How will we cope without a stroller - Pre-Trip Report - September 2017 - Updated 11 September

[2littleboys]

Hello my fellow Dibber’s, so glad and excited to be writing up my 2nd Pre-Trip Report. After what seemed like a lifetime of waiting I was so happy when free dining was confirmed earlier in the month and then available to book last week. We now have all the pieces of the puzzle booked and its only a matter of saving our pennies for our 3rd trip to The Sunshine State.

Following on from our 2015 Trip Report, The Fleming Pram Fund Trip... Shameless Plug for our 2015 trip report here:

http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=901808

I originally didn't have a title for this trip until my update in September, but one day when pondering my park attire for the trip I thought to myself" how on earth are we going to manage without a stroller"... Since wee Lewis will now be 6 we feel that he will be far too big for a stroller so we need to toughen up and become pack horses, strollers are so reliable for carting goods, I suppose Barry is as good a substitute so theres the reason for the title of the trip report. I suppose the only bonus is no stroller parking and then trying to find it again when you exit a ride

So enough about buggys and titles and onto some information about our previous trips:

Last years holiday was the trip of a lifetime for us, despite visiting Orlando for the first time in 2010 and staying in a villa in Formosa Gardens with friends, we had our first onsite stay at Saratoga Springs last year and we are now officially onsite converted , it worked perfectly for us and I don’t know if we would do it any other way in future.

So that takes me on to the next instalment for our 2017 Trip.

Cast is exactly the same as before:

Me: Shona, age 35 (almost 36) Finance Officer with a local employability charity also chief planner, organiser, photo taker, spreadsheet maker and worrier. Lover of all things Disney and since my first onsite stay last year it has now become a way of life, I think Disney at all times of the day and class some of you wonderful Dibbers as my closest friends

My Husband Barry, age 35 and he is a foreman joiner on new build home sites, he is also carrier of bags and chief player in the pool with the kids, Barry is very laid back so very ying and yang with my obsessive worrying, Barry wasn’t as Disney obsessed as me until our trip last year and now its becoming an obsession too. When he texts me from work with “Hi, when the DDP is launched will we can book SSR” his use of lingo makes my heart burst with pride. Barry works so hard to fund our Orlando obsession to which I am eternally grateful.

DS 1 Mason: Who will be 11 at the time of this trip, lover of all rollercoasters and Disney Chicken Tenders (said they are “extraordinary”) had an amazing trip last year, at first he tried to act quite nonchalant with character meets but got caught up in the magic along with the rest of us and can’t wait to go back. I found him in his room last week making up an ADR plan… and once again that heart of mine was bursting with pride

DS2 Lewis: My baby who is almost 5 and starting school this year, I am feeling so emotional about this fact, wish I could stop him growing. Lewis will be 6 on the trip, he's a lover of Tower of Terror, he rode it 3 times last year whilst once was enough for his dear old mummy. He is also lover of the Princess’s, he showed his eye for the ladies last year and was very smitten with Belle! He was scared of some of the Universal rides though and Tough to Be a Bug could be a major no-go next time as he was terrified! The poor soul also got stung by some bees last year but was a brave wee soldier and Disney service to us after the event was amazing.

Just wanted to add this picture in from Splash Mountain last year, this photo just sums up our holiday last year... Mason and I totally wimping out and Lewis the 4 year old just loving life!

So how did this trip come about…….

Whilst there in 2015 we stated we would try our very best to return every 2 years if we could manage financially therefore we have been waiting for Free DDP launch day since we got back. We are forfeiting a holiday abroad this year (caravan at Skeggy in July instead) and are saving hard to make it a 3 week Orlando stay, we like the odd chill out/pool day but I still have the feeling that Im missing out too, so hoping 3 weeks gives us the chance to see and do more at a more relaxed pace.

Last year we stayed in SSR with free dining and also had 1 night at HRH, we loved every minute of it and just hope we can match it, if not beat it. Onsite stay with DDP is the way forward for us, we don’t like driving over there so it makes sense to take advantage of the transport, we also loved the 1 night Universal stay but did feel that 1 night wasn’t enough for us as we didn’t really get to use the hotel facilities, we spent all our time in the parks and we do like some pool time too.

We have had quite a rough start to the year as a family, my mum took really ill in January with a massive bleed on her brain and she is very lucky to be alive, she still has a load of rehabilitation in front of her. Barry's mum also has cancer but is doing well with her treatment and my poor dad has early onset Alzheimers. Things like this make you take things into perspective and realise how fragile life can be so we are making the most of every day and trying to make this trip better than the last!

After some chopping and changing our final itinerary now looks like this

Flights

17 September GLA – MCO with Thomas Cook Airlines, we flew direct with them last year too and couldn’t fault them at all, great service, food, IFE and seats. The difference in cost flying indirect doesn’t compute for us with 2 kids and with Glasgow being our nearest airport it’s a no-brainer. Our total flight cost was £2,300 but my dad retired at the end of March and as I had been looking after him whilst my mum was ill he paid for them for us, such a wonderful gesture from him and we were over the moon with the amazing gift.

