to visit the mammoth area that we have watched develop over the course of our last two vacations. So we have to be patient and wait until Christmas to experience all the new Orlando Eye complex has to offer.

Or, maybe not.

Steve had mentioned to me a while back that he wanted to give Red Robin a go in May, after being lured in by the online menu and photos. He’s a burger guy (I know, I know….what man isn’t?) and Red Robin is one of the many US chains that we see advertised on our TV’s but don’t have up here in the Great White North (not in Ontario, anyway….there may be some in the western provinces). The new location in Orlando is conveniently located in none other than the expansive Orlando Eye complex. And just by fluke, the Orlando Eye’s first opening day is scheduled for May 4th, 2015….smack dab in the middle of our vacation. Just like they knew we were coming, and timed the opening just for us.


(full disclosure....this photo is not mine…..pulled from the Orlando Eye Facebook page)

So Steve says to me in the pool last night……are you going to get us tickets to the Eye for our May week too? (he knew I had already purchased the multi-passes for Christmas)

I was kind of surprised….and said I hadn’t planned to, since we were going in December. So he asks, don’t you want to go in May too? Wouldn’t it be fun to be able to say we rode it the week it opened? And we’re going to be there anyway at least once, right? To eat at Red Robin?

Well, heck yeah!

But then I worry….would it take away from our family experience at Christmas? Would I have that “been there, done that” feel? (yes, the aquarium and Tussauds would be new, but still….)

So I am fence-sitting today as I am hyped up on Robitussin and cough drops. Tickets for the Eye only are $18 per person, which includes parking and admission to the 4D Experience at the Eye. Not half bad for something new and noteworthy. I wonder how chaotic that opening week will be?
I’ve started to get rather hooked on watching the video podcasts on the Dis Universal. I even had Steve snuggled up to watch for a bit last night. He’s getting into the spirit of things as well, coming home with various “surprises” for me…..mostly the movies that I’ve never seen that would make my Universal experience that much richer. Despicable Me. Harry Potter (I’ve now watched the first two). Spiderman. Transformers (gosh, I hated that movie….soooo not my style). I’m really not a movie buff, but I have to say….particularly in the case of the Harry Potter movies, watching them has really opened up my eyes as to just how much detail Universal puts into their parks. I am very impressed !

77 days until we’re out the door………


(funny how the snow on these rooftops is sooooo much more appealing than the mounds of it on my house! )

 

[chiamarie]

I have heard A LOT of positive reports of cruising, though I must admit that no one I know personally has ever given Disney's cruise lines a try. I am sure its something we'll try at some point....and yep, it will be a short one for the initial experiment. Just in case .

Sooooooooo.........how cold is it? Cold enough that us Canucks would be wearing a hoodie?

We'll be waking up tomorrow to a crisp -23 C .......-10 F for my American friends. And that's without the wind chill.....don't even get me started on that!

1 month and 8 days to spring!

Yesterday morning was around 40F; plus being soaking wet from 50F water, standing outside for 45 minutes; its not what you're getting, thats for sure! But in my book, cold is cold. Once your hands turn blue, I don't care if its -10 or 50. I hate being cold.... It is what it is, it'd sure be nice if someone could learn to control the weather ......

And I simply cannot speak highly enough of DCL. The prices might be a bit more than other lines; but they let you bring on all the alochol you want, and they don't nickel and dime you. I believe as we were going through security getting our carry on bags scanned; I believe the security officers quote was "well that's the party room" We had a bottle of everything you can imagine. I am dying to plan another cruise; however; I think DBF wants to try other, new places we haven't been.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Yesterday morning was around 40F; plus being soaking wet from 50F water, standing outside for 45 minutes; its not what you're getting, thats for sure! But in my book, cold is cold. Once your hands turn blue, I don't care if its -10 or 50. I hate being cold.... It is what it is, it'd sure be nice if someone could learn to control the weather ......

And I simply cannot speak highly enough of DCL. The prices might be a bit more than other lines; but they let you bring on all the alochol you want, and they don't nickel and dime you. I believe as we were going through security getting our carry on bags scanned; I believe the security officers quote was "well that's the party room" We had a bottle of everything you can imagine. I am dying to plan another cruise; however; I think DBF wants to try other, new places we haven't been.

Hang in there, kiddo. Spring is comin' ... albiet slowly!

Orlando is just saving up all the sunshine and warmth for the first week of May .

Edited to add a link to a story about the Ontario cold snap:

http://www.thestar.com/news/starwea...pected-in-toronto-for-family-day-weekend.html

 

[pigletto]

I just can't even with this cold. The warning for this temperature is that if your skin is exposed frost bite can occur in five minutes. It's just ridiculous. The poor dog peed in the snow on the deck today and ran back inside . Who can blame him? It's frigid.
The kids are campaigning hard to stay home tomorrow but they'll be indoors all day so...no dice. They'll miss three days for our March trip and that's enough.

I'm consoling myself with thoughts of sunshine and warmth and swimming in March. Oh please let it be swimming weather in March. Regardless, it will be better than this!


Good job on doing your movie homework! Even more than the movies, the Harry Potter areas at Universal makes you feel like you've crawled into the books. My kids and I loved those books. We watched the movies again in preparation for our December trip. In fact we watched the last HP movie on the way down to Orlando on the plane.
For family movie night 2 weeks ago we watched E.T.! That was fun. I hadn't seen it since I was a little girl and my ds loved it. Might be time to watch the Despicable Me movies again.. or Back to the Future.. I haven't seen those ones in years and years!

And the Orlando Eye looks like a lot of fun!! I think you could do it twice, especially since the other experiences will be new to you in December. Might be a nice memory for you and Steve to have on your own .

 

[twinkletoe]

Hi Gina,
I read the article you included.....and promptly took two extra vitamin D's. I am an elementary music teacher. We've had indoor recesses more often than not these past two months and the kids are going stir crazy! My bus duty has me whining into my scarf with tears running down my cheeks!
Reading reports of others' warmth does my heart good.
Having a cold during this wretched weather is just torture. I hope you're feeling better soon.