UPDATED with itinary - GoodWillHerding August 2019 - OKW, Lowes, Emerald Isl - Cast Introduction

[GoodWillHerding]

Introducing the cast….

Having read some many wonderful trippies that got us through cold rainy January mornings heading in to work and surviving on a diet of beans on toast (well the intention was there), in order to fund this trip- we thought it would be only fair to contribute a record of our trip- our fourth since the addition of grandchildren.
So, introducing the cast- bear with as this may take some time, there are 14 of us. Though this is not our largest cast, this time we are going to miss our biggest sibling and her lovely boys, they will be very missed.
So heading up the family we have Mama(or nana), without this amazing lady none of this would be possible, she has babysat tirelessly so we can work, worked tirelessly in her job as a nurse, encouraged us along the way to keep going, coordinated the booking. She loves Disney and Florida and will be her 5th trip (also a big birthday this year sssshhhh)! Mama is wonderful at reading and planning and just everything- I want to be just like her when I’m grown up 😉

Papa P- he’s not actually coming- being a bit of a Victor Meldrew, has been twice out of the last 4 trips but declared he’s done it all and doesn’t need to go back! (he is very misguided but there is no helping some people). The grandchildren will really miss not having gdaddad around!

So next we have Lynch, he is quite laid back about the whole business, probably wouldn’t pack a suitcase if his loving partner, my sister Katie didn’t remind him, he’s a fan of fast rides- particularly tower of terror, which is great because it gives me an excuse to hold the baby while everyone else goes on!

Next up- Katie, very special lady, had her first baby in August last year, until this point she loved thrill rides and getting so drunk in Universal she was almost arrested, but she’s changed! Top of her fast pass list is Dumbo and she’s sticking to the sprite this year but so excited to be taking little man and introducing him to the magic! Katie works incredibly hard also as a nurse (there is a theme you’ll notice) in organ donation and went back to work when little man was just 8 months old so desperately looking forward to almost three weeks away enjoying him!

Kaheem 18, loves winding up the younger ones and making them squeal really loudly! This is his second trip with us to the mouse, talents include trying to drown younger ones in the pool and standing on new white converse 😆

RiRi (13) is up next, totally hates all things Frozen, loves a bit of Stitch and is getting braver, a trip to DLP last year with school showed her what she was missing out on and she’s promised to give the bigger rides a go this time! She’s incredibly caring and helpful with the little ones.

Next up is Jayla (12) but I feel I should put her together with my middle one Freya- also 12.
These two are too cute together, talk incessantly, are super super excited, inseparable when together and will be sharing bedrooms and sitting together on the plane so they can chatter to each other as much as they please (and give our ears a little break &#128518. Jayla is a bit braver with rides than Freya who takes after her dad but who knows Freya might be inspired this year! Jayla and Freya both love Harry Potter and universal is going to be one of their favourites.

Then there is Mally (aka moose cake, Mally moose Mally moose can you do the fandango) he turns 1 the day before we fly- oh my gosh is the cleverest one year old, the whole family adore him, he has you in stitches, is now walking and chatters away none stop. First trip to the mouse but definitely not the last! Mally has been diagnosed with some food allergies so we are having to plan extra well to make sure he doesn’t miss out on the yummy treats and also that he is Good and safe
Finally my lot- there is Dave - turned the big 4-0 this year, lost almost 4 stone for the trip, chief organiser, spread sheet creator general nagger of all things to be completed in a very timely fashion. He’s been more times than I can count and I can honestly say I don’t know anyone who loves Florida more than he. Chief driver for my lot and navigator, loves Goofy but hates fast rides. Will be proper difficult to live with when we get home 😳

Bethany and Ian- come as a package, Bethany is our eldest at 19, loves thrill rides- all of them and luckily has boyfriend Ian coming along to help her out with that! She’s super excited to be showing him the Disney life and I’m not sure he has much of an idea of what will hit him!

Charlotte (17 but 18 this year) is up next, mid A levels, been working hard in a sushi bar to save spending money, she’s a quietly cheeky one this one, doesn’t do well in the heat but can’t wait to get out there and has been campaigning and counting down since our last trip in 2016.

Then there is Toby, he will turn 6 when we are there, we are celebrating the day at Discovery Cove with a dolphin swim, has been telling everyone that we are going to Florida for his birthday- hoping the other parents don’t lynch us for setting the bar high😳- Toby loves Star Wars and shooting lasers and football and sugar and never ever stops, he’s going to be in his element there and I can’t wait to share it with him now he’s an age he will remember!

