More Splitsville than Nashville :) April 2017 - updated 7th April

[Redrach1903]

Whoopsie! How did this happen?

Before I start with the back story, let me introduce the cast. It’s the same as the last 4 years, but here we are anyway!

Me, Rachael, 31 (will be 32 when we go – shoot) I am an eternal lover of all things Disney. Just thinking about being in any one of the parks gives me butterflies. I just love it. I am also a lover of Florida in general. It’s just an amazing place all round and I know it so well that it kinda feels like a second home. I am the planner. I do the itinerary, ADR booking and FastPass booking. Chris occasionally chips in, but I get mad when he tries to change things! Haha!



Husband, Chris, 30 (will be 31 when we go – toy boy ). He loves Florida too. He doesn’t quite love Disney to the same degree as me, but he does enjoy it. He is a big golfer and will always factor in 3 or 4 rounds while we are out there. Also a big lover of the food over there and is probably already excited for our return to Buffalo Wild Wings Oh and he has a huge crush on Belle If you read my TR from May you will know what I mean! Hehe!



So I left you at the end of my last trippy feeling a bit down in the dumps (even more so than usual after a Floriday)! We didn’t know when we would be able to return to Florida due to the uncertainty in the oil industry up here. In August my fears were confirmed when I was told that my part of the business was going to be coming to an end and therefore I’d be out of a job. It wasn’t a surprise at all, but I was still understandably gutted and a little worried.

Thankfully Chris had managed to secure a 5/5 rotation in Oman, so at least we knew one of us would be bringing in some £. However, the money he was being offered was ridiculous. There are so many people desperate for work up here and the companies that are recruiting know that and are using it to their advantage. Ugh. Anyway, better than nothing we thought.

Thankfully I had been given quite a bit of notice and I had time to try and find a job that suited me. As you can imagine, it’s pretty slim pickings up here just now, but a few weeks ago I was offered a role as a PA/Legal Secretary at a Law Firm. This is something I have ALWAYS been interested in, but lack of legal experience has always been an issue. However, this firm seemed to be more interested in finding someone with lots of PA/Secretarial experience rather than someone who had worked in Legal before. I can’t tell you how relieved I was to be offered that job! It is a huge drop in salary for me, but I fully expected that with moving out of the oil. It’s all good

Around the same time as I got offered my job Chris was told he was being promoted out in Oman. The operator actually requested that he be given this promotion, so that’s a pretty big deal and I’m super proud of him. It also comes with a rate increase, so happy days all round

In other happy news; my sister and her husband welcomed little Abigail into the world in September. She is just ace. I love her soooooooo much! Look at her wee face <3 Can you imagine how many cute things I can buy her in WDW?



So I finish up at my current job next Friday and start my new one on the Monday. That is wonderful timing as it means I am not going a month without a wage and that I get to keep the enhanced redundancy package. There was only one thing we were going to do with that, right?

As soon as I was offered the job booking a holiday was a hot topic! My Dad was already talking about taking us all over to Orlando in September 2017 when Abi was a little older, but Chris & I were desperate to get away before that. We talked about maybe doing other places in the US, specifically Nashville. It is a city I have always wanted to visit, but since I became hooked on the TV show I was desperate to go! We talked about doing 5 nights there and then 10 in Orlando, but I couldn’t find any flights to Nashville that didn’t cost the earth. We then discussed doing NYC or Boston, but it was just going to cost too much for all the flights plus the accommodation in different cities, so in the end Chris came out with something along the lines of “screw it, let’s just go back to Orlando and we’ll do Nashville another year”. Hahaha! If you insist dear! And this is where the title of the TR comes from! I have to give Chris the credit for the title as he came up with it

Oh and if Dad & co decide to go in September we’ll just have to go twice in a year. Shame eh?

We decided we would fly into Jacksonville and go and visit our friend Hanne in St Augustine for a few nights before driving down to Orlando. Hanne has had some bad luck with health this year. Thankfully she is much better now, but we still really want to go and see her! We also debated about going back to Anna Maria Island as we loved it so much in May, but going to St Augustine and AMI would eat into our Orlando time far too much, so we decided to ditch that idea this time!

Dates
So we really love to go in May. It's the best time of year we think! However, with Chris’s promotion came a re-jig of his rotation which meant he would be away all of May. HOW RUDE! So our options were April or June. Both had pros and cons. In April we would experience the second week of the easter holidays (although spring break is in March, so that isn’t too scary) and in June it’s supposed to be super rainy. In the end we settled for April cos, well, it’s sooner So the dates are as follows:

Fly out on 12th April to Jacksonville
Return on 28th April from Orlando

3 nights in St Augustine
13 nights in Orlando


Flights
I began looking for flights and they were coming in pretty pricey, but I eventually found a good deal through BA going Aberdeen – Heathrow – Charlotte – Jacksonville and returning from MCO – Miami – Heathrow – Aberdeen. These came to £1,114 for both of us, but since we have a nice amount of Avios, we decided to use some and got £220 off, so the grand total was £894.60. Nice! I just needed Chris to give me the green light, but as he’s over in Oman sometimes there is a delay in him getting to his messages. It was an anxious wait let me tell you! I was convinced the flights would disappear and they would jump in in price. Finally after what seemed like an eternity he replied and told me to go for it! Woohoo!



