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Old 27 May 19, 05:13 PM  
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BAMS
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I’m so rumbly in my tumbly pre-trip report August 2020

I have always liked the idea of writing a trip report as I have really enjoyed reading others and have picked up so many tips. I also think that it is a really nice way of recording your holiday, especially given that my memory seems to be getting worse the older I get! DH also encouraged me, probably in order that I stop going on about it all the time! What can I say – I am super excited! Just because it’s still over a year away doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be planning now does it?

The Cast:

Me, love to plan and update a spreadsheet, this will be my 3rd trip to Orlando but first time staying on-site with DDP benefits.

DH, likes to get involved in the planning but also recognises that my ideas are the best! It will be his 4th trip to Orlando.

DD, will be 12 when we visit, also her 4th trip. Not keen on thrill rides last time we went but wants to try again now that she is older (there may have been some bribery involved to get her to agree to this). Hoping that we will be able to tear her away from her phone for this holiday as the time difference will make it difficult to be constantly talking to her BFF.

DS, will be 8 when we visit, 2nd trip to Orlando, and the reason it will be my 3rd and not 4th! He was born on the day that we were all due to be travelling to Orlando with 2 other families, as I wasn’t actually due until 2 weeks after we were supposed to go we decided that it would be unfair for DD to miss out on a long planned trip so her and DH would go for a week. Bit of a surprise for them when they called to let me know they had arrived and I let them know that DS had also arrived! He is really looking forward to going on all the rides as he was too small last time.

We are also travelling with the same 2 families (FAM M & FAM K) again so we will be a party of 11 in total. We are planning to all stay on property together and then have a week in a villa, after which various plans are in the mix.

The Plan:

12th August 2020 - fly LHR to New York, DD’s request. DH and I have been back in 2002 and are more than happy to return, I suspect there may have been some changes! We have been diligently collecting air miles in order to top up our Virgin Flying Club miles from our last trip so all (! ) we have to pay are the taxes, and the options flying into NYC look good – will be looking for a morning flight so a stay in a Heathrow Hotel will be a must (like to get the holiday started as soon as possible)


3 nights in NYC, hoping to get an apartment through some contacts at work as think this will be nicer for the kids, and us! DS really wants to climb Statue of Liberty, and Empire State Building so they are on the ‘must do’ list. We all really like wandering so plan to stroll around Central Park, walk the High Line but don’t feel the need to see everything – it’s an excuse to go back again TBH! Need to have a think about where we want to eat but will look at that in more detail once we have accommodation sorted.


15th August – fly NYC to MCO, current thinking is to get a morning flight with the aim of being in Orlando by lunchtime. Once in MCO we are very pleased to be able to avoid Immigration and are ridiculously excited to take our first Disney ride on the Magical Express. Previous visits have involved the real mood dampner wait for a hire car (last time it was a 10 year wait for our car, so we would rather avoid that this time, oh apparently it was an hour, it honestly felt like I had aged 10 years though!)

We will be disembarking our Disney Transport at The Beach Club – not a bad first time on property location! We originally we were looking at either POFQ or booking a couple of nights renting some DVC points but when I investigated the free Dining offer and the 5 night minimum stay we decided we really wanted the benefits of table service credits and love the location of BC as well as the pool.

So I sent a message to our ‘Mickey Chat’ whatsapp group, telling them about the Dining Plan offer and the fact that I was keen to get booked as I had spied an 8% cashback offer which was due to expire in a couple of days, a few hours later all 3 families had booked 5 nights Garden View Room at the Beach Club – we are on!

Now the fun can really begin as on previous visits we have stayed in a villa for the full 2 weeks and, whilst we have partaken of some Disney meals, the majority of our eats have been off-site and have certainly never involved 2 snacks per person, per day! .

20th August – Check out of BC and collect a hire car from Disney Car Centre ready for our 1 week villa stay. As we cannot check in to the villa before 4pm we should be able to squeeze in some park time and find a way to use up any remaining credits.
We had great fun on ‘Mickey chat’ sending links to various villas, we have previously stayed in the Formosa Gardens area and were all keen to stay in this area as we are all hooked on Buffalo Wild Wings (Please leave your guns at the door!) the boys always talk up that they are going for the spiciest topping but have so far been all mouth, no trousers ! Which is possibly for the best!
We all liked an 8 bedroom villa on Windsor Hills resort so decided to get that booked up too – so that’s excitement really mounting now!

27th August – Wave goodbye to FAM M, who are going to ‘The Beach’ to chill out before flying home. DH and I had already decided that we wanted to stay at a Universal Hotel in order to take advantage of the early entry and Express Passes. Last time we went, as DS was only 3, we didn’t spend a lot of time in Universal so we have a lot to get done and waiting in a queue for ages will not help our cause. We, rather I like the look of RPR and, as we will be saving on not having to pay full price for our flights and DS is a massive Jurassic World fan, decided to book 2 nights in a Jurassic World Suite. Really looking forward to this as I feel like it’s been a while since we have spent time in Universal and I do love the Hulk! FAM K are also plotting some Universal time so we may still meet up with them if we are still speaking!


29th August – check out RPR, spend the morning in WWHP before having a good lunch before heading off to Clearwater for a couple of nights, hoping the Tampa Bay Rays will be playing at home so we can go and see some baseball. DH went on his first trip with my Dad and BIL and really enjoyed it – will have to gen up on all the rules again as I’m pretty sure it’s not exactly the same as rounders!

We are also going to pay Busch Gardens a visit as DH does love the thrill rides – he is very excited about some Furious Falcon, and DD loves Cheetah so it would be rude not to frankly.

31st August
– as we have decided to fly back from Miami rather than MCO (our car will be at Heathrow so don’t want to fly into Gatwick if at all possible) DH is keen on having a bit of a road trip, so we will drive along the coast staying overnight at Naples to have a bit of beach time.


1st September – finish our road trip to Miami with a loop through the Everglades, hoping to spot a Gator or 2, and then fly home to LHR.

So, 3 weeks of fabulous fun and frolics to be had, and I’m fairly certain that I will no longer have the rumbly in my tumbly by the time we get back!

Still have NYC, Clearwater and Naples accommodation decisions to be made, not to mention ADRs, snack lists, fastpass bookings, off-site dining and Universal Dining plans to be written in stone, then changed then changed back again. But, as I said, I do love to plan and update a spreadsheet!
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Old 27 May 19, 06:13 PM  
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I cant wait I hope it lives up to everything mummy has said.DD xx
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Old 27 May 19, 06:19 PM  
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Buggles94
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Sounds absolutely fantastic - will be following
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Old 27 May 19, 08:03 PM  
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BAMS
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Originally Posted by Buggles94 View Post
Sounds absolutely fantastic - will be following
Thanks Buggles94 - we are already ridiculously excited even though we know its 400+ days away!
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Old 27 May 19, 08:18 PM  
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looper
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Great plan so far. FAM K sound brilliant, tell us more about them!

FAM K
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Old 27 May 19, 08:21 PM  
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BAMS
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Originally Posted by looper View Post
Great plan so far. FAM K sound brilliant, tell us more about them!

FAM K
Actually just spent a rather fun weekend with FAM K - I think I might be a little bit broken, he he he!
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Old 27 May 19, 08:33 PM  
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Apricota
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Cannot wait to read more, thanks
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