Home for the Holidays-Wizards-Grinches and Sparkles. 14 nights @Royal Pacific Resort, Nov/Dec 2021

[schumigirl]

Truer words never spoken

everything here is crossed for luck for you!

And a very warm to you Janet.......

Thanks.....and I think you may have been of the aforementioned ones who say that too......

Hope you enjoy this one too.......

 

[Worfiedoodles]

There is one thing on the DIS that always, unequivocally makes me happy -- and it's a Schumi TR!

So glad you are coming back and planning again! This one will be EPIC! (Ok, Epic is still coming, but this one is going to be a holiday treat for sure!! )

 

[Skywalker3]

How fabulous for you! I sure hope you get to make this trip!!! Wishing you the very best, and looking forward to reading about your adventures!

 

[schumigirl]

There is one thing on the DIS that always, unequivocally makes me happy -- and it's a Schumi TR!

So glad you are coming back and planning again! This one will be EPIC! (Ok, Epic is still coming, but this one is going to be a holiday treat for sure!! )

And another big to you Maria......

Glad you made it over...and thank you!!! Lovely praise indeed.......

Yep, planning is on the agenda for sure, we have some things organised and some still to sort out....and with only 5 weeks to go, I might need to get a wiggle on.....lol....

Hope you enjoy it

 

[schumigirl]

How fabulous for you! I sure hope you get to make this trip!!! Wishing you the very best, and looking forward to reading about your adventures!

along Skywalker 3.....

Thank you so much.....I appreciate that a lot......and glad to have you along for this one.....I do hope you enjoy reading and commenting along the way.....

Good to see you.......

 

[jump00]

You know when Carole starts a trip report its going to be a great read!…
Woohoo
Brenda

 

[schumigirl]

You know when Carole starts a trip report its going to be a great read!…
Woohoo
Brenda

Brenda!!!

Awww thanks.......I`m happy to see you here too.....and do hope you enjoy this one along the way.....look forward to chatting again.......

 

[Robo56]

Congratulations Carole to you and Tom on your upcoming trip. I know you both have been looking forward to this trip.

I look forward to reading your pre-trip plans and trip report.

It is always nice to see a Sans family member looking forward to returning to Universal.

 

[musika]

I have been lurking along for a bit reading your former PTR. I love your writing style and you've won me over on RPR. I'm very interested to see how your trip goes!

 

[schumigirl]

Congratulations Carole to you and Tom on your upcoming trip. I know you both have been looking forward to this trip.

I look forward to reading your pre-trip plans and trip report.

It is always nice to see a Sans family member looking forward to returning to Universal.

along Robbie......

Yes, we certainly have looked forward to getting back to Orlando.

Thank you, I do hope you enjoy reading along too......

 

[schumigirl]

I have been lurking along for a bit reading your former PTR. I love your writing style and you've won me over on RPR. I'm very interested to see how your trip goes!

musika......

Thank you so much, and I`m so happy to hear your thoughts on RPR!

Glad to have you along and hope it`s a fun read for you.......

 

[jdrum3]

Very happy for you and look forward to the TR from RPR. That time frame should be fantastic for experiencing the holidays!

 

[keishashadow]

There is one thing on the DIS that always, unequivocally makes me happy -- and it's a Schumi TR!

So glad you are coming back and planning again! This one will be EPIC! (Ok, Epic is still coming, but this one is going to be a holiday treat for sure!! )

Yes, it’s a nice feeling to know you can open a thread & there will be nothing but good vibes.

 

[schumigirl]

Very happy for you and look forward to the TR from RPR. That time frame should be fantastic for experiencing the holidays!

And to you too jdrum3

We did miss being there last year with the pandemic, enjoyed the previous 3 years for the holidays, so absolutely look forward to experiencing it again...

Hope you enjoy it too........

 

[schumigirl]

Yes, it’s a nice feeling to know you can open a thread & there will be nothing but good vibes.

That`s a lovely thing to say and yes, completely agree.......

There are some lovely, lovely folks on here.......

 

[schumigirl]

​

As we waited patiently, or not so patiently as my husband will attest to, we began to get some things in place. We were getting assurances from friends in the States and Orlando that the ban would be lifted sometime in November.....but of course, until it`s official, you just never know.

