It's Good to be a Passholder :-) - a January 2020 Trip Report

[chiamarie]

I'm here. I haven't been on here in AGES!

 

[halfpintpeggy]

We did a 6 AM flight when we returned to Philly from Siesta Key this winter. Honestly, we were really hesitant about such an early flight, but couldn’t pass up the price we got!
Anyways....we ended up LOVING the 6AM. The plane was clean & like yours, was already parked at the gate.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We did a 6 AM flight when we returned to Philly from Siesta Key this winter. Honestly, we were really hesitant about such an early flight, but couldn’t pass up the price we got!
Anyways....we ended up LOVING the 6AM. The plane was clean & like yours, was already parked at the gate.

Yes, we would happily take that early flight again as well, especially if it comes with a cost savings. Win, win!

Glad to have you along for this trip report! Hope you are keeping well!

Too fast!

We are staying home as much as possible! Hoping for some more warm weather to get the baby out for some walks and fresh air! I’m actually able to work from home, so l haven’t missed any work. Jeremy is considered essential since he works for the railroad so he has been going to work as normal.

We are! This is going to be an adults only HHN-centric trip. Just a long weekend, so the baby is going to stay with her Nana and Papa for a couple nights. Unfortunately our trips don’t overlap we’re going 9/17-9/20

That sounds like an awesome weekend away......and I bet Nana and Papa will delight in their alone time with the little miss. They can spoil her extra rotten and you won't be there to protest LOL.

Glad to hear you are able to work from home. Miss K must be enjoying having mama around all the time. We are FINALLY getting some sunshine here today, so hopefully your weather improves soon as well. I don't know about Buffalo, but we've been dreary and cool here in Metro Detroit for far too long. Now that is April, I have no tolerance for cold! ha ha!

I'm here. I haven't been on here in AGES!

I am so glad I was able to drag you out of your Dis retirement!! Welcome aboard!

There will be lots that you recognize in this trip report ;-) .

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Alrighty friends, I really do owe you an entry before the end of the night! I'll do my very best to get something posted later this evening. Yesterday I managed to fill a whole day with house cleaning, laundry, yard work, and a whole host of little jobs (Wednesdays tend to be my cleaning days, quarantine or not.....even when Covid-19 is NOT a concern, I think houses should get a regular deep disinfecting).

Today we finally got sunshine (its still a little cool, but the sun was spectacular) so we disinfected the inside of both vehicles while we had the opportunity. Mine was still pretty clean (I have yet to put 400 miles on it.....and now that I'm off work, I literally haven't moved it in a week) but Steve's truck definitely was due for a spring cleaning.

So, with a few more to-do's taken care of, I will refocus later on a new post. Stay tuned!

 

[dalmatian7]

Today we finally got sunshine (its still a little cool, but the sun was spectacular) so we disinfected the inside of both vehicles while we had the opportunity. Mine was still pretty clean (I have yet to put 400 miles on it.....and now that I'm off work, I literally haven't moved it in a week) but Steve's truck definitely was due for a spring cleaning.

So, with a few more to-do's taken care of, I will refocus later on a new post. Stay tuned!

I am a Saturday clean girl and I did my car the first week of reduced hours because I have a brand new car sitting on the lot waiting for me an mine was in desperate need of attention too. It definitely takes sun in order to see all the dinge in a car. Ugh. It came in in Feb (I work at a dealership) but I couldn't get it because I applied for a personalized license plate back in January and as of mid march it had not come back yet (I should have know better then to have done that . Now our state is shut down and we have been closed for sales since the 20th so it doesn't matter. The whole place is closed now as of 4/1 so it is parked up front blocking the driveway. Oh well I said I didn't want it until Spring.

We love early flights, but we also fly out of a regional airport so in order to make connections in the big airports our flights are often early to get us to the big hubs. We refer to it as getting up "Disney early". Last year we went to a one day cow show and had to be on the road before 5am, my DD said are we getting up Disney early? My normal (okay not right now) wake up call is usually at 4:45 so even on vacation I am up early for the first few days.
I am so glad you have a trip report going. I can't even take a few minutes of the news right now. I am pulling an ostrich and sticking my head in the (Disney) sand.

