bobbie68
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2009
and thanks for reading along with my trip report. This is my first time doing one for the Sea World/Bush Garden parks. We usually go to Universal but tried something different this year. It was my DD's high school graduation trip and we let her pick which parks she wanted to do. She chose Discovery Cover so we decided to spend the little extra to upgrade to get access to the other parks.
The preplanning of the trip. We usually stay at on-site resorts for perks and convenience. This was more of a budget trip so I decided to look off-site. With the help of Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina with a recommendation, we chose Sheraton Vistana Resort in Lake Buena Vista. In September I went on the site and they were running a 25%off fall special. I booked 7 days at a great price. It was almost half of what we pay on site. We booked a 2 BR villa that sleeps 8. I put a deposit and that was it. Next was waiting for Thanksgiving weekend for Discovery Cove. I had heard they run a blue Friday special and indeed they did. I was able to get the dolphin swim added to our package for $5.00I couldn't believe it I must have asked twice if this was correct. On top of that, they were giving an upgrade to the three other parks for free. I jumped on that considering we were not going to be able to do it financially at that point. I was so thrilled knowing I could give my DD exactly what she wanted I wanted to do the elite package (photo package, cabana, tote, and towel) but not sure if we could budget for it, so I had to wait. We decided to drive again this year so I just had to plan our drive and book overnight hotel. We find it too much to drive straight through. My DH and I made our plan and then I reserved my hotel.
Everything went smooth now I just have to wait
Introductions DH Brian (44) DD liv(17) DD's BF Charlie (17) me Roberta (51). For those of you have not read one of my trip reports on the Universal thread DD's BF lives with me due to some poor living conditions in his life. He is a great person and we think of him as a son.
We added a couple of other activities to this trip and it worked out great. We were going to meet Brian's family for dinner in Tampa after Bush Gardens, we were going to visit my brother staying at The Grand Floridian, and the most important add on was to start looking at areas to live. We are planning on moving down there next summer. This was going to be an awesome trip and a little different than we usually do but exciting none the less.
It begins on June 22nd we left CT about 6 am, our goal was to drive to Savannah Georgia for the night. This was going to be about a 15-hour drive with only a couple of stops but didn't include traffic. I started out the drive and then Brian took over in New Jersey. Overall we had a great trip down hit some traffic and took a few more stops. We ended up getting to the hotel at about 11 pm. It was a long day and we were ready to sleep. We stayed at aLa Quinta right off 95 and it was clean and the staff was nice. We checked in and we were all in bed by 1 am after showers. We were planning on being on the road by 8 -9 am. We had about 4 hours until we entered the Orlando area and were going to look at neighborhoods. The goal was to look at 3 neighborhoods then be at the Vistana by 4 to check-in.
June 23rd We were up on time had the complimentary breakfast and then was on our way. We do take a portable fridge in the car, for certain special dietary needs so we do have to bring that in every night. We were off, we hit no traffic and was in the first neighborhood by 1. The first 2 we looked at didn't look good for us so we went to the third. We spent a lot of time in the third neighborhood and have added that as one of the possibilities. It had almost everything we were looking for.
After an open house and some exploring, we ended up heading to the Vistana about 4 30.
