July 2025 with 11 people extended family

[hughesfamilyadventures]

Flights with Virgin from Manchester, UK to Orlando International
10 nights at Disney Port Orleans and 11 at a villa at Windsor Hills
14 day Disney tickets (usable over 18 days)
Included QS dining plan
Lowes Royal Pacific Stay (with fast passes), Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure
Seaworld
Wild Florida
Kennedy Space Centre
Busch Gardens
Discovery Cove with Dolphin Swim

Video version is on You Tube if you search for us on there.

Pre-Travel Day – Friday 4th July 2025

The first step of any holiday: nails. Caitlin and I rocked up at 9:15am. I was done by 11:15am, so naturally I went for a quick catch-up with my best friend and popped into Greggs. This was meant to be a 20-minute detour, but apparently time runs faster when you’re gossiping and eating sausage rolls, because suddenly it’s 1pm and I realise I'm supposed to drop Thumps off at 1pm ...

Thumper was dropped, Belle was dropped, and I came home feeling like I’d run a marathon in flip-flops. Unfortunately, it was 3:45pm and the taxi was due at 4pm.

Meanwhile, Chris — in a truly heroic act of poor timing — decided this was the perfect moment to return a parcel. He got stuck in traffic and sauntered in at 3:50pm, which left him one full minute to prepare before the taxi arrived. We threw our things together like contestants on Supermarket Sweep and bolted out the door

We reached Manchester Airport at 7pm for Virgin’s twilight check-in. Organising 11 people in a public space is like herding cats… cats with roller bags, food cravings, and selective hearing.

After some navigation hiccups (“You're going the wrong way!”) we found our hotel. Chris had booked his sister’s room under her maiden name… which wouldn’t be odd, except she’s been married for over a decade

Dinner at the bar was standard hotel fare — edible, but not Instagram-worthy. The bar was packed, the boys wanted dessert, and I wanted bed. I left them to their sugar high and returned to the room. They arrived 15 minutes later, buzzing like bees that had licked a Red Bull. Showers, pyjamas, and finally… sleep.

Travel Day – Saturday 5th July 2025

The alarm was set for 6:15am. I woke up at 4:30am because my body is a chaos machine. Olivia was awake around 5am, also vibrating with pre-Disney energy - I'm not a stalker - I could here her in the room next door

Breakfast was hotel buffet + omelette station. Everyone was “too excited to eat” but somehow still managed several trips back to the buffet.

At 8am, we headed to Terminal 2 for Chris’s mum’s wheelchair. Then we glided into security… and by “glided” I mean we got EVERY bag pulled aside like we were smuggling contraband. I’m convinced they inspected my powder foundation for signs of terrorism.

Forty-five minutes later, we fled to duty free for emotional support shopping. Some went to the pub, the rest of us bought foundation, mascara, Sol de Janeiro, and meal deals for the picky eaters (yes, they’re pickier than me — a real achievement).

At 10:20am, we headed to Gate 96 and boarded straight away. Olivia and Noah were thrilled with their Virgin kids packs and blankets, as if we hadn't packed half of Smyths toys for them already.

50 minutes after take-off: drinks + BBQ snacks (shockingly edible). Kids’ meals followed — I ordered one for myself because the adult options looked like they’d been through a divorce. Pasta, tomato sauce, broccoli — basic but safe. I gave Noah my bread and chocolate dipper as those were the only things he'd eat on there

I put on Wicked because it’s my emotional support movie. Chris and Noah swapped seats. I did some cross-stitch during turbulence, because nothing says “I’m fine” like stabbing fabric while the plane bounces.

Afternoon tea arrived — cream cheese and a cheese and chutney sandwich, a true culinary “meh.” We landed at 8pm local time but had to wait for a gate.

Immigration via the MCP app was smooth, but car hire was… biblically slow. One staff member, huge queue, 11 tired people, and my will to live evaporating. After 1hr 30mins (and three more staff showing up just as we reached the front), we played “luggage Jenga” to fit everything in the two 7-seaters.

We reached Port Orleans around 8:15pm, grabbed our Magic Bands, and discovered Thomas is possibly colour blind after choosing “orange” that was aggressively fuchsia. Eye test incoming next weekend.

Dinner was chicken tenders and fries because apparently that’s our first-night tradition. Back in the room, Chris and I planned to partially unpack… which turned into a full unpacking marathon. Bedtime: 11pm.

Travel days are always a test of patience, but with 11 people? Honestly, we deserve medals. Tomorrow: Animal Kingdom + Walmart. The true American dream.

 

[disgeek009]

Sounds fun! Following along

 

[musika]

I love your writing style! looking forward to the next segment.