 

[I-4Bound]

Trying desperately to add a quote, to no avail with my phone! Yes, we have a trip planned in June, but I have no idea if we'll actually get to go. So much up in the air right now I'm trying not worry about that too much.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Friday, January 24th (continued)

After we landed, we headed to baggage claim to pick up our checked luggage and were delighted to find that they were among the first dozen suitcases to come meandering down the conveyor belt. Another thing that impresses me about Delta, they are the FASTEST airline that we've flown to get baggage off the plane and into the terminal. We had ooodles ad ooodles of time, of course, but now that we were there we just wanted to get the bags, pick up the rental vehicle, and get the vacation started.

With bags in hand, we headed to pick up our rental with Alamo. We experimented this trip and booked a truck for the first time....at $209 including taxes, fees, and a free extra driver (thanks to our Costco membership) the price of the truck simply could not be beat. Our main vehicle at home is a truck, so that's what's "familiar" to us. We figured we would have plenty of space for our luggage in the back seat, and we did.



With Alamo you get your pick of whatever vehicles are in the aisle of your booking class, but pretty much every standard truck was Nissan Frontier. It was fine, though unremarkable. It was fairly new (just 3000 miles on the odometer), clean and in good repair. It wasn't decked out with too many bells or whistles, and was definitely smaller than Steve's Dodge Ram, but the back seat was spacious enough for the suitcases so we were more than satisfied.

We loaded the luggage, breezed through the final checkpoint before leaving the garage (I had prepaid the rental with the fuel upgrade before we left home, so it was just flash the bar code and drivers license for verification and we were on our way), and within 30 minutes from the time the wheels of our plane hit the tarmac, we were on our way to the park. I think we may have set a new personal record.

Since the Vistana's stated check-in time is not until 4 pm, we decided we were better of spending the day at the park rather than waiting around aimlessly for our villa to be readied. Having purchased SeaWorld annual passes on the Blue Friday sales (which are offered over the Black Friday weekend), we were super excited to return to one of our favorite place in Orlando. We hadn't been there in almost a year, and absence definitely makes the heart grow fonder!



Our timing turned out to be perfect, and we were able to arrive for park opening! There were just small lines at the parking gates, so we were through pretty quick. I must say, we liked the new overhead adornments that had been installed since our last visit the year prior. People online had done a ton of complaining about the new signage, but we thought it looked great. The yellow and blue were super striking together!



We had purchased Gold passes on the Blue Friday sale, but had decided just a few weeks prior that we would upgrade to Platinum one we arrived at the park. Nevertheless, we still received preferred parking with the Gold passes so we got a plumb spot just steps from the entrance. I never would have thought preferred parking would be that much of a perk, but I'm hereby convinced. It's da bomb! One of the nicest little upgrades that we enjoyed all trip long!



We activated our AP's at the turnstiles (which necessitated a quick pause for ID photos) and then we were in! Since our annual passes also include a year-long Photokey, we opted to make the most of the photo ops in and around the entrance.





I don't think I've made much mention of the weather just yet, but it was SUPERB. Probably a little on the cool side for my southern friends, but for us Canadian Michiganders it was like stepping from the dark days of winter into a perfect late May day. Sunny, breezy, and temperatures in the low to mid 70's.....park weather at its absolute finest. January in Florida can be pretty unpredictable so we packed for pretty much any weather, but boy, were we off to a fabulous start.

We made a longer-than-expected stop at Guest Services to upgrade our Gold passes to Platinum, which would provide us [in addition to the Gold benefits of no blackout dates, free annual Photokey, free animal encounter and free preferred parking] with unlimited admission to ALL Seaworld Parks & Recreation theme parks and free reserved show seating all each of those parks, as well as a free annual Photokey at Busch Gardens and free Animal Rescue Tour which is offered only to Platinum passholders. We also neeeded to redeem some of our other pre-purchased upgrades which were purchased on the Blue Friday sales. The longer-than-expected stop occurred due to the fact that we were given incorrect information by the call center in regards to the best process and overall cost of the pass upgrades that we were seeking. Long story short, the call center had advised us on the best method of upgrading and told us it would cost approximately $150 total for the two of us.....but the actual cost was over $300 (a bit of a complicated story as to why.....I won't bore you with those details unless you really want 'em). In a nutshell, we should NOT have waited to upgrade at the park as advised, but rather done so over the phone (with said call center agent who provided the bad advice) BEFORE those passes were activated at the gate. No need to panic, however.....the amazing staff at SeaWorld had our backs. A very nice supervisor came over to chat with us, and ended up processing the pass upgrades for us for only $90 all-in. We were SO grateful for her kindness! That was more than $60 less than we had been expecting, and less than the price of just one person's admission to Busch Gardens for one day.....and now we would get a whole year of admission to all these great parks plus the added benefits. We thanked her sincerely and left the Guest Services desk with very happy hearts.



