Episode Transcript
[00:00:07] Speaker A: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Mouse Ears podcast, where we talk about all things travel, but mostly Disney, brought to you by fairy tale journeys travel.
Hello, everybody. Hello. Season three for the milestones podcast is here. This is episode 56. If you guys listen to our trailer that dropped just a couple of days prior, I believe it's going to be Saturday.
Trailer teaser episode. Brooks had asked us some, some, you know, fast type of questions. Kind of got us thinking, so as travel agents, but we're back season three. It's going to be great.
Thankfully, we are back up to four co hosts again. So starting off, of course, my name is Kelton. I'm one of your great hosts here. We've got Jen with us as well. We introduced her on the teaser. So, Jen, welcome in.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here.
[00:01:09] Speaker A: Awesome. Awesome. We've got Steph as well. Step down in Florida. Good evening, Steph.
[00:01:15] Speaker C: Good evening, Kelton.
[00:01:18] Speaker A: Wonderful. And my main right hand man over in the great state of South Carolina, Brooks, welcome in.
[00:01:25] Speaker D: Thank you. And howdy ho, neighbors.
[00:01:28] Speaker A: So here we are, season. We've made it three seasons, 56 something episodes with, you know, trailers and teasers and all kind of mixed in.
[00:01:41] Speaker D: Oh, my.
[00:01:45] Speaker A: So before we get into that, because, you know, so we're going to be doing a lot of different things that kind of, we've talked about in the teaser a little bit. But before we get into any of the big stuff, even before our favorite new news topic, I do want to mention to all of our audience members out listening on this Monday morning for you guys, want to make sure you stay tuned, uh, for an announcement regarding a giveaway that you're not going to want to miss. So definitely be on the watch for that. But it's everybody's favorite time for the new news with Christian Brooks Runner. Christian, take it away.
[00:02:32] Speaker C: Love this slide.
[00:02:35] Speaker D: Yes. And we didn't have the. Gotta have the music.
Well, hello there, Kelton. Welcome to the new news. I am your anchor, Christian Brooks Runner.
All right, so we're gonna go quickly through this new news here. Top news of the week, Disney Cruise Line news on the Disney Destiny.
They did a three day reveal this past week, and the reveal included a Spider man sculpture on the stern, a black panther inspired great hall, two new dining experiences themed after the Lion King and Guardians of the Galaxy. There will be a Deville's adult only piano bar inspired by Cruella Deville from 101 Dalmatians, an Edna mode inspired sweet shop staterooms themed to the incredibles, Hercules, fantasia and Iron man, and so much more. There was so much news that dropped about the Disney Destiny this week. You can read all about it and more on the Mouse Ears blog.
And then, not to be outdone, they went in on epic universe from the wizarding world of Harry Potter.
Guests will be able to experience the french Miss Ministry of Magic at Epic Universe once it opens, it will include Harry Potter and the battle at the ministry. There will be an attraction that they announced, and it looks amazing. A full. A live, full scale theater experience called Lesorkas a Connis probably mispronounced that. We know.
[00:04:40] Speaker A: I am sorry to all of our french.
[00:04:42] Speaker D: Yeah, we know. I am just bueno on pronunciation.
There are. They announced three new restaurants and food options and a french bar themed to the quidditch team pendant. So it just makes me. Okay, uh, some. We have a flag on a play.
[00:05:07] Speaker C: How did you go from French to Spanish? I can't even get over this.
[00:05:14] Speaker D: My French is even more limited than my Spanish. Okay, I know.
[00:05:20] Speaker B: We.
[00:05:21] Speaker D: I mean, that's. Yes, yes. I don't know. Good.
[00:05:26] Speaker A: He does not live south of the border. He lives north of the border.
[00:05:31] Speaker C: Listen, honestly, I didn't.
[00:05:34] Speaker D: I know. Bonjour. Le vous.
[00:05:37] Speaker C: There you go.
Okay, so, in all honesty, Brooke, I really was just.
Just teasing you. I missed you guys. I miss podcasting. I didn't say it in my intro. I was trying to contain my excitement, but my Thursdays were dull and bleak without my nightly laughs with you guys, so I am so excited. And, Jen, I know you've been on a lot of different episodes as a guest host, but, man, are you in for a real treat.
[00:06:08] Speaker D: That's all I got to say.
[00:06:11] Speaker C: It's gonna be epic.
[00:06:15] Speaker D: Which we think will open m a.
And then we have one more piece.
[00:06:20] Speaker B: You heard it here, folks.
[00:06:22] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:06:23] Speaker B: That's our guess.
[00:06:27] Speaker D: Then also, we go to sandals. Emerald Bay announced that they will be closing its doors on August 15, 2024, to make way for the new beaches. And I'm probably going to mispronounce this exuma.
This transformation will bring the beaches resorts brand to the Bahamas for the whole family to enjoy. Don't know about this relaxing vacation destination brand. Well, we encourage you to listen to episode 45 from season two, where we had a special guest from fairytale journeys to bring us a comprehensive rundown on sandals and beaches, all inclusive resorts. So, go back and listen to that episode, and you'll be able to hear all about those wonderful places.
And with that end of the new news, I kick it back to my right hand man, Kelton.
[00:07:32] Speaker A: Boy, we're rusty. We are rusty.
[00:07:35] Speaker D: We'll get it.
[00:07:37] Speaker A: So, yeah, the new news went. We hit a little I'm Disney. Destiny. I mean, but look at the amount of Marvel that's on that ship.
[00:07:46] Speaker D: For real.
[00:07:47] Speaker A: And then let's throw it all the way back to Fantasia.
[00:07:50] Speaker C: Oh, my gosh.
