Disney Free - Pre Trip Report
 

In September my husband and I will embark on a trip to Orlando and not step foot in Disney! (Never thought I would hear myself say that!)

So who are we?



We are Karl and Becca and we love Disney and theme parks

We have been together for 9 years and in that time we have had 4 trips to Disneyland Paris and this will be our third trip to Orlando. We love Orlando so much we even got married there in 2016!



We had no intentions of going on holiday this year but on the spur of the moment we decided to book a short trip to Orlando. We took the difficult decision to not do Disney as we wanted to keep costs low. Plus we were lucky enough to go to Disneyland Paris at Christmas time last year so we didn’t think we would be missing out too much.



We have booked a 9 night trip leaving Gatwick on Tuesday 3rd September staying at the Enclave Suites on I-Drive and we plan on doing Universal, Sea World and Busch Gardens. And we cannot wait!

Flights with Virgin and accommodation is all booked, all we need to do now is buy tickets, sort ESTAs and insurance then work out how much spending money we are going to take!

Less than 200 days to go!

We are doing the same thing this coming November. I've been to WDW 13 times at this stage and each time swear we will do a list of things that never get done. The Disney tickets are gone so dear at this stage that I feel almost morally obliged to be in the parks to get good value out of them LOL!

We do plan on setting foot on Disney property (Disney Springs and 2 or 3 of the hotels) but not the parks themselves. We won't be doing Universal either this time although I wouldn't rule out a Universal only trip at some stage in the future.

Right now the only "park" that's a definite is Kennedy Space Center but we might do SeaWorld also as it's quite a few years since we've been and they dress up nicely for Christmas.

The only thing I've booked so far is our condo in Bahama Bay. Our ESTAs are still in date since the last trip. We will be there for Thanksgiving so that is a first for us. Looking forward to reading about your plans and trip.

Exciting! We're heading off at that time too- on Sunday 2nd Sept :)

Hi. If you don't mind me asking, how did you book the Bahama Bay condo (what site) and what are they like (if you have stayed before). Do they have good facilities?

We are having five nights at the Enclave starting this week before going on to Tampa and Vero . No Disney this time for us either and I can't wait !

If you really think you’ll miss Disney this time you could still keep costs low by going to the Halloween party one night at magic kingdom, I think we paid £50 each last time we went.
Worth every penny.

Hello there
There are several ways to book a condo at Bahama Bay - via a tour operator, direct with an owner or direct with Wyndham Vacation Rentals at the Resort. If you book direct with an owner then you will know exactly which condo you will be getting, where it is located and what it looks like. Booking via the tour operators or WVR is also fine, but you won't know until arrival where you are.
The resort has 4 onsite pools, plus a kiddies pool and splash pad. Tennis/Basketball court, shuffle board, table tennis, walking trails and fishing dock (it's located on a nature reserve). You can see some photos here
If you have any other questions feel free to ask or PM me. Whichever way you decide to book, I'm sure you will love Bahama Bay :)

Apologies for delay in replying. We booked with DIBB member Bahama Bay Lisa who replied to you above. I can highly recommend her condo. We have stayed there twice in Nov 2018 and Dec 2017 and have booked again for Dec 2019. The location is great, car is essential. Walmart and Publix both close by as is back entrance to Disney parks via Sherberth Rd.

Onsite there are several pools the closest is just behind the building. There is a bar and restaurant onsite and a small shop. Beautiful walks around the resort and a fishing pier (well a pier anyway, not 100% sure about the fishing bit!). One of the pools, the one down by the pier/restaurant, has a sand beach area. There's also a kids splashpad and BBQ areas.