We first and foremost got the all important Travel Insurance sorted. I did think this was going to be through the roof cost wise with the addition of Covid cover, but we were pleasantly surprised that we didn`t pay over the odds, and are completely covered for all things covid should the worst happen.

Hotels and flights aren`t an issue as hotel would cancel for us, and flights would be deferred again. But, everything else needs to be completely covered more than ever.

CAR RENTAL​

Earlier in the year we had looked and prices for May with the trip that never happened were showing as around $4,000 for 23 nights.......

​

So, we were curious as to what prices would be like later in the year.......not much better, but not $4,000.

Looking around we found no one was better than good old Alamo who we usually rent the car from. So, we took a chance and grabbed a reservation before the travel ban was reversed and booked a full size SUV for the 2 weeks.

They were very good and said if the trip didn`t go ahead due to borders not opening they would defer the reservation to go towards our May rental, so we had nothing to lose by going ahead.

We spend a lot of time driving around to restaurants, other areas and simple things like going to Publix, so although it may sit in the parking lot a lot of the time, we`d rather have one and not utilise it often, as be without one.

OVERNIGHT HOTEL

​

This was something we never thought would be a problem........famous last words!

For the last few trips we have been staying at the Marriott near the airport, we really liked it as it had a lovely Executive Lounge, good restaurants, bar and rooms were immaculately clean.

But, we did always like The Radisson.........

We looked to book The Marriott again, but reviews were the worst we had ever seen. Only one restaurant open, no bar, no room service, staff were apathetic and rooms were not cleaned properly. So we quickly dismissed that as an option at least till things are back to some kind of normal.

We went back to the good old Radisson as an option. Or so we thought.

We love this hotel, but had wanted a change last few visits hence the reason for The Marriott, so as we checked availability, we saw there were reports that reservations were being cancelled last minute, or with no notice and people were turning up to be told their room wasn`t available anymore. That was worrying. They had been closed for most of the summer as they had turned themselves into a quarantine hotel......not the best thought.

We made the booking anyway, and hoped for the best. We did hear although the Executive Lounge was open, they weren`t offering food only prepackaged snacks, which isn`t an issue for us as we prefer to eat down in the restaurant anyway, but it may affect some people who make a meal of the appetisers. They weren`t making that clear on the website.

Meanwhile we made another booking for another hotel that got not bad reviews......It`s called The Clayton and hadn`t ever impressed us, but they had a Junior Suite available and the restaurant was going to be open which was a bonus. Then a friend said they had stayed there before flying off on business and they had no shuttle bus to the airport.....not a big deal, but it does make it easier. We did cancel that reservation as we just don`t like the look of the place.

Then someone contacted me to say The Radisson was still partly a quarantine hotel, but were also using half?? the hotel housing Afghan refugee/Asylum Seekers. Had a look at reviews and several people were reporting the very same thing.

That had us even more worried. Although we had booked the Executive Floor, the thought of a much noisier hotel didn`t appeal to us.

I emailed head office and also found the managers email address and sent him one directly asking him to confirm they were housing Asylum seekers and refugees, that was 4 days ago and so far we have heard nothing back, so that tells us all we need to know. We will be cancelling that reservation.

So, looking around we found a DoubleTree by Hilton that was getting very good reviews and again, close by the airport so a shuttle would work or we could get a cab.

So, we booked a room there for our overnight stay and looks like we`ll keep that one as I`m pretty sure we`ll be cancelling the Radisson.

Who`d have thought making a reservation for a one night stay would be so difficult.

 

[macraven]

Yay
Your room is locked in !
( for now)

 

[schumigirl]

Yay
Your room is locked in !
( for now)

lol.....

Yes, I sense there may be another change somewhere along the road with our airport hotel.......

 

[SCSabresfan]

Looks like we will be at RPR at the same time. Looking forward to it as our anniversary trip was supposed to happen May 2020, then December 2020, then May 2021, now December 2021.

 

[schumigirl]

Looks like we will be at RPR at the same time. Looking forward to it as our anniversary trip was supposed to happen May 2020, then December 2020, then May 2021, now December 2021.

Hey....... along SCSabresfan.......

Oh it`ll be nice to say hello to you again this year, and celebrating your anniversary will be lovely, doesn`t matter it`s late.....

So many celebrations have been postponed through all of this.....

Good to see you here too......