Our Month Long Trip to Orlando *July 9 - August 7* - Our Restaurant Itinerary About This Page:

[BabieeMelly]

Hey guys! Thanks to all of you who have been following the planning for my family's month-long trip to Orlando for this July. I decided to delete the posts over in the planning forum and start a pre-trip report here, so when the trip begins I can just continue.

- Our Party: Me (Melissa)- 17 (18 at time of trip), Mom (Debbie), Dad (Ray), Brother (Michael) - 16, Our dog Oreo lmao! (a Shih-Tzu)
- Our Journey: July 9-August 7, 2005 (We'll be driving from NYC)
- Our Lodging/Stateroom: Offsite - Emerald Island Resort Condo - 3 bedrooms, 2 and a half bathrooms, extra queen-size fold out bed, full kitchen and dining room, deck and balcony, laundry room, community pools and jacuzzis, spa with sauna, kids playground, cyber cafe, store, lounge, game room and more
- Our Special Plans: Season Passes to Universal with my dad's NBC discount, 10-Day Magic Your Way passes to Disney with the park hopper option and possibly the Magic Plus Pack Option, Kennedy Space Center and the Titanic Exhibition, several PS's both in and out of the parks and reservations at several Orlando-area restaurants and more

Hey everyone! As you probably know by the fact that I'm on here, I LOVE Disney! The movies, music, TV shows... everything. So, of course, Disney World is one of my favorite places in the world (second to Manhattan sorry guys, but home is where the heart is lol). I went to Orlando in 1992 with my parents and my brother, I was 5 at the time (all I remember is what we have on video - and waking up REALLY early to cath our flight...I don't know why I remember that I guess it was just cool being up and out so early!), and I went back again in 2001 with school for my junior high school senior trip. That trip restored my love for Disney, and this time I got to do things that I would actually remember (lol!) - rides, shows, restaurants - but most importantly...the atmosphere. There's nothing like the atmosphere at Disney. They say it's magical, and even at 17 I can admit that it really IS magical, as crazy as that may sound! Ever since the trip in 2001 I've been begging my parents to take my brother and I back to Orlando, since I REALLY wanted to show them around and share with them the fun and enchantment that is Disney We've planned several trips since then, but all of them fell through. Now, believe it or not, next July we'll be going to Orlando for a MONTH...that's right, a whole month! (I still don't even believe it!)

How are we going to pull off a month-long vacation in Orlando, you may ask? With a lot of planning! We finally decided to go to Florida while at Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ (we've gotten season passes for as long as I can remember) this past July. We used to go on vacation every year, but then we got our dog in 1998 and my mom didn't want to leave her with family (even though my grandparents live across the street, and my aunt, uncle and cousins are right next door to them!) and for some reason my mom didn't want to take her anywhere (if you can't tell, that dog is SPOILED!). But that awesome day in July we went to Great Adventure with my Aunt Stacy, her husband Alan and cousin Alison. I had gone in the car with my aunt, and as we were walking through the parking lot my dad told me that on the way there he and my mom had discussed it and we were going to look into renting a house in Florida next summer to go down for a month. I was PSYCHED! We would be driving down there, renting a house/condo...and bringing the dog along. We'd never done that before, so we needed a little bit of a test-run. So this past August my mom, dad, brother Michael, Aunt Stacy, Uncle Alan, little cousin Alison and I went to Lancaster, PA and Hershey Park (my 4th trip there - I have to admit I LOVE Amish country!). I was nervous about how the dog would do in the hotel but she was fine! In fact, she LOVED the peace and quiet of being able to run around without horns honking and sirens blaring (ahh, some of the downfalls of living in the city ). We were able to lounge around the pool with her, bring her around to all the amenities in the resort, and she would lay on the bed and be FINE when we left her to go out for dinner or to do local activities. She ALWAYS loved the car and wasn't a problem. So...Orlando was a go! Finally!

Although we've only been planning THIS trip for around 6 months (I've planned many, many other trips throughout the past 5 years!), the plans have already changed more times than I can even remember. We've inivted family who have secheduled, canceled, rescheduledand then re-canceld, changed our ticket options a million times, and gone through lots of different restaurant choices and itineraries. I don't mind though - I think you can all agree with me when I say planning is half the fun When this trip is over and I can't plan it anymore, I don't know what I'll really do when I'm pretending to do homework! (And it's homework in Advanced Placement classes..so maybe that's not such a good idea lol) Anyway, I'd love to share this trip with you, from planning to experiencing the magic! We planned a bunch of stuff already which I'd love to tell you guys about, I'll get to that soon, and we'll be bringing the laptop on vacation with us so I'll be able to write each day's trip report every night, and keep you updated on the actual trip as it unfolds! Thanks for reading this, and I hope you'll check back here often to help me plan the crazy trip that this is sure to be. Thanks again!

[luvnwdwgal]

What a lucky girl......getting to spend a month in Orlando!! Enjoy the planning!! July will be here before you know it!

