Some Miracles Take Time: August 2nd-21st 2019

[Niki T]

Pre Trippie Aug 2019

So, here we are again having just pushed the button on our shortest ever countdown . It's not been quite as stressful on the build up to this trip, but a little escape home would be lovely none-the-less.

Why have we chosen this name? Well, our journey to become parents is nearly over and our coveted status as "mum and dad" is very nearly upon us, but as with the best things in life, some miracles take a little time hence our chosen Cinderella quote. We are hoping to upgrade our Disney tickets to AP again as - hopefully - there'll be a sneaky trip within a year! And that's all I can say on that front, so back to what you have really come for...plans!

We've booked the cheapest, best flights we can at the notice we have. So, Thomas Cook direct £720pp incl. luggage is what we have opted for. Never flown TC and I've read mixed reviews, but price point was a definite factor and flying direct was a bonus, so as long as we get there that's all that matters. We fly 2nd August and return 21st. A little earlier than usual, but dates were a non-negotiable.

Our first stay is Aventura from 2nd to 9th August. A little nervous about being at Universal without FOTLP, but think we've worked out a hack as we'll be purchasing premier AP which allow you FOTL entry after 4pm. The hotel looks great and as we booked through Virgin we get the hub included which should cover breakfast. Virgin were surprisingly competitive as the price for 7nights was £960.

(photo from Google)

We've booked is SSR for 12 nights from 9th August using our DVC points. We've requested the Grandstand, so fingers crossed our request comes through. We didn't have any choice on Disney hotels, and those who've read our previous reports will know SSR wasn't our favourite DVC resort, but it is beautiful and we did enjoy it last time so are very much looking forward to staying again - going to email to check on the freezer status though, especially as the refurbs have started!

We've purchased Disney tickets with the 14 for 7 offer at £395pp; this was part of our Virgin package. For our Disney stay we've booked: tier 1 FOLK Tiffins package as we loved this last time and 2 dessert parties: After Desserts and Star Wars as they were our favourites last year.

Tiffins from 2018 - yum

After Desserts and Star Wars Desserts...

The only other thing we've done is sort our costumes for MNSSHP (which we've not yet booked tickets for). We've decided on Celia Mae and Mike Wazowski this year, not sure it'll live up to previous year's costumes (maps / Ellie and Carl) but hopefully it'll work.

(photo from Google - obviously, we won't look that much like them )

We've booked an Early Morning Magic for Hollywood Studios so we can hopefully get our fix on TSM and SD.

We also need to:
Order our Universal tickets, this will be done closer to the time as we are doing the AP.
Hotel at MAN for the night before, debating between Radisson, Clayton and Hilton, so any recommendations are welcome. We've done Radisson and Clayton previously, but never Hilton.
Oh, and FP, the plans for which are coming together Still can't quite believe we are going and FP day is 10th June, a mere 3 weeks away!