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Back to the magic at last! November 2020 Pre-Trip Report
Back to the magic at last! November 2020 - pre trip report
How this trip came about I must admit I never thought I would ever be planning another trip as my DH has no interest whatsoever in going back to Orlando! However for Christmas I received the BEST surprise EVER from my daughter with a present of a mum and daughter trip to WDW in November! She qualified as a dentist in 2018 after working really hard at school and university. She’s settled in a lovely practice and lives with her boyfriend around 45 minutes further north than where I do in Yorkshire. Obviously I’m biased but I think she is the best daughter anyone could wish for 😀 and I literally cannot wait for this trip! The reveal DD was in London with her DBF and his family for Christmas Day and they both travelled back up to us on Boxing Day. I was in the middle of veg prepping when she brought in three presents for me to open and so I told her to put them under the tree for later. She was quite insistent that I opened them though before all the rest of our family members arrived. The first gift was a Disney t-shirt, which was great as I’m always more than happy to receive Disney themed presents! Then the second parcel contained the 2020 Brit Guide to Orlando book, which was nice, but I must admit I was thinking it’s a bit pointless to have when I’m not going 😆. The final gift was a Virgin Holidays brochure, which she said to open and there was a card inside with some dates, flight times and hotel details! I think at this point I was a bit stunned and couldn’t quite take it in. After she confirmed that yes she had booked a trip for us and we were definitely going I just burst into tears as I genuinely couldn’t believe it! A bit of background We’ve been twice as a family to Orlando. The first time was Easter 2009 where myself, DH and DD plus my two sisters booked a package through Holiday Genie. We had great flights with Delta and an amazing villa at Glenbrook. We did all the Disney parks plus Seaworld and BG, plus a day trip to Mount Dora. We all loved it and even though I didn’t know much about WDW planning then we did pretty well with the fast pass system and managed to get on all the major rides. My love of Walmart and everything American began and after we returned I was desperate to get back, which we managed in June/July 2011. This trip was just me, DH and DD, and we had a flight, car and villa at Highgrove package with Thompson. This time we didn’t do Disney, but did Universal, Seaworld and BG. My main priority for that trip was anything Harry Potter related! We also visited Celebration for the first time (I want to live there!) and went to lots of offsite restaurants such as iHop and Bahama Breeze. Again it was great and I’ve been desperate to return but my DH is really not bothered at all and much prefers his summer chilled out Greek/Canaries holidays. My DD did go back in June 2019 with her DBF and his family. They stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge and I was not jealous AT ALL 😫! Introductions So the two people going on this trip are: Me: katebush95; longtime Dibber even though I don’t post much. I’m hoping with this trip booked I’ll be posting a lot more and I would LOVE to get a gold ear by the time we go 😆; I’m a little bit over 50 😫 and I love everything about Orlando, Disney and Universal. My favourite Disney movies are Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid. I love Harry Potter and am excited to see all the new developments since I was there in 2011. I have been known to be a bit of a stress head, but couldn’t possibly comment 😆. I’m so happy just to be going I don’t really mind what we do! I have ordered several dozen travel guide books though plus a planning and a trip writing notepad 😆 Here is a pic of me and DH in Rhodes last year:  DD: twenty something; Dibber, although posts even less than I do; loves all things Disney and Universal; generally much more laid back than me; not sure what her favourite movies are currently, but when she was little she must have watched Aladdin over 100 times, plus she had all the Lion King and Winnie the Pooh cuddly toys! Here she is:  Plans for this trip DD has booked us a 10 night package through Virgin Holidays. Our dates are 6th to 16th November, flying premium economy (exciting!) and staying in a Little Mermaid room at Art of Animation resort. We don’t have a car as I don’t think either of us would want to drive over there, so we’ll be getting the magical express coach from and to the airport, using Disney transportation onsite, and using Uber etc for shopping and offsite dining. I’m excited to use the Skyliner, the boats, the monorail...well everything really! We have Disney tickets and Memory Maker booked as part of the package. To do - a lot! I need to do my ESTA, DD still has hers from last June. Check travel insurance is valid as I have an annual policy with my DH. Decide whether to do an overnight stay at the airport the night before the flight. Decide whether to drive to the airport or to get the train there and a lift back. Plan a Disney itinerary - not sure when the EMH details will be out for November? Book Universal tickets - we only want to do the HP stuff really so I’m thinking a 1 day 2 park ticket booked direct but any advice would be welcome! Decide on any onsite dining we want to book - at the moment just thinking BOG for lunch and Sanaa for dinner. Decide on offsite eats - iHop, Bahama Breeze, Millers or Longhorn, Sweet Tomatoes, Cracker Barrel... Decide on evening entertainment - we will mainly go back to a park, but I’d love to do Jellyrolls one evening plus possibly see what bands are on at the House of Blues. Decide what shopping trips to plan - Walmart of course, plus what are the best malls and outlets to do nowadays? Lose 2 stone! Buy some suitable footwear for the parks - Sketchers maybe? Buy a new suitcase. There will be loads more to do, but that will do for now! I’ll update again soon and I’ll be asking loads of questions in the planning forums! Thanks for reading! |
Oh wow what an amazing christmas present and a fab trip tou have planned! Looking forward to following along:)
We really liked the I-Drive premium outlets and the Florida Mall - and have Mall of Millenia to try on our list for next time :) |
Wow, I'm so pleased for you, what a lovely gift from your daughter, you will make some fantastic memories. Happy planning, looking forward to updates Hx
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Wow what an amazing Christmas present! A lot will have changed since you last went it will be an amazing trip for you! Look forward to reading along with your pre trip report!
