Cast:
Its only DH and I this trip:
DH is a GM for Best Buy, and I am an OBGYN nurse. Both of us are taking some MUCH needed time off!
Heres a picture of the two of us from a quick trip we took up to NYC in January to see Mary Poppins on Broadway:
We also have a fur-baby, our Jack Russell/ Corgi mix, Emmett. He will be staying the week at DMiLs house:
We also have two kitties that will be staying at home. Maddie and Molly... DSiL will be kitty-sitting:
This trip has been ever-changing since we first decided to take it. We had originally planned to go on a quick weekend trip to Williamsburg, VA sometime in June. Plans changed when DH won a free 7-day pass to Universal from one of the commercials during the Super Bowl. Our plan was to fly down to Orlando on a Thursday, rent a car, stay somewhere along I-4, do Universal and fly home on Sunday. Pretty much a long-weekend trip--- and I even went as far as to request those days off from work.
Sometime over the past two months, the entire idea for this trip morphed into a full-blown vacation. This was definitely not planned, especially since we were just down for a week at Coronado Springs Resort in December. Here's a pic of DH, D-Dad and me... our last evening in EPCOT we were freezing! We historically refer to this as our "Disney Uni-bomber pic":
Somewhere along the way I figured out that Disney was offering the $68/ nt rooms at the value resorts, and suddenly we were booked at POP for seven nights! (I swear, I dont know how it happened!!!
) The plan now is to DRIVE (what are we thinking??) from PA, stay at POP for 7-nts, do Universal and IoA
.. and
. drumroll please
. do Disney!!! After all, why would we ever drive 16 hours to the house of the mouse and not go??
Our dates are May 15th (we start driving that day)check into Pop on the 16th, and stay for seven nights until the 23rd. Our plans are to go to work on Friday the 15th, but DH will be coming to my work to pick me up around noon with the car all packed. Well leave directly from thereand so will start our journey down I-95. We plan on driving as far as possible that first night- Im thinking well make it to somewhere around South of the Border.
Well wake up from wherever we end up staying along I-95 and finish the trek down the morning of Saturday the 16th and check-in to POP. We currently have no set plans for that first day except to maybe take a swim and do Downtown Disney later that evening. We do have a bit of Disney Visa Rewards that we need to cash-in at guest services, which well use to purchase our Disney tickets.
This brings us to our next ever-changing decision. What type of Disney tickets do we want to purchase?? Truth is, were not sure yet. Ive never been to Universal or IoA, DH was only to Universal as a kid when it first opened. We really dont know what to expect so we plan on going to Universal Studios on our first full day, get a feel for how much time we might want to spend there, and then purchase our Disney passes accordingly. One thing is for sure, we dont plan on purchasing the park hopper option this time- but we will be getting the water park and more option so we can do Typhoon Lagoon (we consistently do Blizzard Beach- and Im SO excited to try TL this time!) and Disney Quest.
Other odds-n-ends of the trip have yet to be decided! Im SUPER nervous about thisDH and I have historically planned, re-planned and then planned again for all of our vacations whether they were Disney or a cruise, etc. We currently hold no ADRs (eek!), but really plan on eating breakfast at POP, quick lunches, and will figure out dinners depending on where we are for the day. I really want to hit a couple of the restaurants on City Walk- Margaritaville, Emerils, and even NBA City has this stunning plate of nachos that Ive been dying for ever since I saw the pic of them on the Universal food-porn thread. Tonight or tomorrow night I plan on calling to try and secure ADRs for breakfast at Trails End and Kona. Were winging it!!! Im determined to take it slow as much as possible, and since well have our own car, food and ADRs are not as much of a focus.
So, here we are only 4 sleeps away from leaving, and were super excited! Our guest bedroom is currently stuffed to the brim with our suitcases and odds and ends. Just trying to get everything organized over these past couple days has been super stressful. I hate packing and always complainbut DH always reminds me that you cant have vaca without it. Hes pretty good at stating the obvious sometimes
And so starts our trip . (that is, AFTER then next 4 days of work!) .
Its only DH and I this trip:
DH is a GM for Best Buy, and I am an OBGYN nurse. Both of us are taking some MUCH needed time off!
