Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina
Life is short. Live it well.
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2008
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to you.
Sorry about the pie but we had pumpkin and it was delicious.
I'm glad you enjoyed a tasty Thanksgiving! I am not a fan of pumpkin pie (or pumpkin anything ) so thanks for eating my piece for me!!
Sorry so tardy to answer- the vacay went by so fast!!! We arrived home last night.
Our DC day was Wednesday. It was magnificent! We met Coral the dolphin Those little angels are so amazing!
The only downer was the daybed. We were very disappointed. They appear to have a canopy that will provide some shade and appear larger and comfortable. In reality, the canopy offers no shade. The daybeds are not long enough to fully lay down and are not comfortable to sit up in. I was also disappointed that they also don't have any sort of small table to hold drinks/snacks. In front of us, the free chairs offered umbrellas that had shade all day as well as some had small tables to hold drinks/snacks. We were not able to spend more than a short time using the daybed. It was much too hot to be in the sun all day.
I did talk to guest services about it and filled out a comment card. They said that they have received much of the same feedback as I provided to them. They happily refunded our money.
We had an amazing time overall- thanks again for the tip! We saved oodles of $$ thanks to you!
SO glad to hear you had such a great day at DC!! Did you end up purchasing any of the dolphin swim photos?
That's pretty crummy about the daybeds, though. Awesome that they refunded you the fee . I'm hoping it will be at least a touch cooler when we arrive later this month, but if not, we'll definitely just stick to the regular loungers and umbrellas. Not that we tend to sit much on our DC days but we always have good intentions to!
Thank you! Between your TR, multiple friends going recently, and stuff at work, I figured it was a sign to finally go! I am soooo excited
This info is great! What exactly is the "all-image photokey"?
The all-image photo key is digital access to all your photos from the entire day....any that are taken during the dolphin swim, in the aviary, or anywhere in the park.
He is currently on his way! Making rather miserable time, unfortunately.....traffic through Toronto has been slow and difficult....but he will hopefully arrive sometime around midnight. The hockey game is Thursday! Can't wait!Hope you had a great weekend Gina. How was the game and how was Jake?
Only 5 days until our trip, but its getting crazy! The Braves avoided elimination last night, so my wife and I are driving up to ATL for the game this afternoon. Then Michael (the storm) is predicted to come right over our house on wed-thur, possibly with hurricane force winds. Nervous about that, as we have a LOT of large pine trees within striking distance of the house with a path like the one Michael will take. But the way I see it, at least we have a place to go, right? Ugh. On the bright side, the hurricane basically draws all the rain with it, and its looking to be a great week in FL according to the weather forecast.
Glad to hear that you got to see your Braves play after all! Did they win?
I have caught up on your PTR. It is great to finally be reading along with one of your reports in real time instead of months or years after the fact.
Have a wonderful visit with Jake this week!! My DS is 15......I try to cherish every minute b/c I can feel the time ticking away sooooo quickly.
Enjoy the game! My DH and DS15 went last night. Braves pulled through in a very exciting game. They really enjoyed it....we are only about an hour away from the park, but they didn’t get home until 1:45 this morning. Thankfully they are off work and school for Columbus Day today so they could sleep in.
Yay! The Braves did win!
Yes, our kids aren't our kids very long, are they? You blink and they're all grown up . Like the old saying goes, "the days are long but the years are short".
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family as well Gina.
Thank you . Did you celebrate the holiday with your extended family at your parents' cottage?
Hey Gina!! I’m finally here! Getting all caught up.. i haven’t been on the Dis since before my trip.
Unfortunately, we’re not Sea World people. We really enjoyed the aquariums, shark encounter and the roller coasters. We got the Quick Queue and i wasn’t overly thrilled with it. It was nice skipping the line, but I’d say like 90% of the rides we walked up the exit to get to the ride, we arrived to the loading dock and weren’t provided any instruction on where to stand, where to go, nothing. We just kinda walked up and went where we wanted.. then we got to Manta and there was no attendant in sight so we thought it was the same thing and actually got SCOLDED for it.. i was at a a loss for words, it was actually embarrassing. I was bummed too that the Infinity Falls opening was pushed back. We were really hoping for a soft opening. I think it’ll be really hard for me to talk Jeremy into going back for a while.
On the other hand, we LOVED Discovery Cove!! I would highly recommend the Animal Trek. I think it’s right up your alley! They saved the best for last and we got to pet a sloth!!! We also did the Sea Venture. I was a little nervous at first because I suffer from slight claustrophobia and anxiety but once we got down there it was amazing!! The whole experience was worth every penny, including the cabana! With 5 people it was just nice to have that home base, even though I’m sure we would have had no problem getting loungers.
