Snap-happy pre-trippie (August '15 - yes, really ...)

[Alison]

This is a mixture of a pre-trippie, a reminisce and a photography planner! We are hoping to go back to Florida in Aug 15 (well, we will be going as we have booked a cruise!) but that seems such a long way off – so we have started thinking in detail about all sorts of things, as you do; and here seemed a good way to record it all!

Because it seems such a long time away, it has been a good excuse to go through all the photos – and there are a LOT of them. I am being quite self-indulgent and posting lots of my favourites as I remember great things that we did and are looking forward to. So bearing that in mind …

Warning – VERY photo heavy!

So who are we? Alison and Nigel – Disney planning and photography freaks and our teenage son, Stephen (will be 15 when we go) who secretly loves Disney as much as us and isn’t always too cool to admit it!

Here we are back in 2009, waiting to go to Hoop de Doo

Us 2009 by limegreenlife, on Flickr

and this is a more recent shot from our Alaskan cruise in 2013.

Alaska 13 by limegreenlife, on Flickr

Both being teachers, we are limited to school holidays and tend to go mainly in August. Our first family trip was in 2007 and we went back in 2009. In 2011, we took the plunge and added on a 3 day Disney cruise – unfortunately, we were hit by Hurricane Irene and our schedule was totally thrown off. Undeterred, we went straight back on a bargain last-minute double dip deal at Easter 2012 and we were just as hooked on cruising! We squirreled away all our pennies to do an Alaskan cruise last summer and it was absolutely amazing. (Nigel wanted to do the trip report for that one – hence the reason it doesn’t exist yet …)

We really want to go back in 2015 for many reasons – Stephen is a huge Harry Potter fan and wants to see the new part of WWOHP, we wanted to be able to take advantage of our cruise on-board booking discount as they have changed the rules, we haven’t seen the new Fantasyland yet, Nigel is going to be 50 (any excuse!) … basically, we have just talked ourselves into it!

We wanted to do a 4 day cruise so booked that first and need to book everything else around that. We have always stayed off-site in villas before with odd nights in Disney hotels but, this time, are thinking about staying in a hotel for a bit to take advantage of free DDP, if it is offered. We are torn between possibly OKW if they offer the discount but really like the look of POFQ – and if we move to a villa afterwards, we have the advantage of space then. Also considering one night in a Universal hotel for all the normal perks. So much to think about!

We tend to be die-hard rope drop fanatics, returning in the evenings to see the shows. It will be interesting to see how the Fastpass+ system continues to pan out – we are watching that with interest. Also thinking already about possible ADRs!

We do love our photography and tend to carry rather a large amount of kit – we don’t take it all to the park every day, however but it is good to have with us.

This is what we took in 2011 – eek!

Kit by limegreenlife, on Flickr

However, a big feature of our holiday is the photography aspect – fortunately, Stephen is very patient and is quite happy to do his own thing or hang around waiting for us.

So down to the details and what we hope to do! There are some things we love doing over and over – isn’t that why we all go back?!

Such as having your photo taken with the cigar-store Indian and seeing how much it has shrunk over the years.

Indian 2007 by limegreenlife, on Flickr

Indian 2009 by limegreenlife, on Flickr

Indian 2011 by limegreenlife, on Flickr

Indian 2012 by limegreenlife, on Flickr

Or drinking frozen lemonade.

Hot! by limegreenlife, on Flickr

Two straws by limegreenlife, on Flickr

Triple whammy by limegreenlife, on Flickr

Or meeting as many characters as possible.

Aladdin by limegreenlife, on Flickr

Up by limegreenlife, on Flickr

We won’t do that anymore – Stephen is too old. 

Unless they are new characters he hasn’t met! 

Hoppy Easter! by limegreenlife, on Flickr

Cat in the Hat by limegreenlife, on Flickr

All aboard! by limegreenlife, on Flickr

First morning in Magic Kingdom always involves breakfast at Crystal Palace.

Crystal Palace 07 by limegreenlife, on Flickr

Crystal Palace 09 by limegreenlife, on Flickr

Crystal Palace 11 by limegreenlife, on Flickr

Cont ...