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Old 8 Apr 13, 10:48 AM  
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macchu picchu
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We created a Disney Monster! - Oct 2013 Pre-Trip Report

Right - first go at a pre-trip report! Have been to Orlando 3 times in the past, but only discovered the Dibb before the last trip (how could I be so foolish!). I've loved reading everyone else's reports, so I thought it was about time I tried one myself.

Me - 44 (just!) year old mad scientist and bag holder
DH - 41 year old coaster enthusiast
DS - 9 year old Disney Monster, also loves Universal, SeaWorld, etc

My husband and I had a 2 week holiday to Orlando (Univeral only) and St Petes in 2003, and then found out we were expecting DS when we got back! So we thought we'd take him back to Florida for 10 days in 2007 when he was three. He loved it as much as we did - especially meeting all the characters at the Disney parks!

(was going to put in some photos but my general uselessness with computers has reared its ugly head again so I'll get DH to help me later)



We went to DLP in May 2009 and had a fabulous time, staying at the Hotel New York.






And in 2011, we stayed in a villa in Orlando at Easter, this time with my parents , sister +BIL and 2 nieces.



So this year we are off to Orlando for 2 weeks in Oct, during the Scottish school holidays. We've never been at this time of year before, but we're really looking forward to things like MNSSHP and the Epcot Food & Wine festival.

So, the plan...

At this point I should say that I am slightly obsessed with planning a fantastic holiday. I can, and do, spend many hours on the Dibb reading trip reports and wandering through the forums, as well as general internet meanderings through youtube and other sites with useful info, videos etc. And I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one, as I've seen from other trip reports!

Fri 11th Oct - fly down to Manchester from Aberdeen
- Radisson Blu overnight
Sat 12th Oct - V-Room Manchester airport
- PE Virgin Atlantic VS 075
- Rosen Inn at Pointe Orlando for 14 nts
Fri 18th Oct - night at the Beach Club
Sun 20th Oct - MNSSHP
Sat 26th Oct - our anniversary
- fly Orlando - Manchester PE VS 076
Sun 27th Oct - fly Manchester to Aberdeen

So that's the bare bones of it so far. The Disney Monster and I have planning sessions in our jammies (when he isn't getting up early to play football) and we have kind of got the first week planned. Lots of early starts - may as well make the most of the jetlag - and he knows EXACTLY what rides he wants to do first in every park.

Sun 13th Oct - Universal Studios
Mon 14th Oct - SeaWorld
Tues 15th Oct - Islands of Adventure
Wed 16th Oct - Magic Kingdom
Thurs 17th Oct - Hollywood Studios
Fri 18th Oct - Epcot & Beach Club
Sat 19th Oct - no park (shopping and Cheesecake Factory)
Sun 20th Oct - MNSSHP
Mon 21st Oct - SeaWorld/Aquatica
Tues 22nd Oct - Univeral Studios
Wed 23rd Oct - Epcot
Thurs 24th Oct - Hollywood Studios & Fantasmic
Fri 25th Oct - Islands of Adventure
Sat 26th Oct - DTD and home

So, basically 2 days at each park we want to go to. Some days will be long, staying for fireworks, parades etc while with others we probably leave the park about 2 or 3pm, go back to the hotel for a swim, then dinner etc. The plan isn't set in stone and may change... who knows!

Things we've never done/experienced:
MNSSHP
Fantasmic
Illuminations
Disney hotel (1 nt at Beach Club thanks to overtime I had to do)
Dole whip
Big Thunder Mountain at night

Other things we're looking forward to:
PE - bit of a treat, had some extra pennies and got a good deal on the upgrade.
Cheesecake Factory - Disney Monster is a huge fan of The Big Bang Theory and wants to wear his Bazinga t-shirt.
Walking back to the Beach Club after Illuminations.
Stormalong Bay at the Beach Club.
Disney Monster trying out all the big rides - although he's 9, he's tall - about the size of a 11/12 year old, so he should get on everything.
Dressing up for MNSSHP.

Rides I'm going to try:
(I'm a complete wuss with most rides, the 'scariest' I've been on is Big Thunder Mountain, so this year I'm going to woman-up and try some others)
Splash Mountain
Tower of Terror
Forbidden Journey
Journey to Atlantis
Jurassic Park (have been on this before in 2003, blame this for body being in terrified state and producing Disney Monster - so may reconsider this idea!).

So, it's almost at the 180 day for ADR's - got a few places to book - then it's just a wait until May when I can book the MNSSHP tickets and then more waiting until Oct.

