(Sea)Lions & Gators & Dolphins….Oh, My! A Halloween PTR/TR with a “wild” theme - Oct/Nov '18

I'm Here! :wave:

We had a Busy weekend, but almost down to the 30 day mark, Is it too early to start packing? :-)
 
I started assembling our travel folder this weekend.....printed copies of all the stuff we need to have on hand (flight confirmations, copies of our Vistana reservation, and confirmation of every tour, cabana rental, and special event we have scheduled). There is a comfort in being organized!



How rotten that you don't have a nonstop option from your closest airport :(. .
Jealous of your organization! I need to get that started but it looks like it will be the first week of Oct for that. We are headed to the Ohio State/Penn State game this weekend.

We have no direct flights from our local airport and have never found anything cheap enough to justify driving and fighting city traffic. I think it is funny to me that our indirect flight through DTW on Delta priced at one point the same as your direct flight on Frontier. I don't remember off the top of my head if we are DTW on the way down or back. I know we are Atlanta one direction.

YIPPIE!! SO EXCITED!

AND - Infinity Falls is opening at the beginning of OCT, so we should be good to roll that day!!
They finally announced a date? Who HOOOOOOO we have had fingers crossed it opened in October.

I'm Here! :wave:

We had a Busy weekend, but almost down to the 30 day mark, Is it too early to start packing? :-)
30 day mark here (I am dragging the suitcase out the first weekend in Oct). We will all be driving past each other on I-Drive all week. I still have to decide on what restaurants we are going to try. Also, doing a hurricane stay away dance for the next 30 odd days. But there is always insurance.
 
Yes officially 9hrs and 20 minutes going and 1 hour shorter coming back :confused: then there's always the queue at immigration to deal with, which can easily add on another Hour or 2 depending how busy it is, so it makes for a long travel day.

Ugh, I can't imagine being on an airplane that long!! I'd definitely have to psyche myself up for that kind of a journey......I tend to get fidgety after 2 hours and my gravol is only good for a maximum of 4 :rolleyes1. No wonder you spend a full two weeks or more when you come. Do you find jet lag very bothersome?

Haha, now I see the benefits of these trip reports, just when you finish reliving your last one, you are almost ready for the next trip. 19 days till our trip!

Yes, we have it timed pretty much perfectly :laughing:.

19 days......oooooh, I'm more than a little envious of your super-short countdown! I'm getting excited and just want to go NOW. What last minute to-do's are still on YOUR list?

Typical Florida- hot and chance of rain each day. But so glad there are no hurricanes brewing right now!:thumbsup2

Sounds great!! :)

Glad to hear that!!:thumbsup2

Yay!! :cheer2: Have fun! Can't wait to hear all about it! 3 days for me!!

I have my fingers crossed that any foul weather is nothing worse than a sprinkle or two. What all is on this trip's itinerary?

Hi so glad to catch your PTR... We only use airlines that have a direct flight too. We can barely handle going up and down once let alone twice.

I can't wait to follow along and learn some more stuff. I have been checking into Vistana. I contacted a couple of people renting out but the prices for the time we will go is about the same as booking on the website directly. I am more comfortable with that. I have read about a few horror stories with owners and problems renting. I started telling the family about it and will show them pics soon.

Happy Planning!

I have to admit......I hate, hate, hate landing. Sometimes we get lucky and they are super smooth, but we've had a few where its felt like the plane has wobbled and jerked its way down. I'm with you....the less ups and downs we have to endure on each trip, the happier I am. My former boss used to always say, "Gina, it's not landing you need to be fearful of. It's the ascent. Unlike when you're landing, the plane is full of fuel as you're taking off.....so if you crash, you'll go up in a ball of fire. But think of it this way, sweetheart. You're unlikely to feel a damn thing". Every time we take off, that's all I can think of :crazy2:.

One of the nice benefits of booking directly with SVR is that you can trade your daily housekeeping for free breakfasts at Zimmie's. For each day you waive your housekeeping, you get 2 free adult breakfast buffet vouchers. So, if the cost is about even renting from an owner versus booking direct, you might be able to come out a little ahead with the free breakfasts. Unless, of course, you want housekeeping service very single day....in which case, you would want to book directly with the resort anyway as timeshare stays only have a midweek tidy and a full clean before your check-in.
I'm Here! :wave:

We had a Busy weekend, but almost down to the 30 day mark, Is it too early to start packing? :-)

Packing already?!?? Sure, why not! :p We won't get out our suitcases until.....oh, maybe the Wednesday before our Friday departure. I work best under pressure :teeth:.

