Cast Members
Me Sue Obsessive Planner and co-ordinator
DH Andy Driver, happy to go along with whatever Ive decided to do
DS1 Dan 17 and thinks this will be the best Florida trip EVER!!
Garry DS1s best friend and wind up merchant
DD Christy 14 and mega shopaholic
Chloe DDs best friend and another compulsive shopper
DS2 Sam 11 dolphin fanatic and desperate to do the big rides but still too short!!
OK, lets set the scene. We had returned from Orlando in 2004 after being caught up in Hurricane Charley (not that it dented our love of Florida!) and decided that we would try and get back ASAP but not before 2007. We were going to Spain in 2005 and had agreed to go camping in France with a group of friends in 2006. We had also decided that the house needed renovating and this would be done over 2005/6. Then everything changed our beautiful DS2 was diagnosed with kidney disease in Feb 2005 and believe me ALL of our priorities shifted
. Moving on
June 2005
For some strange reason I caught DH checking out private villas in Orlando on the net. Within a week I was summoned and promptly told Sue, I want to go back to Florida next year. We all love it and lifes too short. Did I argue? What do you think?
Within two weeks the villa was booked, the flights sorted and everyone was excited (already!); Orlando here we come July 2006! 
We were also taking two extra passengers; both DDs and DS1s best mates! From that day on the house renovations stopped completely. The hallway, stripped for redecoration, has remained that way; if youre going to do it you have to do it all (IMHO) 
. The planning started in earnest; there is nothing better than putting together the itinerary for Florida its sooooo exciting!!
October 2005
We were notified that our DS2 had been awarded Disability Living Allowance due to his condition and, with lots of advice from the lovely DIS members, the decision was made Discovery Cove here we come
. Sam had always wanted to swim with dolphins and now he would! The money would be put away for him every month to fund it.
December 2005
Sam awoke Christmas morning to a string of clues leading to the Christmas tree where a gift bag hung from one of the branches. It was the first thing he opened and inside was a ticket, for Discovery Cove. He was ecstatic, I was choked but it was absolutely magical. Thanks to the DIS I also learned to book all of our tickets by the end of December to save money. I bought Simons guide for 2006 and the itinerary planning started for real! Now we really were all set for July and all we had to do was pay for it!!!
January 2006
I had held back on purchasing travel insurance as the quotes I was getting (due to DS2s problems) were staggering ranging from £350 - £400. However, reading the DIS one evening (as you do!) it was mentioned in a thread that Tesco's and Age Concern were really competitive when covering pre-existing medical conditions. After a couple of phone calls Tesco had beaten my previous quotes by half but Age Concern won it hands down with a quote of around £150. Sorted!
Also learned that LindseyUK was staying at Lake Berkley at the same time as us and after a few PMs we decided that we would try and meet up whilst we were there.
We have been advised by our consultant that DS2 is slightly at risk of DVT when he flys so will need to wear 'ted' stockings (bless
- not very cool for an eleven year old!!) These will have to be specially made 8 weeks prior to flying, thank heavens for the NHS. As he will need to be regularly moving around I suggested it would be good to get extra legroom seats and he agreed. What can I say? TCD came up trumps again! I rang them to ask about the sunshine deck etc and could have paid a fortune for very little difference. But no, instead they strongly advised to pre-book the seats in the main cabin where there is nothing in front of you and you can stretch out fully; 3 seats booked for a minimal cost of £69. So that we could still all sit together they also suggested that we prebook the other 4 seats needed for the older kids directly behind me, DH and DS2.
All the boys want to go fishing whilst we're away and so it was decided we would book an overnight stay at the Hilton, Clearwater Beach. The boys can all do their own thing and us girls can have a little quiet time enjoying the beach. We will be doing Busch Gardens the following day on the way back from Clearwater! Talk about killing two birds with one stone!!
February 2006
We've now decided that whilst we're in Clearwater we will do a Dolphin Encounter on the 'Little Toot'. We saw this boat when we were there in 2004 and it looked wonderful, the dolphins were having a whale (pardon the pun!) of a time swimming alongside the boat and all the passengers seemed to be having a great time too
I've also been working on our plan and would appreciate any thoughts or advice. It does look busy, but DH and I have agreed that as we don't know when our next trip will be (because of DS2s kidney probs) we have to make the most of this one. OK, her goes:
Day 1 - Monday
Arrival Day
Day 2 Tuesday
Seaworld priority seating for dinner with Shamu
Day 3 - Wednesday
Relax at the villa
Early dinner (3pm?) at Planet Hollywood followed by Disneyquest and shopping in Downtown Disney & Ghirardellis.
Magic Kingdom for Spectromagic (2nd show) and Wishes
Day 4 - Thursday
IOA Mythos for late lunch
MGM Fantasmic (2nd sitting)
Day 5 - Friday
Shopping Orlando Premium Outlets
Typhoon Lagoon PM
Old Town
Day 6 - Saturday
Animal Kingdom late lunch at Rainforest Cafe
Pointe Orlando
Day 7 - Sunday
Discovery Cove
Medieval Times PM
Day 8 - Monday
Universal
Dinner at Outback
Day 9 - Tuesday
Clearwater Beach trip overnight stay at Hilton Clearwater Beach
Little Toot Dolphin Trip
Day 10 - Wednesday
Busch Gardens on return from Clearwater Beach
Chilis on way home
Day 11 - Thursday
Epcot - leave around 2:30pm
Universal Citywalk for dinner (Margaritaville)
Day 12 - Friday
Magic Kingdom Lunch at LTT
Wonderworks
Day 13 - Saturday
Shopping Mall at Millenia/Florida Mall
Dinner at Wolfgank Pucks
Epcot - Illuminations
Day 14 - Sunday
MGM Studios
Tony Romas for dinner
Day 15 L - Monday
Drop off bags at TCD, LBV. Possibly last visit to Seaworld.
