A Magical 10 Night Trip, The 10th Month and The Orlando Trifecta- PTR - UPDATED 10/2 About This Page:

[SuperDave]

A WDW and Elsewhere PTR

The Beginnings, Details and How it Came Together

Who: A Solo Trip

Dates: October 4-14 2017

Where: Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld

Resorts: B Resort in Disney Springs and a Universal Hotel Resort

Meets: Nothing tentative yet, but there are some possibilities. Let me know if you’d like to meet up, if you’ll be at Universal from October 4-7 or WDW from October 8-13

Activities: WDW, Universal and SeaWorld theme parks, Epcot’s 35th annual Food & Wine Festival, Dining, New Experiences and so much more!


I began the planning for my next trip and putting it together just about a month after my return from my October, 2016 trip. Much sooner than that trip as the planning didn’t begin until about the end of January, 2016. The title is a given, so no explaining is necessary!

I enjoyed my first ever trip in October to Walt Disney World recently along with some other firsts including Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival, new eateries, staying in Disney Springs area at the B Resort and the Kennedy Space Center. I knew I’d like to return once again in October as I had such a great time and especially the Food & Wine Festival. Just couldn’t believe it took so many trips to finally experience it and I certainly did! I can’t wait to experience much more once again at the festival.


Saturday, November 26th 2016
One thing about my October, 2017 trip was that where I’d be going was not completely set. I wanted to stay at Universal Orlando as I’d never stayed there and haven’t been there since 2009. I’d made four previous day visits in 2004 (two times), 2007 and 2009. So much as changed here since my last visit with the addition of many new attractions and especially the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

The other thing I was considering was starting my trip for three or four nights in Charleston, SC or Savannah, GA as I’ve always wanted to visit both. I checked into flights from these cities and there are no direct flights to Orlando. I think the closest may have been Atlanta as well as Miami. It’s a pretty long drive at about six hours straight from Savannah and I didn’t feel like renting a car, so these were out. Perhaps, another time!


Sometime in the early afternoon, I received an email from the B Resort, where I stayed last month. As it was the day after Black Friday, they were offering a Cyber Monday deal for stays for all of 2017. The deal was effective immediately. It was 30% off the room rates. I can book these through Monday, November 28th. I was contemplating this as I had just returned from doing some Christmas shopping. I had more shopping to do online and wanted to get this done first before working on booking another trip. By late in the evening, I’d have all my Christmas shopping completed! I don’t think I ever had all of it done this quickly, but usually have it done long before Christmas. The B Resort would have to wait until the next day as it was late.

Sunday, November 27th
Early in the afternoon I went on the B Resort website through the special link for the deal and booked my stay. It’s for six nights from October 8-14. My room type is a Stunning King on one of the upper floors of the resort. It’s $134 per night and with taxes and resort fees comes to about $179 per night. A little more than I paid last year but this is a different room class as on the upper floors. Grand total comes to $1,077. I think I paid a little over $1,100 for seven nights for my just completed October trip.

Later in the day, I began looking at the resort choices for Universal Resort. There are three deluxe resorts (Portofino Bay, Hard Rock and Royal Pacific), one moderate (Sapphire Falls) and one value (Cabana Bay). I was most interested in Royal Pacific as the cheapest of the deluxe resorts as the Portofino was about $350 per night and the Hard Rock was around $300 per night, plus you get the Universal Express Pass for the length of your stay, which is a great amenity and deal and will come in handy. It’s worth it to stay at the Royal Pacific rather than Sapphire Falls with the express pass as it’s an $89 value and makes up the difference between the two resorts.


Rates were a bit high for the Royal Pacific at $276 per night without fees and tax. This was for three nights and it’s a lot cheaper at four nights as they advertise the more you stay, the more you save. I’m just hoping the rates come down as I’m only planning to stay three nights as of now. The lower rate for four nights was around $250 per night without fees. I will just wait and hope they offer a deal or perhaps book four nights instead of three. Right now, it will just be three nights at Universal.

I also need to purchase Universal theme park tickets and will buy these separately, rather than with a package as you don’t save much at all if any plus things change with cancellation fees and deposits. The Universal theme parks also have easy access by either walking there or taking a short boat ride and certainly another incentive to stay on property.




NEXT: More Resort Deals!!!!