Trip Report We are venturing outside our comfort zones and hoping the reward is worth it!! April 11 -23, 2021

Hello! I am, again, going to attempt to do a semi livish trip report and then fill in the details when I return. Like Rapunzel, when we made these plans, I definitely was taking a leap a faith! I, like all of us, have had a long year. We are DVC members and it was time to use the points. It is that simple. I can't tell you how thrilled I am now!

The cast remains the same! Den (my husband), Deighton(me), Hunter (16), Camden (9), and Brinley (5 and starts kindergarten in the fall). Some of us are a lot taller and some of us wider...

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We fly Southwest out of Pittsburgh early Sunday morning and land in Orlando around 10:15am.( I feel like I struck gold with 2 nonstop flights!) Then we head to the home where animals belong, a one bedroom villa at Animal Kingdom Lodge until April 19th. Then we move to Cabana Bay Beach Resort until the 23rd. Universal is a whole new world for us. Any advice for the entire length of stay is welcome!

I will be posting our plans soon! Thanks for reading! Another big thank you to those of you who posted, happy, positive thoughts and reports during these crazy times. It definitely kept time moving forward and hope alive. It keeps me smiling and tearing up to see your children growing up on this platform! Happy Thursday everyone!!
 
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Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
littleroo said:
Thank you for the advice on Universal!! I need all the help I can get! We are worried that the 5 and 9 year old won't enjoy it because they are not fast roller coaster fans. They hated the barnstormer.

You know me too well. Food is our gig! We have adrs at Mythos, Bice, Lombardi, and Cowsushi (something like that). I have no ideas about quick service so this helps!!
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Universal's QS game is pretty weak overall. I wanted to do Mythos last time, but my kids won't eat Greek food, so it was a no go. We ended up leaving the park and going to restaurants like Olive Garden and Cheesecake factory where we knew we'd be able to find something edible. But we had a rental car to use. I really would like to try out a few places on Citywalk, though...I'm told those are better than the offerings in the parks. @Figgy1 has eaten at several of them so she can help more with that.

I wouldn't worry too much about the 5 and 9 year olds...my husband is the only one of us who does coasters and we all still had fun. They will probably like the Minion ride, and the Shrek attraction....it's kind of like philharmagic in that it's a show with special effects. My son loved both of those attractions, and he's very hard to please. MIB is sort of like Buzz Lightyear except faster paced and scarier...it spins more. The Forbidden Journey ride in WWoHP took us by surprise. I had done the Gringotts ride and it was ok, but rather uncomfortable ride vehicle that kept slamming my elbows into the side. I told a friend of mine that I hadn't really enjoyed it much because of that, and of course it IS a coaster, but being a HUGE Harry Potter fan, I wanted to try it. My friend wrote back that she avoided that one, but LOVED Forbidden Journey because it was so much smoother, etc. And I guess it is smoother, but it's about 10 times scarier...my daughter loved it, but my son was screaming bloody murder and crying and because of the way the ride vehicles are, I couldn't even reach over to grab his hand and comfort him, even if I hadn't been hanging on for dear life myself. It's not a coaster, but there are intense moments and the ride vehicle even turns you almost upsidedown. You're restrained, but it's definitely a thrill ride more than a dark ride, so be prepared for that. How do they do on things like Tower of Terror? Will you have park-to-park tickets? The Hogwarts express is a nice gentle ride between the two parks, and it's different each way, so you can ride that twice and it will be a different experience each time.

There are quite a few rides that are ok for kids. I would have been fine with the Jimmy Fallon ride except I got motion sickness and had to close my eyes a few times, but there were some little kids in that one, and they were all fine. I think you'll find enough to do with them. Are any of you HP fans? You don't even have to go on any rides in that part of the park...there's so much to see. I don't know if they are doing their shows right now, but they had a sort of outdoor theater show and some dance shows. There's Olivander's wand experience. If your kids dress in HP clothing, they might get chosen for the wand selection. My kids were a little bit older, so they didn't get chosen, but yours might be the right age for it. For your youngest, she might like Seuss land and all of the rides there are more geared towards families. I want to say there was a dumbo-type ride with fish instead of elephants? But we didn't do that since my kids are older. The ET ride is pretty relaxed. The simpsons ride is a simulated roller coaster. I would not do that one again, but some people love it because it's like a roller coaster without actually being on a roller coaster. Do you ever split up as a family? We really have to because of our son. He gets overwhelmed easily and needs frequent breaks, so one of us will take him for a rest or a more gentle experience while the other takes our daughter to do things. Or I'll take both kids since I don't do coasters and my husband goes off on his own to do the thrill rides. If you are willing to divide and conquer, you can take turns going on the thrill rides. I'm pretty sure they have child swap at some of them, too, but we never needed it since I'm a bit of a wuss and don't do most of the things that would require it, and my kids are both old enough to park at a table somewhere for a couple of minutes if need be while we go do something they don't want to do. My daughter and I had a blast just looking through the shops in the Harry Potter parts. We're definitely not thrill seekers, though my daughter likes the more tame coasters that don't do inversions.
 
