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Old 23 Aug 19, 05:44 PM  
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Goldia
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The Bare Necessities - Pre Travel Day Monday 29th July 2019

Welcome to The Bare Necessities Trip Report



I’m Abby and I went to Orlando at the end of July 2019 with my husband David, our children Max (14) and Kate (12). We’ve been to Orlando before ! But this trip was different as we had my parents Jac and Tom with us, they will be referred to as Mum and Dad or Grandma and Grandad throughout the report. I was so excited to take them with us as this was their first time to WDW.



If travel day is like Christmas Day, pre travel day is like Christmas Eve. It feels like the day goes on forever you’re absolutely desperate for the time to move along and yet it drags . Minutes seem to go on for hours. Plus, I’m usually up at the crack of dawn as I’m too excited to sleep .

Today was no exception to the normal pattern for pre travel day. I woke up at around 4.30am, yep really . Oh well, I’m always hopeful that the early start will help me to sleep at the airport hotel but it doesn’t seem to work out that I sleep there either.

So, packing happened yesterday. Even though I’m an 'in advance kind of planner' sort of a person ! I don’t usually do packing until the day before pre travel day. My reasons for this are that we always want to wear the summer clothes we need to pack so the day before I wash all the shorts and t shirts and make the others wear old/winter clothes for the rest of the time before we go plus I think I’d end up just re-packing if I packed too early as I’d forget what I’d already shoved in a case. I devoted the whole day to packing and there was nothing else we needed to do. Or so I thought

Max ended up going out swimming in the morning and so there was a mad rush for 45 minutes to get him to sort out his clothes.



This was when I discovered he only had 1 pair of swim shorts now, ok, so probably I should have been more aware of this fact and if I had done some packing more in advance I wouldn't have been so We also discovered that the size 7 flip flops don't fit his size 10 feet No really, this is perhaps again something I could have figured out earlier, but well, I hadn't so I was not best pleased There were also a few T shirts that were way too small, but fortunately he has loads of T shirts so this was not a big problem. We then made him try on some of his shorts and Dave said that some of them looked a bit tight, but they will last long enough.

Spoiler Alert perhaps Dave should have taken some of his own advice.

Fortunately my brother and mum took him shopping (before/after swimming? I'm not confident on that chronology as I was packing) and he bought 2 pairs of swim shorts and some more underwear too so Max was saved from the wrath of me

Kate sorted out her stuff, but she was fine as she had a list of what she wanted to take



I sorted mine out and that was also fine as I had a list of what I wanted to take



Around midday Dave sorted through his clothes, he realised he has lost a pair of beige linen trousers. Searching for the trousers, but no they aren't anywhere to be found.



I'm sure it's my fault they are missing He then tried on a pair of grey linen trousers, but they were too tight. They are 32 inch waist and he's, well, not! I did say to him maybe I wouldn't put that revelation on the dibb, but he said he didn't care. He then realised he would have to try on all his shorts to check they were ok and thank goodness they were fine. He said he's more of a 35 inch waist and so the 34's are fine...really after 2 weeks of the DDP they will be fine? But I decided I didn't have time for that then.

There has been a lot of rearranging of the cases and I made Dave weigh them several times. We have 2 large hold luggage cases (1 with a carry on case inside) and 2 carry on cases. The 2 large cases weigh less than 20kg each so they are fine. Plus we have the spare for the souvenirs.



Dad had some questions in the evening, so what was supposed to be a quick 20 minute trip turned into a couple of hours He had read the little guide book that comes in the magical mail with the $200 gift card voucher and so now had queries about the planning of the trip. I wasn't sure whether I was really pleased that he was starting to get involved in the planning or cross he had done it the day before we leave . He'd read that we were allowed to book up 3 fast passes per day and he wondered whether I had done that well, do you know what I had thought of that he also wanted to check if the magical express had been booked yes Dad, yes Dad.

Then I celebrated the day's achievements with a gin and tonic.





All that was the day before pre travel day so back to the actual day in question.

After my early wake up I pootled around on the Dibb and then woke the others up around 7.30, because me and the kids had an appointment…I’d booked us in for a check up at the dentist yes, I know on pre-travel day We had the first slot of the day and it was fine, no problems. We were back home by 10am.

Meantime, Dave decided he really did need beige linen trousers and so popped to M&S to buy some replacement trousers.

I did the online check in for the flights when that opened up at 11.15 and we were allocated two rows of three seats, 1 in front of the other, rows 34 and 35, seats A to C. So, that was all fine in the end.

We then did a whole lot more rearranging of the cases weighing of the cases and general moving things from one case to another all of it time wasting because I can’t settle down and do anything and all of it to just delay the leaving for the airport. I’d told the kids we’d go after lunch, it’s usually an hour and a half tops to get to Gatwick from our house so it’s not like it’s a particularly long journey.

