*COMPLETE Aug17 Cheeseballs,Chipmunks,Chunder & Chaps in Uniform-Thoughts, Reflections and Next Time

[bigshaz]

Aug 17 Thoughts, Reflections and Next Time!

Disney steps 6,994 2.74 miles

So the following thoughts were gathered from the family the week we arrived back. What we would do the next visit:

(Index for full report is HERE)

Premium economy seats in the bubble- they looked soooo comfy as we wandered through to go to the loo.

“Free” DDP- we loved it, we had upgraded from QSDP but we had had so much great food, and many places we still wanted to visit.

Next time only 2 or 3 nights at the Universal Hotel, we could have done those parks in three / four days easily. But we all said we would be staying at a Universal hotel- it grew on me, it wasn’t Disney, maybe do Universal before Disney. But It was worth every day there to have the unlimited fast passes. I see many people recommend Club level- if you can get it for $100 a night then for many families it’s worth it for the breakfast and evening nibbles- for us it wouldn’t be: we don’t do breakfast and there are too many nice places we want to eat in at Citywalk!

With no budget constraints we’d do a two week trip (three weeks is great but a one off for us I think- takes some stamina- you will notice we don’t do lying by a pool, never have) we loved Port Orleans and will be back- FQ next time for us. A lottery win would take us to a stay at Wilderness lodge or Millie would like a stay at AOA. She has my love of themeing.

Take less clothes and bigger suitcases and have more time shopping!

The laundrette facilities are great and a wash can easily be done during the afternoon break.

The fireworks from Cali Grill were lovely, we all preferred brunch to dinner. Our other fave spot for the fireworks was from the boardwalk in Liberty Square.

Must see Pandora at night time- it’s hectic but beautiful.

Go slightly later on in August to get MNSSHP and the Epcot food and wine festival in.

Practicalities- the must haves:
-The cool box for the boot with ice and water each morning - life saver when coming out of the parks

-taking a photo of where you parked the car – life saver again in a sea of white cars

-cheap ponchos from eBay, pack really small and very cheap

-cooling neck scarves which you dip in water, regardless of what anyone says it is hotter than the surface of the sun in Florida in August and that slows you down more than feet aching, crowds or anything else in my opinion- and brings on that well known medical disease Disneycrankyitis.

-compeed plasters (2 shapes toe and heel) and moleskin. Ask your self, and your kids, at the end of each day how do your feet feel? Compeed plasters stay on until they fall off and moleskin to pop on any part of the foot especially ball which feels hot to prevent a blister. Feet savers ! In total we walked 398,532 steps - 151.60 Disney miles.

-the storage boxes, hangers, pops up baskets all made a massive difference to having 4 people live comfortably in a room for two weeks.

-take big cases whether you think you will fill them or not. You will

-Amazon prime delivers to the resort for last minute things you forgot

-Mapmans map for when the sat nav fails!

Buy Bounce sheets and zip lock bags from Walmart – so cheap.

The Revolut card worked a treat for us - just transferred onto it as I needed it.

Use the snack credits 😂 you’ll still be eating goofy candy 9 months later otherwise

Blue Man Group, Star Wars Tour and Cabana all fantastic and worth while.

What we will not do next time:
Seaworld
Discovery Cove dolphin swim- glad we did it, don’t need to do it again
Only do St Pete’s if doing for three weeks
Not fussed about the other water parks - the ones we did were enough

Photopass
If you have the photpass use all the booths that are included – we have some very stupid and funny photos but I will treasure them all – and remember to download everything as soon as you get home so you dont lose them. The photpass website allows you to add frames as well.

Food – I’ll add links to the days we went so you can see the food
Our favourites:
Everyone:
Citricos came top for everyone - a wonderful treat
Rainforest Cafe at Animal Kingdom
Cowfish


In addition :
Cosmic rays QS at MK
Hard Rock Cafe
Yachtsman - mmm that steak!
Toothsome Chocolate Emporium
Cali Grill for the fireworks
but CG Brunch was much better food
Via Napoli in Epcot
Whispering Canyon for the fun, I hope they don't change this too much
Prime Time cafe again for the fun
You have to try the ice cream cookie sandwiches.

