Madi drinking her butter beer at the 3 broomsticks in "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter"
Quinn with his butter beer at the 3 broomsticks in "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter"
Family in front of Universal
Madi and Quinn with Cat in the Hat
WinterBoob 2010 was a huge success, as usual, raising over $42,000 in Breast Cancer donations, the highest amount yet! I was one of the contributors to that with the purchase of a Trip for 4 to Universal Orlando Resort and a Royal Caribbean Cruise package, generously donated by RCI’s Lisa Connell and Universal’s Beth Fleeton during the live auction.
If you haven’t yet attended the WinterBoob Ski and Spa day that occurs annually in February I strongly encourage you to (this year’s WinterBoob is on Thursday February 10th). Suzanne, Nina and their team organize an exceptional day for an exceptional cause. As libations flow throughout the day and into the evening and the live auction begins, the “prize donation” pool miraculously grows as all of the travel people in attendance begin to offer trips from their organization. It is great fun and of course a great cause.
I was one of the fortunate ones to win the bidding on a trip for my family which I am currently enjoying. We just completed our 3 days at Universal Orlando Resort where we stayed at the wonderful Hard Rock Hotel and had Unlimited Express passes to both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure theme parks.
My kids, Madison and Quinn, are 8 and 7 - the absolute perfect age for these parks and of course it helps that they are daredevils and love all of the rides just as Pat and I do. There were only two roller coasters that they couldn’t get onto (of course that was 2 too many for Madison but she got over it). Universal has a great “child swap” program (no that doesn’t mean I could actually swap my kids for someone else’s but believe me we had our moments). It allows the parents to go on rides that the children aren’t able to go on without having to stand in line each time, very good! And I cannot say enough about the Universal Express program. Staying at the on-site hotels (Hard Rock, Portofino or Royal Pacific hotels) allows you to show your hotel card and have your own separate point of entry for the rides. You can also purchase this as an add-on to your passes if you are not staying on-site. This is worth its weight in gold and we would never travel there without it!
On our last night we enjoyed dinner out at the Nascar Bar & Grill – yes, both Pat and Quinn wanted that. This is part of City Walk - a very lively place, particularly on a Saturday night, with many restaurants, bars and night clubs. Both of the theme parks, as well as City Walk, are an easy stroll from the Hard Rock Hotel or you can take a water taxi or hire a bike transfer if you’ve already had too much walking for the day!
The first part of our trip gets 2 thumbs up and we look forward to the next part of the Caplice’s Excellent Adventure, our 7-day cruise on the Freedom of the Seas.
I will report further on our return from our cruise!
This year, all Canadian travel professionals are invited to place their reserve bids on a whole selection of trips and prizes in the online WinterBoob auction … click for details.
