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Old 4 Feb 20, 12:37 PM  
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Beth_Disney
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Join Date: Nov 14
Location: West Midlands
Wait, what? No Disney? Pre-trip report

Welcome to my first ever trip report I'm going to try and do it live.ish when we arrive.

We’re Beth and Jack, mid-30’s (I can’t get away with using that phrase for much longer ) I love planning and going on holidays, Jack pretends he doesn’t but he loves them really. Especially when it’s a holiday that includes watching the WWE. He’s a big fan!

This will be our fourth trip to Orlando, and it’ll be a different style of trip for us as we’re not going to Disney this time. Our first two Orlando holidays were in 2012 and 2016, we stayed onsite at Disney, did rope drop to close, ate onsite, took whistle-stop trips to the outlets, Kennedy and Universal but I was very conscious that we hadn’t scraped the surface of what Orlando had to offer. We had a week in Orlando at a lovely Dibb villa over New Year, got one day tickets for Magic Kingdom and finally got to try some of the different restaurants that I’ve read about.

The plan…

Jack is a teacher so we’re tied to school holiday dates and the flight prices that match! We booked pretty much as BA Holidays released their dates back in May 2019 and prices have skyrocketed since. We’re flying Gatwick to Tampa on Saturday 4th April and returning on Friday 17th April.

Saturday 4th – Monday 6th. Basic hotel within walking distance of Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. The hotel prices for Wrestlemania weekend were eye watering ☹ but as the event is about 7 hours long it’s nice to be able to have a couple of beers and not having to worry about getting an Uber when 75,000 people are leaving the stadium. For the WWE fans, we also have tickets to NXT Takeover on the Saturday evening and we’ll have to pray to the wrestling gods for no travel delays.

Monday 6th – Wednesday 8th. Transfer to Holiday Inn near Busch Gardens. WWE Raw on the Monday evening, Busch Gardens on the Tuesday and hopefully a bit of downtime as we’ll need it!

Wednesday 8th – Friday 17th. Pick up a hire car from Avis and travel to Rosen Inn at Pointe Orlando. We have 14-day tickets for Universal Studios, Busch Gardens/Seaworld/Discovery Cove, and I’ve bought a few pre-paid vouchers for other activities (Wonderworks, wheel at Icon Park). It’s refreshing not to have to do strict daily plans, FP+, ADR’s etc. I have dropped lots of pins in Google Maps of where I want to eat!

Edited at 05:46 PM.
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Old 4 Feb 20, 12:39 PM  
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Beth_Disney
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Well, since drafting the pre-trip report there has been a change!

I had a glass of wine on Sunday evening and booked an after hours event at Animal Kingdom. I ordered the tickets from Attraction Tickets and they cost £105 each. That’s a lot of Mickey Ice Cream bars Pandora wasn’t built the last time we went to Animal Kingdom so I’m excited for FoP and riding Everest in the dark.

I’ve also been busy buying some more vouchers and pre-paying for food tickets. I know this doesn’t work for everyone but I find it helps with knowing how much cash to take. I don’t know why I stress about spending money as we could always use a card or transfer more over to the FairFX card!

Latest purchases.
Busch Gardens - all day dining
Universal - quick service meal ticket inc. refillable drink bottle.
City Walk - Hard Rock meal voucher
Wonderworks from Groupon
Sea World - dine with whales
Animal Kingdom after hours
Wheel at Icon Park and dinner (probably Sugar)

Edited at 12:41 PM.
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Old 4 Feb 20, 12:39 PM  
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Beth_Disney
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Join Date: Nov 14
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I’ve ordered this t-shirt in black...

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Old 4 Feb 20, 02:50 PM  
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tink111
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Great pre-trip report! Ill be interested to see what after hours is like! Will be following along x
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Old 5 Feb 20, 07:48 PM  
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Tinkermom
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Will definitely be following, great start!
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Old 5 Feb 20, 08:05 PM  
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3disneykids
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Sounds great...FOP is amazing you will love it x
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Old 5 Feb 20, 08:39 PM  
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Ivegottadream
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Sounds like a great trip, can't wait to follow along.
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Old 5 Feb 20, 08:49 PM  
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princess allie
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Sounds like a great trip
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Old 28 Feb 20, 10:03 PM  
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Beth_Disney
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Join Date: Nov 14
Location: West Midlands
Update -

I’ve been looking at more detailed plans for our holiday and here’s where I’m at

Friday - our 10th wedding anniversary
I’m off work and Jack finishes at lunchtime
Drive to Gatwick and drop off car at valet parking South and bag drop
Hilton Gatwick South
Anniversary dinner at Wetherspoons

Saturday - travel day.
My Lounge
Leave Gatwick 11.50am. Arrive Tampa 4.30pm
Travel to hotel - Extended Stay America - Tampa Airport - Spruce Street
Wrestling at 6.00pm.

Sunday
Wrestlemania

Monday
Travel to 2nd hotel - Holiday Inn - Tampa North - Busch Gardens
WWE Raw

Tuesday
Busch Gardens - all day dining

Wednesday
Go back to airport to pick up car (from 9am)
Travel to hotel - Rosen Inn at Pointe Orlando
Dinner on I-Drive and mini golf

Thursday
Islands of Adventure.
City Walk tea - Panda Express. My favourite! Voodoo Donut.

Friday
Universal Studios
City Walk for tea - Hard Rock meal ticket booked

Saturday
Volcano Bay/Aquatica or shopping
Wonderworks

Sunday (Easter Sunday)
Discovery Cove

Monday
Sea World - dine with whales
Florida Mall

Tuesday
Premium Outlets Vineland
Disney Springs - Earl of Sandwich and Blaze Pizza
Rainforest Cafe and Animal Kingdom After Hours

Wednesday
Universal Studios
City Walk for tea

Thursday
Islands of Adventure
Wheel at Icon Park and dinner at Sugar

Friday
Leave Orlando to Tampa
Travel home 6.20pm
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Old 28 Feb 20, 10:12 PM  
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Beth_Disney
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Join Date: Nov 14
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We paid the balance on our holiday last night. I love that BA holiday only want their final payment 5-weeks before the holiday as money is better in our account than theirs

Today, I re-booked our Busch Garden hotel as a pre-paid rate and saved a few $$.

Just dollars to purchase and holiday clothes to buy and packing to do now. These next 5 weeks are going to drag!
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