All You Need is Love: an offsite, non-Disney PTR (counting down to May 2018)

Aw man, that royally stinks. Not a fun way to start out the New Year.....but, as the old saying goes, "poor start, good ending". So maybe 2018 is going to be YOUR year!

So how have you been spending all your leisure time while you're off work?
Yet another saying of which I am unfamiliar. Very educational around here.

Oddly, I've kept rather busy. My storage room is spotlessly clean and very well organized. I've gotten rid of some things that have been hanging around in there for way too long. Still a few more items to go. I've spent a fair bit of time reorganizing my business files and preparing my folders to go to the accountant for tax time. The tax portion is about 75% prepped now and usually I leave it the very last second because I HATE doing it so much. That right there should tell you how bored I am. I've been involved in a big FB drama and got myself kicked out of a group and blocked. I have cooked a lot of soups and things that are now filling my freezer. Lastly, I've baby binge watched The Crown. I call it baby bingeing because I can only sit still through two episodes at a time. True binge watching is an all day event.

Today was a big day...I got my suitcases out. Might start packing tomorrow.
 
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The first entry in a pre-trip report is always my least favorite: it always leaves me struggling with where to begin :scratchin. This one is especially difficult, as even though I considered myself a “regular” here on the Dis for many years after we were initially bitten by the Florida bug, I’ve been mostly absent from the boards during this past year. One of my New Year’s resolutions, however, was to get myself back to a regular presence here….if for nothing more than to encourage others to tackle that whole awesome part of Orlando outside Disney borders; it can be just as magical (and in many cases, a whole lot more “indulgent”) than what The Mouse :earsboy: would like you to believe ::yes::. So, on this first day of January 2018, I have vowed to make this first post: the planning for our next adventure has already begun, and for the next 120+ days, it would be great to have some of my fun friends (and any new ones who wish to join in) keep me company as we count down the days to departure.

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For those that may have not ready any of my previous trip reports or PTR’s (links to many which can be found in my signature below), let me introduce myself: I’m Gina.

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While I don’t wish to discuss age specifics :rolleyes1, let’s just say I’m in my early 40’s (but still 21 in my heart ;)). I’m Canadian by birth, but currently living in Michigan since just under a year ago [one of those long backstories which is one of the major reasons for my lack of posting since our relocation occurred]. I have a bit of an obsession with cats, especially these two goobers:

This lazy, snuggable, loveable fellow is Dash
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This sweet, smart, beautiful girl is my Violet:
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They are twin Maine Coon crosses, adopted from a no-kill shelter in our Ontario hometown, and now a year and a half old. They are the apple of my eye, and they know it :laughing:. Brace yourself, you’ll probably see more than your share of pictures of them over the next 4 months......I tend to go a little overboard where my babies are concerned :o.

Moving right along.........:surfweb:.......

I am a mom of one, but that “baby” will turn 22 in just a few short days…..and he remains in Canada where he’s blazing his own awesome trail in the world [more details of which will come later in this PTR].

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My Jake is my pride and joy, a young man of whom I am EXCEPTIONALLY proud, and quite honestly, I consider him my biggest accomplishment. Being his mother has been my highest honor in life. While we’re 7 hours and an international border apart, we still talk EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And I get regular Snapchats of my Grandcat!

Meet Moo :cat: . He wasn't so keen on his Christmas formal wear :rotfl2::

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I was an Office Manager for a financial planning firm for 18 years before moving to the USA. Since our relocation, I’ve dipped my toes in a few different careers, and after the first two experiments teaching me what I DIDN’T want to do :rolleyes: (retail and banking), I’ve since secured a part time position in the office of a commercial cleaning company, and so far……it seems to be working out well. I’m still not sure it’s my ‘forever job’, but for now, it’s the right place to be. We shall see what the future brings from here!