With the "housekeeping" tasks all taken care of, Steve wanted some time just to walk around the park and soak in the peaceful atmosphere that we have come to love most about SeaWorld. The park was super quiet on that mid-winter Friday, and it felt like we had the place all to ourselves.





And.......I just got a message that I can only attach 10 file to each post......drat! I will pick this up again later. Be back soon!

 

[bankr63]

Your Hilton Head getaway looked AMAZING!! The resort looked much like SVR, I assume it was a Sheraton also? It appeared from your FB pics that the weather was stellar. I'm so glad you had a chance to squeeze in your trip before things went to hell in a hand cart. At the rate things are going, who knows when your next chance will be?

The weather WAS great this time, thank goodness! Our last (first) trip to HHI was very cold. Like January in Orlando, March in South Carolina can be unpredictable. But it was warm (not too hot) and sunny most days, so social-distancing by the pool was on order throughout our stay. Things were pretty much getting into said handcart while we were there however, lots of stores closed on Monday, and restaurants were ordered closed on Wednesday.
The resort was not a Sheraton; it was Coral Sands North (kind of like SVR, it has a newer section and an older section). We generally try for Gold Crown resorts in RCI, and knew this one as we stayed across the street at Waterside by Spinnaker on our last trip there. The fit and finish was pretty much to Sheraton standards, however service was not as comprehensive. We did have a bit of a problem with a "bait and switch" situation at checkin, but got it resolved by RCI (although I blame the resort). I would certainly stay there again though and would recommend to others. If you are interested and are on TUG, I have a review posted there.

 

[Joanna71985]

I absolutely love the preferred parking and PhotoKey with my AP!

 

[juniorbugman]

Welcome back Gina. I will be reading along. May not comment much but I do love reading your reports.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I am a Saturday clean girl and I did my car the first week of reduced hours because I have a brand new car sitting on the lot waiting for me an mine was in desperate need of attention too. It definitely takes sun in order to see all the dinge in a car. Ugh. It came in in Feb (I work at a dealership) but I couldn't get it because I applied for a personalized license plate back in January and as of mid march it had not come back yet (I should have know better then to have done that . Now our state is shut down and we have been closed for sales since the 20th so it doesn't matter. The whole place is closed now as of 4/1 so it is parked up front blocking the driveway. Oh well I said I didn't want it until Spring.

We love early flights, but we also fly out of a regional airport so in order to make connections in the big airports our flights are often early to get us to the big hubs. We refer to it as getting up "Disney early". Last year we went to a one day cow show and had to be on the road before 5am, my DD said are we getting up Disney early? My normal (okay not right now) wake up call is usually at 4:45 so even on vacation I am up early for the first few days.
I am so glad you have a trip report going. I can't even take a few minutes of the news right now. I am pulling an ostrich and sticking my head in the (Disney) sand.

Especially since we were all placed under self-quarantine, I almost need the cleaning day consistency to bring some balance to an otherwise loosey-goosey life. I thrive on schedule so all these days that just meld into the next are making me feel a little unhinged. And though it makes me sound pathetic, I find great joy in a clean and tidy house. Particularly under the current circumstances.....control the things you can, right?

I am so sorry you didn't get your new car on schedule......how disappointing to be facing such unknown delays for the immediate future! Hopefully you'll be riding in style sooner rather than later (that's going to be a fun, post-quarantine reward). What kind of a vehicle did you purchase?

I adore the term "Disney early".....I may have to borrow that phrase going forward!

And I totally hear you on the news......I've had to limit the amount I watch lately just to maintain my own sanity. It's unbelievably depressing. As you can imagine, the Detroit news, even in good times, is generally pretty eye-opening (ahem!) but I'd give anything to hear about drive by shootings, smash-and-grabs, and drug busts again. Yes, that's how bad the world has gotten right now.

Trying desperately to add a quote, to no avail with my phone! Yes, we have a trip planned in June, but I have no idea if we'll actually get to go. So much up in the air right now I'm trying not worry about that too much.

I have faith that it will happen for you. I think you were wise to book for June and not any sooner. Sounds like things will hopefully just be getting back to normal by then!