Finally there’s me-Lisa I also turned 40 this year, I’m not great on big rides but decided to put on my big girl pants ( they really are quite big - ) and be brave. I also hate flying and go in to full panic mode when we hit turbulence, I like to negate this risk by drinking sparkly wine before take-off and trying to sleep- failing that I stick my fingers in my ears, screw up my eyes and act like a three year old having a tantrum!

So that’s us all- well done for getting this far if indeed you did!
This holiday has been a long time in the making with over 14 months on the official countdown but we always knew this would be the year to return with so many big birthdays. Now there are just 15 days to go!


Family Picture from last visit in 2016 - this time some are not coming along and a couple of new additions that are not in this picture this time

Day before flight Birthday Boy

[jools1302]

How exciting! That’s a big group to plan for and lots of different ages too... so lovely to have a big family group to holiday with... will look forward to following your adventures 😃

[GoodWillHerding]

Thanks, this is going to be a new experience for all of us as in the past we have stayed offsite in a big villa, this time we are mixing it up, 2x OKW 2 bed villas for 1 week, 4x Lowes standard rooms for 2 nights, then 1x massive villa offsite for a week to relax, maybe hit the beach

[GoodWillHerding]

Itinary

9 days to go people... 9 days! As such I thought I, Katie youngest sister, would continue the pretrippie.

We fly from Heathrow on Tuesday 13th with Virgin indirect via New York. Our first flight is at 09:00 arriving in JFK at 11:45. We have a four hour lay over (you can’t actually rush a party of 14, especially not the one- twenty year olds - lord knows we have tried on previous trips - so we thought it best to air on the side of caution!). Leaving JFK at 16:00 and arriving in Tampa at 19:18. We are a tiny bit nervous at the late arrival and the drive then to Orlando but having done it before we are hoping that the expediated landing at tampa and generally shorter car rental lines will all work in our favour.

Plan of attack on landing is to send the men through to collect the cars and then use the teenagers to collect the bags. While the adult females deal with the no doubt highly excitable and over tired men (and children).

One major consideration for the trip is luggage. A party of 7 adults, 5 teenagers, an almost 6 year old and a one year old do not travel light! We have two seven seaters, the standard Dodge, so are very mindful of what we pack. We will also need to fit a buggy in.

Assuming we fit everything in the cars we will then get on our way to home number one...at Old Key West, where we have two x two bed villas. Our first time staying on site at Disney we are super excited about this. We have been in touch with Disney and are hoping they will be next door or at least close to each other.

Day one, Wednesday, we have an early breakfast reservation at Crystal Palace at 08:20. I picked this one to celebrate my baby’s birthday and am hoping to get a balloon and some nice castle pics of him (well, the others too 😂 but mostly him!).
Following breakfast there is a morning of various fast passes, space mountain, Peter pans flight and the tomorrow land speed way being the main ones. We are anticipating a nice but tired morning and heading back to explore the pool and on site facilities / Disney Springs in the evening.

Day two, a Thursday, sees us at DHS. We have an early lunch booked at 50’s Prime time, having not had DDP before we haven’t done a huge amount of eating in the parks but we have been here and the milkshakes and fried chicken make it a firm favourite with everyone. I’m super excited to try the allergy friendly fried chicken with my little boy (hoping he falls asleep in time to go in the pram for me to have the chocolate and peanut butter cake though 😂 otherwise with egg, milk and peanut allergies I may have to skip my favourite ever pudding!). When we booked our fast passes (at 60 days) there was very little available for today so we had to compromise. We couldn’t get tower of terror or any of the new toy story rides. We already had the lunch reservation though so decided to stick with it, get there early (rope drop?) and see what we get done from the stand by line. This isn’t our favourite park but we have a second visit pencilled in if it is needed.

Day 3, Friday, and back to MK, we have an early Be Our Guest breakfast booked and various fast passes for the morning, Buzz light year, splash and Winnie the Pooh being some. Plan to leave early and some will head for chill time and others most likely to Epcot for the afternoon. Epcot is our least favourite park as a group and this is the only time we have booked in for there...some of us won’t even go (gaaasp!) then at 22:20 we have a much longed for and hard fought reservation at Beaches and Creams. Unfortunately we couldn’t get enough places for everyone but we do have 11 spots. I’m going to sit this one out with the little ‘un because it’s too late for him anyway...not to mention all that dairy with his allergies. Also coming up I have a waaaaaay more exciting reservation!

