Bear with me here. As I continue to process the fact that we just booked this trip, I find myself a little overwhelmed. It has been a while since I've been active here and, the primary reason for that is the fact that our last trip (January 2015) didn't go so well. The reasons behind that are long but, if you are really interested, just take a look at the trip report from that visit. Anyway, I had to take a break from the forums because we had to take a break from vacations for a while. The good news is, things are much much better now in our world and, with the help of a nice little cash out refinance on our mortgage, I was just able to book our next trip.
There is one huge difference between this trip and the ones we've taken in the past... we are doing more than just living on WDW property. *gasp* In fact, we will be resort hopping, park hopping (including outside of WDW parks) and staying in places we've never stayed before. I decided to share this pre-trip report as, frankly, I'd love everyone's thoughts and advice. This trip will be a whole new world for all 3 of us.
Resort #1 - All Star Music - Standard Room (05/01 - 05/04)
We've stayed in All Star Movies quite a few times, but never Music so, I'm excited about this selection. I wanted to build in dining wherever I could for the trip but, with how chaotic things will be when it comes to resort and park hopping, I decided to go with QS dining while visiting the WDW parks. This way, very little is truly "scheduled" and we can move about freely and change plans on the fly.
05/01 - Driving ~9 Hours, Relaxing at the Pool, etc. - ADRs for Boma Dinner
05/02 - Magic Kingdom (Park Hopper)
SM, POTC & 7DMT FP+ Selections
05/03 - Epcot (Park Hopper)
SSE, Nemo & TT FP+ Selections
Resort #2 - Legoland Resort - Adventure Premium Room (05/04 - 05/05)
Both Legoland and the Legoland Resort Hotel are completely new experiences for us. Because we'll have 3 days of dining from our stay at ASMU, we'll be carrying over some credits to feed us before and after Legoland opens, somewhere on property (likely the ASMU food court). Then, we have the included breakfast for the morning of the 5th before we checkout.
05/04 - Legoland
Resort #3 - Universal's Cabana Bay Resort - Standard Room (05/05 - 05/07)
My first, and only visit to Universal was in 1992 so, I might as well have never been because everything is different. My son and husband have never been either. As I said, I built in dining wherever I could just to reduce stress a bit and, Universal is no exception. In addition to 2-days of QS dining, I also added the Superstar Character Breakfast on 05/06.
05/05 - Universal Studios (Park Hopper)
05/06 - Islands of Adventure (Park Hopper)
(Note: I wasn't originally going to go with Park Hopper but, because of the breakfast being at the Studios, and that being our second day at Universal and likely when we'll hit Islands of Adventure, I went ahead and did it so we could pop between the two).
05/07 - Both the Legoland Package, as well as the Universal Package, included free days with the tickets I selected. We will be driving home on this day but, I figure we may go back and do some of our favorite things at either Legoland or the Universal Parks (or maybe both) and then get on the road sometime before 1:00 if at all possible.
So there it is... an insane trip of bouncing between resorts and properties and doing a ton of stuff we've never done. I'm hoping the insanity of it is ultimately what makes it great. My son's issues sort of being forced to reset themselves each time we are moving to someplace new. Fingers crossed all goes well!
Any suggestions on the resort hopping? That's probably the thing I'm most in need of insider tips on. Obviously on our checkout days, we'll be checking out early and heading to a park, and then checking in later that afternoon on a break or at the end of our park day but, any ideas on how to make sure we don't leave things behind or make a mess of this would be great!
There is one huge difference between this trip and the ones we've taken in the past... we are doing more than just living on WDW property. *gasp* In fact, we will be resort hopping, park hopping (including outside of WDW parks) and staying in places we've never stayed before. I decided to share this pre-trip report as, frankly, I'd love everyone's thoughts and advice. This trip will be a whole new world for all 3 of us.
Resort #1 - All Star Music - Standard Room (05/01 - 05/04)
We've stayed in All Star Movies quite a few times, but never Music so, I'm excited about this selection. I wanted to build in dining wherever I could for the trip but, with how chaotic things will be when it comes to resort and park hopping, I decided to go with QS dining while visiting the WDW parks. This way, very little is truly "scheduled" and we can move about freely and change plans on the fly.
05/01 - Driving ~9 Hours, Relaxing at the Pool, etc. - ADRs for Boma Dinner
05/02 - Magic Kingdom (Park Hopper)
SM, POTC & 7DMT FP+ Selections
05/03 - Epcot (Park Hopper)
SSE, Nemo & TT FP+ Selections
Resort #2 - Legoland Resort - Adventure Premium Room (05/04 - 05/05)
Both Legoland and the Legoland Resort Hotel are completely new experiences for us. Because we'll have 3 days of dining from our stay at ASMU, we'll be carrying over some credits to feed us before and after Legoland opens, somewhere on property (likely the ASMU food court). Then, we have the included breakfast for the morning of the 5th before we checkout.
05/04 - Legoland
Resort #3 - Universal's Cabana Bay Resort - Standard Room (05/05 - 05/07)
My first, and only visit to Universal was in 1992 so, I might as well have never been because everything is different. My son and husband have never been either. As I said, I built in dining wherever I could just to reduce stress a bit and, Universal is no exception. In addition to 2-days of QS dining, I also added the Superstar Character Breakfast on 05/06.
05/05 - Universal Studios (Park Hopper)
05/06 - Islands of Adventure (Park Hopper)
(Note: I wasn't originally going to go with Park Hopper but, because of the breakfast being at the Studios, and that being our second day at Universal and likely when we'll hit Islands of Adventure, I went ahead and did it so we could pop between the two).
05/07 - Both the Legoland Package, as well as the Universal Package, included free days with the tickets I selected. We will be driving home on this day but, I figure we may go back and do some of our favorite things at either Legoland or the Universal Parks (or maybe both) and then get on the road sometime before 1:00 if at all possible.
So there it is... an insane trip of bouncing between resorts and properties and doing a ton of stuff we've never done. I'm hoping the insanity of it is ultimately what makes it great. My son's issues sort of being forced to reset themselves each time we are moving to someplace new. Fingers crossed all goes well!
Any suggestions on the resort hopping? That's probably the thing I'm most in need of insider tips on. Obviously on our checkout days, we'll be checking out early and heading to a park, and then checking in later that afternoon on a break or at the end of our park day but, any ideas on how to make sure we don't leave things behind or make a mess of this would be great!
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