Heres a picture of the two of us from a quick trip we took up to NYC in January to see Mary Poppins on Broadway:
We also have a fur-baby, our Jack Russell/ Corgi mix, Emmett. He will be staying the week at DMiLs house:
We also have two kitties that will be staying at home. Maddie and Molly... DSiL will be kitty-sitting:
This trip has been ever-changing since we first decided to take it. We had originally planned to go on a quick weekend trip to Williamsburg, VA sometime in June. Plans changed when DH won a free 7-day pass to Universal from one of the commercials during the Super Bowl. Our plan was to fly down to Orlando on a Thursday, rent a car, stay somewhere along I-4, do Universal and fly home on Sunday. Pretty much a long-weekend trip--- and I even went as far as to request those days off from work.
Sometime over the past two months, the entire idea for this trip morphed into a full-blown vacation. This was definitely not planned, especially since we were just down for a week at Coronado Springs Resort in December. Here's a pic of DH, D-Dad and me... our last evening in EPCOT we were freezing! We historically refer to this as our "Disney Uni-bomber pic":
Somewhere along the way I figured out that Disney was offering the $68/ nt rooms at the value resorts, and suddenly we were booked at POP for seven nights! (I swear, I dont know how it happened!!!
) The plan now is to DRIVE (what are we thinking??) from PA, stay at POP for 7-nts, do Universal and IoA
.. and
. drumroll please
. do Disney!!! After all, why would we ever drive 16 hours to the house of the mouse and not go?? Our dates are May 15th (we start driving that day)check into Pop on the 16th, and stay for seven nights until the 23rd. Our plans are to go to work on Friday the 15th, but DH will be coming to my work to pick me up around noon with the car all packed. Well leave directly from thereand so will start our journey down I-95. We plan on driving as far as possible that first night- Im thinking well make it to somewhere around South of the Border.
Well wake up from wherever we end up staying along I-95 and finish the trek down the morning of Saturday the 16th and check-in to POP. We currently have no set plans for that first day except to maybe take a swim and do Downtown Disney later that evening. We do have a bit of Disney Visa Rewards that we need to cash-in at guest services, which well use to purchase our Disney tickets.
This brings us to our next ever-changing decision. What type of Disney tickets do we want to purchase?? Truth is, were not sure yet. Ive never been to Universal or IoA, DH was only to Universal as a kid when it first opened. We really dont know what to expect so we plan on going to Universal Studios on our first full day, get a feel for how much time we might want to spend there, and then purchase our Disney passes accordingly. One thing is for sure, we dont plan on purchasing the park hopper option this time- but we will be getting the water park and more option so we can do Typhoon Lagoon (we consistently do Blizzard Beach- and Im SO excited to try TL this time!) and Disney Quest.
Other odds-n-ends of the trip have yet to be decided! Im SUPER nervous about thisDH and I have historically planned, re-planned and then planned again for all of our vacations whether they were Disney or a cruise, etc. We currently hold no ADRs (eek!), but really plan on eating breakfast at POP, quick lunches, and will figure out dinners depending on where we are for the day. I really want to hit a couple of the restaurants on City Walk- Margaritaville, Emerils, and even NBA City has this stunning plate of nachos that Ive been dying for ever since I saw the pic of them on the Universal food-porn thread. Tonight or tomorrow night I plan on calling to try and secure ADRs for breakfast at Trails End and Kona. Were winging it!!! Im determined to take it slow as much as possible, and since well have our own car, food and ADRs are not as much of a focus.
So, here we are only 4 sleeps away from leaving, and were super excited! Our guest bedroom is currently stuffed to the brim with our suitcases and odds and ends. Just trying to get everything organized over these past couple days has been super stressful. I hate packing and always complainbut DH always reminds me that you cant have vaca without it. Hes pretty good at stating the obvious sometimes
And so starts our trip . (that is, AFTER then next 4 days of work!) .
Our drive is anywhere from 14 to 16 hours depending on the traffic and weather. We, too, leave after work and drive as far as we can. We usually stop around midnight and are up and on the road the next morning!
Do a trip report when you get back
