Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Back To Disney We Go - Third Time Lucky! May/June 2021

[caitlinsmummy]

Hi and welcome to our Pre-Trip Report!

We have an Instagram and YouTube channel if you'd like to follow along with our adventures:

YouTube: HughesFamilyAdventures
Instagram: Hughesfamilyadventures18

I'll start off with a little about us for those who don't know.

We first went to our happy place as a family back in October 2018, it was the kid's first trip to Florida. I'd been previously in 2003 with my parents and Mr Grump had been in 1993 with his parents. Mr Grump was adamant it was a once in a lifetime trip, once we've been, we've done it, no need to return haha yeah right who was he kidding! We did 14 nights at Port Orleans Riverside with the DDP.

The trip report can be found HERE

Before we even left for October 2018 I found an amazing deal with Virgin Holidays for May 2019, 9 nights at Rosen Inn with flights and transfers for just over £300pp. For that price I just couldn't not book it ... I then had to tell Mr Grump what I'd done Luckily he was over the moon as it was such a bargain price. So we returned in May 2019.

This was more of a budget trip, we planned to just do Universal (we'd upgraded to annual passes for free in November 2018) we then got tickets for Discovery Cove in the Black Friday sales which included, Busch Gardens, Aquatica and SeaWorld too. I found a great deal with 20% off Disney tickets so I booked us one day tickets as a surprise as I just couldn't bear not doing Disney I then booked us one night at CBR. I revealed it to everyone the night we were going to stay at CBR. We had a fab trip and we really enjoyed spending time off site and trying so many different eateries.

The trip report for can be found HERE

When we returned we said we were going to wait until 2021 to return, but after a few months deals got the better of us and we booked up with Virgin again but this time for 19 nights with the free QSDP at Port Orleans Riverside in a Garden View room in May 2020.

Due to Covid-19 this was cancelled on the 5th May. We tried to rearrange for September but there was no availability so we cancelled and are awaiting a refund.

We already had a trip planned for 28th December 2020 - 9th January 2021. We had 2 nights at Tampa and 10 nights in a Dibb villa. We planned to just do Universal, Seaworld, Aquatica and Busch Gardens. Due to the cancellation we decided to extend this trip.24th December staying 9 nights in a Dibb villa at Emerald Island Resort, then 14 nights at Port Orleans Riverside in a preferred room. In November 2020 this was cancelled again so here we are with the most up to date Pre-Trip report for June 2021 ... hopefully

The Cast

So on our trip we have, yours truly, Kelly (33) my husband Chris (35), DD Caitlin (14) DS1 Thomas (12) DS2 Noah (8) This is the ages at time of travel .

This trip will be slightly different to our previous ones as we get to experience a villa for the first time!



A bit about us:

Myself - (Nervous Wreck) - So I'm the booker, organiser and planner and general all round stress head. I love planning and hate surprises so this is the best of both worlds for me!

There's not much to say about myself anymore, I finished my Management degree in August 2020 and graduated with a First Class Honours Degree I currently work part time for the local council. I really enjoy cross stitching, crocheting and socialising.

Excited for: Just the whole experience again, it's been way too long!

Chris - (Mr Grump) - He is the laid back one, he goes with the flow and as any hubby should, does as he's told He is no good with organisation and planning so he's happy to leave everything up to me ... let's just hope he doesn't put all the blame on me this time or he may not make it home (see the first trip report)! We nick name him Mr Grump as he's always moaning and whinging !

He is a computer engineer and enjoys films, days out walking and photography.

Excited for: The villa, he's wanted to do a villa since our first trip!

Caitlin - (Drama Llama) - Total and utter teenager, nick named the drama llama in our house (DL for short!) the world revolves around her and unless anything is to benefit her, she isn't interested

She enjoys going out with her friends, K-Pop and shopping ... she LOVES shopping. She's hoping to be able to save up lots of money for a good shopping spree when we go again ... but money burns a hole in her pocket so we shall see

Excited for: Pool and waterparks

Thomas - (Cheeky) - He's exactly like his dad, he's so laid back he's almost horizontal. He can have his moments but he is a classic middle child, sometimes we forget he's even there, he's nick named the cheeky monkey as he's too smart for his own good and has a cheeky streak in him!

He's really into computer games and space, he loves reading ... to the point we have way too many books as he reads them in a night he also likes writing stories.

Excited for: - The roller coasters, he's a total thrill seeker like mum and dad this one ... he just needs to grow a foot or so more (He's the smallest in his class by about a foot )

Noah - - Noah's the baby ... need I say anymore? He gets away with way more than he should but his little face just melts your heart.

He's a loving, funny clever little boy. He was diagnosed with Autism in April 2018 and it's been a huge learning curve for us all. We're learning how to assist his needs as best we can as well as seeing how amazing he is in learning how to deal with the difficulties he faces. He's very bright and clever, he loves Minecraft and Lego.

