goofyfordisney
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2001
We just got home from a great trip to Orlando. Just alittle background on us:
Goofyfordisney aka Sue (that's me!
) 38, chief planner of this trip!
Jim (hubby) 38, would rather be going on vacation to Maui!
Tyler 13, super-cool teenager--very excited to be going to Orlando!
Dylan 8, also excited about his first trip to Orlando--sure he will ride EVERY ride!
We left San Jose on Friday, Nov. 16th at 11:30am without a hitch--our orginal plans were to leave on Friday on a red-eye--but our flights were changed. Luckily, we were upgraded to First Class!
Since our flights were changed, we had to get a room for Friday night--we got on hotwire.com and bid for a 4* room and bid $42--we ended up with The Doubletree Castle Hotel. We got into MCO right on schedule at 9:15pm--Jim went to get the car at National EA--only cars available were Camrys and smaller--hope all of the luggage fits
The kids and I gather our luggage and meet Jim outside of the arrival terminal--no problems.
We are on the way to our hotel by 9:45! We checked into our hotel and are starving! We went to Vito's Chop House that is located in our hotel. We walked in right before they closed. My husband ordered a steak (said it was one of the best steaks he's ever had!), I had the pork chops (really good!) and the kids have the spaghetti and meatball (the meatball was huge!) Great meal!
Once we stuffed ourselves, we went up to our room to try to get a good nights' sleep. I am SO glad that we were not staying here for any length of time--the beds were terrible! I have never slept so bad in my life! The refridgerator in our room was so loud--I finally got up and gave it a kick and it stopped making the noise--I wish I had done that earlier!!!
We got up early the next morning (Saturday, 11/17th), and went over to Hard Rock Hotel to check in. Our room wasn't ready yet, but we we able to get our room key for FOTL access. We had ressies for 2 nights at $99/night and a garden view. The CM told us that our ressies were for $129/night--we had her call the manager and he told her to honor the $99/night rate!
We were also upgraded to a room with a pool view (room # 6121, I think). I went over and purchased tickets using my Discover card (2 days & 1 day free).
And we were off to IOA! We went through the gates easily--they checked our back-pack at the gate. We went through the park easily--no crowds at all yet! Got to love that FOTL pass anyway! It was great! The only problem we had was that my 8-year-old was about 1/2" too short for Hulk and Dueling Dragons. He got on Dueling Dragons, got strapped in and they asked him to get down so that they could measure him--he was SO close--but, no go! He was pretty bummed--he was really looking forward to doing all of the big rides! Oh well...
We were able to go on most of the rides and then went to Mythos for lunch when they opened--I think we were the first people to be seated! Lunch was pretty good. My husband didn't really care for his grilled tuna though (not very flavorful). I had the boneless BBQ ribs--it was really good! The kids had burgers and loved the french fries. The only real complaint was that the service was really slow. But it was a pretty good meal overall.
We made our way back out of the park and over to Univeral Studios. We noticed more crowds now. But it was still manageable--especially with FOTL passes! We did most everything at Universal till they closed at 6:00pm. I couldn't believe how UNCROWDED it seemed!
We went back to Hard Rock and checked in to our room. Our room was very nice--no complaints. The hotel is really cool! We went for a swim and then headed over to City Walk for dinner. We ate at Margaritiville--YUM! Great service, good food, love the music too!
More to come...
Goofyfordisney aka Sue (that's me!
) 38, chief planner of this trip!Jim (hubby) 38, would rather be going on vacation to Maui!
Tyler 13, super-cool teenager--very excited to be going to Orlando!
Dylan 8, also excited about his first trip to Orlando--sure he will ride EVERY ride!
We left San Jose on Friday, Nov. 16th at 11:30am without a hitch--our orginal plans were to leave on Friday on a red-eye--but our flights were changed. Luckily, we were upgraded to First Class!
Since our flights were changed, we had to get a room for Friday night--we got on hotwire.com and bid for a 4* room and bid $42--we ended up with The Doubletree Castle Hotel. We got into MCO right on schedule at 9:15pm--Jim went to get the car at National EA--only cars available were Camrys and smaller--hope all of the luggage fits
The kids and I gather our luggage and meet Jim outside of the arrival terminal--no problems. We are on the way to our hotel by 9:45! We checked into our hotel and are starving! We went to Vito's Chop House that is located in our hotel. We walked in right before they closed. My husband ordered a steak (said it was one of the best steaks he's ever had!), I had the pork chops (really good!) and the kids have the spaghetti and meatball (the meatball was huge!) Great meal!
Once we stuffed ourselves, we went up to our room to try to get a good nights' sleep. I am SO glad that we were not staying here for any length of time--the beds were terrible! I have never slept so bad in my life! The refridgerator in our room was so loud--I finally got up and gave it a kick and it stopped making the noise--I wish I had done that earlier!!!
We got up early the next morning (Saturday, 11/17th), and went over to Hard Rock Hotel to check in. Our room wasn't ready yet, but we we able to get our room key for FOTL access. We had ressies for 2 nights at $99/night and a garden view. The CM told us that our ressies were for $129/night--we had her call the manager and he told her to honor the $99/night rate!
We were also upgraded to a room with a pool view (room # 6121, I think). I went over and purchased tickets using my Discover card (2 days & 1 day free). And we were off to IOA! We went through the gates easily--they checked our back-pack at the gate. We went through the park easily--no crowds at all yet! Got to love that FOTL pass anyway! It was great! The only problem we had was that my 8-year-old was about 1/2" too short for Hulk and Dueling Dragons. He got on Dueling Dragons, got strapped in and they asked him to get down so that they could measure him--he was SO close--but, no go! He was pretty bummed--he was really looking forward to doing all of the big rides! Oh well...
We were able to go on most of the rides and then went to Mythos for lunch when they opened--I think we were the first people to be seated! Lunch was pretty good. My husband didn't really care for his grilled tuna though (not very flavorful). I had the boneless BBQ ribs--it was really good!
The kids had burgers and loved the french fries. The only real complaint was that the service was really slow. But it was a pretty good meal overall.We made our way back out of the park and over to Univeral Studios. We noticed more crowds now. But it was still manageable--especially with FOTL passes! We did most everything at Universal till they closed at 6:00pm. I couldn't believe how UNCROWDED it seemed!
We went back to Hard Rock and checked in to our room. Our room was very nice--no complaints. The hotel is really cool! We went for a swim and then headed over to City Walk for dinner. We ate at Margaritiville--YUM! Great service, good food, love the music too!
More to come...
So close! Next trip he should be tall enough
