Mountains, Zombies & Disney Roadtrip... how it all came about...& Whoops we signed up to DVC too!

[miss_mouse]

Hello again

First up... I failed to complete my last trippie
I'm sorry.
I feel sad. It was a last minute decision to do it. I came home really upset as our accommodation wasn't up to scratch and it really hit me hard. Then a few weeks before we were set to go on this years trip I was really regretting not doing the trippie. So I set to it but only got a few days in. I will go back to it though, but I've decided to get this one done first.

I did however vlog it, so if you like watching too, the link to my YouTube channel is down there in my signature... and if you scroll down to the bottom of my YouTube channel you will find our Disneyworld 2017 videos.

Here is the index to my previous trippies.


For the little intro to this new one.

We are a family of 4.



Me Lisa, Ade, Hollie turned 19 on the trip and Louis is 16.
I call them 'the twins'. They are great friends which really helps.
And to everyone's surprise, yes our kids still want to holiday with us. We get asked that so often.

Our Florida obsession started in 2007 when Ade and I got married in Bahama Bay. Hollie was 7 and Louis was 5.

This was our 6th trip.

We had a big 4 week trip to Orlando last Summer and we became Annual Passholders, so this trip was supposed to be a budget trip, making use of those passes.

But this time we decided to add on a Roadtrip to kick start this trip. This is how it came about...
We took a roadtrip back in 2016.
New York to DC and then across Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky to visit my Dad in Indiana.
(the link to that trippie is in the index)

At the time we were sad not to be going to Disney.
It ended up being the best trip we've ever taken.
To the point last year when traveling to Orlando, I felt really sad that we weren't road tripping again.
So this time we decided to do both.

1 week on the road and 2.5 weeks in Orlando.

We fell in love with Tennessee. It was so beautiful and we wanted to see more. I had a friend in Chattanooga and her photos always looked stunning.
It's a 4 hour drive from my Dad so we figured we'd rent somewhere and him and his wife (and their dog Ollie) could join us for the first part.
Plus Hollie would get to spend a birthday with Grandad for the first time.



We rented a beautiful cabin on a mountain...but with a killer driveway


And Then...
being the crazy 'Walking Dead' fans that we are... we found the filming location for quite a large part of the show and where they are currently filming season 9...and we stopped off there for a tour too (it was soooooo cool! ).



'Caaaaaarrrrl! '

And then...
We stopped over in Savannah for a couple of nights.
We rented the cutest house.



And then...
Finally on to Orlando...



If you've read my reports you will know how unhappy we were last time and we visited The Grove Resort and Spa and booked that when we got back.
We stayed there for 16 nights.



And then...
We were feeling we needed a Disney fix.
As we'd booked using miles, it meant we were completely flexible.
So at Christmas we added on 2 nights to our trip and I booked the Wilderness Lodge in Club Level.



Oh yes,
And then this happened...



To cut back on the budget we said no Universal this trip.
We'd stayed in a suite at the Royal Pacific for 4 nights last year with the plan that there'd be no universal this trip.
Then bloody Dec but no Ant ruined that plan!
I went and booked the Royal Pacific for 1 night during the final show when he was there.
I had proper pangs for the place.

And then this also happened ... Spoiler Alert...



This may also be the time to mention that whilst staying at The Grove, as nice as it was, we missed any kind of atmosphere and we realised that our stay last year at The Beach Club had ruined any future Orlando trips. We missed being on site.

We happened to take shelter from the rain one morning in Animal Kingdom and sat on a wall with our Starbucks brunch under a tree next to the DVC stand and got chatting to Kennedy.
He was hilarious... A Jamaican, who'd lived in Peckham for 6 years. I'd looked or rather watched people's vlogs on DVC but I'd misunderstood it... fast forward a few days and we were suddenly members. I don't think it's sunk in yet.
We figured it was a way that we could afford to spend our future holidays on site staying at Deluxe resorts.



So that's what happened this year.
Sounds all abit crazy when I read back on it like that.
I only meant for this to be a quickie.

I now look forward to reliving it all with you and sharing our latest adventures.
I have already started adding my videos to my YouTube channel.
I am up to Day 1 so far if you'd like to watch.
The YouTube link is just there below.

Sorry for waffling and thanks if you are still reading.
xxx

[Pumba75]

Looking forward to reliving this with you!

What a fantastic adventure...

Congratulations on becoming DVC members. Exciting times!

M x

[Lissa_x]

Love your reports! Is it just me who can't find your YouTube link?!

[miss_mouse]

Originally Posted by Pumba75

Looking forward to reliving this with you!

What a fantastic adventure...

Congratulations on becoming DVC members. Exciting times!

M x

See more...

Thank you so much

[piglet100]

Loving your vlogs already! Need to go back and read previous reports!

[pinkstargirl]

I’ve been enjoying your vlogs of the trip, and looking forward to reading about each day too!

[collybird]

Congratulations on joining DVC, I am so jealous!

[sheluk]

Wow what a trip! Can’t wait to read / watch all about it

[Goldia]

I love your vlogs. The kids are so cute, well they aren't really kids anymore I suppose. Congratulations on your DVC membership. How exciting!

[miss_mouse]

Originally Posted by piglet100

Loving your vlogs already! Need to go back and read previous reports!

See more...

Thank you