The weather WAS great this time, thank goodness! Our last (first) trip to HHI was very cold. Like January in Orlando, March in South Carolina can be unpredictable. But it was warm (not too hot) and sunny most days, so social-distancing by the pool was on order throughout our stay. Things were pretty much getting into said handcart while we were there however, lots of stores closed on Monday, and restaurants were ordered closed on Wednesday.
The resort was not a Sheraton; it was Coral Sands North (kind of like SVR, it has a newer section and an older section). We generally try for Gold Crown resorts in RCI, and knew this one as we stayed across the street at Waterside by Spinnaker on our last trip there. The fit and finish was pretty much to Sheraton standards, however service was not as comprehensive. We did have a bit of a problem with a "bait and switch" situation at checkin, but got it resolved by RCI (although I blame the resort). I would certainly stay there again though and would recommend to others. If you are interested and are on TUG, I have a review posted there.

Your photos sure did it justice. It looked absolutely fantastic!!

South Carolina is on our bucket list. I'd love to visit Myrtle Beach someday as well.

I absolutely love the preferred parking and PhotoKey with my AP!

Those two inclusions alone absolutely warrant a Gold AP, in my opinion. Though I guess I'm glad not everybody gets that tier of passes, otherwise there'd be not enough preferred parking to go around!

Our weary legs and feet were overjoyed at the end of each park day for that short shuffle to the truck.

Welcome back Gina. I will be reading along. May not comment much but I do love reading your reports.

So glad to have you reading! Definitely chime in whenever you can.....its always good to hear from you!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Friday, January 24th (continued)

Our stroll around the park took us over toward Antarctica, which was virtually deserted. It was a great chance for an unobstructed photo of the penguin wall.



Wait times for Empire of the Penguin were posted at 5 minutes, so we took advantage of the non-existent lines and headed in for an adventure with adorable Puck.

(I have no idea why some photos are turned sideways. Ugh! Frustrating)

We always choose the "mild" versus "wild" version of this ride, though we have done both in the past. We just don't find the "wild" version enhances the ride experience at all.....it's more herky-jerky, but the ride is no more enjoyable.



Let's be honest, though: it's not the ride portion of this attraction that keeps us coming back again and again. It's these little show-stoppers. We are delighted to find they were as adorable as ever, and worth suffering through the cold exhibit for.





We stayed and watched them for as long as we could stand (for the first time that day, I was regretting wearing a sleeveless top LOL) and once we were half-frozen, we headed out of the main exhibit to the underwater viewing area. Watching them swim is always mesmerizing to me......such awkward little bodies on land, but such speedy torpedos in the water!



Continuing our stroll through the park, we took a tour through Key West to visit the stingrays:



I am pretty sure they thought we might have some fish, because as we approached the side of the pool they all decided to swim over to say hello!



The babies (which are safely housed in a separated section of the exhibit) were particularly adorable, and oh-so-tiny. I wish there was something else in this photo for size reference, as he (she?) was such a cute little button!



[I'm hitting my photo limit again......more to come in the next post!]

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We still had some time to spare before we needed to make our way to our lunch reservation, so we hopped on over to Pacific Point Preserve to visit the seals and sea lions.



It was easy to see that they were thoroughly enjoying the warm and sunny day. A few were stretched out on the rocks, content to quietly soak up the rays:



Others were splashing about in a large group, waving their flippers in the air and barking loud enough to wake the dead.



Bless their hearts, they are noisy little brutes!!!

We were happy to see Big Chris was still alive, well and thoroughly in charge. He still swims with purpose and authority, despite his age and obvious physical challenges.....and his deep voice continues to echo throughout the exhibit.



We crossed over through the Waterfront, and perused through the beautiful shops (I could easily spend a FORTUNE in there......thank goodness I'm not a local, because the only reason I can have some self control is knowing that there's only so much luggage space for souvenirs). They have some of the prettiest merchandise here! And with our platinum passes, we receive 20% off any purchases.......another reason why its hard to not throw caution to the wind and buy it all!!



And after our gift shop walk-through, we even had time for a brief visit to Sesame Street (look at that sky! Still perfect!)



Yes, we may be in our 40's but we are still very much in touch with our inner child. Whether you're 4 or 44 (or older, but let's not go there, k?), when you spot your old friend Grover, you just HAVE to go in for a hug.



And just like that, my day was made. Right there.



After our chance meeting with the Sesame Street characters, a quick check of the time noted that we needed to move on......we had a special dinner date that we didn't want to be late for! And it was just in time, too, because our stomachs were telling us it had been several hours since our early morning breakfast aboard flight 3025. We had special plans for this day's lunch.....and it was sure to make a big splash!



Next up: a bountiful buffet poolside with some of our favorite park friends!

