Another Universal Memorial Day Adventure

[MizMissy]

When: May 25th-May 29th
Where: Royal Pacific
Who: me -Disney lover, but I love my family more and will go wherever they want to go. I loves thrill rides, but cannot handle simulators or Hulk, so my options at Universal are more limited.
DH - says he is never going to Disney again (sigh), but enjoyed our last trip to Universal because we were with a big group of people and he had lots of people to hang out with at the pool while the kids and I headed back to the parks.
DD (13) and DS (10) - both thrill ride junkies. Once they discovered Universal thrill rides, WWOHP and express pass, I knew they would never chose Disney again (another sigh).

Background:
Our first trip to Universal was over Memorial Day Weekend in 2011. We went with a big group that included my BFF and her family. Normally, I prefer to vacation only with my family because my DH and I both work and I want all the alone time I can get with my kids when we are not working. However, the group was very laid back and we all had fun being with each other and enjoying the company of friends. My BFF and her family were heading back this year for another short Memorial Day trip, but I had a trial scheduled to begin on the day after Memorial Day and I knew there was no way we could join the group. However, my trial was recently continued and I approached DH with the idea and he agreed! His only condition to going on the trip was that we had to see La Nouba, the Cirque du Soleil show at DTD.

Plans:
We will leave Lafayette on Wednesday and head to a beach for a few days. My kids are used to un-crowded beaches because we tend to go to the beach during off season. At Easter, we went to Panama City Beach to visit relatives and it was still during Spring Break, so even our private beach was too crowded for DS's liking. So, we are heading a little further east and going to try Cape San Blas. It is fairly undeveloped and supposedly has great scalloping and shelling. We shall see....fingers crossed.

We will head to Orlando early Saturday morning. Probably about 6 hour trip from the beach. Our friends are arriving in Orlando Friday night with plans to check in early and hit the parks for early opening WWOHP. We plan to go to the parks that day. It will only be a half day, but my kids will be happy if we manage a few thrill rides and water rides at IOA that afternoon. We will have four day park to park passes. Our plans are to spend most of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday between the parks and pool. Here's hoping for good weather!! My DS is also hoping the new Transformers ride is open in time. My only goal this year is to see some of Suessland. Last trip, we managed only to walk quickly through the area on our way to WWOHP and leaving the park to read Rip Ride Rock It for opening. Maybe also eat a meal at Three Broomsticks. It is very nice to know that I do not have to plan my meals months in advance for my vacation and know that we will have lots of options available to us at our whim.

The only real scheduled part of our trip is tickets to La Nouba on Tuesday night (as per my DH's request). Our last three trips to Orlando, the show was "dark" (or on vacation) - once in September and the last two trips, the week before Memorial Day. Also, they are always closed Sunday and Monday nights. So, even though our friends are heading out on Tuesday, we are staying an extra evening to catch the La Nouba show. I wonder how late the DTD shops stay open? I'm sure my kids will want to make a stop into Lego the store. Sigh ... I guess DTD will be as close to Disney as I will make it for the foreseeable future.

Vacations are always exciting. I love spending days with my kids. Joining friends will just add to the fun. I hope the parks are not too crowded, but with express pass, it is nice to know that they can ride their favorites over and over regardless of the crowds.

[buzznwoodysmom]

Karen,
I love your plans! My kids would totally love 4 days to play at WWOHP! I know it's not Disney, but at least you get to go to DTD for a bit. Would you have time to visit one of the monorail resorts for an early or late dinner , and a little view of the castle, that night? That is what I would try to do. Sushi and dessert at California Grill would be my pick!

We are headed to Destin the weekend after memorial day. Too bad we'll miss y'all by a week. We would have been so close!

Can't wait to read trip reports when you get back!

[MizMissy]

Would you have time to visit one of the monorail resorts for an early or late dinner , and a little view of the castle, that night? That is what I would try to do. Sushi and dessert at California Grill would be my pick!

Hmmm. I think DTD will be torture enough. Not sure if I could visit a monorail resort where I could actually see MK and not be able to go in! Besides, there really is so much to do at Universal and it is such a short trip, I'm sure my kids will want to be in the parks riding rides until the last possible minute they have to leave to change for the La Nouba show. I guess I do need to look at the show time and decide if we need to eat dinner before or after show. If it were only the kids and me, grabbing snacks or counter service would be all we would need, but DH is very high maintenance and I'm sure will insist on a full, sit down meal at some point that evening.

[Gregandmel]

Love the details in your plan! Sounds like a wonderful time. My family of 4 has been to Disney twice (2008 and 2010) and although I am soooo very anxious to get back to Disney, my DH is really more interested in going to Universal to try it out. He really enjoys Disney but isn't nuts for it like I am. We have 2 boys (13 & 22) who have totally loved our Disney trips, but I think as soon as they discover Universal - I have a feeling that is where they might prefer (we have thrill ride lovers as well). I was thinking our next trip would be Universal, but maybe I'll try & squeeze another WDW trip in BEFORE we try Universal...on the off chance that becomes their preference. Not sure how you could manage being that close to the Magic and not being there as well! ha ha. Have a fabulous time!

[mousetrapper]

We're a Disney family, but DD22 is graduating from college and she wants to do WWOHP for one day during our next trip to WDW. So we'll be there on Sunday May 26. We fly down to Orlando the day before so the plan is to get up early and hit "that other park" Sunday morning, do WWOHP and head back to WDW.

[MizMissy]

Well, the best laid plans ....

Work. Sigh. Always interferes with my scheduled vacations. The good news is we are not cancelling the entire vacation, just the beach part.

Now, our plans (hopefully they will not change again) are to leave Lafayette Friday morning and drive straight to Orlando. Probably a 12 hour trip with the time change and stops for lunch and dinner. Then, we will check in very early Saturday morning to spend an entire day at the parks with hopefully some pool time in the middle of the day.

I need to look up the new procedure for checking in and obtaining express pass at the hotel. Hopefully, the new system that seemed to have lots of flaws and frustrations has improved in the last couple of months.