Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 11 Aug 21, 04:23 PM  
Link to this Post
#1
2littleboys
Imagineer
 
Join Date: Jul 13

2littleboys's Reviews
Hotel Reviews: 1
Let Loose and Oot The Hoose! Pre-Trip Report July 22



Welcome to my 2nd Trip Report, the mention of the word holiday strikes fear into my heart now, dare I get excited, dare I even dream that one day it may actually happen!

This trip report is aptly titled "Let Loose and Oot The Hoose" to those not fluent in the Scottish language this means "we are now allowed out of the house to do things again"

This trip was originally planned for 2020 but didn’t happen because you know… COVID! It was then moved to 2021 which again didn’t happen because, you know…. COVID, so much for 3 weeks to flatten the curve.

So here are our plans for 2022. I am praying so hard that this trip will actually go ahead, and I’m not being dramatic when I say that if it doesn’t happen I actually think I might die.

Firstly let me introduce the cast.



Me…. Shona, chief planner and organiser and this will be my 5th Trip to Orlando.

Next is my wonderful husband Barry…both of us turned 40 during the pandemic and the celebrations we had planned didn’t happen hence the reason why we plan on making this trip extra special. Barry doesn’t take much to do with the planning, he leaves it all to me and asks questions the night before we go but he loves the trips as much as me and has really missed our family time away.

DS 1 – Mason who will be 16 when we travel. Mason is a lover of all rides, all the food and is as big an addict as me now, he is a regular watcher of Orlando/Theme Park You Tube Videos and is a hive of information on statistics and information. However I think this trip might prove difficult at times, as a mother I am not embracing the teenage years and he seems to have lost the art of conversation. He also now has a girlfriend and is very much in love, I have no idea how he will cope with no wifi for 3 nights on the cruise.



DS 2 – Lewis who will be 11 when we travel. Lewis is very street-wise for his age, he is looking forward to doing something different this trip which will be revealed in the plans. He is a huge Harry Potter and Tik Tok fan and has asked if we can make Tik Toks on our trip… I don’t know how I feel about that, I am delighted that I have never “done” a Tik Tok so far in life and hope that tradition can continue.


Our previous trips look a little like this:

2010 – Mum, Dad & Mason

We look so young… and so thin! This was our “once in a lifetime never doing it again” trip, I think a lot of us had those plans. We stayed in a villa in Formosa Gardens with friends and we were hooked from then on but I came home with an extra passenger in my tummy which put holidays on hold for a few years.

2015 – Mum, Dad, Mason & Lewis


I love any opportunity to get this photo out, the embarrassing time my 4 year old was braver than me on Splash Mountain! This was our first trip staying onsite at Saratoga Springs with the Dining Plan, this has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Everything about it was just out of this world with actually staying in Disney the looks on the kids faces, the character meals, I was just blown away with it all and couldn’t wait to do it again.

2017 – Mum, Dad, Mason & Lewis

This was our first 3 weeks trip combining Universal and Disney. We stayed in Royal Pacific Resort Club Level and Saratoga Springs. We loved it but started to find that as the kids were getting older 4 in a tiny room for long periods of time were wearing very thin and we found Disney just too busy at times and too restrictive with having to book everything so far in advance. Don’t get me wrong we loved Disney and the Dining Plan but it is no longer feasible for us as a family of 4. Barry and I hope one day we will be able to do it child-free.

2019 – Mum, Dad, Mason, Lewis, Gran & Papa



We asked my parents if they would like to come with us in 2019 and they jumped at the chance. Some Dibbers will be aware of my story but my dad was diagnosed with Alzheimers when he was only 55. He was staring to fail pretty fast and we knew it would be his last holiday. We had a wonderful time and became villa converts that trip after staying in a 5 bedroom villa in Legacy Park. Barry managed the driving with no issues and we loved the space and freedom the villa offered. Unfortunately my dad passed away 2 days before Christmas last year just 2 months after also being diagnosed with Lung Cancer he was only 62. I am so grateful that we managed to take him on that trip because he loved it, even going on the Rip Ride Rockit, it was also great memories for the kids being able to spend that time with their Papa.

