The planning is in full flow now and our two weeks is almost organised. The itinerary so far is:
Day 1. Hollywood Studio
2. Animal Kingdom
3. Epcot
4. Magic Kingdom
5. Typhoon Lagoon (Rainforest Cafe Animal Kingdom)
6. Magic Kingdom
7. Premier Outlets (& Disney Springs)
8. Animal Kingdom
9. To be arranged
10. Blizzard Beach (Epcot)
11. Hollywood Studio for Fantasmic Show
12. To be arranged
13. Meeting up friends
14. Flying home (spend the day by the pool).
According to YouTube videos I have been researching common "Rookie" mistakes are either under or over planning your trip. We are no rookies when it comes to Disney and although we do different parks each day we make plenty of time for enjoying other elements on offer. The kids love roasting marshmallows at the camp fire in the hotel. They also like the open air showing of Disney films.
We have, over the years, met many other travellers from the UK who are visiting Orlando and they have tickets for everything. They then try to do everything in a park/attraction in a day. These lead to very long days and complete exhaustion (particularly in the heat and humidity of Florida). It is supposed to be a holiday. Hopefully, we have the balance just about right.
Tuesday, 30 May 2017
Monday, 29 May 2017
Welcome
I love to travel and explore new places, unfortunately at the moment I still have to work to fund these adventures, so they are not as frequent as I would like. Most of my trips are family holidays, which have recently been All Inclusive packages, but as the kids are getting older they are interested in more then the swimming pool and feeding. We are looking to do more independent travel.
I also have the opportunity to travel with work and I have visited Belgium, France, Germany, USA, China and Japan. I am hoping to be able to visit some of these destinations to see more.
The main driving force for these blogs is to provide my kids with a written record of our experiences and my thoughts. I hope that in the future it will spark thoughts of the places, experiences and adventures they had in their childhood. I hope that they will carry a spirit of adventure into their adult life.
Having said all that I hope to give others insights into the places we have visited and pass on tips.
I also have the opportunity to travel with work and I have visited Belgium, France, Germany, USA, China and Japan. I am hoping to be able to visit some of these destinations to see more.
The main driving force for these blogs is to provide my kids with a written record of our experiences and my thoughts. I hope that in the future it will spark thoughts of the places, experiences and adventures they had in their childhood. I hope that they will carry a spirit of adventure into their adult life.
Having said all that I hope to give others insights into the places we have visited and pass on tips.
Saturday, 27 May 2017
The Mickey Adventure the countdown continues...
The days to departure are ticking down and most things are in place. The pre-flight hotel, airport car parking and the cat's holiday are all arranged. The next stage is to sort out the ESTA's visa waver forms.
The planning now includes booking Fastpasses as well as meals. This is proving more difficult the further into the holiday we get. The first few days were relatively easy as we will be awake early, we have looked into the parks that have the early magic hour. We will hit the parks early and leave mid-afternoon. As we are staying at the Disney Yachtclub if we have any energy left we can take advantage of the "water park" shared with the Beach Club hotel. There is no thought of trying to stay awake for the firework displays which are a nightly occurance in the parks.
As we get further into the holiday and our body clocks adjust then the early mornings starts are less likely and we would be looking at afternoon evenings or a day at Typhoon Lagoon (the wave machine is awesome and I always smile as the boom goes off to herald the next wave and I am old enough to know better) and Blizzard Beach. There is also Disney Springs to consider and normally we have a day away from the parks to do some shopping at the Malls. This will not be the bargain hunting that it normally is due to the current poor exchange rate.
There are new features this year that we have not experienced before, particularly Disney Springs and the evening opening at Animal Kingdom with the new Avatar area.
There is just so much to do and only a limited time to do it.
The planning now includes booking Fastpasses as well as meals. This is proving more difficult the further into the holiday we get. The first few days were relatively easy as we will be awake early, we have looked into the parks that have the early magic hour. We will hit the parks early and leave mid-afternoon. As we are staying at the Disney Yachtclub if we have any energy left we can take advantage of the "water park" shared with the Beach Club hotel. There is no thought of trying to stay awake for the firework displays which are a nightly occurance in the parks.
As we get further into the holiday and our body clocks adjust then the early mornings starts are less likely and we would be looking at afternoon evenings or a day at Typhoon Lagoon (the wave machine is awesome and I always smile as the boom goes off to herald the next wave and I am old enough to know better) and Blizzard Beach. There is also Disney Springs to consider and normally we have a day away from the parks to do some shopping at the Malls. This will not be the bargain hunting that it normally is due to the current poor exchange rate.
There are new features this year that we have not experienced before, particularly Disney Springs and the evening opening at Animal Kingdom with the new Avatar area.
There is just so much to do and only a limited time to do it.
Monday, 22 May 2017
Making Plans for Mickey's Grand Adventure
It is a little over 15 months since we booked our next big adventure to Disney World in Forida. We are now down to slightly less than 60 days to go and the excitement is building. We booked so far in advance to take advantage of the free Disney dining plan. In previous years when we have visited this by far our biggest expense. This has probably been a really good move as when the trip was booked the exchange rate was $1.50 but since the Brexit vote has been nearer to $1.20. This would have made meals so much more expensive.
In previous trips we have done our research and made an itinerary which we would roughly adhere to, but we were flexible and adapted to changes on the ground. Now, particularly as we are staying at a Disney resort, we are having to plan this much more.
Firstly, after booking the hotel we had to wait for 6 months before the flights became available. We had to review all the options before making our choice, all the while the worry was that the prices were changing daily.
Then 6 months before our trip we could start making reservations for dining. This was not at all straight forward as we have to cater for the children and a vegetarian. There is a huge choice of places to eat and therefore a lot of menus to check out. Choosing what you would like to eat 6 months in advance, in the grip of a South Wales winter as opposed to a sunny hot Florida day was not easy. Our main goal at that point was to book the popular dining experiences such as character meals and those with shows. The process online was slowed up, by having to insert credit card details for every booking, even although we won't actually be paying as we have the dining plan. The credit card details are required for no-shows. These are charged at $10 a head. I understand the reason behind this, but it still makes the process arduous.
Next we had to choose the colours for out Magibands using the Disney app.
Now with just under 60 days to go we can now start booking the rides and attractions using the Fastpass+ system.
All,this planning is perhaps a good thing as it builds up the anticipation for the forthcoming trip, but on the other hand it takes away the spontinaity of travel.
In previous trips we have done our research and made an itinerary which we would roughly adhere to, but we were flexible and adapted to changes on the ground. Now, particularly as we are staying at a Disney resort, we are having to plan this much more.
Firstly, after booking the hotel we had to wait for 6 months before the flights became available. We had to review all the options before making our choice, all the while the worry was that the prices were changing daily.
Then 6 months before our trip we could start making reservations for dining. This was not at all straight forward as we have to cater for the children and a vegetarian. There is a huge choice of places to eat and therefore a lot of menus to check out. Choosing what you would like to eat 6 months in advance, in the grip of a South Wales winter as opposed to a sunny hot Florida day was not easy. Our main goal at that point was to book the popular dining experiences such as character meals and those with shows. The process online was slowed up, by having to insert credit card details for every booking, even although we won't actually be paying as we have the dining plan. The credit card details are required for no-shows. These are charged at $10 a head. I understand the reason behind this, but it still makes the process arduous.
Next we had to choose the colours for out Magibands using the Disney app.
Now with just under 60 days to go we can now start booking the rides and attractions using the Fastpass+ system.
All,this planning is perhaps a good thing as it builds up the anticipation for the forthcoming trip, but on the other hand it takes away the spontinaity of travel.
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