Skye's Dancing in Universal and on a Cruise...How Can We Be So Close and Not Go????

[tyandskyesmom]

When I planned out Christmas Extravaganza for 2015 I though it would be a very long time before we got back again. Then we made a trip in July of 2016 that started out being 7-8 days and turned into 10! And then we found out that this is a travel year for dance (they travel every other year) and we have never been in a place to go with so far. BUT...this year the coach decided she wanted to do a cruise. But she also wanted to do it out of New Orleans so that she could get the team in with the Saints cheerleaders for a workshop. When she started looking and pricing, she found it was actually cheaper to cruise out of Port Canaveral. They had done Disney World a couple of years ago but it is a really expensive package in order to be in the parades and stuff. So she checked on Universal. And found it a better cost and we have never danced there so a new experience. Turns out she got such good costs, the Universal portion and the cruise portion is costing less than the three nights priced out at Universal alone!!!! AWESOME! And we have been trying to fit in Universal (me and Tyler were there with his father and my mother when he was two and I vowed to not go back until the kids were tall enough to ride everything since so much of it has height requirements) but can never pull ourselves away from Disney to do it. Plus the cost is crazy. But we are huge Harry Potter fans and a lot of the other stuff is cool too.

But, how can we be so close and not partake in our beloved Mouse?

So since we got such a great deal on the dance portion of our trip, we figured a way to make the Mouse happen!

So now that you know how this came about, lets get down to the particulars...

WHEN & WHERE: June 21, 2017 thru June 26, 2017 at All Star Movies
June 26, 2017 thru June 29, 2017 at Portofino Bay
June 29, 2017 thru July 2, 2017 on The Carnival Liberty (I think)
July 2, 2017 thru July 5, 2017 at Port Orleans French Quarter

PASSES: 7 day park hoppers...5 days to be used on the ASMo portion and 2 days to be used
on the POFQ portion. I am planning an easy day for the first
day back with check in at POFQ and Disney Springs and pool
time for our departure day.

DINING: Deluxe Dining Plan for the ASMo portion
Mostly counter service at Universal
Out of Pocket on the POFQ portion but I do have TS meals planned

HOW: Southwest out of Midway airport at 5:20am arriving in Orlando at 8:50am
Southwest out of Orlando at 10:50pm arriving in Chicago at 12:30am
We are not sure how we are getting to or from the airport or from ASMo to PB or the
port to POFQ so if anyone has suggestions, please send them my way!
We will have Magical Express to and from Disney at the beginning and the end.
We will be bussing it to the port from PB with the team.

So that's our Master plan...I do have more details for ya, but we'll do that in a different post!

99 MORE DAYS!!!!!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So, for our rooms I did make some initial requests.

At All-Star Movies we have a preferred room booked. I have requested Fantasia building 5 or 6, ground floor. I really would like one right out by the pool so that may be what I request when I do online check in. I love looking out at the pool and having it right there for ease of swimming. We also like being close to the main building. I want to enjoy the walk to the bus in the morning and we always stop in the food court for refills on out mugs to take with us. I don't want to walk 600 miles just to get form my room to the bus and I don't want to weave my way through the parking lot to get the short cut. It kinda takes me out of my Disney Bubble...and I like it there!

At Port Orleans French Quarter we just have a standard room booked. I did request building 2 or 3. I wanted to be near the water and boat dock. It looks like there are limited standard rooms in the location I really want but really I would not be bothered being anywhere at POFQ. It is so small that nothing is really that far away.

I have no idea what we are getting at Portofino Bay at Universal yet. I am assuming all are pretty similar and from the looks form the pictures, they all look huge and we're really not going to be in our room that much here so whatever!

On the cruise we have an outside porthole room. The inside and outside rooms were the same cost...balcony was $50 more each so I opted to save the $200.00 and just to portholes...again, how much are we gonna be in the room???

 

[tyandskyesmom]

DINING!!!!

aka...the FUN STUFF!

We have Deluxe Dining for the ASMo portion.

