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10 Mar 13, 10:05 PM
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Very Serious Dibber
 
Join Date: Oct 12
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Yay ive been looking forward to this trip report since reading your last!
 Cant wait to read! We will be there when you are as we are staying for 20 nights this time, so i will be excited to read your updates and follow my countdown with your pre-trippie! 
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10 Mar 13, 10:17 PM
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Thread Starter
VIP Dibber
 
Join Date: Jan 09
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To be honest we've had so much on recently that it didn't feel like I was waiting too long to start! Then I saw my countdown and I was like woahhh, need to start right now! Next update coming up Love you! xxxxxxxxx
it is so gorgeous! I love it!
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 All My Trip Reports 2010 - 2019 IN PRODUCTION Ben and Libby's Happily Ever After  NEW! Livin' it up at the Hotel California (October '18) |
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10 Mar 13, 10:23 PM
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Thread Starter
VIP Dibber
Join Date: Jan 09
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We're doing really good actually!  xxxxx
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All My Trip Reports 2010 - 2019 IN PRODUCTION Ben and Libby's Happily Ever After NEW! Livin' it up at the Hotel California (October '18) |
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10 Mar 13, 10:23 PM
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Thread Starter
VIP Dibber
Join Date: Jan 09
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Aww bless you, thank you Ooh 20 nights, how exciting! Our countdowns will be gone before we know it!
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All My Trip Reports 2010 - 2019 IN PRODUCTION Ben and Libby's Happily Ever After NEW! Livin' it up at the Hotel California (October '18) |
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10 Mar 13, 10:28 PM
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Very Serious Dibber
Join Date: Oct 12
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Looking forward to the 180 day mark so I can properly plan! I'm starting to drive myself mad by changing my plan all the time for no logical reason haha! |
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10 Mar 13, 10:34 PM
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Thread Starter
VIP Dibber
Join Date: Jan 09
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Would we ever get back to the Magic?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The story of how our return visit came to be! So. Rewind back to the 20th October 2011. It was our last full day in Orlando on our first trip together and we were stood on the train platform, looking out onto Town Square, up Main Street and at the castle. (I have just re-read my trippie entry from that day and I have to admit I got a little bit choked up! What a depressing read, eh!?) I started crying because we were leaving the next day and I wasn’t sure when we’d be back or if Ben even wanted to come back   It’s really hard to believe I was actually ever worried about this as the boy is now more obsessed than me! Honestly, I’d say at the moment he is chief planner! Who’s putting Disney vids on Youtube? Benj. Who’s downloading the My Disney Experience app, and telling me all the latest news about MyMagic+!? Who’s telling me which new menu items sound best at Be Our Guest according to the DIsneyFoodBlog!? BENJ! Honestly, he’s putting me to shame with the length and breadth of his knowledge! It’s so lovely though as although he did a lot of planning with me for our first trip, now that we’ve been he knows what it’s all about and so is much more able to offer advice and guidance with our itinerary. Anyway, jumping ahead of myself! So, I wasn’t sure when or even IF we’d go back. We returned to dreary England, back to our parents homes and our 9-to-5’s. But, not a day went by when I didn’t dream about going back to Orlando, that year, the next year or even the next. I never stopped thinking about it. Christmas 2012 bought with it a very unexpected, amazing present: a holiday to DLP in March, courtesy of Benj! What a treat! He booked it shortly after we returned in a desperate attempt to lift me from the post-WDW blues which I have to say, were pretty terminal at the time. I was obviously absolutely over the moon and to be honest, pretty much blown away by his generosity :o I’d bought him like, 2 DVDs and a t-shirt! OOPS! Between you and me I also almost dared to hope that by booking DLP, his love for Disney had taken hold and perhaps a return to Orlando would not be such a crazy idea. We went to Disneyland Paris in March and had a super amazing time, marred only slightly by my camera getting stolen grrr and missing the Eurostar which actually turned out to be pretty hilarious, on reflection haha. Returning home, we continued to reminisce about Florida and a few times he would say little things like “when we go back…” and I would get really excited  About April time we were sat in his lounge chatting about Florida and finances and how we could afford it if we did go. I couldn’t even believe this conversation was happening so I decided to throw all my cards on the table right then and there and basically said, there was nothing else I wanted to save for more than Florida, so if it meant me paying more for the holiday then that would be absolutely fine and in fact I WANTED to! And then we talked about the possibility of having to pay some off on credit cards when we got back if we couldn’t quite manage to save all spending money etc and, although I am against credit cards as a general rule, I agreed that this is what credit cards are for! And then he said the magic words ‘let’s do it then” ARGHHHHHHHHHH! And that was that. Orlando 2013 had become a reality. I started anxiously googling Free Dining dates and the liklihood of it being offered with the same fab package as we got last year. We both agreed we wanted to stay at SSR again because we looooved it and we also felt the DDP was a necessity – such a bargain! I wasn’t sure if it would really be offered the same though so when the dates were announced and I priced it up, I was amazed! Hardly any more expensive than 2011! This was a huge relief as I really did want to stay at SSR with free DDP, as opposed to POR with an upgrade to the DDP, which would have been our alternative. So, which dates would we be going? I have to flashback here to February where two very good friends of ours got engaged, YAY! I met Victoria on this very forum a couple of years ago, where