Should I throw my entire plan in the trash?

I have gone to EE after Tiffins before. I love EE and can do it over and over so it was no issue for me.

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Well, it’s really been a matter of pruning: removing thing from the schedule to open it up. Which has been easier than I thought.

I now have big(ger) blocks of time at Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, and Jurrasic Park Discovery Centre.

Dinosaur got culled on my 3/4 UOR day, so that I could stay longer. Kali got culled on my full AK day so I could do Dinosaur. And Everest moved from AM to PM to give me more time at AKL.

I’m feeling marginally less frazzled. Marginally.

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Less frazzled is good!

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Even if it’s only marginal?

Yes! Some of the best stuff is found in the margins.

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Are you talking about Fermat’s note in the margin of Arithmetica?

Yes! You’re right! Excellent analogy!

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Haaaaa! I actually know about that one from a class in library school.

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I haven’t anything to add. I just don’t want to go out and do yardwork for a third day in a row, even though I know my yard is looking fantastic for it. I’m just sore and tired and wanting to be lazy, so I’m adding to your thread instead of changing out of church clothes and into yardwork clothes.

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But the weather here has been positively lovely since Friday so I am thankful for that.

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The weather here is lovely, too. I’ll be going out soon, having spent most of the day pruning and tweaking. The All New Plan is getting there.

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Wow. That is some plan. Do you make Touring Plans?

OK, I have to tell this joke. It isn’t really a joke, it’s just funny - and totally true. And apt after your comment.

So back in the 1960s, when the US and The Soviet Union were busy with the Space Race, NASA realised they had a problem. Ordinary pens weren’t much use whilst the astronauts were training for their missions in water tanks. They needed a pen that could write in all conditions, upside down, in water, wherever and whenever. So they spent millions developing The Space Pen. Still sells today, in museums around the world.

Russia, when faced with the same problem, used a pencil.

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The space pen is real. The story is exaggerated. Pencils were used by both countries but they could break leaving potentially dangerous debris. The guy who invented it did so at his own cost and NASA simply tested it and bought it. I realise this post comes off as a nitpicky response to a light hearted post, I don’t mean it that way honest! I love finding out the truth behind these things, the stories can sometimes end up being as fascinating if not more. For example there was a scare winding it’s way round the internet a while back about gangs of people in car parks who would offer a sample of perfume which would knock you out so they could rob you. It appears to have originated with one lady who reported being robbed in a similar way when she failed to deposit her employers money in the bank. Funnily enough no witnesses were ever found and her toxicology report came back clean.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/twistedsifter.com/2017/07/the-nasa-space-pen-story-is-false.amp

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Still working in the yard.

I hope it is a wonderful day for you. I would love to attend Disney After Hours, but it never seems to occur during our trips.

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See I can tell you are an OB nurse - two of my favorite people in my 60 year life were my OB nurses when my sons were born. I like the way you think!

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It seems like you are at risk of turning this trip into what it is you didn’t want it to be. I’m going to propose something radical here.

Drop UOR altogether from this trip. Now, if you didn’t have a trip already planned for next year, I wouldn’t make such a proposal. But this trip is not the “once in a lifetime” trip. This is the, “I want to stop and smell the roses” trip.

Yes, HP is cool at Universal and all. But it isn’t going anywhere. And, by next year, the new HP coaster should be up and running (something new to see). This year, however, you can take the time AND MONEY you devoted to UOR back and Disney. That saves a lot of money, plus gives additional time to just relax and, you know, smell the proverbial roses.

Next year, make that trip the trip about re-experiencing Universal, with a dash of Disney thrown in. But it is EXPENSIVE just to add in a day (or two) to UOR. But if you take that out and add a day (or two) back to Disney, you aren’t really adding much cost at all. In the end you’ll spend less, and end up with the trip you wanted it to be.

Okay, so you’ll miss out on Universal this year. Save it for next year.

To me, I just don’t see how it is possible to do Disney and UOR justice in the same trip unless you plan to stay for 9-10 days. We do six days at Disney, and it is barely enough. We do 4 days at UOR and it is more than enough. But this is during “off times”, when crowds are low.