 

[hughesfamilyadventures]

My wife's writing and I do the video vlogs
I'll post the days we have done so far probably daily on here, we are up to Day 6 I think. My wife usually writes the day after I've edited the vlog to remind her of the details, then I'll post the trip diary here. Glad you like it!

 

[alohamom]

Eagerly following this epic saga!

 

[hughesfamilyadventures]

Day 1: Chaos, Coffee, and Kilimanjaro
Video version on YT if you search for us


We had the scooter and stroller hire booked for drop-off at 5:45 a.m. Easy, right? Except… I don’t remember the last time I slept past 4:00 a.m. the day after travelling. Oh wait — apparently it was today. Woke at 3:15 am, smugly thought “I’ve got loads of time,” then drifted back to sleep… and woke up at 5:55 am Oops.

Instant panic. Sent a frantic message to the family Florida chat: “Are Val and Catherine up??” Then I did that classic holiday-morning thing: leapt out of bed, chucked on some random clothes (possibly inside out), and bolted out the door looking like a cross between a park tour guide and a sleep-deprived raccoon.

I’d made such a song and dance the night before about how “everyone’s always up early the first morning”… so yes, I was feeling like the worst planner in Walt Disney World. Luckily, a couple of minutes later I got the “We’ve got them already” reply. But I was already halfway to reception by then, so I kept going — and I’m glad I did, because I spotted a little creature just wandering about. It was so tame and sweet that I decided it was a sign from Thumps saying, “Don’t stress — I’m loving my holiday too.”

Met up with Caitlin, Valerie, and Catherine (aka Team ECV-and-Pushchair) and agreed to head to breakfast around 7 am I attepted the morning ritual of getting two boys dressed — something between herding cats and negotiating hostage release.


First rule of a Disney stay: Mickey waffles on the first morning is non-negotiable.

We tucked in, and also had an “urgent” discussion about the dining plan when Val and Stephen proudly announced they’d used 4 snack credits… on 2 bagels, 2 bananas, and a coffee. I nearly fainted. (Four out of thirty snack credits… on bananas.)

By Day 6 they’d finally stopped spending precious snack credits on produce you can get in Tesco for 35p.

With my breathing back under control, we headed to our bus stop (East Depot, Magnolia Bend). The bus was due at 8:11, arrived at 8:07, and the cast member helped Val get her ECV onboard — though probably reconsidered her life choices when Val zoomed up the ramp at about 10 kmh, narrowly missing the poor woman’s toes.

Twenty-five minutes later we were through Animal Kingdom’s turnstiles. First ride? Kilimanjaro Safari. The wait time was only 10 minutes… until we stopped for “just a quick” Starbucks. (Sorry — “Creature Comforts.”) Came out with water, a strawberry açaí, and a cinnamon roll bigger than my face. By the time we reached the safari, the wait was 25 minutes.


Cue a slight ECV parking fiasco, but we made it on — only to spend most of the ride yelling at Val to keep her phone inside the vehicle before it became an impromptu offering to the hippos.

Next up: Expedition Everest. I had forgotten how fast and jerky this ride is. My old bones were NOT ready. Immediate recovery plan? Kali River Rapids – of course!



By lunchtime, I realised Mia and Olivia hadn’t done much (they’re not big ride fans), we took them to meet Mickey and Minnie at the Outpost the rest of us grabbed Flame Tree BBQ. Except… I don’t like BBQ flavour, so I got my long-awaited garlic and truffle fries instead (banging!). Then I realised there was nothing for the kids to eat. So Chris stayed put and I took them to Restaurantosaurus.


That’s when it all went downhill. Caitlin couldn’t order a kids’ meal with adult dining credits. Thomas started feeling sick. Noah needed somewhere to sit. I ran for water. The place was so loud my loop earplugs practically waved a white flag. By the time Chris texted “I’m on my way!” I was already halfway to a Disney breakdown. Thomas returned from some very close quality time with the toilet and didn’t want to eat. Chris met us at Flame Tree BBQ (i.e., a whole 500ft from where I needed help) but hey — it wasn’t a medical emergency, so I’ll forgive him. Just barely.

Meanwhile, Olivia had been dancing with characters like she was auditioning for a Disney parade. We left the park at 12:55 pm, melted from the heat, and went back to Riverside for a pool break. I video-called my bestie (yes, the one I nearly brought Thumper to Florida for) while Chris uploaded his photos and the kids enjoyed winding me up and making of fun of me on the phone.

Later we met at the cars for our first of many Walmart runs. Chaos, snacks, and bottled water acquired, we went back to Riverside. At 7 pm we decided to head to Disney Springs for food — alone, since everyone else had either eaten or wanted to play with toys.

Straight to Blaze Pizza we went. Chris was initially horrified by my choice — white sauce base, chicken, ham, garlic, and broccoli — but trust me, it’s my new all-time favourite. BEST. PIZZA. EVER.


