WINNERS ARE Chiquita and Radiant! You’ve been notified and have 24 hours to respond or we’ll have to select another winner tomorrow
by Lamar Tyler
We recently returned from an amazing trip to Orlando, Florida to visit the Universal Orlando Resort. Ronnie and our oldest daughter couldn’t make the trip so I went down with my mother and our two youngest girls who are currently 3 & 4. Not only did the kids have a ball but the adults did too. I could go on and on about all of the things that I loved but decided to just sum it up with my 3 “Favorite Things” (hey Oprah isn’t using that anymore right?)
1.) Lodging: We stayed the entire week at the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel. Wow is all I can say. It felt like we were staying in an Italian village as you’ll see in the video below. The hotel is one of three on-site hotels and is definitely one of the best ways to experience Universal Orlando Resort. Two of my favorite things about staying on-site is that there’s transportation via Water Taxi to and from the parks so you don’t have to worry about how you’ll get around and all you have to do is show your hotel key for express entry to all of the rides. Believe me the express entry part is worth the stay alone.
2.) Rides: The rides are excellent for all ages. My girls had all kinds of options at both of the resort parks, Universal’s Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. What was great was that I had all kinds of great options too. I mean, if we go all of the way down to Florida daddy has to have some fun too! The mixture of adult and children rides were just right. The girls loved rides like The Cat in The Hat and Flight of the Hippogriff. I loved rides like Doctor Doom’s Fearfall and Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. We all loved the 3-D rides like The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man and The Simpson’s Ride.
3.) Grown Folks Stuff: What I mean by that is this… we’re going back on a date with just Ronnie and me. I haven’t figured out how we’re gonna swing that one yet but it has to happen LOL. Not only did they have great rides and attractions for the adults but the Universal CityWalk is a dater’s dream. There are plenty of great restaurants to choose from along with cool places to have a drink or venues to take in live music. On this trip we dined at NBA City where the food was good and I loved the atmosphere. When we do go back on a kid-less trip I’ll definitely be hitting Emeril’s and Bob Marley- A Tribute to Freedom.
Check out this video I put together from our trip then drop below for details on an amazing giveaway that will allow you to experience Universal Orlando for yourself.
GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
We’re giving away (2) four packs of 2 Day – 2 Park tickets courtesy of our friends at Universal Orlando Resort. Each package of four is valued at $539.96 USD and the winners will have until June 11, 2012 to use the tickets, or forfeit the prize. One of these lucky families could be you!
TO ENTER:
In the comments section below just tell us what you would do at Universal Orlando if you win one of the four packs of passes.
FOR EXTRA ENTRIES:
1. Join our email list here: https://blackandmarriedwithkids.fanbridge.com/
(Leave a separate comment letting us know that you did this)
2. Follow @blackandmarried and @uornews on Twitter
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3. Tweet: ” Win a 4-pack of passes to Universal Orlando Theme Parks from @blackandmarried & @uornews https://bit.ly/iBiNMo #uorfamily #giveaway ”
(Leave a separate comment letting us know that you did this)
RULES:
- Must be a US resident to win
- Contest ends on Thursday June 9th at 11:59PM.
- Two winners will be selected via Random.org and posted here on the site on Friday June 10, 2011.
- Winners will be notified via email and have 24 hours to respond or another winner will be selected.
- Tickets will be mailed on or after June 11, 2011, and will be valid until June 11, 2012.
- For complete rules click here.
Disclosure: Our trip to Universal Orlando Resort and Loews Portofino Bay Resort was an all expense paid trip provided by the resort. No monetary compensation was provided in exchange for this blog post.
For me, I recently married my best friend of 11 years on May 21, 2011. We promised our kids that we will take them a couple of places last year and never did b/c of the wedding and how expensive it became. Our kids are GREAT kids they and does very well in school, so for me I would take our kids to disney and hopefully that would replace/make-up for the places they were not able to go last year.
For me, I recently married my best friend of 11 years on May 21, 2011. We promised our kids that we will take them a couple of places last year and never did b/c of the wedding and how expensive it became. Our kids are GREAT kids they and does very well in school, so for me I would take our kids to disney and hopefully that would replace/make-up for the places they were not able to go last year.
I would take a gazzillion photos of my family enjoying every second of that trip! This time last year we were taking care of my mother-in-law at home with the help of Hospice. She had cancer and my children (then 13 & 11) were such a blessi…ng and so very helpful through that hard time in our lives. My husband… WOW! During that time I witnessed the most gentle, caring, kind & determined man make sure that his mothers last days were the best no matter the “physical cost” to him. We as a family moved through those moments because of love. I’ve never been more proud of our family.If we take that trip… Wheew! Watch out Orlando because the Williams family is going to make each moment count with nothing but joy and thankfulness!
