Ok folks where do I begin first of all I will tell you my hotel just emailed me a feedback review to do and it asked how much did this trip cost from beginning to end and i did the numbers today and i came up with about 3800.00 give or take 200.00.
Flew southwest airlines 600.00 r/t for 3 of us direct flights. Got a rental car for 333.00 with tax got an awesome grand jeep cherokee with national only had 3000 miles on it and it was thru priceline, people made a comment about could have saved money on this however, looking back im glad we went with an
SUV cause I did the driving in orlando and it was nice to sit up a bit higher to be able to see signs and turns coming up being in foreign territory and all if you get what I mean, so to me it was money well spent!!!!
Stayed at Radisson parkway resort on 192, EXTREMELY CONVENIENT to parks etc easy in and out!!!!!! Paid 799.00 for 8 nights!!!!!
The only downfall was we booked thru mousesavers and it said free poolview upgrade, we got a view of a rock with a teeny waterfall coming off...............no poolview whatsoever, I did mention it to the guy and he said oh you had a partial view..........I wouldnt call that partial anything!!!!!!!
The room was average cleaning was good, the pool was fantastic with waterfall and slide and poolbar it was very busy at the pool at all hours, had to get out early to claim a chair, they did have a more quieter pool on the other side if you wanted to not be around all the noise and chaos!!!!
When we arrived in Orlando airport we got off plane quickly and headed to car rental place and I got in line to get the car while hubby and daughter went to get luggage by the time i got the car all set they were coming with the luggage and all the other people were coming in line to get the car so definately saved some mega time there!!!!!! Keep that in mind!!!!!!
Anyway from touchdown to hotel was only 1 hour 10 mins that is pretty darn good considering the size of the airport and getting luggage and car and to hotel. We checked in but couldnt get our room cause still not ready as it was only about 1:10 so we drove over to animal kingdom lodge and ate at the mara only to realize later that it was a restaurant on the vouchers I could have paid for........dahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!
While at the animal kingdom lodge we picked up our tix to the Luau at polynesian, then headed back to hotel to unpack and swim which was great, then headed over to Luau...................I THOUGH IT WAS FABULOUS, IF YOU ARE AND ISLANDY KINDA PERSON IT WAS GREAT FUN............A TON OF FOOD A FLAME DANCER AND SUCH IT WAS GREAT FUN AND I HAVE DONE THE HOOP DE DOO AND ENJOYED THIS WAY MORE, CERTAINLY EVERYBODY HAS THERE OWN TASTE BUT TO ME WAY WORTH IT AND EVEN ASKED HUBBY TO GO AGAIN BEFORE WE LEFT BUT WE DIDNT HAVE TIME lol.
First day magic kingdom got there for park to open bought 6 one day park tickets for about 300.00 instead of 4 day hopper which turned out perfect that saved us over 300.00 we still had one day hopper left on a ticket we brought with us. We went with a tour plan from the unofficial disney book we bought before we left, got right on space mountain then went to buzz light year, then headed over to peter pan and snow white and winnie the pooh rides, then over to splash mountain to fastpass, then pirates of the carribean and thunder mountain railroad.............thunder mountain was the longest line we waited in which was about an hour and boy was it hot.............others we half hour or less which worked out well. ATe lunch at El Taco something right by pirates of carribean meal vouchers just about broke even but nothing to sneeze at this rest. One thing I encourage you to do strike up a conversation with someone in line with you you learn a way lot and they may have good tips for other parks and it makes the time go by sooo fast!!! Just a tidbit.
****Another tidbit I learned being down there of course on the last day of our trip definately go to a disney vacation club presentation preferably in the am of your trip they provide transportation only give up one hour, only one person from group does it and then they give you a fastpass for the whole day for your park for all rides so no line waiting on any of them!!!!!!!!!!! that is so worth it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Day 2 off to Universal studios got a 5 day 2 park pass expries on fifth day. for 300.00.........It was soooooooooo hot that day, thought I was gonna be sick the hottest day of our trip, the bad thing about universal studios is there is not a lot of shade and also we didnt get there until about 10:30 am Shrek is not express pass yet and boy does it show............lines were 90-120 mins long so we bypassed it that day. Fastpassed jimmy neutron had to come back four hours later. Did terminator, twister, back to future, men in black and walked around, then i headed to margaritaville for some long deserved pops!!!!!!!
Next day we went to Epcot did mission space got right on, then imagination, test track even wehn fastpassing was a bit of a wait, found the coca cola thing were you get to taste sodas from around the world Italy's was soooooo ewwwwwwwwwwww, but so fun to try all!!!!!! Also my daughter did the Kidcot thing where you get a mask and go to all countries and get stamped she really enjoyed that and I think it makes it more interesting for the kids to stay with you while touring!!!!! Ate lunch at a morrocan place where we could use meal vouchers, they give you lotttttttttts and definately paid for themselves, the food was good desserts were not so good. Left the park around 3:00 pm to take a brief break and then went back for fireworks they were AWESOME!!!!!
Next day went back to universal and got there for around 8:30 am park was already open and went right to shrek waited maybe 10 mins that was great then went right over to islands of adventure to check it out, they went on hulk, then spiderman was closed that day so went over to other parts of park, they went on dueling dragons and loved it, checked out dr. seuss land and toontown, was a lot of fun and very well designed a lot of rides i couldnt go on cause of back and neck problems.
Next day went to Universal again but this time later in the day around 3:00 pm I called for a more laxed day late sleep in and lounging at pool which was very nice, got over there late but still got on some rides and we were gonna stay for fireworks but it dounpoured only to stop by the time we got back to room and heard they did end up having them anyway...........LOL
Tuesday went back for final day for Universal it was day 5 went right into spiderman they got right on, did hulk, then went back to universal and did mummy, earthquake, jaws, e.t., sinbad show, got passes for Splat live with Nickelodeon studios, got those at 9:00 am in the morning they goooooooooo fast it was for a live taping that afternoon from 4:30-7:00 p.m. my daughter was beside herself and got dumped on with pudding on camera so was loving it!!!!!!! Saw the lucy tribute, went on ripsaw falls at IOA and hit margaritaville one more time before leaving!!!!!
We did eat one night at the Latin Quarter in City Walk and it was VERY VERY good, a bit pricey but the atmosphere and the food was fantastico as they would say I had snapper and hubby had pork which he ranted and raved about for hours, he doesnt rant and rave too much just so you know!!!!! I stongly recommend it.
Last day hit Animal Kingdon and MGM, poor MGM always gets shortchanged on our trips. Did safari right away, then went out to conservation, an elephant had just given birth to a baby on the 5th or 6th and we got to see it over a camera it was cool, then off to lion king show ( which is my absolute favorite and i got chills when the african woman started singing circle of life and tears welled up in my eyes)..........then ate lunch at rain forest cafe which just so you know it does not accept meal vouchers and this is the one at animal kingdom, too bad too cause that was a pricey lunch but it was great fun to eat there@!!!!!!!
Off to MGM, where they went on rockin roller coaster and then fastpassed tower of terror played millionaire twice and that was blast and funny!!!!!!! walked around and it rained again so went inot 50's diner Again didnt do too much at MGM as always so we promised next time to leave a full day for it!!!!!!
One time perused Grand floridian and had an appetizer and couple of drinks and a place there along water, nice but pricey. Also checked out Disney Beach Club and went to eat at Beeches and cream but said a half hour wait for just counter service so we left.
In essense we still have 6 meal vouchers we didnt use cause spent a lot of time at universal.
A fun trip overall, only one fireworks show, but I cant stress enough about getting to parks super early especially if it is peak season!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for taking time to read and hope I didnt jump around too much for you there was so much to remember and Im sure I left things out, feel free to ask questions!!!!!!!
