The BIG Florida Comeback - August/September 2018 - UPDATED 05/08/18

[mouselover22]

Originally Posted by smithlane

Hey Hayley
I know right! I'm seriously dieting right now in preparation for all the food we'll be eating
Trying to eat in new places as there are just so many to choose from over there. Certainly not enough days to try them all!
It's getting scarily close now in that I'm panicking I'm not organised enough but I think that's just because there isn't much I need to do this year. I'm at a loose end with no planning and its making me feel uneasy
Haven't started packing yet. Although I would love to, we just don't have the room to keep the suitcases down. Kids are with their Dad the week before we go so ill use their rooms then to start. Will be a mad rush in getting their bits washed and ironed though when they return! Have you started?
I have got all of my toiletries together though in one giant bag. I've been buying bits every week so I don't need to fork out £100+ in Boots just before we go

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Hi Alicia

Well done on the dieting front, I don't have the willpower at the moment so i expect to come home ££££'s lighter and 1 stone heavier

I've just got my fastpasses to do at 30 days now and then i'll post a day to day itinerary

I'm fairly organised, the suitcases are in the hallway empty at the moment but i will start filling them soon I've been buying some toiletries too but have decided to buy small ones and buy shower gel etc when we get to Walmart. But i am taking my shampoo just incase i can't get it there. Andy keeps reminding me we are not to a third world country

Did i read you live in Essex too?

TTFN

xx

[Guest]

Sounds amazing. We have done two tours with happy paddlers, they are fantastic. Can’t wait to see your mug count by the time you go!

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by mouselover22

Hi Alicia

Well done on the dieting front, I don't have the willpower at the moment so i expect to come home ££££'s lighter and 1 stone heavier

I've just got my fastpasses to do at 30 days now and then i'll post a day to day itinerary

I'm fairly organised, the suitcases are in the hallway empty at the moment but i will start filling them soon I've been buying some toiletries too but have decided to buy small ones and buy shower gel etc when we get to Walmart. But i am taking my shampoo just incase i can't get it there. Andy keeps reminding me we are not to a third world country

Did i read you live in Essex too?

TTFN

xx

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Hey!
Well I’ve just eaten a Nutella crepe so it’s not going so well at the moment 😳
😂 that’s exactly what will happen to me! Last year I put on 9 pounds!
Ooh Fast Pass time is exciting, looking forward to seeing what you get.
I do keep trying to remind myself I can buy everything I need and more in Walmart or Target but I just can’t help myself 😬
Not in Essex I’m very close to Heathrow airport so not a million miles away from you 😃

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Mrs_O

Sounds amazing. We have done two tours with happy paddlers, they are fantastic. Can’t wait to see your mug count by the time you go!

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Thanks Mrs O!
I’m really looking forward to the Happy Paddlers tour, I still haven’t seen an alligator or manatee in the wild so hoping we spot those.
Mug count is climbing higher by the day. I have even more going to Beth in Florida now, I’m very glad I’ve upgraded to WT+ on the way home as that extra case will definitely be needed! I haven’t told Jim just how bad my addiction has got so I think I’m going to have to get Beth to deliver one morning he is at golf and hide them 😂
I’ll take a photo to show you the complete collection once I’m home! 😃

[Disney Planning]

It sounds like you have planned a brilliant holiday. Although I think you may have already spent the money you saved on tickets after seeing your shopping list

We have been a few times without going to the WDW parks and also enjoy visiting Disney Springs and doing a hotel tour. I have enjoyed your pre trip report and am looking forward to reading along if you don't mind. The villa at WH was really well priced and looks lovely.

[smithlane]

Today is Single Digit Day finally and what better way to celebrate than a final update

The household is buzzing with excitement, well apart from Jim who claims he will when we get to the airport. Spoilsport
Everything I can do has been done, I’m actually a bit twitchy worrying I’ve forgotten to do something! Packing has commenced, documents have been printed, dollars have been bought and the FairFX has been loaded at the shockingly awful rate of $1.28!
I have booked the kayak tour with Happy Paddlers for Sam and I. I went with a tandem kayak for us in the hope that I won’t have to do all the hard work . The total cost was $117 for the two of us which whilst not cheap is for 2 1/2-3 hours so we do get our monies worth.
Jim and Hope will hang out at the house or go to the beach for the morning.
Talking of which we are really hoping we actually get to the beach. For those of you that have never heard of Red Tide, it is a naturally occurring harmful algal bloom of a higher than normal concentration of a microscopic alga. It basically kills swarms of fish and marine life in its path. This year has been a particularly bad outbreak due to the what should be unlawful release of polluted water from Lake Okeechobee carrying poisonous Blue Green Algae down the Caloosahatchee River and into the Gulf of Mexico. This has then mixed with the Red Tide and created a ‘perfect’ storm of a natural disaster on a huge scale. It had stayed south of AMI up until yesterday when sightings of murky water and fish kill have been spotted on the Bradenton Beach end of the island. We are gutted understandably but are hoping that in the next two weeks there is a strong Easterly wind that blows it out to sea! So until nearer the time we can’t really firm up any plans, the kayak tour comes with a 48 hour cancellation policy so if the water doesn’t improve then we will have to cancel
Look at how awful it is. These images are from further down the coast.