I also feel that just dropping UOR for this trip alleviates the emotional tug in both directions.

Yes. I’m quite serious in this. It is what I would do if I were in your shoes. (What size shoe do you wear? Because being in your shoes might be a tad uncomfortable.)

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Gosh.

I do understand your point. And if you’d made it 126 days ago when I first started planning this trip, I may well have listened.

There are two reasons I’m not going to cancel UOR this year.

First, it’s bought and paid for. I actually paid for three days of Express Pass — which wasn’t cheap, lol — but I’ve already cut it down to two. Well, one and three-quarters.

Second, I really, really liked UOR. On average, I think the UOR rides are better — they certainly win two of my top three rides in Orlando (FOP, Spider-Man, Kong). I think WWOHP is better than Pandora, and my heart beats with excitement as much on seeing Hogwart’s Castle as it does Cindarella’s.

For me — and this will not be a universally admired view! — the strengths of WDW are: dining, and the physical environment. (And HEA, despite it being awful compared with Wishes. Apparently. Ahem.) That’s why a day spent touring the monorail hotels, ending with dinner at V&A makes absolute sense to me. Not a fast pass in sight! And no lines!

The mistake I think I’ve made — and which I’ve nearly extricated myself from — is a feeling that I must do all the WDW stuff because that’s what you have to do. I have to ride POC because it’s iconic and everyone loves it, even though it’s clearly rubbish now because of some change they made with one of the characters. Ahem.

I’ve got 7DMT at least twice and possibly three times in the schedule, despite riding it twice last year and both times thinking, “oh — is that it?” Why is it in the schedule? Because people queue for 90 minutes or more to ride it, so it must be amazing. Even though I know it’s not!

This will get me banned from this site, but if you forced me to choose between WDW and UOR, I honestly think UOR might win it.

But I don’t want to make that choice, because I’d miss out on a lot of great experiences at WDW.

The “mistake” I probably made 18 weeks ago was not planning a longer trip. That was less about money and more about not wanting to piss people off. I felt I couldn’t ask my friends to stay in my house for two weeks. I felt greedy asking my friend stay in her house in Florida again, let alone for two weeks. And I feel guilty about leaving my dog for a long time. If I could go back and change things, that’s what I’d change — I’d make it a longer trip.

I’ve felt like I’ve really lost it during the last couple of days. But what has emerged from the craziness is this: I need to be crystal clear what I really want to achieve. And things not on that list need to be mercilessly culled.

I’ve made some progress in this. For example, in my trip report about Epcot last year, I said I didn’t really get it. I want to walk round WS partly because that’s what you’re supposed to do. It’s like my analogy about art galleries I made earlier in this thread. I thought you had to give each picture equal time. You couldn’t just run to your favourite one and stare at it for ages.

So I’ve really cut down WS time. Indeed, because I’ve booked myself into YC, I’m going to spend much of the WS time at Stormalong Bay. I’ve always wanted some waterpark action in my Orlando trips. Now I’m going to have it.

But I thank you for your suggestion, because it has helped me focus on the need to be clear on my objectives.

Next year’s trip is a little different. I don’t feel I can ask my friend to use her house again, so I’m staying on property. I couldn’t stay at a budget resort — sorry, I just can’t — so I’m spending a bundle on staying at BC. Which means it’s going to be a short trip. There may well be no UOR next year. And because I’m staying at an Epcot resort, I will make a serious effort to immerse myself in WS. It’s almost like next year’s trip is part (b) of this year’s. And that’s made some of the culling easier.

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Well, good. My words served their purpose, even if not in the way I had intended! In all honesty, I don’t care what direction you choose…as long as you have the time of your life, I think we’ll all be happy. Especially @OBNurseNH. :slight_smile:

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I have one word for you.

Rain.

Yeah, yeah, people have all manner of stories of what a blast they had in the rain.

I’m not those people. If it rains, I’m not going to be a happy bunny.

I don’t mean half hour showers. But MNSSHP was a write off for me last year. I didn’t mind too much. It was my last night. I’d had a great time. But too much of that, and I’m going to throw a tantrum.

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