 

[JaxDad]

It's great to see your SeaWorld photos! I have not been in a couple years (maybe since the year of our DisMeet). We have had Universal annual passes in the meantime, so have hit those parks pretty hard. My kids have been to SeaWorld for school events and trips with friends since then, but I definitely need to do a family trip again. I was holding out for their new roller coaster, but I'm worried how SeaWorld will weather this whole pandemic and would like to support them if and when they reopen (and get in some Mako rides).

We actually didn't have any big vacation plans this summer, which I guess is a good thing now. My son applied for an engineering and construction camp in Colorado scheduled for late June. If selected his travel would be free, and I was thinking about going out there with him and taking my daughter for a daddy-daughter trip. We'll see. It's not cancelled yet, but I'm not confident. One reason for no big plans this summer is we did a two-week trip to Alaska last summer, which started out on a budget but slowly ballooned to a "trip of a lifetime!" No regrets at all for the budget-busting. It was an awesome trip!

As always, thanks for sharing your trip with us! It's even more appreciated in these days of social distancing.

 

[I-4Bound]

Beautiful pictures! I bought our SeaWorld tickets right before all of the craziness started. I really hope we still get to go there this summer!

 

[halfpintpeggy]

LOVE the pic of you hugging Grover, sooo sweet!
Those sea lions, geez they really have the life! <3

 

[Joanna71985]

Dine is one of my favorite things at SW! (probably one reason why I do it so often). And it was so nice seeing you there

 

[bankr63]

South Carolina is on our bucket list. I'd love to visit Myrtle Beach someday as well.

Myrtle is fun, but certainly consider HHI too. We have stayed at Sheraton Broadway Plantation in Myrtle, you would be hard pressed to realize that you are NOT at Vistana. Buildings are very similar to Cascades/Lakes. SBP location is a bit far from the beach, and I think that is one thing we liked less about MB; it is a very long strip on the ocean, and getting around requires a car. HHI is much more walkable if you choose a central location, and the cycling trails are great, we walk and ride pretty much everywhere. HHI also opens the options of both Charleston and Savannah if you want day trips to explore historic cities, and the airports are certainly better for HHI (small one on the island, but Savannah is as close to HHI as it is to the city). Both locations are on our "return to" list though.

 

[vrajewski10513]

That sounds like an awesome weekend away......and I bet Nana and Papa will delight in their alone time with the little miss. They can spoil her extra rotten and you won't be there to protest LOL.

My protests dont even stop it sometimes

Glad to hear you are able to work from home. Miss K must be enjoying having mama around all the time. We are FINALLY getting some sunshine here today, so hopefully your weather improves soon as well. I don't know about Buffalo, but we've been dreary and cool here in Metro Detroit for far too long. Now that is April, I have no tolerance for cold! ha ha!

Slowly but surely the temps are rising. We've been in the high 50's a few days but were supposed to get back into the 40's again next week

A very nice supervisor came over to chat with us, and ended up processing the pass upgrades for us for only $90 all-in. We were SO grateful for her kindness! That was more than $60 less than we had been expecting, and less than the price of just one person's admission to Busch Gardens for one day.....and now we would get a whole year of admission to all these great parks plus the added benefits. We thanked her sincerely and left the Guest Services desk with very happy hearts.

I'm glad everything worked out in your favor! Starting a vacation with great customer service is definitely a plus!

With the "housekeeping" tasks all taken care of, Steve wanted some time just to walk around the park and soak in the peaceful atmosphere that we have come to love most about SeaWorld. The park was super quiet on that mid-winter Friday, and it felt like we had the place all to ourselves.

It definitely has a more relaxing feel than WDW or USO!

Let's be honest, though: it's not the ride portion of this attraction that keeps us coming back again and again. It's these little show-stoppers. We are delighted to find they were as adorable as ever, and worth suffering through the cold exhibit for.

This was one of my favorite parts of the park! Second only to the Shark Encounter

And after our gift shop walk-through, we even had time for a brief visit to Sesame Street (look at that sky! Still perfect!)

The first and only time we've been to Sea World we didn't have the best experience, so trying to get Jeremy back there has been a battle. I think the updated Sesame Street area may be our only saving grace on that. Baby K has daddy wrapped around her tiny finger, so if she loves Sesame Street I'm sure we will be back!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

It's great to see your SeaWorld photos! I have not been in a couple years (maybe since the year of our DisMeet). We have had Universal annual passes in the meantime, so have hit those parks pretty hard. My kids have been to SeaWorld for school events and trips with friends since then, but I definitely need to do a family trip again. I was holding out for their new roller coaster, but I'm worried how SeaWorld will weather this whole pandemic and would like to support them if and when they reopen (and get in some Mako rides).

