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Old 25 Aug 19, 04:01 PM  
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Tiggerbelle
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Join Date: Nov 07
Thumbs up Think of Cool Trip Report Name and Insert Here - Pre-Trip Report!

Ok it has taken me way too long to think of a Trip title for our holiday - in fact I havent actually thought of one yet and I am hoping to become inspired by the end of this post - When you read it just remember whatever it is I REALLY did try!

So here I am sitting on my bed in August writing the report I have wanted to write since I joined Dibb about 12 years ago, which goes a long way to explain why I am writing a pre-trip report for a trip we arent going on until FEBRUARY (In writing this I have discovered that for all these years I have been spelling February incorrectly! I was told in school that as well as having dyscalculia I am apparently borderline dyslexic because I cant spell for toffee!)

Inspired by those that have come before me I intend to keep things jolly however I do have a tendency to overshare and ramble so make a cuppa, we could be here a while. This pre-trip report I will probably add to in the coming months so its worth checking through the thread as there may be more... note for future me, if there isnt delete this part so that you dont look foolish later.

So back to my August bed, the sun is shining outside, its bank holiday weekend and its 30 degrees and as my husband has characteristically turned into a human puddle he has declared it "too hot" to do anything - doesnt this bode well for 16 nights in Orlando! Now you know why we booked for February --- if nothing else by the end of our holiday I will have learnt to spell February without having to look it up!... maybe that would be a good trip report name...

So lets start with the formal introductions

This is me - Alice - Chief Planner, Over Thinker, Costume Maker and Miracle Maker. Im 39 and feeling 57 and we havent even left yet!



It is me honestly, wasn't I... well fed!

I have become less photogenic as the years have gone on so realistically you are likely to see more pictures of our dinner than of me but at some point I am bound to be revealed and you shall at that point realise why this ^^^ is a kindness!

Next Up - Elliott! Now you may wonder why my son is coming up before my husband. Well first of all he is my Dibb baby, he is also the reason I became a less frequent user of the Dibb! Back in 2008 there were a few of us who were pregnant at the same time, someone started a thread and after that everyone who was interested followed our pregnancies until the end. He is more importantly DEPUTY Chief Planner!



Elliott has loved Donald duck for as long as I can remember however he collects Mickeys - yeah I know! He loves Disney as much as I do however he is NOT good on rides. His favourite ride is Pirates of the Caribbean and he nearly passed out after Big Thunder Mountain... it was so funny! Being the kind supportive family that we are we took a photo!



Elliott will be the big 11 when we take our trip and as this will be the last time he will be young enough to be allowed by Disney to dress up he is planning multiple costumes --- If I can pull them off! He is most looking forward to Galaxies Edge because he LOVES Star Wars! There is however another thing that Elliott LOVES at Disney probably above all other things and that is THE PARADES I dont know what it is about Elliott and parades but my goodness he is obsessed with them. We have the DLP anniversary parade music and he will often stage his very own parade with his Disney teddy collection. Elliotts dream would be to be picked to be in the parade even though he doesnt know that its an actual thing.

Next we better have my lovely husband Steve - the guy paying the bill, the guy only coming for the food, the guy hoping to shut his family up for a couple of years about going to Disney ( ) and the guy that REALLY wants to fly the Millennium Falcon (could they have named it something easier to spell!)



Steve is 42 and has been a huge Star Wars fan his whole life. His favourite Disney character however is Eeyore and he involuntarily peed himself with excitement when he met him in Disneyland Paris. Steve says his enjoyment of Disney holidays is seeing how much we enjoy Disney holidays and honestly thats Steve in a nutshell, an al round nice bloke! He is planning to sample many many MANY steaks whilst on the dining plan and will probably be able to write a comprehensive guide upon his return!

Last but by NO MEANS least we have my baby Sam!



Yes I know he's 8 but he's my baby and all round Mummys boy! Sam is shy but hilarious, he LOVE LOVE LOVES to dress up in costumes and is probably the only person in history to go to a Disney park dressed up as Doctor Who... honestly, he did, look!



Sam's favourite character is Stitch and his favourite ride is Big Thunder Mountain. He fully intends to ride Rock and Rollercoaster this holiday and I fully intend for him to look like Elliott did after Big Thunder Mountain!

As you may have figured out this is not our first trip onto Disney property, it will in fact be our 5th trip as a family and my 6th trip. We have visited Disneyland Paris 3 times since 2016...



Weren't they cute!

We also went to Disney World for 5 nights back in 2017 with Saturday Night Takeaway - yes that was us



No that isnt me... you thought you had me for a moment then didnt you! That is Elliotts friend Glens mum Ashlee - Glen is the reason Elliott was chosen to go to Disney with the show and we will be seeing them on our trip this time too however as far as we know they wont be coming into the parks with us.

Just in case you still want to verify we were there here is Steve on the plane next to Scarlet Moffat



Honestly I didnt think you did need further verification I just love how mortally embarrassed Steve looks in that picture!

We will be flying with Virgin Airlines in however many days it shows in my countdown. We are staying at ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE - this has been my dream Disney hotel since it opened and my mother is desperately trying not to show how jealous she is.

We are on the dining plan, which is actually why we are staying at AKL because it worked out cheaper to stay there with free DDP than to stay somewhere cheaper and add DDP - hey whatever gets Steve to whip out his credit card is alright with me!

