‘You can fly!’ A 2019 April Trip Report, AKL and Villa split stay. Pre Trip Report

[2019DisneyEvans]

Hello Everyone! Welcome to my trip report. I have toyed with the idea of doing one for a few months and decided I read so many of them it is only right that I contribute.

Florida was a no go for us for a couple of reasons (I will elaborate further down) but somewhere I have always wanted to travel to. Last year we went to Mexico and had an absolute blast so it seemed the right thing to do to book Florida within a week of being back.

I will introduce you to the cast first of all.

Me. I’m Laura, 34 years old and celebrating my 35th birthday in Florida. The bar is set pretty high for this as last year I swam with dolphins in the Caribbean Sea on my birthday! I am the chief planner of our holidays and love spreadsheets and doing research. I am looking forward to everything about the holiday.

DH. Steven aged 36. Steven is a very nervous flyer and never in a million years thought he would do a long haul flight; getting him to Spain has been tough in the past! As the caring wife I am, I tend to gloss over that and talk him into things he wouldn’t normally do; hence our Mexico trip, and as the report title suggests and I pointed out to him when we got back ‘You can fly!’ Which of course meant that now nowhere is too far! Right?! Steven leaves the planning to me and is good at feigning interest in my spreadsheets. He does watch Tim Tracker and DFB with me on YouTube as well. He is the designated driver and is looking forward to the food but not so much the rides. His one request was KSC as he is a big fan of the shuttle and space related things.

DDA - Alice aged 12. Football crazy Alice is an anxious girl and has a MASSIVE fear of sinkholes. This is why Florida was mainly no-go. She doesn’t even call it Florida she refers to it as ‘The Sinkhole Capital of the World’. Alice is also emetophobic which can cause a lot of issues with food and eating outside of the home. She had some therapy before we went to Mexico and that along with her being able to do some of her own research and understanding more about things has really helped. She managed Mexico with only a few hiccups and this has made her much more confident which is great. DH and I are also a bit more relaxed about her eating and she now feels ready to face Florida! She is looking forward to the water parks and having her own room in the villa, but is hoping she will be able to catch her beloved Tottenham's football matches when we are out there.

DDB - Betty aged 11. Betty is obsessed with all things American. She watches a lot of YouTube and is desperate to go to all of the American shops she sees on it. Betty is pretty laid back and will go on most rides and eat most foods. She is looking forward to Sephora and trying some American sweets. She wants to do a YouTube of her ‘haul’. Betty is not happy about having to leave the cat behind.

The Trip

We were sat at home one weekend in April suffering from the post holiday blues when I saw that free dining had been released (I had been eyeing up Disney for a while) I approached DH, who was still feeling pretty proud of himself for braving the long haul flights and he was up for it!

We decided if we were going all that way we would want a long holiday and to do some sightseeing so we settled on Disney then a week in a villa. After looking at our options we wanted to do AKL as DDB loves animals and it meant we would get the full dining plan. We looked at various villa options and decided we would source our own.


Originally we also decided on AKL as they are one of the few with bunk bed rooms and DDA won’t share a bed (she slept on a chair in Mexico) however these are much more money and I have since read they are getting rid of them in the soft refurb they are currently doing there. So we are currently thinking of a way round this, possibly a sleeping bag on top of the bed? Any suggestions gratefully received!

We got a few prices but Virgin Holidays came in the cheapest at £8038. This was MAN to MCO, 11 nights at AKL on dining plan, 14 day park tickets for 4 adults with photopass, $200 gift card, we would need to source a villa for the next 7 nights, then MCO to MAN. It also included full size SUV car hire for the last 7 days of the holiday. We have since made some changes to the car hire and the flight times. The original flight was at 12:45 but then we saw an earlier one had been released. We called Virgin and they changed us to the earlier flight at no extra cost so we now depart at 09:55.

Next came the villa. We wanted something close to shops and restaurants. DH wanted a games room, the girls wanted their own bedrooms, DDA wanted a bedroom upstairs because, well, sinkholes! We wanted a pool with heating and a bbq. We wanted lots of space because 11 nights in a room together AKL will have most likely taken its toll!

After enquiring about A LOT of villas we found the perfect 5 bed at Hampton Lakes with great reviews on Home Away for just over £1k for seven nights.

DH then decided he would like a Mustang! We discussed it and he added it onto the holiday which increased the price quite a bit. Eventually he saw it may be impractical and we cancelled the cars completely with VH and booked a standard SUV via VA to pick up at Disney Car Care. This was £374 for 10 nights fully inclusive.

I booked a Claytons hotel family room for the night before we fly as DDA doesn’t like to share a bed with anyone (due to germs) and the family room layout is pretty good here. The room was £140 with breakfast which is quite dear. Luckily it had free cancellation, so I had a chat with DDA and we decided on a Premier Inn (North) (we have stayed in lots of these before so she knows what to expect) It is £43 for the family room, much better than £140!
We are travelling by train so will have to get an Uber or taxi to the airport.

Dining

So with a rough itinerary in mind I spent MONTHS researching dining options. I knew we wanted Akershus breakfast, California Grill brunch and Homecoming. I also fancied Sanaa and Boma. The girls were desperate for a kitchen sink after seeing it on YouTube, so I wanted a Beaches and Cream slot too.

Eventually we settled on and booked

*Boma breakfast
*Sanaa dinner
*BOG breakfast
*SciFi diner dinner
*Akershus breakfast
*California Grill Brunch and a late afternoon Beaches and Cream for the Kitchen Sink
*Trails End Dinner
*The Wave breakfast and Teppan Edo dinner. I also have a Garden Grill lunch booked as I can’t decide on which one I want out of these three.
*Yak and Yeti dinner but also have Tony’s Parade package as again can’t decide
*Hoop De Doo (using gift voucher not credits)
*My birthday! Homecomin!
*Storybook Dining (originally Tusker House but needed this when I saw it)

I don’t think these are final or set in stone. I fully expect to amend slightly when FP day comes around. I am also debating a dessert party but not sure which one.

Extras

We have also booked KSC and Spirit of the Swamp for when we are staying in the villa, both of which I am very excited about.

So I think that’s it for now, until fastpass day comes around!

Thanks for reading

[2019DisneyEvans]

So I have now cancelled Tony’s and Yak and Yeti in favour of Liberty Tree Tavern lunch. Hoping to get out in time to catch the parade from there. This will mean I will also cancel Garden Grill as the meals are too similar.

[mrsdjh]

Hi, how great that you get your Florida trip and spend your birthday there - I'm sure you'll all have a fab time.

If Alice needs a football fix Orlando City have some home games in April - the 6th and the 20th. Its not Premier League standard but it is a good experience and very family friendly. We've been with our daughters twice and I did a report - the link is below.

We stay at the Premier Inn Rungar Lane North and the family rooms have a double and two single beds there and the rooms we've had have always been clean.

[2019DisneyEvans]

Originally Posted by mrsdjh

Hi, how great that you get your Florida trip and spend your birthday there - I'm sure you'll all have a fab time.

If Alice needs a football fix Orlando City have some home games in April - the 6th and the 20th. Its not Premier League standard but it is a good experience and very family friendly. We've been with our daughters twice and I did a report - the link is below.

We stay at the Premier Inn Rungar Lane North and the family rooms have a double and two single beds there and the rooms we've had have always been clean.

See more...

Thank you for reading. I will check out your trip report I am sure she would be very excited about a football match!

[2019DisneyEvans]

I have now decided to move our Sanaa reservation from our first full day to the day we move to the villa. I’m hoping to check out, have an early lunch at Sanaa then have some pool time until we can move to the villa.