MLM5.. aka Judy

 Thank you all so very much for all the input, I have turned this up side down and round and round trying to make the best decision and I have decided that even though my wallet will scream in pain, we are going to stay on site.  I have to keep reminding myself that I have a mission on this trip so it needs to be special, I want them to feel like the rock stars that they are :heart: 

I'll be booking all of this tomorrow so prayers that I dont stroke out and die when I enter the card number are appreciated..  :pope:

Fiends truely are the best!! :heartsmiley:

Jessica really wants to come. Depending on what all we have going on for Drew's graduation, I may try and bring her up for a couple days during the week if there will be other kids there then.

If Dave is TDY we will have a open seat and she is more than welcome to come with us! As soon as he knows his dates I'll let you guy know for sure

Oh do it do it do it!!

Holy moly, when I went, which was like 5 years ago, we got a Florida resident rate of $199 a person.  Which I hated to pay, but it was worth it.  You get a whole day there and all of your meals, including snacks and drinks.  And beer.  We got our money's worth.

 

I believe that you can get an Aqautica pass instead of the SeaWorld pass, but you pretty much are in the water all day at Discovery Cove, so you might not be wanting to go to a waterpark.  SeaWorld has a couple of pretty good rollercoasters that would appeal to your teens.

 

Maybe a cheap hotel and Discovery Cove would work.

 

I don't think that $20 pass would be the same as the Front of the LIne perk.  Maybe, but I think they'd charge more than $20 for that.

 

TCD

Definatley going  to play around with it, the hotel isnt that important to me as long as it's clean and in a safe place and relatively close to everything

If there's any way that you can swing staying at one of the official Universal hotels, you should try for that.  We've stayed at the Royal Pacific and the Hard Rock.  Really nice.  And, the best part is you get Front of the Line privileges in the parks. Since your time is limited, that Front of the Line perk would really be worthwhile to have.

 

We checked out Wet N Wild once.  It's kind of a rough place.  No theming.  But, it does have some cool slides.  Even if your teens aren't Disney fans, I still think they'd prefer Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach.  There is also Aquatica at Sea World- I've never been, but it looks nice.

 

Have you considered Discovery Cove?  Instead of Universal?  It's expensive, but in addition to the day at Discovery Cove, you get a 7 day pass to Sea World.  That would be a trip your kids would never forget.  There would be some really good family bonding opportunities at Discovery Cove.  You would be able to stay in a much less expensive hotel, too.

 

TCD

I didn't think of Discovery Cove in that perspective TCD, I didnt realize that you also get the Sea World pass.. I need to reconsider that.  I initially wanted to do that but it was almost $312 dollars a person so I was immediatley turned off but you've got me thinking about it again.. Does Aquatica come with that as well?  I'm thinking on our short day maybe a water park til around 4 and then off to the airport. 

the cost of the onsite hotels at universal was a bit much when I compared offsite, is the front of the line perk the same as the pass mentioned on the website that you can buy in addition to your ticket?  It was like 20 bucks I think..

Great info!! Thank you, I'm going to look at Discovery Cove a little closer...

March 26th to the 29th, my three oldest children and I will be flying to Orlando for a few days of bonding and to just to generally spend some quality time with each other.  We have had a rough year, if any of you have teenagers you understand some, if you have a troubled teen in your life, you understand even better.  Relationships have been strained between my oldest children and we have worked really hard to bring that back together, so this isnt just another trip, this is different.  They have never been to Universal Studios so we want to do that for sure, I haven't been in over 20 years so I dont really know what to expect.  I'd like to have a few good meals, they really want to do a water park of some sort (wet n wild maybe?) We only have 2 fulls days and the 3rd day our flight leaves at 8:40 pm so I'm going to have some hours to burn there.  I need you experts to chip in and tell what's a must do and what we should skip.  As much as I wanted to go to Disney, they sadly arent as enthusiastic about the mouse.. I failed there as a parent miserably (my little ones however are all about the mouse, THANK GOD)

Let me hear your suggestions, I dont do trip reports often, but I'm hoping this one will be the final chapter in a very long story, and I'm hoping for a happy ending!

We are looking forward to it.  I don't miss a meal so let's plan some food.