We are planning counter service at Universal. This is partly because I have heard dining isn't all that at Universal. Partly because we have never been before. Partly because I can't see Universal being a regular stop since it is so expensive so we will want to be able to enjoy the attractions rather than the food. And partly because there just isn't as much info available about dining at Universal so I wouldn't know where to begin. That also leads me to believe it isn't all that. Although Toothsome looks very intriguing...so maybe out first night there while we are waiting for everyone to arrive. And lastly, partly because at least the first of the two days there, Skye will have somewhat of a schedule. A schedule we don't know anything about yet.

On the cruise we will be partaking in all the included options. It looks like there are quite a bit of options for my family to enjoy. We have the 6:30pm dinner slot. That's about all I know at this point...which is part of why we don't travel with them often! I know they have a drink deal but neither of us are big drinkers so I don't know if that will be worth it to us.

And for our POFQ portion we are OOP. Yes, again. But this time we have ADRs set up for sit down meals. I figured we will still want the same kind of dining but by this point, maybe we'll be fooded out so ready to share more or order appetizers as meals or things like that so it won't be quite as expensive at OOP could be at TS venues. Although we have gone the DxDDP for 14 nights before and didn't get fooded out so what do I know???

I made all out ADRs at 180 days out and have changed a couple of them a couple of times and haven't had a problem at all. Here they are...

Wednesday...6-21-17
11:30am Skipper Canteen 4 credits/Skye OOP
7:05pm California Grill 6 credits/Skye OOP

Thursday...6-22-17
12:00pm Teppan Edo 4 credits
6:55pm Narcoossees 8 credits/Skye OOP

Friday...6-23-17
10:00am Be Our Guest OOP...I am probably going to cancel this one although I thought I'd keep it for the rose cup but sounds
like that is gone already too sooooo this will be a wait and see kinds thing.
12:30pm Tony's 4 credits...Festival of Fantasy Package...this was the only one I had to wait on which is why I booked BOG
in the first place
7:30pm BOATHOUSE 6 credits/Skye OOP

Saturday...6-24-17
11:30am Mama Melrose 4 credits...Fantasmic Package...this is our fav night time show but I don't know if we'll make it back
7:10pm Flying Fish 6 credits/Skye OOP

Sunday...6-25-17
11:30am Tiffins 8 credits...Rivers of Light Package
6:30pm Jiko 8 credits

Monday...6-26-17
12:00pm Planet Hollywood 2 credits shared

Sunday...7-2-17
7:00pm Morimoto OOP

Monday...7-3-17
12:05pm Kona Café OOP
7:10pm Via Napoli OOP

Tuesday...7-4-17
10:50am Tuskerhouse OOP
6:45pm Yak & Yeti OOP

Wednesday...7-5-17
1:35pm Homecomin OOP

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So, I just made my Garden Grocer order. We did this for the first time last July and the kids loved having munchies in the room. We loved having frozen bottles of water to take with us everyday. And we loved having pop in the room. And it was delivered early on our arrival day. When we got back from our swim, our luggage and our order was in our room, cold stuff in the fridge. It was AWESOME!

We tend to get back to the room close to or after food courts close so sometimes that means no refills! Cary is a Mountain Dew drinker and as we all know, that is not an option in The World.

And since we are not planning any breakfasts, breakfast type foods are always welcome!

Last year we got two cases of water (we were there 10 days) but really only used one (left the other) because we would fill them up at night if we brought them back and re-freeze them. So I only ordered one case this time. I did not want to have a ton to carry with us to Universal (however we decide to get there!).

So I got...
1 - 32 pack of Aquafina Water
1 - 12 pack of Mountain Dew
1 bag Hostess Donettes - powdered sugar
1 bag Hostess Donettes - chocolate frosted
1 - 4 ct blueberry muffins
1- 4 ct croissants
4 blueberry Yoplait Yogurt
1 Orange Crème Yoplait Yogurt
1 Strawberry Whip Yoplait Yogurt
1 - 1/2 gallon of 2% milk
1 bag of sliced apples
5 green turning bananas

My total was $59.68 with delivery charge and a discount because it is over 60 days prior to delivery. It is a lot for what we ordered but if I bought 32 waters in the park it would cost me that much alone so to me, it's worth it.

