theDIBB - He did a thing! June 2019 (updated 14/05/19)

Yup. Here we go again! For the 7th year in a row! What can I say? Stick to what ya know ;)

For those of you who don't know us already, here's a quick intro. Apologies to those sick of the sight of us :pgig:

Me. Rachael. 34. Legal PA. Massive Disney geek and planning junkie. I love everything about Florida – the food, the weather, the service, the fun! :)

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Him. Chris. 33. Wireline Supervisor in Oman (month on / month off rotation). Massive golfer and lover of chicken wings, pizza and Casey's hot dogs. Also a boat captain…. ;)

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This trip actually wasn’t planned nor expected at all. We were in Nashville in October again (sorry, no TR from this one as it was basically the same as the previous year but with 2 other folk haha) and after that we didn’t have anything else booked :( There were a few reasons for not booking anything straight away, but I won't bore you with the details. Let's just say life doesn’t always go as planned!

So, Chris was away working and we were again discussing where and when we should holiday this year. I said we should do a cheap beach holiday in June and then maybe something bigger in October in the states. Chris was very non-committal and pretty much vetoed anything I suggested which was annoying! He eventually said "I'm going to book something today and you just have to trust me". I just said ok and didn’t really think anything more if it. Chris is the definition of fickle, so I really didn’t expect what came next!

So, I was visiting my cousin that afternoon and the following WhatsApp appeared!

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So you can see where the title of this report came from! :pgig:

Eeeeeep I couldn’t believe it! Massive deposit of husband points right there! ;) And so a new countdown was born and it was soooooo small!

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Ok, so here are the important details:

Dates & Accommodation

We fly out on Monday 10th June with British Airways (EDI-LGW-MCO) and fly home on Wednesday 19th June. Yes, that is only 9 nights and that is why we are staying….

ONSITE! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek. And not just any onsite location, we are going to be staying at the Swan & Dolphin!

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Now, I know that it not a "real" Disney hotel, but we still get most of the benefits (60 day FP bookings, EMH and free theme park parking). But the thing that I am most excited for is being located on the Boardwalk and being able to walk to both DHS and Epcot! The actual dream! I can't tell you how much I hate the entrance to Epcot. The security is always rammed and I hate those leave a legacy things that just get in the damn way (I hear they are going soon though, wahoo). So, only entering from the International Gateway this trip pleases me greatly. Chris is most excited about being able to walk to the ESPN bar :pgig:

We are staying at the Dolphin side which is the bigger side with more food options etc, so that's good. I remember preferring the Dolphin side to the Swan side when we had a nosey around a few years ago (Sorry, H). I am hoping we get one of the rooms with a balcony. I'm wondering if it's worth requesting this in advance?

Oh and side note, I remember driving past (well, my Dad was driving since I was 12!) the S&D on our first ever trip in 1997 an thinking "WOW"!. So it's really quite bizarre that 22 years later I am actually gonna be staying there!

Plans

Since we are only there for 9 nights, the only theme parks we are doing will be Disney ones. No Universal this time, which is fine. As much as I love Universal, it doesn’t give me the same feels as Disney and I'm ok with skipping it.

Chris got the 14 day ultimate tickets with the BA package, so we are all set! I am having a total mare trying to link them to MDE though so I plan to phone BA tonight and sort it.

The only other plans we really have is to visit Celebration (obvs), shop a bit and maybe do Zombie Outbreak again since we had such a giggle the last time!

We did toy with the idea of going to the coast for a night, but decided since we only have 9 nights it wasn’t worth it. Typhoon Lagoon will have to do. Oh the hardship….

We also thought about going up to St. Augustine to visit Hanne again, but she is going to be at her daughter's in Alaska for the month of June, so that was that!

Pre-Travel Plans

Lastly, since we are flying from Edinburgh at early o'clock we have booked into our hotel of choice, The Marriott, for the Sunday night. We had some avios to use so I booked it using those. The parking there is so cheap too at only a tenner a week :)

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I think that is all for now, but you know I'll be back with many updates ;)

Thanks for reading x

Update No.1 - MDE linking drama, car hire cancellation and seat booking

Update No. 2 - FastPass Bookings!

Update No. 3 - Daily Plans

Update No. 4 - Another ADR, car hire and packing