Vacationing with a tight wallet...Our First trip to Universal

[Worfiedoodles]

Have a wonderful trip! Enjoy a margarita for me! Oh, and don't forget to relax and enjoy this special family time

Maria

 

[avic77]

I have been running around getting the last minute things dealt with. My MIL called at 2 and asked if I could take her to the doctor. She fell in the airport in Miami on her way home from her Chili Missions trip. She hurt her shoulder pretty bad She got home last night and went to her doctor this morning who sent her to the orthopedic (which is were I took her). They want her to have an MRI as son as we get back from Universal and she can't go on any roller coasters . At least she will be with us and we will be able to make sure she doesnt do anything to further hurt herself. She was really looking forward to going with us and she is upset that she will be limited in what she can do .

I know we will still have a great time. Just keep my DMIL in ya'lls thoughts.

 

[mickeysfavoritefan]

Here is to your family having a fabulous time at Universal and your MIL is in my thoughts.

mickeysfavoritefan

 

[HayGan]

I've really enjoyed your trip report. Sorry to hear about all the bad news that has hit your family. It sounds like you could all use a fantastic vacation!!!

Have you checked out restaurants.com for some great dining discounts? We bought a $50 gc for BB King's Blues Cafe for $4. We have to spend $100 to use the discount but it still is a fantastic savings! Here is their current promo http://www.restaurant.com/consumer-...s_kwcid=TC|7304|restaurant.com||S||3233585657

Have a great trip & I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back!!!!

 

[Dollyrar]

Really enjoyed reading your pre-trippie, and hope that you're enjoying yourselves at the parks right now!

 

[avic77]

We are back from our first trip to Universal Studios and Islands Of Adventure. So I am going to get started on the actual TRIP REPORT

Let me go back to Friday April 24th 2009. As you may recall my MIL was coming home from a missions trip in Chili to vacation with us since I had won an additional ticket in the Super Bowl give away. Well dear MIL fell in the airport and was into a lot of pain. I took her to the doctor Friday and they thought it might be a torn rotator cuff. She insisted then that she could still go and just not ride anything . Saturday evening she comes our to spend to night so we could get up and on the road early. Well she was obviously in a lot of pain . About 11pm she decided maybe she shouldn’t go with us after all as she was just in too much pain. She is doing better now and is seeing the doctor again today. They will probably do an MRI.

Sunday morning we got up early and packed the Minivan. I wanted to hit the road by 7am but it was closer to 8am before we got going. The miles ticked by quietly the kids slept watched movies and played their game boys for the first couple hours. As we left sweet home Alabama and entered Florida we started noticing LOTS of State troopers. We must have passed no less the 2 dozen Fortunately DH never speeds on the way to vacation (on the way home however is another story ). We didn't have any major traffic backups and the bathrooms stops were all nice and clean . There were flowers blooming all along the highway which was very pretty, even dh commented on them.
We finally reach Orlando and all its lovely toll roads. I HATE toll roads . Our directions printed off of Map quest told us to take exit ### well we get to exit ### and there is a huge sign stating Sunpass only no cash accepted. WHAT!!!! Dh is getting and starts saying a couple 4 letter words. Then he remembers he promised to be good this vacation. We drive to the next exit and hope we can figure our way around to where we needed to be. Luckily the travel Gods were smiling on us and we found our way with no further problems.
We pulled into the hotel, The Parc Corniche, around 6pm Florida time. I get out and go check us in. The front desk personal was very nice and when I mentioned our issue with directions she told me never use Map quest for Orlando because they always get the tolls exits wrong. Google maps are much better for navigating Orlando. NOW we know!
I commenced checking in and ask if my room was prepaid (I wanted to check since I used Easy Click Travel and was a little nervous). She said it was but she needed a credit card for the security deposit. I handed over my ID and Credit card, signed my name agreeing to pay any damages or phone charges. They didn’t have anymore top floor rooms which is what I had requested but we got a 2nd floor room in the fourth building #4214.
We drive around to our room and start unloading the van. Fortunately Parc Corniche has elevators and we haul all our luggage up to the room. We open the door and are pleasantly surprised. This hotel is actually a Condominium suite hotel all the rooms are 1 or 2 bedrooms with a living/kitchen area. We got a 2 rooms suite with 2 twin beds in one room a king bed in the other and a fold out couch in the living room area. Reviews on Travel sites are mixed with many people saying its old and needs renovations. I agree with those statements to some extent but all in all I was pleased with our accommodations. The room was clean and comfortable and provided our family of five with the room we needed. The beds were a bit firmer then I like and yes the decor is dated but most hotel decor is pretty tacky if you ask me.
I will be posting all my pictures as links to save space, just click on the underlined words to open the pictures.
Pictures!!!