I do not want to use my snack credits for water and for the most part, I do not want to take time in the morning waiting in lines to get breakfast snacks. And like I said, a lot of the time, we get back to the room and the food court is closed but we still want something to drink or munch on so it works.

We will take an IKEA bag with us in our luggage to use to transport any leftovers (probably mostly water) to Universal with us.

We will probably pack a box/bag of cereal and other breakfast/snacky items in our luggage also...that's good for breakfast AND munchies...and we always travel with Ziploc bags so that can be carried with us if needed. I won't pack bowls and spoons though because we can use the plastic room cups and grab spoons from the food court when we arrive.

I have heard Disney has starting charging a fee for deliveries to the hotel...does that include this type of thing? I think I heard $5.00, is that correct? Is it something they just add on to your bill? I don't mind, $5.00 is a small price to pay for that convenience I think...just don't like surprises!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Today has been productive!

We all got up early this morning because we had stuff to do.

First thing was FAST PASS + day!!!! I was able to get everything I wanted (except a teir 2 at Epcot but that's really just a place holder anyway really!) and at the times I wanted mostly.

Day 1
2pm - 3pm Space Mountain (me and Cary)
Buzz (Skye and Ty)
3pm - 4pm 7 Dwarfs
4:15pm - 5:15pm Big Thunder

Day 2
10am - 11am Spaceship Earth
3:20pm - 4:20pm Frozen
4:35pm - 5:35pm Living with the Land (which is a non-issue mostly and not the one I wanted)

Day 3
11:30am - 12:30 7 Dwarfs
4:10pm - 5:10pm Enchanted Tales with Belle
5:55pm - 6:55pm Big Thunder (which I'd like to move a little earlier if possible so we have more time to get to dinner)

Day 4
10:35am - 11:35am Toy Story
1:05pm - 2:05pm Star Tours
3pm - 3:15pm Frozen

Day 5
10:15am - 11:15pm Everest
1:55pm - 2:55pm Avatar Flight of Passage
3:25pm - 4:25pm Safari

The other part of our trip is not able to be booked yet.

Then I did our on-line check in for the All-Star Movies package portion. I am not liking the options now. I want the Fantasia Building and it's not even an option to choose...so I assume that's where you get put if you don't request Toy Story. I would like a ground floor but that's not vital...it was the only option that pertained to us though. And I would like to be right in front of the main pool...which is not an option to choose. We are preferred so I hope that means I will get a room I want. Unlike last time though, I did check the box for the room being ready when we arrive being more important than our ground floor request since we are arriving at 8:50am! I am figuring that if worse comes to worse, I can request a different room when we arrive if I don't like the one we were given.

Then this morning my baby became a licensed driver!!! It's only been almost 2 years holding a permit to finally have the time to do it! Ad then he drove himself to work...And I have to say Saturday morning at our DMV was quite nice! His license should be mailed in 15-20 days. I hate the way they do that now. We get a paper copy of the card and have to wait for the real card. When Cary & I corrected our addresses when we moved, they came pretty quickly though. Do all states do it like that now?

Then we headed to the post office to order our passport cards. Cary did his yesterday and me and the kids did ours this morning...OMG, this was a pain! First off, I had to decide what to do. I mean I understand the people who say it's good to have the book because you never know when you might be able to plan a trip out of country. But, I know I have no need in my life for that and I don't see a need in the next 10 years. Then there were people saying the passport cards are a waste of money because your Drivers license and birth certificate are enough. Then there is our group who is saying a passport is a must to travel. And the agent handling saying without saying that a card will be sufficient. So I finally decided to get as a little extra insurance. I fully understand the benefits of the book but it is quite a bit more money than the car four of them and I figure if I get sick, I am staying on the ship till we get back to the if the ship goes down I am probably not worried about my passport and I cannot foresee any other reason we would not be coming back by boat. We are not doing any tour or anything like that in the Bahamas, we are just hoping to hit a beach for some swimming so timing shouldn't be an issue. So, we did that. It takes up to 6 weeks to receive them so it should be a couple of weeks before we fly out.

