5 years since our last hurrah pre-trip report

Do you get all your clothes and other things in one suitcase?

If I have to-sort of. I could never fly with just one bag. I just don't think it's possible for me. Part of that is past trauma from "packing light" because we were only going on an overnight trip to BFE....but when the toddler spikes a fever, and you're sans tylenol and a thermometer, compounded by the fact that we're in a hotel in BFE where everything is closed by 9p so you can't buy what you need...I was mopping him down with damp cloths trying to figure out how high it was and if we needed to go to a hospital...not something I care to repeat. As luck would have it, each time I've tried to leave a "basic" behind, we've needed it. The one trip that I didn't have the sewing kit with me...needed it. So I always travel with a basic first aid kit, sewing kit, foot kit, and med kit. Just in case. Only the first aid kit and foot kit go into the parks with us. We have a smaller med kit for the parks too. Again, now that the kidlet is older and can take adult meds, it's not so much of an issue.

We usually fly Southwest, so that we can take 2 checked bags if we need to. We went to CA last year and did San Fran and Napa for 11 days. I had one checked bag, a biggish carryon, and my backpack...but, that was only so we could fly 2 cases of liquid souveniers back with us. Usually for a week+ FL trip, I usually go down with 5 (for a family of 3) and pack a medium case inside a large case (in case we need the spare coming back for souveneirs, etc.) I may pack duffles this time instead of the medium case, we'll see. Usually, we don't do laundry on vacation...I'd rather not "waste" the time. I find that making lists helps keep things pared down, and the more trips we take, the less things we find we truly "need". I know I overpack clothes a bit, but when we do a mid-day break, we like to freshen up and change clothes...summer is sweaty. Also, kidlet is now a teen, and doesn't require as much "gear" as he used to. We haven't been on a big FL family vacation for about 5 years, so I really won't know how much we'll be taking until I start to put things in the luggage. But I don't think room will be an issue...it hasn't been in the past! Our gameplan currently is 3 backpacks and 5 pieces of luggage. Maybe I'll just do one duffle for souvies on the way back...

We once did 2 weeks, split between Jamaica and Disney. That was 6 bags, plus 3 carryons, plus 3 backpacks. We did leave a few things in Jamaica on purpose, but luggage space was tight that trip! That was a fun vacation...I liked dressing for dinner. We do Disney a bit differently than we do Universal, packing wise.
 
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I can see you need a couple of suitcases
When you include the first aide and other items, one suitcase won't work

My first trip I packed a lot but after that just basics

Figure if I need something I'll buy it in Orlando
 
Great planning:). So,what did you decide to do about the volcano bay express tickets? Are you going to order them and if so, for how many days and it what cost?
 
Great planning:). So,what did you decide to do about the volcano bay express tickets? Are you going to order them and if so, for how many days and it what cost?

We're not getting the Express Pass for Volcano Bay. We decided to skip it. I think it would have been $40/pp for our June dates...I remember the total being $120 when I checked. We're only going to VB for one day (at this point, at least). I doubt the man child will want a 2nd day there, but if so, we can work that into our plans. We did spring for the premier/preferred seating. That was $70 for 2 chairs (sold as a group of 2). We're not HUGE waterpark people, so if we get there at opening/early entry, we'll more than likely leave around 2 ish...we'll see how that day goes. I'm not sure how jam packed it's going to be, and our general attitude is we'll see what we see. The kidlet is a big wave pool fan, so I"m thinking we'll be spending the majority of our down time there.

Oh, and I couldn't resist any longer. I packed 5 outfits into a packing cube over the weekend. I had to do SOMETHING!!!
 
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We'll be there about a week after you so I'm enjoying reading about your plans!
 
I might have done a little shopping this week:
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hot pink tank, with "jade" colored glitter transfer


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turquoise tank, with hot pink glitter transfer.


Again, I need to stay away from Etsy. I think this gives me 6 tanks to wear for this trip...plus I have 2 other Ts that I'll be taking as backup. I may also be placing an order from Hot Topic for these..depends upon if I remember to use my coupon before it expires (tonight maybe??)

Quoting myself. I'm a little heartbroken. I took out the shop name, since I wouldn't recommend it based upon my recent experience. The tanks came, and they are super duper adorable. However, they seem to be junior sized, rather than women's (as in, running about 2 sizes too small) and the seller has not responded to my request to return them...I'm afraid I'm going to have to file with PP to get my money back. Ugh. I'm a little disappointed, as I was totally looking forward to wearing these in the parks....

