Highs & lows

[Michyloulou]

We returned early on Easter Sunday and here are my highs and lows of the trip - mainly highs I'm pleased to say!

[B]Highs[B]
Just finally being back in the Sunshine State! This was our first holiday abroad for 10 yrs (last one being DLP in 2008), and the first time DH & I had been back in Florida for 23 years (our honeymoon! ), and how things have changed! Oh my word!
After having read many many trip reports and seen others' photos over the years, there were things that looked familiar, but it just seemed surreal to be seeing them with my own eyes for the first few days!

I was just on cloud nine at finally being back after having post-poned this trip numerous times as well, and to give my children their very first taste of Florida and Disney/Universal was so special - they are all begging us to take them back!

We didn't recognise Disney Springs from the old Downtown Disney at all - but loved the vibe, the eateries, the shops etc.

Other highs - the villa with its lovely pool at Davenport. It wasn't a gated community but seemed like a lovely quiet little area (until we arrived ). The kids went in the pool every single day - I think they'd have been quite happy just staying in there in fact. We loved seeing the wildlife outside the covered pool area - there were a couple of Cranes who visited us every day, little lizards (also a tiny one around the pool area!) and a few squirrels.

I loved silly things really like the massive american fridge freezer, oven, washing machine & tumble dryer - would've loved to sneek these home with me! When we had our kitchen renovated back in 2008, I was talked out of having an american sized fridge-freezer by the builder who said (rightly), I'd lose too much space either side because of the space needed for the doors, so we have a standard sized fridge/freezer which is a bit cramped with food for 6!

Fastpass worked well for us - we probably didn't do as many rides as some of you, but usually got another 1 or 2 FPs once the initial ones were used. Sadly as we didn't get FP for Slinky Dog, 7DMT or Pandora - we'll just have to go back!

Not everyones choice of car I know, but with a big family having a 7-seater Dodge Caravan felt so spacious - masses of trunk space (enough for 5 suitcases on return) and the kids weren't cramped so they enjoyed it. Although I was down as an additional driver, just seeing how busy the traffic was put me off and I think I lost my nerve a bit, so ended up letting DH do all the driving which we was happy to do luckily! (He drives for a living & has driven in the USA numerous times when he was younger so isn't fazed at all). I'm glad we didn't pay for Satnav, as Google Maps worked just fine. Is it just me or do all the junctions look identical with their big loops?

Blizzard Beach - such a tremendous family day & we ended up staying longer than we'd planned because we were all having such a good time! So many hilarious memories on Teamboat Springs and in the wave pool/lazy river.

Staying at Universal Loews RPR for 1 night for free FOLP. We had an awesome couple of days, the FOL passes were a Godsend, and we managed so many rides! It was lovely just to breeze to the front, and we got to use the water taxis and the swimming pool which was brilliant!

Overall, we had good weather - mid 80's/low 90's most days - apart from the very last day where there was a big storm so not bad!

Shopping! Not that I made too many purchases myself, but loved looking around Florida Mall & Mall at Millennia. My purchases were mainly limited to B&BW. I'm glad the kids saved up their birthday/christmas & other money as 3 of them took $300, and DS took $400 (he even managed to return with $150!).

Enjoying a few nights off from the cooking! We did eat a few dinners in, and only had breakfast out on the 1st & last day (to save time getting to the parks mainly), and took packed lunches where we could, but DH usually made these up for me in the evening to give me a break!

Crowd levels - I can honestly say these weren't as bad as I'd feared from reading trip reports. I had envisioned standing like sardines, shoulder to shoulder. Yes, getting through bag check & the initial part getting into the parks is busy, (as is Main Street in MK), but it does filter out. I know American Spring break is over, so maybe this is why (and I'd love to go again after American Spring break if this is the case!)

Lows
The pool heat (as mentioned in my trip report) wasn't on. On our first full day, it was (imo) take-your-breath away cold, not just a cold tinge. We'd paid the handsome sum of £385, so rang the management company who said it takes 48hrs to come on! Sorry, but if I pay for 2 weeks pool heat, I want a full 14 days. It still wasn;t any warmer the next day either, so again we called and while we were out for the day the pool people came and increased the temperature (or turned it on even!). After that it was lovely and warm. The kids didn't seem to mind it being cold, but a) we'd paid for heat and b) I suffer from a bad chest quite regularly - it only takes a bit of cold/damp and I get wheezy, so didn't want to risk being ill.

