A Little Bit of Luxury pre-Trip report - itinerary added 18/7

[loobzuk]

I've never written one of these before but today seemed a good day to start. It's July 9th and we fly out on August 9th.

Let me introduce 'us'

Me - Louise, age 44 (but feel more like 34 and act more like 14 at times!). Long time Disney fan, I work part time in a supermarket on the customer service desk/cigarette kiosk (fags, gambling [i.e. lottery] and moaning)

DH - Jeff - age 42. IT consultant, currently 'between jobs' but that's a whole other story. He's a Star Wars nut and loves anything to do with space and Science Fiction

DD - Sophie - age 10 (but definitely going on 16). Very much a girly girl, loves most things pink and twirly

DS - Hayden - age 7 - nickname is the Professor - he has an (usually long-winded) explanation for everything. He also loves anything Nintendo.

Our Trip

This will be our 4th trip (I stupidly believed for years that you had to have children to visit WDW. I kick myself now for the many wasted years. We have previously visited around the time of the children's birthdays (both in May and both have been lucky enough to celebrate their birthdays in WDW) and also once at Easter. When planning this trip we decided to play by the rules and not take them out of school and hence we decided on August. We considered them old enough now to deal with the heat and humidity. Once we decided on August, we thought we might as well make the most of it and go for 3 weeks (2 weeks had never usually been quite enough time, there always seemed to be something that we wished we'd had just another day to do or see). Then the devil in me planted the seed of travelling PE and once that seed is sown there is no going back! Having upgraded our flights we also decided to opt for a 'superior' villa (as opposed to standard which has been our norm).

So, we fly out on August 9th at 11am from Gatwick, have 3 weeks booked at a villa (to be allocated on arrival) and fly home on the evening flight (I'm trying not to think about coming back yet) on 30th August.

When we booked our trip the number of days countdown was at 429 - today it's just 31. I have driven people nuts at work - they all thought I'd get bored but everytime someone has asked, I've been able to tell them exactly how many days we have left! I am working the evening before we travel until 10pm - lots of colleagues are threatening to take the night off (and frankly I don't blame them because if I were them I wouldn't want to be around me either ).

Our itinerary is in the final planning stages and I will update you with our day by day plans together with our ADR's later.

This morning I 'interviewed' the family.

Jeff is most looking forward to the new Star Tours ride closely followed by a KSC visit. His favourite character is Tigger (news to me!) His favourite Disney park/place is DHS.

Sophie is most looking forward to WWoHP and the Pokemon shop in Japan at Epcot. Her favourite character by far is Piglit and her favourite place is MK.

Hayden is most looking forward to the big Lego shop at DTD and the Pokemon shop. His favourite character is Mater and favourite place is DHS.

Me, well I'm most looking forward to just being there followed by lots of craft shopping. My favourite character is Donald Duck and I love DTD, I could sit and people watch for ages.

 

[mandymouse]

Great start Louise, I look forward to reading about your plans

 

[jen_uk]

Sounds great, looking forward to hearing more See you in the Vroom!!

 

[Chilly]

Looking forward to hearing more about your plans.

 

[tony64]

It will be here before you know it Louise

 

[cannp123165]

Sounds great!

 

[Ware Bears]

Not long now!! We fly home from Rome on the 9th so I'll be thinking of you!!

 

[crabbie1]

Oohh im liking this. Didnt know there was a pokemon shop in japan?? Oh dear. Dd will hv a dicki fit!!

 

[loobzuk]

Okay, so as promised here is our outline itinerary - it will change when we're there but at least there's a plan to work to!

All dates are August

9th - leave early for Gatwick, flight at 11.15. Hoping to make villa whilst it's still light - DH usually gets lost or takes a wrong turning along the way so this has yet to be achieved. Will pick up some very basic groceries (milk, bread) along the way

10th - breakfast out, shopping, unpacking, mini golf and DIS meet at OKW

11th - Kennedy Space Center (tickets already purchased)

12th - morning in villa ADR at T-Rex for mid-day and La Nouba at 6. Will also spend an hour or so in the Lego shop at DTD to keep Hayden happy

13th - Ohana breakfast at 9.05, mini golf and classic cars at Kissimmee in the evening

14th - Orlando Science Center, perhaps a bit of shopping if time allows

15th - IOA for WWoHP

16th - Water park (undecided between TL and BB) . Hoop Dee Doo at 5pm

17th - Epcot including a trip over to Beaches and Cream in the afternoon

18th - currently left spare

19th - AK hoping to get lunch at Flame Tree BBQ

20th - Magic Kingdom day - straight over to Tom Sawyer island to see if we can find a paintbrush. ADR at Whispering Canyon for 6.25pm. Back to MK for fireworks in the evening

21st - currently left spare

22nd - children have Pirate Adventure booked from GF, DH and I will have a peaceful hour or so! Waterpark (either TL or BB depending which one we haven't visited before) and probably a game of mini golf

23rd - Hollywood Studios with ADR for Fantasmic package at Hollywood & Vine at 3.40pm

24th - Epcot, ADR at Rose and Crown for 6.55, will stay for Illuminations

25th - Universal Studios and IOA

26th - Hollywood Studios. DIS meet at Poly at 3pm

27th - shopping/villa day. I'll make a start on packing. Maybe a game of golf in the afternoon

28th - Magic Kingdom - ADR for breakfast at Crystal Palace at 8.20

29th - currently left spare (as it's our last full day it will be used for anything that we didn't get done due to weather, tiredness or illness

30th - DTD check in, rest of day currently spare. Our Disney tickets will have run out so we won't be going back to a park. We usually spend the day shopping and eating a good lunch somewhere!

31st - land back at Gatwick and start planning the next trip after a quick snooze!

 

[jjk]

great plans,we will be at the dis meet at the poly see you there

 

[irongirlof12]

Sounds like a fun packed holiday and not long to go now either

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Great plans .... glad to see you have Beaches and Cream on the list ... well worth a visit.

 

[loobzuk]

after a really long run of bad luck I thought I'd better try to get some excitement back into my life!

We've arranged to meet up with one of Hayden's classmates from school. They travelled there this week so we've a few days where our holidays cross so we really want to get a photo of them together. We're thinking of either 12th or 13th at DTD (Lego shop) as both boys are Lego mad. I've got their villa addy and mobile number so we'll arrange something when we get there.

Going to start packing today and tomorrow we're off to the shops to sort out anything that's missing.

Amongst other stuff I have to get a puzzle magazine for the plane - we never do them but like lots of people we have to take one! I don't want to leave it for the airport as I get a discount at Tesco and I want to sit myself in the V-room and make the most of it.

I'm also working every day between now and my holiday so that should make the time go a bit quicker.

 

[tony64]

Have a great trip Louise and if I get a chance I'll pop onto Tesco on Monday to share in your excitement, what hours are you working?

 

[loobzuk]

I'm working 6-10 in the evening - I'm going to be hell to be around - people keep saying they're going to take the evening off and I don't blame them as I don't think I'd want to work with me either! Wasn't about to waste a days holiday though because if it's not done by 6pm then it probably isn't going to get done!

 

[tony64]

That's good I finish at 6 so I'll put in.

 

[cornish pixie]

Just caught up you should be out there by now and hopefully your husband found the villa
Anyway have an amazing holiday and look forward to hearing about it on your return
cornish pixie