Jealous of your organization! I need to get that started but it looks like it will be the first week of Oct for that. We are headed to the Ohio State/Penn State game this weekend.

We have no direct flights from our local airport and have never found anything cheap enough to justify driving and fighting city traffic. I think it is funny to me that our indirect flight through DTW on Delta priced at one point the same as your direct flight on Frontier. I don't remember off the top of my head if we are DTW on the way down or back. I know we are Atlanta one direction.

They finally announced a date? Who HOOOOOOO we have had fingers crossed it opened in October.

30 day mark here (I am dragging the suitcase out the first weekend in Oct). We will all be driving past each other on I-Drive all week. I still have to decide on what restaurants we are going to try. Also, doing a hurricane stay away dance for the next 30 odd days. But there is always insurance.

Infinity Falls officially opens on October 4th! :banana: Apparently passmembers can get a one time Quick Queue for the ride once it opens, so we will definitely take advantage of that. I want to be sure to ride it right before we leave the park for the day, so I don't look like a drowned rat after getting soaked on the splashdown. Some of the videos I've seen look like there's the potential to get VERY wet!

Hurricanes are always, ALWAYS on my mind too ::yes::. I'm hoping that our late October dates will mean less eventful weather and *maybe* some cooler temperatures, especially after dark. Here's how optimistic I am: I just ordered a new fleece jacket to take with us, thinking we may need it on our Sleepy Hollow evening and our Ferrytale Fireworks Cruise night. Hopefully my sweater purchase doesn't jinx me!! I can see it now.....104 degrees and 94% humidity at 9:05 pm :rotfl2:.

You guys are going to make me feel guilty about leaving packing to the last minute ;). In my defense, packing should be fairly quick and painless for us as I have all of our new stuff (which is quite a lot.....many days of matching shirts :blush:) in a central spot in our closet. So maybe I can justify that I've already kinda sorta started packing? :scratchin
 
SeaWorld's Halloween Spooktacular

Our first day at SeaWorld this trip is the final day of their Halloween event for the 2018 season.

https://seaworld.com/orlando/events/halloween-spooktacular/

While on a much smaller scale than the seasonal fall events hosted by the Disney and Universal parks, SeaWorld's Spooktacular is not only super cute and family-friendly, it's also included in regular park admission......so no separate hard ticket required. It's a very whimsical, colorful, and playful atmosphere where "under the sea" meets Halloween. Trick-or-treat stations are set up throughout a large section of the park, and a variety of special themed characters greet guests and pose for photos. There are bubbles being piped into the breeze from the lamp posts, an abundance of yummy candy, and a whole host of people dressed in fun costumes.

When we were there for Spooktacular in 2017, we opted not to dress up since we had no littles in tow and our MNSSHP costumes seemed a bit over-the-top for a daytime event. This year, though, we came up with a fun idea that seemed just the right balance between getting in the spirit without going too crazy.

Knowing that it could be hotter than the surface of the sun, we opted for t-shirt's as the main base of our costumes:

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Best of all....the t-shirts came in big & tall sizes!! :cool1: Which means Steve's fits AND is comfortable for him! :thumbsup2:thumbsup2:thumbsup2

Because masks are not permitted under the costume guidelines, I had to get creative for our eye wear.....because Mr. & Mrs. Incredible would look a little bare if that part of the costume was missed ::yes::. After a lengthy internet search, I was able to find sun glasses that are in the shape of the Incredibles eye masks :thumbsup2, which will work particularly well if it happens to be a bright and sunshiny day.

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They actually looked even better in person than they did online (the eye parts aren't white......they are solid black).....and they fit our adult heads quite nicely. I was a bit concerned that while the description said "one size fits most", that it didn't mean most 5 year olds :blush:.

Finishing off our costumes are black gloves (elbow length for me, shorter ones for Steve), black shorts, and black sandals.

Considering we are the "parents" of Violet and Dash:

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.....oh wait, wrong picture ;) ......

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....we thought it was a fitting costume idea :).

Perhaps we are just a pair of big kids, but we always enjoyed the chance to dress up for the Disney parties. We are super excited to have the chance to dress up again this year, even without an MNSSHP on the 2018 itinerary.
 


