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-   -   A great big beautiful – Summer 2022 (https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1211443)

Cutiepie 8 Apr 22 03:03 PM

I’m loving the must do attractions! You have got me thinking about our summer trip, so today I booked my park tickets and booked my reservations:) although I have managed to get 2 of them the wrong way round as I was using the touring plans crowd calendar:omg: I’ll have to decide whether to change them or keep then.
I then went through the ride list for each park with Nathan. He seemed to agree to do some rides for ‘nostalgia’ that’s my excuse anyway and he didn’t see no.😂😂 Keira wasn’t here so she isn’t getting a say. Lol:d:

I do agree with your lists and some of what Kate has said! Keira would probably say the same😂

Looking forward to the next instalment.

Kelly

Goldia 8 Apr 22 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cutiepie (Post 15394393)
I’m loving the must do attractions! You have got me thinking about our summer trip, so today I booked my park tickets and booked my reservations:) although I have managed to get 2 of them the wrong way round as I was using the touring plans crowd calendar:omg: I’ll have to decide whether to change them or keep then.
I then went through the ride list for each park with Nathan. He seemed to agree to do some rides for ‘nostalgia’ that’s my excuse anyway and he didn’t see no.😂😂 Keira wasn’t here so she isn’t getting a say. Lol:d:

I do agree with your lists and some of what Kate has said! Keira would probably say the same😂

Looking forward to the next instalment.

Kelly

That's great you and Nathan had a planning session and Keira just gets to go along with the flow and do what she's told 😉 obviously that will work out fine! Lol.

After I posted the update today and was talking to Kate she said she was probably a bit harsh on some on the shows and that she wouldn't mind doing the odd one, just they wouldn't be her number 1 pick on any given day. I get it, they are the filler attractions and what we all turn to when we've become coastered out.

Goldia 9 Apr 22 05:55 PM

Must Do vs No Way Attractions – Epcot

Epcot will have two new attractions as by the time we arrive Guardians of the Galaxy will have opened :spin:. I really hope this is one that we can get on in the extra evening hours for deluxe hotel guests when we are staying at Boardwalk! Plus, there is Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure which both of us are less bothered about as we’ve done it in Paris. It’s not that it’s not good, it’s just it’s another screen based ride that isn’t a thrill ride so it’s more of the side of Meh than Must Do :blush: sorry to those of you who are die hard Remy fans, but for us it was just ok.

She’s also not bothered about any of the circle vision shows here, along with:

* Character Spot – obviously not open right now but I am hopeful that it will return. Kate’s response Meh I’m not that bothered! What? Not that bothered about meeting Mickey and Minnie? You’re joking right? Ok then we can do it as I can tell you're going to force me to anyway. You're darn tooting I am :D



I cannot wait to give Mickey and Minnie a massive hug. I'm so pleased character interactions are going back to normal.



* Living with the Land – what? It’s a boring boat ride. Oh for goodness sake, it's not just greenhouses. No you're right there's boring fish as well. Humph :nonono: :mad:



* Pixar Film Fest they’re just short movies. Fair enough, I can live without this.

* Turtle Talk with Crushit’s not as good as Laugh Floor. She’s not wrong ;)

That leaves us with the following at Epcot:

* Figment – we both love Figment, so that’s a win and we will be singing along. Ok, I’ll be singing along and she’ll be telling me to be quiet. She does like all the interactive games at the end too.



* Frozen Ever After – but this is just a boat ride? Yep, but I like it. Ok then.



* Mission: Spacebut only the good Orange ride, not the boring Green version. Right. I like the green mission around Earth too, but I'm betting she won't mind doing the green one as well as the orange. Especially if she gets to pick who does what buttons.







* Soarin’ – On our first ever trip to WDW we went to Epcot on day 1 as that was the park listed on the first day in the Little Big guide book. And Soarin over California ended up being our first ever WDW ride. It was a great eye-opener for me as I guess I’d thought it was all going to be rides like Chessington or Thorpe Park and I had no idea there were attractions like this. Definitely worth asking if we can wait for B1 for this ride so there are no feet dangling and no bendy Eiffel Tower.