The Living room of our Condo Suite with a fold out couch TV, coffee table and in the forground you can see part of the dining table with 6 chairs.
The Kitchen area with full size fridge, 4 burner stove top Microwave and toaster oven sink coffe maker and dishwasher. There were glass plates, bowls, saucers, cups, as well as silverware, cooking utensils, and pots and pans. There was even a tea kettle.
King Bedroom
King Bathroom Tub and toilet
King bathroom Vanity area
Twin bedroom
Bathroom Vanity
Bathroom Shower and toilet area
View from Balconie
Another veiw
Balconie

Next installment: First night in Orlando...Dinner and Dinosaurs!

 

[EPRV We love Disney]

Yay! Looking forward to more! Hope you had a fabulous time!

 

[tlinus]

I'm here!!

I'm here!!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Yea! So ready for this TR! After the anticipation of the pre-trippie, I am ready to experience your dinosaurific dinner delight!

Maria

 

[macraven]

home from work and here reading too....

 

[HayGan]

Thanks for the first installment! Can't wait to read more

 

[macraven]

i noticed in the twin bedroom, the toilet has about one inch clearance from the door.......


i only say that as some homies always takes pictures of the clearance of door to the loo.....


you fit right in with us victoria !!

 

[avic77]

i noticed in the twin bedroom, the toilet has about one inch clearance from the door.......


i only say that as some homies always takes pictures of the clearance of door to the loo.....


you fit right in with us victoria !!

I never used that toilet so Im not sure how much clearance it had actually. It might just look tighter then it really was. The Shower was awesome though! It was nice and big. Dh and I enjoy taking showers together so we liked it alot

 

[keishashadow]

I never used that toilet so Im not sure how much clearance it had actually. It might just look tighter then it really was. The Shower was awesome though! It was nice and big. Dh and I enjoy taking showers together so we liked it alot

nothing like a little couple time on vacationi know the drill lol. Def nice to have a condo to spread out, being in such close quarters with whole famly in one room loses it's appeal after a week

just checking in to say even though ive been preoccupied with throwing my upcoming trip together rather last minute, i have been reading the thread & enjoying it

dinos for dinner, im thinking TRexDTD?

 

[avic77]

So the end of our last (err...first ) installment we had just arrived at our condo and checked out the room. By this time Loogey's tummy was telling us what time it was... DINNER TIME! My son has an internal clock and it resides slap in the middle of his belly. He eats at 7am (breakfast) 10 am (snack) 12pm (lunch) 3pm (snack) and 5:30 om (supper). If you are even a bit off he is rolling on the floor moaning about how straved he is . But Mom and dad saw the nice big shower and felt really grimmy after all day in the car. So while the kiddos to get unpacked and changed while we check out the shower .
We wanted to go to Downtown Disney becuase of the Build a Dino store. Loogey had heard about this and really wanted himself a dino buddy to call his own . So we stop by the check in desk and ask for directions to Downtown Disney. They must have directions saved in files on the computer becuase she printed one up in no time flat.
The direction looked pretty easy go up to the first light make a left get on I4 get off at exit # (dont recall number) and make a turn into Disney property (there will be a big sign ) then just follow the signs to DTD. EASY ...right? WRONG!!!!!!!! We get to I4 and there are 4 cop cars blocking it! WHAT how in the Heck do you close the interstate!!!! Dh is getting . We turn left like to cops are flagging us to and follow the rest of the clueless tourist in front of us. Dh is grumbling and growling and I am trying to look at a map printed on a tourist booklet to figure out where we are and where we are headed. Eventually I spot the Prime outlets THATS on the map! It looks like we can just follow the road down beside it and make a right then a left. So I tell DH where to go and Tah-Tah we found a big "Welcome to Disney" sign. Huge sigh of relief. We pass all these non disney hotels ( the ones on Disney property but not owned by Disney) and then we see DTD. Dh keeps asking about parking but I assure him its free. We just happen to pull into the parking section right in front of T-Rex so Dh lets me out to go put our name on the list while he and the kids find a parking place. By now it's 7:00 or so and DTD is BUSY!! We have an hour to wait. DH and the kids find me and we go into the gift shop to look around and waste an hour till our name is called.

