Charlies First trip home - Trip Report!

[Laurafoster]

Today I've finally booked the Airport lounge. This is another "tradition" that started several years back when we first went to the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse. Now we have 2 kids the clubhouse is a bit pricey so recently we have been going to the No1 lounge at Gatwick south.
It's great to have somewhere peaceful before the flight. Hopefully means we can give Charlie a nap before we go too.

Managed to get it at a good price too - £85 for 4 adults, 1 child and 1 infant. So that's another thing off my to do list.

 

[wilma-bride]

Your plans are really coming together Laura

I think you'll really like AKV - we loved it when we stayed there. The only real downside is the distance from the parks but it wasn't bad enough to put me off staying there again.

Have you decided where you're staying post-cruise (have I mised that bit)?

 

[Laurafoster]

We will be staying at SSR this year So the plans are:-


Thursday 12th September - Overnight at Gatwick
Friday 13th September - Fly to MCO (not sure this was the best date lol)
Friday 13th September - 2 nights at AKV
Sunday 15th September - 4 Night Dream cruise
Thursday 19th September - 14 Nights at SSR
Thursday 3rd Oct - Fly home

Remaining to book:

Car Hire - This year we are not intending on having a car for long (1 week) as Charlie will be so small we plan on staying mostly onsite this year. I'm guessing we will rent one large car instead of 2 smaller ones as this is cheaper plus we plan on driving to the port so will save in parking.

ADRs - Megan will be 3 and Charlie will be around 11 months so going to keep ADRs to a minimum this year. We'll have 4 nights of sit down meals on the cruise so I think around 3 or 4 meals would be ideal or us. At the moment I think they will be Boma (buffet will be good for kids), Dinner at CRT (Megan loved this last time) and a Fantasmic Dinner (again helpful with 2 kids - probably mama Melrose as we haven't tried this one). I'm tempted to book another Character meal somewhere.

Cruise Excursions - This will be our 4th Trip to Nassau but we have never ventured to Atlantis yet so think we will book to have a look around.

Other than that its all the usual - ESTAs, API, Getting Charlie's passport etc.

 

[torsie24]

Just found your PTR.

How exciting - all your plans looks great!

AKL is our favourite resort. (I loved GF too but we can't afford that again for a while!)

It just feels so special and the animals make it amazing. We also find the bus service the best of all the resorts we've stayed at (CRs and GFs was dire and BW shares with 4 other resorts!) so although its not right by a park like the other deluxes it actaully seems a lot quicker to get places.

That being said you've just got a couple of days there anyway so enjoy the resort and maybe pop to AK if you fancy a park as its so quick to get there!

Look forward to hearing more. Xx

 

[Laurafoster]

Just found your PTR.

How exciting - all your plans looks great!

AKL is our favourite resort. (I loved GF too but we can't afford that again for a while!)

It just feels so special and the animals make it amazing. We also find the bus service the best of all the resorts we've stayed at (CRs and GFs was dire and BW shares with 4 other resorts!) so although its not right by a park like the other deluxes it actaully seems a lot quicker to get places.

That being said you've just got a couple of days there anyway so enjoy the resort and maybe pop to AK if you fancy a park as its so quick to get there!

Look forward to hearing more. Xx

Hoping to just spend time round the pool and explore the resort a little. I've always wanted to stay but others were less keen so I'm hoping a few days will help convince them

We loved GF too (although it was our honeymoon and we were upgraded so that helped a little) hoping the DVC part is as nice when it opens. X

 

[torsie24]

Yeah I'm super excited for GFV! It may well convince us to buy in.

We had a club level room in the Main Building for a few nights around our wedding so our GF experience was as luxurious as it could've been. Sort of makes it hard to compare it to anywhere else and makes us wonder how much we'd like being in a standard room.

I actually prefer the DVC studios to regular rooms now though so I'm hoping GFV will be the perfect compromise.

 

[Chilly]

Everythings coming together really well.

 

[Laurafoster]

It's my Parents 30th Anniversary a few months before we go. As always they insist they don't want any presents and I know they hate the ideas of parties. So I'm thinking of booking something different for them whilst we are over there.

I'm considering a backstage tour - the undiscovered future world tour. As Epcot is their favourite park

Still thinking of ideas at this stage so if anyone has any suggestions that would be great. So far I've decided against -

Illuminations Cruise (not done a wishes one though)
Discovery Cove (already done)
GF afternoon tea (not their cup of tea hehe)

 

[Laurafoster]

Booked a couple of ADR's -

14th Sept - Boma for dinner. We loved this last time and the ease of a buffet with 2 kids on day 1 of our holiday sealed the deal.

22nd Sept - Dinner in the castle Megan loved this last year and is now much more into her princesses so glad to have this one booked.

 

[Laurafoster]

Well I tried to get a Fantasmic package for dinner one night but no luck. The latest dinner they had was 3:20pm - that's really not going to work with a child and a baby who needs naps.