Enough about me (because I’m just not that interesting). This guy, my Steve, is my Partner in Crime:

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As Forrest Gump would say, “We go together like peas and carrots”. Or peanut butter and chocolate. Maybe even a little fire and ice, on the days where those differences mean we’re seeing the world from vastly different places :teeth:. Yet, even though we’re totally different personalities, we somehow remain wonderfully compatible (maybe there’s something to the old saying that opposites attract?) and this year, we are excited to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary…..that celebration will actually be the main focus of this trip! :banana:

This was us "then" (circa 1993):

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And this is us "now" (taken in October, on our most recent trip to Orlando):
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Steve is an Operations Manager for an auto parts manufacturer here in the Metro Detroit area. He works crazy long hours and is always dealing with a crisis (or two, or three…..) of some description at his office. Getting away to Orlando is something he looks forward to all throughout the year.

Our dates are tentatively May 4th to May 12th, 2018. I say tentatively because Steve still has to get official approval of his vacation from the General Manager, but I don’t anticipate that it will be an issue. The GM is very appreciative of Steve’s dedication and hard work, and he tries to grant him whatever time off Steve requests (especially when he is entitled to 5 week’s vacation each year, and never takes it all). It also helps that May is generally not a popular time for other people to request time off (since it is nicely sandwiched in the sweet spot that falls after Easter and before kids are out of school for the summer). We anticipate having that approval within the next week or so, as he’ll be submitting his official vacation request before the end of the day today :thumbsup2.

I am putting this PTR on the Orlando Hotels & Attractions board because honestly, that’s where its going to fit the best: hopefully the mods will not move it to the Disney Trip Reports forum as there are no Disney components to the trip. We’ll be staying offsite, dining offsite, and visiting some of our favorite non-Disney theme parks in Orlando: after two Universal vacations in 2017 (where we made the most of our annual passes that we purchased for our December 2016 trip), we’re heading back to SeaWorld, Aquatica and Discovery Cove for this grand celebration vacation. Those who have read our trip reports in the past know how much we adore the SeaWorld family of parks, so will appreciate how excited we are to return to them after what will be (by May) a full year and a half …. or more …. since our last visit to each. It will be like a happy homecoming!

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While I could go on and on and on in this initial post (as if I haven’t chatted enough already…….have I mentioned that I have a tendency to talk a lot? :blush:) I think I will wrap up this first entry and break down the rest of the details into their own separate posts. I can easily fill individual entries on separate discussion on:
  • accommodations (in this case, as the regulars will have already guessed, we will be staying once again at our beloved Sheraton Vistana Resort)
  • flights
  • dining
  • and other pertinent details……not the least of which is that we’re having company [again!] on this trip :cool1:. Stay tuned to find out who is coming along!
Which brings me to a very important tidbit:

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Seriously. I mean it!!!

We’re celebrating this awesome marriage milestone and in lieu of a formal party (which would be impossible to plan, with us living in Michigan and all of our family residing in Ontario, with our friends spread between both places and various other places across North America) we’d love to have our fellow Orlando-lovin’ Disfriends join us for some Fun in the Sun. While I know it’s a long shot, if any of you can make a trip happen during that week……well, we’d be pretty happy to make you part of our celebration. The champagne will be on us!

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May in Orlando has been spectacular for us thus far (2018 will be our 4th first-week-of-May trip), with ideal temperatures and low crowds. Easily tied for our favorite time to visit (coming in equal with autumn, which seems to be more humid and busier but has the Halloween events which are so much fun!).

The invitation is especially extended to my friends and contacts who are Orlando locals: I’ll be posting our loose itinerary later in this thread so you’ll know where we’ll be, and on which days (for the most part). If you have a day off during your work week, why not plan to do a park day with us?

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So……I think we can consider this thread officially kicked off!

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And may I say, it’s good to be back :goodvibes.


Countdown to departure: 123 days
 
Thank you!! :) Glad to have you back again for this PTR!