I'm bringing the smoker, not sure what I'm putting in it yet but it's coming along, at Defeated Creek we did Breakfast pot luck style on the satruday morning that was GREAT!  I will do Gravy, if someone can do biscuts, my oven only does like 6 at a time.. it will take FOREVER :)

I worked in Fairbanks for a couple of years, I can tell you there is nothing like Alaska, it's something you will remember for a life time.  I HIGHLY recommend that you make the trip down to Valdez and go Halibut fishing, of all my travels, that was absolutely the most beautiful place I have ever been.  To touch a peice of ice that is over a million years old brings a new perspective on life.  It's the only place I've ever been where the wildlife (to include whales) would come so close.  I'd say if you do decide to do the camp/rv thing stay in commericalized areas.  People do not realize how dangerous Alaska can truley be, stay on the path already made and you'll be fine.  It was a weekly occurance to hear of tourist getting mauled by bears or ran over by a moose when I lived there..   Don't expect high amenitites and plan on carrying extra gas with you,  it's not unusual to drive 300 miles between gas stops and some of those stops will be at what appears to be a old man's cabin with a 1960 something pump out side. .and they will charge you whatever the heck they feel like it.. depending on what time you wake them up.  I speak from experience :)

Well ladies I have good news and bad news, the Good news is we acquired a new contract at work so I'll be gainfully employed for a solid 2 years.. The bad news is I'll be spending the first two weeks in June in Prague. For those of you that were interested I hope someone takes the lead and you guys have a fabulous time! I will in the meantime be brushing up on my Russian .. Boo

so how far in advance of your trip do they generally ship the MB's? 

Ok girls, let's get this thing moving.. don't make me bring out my "crazy eyes"  :clint:

It should be unacceptable!!!  A travesty!!!  Not necessarily just the distance that hinders me... also the timing.    Boooo!!!!!  I shall pout and whine and maybe hang around on this thread and be pitifully pitiful!  Hmmmph!   ;D

:TantrumSmiley:

Bump we might change this to check in on fri I think that is the 23 rd so we travel in the daylight and with tim and sheila

Don't care which day it is, I just hope to see you!! :heart:

Come on people, book those sites, the more food fiends the merrier!!

Me and my oldest children will be in Orlando the 26th to the 29th, what dates would you be there?  We arent staying at Disney (gasp) but I'd still love to meet up with some fiends :)

The only thing I have to add is I bought my first TT last year and I'm one of those that doesnt get to go very far very often but we have absolutely LOVED the fact that I can take it out locally, even if it's only 20 minutes away, camping is better than sitting at home anyday of the week.  I say go for it.  My littles ones 3 and 5 LOVE to camp, it's the first thing they ask me on Friday evenings when I get home..   I also have 3 teenagers, it's been theraputic for us all.  Heck, we have even done some drive way camping and had a great time. 

Let me check with my DH. His work vehicle is also our tow vehicle so I need to confirm with him. If I'm lucky he'll drive me down then come back and get me.

He still doesn't understand why I would want to spend a weekend with complete strangers. Somehow I think one weekend and we'd be anything but strangers.....heck one hour.

WW Are like dominos pizza.. 30 minutes or less guaranteed lol

Okay we are booked for a back in site for 3/14 - 3/16. Also told them we are with a group of FortFiends and they said they are planning on grouping us together if possible.

Hey Dave add me to the list, please.

I will be bringing my daughter (be 13 in August) and her friend that is 13.

It will be great to meet you guys, looking forward to it!

Yea!!! It's almost time to start talking food that's my favorite part of any GG :)

It's possible I can bring ours. I'm still learning to tow it so this will give me a good excuse to practice. I can sleep 5 pretty comfortably 8 if we snuggle.

WW are all about snuggling and spooning.. after a few drinks of course :rofl2:  if you can bring a camper, I bring mine and a tent, we might be able to accomodate everyone comfortably..

Should we get an idea of who might be willing to haul down (or up depending on direction) a camper in case we decide to go that route?

Sure, I'm making an assumption that we wont have enough campers but it's possible, I can always bring the cracker box, we can sleep 4 comfortably if someone doesnt mind sharing a full size bunk.  If spooning isnt preferred then I can easily sleep 2.  I can bring the tents as well but June in Charlotte is going to be hot.. but regardless..

anyone want to bring a camper?

They have the options of a "lodge" which is a big cabin basically that can sleep up to 14.  It's roughly 400 bucks a night so the cost is going to be quite a bit more but we still have a few weeks to figure it out.  I did not check yet to see if there is any kind of camper rental options in the area.. maybe you can do that?  Use your mother bear detective skills?

MLM5 - Judy

HappyRedhead......Betsy

momof3kids-Yvonne

Camp Mimi (Missy)

BradyBzLyn...Mo

CCIntrigue...aka Gwen

Chris

kampfirekim

wdwpoohbear...Jennifer

Momof6....aka Marty

Nicki aka Rebelstand

Judy, please add Chris to the list. She's my best friend who was going to go to WWW with me tomorrow but she has to go to the hospital instead.

ARMS UP!!

 

:rollercoaster:

YEA BABY!

Herding Cats!!!!

LOL! no doubt, the bad part is I'm not nearly as organized as you are.. I make no gaurantees this will be a smooth operation  :rofl2:

I am in for this!  I may have tag-a-longs depending on if one of them can get a sitter for one of those days.  Do you need a count of those right away?

 A rough estimate is fine for right now, something more solid by the second week of Feburary would be appreciated for planning purposes.  I fully understand and expect changes, that's what us women do after allright?