We did make a slight error in booking as we wanted 14 clear no travel park days and then booked 15, opps, so now we are coming up with various ideas of how best to use that extra day. I have LOADS of ideas but Steves credit card is still in shock from booking the holiday so I'm currently lulling it into a false sense of security at the moment, shhhh don't tell him, he needs to think it was his idea!

So this is us, I am planning my butt off at present, booking ADRs and then going in and changing them all because thats the way we roll! Expect lots of well made plans that are then completely thrown out of the window but at least I tried!

roll on countdown... actually dont, I havent finished saving yet! Roll on lottery win!

Stay tuned for the next great installment of... ≈≈≈≈≈≈ I still havent thought of a trip report name!... maybe that should be it...
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Wow the boys are were so little when I posted this banner! They are 10 and 8 now!

Edited at 06:03 PM.
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Old 25 Aug 19, 07:18 PM  
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Campinggirl
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Looking forward to this one,

I've been rambling about our upcoming trip now for 5 months on and off, enjoy it!

Must admit I am very jealous that your 10 year old will dress up, I'm really hoping my daughter will when we go to MNSSHP in October but I think it's doubtful.

As for my 13 year old boy, no chance!

Happy planning!
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Old 26 Aug 19, 09:39 AM  
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vampiress88
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Sounds good. I actually like your title as it is
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Old 26 Aug 19, 09:45 AM  
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tink111
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Great Report! Happy planning
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Old 28 Aug 19, 05:49 PM  
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Kat11
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What a fab pre trippie! I will be following along.

I think that you should call it “is it February or Febuary?” trip report 😂

My dd has Dyscalculia and mild Dyslexia too. Not many people seem to of heard of Dyscalculia, so it’s always interesting to hear of someone who also has number issues. ☺️

I’m looking forward to hearing about your adr choices and the rest of your plans. 😆

Kat
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Old 11 Jan 20, 10:03 PM  
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Tiggerbelle
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Hello my fellow Dibbers

Today we are 38 - I think - days from take off and excitement levels in my fellow family members has reached the “bored with Alice talking about it and just want to get there now” stage.

I lost my chief planner - not litterally, he’s downstairs honest...



He’s now 11, he has the attention span of a goldfish and unless I can turn holiday planning into a computer game some time soon he unsurprisingly can’t keep up the pace so I fired him! No I didn’t but it was tempting. I have issued him with a disciplinary notice and told him to pull his socks up and he’s not allowed to moan if he doesn’t like the plan!

He is currently sitting on my bed trying to write his name in Aurebesh - it doesn’t help with the planning but at least his on topic.



So where are we since August. Well Elliott’s Donald Duck collection grew over his birthday but I’m sure that’s not what you want to read about.

Planning is going well - wow isn’t booking fast passes “fun”. I meticulously planned all of them and had a strategy and then lost the paper it was all written down on, forgot it was fast pass day (it was Christmas) and then just winged it! For future reference, don’t do that! I thought we were at a “not ideal but ok” but I was looking the other day and I have fast passes booked for one park on one day and then a dining reservation in another and I don’t understand why and I’m the one who booked it!

As you can tell this is not going to be one of those seamless trips where everything runs like clockwork and we all have a wonderful time, we arrive on time for everything and do every ride and still get 8 hours sleep at night.

I have however managed to successfully purchase new swimwear for Sam in the sales



I would say doesn’t he look cute but you can’t actually see him under that hat! I’m hoping he remembers to remove his socks before getting in the pool!

Now the mess in that photo is actually not mess, it just looks like it but it’s carefully disguised packing. I know it’s still over a month to go but I have packed all of Sams clothes already. This is for three very good reasons.

1. It’s mostly summer clothing that he won’t be wearing any time soon anyway.
2. I need to make sure he has enough clothes, which is hilarious because...
3. If I take out of his drawers 16 days worth of clothes and then refill them with all the clothes I bought for him in the sales Steve won’t realise how much I actually bought Sam in the Sales because the amount of clothes in the drawe won’t increase! By the time he does realise I can say “he’s had that for ages and I won’t be lying” - GENIUS

Meanwhile Elliott’s packing is not off to such a great start. He’s had a growth spurt! Well I say a growth spurt I should say an overnight pre pubescent puppy fat layer added and nothing fits him around the waist! THANKS PAL, perfect timing! Of course because he’s increased in width not length I can’t go up a size in trousers and shorts because the crotch would be too long and he would look like this



So I am desperately trying to find a sewing patten for shorts that I can adapt to work for him and make those quick as well as restock on T-shirts because the Winnie the Pooh look is not in at the moment either!

See packing early does have its advantages!

Costumes have not even been started so this is going to be a lot of work that I am currently procrastinating on and writing a trip report entry instead.

So

Holiday booked - check
UK Hotel before we fly - check
Parking - check
House sitter to look after the zoo - check (mwahaha no point breaking in to my house!)
dining reservations - check
Fast passes - check
ESTAs - Steve’s job, so no check
Travel insurance - Steve’s job so no check
Magical Express - check
Money - pahahahahahahahaaaaa
Large number of lists written but not a lot done - check, check, check, check, check!

I’m sure it will be FINE! Worst case we don’t make it to Florida, we drive to the airport, dump the kids on an empty baggage carousel so they have had a ride and then visit the Disney store on the way home to see Mickey!

Am I likely to write another pre-trip update before we go... well it depends on how much procrastination I have to do in between now and then so, yes!

Edited at 10:05 PM.
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