Vacationers: Me (Wayne), My wife (Charlene), and our daughter (Monica)
Charlene and I were making our first trip back since 2021. Monica was making here first trip since 2002. The trip would also mark my 65th birthday.
This trip was going to be an experiment for us as we were splitting offsite resorts. We purchased a Sampler with BLUEGREEN VACATIONS a year ago and we have traveled extensively with that over the past year. The catalyst for the trip was a Marriott offer for 4 nights/ 5 days at Sheraton Vistana Villages in a 2 Bedroom villa for $299 (without having to sit through a timeshare spiel - I've been a Marriott rewards member for 30 years). When I mentioned the offer to family, it was a definite go as we planned to spend 4 days at Disney and 2 days at Universal. We decided to split the stay with 4 nights at (Bluegreen) The Fountains (using points we already owned) followed by another 4 nights at Vistana with the Marriott offer (the resorts are across the street from each other on I Drive).
Using the Unofficial Guide for strategy and TouringPlans.com as a guide for projected attendance levels at the parks, we purchased park hopper tickets for both parks through Undercovertourist.com. They had a Disney Special offering 5 days for the price of 4 so we hopped on that with no problem. We purchased 2 day/2 park tickets for Universal as this would be our first visit there and our focus would be on the Harry Potter lands.
We left Chattanooga on Friday, 9/18 around 6:00 p.m. with our sights set on spending the night in Cordele, GA. We had a good night in a 1 bedroom suite at the Fairfield in Cordele using stored points so it cost us nothingiss (can't beat that). We had breakfast at Cracker Barrel on Saturday and then started the trip to Orlando just a few hours away. We stopped in Gainesville for lunch and arrived at the Fountains in Orlando around 4:00 p.m. I've recently had some mobility issues so we reserved a scooter through Gold Mobility.
After checking in to our suite, we proceeded to get ready for an opening night dinner at Sanaa. From the Fountains to Animal Kingdom Lodge was about 30 minutes. We had the bread service, Monica and Charlene spilt the lambchops, and I had the Potjie Inspired braised beef. We shared a Wilde-best Wildebeest dessert. We had a wonderful time. Then it was back to the suite to sleep in prep for Day 1 at EPCOT.
Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or imbeciles who really mean it - Mark Twain
Great economy on your trip costs!! You're off to a good start!!
Linda aka: Faline
INTERCOT Staff: Vacation Planning,Trip Reports and Disney Camping
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