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Old 16 Sep 17, 11:30 PM  
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Kidd McFluff
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Just the 4 of us - OKW Aug 18 - let the planning commence.

Me, Kirsten; DH, Jason, Isla, 9 and Dylan 7.

We seem to have caught the Disney bug.

Bit of a rambling back story to this trip I'm afraid. I first went to WDW when I was a child, and totally fell for WDW, we stayed as part of a month in the US, seeing family in MN as well as a couple of weeks in FL, on a tight budget we stayed at Days Inn overlooking Orlando Prison - it was fine because of course we just slept there, but vague plans were made to go back and stay on site, which weren't going to happen, it really was a once in a lifetime thing. My grandmother used to do the football pools, and always said if she won she'd take us to Disney. Of course she never did and when she sadly passed a few years ago I suggested to my dad we use some of the inheritance do a big family trip in her memory. Plans were made for 8 of us to head out Easter 2017, flights and villa booked, tickets purchased then tragically my father died suddenly just after Christmas.

My brother, DH and I decided to go ahead and go anyway, we were heartbroken, but the kids were excited to go and well life has to be lived doesn't it. So we went, and it was lovely, of course it was bittersweet, we were all a bit raw, many tears were shed during Wishes fireworks!

DH and I find ourselves in the amazing position of being able to go back next year, so we're going to, just us and the kids, less emotional baggage, and for the first time ever ON SITE! I'm pretty sure DH and i are more excited than the kids.

My first trip out was late July, so I'm kinda prepared for August humidity, but J and the kids haven't experienced it before so that may be interesting.

We are reading lots of trip reports and very excited to be on DDP. We're debating whether we need a car or not - it seems the easiest option, but not entirely necessary.

There seem to be a couple of launches from Kennedy Space Centre scheduled for August so wondering if they will coincide with our trip and how we go about seeing them if they do. Kids are both interested in space.

Booked so far..
Flights - 1st Aug BA Cardiff bus (pretty random glitch thanks so an eagle eyed dibber) to LHR -LGW- MCO. Not looking forward to getting on a bus at 4.15am - but it was £2k for 2a+2c in school summer holidays. I'm a teacher so we always have to pay school holiday premium - the irony of having 13 weeks holiday but being forced to pay double the going rate if you want to travel.

14 nights with DDP at OKW in a deluxe studio- waiting for email confirmation from WDTC so I can link to MDE - I thought it would come today..

Debating whether to get a car for a few days or the whole trip - never stayed on site at Disney or anything similar before - previous US trips have always had a bit of a road trip element. Seems a waste of money when we have Disney transport, but will we miss being able to nip to Publix, will we be miles from hospitality house and need to drive there? We definitely want to take a couple of days out and go to the coast, DH fancies Cocoa Beach.

We are pouring over trip reports and restaurant reviews, so much food!

Discovered touring plans site yesterday - pouring over predicted wait times and what to fast pass - too soon? DH is also a huge planner - some would say we're both control freaks - he has a colourful spreadsheet with a rough plan for each day already!

Edited at 09:15 PM. Reason: Plan so far..
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Old 18 Sep 17, 11:07 PM  
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jojo_3596
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We are August 2018 too- first proper stay onsite for 7 days at BC then a week in Clearwater. Hard not to get too carried away with the planning isn't it?
Sounds like you've had an emotional year so hope you enjoy your countdown. Keep us posted with any planning updates so I can compare notes!
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Old 19 Sep 17, 11:41 AM  
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MikeH23
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We have very similar plans! We are now planning our 5th trip but 1st on site at OKW for Oct 18. We have always had a car whilst staying in s villa & think we'd be lost not having one. Hope you get your confirmation soon !
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Old 19 Sep 17, 12:19 PM  
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lardypops
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I'm also hoping for our OKW confirmation soon, we have 6 nights followed by 4 nights at RPR and 7 nights in a villa. OKW is a beautiful resort, we stayed back in 2015 for 8 nights. We hired a car as the parking is free at the parks and I hate relying on other transport apart from the Disney Springs boat which was lovely . We were in block 18 last time and could walk to HH, the resort is huge but there are lots of bus stops on the way.

Great flight price, I'm dreading finding flights out of Manchester all the deals seem to be out if London at the moment
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Old 19 Sep 17, 09:55 PM  
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Kidd McFluff
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And so the great spreadsheet begins. So far it's on 4 pages and covers everything from the budget which seems to be growing on a daily basis to timetables for parks, rides and restaurants. Every entry has links to the appropriate Disney webpage or menu and nearly all the restaurant choices have been planned for both table and quick service. Not that I'm a total planning/spreadsheet freak... OK so maybe I am a little obsessed with planning. ( maybe a touch more than obsessed ) but what could be better than another 320 days of precision planning to keep me busy in the evenings?