[ripkensnana]

DH and I will be arriving in Orlando with a group of friends on July 9, leaving on the 16th, so we'll be there during your first week. We'll be spending most of our time at WDW, so hope you'll be there at some point - perhaps we could plan a meeting?

[BabieeMelly]

Hey Carol, that's great that we'll be there at the same time! However, we will be spending our first twoo weeks at Universal Studios and doing the smaller attractions around the area (Kennedy Space Center, Titanic Exhibition, Ripley's, etc). We'll be focusing on Disney our last two weeks since we don't want to get the no expiration option on the passes. Maybe e can meet up at a restaurant or DTD??

[lvstitch]

Great start to your report. I can't wait to read more. I love NYC too. I miss it more than Long Island (where I grew up). There is just nothing like the energy you get from being in the city.

[ripkensnana]

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Maybe we can meet up at a restaurant or DTD??

[/ QUOTE ]

Works for me! Or maybe our little group will want to spend a day at US....I'll let you know when our plans are set a little more firmly in cement...

[BabieeMelly]

Sounds great Carol, let me know!

[BabieeMelly]

Thanks for all your great comments. I've started so many threads on these boards about our trip you must be sick of me already LoL, but really... thanks a lot for helping me out with the planning, answering all my questions and just genuinly being enthusiastic!

So, when we decided to come to Florida for so long we knew we had to either rent a condo or a house for the 4 weeks we would be in Orlando. First we were pretty set on a private house - we'd have a private pool, our own land and just maximum privacy. However, we then decided that we wanted a more "vacation" feel so we thought a condo in a resort would be fun. A lot of condo resorts in the area, though, don't accept pets I was able to find the Emerald Island Resort, though, which had a nice resort feel but all the condos were privately owned. We thought this would be perfect since each condo would have it's own restrictions on pets. We found a lot of nice condos for around $3000. It was more than we wanted to pay but it was definitely a reasonable price considering how long we'd be staying. I was finally able to find a great condo, though, and we were able to get it for $2000! The owner lives right here in NYC, too, which was nice to know.

The condo has 3 bedrooms, 2 and a hald bathrooms, a patio and a deck, aa full kitchen, dining room, living room, laundry room and more. The Emerald Island Resort has 2 community pools and jaccuzis, a cyber cafe, a spa with a sauna, a resort store with souvenirs and food, lounge, nature preserve and trails, game room, clubhouse, volleyball sand court, gym and playground for the kids. Here are some pictures:


The front of our condo


The Living Room


The Living Room and Dining Room


The Master Bedroom


The Resort Clubhouse


The Main Pool Taken from the Clubhouse


The Resort Lounge


The Playground Next to the Pool


The Resort Entrance


A Fountain in the Nature Preserve

The resort supposedly boasts the nicest entrance to any Orlando resort. It has fountains, dolphins spraying water and a large archway. The entrance is also gated so security is great. It should be nice The only thing I'm nervous about is that the condo we're staying in was featured on the resorts main site and now it's been taken off. Not all the condos are on there - only about 5 or 6 are out of hundreds! - but I know it was recently renovated and I just hope everything went OK. I month or so ago I wrote to the onwer asking for new pictures that he was supposed to take while he was at the condo after the renovations and he said he would send them but he never did My dad's going to call in a few weeks to see what's going on, and just to make sure everything's ok. We'll see what happens - I'm sure it'll work out!

[luvnwdwgal]

Your condo looks awesome!!!

[BabieeMelly]

Post deleted by babieemelly

[lvstitch]

Looks good, I would love to plan out a whole month. You will have so much fun.

[Huntermom]

Melissa,

You've really planned. My advice would to be flexible
within your plan. You've got lots of time and you might find you prefer staying at the parks from opening til 2-3pm and then staying at your condo for the rest of the evening.

There are lots of golf courses in Orlando-with huge price ranges. Given the heat, your brother and dad may prefer to do nine holes in a smaller place. They should get a pretty early Tee. My husband and son did Wyndham Palms and were happy but never got through 18 holes because of thunder. We've gotten a brochure when we've been there that lists tons of places. Seeing as your driving, why not stop for a dog walk when you get into Florida and pick up brochures. I've never driven down but I thought there was a really good visitor center-I'm sure some one here knows exactly where.

Also if you're going over to the Kennedy Space Center, do a tour of Merritt Island National Wildlife refuge (preferably in the early AM). They have a manatee overlook where we've consistently seen manatees. I'd also suggest an air boat tour but outisde of the Orlando area. Again in the summer-go early.

And if you feel you need a break from the parks, Florida has some wonderful state and national parks. A really different pace, but perhaps just as exciting.

And remember, you don't have to do it all. Relax and have fun.

Diane

[Jillybean]

Great plan! Even if you follow it loosely, it's great to have an idea of what to look forward to each day!

You are so sweet to plan this for your family!

Jill

[Tara O'Hara]

I completely agree with Diane and Jill!! You guys are going to have a ball!!

[pparm]

Sounds like a great time you've got planned. It's so great that you're going for a month!!

Paula