[00:07:51] Speaker A: So excited about that movie that a lot of people have not seen in, what, 20 years.
[00:07:56] Speaker C: Well, hold on. Hold the phone. Hold the microphone. Hold everything. So those of you that don't know, I do help for writing on the mouse ears blog. So I was.
[00:08:10] Speaker D: Are you now sith author?
[00:08:12] Speaker C: I'm not. My name is on there, but I was deep in the news this week, and you mentioned Fantasia.
Well, their new aqua mouse. What? You know, water ride at sea has Chernabog in the attraction. Yeah, I know. How freaking crazy is that? Yeah, so the whole. I mean, the whole ship is themed to heroes and villains, and they did.
[00:08:41] Speaker D: Not hold that villain.
[00:08:43] Speaker C: Yeah. So, you know, I think it's just what I like, in a way, is that you still have rusty.
[00:08:52] Speaker A: Like I said.
[00:08:55] Speaker C: It'S. It's different. It's nothing like we've had before in the other Disney cruise ships. So, you know, if you have done the other ones, you definitely haven't done this one. I can say that much.
[00:09:07] Speaker D: And real quick, speaking of Marvel, did anyone see the news that they announced at San Diego Comic Con?
[00:09:15] Speaker C: Oh, yes, I did. Oh, yes, I did.
[00:09:19] Speaker D: You didn't. You didn't hear about Robert Downey Junior?
[00:09:22] Speaker A: Oh, yes, I did. Okay, remember, it's been a long week of traveling. You know, with being in Seattle. I missed a. I've missed a lot of stuff.
[00:09:31] Speaker D: I was going to say, I think the news reaches Seattle.
[00:09:36] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:09:36] Speaker D: But they have the space needle. They can reach everything.
[00:09:39] Speaker A: Well, first off, the space needle was closed, and then I was at the courtyard Marriott, and they only have.
It's like I was back in 1998. I mean, it was horrible.
[00:09:49] Speaker D: It was horrible.
[00:09:50] Speaker A: And then I was working 12 hours a day, so just.
[00:09:53] Speaker D: Just be thankful you didn't have to go to great. To Grace Loan Memorial Hospital. I mean, you would probably would have died. I have to. I feel like on that show, I had to. People that go to the hospital die.
[00:10:04] Speaker C: Grey's Anatomy reference. Thank you.
[00:10:07] Speaker A: Casey wants to go to Seattle for Fraser, so there's just a lot of. Yeah, but that train wreck.
[00:10:15] Speaker C: First train wreck of the season, guys.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: Yes.
But then we finally got the fifth land for epic Universe, so, yes, it's. It's gonna be may.
[00:10:28] Speaker C: It's gonna be me.
[00:10:30] Speaker D: And we didn't.
[00:10:30] Speaker C: We didn't not confirm.
[00:10:33] Speaker D: We didn't.
We didn't even talk about either. But while we were on hiatus, they announced the final houses for Halloween horror nights. I mean, we have a lot of.
[00:10:43] Speaker A: Stuff to type up. Facebook group.
[00:10:45] Speaker C: It's been a while.
[00:10:46] Speaker A: Kind of feel like we should talk about Royal Caribbean, but I don't. The only thing I saw in Royal Caribbean was that some. Somebody was stuck on the zip line on Utopia the seas for, like, five minutes. So that's all I got for royal throw in, guys. Only five minutes.
[00:10:59] Speaker C: I mean, we had something for sandals.
[00:11:04] Speaker A: Well, we should probably go ahead and get into it. So let's do that.
For those that can't see us just yet, I am wearing my universal Orlando name tag, so that must mean one thing.
It's a universal episode.
[00:11:19] Speaker D: That's right.
[00:11:21] Speaker A: So a couple of things. Now I can take it off. It's, you know, kind of starting to poke me a little bit.
So we're gonna start off with. We're bringing back. We had such a fun time with trivia, y'all, in season two finale. So we're gonna try it again, see what happens. We're gonna give the arm.
[00:11:39] Speaker D: Coming for you.
The what? Says stephanie Hefner. I'm coming for you.
[00:11:45] Speaker A: Oh.
[00:11:47] Speaker C: Shots have been fired. Revenge has been confirmed.
[00:11:52] Speaker A: Called her out.
[00:11:54] Speaker D: That's the first time I've ever lost.
[00:11:55] Speaker A: Trivia, and it was Disney trivia.
Oh, that was a good. That was. That was a lot of fun. So today's episode, which is brought to you. Bye. The magic candle company. So the next time you want a Disney inspired scent to fill your home or office, whether it may be a candle room spray or more, you could use our special promo code, mouse ears, for 15% off. That is, as steph wanted me to make sure the dash is in the notes means I have to spell it out. That is capital mouse ears. That's right. That is m o u s e a r s for 15% off of any future magic candle company purchase. So today's trivia question is, what color is the smoke during the roller coaster portion of revenge of the mummy at Universal Orlando? Stay tuned for the end of the episode. Find out the answer.
[00:13:06] Speaker C: It's a great throw.
[00:13:08] Speaker A: Throw you under the bus a little bit with, you know, make fun of brooks and I for how we. Spanish and french words.
[00:13:15] Speaker D: I'll be. I'll be honest with you, Steph, though, if you hadn't said that and I had to read that, I probably been.
[00:13:28] Speaker C: Done.
This episode is overdeveloped.
[00:13:33] Speaker A: We're done. Let's dive in so we know everybody is.
[00:13:37] Speaker C: I'm ready.
[00:13:38] Speaker A: 13 minutes. And what are they talking about on this train wreck of an episode?
Today's episode, we're taking a vacation to Universal Orlando for less than $5,000.
