Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 15 Aug 17, 02:56 PM  
Link to this Post
#1
jakesmum
Excited about Disney
 
jakesmum's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 11
Me, 3 and gluten Free - Pre Trip Report

This is my family's very first trip to Orlando, our children's first ever trip to America and youngest's very first trip to any Disney Theme Park. Having never written a trip report i'm unsure of the etiquette here but figured i'd give it a go

Intro to the family:

There's Me 'The Navigator' (38) chief planner, booker, co-ordinater and implementer of every holiday we have ever been on, My dearest Hubby 'The Misery' (as he likes to moan ) (47), he is in charge of all suitcase related movement, i.e loading and unloading of suitcases into vehicles and driving said vehicles around. Teenage Son 'Teen Monster' (16) the coeliac (hence the title) and our baby, 'Chunky Monkey' (9) who we repeatedly say the words 'she's a girl' about every time we go on holiday, you'll see a picture of her and understand (She REALLY idolises her brother )

Why are we going?:

Well there is a story behind this, and it starts with my 6 year old self. I went to my dad and asked 'Daddy, will you take me to Disney World?' and my daddy, well he said no I asked again the next week and the next week and the next week until finally my daddy said 'once your sisters stop coming on holiday with us, I will take you to Disney'. So my little 6 year old self settled down to wait. 10 years later my middle sister finally left for university and I went back to my dad and said 'its just me now, will you take me to Disney World please?' and my dad . . . he said . . . 'no, I just said i'd take you to stop you asking me' . Devastated was the 6 year old little girl inside me!

Anyway, when I met my husband, I told him the story of my broken promise and he promised to make sure I saw Disney one day.
Years passed and we just never seemed to have the money to go, but then our son started his GCSE years! Now my son is . . . . hard to motivate so I made a promise, 'do your best in your exams, study with me each night and put everything you have into them and I will take you and your sister to Orlando', Ok secretly I didn't really believe it would make a difference but my boy worked as hard as he could so I kept my promise and in 9 days we will set off FINALLY to Disney World (he also gets his exam results the day before we fly! )

The Plan:

Soooo after much consideration and review reading, report reading, researching (by me ) we have decided on . . .

Flights are with Thomas Cook as they fly from our local airport meaning its only a 40 minute drive rather than 2+ hrs to Gatwick!

A villa rental, we figured having access to a private pool and each having our own rooms would be extremely benificial

Tickets - We only have tickets to Disney, there was some tooing and froing over Universal tickets (and I am a huge HP fan!) but we felt it would just be too much for us to try and fit both sets of parks into 14 days with 2 kids and parents with health issues (plus it means we are pretty much guaranteed to go back as I have the Hogwarts Express firmly on my bucket list!)

Hire Car - We felt with 4 of us it was just more cost effective and easier to have a hire car meaning we were not constrained to bus timetables and Uber bookings.

Fastpasses are all booked so now its just the countdown to travel day! (Chunky has a countdown calendar pinned to her wardrobe that she crosses off each day and informs me how many sleeps each morning when I get up). I am currently in 'we go in 9 days, everyone pick clothes to pack and don't touch them AGAIN!' mode, Misery is in 'We've got 9 days, thats ages, i'm refusing to get excited until the night before' mode, Teen Monster is very much 'Wear everything, mum can get it washed dried and ironed the night before' (I usually end up stealing his clothes from each wash I do in the run up to holidays just so he has something to wear!), Chunky is 'Nearly time, I just need a swimsuit as we have a pool, can we watch more you tube disney videos?' mode.
__________________
Finally experienced the Magic 2017, returning 2019 for my 40th and son's 18th, with Gran too , 2022 - and then there was 3
1st Trip Report - me, 3 and gluten free

Edited at 08:12 PM.
jakesmum is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 17 Aug 17, 07:47 PM  
Link to this Post
#2
Pussycat Doll
Imagineer
 
Join Date: Jun 09

theDIBB Guidebook
Pages Created: 1
Sounds great! Obviously you really motivated your son, there is hope for parents yet! Looking forward to your trippie and I'm sure our Gluten free Dibbers will be reading along.
Pussycat Doll is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 18 Aug 17, 07:12 PM  
Link to this Post
#3
jakesmum
Thread Starter
Excited about Disney
 
jakesmum's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 11
Ah thank you Pussycat Doll, he really did try with his revision and we are all just hoping that it paid off come the 24th as i'd like him to be rewarded for all that hard work with results he can be proud of (though i'm proud no matter what the piece of paper says, he did what he could!)