we bonded over countless PM’s about the perils of keeping your hair and make-up looking nice in the Florida heat. Very important stuff, I’m sure you’ll agree. We met up on I-Drive on our last trip and had an awesome evening, I’d even go so far as to say we got on like a house on fire! We have since met up loads of times and we love them very much So, why did their engagement impact our holiday plans? Because at their wedding in October, I will be a bridesmaid, and Ben will be an Usher! We were initially looking at going end of September/beginning of October but Ian and Vic are getting married 4th October so we have pushed our trip back! They are travelling out to Orlando for their Disneymoon on the 6th but we thought we might need a little bit more time to organise ourselves after what is sure to be a very fun-filled and busy weekend so we opted for the 12th.And here’s the other awesome bit of the story….WE’RE GOING FOR THREE WEEKS! OMGOMGOMGOMG Okay I’m calm. So, the whole 3 week thing. Obviously I was keen to go for as long as we possibly could, as every second spent in the Florida sun is a bonus in my eyes. When I was at my old job, I ended up taking 12.5 days off for our 2011 trip due to crazy mid-week flying, and they were all fine with that. I asked my boss if 3 weeks would be okay and she said yes, as long as I booked it in advance. Not a problem, you’re talking to the Queen of advance bookings! Ben’s work was also fine with 12.5 days and would also be fine with 15. The only thing was, at the time of booking I was looking for a new job and if all went to plan, I would be in said job by the time we travelled. But, in a way, I thought this would be even better because I believe employers pretty much have to honour previously booked holidays? If they really want to employ you that is! So I was confident there We discussed at length the sacrifices a 3 week holiday would mean; pretty much no other time off for the rest of the year a festival trip for Benj, hen and stag do’s for us both and maybe a couple of days off in the Summer for me. We both decided this was a very acceptable sacrifice to make as the promise of a Florida holiday really is enough to see anyone through the year We also decided to make 2012 the year of mini-breaks to see if we preferred one big one or lots of little ones And we definitely tried out the mini-break idea! We had 6 mini-breaks last year, 2 of which were DLP! GREEDY! It was fantastic Three weeks in Florida would allow us, first and foremost, to spend 14 WHOLE nights at our beloved Saratoga Springs.  We both felt our time at Disney was rushed in 2011 and we really didn’t even scratch the surface in my opinion We didn’t go to the SSR main pool, we didn’t get a Dole Whip, we didn’t go on the Monorail (I KNOW! ) we didn’t do any non-park recreation thingys that I would have liked because we just didn’t have the time. Don’t get me wrong, it was amazing! But the extra week would give us soooo much more scope We also felt it was essential to spend time away from Disney at our again beloved Hard Rock Hotel and on I-Drive so a week to take all that in was the proposed plan. We both got hit by the jetlag pretty bad last time and I’ve never been so tired in my LIFE as on our second night  So we wanted to ensure we planned relaxed days for the beginning of our trip to ease ourselves in The rough plan was a few days on I-Drive, 2 or 3 nights at Hard Rock Hotel and then 14 nights at Disney. Oooooh it was shaping up nicely! Obviously, full details of our first week to come! So, rough plan made, we booked it! 14 nights at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa with free Disney Dining Plan. We only paid a £50 deposit to secure our booking, safe in the knowledge we could cancel at any time if there was a disaster (although obviously there was no chance I would EVER be cancelling, even when I took voluntary redundancy at my old job and was facing a jobless future I was adamant I wouldn’t cancel! I’D SELL MY SOUL IF IT MEANT I COULD GO! Maybe. Possibly.) My countdown began and I once again had a Floriday on the horizon ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Next chapter… We don’t do anything for like 7 months and then… Flights!
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All My Trip Reports 2010 - 2019 IN PRODUCTION Ben and Libby's Happily Ever After NEW! Livin' it up at the Hotel California (October '18) |
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10 Mar 13, 10:39 PM
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VIP Dibber
Join Date: Aug 08
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fab pre-trippie lib, as always! soooo jealous of your wonderful 3 weeks over there
xx
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 Colette Our 1st Magical Disney Holiday! Never Mind Epricot Trip report Oct 11 All Star Music and Hampton Inn Pointe Orlando June 2009 Sunset Lakes DIBB villa & HRH 15th October 2011 Esprit DIBB Villa 17 June 2014 Dubai Trip Report - just the 2 of us 30 Nov 2011 Introducing Queen P to Orlando June 2014 Report plenty of offsite delights food report June 2014 |
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10 Mar 13, 10:53 PM
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Imagineer
Join Date: Jan 10
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Fab start Libby, the two photos of you in your fist section are stunning!
Can't believe you're going for three weeks you lucky lucky girl! Loving everything you have written so far, so funny that you only got Benj T-shirts and DVDs for Christmas and he got you trip to DDP, made me laugh a lot! Next section please! |
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10 Mar 13, 11:06 PM
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Guest
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Let me tell you Hun, you will STILL come home from a 3 week trip and think 'wow, I could really have spent more time there'
take it from a girl who knows
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10 Mar 13, 11:15 PM
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Imagineer
Join Date: Aug 08
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Loved your last trippie Libby so really looking forward to reading all about your up coming trip.
Your flat looks lovely. Congratulations on moving in together
__________________
 2013 Trippie - Something Old Something New 2011 Trippie Disney & Beyond 2010 Trip Report UNFINISHED 2 weeks WDW '96 ~ Private Villa 2003 ~ Sheraton Village 2005 ~ Sanctuary Westhaven 2006, 2007, 2008 ~ Sarasota 10 days Oct 2008 ~ Windsor Palms 2009 ~ 24 Nights Sabal Harbour Jun 2010 ~ 28 Nights 2011 ~ Watersong/HRH/Rotonda Villa ~ 22 nights Westhaven/CR/AKL/RPR/Rotonda NOW PLANNING 22 Nights - Orlando/Marco Island 
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