Trip Report Another one of Dray's live trip report attempts (How we learned to love 2008) Now with pictures!!

First off, kudos to you if you got my vague reference in the title. Here's a hint, Stanley Kubrick.

Ok, the cast contains the 4 usual suspects:

Me, Dave. 30 something. I like long romantic walks on the beach and cuddly kittens. Oh, and MMA, the History Channel and my family.

Amy, 30ish and a stay at home mom. She loves to craft stuff and Hocus Pocus.

Ashley, 15 years of age and she is infatuated with Monster High dolls and anime.

Justin, 14 and he also loves anime and video games.

Peanut, our bun in the oven and her interests include kicking momma in the ribs and being lugged around like luggage.

We flew in back on the 10th. We landed around 2:45 and grabbed our stuff from the claim area and headed to the Alamo area. Had a little hiccup there, we found out that Florida now charges some fee that's $2 per day, which explained the difference in the price on my itinerary and what the kiosk showed.

After a few minutes in line, the kind fellow at the counter squared us away and we headed to the garage to pick up our horseless carriage. We have 8 suitcases and a huge over the shoulder bag, so we always get a mid size suv. We prefer a Ford Escape, but the only one they had was taken. So, we grabbed an available Nissan Rogue, which barely fit our stuff. Lesson learned, from now on it will be a standard suv.

Anyways, we headed to grab a bite at McDonald's and then to check in at the Super 8 Orlando. We were extremely surprised at how nice the rooms were, and only at $59 a night. We headed to the outlet malls on International Drive and the one at Vineland. This was just a one night stay, so we headed back to the room and got some shut eye.

The next morning we packed up and drove over to the Royal Pacific Resort to check in and get our Express Passes. The room wasn't ready, so we parked and grabbed our Express Passes and walked to the parks. We picked up our renewed APs and off we went. I believe we hit Men In Black first and then headed to E.T. before taking in a viewing of the Horror Make Up show. We absolutely love that show.

We generally split up for about half of the day because the ladies like to partake in the thrill rides, while us two gentlemen like to take it easy and relax. We absolutely love Universal and we spent 3 days there. On Sunday we managed to take in two Make Up shows and during the final one, I was "that guy" that didn't help Mickey James when she was "dying". Even when you know what's coming it's still hilarious.

We checked out of the RPR this morning and checked into the French Quarter today. Our room wasn't ready but he told us we'd be in building 3, so that's cool. We didn't have any breakfast, so we high tailed it over here to the Studios and ate at Pizza Planet. Now we're standing in line to see Phineas and Ferb, and that's where I'm writing this little TR from.

One thing I must say is WHAT HAPPENED TO SEPTEMBER? Holy cow, is this NOT dead.....

It's very crowded. I would compare this to April. Too bad we were spoiled by having the Express Pass. Now back to third class with the rest of the peasants.

Also, if you're familiar with my style then you know I won't be adding pictures until we get home on the 23rd. Sorry folks, but I'm not good at using Photobucket on the go.

And one more thing.....my son and I have now maxed out on Men In Black. As a matter of fact, I've done it 3 times now.

......to be continued.
 

draybook

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Sadly, the trip is over. I'm sitting at our departure gate as I type this. We had a great time at the party last night. The only bummer is that we didn't get our usual spot for the parade...guess the secret is out. We did get a nice spot right by the Christmas store though, so all was not lost.

It wasn't too bad getting back to the parking lot, only took two monorails. We had ADRs at BoG on Sunday and yesterday as well and we lucked out by getting seated in the West Wing both times. We also had one of the best servers we've ever had, a fella named Kurt. Ashley developed quite the crush on him.

We went off site after the party for some quick food and then straight back to the room. The plan was to start packing to make it easier in the morning. I'll let you guess if that happened.

We were out of the room at 7:30 (hour later than planned) and we headed to Pop Century's food court to use up some snack credits. After that we hit the road and grabbed some breakfast and gas and we got to MCO around 8:45.