There is never a good time to grieve a loved one but I found it especially hard during the pandemic and lockdown with having nothing to look forward to. I find it so refreshing seeing people out enjoying themselves again and leading an almost normal life. We just need Joe to open the borders again and can have our trips across the pond to look forward to.

The Plan
Previously we have travelled Sept/Oct time however as Mason is now in a critical period of his education we can only really go in School Holidays so our plan looks like this:

Flights
6th July 2022 – Glasgow to Miami via Heathrow with British Airways. We have never flown indirect before but I was happy with the price during school holidays and it was a lot cheaper to go the day before so now we have an unexpected day in Miami to look forward to. We don’t arrive in Miami until 18:20 that night – having never arrived so late before I am presuming we will be exhausted and will just fall into bed.

Miami

We are staying in the Hyatt Regency Downtown Miami for 2 nights before our cruise, I originally thought it would be only 1 night and wanted something close to the port but managed to extend the stay once we confirmed the flights would be leaving the day before. I used my Tesco Clubcard Vouchers for this stay.
Having never visited Miami I would welcome tips on things to do/places to eat. I like the idea of the Thriller Speedboat Tour though and I think the boys would love that.


Cruise

We have booked a 3-night Bahama’s & Perfect Day Cruise with Royal Caribbean sailing from Miami Port on 8th July. This gives us a day to acclimatise and explore Miami before we board. I am so very looking forward to the cruise as we have never cruised before, I think it looks wonderful. I am a complete novice and have no idea what I am doing but with the same research we have carried out for our Orlando trips I am sure it will all be fine.

Collect Hire Car and Drive to Orlando Villa


When we disembark from our cruise we are collecting our hire car from Miami Airport. Once again Andy at Discount Florida Car Hire was absolutely amazing with his prices and customer service. We have an intermediate SUV to collect at Hertz. We will then hit the road and drive to our Villa in Windsor Palms resort. The villa at Legacy Park we stayed in before was unfortunately put up for sale during the pandemic by the owners, we were gutted as we really loved that villa but I am looking forward to staying in Windsor Palms with the community pool (and Tiki Bar) and being so close to all the restaurants on the 192. We loved the variety of restaurants eating offsite on our last trip but actually some of the best nights were just chilling by the pool and ordering a Dominos, I just love how relaxed the villa is. I do think as the years go on there may be time’s we could do a villa holiday with no parks.





Parks
We have deliberated with this decision but have decided not to do Disney this trip. As the boys get older they prefer Universal anyway. We have also included Sea World and Busch Garden tickets, we have never been to Busch Gardens and haven’t been to Sea World since 2010. My boys love a water park and I think Aquatica could be a hit with them.

Royal Pacific Resort
I have booked a 1 night stay in RPR again to take advantage of the front of line passes. I love this hotel and cant recommend it enough, the walk along the path to Islands of Adventure was always the highlight of my day! This was also another Clubcard Purchase, got to love those Clubcard Points.



So here endeth the plans, we just need to hope that everything actually goes to plan, the borders open and we all get back to our happy place.

Thank you for reading along

Edited at 04:07 PM.
2littleboys is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 11 Aug 21, 08:18 PM  
Link to this Post
#2
P&S
Imagineer
 
P&S's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 06
Sounds fab! Really hope you get there and what a blessing you got to take your Dad in 2019 x
__________________
P&S is online now Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 12 Aug 21, 08:38 PM  
Link to this Post
#3
2littleboys
Thread Starter
Imagineer
 
Join Date: Jul 13

2littleboys's Reviews
Hotel Reviews: 1
Mobile

Originally Posted by P&S View Post
Sounds fab! Really hope you get there and what a blessing you got to take your Dad in 2019 x
Thank you for reading xx
2littleboys is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 13 Aug 21, 07:04 AM  
Link to this Post
#4
margyloveswdw
Deck 4, Disney Wonder
 
margyloveswdw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 08

margyloveswdw's Reviews
Hotel Reviews: 1
Restaurant Reviews: 1
Sounds like a fab trip!
margyloveswdw is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 13 Aug 21, 07:49 AM  
Link to this Post
#5
Florida1972
Excited about Disney
 
