"Disney is for kids and girls"- September 2014. Finally.

[Guest]

Hello everyone,

Introductions

Decisions on Accommodation

DISNEY-BOOKED!

International Drive- BOOKED!

International Drive... not so booked

International Drive... Re-booked! Universal Tickets booked!

LOTS of updates!

ADR's and Itinerary!

Itinerary Changes

Payday Update

Budget Meltdown, advice needed!

Spends sorted, more plans

Double Digits!

Animal Kingdom Lodge Booked!

Purchases and general rambling

Fastpasses done!

The insane plan

5 weeks today!

Ten days to go!

I had been trying so hard to put this off until I had actually booked but it's currently my first weekend of social-life abstinence to save for this holiday that I decided that I deserve to finally post my pre-trip report.
So sorry if this goes on and on, but it's really been a hard slog to get here and I feel blessed just to be able to start, I've got so much from this forum (I'm pretty shy so I'm a bit of a lurker, I read so many trip reports and I thank you all so much for sharing) so now I'd like to give back.

I'm really bad for typing too fast and not proof reading so please excuse me for that.

Apologies as I'm not so good with inserting links, pictures etc. so this may be a little rocky at first. I hope to learn as I go along.

Firstly...

The Cast



Tom and Steph. I am Steph, the author and complete Orlando obsessive. I will be 26 when we go, Tom will be 27, we've been together over 5 years. We bought our own home last year and have 3 cats (more about them later!)

The Long Hard Road To Here...
I'm super super super lucky that my lovely parents took me to Disney world when I was a kid in 1996, 1998, and 2000. 1996 I was 8 years old and had no fear, 1998 I still had no fear, 2000 something happened and I was a bit scared of everything! But still, I loved every holiday so much and have the best memories.
Fast forward a few years and by about aged 19 I was once again obsessed with Disney, and getting back there. It was very much not to be though, I lived alone in a rented flat and the credit crunch happened. Aged 20, I started uni so I knew I would not be able to afford it for a long, long time.
Still though, I constantly researched, watched youtube videos, and once I'd met Tom, bored him to death about how amazing Orlando is.
I graduated uni this year, and now it's actually going to happen, so how?
It's not a pleasant story really how I have suddenly been able to afford to go to Disney but hey ho, I will cut it short and I'm rather limited on what I should say. Around this time last year, myself and a colleague had to leave a job that we loved due to some pretty horrendous treatment. It massively knocked my confidence and I was out of work for two and a half months. I'm a very un-confrontational person and pretty much a push over, but Tom convinced me to see a solicitor about what had happened. So I did. And finally after a year of horrendous stress and heartache, lies and mud-slinging, we have settled out of court. I told myself that I would not settle until I had my full Disney amount as after what I went through, I felt like it was fair enough. But the stress was really affecting me, so I stopped short just for it to be over now. It's not the way I had expected to get to Disney, and so in some ways slightly tainted, but in more ways I feel that justice was done, and I am extremely pleased.
Enough about that! The next obstacle was Tom...
Tom is great. However, Tom was not so great when he was aged between 14-17 and got in trouble with the police quite often (all minor stuff, but crime none the less). He is now 26, has a degree, owns a home, and works for the civil service, but the USA wanted him to have a Visa interview none the less. Anyone who read my intro post will have read what an absolutely expensive and horrendous experience this was but... He got a visa Ten year multiple entry. I didn't think that he would get one at all, I thought I would be having to find someone else to go with haha. So that obstacle was overcome in October 2013, and my court case settled on Wednesday this week. My former employer should be paying within 14 days so very soon we should be booking
Now to the fun part...

The Plans
We have our dates- 4th- 20th September. We were between May and September. May really because it's sooner! But given that I settled at a much lower amount than I could have, I figured we need more time to save spending money. Tom's lovely Mum was so proud of him when he got his Visa that she said she would give us money towards Florida. It's been a really lovely thing for her that she went through hell with him when he was a teen and now he's settled and has a great job, a house, and is allowed a Visa, she's so proud.
So... I'm also not booking anything until I've had a chat with her, I want her to have some say and tell me what she thinks that Tom will love if she is going to be paying towards it.
You may be thinking right now... where is Tom in all of this?!?! Tom doesn't get it. He thinks Disney is "for kids and girls" (hence the title). He is going along with this because he thinks that I will agree to go on a skiing holiday the year after So currently he is happy for me to plan everything, not bore him with the details until the start of each day, and just do what I gotta do Being the control freak that I am, I'm very happy with that arrangement.

