A & J hit up O-Town...a May '10 TR w/pics! [Updated 8/26 post #46 Day 12 Part 2]

[jog58]

Hello everyone and welcome to the very first Pre-trip report that I fully intend to finish!

Since I am new here let me introduce myself as well as my better half who will also be joining me on this trip.

My name is Jo, I am 26 and LOVE vacationing in Florida. I love all the Florida theme parks but I must say, although I am sure it is blasphemy to some, but Sea World holds a little special spot all to itself in my heart.

My partner in crime is Anthony, he's 29 and he is a Disneyholic. He participated in the WDWCP in 1999 and he has loved ever since.

Here we are at Le Cellier last year just in case you want to put a face to the name.

We met back in 2003 and took our very first trip to the world in 2004 where we got engaged at the Magic Kingdom.

We have returned every year since including our honeymoon in 2007. This trip is supposedly our last one for a few years as we are thinking of possibly having children next year but we will see how that goes. :rolleye11:

Now down to the fun stuff. Here is the current plan:

We will be leaving Quincy, Massachusetts this Friday the 23rd immediately after work around 4pm. We are hoping that due to April vacation the traffic through Providence will not be as awful as usual.

We hope to arrive in Orlando on Saturday around 5 or 6pm. We will be spending our first night at the Sheraton Safari.

March 25th-27th we will be at the Royal Pacific and visiting Universal exclusively.

March 27th- May 2nd we will be at the Fairfield Inn and Suites near Sea World. The plan is to hit Sea World and Aquatica Wednesday and Thursday then on Friday head to Cocoa Beach for the day and Saturday we were hoping to have another beach day possibly at St. Pete Beach and then that night go to a Tampa Bay Ray's game.

I hope to review a few non WDW restaurants during this time including BB King's, Amazona's, Coconuts on the Beach at Cocoa Beach, Urban Flats in Downtown Orlando, and a few chains here and there that we don't have up here [Steak and Shake, Sonic and Cici's]

May 2nd- May 7th We finally make it to the Mouse. We will be staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort. We stayed here the last two nights of our previous trip and fell in love with it. Our previous moderate experience was Port Orleans French Quarter and we are big fans of it but we wanted to get a better feel for CBR so we booked there.

The current itinerary for Disney is:

May 2nd- Animal Kingdom, lunch at Biergarten

May 3rd- Magic Kingdom, lunch at Crystal Palace

May 4th- Disney Studios, dinner at 1900 Park Fare

May 5th- Epcot, lunch at Chef de France

May 6th- breakfast at Tusker House, AK

May 7th- Magic Kingdom

We are still debating if we are going to stay the night May 7th or if we are going to hit the road. That might have to be a game time decision.

I just set up our Twitter account and we will be reporting live throughout the trip. If you are interested head on over and follow us!

http://twitter.com/AandJhitupOtown

Thanks for reading!

 

[ramatae]

I'm in!

 

[__disneygirl]

I am SO in for this. Mainly because you have a Lafayette picture in your signature and obviously... I am obsessed with him.

Also though... it will be nice to read a report that isn't ALL Disney all the time. I think. I rarely leave Disney property. What is this Sea World you speak of???

Kidding. I actually haven't been to Universal in years and would love to visit again, but I just never have the time on my trips because I am too enthralled with Disney. But I REALLY REALLY think the Universal resorts look AMAZING. So I would like to try sometime. Maybe soon! I love Harry Potter so that's definitely some motivation right there.

Please share the story of getting proposed to! My dream is to get proposed to at Disney World. In fact if I get proposed to anywhere else I will definitely say no. Even if it's George Clooney. So I would love to hear that!!

 

[jog58]

I'm in!

Thanks for coming over ramatae

I am SO in for this. Mainly because you have a Lafayette picture in your signature and obviously... I am obsessed with him.

Also though... it will be nice to read a report that isn't ALL Disney all the time. I think. I rarely leave Disney property. What is this Sea World you speak of???

Kidding. I actually haven't been to Universal in years and would love to visit again, but I just never have the time on my trips because I am too enthralled with Disney. But I REALLY REALLY think the Universal resorts look AMAZING. So I would like to try sometime. Maybe soon! I love Harry Potter so that's definitely some motivation right there.

Please share the story of getting proposed to! My dream is to get proposed to at Disney World. In fact if I get proposed to anywhere else I will definitely say no. Even if it's George Clooney. So I would love to hear that!!

Thanks for joining in disneygirl. I can totally understand the Lafayette love, because he's the man.

Hubby and I got engaged in September of 2004. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom for rope drop and made our way over to the front of the castle. We were taking in the sights when he dropped to one knee and gave me this adorable speech about how much he loves me and if I would marry him. Of course I started bawling my eyes out and said yes.

We made our way back up Main Street toward the train station [I think we had to get a locker] and a cast member we had been speaking to on our way in asked me why I was crying. I showed him my ring and he announced our engagement to everyone on Main Street and led in a round of applause.

As if that wasn't awesome enough, he got the Dapper Dans to come over and sign for us and we slow danced on right on Main Street. It was so surreal. I will never forget that day. Thanks again for dropping in.

 

[alyssa810]

Woo hoo~ less than 2 days away! You guys are going to have an awesome time!!
Enjoy the world's largest python water slide!

