Trip Report Shookie's Family Four Pack...Plus Two (I think that equals six)

Hey Everyone –

My daughter convinced me to jump back into the TR game.

She says this is going to be an epic trip, and I must agree.

It is the first time the family 4 pack is back together in almost three years (wooHOO)!

It's going to be our longest WDW/Uni Vacation ever (almost thirteen full days)!

Even more exciting?? We’ve got a couple of new (newbees) players in the game AND my daughter said she would help me along with the TR, so how can I not??

What I will be submitting for your approval is a

  • 1 Pre-Trip Report
  • 1 Live Trip Report

A regular old trip report seems like it MIGHT be too much work, but we will see.

Let’s start with this PTR and see where it takes us.


We are less than 2 weeks away from our “Epic Trip” so I probably shouldn’t waste anymore time.

Let’s get rolling.



The Players:

Shookie, Mrs. Shookie, Son, Daughter...and their other halves!
We've always been park commandos, squeeze every little bit out of our vacation type family, so this will be a true test for our kid's other halves. I should probably warn them...but what fun would that be?

The pressure is on.

Anyway - here we are:


Daughter: Avery (25)
1619047954061.png



Son: Pace (21)


1619047969523.png



Shookie & Wife: Enzo & Tina (50 something old people)

1619047982113.png


All of us together on the last trip in 2018 last time we went as the family four-pack

1619048014511.png


And introducing our two new players:

(My Daughter &) Boyfriend: Chris
1619048027780.png




(My Son &) Girlfriend: Jill

1619048039548.png



Both Chris and Jill have been to WDW when they were young, minus a quick 4 day trip Avery and Chris took in August 2019 (That picture above is from that trip) anyway they're basically WDW newbs. Well as newb as you can be living in this household. These kids have been subjected to all things WDW since the day they started dating our kids.

Here is someone that is part of our immediate family that won’t be making trip with us.

Meet Chewbacca:

1619048117502.png


I think he may have sensed he was NOT going to be part of this trip because yesterday he decided to take a little trip of his own.

First let me just let you in on something. My wife worries about that dog like you would not believe. She worries about EVERYTHING with him. What he eats, what he doesn’t eat, is he sleeping ok, Is he hot is he cold, is his fur too short, too long, did he have bowel movement? It drives the household crazy.

Of course, when I first decided I wanted to start taking him for rides in the car she yelled after me “hold onto him, he's going to jump out the window”
I laughed at her and said, “come on, what kind of dog would do that?” Well, I know what kind of dog would do that now.

The kind of dog I own. The kind of dog that goes by the name of Chewbacca.

Chewie and I usually cruise around our neighborhood or out to get gas right down the street. He’s just starting to get used to the car and honestly beside tug of war with his rope toys, these rides are part of how we bond.

I will keep the window down and he’ll occasionally pop his head out. But usually just sits on my lap. Well yesterday I was pulling up to our house after our trip and I saw my neighbor.
So I waved hello, well apparently Chewie wanted to say “hi” too, so he jumped out the window of our CRV.

Yup. You read correctly he jumped out of a moving vehicle. He tried to land on his feet, but from that height with the car moving it kind of turned into a barrel roll/chest plant sort thing…I don’t know how he’s alive or how in the world he doesn’t have any broken bones, I just don’t know.

He did get the wind knocked out of him, but THAT’S IT. He got up and tried walking up the sidewalk to our house, but I tentatively picked him up waiting for him to yelp because his ribs were shattered or maybe his leg would be hanging there limp, I don't know, but there was nothing wrong with the dog. I don’t get it.

I am grateful as heck but I just don’t get it. My neighbor sat there with her mouth agape. We both couldn’t believe what happened.

Yikes - I would NEVER have forgiven myself. My wife would have never forgiven me that's for sure.
This PTR would have been titled "Shookie's Solo Trip to the Doghouse, and Other Tales of Woe"

Did I mention I am grateful? Wow.

Sorry, I digress……back to my PTR.


The Dates

May 2nd – 14th


The Plan:

  • 1 Night at an offsite hotel
  • 2 Nights 3 Days at Universal Royal Pacific
  • 8 Nights 9 Days at WDW (gotta save the best for last right?) Wilderness Lodge Boulder Ridge Villas
  • 1 Night at an offsite hotel

The Breakdown:

  • May 2nd- Flying into MCO late afternoon. Shopping for snacks and beverages and staying at a cheap hotel acquired via Priceline.
    • Dinner: Maybe somewhere at DS

  • May 3rd– Checking into Royal Pacific at Universal first thing in the AM hitting the parks. IOA\US
    • Dinner at Mythos


  • May 4th– Volcano Bay\US
    • Dinner at CowFish


  • May 5th– Getting up early and trying to get boarding pass for ROTR – If this doesn’t work out, we’ll spend the day IOA\US. Head to WDW check in and MAYBE hit EPCOT
    • If we do get ROTR we will plan our day based around our boarding group, but it will of course involve heading to DHS and then POSSIBLY back to Uni for a couple of hours to touch on anything we may have missed. At some point, during this crazy day check into the WL

  • May 6th– Our first full day at the World. We’re kicking it off with MK and hopping to EP
    • Dinner: Biergarten

  • May 7th– AK and hopping to MK
    • Dinner: Liberty Tree Tavern

  • May 8th- DHS – Don’t know where we are hopping to but we are making a stop at Olga’s Cantina
    • Dinner Sanaa

  • May 9th- We have a DHS Park pass but this is a safety net in case we miss (knock on wood) ROTR
    • Dinner: California Grill

  • May 10th- Park pass for DHS –This was real DHS day – We’re scheduled to build a droid or two. We effed up on the light sabers. – More about that later
    • Dinner: Garden Grill

  • May 11th– Park pass for MK – Hopping to DHS
    • Dinner: Prime Time

  • May 12th– Park pass for AK – Hopping to ???
    • Dinner: Tiffins

  • May 13th- Park Pass for MK – hopping to ???
    • Dinner: The Wave
    • Staying at a cheap hotel acquired via Priceline

  • May 14th - Departure day – Our flight home was originally first thing in the morning. It has since changed to an evening flight home so we’ll figure out something to do this day. Maybe DS who knows.