We actually didn't have any big vacation plans this summer, which I guess is a good thing now. My son applied for an engineering and construction camp in Colorado scheduled for late June. If selected his travel would be free, and I was thinking about going out there with him and taking my daughter for a daddy-daughter trip. We'll see. It's not cancelled yet, but I'm not confident. One reason for no big plans this summer is we did a two-week trip to Alaska last summer, which started out on a budget but slowly ballooned to a "trip of a lifetime!" No regrets at all for the budget-busting. It was an awesome trip!

As always, thanks for sharing your trip with us! It's even more appreciated in these days of social distancing.

I am REALLY hoping that SW chooses to reopen for Memorial Day weekend. I'd love to see them be able to welcome back guests for their summer season, because I think this closure will hit them harder than any of the other parks. The new coaster was SO close to being finished, it's a shame that it's now sitting idle after such a huge financial investment. So far, Discovery Cove is showing as taking reservations beginning May 18th, so I'm saying a prayer that that's their target opening date (and that we all can get one step ahead of this dang virus by then so they don't have to defer it further).

I am so glad you all got to enjoy Alaska last year as a family. Those opportunities will come less and less often as your kids get older, so I'm glad you took advantage of it while you could. You know the old saying, so big or go home! (that's my motto in Orlando LOL). I will say a prayer that your son's camp is able to go off as planned......I can imagine he'll be horribly disappointed if it turns out to be another coronavirus casualty.

Beautiful pictures! I bought our SeaWorld tickets right before all of the craziness started. I really hope we still get to go there this summer!

I hope so too, my friend. You'll love it!

How long are your SW tickets valid for, if the worst happens and you don't get to go in June as planned?

LOVE the pic of you hugging Grover, sooo sweet!
Those sea lions, geez they really have the life! <3

I loved that the Sesame Street characters were just as warm and welcoming to us adults as they were to the little ones. Sesame Street holds a special place in my heart, I was a faithful watcher waaaayyyy back in the 70's. It's where I learned to count to 10 in Spanish! Neither Steve nor I knew who the middle character was (Rosita was not on the show when we were children) but we both adore Grover and The Count. It was also nice that we were not the only childless adults in the small line to meet the trio. In fact, I think the adults-only equaled the families with kids!

Dine is one of my favorite things at SW! (probably one reason why I do it so often). And it was so nice seeing you there

I thought it was SO awesome that we ran into you there! What were the chances?

Myrtle is fun, but certainly consider HHI too. We have stayed at Sheraton Broadway Plantation in Myrtle, you would be hard pressed to realize that you are NOT at Vistana. Buildings are very similar to Cascades/Lakes. SBP location is a bit far from the beach, and I think that is one thing we liked less about MB; it is a very long strip on the ocean, and getting around requires a car. HHI is much more walkable if you choose a central location, and the cycling trails are great, we walk and ride pretty much everywhere. HHI also opens the options of both Charleston and Savannah if you want day trips to explore historic cities, and the airports are certainly better for HHI (small one on the island, but Savannah is as close to HHI as it is to the city). Both locations are on our "return to" list though.

We have already promised Jake that he can have one of our weeks for his honeymoon when he ties the knot with his beloved, so that year we'll be looking to book an II getaway in place of that ownership week. Perhaps we should consider giving South Carolina a try. You've got me convinced!

My protests dont even stop it sometimes

Slowly but surely the temps are rising. We've been in the high 50's a few days but were supposed to get back into the 40's again next week

I'm glad everything worked out in your favor! Starting a vacation with great customer service is definitely a plus!

It definitely has a more relaxing feel than WDW or USO!

This was one of my favorite parts of the park! Second only to the Shark Encounter

The first and only time we've been to Sea World we didn't have the best experience, so trying to get Jeremy back there has been a battle. I think the updated Sesame Street area may be our only saving grace on that. Baby K has daddy wrapped around her tiny finger, so if she loves Sesame Street I'm sure we will be back!

Aw, I am sorry that Jeremy didn't enjoy his SeaWorld visit :-( . The Sesame Street area is pretty fabulous, so if K turns out to be a fan, definitely plan to give the park another try. Was the theme of the park just not his cup of tea? Or was there something specific that happened to suck the fun out of the experience?