Your costumes are great, especially those sunglasses! My husband and I found Ghostbuster costume t-shirts at Target years ago, and we wore them for trick or treating at Downtown Disney.
 


Girl you started a new trip report and I didn't see it for days!!!!! There should be some kind of alert that goes off or something.

In the meantime, I’m whispering sweet compliments to Mother Nature in the hopes that she’ll smile on us once again for our week in the Sunshine State

Talking nice to Mother Nature might be an effective tool. As I am all too familiar with, calling her a lazy, no good, sorry sad sack excuse for a person usually just fires her up and causes mayhem!!!
 
Ugh, I can't imagine being on an airplane that long!! I'd definitely have to psyche myself up for that kind of a journey......I tend to get fidgety after 2 hours and my gravol is only good for a maximum of 4 :rolleyes1. No wonder you spend a full two weeks or more when you come. Do you find jet lag very bothersome?

No it's ok flying out, it's about the only time my DH is awake before me and gets me a coffee in bed! It's a lot worse going home, probably combined with holiday blues, an overnight flight where I dont really sleep, dark mornings and cold weather it takes a few weeks to come round :sad2:
 
19 days......oooooh, I'm more than a little envious of your super-short countdown! I'm getting excited and just want to go NOW. What last minute to-do's are still on YOUR list?

Not much. Stalk fastpasses (trying to get SDMT), finalize touring plan, and pick up custom t-shirts for our MNSSHP night, get new Landry's Select card since I lost my old one (My daughter loves T-Rex Restaurant, it is her birthday dinner choice), Continue giving evil eye to National Hurricane Center website so no hurricanes form. We are driving (only 5 hour drive) so no flights to worry about, all pre-trip expenses are paid. And have substitute zoo keeper lined up for the animals while we are gone.
 
Yay another report!
Wish our paths could have crossed this year. Trying to get DH to want to go over Christmas break...we have the Universal passes, and we did Disney for Thanksgiving and New years last year...plus we'd get to see the new(ly discovered) daughter and grandson. You don't have plans for December do you?:P

Cute costume ideas!!! Sweet sweet babies Violet and Dash.

Frontier just came back to our local airport-however to fly south or east we must first go west (to denver) before flying to STL then MCO-at double/triple cost of me just driving 3 hours to STL for direct flight. Our recent jaunt to HHN was $220 r/t for 2 with bags(just one bag between us) and seat assignment. Even with rental car and parking factored in was cheaper than SW and flying out of our airport. Allegiant flies nonstop from local airport, but into Sanford (which I don't mind) but only on certain days. I am so used to being cheap on flights that our flight prices to Houston in couple weeks for our cruise about gave me heart attack!
ontinue giving evil eye to National Hurricane Center website so no hurricanes form.
:rotfl::rotfl:
 
I'm here.

And feeling very dumb. Viloet and Dash. How did I not realize this before?!!?!
 
The extra leg room is well worth the money. We are going to Hawaii in February and the extra legroom was a lot more money but with an Eleven hour flight it was a no brainer. Usually after 3-4 hours I go stir crazy so it will be an interesting flight
 
Your costumes are great, especially those sunglasses! My husband and I found Ghostbuster costume t-shirts at Target years ago, and we wore them for trick or treating at Downtown Disney.

Costume t-shirts are ideal for Halloween in Florida ::yes::. Cute AND cool :thumbsup2.

I think you should share the pic of you guys dressed up as Ghostbusters. If I want to see it, I am sure everyone else does, too!

Why can't I see your costumes? I am dying to know........

You couldn't see the picture I posted?? :confused: If it still won't show up for you, let me know and I'll text ya.

Girl you started a new trip report and I didn't see it for days!!!!! There should be some kind of alert that goes off or something.

Talking nice to Mother Nature might be an effective tool. As I am all too familiar with, calling her a lazy, no good, sorry sad sack excuse for a person usually just fires her up and causes mayhem!!!

You just made me laugh right out loud :laughing:. I can just picture you going all Clark Griswold on her:rotfl2:. Like the rant from Christmas vacation:

"I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, ****less, hopeless, heartless, fat-**, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey **** he is" :lmao:.

Of course, after your winter trip, I totally wouldn't have blamed you if you did give Mama Nature a piece of your mind. She was a horrid shrew!