Then we did some cleaning, as you do, forced the kids to eat random chicken legs and drink milk from the fridge and it was still barely noon

Dad phoned and asked if we were ready to leave yet as he’d been waiting in the car since 9am obviously he was joking! He then explained that he wanted to pop in to my youngest brother to take some perishable food and other bits to them and so they would meet us in a lay by instead of the carefully laid out and well thought through plan of us meeting them at their house at 2.30pm Ok then Dad.

I decided this was one of those plans that I didn’t care so much about and the next 18 days or so had way more important plans that I wouldn’t want to be messed with so I went along with his “we’ll meet up in a lay by at the side of the motorway” plan Dave decided the best course of action was to go with the flow and he just got on board with it all

Dave had fashioned some rather nifty and very clever tablet holders for the kids to use in the back of the car on the way to the airport hotel.



We had set up a what’s app group ‘Disneyworld 2019’ and there were a few messages back and forth from the cars on the journey as the kids had got out of our car at the lay by and got in with Mum and Dad.

Kate explained that the tablet holder didn't have a space for her to plug her earphones in.



We were staying at the Hotel Copthorne, Effingham. This is one we’ve not been to before, but was a really good deal £133 for a family room the night before and the parking for the car for the whole trip. The hotel is perhaps a bit dated and is a bit run down. The carpet was pretty threadbare in the bedrooms, but it was clean and it was cheap.

Mum and Dad had their own double room and checked in fine. Kate took some photo's in reception



When we checked in they explained the family room had a double bed and then a single bed set up in it, so if it was alright could we take adjoining rooms instead? I was like woo hoo, but remained cool and said “yes I’m sure that will be fine”.

We were allocated rooms 241 and 243 (odd number rooms were on one side of the corridor and even on the other) so all seemed well at this point But, we discovered that while yes these are adjoining rooms, the rooms do not actually adjoin with each other 241 joins with 239 and 243 joins with 245

So, we went back downstairs to explain all this to the check in staff. Unfortunately there were not any rooms that actually joined with each other left as it seems they had given out every other room along the corridor. Oh well never mind… we decided Dave would go with Kate and Max would go with me.

I also decided this was the perfect time to break open a can of Gin and Tonic



I also wanted to document the rooms and so went back and forth to each room.









Plus I also wanted to photo the non-interconnecting doors







And I was now feeling quite hot, Dave rather helpfully suggested “Sit down and chill out for a bit, this is why you’re hot as you won’t stop doing things” although he is probably right. When I got back I discovered that Dave and Kate had scoffed the biscuits while I was taking photos

I think that Dad was too wired up to sit still too as he sent a what’s app to ask if anyone wanted to explore the hotel. Kate went down to meet him and they sent us all photos of menus so that we could decide where to eat that evening.



We ended up down in the Sports bar.



We had a round of drinks and the boys played pool, Max came close to winning.







Kate couldn't decide what she wanted so I offered to share. She went for a magherita pizza with extra chicken and pepperoni this was actually really tasty so a good choice.



We also shared a brie and bacon panini, which was pretty tasty too.



Dave and Max both had fish and chips with mushy peas, which they both enjoyed.



Mum had the brie and bacon panini and a side of sweet potato fries. Her sweet potato fries were really good and I helped myself to a fair few of them too.



Dad had a breakfast bap with sausage, bacon and egg in and this came with fries. He enjoyed this too.



It was all fairly standard pub food, not going to set your world alight, but tasty enough, we enjoyed chilling out and talking about what was to come!

During dinner the kids tried to explain about some of their favourite things at WDW.

First up was Monsters Inc Laugh Floor I know, not what most people say is one of their favourite attractions, but my two love it . They tried to explain about some of the jokes, but I’m not sure how much Mum and Dad really took in. Max also explained how they were going to help us eat the Kitchen Sink, again apart from the fact that it has a lot of ice cream I’m not sure how much of this they really took in.

After dinner we went on a walk of the grounds, as the hotel is next door to a golf course.





It was a lovely summer evening and we could see the planes taking off and landing over head.





We then played some cards in lounge at the hotel.









Of course we all needed to get some sleep, and we agreed to meet up at 7.50am the next day as the taxi was booked for 8am. We said good night to Mum and Dad around 9.45pm and went up to our rooms.

By 10.15pm we’d said our good nights to each other and Dave and Kate were in one room and me and Max were in the other.

Me and Max pretty much ignored each other I did some stuff on the Dibb, he watched you tube. At 11pm I decided I was about tired enough to try and get to sleep. I'm not 100% sure when Max turned his tablet off, he said he would turn it off at 11.30 and I'm sure he did

I do know he wasn't on it at 1am when I woke up the first time and he also wasn't on it at 3am when I woke up again...