We, as an I, I am the. We have posed this question to our four, even to myself. So that's 1234 of us, the four MEP hosts, and we have been tasked with coming up where to stay, the number of days, airport, transportation, and et cetera. Now, this will not include airfare. So it's once we hit MCO of Tampa, Jacksonville, Pensacola, Fort Myers, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, it doesn't really matter. It could be Atlanta, you know, so it won't include airfare, but you'll need to budget $500 for food cost. I am not saying that you will spend all the 500, but it's a good budget because you could be there for three days, seven days, or not even spend food because you ate club level. Who knows?
We're gonna find out.
So we will be planning this vacation for our own household. So for, like, myself and Brooks, party of three. Jen over there. Big household, party of five, right? Yeah.
[00:14:59] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:00] Speaker A: I can't wait to see what you came up with this one. And then we got Steph and Mike over there. Not just two people, but Florida resident discount. Can you believe this? They got it easy.
[00:15:12] Speaker D: Those poor, poor people.
[00:15:14] Speaker A: I know, it's horrible.
So that's enough hearing from me and ramble on like I do. Let's go ahead and dive in and hear what our podcast hosts have come up with. So we're going to go in alphabetical order.
Brooks. Oh, Steph has a question.
[00:15:35] Speaker C: Not a question. I just wanted to give a little tidbit in there, you know, I like, you know, little quick facts and whatnot for. For our listeners who might not have heard some of our other episodes about universal in the past season one.
So there are currently three. And, jen, you can correct me if I'm wrong, because I'm not perfect. Three categories for hotels. We've got value hotel, which includes the universal endless summer resort, surfside and oxide, and cabana first, cabana prime.
I'm drawing a blank.
[00:16:18] Speaker A: Cabana is.
[00:16:19] Speaker C: Someone help me.
[00:16:20] Speaker B: Prime value.
[00:16:21] Speaker C: Prime value. Thank you.
[00:16:24] Speaker B: Yeah, there's.
[00:16:24] Speaker C: Thank you.
What's funny is this sheet that I have does. Well, whatever. It doesn't matter. We've got in the prime value, we've got cabana, and we've got. What's going to be coming up, Universal Stella Nova Resort and Universal Terra Luna Resort Salanova will be opening January 21 and Terra Luna February 25 of 2025, which will be part of the giant expansion of Universal Orlando. With the opening of epic universe sometime in the summer of 2025.
[00:17:00] Speaker A: It's gonna be May.
[00:17:03] Speaker C: Yes.
And then we move on to. And like you said, I did mention Cabana Bay. We also have Aventura.
Right? Okay.
[00:17:17] Speaker D: Which is not just an amazing bachata group, but.
[00:17:28] Speaker C: Couldn't help but laugh. I'm sorry. That was good. Wow. I'm just noticing how undetailed this one sheet I got from universal is. This is terrible. Anyways, okay, we also have going off of memory Aventura. We've got Lowe's Royal Pacific resort, we've got Lowe's Portofino Bay resort, Hard Rock Hotel, and those will be considered our premier hotels. Am I missing one?
[00:17:56] Speaker B: Don't fire fall, Sapphire Falls.
[00:17:59] Speaker C: Thank you. That one resort. Thank you so much. So those are all different? Yeah, I can't keep up. Honestly. I'm a Disney junkie. Okay. Now that my confession is over, I did a terrible job explaining those. There's all those different categories. But the last thing for me to add is that currently you can save up to a $1,300 on a three park, five night vacation package if you book with a travel agent. This is only available if you book with a travel agent. So what are you waiting for? Reach out to fairytale Journeystravel and you can get this package and have a huge savings. There is still time this summer. There are plenty of opportunity to go. This booking window is until the 14th, so you got two weeks, actually, not too much longer, but it runs all the way till March of 2025. And this includes five night hotel accommodation. You get the three park, five day park to park vacation package promo ticket savings of up to $1,300, early park admission, complimentary shuttle transportation and walking paths, complimentary delivery of merchandise and resort wide charging privileges. You do not want to miss out on this opportunity. It is fantastic. And like I said, you book now, but you have a while to travel, so get on it. Book with FTJ.
[00:19:27] Speaker D: Very good.
[00:19:28] Speaker C: Thanks for the help with the hotels. Clearly we haven't been podcasting for a month because we're all rusty one way or another.
[00:19:36] Speaker A: It's perfect.
So here we go. Brooks, you got you two adults, one, one infant, right? Two. One under two. So this should be a. Should be an interesting one for you. Take it away, sir.
[00:19:50] Speaker D: So the dates I picked for our trip is going to be. We're going to travel a Wednesday through a Sunday, and I picked September 25 through September 29.
The hotel that we're going to be staying at is going to be a Portofino Bay hotel club level.
What was currently available is the two queen room, which I've talked about it many times. Kelsey loves to do the two queen beds because she likes that is the ultimate vacation for her to spread out in her own bed.
So why do you pick. Why did I pick club, club level, you may ask? Well, the club level includes complimentary breakfast, evening drinks, and access to their fitness club, because we all know we're on vacation. We want to go to those fitness clubs. I mean, you can't. You. You can't have a day without getting those gains in.
But also, it's the fitness club at the spa there at the hotel. The tickets that we chose are the two day, the two park, three day park to park, because since we have Ellie with us, we're probably not going to go to the water parks with her.
But what is special with the two park, three day park to park tickets is universal has a promo going on right now that if you get those tickets, you also get two days free. So it's really a five day ticket. So we can go to universal every day that we're there Wednesday through that Sunday.
So you may ask yourself what we're gonna do while we're there.
One perk was staying at those premier hotels. Uh, Portofino Bay, Royal Pacific, and also hard Rock Cafe hotel is you get the Universal Express Unlimited pass.