Between me and you, my fellow Magic'ers, I despite the TSA. The guy that scanned my boarding pass had an attitude about me taking off my sunglasses. I don't respect them as an agency, and it's guys like him that make it that way.

Anyways, we had a great time and we can't wait to come back in January and for our bounceback next September. Too bad we'll be driving due to the baby, but it's a sacrifice I'm overjoyed to make. I'll add some pictures today when we get home and settled in. Thanks for following along, folks.
 

Jae99

Well-Known Member
Sadly, the trip is over. I'm sitting at our departure gate as I type this. We had a great time at the party last night. The only bummer is that we didn't get our usual spot for the parade...guess the secret is out. We did get a nice spot right by the Christmas store though, so all was not lost.

It wasn't too bad getting back to the parking lot, only took two monorails. We had ADRs at BoG on Sunday and yesterday as well and we lucked out by getting seated in the West Wing both times. We also had one of the best servers we've ever had, a fella named Kurt. Ashley developed quite the crush on him.

We went off site after the party for some quick food and then straight back to the room. The plan was to start packing to make it easier in the morning. I'll let you guess if that happened.

We were out of the room at 7:30 (hour later than planned) and we headed to Pop Century's food court to use up some snack credits. After that we hit the road and grabbed some breakfast and gas and we got to MCO around 8:45.

Between me and you, my fellow Magic'ers, I despite the TSA. The guy that scanned my boarding pass had an attitude about me taking off my sunglasses. I don't respect them as an agency, and it's guys like him that make it that way.

Anyways, we had a great time and we can't wait to come back in January and for our bounceback next September. Too bad we'll be driving due to the baby, but it's a sacrifice I'm overjoyed to make. I'll add some pictures today when we get home and settled in. Thanks for following along, folks.
I am glad that the trip was a success even though it seemed much busier than past Septembers.... Thanks for letting us follow along!
 

draybook

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Sorry it took longer than expected folks. I was quite busy at work, fixing what they had "done" to my work area. Anyhow, I don't have a ton of photos like I used to in my early WDW visiting days, but I'll post what I have. Enjoy and I hope that you liked the trip report. I have plans on getting myself a nice little point and shoot before we go back in January, so hopefully I'll have more photos then. I'm also in the process of uploading my video from the Boo to You parade, so I'll post that when it finally finishes. I'm not the only one that gets 8+ hour upload times for YouTube, am I?

Anyhow, on to the pictures! I'll try to keep it in chronological order, so there will be some Universal photos to start with. Go easy on me, my pictures were taken on my Note 2, so they're not the sharpest.

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Love this view.




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The new Kong area, looking really good!


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Shot of our room at the Royal Pacific Resort. It was really nice.


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Yeah, check out that $7 water!! I wonder if there's treasure in that chest?


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We loved this stand up shower. It was nice to not have some rinky tub/shower combo. It even had a little bench in the back so you could rest your weary feet while cleansing yourself.


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I know what you're thinking. Dray, you sure have a nice zebra print suitcase! Sorry folks, but it's not mine...


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Our rental car. Yeah, it's a bit small on luggage space, but it gets us from A to B. But seriously, they had these parked at the Outlet mall on International Drive.

That about does it for pics from Universal, to be continued for the Disney portion.
 

draybook

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Okay folks, I'm not really good at keeping these in chronological order, so I'll just post em and set a description. Hope you enjoy!

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The kids meeting some of their favorite characters. We stood in the blazing sun for 35 minutes to meet these guys. That's how unusually busy it was. Last September we waited 10 minutes.....


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Pros, just straight up pros. We literally maxed out on almost every ride on Buzz. Actually, Justin always did and the only two times I didn't it was because of a faulty gun. I think we're going to start practicing to max out using our feet.


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Here's a picture of said pros. I think that hippy on the left needs a haircut!


