Mini Trippie 2 Kid Offsite Adventure - Travel Day

[florida_2012]

2 Adults and 2 kids - DS10 and DD6 travelling from Belfast to Orlando in August 2019.
Here was our planned itinerary which we mostly stuck to:
Day 1 Monday: universal half day and homewood suites pool. Dinner at Kobe.
Day 2 Tuesday: overnight stay at RPR and universal all day
Day 3 Wednesday: universal all day and back to homewood suites
Day 4 Thursday: volcano bay and Millers
Day 5 Friday: Legoland and Cicis Pizza
Day 6 Saturday: Shopping and Gator golf. Dinner at Olive Garden.
Day 7 Sunday: Morning in Volcano Bay. Leave international drive. Sanaa lunch. Check in Windsor Hills.
Day 8 Monday: Universal studios / IOA. Florida mall in the evening.
Day 9 Tuesday: volcano bay in morning then Universal
Day 10 Wednesday: resort day
Day 11 Thursday: Clearwater and Little Toot
Day 12 Friday: Seaworld magical dining
Day 13 Saturday: resort and Millers


In 2018 we did a full on trip to Orlando which included Disney with 5 nights onsite at CBR and Universal. We loved the 2018 trip but we felt it was a little too full on. We decided during that trip to upgrade our universal 3 Park tickets to a seasonal pass in the hope that if we got decent priced flights for the following year (2019) then we could go back. We also had a previous trip in 2012 for disney and seaworld but DS was only 3 and doesn't remember it.

So for 2019 we were off to a good start as we had a seasonal annual pass which was valid until the last week of August. In 2018 we started with disney and started our universal tickets in the second week. This meant that when we upgraded to the annual pass the expiry stretched to a few days before the end of August. From memory I think we paid between $150 - $200 total to upgrade to the 3 Park seasonal pass. And boy did we get our use out of this upgrade! I love value for money so could totally justify a second trip to get more use out of the costly tickets.
I am chief planner. The others depend on me to plan all. I keep asking opinions but they don't seem interested until we are on the plane and then they say, "OK Mum, what's the plan?". I love the planning more than anything but love spending family time together away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
This was the plan for August 2019 - 7 nights at homewood suites on International Drive and 7 nights at a townhome in Windsor hills.
I tracked flights for about 6 or 7 months. We can fly from Dublin or Belfast and we were willing to consider any routes. Aer Lingus is the preferred option - we travelled with Al in 2012 and doing immigration in Dublin is a real bonus - but flight prices are in euro and given the recent pound nosedive I found the flight prices to be high. We had flown with Virgin Atlantic direct from Belfast to Orlando in 2018 and enjoyed the flight so I kept a close eye on these flights. The previous year they had dropped in price in November for the August flight - to around £500per person. This year the price didn't drop till around March so I was getting a bit frustrated with the wait. But it came eventually. The price was slightly less than last year but didn't include luggage or seat selection in advance. I'd already decided that budgets wouldn't allow for much shopping in Orlando so we decided to purchase 1 hold bag and take 3 cabin cases. This worked fine. On the way out we put one of the cabin cases inside the hold case and coming back the hold case was full so we had 3 cabin cases on the flight plus backpacks. I booked and paid for the hold case online at check-in 24 hours in advance of flight. It cost £45 on outward and $55 on return.
It's the lightest we have travelled internationally but it worked well given that we did some clothes washing out there.
Travel Day was good. We travelled an hour to the airport. We arrived early about 8am for the 12.10 flight. The food options in Belfast international airport are dismal so given an early start from home we stopped at Mcdonalds drive through to get some bacon and sausage Mcmuffins. At the airport we just had coffee and scones (at extortionate prices). As it was a Sunday morning Belfast Airport was the quietist I have ever seen it and there were no security queues. So check-in and security was very smooth.

We were all excited for our flight and stay in Orlando.

Here is a menu along with my complimentary G&T - definitely a good start 😀

We got solero ice-creams on the flight. Nice 🍦

We enjoyed our main meals but we're not too happy with the tea before landing. Fruit scones for adults and cucumber sandwiches for the kids. I ate a few sandwiches. DD6 gets severe travel sickness and was loaded up with regular tablets so we didn't mind if she just wanted water and light snacks.

The flight was excellent. We binged on movies on the way out. My sons dream - a good selection of movies - and 8 hours to sit and watch them uninterrupted 😃. The flight landed on time and the immigration queue was around 40 minutes. It was much faster than the same time last year - it took nearly 2 long hours in 2018. I think it was quicker this year as the flight had moved to a Sunday and was 2 hours earlier arriving. This earlier arrival before 5pm was great for getting through security earlier and getting to the hotel quicker.
At the airport we picked up the visitor toll pass from the booth. I had booked this online in advance and it was very good and a smooth process.
I had done online check-in with alamo so we went to the standard suv line and chose a KIA suv.

This was a super motor with lots of extras - reverse camera, wing mirror blind spot sensors - and had 7 seats. So plenty of room and I'm glad we hadn't paid extra for a larger suv.
We drove to homewood suites on the middle of international drive. We had stayed here in 2018 and loved it. It includes free breakfast and evening receptions mid week and is always really clean and welcoming. It's location is brilliant in that we walked to many restaurants nearby.
We offloaded our bags at the hotel and walked across the street to Friendly's for a quick evening meal. I had avocado chicken burger. DH had chicken bbq grill stack. All good. Once finished back to hotel. Sorted out clothes for Universal the next morning and off to sleep. Kids were exhausted - it was 3am UK time, 10pm US.

Day 1 is planned for half day at universal studios.

Our budget was $150 per day separated into envelopes. Any shopping would be extra.

[vitfa]

great travel day - your kids did great Love friendlys - yummy, quick and cheap x