princessebird
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2014
About Us and Pre-Trip Planning
We are 40 somethings with a 9yo DD. We have been to UOR several times in the past 10 years, but we haven’t been since early 2018. I was fully vaccinated at the end of February, and when DH got scheduled for his first shot in March, I got that “revenge travel” bug that everyone has been chatting about.
I quickly saw that Universal was having a three-month bonus on AP. And then I saw that the week I wanted had rooms at premier hotels for $220 with the AP rate. And THEN I saw that if we left really late on a Monday in late April and returned home really late on a Thursday, I could get us RT airfare for less than $100 per person. Right now, I am working remotely, DD has asynchronous school, and DH has more PTO than he knows what to do with. I decided if there was ever a time for mid-week travel, this is it.
I am typically a massive travel planner. I plan vacations months-to-years in advance. When I told DH that I had planned a mid-week trip for two weeks after he got his second shot, he was shocked that I did something somewhat spontaneous.
Once we were certain that we were going to go (everything was refundable except the AP, but that was good until we activated it), I emailed with Tony Hinds to get transportation between MCO and Royal Pacific set up. And since I only booked a few weeks out, we left before we knew it.
I debated making it a true “Surprise! We are going to the airport right now!” kind of trip for my DD. But I know her well enough that she would NOT enjoy that. Therefore, two weeks out, I made a scavenger hunt for her around the house highlighting all our pandemic purchases (e.g., air fryer, hand weights, Clorox wipes, etc.), and the final reveal was that we were going to go to Universal. She was so excited. For the next two weeks, she would just randomly hug us and say “Thank you!” She's an only, and, despite some tweenish moments, she's a sweetheart. She had been to UOR before but not since she finished reading the Harry Potter books and watching the movies. She started doing YouTube research to find hidden easter eggs and determining which rides she definitely wanted (and did not want) to ride.
We are 40 somethings with a 9yo DD. We have been to UOR several times in the past 10 years, but we haven’t been since early 2018. I was fully vaccinated at the end of February, and when DH got scheduled for his first shot in March, I got that “revenge travel” bug that everyone has been chatting about.
I quickly saw that Universal was having a three-month bonus on AP. And then I saw that the week I wanted had rooms at premier hotels for $220 with the AP rate. And THEN I saw that if we left really late on a Monday in late April and returned home really late on a Thursday, I could get us RT airfare for less than $100 per person. Right now, I am working remotely, DD has asynchronous school, and DH has more PTO than he knows what to do with. I decided if there was ever a time for mid-week travel, this is it.
I am typically a massive travel planner. I plan vacations months-to-years in advance. When I told DH that I had planned a mid-week trip for two weeks after he got his second shot, he was shocked that I did something somewhat spontaneous.
Once we were certain that we were going to go (everything was refundable except the AP, but that was good until we activated it), I emailed with Tony Hinds to get transportation between MCO and Royal Pacific set up. And since I only booked a few weeks out, we left before we knew it.
I debated making it a true “Surprise! We are going to the airport right now!” kind of trip for my DD. But I know her well enough that she would NOT enjoy that. Therefore, two weeks out, I made a scavenger hunt for her around the house highlighting all our pandemic purchases (e.g., air fryer, hand weights, Clorox wipes, etc.), and the final reveal was that we were going to go to Universal. She was so excited. For the next two weeks, she would just randomly hug us and say “Thank you!” She's an only, and, despite some tweenish moments, she's a sweetheart. She had been to UOR before but not since she finished reading the Harry Potter books and watching the movies. She started doing YouTube research to find hidden easter eggs and determining which rides she definitely wanted (and did not want) to ride.