PTR - NYC and Orlando

[LisaAJ]

Hi everyone, I finally decided to do a PTR. I am having so much trouble keeping everything straight in my head so thought I would write it all down. Plus, hubby is not excited about this trip and the kids don't know yet so I need somewhere to get excited about bookings etc!!

I will be travelling with hubby and our two little people, DS will be 9 and DD will be 7. My kids are Disney obsessed, possibly due to a trip I made to WDW before they were born! Perhaps I passed on the Disney-love through my genes!

23 Dec - Perth to Sydney (Virgin). Overnight in Sydney

24 Dec - Sydney to NYC(Delta). Stop over in LAX, arrive Christmas Eve (YAY!!) Hoping for a white Christmas
NYC for 7 days - Staying at Salisbury NYC near Central Park. I've bought 7 day New York Passes with 3 day Hop on Hop Off Bus pass. We plan to see a show too, probably Matilda.

31 Dec - NYC to Orlando (Delta). Staying at Stay Sky Suites International Drive for 4 days. Visiting Legoland and shopping. Possibly Seaworld if time.

4 Jan - Orlando to Port Canaveral. Kennedy Space Centre and overnight at Fairfield Inn & Suites Tuitsville near KSC.

5 Jan - Disney Cruise on the Dream, 4 nights. So looking forward to this!

9 Jan - Port Canaveral to Universal. Staying at Hard Rock Hotel, my little Harry Potter fans are going to be so excited when they see Hogwarts etc

12 Jan - WDW, staying at Pop Century. Plans are to visit all the parks and probably all but AK a second time. Would like to do a waterpark too but will obviously depend in weather given the time if year. Haven't worked out ADRs yet, need to get onto that! Plan to get Cirque du Soleil tickets too.

20 Jan - Heading home. Orlando to Perth (Virgin), with stop overs in LAX and Melbourne.

I'm sad writing about coming home and we haven't even been yet, lol!


Thanks for reading! I welcome any thoughts or suggestions. It's been a long time since I have been to the US

 

[Caroline NZ]

Sounds fantastic

 

[dabecs]

Hi everyone, I finally decided to do a PTR. I am having so much trouble keeping everything straight in my head so thought I would write it all down. Plus, hubby is not excited about this trip and the kids don't know yet so I need somewhere to get excited about bookings etc!! I will be travelling with hubby and our two little people, DS will be 9 and DD will be 7. My kids are Disney obsessed, possibly due to a trip I made to WDW before they were born! Perhaps I passed on the Disney-love through my genes! 23 Dec - Perth to Sydney (Virgin). Overnight in Sydney 24 Dec - Sydney to NYC(Delta). Stop over in LAX, arrive Christmas Eve (YAY!!) Hoping for a white Christmas NYC for 7 days - Staying at Salisbury NYC near Central Park. I've bought 7 day New York Passes with 3 day Hop on Hop Off Bus pass. We plan to see a show too, probably Matilda. 31 Dec - NYC to Orlando (Delta). Staying at Stay Sky Suites International Drive for 4 days. Visiting Legoland and shopping. Possibly Seaworld if time. 4 Jan - Orlando to Port Canaveral. Kennedy Space Centre and overnight at Fairfield Inn & Suites Tuitsville near KSC. 5 Jan - Disney Cruise on the Dream, 4 nights. So looking forward to this! 9 Jan - Port Canaveral to Universal. Staying at Hard Rock Hotel, my little Harry Potter fans are going to be so excited when they see Hogwarts etc 12 Jan - WDW, staying at Pop Century. Plans are to visit all the parks and probably all but AK a second time. Would like to do a waterpark too but will obviously depend in weather given the time if year. Haven't worked out ADRs yet, need to get onto that! Plan to get Cirque du Soleil tickets too. 20 Jan - Heading home. Orlando to Perth (Virgin), with stop overs in LAX and Melbourne. I'm sad writing about coming home and we haven't even been yet, lol! Thanks for reading! I welcome any thoughts or suggestions. It's been a long time since I have been to the US

How exciting! Like yours my husband will be interested on the trip but the pre-planning doesn't interest him and my girls (8 and 7) don't know about our trip yet.

Having a pre-trip report is such a fun way to plan and as you said it's a great way to keep track of ideas. It's also a fantastic way for the Dis collective to point out things you didn't even know you hadn't thought of yet

Your trip sounds ah-mazing! Great idea to do NYC first, we did it last on our trip and I was so tired and travel weary by then I couldn't give it my all. Sounds like you have a bit of everything - it will be such a great trip.