As an aside, we're roughly 40 days out from our trip. I had a moment of panic when I thought I lost a GC to the Hard Rock Cafe that I aquired for our trip. Spent the better part of a day obsessing over where I could have put it, resisting the urge to tear apart my room looking for it before I considered the problem with a degree of rationality first...us impulsive types, ya know? Turns out, it was literally STUCK to another Universal GC, so when I fanned them out to count them, it was stuck behind one of the others. IT wasn't until I turned them and counted the edges, rather than the cards themselves, that I figured it out.

Oh, and again over the weekend, I almost blew the VIP tour surprise AGAIN. This is the 3rd time I've almost said something in passing about having booked it...I am not good with secrets, and this one is KILLING me. I'm determined to get through the next month or so without ruining the surprise.
 
That is a frustrating situation about the tops

Like you need this type of aggravation of no replies from seller

Wish it gets fixed without you having to spend the time to correct the issue

If you get to the point where you are going to burst if you can't tell anyone about vip tour ... just come here and yak about it with us
 


If you get to the point where you are going to burst if you can't tell anyone about vip tour ... just come here and yak about it with us

LOL. Why do you think I started this PTR?? :yay::yay: I know you guys understand the sickness. Like most of us here, I really like planning vacations. DH truly appreciates all the time and effort that I put into making things special. But, he's exceptionally busy right now (teaches, coaches from Nov-June) so I only approach him with the big things I want his input on (like switching resorts) rather than the more mundane day to day things (like where we are going to eat...I know what everyone likes, so it's easier if I just rough out a plan rather than ask him if he wants Toothsome on Monday or Tuesday, KWIM?) We get so little adult time together right now, I don't want our every conversation to revolve around vacation.

But I've been keeping busy. I have my personal packing list squared away. The kidlet's is roughed out too. I know it's only a matter of time before I start hauling out luggage. I'll start packing in early June...I'll have to. The wait is killing me! Also, the way my brain works, if there's something that's been left off a list, I'll have enough time pre-vacation to mull over every contingency and possibility and throw that in the bag too. For instance, we went to a ballgame this weekend. I forgot wet naps...we needed wet naps. Now, I gotta remember to add them to my list!!
 
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We can send you reminder notes

That will only work if I can find my reminder notes to remind you
 
The urge is getting harder to resist. I am very closely tip toeing the line as to whether or not I have truly started packing. I have a new pile of "stuff" on my dresser that needs to get packed, once I officially officially start packing. I have printed out packing lists for me and progeny. I have printed out my "To Buy/To Remember to Pack/To Do list". There are 7 outfits in packing cubes (which is about half of the clothing I'll be taking), I've ordered a few more over the shoulder boulder holders because I need them (I thought I had enough) a few more travel sized toiletries/empty bottles...we are officially at 32 days out from our trip. And, the worst part, the pre-vacation dreams have started.

In general, I love to travel, but I am not a very good traveler. It's not a fear of being on planes thing, it's trying to deal with the idea that 26 grabillion things could go wrong between leaving the house and checking into the resort...that fear of the unknown messing with our much needed vacation plans. It might stem from the very first vacation DH and I took together when we were still dating...we were flying PHL to CLT to MIA with a 90 minute layover in CLT before we caught a week long cruise to celebrate me graduating from college (caught a smoking deal, cruise was $500 PP plus airfare). It was raining in PHL, and we sat on the tarmac, pulled away from the gate, for an hour trying to take off. I knew we were going to miss our connection, and there was literally nothing I could do about it. Once we landed in CLT, they wanted to re-route us BACK to PHL, then to Puerto Rico for 2 days (on our dime) then to St. Marteen where we would meet the ship. Claimed it was the ONLY way to get us to our ship. I told them they'd have to do better, that we flew out of PHL, and there was NO WAY we were going to spend 2 days paying OOP for travel expenses that we'd already covered via the cruise. At the time, I didn't realize that the agent had already tagged our bags for the PHL-->PR-->St. Marteen journey...this all happened when I was telling her it was a no-go. The ship was supposed to depart at 3pm that day...and of course, I was in contact with the cruise line to let them know about our travel delay. The cruise lady told us to beat feet to get to MIA, because there was an unexpected hold up with the ship, but that she couldn't give us any more details at the moment. To make a long story short, we were able to fly from CLT to FLL, and hired/bribed a cab to high tail it to the cruise terminal in MIA. AFTER trying to claim our baggage in FLL did we learn that they were back on their way to PHL, to Puerto Rico blah, blah, blah. So, we had literally our carry ons and back packs until the ship made it to St. Marteen 2 days in the future. I do have a very cute picture of DH humping (hugging, but it looks like he's humping) our luggage once it was finally delivered to the ship. Oh, and we did make it to the ship in time. Ran up the gang plank, right past immigration check (not knowing we needed to stop...newbies/1st time cruisers). I just saw the lady at the top of the gangplank with the tray of drinks in her hand....almost got arrested, probably shot at too, if it weren't for the offical looking dude telling them we were ok, obviously looking a little more than stressed out/thankful to have made it. He told us to check in with immigration first, that we weren't going to get left behind.