All plans are of course subject to change at any minute and dependent upon a vast number of variants. What will the weather be like? When are the magic hours? Can we get fast passes for the rides we want? Can we get our restaurant choices? Can we travel between venues in time? Did we have one too many cocktails last night and sleep in until lunchtime?

I hate to think how many hours I've spent on the Dibb or WDW website but I'm beginning to think that this isn't simply a 14 day holiday but more of a 365 day commitment to planning and obsessing over menu's and average wait times!

I'm pretty sure that by the end of this trip I'll be brushing up on my general knowledge and filling out my entry form for Mastermind... ' You're chosen specialist subject this week is 'FastPass Plus and the Disney Dining Plan, your time starts... now'.

We still need to decide whether to hire a car for the whole 14 days, one week or even just a few days and we need to work out where to go on our few days away from the parks. Off to the beach for one of our days out of the park but currently scouring the internet for 'good Orlando day trips' and pestering people on here to tell me where they've all been.

Not sure what I'll do once we've put the plans together. Maybe we are going to have to start talking to each other again?

More updates to follow...
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Old 19 Sep 17, 10:16 PM  
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Jaspercat10
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See you there 😁
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Old 23 Sep 17, 09:37 PM  
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Kidd McFluff
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So we've had a great few days, the kids had an INSET on Friday and I have Friday off, so we headed to Chessington - had a lovely day, there were only a few hundred people there, the weather was lovely and we didn't have to queue for anything. We hadn't been for a few years and the kids loved the rollercoasters this time, my babies are growing up. I personally love the zoo and we only got to see the otters and the seals - another time.

We also made a decision about the car - we've booked from 2nd day for the rest of the holiday - got a really good deal with Dollar via travelsupermarket - £366 for 14 days SUV hire - I know that Dollar don't have the best reputation, but the price was great, we aren't going to use it too often and if a better deal comes up we've got free cancellation. Neither of us are terribly keen on taxis, it'll make getting to other resorts for dining easier, if we're miles away from HH it's not a problem and we can nip to Publix easily.

We also got a 'Hooray you're going to Walt Disney World' email - but can't link to MDE, we've called Disney but no joy yet - I'm so impatient to get that set up!
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Old 27 Sep 17, 10:25 AM  
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Kidd McFluff
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Building a film list



Got our reservation linked! YAY! Feels real now. I love MDE so much. Very indecisive about magic band colours - love the yellow, but lots of my summer clothes are pastel shades and will clash.. Might have to buy more clothes? First world problems right!?

Thinking we need to get a film list going, what films are must sees before going to WDW?

Isla loves Moana the most, having watched it on the way over to FL when we flew in Easter - really bummed that she isn't in the parks at the moment, hoping that will change before summer '18. She's not really a princessey type of girl - we read the fairy tales when she was little but I was always keen to point out times have changed and getting married is no longer your goal as a female - you wanna be an astronaut baby you follow that dream. Might have overdone it! She got grumpy at the cast members calling her princess every morning on our last trip to WDW - bless them they try so hard to make all the kids feel special.

We have activated the DisneyLife sub that came with our booking and Isla is loving having it - we watched Descendants at the weekend which was great. Need to work out how to cast to our TV as it's only on Isla's kindle fire at the moment - can't work it out

So anyway the list so far:
Beauty and the Beast - because we want to do BOG - do we do classic or seek out the new version?
Pirates of the Carribean (any excuse for a bit of JD)
Peter Pan ( tinkerbell is so much better in this than the tinkerbell movie)
Lilo and Stitch (which I've not seen - Isla tells me it's great and we need to go to Ohana)
Some classic Mickey - not sure what - Jason keen to see Fantasia, but I found it a bit dull - maybe just the Sorcerers apprentice bit.
Star Wars
Indiana Jones
Avatar (not seen this either)
Jungle Book

What else? What WDW theming will we appreciate more having watched the films? I'm planning to have a Sunday film afternoon maybe once a month or so, popcorn and snuggles

I'm also trying to be more fun and get into the spirit of it more this trip - I can be a bit reserved and am not one to dress up or be silly. So I'm on the look out for Disney themed clothes and accessories - I have purchased a very lovely new handbag

Which I've just realised will clash with my yellow magic band! Maybe I'll go for red..

I also need to do some real life stuff, Isla's birthday in just over a month and some friends keep putting Christmas stuff on FB which I've not thought about yet..
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Old 29 Sep 17, 08:09 PM  
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Following along we arrive just after you guys on the 16th, I'm loving all your planning makes me feel normal as I am just the same! I have started a planner for each day working out adrs etc. We are also staying at OKW out 2nd time there we loved the resort, it is on the larger side but has such a nice atmosphere
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Old 29 Sep 17, 08:20 PM  
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Floridafour
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Snap. We will be at OKW at exactly the same time, will look out for you 🙂
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