Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Back To Disney We Go - Christmas and New Year 2020 - CANCELLED

[Th1nkT1nk]

Oh wow 😍 that sounds sooo amazing! How exciting to be double trip planning my planning head would go into overdrive! It’s definitely on my ‘wish list’ to go around xmas / new year... and how lovely to keep it as a Christmas reveal... good luck!

[Mad Hatters]

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

We have a family history of heart issues, my nana had a triple heart bypass in her late 50s and was in the final stages of heart failure for 7 years before she passed away in July at 85. My grandad died of heart failure at 85 too and my dad passed away with hypertensive heart disease (undetected) at 45 so any heart issues have me panicking even more.

Really? That's such a shame I hope the medication helps you but that's brilliant that it's improved, must be such a worry for you all. I hope it continues to improve, I'll keep everything crossed for you x

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Sorry to hear of all those issues in the family. There is a long line of it in my family too.

Thanks it's much appreciated. I must admit, Grace gets more worried about it than I do. Nothing I can really do, just follow what I'm told and take my meds haha.

[Mad Hatters]

I'm so envious of you having 2 trips to look forward to haha that's brilliant.

[vampiress88]

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

As you may or may not know, we now have ANOTHER countdown ... for December 2020

I was at Uni on Monday and hit a complete block with my work so I was procrastinating and browsing FB on my phone I seen a post on a Orlando FB group that said someone was contemplating flights to Tampa in 27th December - 7th Janaury for £1100 for 2 adults and 3 children ... obviously I had to jump on and have a look. I took a screenshot and sent it Chris half expecting him to say no. I used the caption of

"Are we booking up?! It'll come out of next years holidays allowance so you wouldn't need to worry about that x"

With us going for 19 nights in May he's using 3 weeks holiday so has been conscious he won't have many left. Expecting him to shoot me down he commented how cheap it was and asked a few questions and started looking himself

I met up with a lovely girl from our Disney Instagram at Starbucks so I was late getting in. Once I did we sat and chatted about it and Mr Grump said it would be best if we came back at the weekend if the price wasn't much different as it would give us 12 nights instead of 10



We had settled on 28th December as it was slightly cheaper than 27th plus it gives us Boxing Day to get everything sorted before have to travel to the airport. We wanted to return 9th January, however flights were only released until 8th. After a bit of googling I seen that BA release their flights 355 days before so that night at midnight the 8th prices would be released. I poised myself to the chair and we stayed up till midnight.

Midnight came and went and nothing ... 12.15am ... nothing. I was getting annoyed and I was so tired after a long day at Uni, I thought I'll do one last check before we go to bed and they had been released

We settled on a FlyDrive as:

a) We need a car anyway
b) You can pay a deposit rather than paying the flights up front

The flights were around £1200, we then added on the car hire with Avis. We've gone for a Intermediate SUV (same as what we had in May) and it's worked out at £1500 for the 5 of us for flights and car hire for 12 nights

This is more than our bargain deal in May last year (£1500 for 9 nights, flights and accommodation and airport transfers) but it is over New Year and longer duration, plus including car hire so it's still an amazing deal.

We've upgraded our Universal passes so we have access to Universal till May 2021 so no need for those tickets. Although Chris and the kid's passes are Seasonal passes which means we can't use them until the 4th January but we're fine with that as we still have 5 days to use them.

We ummed and ahhed about Disney but in the end came to the decision that we can't justify the cost of the tickets, particularly when we're spending 19 nights there in May so we won't be purchasing Disney tickets. Instead we'll head to Disney Springs and do the Christmas Tree Trail. On 30th December we'll park at Disney Springs and get a bus to the Poly or the GF where we'll get a quick service meal and get a spot on the beach to watch the NYE fireworks at MK (they do them 30th and 31st)

Mr Grump really wanted to do Busch Gardens this time but we decided not to, so we plan to get the SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and Aquatica 14 day tickets (with free parking).

We've now struck Wild Florida off the itinerary in May and decided to do it in December/January instead.

So 27th December around lunchtime we're getting a train from Darlington Station to London Kings Cross, then the tube from St Pancreas straight to Gatwick. We've provisionally booked the Premier Inn South Hotel, but we're waiting to see what the prices of the Travelodge are when released. We'll twilight check in our cases then get the shuttle to our hotel and have dinner.