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Had a little down time on the Peoplemover, can't you tell by the excitement on Justin's face?


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Taking a little cruise on the Liberty Belle.


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Being a pro makes you sleepy. Nap time!


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The munchkins hanging out around the Mine Train.


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Just time traveling and picking up dinosaurs. Typical day for these folks....


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This dude really knows how to host a party!!

To be continued!
 

draybook

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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A good view at my favorite park.


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So long, fuzzy one....


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Just hanging out....waiting for our water side table at San Angel Inn.


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Waiting for Living with the Land.


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Not too bad....


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Is it rude to eat breakfast sausage in front of this guy?


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A little Pooh for breakfast. Wait, what?....you know what I mean.


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Wish it was like this all day every day....


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My son's favorite character, except for Figment.
 

draybook

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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Let it go.


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I absolutely love this place!


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Seriously, I love it....


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The walk from Epcot to DHS.


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Sun's out, guns out! Wait a minute, aren't we indoors?


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Good times with the guys!


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A dad and his angel.


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Need a ride, kids?


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I guess they wanted to build a snowman...


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Finally got a picture with the legend, Mr. John!! Seriously, this guy is the standard by which CM's, employees, all people should be measured!



That about wraps it up, folks. Hope you had a good time following along and hopefully the pictures were worth the wait. Like I said before, I'm hoping to have more pictures next time. I guess that as you accumulate more trips, you become less inclined to stop and take photos. Or maybe it's just me. Anyways, I guess we'll find out in January. Thanks, guys, and enjoy!
 

MinnieM123

Premium Member
Those were interesting pictures, and thank you for sharing them. Your room in the Royal Pacific was nicely appointed. The only time I went to Universal was years ago when it first opened, and back then, it wasn't as impressive as I've heard it is nowadays. Glad you had fun.

Your kids look like they were having a great time, and it's nice to read that there are still places that appeal to people of all ages, so that families like yours can spend enjoyable time together. Happy that you all made it home safely, as well.
 

DisneyGigi

Well-Known Member
STUDIO_STDENTR2_7467359901_zps3nvxnn3n.jpeg

Let it go.


20150921_183234_zps4of579xs.jpg

I absolutely love this place!


20150921_183221_zpspzcrzvxv.jpg

Seriously, I love it....


20150921_184541_zpsrpllwrwk.jpg

The walk from Epcot to DHS.


MK_BUZZLIGHTYEARRIDE_7468438195_zpsorz2gtob.jpeg

Sun's out, guns out! Wait a minute, aren't we indoors?


PHOTOBOOTH_PBMKSPACE1_7463727720_zpsxtbkuyfv.jpeg

Good times with the guys!


PHOTOBOOTH_PBMKSPACE1_7463729891_zpsnzs3uiax.jpeg

A dad and his angel.


MK_MAGHAUNT_7466685330_zpskfemhrfx.jpeg

Need a ride, kids?


STUDIO_ROVER2_7461637801_zpsmgkkvafu.jpeg

I guess they wanted to build a snowman...


20150920_103823_zpsnc66e1xv.jpg

Finally got a picture with the legend, Mr. John!! Seriously, this guy is the standard by which CM's, employees, all people should be measured!



That about wraps it up, folks. Hope you had a good time following along and hopefully the pictures were worth the wait. Like I said before, I'm hoping to have more pictures next time. I guess that as you accumulate more trips, you become less inclined to stop and take photos. Or maybe it's just me. Anyways, I guess we'll find out in January. Thanks, guys, and enjoy!
Have seen and talked to him so many times, he is great! He loaded us on Buzz first of September but did not get to chat. Great pics. :)
 

draybook

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Have seen and talked to him so many times, he is great! He loaded us on Buzz first of September but did not get to chat. Great pics. :)


Unbelievably, he actually recognized us the first day we were there. He was working the offload for Buzz and immediately said "hey, welcome back guys" when we were exiting. He is super awesome!
 

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