Oh, and the delay? Drugs. Theirs, not ours. One of the crew tried to smuggle some stuff either off of the ship, or onto the ship while it was in port. So the ENTIRE ship was being searched top to bottom before they'd let it leave port. In retrospect, we're very lucky we didn't get shot at...post 9/11, blowing past immigration with nothing but backpacks and large duffle bags in our hands? Running towards the big shiny ship? The ship didn't take off until after 6, but I didn't care what time at that point!

An even more foreboding aside? Anyone remember a story about a cruise ship basically blowing up in port in Miami? That was our ship, 9-10 months after our cruise!!

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/05/25/cruise.explosion/


So, ever since then, there's a bit of anxiety that I get whenever we have a trip planned. Regardless of how prepared you are, there is always the chance that some unknown thing is going to happen, and you don't have a contingency plan for it. Ask me about the time DH got pulled in Jamaica by immigration for interrogation before entering the country...that happened the year we did a week in Jamaica, then went to Disney for a week afterwards...RIGHT before SW closed the MIA-->MCO flight leg.

So, onto my dream. I dreamt that we deplaned in MCO, walked down to baggage, and directly to our driver, without picking up our checked bags. I am nothing but rational in my dream state, and immediately blamed our driver for not asking us where our bags were. I didn't blame him directly, but in a not-outloud, Why didn't he ask us sort of way. My next rational thought was, "that's ok, we'll just buy new clothes as we need them in the parks/at the hotel". Seems, logical? right. Third rational though was "where do you buy shorts at the parks...I'll need to remember to ask the boardies". See, Travel induced anxiety aside, I am a cool, calm, and collected go with the flow chick while on vacation!!
 
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Wow. !!


You went thru a lot
But the good ending you did get on the ship just in time
 
Just in case anyone is keeping track, I almost blew the VIP tour surprise again. I think that's at least 3 times now...probably more. Maybe you all should start a pool on how many times this is going to happen, and someone will get lucky and make some $$...Seriously, I need to just stay off the computer. I've been plugging in "fake" reservations for our tour date, because I'm trying to figure out how many people will ACTUALLY be in our party...I'm holding onto this vacation fantasy that for some reason, it'll just be the 3 of us, and I'll get the private VIP experience at the much reduced semi-private price. So, I've been trying to "fake book" a party of 6 on our date, and late last week, IT WOULDN'T LET ME! I could only book for 3...that means there are at least 9 people (possibly) in our tour with us. I was bummed (I do enjoy make believing in my head to pass the time, and it would totally rock DH's Father's Day)...and almost blew it by wandering around the house muttering to myself, lamenting my bad luck.

On a whim, I tried it again, because a girl can dream....and I was able to fake book 6 tickets again!
Which means that either their computer system was glitchy (which we all know never happens :rolleyes:) or something else. For those that aren't familiar with the routine, semi-private groups are up to 12 people. So if I can book 6 tickets, it means there's no more than 6 people in our party with us (including us). If I have to fake book less than 6 tickets, you just play around with the numbers to figure out how many tickets you can fake book, and that'll give you an idea how many people are in your tour. I'm holding onto the unsubstantiated belief that they only run one of these tours each day (the semi-private, 2 park tour), so that I don't have to consider the possibility that our tour sold out, and they've added a second, less filled tour to the itinerary. See, this is what I obsess about since I don't have to dive head first into planning like I do when we go to Disney.

