A Preschool Teacher's First Trip Report

Cdjax

Earning My Ears
Joined
Sep 28, 2015
Hi Everybody! Welcome to my first trip report ever. I went to Universal Studios for 3 days (March 6-9) with my mom, Cheryl. I live in Tampa, Florida, so we drove to Orlando on a Sunday and spent the day at Disney Springs, shopping around, going to our hotel, and eating dinner. Monday was spent at Universal, Tuesday at Islands of Adventure, and Wednesday back at Universal before heading home and back to work on Thursday! We had an awesome time and I looking forward to sharing our experiences with you guys!

A little background info:

My name is Diane and I teach preschool (2& 3 year olds) full time at a Christian Day School in Tampa. I love the kids, but they are a lot of work! I definitely look forward to my vacations!:P My mom is Cheryl and she runs a program that ministers and provides mentors to children in juvenile detention centers and childrens' homes in our area. She has a huge heart for her ministry and she works really hard, traveling all over the state. We have a close relationship and she is my favorite person in the world!

I am a huge Disney World fan and have been quite a few times in the past 5 years. My mom enjoys it too, but is not quite as "obsessed" as I am! We actually had annual passes in 2017, which was amazing!:flower:

Around Christmas in 2017, I started reading the Harry Potter books and fell in love with them! After reading the books and seeing the movies, I got more into them and started listening to the "Binge Mode- Harry Potter" podcast, which dives deep into the story and is hilarious and insightful. I highly recommend it, but fair warning, there is a lot of adult content. They also do an amazing Game of Thrones podcast too, if you are into that!

So, I really wanted to go to Universal Studios this year and check out all the Harry Potter stuff they have, along with their other offerings. It was just a matter of finding the right deal on tickets. They had a Florida/Georgia resident deal that we snagged and purchase 3 Day/1 Park tickets. No Hogwarts Express for us, but I watched some Youtube videos and didn't feel like I would be missing out too much.

I got a good deal on our hotel on Hotwire and we ended up staying at the Sheraton Four Points on International Drive. It was very nice and clean, and we were able to use their shuttle to the parks on two of our days.:teeth:
 
Alright, let's get this started!
So, Sunday morning arrives and I get ready to go over to my mom's house, so we can drive to Orlando. Since we are going to Disney Springs, I wear my Disney socks.
I arrive at her house and am ready to head out
Mom is not quite ready yet, so I hang out with her animals for a little bit Basil the dog

Charlotte the cat wants to come with us!

It's finally time to head out! But wait, the car needs gas, so we stop at WaWa for gas and a snack

We arrive at Disney Springs and look around a little before lunch.

 


We got lunch at one of my favorite Disney Springs restaurants- D-Luxe Burger

We ordered "The Classic Duo", which is 2 burgers, 1 order of fries, and 2 soft drinks.

These are some of the best burgers I've ever had!

We shopped around a little more

before heading to our hotel.

We checked in and went to our room on the 7th floor (out of 24 floors!) We settled in and checked out the view from our windows.

nothing special, but then out the last window...
you guys.... I can see Hogwarts! I was so excited! :)
 
we hung out at the hotel for a while. My mom napped while I played Candy Crush and read a magazine. We drove around to find somewhere to eat dinner, and we chose Friendly's since we had not been there before. The man seating us was pretty "unfriendly", but whatever...

I got a pasta, chicken, and broccoli dish
My mom got shrimp, fries, and coleslaw
For dessert, mom got a hot fudge sundae
and I got a chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream cone

The food was good. Basic, but tasty.
We went back to the hotel and watched "Bridesmaids" before heading to bed. The next day was Universal Studios!!!
 


Looking forward to reading more! I'm a fellow preschool teacher (2 classes of 3 yr olds, and 1 pre K) and can't wait for my April vacation coming up!
 
Hi thanks for sharing. I enjoyed the cat on the suitcase. I have a couple that would be in and on top of.:D I didn't realize the Shearton was that close. It was a nice view that you had. Look forward to reading more.
 
Joining in here!

This is my first Universal trip report (I usually read the Disney ones but I’ve been more and more curious about taking a Universal trip but since I’m such a ride wimp I always feel that the rides there will be too much for me)

Great pictures so far! :cutie: Can’t wait to read more.
 

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