After a late night ice cream munching we take a gentle start to Saturday, day 4, and head to animal kingdom around lunch time for a tea time reservation at Tusker house and Rivers of Light. We have fast passes for kali river rapids, expedition Everest and FOP.

Day 5, Sunday, sees the three adult ladies head to Cali Grill Brunch. I am beside myself with excitement for this! The kids and daddy’s will most likely do pool time at the hotel. Mums got a big birthday and so has lisa...so whichever you use as the excuse this was needed!
Sunday afternoon (when I have slept off my not insignificant mimosa intake) we have a reservation for the Hoop De Doo Musical Revue! Hoping that the one and five year old will tolerate or sleep through it but if not I’ll happily play outside as I can’t imagine I’ll be that hungry following brunch 😋. Depending on exhaustion levels we then have fast passes in MK (meet mickey and Minnie and 7 dwarves mine train at dusk ❤️) and a plan to do Wishes.

Day 6, Monday, should have been a rest day, and yes, I think one may be needed by now, but given our FP situation for DHS we have booked some for today, ToT (mine and my DH and kiddies fave ever ride - not the baby’s obvs - yet!), slinky dog dash and the classic Indiana Jones. We may not go, if we get all we want done on our previous visit. Dinner is booked early at 1900 Park Fare and is another we are super excited for. Tonight we will need to head to DS to spend up remaining snack credits.

Day 7, Tuesday, and by now time is doubt racing away from us, today we are checking out of OKW and in to Lowes Royal Pacific, 4 family rooms for two nights with FOLP. Yeeeeeeessssssssssss. After the fairly rigid structure of the previous week we are looking forward to three days with no reservations or fast passes and a much more as we please vibe. We definitely hope to get to Volcano Bay while here and spend plenty of time in HP world and Seuss Landings for the smalls. Me and DH are hoping to cash our babysitting voucher with nana one night and get back to the park for some thrill rides without the baby.


Day 9, Thursday, we check out of LRP but intend to make the most of our universal passes. Later in the afternoon we will collect the keys to our Villa in Emerald Isle.

Day 10, Friday, we are off to Sea World. We used to love this park and it was always a day two crowd pleaser. We haven’t been now for many years and hope to enjoy it. The smalls will love the shows and sting rays. With a vegan in our group we do hope to see lots of positive changes in the animal welfare too ❤️.

Day 11, Saturday,Rest day! Everybody asked for more time to enjoy the villa pool so that is certainly on the agenda for today and no doubt a few shops too!

Day 12, Sunday, my OH said he would only come back if we went to the beach so we have time for that today. It may be that when we get there he is put off by the drive and plans change. Others are interested in the Kennedy space centre, depending on how the spending money lasts.

Day 13, Monday, Toby’s 6th Birthday and we go to Discovery Cove to swim with Dolphins eeeeeeeekkkk. The evening will be a pool party and birthday bbq.


Day 14, Tuesday, we currently have this planned as an AK because when we booked FP for the first week one day didn’t seem enough, but we are flexible and may well change. Fast passes are booked for finding Nemo, Beauty and the Beast and the Safari at dusk.

Day 15, Wednesday, our last full day . We have left open, no fast passes booked at the moment. It is likely to be MK but we shall see.

Day 16, Thursday, we fly home. There will be a final pancake breakfast and then we Leave tampa around 14:00, via JFK arriving early Saturday morning in Heathrow.

Day 17 Friday... let’s not think about this yet!


So as we do our single digit dance of 9 days, I think we are pretty organised. All we need to do is make it through the last week of work and come Friday it’s holiday! I’m also still pending the 4 stone weight loss I was working on but at this point even dysentery can’t help me...

Eeekkkkkkkk

[jools1302]

Your itinerary looks great... you’ve got something for everyone... not easy with such a large party i imagine lol! What beach will you go to? This is something we want to do but once again we haven’t incorporated it into our trip! We loved our 2bed apartment at OKW hopefully they will be able to meet your requests... hope you have a stress free week at work. Not long now so exciting!

[JanetteP]

Sounds like a fabulous trip - I've stayed at OKW, but not in a 2 bed - it will be fantastic. Don't know how you manage such a big group though with ADR's but you sound super organised.