And the new countdown was born!



I was texting my friend and fellow Dibber Lisa (Lisa_Lollipop) and I was like “is this real life”? because I couldn’t believe we were actually booked again! Her reply was “is this just fantasy?” which immediately made me think of this.



Haha! I’m so easily amused!

Anyway! I know flying indirect can be a long day, but it also means we get to fly in and out of Aberdeen instead of driving to Edinburgh or Glasgow. There is also the boost of clearing immigration before you arrive in Florida. I like that part the most

Accommodation
We had hoped to be able to stay in our friend’s villa in Hampton Lakes (as per 2013 and 2014), but it was already booked. We then considered going back to Bahama Bay, but Lisa’s apartments were also booked up. In the end we settled on a gorgeous Dibb villa in Sunset Lakes. We definitely could have got something a bit cheaper, but being so close to the 192 / Disney and the peace of mind of it being a Dibb villa is worth the extra pennies It looks AMAZING!





Car Hire
Yet to be booked. This is Chris’s job

Plans
There are a couple of things I’d like to do in St Augustine this time. I want to visit the old jail and maybe do a ghost walk! Chris will definitely want to go fishing again I would think! Other than that we will mostly be chilling out with Hanne and probably drinking far too much! Haha!

As far as Orlando is concerned we have decided to ditch Universal this year and only do Disney. The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, ticket prices have shot up for 2017. A lot. So we can’t justify splashing out on tickets when we only ever go once or twice. I also feel that there is not enough of a draw for repeat visits to Uni/IoA. It’s good and all, but it’s not the same scale as Disney. I could happily visit any one of the Disney parks and not go on a single ride, just taking it all in. Universal? Not so much. The second reason is that we want to try and have more time away from the parks this time, maybe do some national parks or something. Having said all that, we may well change our minds and end up paying at the gate one of the days! Ha! Who knows!

As far as ADRs go, we are only going to do 2. As much as we loved the Dining Plan, we didn’t enjoy the constant clock watching. We have already decided on one and that was booked today (I don't mess about people!) – Teppan Edo! Its one that we have been meaning to do for a while, so are finally getting round to it. I think we’ll really enjoy it Not sure what the second ADR will be, but I will of course keep y’all posted

I think that’s all I need to talk about at the moment EXCITED!

TTFN xxx

Update No. 1 - New Villa and ADR Booking
Update No. 2 - Bla Bla Bla
Update No. 3 - Disney tickets, car hire and 4 park challenge plans!
Update No. 4 - Itinerary changes!
Update No. 5 - KSC Tickets, API, Dollar Woes and MILKSHAKE
Update No. 6 - Car Rental and Rivers of Light
Update No. 7 - Disney Tops!
Update No. 8 - Food, Food, Food!
Update No. 9 - Dolllllars
Update No. 10 - Star Wars Dessert Party
Update No. 11 - Packing, Airport Parking and FPs
Update No. 12 - Daily plans, dollars and toiletries!
Update No. 13 - Holiday Perfume

[HelenJNT]

So happy for you! Can't wait to read along, and to help with your planning! Happy news xx

[Zomax25]

So exciting to read this! And so jealous.

[disneylover]

Great news. How about a day or overnight trip to AMI?

[NewtoOrlando]

So excited for you! Can't wait to read the full trippy!

[Redrach1903]

Originally Posted by HelenJNT

So happy for you! Can't wait to read along, and to help with your planning! Happy news xx

See more...

Thanks Helen I'm sure we'll chat about it heaps! Haha xx

Originally Posted by Zomax25

So exciting to read this! And so jealous.

See more...

Thank you xx

Originally Posted by disneylover

Great news. How about a day or overnight trip to AMI?

See more...

Not sure, we'll see! Thanks for reading xx

Originally Posted by NewtoOrlando

So excited for you! Can't wait to read the full trippy!

See more...

Thank you xx

[rscxox]

Yay so happy for you getting away next year! Looking forward to more then the trippie xx

[2littleboys]

Yeah, you've started! I love your title. Cant wait to follow along with your plans! It will be so quick in coming round xx

[Lisa_Lollipop]

There are no words to describe my excitement about this... I totally wasn't expecting a trippy from you so soon so happy happy days! (also loving the shout out, I feel very flattered to make an appearance... and love how similar we are in our thinking! )

Wow what an amazing trip you have in store! That villa looks just beautiful... and that pool... awesome!

I don't blame you for dropping US/IoA, the price increase really is madness... although I will bet you one rum and pineapple that you will end up paying on the gate!

Super excited you have booked Teppan Edo, we absolutely loved it when we went this year, will definitely be on the list for any future visits!

Ah so excited to see all your plans unravel and of course talk non-stop about them up until you go #dibberdolls

Oh and super title... well done Chris! xxx

[Cutiepie]

Happy days Rachael! A new trip report for me to look forward too.. and also love reading about your plans. enjoy xx