That, to me, is a huge selling point with staying at those premier, um, instead of having to pay for the unlimited, where you can get in one line and just go all day for that one ride. You cannot use it for hagrids, so keep that in mind.
But that is included with staying at a premier hotel. So that was a no brainer for us. We also included the five day photo package, because I definitely gonna want Ellie with that, holding a wand, probably poking me in the eye or something with it.
But mentioning the wand, we also booked the wizarding world of Harry Potter exclusive vacation package. So I am a huge Harry Potter fan. When the books were coming out, my cousin Stephen and I, our birthdays were around the same time.
Mine's on July 18. His birthday is July 29. And while the books are coming out, they were coming out around that time. That was our birthday. Presents to each other is we were literally go to Walmart at midnight when the books would release. Go buy it, and then just hand it to each other and then see who could finish the book first.
So we are going to be doing that exclusive vacation package. And what's included with that is you have special reservations. You have the.
I cannot pronounce the name, but you have the place where you would get the ice cream flight.
Sounds delicious. You would also have breakfast at the leaky cauldron and three broomsticks. So you can go to the club. Since we're saying club level, we can go get breakfast for Ellie, get some snacks for the day, take it with us. And because Ellie's by far favorite meal has been pancakes and sausage, she is a savory girl.
So we would have breakfast at the leaky cauldron and the three broomsticks. And with all of these, you would need to make a reservation. You need to make a reservation for those when you book the trip. So you already have that planned. And then also you have priority reservations and a magical album from shutter bottoms photograph for photography studio. So you would get one of those moving pictures. I think that would be super awesome.
And then also, this was an extra saw that I remember from season one. Kira always talking about the mini golf I threw in. Mini golfer. Kelsey and I have a little date night with us, and I'm sure Ellie is probably going to grab the. Try to grab the ball and help her dada win, so.
And then also with that, you may be asking yourself, what, Brooks? Why did you pick September? You're already. You're going to be already going the beginning of September to Disneyland with the mouse ears crew. Why are you picking towards the end of September? Well, you know what's still going on during that time? Halloween horror nights.
You know who's also not going to be going to Halloween horror nights? Kelsey and Ellie, because they, Kelsey has said, and Kelton, you'll find him at Margaritaville, but she has said that I will not go, but I'll allow you to go. So what did I include in my vacation package? I included a Halloween horror nights ticket for myself. Um, I think I chose.
Yeah, I chose the Wednesday when we got there to do that because Wednesday and Thursday were on the cheaper side. So with the Halloween horror nights, just like with the mickey's not. Not so scary Halloween parties ticket, the prices do change depending on what day you go. So I'll be going to Halloween horror nights, and I decided to also include a Halloween horror nights express pass. So since I'm only going for one night, I'm going one. Try to hit as many houses as possible. Just like with the express, it's not unlimited, but I'll be able to use it for one house per pass. So I can try. And so I can go to each house. Go and get in that express lane. Try to. Try to get all the houses in one night. That was one thing that all the way back in episode and season one, when we had our Halloween Horrors nights episode, I cannot believe that was in season one with the amazing Peter Burkhart from the Burkhardt project.
That was one of the recommendations that he suggested that if you're going to go for one night, definitely get that express pass. Um, but also with all those reservations, I also included a reservation at cowfish, a reservation at toothsomes. Uh, I mean, we gotta go to the restaurant there at Portofino Bay.
And then, of course, I get for myself. I have got to go to voodoo donuts. I mean, come on. It's a universal, universal trip for Brooks. He's got to go to voodoo theme park snacks. When I went through everything, believe our, my total was around 4800. So I still have 200 for souvenirs.
So that is a trip for Brooks. Brooks, Kelsey and Ellie.
[00:28:18] Speaker A: That sounds like a great trip. That really, really does.
[00:28:22] Speaker D: And it leaves, and it leaves plenty of room, too, for us to just take it in. We're going to be there for several days, so we can take it. We can take it easy. We can let Ellie play and the dream in the new Dreamworks land.
She also loves trolls, so go around. Oh, yeah. So.
[00:28:45] Speaker A: And that. That's awesome. Very, very good.
So, yeah. Any, any comments from the crowd out there on Brooks's pat? I mean, you really did spend pretty much the entire budget, so.
[00:29:04] Speaker D: Well, I mean, you.
[00:29:06] Speaker A: You spared no expense on that one.
[00:29:08] Speaker D: Well, I mean, you give me. You give me $5,000. You didn't say if he didn't. If he didn't use it, then you get to keep the rest.
[00:29:19] Speaker A: So use it or lose it.
[00:29:22] Speaker D: So, yeah, it's like pto, I think.
[00:29:24] Speaker A: Just like PTO. Always take your pto.
[00:29:27] Speaker D: Yep.
[00:29:27] Speaker A: So very good, Brooks. Thank you for that. When that was two adults, one infant.
Jen, since we're going in alphabetical order, how about you? What did you put together for us and the listeners?
[00:29:44] Speaker B: Alrighty.
[00:29:46] Speaker A: No pressure. None at all.
[00:29:48] Speaker B: No pressure at all. Since my charger just stopped working, I am on 10%.
9%.
[00:30:00] Speaker A: Hurry, kick it through.
[00:30:03] Speaker B: Okay.
All right.
Yeah, I just text for reinforcements for a charger.
Okay. I also went with September.
The reason why I went with September is because I just like traveling in the summer. But I chose September 16 through 19th.
I also chose portofino.
I actually had two options. So the first, I went with a club level, because there's five of us and anyone that has a larger family, you're going to spend a lot of money on food at theme parks. So club level, well worth it.
Also, the express pass, like, I can't even begin to tell you how much we would save with express Pass.