* Spaceship Earth – this nearly didn’t make the cut and was on the no way list until she remembered that you get to make up your own story at the end and she likes that part of this ride





* Seas with Nemo – good news another clamshell ride made it to the list as these are my favourite rides.



* Test Trackif you let me make the car. When did we ever get to build the car? We always let you two do it.





* Three Caballeros - yes I love Donald in this ride. Me too, and it's a boat ride ;)



We didn’t talk about World Showcase, but she’s always enjoyed wandering around the different pavilions and now that she has discovered the delights of shopping I expect she will be more than happy to look in all the souvenir shops.

I doubt there will be anymore Duffy fan making stops.



I’ll do my best to force her to take some silly hat photos, but that was always more Max's thing.



Oh and my dad's forte too it would seem! :pgig:



I reckon I will have to force her to pose in places where we have photos from previous trips.

Troll photo from our first trip aged 7 and 9.



Troll photo from our last trip aged 12, 14 and 69 :pgig:



She's already said no to an autograph book.



You can't pass the drums without showing off your skills to the other guests.



And I daresay the snacks and yummy food will draw her into World Showcase and I will be able to sample some of the cocktails.


Lizzim 9 Apr 22 06:17 PM

Abby,

I know you love your children... but ruling out Living with the Land and so many of the classics in the Magic Kingdom (Jungle Cruise, Enchanted Tiki Room, Buzz) are you sure you want to take them?! ;)

I hope you somehow manage to convince them...maybe the lure of air conditioning might win them over?

Goldia 9 Apr 22 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lizzim (Post 15396078)
Abby,

I know you love your children... but ruling out Living with the Land and so many of the classics in the Magic Kingdom (Jungle Cruise, Enchanted Tiki Room, Buzz) are you sure you want to take them?! ;)

I hope you somehow manage to convince them...maybe the lure of air conditioning might win them over?

Ha ha 😂 I know who gave birth to these kids? 😆 🤣 definitely the lure of air con will win out.

Incidentally I asked Kate why she said yes to Carousel of Progress and no to others. Apparently it's because I once got her a frozen strawberry and banana drink from Auntie Gravity's and she had it while we watched the show. So, now I know how to make positive associations in her mind with the shows...

Goldia 10 Apr 22 04:07 PM

Must Do vs No Way Attractions – Animal Kingdom

At Animal Kingdom it was also pretty clear cut with what she is prepared to do and what has been cast aside.

So, it’s a big fat no to:

* Feathered Friends in Flight – I’m not too fussed about this as I have a fear of birds flying near me so this is one I’m happy to miss out on. We've seen the Up bird show before and I'm happy to consign this to the bin for now.



* Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail - She does not want to bother doing any of the trails, I was disappointed with this as I like the trails and I thought she did. What's not to like about seeing the gorillas?



* Maharajah Jungle Trek - another no.





* Rafiki’s Planet Watch - nope. It's just a petting zoo.

* Wildlife Express Train - she doesn’t want to get the train out to Rafiki’s Planet Watch.





Leaving us with all the rides and the shows that are entertaining enough for a 15 year old:

* Animation Experience – but how will you get there as you need to catch the train up to Rafiki’s? I thought I was onto a winner there when I reminded her of this. She said we can do the drawing again, but only if it doesn’t take ages to get there and it’s not too hot walking to Rafiki’s. So, I’ll just use my skills at apparating to transport us there directly and make sure it's not too hot :erm:.



* Dinosaur - yes it's great



* Expedition Everest – one of her favourite rides. I really hope the refurb of this ride isn't delayed too long. Surely this will be back up and running again by the time we go in the summer?





* Festival of the Lion King – phew as I love this show



* Flight of Passage - we have never done this as a stand by so I'm actually quite looking forward to going through the ride queue. AK is going to be our day 1 park and this will be our first ride. Fingers crossed the line won't be too long as we'll be up and out early for the early entry for resort guests.

* It’s tough to be a bug - we've got to do this at least once. Even though it is just a theatre show it's fun and the kids have always enjoyed it.

* Kali River Rapids - who doesn't love to get wet.

* Kilimanjaro Safari - definitely in the morning when the animals are just coming out. Also cos it's not too hot then either.
She doesn't like the heat.









* Na’vi River Journey - so there are some boat rides she will do.



And once again it's a no to character meets.



