"Sausages with Rista" August 2016 pre-trip report

[LaurenPickle]

How do you start one of these things? Well, an introduction seems as good a place as any. So here we are -

There's me, Lauren, 32 and the senior thrill seeker of the party. By this I mean, I love the fast and terrifying rides whilst I'm queuing, start praying while I'm strapped in, scream "stop it, noooooooo!" all the way around ... then come off any want to go again I'm also the planner and researcher of the family, and also the Shopper. More of that later when the husband isn't reading over my shoulder ...

On to the husband, who likes anything space related and loves the cleverly themed rides above the fast and furious ones. He also is a big fan of the food and has gained a stone each time we've visited it drops off him within a few weeks of coming home though, unlike me! I won't put a pic on of him right now, as he's a teacher so a bit cautious about these things.

And we have two Disney juniors with us, visiting Disney world for the first time ever. Our first two visits were as a couple, so it's going to be a very different trip.

Daughter 1, Penny, will be just 5 when we visit. She is utterly fearless, whether it's meeting someone new or going on a thrill ride. She's already been on a few quite big rides at Blackpool and local fairs, and is very disgruntled at not being quite tall enough for the huge rollercoasters and terror fall type rides. It's working well as a vegetable eating tactic to warn her "Well, you won't grow tall enough for the rides at Disney if you don't eat sprouts/broccoli/parsnips etc" She's very excited about meeting her adored Tigger, the Jungle book characters and is really optimistic about King John from Robin Hood being there which I don't think is likely.

Daughter 2, Connie, will be 3 and a half when we go. She's very chatty (that's understating it just a bit!) but is a lot less daring than Penny. She's not keen on rides yet, but she loves playing in water, slides and meeting characters.

She is especially keen to meet Marie from the Aristocats and it's from her that the trip title originates. She has a Marie teddy which she calls "Rista" (because "she's a Ristacat"). When I was chatting to the girls about Disney, I told them that I was going to book to have breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and friends. Penny was very excited about this, but Connie was rather grumpy. " I don't LIKE breakfast with Winnie the Pooh, I want to eat sausages with Rista" ... I explained - well, as much as you can to a stroppy 2 and a half year old - that there are set character meals and Rista isn't one of them. She isn't having it. So we will be tracking Marie/Rista down and bringing a pack of Walls finest

So that's us and I will write the next post now with our plans so far!

[LaurenPickle]

So our plans are August 2016, 17 nights. We wanted more than 2 weeks, but 3 seemed too long ... and 17 seems just right. Plus we found good flight prices for 17 nights, which always is the deciding factor! But that's jumping forward a bit, so I'll go back to the beginning and what we booked in order.

We realised very quickly that a villa would be the best option for us. Firstly, because none of us sleep well when we share a room and secondly, because we also would like some time to relax and watch TV/chat etc without having to be quiet while the kids sleep! This meant that staying on site was out as we could not afford a suite for the full trip.

We wanted to be close to Disney and have a private pool as the girls are keen swimmers. We were so pleased to find 'The House by the Mouse' in Indian Ridge Oaks. We booked the villa - which we found on here - in March 2015. Then the long wait for flights began.

330 days before was early October this year, so I set up Kayak alerts, subscribed to threads on here and checked ... oooh, about 20 times a day. I ummed and ahhed about the Jersey and Oslo bargains, but the husband was not keen on the changing and faffing about. I was beginning to find it all a bit stressful - I was dreaming about searching for flights and waking up at 4am, unable to sleep with worrying whether we would get a flight at all! (I'm annoyed at myself for getting stressed needlessly, but I can't help it; I'm a worrier).

Then on Thursday 15th October, after a busy afternoon, I sat down with a cup of tea and thought I'd have a quick look on the Dibb. And up popped an interesting thread, posted by Frontal - 'Aer Lingus Glitch, use it before it's gone!'. I was immediately interested - when I'd looked at potential routes, I'd loved the idea of the short hop from Manchester (20-30 mins away), clearing security in Dublin, then a much quicker trip through Orlando airport.