So I didn't book any extra dining. I didn't do the photo package. I didn't do anything else. We were just literally going to go hit the parks and hang out by that. If you haven't been to Portofino, it is beautiful. And they have the most amazing quiet pool there. It is wonderful.
I came in at just under four, five adults, 4089.
So $4,089. Okay. Now, if we didn't want to be on top of each other, and we did not want to be, you know, we wanted our own room. My husband, I want our room. Put the kids in their own room. We could do two rooms at Portofino. A king room and a room with two queens.
Same dates, not club level.
It's 43 24, y'all. Both of those include the two park season pass.
I went the annual pass route.
[00:32:21] Speaker A: Oh, okay.
[00:32:25] Speaker B: So we got annual passes. So anyone that doesn't know, we as travel agents, we can book those for universal.
And for us, we came out way ahead with that now.
And that's just a seasonal pass. So it's, you know, we have blackout dates and, you know, all of that. But that's okay. We don't go. My son is autistic, so we don't go the week of Christmas or Thanksgiving or New Year's or stuff like that. We try to avoid those times just because it's a lot for him, even with express pass.
So.
Yeah, so even club level. Now, if you stay at Portofino and you have five adults, you will have to pay for a roll away. Last time I checked, it was $45 a night. So keep that in mind. Those rooms only sleep the beds. Two queens. They only sleep four. So if you're going to put five adults in there, you can do it, but you will have to pay for a rollaway bed of. Which is why I also did the quote for the two rooms, just in case we wanted. I think I would rather have the club level, but it's not that big of a difference.
Express pass. And I was running the numbers express pass for our dates for one person.
Hold on.
I do. Keep it.
Do the number. Express pass for four days only. The express pass unlimited. For each person, $713.53.
[00:34:18] Speaker D: And that is person.
[00:34:20] Speaker B: That is per person. Person.
That is.
[00:34:24] Speaker A: Multiply that by five. Yeah, it's a lot.
[00:34:27] Speaker D: I mean, that's, that's the price of your trip.
[00:34:30] Speaker B: That's the price of my trip, yeah. So I am all that now. Also, I did not put it at my favorite time of the year to go, so I am going to throw in an honorable mention.
[00:34:46] Speaker A: Oh, she's pulling a bro.
[00:34:47] Speaker D: We love our honorable mentions here.
Moving sidewalk.
[00:34:54] Speaker B: I'm pulling an honorable mention. Okay, so my second option, December 1 through fourth.
Okay. Because you want to go and you want to see the Grinch. Like we want to see the Grinch. This is with a two park, five day park to park pass. I know we're only going to be there for four days, but sometimes it just works out cheaper to, to have that extra time. And that's what this did.
This is at Hard Rock.
It's a premier vacation package. So you would also get, you know, the priority seating for dining and, you know, all the other little extra things that came in at 4358.53 for us.
[00:35:48] Speaker D: Now, does that, would that one also include doing the seasonal passes for y'all for the tickets?
[00:35:53] Speaker B: Nope. That's a two park, five day park to park. So it's not the pass. But if we wanted to go, do you know the Grinch there, we could probably put the season pass on it. But that was the first one because I was like, I love, I love Whoville with all the characters and stuff that they have out there and it's just so much fun. But I also like traveling in September and I may be the odd person out, but one of the best things about traveling in September is that it is hurricane season and sometimes you might get stranded where you are. Not that that's ever happened or I wish that on anybody. But being stranded in Orlando is not too bad when you're at universal or Disney.
[00:36:50] Speaker A: Yeah, very true.
[00:36:53] Speaker D: So I, I'll just say Jen and Bravo with the throwing in the annual pass. I, I did not even think of that. And that's, that's brilliant. Good, because, yeah, like, you threw in that seasonal pass and you can still go. And those, the other days that you, you chose with the December 1 or fourth because that's not blacked out.
And then with, with that price, you could even, you could even upgrade it to that if you wanted less blackout days, you could even, because it's only $50 more. Upgrade that to the power pass.
[00:37:32] Speaker A: Yep.
[00:37:34] Speaker D: Which only blocks it all three times a year during, like, really their busiest times.
[00:37:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I was trying to leave some more, you know, money for. For food if we weren't staying club level. And. Yeah, well, you know, wands and. Yeah, you know, sorting hats and, you know, fluffy plush.
I love fluffy. You guys. You guys love Fluffy. I love Fluffy.
[00:38:02] Speaker D: I'm gonna.
Yeah. My macho king, Randy Savage. And behind me used to be fluffy.
[00:38:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:38:12] Speaker A: Oh.
[00:38:12] Speaker D: Back in 1992 when he was made.
Fun fact. He's older than my wife.
[00:38:20] Speaker A: Well, get him a beer.
[00:38:25] Speaker B: Well, with that, I would like to make a little bit of an announcement first. I'm so excited to be here. And I get to make.
[00:38:36] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:38:42] Speaker B: I'm so excited. That's not the announcement.
So we have our very first giveaway for the Mouse Ears podcast.
So we are giving away two universal Orlando tickets for free.
So if you want to find out about this, all right. You need to check out all of the Mouse Ears podcast, social media. We will be posting the information there, and you can find out all the little details and how to enter and hopefully how to win.
[00:39:22] Speaker A: That's fantastic.
[00:39:23] Speaker D: It is.
[00:39:24] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:39:25] Speaker A: And we want to make sure those tickets are courtesy of our lovely sponsors over at fairytale journeys travel. So, yes, we love fairytale journeys. And thank you to Suzanne, the owner, and her husband, Steve, for. For getting, you know, us, those tickets to, well, prove, you know, to give away to you guys. So, uh, all the information should be out when this drops. So it'll be Monday. You know, today would be Monday, August 5. So check it out. Like Jen said on the socials, that's pretty cool.