A couple of quick notes. I've always been the trip planner, my daughter has since started helping me out and she's pretty darn good at it too. Well the two of us had booked this trip last May then rebooked for July, then rebooked again...at some point we had made reservations at Savi's Workshop.

I say "at some point" because we BOTH thought we had it booked for this time around...Well that wasn't the case.
It slipped out minds...and we realized the other day that we missed out. We'll keep trying and see what happens, but like my daughter's boyfriend, Chris said,

"If we can't get in this trip, it will give us an excuse to go next year" << The kid is learning!

Anyway. Trip starts in T-minus 11 days.

I will be spending the next few days getting everything in order here at home. Believe it or not, I am fully packed.

To answer your question: Yes there is something wrong with me.

Speaking of packing. My last PTR was in 2016. At the time I included this pick of my brand-new luggage

1619049398146.png
1619049405427.png


I probably should post a side-by-side pick of me then and now too…hahahaha
I'll tell you what: that beat up luggage has fared a lot better than I have.

I will add anything I think of between now and then, but I should probably just leave you all alone for now because LTR is coming next. And you're going to be seeing plenty of us in 11, 10, 9, 8……
 

Attachments

  • 1619049338044.png
    1619049338044.png
    194 KB · Views: 235
Last edited:

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
this beer was freakin delicious:
2C59E1EB-787B-4029-A7A1-99270B4550FC.jpeg
I love that beer!!
I have been searching for it without luck. I even have my BIL, who is in the business, searching for it. 🤞
On a beer and Hollywood studios note, I love Oga’s gold squadron lager and it is brewed by Blue Point brewery which is 20 minutes or so from my house but I can’t get it! (“Disney only!😖”)But, on May the Fourth they offered it for sale to the public. Alas, I found out at 8:00pm and was unable to get a growler or two or four. Dang it!!!
Have a great day @ShookieJones and co.
 

ShookieJones

We need time for things to happen.
Original Poster
Tina, Avery & Chris we’re getting interrogated, but they did not give up any info. Mainly because Tina and Chris had no idea what was happening, and Avery was too embarrassed about their lack of Star Wars knowledge.
DF787728-BB6B-45E4-85D8-F2EB6C9DCD95.jpeg

so unfortunately the ride went down. However if ROTR is going to go down this is the place to have it happen:
4375CEB7-2AC3-42A4-B146-C02CD20DECBD.jpeg

This was amazing! Plus we got a “fast pass” for later. We made our way to the den of antiquities. Very cool place
341B4B76-D50B-44D4-96B8-6F39C3CD3702.jpeg



00D42FB6-8BDD-41D5-AA36-357C5B543DED.jpeg


BB9283D6-44C3-4470-BE69-41C7729809BB.jpeg

4FB62849-A680-4142-9A51-95A46239EF7D.jpeg

67CFBB84-C1D9-4F48-A18F-AF4B7982CD40.jpeg
 

ShookieJones

We need time for things to happen.
Original Poster
As mentioned, we are usually park commandos, and rarely take breaks, but we did on this day which I think was the day before yesterday! But we did because it was Mother’s Day and it was a deman....sorry, request from the only Mom in the group. So back to the room, pool and here:
4862DCDC-B3A3-4585-A5AF-761754AA3E13.jpeg

Bison bacon cheeseburger and a
C1441BE8-63B3-444F-9D7A-FC114E178BA6.jpeg

C2F3CC93-FC22-4B30-A8F7-C2ED66942449.jpeg

644F2ECA-DF96-4083-B92A-382ED6232B40.jpeg

Then Tina had the campfire 🔥 mousse cake. This was delicious...yeah I stole a bite or two.
Then we relaxed swam....well some of relaxed...Pace and I got fidgety and we decided to hit MK before dinner (Jill got dragged along)
D191A6B9-6233-49F9-AE48-9FDD223D70E0.jpeg

We hit three attractions. BTMR, Pirates, Swiss family
B4F6F44D-81D7-4AD3-BF66-9A7930D4EEAA.jpeg

5C321DE2-0F78-4AEF-94D6-28A695E9746E.jpeg

We jumped on Monorail Blue and texted the gang to see where they were at, and they were one car over!
82EFF689-0479-487E-9E9E-952A923EE33B.jpeg
657DB897-1EFE-440A-AD84-F7C74EC49B20.jpeg
 

ShookieJones

We need time for things to happen.
Original Poster
When we got off the monorail we ran into this guy. You get extra points if you can tell me who it is. Clue: people from Cincinnati,Buffalo, Miami, St Louis, New York, Tennessee & Tampa may get this one
A1AF0CC6-7199-4160-A87E-E4342A775C9F.jpeg

B10CD90E-F7CD-4495-BBD8-8F1BF6355FF4.jpeg


a fun night and I appreciate the ability to be able to enjoy this moment with my family, but relatively speaking, our worst experience at California Grill. 99% of it had to do with our server. She was awful. Most of the food (when delivered on time) was good.
257C5E25-9C33-4C30-B8A1-D9B220FA6647.jpeg
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom