As my previous post revealed, we will be going back to Disney at a time when the crowds are expected to be HIGH. Like really high. Not Christmas high, but higher than we are happy with. For my clients, I use several crowd predictor sites to determine the best times to go to WDW if crowds are a concern. If I were one of my clients I'd tell me to pick another week. Out of a range of 10, being packed, to 1, low crowds, but it's still Disney, so it won't be empty, my week has a range of 8 to 5. Could be worse, could be better. 5 is as high as I like to go, but alas we will be there to experience all the good times an 8 can provide.
So, how will we as non-people people survive? Alcohol. LOL. Not really, it's a nice thought, but we aren't drinkers and my daughter is only 11. So that's out. Option 2, EXCELLENT strategic planning. My family has a great travel agent and she (me) will plan out our park days and times so that we encounter less people, and additionally will offer (spend extra $$) to do some events and added options to beat the lines and crowds.
​One way we are helping with the crowd situation is our choice of resorts and room selection. As discussed previously, we are staying at The Beach Club with a club level room. The resort location puts us nice and close to 2 parks we know we will want to visit a lot during our trip. We added park hopper so that we can visit more than one park in a day. So we can run over to Epcot at rope drop, when the park opens, and ride Soarin' or Test Track or even run over to Norway to ride Frozen, and save our FastPass options for whatever other park we plan to spend more time at that day. Our resort has easy access into the other side of the Epcot main entrance. It allows access through England and France which is likely to be free of people entirely at the time we enter, whereas the main entrance will be packed. It's a great photo opportunity too and this area is beautiful and no crowds clogging up your photos.
Club level guests also have another perk available at an extra cost.  *All guests visiting Walt Disney World have access to 3 FastPass+ reservations per day. However, guests staying Club Level have the option to purchase 3 additional FastPasses per day.  As you can imagine, the price isn't cheap but this perk can be a huge time-saver.  Disney still bills this perk as a "pilot program" or test, but as of right now, here are the details:

• Cost is $50/day per person
• 3 day minimum purchase (so you're looking at a minimum of $150/person)
• These FastPasses can be booked up to 90 days out (vs. the 60 days window "regular" FastPasses have for onsite guests)
• No FastPass+ tier restrictions in booking; however, you can't repeat the same attraction more than once using FastPass+
• If you have a Park Hopper ticket, you can book these FastPasses in multiple parks on the same day*

​The only negative to me (well besides the $$) is that you can't FastPass the same ride in the same day more than once. My mind says that if I'm paying EXTRA, I should be able to ride Soarin' 3 times with those extra pay tickets if I so chose, but Disney says no.  This means that you can't even add Soarin' at your 60 day mark with your regular FastPasses if you already used it for your extra pay FP for that day.  I will be sure to pass that along to Disney, as if they listen to my sage advice. This is an area that Universal Orlando got right over Disney. With their Universal Unlimited Express Pass, you can ride the same ride back to back to back in an express line. That is how an express pass should work, especially one that you are paying extra to have.
Now having said that, there are parks that having 6 passes in a day will be great.  Hollywood Studios is one. Because with the pay ticket, Tier levels (see photo below) won't matter.  We can use all 3 on the Toy Story Land rides and save our regular FP for Tower of Terror, Rockin' Roller Coaster, and Star Tours. Works out great. Magic Kingdom has PLENTY of rides with lines, so using 6 there will also save time.  However, Epcot really only has 3 rides needing FP and those are all in Tier 1 (Group A). I would not waste the extra FastPasses here. However, with park hopper, we can split them. I could book Test Track and Frozen with the extra pay FP, save Soarin' for my regular FP and use my last pay FP for a ride in another park. Now THAT is the way to do it. It will eliminate 6 long lines and therefore keep us from being up in crowds all day every day. 
A couple additional extra magic items we will add to beat the crowds will be returning to a dessert party, because I absolutely cannot take being wedged in the crowds waiting for the nighttime shows, plus the mass exodus is enough to send me over the edge. Also we will for sure add Early Morning Magic. I don't know that we'll ever not add this fantastic experience, no matter how old our daughter gets. It is simply A-mazing!
Adding EXTRA costs to a Disney trip may not be in everyone's budget, but I wouldn't go at a crowded time if we couldn't budget these extras in. I'd definitely pick a less crowded time and use strategic planning through an excellent planner (myself) as an alternative to what I laid out above.
This is why using a travel agent is always a great idea. Disney is really NOT a place you go to and just do with zero planning. I mean, you certainly CAN, but you will wait in LONG lines to ride everything and good luck getting table service meals, but that is a subject for another post. Have a Magical Day!!
*Special thanks to WDW Prep School for their detailed explanation with this section.

