theDIBB - And Then There were Three ... The Big 18/21 May 2019

Well here we are again - we have 43 days to go, so it's time to start thinking about the Pre Trip Report.

After 2 trips where it was just the 3 of us we have branched out this year as it is a big one - the girls are turning 18 and 21!

Here are the cast:

Me, Ann, 40 something, single mum for a long time so pennies are tight. Work full time for the USVF, so get my little fix of America every day. This will be my 11th Visit

Phoebe, Eldest daughter, turning 21 while we are away. This will Be Phoebe's 12th visit

Jas(mine), youngest daughter, turning 18 while we are away. This will be Jasmine's 10th visit

2010 - I think

2008

2016

Phoe helping out - she’d love to do this at some point

More cast members to follow as the details unfold.

So, we always knew that this trip was going to happen (which is why I was a bit reluctant to go on our last minute trip last year as i didn't know if it would make this year special enough), it was just a case of getting it planned.

Phoebe sent an email to family members in April last year outlining the plans to see if anyone one would be interested in coming and we had lots of positive responses. We said we would be in touch with more details once Phoebe had her leave confirmed.

At the time Phoe worked in retail at Thomas Cook and leave requests for the following leave year had to be submitted in August. We knew that we wanted 3 weeks and we knew that we wanted my sister and her family to have the opportunity to come so had to incorporate May half term. This caused a bit of a hoo haa long before requests had to be submitted, so as August approached we double checked to see if my sister was going to be coming - if she wasn't (she wasn't) we'd bring the trip forward a week to eliminate half term.

The leave request was submitted mid August and we had to wait until 4th September until we found out - 3 weeks leave was confirmed - Saturday 4th May (May the 4th be with you) - Saturday 25th May 2019.

I started checking flights over the next few days and took the plunge on 7th September while Virgin were having a sale. I managed to get our three flights, economy outbound and Premium inbound for £1278. I was happy with this price so haven't looked at prices since!

We booked the Premier Inn North at Gatwick for the night before - 2 rooms, so no arguing about the beds!

Phoebe then sent a new email to everyone telling them our dates and we were met with stoney silence!

Within the next week we booked the car - I'm a bit worried about driving as I've only ever done one or 2 really small journeys and the last 2 trips we relied on Disney buses - and the villa followed just after that. We chose one with plenty of space hoping that some more people would eventually join us!

In October we hit our first road block - last year, Phoebe upgraded her Disney ticket to an annual pass so that we could save on the parking fees for this trip. We discovered purely by chance that annual pass holders can only hold 7 days worth of fast passes at a time. Meltdown ensued, which has only just subsided the last few days since discovering that there are a few slinky dog and Flight of Passage passes available at short notice.

November rolled round and it was ADR time - we weren't looking to book many of these. We wanted to try the new Snow white/Dwarfs character meal and Jas wanted lunch at Be our Guest after not requesting it last year as she doesn't do planning! We got a booking for Artist point for the day after we arrive but we're still not sure if we're going to keep this as the girls are not enthused by the menu. We made 3 BOG lunch reservations as at this point we didn't know our plans - we will probably end up cancelling at least one of these.

Just as Phoebe was setting off for a mini trip to DLP, she handed her notice in at Thomas Cook after accepting a job at a power company - you know what that meant - she had to once again get approval for 3 weeks leave! Luckily this was granted a few weeks after starting her new position.

Just after Christmas we had the news that the girls had been waiting for - my Mum and Dad booked! They would be joining us in the villa for 9 nights. They've had a lot on this last year and could really do with the break. My Mum was adamant that they wouldn't be doing parks but when Phoe went round for a visit, Nanny said she might just do Magic Kingdom as she liked that one, oh and the new ride and Animal Kingdom. My Dad chirps in with, I like the Toy Story ride at MGM. So before you know it they booked their tickets the night before the price went up!.

Once we discovered the issue with the AP fast passes we looked at the Early Morning Magic for Hollywood Studios - we decided that this might be the best way of making sure we did the new rides. I looked at the website every day from the beginning of December and finally on 9th February, booking for May finally opened up.

Towards the end of February Phoebe met her Dad and his Partner Teresa at the Virgin holiday shop where they booked for 2 weeks at an I-Drive hotel. The girls are pleased that they are coming as they haven't been on holiday with their Dad since 2004!

Phoebe’s best friend Sarah and her boyfriend will also be joining us - they are arriving on the 13th for 10 nights.

Both girls have decided that they want to go to the Olive Garden for their birthday dinners so we are hoping that everyone will join us for these.

So now it’s almost fastpass time and there’s lots of stress as to whether we are going to try and book everyone’s or if each group is doing their own.

We have 3 days to go until Fastpass day and are patiently waiting for our ticket code so that Jas and I can link our tickets. Phoebe has been stressing about how she is going to split her time with everyone and this has caused the eczema on her hand to flare up - those that remember her manky hand from last year, well after many, many trips to the doctors, it turned out to be eczema!

2 days ago we booked the Loews Royal Pacific hotel at Universal for one night so that we can get the express passes - we managed to get a club level room so a little bit excited about this - have also requested a rollaway bed to prevent the bed arguments! We Haven't been to Universal since 2006 - we're looking forward to the Harry Potter stuff and coasters. I'm not a huge fan of simulator rides but will brave them all once!

So we have 4 days to go! Fastpasses are all booked - couldn’t get FoP or slinky dog so will have to rope drop or try and modify. Jas was in charge of booking FPs this year as she was the only one guaranteed to be available at midday. She did a sterling job especially as the plan/instructions looked like this!

Yesterday the taxi to the airport was confirmed and contact made with the villa owner - he is currently staying in the property so hopefully everything will be ship shape when we arrive.

The Avengers - Endgame has been watched! Hoping to see this again whilst in Florida

Hair and nail appointments for myself and Phoe start today and finish on Thursday, so I guess we’re all set until pre travel day!

See you soon!