From Pacific to Atlantic - Fourteen Days of Fun In Florida August 2019: Pre-trip Report

[sarmori]

Cast
Me - Mum, Disney planner, chief report writer and Take That fan!
DH - Enjoys Florida but is organised into going more often than he might like to! Lost his coaster legs a bit last time we were there, so we will see how he does this time!
DS - the comedian of the family, has just finished GCSEs (results due when we are away in Florida - eek!)
DD - loves musicals, singing and performing generally, is a Harry Potter fanatic and very proud to be a Hufflepuff. She will be going into Y9 next year

This will be the fifth visit for me and DH (we went once in 1999 to All Star Movies) and the fourth for DS and DD:
2011 - two weeks at Fort Wilderness cabins with SIL and BIL (did Disney & Universal)
2013 - two weeks at Wilderness Lodge (did Disney, Seaworld & Kennedy Space Centre)
2017 - 4 nights at Portofino Bay, Universal and 10 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge (did Disney & Universal)
We've also been to Disneyland Paris a couple of times in-between, once with my Mum and nephew and another time with SIL, BIL and their kids. DD had the great opportunity to perform there, including singing in front of the castle and dancing ahead of the parade - which she really enjoyed, although she was a bit miffed that the rest of us got more time on the rides than she did because of her rehearsals and performances!

So, our plan for 2019 is as follows:
4 nights club level at Royal Pacific (the Pacific in the title of the trippie!)
10 nights at the Boardwalk Inn (the Disney website describes it as evoking turn-of-the-century boardwalks in such coastal cities as Coney Island and Atlantic City - it's a bit of poetic licence, but that's the Atlantic referred to in the title of the report)
Flying direct with TUI to Sanford from East Midlands airport - only 45 mins drive from home so should be fairly straightforward hopefully
No hire car this time - now you have to pay parking at Disney hotels too, it just seems too expensive. As we are staying onsite anyway, we can walk or use transportation for most trips and will probably get a few Ubers too (although me and DH are such dinosaurs, it will be the first time we have ever used Uber).

Obviously staying onsite we have had everything booked for months. Some people think I'm completely mad to have booked restaurants six months out but I really enjoy the planning and it means I really enjoy the anticipation for months before I'm here, so I don't care if it makes me seem a bit odd!

Our plan as it stands right now:

Universal Days 1 - 5
I haven't got these days as planned out as the Disney ones - we will have the Express Pass for the Universal rides through staying at the Royal Pacific, and I'm hoping we can make maximum use of the club level food. Things we want to do;
Some time at Volcano Bay - loved this last time round, particularly getting in early and getting a load of the rides done without queueing
Plenty of time in the Harry Potter areas of both parks
We're hoping to do the new Hagrid ride, but we're not prepared to stand in line all day, so we'll see whether that happens or not
Obviously we want to spend time in both Universal parks - top must-do rides are Spiderman, Hulk, Jimmy Fallon, Rip Ride Rockit, Bilge Rat Barges
We'd like to eat at the following places - Voodoo Donut, Cinnabon, Toothsome Chocolate Emporium and Teak Neighbourhood Grill (thanks Scottishnellie for the glowing recommendation for this place - we're keen to try it out!). We need to get a supply of Lard Lad donuts too - we loved eating those on our last trip, although we did share one between us each time, honest!

Disney Days 5 - 14
We've got everything booked in My Disney Experience (obvs) - I won't bore you with the trip plan day by day, but here is some general info:
We want to eat around the world at Epcot and try a snack from every country during our visit. We are keen to make the most of our snack credits this time round, and not go home with a suitcase full of Goofy Candy and Chip and Dale's Nut Trail at the end of the holiday. Ample Hills Creamery and Boardwalk Bakery are on our doorstep so it shouldn't be too much of a challenge hopefully!
We haven't planned when yet, but we want to go to the waterparks a couple of times at least (half days - can't cope with the exposure to the sun for much longer!)
We'd like to do one of the crazy golf courses - we did both Winter Summerland and Fantasia Golf last time and had a great time
We got free Disney Dining - restaurants booked currently are Teppan Edo, Be Our Guest (Breakfast & Lunch), Ohana (Dinner), Yak & Yeti, Sci-fi Dine In Theater, Tusker House, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Chefs de France, Storybook Dining at Artist Point, Hollywood Brown Derby, and Bon Voyage Breakfast at Trattoria al Forno. Will probably not keep all of those as we are currently spending more credits than we'll have
For quick service restaurants, the following ones are at the top of our list; Sa'tuli Canteen, Pecos Bill, Columbia Harbour House, Yak & Yeti Local Food Cafe, Flame Tree Barbeque, Wolfgang Puck Express
We have to get Dole Whips. Last time we were there DD was allergic to pineapple - that seems to have disappeared now - she is now desperate to try one having watched the rest of us enjoy them last time
Fastpasses booked and got all the tricky ones - Flight of Passage, 7 Dwarves Mine Train, Slinky Dog Dash, Tower of Terror etc
No shopping planned - other than at Disney and Universal (we're more an Amazon Prime type family than spending time wandering round shops!)

This is my first digital trip report. I like scrapbooking and so have documented previous trips old-stylee (which I'll probably also do with this trip report when we get back home). I did try, on a previous trip, to use technology by dictating notes into my iphone - earning me the nickname Robot-Mom for the rest of the holiday because they said I was speaking like a robot! So I will probably try that again this time, just to amuse the kids if nothing else!

So in the week leading up to our holiday we have the following very important things to do -
Disney nails for me and DD
Get some dollars (for tips)
Print out all our documents
Pack the cases

DD and I are also squeezing in a little trip to London this weekend to see a musical called Six which we are really looking forward to!

We are into single digits now on our countdown calendar and getting really excited; apart from the fact that the pound has hit a 2 year low against the dollar in the last few days which is bloomin' typical - bloody Boris!

Thanks for reading!

My Disney nails done!

And DD nails also ready to go!

[JanetteP]

Sounds like a lovely trip. We fly from East Midlands too - love the Dreamliner. I'll be following along.

[Cinderella]

Looking forward to your report 👍

[Photogirl62]

Can’t wait to follow your trip! 😃

[Pez01]

Following along ... we go on Sunday .. just got my dollars today and the rate almost made me cry ... I remember back in the olden days the first time I went it was $2 to the pound ... 😨.. love the look of your plan ...

[Michyloulou]

Sounds like a wonderful trip! I’ll certainly be following along!
Have a fabulous time!
✈️ ☀️ 💵 🐬 🍦 🏊 🛍

[sarmori]

Thanks everyone for reading!

In the last couple of days I have swapped out Yachtsman and booked in to Le Cellier instead - we have been to the Yachtsman a couple of times but never Le Cellier so I thought it would be good to give it a try for a change.

We also went to see Six the musical in London - I would really recommend this, it was a lot of fun. So good we are booking tickets to go back and see it again. It is based on Henry VIII six wives forming a girl group! Love a good musical - Disney or otherwise!

[scottishnellie]

Ooh all sounds fab and can’t wait to follow along.

And I hope you love Teak as much as we do (thanks for the name check by the way!)

[app]

New Photo Added by sarmori - 8 Aug 19 10:59 PM.