We rolled back to Riverside, collected Noah from Grandma and Granda, and headed to the room. Thomas insisted he wasn’t tired… and was fully asleep by 10 pm – see the last photo


Disney Day 1: survived (only just!)
Catch the video version on YT


PS - Can you spot the hidden Mickey ...

 

[hughesfamilyadventures]

Day 2 – Magic Kingdom and Running Over Random Strangers in an ECV

Today was THE day. The day I’d been waiting for. The day I was going to personally guide the family through our Magic Kingdom traditions, whether they liked it or not. I was a woman on a mission — and if you think that means calmly waking people up, you’re wrong. I yeeted the boys out of bed and had us at the bus stop by 7:40 a.m. I even convinced Thomas to take a photo with me and smile. Do you know how rare that is for a teenager? It’s like finding a short queue for Seven Dwarves Mine Train. Practically mythical.

Unfortunately, the Disney bus gods were not on our side. The Magic Kingdom bus time kept increasing. This morning was EMH starting at 8:30 am and our plan of “catching the 7:30 bus and being early” was… optimistic in hindsight.
We finally rolled up to MK at 8:25 am, just in time for our first of approximately 17 bathroom stops of the day. This is how it works: one person goes, everyone else swears they’re fine… and one minute later, two more suddenly “desperately need to go.” Rinse and repeat until you’ve lost a small chunk of your life and all of my sanity.


At 8:44 am, we rounded the corner onto Main Street and saw the castle. Cue the tears. Yes, I cried. Even Chris also got misty-eyed (he’ll deny it). For non-Disney people, this reaction makes no sense. For Disney people, you guys get it. We stop for a family photopass in front of the Castle as is the first tradition, then headed to Sleepy Hollow for breakfast.








Waffles for the win. Chris, the boys, and I shared two fresh fruit waffles — historically enough food to feed us. This time, they looked… smaller? Or maybe Thomas has suddenly started eating like a professional bodybuilder in training. Either way, I had to order another one. The kids were distracted by some overly friendly squirrel, which I suspect was plotting it’s waffle heist.


Next: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. My nieces don’t like rides, but we managed to lure Olivia in. She spent most of the queue announcing she “wasn’t going on.” Minor meltdown at the boarding area. I worked my auntie magic, held her hand, and reassured her there were no big drops. (Yes, I lied. Don’t judge me.)
She loved it. Meanwhile, Chris and Catherine — sitting at the front — got absolutely drenched. Olivia found this hysterical and immediately wanted to ride again. Win.


Bathroom stop number two: complete by 10:30 am
We cooled off in Pirates of the Caribbean (mainly for the aircon), then grabbed an I Lava You Float from Sunshine Tree Terrace, shared it, then got another with strawberry Fanta. Cue the family bathroom relay, round three.
The humidity was now doing its best impression of a hot yoga studio, so we escaped to Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor. On the way, I spotted the open Spring Roll cart! We got a pepperoni and a cheeseburger spring roll to share. I dare say we preferred the pepperoni - We forgot photos - food photos are very lacking on this trip

We saw the end of Mickey’s Magical Friendship Faire, Olivia got a Mickey balloon, we dropped off the ECV and stroller, then enjoyed the Laugh Floor. Sadly, no one in our group got picked on this time — unlike 2022 when Chris was “caught illegally recording.”


We hopped on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and I won overall. Then it was lunch at Cosmic Ray’s: Chris and I shared a salad and a truffle French onion burger, the burger was amazing, the salad was refreshing too. Thomas stuck with chicken tenders and Noah had brought his launchable from WalMart.


Then the heavens opened and torrential downpour ensued. We decided to bail early and head back to the resort at 12:30pm trying to dodge the rain as much as we could, but not before I impulse-bought a new spirit jersey at the Emporium (and definitely didn’t almost also buy the matching Loungefly and ears). Toilet trip number 35 then we headed back at Riverside, the kids wanted to chill - Noah ended up going to the park with Mia and Olivia.





So yesterday somehow between WalMart and Riverside Val managed to lose a shopping bag containing bubble bath, jam, toothpaste, and tonic water — this mystery remained unsolved. Chris and I volunteered to replace the goods, plus he needed a bowl for his feet (don’t ask).








This evenings plan was to travel to Disney Springs. Through security and we headed straight to the Christmas shop for personalised baubles. Val added “running over random strangers on the ECV” to her to-do list. This was consistent with her previous record of reversing into a bollard with a reversing camera and parking sensors.


Most of the family ate at The Polite Pig. The boys and I went to Cookes of Dublin for fish and chips. A guy from New Jersey in the queue was fascinated by my accent and asked if the fish and chips were “authentic.” I told him “close, but not as good as the UK.” We had a nice chat and he ordered the fish and chips. The boys enjoyed these as they usually do, I stole some of their leftovers.


