2015 '40th commiseration and no Brangelina' Pre-Trip Report (NYC & Florida)

[FloridaDave]

Finally - The official Pre-Trip Report

Having done my pre-pre trip report a while back when we still had a fair bit to sort out (its here) - things have moved on a bit. And now we have others coming with us staying in our booked Villa (NOT Brangelina).

So who is going

The original posse:-

Dave (me) - grand organiser of everything to do with our Holidays. I really should have been a travel agent!


Lindsay (the missus) - Semi regretted taking on a burger challenge last trip in Clearwater


Emily (the growing daughter) - can't believe she starts high school when we get back!



Hangers on:-

Well, since we booked my sister, and brother in law have decided to go again and will be staying in the villa we have booked for the last part of our trip (more about that later). They were in Florida at the same time as us in 2013 with my sisters in-laws - there were quite a few of them staying in quite a big villa on the same community as us. They stayed over at our Villa that time a few nights too so we know its not a 'Brangelina' waiting to happen

They are Donna (sister), Steve (Brother in Law) and Isaac (Nephew).


We are really pleased how this has worked out and so glad we booked such a big Villa for the Orlando part of our trip.


So what have we in store:-

Me, Lindsay and Emily



We fly out of Manchester on Saturday 8th August to JFK. We are flying Delta for the first time and have booked Comfort+ seats for this leg of the journey mainly for the priority boarding, being able to get off the plane before most and the extra legroom. Thought it was worth the extra $79 each plus this trip is for my 40th birthday (albeit 7 months after) so thought what the hell

When we get to NYC we are staying 2 minutes from Times Square on 8th Avenue for 4 nights. Our first visit to NYC was in 2005 (for my 30th) but that was in January and that was so cold but amazing.

Weirdly we are staying in the same hotel - although a few years ago it went through a total revamp, new name and new ownership (was the Milton Plaza but now Row NYC). We didn't realise until we had booked it was the same building but thats great because we picked it because of the location anyway and its totally different now. When in NYC, you only spend time in your hotel to crash anyway so we didn't go over the top (but we didn't go totally budget either).

We already have tickets for Statue of Liberty and One WTC Observation booked - still have to decide what else we are doing but the plan hopefully is when we drop our bags off at the hotel to walk up to Rockerfeller to do Top of the Rock before it gets dark to get the best of both worlds (I am really looking forward to getting some pictures up there).


We then fly from NYC to Tampa on Wednesday 12th so should be in Tampa early afternoon. I have a Standard SUV booked with Budget at Tampa so when we have that we are going to drive across to Clearwater. This is where we will meet up briefly with the others as they will already be there. We are staying at Pier House 60 (noticed when looking at the 2013 pics its in the background of this pic)


We loved Clearwater in 2013 so it was an ideal thing to do after NYC to relax for a few days before going across to Orlando.

The morning after we get there the others (staying at the same hotel) will be heading off to stay at Hard Rock Hotel for a few days.

On the Saturday (15th) we are then driving across to Orlando to stay at the villa we have booked - a 5 bedroom at Cypress Point



Donna, Steve and Isaac will be joining us this day and the remainder of both our trips will be spent at this Villa.

We then fly back on Friday 28th from Tampa via Atlanta with Delta - our final flight is actually a Virgin flight on a code share (VS110 ATL to MAN).


Donna, Steve and Isaac

I don't have all the fine details of their plans as they only booked their flights a few days ago, but the summary is:-

Sunday 9th (day after us) they are flying from Manchester to MCO via Washington with United Airlines. They booked via Lufthansa but its a code share.

From here they are going to drive across to Clearwater (when they have booked a car) and stay at the hotel we will be at and staying until Thursday morning. They are then going to go to Hard Rock Hotel for a few days before meeting up on Saturday at the villa.

They then fly back via MCO the same day as us (we are at Tampa) again with United via Newark back to Manchester. We should land within about 30 minutes of each other too.