We just returned from our visit to Universal Orlando. This entry will be specific to our resort stay at Portofino Bay Resort and the perks of staying there.

​We stayed in a preferred club level 2 queen room.

Upon arrival we were greeted by the very friendly staff, given all our resort information, and a card for our room and a separate card for the club lounge.  Because I purchased park tickets separately, I had to go to a kiosk to print them.  So that is 3 separate cards/tickets to keep up with (more on this below*).

When we got to the club level only snacks like bags of chips were being served along with bottled drinks and  lemonade and fruity water.  We caught them between services, so it was what it was. 

Our room wasn't ready when we got there and it was almost 4PM.  They said they would text us when our room was ready and we could go on and use our key they gave us.  We checked our bags and decided to head to City walk because we were starving. Upon return, a simple call to the baggage area had them deliver all our bag to our room.

Overall the resort and the room were very nice, quite beautiful, in fact. The resort main areas were lovely and well-themed, especially the outside areas. However, the guest areas, hallways and rooms, could certainly use a bit of freshening up. Just little things like the carpet was bunched up in the hallways on several floors and on our hall it appeared that a leak was coming from the stairway as a section of carpet was always wet stained in from of the stairway door. (yuck)

Our room was clean and well stocked with towels and we had a nightly turn down, no complaints, but nothing over the top or WOW factor. (no chocolate on the pillows though, was kind of a let down, but we are Disney spoiled, so that is our barometer of service and expectation level)

That is all for the room review.  Now onto the resort itself.

The absolute BEST thing about this resort was the park perks that come with it. The early park entry is one, but we were too lazy to take advantage of that one. BUT the absolute BEST was the UNLIMITED UNIVERSAL EXPRESS PASS.  This is a must and I can't imagine going to Universal or Island of Adventure without it.  Almost all rides, including the Harry Potter area rides, are included. What this is is a 'fastpass' like Disney's EXCEPT it is indeed better because it is UNLIMITED. No need to book in advance. You just get in the universal express pass designated line, as many times as you want, and ride the ride. Now, having said that, some rides are better suited for this than others. Slow loading rides and rider swap (for families with young children) can slow down even the express pass line, but overall it is a great and effective way to ride every single ride and some more than a few times.  
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​*One thing I do have to point out, as a Disney spoiled brat, is the ticket thing.  You pretty much have to have a lanyard. You obviously have to have your paper park tickets AND because you are Unlimited Express Pass holders, you also need your plastic room card. Let me be clear...EVERYONE, including your children, MUST BRING THEIR ROOM KEY TO THE PARKS in order to use the Unlimited Express Pass(UEP).  We somehow missed that tidbit and on our first day, our daughter didn't have hers, because, well, why does a child need her room key at a park except for losing it purposes, but she DID INDEED need it to prove we were staying at a resort that provided the UEP.  The staff was confused as to what we had to do to get her a pass. Some thought we had to go all the way back to our resort, but fortunately another pointed us to guest relations INSIDE the front section of the park. We went in there, they used my card to pull up hers and printed a paper copy for her to use that day. Yes, another thing to keep up with.  I couldn't love and appreciate Disney's Magic Bands more than I did while constantly having to pull out and show park tickets (in order to go from park to park) and resort keys (to do UEP). The more you have to pull that stuff out, the more likely you are to lose it. Experience talking here.  For the love of all things holy, PLEASE Universal, GO DIGITAL.  The ticket thing is a pain in the @#%. And FYI-- that plastic club level lounge card they give you is needed every time you enter the lounge, so you have to have it with you too. GO D-I-G-I-T-A-L PLEASE!!! 