When will you tell the munchkins?

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Sounds like great plans - I think half of us have DH's who don't get excited about the planning like we do! I would say don't underestimate AK as the kids will love all the animals there. Sounds like you have lots of time to see NY without rushing. Have you seen all the recent releases about Diagon Alley at US? It sounds amazing! In Oct will be our first trip to Universal as our first time to Orlando we just focussed on WDW.

 

[LisaAJ]

How exciting! Like yours my husband will be interested on the trip but the pre-planning doesn't interest him and my girls (8 and 7) don't know about our trip yet. Having a pre-trip report is such a fun way to plan and as you said it's a great way to keep track of ideas. It's also a fantastic way for the Dis collective to point out things you didn't even know you hadn't thought of yet Your trip sounds ah-mazing! Great idea to do NYC first, we did it last on our trip and I was so tired and travel weary by then I couldn't give it my all. Sounds like you have a bit of everything - it will be such a great trip. When will you tell the munchkins?

My hubby is so stressed about the cost he can't relax but I'm sure he will have a great time. He is pretty excited about NY but not so much Orlando. I made the NY part longer to try and get him more excited!! Plus I love New York!!

I was thinking that I would tell the kids a few weeks before so that they had time to process it and get excited. They will want to tell their friends and watch the planning DVDs etc. Plus I have made them a little book to record the things they are looking forward to so that would require a bit of time too. All my friends have been telling me to tell them the day we leave but I think 2 full days of travelling needs a bit of preparation time!!

 

[LisaAJ]

Sounds like great plans - I think half of us have DH's who don't get excited about the planning like we do! I would say don't underestimate AK as the kids will love all the animals there. Sounds like you have lots of time to see NY without rushing. Have you seen all the recent releases about Diagon Alley at US? It sounds amazing! In Oct will be our first trip to Universal as our first time to Orlando we just focussed on WDW.

I think the reason I have only assigned a day to AK is that it was my least favourite park last time. The kids might feel differently so obviously things will be flexible. It may even be too cold for a water park and in that case we will do probably do AK again. We only have 8 full days unfortunately.

We've been poring over the details of the Harry Potter expansion. My kids are so excited every time they see the pictures. This is without actually knowing they will get to see it too!! I am dying to tell them, lol

 

[CJ2001]

Your trip sounds fantastic

Like you my husband is not that keen to be involved feel like I'm talking to a brick wall he is petrified of flying so won't be able to enjoy it thill we'd have arrived. My kids don't seem that excited either so I love being able to talk things through on this board.

Good luck with your planning, we will be in NY on 23rd October & will be our first time being there too

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Your plans sound wonderful.

How exciting to have an overseas Xmas to look forward to.

 

[Tashinwdw]

You plans sound great, it should be an amazing trip. What is it with DH's. Mine too is not that into the planning, he hates flying so does not want to think about it too much. We did the Wild Africa Trek last time at AK and it was great, highly recommend if you can afford. Although after it we only did 2 rides and then left as we were really buggered. Hopefully will get to explore more this time.

 

[dabecs]

I was thinking that I would tell the kids a few weeks before so that they had time to process it and get excited. They will want to tell their friends and watch the planning DVDs etc. Plus I have made them a little book to record the things they are looking forward to so that would require a bit of time too. All my friends have been telling me to tell them the day we leave but I think 2 full days of travelling needs a bit of preparation time!!

We told the kids 1 month before last trip and plan to do the same this trip. It gave them a chance to tell their friends, to let me know what special things they wanted to take, watch some videos of what to expect, read lots of books and generally get excited

It also meant in those last few weeks when I was constantly running errands and spending extra time on the computer they understood.

Just last night my youngest said how she wishes we could go back to WDW, it was so hard not to tell her! I don't want them wishing the year away like I am

 

[PrincessInOz]

Sounds like a great trip! Looking forward to the planning.

 

[zanzibar138]

Yay another PTR! I hope to have an overseas Christmas one day. My DH is definitely interested in all our travels, he just isn't interested in every little detail like I am and doesn't really care if we stay in Palm Springs or Palm Desert It's great to have an outlet here where we can get into all those finer little details with as much excitement as we want!

 

[LisaAJ]

It's great to have an outlet here where we can get into all those finer little details with as much excitement as we want!