I had a look for the dates I wanted ... and there they were, exactly the times I wanted, for £2400 which was my exact budget [spooky X files music here]. I know we might have got it a little cheaper by schllepping around from X to Y to Z to B or whatever, but these were convenient flights in peak school holiday dates and it meant no more endless checking. So I booked for £600 each and promptly deleted my subscription to the glitch thread

Now I knew my exact dates, I could get on with booking the extra accommodation. The flights were for 17 nights, but the villa for 14. So 3 nights to fill, two before the villa and one after ... exciting!

We had decided that we definitely wanted to stay on site at universal for at least one night for FOTL passes and early access. I loved the look of the Royal Pacific Resort and Portofino, so it was always between those two ... HRH just looked a little more cool and 'adult' to me. The husband immediately requested that we book a suite rather than a room which, as we were only staying one night, was within the budget. We booked the Jurassic Park Kids suite at Royal Pacific resort for the last night of our holiday.

I cannot put into words how excited I am about staying here. Every time I see the photo of the lake, with the sea plane and the water taxis, or the huge pool, or the gorgeous South Pacific theming, I get a huge grin on my face.

Next I booked the two nights at the start of the holiday. Now I have a confession to make ... I told the husband that the budget was tight, so I had booked a small cheap suite near the airport for these nights. But that isn't quite true I've been squireling away a little money from my birthday and some extra work, so I had enough cash to book ...

... a Lion King suite in the Art of Animation Resort! Again, I am giddily excited. The girls love the Lion King and the rooms look stunning. They will love walking around the Nemo and Little Mermaid areas, and the food court looks great - I'm Veggie and the husband loves spice, so it's perfect for us. The big blue Nemo pool looks incredible! Plus we get magic bands and parking for 3 days, so it's a bargain Well, I think so anyway! I'm not planning to tell them until we are on Disney property and can't hide it anymore, so SHHHHHHH, keep it a secret with me

So that's the flights and accommodation booked, and we have also booked the tickets - which involved a stressful double booking, but I can't face posting about that yet! My next post will probably be tomorrow or Sunday, and will be about the clothes shopping I have done so far ... it might be a long post

[Elsa42]

Great start! The Jurassic Park Kids suite looks amazing! i'd love to stay there. Make sure you take lots of photos

[EllieP]

Great start, we are going the same time as you next year and also booked after seeing aer lingus glitch!
We are staying in Disney for the first 5 nights and then into a condo. We are then going to RPR for the last 5 nights of our holiday! Spooky coincidences there. we have stayed in RPR twice before and it is a lovely hotel. I'm sure your girls will love it, my 2 girls will be 11 and 10 when we go and they love the pool area in RPR.

[jemima2]

All very exciting! Your plans all sound great, we also will be 17 nights I agree it's the perfect length, although we will be in a villa that whole time... We live in Ireland and so will also be going aer lingus! Mind you what differs is the year! We went Summer just passed so our plans are for 2017! your trip looks fab and lovely surprise going to aoa 😄

[LaurenPickle]

Sorry for the lack of updates - I didn't realise there had been any replies I need to get my alerts sorted.

I haven't been doing any organisation for the trip, apart from a frantic call to Aer Lingus because they sent an email saying they had moved our seats I was in a total panic as they had separated us out over a few rows ... or so I thought. Turns out seats A and C are next to each other! There is no row B. Phew!

What I have been doing is shopping, mostly in Primark. They have so much Disney stuff in at the moment, in the women's and children's departments. Most of this stuff is from the Manchester branch (huge!) with some from Bury. Apologies for the poor pictures - I used my phone. Everything needs ironing too

This Alice top is from Primark and was £4. I'm planning to wear it on a Magic Kingdom day.

Another Primark bargain, was £3 I think. My hair was red when I bought it earlier this summer and may be again next summer. Another one for the Magic Kingdom.