No it's ok flying out, it's about the only time my DH is awake before me and gets me a coffee in bed! It's a lot worse going home, probably combined with holiday blues, an overnight flight where I dont really sleep, dark mornings and cold weather it takes a few weeks to come round :sad2:

Yep, coming home is THE WORST. On so many levels. Jet lag would just add a whole other nasty element to an already painful process.

I'm excited for the halloween spectacular too - should be fun,!!

Are you and Sam going to dress up?

Not much. Stalk fastpasses (trying to get SDMT), finalize touring plan, and pick up custom t-shirts for our MNSSHP night, get new Landry's Select card since I lost my old one (My daughter loves T-Rex Restaurant, it is her birthday dinner choice), Continue giving evil eye to National Hurricane Center website so no hurricanes form. We are driving (only 5 hour drive) so no flights to worry about, all pre-trip expenses are paid. And have substitute zoo keeper lined up for the animals while we are gone.

Ha, a zoo keeper! :rotfl: How many pet do you guys have?

I would give my eye teeth to be able to drive to Orlando.....you guys are SO lucky. A five hour commute is totally doable! Not having to pay for flights, I'd be there twice as often as I am now!! ::yes::

Yay another report!
Wish our paths could have crossed this year. Trying to get DH to want to go over Christmas break...we have the Universal passes, and we did Disney for Thanksgiving and New years last year...plus we'd get to see the new(ly discovered) daughter and grandson. You don't have plans for December do you?:P

Cute costume ideas!!! Sweet sweet babies Violet and Dash.

Frontier just came back to our local airport-however to fly south or east we must first go west (to denver) before flying to STL then MCO-at double/triple cost of me just driving 3 hours to STL for direct flight. Our recent jaunt to HHN was $220 r/t for 2 with bags(just one bag between us) and seat assignment. Even with rental car and parking factored in was cheaper than SW and flying out of our airport. Allegiant flies nonstop from local airport, but into Sanford (which I don't mind) but only on certain days. I am so used to being cheap on flights that our flight prices to Houston in couple weeks for our cruise about gave me heart attack!

:rotfl::rotfl:

Let me tell ya, if I could make a December vacation a reality, I'd do so in a heart beat ::yes::. Especially when we have SeaWorld AP's. Their Christmas Celebration is incredible!! But alas, 'tis not to be this year, unfortunately :sad1:. I'll have to live vicariously through all of you who will be lucky enough to enjoy a holiday season trip.

Newly discovered daughter and grandson? That sounds intriguing and exciting!

I'm here.

And feeling very dumb. Viloet and Dash. How did I not realize this before?!!?!

Don't feel bad, most people didn't make the connection of where we got the inspiration for their names. A few folks have figured it out just recently, now that Incredibles 2 is in theaters.....but the vast majority never put it together.

One month and one day to Rocco's Tacos, my friend! :banana:
 
The extra leg room is well worth the money. We are going to Hawaii in February and the extra legroom was a lot more money but with an Eleven hour flight it was a no brainer. Usually after 3-4 hours I go stir crazy so it will be an interesting flight

Hawaii is someplace I would LOVE to visit, but I swear I'd need a sedative to endure that long of a flight. What on earth does a person do for 11 hours, strapped into an airplane seat?

I agree....whatever you had to pay for the extra legroom, it will be worth that and more.

You must be so excited!!!! Are you staying at Aulani?
 
4 day count for me. Never been to SW at Halloween, but may ride up the Drive to spend a few hours in SW.

Great start!
 
Ha, a zoo keeper! :rotfl: How many pet do you guys have?

I would give my eye teeth to be able to drive to Orlando.....you guys are SO lucky. A five hour commute is totally doable! Not having to pay for flights, I'd be there twice as often as I am now!! ::yes::

We have 8 (for now). 4 cats (Lucky, Cotton, Tiger Woo, and Oreo) 3 dogs (Maggie, Scout, and Scruffy), and a bearded dragon (Ms. Kibbles), and they all were rescues except Scout (wife HAD to have a Yorkie) and Ms. Kibbles. We may be officially upping the count as a stray cat has shown up around the house, and has taken a liking to my daughter, waiting outside on the front porch every day for her to come out and play. (all our cats have found us, so nothing new here :P).

We are definitely lucky we live so close. Being able to drive really makes our trips more affordable, especially with 3 kids added to the mix.
 

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