Look Through My Eyes - Pre Trip Report August 2019

[Chloeoeysmum]

It's been 3 years since we returned from the most magical place on earth and I'm so excited to say that we are returning at the end of August! The 29th to be exact, yup, the same day that GE opens.

What better way to capture that special moment in time than a trip report, I can re-live the memories into my old age.

I wrote a trip report back in 2016 and loved writing the report on our return as I revisited each day again. I wouldn't have the stamina to write a live report, and I am in awe of those that do!

Who are we. I am Nicole, 52 years young and am joined by my long suffering husband John who is also 52 years young. I say long suffering, we've been together since the tender age of 16, so it has been a while! He is more than happy for me to make the plans and he just comes along for the ride, he loves it as much as I do really!

In 2016 we took the adult kids and their partners.

There was a proposal

Followed in 2019 by an emotional marriage. They are honeymooning in Disney very soon too!

Love our kids unconditionally

We then decided to try and return but some house renovations got in the way so the savings were depleted in 2018. So, decided that we would return in 2019.

This will be our 4th trip, we have never been on our own (sorry kids!) or stayed on site, so on the release of free dining we booked with Disney directly. Drum roll please.
AKL for three whole weeks! I am beside myself with excitement. We will be fully immersed in the Disney bubble for the whole time. I have just submitted a room request via Touring Plans, so it will be interesting to see if we get the requested area at least.

Then there was the hunt for flights, if we are staying in such a luxurious location, we need the flights to also be luxurious, well, premium economy.
This is also a first for us. Flights were so expensive though! I set up every alert known to man and waited for every rumoured sale but nothing materialised that was within our flight budget.
We live in Norfolk so looked at London airports flying with VA, we didn't fancy an indirect flight so Norwich airport was out of the question. Don't want to think about the drive home until it happens so we wont talk about that now.

We extended our search area to Manchester and found PE flights for £500 cheaper with VA so jumped on them just after Christmas. It's a long drive but hey, they are booked so I'm not complaining. Also means that we get to travel up the day before so that's an extra day added to our holiday (a few months later the Gatwick prices dropped to mirror the Manchester prices, never mind).

We've booked one night in a premium room at the Radisson Blu through a friend who gets a good discount with them, not that I will get much sleep the night before! We've also booked the Manchester airport meet and greet parking through holiday extras.


All ADR's are booked. We are on the Disney dining plan, I was a little nervous about having our days structured around restaurant bookings as we do like to just go with the flow. So I have compromised with myself and have booked a few 2TS meals. Which frees up a few days for us to just go wherever the wind takes us.

We have booked the usual's such as Boma, Yak and Yeti, Sanaa, Mama Melrose and O'hanas and a couple of specials such as The Boathouse, Flying Fish, Hollywood Brown Derby and the California Grill brunch.

We have also booked the Spirit of Aloha dinner, not sure if I'm beginning to regret this now as I have read some not so favourable reviews, but I'm going to stick with it regardless, it's all about making memories both good and not so good!

A few weeks ago, I also splashed out and purchased after hours tickets for Animal Kingdom and can't wait for this either! Just hope the weather is kind. In 2016, every evening we had planned in AK was rained off, we didn't get to see the tree of life awakenings or rivers of light due to rain and storms.

Fast passes are all booked, HS is a bit frustrating with the tier changes isn't it! I've had to book things that we are not going to do just to be able to book another tier one when we are there. Can't imagine many 50 somethings will be attending the tier two Disney dance party! The plan is to take our time and take everything in. We don't need to rush anything and can sit and watch the world go by if we choose to.
I am little nervous as I have just been diagnosed with an overactive thyroid which causes my heart to race and I get palpitations which can be worse when I get hot, but I don't think I can avoid that in Florida! (cooling towels may come in handy) I'm waiting to see an Endocrinologist but appointments are few and far between so I doubt that I will see anyone before I go. My BP is also high which is another side effect of the thyroid and am on 3 different medications to try and control it. The only symptom that I don't have is weight loss, oh the irony! (Travel insurance are aware) I've made it this far so I'm sure it'll be fine.



There will also be lots of trips to Epcot for the Food and Wine festival, this is another first for us. We've always gone at the end of August, beginning of September but the F&W was always starting just after we left.


I've also planned a night at POR to go and see Yee Ha Bob as that looks fun.



Holly the dog is booked in to stay with our eldest daughter, her partner and my grand dog son Norman for three weeks. Holly is 13 now and I don't think that she would be happy in kennels.

All that's left to do is the dreaded currency. How I see it is we have a fixed budget and that's what we will spend. In the past we have had either 4 or 6 mouths to feed and haven't ever had the dining plan. This time there are only two of us and meals are included, so the money we have with us is purely for pleasure (and Pandora!). I have a bit of a weakness for Disney Art and am hoping to pick up a few more David Doss Prints to match the prints from our last trip. I also enjoy creating my own Disney art and can often be found with copic pens in my hand, I created four different versions of these for family Christmas presents and have another two to finish this year before starting my own one.

My home office has recently been decorated and I'm hoping to fill a wall with Disney art. I love this wallpaper and it's not too childish, well, in my opinion anyway.

I'm waffling slightly, sorry! Back on track then.

I shall start the trip report sometime after our return on the 19th September unless I do actually have a mad moment and attempt a live report. The trip report is titled after the Phil Collins Brother Bear song, it's not very well known and it's a beautiful little song, do listen to it if you get a chance.
'Just take a look through my eyes, there's a better place out there somewhere, everything changes, you'll be amazed what you'll find'


So, for the next few weeks I shall be mostly working, wishing my life away and reading The Dibb. To everyone who is going soon I wish you a magical time!
See you soon x.

[Forest32]

Looking forward to reading your report. Hope you have a great time!

[app]

New Photo Added by Chloeoeysmum - 1 Aug 19 1:04 PM.

[Chloeoeysmum]

Ooooh! 9 days to go! Bet you are fit to burst too
Thank you

[Mazascouser]

Buy a cooling towel it helps with the heat. We bought our a few years ago at Disney. They are great. Enjoy your holiday hope all goes well. Glad your daughter and her wife are honeymooning in Disney especially after that romantic proposal. Love a happy ending

[Chloeoeysmum]

Originally Posted by Mazascouser

Buy a cooling towel it helps with the heat. We bought our a few years ago at Disney. They are great. Enjoy your holiday hope all goes well. Glad your daughter and her wife are honeymooning in Disney especially after that romantic proposal. Love a happy ending

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I’m definitely going to look for a non bulky cooling towel, I bought a cheap one last year but it went a bit smelly despite washing it. I had the frosty towels last time we were at Disney, the menthol in them was lovely, I might have a look at the frog tog ones this time.

I love a happy ending too

[Cinderella]

Love your wallpaper!

[Chloeoeysmum]

Originally Posted by Cinderella

Love your wallpaper!

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Thanks! So do I

[JenD1]

Fantastic pre trippie, can’t wait to read when you get back. Have the most amazing time!😄

[Michyloulou]

Fabulous pre-trip report! Can’t wait to start reading!
Love your Disney wallpaper (and your home renovations).
Well done for getting PE flights from Manchester, it’s one of my aims to travel PE once our kids are grown up! (Got a while to wait there, lol!).
Happy planning - less than a month to go! ✈️ ☀️ 💵 🎢 🍦