1st timers Easter trip.

[gingernick]

Here is our plan for Easter. We are, Dad 41, Wife younger than me, Amy 8 and a half & Tom 6 (2 days ago). Any suggestions would be welcome.


Sat 3rd April
6:25am. Depart Man with BA, arrive LGW 07:30.
12:30pm. Depart LGW with Virgin, arrive MCO 15:40pm.
Collect hire car, depart for HIFS at LBV, let kids swim, wife unpack, wife have a cocktail or two, I’ll get basic supplies & then all to bed.

Sun 4th April
8am. PS for Breakfast with the Mouse & friends at the Contemporary.
Back to HIFS for a swim.
Shopping & dinner at Orlando Premium Outlets (Jungle Jims?).

Mon 5th April
9am. Typhoon Lagoon till 2ish. (If we last that long).
Either chill out or go to the Boardwalk for a nosey & have dinner at ESPN or Spoodles.

Tues 6th April
8am. Depart for MK, do an Unofficial Guide tour with a break at HIFS at lunchtime.
4:30pm return to MK complete tour. If kids are fine watch Spectro & Wishes.

Wed 7th April
2nd day at MK. Do what we might not of managed yesterday. (i.e. Spectro & Wishes).

Thurs 8th April
10am. Depart Orlando for Clearwater Beach & the Adams Mark Hotel. Have boat trip on either the Seascreamer or a n other.

Fri 9th April
Search beach for shells (not conch) & sharks teeth, have breakfast & leave for Orlando at lunchish. Mini (crazy) golf & dinner. (Any suggestions welcome).

Sat 10th April
8am. Check in at Portofino Bay & get FOTL passes. 9am hit IOA.
4:30pm back to P/Bay (to get out of wet clothes, re Popeye’s BRB) let kids have a swim, back to IOA for dinner at Mythos, stay at IOA until kids have had enough.

Sun 11th April
Check out of P/Bay, Hit U/Studios. If time after dinner at Nascar or Margaritaville (& kids are OK), do best of IOA.

Mon 12th April
10am. 6 hour Adventure Express Tour at Seaworld. Stay & have dinner or leave for somewhere. (Any suggestions welcome).

Tues 13th April
7am. Depart for AK, do Unofficial Guide tour, have dinner at Rainforest Cafe or elsewhere. (Any suggestions welcome).

Weds 14th April
8am. Depart for MGM. Do Unoffical Guide tour with a break at 4:10pm for Fantasmic dinner package.
7:45ish take seats for Fantasmic.

Thurs 15th April
Have a late start & depart for Seaworld. Do best of & watch fireworks.

Fri 16th April
Spend day at Discovery Cove. Take out 2nd mortgage to pay for video, photos etc. Have dinner somewhere. (Any suggestions welcome).

Sat 17th April
Have a late start & depart for Seaworld. Do best of. Return to HIFS, change clothes & depart to Downtown Disney, 6pm watch La Nouba, 8pm PS for Rainforest Café.

Sun 18th April
Check out HIFS. Go to DTD & checkin bags, depart for Seaworld. Do best of & have lunch. Return car, depart Orlando 5:50pm.

[paulac]

Looking good gingernick

Noticed you are staying at HIFS, we stayed there in 2000. Absolutely fantastic place and the free breakfast was fab.

Some mornings when the kids couldn't get up early enough, I went down and collected cereals, milk and drinks and left them to eat in the suite while DH and I went down for breakfast.

When we checked in, we had mistakenly been booked into a classic suite but it was changed straight away to a kidsuite which overlooked the family pool. (The classic suites overlook a lane pool)

We did have a bit of a problem on checking out, but that was more down to TCD I think than HIFS(our accommodation bill hadn't been paid) but it was eventually sorted and TCD compensated us for the inconvenience.

On the whole we loved the place, you will need to use your car for visiting restaurants and shops, they are not in walking distance. You should visit the crossroads area and the restaurants on Apopka-vineland Road are probably the best choice. Chilis here is our favourite.

Have a great time.

Paula

[TinkTatoo]

Sounds good and you have not tried to cram in too much for the first day or two.

Any idea's on what area or budget you want for the accomodation on the 11th and 12th??

Is this your first trip or have you been before (my guess is that you have been before :wink )

[gingernick]

Hi Paula, are the rooms overlooking the family pool the best place to be. I'd read that it can be quite noisey & a room looking onto the lake would be better? Also is it worth the long drive from LBV with all the restaurants it has to offer to go to Apoka-Vineland Rd? Many thanks.

Hi Tinktatto, this will be our 1st time. If it looks like we've been before it's because I've been reading about & planning this for months now, with a lot of help from you lovely people here & on the Dis. We are actually staying at Portofino Bay Sat the 10th April for one night for the two days of FOTL passes, then going back to HIFS.

[paulac]

Gingernick

Overlooking the family pool was ideal for us, but then our children are older than yours. They were able to go down to the pool without us and we were able to watch from the balcony outside our suite. Can't remember it being noisy.

The end of Apopka Vineland Road we liked is in LBV near the Sheraton Safari if that helps.

Paula

[paulac]

Gingernick

What information have you had regards restaurants in the area of HIFS? From what I remember there were no restaurants within walking distance.

Paua

[gingernick]

DOH!! I've only got a small map & it said Apoka-Vineland was at B3 which is way north of Universal. Did a map search on MSN & found it. Sorry. We will be driving to restaurants and I'm not bothered if they aren't at LBV. The ones I'm interested in so far are Romanos, Johnny Rockets, Jungle Jims (crossroads), Chillis, Olive Garden & Tony Romas. Need a reccomendation for a chinese & a Sea food one for my wife. I could do with some more reccomendations please.

[Muppet]

One suggestion for the day at Discovery Cove. We have spent the day there twice and have been shattered afterwards so we either have somethinh like a buffet of a takeaway back in the hotel as this will be a shattering day.

The intinery looks fab.

[paulac]

Another suggestion regards Discovery Cove.

Turn up at 8 am and book an early swim with the dolphins. That way you can enjoy the rest of your day without worring what time you have to be back for your dolphin swim. Also afternoon swims can sometimes be disrupted if there is a thunderstorm - even if it is 10 miles away everybody has to come out of the water.

Our dolphin swim was at 8.40am and it was wonderful.

Paula

[gingernick]

You've surprised me there Muppet, I thought it would be a nice relaxing day! In what way was it shattering? Is it all the swimming you do or just taxing on the mind as well.

[Muppet]

It can be relaxing but we were swimming all day, either in the lazy river of snokalling with the rays and fish. The first time we went we went to Ohanas for dinner and I fell asleep. Last year we had a buffet and I was asleep by 10.30 in the hotel room.

Its an amazing day you will treasure.

[2BoysMum&Dad]

We have booked a "swim with dolphins" ticket at Discovery Cove and all those who have been before say it is DEFINITELY worth it. If you decide to go, make sure you book in plenty of time as numbers are restricted to 1,000 a day.

Zoe.