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25 Mar 12, 09:10 PM |
#1
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VIP Dibber
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UPDATE, It's all part of the plan...more or less pre trippie
Hello and welcome to our pre-trip for our trip May 2012. Some of you may have read my previous trip report from our trip in September 2010. (link at bottom of signature). There is one personal change for this trip, although there is still 6 of us, it is out with the old and in the with the young. My Dad will not be on this trip but our new addition Lucas (5 months at time of travel) will be with us.
I’ll start by introducing us all first then get in to all the other details. Here are the two most important people JACOB & LUCAS. They are our 2 amazing little boys. Jacob will turn 4 on this trip and his little brother Lucas was born on December 8th 2011. They are both our little miracle babies in different ways. Jacob was born after our 1st attempt at IVF treatment (after 6 years of trying). Then after a birthday weekend away last year we found out that we were pregnant again, despite thinking we could never conceive naturally. My beautiful boys It’s Jacob’s 3rd trip so he is a pro! Next is me – Kerry aka Jakes Mom. I am a 34-year-old Disney fanatic. This will be my 10th trip. I love everything about the place and nowhere else even comes close IMHO. I am the main driver in the group and assistant planner. I think I am most looking forward to going on my first Disney ride with Lucas and going on Splash Mountain with Jacob now that he is tall enough. Then there is Lee my husband and the boys Daddy. Also loves Disney and has one more trip in the bag than me as he went with his parents before we met. Lee is assistant driver (only used if we are desperate). Thinks he is chief planner hence my assistant title, but I know I am in charge really. Lee loves coasters and is looking forward to riding cheetah chase and rip ride rock it (closed last time) This is a piccie of both of us on our last trip (although I now wear contacts! ) The other 2 on the trip are Lee’s Mum and Dad (Sue & Dick) they came with us on the last trip and loved it so much they have given up their normal holiday on a cruise ship to come with us again. Sue loves meeting the characters especially Donald and Daisy. Dick loves anything he can do with Jacob but also goes on the coasters although he does say he is not doing them again.(WIMP) Now on to the plan. This has changed many times! Originally there was only going to be 3 of us on the trip. Me, Lee and Jacob. We had debated where to go for a while and in January 2011 we decided to research some where else other than Florida, before you all get angry and call me a traitor. The place we had decided to research was California. We bought books and spent hours on the Dibb. We had more or less decided on 3 weeks as we were aware there was a lot more travelling involved. We wanted to go to Disneyland, Six Flags, San Diego and Las Vegas for a few days. We had decided that Jacob was old enough and able to cope with the demands of the trip. So in March 2011 we started to obtain prices for flights and hotels etc. I work for Marriott so was working on some deals. Anyway as I said we went to Portsmouth to celebrate my birthday. Then in April, just as Lee settled down to watch the Champions League Semi Final between Chelsea and Man Utd. I told him I had done a pregnancy test, which was positive. After he had got over the shock, I sent him down to the shop to get another test to double check. He wasn’t happy about missing the match but we needed to know. That was one positive as well! We were surprised, shocked and overjoyed. We had both given up on the idea of any more children and never ever thought we would conceive naturally. After about an hour, Lee said to me ‘looks like California is on hold’. I just laughed and said Florida instead. So all part of the plan...more or less! Obviously holiday plans were put on ice for 2011 but we decided to try and go in 2012. We originally thought October/November time as this was near half term. Jacob is due to start school in September 2012 so wanted to avoid taking him out of school for any longer than 2 weeks. I've always wanted to go for Jacob’s birthday in May, by doing it this way we could celebrate his birthday in Magic Kingdom and not take him out of school. However Lee was concerned about Lucas only being 5 months old and if we could save enough money to go in May. After a lot of research and discussion, we decided to go for May 2012. The main reason behind this was flight prices. For October/November they were coming out at £600 to £650 compared to £450 in May. That would mean a saving of over £500 for us and Jacob’s first year in school would not be disrupted. Sue and Dick asked to come with us about a week before we booked the flights the only problem was that Sue did not know if she could get the time off work for our dates. We knew the Virgin sale was due to end on the 26th January, so we needed to know ASAP. Understandably Sue did not want to risk booking the flights and then having her holiday request turned down. We decided to book for the four of us and got a price of just under £450 per adult with Virgin from Manchester. Sue eventually did get the ok for her holiday but the price had gone up so they ended up booking on the same flight to Orlando but having to come back a day earlier than us. They also had to pay £475 per adult. So flights were booked. All part of the plan...more or less! Mon 7th May 11am from Manchester returning on 24th May at 8pm from Orlando. I always wanted to go for 3 weeks but could not really find accommodation to match our dates and budget so we settled for 17 days (no difference in flight prices to 14 days). Now to sort out where we were going to stay. We wanted a Villa and because we liked Sunset Lakes so much on our last visit, we wanted to go back there. Unfortunately because we were booking only 4 months out and for 17 days, which is a strange number, no one could accommodate us. However I then thought we could split our stay. I booked a lovely Dibb Villa in Sunset Lakes from 11th to 24th May (13 nights) for £1000. Shamu Sanctuary thanks to Dawn & Paul. Now I just had to sort out the first few days. We looked into hotel prices, as I mentioned I work for Marriott but couldn’t really get a good enough deal and they were all nearer international drive area and I prefer to be around the 192 area. I nearly booked 2 rooms at Serelago Suites On the 192 but then I came across Bahama Bay and the apartments. I emailed some owners for quotes and managed to book one for the 4 nights we needed for £200. (thank you Bahama Bay Lisa)This meant we had 17 nights accommodation for £1200. I was quite happy with that. It was important to me having a child so young to have kitchen facilities and the extra space was also a bonus. So with that all booked, the saving began. We have always given ourselves