From Palm trees to Mouse ears .. our PTR

[islandmum]

well this was supposed to be a pre-trip report ending with the fantastic finale of staying at the Poly after visiting a few other places first ..... but now thats all changed!!!

but the important stuff first ..... who's who ...

me (somewhere in the murky dirty 30's)
mother, taxi driver, golf pro, beach bum, mobile laundry woman, spender of the $$$$, dietician, nose wiper, and on this trip the offical driver.

DH (has reached the summit of the hill and now on his way down the other side ... 41)
a very important person (according to him), a corporate big shot (according to his secretary), earner of the $$$$, master of the Blackberry, a PGA golf pro, grey and balding, wrestling opposition for the boys, general all round happy guy, no driving this trip after smashing us up in last years road trip

DS1, Blue
will be 6 years old next week, blonde, gorgeous, sports mad, is already a heartthrob, if he doesnt see the PowerRangers he may well die, wants to make his own lightsabre and fight his brother with it

DS2, Monkey
just turned 4, eyelashes that most women would commit murder for, cute as a button, aloof and silent when he thinks he can be, animal mad, wants to stroke crocodiles, car crazy mad, biggest fan of Stunt Car Show at DHS possibly alive today

 

[islandmum]

background for the trip ....

we live on a little island - when I say little I dont mean UK little, I mean 3 miles long 1 mile wide little!!!

Our little piece of paradise in located in the Caribbean and we emigrated here 5 years ago from the UK. Due to the size of the place we lack a few basics ..... we have no shops to speak of ...

I mean NO shops!!! we have 2 food stores and a place that sells goats and gas bottles, and thats the depth of it! Bearing this in mind we are forced to travel overseas at least twice a year to stock up on things like clothing, bathroom stuff etc etc, there is only so far Amazon can get you!

which leads to the great excuse of ..... "well if we're going we might as well have some fun too - thats code for Disney!"

Last year was our first Disney trip, stayed at the WL for 10 days and just had the most magical time, so of course this year we had to go again and booked 3 weeks away with the end being a 5 day stay at the Poly ....
the plan was -
4 days in Florida Keys
6 days in Miami and Palm Beach
7 days in a villa with BIL, SIL and Neice visiting from the UK
5 days at the Poly .

all was done booked sorted, organised, intineried, planned ..... yaddda yaddda

until DH picked up his blackberry to answer a call from the boss ......

 

[islandmum]

"They need me in Spain" DH said
"That lovely, when is it for" me
"I leave the day we're supposed to go to the Poly" DH
"I'm sorry, I must have misheard" me
"no you didnt" DH
"I hate your job" me
"no you dont - it pays the bills" DH
"those xxxxxx bxxxxxx why cant they choose some other xxxxxx to xxxx off to Spain" me (edited for bad nasty words)
"I have to go, no option, cancel the Poly unless you want to stay with the boys" DH



so the choice is stay booked at the Poly or cancel it, lose the deposit and go home 5 days early.

We thrashed it out and decided to cancel the Poly, do Disney day trips whilst we are at the villa and book another trip for next year. Doing Disney on my own with the boys is not a vaca .... it needs to be with dad, we all wanted him there with us.

so the final dates were set and this is where we're at:

Arrive at Miami, collect car and drive for 3 days in the Keys,
drive back from the keys for 6 days in Miami at the Turnberry Isle Resort and 2 days with friends in Pam Beach,
drive up to Orlando for 1 day at the Nickleodeon Hotel
7 days at the Villa,
one night at the Hyatt Regency at the airport and fly home.


with the plan of action being 2 days in Universal, I day at the Space Centre, 4 days at Disney.

Plus during our time in Miami we have to shop for all the next 9 months clothes and living stuff, as well as all christmas presents and decorations etc ... box it up and send it off to Miami Port to be shipped back to our island for us.

nice relaxing trip then .....

 

[islandmum]

so I have my plan of action in place, I am just ever so slightly OCD about travel plans for something like Disney as I want to make sure that what needs to be seen gets seen, and then we are free to do whatever else.

MONDAY to THURSDAY: relax down in the Florida Keys for 3 days in this lovely little colonial house and take in the sights ...
http://centercourtkw.com/family_house.htm

THURSDAY to WEDNESDAY:
then its off to Miami for 6 nights at the Fairmont resort:
http://www.fairmont.com/turnberryisle/

WEDNESDAY to FRIDAY: couple of nights spent with friends in Palm Beach


FRIDAY: we arrive in Orlando on a Friday lunchtime having driven up from our friends in Palm Beach. Check into the Nickleodeon Hotel and have an afternoon/night of Spongebob fun, get slimed at the pool, and enjoy our Spongebob themed family suite - oh the joys of pink and yellow splattered walls!.