At the resort, we used the boat transportation to and from the parks/City Walk. It was fairly quick, very easy, and a nice relaxing way to travel. The only times we didn't take the boat, was our first morning, we decided we had energy to walk to the parks. The second was after leaving the Blue Man Group show, we came out to a torrential downpour with lightening in the area and boats were not running, so walking back was our only option. It was only lightly sprinkling by then and besides being tired, was really a nice walk. The well-lit winding tree covered pathways are worth taking at least once if not more.

The club level lounge was nice. If you are comparing it to Disney (for us the Yatch Club) then you might be slightly less impressed, but generally it is very nice with plenty of choices.  We visited for breakfast every morning and it was a nice way to start the day.  A variety of muffins, scrabbled eggs, pastries, sausage or bacon, potatoes, coffee, juice, etc. It was also nice to be able to take what you wanted with you. Bottles of water were great to bring to the parks.

We seemed to be gone during most serving hours, except for one night when we made dinner. They served a pork roast that was really good and always had a salad of some sort. Cheese trays and fruits were also plentiful.

I only managed to snap photos from the dessert layout. 

The pool, and we only visited the main, large pool, was VERY nice. They had activities for kids starting around noon until late afternoon. A lot of fun. BUT what I really was most impressed by was the lifeguard staff. I have never seen such attentive lifeguards. I spoke with a woman named Susie that shared very good information regarding the seriousness of their job and their procedures. Every lifeguard I saw was alert and literally scanning the pool in a systematic way. I always watch my child in pools, but it’s nice and reassuring to know how seriously they are taking the job. Good job to the staff!!

Have you been to Universal Orlando? Tell me about your experience.  What are some must dos? Was there a restaurant that you love or perhaps didn't love? Feel free to leave a comment and share your experience. Did you see the Blue Man Group? Is that worth doing?

This was a fantastic experience for our family.

We met in our designated location on the ship first thing in the morning and our group was taken to the location of our boat for our snorkeling adventure.  We were provided towels and sent on our way.
It started pouring rain soon as we stepped of the Fantasy. I mean pouring!!  I recommend bringing some sort of water proof bag to put towels and such in because you do want a dry towel after swimming around.  Once we got to our boat and out on the water, not another drop of rain fell. The weather was perfect, as was the water temperature.
Our guides were fun and took us to 2 locations. I immediately saw sea turtles and we came within touching distance, though you are NOT allowed to touch them. We were the first boat at our location so we had the area to ourselves briefly. It was the BEST experience I've ever had in the ocean!  
My 9 year old daughter had a small learning curve, as this was her first time snorkeling, but she caught on and had a great time.  She did get stung by some sort of no-see-ums, but recovered quickly and it didn't keep her from staying in the water.
I highly recommend this excursion and this company!  Prior to signing up for this, I checked them out trip advisor for reviews.  Here is the link.
​Comment below if you do this or any other excursions worth mentioning or if you have any questions!

I apologize for not following up sooner, but better late than never, right?

In my previous post, I explained I was NOT able to pre-book Palo during our booking window before our cruise.  However, they do hold availability for such things so that you can book them soon as you board the ship.  I asked a cast member soon as I boarded the ship and they advised me where to go and what time, to add any dining experience I couldn't book pre-boarding. For our cruise, I had to report to Royal Court side entrance at 1PM. Check with a cast member to be sure.  I'd also get there before the time they say, as there was a bit of a line, BUT they had a LOT of cast members assisting and it didn't take any time and I got exactly what I wanted.

As for the brunch...It was so so so nice. The service was exceptional and we felt very pampered. Our daughter spent time with my mother while we dined. It was about a 2 hour meal experience.

We are NOT foodies at all, but this was an experience that I am so glad we decided to try out.  The views, the service, the food, were all such a lovely addition to our vacation and we enjoyed having some time alone. 

We started with Mimosas then hit the appetizer buffet area, and drooling at the dessert bar as we went by. We ordered both soups and I had the Lasagna and my husband had the Parmesan-Crusted Chicken Breast. Both were very good, but to me the appetizer buffet was the best part, besides the desserts and service. See the pictures below to get a better idea of the offerings.
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I can't believe I haven't come back to rave about our cruise on the Disney Fantasy.  It was so fantastic.  It just happened to occur as the school year was ending and busy life just got in the way.  The time away in NO way reflects any disappointment in our cruise.  I will come back and write a more detailed post soon, but for now, I will post some of my favorite photos.