Character meals- we would always recommend Tusker house breakfast if at AK on day 1 and Crystal Palace for a Pooh bear hug

Favourite ride for the Family- Splash Mountain all the way, some of my favourite memories from this holiday are laughing on Splash Mountain.

Writing a trip report
If you think about doing a trip report make it fun to do as it’s a long haul . I became a fan of two things- the dictation mode on my iPhone - very simple to use and dictated notes at the end of each day. And I learned what a bullet journal was and made fun pages in the lead up which we filled in whist we were there with what rides we wanted to do v actually did, what times and where we would eat etc - it became messier towards the end of the holiday but was good to list things like how much we had spent each day.

I have a smaller one this year to keep in my bag - from moleskin and lined rather than dots unfortunately:

The next time:
Steve and I spoke within a week of being home and agreed this was by far the best family holiday we had ever had, the photos and the smiles say it all.

Millie has found a love of rollercoasters and with the exception of me the rest of the clan are now all Merlin annual passholders- the Smiler has been ridden 85 times since we came home and will hit 100 in the next month I suspect!

The girls would always come to Florida if we invited them but the truth is they probably wouldn’t want to be with us whilst there, they are getting older so there is no point waiting for several years again to go back. We agreed if I could find flights less than £500 each we would go back in 2018 for 2 weeks, “free” DDP and stay at POFQ. All I can say is thank you BA - £2300 incl car, there will be another pre tripping very shortly as all ADRs are booked, MNSSHP costume ideas are in progress and I will soon be booking fast passes.

We did a lot in these three weeks- we are not people who lie by the pool, but we did take breaks and time to smell the roses - to see the details in everything that make Disney so special. Thank you all so much for reading along, I hope some of my ramblings have been helpful. See you again soon with a new pretrippie! - see link below

Bigshaz
xx

Index is HERE

Pretrippie for 2018 is HERE

[MinnieMrsA]

Fantastic holiday and trip report - looking forward to the next one! 😁 x

[Jessika]

Wow great last post, love how you’ve documented everything. I have somewhere documented notes maps receipts from years back, may start this up again! I’ve been reading trip reports since 2009, I’ve read loads, it’s my favourite part of the dibb. Your report is one of the best that I’ve read. I love how you’ve captured your days adding in the helpful tips as you’ve gone along. Thank you so much for sharing this and I’m really looking forward to reading about this years adventures! The BA holiday bargain flights with car becomes very addictive btw, I get sucked in every September/ October!

[bigshaz]

Originally Posted by Jessika

Wow great last post, love how you’ve documented everything. I have somewhere documented notes maps receipts from years back, may start this up again! I’ve been reading trip reports since 2009, I’ve read loads, it’s my favourite part of the dibb. Your report is one of the best that I’ve read. I love how you’ve captured your days adding in the helpful tips as you’ve gone along. Thank you so much for sharing this and I’m really looking forward to reading about this years adventures! The BA holiday bargain flights with car becomes very addictive btw, I get sucked in every September/ October!

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Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it. we are flying into Tampa for the next one with BA so lets see how that pans out!

[Jessika]

Originally Posted by bigshaz

Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it. we are flying into Tampa for the next one with BA so lets see how that pans out!

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Tampa is fab, we’ve used it lots and not far to drive either.

[MrsSilverStar]

I love your bullet journal! I have a planner but am very tempted to copy you for our trip!
Thanks for sharing a great holiday, looking forward to reading your next pre trippie.

[magickate]

I've absolutely loved reading every day of your report. Only a few months until you're back for another fabulous trip xx

[ShezMcQ]

Thanks for such a fab report. I've loved following along with every day of your trip and agree with a previous poster that this is one of the best TRs I've read.

So glad you've booked again and look forward to the next TR--no pressure!

[bigshaz]

Originally Posted by ShezMcQ

Thanks for such a fab report. I've loved following along with every day of your trip and agree with a previous poster that this is one of the best TRs I've read.

So glad you've booked again and look forward to the next TR--no pressure!

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hopefully the next one won't take 305 days to finish or include firemen

thank you all for your lovely comments - I hope people find the report useful, I have learnt so much from the Dibb.

[halloweenbaby2]

What a fab and lovely TR - really enjoyed reading it, thank you for taking the time to share your holiday.