Flight is 12.30pm on 28th from Gatwick to Tampa, arriving in Tampa at 5.25pm. As we wanted to do Busch Gardens anyway it made more sense to book into a hotel in Tampa for 2 nights than drive back from Orlando. We've booked the Baymont by Wyndham which is right next to Busch Gardens, it provides a free breakfast and free shuttle to Busch Gardens.

29th December - Busch Gardens for the day

30th December - Busch Gardens morning, around 2pm we're going to drive to Orlando, pop to WalMart and get a big shop then go and check in to our Dibb Villa. We've booked a 4 bed villa in Emerald Island, it looks amazing. I'll get some pics up when I start the new trip report but it's honestly stunning. We'll unpack then head to Disney Springs for 6/7pm and make our way to the GF or Poly for QS meals and fireworks on the beach.

We haven't really got any plans for the rest of the holiday yet, but I imagine it will involve shopping, a day at SeaWorld, a day at Aquatica and Wild Florida. We will then do 3-4 days at Universal as we aren't booking a hotel for Express Passes this time.

We fly back from Tampa 9th January 2021 at 7.30pm, arriving in Gatwick at 8.25am. We'll then get the Gatwick Express from the airport to St Pancreas, then the train back to Darlington (hoping we'll manage a couple of hours sleep on the train back!

So there we have it, another total bargain We haven't told the kids and don't intend to either. We're going to reveal to them on Christmas Day, I'm hoping having a couple of days to get his head round it will be better for Noah than the reveal on the actual day in May when he threw up, poor baby x

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I must be doing something wrong as I’ve put in Gatwick 28th dec to 9th jan flying into Tampa and it’s just over £4K for the 4 of us

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by D1sn3yf4n

I’ve just checked and there is a train that goes from st Pancras to Gatwick it’s just not the Gatwick express! Sorry if I confused you!

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Phew I was getting panicked a little there. TBF we've got 10 months to plan it really x

Originally Posted by Wismgari

Arghhhhh another trip! Not jealous honest... It sounds amazing!

We flew from Gatwick a couple of times when we travelled down on the train from Durham - you want the Thameslink train from St Pancreas They run pretty frequently (but don't terminate at Gatwick so just check which one you need in advance). They are nice trains and a decent price too

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Thank you, I honestly didn't think Mr Grump would go for it but I think the lure of a villa and cheap flights sealed it for him That's great thank you, we can't book trains till about 12 weeks before anyway so we're going to set up alerts for when they're released and get them booked straight away so we know they're done x

Originally Posted by Th1nkT1nk

Oh wow 😍 that sounds sooo amazing! How exciting to be double trip planning my planning head would go into overdrive! It’s definitely on my ‘wish list’ to go around xmas / new year... and how lovely to keep it as a Christmas reveal... good luck!

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I can't wait Luckily there won't be too much planning on that trip (so she says ) We have wanted to do Christmas as when I first went with my parents we did Christmas and it was amazing, we caught a bit of the Christmas decs on our trip in November 2018 but not the full on Christmas feel. I think we'll probably do some resort hoping on our 'chill' days, pop to the GF and see the Gingerbread house and some of the decorations in resorts. I just hope we can keep it a secret till then x

Originally Posted by Mad Hatters

Sorry to hear of all those issues in the family. There is a long line of it in my family too.

Thanks it's much appreciated. I must admit, Grace gets more worried about it than I do. Nothing I can really do, just follow what I'm told and take my meds haha. I'm so envious of you having 2 trips to look forward to haha that's brilliant.

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Darn these families As long as you do! I have a feeling the consultant will put me back on the meds again on Monday We just couldn't say no at that price have you got the next one planned yet? X

Originally Posted by vampiress88

I must be doing something wrong as I’ve put in Gatwick 28th dec to 9th jan flying into Tampa and it’s just over £4K for the 4 of us

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We booked it on Monday/Tuesday, we checked the prices last night and for the same package we got it was over £5k so we've hit on just right.

x

[vampiress88]

It’s mad that prices can change so quickly

[3disneykids]

Ahh that's lovely another trip and what a bargain.. I wish I wasn't so picky about airports etc TC used to provide us bargain flights from Man an that is no more.

'We aren't going next year' is what we keep saying translate to we aren't going to Disney we still haven't done universal yet so I guess that there will hopefully be a bargain trip.