SATURDAY: Booked in for a Spongebob character breakfast for the boys, and some more pool party time before checking out at midday. Drive off to our villa where we will meet up with BIL, SIL and DN, who have flown in from the UK the day before. Heres the villa:
http://www.floridavilla4u2rent.com/

and spend the afternoon/evening just chiiling out, in the pool, play ball in the garden and pick up some things from publix.

Week at the parks itinery to follow .....

 

[islandmum]

Now I have planned this week according to the TGM best park days advice - we did this last year and it worked really well. I know that DHS is our favourite park and its a long all dayer. The other parks I can do a smaller day without killing the kids dragging them to see and do everything - I MUST priortise!!

so, here it goes ...
SUNDAY:
Animal Kingdom day, arrive 9ish, get FP's for Safari and take a wander and see what we want to see. This is our least favourite park and its more a case of seeing and doing this on the spur of the moment as theres nothing the boys are dying to see here.

Off to dinner that night at Hard Rock Cafe.

MONDAY:
Epcot day, arrive 10-11 ish after a brekkie and swim in the pool no doubt at the villa. Grab FP's for TestTrack and take a wander about and see what we can get in line for ... Turtle Talk is a must, as is Nemo, and then really its a case of walking round and seeing what the boys want this year - as its bound to be different from last year We love the World Showcase and can quite happily spend 2 hours wondering about between countries.

Dinner booked for Biergarten at 5.40 and hopefully we'll have got some Soarin Fp's for later that evening for me and the DH to finally have a go on it!

TUESDAY:
Space Centre morning, the boys are very excited to see space shuttles - as is the DH so this is a big morning for them. Hoping to be finished by 2pm so we can get home to the villa where they can play for the afternoon and I can ...... SHOP!!!! Millenia Mall here I come.

WEDNESDAY:
DHS day, to be there at rope drop, DH to get straight to ToyStoryMania and grab FP's whilst me and the boys wander over to Star Tours. pick up some nice bits in the Star Wars store then off to wait for the Power Rangers. After the Power Rangers should be time for TSM and ride that.

Grab lunch at a counter service and get FP's for RnR coaster.

Off to the car stunt show first showing, then the Indy stunt show. Boys still love the incredibles so we'll saunter off to find them for a piccy and DH and me can ride RnR coaster before taking the boys to Jedi training. If we can get in the Muppets and meets with ToyStory characters and possibly the Great Movie Ride we will.

Dinner booked at the 50's Prime time cafe.

THURSDAY:
An optional day. Shopping must be done in the PM/evening for me with Florida Mall and Premium Outlets. The morning we'll probably use as Universal morning and go do some rides before leaving about midday.

We have a 1pm booking for lunch at our favourite Whispering Canyon Cafe.

Dinner we have a booking at Texas de Brazil

FRIDAY:
Universal day, breakfast with Spiderman booked, Islands of Adventure where we must include almost every ride in the IOA according to darling sons! Hopefully we will still have time in the PM to get across to US and do rides there too - this is our first time to US so it'll be an experience!!

SATURDAY:
day of checkout from the villa, get up packed and out by 10am and then over to Magic Kingdom. Buzz, car track thingy, space mountain, Astro Orbiter must all be done in Tomorrowland. The only other things they want to do are Captain Jacks Pirate training and Spash Mountain so we'll see how we go. I'd love to see the parade again, I was suprised last year how much we loved it. Hope to be out of the park by 5pm.

Drive from MK to the airport, drop off the car, check into the Hyatt Airport hotel which is in the terminal and RELAX!!!!!!!!!!!!

its an early morning 7am flight off to Barbados the next day.

 

[islandmum]

heres some piccies of us if I can actually do this (I confess to being tech stooopid)!

DH ..

this is how he looks sometimes at work!!

me ..

Blue ..

this was him last year when he was 4 .... he likes the ladies!!

Monkey ..

and heres monkey boy dong what he loves best ..... he loves sailing on our boat!

and heres us all last year at Disney ..

 

[DisneyCrzy]

Morning!

You have a beautiful family and blast those business people for forcing your hubby to go to Spain during your vacation. Don't they understand the importance of staying at Poly?!?! Your plans look exciting! Can't wait to hear more.

 

[DisneyJo]

Hiya

Your boys are so cute and it must be pretty hard to buy all your stuff in such a short time, I hate shopping so I'd be useless

 

[islandmum]

Morning!

You have a beautiful family and blast those business people for forcing your hubby to go to Spain during your vacation. Don't they understand the importance of staying at Poly?!?! Your plans look exciting! Can't wait to hear more.

Hiya

Your boys are so cute and it must be pretty hard to buy all your stuff in such a short time, I hate shopping so I'd be useless

hello ladies! I was talking to myself for a time there (so whas new?)

thanks for the comments, I do of course think they are the most gorgeous chikdren on the planet .... and I wish that all the people responsible for making DH go to Spain come down with a virulent bout of something nasty!! They just have no idea of what a WDW vacation means

but anyway we will still enjoy, even though we are offsite, and it'll make it even more special when we go back next year onsite ..... where DH wil be ordered to atend under penalty of death!!LOL!