Agreed! It's my only outlet right now! I'm too scared to talk with friends about it in case they accidentally let it slip to my kids!

Funny thing is, the kids are obsessed with America right now. They both came to me on the weekend with books talking about the Statue of Liberty and asking me if you can climb up to the torch! It was a great discussion but now I am torn as they expressed a huge desire to climb the statue and I was hoping to get away with a cruise past on a ferry, lol!

My son is obsessed with the Bermuda Triangle too. So we looked it up and I couldn't believe that we are cruising in the Bermuda Triangle! I hope he doesn't work it out, lol!

 

[Tashinwdw]

They are going to be so excited when they find out. I recommend you stop at the statue of Liberty, its a beautiful view of the city from the island, I didn't climb it but I imagine the view from the top would be even more spectacular.

 

[zanzibar138]

Agreed! It's my only outlet right now! I'm too scared to talk with friends about it in case they accidentally let it slip to my kids!

Funny thing is, the kids are obsessed with America right now. They both came to me on the weekend with books talking about the Statue of Liberty and asking me if you can climb up to the torch! It was a great discussion but now I am torn as they expressed a huge desire to climb the statue and I was hoping to get away with a cruise past on a ferry, lol!

My son is obsessed with the Bermuda Triangle too. So we looked it up and I couldn't believe that we are cruising in the Bermuda Triangle! I hope he doesn't work it out, lol!

Can you ditch another activity to leave more time for climbing the Statue of Liberty? It seems a shame not to do it while their enthusiasm for it is so high!

I hope your son doesn't work that out either Although if he does you can tell him how many cruises now go through that area with no issues at all and hopefully he won't be too scared. I think though at the time, he'll probably be too excited to think about it

 

[LisaAJ]

Can you ditch another activity to leave more time for climbing the Statue of Liberty? It seems a shame not to do it while their enthusiasm for it is so high! I hope your son doesn't work that out either Although if he does you can tell him how many cruises now go through that area with no issues at all and hopefully he won't be too scared. I think though at the time, he'll probably be too excited to think about it

We will have to climb it now that I know they want to. I'm glad I found out now! I visited the island last time I went and walked around the base. Didn't climb it though as the wait was so long!

I've tried to explain about ship tracking systems (without being too obvious!) so that if he does realise where we are cruising he hopefully won't freak out! Doesn't help when they couldn't find the Malaysian plane. He is convinced THAT is on the Bermuda Triangle!
I'm sure Mickey will allay his fears

 

[LisaAJ]

They are going to be so excited when they find out. I recommend you stop at the statue of Liberty, its a beautiful view of the city from the island, I didn't climb it but I imagine the view from the top would be even more spectacular.

I think the reason they want to climb it is that it is so iconic. It's in every picture/tv show and movie about New York, it will be exciting after the trip to know that they have been there

 

[LisaAJ]

So Delta has changed our flights for the third time since we booked a few months ago! I'm kinda worried that they will cancel them altogether before we leave, lol.

 

[LivingforDisney]

Lisa, when we went we flew VA and Delta, I got emails all the time from Delta with flight changes, some were only 1 min difference in depature time or arrival
I was advised that they always change their times, so I just made sure when I was over there to check our departures a few times.
Have you got your seats selected on Delta, I did it before we left and we then just checked in at the airports, not on line.
We had no probs at all with Delta, found them fantastic.
The only thing I didn't like was we had to change planes after leaving MCO in Atlanta on the way to LAX.
Wow, that airport is soooo big, we had to walk miles and then get a train to get to our next gate, only had 50 mins, but we made it.
Real eye opener.
Has your son watched the Statue of Liberty climb on u tube?
You should watch one of them, the stairs are very steep and I think you only get a few minutes at the top. You have to buy tickets before you go.
We didn't do the climb, didn't have enough time with only 4 days.

 

[LisaAJ]

Thanks LivingforDisney, I'm sure it will be fine. It's just kind if disconcerting! I've never had flights change this much before and I have travelled a fair bit. Some of the changes were in our favour (leaving Syd later, less time in LA on the way to NY) but the one yesterday was cancelling a direct flight from MCO to LAX and substituting it with a stopover in SLC on the way.
Though, even that isn't too bad as if we miss flights it's at the end of our trip not the beginning!

My son hasn't watched any videos of the SoL climb. I haven't told the about the trip yet so I can't show him without being to obvious. I'm sure I'll think of a way though I still think he'll want to do it though. He's chock full of energy but sadly not old enough to go up alone!