 

[jog58]

Woo hoo~ less than 2 days away! You guys are going to have an awesome time!!
Enjoy the world's largest python water slide!

I just sent you a PM didn't know if Ant had told you about our report.

I am going to make the sacrifice of swimming in a public pool just so I can say I rode the world's largest python water slide

 

[metalis4ever]

I just sent you a PM didn't know if Ant had told you about our report.

I am going to make the sacrifice of swimming in a public pool just so I can say I rode the world's largest python water slide

Of course I told her she's my cube neighbor, we're tight like that.....

Yes we are leaving at 4pm right after work and braving the traffic through Providence just so we can make it to Safari early enough to enjoy the Python slide...Don't worry about swimming in public pools remember what South Park taught us all you have to do is eat a banana after wards

 

[jog58]

Of course I told her she's my cube neighbor, we're tight like that.....

Yes we are leaving at 4pm right after work and braving the traffic through Providence just so we can make it to Safari early enough to enjoy the Python slide...Don't worry about swimming in public pools remember what South Park taught us all you have to do is eat a banana after wards

That episode actually made me kind of sick to my stomach. So gross!

 

[alyssa810]

****DISCLAIMER****
I haven't actually ridden the python slide, I've only dipped my feet in the pool. When we've stayed it's either been too late or not warm enough to fully experience the awesomeness that is the world's largest python water slide.

 

[jog58]

So I just tried online check in and for me it was an:

Ok, maybe not that bad, I just wanted an excuse to use that picture, it cracks me up every time.

The main purpose for trying to check in online for me was to request a king room [there are only a handful at Caribbean Beach] In the standard rooms we usually sleep in separate beds mainly because I am blanket/bed hogger. I don't sleep as well by myself so I was hoping to get a king room but alas that was not one of the available options. I will ask when we arrive and if there aren't any available no biggie, I will put my big girl pants on and deal with it.

 

[jog58]

Just finished packing and gathering all the miscellaneous stuff one drags on a trip and this is what we ended up with:

-Two carry on size rolling bags

- backpack

-beach bag with snacks

-medium size duffel

-large suitcase

Now looking at it all it seems like it's so much, and it probably is. I totally over pack, but that's because I'm neurotic.

On a separate note tonight we had the first casualty of getting things done at the last minute. I got to find find out what a chemical burn feels like. Thanks Nair!

Anyway, we hit the road promptly at 4pm tomorrow. Stay tuned!

 

[__disneygirl]

OMG... what a sweet story. It gives me hope that there are still good guys out there! That is like the best proposal story I have ever heard!! You're a lucky woman.

Overpacking is not the worst thing. We underpacked this time thinking we would be going to the store once we arrived in Orlando and then a disaster occurred and it would have been good to have all the crap we thought we were just gonna buy. I will probably overpack next time.

I didn't realize you were leaving so soon!! SAFE TRAVELS!!

 

[jog58]

OMG... what a sweet story. It gives me hope that there are still good guys out there! That is like the best proposal story I have ever heard!! You're a lucky woman.

Overpacking is not the worst thing. We underpacked this time thinking we would be going to the store once we arrived in Orlando and then a disaster occurred and it would have been good to have all the crap we thought we were just gonna buy. I will probably overpack next time.

I didn't realize you were leaving so soon!! SAFE TRAVELS!!

Thank you, hubby is a great man.

Thanks for the well wishes! Just have to get through the workday today and we are home free!

 

[metalis4ever]

5 Hours and we are hitting the road!!!! We will be in Orlando within 30 hours and on the Python slide within 31 hours wooooo!!!!!!! I just can't focus on work today, good thing it's a Friday so I blend in with everyone else in the office not wanting to be here

Regarding the proposal that was my backup plan because Hurricane Francis was bearing down on us. My initial plan was to propose on the deck at California Grill during Wishes, but given the fact that we wouldn't have eaten anything on the menu anyway, but with a little help from "Disney Magic" the backup plan worked out just fine

 

[jog58]

Just booked the hotel for our last night on May 7th, I couldn't handle this being a game time decision, that's just not the way I roll. I would have stressed about it for 2 weeks straight.

We got a great deal on the Hampton Inn south of Universal. $43 for that Friday night w/taxes! arty:

Only 3 more hours to go!

 

[metalis4ever]

Just booked the hotel for our last night on May 7th, I couldn't handle this being a game time decision, that's just not the way I roll. I would have stressed about it for 2 weeks straight.

We got a great deal on the Hampton Inn south of Universal. $43 for that Friday night w/taxes! arty:

Only 3 more hours to go!

Nothing like going from CBR to Hampton Inn, but hey it's definitely worth it so we can stay in the parks until close and get a quick rest before hitting the road for the long ride home....

2 Hours!!!!!

 

[alyssa810]

I'm so excited for your trip! The clock is a-ticking!

May the sun be bright!
May your traffic be light!
May your fast passes be quick!
Give an ice cream cookie sandwich a lick!
May the beach be warm!
May the bugs not swarm!

 

[jog58]

Away we go!

 

[ramatae]

Away we go!

Have a great time guys!

 

[MerMom60_94]

Have a fantastic time guys!! I'm checking in from West Palm Beach - thank you for the heads up email Jo. I will be following along. I can't wait for the offsite restaurant reviews, foodie that I am. The weather has been gorgeous down here for the last few days. You'll be arriving just as we head home and I hope it stays nice for you. Have fun!