We arrive at Vistana and boy was this place big. We drove up to the front and I went into check-in. It was really quick it was not crowded at all. They did offer me 2 vouchers for breakfast for 4 days if I decline housekeeping. The breakfast is about 25 per person and it wouldn't cover the other2 so I declined and took housekeeping. After I got my keys and location they sent me over to the desk to get my parking pass. This is also the desk that asks you to do the timeshare presentation. I declined it and they didn't say anything else and I was off. I had requested a top floor close to everything. I didn't get any of my requests. We got the 4th floor in a 5-floor building and we were in the back of the property. The building was Lakes 7. At first, I was disappointed but decided it would be okay. We went in to check it out. I told the teens don't unpack till I make sure it is good for us to stay. As I was checking I noticed the spa tub in the Master Bedroom wasn't working so I called the front desk. I had a maintenance man there in 15 minutes and he fixed it right away. Everything else looked good so we unpacked a bit then headed to dinner. We were planning on a pool night but that wouldn' happen. I suggested going to Sweet Tomatoes on a recommendation. We decided to try it. It is a healthier type of food. There is a nice salad bar with everything you can think of. You go through this line first, then pay. The only problem was there are stations for soups and pastas so if you don't know that you load up on the salad. I think they could explain it when you walk in. Otherwise, the food was great. The soups were a big hit. They are all made from scratch. They do have a cute dessert bar as well. We had a coupon and it was 11.99 for the meal and a drink. This is all you can eat also. I think it is a great deal and a good choice if you are looking for some healthier options. After dinner, we went back to the resort and decided to relax. We would have an early day at Aquatica.
Pics of our room:
Off the kitchen was the other bedroom and bathroom. It was great for the teens to have their own space. The furniture was comfortable, all the accessories were good in the kitchen. There is a screened-in balcony off the living room and master bedroom. There is a table and 4 chairs. The washer and dryer are in a closet when you come in. This feature was awesome. It was so nice to not have so much dirty laundry to take home.
June 24th Aquatica Day
We planned to be up early and go there for the opening. I wanted to save some money so I went to Publix and bought breakfast bowls for the park mornings. It was a quick inexpensive way to fuel up. We got to the entrance about 8 15 and they let us into the park about 8 30. We were the first car in and got a great spot. We waited for a bit then got through security. We were at the front of one of the turnstiles. I told Brian Liv and I would go through first and go to guest services. For anybody who doesn't know the Sea World parks are Autism certified now. There are some really good additions with this. All the ride descriptions have sensory notes. They also offer a pass like the other parks where you can get a time to come back so you don't have to wait in line. This is the first water park that we have been able to do this. It was such a big help and made the day good. Everything went quick and we were on our first ride shortly after 9. We got a nice seat in the wave pool area under an umbrella.
There were no lines so we went right to KareKare Curl their newest ride, it was really fun, it is only a 2 person though. We split up the teens together. We did Omaka Raka with the 4 of us and that was really fun. We took a break and went to Roas Rapids. We love these rivers that are a little fast. We stayed here for a while then went over to Ray Rush. There were still not many lines and we were able to get on. This was one of our favorite family raft rides. After we went to lunch at Waterstone Grill. It was a little after 11 and the line was already long. We waited, and Brian and I ordered the fish tacos and the kids had veggies burgers. Everything was good and we bought the refillable cups. We did not choose the all-day dining. I had read reviews that it wasn't worth it in this park. I will say I am glad I didn't. The food lines were so long, we would have spent half the day doing that. We would leave early and grab dinner out by the resort. We repeated a couple of the slides and spent most of the day in the rapids river and the wave pool. Liv wasn't feeling good so we wanted to take it easy. At one point in the wave pool in the afternoon, the temp said 101 degrees. We showered and changed then left about 4. We thoroughly enjoyed Aquatica, It is a great waterpark even though it is smaller than some others we have been too. The Roas Rapids and Ray Rush were our favorite. We will be getting passes here next year.
We stopped back by the resort then decided to try the Ale House in Lake Buena Vista. A friend on the boards (Schumigirl) recommended this chain in her report and it didn't disappoint. They have about 6 early bird choices to choose from. It was only $8.99 for dinner. Brian had ribs and sides and the three of us had a sirloin with sides. We did get some wings for an appetizer and they were some of the best I have had. When we were done with our meal the consensus was everyone wanted to eat here again. We went back to the resort and decided to try some pool time.
The resort has 7 pools and several hot tubs. We decided to use the fountains pool. It was a couple of buildings down but is was one of the three large pools. It was very nice. There was a volleyball net, a little waterfall, and had two hot tubs secluded in the back. We stayed for a few hours and had a blast. I spent most of my time in the hot tub. The other three played a lot of volleyball and frisbee. They did join me for a bit. We headed back about 10. We would have another early day as we were going to Tampa and Bush Gardens.
