Coach's Mardi Gras Trip to UF 2010 Updated- #11- Final Update

[Coach81]

Hello! Allow me to introduce myself.. I am Coach81.. aka Randy! I am a high school teacher/coach.. who has become a complete Disney/Universal vacation addict!

I have decided to post a trip report (with more than a few requests of encouragement) of our latest Orlando Vacation.. our just completed Mardi Gras escape to Universal Orlando!!!

First some quick pics of the cast:

Me and my lovely wife, Alisa:

My oldest son (12), Chase:

My youngest son (7) Zach:

That's all I have time for right now.. more to come soon!!!

Next up- the pre-planning, and departure day..

 

[Brave teacher]

I'm here Randy!

 

[DISNEYLOVER70]

Looking forward to reading!!!!

 

[Coach81]

I'm here Randy!

Thanks Megan! My evil master plan is -I'm hoping to get you to at least consider Universal one day.. especially with Harry coming later this year!!!

Looking forward to reading!!!!

Hey, and welcome!!!

 

[keishashadow]

im in, lovely family

 

[lilpapsgirl]

I'm in!! Can't wait to hear more. My husband and I love Disney/Universal too.

 

[tink1957]

Great looking family, I'm here & can't wait to hear all about it.

 

[longing2Batdisney]

Hey! Randy
sigining on for the ride! looking forward to traveling along with you guys!
as you know we leave in less than 60 days now
Connie

 

[pocahontasgal87]

Hi there!! im here toooo!!=]

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Count us in for the ride ...

 

[schumigirl]

Hey,

jumping onboard.............. looking forward to this report, we probably won`t ever make it for mardi gras................... so going to soak up your families experience of it.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I'm looking forward to your report!

Maria

 

[xApril]

Glad to see you decided to write one! Can't wait to hear more

 

[donaldduck352]

I'm here also!!

 

[Coach81]

Welcome everyone

Thanks for hangin' with me

First a little more background info on the cast:

Me- 40 year old 17 year vet of teaching and coaching.. just recently became a certified fitness trainer. My plan going into this trip was to eat "clean" and exercise every morning... we'll see how that worked out
I love to vacation with my family.. I am a very busy guy with teaching, training, and coaching.. so I really look forward to going on vacation to "get away from it all".

DW- She has worked in the medical field for a very long time (she is an Ultrasonographer), and she grew up going to Disney. She is the love of my life, and my rock..

DS 12- Loves Harry Potter.. he was very excited to see the progress of Harry Potter world, and he made me promise to take him back soon so we can all go there. He is a very sweet kid, that does well in school. He is also an expert rock band player, and recent X-box owner.

DS 7- God help us all.. he is like looking at myself as a child.. he has my personality.. happy go lucky.. loves to laugh and play. He also is a very good student, and a great kid. He is growing so fast.. they both are.. I want to enjoy them as much as possible while I can.

Ok.. now let's move on to the planning story..

Before we got into DVC, we traveled once every two years to WDW and UF for about a week or so.. we would do the beginning of the trip at Disney, and the end of the trip at UF. This worked out for us well enough.. but then we bought into DVC.. Now we go at least twice a year to Disney.. and it had been about 3 years since we visited Universal Florida. We are also annual Mardi Gras vacationers.. and recent Summer vacationers.

Last year Alisa looked at the calendar.. and saw that Mardi Gras was at the same time as President's week. The last time this happed Disney WAS PACKED It was as crowded as we have ever seen it.. so we decided to skip WDW for Mardi Gras this year.. and I suggested the return trip to Universal Florida. I told her we would stay onsight so that Zach could take advantage of the express pass.. he loves to "cut the line"!!!

So we decided last year that this is what we would do. Luckily we visited Disney THREE TIMES last year.. so the wait wasn't so bad.

Departure day finally came Saturday Feb 13th, the plan was we would pack up the Friday before, finalize all packing that morning and pull out around 2 pm that afternoon. So we loaded up the Nissan Quest (aka Mommy's Big Boody Van), and off we went:

We drove for the first 5 hours.. and decided to stop at Mommy's favorite place to eat on the road..

Can any of you relate??

We stopped at a little town off the interstate called Chipley.. and we crashed for the night.

Up next- Arrival at RPR, our room, and club level..

 

[pocahontasgal87]

I always wanted to try cracker barrel, wish we had one here in canada, maybe some time in the future i shall

 

[xApril]

Great update!

When my aunt used to live with us, she used to make us go to the same restaurant week after week. I remember the phase of Cracker Barrel all too well! It's definitely nice once in awhile, but not so much every week.

Can't wait for more.. looking forward to seeing the hotel since I've never seen much of them before!

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

 

[Brave teacher]

MMMMM...Cracker Barrle. You know I love me some hash brown casserole.

Looking forward to hearing more!

 

[cinderella crazy]

I can't turn away from a trip report that includes Cracker Barrel! So yummy! Lots of fried and buttery goodness. Wait, didn't you say you were going to eat "clean." Oh who cares! It's Cracker Barrel! Can't wait to hear more.