The " because I'm worth it " extravaganza Pre Trip report

[Guest]

Pre Trip Report

Were too blessed to be stressed and too anointed to be disappointed so keep any negative comments for your private messaging “hating” party


If you’re still with me then, firstly I need to apologise for the length of this in advance.


The Cast

Bev 39– The Leading Lady, H.B.I.C, Mum in a Million …..

Rob 39 – Love interest, CeO , Dad or an extra child it depends! :angry:

DS#1 (Byron)19 – Self declared south side soldier (no comment!) Swift tongue, minimal patience, younger siblings hang of his words and actually do what he says

DS#2 (Ethan)9 - Will attempt a “619” at every chance possible, main interest are WWE , Arsenal FC and imitating elder brother.

DD#3 (Elanà)5 – Has a passion 4 fashion, loves Bratz , Hello Kitty and wants to be Keisha Cole or Beyonce. Playhouse Disney and HSM are a must see for her


I need to give a big thank you to God for even making the planning of this trip possible – THANK YOU

This whole holiday came from one of those conversations where you realise someone else has been thinking the same as you, but in the hectic whirlwind of life has forgotten to bring it up.

This will be our first official family holiday ever! Along the years someone has been missing, for one reason or another. The missing family member has been Byron lately, I think he has out grown family holidays all together and I’m actually surprised he is coming.

The destination of Orlando was always on the cards for us. I must be completely honest a trip to Disney or any thing theme park based is not really me!

It is purely for the kids. E and E definitely had to visit Disney they truly deserve a treat but so do I! - Why? Because I’m a Mum and mums are worth it! ( Do you hear me Rob) So a compromise in the form of a multi centre trip was constructed.


At first our 2nd destination on the trip was going to be the Bahamas after one of my sisters gave it rave reviews and continuously dramatically divulged the luxurious stay and service she had at the "Atlantis" - We were actually a hair lengths away from booking to go there with Virgin on their pre packaged multi trip but then my DS1 suggested another island/destination.

Anyway after a long re think it became apparent that there was nothing at Atlantis that encompassed the entire vibe of the trip. I think it would have been such a come down from Disney/US for the kids that they would have hated it. The kids stuff to do was very limited and also the whole gambling/convention side of things in such a small area didn’t appeal to my maternal side.

So we opted for the Olando and Cancun ……. This is were the hard work began



Planning


The whole planning of this trip was non existent at first. Book with BA or Virgin stay at AKL and then Atlantis resort. After the rethink that drastically changed.

One of the major issues when planning was DS#1’s being deemed an adult ( he is still my lil baby). Finding room sizes and properties that could provide the features we needed. The inflexible dates from Robs employers and obviously school term dates.

I think different aspects come into play when your children’s ages differ dramatically. I sincerely doubt Byron would have slept in a themed room and I could imagine the conversations when I put over sleeping scenarios – “Did you just say sleep and sofa? Are you talking to me …” How do you mean?” lol

From this point on it is DIY. I don’t know if we have saved that much but it has been and experience! I can say that this way there should hopefully be no misunderstandings etc.

Any type of Hotel which had been our previous haunt in Orlando was out of sync with our needs in 2008. So I proceeded to look for a condo , found one very easily “Tuscana” in Davenport they had OK facilities and they were brand new offered free shuttles had a publix near by and a 3 bed was very competitively priced. Booked through a management company fronted by Kym Harris. Very easy and no hassle, paid deposit and left it at that.

The cancun part of the trip was still being negotiated. We ended up thinking of cancun because of a show on BET actually. I can't remember where I found out about the moon palace originally I think it was because it was one of virgins other options as a multi centre trip We agreed on the Moon Palace after a play ground chat with one of the other Mums, we are quite similar so I trust her judgement and start researching a bit more. Find out about Presidential suites and set about finding a member to book with as the 2 bed room suites are not available via tour operators etc.



I was starting to think we should just do Orlando as I had set my heart on a presidential. Finally we found some one called Denise from the US with a few imperial weeks to sell us. Got free mani’s pedi’s and massages included aswell as 3 rounds of golf for Rob and Byron * They don’t play but I’m sure they will try.
Managed to negotiate the price down and was sold the week at cost and she was so helpful it was unreal.

Within weeks we had the papers and everything forwarded on to us. I paid her a deposit and because I envisaged potential issues with international bank transfers. I made sure that we would not pay the remaining balance until the day we check in, I will ring the bank and get them to release the majority of the funds to her.


Condo sorted it was now time to find flights. I had played around with dates before so I was aware that there was ample flights around the time for me to go ahead and book the property before hand. Decided to watch flight prices for a few weeks , I delegated that to Byron about a week and a half later we had sourced the exact flights set up we wanted and everything was perfect. LGW- BA or VA to MCO, MCO - JB to CUN and then VA or BA back to LGW.