Up next Bush Gardens Tampa!!!!
The preplanning of the trip. We usually stay at on-site resorts for perks and convenience. This was more of a budget trip so I decided to look off-site. With the help of Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina with a recommendation, we chose Sheraton Vistana Resort in Lake Buena Vista. In September I went on the site and they were running a 25%off fall special. I booked 7 days at a great price. It was almost half of what we pay on site. We booked a 2 BR villa that sleeps 8. I put a deposit and that was it. Next was waiting for Thanksgiving weekend for Discovery Cove. I had heard they run a blue Friday special and indeed they did. I was able to get the dolphin swim added to our package for $5.00I couldn't believe it I must have asked twice if this was correct. On top of that, they were giving an upgrade to the three other parks for free. I jumped on that considering we were not going to be able to do it financially at that point. I was so thrilled knowing I could give my DD exactly what she wanted I wanted to do the elite package (photo package, cabana, tote, and towel) but not sure if we could budget for it, so I had to wait. We decided to drive again this year so I just had to plan our drive and book overnight hotel. We find it too much to drive straight through. My DH and I made our plan and then I reserved my hotel.
Everything went smooth now I just have to wait
Introductions DH Brian (44) DD liv(17) DD's BF Charlie (17) me Roberta (51). For those of you have not read one of my trip reports on the Universal thread DD's BF lives with me due to some poor living conditions in his life. He is a great person and we think of him as a son.
We added a couple of other activities to this trip and it worked out great. We were going to meet Brian's family for dinner in Tampa after Bush Gardens, we were going to visit my brother staying at The Grand Floridian, and the most important add on was to start looking at areas to live. We are planning on moving down there next summer. This was going to be an awesome trip and a little different than we usually do but exciting none the less.
It begins on June 22nd we left CT about 6 am, our goal was to drive to Savannah Georgia for the night. This was going to be about a 15-hour drive with only a couple of stops but didn't include traffic. I started out the drive and then Brian took over in New Jersey. Overall we had a great trip down hit some traffic and took a few more stops. We ended up getting to the hotel at about 11 pm. It was a long day and we were ready to sleep. We stayed at aLa Quinta right off 95 and it was clean and the staff was nice. We checked in and we were all in bed by 1 am after showers. We were planning on being on the road by 8 -9 am. We had about 4 hours until we entered the Orlando area and were going to look at neighborhoods. The goal was to look at 3 neighborhoods then be at the Vistana by 4 to check-in.
June 23rd We were up on time had the complimentary breakfast and then was on our way. We do take a portable fridge in the car, for certain special dietary needs so we do have to bring that in every night. We were off, we hit no traffic and was in the first neighborhood by 1. The first 2 we looked at didn't look good for us so we went to the third. We spent a lot of time in the third neighborhood and have added that as one of the possibilities. It had almost everything we were looking for.
After an open house and some exploring, we ended up heading to the Vistana about 4 30.
We arrive at Vistana and boy was this place big. We drove up to the front and I went into check-in. It was really quick it was not crowded at all. They did offer me 2 vouchers for breakfast for 4 days if I decline housekeeping. The breakfast is about 25 per person and it wouldn't cover the other2 so I declined and took housekeeping. After I got my keys and location they sent me over to the desk to get my parking pass. This is also the desk that asks you to do the timeshare presentation. I declined it and they didn't say anything else and I was off. I had requested a top floor close to everything. I didn't get any of my requests. We got the 4th floor in a 5-floor building and we were in the back of the property. The building was Lakes 7. At first, I was disappointed but decided it would be okay. We went in to check it out. I told the teens don't unpack till I make sure it is good for us to stay. As I was checking I noticed the spa tub in the Master Bedroom wasn't working so I called the front desk. I had a maintenance man there in 15 minutes and he fixed it right away. Everything else looked good so we unpacked a bit then headed to dinner. We were planning on a pool night but that wouldn' happen. I suggested going to Sweet Tomatoes on a recommendation. We decided to try it. It is a healthier type of food. There is a nice salad bar with everything you can think of. You go through this line first, then pay. The only problem was there are stations for soups and pastas so if you don't know that you load up on the salad. I think they could explain it when you walk in. Otherwise, the food was great. The soups were a big hit. They are all made from scratch. They do have a cute dessert bar as well. We had a coupon and it was 11.99 for the meal and a drink. This is all you can eat also. I think it is a great deal and a good choice if you are looking for some healthier options. After dinner, we went back to the resort and decided to relax. We would have an early day at Aquatica.