Hey, someone's gotta be the big winner, right? ;) You buy the tickets on your side of the pond, and I'll buy a few here in Michigan. The jackpot here was $300 million a week or so ago, so if my numbers ever come up......I'll fly you here. Fingers crossed for us both! :laughing:



Thank you! :welcome: aboard once again!



Oh good, you found us!! :goodvibes Glad to have you reading along once again!



Thank you!! It took A LOT of convincing to get Steve to wear something other than his beloved pirate costume pirate:, but I was determined we would do something fresh and new. Then, it took A LOT of searching to find a good costume in a size to fit my 6', 4", 315 pound hulk of a husband. We got a ton of compliments from both CM's and fellow guests at our MNSSHP. It was a ton of fun!

Thank you!! Happy to :welcome: you back as well!!



How awesome!! May is such a fantastic month in Florida. What are your dates?

Feel free to share your plans and join in the chatter, too!!

Hello Gina,

I am fairly new to this board, but trying to catch up on the many wonderful posts. Congrats to you both on your anniversary. I may see you there. DH - my boys 25 and 22 and I will also be at Sheraton Vistana Resorts May 5-12 this year. We are celebrating 28 years.

From the posts I have read here I can see your quite the Vistana expert. Please share any ideas about room locations etc. as you come across the ideas in your searching. I have booked a 2 bedroom exchange through RCI and we need something without stairs for DH has bad knees.
 
So I just read your last entry and pretty much drooled over the sunshine in the pictures and all those places with so many happy memories for us. You know when your starving and you see a commercial for something delicious and your stomach clenches with absolute want?? Yep.. I got that feeling from looking at Orlando pics. I’m hopeless.:scared:

Cruise be damned (we’ve been on many)... March Break 2019 sounds nice:sunny:.

What a lovely gift for Jake and Brittany. I bet she will love it. My family has yet to get to Discovery Cove. It just looks so pretty.
 


Boy, that year sure went fast!! :eek: It just seems like you made the leap and bought those AP's!! Did you guys manage to visit Volcano Bay on any of your trips? We really, really enjoyed our day there in October.

Do keep us posted as the day crawls closer, and let us know if a meet up for drinks or dinner or ??? would happen to work. I am sure Jake and Britt will love to meet your family, too!

Hi Gina! I'm all caught up again!

We haven't made it to Volcano Bay yet. For some reason, we just didn't make it to any water parks this year, although we did do our usual Ichetucknee tubing trip and a lot of snorkeling and SCUBA diving in the Keys. We usually go to the local water park a couple times each summer, but didn't even make it there this year. I'm sure we'll go to Volcano Bay someday soon. It definitely looks cool!

I ended up delaying our upcoming Universal trip to the weekend of 2-4 February. We had too much going on around the original date. I'm really looking forward to it! And I think Sea World will be back in the rotation in the very near future...:-)
 
Well, it's another one of those entries that I end up typing, that I never saw coming. I'll be back tomorrow (or sometime soon, anyway) to get this report back on track, but for now.....a rather unpleasant, and certainly unexpected, update.

I'm going to make a long story very short, because I honestly don't have the energy to talk it to death right now. It's been an emotional couple of days.

With no forewarning, Brittney gave Jake back the ring, called off their engagement, and ended their relationship. Up until the day before, everything was fine.....including her messaging me to chat about Florida and how excited she was for the trip. Then yesterday, boom. The world blows up. Not even Jake knows what caused the break-up.....their huge circle of friends are all left scratching their heads. Jake is DEVASTATED (as I'm sure you can all imagine) and Steve and I are heart sick knowing he's so far away and all alone. It's been a terrible, exhausting, awful 2 days. You have no idea how hard it is to know your child is suffering, and you're unable to be with them to provide them with the comfort only parents can give.

He has chosen not to join us solo in May, and we are disappointed but will wholly respect that decision. Honestly, we'd make the same call if we were in his shoes.