This Lion King top was only £2, but I'm not sure about it as the arm holes are really long - to the bottom of my ribcage. I'm sure it would be gorgeous on a long limbed teenager with a bandeau bikini top , but I've had 2 kids, I need decent scaffolding underneath Might just be a cover up for Typhoon Lagoon.

I love this tiny handbag with Minnie ears, again from Primark, £10. It has a long cross body strap so is practical for carrying about, but only has space for purse/phone/lipbalm. So I think it will be for the evenings when we return to parks, rather than during the days when we need water/ponchos etc.

I really wanted a Lion King top to wear at Animal Kingdom as it's a favourite of mine and the kids. I bought this Primark top with Simba, Pumbaa and Timon for £2, but I don't feel very confident in it as it's a bit short on the waist. I might make it into something for the girls. So I bought this second quotation top for £5. It's really light and floaty, so it will be fab for a long day at Animal Kingdom.

I was so excited to find this Villains top, again in Primark, for £5.50. The girls hate it though - they don't understand why i want a top with the "bad ladies" on it I might wear this at Magic Kingdom or maybe when we have dinner with Cinderella at the Grand Floridian - I think Lady Tremaine, Anastastia and Drizella might be disappointed that they're not on it though!

Last but not least of my clothes, a Hogwarts top from Primark for £6 (I think). I was a bit disappointed not to be able to find a Slytherin or Gryffindor one though - I can never decide which house I would be in, so I would have bought both.

The girls clothes so far are ...

Jasmine tops from the Disney store sale last month - £2.50 each, bargain! These are thick fabric and the writing is really sparkly. Not sure when these will be worn, but I think they'll be favourites.

Bad photo, but these Bambi dresses were £10 each from Primark. The girls were with me when I bought these and are desperate to wear them, so they may do double duty as Christmas day dresses. They haven't even seen Bambi yet They will be worn at the Cinderella's 'Happily Ever Ever' Dinner at the Grand Floridian.

These Cinderella tops were reduced to £2 each and the Jungle book ones were £4 I think, both Primark. The Jungle book ones were in the boys section, which I always check now too.

Finally, some Universal shirts for the girls - both Primark and £4 each. They love Spiderman so these were a must buy.

I was giddy to see these Krustyburger t-shirts - the Simpsons expansion wasn't opened when we last visited and we are such big fans. We're looking forward to visiting Krusty burger for a Flaming Moe and a Clogger burger.

I cannot get these to rotate, no idea why!

Krusytburger is an appropriate t-shirt to end on as my next post will be about our planned restaurants.

Thanks for reading and I hope everyone's holiday planning is going well on this dull November day!

[jemima2]

Loving the clothes! Primark really is amazing for stuff like that, all the Americans ask us where we got them lol...villains one my fave 😄

[sarahewoods]

Love your plans for your accommodation so far, sounds like you have a wonderful holiday planned.

Your girls are so cute!

Looking forward to reading more. Xx

[LaurenPickle]

Just a small update because I haven't been thinking about Florida, what with Christmas looming!

I was browsing the Dibb yesterday when I read someone saying that car hire prices only ever go up ... I thought I'd have a look and sure enough, prices were about £30 more expensive than last time I checked

I ummed and ahhed about what to do - I had planned to book when we got the first after-Christmas pay packet! I had a browse and decided to book with Jet2 Car hire as you only have to pay a £20 deposit and the rest a week before. It has free cancellation until then too, so I'll keep an eye out for a better deal after Christmas, but at least I've got a deal fixed at the current prices.

I went to mark it off my list and realised that I still haven't arranged travel insurance. Whoops! I am very disorganised this time. I decided I must do it there and then, despite not having budgeted for it this month, but I cheered myself up by going via topcashback, which means I get £5 cashback soon.

That was a very dull update So I'll have to pop back later or tomorrow and write up my restaurant plans. We put on over a stone each last time, which is proof of our love of Florida dining so it might be a long post!

Thanks for the lovely comments about the plans and the girls x

[toots82]

Really enjoyed this! Looking forward to more