But an honourable mention to the barking game thing outside the Dug and Russell meet - apparently this is really good :confused2 so this is on her list of things to do.



I'm hoping the re-boot of the Nemo musical has opened by the time we get there this summer as I'd like to see this.



And that's the end of the Must do vs No way attractions at WDW. I'll have a conversation about Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure next week and post the outcomes of the that later in the week.

Next post will be the outcomes of my virtual days in WDW, I've been experimenting with fake Genie+ bookings. It's all about the stacking!

Fuellady 10 Apr 22 06:42 PM

Hi Abby, just had a massive catch up - you've been busy! I wish I could remember everything to comment on, but I can't :blush:.

The Disney cook book looks fab - and I love your baking efforts so far - the cookies look amazing!

I hope you get your Universal hotel dilemma sorted soon - it seems like you have some good options to choose from now, so I hope it all falls into place and you can get that part of your holiday sorted.

I really enjoyed reading through your yay/nay rides for each park. There does seem to be a bit of confusion as to how Kate really feels about boat rides ;). In any case, I'm glad some have been approved for you. And, thank goodness Carousel of Progress made the cut - I think I would have left her at home if it hadn't! :d:

You're obviously keeping busy with "fake" bookings etc., and hopefully this will give you some insight into how best to book Genie+ when the time comes around. I'm sure you'll make a stellar plan as always.

I'll look forward to your next planning post, and hopefully won't get so far behind next time :blush:.

Rescuer 10 Apr 22 06:55 PM

No to Buzz? What! Where’s her competitive spirit?

No to Living with the Land - I’m outraged! One of our absolute favs.

Teen logic gets me every time.

My question. To Ds - so you’ll be taking your wand and we could do spells one night - meh! Not even a sentence 😂

Goldia 10 Apr 22 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fuellady (Post 15397574)
Hi Abby, just had a massive catch up - you've been busy! I wish I could remember everything to comment on, but I can't :blush:.

The Disney cook book looks fab - and I love your baking efforts so far - the cookies look amazing!

I hope you get your Universal hotel dilemma sorted soon - it seems like you have some good options to choose from now, so I hope it all falls into place and you can get that part of your holiday sorted.

I really enjoyed reading through your yay/nay rides for each park. There does seem to be a bit of confusion as to how Kate really feels about boat rides ;). In any case, I'm glad some have been approved for you. And, thank goodness Carousel of Progress made the cut - I think I would have left her at home if it hadn't! :d:

You're obviously keeping busy with "fake" bookings etc., and hopefully this will give you some insight into how best to book Genie+ when the time comes around. I'm sure you'll make a stellar plan as always.

I'll look forward to your next planning post, and hopefully won't get so far behind next time :blush:.

I've been in the zone with all the planning and baking! LOL. I love all the research and prepping it's one of my favourite things about holidays.

Ha ha yes Kate is definitely fickle when it comes to rides she approves of and rides she doesn't. As we are in the luxurious position of having had many trips and the likelihood of many to come we can be frivolous when it comes to an itinerary and only actually do what we want, not cram everything in as it may be our last chance.

I'm looking at your countdown and hoping everything is on track for your trip. Just a month to go! That's exciting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rescuer (Post 15397599)
No to Buzz? What! Where’s her competitive spirit?

No to Living with the Land - I’m outraged! One of our absolute favs.

Teen logic gets me every time.

My question. To Ds - so you’ll be taking your wand and we could do spells one night - meh! Not even a sentence 😂

Oh I know its crazy, but then trying to see the sense in a teenagers decision making isn't so sensible either.

Funnily enough Kate was having a clear out of her bedroom and wanted to bin her interactive wand. I was flabbergasted I couldn't believe it. She said, well you can have it if you want it so much...what she didn't get was that I wanted her to want it! Lol. Teenagers who'd have em?

Goldia 12 Apr 22 01:21 PM

Updates, Updates, Updates

Universal Hotel

Finally I have some updates regarding my dilemma of where to stay for the last four days of the trip. I can report that we definitely won't be homeless. In fact for one of the days we have two hotel bookings so will have a choice of where to stay :pgig:

In the end I just couldn't justify the cost of the premier hotels at Universal for the full 4 nights. It was coming in around £400 per night on average and RPR being the cheapest of the three at around £1550 :nonono:. Crazy prices :mad: If only we had booked early like lots of you all and secured those lovely cheap-ish club level rooms...but we didn't...

