The Bare Necessities Summer 2019

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by Goldia

That's a shame about Mama Melrose, poor service really can make a difference to the overall experience of the meal. It's not in our plan for this summer as we went for Tony's instead, which will be new for us.

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I think you'll really enjoy Tony's not just the food but the atmosphere and the view, we were seated in the conservatory so could see out onto the street. Plus the parade view alone is worth it. Goofy and Chip both came over and gave Noah a high 5 which he was over the moon with xx

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

I think you'll really enjoy Tony's not just the food but the atmosphere and the view, we were seated in the conservatory so could see out onto the street. Plus the parade view alone is worth it. Goofy and Chip both came over and gave Noah a high 5 which he was over the moon with xx

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Tony's is our first day meal, I've been worrying that we won't last for the parade as we'll be hot and tired and jet lagged but I don't want to swap stuff around so I'm sticking with the current plan. I've added in a BOG late breakfast reservation at 10 am just to give us a bit of a rest and air con break. Then the lunch is 1pm. Fingers crossed we make it through the parade.

[WileyCoyote]

I just caught up. Fab flight prices. Holiday plans and ADRs are awesome ! Looking like a really great trip.
Sitting back to see what tweaking may occur !

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by WileyCoyote

I just caught up. Fab flight prices. Holiday plans and ADRs are awesome ! Looking like a really great trip.
Sitting back to see what tweaking may occur !

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We did get really lucky with the flights, I'd have been happy to pay that for indirect so to get direct flights is fab.

[smithlane]

Hey Abby I'm checking in to see how all your plans have panned out!
Your ADR choices look fab. It's nice to repeat some favourites as well as try some new ones. Fingers crossed you get to change your Beaches and Cream reservation, Max will be thrilled to finish the Kitchen Sink with the help of Grandad.
I'm glad you've decided to pick CP for breakfast, the Pooh toast is sooo good
Garden Grill breakfast always looks so good in any report I've read, especially the cinnamon roll skillet!
This year is going by so quickly, our holiday's will be here before we know it

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by smithlane

Hey Abby I'm checking in to see how all your plans have panned out!
Your ADR choices look fab. It's nice to repeat some favourites as well as try some new ones. Fingers crossed you get to change your Beaches and Cream reservation, Max will be thrilled to finish the Kitchen Sink with the help of Grandad.
I'm glad you've decided to pick CP for breakfast, the Pooh toast is sooo good
Garden Grill breakfast always looks so good in any report I've read, especially the cinnamon roll skillet!
This year is going by so quickly, our holiday's will be here before we know it

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I was pretty pleased with the ADR choices and I haven't tinkered with them yet! So I guess that shows that they were the right ones. I am so looking forward to this trip and showing mum and dad some of our favourite things is going to be amazing. I really hope they love it.

[Goldia]

It’s been a long time since I updated you all with our plans. ADR day was ages ago now…over two months have passed and we are in the lean period where nothing really gets done and the countdown drags .

Although I have managed to fill the time by completing last years trip report and going to DLP with Kate . Good times!

So, here is a bits and bobs update as not very much has happened really. First something I should have told you all about ages ago…

Box of goodies

Way back in September we went to Mum and Dad’s for dinner and we took the special Disney gift box we had prepared.

Kate designed the top.

This was full of stuff to help get them in the mood for the trip and get them prepared. At the time I forgot to take any photos But last weekend, I asked Mum if they still had it and she said of course. I asked if she’d read any of the information, not a chance! Oh well, it was fun to put it all together and we enjoyed watching them open it all up.

It had the following stuff in it:

• Maps for all the WDW parks which we had picked up last summer

• Times guides for all the shows at WDW

• Some luggage tags from one of our Disney packs

• Toiletries from our OKW room – shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, shower gel and soap

• My Lei from ‘Ohana (Kate still has hers in her bedroom)

• Some Glow cubes from our cocktails

• The Back scratcher I got in my cocktail at ‘Ohana

• An autograph pen

• The Little Big Book of Magic

• A WDW holiday brochure

And finally, the only 2 things that have actually been used:

• WDW chalk countdown – this is hanging in their kitchen

• Some Minnie cookies we bought on Main Street, you know the ones in a red box (these have long since been eaten)

It was fun to collect our treasures up while we were at OKW and we tried to make sure that we picked up things that would be useful to them.

Accommodation update – RPR booking

I’ve read a few threads on here about how you can use your Tesco clubcard vouchers on hotels.com and triple the value of the vouchers. We’ve not stayed onsite at Universal and I figured this was year for it, what with his being the Bare Necessities trip and all .

I'm excited to be able to try out the express passes and skip the line sounds like a good idea as I really don’t know how much Mum and Dad will enjoy the rides and they may take one look at Hulk and just say no. At least with these little beauties we could jump on the ride and then be back with them in no time at all, well that’s my interpretation of skip the line, hopefully it will live up to my expectations.

I had explained to Dad that I was saving up our vouchers and they were happy to save up theirs. Well, they don’t shop at Tesco as much as we do and Dad didn’t think they would have many, but they also had no plans to spend the vouchers.