It seems there's always something that seems to come up in the months immediately before travel that throws a monkey wrench into the plans, the budget, or some aspect of life. Oh, how I wish that it was a just a broken washing machine or new brakes on the car that caused us to fret about its effect on the plans. Those kind of woes are much easier to deal with than matters of the heart.

So, there are lots of adjustments to be made to the grand itinerary that we had so excitedly devised together over Christmas. I will be calling Discovery Cove to adjust our party from 4 to 2. We've decided to make a few other changes at the same time, considering the recent turn of events.....I'll share those with you in the coming days. For tonight, I'm a little short on inspiration and focus.

Thanks for your patience. Sometimes, life stinks.
 


Oh no! I feel so awful for him. I hope she gives him a reason at some point so at least he knows or maybe she'll change her mind again??

I have complete empathy for you. My BIL broke off his first engagement the week before the wedding. I hope his (and your hearts) are able to heal and move on at some point.
 
Ugggghhhhh. That’s terrible and I am so sorry that Jake is hurting so badly. :(
 
I was all excited to join in on your PTR until I got to your last post. I am sorry for heart break of you all.
 
he first entry in a pre-trip report is always my least favorite: it always leaves me struggling with where to begin :scratchin. This one is especially difficult, as even though I considered myself a “regular” here on the Dis for many years after we were initially bitten by the Florida bug, I’ve been mostly absent from the boards during this past year.

I just found your PTR and had to get caught up! The weird thing is I rarely go on the Orlando Attractions board, but I was looking to see if you may have started a TR and PTR :rotfl:

Our dates are tentatively May 4th to May 12th, 2018

We're going the same dates!

May in Orlando has been spectacular for us thus far (2018 will be our 4th first-week-of-May trip), with ideal temperatures and low crowds. Easily tied for our favorite time to visit (coming in equal with autumn, which seems to be more humid and busier but has the Halloween events which are so much fun!).

That's why we decided to go back, our trip last year was great weather-wise.

One of Steve’s non-negotiables is that our flights must be non-stop (and for the record, I wholeheartedly agree). The wasted time during a layover, coupled by the added layer of stress (will we make our connection? What happens if our initial flight is late or delayed?), and the increased chance for lost luggage makes us both determined to avoid any flights which connect through large, unfamiliar airports. We want to get on the plane in Detroit home and off the plane in Orlando, with a nice little 2.5 hour siesta in between :faint:.

Totally agree with that. Layovers are so stressful.

Adding to my flying anxieties is a rather scary air travel experience from our October vacation that has left me more than a little uneasy. While I’m not fond of air travel at the best of times [as we taxi onto the runway, visions of the news coverage of every major plane crash from the past 10 years tends to flash across my eyes], our most recent arrival experience in Fort Lauderdale was not something I ever care to repeat :crazy2:.

Oh goodness that sounds scary! Last time we were taking off and I started thinking of Final Destination :laughing: (yeah the one where the plane explodes). I was like what a time to think about this :rotfl:

Today's good news: Steve's vacation days are officially approved :woohoo:.

Woohoo!

Edit: I had everything already quoted when I replied and somehow I missed you’re most recent post. That’s really puzzling and I hope someday she gives him a reason. I’m so sorry that happened and that you can’t be there for him. :hug:
 
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Well I thought you'd been quiet but never expected this news. What a blow, I know how you must be hurting right now and you're very brave to come and tell us all:sad2: you deserve a big hug from all of us. I bet you wish you could wrap that little boy of yours in your arms :goodvibes
 
Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry for Jake and for you and Steve being so far away from your boy. I couldn't imagine the heartache.
 
Oh, no! So sorry to hear this! I can only imagine how hard it must be since you are so far apart. Breaks my heart for y'all. :sad1:
 
Oh no! I hope you and your family are able to find peace soon. I know the heartache will take awhile to recover from. Sending virtual hugs and healing thoughts. We will be here when/if you feel like resuming. :grouphug:
UGH-once again I wish there was a way to share the pain with others and have them take some burden. So helpless feeling when friends are suffering.:sad1:
 

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