Excited for: The rollercoasters and pool

The Plan

Saturday 29th May 2021

Chris has a wedding on this day so it's going to be a tiring one for him! We plan to meet him at the airport hotel once he's finished (wedding is only around 10 minutes away). We haven't booked this yet, but we're thinking it'll probably be the Premier Inn or something. Ideally I'd prefer to fly the night before but the flight times don't tie in with the wedding sadly.

Sunday 30th May 2021

Early morning check in as we need to be at Newcastle Airport for 4.05am to check in for our flight to Heathrow (haven't booked these at the time of writing this!)

We will arrive at Heathrow at 7.25am. Once we've collected our luggage we're going to head for some breakfast somewhere in the airport. We can't check in for our Orlando flight until 10.25am so we sadly have a long layover.

We're flying into Orlando where will collect our car hire from Avis (Mid-Sized SUV)

We will drive to Caribbean Beach resort and get checked in for our 14 night stay.

Monday 31st May 2021

Memorial Day so not sure what we will do today as everywhere will be busy.

Tuesday 1st June 2021

Wednesday 2nd June 2021

We've booked Discovery Cove for this day through their Black Friday Deals. It was over £400 cheaper than the week when we're in the villa, so we decided to take the risk!

Thursday 3rd June 2021

Friday 4th June 2021

Saturday 5th June 20210

Sunday 6th June 2021

Monday 7th June 2021

Tuesday 8th June 2021

Wednesday 9th June 2021

Thursday 10th June 2021

Friday 11th June 2021

Saturday 12th June 2021

Sunday 13th June 2021

Check out of CBR and spend the day at a park as it will be our last park day. Check in to our villa later in the evening which is the same villa we had booked for December.

Monday 14th June 2021

Tuesday 15th June 2021

Check in to Royal Pacific at Universal for the night. Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure.

Wednesday 16th June 2021

Check out of Royal Pacific. Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure.

Thursday 17th June 2021

Friday 18th June 2021

Busch Gardens.

Saturday 19th June 2021

Check out of the villa, last minute shopping and maybe mini golf on I-Drive before getting a late lunch and heading to the airport.

Flight from Orlando - Gatwick at 7.55pm.

Sunday 20th June 2021

Arrive in Gatwick at 9.25am. Train from Gatwick to St Pancreas then Kings Cross to home.

We do have tickets for Busch Gardens and Sea World included with our Discovery Cove tickets too but we will decided closer to the time if and when we're using those.

So that's our plans for May/June 2021 ... it'll be 2 years since our last trip, fingers crossed this is third time lucky x

[Buggles94]

So lovely to see a PTR! You will love the villa stay - so relaxing and lots of space
Definitely following along and hoping we all get to our magical place ASAP!

[Elsa42]

A new Pre trip report YAY! SO glad you've rebooked and I cant wait to hear all of your plans.

What a lovely long trip you have planned and so it should be after being away for 2 years! I love CBR such a lovely resort. I'm sure you will enjoy the Villa part of the holiday too. Has the Villa been booked yet?

Look forward to hearing more

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by Buggles94

So lovely to see a PTR! You will love the villa stay - so relaxing and lots of space
Definitely following along and hoping we all get to our magical place ASAP!

See more...

Ahh thank you. I hope we will. We've decided we might see about extending the villa stay (or booking another if we can't) and reducing our stay at Disney.

I'm going to work costs out. We will have a car for the duration this time, so if we need to pay for parking (we have a disabled car parking pass) no extra magic hours, no fast passes, no dining plan, staying at CBR when we don't like the food menu (only option in our price range right now) it just doesn't seem worth the money!

But it's not something we're chewing over just yet as I'm 80% certain this trip won't happen either 🙈😂

Thank you for following along again xx

Originally Posted by Elsa42

A new Pre trip report YAY! SO glad you've rebooked and I cant wait to hear all of your plans.

What a lovely long trip you have planned and so it should be after being away for 2 years! I love CBR such a lovely resort. I'm sure you will enjoy the Villa part of the holiday too. Has the Villa been booked yet?

Look forward to hearing more

See more...

Thank you so much for following lovely. I really hope it will be! Fingers crossed everything goes ahead.

We did CBR in May 2019 for a night and it seemed like a lovely resort but having picky eaters the food court choices aren't good at all 🙈

Yes the villa is booked its the same one we had booked for this year (we should have been there now &#128557

X

[Goldia]

You've started a new pre trip. I can't tell you how much I'm hoping this trip actually goes ahead. What a year we've had! Honestly I'm keeping everything crossed for you. It looks like a great plan of three weeks away. I bet you will still struggle to fit everything in, even with all that time.

[LizzyBear]

Following I'm too scared to rebook just yet but hoping things become clearer very soon and that your holiday goes ahead with minimal restrictions, looking forward to hearing more about your plans...