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by vampiress88

It’s mad that prices can change so quickly

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It really is, if you see a good price you need to jump on it. It was the same with our May 2019 trip the following day it shot up by £3500! I hope you manage to find a bargain x

Originally Posted by 3disneykids

Ahh that's lovely another trip and what a bargain.. I wish I wasn't so picky about airports etc TC used to provide us bargain flights from Man an that is no more.

'We aren't going next year' is what we keep saying translate to we aren't going to Disney we still haven't done universal yet so I guess that there will hopefully be a bargain trip.

Enjoying the vlogs, nice to put a face to the Dibber as well, You a lovely family x

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TBH Mr Grump is quite picky with airports and he really didn't want to have to get a train but at that price we couldn't leave it I'm sure the train will be fine and the journey won't be too bad.

Oh really! You shouldn't definitely do a Universal trip, it is so much cheaper ... one the reasons we aren't doing Disney on the December trip. It would be around £2000 for Disney tickets alone and we just can't justify it, particularly when we know it will be so busy before New Year and just after.

Thank you, Chris is just on editing Day 4, he's hoping to get it uploaded tonight, so fingers crossed xx

[3disneykids]

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

It really is, if you see a good price you need to jump on it. It was the same with our May 2019 trip the following day it shot up by £3500! I hope you manage to find a bargain x



TBH Mr Grump is quite picky with airports and he really didn't want to have to get a train but at that price we couldn't leave it I'm sure the train will be fine and the journey won't be too bad.

Oh really! You shouldn't definitely do a Universal trip, it is so much cheaper ... one the reasons we aren't doing Disney on the December trip. It would be around £2000 for Disney tickets alone and we just can't justify it, particularly when we know it will be so busy before New Year and just after.

Thank you, Chris is just on editing Day 4, he's hoping to get it uploaded tonight, so fingers crossed xx

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Yes I know universal is cheaper, We did our once in a lifetime offsite Disney only... and do universal next time but I stalked the dibb and found out about free dine so there came our second trip...booked in our maybe third trip and before we knew it another Disney trip
We added an extra week and contemplated Universal but the cost of tickets and hotel meant we ended up with sea world instead. (Still a brave move more me ). It really feels that Universal should happen and some point it feels unfair to leave it out any excuse to get back to Florida

[caitlinsmummy]

Snack List Is Complete - Almost

I have finally finished the snack list, although I'm sure throughout the year with the seasonal additions we'll be adding to it but at least we have a rough idea of what we'd like to try. Now some are old, some are new but we hope to get through them all ... after all we have 19 nights this time! So we'll start off park by park.

Magic Kingdom

Plaza Ice Cream - Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich - we intended on trying this last time but just didn't get round to it. Seeing it feature so many times in Abby's (Goldia) report it's a definite MUST try for this time

Adventureland - Cheeseburger Spring Rolls + Philly Cheesesteak - now we tried the cheeseburger ones in 2018. Mr Grump liked them ... I found them greasy, but after seeing so many rave reviews we're willing to give them another go, but they aren't high on the list of must trys ... although if they have the philly cheesesteak ones that will be a definite

Friars Nook - Loaded Buffalo Chicken Tater Tots Creamy Bacon Macaroni & Cheese Tots - We've seen these on the DFB quite a lot, I'm not sure it'll be to my tastes but Mr Grump definitely wants to try them so these are a MUST... the kid's won't entertain them at all

Gastons Tavern - Cinnamon Roll - I wanted to try this in 2018 but with everyone's aversion so strong towards cinnamon I didn't get it for myself as I was never hungry enough. I think this is going to be a MUST for me this time ... they never know, they might actually like it after all!

Sunshine Terrace - I Lava You Float - I have a feeling this a seasonal ice cream but hopefully it'll still be available when we go, it'll probably be something we share as none of us are huge ice cream fans but it looks great and the reviews seem good too. I wouldn't say it's a must for us but maybe if we fancy a cool down one afternoon in MK

Cheshire Cat Cafe - Cheshire Cats Tail - if you read my previous report you'll know I LOVED this. I've popped it on the list again, but it's not going on the must do list. There are so many lovely treats in MK we want to try as well as QS I'd rather forgo this to try others

Lunching Pad - Cream Cheese Pretzel - another snack I seen on the DFB. It doesn't feel like a snack we HAVE to try but it's there if we do decide to

Pinocchio Village Haus - Tangled Wall Éclair - now this is a MUST! After seeing it in Colette's (CollyBird) dining report we need to try it, even if it's just for the Insta photo