littleroo

littleroo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thank you so much for all the time and information @Songbird76! This is all a huge help! We are all huge Harry Potter fans so we are super ready to experience it! We have a 4 day ticket nonhopper pass. We are doing 2 days of Islands of Adventure and 2 days in the Studios. Hoping to spend lots of time on the lazy river at Cabana Bay for sure!

We definitely will utilize stroller swap. I hope the crowds are much less than the photos I have seen this week! I am figuring these spring break crowds will be leaving Sunday.
 
littleroo

littleroo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
One day more!! Everyone is bouncing off the walls in the house currently. Cam declared, "this is better than Christmas "! He is counting down the hours. It is super cute...for now!

Today is going to fly by! I have a lot to do. My mother in law is staying at the house to watch our dog, Villain and 2 cats Trolls and Blaze. Needless to say, every corner has to shine!

I may have started vacation a little early last night and had 3 or 6 drinks. Not very smart!! Oh well. The show must go on!!
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
littleroo said:
Thank you so much for all the time and information @Songbird76! This is all a huge help! We are all huge Harry Potter fans so we are super ready to experience it! We have a 4 day ticket nonhopper pass. We are doing 2 days of Islands of Adventure and 2 days in the Studios. Hoping to spend lots of time on the lazy river at Cabana Bay for sure!

We definitely will utilize stroller swap. I hope the crowds are much less than the photos I have seen this week! I am figuring these spring break crowds will be leaving Sunday.
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Oh that's a bummer that you can't do the Hogwarts express!! But you might want to see if they have the interactive wand stations turned on at the moment. They may not, because of crowding. But you can buy interactive wands and there are special effects throughout the park that you can control with the wand. Things that move, or shoot water, etc.

I hope the weather cooperates for you so you can get on the water!
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
littleroo said:
One day more!! Everyone is bouncing off the walls in the house currently. Cam declared, "this is better than Christmas "! He is counting down the hours. It is super cute...for now!

Today is going to fly by! I have a lot to do. My mother in law is staying at the house to watch our dog, Villain and 2 cats Trolls and Blaze. Needless to say, every corner has to shine!

I may have started vacation a little early last night and had 3 or 6 drinks. Not very smart!! Oh well. The show must go on!!
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The show must go all over the place or something!

cory monteith glee GIF
 
littleroo

littleroo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Well we are as ready as we are ever going to be. I have checked my list twice! 12 hours until we leave for the airport. Hopefully we all get some sleep tonight. Traditionally, we stay at a hotel closer to the airport but I didn't want to make any unnecessary stops with the pandemic. The airport is only a half hour drive so that is certainly not awful. Hopefully, we have some impending thunderstorms, flights are not delayed! Our park backpack is ready with ponchos and masks galore! Tomorrow at this time we will be in Epcot on our way to La Hacienda for dinner. Seems so surreal after the year we have. I too feel like a kid waiting for Christmas! 🥰
 
ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
littleroo said:
Well we are as ready as we are ever going to be. I have checked my list twice! 12 hours until we leave for the airport. Hopefully we all get some sleep tonight. Traditionally, we stay at a hotel closer to the airport but I didn't want to make any unnecessary stops with the pandemic. The airport is only a half hour drive so that is certainly not awful. Hopefully, we have some impending thunderstorms, flights are not delayed! Our park backpack is ready with ponchos and masks galore! Tomorrow at this time we will be in Epcot on our way to La Hacienda for dinner. Seems so surreal after the year we have. I too feel like a kid waiting for Christmas! 🥰
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i hope you all have a great time!
 
ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
littleroo said:
Thank you so much. I will be having a blood orange margarita at this time tomorrow and will think of you! Not to mention the beer flight at Tiffins Monday evening! I am sure you have had a crazy year! I bet you are ready for a break!!
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Thanks. It has been a different school year that is for sure. I actually just got back from WDW, I did a solo trip over Easter but I am so ready for the school year to be done. June 4th can’t come soon enough. 😎
 
littleroo

littleroo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
ajrwdwgirl said:
Thanks. It has been a different school year that is for sure. I actually just got back from WDW, I did a solo trip over Easter but I am so ready for the school year to be done. June 4th can’t come soon enough. 😎
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I am glad to hear you had some time to escape. After teaching me 9 year old since last March I don't know how you teachers do it!! Thank you so much!!
 

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