Next time I will take the advice from Gryff, and next time ask for it to be switched on and warm for when we arrive (I think I just assumed it would be on! Lesson learned!).

Choosing to fly to/from Fort Lauderdale Airport - unless I was planning to stay in the vicinity on arrival next time I would choose MCO or Sanford. The only reason we chose it was because it was the cheapest option. Obviously it was a long flight from LGW -FLL, but then a 3.5 hr trip to Orlando on top was a killer (it didn't help that I hadn't slept the night before in the Marriott particularly well due to excitement/fear of over-sleeping), but it looked like I had huge bags under my eyes for the 1st couple of days!

Animal Kingdom - Me & youngest DD enjoyed it, but DH and the other kids were completely under-whelmed by it. This is the only park which felt cramped to us (probably as its a smaller park). The kids enjoyed Kali River Rapids and Expedition Everest (we sadly couldn't get FP for Pandora which they really really wanted to do). DS said to me that the rides they have are good, theres just not enough of them so standby times are just silly.

Kennedy Space Center Day - when I planned, I knew that a launch was due, and even though DH is a massive space fan, we'd decided we wouldn't go on launch day due to the cost. Well, we just didn't think about it being post-poned (and neither of us remember it mentioned on the news)! So we turned up (these being the only tickets I hadn't purchase in the UK), and were told it was launch day today - we can enter & do everything as usual, but no bus tours due to launch & security. Cost $75 each, so $450 in total! We'd driven the 1.5hrs and I could see DH was looking disappointed at the thought of turning back, so we paid & went in. Initial launch was due for 6.36pm, but we'd done everything we could by 4pm, kids were getting bored and as the viewing platform is about 7km from the launch site anyway (and theres no shade), we decided to drive to Cocoa Beach and watch it. Heard it got delayed, and then finally cancelled so we didn't get to see the launch anyway. They did say our ticket was good for a 2nd day to come back & do the bus tour, but we didn't have time in our itinerary, so it was a very expensive day.
I have to say personally I liked the day & time at the beach - its a 'low' due to the cost and the fact we didn't get to even see the launch!

General high costs in Orlando - The prices (as others have mentioned) are very high. Even with the older more generous exchange rates we felt it would still be expensive. I'd (luckily) taken all our toiletries with us & a few bits of food/dishwasher tablets. At the last minute I left the Weetabix and squash at home - they were very expensive in the stores. We took packed lunches to eat most days at the park & plenty of water/soda cans, but theres only so much we could carry between us, so most days ended up buying more soda etc in the park (sorry but I can not drink the Florida water - yuck. Although DH & DS managed to). We'd factored in a snack a day each at the park, but the costs mount with 6 of us & obvously as its a captive audience, costs are high anyway.

Overall a fantastic trip, over in the blink of an eye. It may look like theres a lot of lows, but for me the the highs completely outweigh the lows. I was completely choked up by the time we landed back at LGW. I definitely want to go again, but in reality this might not be for another 4-5 years.

In the meantime, Ill still be on the Dibb enjoying Florida through all your lovely trip reports - keep 'em coming!

Thanks again for all the help & advice in the run up to our holiday - truly appreciated!

[Sue]

Really appreciate you taking the time to tell us your experience, thanks.

[Michyloulou]

Originally Posted by Sue

Really appreciate you taking the time to tell us your experience, thanks.

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You're welcome! Wishing you a fantastic trip - it'll be here very soon!

[Mexy02]

We always take weetabix ,sad I know , as it really is expensive as you say . Sounds like you had a great time . It changes everytime we go so I bet you were blown away
Glad you had such a great holiday.

[lottiesmum0]

Excellent highs and lows report- glad you had so many highs

[Rac20]

Sounds like you had a wonderful time! Shame about Kennedy. I went in 2013 and it just wasn’t for me so would have been gutted to pay all that money for it. Glad there weren’t too manny lows!

[act1980]

Thanks for sharing your experiences, sounds like you had a great holiday despite a few lows! 👍🏼

[kissimmee kate]

I love reading people's highs and lows. Thanks for sharing yours. Sounds like you had a fabulous time

[Sue]

Originally Posted by Michyloulou

You're welcome! Wishing you a fantastic trip - it'll be here very soon!

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Thank you, it will be almost 7 years since we were there, so I really love to hear from those who also haven’t been for some time.
I’m sure we’re going to have some highs and (hopefully few) lows

[darbs]

What a great holiday, shame you weren't able to do the bus tour at Kennedy... a reason to go back!