Join Date: May 20
This was a lovely read, so sorry to hear that you lost your dad though 😔
Your plans sound fab, I pray for all of us that we get to board that plane to sunny Florida next year 🇺🇸
Florida1972 is offline Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 13 Aug 21, 11:27 AM  
Link to this Post
#6
Robin3
Getting Excited
 
Join Date: Sep 15
That was great to read & sounds like a great holiday you’ve planned.
I’m so glad you got to take your dad & make those memories.
I’m hoping for us all we can go next year.
Robin3 is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 18 Aug 21, 10:26 AM  
Link to this Post
#7
Goldia
VIP Dibber
 
Goldia's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 16

Goldia's Reviews
Hotel Reviews: 5
Restaurant Reviews: 43
It looks like you're going to have a marvellous time. The villa looks great!
__________________
Abby
New pre trip report - Summer 2024

Link to all my completed trip reports
2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
2019: DLP. Orlando. Washington DC.
2020: DLP.
2021: Jamaica. Rome.
2022: Orlando.
2023: Orlando. Niagara and Toronto.
Goldia is online now Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 29 Mar 22, 11:12 AM  
Link to this Post
#8
2littleboys
Thread Starter
Imagineer
 
Join Date: Jul 13

2littleboys's Reviews
Hotel Reviews: 1
Update March 2022



Hi everyone

Today is our double digit dance so I thought I would pop in with a quick update.

Its so hard to believe that it might actually be happening this year after so many failed attempts.

Not really much to update apart from paying the balances, I was so apprehensive about doing this after having a nightmare getting a refund from US Airtours in 2020 but I hopefully shouldn't need to worry this time.

I have also booked tickets for an Orlando v Philadelphia Soccer Game on Saturday 24th July. The boys are really looking forward to this, we are a family of football fans so should be good and the reviews seem to highlight a fantastic atmosphere.



I still need to book parking at Glasgow Airport - best price at the moment is Sky Port coming in at £68 for 22 nights which I think is quite reasonable.

Operation bikini body is also in full swing, I lost 4lbs in my first week of eating less and moving more so I am hoping to feel a bit more confident if I continue this in the run up to my holiday.

So now the big question... is it too early to get the cases out of the loft
2littleboys is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 29 Mar 22, 07:26 PM  
Link to this Post
#9
Inky
Apprentice Imagineer
 
Join Date: Jul 16
Mobile

We go 6th July! From Manchester x I hope testing will have finished by then x
Inky is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 29 Mar 22, 07:58 PM  
Link to this Post
#10
2littleboys
Thread Starter
Imagineer
 
Join Date: Jul 13

2littleboys's Reviews
Hotel Reviews: 1
Mobile

Originally Posted by Inky View Post
We go 6th July! From Manchester x I hope testing will have finished by then x
I am praying it will be, it’s the only thing ruining the build up.
2littleboys is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 01:49 PM.


Powered by vBulletin - Copyright © 2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
DIBB Savings
AttractionTickets.com

Get £10 off each Disney Ticket with the code ATDIBB10

Get up to £50 off per room at Disney or Universal with the code DIBBHOTELS


theDIBB Blog
One of the the five worlds found in Epic Universe, How to Train Your Dragon... Read More »
Disney announced that a new nighttime show, “Disney Dreams That Soar,” will run nightly at... Read More »
Walt Disney World Resort guests can get ready to have a “glowing’’ good time when... Read More »


theDIBB Menu


Exchange Rates
US Dollar Rates
ASDA  $1.2348
CaxtonFX  $1.2297
Covent Garden FX  $1.2493
FAIRFX  $1.2365
John Lewis  $1.2398
M&S  $1.2191
Sainsburys  $1.2343
TESCO  $1.2364
Travelex  $1.2361
Updated: 12:30 29/03/2024
Euro Rates
ASDA  €1.1441
CaxtonFX  €1.1403
Covent Garden FX  €1.1512
FAIRFX  €1.1468
John Lewis  €1.1477
M&S  €1.1289
Sainsburys  €1.1440
TESCO  €1.1445
Travelex  €1.1469
Updated: 12:30 29/03/2024

DIBB Premium Membership
Did you know you can help support theDIBB with Premium Membership?

Check out this link for more information and benefits, such as...

"No adverts on theDIBB Forums"

Upgrade Now



X