So I decided to book a Chef Mickey dinner instead. Never done dinner here but it has all the main characters which is what Megan's wants and is a buffet which will suit us.

So we have 3 ADRs but that's all I'm going to book. We will have 4 nice meals on the cruise too so I think that's enough for an 11 month old

The rest I'm looking forward to trying a few new places off site and some of the CS we haven't tried.

 

[wiigirl]

Joining in.

 

[Linda67]

Joining in as well - sounds like a fun trip

 

[BethEJo]

All your plans sound great Laura - I'm so excited to be following along!
I can't wait for the day that I finally manage to get on a Disney cruise!!

Did you decide any more on what to get for your parent's anniversary?

 

[Laurafoster]

All your plans sound great Laura - I'm so excited to be following along!
I can't wait for the day that I finally manage to get on a Disney cruise!!

Did you decide any more on what to get for your parent's anniversary?

They are addictive! (Just like everything else disney lol)

No I haven't decided yet. Was trying to think of something we could all do together but it's a bit hard with Charlie being so little.

I want it to be something really special. I was very ill after I had Charlie and my parents were amazing - my mum barely left ICU while I was there so want to do something to repay that.

I keep lurking on the main trip planning boards searching for an idea

 

[PJB71]

They are addictive! (Just like everything else disney lol)

No I haven't decided yet. Was trying to think of something we could all do together but it's a bit hard with Charlie being so little.

I want it to be something really special. I was very ill after I had Charlie and my parents were amazing - my mum barely left ICU while I was there so want to do something to repay that.

I keep lurking on the main trip planning boards searching for an idea

Might be a daft idea but have you tried availability for a Cabanna whilst your at CC as a surprise for your parents?

We were lucky enough to book one whilst wee were there in December & it was worth every £$£$£$

 

[Laurafoster]

Might be a daft idea but have you tried availability for a Cabanna whilst your at CC as a surprise for your parents?

We were lucky enough to book one whilst wee were there in December & it was worth every £$£$£$

Haven't thought much about options on the cruise. Will take a look

I have read they get booked quite quickly, I'm a gold castaway member so hopefully should still be one available if we go down that route.

 

[PJB71]

Haven't thought much about options on the cruise. Will take a look

I have read they get booked quite quickly, I'm a gold castaway member so hopefully should still be one available if we go down that route.

Oh Laura you should have a look at them, it really made our day special and we though it was worth every $$$$

It was my middle DDs 13th birthday the day we were at CC so we took some balloons, banners etc and the staff even got the Cabanna decorated for her before we arrived

There was even a travel cot set up in there for our youngest and she slept for about 2hrs in it whilst we sat on the varanda sipping cocktails

OMG how I wish I was there now

 

[Laurafoster]

Today I made another booking - a stroller rental.

It's something I'd been going back and forth on. Basically at home we have a single for Charlie and generally Megan walks everywhere. When she gets tired we also have a buggy board for her. However Florida is totally different. I know she'll tire easily with the hot weather and long distances and I really don't want to be that parent with the over tired screaming toddler ruining things for others.

So 2 single strollers or one double? I eventually decided on one double as it will be so much easier at times when there will be 2 of us. (Can't even imagine trying to get on/off a bus with 2 kids, 2 strollers and bags/cameras etc. we generally pack light but that's still a lot of stuff!) so rental of a double it is.

So the "stroller" rentals in the parks are expensive! A double is $31 per day! Ouch! For 16 days that would be $496. They offer a discount for a multi day rental but this would still be $432. It would actually be cheaper to go and buy one on my first day. Which was an option for a while.

Since then a DIS/Dibb friend has told me about her great experience with Orlando stroller rentals.

So we are now renting a city mini double stroller ( like this one - https://www.orlandostrollerrentals.com/RentaStroller?stroller=3)

$144 for 2 weeks - significantly cheaper and massively more comfortable for Megan and Charlie.

We don't have one for the first 2 nights or for the cruise but we will have our maclaren one for Charlie so it won't be a problem

 

[Laurafoster]

Oh Laura you should have a look at them, it really made our day special and we though it was worth every $$$$

It was my middle DDs 13th birthday the day we were at CC so we took some balloons, banners etc and the staff even got the Cabanna decorated for her before we arrived

There was even a travel cot set up in there for our youngest and she slept for about 2hrs in it whilst we sat on the varanda sipping cocktails

OMG how I wish I was there now

Sounds like heaven!!

 

[Wills Mom]

Love love love the City Mini. Never used a double but we have a single for DS and its so smooth to push and while he would NEVER nap in the iCandy travel system we had originally he has no problem napping in the City Mini. He used to HATE going in the buggy now he climbs into the City Mini every chance he gets. Makes outings so much easier! Andthats a great price too!! Another tick off the list