Back with the family, we browsed Uniqlo, Pandora (new charm and safety chain for me — the new bracelet I was pawning over will have to wait), and World of Disney (Chris bought a jacket, Noah a Stitch keyring). We managed to catch a band at Waterside Stage before browsing Marketplace Co-Op and collecting ours and Val & Stephens baubles and got the boat back to Riverside.


Refillable mugs topped up at the food court, we collapsed into bed, ready for Hollywood Studios tomorrow.


PS - We also received a picture of Thumper enjoying her holidays

 

[hughesfamilyadventures]

Day 3 Hollywood Studios & The Great Outlet Expedition

If you prefer video version on You Tube if you search for us

Two days at Disney in July had us all walking like extras from The Walking Dead, so today we declared a royal lie-in. Translation: everyone ignored alarms, shuffled to Riverside Mill at 10:30am for breakfast, then rolled back to the room to get ready.

Cars loaded, spirits high (except Thomas, who had reverted to his natural teenage setting of “grumpy face”), we parked at HS and braced ourselves for security roulette. Chris got patted down again, this time joined by Caitlin – her deadly weapon of choice? … an umbrella. Dangerous stuff.




First order of business - hydration. I grabbed my soon-to-be trip obsession, a Strawberry Açaí with lemonade. Peak Disney vibes in a cup. Cue mini photo shoot on Hollywood Boulevard, then straight onto our first DAS for Tower of Terror.


Now, convincing the grandparents and the nieces to join? Forget it. This left Team Brave (aka Chris, me, Noah, and Thomas) to ride it alone. I enjoyed it, the boys complained it was ‘shorter’ than previous times …

Meanwhile, Caitlin had used her powers of persuasion on Grandma, scoring herself a popcorn bucket that would, of course, never again see the light of day. A collectible piece of expensive plastic dust-gatherer for the shelf in the hotel room.

Next we somehow tricked everyone onto Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Cue family conga line chaos, bouncing like a badly synced TikTok dance at the back of the train. Then it was onto the new Little Mermaid show. 10/10 air conditioning, plus singing fish – what’s not to love! It was the Cool Kids Summer so random character appearances across the parks - we managed to see Donald and Goofy in the wild!


Pixar Place was next. While Catherine took the kids to meet Joy, I FINALLY bagged the Jack Jack Num Num cookie I’d been chasing for two trips. Worth it. Warm, gooey, life-changing. Then Chris and I spotted Sully. Our inner Monsters Inc. nerds activated. Chris marched up and, without hesitation, uttered the now-legendary line: “Hey Big Guy.”


This phrase will haunt him for the rest of his life. The kids have weaponised it. At random intervals, someone would just whisper “Hey Big Guy” and everyone would dissolve into laughter.

Toilet stop number … honestly I’ve lost count at this point … then onto Toy Story Mania. Cue competitive trash talk between Chris and I … I won. Obviously.

It was nearly 4pm, stomachs were growling, and humidity was trying to kill us all. Enter Woody’s Lunchbox. But not before losing Val and her ECV. After 10 minutes of frantic searching, she was located down by Toy Story Mania. Pro tip - next time, tie a balloon to her scooter like she’s a Disney rental stroller.

Food inhaled, we squeezed in Rise of the Resistance before heading out. Amazing as always, though at this point everyone was moving slower than C-3PO with low batteries.

Then it was off to Vineland Outlets – or as I like to call it


Wacky Races: Parking Edition.

Chris wanted us to park together, but HA. Two spaces near each other at 5pm? Dream on. We ended up at opposite ends of the outlet mall, reunited at the Food Court. Teens immediately set up camp there, while the rest of us scattered like Pokémon hunters.

Shopping highlights:

• Chris’s mam casually rolling around in her ECV, window-shopping like a drive-thru.
• Me spending the GDP of a small country in Bath & Body Works (“But it’s 49 cents! That’s practically free!”).
• Spotting Caitlin and Catherine’s family, proving once again that Bath & Body Works is basically the family reunion HQ.
• Me finding the CUTEST Figment Loungefly with flappy wings. Love at first sight. I barely let go of it the rest of the trip.

We regrouped at the Food Court, salty pretzels from Auntie Anne’s in hand, and limped back to Riverside. Naturally, the boys still had energy for pool games while the rest of us melted into furniture. Chris sampled shrimp and grits for dinner with a passionfruit cake for dessert (spoiler - he loved the shrimp, tolerated the grits). I went for chicken alfredo and nicked a bite of his passionfruit cake.


By 10:30pm we were in the room, bellies full, bags heavier, wallets lighter. Tomorrow? Epcot. Aka hydration, snacking, and survival of the fittest.

If you prefer video version on You Tube if you search for us