Pre-Trip Our Journey to the Dark Side, June 2018

Shhh! Listen closely! Do you hear it? That's the sound of my heart being ripped apart because we are going to Florida, but NOT. GOING. INTO. ANY. DISNEY. PARKS!!!

First, let me introduce us! I'm Amy, and I'm (obviously) a Disney addict! I will be traveling with my husband, Brian, and our kids, Logan, Lily, and Owen. This is my family during out trip last June:
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I had a kid free trip all planned out for our 20th anniversary in December that Brian had agreed to. We were going to stay at Caribbean Beach Resort since that is where we honeymooned, check out the Christmas decorations at all the resorts, enjoy some fine dining, and only go into the MK for a Christmas party. The no parks was a compromise, as I would have liked to see the new decorations at DHS, as well as the different countries at Epcot, but Brian was really worried about the crowds. We hadn't booked anything yet, as I was waiting to see what discounts came out and Southwest flights aren't out for December yet, but we had already talked about where we would book ADRs and which resorts we wanted to be sure to check out, etc.

Fast forward to last week when Brian says he wants to talk to me about this summer. We had decided we would just make a little weekend trip or two with the kids since we had our epic 2 week trip to Disney/Universal/SeaWorld last year, and two big trips just aren't in the budget this year, as Logan will be driving soon and will need a car and I can only imagine what our insurance is going to look like!! He says to me, "I've been thinking.." Besides me thinking to myself, "Don't hurt yourself"!!, I knew I wasn't going to like what he was going to say. He had decided that he would rather spend the money for a trip with the kids than us go alone to Disney. Ouch!! I really do understand, but 20 years is a big deal and I was really looking forward to this trip! So I sucked it up and started discreetly questioning the kids about where they would like to go. There was much discussion among them and the consensus was Universal. Ouch!! Once again, I understand because there really is nothing new and exciting at Disney for them this year (I don't count Toy Story Land, and don't even know if it will be open when we go!), but it still breaks my heart!!

We will, however, spend a little time at Disney Springs, and have dinner at 'Ohana so I can get a little bit of the Disney magic. I will be sure to report back about the Disney portion of the trip, as short as it may be, but I can also do Universal if anyone is interested!

Okay, so on with the details:
When: We will be driving down again this year. We got big groans from the kids when they heard this, but when given the choice to drive or stay home, they got onboard with the driving! We will leave early Monday morning, June 11 and return on Saturday, June 16.
Where: We will be staying at Hard Rock Hotel again, but this time in a deluxe room so we have a pull out sofa and a little extra square footage. The regular room last year was a little tight once we set the cot up for the third kid!
What: We got 3 park, 4 day park to park tickets, so we will be checking out Volcano Bay this year!
Disney portion: We are planning on doing Volcano Bay on Thursday, June 14 which shouldn't take all day, so the plan is to head to Disney Springs either before or after dinner at 'Ohana.

The really nice thing is that I don't really have to do any more planning if I don't want to! We plan to just eat when and where we decide once we get there! What a novel concept!! I do already have an ADR for 'Ohana, it is just later than I would ultimately like since we made it well into the 180 day window, but I'll keep checking back periodically.

The kids are most looking forward to:
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Anything and everything to do with Harry Potter!!

I am most looking forward to:
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Lunch at Three Broomsticks!! With frozen Butterbeer!!

Sorry about all of the dialogue and not many pictures, I just knew you guys would understand my angst!!
 

winstongator

Well-Known Member
I totally understand why they chose Universal over Disney! I'll be fine by the time we get there, just not too excited at the moment! And the food at Three Broomsticks WAS amazing!


I was actually really looking forward to the minimal park time once I got used to the idea! Universal will be fun, I just need a little time to get over myself and start looking forward to it!


Definitely not looking forward to the drive! We swore we would never drive again after last year, but the cost for 5 people to fly is prohibitive at the moment since we waited so late to decide to go!
I made a lot of 'last time driving' trips from NC to FL, usually to visit family. A lot closer to family and WDW now that we live in FL!
 

ScarletBegonias

Well-Known Member
Well, Ohana is better than nothing, right?! I actually didn't care for Universal when I was there (aside from WWoHP, that was AWESOME!) , but hoping the kids will have a great time!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Well, Ohana is better than nothing, right?! I actually didn't care for Universal when I was there (aside from WWoHP, that was AWESOME!) , but hoping the kids will have a great time!
'Ohana and Disney Springs are definitely better than nothing, but I'm still not thrilled about the trip! Universal was ok, but I know the kids will really love going again! There were quite a few things we didn't get to do last year, so at least there will be new things to explore!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Vacation creep has happened!! I still don't get any Disney parks, but I do get a full day in the Disney bubble now!! I started worrying about having to leave Volcano Bay early for our 'Ohana reservation, so we (or I should say I) decided to drive down Sunday instead of Monday and spend one night at Cabana Bay Resort and use their private entrance into Volcano Bay on Monday. I reserved a cabana so we have a private place to crash on the middle of the day if we need to after driving the day before. Then whenever we are finished, we will check in at Hard Rock. Thursday then becomes my Disney day! We have breakfast reservations at Boma, then will hit Winter Summerland for some mini golf, then spend the afternoon at Disney Springs until it's time for our 5:45 'Ohana ADR.

It's weird not buying myself a bunch of new Disney tanks before a Florida trip, but I did find this one today and couldn't resist since I'll actually be out in the heat for the whole day.
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I have had fun buying for the kids though!
For Logan:
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For Owen:
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For Lily:
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Only 44 more days!
 
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TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
14 days!! I'm not sure where the time has gone! Dance is done, track is done, and we had the last soccer game of the season this morning, so now I can really start concentrating on getting ready for this trip! I have my lists done and have started gathering, but no hard core packing has occurred yet.
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