starvenger
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2015
Murtaugh List - Per the Urban Dictionary, "A list made famous from the TV show How I Met Your Mother inspired by Danny Glover's character Roger Murtaugh in the movie series Lethal Weapon.
Putting something on the Murtaugh List acknowledges that as you grow up, there's stuff you just can no longer do that you did in your youth."
(If you haven't seen Lethal Weapon, a) you should, and b) look up the phrase as I can't repeat it here)
So, with apologies to JRR Tolkien, here we go:
Preamble (edited from the Pre-Trip Report)
Generally speaking, my family goes on two trips a year. One is usually a generational cruise with my parents, siblings, and assorted kids. The other is some sort of trip with my wife’s side of the family. My mother-in-law lives with us, so obviously that trip is done with her in mind as well as us.
Last year we skipped that trip as my wife’s best friend from the UK came over for a visit (we live in Toronto). And later went on Harmony of the Seas on an Eastern Caribbean Itinerary (I wrote a report on it - link is in my signature). This year, we were going to go on the Caribbean Princess, but the infant/toddler facilities didn’t look great to my brother (my nephew will be 2 at the time of the cruise) so we pivoted to an old reliable - Allure of the Seas. I will be looking to do a report on that as well.
And normally this year would be the biannual trip to the UK (quadrennial for me - I would normally head to Ohio to visit friends and do a Fantasy Football draft. Long story short - it was done at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. Which is also pretty cool.). However, this year my sister-in-law and her two daughters are instead coming over to Canada in late July/early August (first time for the girls), while her husband heads home to China.
So, head count - there is me, my wife, 2 daughters (10 and 7), my mother-in-law (MiL, 70), my sister-in-law (SiL), and her 2 daughters (10 and 8). Eight people. Two of which have never been to North America. Clearly, the only thing to do is a Road Trip. Because I'm apparently nuts.
The question, of course, was - where? Lots of options near us - New York, Boston, Montreal, etc. We could go to a beach town - I went to Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach and St. Petersburg as a kid, would love to take my kids there again.
But this is the DIS, so the final decision was rather obvious.
As I was basically the sole driver, the plan was to drive down with an overnight stay. Arrive on a Saturday, and leave the following Saturday, so effectively 6 days in the Orlando area. Route down through Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Charlotte and Savannah. Back up via the I-75/401 corridor
The question now, as always was, what to do in Orlando? This is going to shock you guys, but people in the UK love Harry Potter, and my nieces were no exception. So Universal Studios was put in play. And given the additions at DHS and AK, we decided that MK and Epcot would be our two parks at WDW. Coincidentally (or not), we had 2 days left on our no-expire passes. So 2 days at WDW and 2 days at Universal. And yes, that meant that the per day cost was more, but since we were not doing more days at the parks, the savings gained by those extra days would have been lost. That left us with 2 extra days to chill/shop/whatever, which was fine by us.
So with that out of the way, we needed to figure out lodging. With 8 people and only 2 days at WDW, staying onsite isn’t the best option. Getting 2 hotel rooms would've been fine, but potentially pricey, so the ideal stay was a rental property, as that would be roomier, plus have a kitchen available for cooking. After searching through booking.com, airbnb and things like Bonnet Creek, we booked a 4BD/3BA townhouse at Lucaya Village Resort via airbnb. FWIW the host is listed as a verified superhost with nearly 1000 reviews across their properties, so from my experience with airbnb (I’ve used them 4-5 times now) that’s about as trustworthy as you’re going to get with the site. Not saying it’s 100% guaranteed, but I felt pretty comfortable with this. The main issue is that, not having been to the place, you're never absolutely certain how a place would turn out.
Next: The Drive
Putting something on the Murtaugh List acknowledges that as you grow up, there's stuff you just can no longer do that you did in your youth."
(If you haven't seen Lethal Weapon, a) you should, and b) look up the phrase as I can't repeat it here)
So, with apologies to JRR Tolkien, here we go:
Preamble (edited from the Pre-Trip Report)
Generally speaking, my family goes on two trips a year. One is usually a generational cruise with my parents, siblings, and assorted kids. The other is some sort of trip with my wife’s side of the family. My mother-in-law lives with us, so obviously that trip is done with her in mind as well as us.
Last year we skipped that trip as my wife’s best friend from the UK came over for a visit (we live in Toronto). And later went on Harmony of the Seas on an Eastern Caribbean Itinerary (I wrote a report on it - link is in my signature). This year, we were going to go on the Caribbean Princess, but the infant/toddler facilities didn’t look great to my brother (my nephew will be 2 at the time of the cruise) so we pivoted to an old reliable - Allure of the Seas. I will be looking to do a report on that as well.
And normally this year would be the biannual trip to the UK (quadrennial for me - I would normally head to Ohio to visit friends and do a Fantasy Football draft. Long story short - it was done at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. Which is also pretty cool.). However, this year my sister-in-law and her two daughters are instead coming over to Canada in late July/early August (first time for the girls), while her husband heads home to China.
So, head count - there is me, my wife, 2 daughters (10 and 7), my mother-in-law (MiL, 70), my sister-in-law (SiL), and her 2 daughters (10 and 8). Eight people. Two of which have never been to North America. Clearly, the only thing to do is a Road Trip. Because I'm apparently nuts.
The question, of course, was - where? Lots of options near us - New York, Boston, Montreal, etc. We could go to a beach town - I went to Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach and St. Petersburg as a kid, would love to take my kids there again.
But this is the DIS, so the final decision was rather obvious.
As I was basically the sole driver, the plan was to drive down with an overnight stay. Arrive on a Saturday, and leave the following Saturday, so effectively 6 days in the Orlando area. Route down through Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Charlotte and Savannah. Back up via the I-75/401 corridor
The question now, as always was, what to do in Orlando? This is going to shock you guys, but people in the UK love Harry Potter, and my nieces were no exception. So Universal Studios was put in play. And given the additions at DHS and AK, we decided that MK and Epcot would be our two parks at WDW. Coincidentally (or not), we had 2 days left on our no-expire passes. So 2 days at WDW and 2 days at Universal. And yes, that meant that the per day cost was more, but since we were not doing more days at the parks, the savings gained by those extra days would have been lost. That left us with 2 extra days to chill/shop/whatever, which was fine by us.
So with that out of the way, we needed to figure out lodging. With 8 people and only 2 days at WDW, staying onsite isn’t the best option. Getting 2 hotel rooms would've been fine, but potentially pricey, so the ideal stay was a rental property, as that would be roomier, plus have a kitchen available for cooking. After searching through booking.com, airbnb and things like Bonnet Creek, we booked a 4BD/3BA townhouse at Lucaya Village Resort via airbnb. FWIW the host is listed as a verified superhost with nearly 1000 reviews across their properties, so from my experience with airbnb (I’ve used them 4-5 times now) that’s about as trustworthy as you’re going to get with the site. Not saying it’s 100% guaranteed, but I felt pretty comfortable with this. The main issue is that, not having been to the place, you're never absolutely certain how a place would turn out.
Next: The Drive