a year to save, so 4 months was pushing it. We have put stuff on e-bay, selling all the baby stuff we don’t need anymore and will probably do a couple of car boots before we go. The £2 tub is back in action and filling up nicely. Lee had to renew his passport, which was another £80, and Lucas needed a passport so that was £50. We all need ESTA’s as our others expired last year. These will be completed in April. The other day we booked our 7 seater mini van through Usrentacar (Dollar) £480 for unlimited drivers, all taxes and insurance and tank of fuel. This seemed to be the going rate but 2010 we managed to get a glitch rate of £220 for 2 weeks. Lee and myself are still working on our itinerary but are not far away now. Tickets will be ordered once Lee has done one of his in depth spreadsheets (he loves spreadsheets). I have found that booking later means you have to be a little more organised as you can’t keep putting things off. Jacob turns 4 on the 21st May so we are looking into a character breakfast for that (any suitable suggestions welcome). We plan to go to Legoland and visit Busch Gardens, which we didn’t do in 2010. We also plan to visit the Altamonte Mall and visit as many new restaurants as possible (Olive Garden, Cheesecake Factory, Longhorns to name but a few) I will put our itinerary on when it’s finalised. Sorry if I have rambled on a bit, I always find pre-trips go on for longer than the actual reports. I know people worry about writing trip reports and I did before writing my 1st one, however I decided the main reason for writing it was so that my family and I could look back on it and share our memories and if anyone else enjoys reading about our adventures then that’s a bonus. Thanks for reading will update soon The Moreton Family xxxx ***UPDATE 29/03/2012*** Just to update anyone that might be interested We have now purchased our park tickets, from Orlando attractions.com. We decided on: WDW 7 day base ticket = £172 per Adult £158 for Jacob and the four tops & blocks COMBO ticket = £216 per Adult and £194 for Jacob Grand Total = £1128.00 Also, forgot to mention that Jacob has been counting down to the day with his countdown chart which is absolutely loves, as you can see! I have now completed his autograph book, just need to get it printed at work and then fastened together at staples. I am also thinking about doing him a universal autograph book too, but will see how the first one goes first Have also booked our hotel for the night prior at Marriott Manchester on staff rates with parking - BONUS So I am getting there, not long to go now, I will update if anything else develops! Thanks for reading
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Kerry, Lee, Jacob and Lucas *Is this a Ride? - Trip Report September 2010 , *The Moretons Magical Memories Trip Report May 2012 *The New Thing we Did Today, May-June 2013 Trip Report *Moretons Amazing California Adventure 2015 *Chasing Sunsets, May 2017 *Four Moretons Go West EASTER 2018 *An Ice Cream a Day is the Moreton Way! May-June 2019 Edited at 12:37 PM. Reason: **UPDATE** |
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25 Mar 12, 09:17 PM |
#2
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VIP Dibber
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Sounds like you will have a fantastic time. Not long to go now.
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25 Mar 12, 09:36 PM |
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Imagineer
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Good start and look forward to reading your updates.
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25 Mar 12, 10:18 PM |
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Very Serious Dibber
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May well see you in sunset lakes lol as that's where we are staying may 6- may 20
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25 Mar 12, 10:25 PM |
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Imagineer
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Good start , as for the character breakfast , if your little one likes things like handy mannie, special agent oso , book the Hollywood and vine x
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1st time POFQ Aug/Sep 2012- 2 weeks -2nd time Rosen inn,POFQ 3 weeks-3rd time NYC,Canada,DC,Rosen inn, Coranado springs 5weeks-4th time Vegas,San Fransisco,Hollywood, Anaheim & NYC 3 weeks - 5th time,Rosen inn international,Disney all star music resort 3 weeks |
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25 Mar 12, 11:30 PM |
#6
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VIP Dibber
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Sounds great, looking forward to reading all about it.
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Even miracles take a little time - The Fairy Godmother Aug 16-Oak Island Cove/Polynesian/HRH Oct/Nov 15-Windwood Bay/AKL May 14-Calabay Park @TL/AKL Feb/Mar 13-Clear Creek Aug 11-Hotel Cheyenne DLP Mar/Apr 11-Calabay Park Apr 08-Lake Davenport Estates |
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26 Mar 12, 08:47 AM |
#7
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Imagineer
Join Date: Jun 09
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Great pre-trippy Kerry, shame we miss you by one day! Pussycat
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26 Mar 12, 09:02 AM |
#8
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Thread Starter
VIP Dibber
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Might just see you there
Great pre-trippy Kerry, shame we miss you by one day! Pussycat What a shame Selina, would have been nice to say hello Good start , as for the character breakfast , if your little one likes things like handy mannie, special agent oso , book the Hollywood and vine x Thanks for the recommendation, will have to look into this one
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Kerry, Lee, Jacob and Lucas *Is this a Ride? - Trip Report September 2010 , *The Moretons Magical Memories Trip Report May 2012 *The New Thing we Did Today, May-June 2013 Trip Report *Moretons Amazing California Adventure 2015 *Chasing Sunsets, May 2017 *Four Moretons Go West EASTER 2018 *An Ice Cream a Day is the Moreton Way! May-June 2019 |
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26 Mar 12, 09:36 AM |
#9
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Imagineer
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Great start, I'm off to read your last trip report.
Danielle x |
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26 Mar 12, 11:29 AM |
#10
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Guest
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Great pre trippy sounds like you are all going to have a fun time we always go the beginning of May for my dgs birthday and it is a lovely time to visit, looking forward to reading your next installment
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