I’m very thankful we have our own pool if the worst outcome does happen. Either way we will make the most of our time here, it will always be a very special place to me.

On to more happier news! We have booked our tickets for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party for Monday September 3rd.

I’m beyond excited for this! It was our FastPass day yesterday and I have managed to secure a Space Mountain FP for between 3.45-4.45pm and a Big Thunder Mountain FP for between 5.25-6pm. Because the FastPass cut off time is 6 o’clock on party evenings I’ve only been able to get 2 rides booked but I’m hopeful that we’ll get on more once the non ticket holders get booted out
I of course have a plan for the night ahead, what good Dibber wouldn’t
First of all we have our 2pm ADR at Chef Art Smiths Homecoming. I’m really looking forward to this after reading quite a few great reviews. Hopefully we’ll be done in time to get to the Magic Kingdom for 4pm when we are allowed in from.
Once we have got onto Main Street USA and I soak up the atmosphere we’ll make our way down to Tomorrowland for our first FP. From there we’ll try our luck on Buzz Lightyear as we have never been on this one before. We’ll then move over to Fantasyland and much to Jim and Sam’s horror I want to ride some classics!
I really want to try and get the Tangled lantern PhotoPass with Hope too.

After this we’ll ride our BTM FastPass and hopefully get on Splash after.
We’ll hang around Frontierland until 7pm when the party officially starts and we can eventually go Trick or Treating!

Can't wait for all the candy

The Boo to You Halloween Parade starts at 9.15pm so we may stay put to watch it from outside Peco’s Bill.
Once the parade has passed us we’ll cut through Adventureland to Casey’s Corner for a chilli hotdog. I must remember we can pre order this now to avoid the huge queue.
We’ll then stake out a spot for Hallowishes. I’m so excited for this!
If we still have any energy left after the fireworks we’ll stay for the Hocus Pocus stage show and go on a few more rides with hopefully lower wait times.
The party finishes at midnight, I’m really hoping we last that long but we’ll see

Another thing I have booked is an airboat ride with Wild Florida.

I tried to go through Boggy Creek first but they told me I couldn’t prebook it for some reason even though you can for every other date on their website . The woman I was emailing was quite rude so I have taken my business elsewhere! I’ve gone with the 30 minute tour so hoping we get to see some Gators in that time.

So I think that’s about all I need to update you on. Once we are home and I get over the post holiday blues I’ll get started on the trip report. I’m hoping it doesn’t take too long!

TTFN

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Disney Planning

It sounds like you have planned a brilliant holiday. Although I think you may have already spent the money you saved on tickets after seeing your shopping list

We have been a few times without going to the WDW parks and also enjoy visiting Disney Springs and doing a hotel tour. I have enjoyed your pre trip report and am looking forward to reading along if you don't mind. The villa at WH was really well priced and looks lovely.

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Hello, I'm so sorry I have just seen this!
Thank you, we are so excited and yes your right I think this year is coming out the same amount as what last years was
Thanks so much for reading

[lovemickey]

Try and stay later for the party, we stayed until midnight last year, 7 dwarves was a 10 minute wait at 11.30! It was amazing being in the park so late, you’ll have a great time!

[wilma-bride]

Just found your pre-trippy and it's great. Your plans sound amazing. so exciting. I just love New York, you'll have an absolute blast there. And your non-park trip sounds about as expensive as our non-park trips always are. We claim we won't visit the parks so we'll save money but usually end up spending more in the long run. Got to love Disney Maths

Your Jim sounds just like my hubby - doesn't get excited until we are actually at the airport but enjoys it once we get there. Loving the sound of everything on your shopping list - enjoy that spending.

Oh, and the Honey BBQ Chicken Supermelt at Friendly's is my favourite. We are going there on our first night, just so I can get my fix. We'll be out there at the same time as you, although due to your New York leg, you actually arrive in Florida the day after us - but we fly home first - boo . Hope you have an amazing time!

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by lovemickey

Try and stay later for the party, we stayed until midnight last year, 7 dwarves was a 10 minute wait at 11.30! It was amazing being in the park so late, you’ll have a great time!

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Hey 👋
Yes we’ll definitely try and stay as late as possible. In fact if the others are being wimps and want to leave before it’s finished, I’m half tempted to let them and I’ll grab an Uber. I want to get my monies worth out of the ticket 😂