[00:40:05] Speaker B: That is thrilling.
[00:40:07] Speaker A: So, well, um, I guess if we're going in alphabetical order, it'd be my turn. So you ready?
I don't know. We're gonna. We're gonna find out, hopefully. So, my household is myself, my wife, Casey, my son, Kenny, and my four dogs. However, no real place to store your pets off site at universal. So I guess they have to stay, which is probably gonna make my life a lot easier. We could always board them down at Disney, but now. Not gonna do that. So two adults, one child.
The dates that I have chosen. I do love Christmas time. So we're going Sunday, the 8 December through the 12 December, which I believe is a Thursday, if my mind. It is a Thursday.
So I like the holidays because especially at universal, you know, you've got the holiday parade featuring some of the Macy balloons over at Universal Studios, you've got grinchmas at Islands of Adventure. And just like Disney, the resorts at Universal just go decked out crazy for other with the Christmas decor. So if you're into the holiday type of stuff, like, I am not a bad time to go. Plus, they got, you know, all the different treats and seasonal merchandise and even some photo opportunities if you get the photo pass, like Brooks did. However, I did not. So I booked under the exclusive vacation package for this one, staying at the lovely Lowe's Arroyo Pacific resort, just like everybody else. I'm going club level, baby, because the food at universal is expensive.
So we did. For this one, we've got a three park, four day park to park vacation package with the promotion for the ticket. So I did the three park, because sometimes it does stay warm enough in Florida that you could go to Volcano Bay in December. So I figured I'd like to have that option. If not, I'll just do a third day, you know, between Universal and islands of adventure.
But on top of that, I would actually like to get to Universal Orlando from MCO. So I went ahead and I booked a rounded trip tickets for. For us three on Universal's superstar shuttle from MCO to universal, two adults, one child. It's $39 per adult, $36 for Kenny. He's getting expensive, guys. I'm telling you, it kind of hurts.
But coming with the.
The premier hotel, just like everybody else has talked about, you got the early park admission, you got the free Universal Express unlimited pass, and just some extra savings.
I did not do any.
I won't do any dining reservations because we are more of a quick service type of people. And if I do. If, you know, Kenny's doing well and we do want to do a sit down, you know, we'll just try to join a walk up, you know, list at some of my favorite places, which I really want to try.
Cowfish, correct? Yeah, cowfish. Then one of my favorites, Margaritaville. Can. Can't not eat a margaritaville. So that's what I've got going on for those dates. Dollar amount for this one, I saved quite. You know, I didn't spend everything, but I'm at $3,646.76. So that's for a premier resort and club level.
So that one worked out well for me, I thought.
[00:44:38] Speaker D: Yeah, no, definitely so.
And I like. I like with mine. I mean, I. I mean, I made those extra reservations, but, I mean, you don't have to. You don't have to do those. But we've definitely found doing one sit down meal with Ellie right now works better for us.
[00:45:03] Speaker A: Oh, absolutely.
[00:45:04] Speaker D: Oh, yeah.
[00:45:04] Speaker A: And, you know, we did these trips in mind for our current family situation, but I also think a lot of the table service restaurants at universal, I wouldn't say they're a hidden gem, but I've noticed they're not as sought after like they are at the either Walt Disney World or Disneyland. And, like, they have some, like, Michelin star restaurants, you know, up there. So don't. We've said it before, don't sleep on the food at universal.
[00:45:41] Speaker C: Well, I'm really excited for the food for epic, specifically.
[00:45:45] Speaker A: No.
[00:45:46] Speaker C: You know, and I've mentioned it's gonna be epic. I. I'm not gonna be, ever not gonna use the word epic now because they set me up for that one.
[00:45:57] Speaker D: But to quote John Hann, they pit. They spit no expense with epic universe.
[00:46:03] Speaker C: No, they did not. And more to your point, Kelton, I've mentioned this before, but one of the things that me, as an adult, enjoy from universal is the fact that they have their own, like, specialty brews at all the different lands throughout the park since little things like that. I mean, I feel like unless you don't like to ride roller coasters or you're there often, you just kind of overlook the food options because you're just trying to grab something quick and go, you know, you just grab a burger, something easy, because that's how it used to be with me. Then I started going to the parks more often, went more chill in my approach to park going, and then, of course, becoming a travel agent and podcast host, you just start to see things differently. And that's why it's. I think there's so much benefit to people like us, you know, being able to give these advice and tidbits and gems, so to speak. But I completely agree with you guys. There's some great places to eat and some unique options as well, especially at the resorts.
[00:47:15] Speaker B: The food at the resort?
[00:47:18] Speaker C: Oh, my goodness. Yes.
[00:47:21] Speaker B: I mean, really?
You guys remember when I was a guest on. I don't remember when it was, but I had mentioned we were about to throw down because I was like. I kind of like the universal resorts more than Disney. They are just so underrated. They're beautiful. They have amazing food. The benefits of staying there, I mean.
Yeah. Don't sleep on universal food.
[00:47:50] Speaker C: Yeah, I agree. I agree.
[00:47:53] Speaker A: Okay, steph, you are our last one.
You and I can't wait till Mike opens up his stuff so we can start.
But you and Mike, what are you guys doing?
[00:48:11] Speaker C: All right, so I to an extent spared no expense.
Only because I feel like for two people, two Floridians more often than not, are not really going for a whole week. You know, five days is almost pushing it, too. It's not often I get those quotes from clients here in South Florida or anywhere in Florida, really. So I try to balance a bunch of little things out and step outside of what I normally would do for the sake of a, I have a larger budget to play around with.
