Porkers on tour Easter 2017 Pre Trip

[floridasarah]

Pre trip report (VERYlong)

So here we are again the 3 of us just a little older than last time. I will be 50 when we go (birthday early March) so this is kind of my big 50th Trip.


We are

Sarah (me) planner and organiser and chief obsessor. But then I am left to run everything else bills, house, etc so why not the holidays too, This is my 6th time to Florida and I need to lose nearly 3 stone before we go as I have put on so much the last few years.

Adrian DH 46 on this trip so still my toyboy even though he has more grey hair than me. My long haired lover from Bedford. This is his 7th time to Florida.

Tom DS 14 this time around his 5th time lucky boy! Hates school with a passion so if we go before the Easter hols start he will be well chuffed (at the present time he does not know about the holiday as far as I know)

So we came back from our last trip in April 2015 and for some reason I did not suffer with the Disney blues too badly, I think this is because we new we would be looking again shortly.

Anyway we had decided it was going to have to be Easter again and 2017 as I would be 50 in the early March and we were again tied to school hols as Tom would be in year 9 (3rd year to those around my age)

ACCOMMODATION


I started looking in August 2015 and I still had some on my shortlist from when we went in 2015 and we decided on a fantastic 3 bedroom on Westridge along US27. We had stayed along here in 2013 but nearer to the I4 and Westridge is around ½ way along. The deposit was only £25 a week . I wanted to pay a little extra so we would be left with only £1000 balance to pay. The owner was fantastic and very good with communication and extremely easy to deal with.

So that was one thing out of the way.

Step forward to the end of November and when chatting to our villa owner he stated he may be selling the villa before we go but would make sure our booking was honoured. My reaction was this

After hearing so many horror stories of people losing their bookings days/weeks before going, Hubby and I had a lot of thinking to do. In the end we sadly decided to cancel and look for another. The owner was fantastic and very understanding and returned the extra I had paid on the deposit only keeping the £50.

We then looked on the Dibb again and found a fantastic villa on the same community for only a little more. A 6 bedroom, with south facing pool. The new owner Julie hires it on a room basis so we would not pay the full price as we only need 2 (3 is her minimum) and the others are locked to save on cleaning.

So stress over we relaxed for Christmas.

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TICKETS

January came along and I found an offer for 5 day MYW tickets for £219 each, and valid for 2017. So I jumped at the chance and got them

Very glad I did as there was a big price hike in Feb/Mar .

These suited us fine we had these on our last trip and the plan was to do Magic Kingdom in 2 halves on 2 days as this worked out brilliantly last year and we got on so many rides with the new FP+. We would look at other tickets later in the year.

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FLIGHTS

I was itching to book flights so that I could then start looking at car hire, overnight hotel etc. On our Easter 2017 group a member stated she had got direct flights for 2 adults and 2 children for £2200 from Thomas Cook so I went on for a nosey just to see what I could get.

FF to the evening of January 19th and I had managed to book direct flights from Gatwick to Orlando for Friday 31st March returning Easter Sunday 16th April for £790 each. Now this is more than we paid last year (£586) but it is direct this time and we also get PE coming home. Seat booking was £20 each on the way out but free to select PE seats coming back. We paid on a Credit card for security. When final payment was taken it ended up as £763 each as we got Toms APD back.

My lovely Dibb villa owner was able to amend our booking dates too, which was a bonus we wouldn’t have to find a hotel either side of our original dates.

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Around our 365 day mark I started looking at new holdalls/cases to buy as Toms has a couple of holes in now and my case got damaged on our last trip. Anyway one day out with mum shopping and I came across this in our local B&M shop so just had to buy it for Tom

This then made Adrian want a new case so we spent a Saturday afternoon on t’ interwebb and got him this

And this for me ( I love purple)

Funnily enough mine was the cheapest!

They are all about the maximum size allowed by the airline. We wanted large cases because of the 32kg allowance on the way home. Lego has to be purchased when in Florida .

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GATWICK HOTEL/PARKING

I Booked Gatwick longstay parking for £96 from Thursday 30th March to Monday 17th April around £5.60 ish a day. This was through Parking 4 Less. Not bad really. We are happy with that.

Then when hotel dates came up I booked the Premier Inn at the North terminal for £63 on the Flex deal so if it becomes cheaper I will cancel and rebook. Now have this at £58 as it dropped a bit.

