Kong, Star Wars, and giving my boy a superpower! - PTR(s)

angryduck71

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 9, 2010
Hi everyone!!! I'm so excited about my trips down to Orlando and everyone around me is probably sick of hearing about them, so thought I'd share here where I know there will be love and understanding!!!! I've been planning this trip for way over a year really... Started back a couple of years ago when we went and we knew Kong was coming. My son, Davy, REALLY wanted to come back when it was finished. So, that's where the germ of the idea came from.

So, a little about me! Kansas City gal (go Royals!) born and raised. Still here! My parents are still here. My boyfriend is here (and I met him in high school). My ex-husband is still here (darn it). KC is now rated one of the "coolest" places to live in the US. Well, duh... I'm HERE! My dad worked for the Teamsters and we got all kinds of free tickets to Disney and Universal when I was growing up (WAY back in the day!). I thought Universal Studios (the California version) was BORING! But, that was something like 35 years ago.

My son, Davy, age 10, going on 35, will be joining me on this adventure. He is my "little Sheldon." Seriously intelligent kid. He skipped a grade so is graduating elementary school early -- so this trip is for that and his 10th birthday (although that was a few months back!). This kid is a parent's dream, really. Works hard, funny, creative. I just HAVE to spoil him because I feel so lucky!

We decided, as I said, as soon as we heard about Kong that we were going to go. Last summer, Davy really wanted to do a "Calvin and Hobbes Adventure" for summer (plus, we were afraid Kong would be too new and crowded at that point). (For our adventure last summer, we went to the place where Bill Watterson, Calvin's creator, grew up (in Ohio), played in the woods there like Calvin & Hobbes do, went to Ohio U where the original artwork from the comic is kept, and went to Cedar Falls.) This summer, we decided, UNIVERSAL, BABY!

Davy said he thought the best amount of time to spend at Universal was 5 days (this was before Volcano Bay was officially announced). I began waiting to pounce on SMSM rates at one of the express pass hotels.

Then... I started looking at the Star Wars things that were starting to be offered at Disney as well. My son is a Star Wars fan. I am a Star Wars-obsessed-I-may-stalk-Mark-Hamill kind of gal! I had A LOT of Disney Reward points saved up, so we thought we'd go a day or two Disney for the Star Wars stuff at DHS. Well... that's been expanded somewhat.... I started reading about the Ultimate Thrills Tour at Disney, realized I had enough reward dollars (and a discount with my Disney Chase card) to buy that for us and still have a lot left over. So, we decided two days -- one for the Thrills tour and one for Star Wars stuff at DHS.

We usually go on vacation immediately after school lets out. The problem is, they have the "official" date of school closing but there are 4 snow days built in. Last two years, we hadn't had any snow days... I took a gamble and when I could, booked a flight on Southwest, Royal Pacific at a SMSM rate of $231/night, and a Shades of Green room for $129 for our Disney stay. I think I originally booked for May 24-29 at Shades and May 29-June 3 at RPR.

THEN, my ex-husband informed me I NEEDED to be back by early morning June 3. It took a lot to get out of him why -- but he finally told me he was engaged and getting married on June 3. I was pretty miffed -- especially when at that point I thought Volcano Bay was opening June 1 and we wanted plenty of time for that as well. In any event, I changed my reservation so we'd be coming back late on June 2. Things have changed A LOT since all of that... I'll take a break here!
 
So, at some point before our Ohio vacation last year, I found out that this year's Star Wars Celebration will be in Orlando in April. I went to the very first Star Wars Celebration in Denver. I really wanted to do this. My son was like, "meh" about it and didn't want to miss school. So, going with a few friends instead. We also bought a hard ticket for the April 14 Galactic Nights event at DHS. So, will be going to Orlando TWICE in two months. YAY!!!!
 
Yay!!!

I am so in for this one...........your boy is the cutest!!! As one proud mum to another........:D

Nice pictures and I am so looking forward to your plans.......Tom will enjoy hearing about it too as he is a massive Star Wars fan.......only thing we don't share a love of.......kinda passed me by.......:duck:
 


Last year, I went to Davy's school's PTO casino night to raise funds for a new playground. They had advertised that they were auctioning off Disney tix (yes!) and giving away a "trip to Cancun." The auction happened first. They sold the Disney tix for WAY higher than they were worth (good for the school, bad for me personally). Then, we played this weird game of heads or tails for the trip. I won (always bet on tails!)!!!! I was really excited... until I saw that it was ONLY for the resort stay. No airfare. No "all-inclusive" -- although you could upgrade to that. Bleh. It said the resort stay was worth $600. I posted on my facebook page and the school's facebook page, that I would be willing to trade this "trip" for some Disney tickets -- figuring it'd be roughly the same. I needed at least two two-day-park-hopper tickets. One of Davy's schoolmate's mom's said she had "some" Disney tickets and would like a trade. She was out of town and would let me know when she got back in what all she had. She knew they were parkhoppers. Couldn't remember how many or for how many days. Well, long story short, I waited FOREVER for this with her not being able to find them, and then her ex-husband had them, blah, blah, blah. So, finally, I decided I'd rather sell this experience and put the money toward our Orlando trip. I posted on a local facebook exchange site, asking for $450 for this -- and one of my friends answered IMMEDIATELY. I sold them to her for just $400. She really wanted to go to Mexico. She WAS maybe going to come to Orlando with us before this, but we're all happy now with our decisions. :)
 
Yay!!!