It would be a wonderful vacation for my entire family. These past two years we have really been cutting back and not going out to eat as much as we use to nor have we gone vacation just to save money. Winning a trip would be a great way to enjoy ourselves without breaking into a bank.
My husband and I have not been able to take our kids on a family vacation. Since we got married in 2006, I can say we have been through everything you can possibly think of. But through it all we have stayed in love and happy. We asked god for a marriage that can be a testament to others. I believe we have that. We would love to for this to be our first family vacation. Our oldest daughter and myself love the rides, and of course my husband would love the NBA area, are youngest loves the cat in the hat, who she already pretends to play with on a daily basis. We would love for our children to expereince this once in a life time trip.
Now following on twitter!!
Now following on twitter!!
Now following on twitter!!
Following both @blackandmarried and @uornews on Twitter
TWEETED ~ †Win a 4-pack of passes to Universal Orlando Theme Parks from @blackandmarried & @uornews https://bit.ly/iBiNMo #uorfamily #giveaway â€
It would truly be a blessing to win this contest. First and foremost, although it sounds corny, we would have a ball and hit every ride and attraction we could. Just to take in all of the sights that the park and resort has to offer would be wonderful. This would be my family’s first real vacation together so we would enjoy every minute of it together.
If we won one of the four packs of tickets to Universal Orlando, we would have a blast!! My husband and I would take our 10 year old daughter and 11 year old little sister who stays with us during the summer to experience Orlando at it’s fullest!! We would love to ride the E.T. Adventure, based one of our loved childhood movies and see Shrek in 4-D, which I’m sure the girls would love!! We’ll experience what it’s like to be in a Tornado on the Twister…Ride It Out and enjoy the Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster. I’m sure my husband will want to eat at NBA City and enjoy all it has to offer. Since we have never been, we will take lots of pictures and post them along with frequent updates for all to follow along on the experience. We are truly anticipating the experience…It would be a family vacation to remember forever…plain and simple!!
I joined your email list @: https://blackandmarriedwithkids.fanbridge.com/
If my family and I won these tickets, we would make the most out of this vacation. I would enjoy all the sites of the park, as well as the rides. Not only will I do the family things, but since they have grown up things to do, I will definitely take full advantage of them. Winning this would really be a blessing to our family, we love anything that keeps us bonding.
I joined your email list.
I am now following @blackandmarried and @uornews on Twitter.
I tweeted †Win a 4-pack of passes to Universal Orlando Theme Parks from @blackandmarried & @uornews https://bit.ly/iBiNMo #uorfamily #giveaway â€
Followed @blackandmarried and @uornews on Twitter.
I Tweeted: “Win a 4-pack of passes to Universal Orlando Theme Parks from @blackandmarried & @uornews https://bit.ly/iBiNMo #uorfamily #giveaway”
If we win, we would have to visit the anything with SpongeBob and X-Men as our sons love those shows. We’ve been talking about what to do for a family vacation this year and this would be a great answer!
I joined the email list
If I won the passes I’d use them to surprise my son for his Fifth Birthday. He’d love to visit his “Hero’s” SpiderMan, Hulk, Harry Potter, and Spongebob. Eh, maybe, he’ll add me in there after presenting him with such a gift. At least for a day.
If I won the passes I’d use them to surprise my son for his Fifth Birthday. He’d love to visit his “Hero’s” SpiderMan, Hulk, Harry Potter, and Spongebob. Eh, maybe, he’ll add me in there after presenting him with such a gift. At least for a day.
No question, I would use two of the passes for a romantic getaway for me and the hubby and give the other two to my sister-in-law and bro-in-law. They’re both very busy and so are we. Between watching each other’s children and undertaking other family responsibilities, we two couples could both use a break.
I would love the opportunity for my husband and I to take our children there. It would also be our first vacation trip with all of us together. Aside from that, our son (7 yr) goes crazy for the Harry Potter commercials and our daughter (3 yr) loves 3-D!
Would LOVE to treat my husband and two daughters to a weekend getaway to show my appreciation for them putting up with me and my craziness (that THEY cause!) lol
Would LOVE to treat my husband and two daughters to a weekend getaway to show my appreciation for them putting up with me and my craziness (that THEY cause!) lol
Would LOVE to treat my husband and two daughters to a weekend getaway to show my appreciation for them putting up with me and my craziness (that THEY cause!) lol
everything we would do everything – but mostly probably Harry Potter World!
follow you on twitter: tiarastantrums
already follow @uornews on twitter: tiarastantrums
my tweet: https://twitter.com/tiarastantrums/statuses/79225435640172544