Sleepy Hollow - Mickey Waffle and Funnel Cake - another that was on our list last time that we just didn't get chance to try (although we did try the funnel cake in Epcot) it's not something I felt we must have ... but I have pencilled it in as a breakfast one morning on our MK day so we will most likely have this

Storybook Treats - Arendale Aqua Cone - in May 2019 we weren't massive fans of the Peter Pan Float and the Tangled Cone but obviously we need to give this a try again ... although I think it may not be available by the time we go. It's fab for Insta photos so if it is available it will be a MUST

Casey's Corner - Bacon Mac N Cheese Fries - Mr Grump went mad when he seen these on DFB so they are a definite MUSTtry for us

Golden Oaks Outpost - Loaded Waffle Fries and Onion Rings - From what I've read Golden Oaks is very hit and miss with opening times. If this is open we would love to try these so I'll pop it down as a MUST

14 POTENTIAL SNACKS

Animal Kingdom


Harambe Market - Shaved Ice - we have this more for the kids as they love ice (although not too keen on ice cream ) but we also have it from the Japan Pavillion in Epcot so we'll probably only try it either there or here but it is a MUST

Eight Spoon Café - Baked Macaroni & Cheese with Pulled Pork and Baked Macaroni & Cheese with Shrimp and Sweet Chili Sauce - I think this may have been on our list last time but everytime we walked past Eight Spoon it was closed This is more for Mr Grump than me as I don't like pork or shrimp but it is a MUST for him

Isle of Java - Tiger Tail - I know this is similar to the Cheshire Cat Tail but it's still different so this is a MUST for me (and hopefully get my Cheshire Cat Tail fix )

Tamu Tamu - Simba Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich - I have a feeling we'll be getting a lot of ice cream sandwiches this trip but this is a must if only for the Insta photo

Night Blossom - Pongu Pongu - now we have tried this in 2018, twice in fact and we really enjoyed it so it's a definite MUST for this trip as it's so refreshing

Yak N Yeti Café - Mango Pie - We've seen this in lots of vlogs and on the DFB too and it looks so nice so is a definite MUST for us. Now we do have an ADR at Yak N Yeti but there are other desserts I'd like to try so we'll stick with this as a snack credit

7 POTENTIAL SNACKS

Hollywood Studios

ABC Commissary - Shortcake Verrine and Smores Cookie - The verrine is for Mr Grump and the cookie for me and the kids we all liked the look of this so think we'll probably get a couple to share and is a MUST

Neighbourhood Bakery -Key Lime Pie on A Stick - This is for Mr Grump, he tried Key Lime Pie at Longhorns last time we went and he was so excited when he seen this on DFB. I don't like lime so it'll be all for him it's on his MUST list

Hollywood Scoops - Apple Crisp à la Mode - This is something I really liked the look and sound of but I think it'll be similar to the one I had at the POR food court in 2018 so it isn't a must

Neighbourhood Bakery - Fro-Zone Slushes - We're still undecided about these slushes I have a feeling we won't like the flavours so it isn't on the must list

Neighbourhood Bakery - Jack Jack Coookie Num Num - Now this is a must, we've seen it on so many vlogs and we'd like to try it purely for the size. Noah said he wanted one for himself so this is a definite MUST for us

Woody's Lunchbox - Lunchbox Tarts - now we kind of tried to try the nutella one in 2018 ... but it ended up being left on the pushchair and forgotten about so it's a definite MUST try this time, in hopefully 2 different flavours

9 POTENTIAL SNACKS

Epcot

Now when we visit it will be the Flower and Garden Festival so there will be so much more available ... in fact I haven't checked since I've been doing this but the booths might have been announced so I'll do a separate post for the F&G Festival snacks

Crepes des Chefs de France - Crepes - another that was on our list in 2018 but we didn't get chance to try. In fact we failed in epic style with the F&W Festival and snacks at Epcot I don't think it's going to be a must for us though

Cool Wash - Coca-Cola Slushies - having kids who love slushies it's a total MUST for them. We did have a Coca-Cola one from Club Cool in 2018 (gifted by the CM ) which was nice and refreshing

Funnel Cake - we also have this in our MK list so I think we'll only get it here if we don't manage it in MK

Joy of Tea - Curry Chicken Pocket - This is something we ummed and ahhed about as we haven't seen it on any blogs or vlogs so it's still undecided

Kabuki Café - Shaved Ice - this is a MUST either from here or Animal Kingdom, although I think there's more choices from here