I am so in for this one...........your boy is the cutest!!! As one proud mum to another........:D

Nice pictures and I am so looking forward to your plans.......Tom will enjoy hearing about it too as he is a massive Star Wars fan.......only thing we don't share a love of.......kinda passed me by.......:duck:

We need to get you into the Star Wars! The newer movies are simply fantastic (skip the prequels!).
 
So, when the lady at Davy's school first offered tickets, I was SURE there were going to be 4 tickets or at least three days on the tickets... so, I started planning on three days at Disney. When the deal fell through, well, I still just HAD to go three days (DHS, EPCOT, Thrills tour day). Davy is pretty much done with Disney, but wanted to do Star Wars and the Thrills tour. He loves the Agent P game at EPCOT as well, so it was easy to convince him to stay a day at MY favorite park. Then, a co-worker gave me a ticket for a water park day at Disney. We've been to Blizzard Beach, so Typhoon Lagoon was chosen (not even realizing they were getting a new slide this spring!). Our plans were really firming up.... until all heck exploded!
 


I went to Portland for work. I knew that week, my ex and his fiancé were going to move. There were lots of fights going on -- my ex wanted Davy to go to a middle school near him (which was actually closer to me too but I was in Davy's "original" middle school footprint. Davy wanted to stay with his buddies, of course. There was lots of tension. Then, I got a text that my ex was still going to move but the address had changed. I looked up the address -- it was right by the "original" middle school Davy wanted to go to. AND, instead of the HUGE mansion they were going to move into, this was a condo. I figured something was up then. When I got home, Davy rushed to tell me the wedding was off. He was torn about it. His dad had sold his house for really no reason. He liked his dad's ex-fiancé (not so sure about her daughter though). But, he was so relieved that he was going to go to the middle school he wanted without more fighting, it was a good thing. This also meant we were free to stay until June 3. But, at this point, and because that's a Saturday, the flights and rooms were so much higher... wasn't sure it was worth it. THEN, his elementary school came out with the final day of school -- it was the original date of May 18th. They had had one snow day, so this surprised me. But, when I looked, it was going to be difficult to change things now as I had lots reserved. PLUS, we wanted to be there for the opening of Volcano Bay... and maybe Pandora in Animal Kingdom. Sigh... for now, kept everything the same.
 
My plan a few weeks ago:

Arrive in Orlando at 1:10 pm on Wednesday, May 24. Tony Hinds picking us up and taking us to Shades of Green at Disney. Eat at Boma (Davy's favorite!) that night. Thurs, May 25: DHS and hope Animal Kingdom is having soft openings of Pandora. Fri, May 26: EPCOT/DHS (Star Wars Dessert Party). Sat., May 27: Typhoon Lagoon. Sun., May 28: Thrills Tour/EPCOT (meet Kittylady1972 and her family for dinner!). Mon., May 29 -- head to Universal and stay at RPR. No planning really necessary at Universal! I kept eyeing the VIP tour at Universal too...

THEN, the APH rates came out. I was torturing myself over a few things. One, Davy and I really wanted to see Pandora. Two, originally we were going to do a full five days at IOA and US... now we're adding Volcano Bay and really only having 3 full days and two half-ish days... So, I changed things around. We'd stay at Shades for the special rate of $129 from Wednesday-Tuesday. Go to AK to see Pandora on Monday when it was for sure going to be open. But, what to do about enough time at Universal... OH TO HECK WITH IT -- going to get the tour! I have a car for the time I'm staying at Shades, so we can drive over there, have free valet parking with VIP tour, and get express pass for the rest of the day after the tour. We'll do so much that day, so when we get over to Hard Rock Hotel (which had the cheapest APH rates for our stay at this point), we can just play with the wands around Harry Potter, do Volcano Bay, and have some other downtime (and re-ride whatever we want).

But, then Davy started talking about what superpower he wants...
 
So, the other day Davy asked me, "if you could have the superpower of either walking on the ocean floor or flying, which would I choose?" I said flying. He said ocean floor -- he really wants to walk around with sea creatures. I thought about seeing terrific reviews of Discovery Cove (which I have never been to). I saw you could do the extra experience of walking on the floor with a scuba helmet. Davy has done a little scuba training class in a pool and LOVED it. I decided as a surprise gift for his really hard work in elementary school -- getting out a year early and still making all A's (plus they've asked him to skip yet another grade in math), he should be given his desired superpower -- even if it's just for a little while! I have now added a day in front of the trip since his school finally said the last day would be May 18.
 
