Pre-Trip These Grimm, Grinning Ghosts are out to socialize

LowesChevy · Sep 16, 2014

Just two short days to go...well technically 1 day of work! We are driving to Cleveland tomorrow afternoon, so that pretty much begins the fun anyhow. And another night to think about the things you possibly forgot!

I saved myself from near disaster over the weekend. I pulled a muscle in my back on Friday night! Seriously in the shower, not on the soccer field, but to my own goofiness. With a lot of ice a trip to both the MT and my chiropractor I am feeling good-thank goodness. That same injury has put me down for a week or more before including a 2006 trip to WDW for a convention-boy I was miserable. Dad's poison ivy is healed, but he still has some scabs-poor guy.

The clothes are laid out and I have my outfits picked out for the week lol-I feel like a little kid, but I want to make sure that I wasn't wearing anything I wanted to pack. I wore jeans this morning because it was so darn cold out this morning brrr. It made it back into the lower 60s this afternoon. It will probably be the last time I will complain about the temp. for the next week or two lol!

Just the last minute stuff and watching the clock tick is what it is all about right now. Work has been busy, but today it has slowed down. I have my coworkers covered on how to perform my job duties while I am away, so I feel pretty darn good.
Check in with you tomorrow if I can control myself! see you real soon! Erika

Dizdutch · Sep 16, 2014

LowesChevy said:
The plan

Arrival: early! September 18-20th at Universal

Luckily United still offers one direct flight from Cleveland a day. The return flight timing is not great, but we are not big fans of connections. Too much stress, not enough bags sometimes. Been there, done that, trying to avoid it. Cities we could connect into are Chicago, Detroit and Philadelphia. Two of these are among the busiest in the country and well known for their delays. Unfortunately most airlines are doing the spider web hub connections. I know they are most efficient for the airlines, but we happen to live in a travel cul–de- sac. I’d rather not fly west or east for an hour or more, then wait for (or miss) another two hour or more flight. I just want to go south! South is where the palm trees are and the sunshine.

Now I am huge Disney fan, but we have also visited Universal as a kid too. I remember when you used to park in a large surface lot in front the park and across the street was a high school! I don’t know what school it was-I wish some did. Maybe someone here knows? I am a late blooming Potter fan and wow is the WWoHP amazing! Looking forward to Diagon Alley J

Our flight will have us arriving mid morning and by the time we get the bags and car we will probably be very hungry! Thinking of grabbing early lunch somewhere on International Drive- no shortage of choices. I think if we wait till we check in and get over to CityWalk it will be way too long and perhaps we would be hangry.

We are staying at Universal’s Royal Pacific Resort. We have stayed here, as well as the Hard Rock and the Portofino Bay Resort. This is the preferred resort of the three. Most recently we tried the HRR and it was nice, but not our choice theme. It was a bit on the loud side and I guess a little to rock and roll for us! Portofino was beautiful, but it is a typical mega hotel with winding corridors and long walks to the elevators and other places around the resort. The same could be said for the other two, but we just seem to like that South Seas vibe. The Polynesian is our all time favorite coincidentally. I have been to Hawaii and I recently visited the Field Museum in Chicago a few weeks ago and saw the Pacific Spirits exhibit. Awesome if you have a chance to get there- The Maori house is really cool. While the Polynesian definitely has the edge as far as the total atmosphere and theming goes, they are both great representations of the south seas styling imho. I know many people think they are tacky or whatever, but that is why there are many other resorts to choose from.

So, we should have a whole afternoon to play and the parks are open till 8:30 PM. HHN are Friday and Saturday so the park will be closing early. What I am trying to determine is will Universal be busier or Islands of Adventure Friday or Saturday. I would imagine the crowds will be heavier on the weekend with local crowds. Just trying to figure out if we want to do Diagon Alley first thing Friday morning because it is so new and there will be hefty crowds later in the day no doubt.

I am really looking forward to having the extra night, since we usually only stay two nights. The lobby is spacious and beautiful. Hitting Jake’s for an evening drink or snack was fun and there is always the sushi bar.

On the food and drink hit list for Universal Property include * includes a venue we never visited

Drinks at Finnegan’s-perhaps a Scotch egg

Lunch at Mel’s Drive In-can’t beat their burgers, onion rings and shakes

Margaritas at Jimmy Buffets

Hard Rock-always a great place to drink and snack

Antojitos looks pretty awesome*

Hog’s Head Pub

Moe’s Tavern*

Schwab’s Pharmacy*

Red Oven Pizza Bakery*

Hot Dog Hall of Fame*

NASCAR Sports Café

Okay stayed tuned for more folks! Plenty more good stuff to come.

The high school is Dr. Philips.

Dizdutch · Sep 16, 2014

Following along, have a great time.

FlaggNL · Sep 17, 2014

Have a great and magical time! Can't wait for your TR!

LowesChevy · Sep 17, 2014

Dizdutch said:
The high school is Dr. Philips.

I wondered-thank you!

LowesChevy · Sep 17, 2014

Dizdutch said:
Following along, have a great time.

Great-thanks for joining!

LowesChevy · Sep 17, 2014

FlaggNL said:
Have a great and magical time! Can't wait for your TR!

Thank you! I hope you enjoy your trip as well

FlaggNL · Sep 17, 2014

LowesChevy said:
Thank you! I hope you enjoy your trip as well

Ohw we will! It will be special for Sacha and Ria to go on their WDW maiden trip

mrdrift · Sep 17, 2014

Have a magical time, will be watching for the trip report.

LowesChevy · Sep 24, 2014

Halfway point! Just letting you all know we are having a great time. Some minor snafus were rather aggravating, but it always seems like there are a few problems to deal with of course.
Universal was great. Staying on property is totally with it! I recommend at least 2 nights to be able to hit both Hogsmeade and Diagonal Alley on different mornings. IMHO Forbiddn Journey is stil better than Gringott's, but I will let you decide.

Leaving Uni Sunday and checking into BLT became a real poo show to put it nicely. We arrived to check in around 10:30 AM to get preregistration complete and head over to the Magic Kingdom. I thought we might get a text around 2 or so, but come 3:30 we were awfully hot and ready to take a break.

We came back over and by the time we got back it was around 3:45...well theroom wasn't ready. So we hung around the lobby and happened to hear other guests were not getting their rooms either. After a lot of complaining and waiting we finally got into our room after 5 PM, which was totally unacceptable. Apparently the computer system was down so they didn't know which rooms were which, just a bunch of excuses. We did get a room credit of $100, but it was still really aggravating as a guest. If the system went down get a paper and pen like every other company. Guests don't want excuses.

Other than that, the rain was horrible yesterday, but we were warm and dry in our room

Talk to y'all soon

Pre-Trip These Grimm, Grinning Ghosts are out to socialize

LowesChevy

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Dizdutch

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Dizdutch

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FlaggNL

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LowesChevy

Well-Known Member

LowesChevy

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LowesChevy

Well-Known Member

FlaggNL

Well-Known Member

mrdrift

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LowesChevy

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