Flew southwest airlines 600.00 r/t for 3 of us direct flights. Got a rental car for 333.00 with tax got an awesome grand jeep cherokee with national only had 3000 miles on it and it was thru priceline, people made a comment about could have saved money on this however, looking back im glad we went with an
SUV cause I did the driving in orlando and it was nice to sit up a bit higher to be able to see signs and turns coming up being in foreign territory and all if you get what I mean, so to me it was money well spent!!!!
Stayed at Radisson parkway resort on 192, EXTREMELY CONVENIENT to parks etc easy in and out!!!!!! Paid 799.00 for 8 nights!!!!!
The only downfall was we booked thru mousesavers and it said free poolview upgrade, we got a view of a rock with a teeny waterfall coming off...............no poolview whatsoever, I did mention it to the guy and he said oh you had a partial view..........I wouldnt call that partial anything!!!!!!!
The room was average cleaning was good, the pool was fantastic with waterfall and slide and poolbar it was very busy at the pool at all hours, had to get out early to claim a chair, they did have a more quieter pool on the other side if you wanted to not be around all the noise and chaos!!!!
When we arrived in Orlando airport we got off plane quickly and headed to car rental place and I got in line to get the car while hubby and daughter went to get luggage by the time i got the car all set they were coming with the luggage and all the other people were coming in line to get the car so definately saved some mega time there!!!!!! Keep that in mind!!!!!!
Anyway from touchdown to hotel was only 1 hour 10 mins that is pretty darn good considering the size of the airport and getting luggage and car and to hotel. We checked in but couldnt get our room cause still not ready as it was only about 1:10 so we drove over to animal kingdom lodge and ate at the mara only to realize later that it was a restaurant on the vouchers I could have paid for........dahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!
While at the animal kingdom lodge we picked up our tix to the Luau at polynesian, then headed back to hotel to unpack and swim which was great, then headed over to Luau...................I THOUGH IT WAS FABULOUS, IF YOU ARE AND ISLANDY KINDA PERSON IT WAS GREAT FUN............A TON OF FOOD A FLAME DANCER AND SUCH IT WAS GREAT FUN AND I HAVE DONE THE HOOP DE DOO AND ENJOYED THIS WAY MORE, CERTAINLY EVERYBODY HAS THERE OWN TASTE BUT TO ME WAY WORTH IT AND EVEN ASKED HUBBY TO GO AGAIN BEFORE WE LEFT BUT WE DIDNT HAVE TIME lol.
First day magic kingdom got there for park to open bought 6 one day park tickets for about 300.00 instead of 4 day hopper which turned out perfect that saved us over 300.00 we still had one day hopper left on a ticket we brought with us. We went with a tour plan from the unofficial disney book we bought before we left, got right on space mountain then went to buzz light year, then headed over to peter pan and snow white and winnie the pooh rides, then over to splash mountain to fastpass, then pirates of the carribean and thunder mountain railroad.............thunder mountain was the longest line we waited in which was about an hour and boy was it hot.............others we half hour or less which worked out well. ATe lunch at El Taco something right by pirates of carribean meal vouchers just about broke even but nothing to sneeze at this rest. One thing I encourage you to do strike up a conversation with someone in line with you you learn a way lot and they may have good tips for other parks and it makes the time go by sooo fast!!! Just a tidbit.
****Another tidbit I learned being down there of course on the last day of our trip definately go to a disney vacation club presentation preferably in the am of your trip they provide transportation only give up one hour, only one person from group does it and then they give you a fastpass for the whole day for your park for all rides so no line waiting on any of them!!!!!!!!!!! that is so worth it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Day 2 off to Universal studios got a 5 day 2 park pass expries on fifth day. for 300.00.........It was soooooooooo hot that day, thought I was gonna be sick the hottest day of our trip, the bad thing about universal studios is there is not a lot of shade and also we didnt get there until about 10:30 am Shrek is not express pass yet and boy does it show............lines were 90-120 mins long so we bypassed it that day. Fastpassed jimmy neutron had to come back four hours later. Did terminator, twister, back to future, men in black and walked around, then i headed to margaritaville for some long deserved pops!!!!!!!