So, what have I booked?

Doubletree Hilton

https://a.loveholidays.com/images/ho...840&height=577

This hotel is right next to the entrance to Universal Studio's. I've watched a few you tube videos showing the walk from the hotel, past Hard Rock Hotel to the entrance. It's supposed to be a 10 minute walk which will be perfect.

https://doubletree3.hilton.com/resou...ion_Center.jpg

Plus, the other bonus is it was less than £70 per night :thumbs-up so way cheaper than even the cheapest of the Universal hotels. I was tempted by Endless Summer, but this was still coming in at over £100 per night and the only real perk of this is the early morning entry. Given that our Universal stay will be at the end of the trip I just can't see us getting up that early after 16 days at Disney ;)

We check in to Doubletree on Friday 12th and have a 4 night stay, with check out on Tuesday 16th before our flight home.

So, we're all sorted and we can stop looking for hotels right? Nope of course not! :pgig:

I do still want to have the Express Passes. So, I've put down a £15 deposit with Travel Republic for a 1 night stay at Royal Pacific Resort. The best (cheapest) night for us is Sunday 14th August. This will give us the front of the line passes for both Sunday and Monday. I'm not sure if we will bother to stay the night or not...probably we will but at least we won't have to cart all the luggage back and forth and can leave the bulk of it at the Doubletree.

https://orlandoinformer.com/wp-conte...3903-Edit1.jpg

It's coming in at a whopping £318 for the one night. But, I'm also going to keep my eyes peeled for annual passholder rates to be released and see if we can get a slightly cheaper deal with Universal direct.

Pre Travel Day Hotel

Not content with the universal part being sorted I have also booked the Premier Inn at Gatwick's north terminal for the night before the flight.

https://dynamic-media-cdn.tripadviso...w=900&h=-1&s=1

We've stayed here before and it's so easy to just get up, walk over the road and you're there. Last time we stayed here was in 2018 we used the monorail train to get to the south terminal and it only takes a few minutes. We will have to do that again this trip too as the flights are from the south terminal.

Help needed - shopping :erm: :confused2

Right I really need the help of you lovely people as Kate would like a few shopping days this trip :erm: We're not big shoppers over here or in Florida. We haven't ever been to the outlets or to a mall :blush: I know, I know are we really tourists if we haven't done a shopping trip :omg: We don't really get that many souvenirs, in the past the kids have bought cuddly toys, but not really been bothered about anything else.

Kate is however now a fully fledged 15 year old and that means she likes shopping. By that I mean, she likes walking around H&M for hours, picking various items, trying them on in the changing room, taking them back, picking up other items, trying them on in the changing room, taking them back and then buying the first thing she saw :pgig: So, just your typical teenager then!


She asked for dollars for her birthday so she will have a stash of cash to take with her and we will do our best to pack our patience :erm:

So, I've looked at all the options and need your advice as we're pretty clueless on this front. It seems we have two outlets - Vineland and I Drive along with 2 malls - Florida and Mall at Millenia.

To help you to better advise us, in the UK Kate likes to shop in Primark and H&M she isn't really that bothered about branded clothes or trainers. So, are we best picking one of the malls over either of the outlets? If she's not bothered about designer stuff then are the outlets worth it? Which mall has the better mix of shops? Does it matter? I've had a look at fare estimates for a Lyft/Uber and the Vineland outlets seem to be closest to Disney so slightly cheaper, but if they don't have stores she will want to shop in then it's a wasted trip.

Also, I'd like to visit Wal-mart or Target to stock up on room snacks, breakfast bits and probably some sort of alcoholic beverage. Looking at google maps there are Target stores near to both the malls - is this walkable? Or are the roads not crossable by foot?

My current thoughts are to head out to do some shopping around 11ish, then have a lovely lunch at one of the chains such as Chili's, Longhorns...there seem to be a few of these sorts of places on google maps and then after lunch do our supermarket shop before returning to the resort. Can we use wi-fi at the mall/supermarket to call a Lyft for the return trip or will we need to stump up for a taxi?

What do you think is our best option?


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