Pics of our room:
Off the kitchen was the other bedroom and bathroom. It was great for the teens to have their own space. The furniture was comfortable, all the accessories were good in the kitchen. There is a screened-in balcony off the living room and master bedroom. There is a table and 4 chairs. The washer and dryer are in a closet when you come in. This feature was awesome. It was so nice to not have so much dirty laundry to take home.
June 24th Aquatica Day
We planned to be up early and go there for the opening. I wanted to save some money so I went to Publix and bought breakfast bowls for the park mornings. It was a quick inexpensive way to fuel up. We got to the entrance about 8 15 and they let us into the park about 8 30. We were the first car in and got a great spot. We waited for a bit then got through security. We were at the front of one of the turnstiles. I told Brian Liv and I would go through first and go to guest services. For anybody who doesn't know the Sea World parks are Autism certified now. There are some really good additions with this. All the ride descriptions have sensory notes. They also offer a pass like the other parks where you can get a time to come back so you don't have to wait in line. This is the first water park that we have been able to do this. It was such a big help and made the day good. Everything went quick and we were on our first ride shortly after 9. We got a nice seat in the wave pool area under an umbrella.
There were no lines so we went right to KareKare Curl their newest ride, it was really fun, it is only a 2 person though. We split up the teens together. We did Omaka Raka with the 4 of us and that was really fun. We took a break and went to Roas Rapids. We love these rivers that are a little fast. We stayed here for a while then went over to Ray Rush. There were still not many lines and we were able to get on. This was one of our favorite family raft rides. After we went to lunch at Waterstone Grill. It was a little after 11 and the line was already long. We waited, and Brian and I ordered the fish tacos and the kids had veggies burgers. Everything was good and we bought the refillable cups. We did not choose the all-day dining. I had read reviews that it wasn't worth it in this park. I will say I am glad I didn't. The food lines were so long, we would have spent half the day doing that. We would leave early and grab dinner out by the resort. We repeated a couple of the slides and spent most of the day in the rapids river and the wave pool. Liv wasn't feeling good so we wanted to take it easy. At one point in the wave pool in the afternoon, the temp said 101 degrees. We showered and changed then left about 4. We thoroughly enjoyed Aquatica, It is a great waterpark even though it is smaller than some others we have been too. The Roas Rapids and Ray Rush were our favorite. We will be getting passes here next year.
We stopped back by the resort then decided to try the Ale House in Lake Buena Vista. A friend on the boards (Schumigirl) recommended this chain in her report and it didn't disappoint. They have about 6 early bird choices to choose from. It was only $8.99 for dinner. Brian had ribs and sides and the three of us had a sirloin with sides. We did get some wings for an appetizer and they were some of the best I have had. When we were done with our meal the consensus was everyone wanted to eat here again. We went back to the resort and decided to try some pool time.
The resort has 7 pools and several hot tubs. We decided to use the fountains pool. It was a couple of buildings down but is was one of the three large pools. It was very nice. There was a volleyball net, a little waterfall, and had two hot tubs secluded in the back. We stayed for a few hours and had a blast. I spent most of my time in the hot tub. The other three played a lot of volleyball and frisbee. They did join me for a bit. We headed back about 10. We would have another early day as we were going to Tampa and Bush Gardens.
Up next Bush Gardens Tampa!!!!