I think I have decided that we will be driving our old car to the airport and parking it in an off site lot for the whole time we are gone. lt is only going to be $50ish more than a taxi but then I have the peace of mind of not worrying about the driver showing up and on time and getting us there safely. I am so not a taxi person! I still don't know who we are getting from Disney to Universal...probably a taxi. Skye's coach is arranging a team shuttle to the port from Universal but we are on our own from the port back to Disney. She has a bunch of family traveling with her though and they are continuing on to Disney also so she is looking for a group rate on some kind of shuttle for her group and us. One other small group is also going on to Disney after but they are driving down so they will have a car, just not big enough for all of us!

And GOOD NEWS!!! Skye's coach was able to get Skye and the other dancer going on to Disney after the cruise (she's Skye's Duet partner and they have been killing it!) into a private class with a Disney Dancer!!! They are so excited! We just don't know when or where yet. I may have to add a day onto our passes if they decide it has to be on the 2nd.

I have adjusted some dining times but otherwise dining has stayed the same.

We are hoping to make some late nights to enjoy more Magic Kingdom and Pandora but we'll play that by ear! It does not seem like hours are very long at any park this year. I am wondering if they will add more late hours as we get closer??? That did happen last July when we went but I thought it was done before now!

Well, that's about it for now...

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So at 58 days out Skyler's coach threw a tiny wrench into our plans...a good wrench but a wrench non the less...

See, after the cruise the "official dance" portion of the trip is over. Most are heading back to MCO from the port and going home. Us, the coach and various family members, and Skyler's best dance bud (and her duet partner this year ... the just won GRAND CHAMPS of the WHOLE DAY at the STATE competition on Sunday with a score .8 less than PERFECT!!!) and her mom are heading on over to Disney. And with the kind of group tickets the rest of them are getting she is able to get Skye and Kyra a private dance session with a DISNEY DANCER!!! But it is on July 5th (our departure) backstage at EPCOT (so she doesn't need tickets for the day) and it is at 1:30pm (which is the exact tiome of out ADR at Homecomin'!)...why is nothing just simple in my life???

But after thinking it over in my head overnight I decided to just move Homecomin' to 4pm. The private is an hour and a half long. We believe I can go with her. The boys can go on to Disney Springs or whatever and we'll meet them there after. If we have an ADR for 4pm we should be outta there by 6pm, which would actually be a long meal for us. I figure our Tragical Express should be set for about 7:30pm ish, maybe slightly later so we should be good to make it back to POFQ and grab out carry ons from bell services and head to the bus stop.

It's not gonna be the fun relaxing last day I had planned but who can pass up a Disney Private for 2???!!!???

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So today I made a couple of changes...

I added a day to our 7 day hoppers making them 8 day hoppers for an additional $42.60 total.

I cancelled Morimoto for dinner.

I added STK for Brunch which will be more like linner at 2:45pm on July 2nd.

I got Fast Pass Plus for July 2nd in the evening.

But wait! I hadn't even discussed the Fast Passes for the second part yet!

So on May 3rd I went to work. I worked. Early afternoon, I check my personal e-mail and WHAY?!?!?! I completely forgot that today was THE day!!!! So on I jump because we are hitting the weekend before 4th of July AND 4th of July and I don't want to miss out because I am a moron! And guess what...NO PROBLEM!

And today when I pulled up July 2nd, NO PROBLEM! Lots of fast passes for Toy Story and Rockin' Roller Coaster available! Lots of ADRs (even could have gotten the castle if I had wanted!!!) available. I hope this is boding good things but we'll have to wait and see about that.

So, what did I get?

July 2nd
5:55pm - 6:55pm Muppets
7:10pm - 8:10pm Toy Story
8:25pm - 9:25pm Star Tours

July 3rd
1:50pm - 2:50pm Spaceship Earth
2:55pm - 3:55pm Soarin'
4pm - 5pm Crush

July 4th
12:45pm - 1:45pm Na'vi River Journey
2:20pm - 3:20pm Safari
4:40pm - 5:40pm Everest

I am intending to see the Star Wars fireworks show at Hollywood Studios on the 2nd. We're planning to be at Magic Kingdom early on the 3rd and then head to Epcot for afternoon/evening and then decide how to handle the evening...maybe head back to Magic Kingdom.