Loogey wants to build his dino. We try to tell him to wait in case he finds something else while in US/IOA but he is convienced that he wants a Dino, period. We head into the build a dino area and DS picks up the different dinos hugs them pets them etc. Finally he decides on the Triceratops. It's green (mommy's fav color) and has 3 horns on its face. He is nice and soft and the perfect friend for an almost 7 year old "big boy". He takes his limp unstuffed triceratops to the stuffing area and goes through the rituals of building his Dino, which BTW is very entertaining for little kids. After the Triceratop is stuff and sewn closed Loogey heads over to the "bathing area". he decided Dinos dont wear clothes and totally skipped the "fashion area". After that we headed to the computers and made Triceratops a birth certificate and Loogey named his new buddy Spikes. Mom then gets the job of paying the adoption fee of $19.17 which she felt was pretty reasonable i forgot to take a pictures of the building process, sorry.
Now Missy Mouse (DD9) is much more practical then her little brother (and big sister for that matter). She examines the Dinos and makes a mental list of what she would possibly like to spend her suvvie money on. But she isnt about to buy now, there's still 4 days for shopping ! So she checks to make sure we can turn later in the week if she doesnt find anything else she likes better. Mom and dad share a knowing look. This is the child that spent over $100 at build a bear 2 Christmases ago (she got alot of gift cards from family). This is the child that when cleaning out her toys will cry that she cant get rid of any stuff animals becuase she loves them and the need her. She also "adopts" her brother and sister's neglected stuffies without their knowledge and noones notices until they go to clean out her room and find all the "lost" stuffies that she happened to "find". Yea we know we will be back .
We continue to just nose around the gift shop until eventually our name is called. I hurry to the desk with my number and am instucted to go stand in THAT line! What another wait??? Ds is no longer preoccupied with the dino building and is really ready for his dinner. We obey the rules and go get in line. After about 5 minutes a hostess comes over and asks us to follow her to our table.
We are seated at the very edge of the "Fire" section which is probably the least interesting right under this guy's BUTT!

Hey there's still the food right ! After a short wait our server appears he was a very animated gentleman who is bright eyed and bushy tailed. He takes our drink orders and i whisper that we are celebrating DD15's birthday. We all pick our entrees (DD15 went for an appitizer) and ordered when the server returned with our drinks.
While the food was prepared I took the kids through the restaruant to look at the various sections ending in the Bathroom to wash our hands. I was impressed with the themeing, but DD9 was not happy about the metor showers that occred every 15 minutes.

When I told Loogey to go stand beside this baby wooly mammoth so I could take a picture it "trumpeted" and moved it's trunk and nearly scared my poor child to death

This is Me and the Mister

More in next post I'm out of room

(I added the glasses in Photobucket to kinda protect the children's identities.)

 

[avic77]

So our food arrived eventually. I dont think it was a long wait considering how busy the place was and all.
So here's food food pictures:
Dh ordered the Layers of the Earth Lasagna - Fresh pasta layered with homemade tomato and meat sauce, Ricotta, Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, baked to perfection
Loogey ordered Paleo Pizza - Cheese

Missy ordered the Shrimpkens - Popcorn shrimp and Jurassic chicken tidbits

Envy ordered an appetizer Supersaurus Sampler - For an appetite as big as T-REX! Spinach and pepper jack queso with tortilla chips, Brachiosaurus Bruschetta, T-Rexadillas and Onion Rings

and I ordered Jurassic Shrimp Skewers - Grilled shrimp with red and green bell peppers and onions, served over Raptor rice with mango fruit salsa and lemon butter sauce

Envy's and mine were really yummy ( i sampled hers ) Missy's shrimp were good too, I stole one or two. Dh enjoyed his lasagna and Loogey liked his pizza.
Our server never came to refills our drinks which really annoyed me but it was busy. He finally came around and we got a to go box. He eventually showed up again with Envy's birthday dessert and a crew of singing coworkers.

By this time it was 10pm I was tried, grumpy and ready for bed. He eventually showed up again and gave me the bill. I know it was well over a half hour between the birthday song and getting the bill . Again we had no refills on our drink and we had been sitting and waiting for him to come around again.
Our bill after tip and a little under $100.00. IMO T-Rex is not worth the $100.00 we spent, service was slow and it is very noisy and crowded. The wait staff is too busy to be attentive to their customers' needs. I consider it a One Time Wonder.

Next installment: First day in Universal, Jimmy and Shrek and Donkey, Oh My! Mummy's and Men in Black too.

 

[bubba's mom]

Great day Victoria.....why o why did I read (& look) at FOOD while I'm busy working?




(well...supposed to be working.... ....now I'm hungry! )

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I'm trying to avoid T-Rex on our next trip since I know it will be a money pit for us (my ds likes stuffed animals like your dd#2!), but if he see's these photos I'm done! He would like the dino atmosphere.

I love dd#1's meal, great variety and all yummy-looking!

It seems like there was alot of waiting and not much reward, but you all look happy in the photos!

I'm really enjoying your Trippie!

Maria

 

[circelli]

Great job Victoria!!

Loving it, keep it coming...

 

[HayGan]

Lovin' this report. Can't wait for more