 

[islandmum]

well we have our flight plans now confirmed and paid for which sees us leaving here at 8am, flying to San Juan, a quick stopover there with time to grab a Nathan's hot dog and then a 1.30pm flight into Miami.

We've booked a hire car through a Brit company actually as they were the cheapest we could find on the internet.

We've got a full size 7/8 seater SUV for $687 for the 17 days we I thought was amazing. And that includes all the usual fees that add on - the one-way drop off, the full insuance, the aiport fees etc.

On the way home we have to fly back via Barbados, as the DH has to fly to London which the company books out of Barbados on Virgin, and then onto Spain, so we fly from Orlando early (6.20am!!) after a night at the airport hotel, transit through Miami, and get into Barbados about 1.20pm. We were going to then catch the local 4.00pm flight from Barbados to our island but we've decided to have a night in Barbados as DH doesnt actually fly till the next day so we'll have one night at the Sandy Lane hotel before flying home.

 

[DisneyJo]

Ooooh Sandy Lane my sister had stayed there several times, the nearest I've got is the notepad that I use that she brought back

The car rental does sound a good deal

 

[islandmum]

Ooooh Sandy Lane my sister had stayed there several times, the nearest I've got is the notepad that I use that she brought back

The car rental does sound a good deal

we're only allowed a couple of nights at SL .... anymore than that and the dh might have a heart attack

car rental sounds really good I thought - lets just hope the car is actually there when we arrive - I've heard mixed reports about Carhire 3000 so we'll see. I;ve contacted the actual car company its with and they say we are booked and confirmed so it should be okay.

less than 4 weeks to go ..... HOOOORAH!

 

[islandmum]

today is a spending money day! Dh knew this upon waking and stomped out of the house to work with a face like thunder, ready for the onslaught of bills for todays purchases ....

first up we have to pay for the hotel in Barbados
then the flights from Barbados back here
4 x 2 day tickets for Universal
1 x 4 day Disney ticket (I already have the other 3)

and because I thought it would make more sense than shipping overseas, I ordered a Nintendo Wii with Wii fit to be delivered to our friends in Palm Beach for us to collect there.

So as of 10.15am this morning the wallet has been attacked and severely burned, dh is no doubt blubbing in a corner somewhere wishing he married some hippie chick who would have been happy vacationing in a tent in a field somewhere eating from hedgerows ..... instead he got me, and I like my luxuries - a trait I am passing onto my children!

 

[DisneyJo]

Sorry but your last sentance made me laugh

Still haven't managed to find a wii fit over here

 

[islandmum]

Sorry but your last sentance made me laugh

Still haven't managed to find a wii fit over here

a friend of our here got one and has lost nearly 50lbs since June! best thing is you dont have to go to the gym and its not like a fitness video - you have to be interactive.

apparantly the boxing is a very good stress reliever if believing the opponent is someone not on your christmas card list!!

 

[DisneyJo]

a friend of our here got one and has lost nearly 50lbs since June!

Wow I need to get one then The golf is pretty good, the boxing is really hard work and the first time I played table tennis I ached for days afterwards

 

[islandmum]

Wow I need to get one then The golf is pretty good, the boxing is really hard work and the first time I played table tennis I ached for days afterwards

the bowling is dangerous! tip to all ..... never do the bowling on a wooden floor with socks on - it wasnt a pretty sight as I flew across my mates living room in uncontrolled mayhem nearly colliding with their TV! infact I believe one of my mates actually peed herself whilst laughing so hard.

 

[islandmum]

I think somebody "up there" thinks my life needs to be a little more stressful!!

The island we live on has a little aiport - and this year the extensions were completed and we can now take bigger aircraft such as American Eagle fleet which can also now land at night. In September American Eagle suspends their flights as its the quietest month with very few tourists so its not worth flying in. They were supposed to resume Oct 2nd and we are scheduled to fly out with them to San Juan and then Miami on Oct 12th.

BUT ...... We found out yesterday that due to LAZINESS and INCOMPETANCE (a national frigging sport here) the airport hasnt officially been certified by the Airport authorities to grant large aircraft night landing which American Eagle needs

If the Eagle doesnt get here then obviously it doesnt fly out so they have suspended flights up to Oct 10th and are trying to reroute those people whilst at the same time trying to get the certification done.

At the moment our flight is still on but we've been told to make alternative plans .... they can fly us from Barbados at their cost but we have to get to Barbados ourselves and the flight times are different so things will have to be altered.

we should find out next Monday what and where we will be going ...... this is not good for a control freak traveller like me, my palms are sweaty!!!!!

 

[DisneyJo]

Oh no Hope it gets sorted

 

[KayleeUK]

Just found this from day 1 Great