Statistics
Steps today 11742

Next up is of course travel day

I was pretty pleased that I managed to get a little bit of sleep, I ended up getting up at 5am. It was mostly a smooth travel day, the plane food was quite tasty, but we did end up circling for an hour over Florida and then having a really rather bumpy landing in Orlando.
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2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
2019: DLP. Orlando. Washington DC.
2020: DLP.
2021: Jamaica. Rome.
2022: Orlando.
2023: Orlando. Niagara and Toronto.
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Old 23 Aug 19, 09:08 PM  
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caitlinsmummy
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Fab pre travel day Abby.

Glad that Dave got sorted with swim shorts and linen trousers

The Copthorne seems good and great that you managed to get out for a walk into some grounds.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the next day X
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Old 23 Aug 19, 09:10 PM  
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Fuellady
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That was a good pre-travel day, with the potential to be quite relaxing with all of the free time, if you had been able to relax. I blame pre-travel brain, mine is always buzzing away thinking a million thought of everything I have to remember.

Nice meals in the hotel, but I won't comment too much on the food having already done so on your fab food report.

Glad you managed to get a bit of sleep without having to resort to the bathroom this time.
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Old 23 Aug 19, 10:31 PM  
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Great pre travel day.

I still can't get over how you can take such a small amount of stuff. From my cases you'd think I was moving there.
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Old 24 Aug 19, 06:25 AM  
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Goldia
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Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy View Post
Fab pre travel day Abby.

Glad that Dave got sorted with swim shorts and linen trousers

The Copthorne seems good and great that you managed to get out for a walk into some grounds.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the next day X
It was a pretty smooth pre travel day, even with the dentist and Dave needing trousers.

Originally Posted by Fuellady View Post
That was a good pre-travel day, with the potential to be quite relaxing with all of the free time, if you had been able to relax. I blame pre-travel brain, mine is always buzzing away thinking a million thought of everything I have to remember.

Nice meals in the hotel, but I won't comment too much on the food having already done so on your fab food report.

Glad you managed to get a bit of sleep without having to resort to the bathroom this time.
Yes the idea of relaxing at least at dinner I was able to sit back a bit, mull over everything and try to figure out if we'd forgotten anything. I didn't think of anything we'd accidentally left behind so that's good.

I'm the same and I have to stop myself from commenting on the cocktails again when I read full trip reports after reading the food reports. It's hard not to comment on the food.

Yep, not too much time spent in the bathroom this trip

Originally Posted by Rescuer View Post
Great pre travel day.

I still can't get over how you can take such a small amount of stuff. From my cases you'd think I was moving there.
I'm always moaning at DH that he wants to take too much and I make him put stuff back. I still had too many dresses, but I could have done with another pair of shorts or maybe even two!
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New pre trip report - Summer 2024

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2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
2019: DLP. Orlando. Washington DC.
2020: DLP.
2021: Jamaica. Rome.
2022: Orlando.
2023: Orlando. Niagara and Toronto.
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Old 24 Aug 19, 08:20 AM  
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That is a really lovely family photo at the start, so nice to go with your parents.

I guess you’re like your dad then...no sitting still and relaxing for you two today 😄 I’m always wired before a trip too. Glad dentist, shopping, lay-bys etc all went smoothly!
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Old 24 Aug 19, 09:09 AM  
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Goldia
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Originally Posted by MrsSilverStar View Post
That is a really lovely family photo at the start, so nice to go with your parents.

I guess you’re like your dad then...no sitting still and relaxing for you two today 😄 I’m always wired before a trip too. Glad dentist, shopping, lay-bys etc all went smoothly!
I really like that photo too. It was from our first morning, we made it to MK really early so had lots of time spare to soak up all the atmosphere and to get a quick photo.
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Abby
New pre trip report - Summer 2024

Link to all my completed trip reports
2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
2019: DLP. Orlando. Washington DC.
2020: DLP.
2021: Jamaica. Rome.
2022: Orlando.
2023: Orlando. Niagara and Toronto.
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Old 25 Aug 19, 10:22 AM  
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Great pre travel day, sounds like a brilliant trip to come, looking forward to the next installment!
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Old 25 Aug 19, 10:28 AM  
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First trip report I've ever read... it was great!
Looks like you had a fab day
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Old 25 Aug 19, 07:30 PM  
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Originally Posted by yellowrose78 View Post
Great pre travel day, sounds like a brilliant trip to come, looking forward to the next installment!
It was such a great trip. I'm looking forward to sharing it with everyone.

Originally Posted by tink111 View Post
First trip report I've ever read... it was great!
Looks like you had a fab day
That's lovely, thank you. We did have a fab day. It was pretty chilled out, in spite of me having ants in my pants!
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New pre trip report - Summer 2024

Link to all my completed trip reports
2017: NYC and Orlando. Salzburg. Boston.
2018: Orlando. Berlin.
2019: DLP. Orlando. Washington DC.
2020: DLP.
2021: Jamaica. Rome.
2022: Orlando.
2023: Orlando. Niagara and Toronto.
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