2 days later the prices had increased significantly. We didn’t hang about to much after that . Booked with BA and declared that we would not check prices again. To ensure no disappointment would arise from missing out on a bargain. When the sale prices were released they were still around the same price so “ it was all good”



Minor alterations

It was around the time that we booked the flight that I found out about the dibb via a post on tripadvisor. I was looking for some info regarding some non expiry tickets from 95 and boy did I get a lot more info the I bargained for.

First off after a few posted I was heavily tempted to drop tuscana as a place to stay. The reason behind this was purely because of the lack of information surrounding tuscana and also its proximity to ID. Also some of the villas look so amazing , sadly a lot of the villa which everyone really liked were all booked up way in advance so we opted to stay with Kym and have her move our deposit over to a 4 bedroom executive plus villa AOA , I know it’s luck of the draw what you get but whatever happens we always have a week of 5 star pampering to look forward too

Another alteration was hiring a car. The first time we visited I was mis sold a hire car by a holiday company. In the end we just never took it and got on fine since then we had always managed on ID with shuttles ,taxis etc. Because the family has grown so much we opted to hire a dodge Durango. Managed to get a price match from car hire 3000 on a price from usrentacar and got them to throw in a sat nav at a reduced price. Because I have never driven in the states or an automatic I decided to book a hour lesson just so that I am relatively prepared when we get to Alamo , its only £18 and I need to confident with all the precious cargo I’m carrying.

*********************************************

Major Alteration

Rob and I have had our fair share of ups and downs and have grown up a lot since DS1 , we had always said we never believed in bits of paper etc etc. Any way the night we went to see Chris Rock at the 02 he proposed and now were getting married out in Cancun ! This is not a major alteration this is a whole different garment now. Byron knew the proposal was coming which is why he was coming on this trip see I told you something was strange him wanting to come on this one.

*********************************************

Extras.


US and IOA 7 day unlimited brought preprinted and in folder

Zip code list sorted for a few places just incase they are not on sat nav

Already with nationwide but got a few fairfx cards

Still don’t know where Thomas (Cat) is going to stay whilst we are gone

Bringing extra suit case but still only brining 6 out of a potential 10

Going to have to purchase Disney tickets on gate because of old non expiry ones . Just going to hope for the best

Following the whole dibb interactive dining plan selection process we are going to endeavour to eat on all the places put forward by Janesi

Great help from BA’s special assistance team. No hassle and superb service thus far



Thomas the cat.

Poor thomas had to get neutered before any catteries would take him. .


Anyway Thomas will be staying at the "Oakley Hotel for cats" which isnt to far from and us and guess what ... even the cat will visit disney in some sort of way ...



We embrace a 'Walt Disney' theme throughout the hotel blocks and appartments, adding colour and vibrancy to bring a bit of Magic to your Cats stay.



Mini Itinerary (Olrando)


Mon - Wal-Mart for camcorder and food for the villa and then out for Dinner and back to the pool

Tues – MK and DHS

Wed – Water Park and Shopping then Dinner on City walk

Thurs - US and IOA

Friday – AK and either MK DHS

Sat – US and IOA

Sun – Shopping pool packing

This is very flexible and will probably be nothing like the real event.


I know I have forgotten stuff , but I will update as things come to me

[tinkerbell15]

I like your attention to detail - looking forward to your trippie.

Have a good time

[Guest]

Oooo another trippie cant wait sounds a good one

[Guest]

firstly congrats on the engagement

Looking forward to your trip reports

[TinkTatoo]

Originally Posted by KINGPIN

... Were too blessed to be stressed and too anointed to be disappointed so keep any negative comments for your private messaging “hating” party

See more...

Love it

*********************************************

Major Alteration

Rob and I have had our fair share of ups and downs and have grown up a lot since DS1 , we had always said we never believed in bits of paper etc etc. Any way the night we went to see Chris Rock at the 02 he proposed and now were getting married out in Cancun ! This is not a major alteration this is a whole different garment now. Byron knew the proposal was coming which is why he was coming on this trip see I told you something was strange him wanting to come on this one.

*********************************************

See more...

Wow - that is one major alteration

Sounds like you're going to have a great trip and I'm looking forward to hearing all about it

[BarryandCaron]

Great pre-trippie, I'm looking forward to reading your full report

Caron

[Guest]

Looking forward to the trippie on this one - have a great day

[Guest]

WOW! Sounds like a great deal of planning has gone into this trip... the wedding will be fabulous in Cancun what a lovely setting.
Looking forward to reading the rest of your reports.

[Strommie]

Great pre-trippie, and congratulations on your engagement

[Guest]

Congratulations on your Engagment.

I love your attention to detail, looking forward to reading more.