Honestly, I wanted to say this earlier, and I try not to interject anyone's spiel. What I really love is that all of us had something different. I mean, there are some similarities, and I think it's really, I don't know if, if we did this just subconsciously, like, we all kind of picked our dates similarly, none of us did the springtime with like, mardi Gras, for instance.
You know, and I thought about it, but then I kept going back to like, this fall time frame. And as a Floridian, I know it's hot. It's still hot in September, October, November. However, there's just something about September, whether it's universal or Disney, that we just kind of have seen it. The foot traffic is not as bad. And that is where, you know, our expertise comes into place. And again, we didn't have a conversation prior. You know, Kelton, you did. You put December in there for the sake of, hey, it's Grinchmas. But I picked end of September, early October.
I picked like a week after Brooks and Brooks did a week after Jen. I think there's something to be said about that. But either way, just love listening to all the different, you're like a few weeks after me, so I'm a lot.
[00:50:14] Speaker A: Of weeks after you.
[00:50:16] Speaker C: It's not that far off, though, if you think about it. We're all in like the fall, winter we're in this year. We didn't, we didn't even jump into 2025. So we'll have to do this again when epic opens up and all their new stuff.
But anyways, all right, enough me of just going all over the place.
I picked a five night vacation for two adults.
I did Thursday through Monday. So kind of like a little bit of long weekend. Maybe you want to do half a day Thursday? I'm driving up from South Florida, so, you know, probably work till noon, then drive up. I wasn't really calculating pricing for that because, well, gas and tolls, that's a whole different, you know, topic.
So I kind of just did it once I got like, my price is based on once I got to the parks. Okay. Or once I got to property September 26 through October 1. So right on the cusp of Halloween. Halloween decorations have been up or are going up at this time. People are getting excited. They're, they're enjoying their pumpkin spice lattes. You're still wearing bathing suit because we're in Florida. So. So we're going with it. We are staying. And this is a little bit different from all of you guys. I decided to splurge on something else so that, so I didn't end up staying at the premier resort. We're staying at Universal's Aventura hotel. I believe this is a great option for two adults, a couple who don't have kids, who like a more modern and sleek feel to their hotel.
Definitely not knocking any of the premiers at all. But like I said, this was a strategic. I like Aventura. I think it has kind of like a romantic feel to it. Again, clean and. And quiet in its own way. Not like Cabana Bay, for instance. Okay, so we would be staying at a skyline view two queen room. What this basically means is that you're in one of the top floors, if not the top floor, and have a nice overview of, like, volcano Bay and some other resorts. So again, super nice, quiet, romantic.
[00:52:42] Speaker A: Ooh.
[00:52:43] Speaker B: Ah.
[00:52:43] Speaker C: Okay.
And with this, I decided to go the route of a Florida resident Halloween horror night vacation package. Okay. Again, we're in the fall. Halloween horror nights. I can't see a horror movie to save my life. To this day, Michael keeps asking me when we can watch a movie, and I just respond with, no way, no how, but we can go to howling horror nights. My logic, I don't know.
My package includes a cancel for any reason fee of $35 per person because it's still hurricane season. And in my mind, again, thinking about Michael being a firefighter, God forbid there's a hurricane or some crazy storm as we've been having, and he needs to stay down. Yes, I'm a Florida resident. I want to say, I'll go. And it's confirmed.
Life happens, storms happen. I'm going to have that protection. $35 per person is not the end of the world. Won't break a bank. Right?
Because we're staying on property. We've got early park admission included for no extra fee. We've got a Florida resident two park, unlimited park to park promo dated ticket. So what does that mean? Amazing deal. Disney just came out with this last month. Basically, you're paying for universal.
[00:54:04] Speaker A: Universal?
[00:54:05] Speaker C: Did I just say Disney?
[00:54:06] Speaker A: You did.
[00:54:06] Speaker C: Oh, my God.
[00:54:10] Speaker D: All right, take two.
[00:54:11] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:54:14] Speaker C: Man, I didn't even hear me say that. That's the first part.
Universal came up with this ticket last month. It is amazing. I've been telling everyone about it. You're basically paying for one ticket that is good through December 18 of this month. It is not a full annual pass. It's like a half annual pass without even the price. It's amazing. I've never seen this before. Well worth it. Again.
When I made my trip idea itinerary, it was with the intention of, okay, I'm not even gonna make it to $5,000 because I'm gonna go again to universal before December 18. Whenever, who knows? Spontaneous weekend trip, whatever. So anyways, what's awesome is that that is $211.94 per person, and I get to go whenever till December 18. So because of that, I do want to make it known that I did not include an express pass or an express unlimited pass. I'm going to go the route of I'm going to the parks and having a much more leisure experience since I'll have the opportunity to go several times.
So because I did a bunch, I was able to bundle and save $75 for including a two park or three park ticket in my vacation package. $75 off of those 200 whatever dollars for my ticket. I think that's awesome. So, moving on.
This is when I start getting fun with my package.
I added a Halloween horror night single night ticketed ticket for the date of September 26 because during the weekdays, it is less expensive than the weekend. So I get there Thursday, get to the hotel, drop my stuff off, change, and I'm ready to hit the parks, basically, and going straight to Halloween horror nights because it's gonna be a long night, but it's gonna be a fun night.
I also got a Halloween Hornet Express pass. That one I wasn't going to miss out on. And I did contemplate getting the frequent fear pass I believe it's called, but the password led to gives you access to multiple times in September. However, I wasn't planning on going more than this time in September specifically, and so I decided to get my express pass one and done night.
That is $170.39 per person for the date of September 26. And like I said before with the tickets, the express pass also fluctuates depending on the date. Weekends are most expensive and express pass do book out. I get constantly asked if I can find a an express pass for someone after the fact, and the answer is always no. Once it's out. It's out. There's no magic I can pull out of my travel agent pixie dust hat. It's just not a thing.