Accommodation
I can't really say right now... my dream is to stay in the Animal Kingdom Lodge but that is about 10x our budget! It's either going to be somewhere on I-Drive, or one of the cheaper Disney Hotels, depending on my chat with Tom's Mum, and what she thinks as she has been to Orlando.
We won't be driving. I'm a confident driver in the UK but the thought of driving on the other side of the road turns my stomach and I don't want that stress on holiday. Plus we're young, we want to drink!

Definite Plans
I want to take Tom to a shooting range. I think he will need a break from all the parks and I know this is something he would love to do. Any advice on which are good would be great, it's not something I have properly looked into yet
Discovery Cove. My dream come true. I literally cannot wait.
First park, Magic Kingdom, First Ride, Splash Mountain. It was family tradition, and something I can't wait to force Tom into, regardless of queue time.
Amazing food. The only thing keeping Tom interested right now. I have already told him about the Brazillian Rodezio (is that how you spell it?) on I-Drive as we have 3 in Liverpool that he LOVES.
Crazy Golf competition. We LOVE crazy golf, and every time we go to one in the UK (we have one a 5 min walk from our house) I constantly moan that it is nothing compared to the ones in America. I can't wait for him to finally see what I mean.

Worries



My babies, Spike, Belle, and Icey. Our pride and joy. We had a cat sitter (my best friend) who lived around the corner. When we went away she would pop round each day and give them cuddles and make sure they were ok. It was much less stress than them going in a cattery, as Spike gets really upset about it. But she is moving house soon and won't be able to do it Our family don't live close and no one will take all three of them for 2 and a half weeks (they are a handful! ) so it will have to be a cattery. My horse riding instructor has a cattery and I trust her with my life pretty much every week when I get on one of her horses. I know she will take care of them and skype me all the time, but kills me to leave them this long

My next worry is that Tom will hate it. Is that possible? He likes Alton Towers, which I think is massively crap. I just worry that he doesn't have the "kid at heart" part about him... hopefully I will be surprised. If not then the food and shooting should keep him happy!

My third and final worry is my health. Tom always says that if I was born in Victorian times I would be dead by now! I have nothing seriously wrong with me by any stretch of the imagination, but I get minor illnesses often! I do suffer from endometriosis, a condition that care flare up without warning and only go away again when it pleases. I worry that it will flare up on holiday
I'm also terribly clumsy and break bones left right and center so here's hoping that I come home without a plaster cast.

Well I think that's all I have for now, until I book. If you got this far then thank you
And a massive thank you to everyone that posts trip reports, my lack of comments is not rudeness, just mainly shyness (I am trying to overcome this by finally having a reason to join in! ) and I can honestly say that I have truly enjoyed reading about your lovely holidays.

Steph xx

[Guest]

we're also going on the 4th september

I'll look forward to reading more of your plans

[Guest]

Great! Where are you staying?

[princess allie]

Lovely. Looking forward to reading more x

[Happyjo40]

Thanks for sharing your story, and look forward to hearing more.I hope you manage to convince Tom that it really is thee best place in the world, because its soooo true! He will soon be hooked and will soon ditch the skiing idea, I am also a cat lover of 3 also and hate leaving them, mine move in to my parents and hide for the first few days before getting brave and finally leave from behind the sofa!

Good luck with your planning and await your further posts!

[Guest]

Thanks HappyJo! Had a chat with my friend today and she's still happy to cat sit! YAY! I've offered her a decent amount of money to come and see them each day, she's going to bring her two kids with her each day which they will love because it's more attention for them! Your parents are so nice looking after three cats for you! My Dad is allergic but even if he wasn't, I know they wouldn't put up with them for that long
I really hope Tom is convinced too... I really don't want to go skiing!

[Guest]

Sounds great! we are going on the 4th of September too!

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Belle3

Great! Where are you staying?

See more...

We're staying at the international palms resort on international drive

[Guest]

Little update... Decided to do a split stay... 10 nights in one of the cheap Disney hotels, and then 6 nights in an I-Drive hotel.
Would never have considered this before I started obsessively reading this forum but it makes sense because I don't want to drive, but I want to be able to come and go from the parks as we please. So we will be doing everything Disney in the first ten days, then universal, sea world etc towards the end of the holiday.
Is this a good idea? Is it a nightmare swapping hotels? I'm pretty lazy and worried that I won't want to move and I will really regret the split stay!

[Guest]

Sounds well deserved after such a tough time!

We're going on the 12th Sept! Can't wait!