crabbymom
Slythermom to 2 'claws and a Princess
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2012
Hi Everyone!!
My name is Rachel and I am planning a surprise trip to Universal for my son when I drive down to pick him up from college in Fort Lauderdale in May. I will be revealing this as his Christmas present while he is home for break in a few weeks!
While I have been to Disney as recently as last summer, I have not been to Universal since 2012 and that was just a one day add on to our Disney trip. This will be my first planned Universal trip ever and I am so excited for it!
I wanted to start this PTR so that I could get some input/advice from all the Universal vets here. Also, I have read so many great reports, I really want to throw my hat in the ring! So with out further ado...
INTRODUCTIONS:
Again, I am Rachel. I'm 45 (alright, 46 in less than a month), a single mother of two boys ages 19 & 15 and one daughter age 6. This trip will only be me and my older son, Jarod. He's in his second year of college at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale. Here's us:
We love to travel as a family, and I am always the planner, photographer, etc. I try to chronicle our trips on my blog, but I am really far behind at the moment! That pesky work thing keeps getting in the way!
WHAT I'VE PLANNED SO FAR
Jarod finishes his exams on May 4 so I will leave Charlotte that afternoon/evening and drive as far as Jacksonville. I will get up early on the 5th, drive the rest of the way to Ft. Lauderdale, pack the car and clean the dorm room. We will spend the night in Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday the 5th, get up early on Sunday May 6 and head to Orlando.
I have booked 4 nights at Cabana Bay Beach Resort and the 3 park 2 day + 2 free day tickets so I am hoping to get some park time in on Sunday when we get there, even if our rooms are not ready yet.
Also, I am almost positive that I will be upgrading our tickets to AP when we get there. I am undecided on which flavor of AP will be best for us, but with Universal being only a 7 hour drive (only 3 hours for Jarod at school), I feel like we can do some off season weekends that would make it worth the upgrade.
That is pretty much all I've planned. My most pressing planning issue is how to present this to him as a Christmas present. He turns 20 the week before Christmas, so he's missed the "Hogwarts Letter" acceptance thing. We both love Harry Potter and he LOVES Marvel and Jurassic Park so any suggestions for theme gifts are appreciated. We are also big time foodies so I will take any and all restaurant reviews!
Thanks for reading and I am so looking forward to planning this surprise trip!
My name is Rachel and I am planning a surprise trip to Universal for my son when I drive down to pick him up from college in Fort Lauderdale in May. I will be revealing this as his Christmas present while he is home for break in a few weeks!
While I have been to Disney as recently as last summer, I have not been to Universal since 2012 and that was just a one day add on to our Disney trip. This will be my first planned Universal trip ever and I am so excited for it!
I wanted to start this PTR so that I could get some input/advice from all the Universal vets here. Also, I have read so many great reports, I really want to throw my hat in the ring! So with out further ado...
INTRODUCTIONS:
Again, I am Rachel. I'm 45 (alright, 46 in less than a month), a single mother of two boys ages 19 & 15 and one daughter age 6. This trip will only be me and my older son, Jarod. He's in his second year of college at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale. Here's us:
We love to travel as a family, and I am always the planner, photographer, etc. I try to chronicle our trips on my blog, but I am really far behind at the moment! That pesky work thing keeps getting in the way!
WHAT I'VE PLANNED SO FAR
Jarod finishes his exams on May 4 so I will leave Charlotte that afternoon/evening and drive as far as Jacksonville. I will get up early on the 5th, drive the rest of the way to Ft. Lauderdale, pack the car and clean the dorm room. We will spend the night in Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday the 5th, get up early on Sunday May 6 and head to Orlando.
I have booked 4 nights at Cabana Bay Beach Resort and the 3 park 2 day + 2 free day tickets so I am hoping to get some park time in on Sunday when we get there, even if our rooms are not ready yet.
Also, I am almost positive that I will be upgrading our tickets to AP when we get there. I am undecided on which flavor of AP will be best for us, but with Universal being only a 7 hour drive (only 3 hours for Jarod at school), I feel like we can do some off season weekends that would make it worth the upgrade.
That is pretty much all I've planned. My most pressing planning issue is how to present this to him as a Christmas present. He turns 20 the week before Christmas, so he's missed the "Hogwarts Letter" acceptance thing. We both love Harry Potter and he LOVES Marvel and Jurassic Park so any suggestions for theme gifts are appreciated. We are also big time foodies so I will take any and all restaurant reviews!
Thanks for reading and I am so looking forward to planning this surprise trip!