So what has been sorted so far

Donna, Steve and Isaac still have a fair bit to sort out I guess having just booked, but we have sorted quite a bit so far.

Renewed Passports
ESTA's done
Travel Money being added to bit by bit
Disney 14 day tickets bought
Gatorland tickets bought (couldn't say no at Ł10 each)
Some ADR's done but all up in the air now the others are coming too
Car Hire sorted
Villa sorted
Airport Transfer sorted

There is still planning to be done on what we are doing on each day, for all aspects of our trip (well, the 1st day in NYC is sorted).

The villa balance is due in a few weeks, and the the car hire balance a few weeks after that.

I think basically all we have to do now is decide if we want get any other tickets, sort other ADR's and Fast Passes when we can etc. but the majority is sorted.

Roll on August

[Guest]

Your plans sound fab, i remember your brangelina trip and felt so sorry for you, Glad this trip will be different for you

[FloridaDave]

Originally Posted by Dory17

Your plans sound fab, i remember your brangelina trip and felt so sorry for you, Glad this trip will be different for you

See more...

The Brangelina one was 2012 and our last US trip in 2013 made up for it. We won't make the same error again - trust me

[Guest]

Originally Posted by FloridaDave

The Brangelina one was 2012 and our last US trip in 2013 made up for it. We won't make the same error again - trust me

See more...

Thats Brilliant, Did you do a trip report for your 2013 trip?

[FloridaDave]

Originally Posted by Dory17

Thats Brilliant, Did you do a trip report for your 2013 trip?

See more...

Didn't get round to doing one unfortunately - still need to sort through all the photos.

Dave

[Lindaelaine]

Sounds good , we fly out on the 6th Delta from Manchester to JFK , on to Tampa the next day , we will keep the plane pristine for you

I am guessing you won't miss Brangelina , lol

[FloridaDave]

Originally Posted by Lindaelaine

Sounds good , we fly out on the 6th Delta from Manchester to JFK , on to Tampa the next day , we will keep the plane pristine for you

I am guessing you won't miss Brangelina , lol

See more...

No, won't miss them at all

Do me a favour and remind the flight crew that the Red carpet should be ready for us on the Saturday, not sure they got the memo

[Guest]

Originally Posted by FloridaDave

Didn't get round to doing one unfortunately - still need to sort through all the photos.

Dave

See more...

I still havent sorted mine properly from October 2013

i told myself i would do a scrapbook when i got back but all the stuff for it is still in a bag under my wardrobe

[FloridaDave]

Originally Posted by Dory17

I still havent sorted mine properly from October 2013

i told myself i would do a scrapbook when i got back but all the stuff for it is still in a bag under my wardrobe

See more...

When you get back the depression sets in until you book your next trip

[FloridaDave]

Will be likely paying the Villa balance tomorrow as due next week. Talking of the Villa, here's a YouTube video showing it - should be plenty big enough for the 6 of us, was way overkill for the 3 of us originally going but the price was right and cheaper than most of the smaller ones I got quotes on.

Also sent a tweet to Budget about our hire car who replied with an email address - we have booked a Standard SUV and it would be nice to get a 7 seater for when we are all at the villa for the time we all go to the same place. Got a very encouraging reply that they will try and keep a Ford Explorer there for us which will be ideal as have heard they sometimes give those out in our class. We usually fly into MCO and have used Dollar or Alamo previously so this is their opportunity to gain a new customer for future rentals as we are likely also to use Tampa in the future too as starting our Florida holiday in Clearwater last time was great; so we will likely do this on future trips to which means Tampa makes sense.

For anyone interested here's the list of Standard SUV's they could have (Explorer isn't in the list though).

BUICK ENCORE
CHEVROLET CAPTIVA
CHEVEROLET EQUINOX
DODGE JOURNEY
FORD EDGE
GMC TERRAIN
HONDA CR-V 4X4
JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE
KIA SORENTO
MAZDA CX-9
NISSAN MURANO
NISSAN XTERRA
TOYOTA 4 RUNNER
TOYOTA FJ CRUISER