Hope I haven't gone on too much but it's school holidays and it's either this or housework! Will try and improves my computer skills so I can do a decent trip report when we get back, although I don't think it will be up to the standard of my favourite ones on the Dibb .

Edited at 09:47 PM. Reason: adding photos
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Old 8 Apr 13, 11:34 AM  
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JoJo88
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Sounds great, and not long to go now

Me & the hubby's first visit was before the boys came along - we stayed at St Pete's too, and I was 'allowed' to choose 3 parks to visit, so we did MK, BG & US

MNSSHP, Dole Whip & Big Thunder Mountain in the dark were all things we tried during our last trip, and we also had a walk along to the Beach Club after Epcot (although we weren't staying there).

Our weekends usual involve early starts because of football too, the things we do!

Hope you manage to get your ADRs, I've still go a little while to wait yet but I think we're only having one.

Can't wait to see some pictures

Looking forward to reading more,
Jo x
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Old 8 Apr 13, 11:42 AM  
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Col&Ali
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Helloooo

Joining in for the 'ride'

I'm a bit of a ride woose myself and have vowed to try some more this time!

Looking forward to reading some more

Ali
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Old 8 Apr 13, 12:57 PM  
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lady emz
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Great start Sounds like you have a fun packed trip planned, and I look forward to hearing all about it. October is a perfect time to go too!
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Old 8 Apr 13, 01:07 PM  
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Ooh you go when we come back! Just done my adrs, it's little things like that that make me realise it's not actually that long at all!
Am also now waiting to book mnsshp!
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Old 8 Apr 13, 04:05 PM  
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macchu picchu
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Thanks for all the comments -

JoJo88 - love your trip reports and even the Disney Monster liked my attempt at your version of Bohemian Rhapsody, although I am usually banned from singing due to complete tone deafness. And have done similar things in the last year - trip to a football stadium (in our case Man City) and Science Museum, as well as purchasing more football related items than plastic tat. For his 9th birthday we took him and 7 of his friends to an Aberdeen SPL match on the coldest Sat of the year - oh joy! At least Orlando should be warmer. Looking forward to your next posts.

Col&Ali - welcome to the Wuss Club
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Old 8 Apr 13, 09:50 PM  
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macchu picchu
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Have just worked out how to add photos - for me, that's the equivalence of a PhD in astrophysics!
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Old 9 Apr 13, 11:17 AM  
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Originally Posted by macchu picchu View Post
Thanks for all the comments -

JoJo88 - love your trip reports and even the Disney Monster liked my attempt at your version of Bohemian Rhapsody, although I am usually banned from singing due to complete tone deafness. And have done similar things in the last year - trip to a football stadium (in our case Man City) and Science Museum, as well as purchasing more football related items than plastic tat. For his 9th birthday we took him and 7 of his friends to an Aberdeen SPL match on the coldest Sat of the year - oh joy! At least Orlando should be warmer. Looking forward to your next posts.
Hi

How funny, lots of similarities! So glad you had a go at Bohemian Rhapsody, did you see my first attempt from my last trip report? I think that was the highlight of my song writing career, it's all been downhill from there.

A new post should be along soon, but with no real holiday planning taking place, I have to wait for something else to happen that I feel is worthy of writing about before I can post again! As you can tell from my previous updates, sometimes I don't even wait for that and just ramble on about nothing

Jo x

P.S. Just spotted your photos, your little boy is soooo adorable, Disney Monster or not
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Old 16 Apr 13, 08:34 AM  
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macchu picchu
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Now only 179 days to go!

So, time for some ADR's - not many as we are not staying on site.

Going to book the Biergarten for the night we are staying at the Beach Club (DH and Disney Monster will enjoy the sausage) - not been there before but it will remind me of living in Germany and going to the big beer halls in Munich.

Also going to book Mama Melroses's for the Fantasmic Dining Package - did look at the other 2 restaurants, but not really up Disney Monster's street. Just to save on queuing for Fantasmic really - not fond of a queue!

Was thinking about the Crystal Palace for breakfast, but it looks like the earliest booking is 8.05am - we really enjoy the first hour of the day in the parks, so was thinking that if breakfast isn't til 8.05, then we would not be out of there by 9. So will probably give this a miss as we only have one day in MK (although going to MNSSHP another evening).

Off to order Debenhams vouchers to pay Virgin Holidays for some of the balance of the holiday - save 11% through work. The savings will pay for lots of extras!

Happy planning to all!
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Old 16 Apr 13, 06:52 PM  
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*Lauren-J*
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Fab pre-trippie! And thought id also just say hi to a fellow aberdonian!
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