4 Swim with Dolphins - delayed to Aug 22

[The Fatadder]

Edit: Post Covid 19 Planning starts on page 2 post 10...
Edit 2: Post 2021 cancellation the re re planning starts on page 3 / Post 25... Hopefully the last replan...

I shouldn’t be writing this yet, we were not supposed to be going back until October 2021 or May 2022 when our youngest will be over 5 and tall enough to ride a lot more.

However a chance conversation with my parents while on holiday in Spain the day before the free DDP promotion was announced has seen the timescale bought forward.

The main reason for this was Imogen starting school in September 21. While we have a 2 week half term in October which minimises the time out of school, thinking back to how tired Evie was after her first half term of school Imogen needs a rest in Oct 21 not a manic trip to Florida.

So that leaves us with three potential times, May, Aug or Oct 20.
May was rejected as its only a 1 week half term as ideally we would like a 3 week holiday and that would mean 2 weeks out of school. In addition Imogen would only be 3 and a half, and likely between 1 and 2 inches shorter.

August has the down side of extra heat, more rain and more humidity. It’s also budget setting time at work (although to be honest it feels like that drags on most of the autumn as well), which may impact on the ability to get that third week. She would be a month short of her 4th birthday.

October was the ideal choice, with the 2 weeks of half term plus the week before (the benefits of private schooling). It also gets me back in time for month end. The weather is cooler and drier, and less risk of hurricanes. There is a massive down side in that this year the free dining promotion ends on October 3rd, so potentially the cost will go up massively when factoring in the cost of DDP.


What do we want from the trip:
The core of the holiday will be 2 weeks with my wife and I plus our two daughters (who will be 6.5 and 4 in October), along with my parents and brother + sister in law. In addition we want some extra time on our own at the start of the holiday, we have found the children struggled to deal with the change after they left last time (when we tagged 3 days onto the end of the trip). It will also make for a lovely surprise when nanny and granddad turn up unannounced in Florida.

As ever it needs to be on site accommodation, with a big preference towards a 1 bed and a 2 bed delux villa resort (likely to be OKW but depending on price the other villa resorts would be very tempting.)

We will certainly need more than 2 weeks to fit in everything we want, with lots of repeat visits to the Disney parks plus both water parks. 3 days at Universal to do both parks plus a first visit to Volcano Bay, SeaWorld, Acquitica and a first return to Bush Gardens since 2014. The plan is to do a dolphin swim at Discovery cove for Evie and I (hopefully with Helen able to bring Imogen in for the photo at the end). There will possibly even a visit to Kennedy. As I say, it’s really looking like being a 3 week trip...

I am pricing up various options, both booking with DDP (Free and paid for) and booking direct and via rented DVC points. Potentially even a split stay between onsite and a villa, though I’d prefer not to.

To compound it is the week before the holiday, getting DDP coverage for the first week without having to pay for a 2 bed for the extra week which will be out of budget. I like the idea of a week in a different resort...

First of all I need to talk to work and see exactly how long I can manage to get away from work. Along with getting the pricing spreadsheet up and running to see how it fits into the budget.

There will be a lot more planning to come (while I hope the trip doesn’t slip back into 2021)