Then at the end of February Dad text me to say that they had some vouchers that were about to go out of date and we needed to spend them within a few days. Ok then, it looks like we are going to have to sort this out.

Now, I did not doubt the good word of the dibbers I had read about who had converted clubcard vouchers into hotels.com vouchers and then booked their Universal hotel with no problems, but I was suddenly faced with having to do it PDQ and I would have to talk my parents through the process too.

I phoned them that evening and while it wasn’t exactly stress free, quick or painless we did manage to make our bookings for Royal Pacific Resort simultaneously .

We used speakerphone (the kids and Dave stayed well clear of the proceedings and hid out upstairs). I logged on to my Tesco clubcard account and talked them through what I was doing so that they could copy it at the same time. I shan't do a transcript of the full one hour plus phone call I'm sure you can imagine the fun that was had with Mum and Dad both talking at the same time to me.

In the end my 2 night booking for the four of us cost me a grand total of £139.72. I was pretty pleased with that .

We both received our email confirmations and receipts at the same time and Mum explained Dad had this ingenious method of accessing his receipts from anywhere in the World and proceeded to explain to me how to file away an email Er, yes, ok Mum, ingenious indeed.

So, we’re booked and I was really pleased as it’s going to be a real treat to check into RPR for our last couple of days.


Airport Hotel and Parking

We’ve also got an airport hotel booked up. This is not something that Mum and Dad usually bother with, but I love the night before and pre travel day is always made more exciting when we get to the hotel and then have our dinner and talk about what we’re looking forward to.

It’s a new hotel at Gatwick, well it’s not actually a new hotel, but it is new to us. We've gone for the Copthorne Effingham with parking at the hotel and then the 2 rooms the night before. Mum and Dad booked this on their own for all of us, I believe there was only one area of tension as they needed to do two bookings as we are a family of four with our car and they are a separate booking with their car. This caused my Dad a minor ulcer as he hadn't realised they wouldn't just be able to book it in one go.

But I think that is finally it for booking stuff, I don't think there is anything left to arrange, and it's all shaping pretty well.

Daily Plans

Now, when I say there is nothing left to arrange, I'm not including ‘tweaking’ the plans!

As yet nothing has changed from the ADRs booked in January, but I’m now wondering if it’s worth moving some stuff as we have MK on day 1 and day 3 and we don’t get to AK or HS until day 5 and 6.

Maybe I should move one of the MKs to another day? But that would mean moving either Tony’s Town Square Festival of Fantasy package ADR or the Crystal Palace ADR .

It's a dilemma as it felt wrong to do anything other than go to MK on day 1. Then day 3 has EMH for MK and I love to get there early and get on the rides...there won't be another EMH for MK until day 10 and that feels really late.

I’m guessing that CP will be easier to move…hmm...

So, controversially I’m thinking that we might put in AK on day 1 as it was Dave and Kate’s favourite last summer. Plus it is a great park and I think it’s going to surprise Mum and Dad as it will not be what they are expecting from WDW. There are some great shows there which will give us all a break from the heat on the first day. I’m going to take a look at MDE and see if there is any availability for swapping stuff around.

That's it for now, I'll try to update again soon as we have been doing some Dining Around the World Showcase planning sessions and I will post the first part of these nights, where essentially I explain the dining plan and the credits situation every time we eat

[collybird]

I love the idea of the Disney box, great choice of contents. I’m sure they’ll get around to studying things properly nearer the time. Before our first trip I gave my mum a Disney guide book, which she didn’t read, and am sure I told her 200 times on the trip that she would know what X was if she’d read the book!

What a bargain the RPR stay is with your vouchers, I very much approve. Your parents will love the Express passes. I have just had to talk myself out of also indulging in this ‘bargain’ as it would involve purchasing Universal tickets.

Don’t change your plans! I’ve never really thought it matters what day you go to which park on, but I do think your parents first park should be Magic Kingdom. As well it is being ‘classic’ the rides are all tame so they can ease themselves in nicely, if you do AK or HS you run the risk of them doing a thrill ride, hating it, and then never wanting to ride anything ever again.

Bless you explaining the credits situation over and over again. You really can't get your head around it until you are actually there, and I suppose as they won't be 'in charge', they might never actually get it! Last year, I bought my mum a nice Magic Band and I took her one for her room and used it to take care of the bill and buy snacks and so on.

[GezzasGem]

Great update! Bargain for your universal stay too - oh how I wish I had a tesco Clubcard.. 😭😄 Lovely having an overnight stay pre travel day too - I agree it really adds to your holiday. Thanks for sharing and look forward to seeing your final plans as FP day rolls around! 👌😊

[WileyCoyote]

Ah that Disney box is so great. What a thoughtful gift. Lol I get excited if the Avon lady gives me a free sample so that box would be like a million christmases !

What a bargain price for RPR. Love love love staying at Universal hotels.

Yeah AK sounds like a good first park. mK can be overwhelming especially for a first day, first visit .

Am looking forward to your completed DLP trippy .. nudge nudge... as I am going on a cheeky 3 day trip for November . Never been before so looking to crab lots of tips from fellow visitors .