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So the plan is to surprise Tom when he comes home from school on the Thursday, with the car all packed up and drive and park the car at the Long stay, get the free shuttle to the south terminal and hand over our luggage at Thomas Cooks twilight check in, get the train to the north terminal and check in at the Premier Inn, then decide where to eat for the evening.

I have already started to get things together for Toms reveal I have 2 Disney Tsum Tsum,( I know he is a little old for soft toys but he still likes them)

I have a small Star Wars Lego set and a t-shirt with an American flag and eagle on. I have designed 2 vouchers for him and made up a reveal letter/poster too. I will keep an eye out for some other stuff.

This surprise will be a miracle if I can pull it off as our friends (the same ones on our last trip report) have also booked to go again, and not sure the kids will be able to keep our trip a secret.

Now all that was left to do was the Car hire and saving up for spends.

I had seen Alamo Brits had dropped their prices a bit and we got a standard SUV for the duration for £453 as apposed to £520 when I first looked. Alamp have free cancellation so when I checked in September and it had dropped to £407 I cancelled and rebooked.

Then on 3rd Sept I priced up RPR v Express passes for the 3 of us as last Easter Universal and IOA were so busy we ended up doing hardly anything on one visit.There wasn't a great deal difference in price but I factored in the parking for 2 days, travelling and also the fact we could spend and evening at City walk and do the parks in the evening. So I booked RPR for one night for £282 with Top Cashback, and Universal 2 park bonus tickets for £183 each from OrlandoAttractions, everywhere else was over £200.

All we have to do now is save as hard as we can, villa balance due 7th Febuary.

I have been stuffing money when I have some in a tin so will reveal that nearer the time.

Will update nearer the time and hopefully have an idea for a title.


****update 16/12/16*****

We have opened the tin as we came into some ppi refunds so decided to buy some dollars as the rate had gone up to $1.243 at Sainsburys with a sale on. There was £258 in the tin so we got $1000 dollars and have saved some to get some more after Christmas when we hope the rate might be better.

Also our Alamo brits price went down to £371

******update 24.2.17********

Alamo now down to £336

Have also brought a 2 attraction 360 Idrive ticket from Orlando attractions for the 3 of us.

[Loopylooloo]

Hi Sarah! Great start, I like your long haired lover from Bedford! LOL!

Your planning has been great help to me, and looks like you have an amazing trip lined up. Villa looks fantastic too.

Looking forward to sharing our hols together!

[Flojo224]

Hi Sarah

Glad you took the plunge - will be following along

So we both have toy boys - hahah

Love the suitcases - Lucas would love one, unfortunatley we made him have one of these...

I like matching suitcases and we already had two - could have been worse - ours are new this year and I had been considering pink

I joined the gym a few months ago to try and shift a bit of weight before we go! Was going well unti two weeks all inclusive - back on it now. Good luck - if you're anything like me it's hard going

I would have loved to have surprised Lucas after school on the Thursday but I'm Rubbish at keeping it from him - he knows we are going during the Easter Hols but not that we are leaving home on the Thursday - I think he will be feeling a bit ill on the Friday (according to school anyway )

looking forward to meeting you all either at the Premier Inn or on flight

[Loopylooloo]

Look at our countdowns Ladies...! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[floridasarah]

I know its so exciting. Next Friday is my first FP day.

[WileyCoyote]

Eeks, it's coming round so fast . That's great news about the car hire price coming down and how lovely to have had a ppi windfall . rPR is such a lovely resort , onsite at Universal is such a great way to do those parks.
Sounds like a fab plan ..

[Flojo224]

Originally Posted by Loopylooloo

Look at our countdowns Ladies...! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

See more...

Not long now so very excited

[Beanie1]

Hello, We are actually on your flight on 31st March. I am new and can't seem to join the Easter group. You are so organised and it is inspiring me so thank you!. x

[Flojo224]

Originally Posted by Beanie1

Hello, We are actually on your flight on 31st March. I am new and can't seem to join the Easter group. You are so organised and it is inspiring me so thank you!. x

See more...

Try this link Beanie1

https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/group.php?groupid=442

[Beanie1]

Think I've done it! Thanks so much. Actually quite addicted to Dibb. Don't know what I did with my time before I discovered it!
I am enjoying doing a plan, booking fast passes etc... not a clue what we are having for dinner this week though. All about Orlando at the moment and that's the way I like it! X