I think we're all caught up now as far as what I have planned. Boils down to this (with some of my money-saving tricks):

Flying in/out with Southwest (using points, so flights are free).

Tony Hinds picking up (used him before although he had another guy pick us up -- he was wonderful!)

Staying at Shades of Green (I work for the Army, but am a Civilian). Got a discounted rate on already low rate -- $129/night. Biggest rooms at Disney.

Tuesday, May 23: Eat at Boma. Still have Disney reward points and have been buying Disney gift cards at Target with my Target card, so get 5% off. Maybe go to Disney Springs as well?

Wednesday, May 24: Discovery Cove. Bought tickets/dolphin experience from Undercover Tourist and saved over $40 on tickets. Then, added the Seaventrue so Davy can have his superpower! Have reservations again at Boma for after our day. Davy wanted to eat there twice if we could. I love it, so YES!

Thursday, May 25: VIP tour at Universal. This is the non-exclusive tour with a maximum of 12 people in the group. I didn't have a discount for the tour. But, I bought 5-day 3-park tickets through a military installation here. I will upgrade to whatever season pass I need to include Volcano Bay.

Friday, May 26: EPCOT in the daytime. Ended up buying three-day park hoppers from the military installation. It was cheaper buying from there than at Shades of Green. Since I am staying at Shades, I can't make FP reservations until 30 days out (biggest bummer of staying at Shades). Lunch at Le Cellier. Never eaten there -- always wanted to! DHS in the evening. Have booked the Star Wars dessert party, because, DUH, it's ME! (Oh, and the kid really wanted to do it -- even if he hadn't, he was going to!)

Saturday, May 27: Typhoon Lagoon. Friend gave me free ticket. Not sure if we'll go to Disney Springs maybe in the daytime for lunch.

Sunday, May 28: Ultimate Thrills tour at Disney! Used Disney rewards to pay for this. I'm hoping MAYBE they'll switch it up and take us to Pandora... doubt it, but one can dream! Done with tour at 3:30. Then, going to EPCOT to meet Kittylady1972 and her family for dinner at Via Napoli.

Monday, May 29: EMH at AK to try to get to Pandora without a six-hour wait! Then, going over to DHS fairly early to ride two of our favorites: Tower of Terror and the Star Wars ride. Also, will try to catch the daytime Star Wars show and the storm trooper march. Will probably rest then and get out late for AK again. Not sure if Shades of Green qualifies for the "Extra" EMH from 11pm-1 am... not sure we'll make it up that later either!

Tuesday, May 30: Going to Hard Rock! Got APH rate for a pool-view room at $239/night. Will be at Universal until June 2. I have NO plans other than wanting to try Cowfish and the Chocolate Factory (the name just escaped me!). I'd also like to get a cabana one day at Volcano Bay, but no word on those yet.

June 2 -- flight leaves at almost 8 pm. Will get in KC late and most likely very exhausted!
 
Wow....fantastic trip plans. Your son is so cute. You are a sweet mommy to plan such a wonderful trip for your son. Nice pictures. I' am looking forward to future updates.
 
Oh my goodness........what a carry on to get all sorted!

But, your plans are excellent! I would choose flying too.......I hate the sea and most things in it........unless I can eat them of course.........:duck:
 
We need to get you into the Star Wars! The newer movies are simply fantastic (skip the prequels!).

Oh he's tried........many times!! I usually fall asleep or slowly wander off and do something else.......he's given up now.........:D
 
Just got Davy's third quarter report card. All A's and his gifted teacher used words such as "amazing" and "excellent." This boy deserves a fantastic vacation!
 
Just got Davy's third quarter report card. All A's and his gifted teacher used words such as "amazing" and "excellent." This boy deserves a fantastic vacation!

Fantastic!

He certainly does deserve an amazing trip.......you do too though.......

It's certainly creeping up, I remember you thinking about planning this trip and it seemed ages away........now it's just around the corner........
 
That sounds like an amazing trip!! I'm especially excited to see all the extras! DH and I saved all our Disney points on one trip to have dinner at Victoria and Albert's in the Queen Dining room (I think that's what it was). By far, our best vacation meal ever. Even better that it was "free". We also have the same VIP tour booked at Universal...it's been so hard to find reviews of that experience (most of them are for the private VIP tour!).
 
That sounds like an amazing trip!! I'm especially excited to see all the extras! DH and I saved all our Disney points on one trip to have dinner at Victoria and Albert's in the Queen Dining room (I think that's what it was). By far, our best vacation meal ever. Even better that it was "free". We also have the same VIP tour booked at Universal...it's been so hard to find reviews of that experience (most of them are for the private VIP tour!).

I'll make sure to write a review here! When is your tour happening?
 

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