Accommodation

We wanted to stay in a Club Level Room at Universal for a few days and the best deal we could get was with Travel Republic for Royal Pacific Resort, it is costing us £230 per night for the room but we felt we weren’t getting the full extras on our first night as we wouldn’t be arriving there until 6 or 7pm in the evening. After some amendments with Travel Republic our itinerary now looks like this:

17 September: 1 night Rosen Inn Pointe £42

18 September: 4 nights Royal Pacific Resort Club Level £925

22 September: 14 nights Saratoga Springs with DDP £3950

Total Holiday Cost (to us): £4917

I will need to book a transfer to Rosen Inn and buy Universal tickets but overall Im really happy with the cost for a 19 night holiday.

Im already thinking ADR’s too and yes I am standing up and admitting “My name is Shona… and I am a Disneyholic” I already have a spreadsheet planner done and have listed items for my Garden Grocer delivery.

Our definite ADR’s that we want to return to are: Be Our Guest, Ohanas, Crystal Palace and Tusker House. Some new ones I want to try are Whispering Canyon, Grand Floridian Café and Via Napoli.


Thanks for anyone that has taken the time to read and I hope to share all our plans and updates with you.

Shona xx

[joanna23]

Sounds like a wonderful trip you're planning. A very similar combination to our tried and tested formula so I'm a little biased! Great minds hey.

We've got our 4th stay coming up Club Level and I can never go back now. It's just so wonderful. Happy planning and I hope your Mums continue to recover well xx

[Elsa42]

Great start to your trip report. Its great to read another dibber who is going in 2017! I have also started to look at ADR's i just wish 180 day mark would hurry up. Look forward to your next update

[DisneyDreamer81]

We're going in September 2017 too. Was thinking of a few days at HRH but am now seriously looking into RPR after reading this

Your plans sound fabulous! Looking forward to reading more. We have a very similar list of ADRs too and I'm glad I'm not the only one who's already got a spreadsheet on the go!

[2littleboys]

Originally Posted by joanna23

Sounds like a wonderful trip you're planning. A very similar combination to our tried and tested formula so I'm a little biased! Great minds hey.

We've got our 4th stay coming up Club Level and I can never go back now. It's just so wonderful. Happy planning and I hope your Mums continue to recover well xx

See more...

Thank you so much for reading! Glad to know the formula works.. was unsure about the club level but I think for the difference in price its a no brainer x

Originally Posted by Elsa42

Great start to your trip report. Its great to read another dibber who is going in 2017! I have also started to look at ADR's i just wish 180 day mark would hurry up. Look forward to your next update

See more...

Thank you for reading, Im exactly the same, so impatient! I want everything done yesterday

Originally Posted by DisneyDreamer81

We're going in September 2017 too. Was thinking of a few days at HRH but am now seriously looking into RPR after reading this

Your plans sound fabulous! Looking forward to reading more. We have a very similar list of ADRs too and I'm glad I'm not the only one who's already got a spreadsheet on the go!

See more...

Oh I love a good spreadsheet, HRH was good but was a lot more expensive that RPR and after reading JoJo88's trip reports it really sold me on RPR! xx

[mrsdjh]

Hi

Great to read your plans - Id love to do a 3 week stay. We are of the same opinion as you, that making the most of every day is important. I hope your mothers are recovering well.

We had 3 nights at RPR this Easter and loved it but I said if we stay again Id like to do club level as I think it would be better value.

I am going to add your previous report to my list to read in between your updates!

Happy planning.

[2littleboys]

Originally Posted by mrsdjh

Hi

Great to read your plans - Id love to do a 3 week stay. We are of the same opinion as you, that making the most of every day is important. I hope your mothers are recovering well.

We had 3 nights at RPR this Easter and loved it but I said if we stay again Id like to do club level as I think it would be better value.

I am going to add your previous report to my list to read in between your updates!

Happy planning.

See more...

Thank you for reading, I actually cant believe we are going for almost 3 weeks its still trying to sink in I have been reading other peoples trip reports that go for longer and thought 3 weeks would be amazing so just thought "why the hell not - lifes too short"

Glad you liked RPR all the reviews on it seem really good, we did like HRH but couldn't justify the difference in cost xx

[smithlane]

Yay another 2017 pre trip report! You've got some great plans, we also felt 2 weeks wasn't enough last year so going for 3 next August I can't wait 😁
Looking forward to reading more about it! 😃

[2littleboys]

Originally Posted by smithlane

Yay another 2017 pre trip report! You've got some great plans, we also felt 2 weeks wasn't enough last year so going for 3 next August I can't wait 😁
Looking forward to reading more about it! 😃

See more...

Thank you for reading!

Fab that you are also going for 3 weeks too, I wish I could press the fast forward button

[EJSakaAnna]

Your plan sounds great! That photo of Lewis on Splash Mountain is brilliant