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Old 8 Apr 19, 10:18 PM  
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#1
rafiki
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My Kingdom for an inflatable unicorn

I’ll start with a warning. This is my third attempt to write a trip report, my two previous attempts lie unfinished in the depths of this website. I always start with the best of intentions and feel I should pay it forward after enjoying so many others’ trip reports over the years. I then get on holiday, take no notes, spend my evenings on rides and in the pool and forget what I did by the time I get home.

I promise I’ll try to do better this time!

The cast

David (me). Huge Marvel and comics fan. Fairly secret Disney fan, to the point that I shocked several of my colleagues when I got 20/20 on a Disney Sporcle.

Sam. T’other half. First trip to Disney was our wedding in 2000. A huge Mickey and Minnie fan she needs no encouragement to go back.

Cayla. Turns 17 whilst we are there and is as focused on the Instagram opportunities as the rides.

Jayden. 10 years old and sports mad. Looking forward to trying some of the “big rides” so much that he’s not complained about 2 and a bit weeks without Fortnite and FIFA; yet.

The plot

Our last visit was a three week stay over Christmas and New Year 2012 and 2013. A combination of moving house, GCSEs, work and other commitments has prevented a return any sooner and has also got in the way of any family holiday since Christmas 2016. This feels very overdue.

I started researching last summer and quickly ruled out on-site. We did this for 10 days with free DDP last time and really enjoyed it, however with one adult sized child and one not far off a single room is way too small and more than one room / DVC resort is way too expensive.

I decided to watch flights using an app recommended to me and bought last August / September at a little over £300 pp. Indirect via Newark out, which seems fine as we can clear immigration there, and via Chicago and Brussels back. The return trip does feel like a pain but with older kids and for a pretty significant saving it seemed worth giving it a go.

Plan B was an apartment style hotel somewhere around Crossroads, the plan being to go car-less and walk / Uber to the various nearby restaurants and parks. We’d priced these up and found a couple of likely candidates when I decided to look at Villas on this very site. I found one which had plenty of space, a private pool and was considerably cheaper than the apartments. So much so renting that plus a car would still be cheaper. Job done, villa booked. We’ve used DIBB advertiser, Discount Florida Car Hire, for a full size car which should be plenty as I still plan to use Uber and Lyft on occasions.

Having not been for a few years there is lots we haven’t done. We’ve decided to try to cram it all in and have gone for:

Disney 14 day ultimate (with free magic bands)
Universal 14 day 3 park (with a one night stay in RPR to take advantage of early entry and express pass)
Discovery Cove swim ultimate to do Busch and Seaworld.

I have also spent too many hours looking at fastpass + guides and touring plans and have accepted that Seven Dwarves Mine Train, FOP and SDD will all involve a rope drop. We did look at the early morning magic at Toy Story Land but have decided against it, unless it’s really hammered when we go, in which case we may try to make a last minute booking.

We fly out in a little over 5 weeks and I plan on filling in time between now and then with reading trippies and watching vlogs to really whet the appetite.
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Old 14 Apr 19, 01:10 PM  
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Custancia
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Wow, that does sound like you’re cramming a lot in. Have a great time! and I look forward to reading all about it in your trippie when you get back (peer pressure )

PS Im currently writing mine up, and its hard going but fabulous reliving all the memories. I’ve relied on using the many photos we took to help me fill in the gaps where my note taking lost out to focusing on having fun
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Old 30 Apr 19, 04:55 PM  
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squishy
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Sounds great; looking forward to this one; currently researching Discovery Cove as a possibility for our next trip...

Can I ask which App you used for your flight, please?
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Old 6 May 19, 10:04 PM  
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rafiki
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Excited about Disney
 
Join Date: Jul 05

rafiki's Reviews
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Originally Posted by squishy View Post
Sounds great; looking forward to this one; currently researching Discovery Cove as a possibility for our next trip...

Can I ask which App you used for your flight, please?
I used Hopper for the flights - it was recommended to me by a colleague who travels a lot and sends a notification when prices start to move as well as predicting where prices will end up.
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Old 6 May 19, 10:06 PM  
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#5
rafiki
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Excited about Disney
 
Join Date: Jul 05

rafiki's Reviews
Restaurant Reviews: 2
Originally Posted by Custancia View Post
Wow, that does sound like you’re cramming a lot in. Have a great time! and I look forward to reading all about it in your trippie when you get back (peer pressure )

PS Im currently writing mine up, and its hard going but fabulous reliving all the memories. I’ve relied on using the many photos we took to help me fill in the gaps where my note taking lost out to focusing on having fun
I don't take notes as work so I won't have to worry about not taking them on holiday. I'm hoping for a few minutes around the pool each evening to write at least a summary.

Appreciate the [gentle] peer pressure.
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Old 6 May 19, 10:14 PM  
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#6
rafiki
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Excited about Disney
 
Join Date: Jul 05

rafiki's Reviews
Restaurant Reviews: 2
Fastpasses now booked. My observation, other than the obvious one about the wafer thin infrastructure that must support the app and website, is that this new (to me) process massively hinders the more free flowing style of holiday I'd prefer. It also forces several early mornings for which I am entirely reliant on my body clock staying on UK time for the first few days.

We have also decided to not tell the kids that we are going to DC - secret kept to date and hopefully it will be worth it. We just need to convince them that we are water park bound that morning.

Just need to book a taxi to the airport now and get some $. Oh and get through 9 days of work!

The plan, should you be interested in this type of thing, is:

Park
18-May Sat
19-May Sun AK
20-May Mon Busch
21-May Tue DHS
22-May Wed BB/TL. Ep pm
23-May Thu MK
24-May Fri Ep
25-May Sat MK
26-May Sun
27-May Mon Seaworld
28-May Tue Aquatica
29-May Wed Discovery Cove
30-May Thu US / IOA
31-May Fri VB / US / IOA
01-Jun Sat
02-Jun Sun
03-Jun Mon
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