Next day we went to Epcot did mission space got right on, then imagination, test track even wehn fastpassing was a bit of a wait, found the coca cola thing were you get to taste sodas from around the world Italy's was soooooo ewwwwwwwwwwww, but so fun to try all!!!!!! Also my daughter did the Kidcot thing where you get a mask and go to all countries and get stamped she really enjoyed that and I think it makes it more interesting for the kids to stay with you while touring!!!!! Ate lunch at a morrocan place where we could use meal vouchers, they give you lotttttttttts and definately paid for themselves, the food was good desserts were not so good. Left the park around 3:00 pm to take a brief break and then went back for fireworks they were AWESOME!!!!!
Next day went back to universal and got there for around 8:30 am park was already open and went right to shrek waited maybe 10 mins that was great then went right over to islands of adventure to check it out, they went on hulk, then spiderman was closed that day so went over to other parts of park, they went on dueling dragons and loved it, checked out dr. seuss land and toontown, was a lot of fun and very well designed a lot of rides i couldnt go on cause of back and neck problems.
Next day went to Universal again but this time later in the day around 3:00 pm I called for a more laxed day late sleep in and lounging at pool which was very nice, got over there late but still got on some rides and we were gonna stay for fireworks but it dounpoured only to stop by the time we got back to room and heard they did end up having them anyway...........LOL
Tuesday went back for final day for Universal it was day 5 went right into spiderman they got right on, did hulk, then went back to universal and did mummy, earthquake, jaws, e.t., sinbad show, got passes for Splat live with Nickelodeon studios, got those at 9:00 am in the morning they goooooooooo fast it was for a live taping that afternoon from 4:30-7:00 p.m. my daughter was beside herself and got dumped on with pudding on camera so was loving it!!!!!!! Saw the lucy tribute, went on ripsaw falls at IOA and hit margaritaville one more time before leaving!!!!!
We did eat one night at the Latin Quarter in City Walk and it was VERY VERY good, a bit pricey but the atmosphere and the food was fantastico as they would say I had snapper and hubby had pork which he ranted and raved about for hours, he doesnt rant and rave too much just so you know!!!!! I stongly recommend it.
Last day hit Animal Kingdon and MGM, poor MGM always gets shortchanged on our trips. Did safari right away, then went out to conservation, an elephant had just given birth to a baby on the 5th or 6th and we got to see it over a camera it was cool, then off to lion king show ( which is my absolute favorite and i got chills when the african woman started singing circle of life and tears welled up in my eyes)..........then ate lunch at rain forest cafe which just so you know it does not accept meal vouchers and this is the one at animal kingdom, too bad too cause that was a pricey lunch but it was great fun to eat there@!!!!!!!
Off to MGM, where they went on rockin roller coaster and then fastpassed tower of terror played millionaire twice and that was blast and funny!!!!!!! walked around and it rained again so went inot 50's diner Again didnt do too much at MGM as always so we promised next time to leave a full day for it!!!!!!
One time perused Grand floridian and had an appetizer and couple of drinks and a place there along water, nice but pricey. Also checked out Disney Beach Club and went to eat at Beeches and cream but said a half hour wait for just counter service so we left.
In essense we still have 6 meal vouchers we didnt use cause spent a lot of time at universal.
A fun trip overall, only one fireworks show, but I cant stress enough about getting to parks super early especially if it is peak season!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for taking time to read and hope I didnt jump around too much for you there was so much to remember and Im sure I left things out, feel free to ask questions!!!!!!!
Thank you!! Can you tell me how long it took you to drive over to US/IOA first thing in the am??? We'll be driving over ourself and I want to be there by 8:30am.