This year’s HHN was my favorite yet. My top houses were Poltergeist, Dead Exposure and Scary Tales. We went for our first night on Wednesday and it was DEAD. We got so much done, which was a blessing because the next 4 days were mobbed! If i only had one or two nights i would definitely pony up the money for express passes this year.
Welp, I’m reeeally looking forward to reading your upcoming report. Especially the Sleepy Hallow event! I can’t remember if i read if you were renting a golf cart for the fort or not? The lights around Fort Wilderness for Halloween are AMAZING. Can’t wait to follow along!!
So sorry that SeaWorld was a bust for you......but thrilled that you thought DC was worth the money! There really is no place like it!
We've always said we want to do SeaVenture but for some reason, never have taken the plunge (pardon the pun ). We'll have to make that a must-do on a future visit. Did you use their underwater cameras to take any photos?
We hadn't decided to rent a golf cart for our Fort Wilderness night, but it sure sounds like an appealing idea . I wonder if they have any still left to reserve? We did a private horse and carriage ride there a few years ago but our driver was SO chatty . I'd love to take in the lights without any incessant jibber-jabber LOL.
Morning all! Game was fun, even though the Braves lost, they had some exciting moments. We might have to make a tradition of a playoff game every year they make it.
Hurricane is predicted to head just north if not directly over us right now, which puts us in the worst position for winds. Current intensity forecast has it as a max tropical storm or minimal hurricane by the time it gets to us (50-70mph sustained, gusts 80 or higher). Almost certainly going to lose power, and probably some trees. There is a lot next to us filled with 60-100 ft pines that the wind will be blowing in our direction. That is on the kids side of the house, needless to say they will NOT be sleeping in their beds wednesday night. Got plenty of batteries and bottled water, the portable chargers will be full tonight, weather radar, flashlights, charcoal, etc. is ready.
Oh no, they lost?? What a bummer. I must have mis-read the post above.....I thought you saw a winner. Glad to hear you enjoyed yourself regardless of the outcome.
I am so sorry to hear that the storm is poised to pass through your community. Please stay safe, and check in with us all when you can. I am sure everyone will want to know that you're all faring okay.
Yep- I was hoping it would be nice, too! They don't seem to be getting much positive feedback on them so I'm hoping they will make some improvements. Talk to a manager if you want a refund. I first stopped at guest services where they offered me a comment card and an apology, but no refund. I went further to a manager on duty and she happily refunded the price of the daybed. I just couldn't pay the $79 plus tax on something we couldn't use.
Kind of annoying that you couldn't get that kind of action from guest services initially, though . I'm glad that the manager assisted you, but a comment card?!?!? Sheesh.
Please, you and Steve are absolutely adorable (Jake too, but he's not on the trips with you) - I think a vlog/youtube channel would be a fabulous idea!!!
Oh Ruthie, you know I've said it before, but it needs to be said again: you, sweet girl, are good for the soul .
I second that, Ruthie! And you and Tony would be great costars!!
Okay, if Tony and Ruthie agree to co-star, I might rethink my initial rejection. Perhaps we could all join in and give the Dis podcast crew a run for their money? Look out Pete, there might be some new competition in town .
We did! We even got to have a Macaw fly into our outstretched arm.
Did you happen to buy the photo package? Any pics you can share?
It’s unanimous! Sorry, Gina. Sounds like pattyw and her Tony are already on the docket to guest star. You are out voted. We will be looking for your YouTube channel soon.
Gina, Hearing all this about DC and the animal trek.....we were able to pet a sloth, feed birds, have them land on us, etc as part of the normal day pass in May 2017....are they now charging extra to do those things? Of course, looking at the deal you got for your DC day this month.....it’s a lot less than what we paid for our day....so maybe they are just reallocating how they charge to make the day more accessible? And then the extras add up to what we paid a year ago total? I see SW is reconfiguring the annual pass as well. Ours expired in June. I guess they are just changing their overall pricing structure? I would pay just about anything for DC. It is my all time favorite thing in Orlando!!
Praying for you and your family!
We were able to meet some animal ambassadors and feed the birds in the aviary on our DC day in May as well. I do know that DC has introduced several new "extras" that go even further into the up-close opportunities over the course of the spring and summer, but as far as I know, all the regular stuff is still included with standard admission. If there is anything different when we visit later this month, I'll be sure to let you know .
I think our super-low-price day is only because numbers are so low.....with all the special Halloween events at the Orlando parks, I suspect that DC gets overlooked for MNSSHP, HHN, and other seasonal specialties. I doubt we will EVER see a $99 dolphin swim rate again.
SeaWorld has indeed introduced a new tiered annual pass program, much like Universal's tiered offers. Unless prices increase substantially after their introductory period, I'm actually quite pleased by the program that SW has put together. We haven't decided if we will renew yet or not.....its still too soon to decide what path we want to take for next year's trips....but if we do, it will likely be one Gold pass (for the photokey and extra in-park discount) and one Silver.
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