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Update with some plans
We’ve got our seats booked in the bubble! Yay! I’ve never flown with Virgin before and never premium economy so I’m very excited!
I’ve been reading through some of my guidebooks and the DIBB (of course) and I’ve put an initial and very very rough draft together for our holiday. This will I’m sure be changed and added to over the next few months (plus I haven't checked any of it with DD yet, so she may have a few ideas of her own :d:). Any suggestions/comments are welcome! Friday 6th November: Land around 4pm and get the Magical Express to AoA. Check-in to a Little Mermaid Room. I’ve been watching some YouTube videos and have now had a full tour of the resort and the room :grin: Apparently AoA is currently undergoing a refurb, so the rooms may look different when we get there. I think building seven looks good with views over the lake and a shortcut to the Skyliner terminal so may request that. Get changed (if the luggage has arrived) and head to Epcot for the evening via the Skyliner. Will have hopefully got FPs for some of the main rides. HarmoniUS (as I think the evening fireworks display will be by then?) and then back to AoA. Saturday 7th November: MK for rope drop – will book our FPs for late morning. Lunch offsite and then maybe back to the hotel pool for the afternoon. Evening in HS, with hopefully some extra FPs. Sunday 8th November: HS for (hopefully) EMH – aiming to do the new Star Wars attractions. I’m not a massive SW fan (I prefer Star Trek), but definitely want to do the rides. Shopping and a late lunch offsite. Back to the hotel to change and maybe Disney Springs/Boardwalk/Jelly Rolls in the evening? Monday 9th November: Epcot for rope drop. Shopping afternoon. Dinner offsite (Bahama Breeze/Millers Ale House?). Tuesday 10th November: Animal Kingdom all day. Sanaa for early dinner. Wednesday 11th November: Rest/shopping morning. Late lunch (2pm ish?) BOG then afternoon evening in MK for EMH. Thursday 12th November: Universal all day, both parks, mainly doing Harry Potter. Dinner at CityWalk. Friday 13th November: Pool/shopping day. Epcot or AK evening? Saturday 14th November: MK for Keys to the Kingdom tour (possibly). Rest/pool in the afternoon and then maybe House of Blues at night if there is a band on? Sunday 15th November: Morning HS (EMH). Lunch/shopping offsite. Evening MK. Monday 16th November: Flight home at 7pm :cry: Bag drop/check in with Virgin at DS (not sure what time we have to do this?). Would like to spend the day in a park (not sure which?). Magical Express to MCO at around 3-4pm?). That is all for now. Still haven't done much off my list above. Intending to join Slimming World this week though to make a start on losing the 2 stone :d: |
Your plans looking great! Friday the 13th defiantly do AK in the evening you’ve only got one day there so I’d plan another evening at least!
Good luck with your slimming world! I’m trying to start my fitness back up but I’m struggling with wanting to eat badly all the time 😂 hope you have better luck than me! |
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Joined SW tonight so fingers crossed :thumbs-up |
Wow what an amazing daughter you have - how lovely to plan it together too!
We will be there the same time as you (30 Oct-14 Nov), haven’t started the pre trippie as yet so will be enjoying following yours! Can’t wait for the busy day guide to be released either :) x |
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