Kringla Bakery - Troll Horn and School Bread - we've seen mixed reviews on the school bread and the troll horn is just something we seen when looking at the menu so we might or might not bother, definitely not a must

L'Artisan des Glaces - Ice Cream - I think this may make ice-cream overload for the none ice-cream lovers so this will be something we might try depending how we're feeling

Lotus Blossom Café - Pot Stickers - we both wanted to try OHana but having such picky kids we can't justify the cost I know these aren't the same but will hopefully give us a little taste of OHana so these are a MUST

Regal Eagle Smokehouse - Garlic Toast and Banana Pudding - We're hoping this will be open for our stay, we'd all try the garlic toast apart from Thomas and the banana pudding is for Noah and I. These are definitely on the MUST list for now

Sunshine Seasons - Strawberry Shortcake, Whoopie Pie and Turtle Brownie - I've seen the Whoopie Pie mentioned a few times so definitely want to try this. Mr Grump loves Strawberry Shortcake so he MUST try that too we got carried away here and also added the Turtle Brownie

14 POTENTIAL SNACKS (with more to come from the F&G Festival

Disney Springs

Ghirardelli - Sundaes - what's not to love about Ghirardelli I think this will be as a dessert after some of our meals in DS so it's a MUST

Amorette's Patisserie - Arendale Aqua - I wanted the pink millenial in 2018 but we didn't get chance. In fact I found it hard to drink alcohol out there, not sure if it was the heat or the fact they were so strong so this might or might not happen

BB Wolfs - Cookie Dough - We seen this on a vlog, no idea which one but it looked SOOOOOO nice! I'm not sure if it's a snack credit but I think we'll definitely be trying it either way so it's a MUST

Aristocrepes - Bubble Waffles - this is another that was on our list last time but I completely forgot about, so it is a MUST for this time

4 POTENTIAL SNACKS

Resorts

I haven't done an extensive list of resorts as I'm not sure how much resort hopping we're doing.

French Quarter - Mickey Bengiets - no idea if I've spelled that right but you all know what I mean. These are MUST this trip, they were on our list last time but we forgot all about it from my understanding it will be at Scat Cats not the food court? But either way we are getting Mickey Bengiets

Mara - Frozen Jungle Juice - this is something we'd really like to try but not sure if we can warrant a trip to AKL for it ... we'll just have to see

Flower and Garden

The Citrus Blossom - Crispy Citrus Chicken with Orange Aoli and Baby Greens
Citrus Shortcake - Orange Chiffon Cake, Lemon Curd, Mandarins, Whipped Cream, Citrus Crumble

Northern Bloom - Seared Scallops with French Green Beans, Butter Potatoes, Brown Butter Vinaigrette and Apple-Wood Smoked Bacon
Beef Tenderloin Tips, Mushroom Bordelaise Sauce, Whipped Potatoes with Garden Vegetables≈

The Honey Bee-Stro - Honey Tandoori Chicken Flatbread with White Cheddar Cheese, Charred Vegetables, Clover Honey Sour Cream and Micro Citrus Greens
Local Wildflower Honey-mascarpone Cheesecake with Orange Blossom Honey Ice Cream garnished with Fennel Pollen Meringue Kisses and Petite Lavender Shoots

Lotus House - Szechuan Spicy Red-braised Beef Shank over Rice
House-made Crab and Cheese Wontons≈

Bauernmarkt - Potato Pancakes with House-made Apple Sauce
Potato Pancake with Caramelized Ham, Onions and Herb Sour Cream
Toasted Pretzel Bread topped with Black Forest Ham and Melted Gruyère Cheese
Warm Cheese Strudel with Mixed Berries

Primavera Kitchen - La Regina “Margherita”: Rustic Italian Flatbread, Vine-ripened Tomatoes, Whole-Milk Mozzarella, Parmesan and Basil

Hanami - Frushi: Fresh Pineapple, Strawberry and Melon rolled with Coconut Rice garnished with Whipped Cream, Berry Sauce Drizzle and Toasted Coconut

Fleur De Lys - Tarte au Oignons: Goat Cheese Tart with Caramelized Onions on a flaky Pastry Crust

And that's it for our snack list for now. As I said earlier I will update with the F&G list too, but for now this is our snack list when it's all finalized I'm going to print off a snack list with ticky boxes for each park so we hopefully don't miss things out of the next trip X