So keeping on the track of Howlin hornets, I decided, why not? I'm splurging. I'm here. I have five nights to fully enjoy myself. I'm adding a six house. Sorry. Six hour unmasking the horror tour. Or six house or 6 hours. I can't remember what it's called. Thank you. Six house unmasking the horror tour. That starts at 915 on the following day, September 27. And this would be a total of $212.99 for two adults. I think that's pretty awesome. Maybe it was a total per person and I didn't write right. I don't know. I don't think. No, I'm sorry. It was. It was like 100 and something. 117. $13 around there per person. So I was like, you know what? That's pretty cool. You know, I'm still, you know, probably at the parks off the high of being on Halloween horror nights. And it's the thrill, it's the excitement, it's. Oh, my gosh, how did they make that happen?
So why not add a special tour? Especially since I'm going to be there for a few days and leisure trip. We added that and then to basically round it up, my package does also include a. My universal photo. Five day photo package, but only for one adult. Because the reality is me and Michael are going to be together the whole time. So why would I need to when we're going to be together? So for one adult, five days, $138.44. Why not, right then, if we wanted to add volcano Bay, mine does not. Again, keep in mind, hey, this is more of a leisure. We're going to do this, we're going to do that, whatever we're in the mood for. Volcano Bay for two adults would be $176.76. It's still hot. An option potentially. But again, this is not something I'm adding to my package, but something I did consider.
Then we're going to factor in the $500 with food.
And because we're driving to universal self parking is actually $23 per night. Unlike Disney, you do have to pay for this. So that would be a total of $115 added on to what my package would be. We're looking at a total price of 3400. And, sorry, $3,000. $546.90.
Questions? Comments, concerns?
[01:00:07] Speaker B: Love you. Also, if you are staying at Aventura, you can visit and use the amenities at the premier resorts and at Cabana Bay. So if you wanted to go do the lazy river at Cabana Bay, you could.
Or if you wanted to do a quiet pool or use.
[01:00:31] Speaker C: So, yeah, I love that. Thank you.
[01:00:35] Speaker A: That you also get. It's a very, very short walk over to Sapphire Falls, where then you can take the, uh, the boat launch from Sapphire Falls to Citywalk. It just gives you another mode of transportation also, you know, walking, I think they estimate about 15 minutes walking from sapphire Falls to the.
To about the gates of the park. So neither five or ten minutes, depending on how fast you walk. So you're looking at about 20 minutes.
So, yeah, three modes of transportation right there. Gotta love my transportation.
[01:01:12] Speaker C: Love the transportation.
[01:01:14] Speaker B: Love it.
[01:01:15] Speaker C: So anyways, that's my Florida resident Halloween Hornet vacation package. But I do want to say that there are fantastic and plenty of ticket deals at Universal. I think all of us had a different ticket deal that we basically used, and they're like, universal is fantastic with that. They don't do the one or the two day tickets deals necessarily, but you have a lot of great options to choose from. And I love that the audience was able to kind of get a good variety with us. So, again, and this is something that I decided to add more to it and have a more relaxed experience. I don't have kids.
I don't feel like I have to go to every single ride on one single day. We're kind of spreading it out a little bit and adding a little extra pizzazz. So this was fun. Kelton, thank you for this amazing idea. Mm hmm.
[01:02:11] Speaker A: Well, I'm glad you guys enjoyed it, because we're doing it again next week.
So for all the listeners out there, make sure to stay tuned for next week's episode.
We're doing it again. I'm just switching name tags. We're going on over to Disney.
[01:02:31] Speaker D: So same bat time, same bat channel.
[01:02:34] Speaker A: Pretty much so. No, it was. It was fun. I think we came up with a lot of good, good ideas for people. If they haven't, you know, thought about visiting Universal Orlando, we can always finish it out with today's trivia question. For those that can't remember what the trivia question was, let me go ahead and remind you.
The trivia question was, what color is the smoke during the rollercoaster portion of revenge of the mummy? Anybody have a guess?
Now, it's been ten years since I've been to universal, so it's been forever.
But the answer to this trivia question is the color orange. They've got a orangeish yellow light that shines up on it when you dip down. That's, it's. That was pretty good. I love. I love the mummy. It's probably one of the best attractions on Universal Orlando.
So any last, quick final comments for tonight's or today's episode about universal packages? Very good. Well, folks, that just about does it for this week's season three opener episode of the Mouse Ears podcast. I don't forget to join us on our Facebook group, the Mouse Ears podcast. We've also got a tick tock page and an Instagram account. It's where you can stay up to date with all things travel, but mostly Disney. If you want to see more of us, which we hope you you do now. Thank you to Brooks and the team. Now you can watch all of our weekly episodes on YouTube.com. i don't know if I didn't see dashes, so I didn't know if I needed to spell out www in there.
But check us out, YouTube.com at the Masters podcast.
I know. And then hopefully, you know, throughout the season, you guys can watch me declutter the mess that I have in my office. But that's okay. That's just. It's been a life in the IO household.
Don't forget, if you're interested in having a fairytale journeys agent, book your next trip to either universal, Disney, or wherever, visit fairytalejourneys.com to where you can fill out a no obligation quote and make sure to let them know that us of the podcast had sent you.
And lastly, if you've enjoyed listening to our weekly episodes here at the podcast, we'd love for you to leave us a review to wherever you listen until the next episode. Thank you, everybody. Make sure to check out the Facebook all the socials coming on Monday for the universal ticket giveaway. It's going to be a great time, everybody. Have a great week. We'll see you next time.
[01:05:48] Speaker C: See ya.
Bye.
