theDIBB - Sun, Shrek & Missing Parents (August 2013)

Hi all,

I thought I would post my trip itinerary on here for you all to peruse. I am still finalising this plan so there are more details to be added.

Feel free to comment, make observations, give advice wherever you see fit - thanks.

Please see my DIBB plan here

I have also included a text version below, which adds a little more meat to the bones!

As you will see I have not made any eating plans yet. We will not do any ADR's as we tend not to enjoy the Disney dining experience. But I have quite a few old favourites and new restaurants to try on my Eating List.

Saturday 17th August
Take the dog to my Mums
Drive down to Heathrow in the afternoon
Airport hotel for the night

Sunday 18th August
Delta flight to Tampa via Atlanta
Pick up car from Hertz
Drive to Crystal Palms Beach Resort in Treasure Island
Now if you notice we are going against the grain and doing the coast at the beginning of our holiday and not at the end! Two reasons for this:
1. We want to get as deep into August as possible before hitting the Theme Parks hoping for lower crowd levels.
2. We were worried that the coast thing wasn't for us so wanted our holiday to end doing things we know and love!

Monday 19th August
Boat Rental for the day.
Cruise about the gulf coast and intracoastal waterways and throw in a visit to Shell Island.

Tuesday 20th August
Morning At Treasure Island Beach
After and Evening in Clearwater

Wednesday 21st August
Fort De Soto Park for the Day
Gonna do beach stuff, kayaking and biking

Thursday 22nd August
Beachy stuff in the morning
Drive to and check into Orange Tree Villa
Stock up the villa from nearby Walmart
(This means food and an inflatable Killer Whale!)

Friday 23rd August
Magic Kingdom
(This will be a full day here as we want to see Wishes, but we may 'time out' in the afternoon somewhere)

Saturday 24th August
A free day today - but will no doubt end up doing something!

Sunday 25th August
Baseball - Tampa Bay Rays vs New York Yankees
1.40PM at Tropicana Field

Monday 26th August
Blizzard Beach

Tuesday 27th August
Busch Gardens for the boys
and
Villa chill out time for the girls (My DW HATES Busch Gardens!)

Wednesday 28th August
Epcot
(Again, we are intending to be here at opening and also at the end, but we may rest inbetween)

Thursday 29th August
Hollywood Studios
(We are only going here for a couple of rides. The original plan in the beginning was to do just touch upon Disney and concentrate on the parks we did not do in 2011 but we wanted MK in and also Epcot as we love it. Then DW decided that she is going to ride RnR coaster which is a BIG deal, so I had to factor in a 3rd Disney park visit. So I have to shoehorn in a morning visit to HS for RnR (and a couple of other things we like), then off to
Typhoon Lagoon
(Figured we would hit this later in the afternoon (storms allowing) to let the crowds disperse a bit and stay until the end)

Friday 30th August
Shopping Day
(We will do all of our shopping in 1 day! This worked for us in 2011 and have scheduled to do this again. This is the first day of the Labor Day sales and there are some great bargains to be had).
Firstly - Altamonte Mall
(I will be there for opening and fighting the other shoppers for bargains in Abercrombie and Hollister!)
Then - Premium Outlets - International Drive
And lastly a quick stop off at Walmart on the way back to the villa to collect cheap souvenirs and gifts.

Saturday 31st August
Check in at Lowes RPR for 1 night for those all important FOTL passes.
Islands Of Adventure
(If we are there early enough we will hit WWOHP, if not we will have a look early evening)
(In the afternoon, the boys will stay on at IOA and hit the big rides, whilst the girls retire to the great pool at RPR)
We will eat somewhere in Citywalk tonight

Sunday 1st September
It could be a 8AM IOA visit first if we have not managed WWOHP.
Then onto Universal Studios
We will need to leave by late afternoon to pack :(

Monday 2nd September
Our last day and I am intending to make the most of it.
I have pencilled in either MK or Epcot to use our last day of our MYW passes.
So we will check out of the villa promptly and make our way to the park of choice.
Then by mid afternoon we have to make our way back to Tampa Airport for our flight home with Delta via Atlanta.