And, our weather finally broke, for good it seems. Temps above 70 all this week. I don't remember such a cold start to May in recent years....but it's nice to finally be in shorts, and enjoying patio happy hours until it's vacation time. :drinking:
 
Based on demand, there can be more than one tour a day

Additionally staff can be called to work if needed
Schedules can be set up in advance
 
Based on demand, there can be more than one tour a day

Additionally staff can be called to work if needed
Schedules can be set up in advance

See, that is exactly what I did not want to know/have confirmed :P:D No worries.
 
We're down to 24 days until our trip....progeny gets out of school on the 13th, and the hub's last day is the 16th...he'll have roughly 24 hours to pack before we head to our pre-flight hotel. You know how they say opposites attract? That's us. He's the extrovert, get it done when it needs to get done personality. I'm more introverted, the list maker, and contingency planner. Luckily, he gets me, and knows that he benefits from my desire to plan vacations. The closer to actually leaving (as in, the week before we leave) I kind of go into overdrive making sure all our ducks and ts are behaving accordingly. He calls this phase "big stuff, little stuff" because I'm double checking the big stuff, getting 2/3s of the family in order for leaving, and I'll randomly tell him to "remind me to do X at this time _______". Or, "I'm putting the _________ in the __________ so, when I forgot what I've done with it, remind me" That's his job...the "little stuff" that really isn't little stuff, just the stuff that I can't make room in my brain for. He's really good at it too!

The good news is that I've started a 4th pile (my backpack) by condensing my 3rd pile (important things on my desk/tips/random cash fund envelope) into their respective traveling areas....so I still only have 3 piles, and they're all located in our bedroom now. It's not so much of a pile as it is me grabbing things that I know I'll be carrying in my backpack on the plane and randomly tossing them in until I get my "full packing groove" on come the first of the month. Progeny will start packing (under my guidance) after he gets out of school. We have the long holiday weekend coming up, and the pool will be opening too, so I'll have lots of time for relaxing and not thinking about our trip as I'm brushing up on my pool lounging skills in preparation for the trip.

Oh, and did I tell you that we're absolute maniacs running hither, thither, and yon after our trip? 4 days after we get back from vacation, we're going to the beach for a week!!
 
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So, this may have happened over the weekend. I couldn't fight the feeling anymore....I'd forgotten what I started fighting for...There's actually a 3rd large cube that's not in this picture, because after I thought I had all my clothes packed, I totally forgot about swimsuits and cover ups. But, if push came to shove, I could be ready to walk out the door in 5 minutes if I absolutely HAD to. Now, I just need to throw it in a suitcase, weigh it, and figure out how much other essential to me stuff we're going to be bringing from the master list. I officially am down to 2 piles (including my backpack). The technical "3rd" pile in my bedroom is stuff progeny wants to take on vacation...his clothing....so it doesn't count, right?
 
Absolutely bursting at the seams right now. T minus 5 days. I'm 98% packed, DS is packed. DH is thinking about packing, and has ONE pile on his desk. I still have ONE very small pile on my nightstand. School ends on Tues (DS) and Wed (DH). AND, the best part is, with the exception of my teeny tiny pile, we managed to get everything into one large suitcase each. I'll still have to take a second bag though for my "leftover" pile. Not sure if it'll fit in with DH's bag. Suitcases are at #47 now, and I"m not sure how much wiggle room DH will have. And no, leaving stuff behind isn't an option due to my "lack of supplies" travel induced anxiety. But we're way ahead of the game packing wise...that 4th suitcase will not be as full as I had imagined it might be! My goal for the next week is to do as little actual work as possible. I'm off after Thursday (at a conference), then we head to the hotel before our flight. We should be at our hotel by 10am on Sunday!:flower1::butterfly:flower1::butterfly:flower1::butterfly
 
Think they left the 17th

Probably recovering from the trip now is my guess ....

Let's hope she returns and shares her fun time with us!
 
@jagafen, are you back yet? How was it?!

Think they left the 17th

Probably recovering from the trip now is my guess ....

Let's hope she returns and shares her fun time with us!

You nailed it!! Actually, we have a pretty busy week. We got in at 2:30 in the morning Monday (our 10:00pm flight was delayed due to storms)...ugh. We're home until Saturday, and then off again for another week...tough life, I know. We've been buried in laundry (we blew off the weekly laundry before we went on vacation, so we had 9 loads to do!!), and I just got myself and the kidlet packed for next week's trip. I have some time this morning, so I was thinking of starting the trip report...just need more coffee!!
 

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