Gluten free will factor very prominently, most of my Disney bible is dedicated to gluten free menu's and foods in the supermarkets! So hoping a lot of this will be info on how the restaurants handled his needs and what is available over there in walmart etc with the hope it will help fellow newbies with a Coeliac to plan their holiday
__________________
Finally experienced the Magic 2017, returning 2019 for my 40th and son's 18th, with Gran too , 2022 - and then there was 3
1st Trip Report - me, 3 and gluten free
jakesmum is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 19 Aug 17, 04:18 PM  
Link to this Post
#4
LaurenYorkshir
Imagineer
 
Join Date: Apr 12
Sounds greats ! I will certainly be reading along as our honeymoon trip in November will be our first time in the states since my diagnosis Have a great time !
__________________
UPCOMING- POFQ & POLY NOV2019
WDW : Dec 2012(POP)Dec 2014 (POFQ) , September 2015(POFQ) , December 2017 (POFQ & BLT) October 2018 (Poly & Cabana Bay)
DLP : December 2013

LaurenYorkshir is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 3 Sep 17, 10:33 PM  
Link to this Post
#5
KittyBlackDog
Imagineer
 
Join Date: Dec 12
Have a brilliant time

Yes please to photos of GF availability at Walmart/Publix, menu photos, chefs/waiting staff involvement etc. I was diagnosed literally just before we went in 2013 so was still eating 'normally' and DD got diagnosed after we came back in 2015 so we've not really done USA as coeliacs. I'm hoping USA are a bit more advanced in understanding and availability but it might be wishful thinking.

Looking forward to reading about your experiences.

Have fun!
KittyBlackDog is offline Girl Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Old 30 Apr 18, 07:08 PM  
Link to this Post
#6
DadToThree
VIP Dibber
 
Join Date: Aug 14
Location: The Yorkshire Coast
Mobile

Pleased to have found this. One of our daughter’s a coeliac and so I’m very interested to see how your son managed with the dining options. 👍🏼
DadToThree is offline Boy Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 08:13 AM.


Powered by vBulletin - Copyright © 2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
DIBB Savings
AttractionTickets.com

Get £10 off each Disney Ticket with the code ATDIBB10

Get up to £50 off per room at Disney or Universal with the code DIBBHOTELS


theDIBB Blog
One of the the five worlds found in Epic Universe, How to Train Your Dragon... Read More »
Disney announced that a new nighttime show, “Disney Dreams That Soar,” will run nightly at... Read More »
Walt Disney World Resort guests can get ready to have a “glowing’’ good time when... Read More »


theDIBB Menu


Exchange Rates
US Dollar Rates
ASDA  $1.2354
CaxtonFX  $1.2302
Covent Garden FX  $1.2544
FAIRFX  $1.2350
John Lewis  $1.2380
M&S  $1.2178
Sainsburys  $1.2354
TESCO  $1.2364
Travelex  $1.2353
Updated: 07:00 29/03/2024
Euro Rates
ASDA  €1.1447
CaxtonFX  €1.1418
Covent Garden FX  €1.1526
FAIRFX  €1.1432
John Lewis  €1.1457
M&S  €1.1263
Sainsburys  €1.1440
TESCO  €1.1445
Travelex  €1.1435
Updated: 07:00 29/03/2024

DIBB Premium Membership
Did you know you can help support theDIBB with Premium Membership?

Check out this link for more information and benefits, such as...

"No adverts on theDIBB Forums"

Upgrade Now



X