The 4th will be the 14th day since first use of our passes so the 5th is a hang out day before leaving late that night. We did move our Homecomin' lunch to dinner because of Skyler's unexpected dance thing but other than those two things the day is wide open.

Then next month is crazy for us with graduation, a big regional competition for dance, dance pictures, dance dress rehearsal, dance recital, dancing at Great America, guest starring in another studio (little kids) recital and then dress rehearsal that goes along with it, and extra rehearsals for all of those things so time should fly!

47 MORE DAYS!!!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Yesterday was 40 days!!!!

And when I got home from work early to get ready for Tyler's Senior Prom MAGICAL EXPRESS TAGS WERE IN THE MAIL!!!!!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

At 27 days (!!!!!) I received the e-mail that our Magic Bands have shipped for the first part of our trip!!!!

We have been crazy busy around here...dress rehearsal last Thursday, dance pictures last Friday, last Advanced Dance Class all day Saturday, Recital last Sunday, extra comp practice for her lower group dance and her solo last night, extra comp practice for her advanced comp pieces and duet and a meeting about the trip tonight, Tyler graduates tomorrow night AND Skye's duet competes tomorrow night too, her solo competes on Saturday evening, her other three comp pieces compete Sunday night, her last day of school is the 1st, in there some time will be extra dance practice at least once, they are dancing at Great America on the 4th, there will be dress rehearsal for a small younger dance company's recital on the 7th and the recital on the 8th (only the three group dances she is in), and then we're in the home stretch!

So time should breeze by for us!!!!!!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

22 days out and the Magic Bands came today for the first part of our trip.

I also did online check in for the cruise portion...and the cruise is making me nervous! Not the sailing. It's the whole way to get on and off, the everything is included EXCEPT thing, the no cash is exchanged thing...I don't deal in credit cards so cash is my main choice of currency. After that, it is a debit card form my checking account and auto charges to that freak me out! It has been probably 20 years or so since my ONE cruise and I am just nervous!

Still don't know what were are doing to get to or from the home airport or from ASMo to Universal or from the Port back to POFQ...guess I should figure that out!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So it's the day before we leave, almost 24 hours to be exact so you know what that means, right? I had to get my butt into work early to check us in for out Southwest flight at exactly 24 hours prior. And here I sit...and wait...till the clock strikes 5:20am...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
A watched pot never boils, right?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
And our flight is recently SOLD OUT...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
And I had it all keyed in and at 5:20am exactly, I hit "check in" and pulled A58, A59, A60, and B01. Tyler is B01. Which worked out well because if they make him wait back for all the people boarding between A and B group, he can handle it. Usually when we've overlapped groups they will let the whole family board together but if not, we'll just grab his seat. He usually gets stuck across the isle with strangers. It should be good.

So now I have a dentist appointment at 8am so I have to leave work at 7:30am...not ideal! I have a broken molar that has been that way for a while without issue but as of a couple of weeks ago has started bothering me...of course! And my dentist is only in on Tuesdays...because my dental insurance stinks! And of course he was out of town last Tuesday so that left the day before we leave. I don't think it is wise to have a root canal or a tooth pulled just hours before we fly so I am not looking at that as ao option but I am thinking an antibiotic so nothing gets infected and a pain med for when it acts up (I have found it is a dull ache most of the time but gives me a head ache, ear ache, and neck ache but so far dark chocolate and shger cookies have a,most put me through the roof...even when not eating them on that side so this could be interesting) and then set an appointment for when we get back. We'll see.

Then I have to get back to work.

After work (3:30pm) I have to go pick Skye up from their last rehearsal for the trip.

After that it's home, finish nails, pack last minute things we wont need to get ready, put the DME tags on the four bags we plan to check, and GO TO BED since we will be up at 1:30am to shower and wait for Cary to get home and shower so we can leave for the parking lot I booked...which is making me nervous...in fact, I am very nervous this time. By now I am usually bouncing off the wall excited but I can't get there yet. I think it is because of all the changes during the trip and all the unknowns involved in a trip that is not completely in my control.

So wish us luck!

 

[AliceNDinah]

Oooooh, I love a new Sherry thread!!! I've honestly enjoyed all your TR's---they make me want to be there NOW. Keep writing Sherry, I'm always waiting for a new post from you