March 2006 - From Little acorns...............
I decided that rather than eat at Mythos the majority of our crew would much prefer Hard Rock Cafe and so posted a question as to making a PS. I then started thinking about the fact that there would be no FP at Universal and how much it would cost to purchase the Express tickets (for 7 of us!) = $350. I quickly realised that for $150 - $200 extra we could stay at Hard Rock Hotel, have FOTL access with our pass keys, get Priority Seating and experience staying onsite too So the deed was done - 19th July, an overnight stay at HRH. Thanks to the advice from the DIS, I registered as a member with the Loews Hotel Group before I booked and so now get a welcome gift on arrival, a free paper and an upgrade (if available). I've decided not to tell the kids as this is going to be a huge surprise.
May 2006
Countdown to 90 days was on as I really wanted an Illuminations Cruise. My hands were shaking as I dialled the number but as soon as she asked for the party size I knew I'd got it. The relief I also posted to see if anyone would be interested in sharing with us and now Foxylady (brilliant siggy) and her family are joining us for what I think will be a magical night. The excitement is really building now as were only 2 months and 2 weeks out. Whohoo! 
I'll be updating this as time goes on so please check back for more!!
Me Sue Obsessive Planner and co-ordinator
DH Andy Driver, happy to go along with whatever Ive decided to do
DS1 Dan 17 and thinks this will be the best Florida trip EVER!!
Garry DS1s best friend and wind up merchant
DD Christy 14 and mega shopaholic
Chloe DDs best friend and another compulsive shopper
DS2 Sam 11 dolphin fanatic and desperate to do the big rides but still too short!!
OK, lets set the scene. We had returned from Orlando in 2004 after being caught up in Hurricane Charley (not that it dented our love of Florida!) and decided that we would try and get back ASAP but not before 2007. We were going to Spain in 2005 and had agreed to go camping in France with a group of friends in 2006. We had also decided that the house needed renovating and this would be done over 2005/6. Then everything changed our beautiful DS2 was diagnosed with kidney disease in Feb 2005 and believe me ALL of our priorities shifted
. Moving on
June 2005
For some strange reason I caught DH checking out private villas in Orlando on the net. Within a week I was summoned and promptly told Sue, I want to go back to Florida next year. We all love it and lifes too short. Did I argue? What do you think?
Within two weeks the villa was booked, the flights sorted and everyone was excited (already!); Orlando here we come July 2006! We were also taking two extra passengers; both DDs and DS1s best mates! From that day on the house renovations stopped completely. The hallway, stripped for redecoration, has remained that way; if youre going to do it you have to do it all (IMHO) . The planning started in earnest; there is nothing better than putting together the itinerary for Florida its sooooo exciting!!October 2005
We were notified that our DS2 had been awarded Disability Living Allowance due to his condition and, with lots of advice from the lovely DIS members, the decision was made Discovery Cove here we come
. Sam had always wanted to swim with dolphins and now he would! The money would be put away for him every month to fund it.December 2005
Sam awoke Christmas morning to a string of clues leading to the Christmas tree where a gift bag hung from one of the branches. It was the first thing he opened and inside was a ticket, for Discovery Cove. He was ecstatic, I was choked but it was absolutely magical. Thanks to the DIS I also learned to book all of our tickets by the end of December to save money. I bought Simons guide for 2006 and the itinerary planning started for real! Now we really were all set for July and all we had to do was pay for it!!!
January 2006
I had held back on purchasing travel insurance as the quotes I was getting (due to DS2s problems) were staggering ranging from £350 - £400. However, reading the DIS one evening (as you do!) it was mentioned in a thread that Tesco's and Age Concern were really competitive when covering pre-existing medical conditions. After a couple of phone calls Tesco had beaten my previous quotes by half but Age Concern won it hands down with a quote of around £150. Sorted!
Also learned that LindseyUK was staying at Lake Berkley at the same time as us and after a few PMs we decided that we would try and meet up whilst we were there.
We have been advised by our consultant that DS2 is slightly at risk of DVT when he flys so will need to wear 'ted' stockings (bless
- not very cool for an eleven year old!!) These will have to be specially made 8 weeks prior to flying, thank heavens for the NHS. As he will need to be regularly moving around I suggested it would be good to get extra legroom seats and he agreed. What can I say? TCD came up trumps again! I rang them to ask about the sunshine deck etc and could have paid a fortune for very little difference. But no, instead they strongly advised to pre-book the seats in the main cabin where there is nothing in front of you and you can stretch out fully; 3 seats booked for a minimal cost of £69. So that we could still all sit together they also suggested that we prebook the other 4 seats needed for the older kids directly behind me, DH and DS2.All the boys want to go fishing whilst we're away and so it was decided we would book an overnight stay at the Hilton, Clearwater Beach. The boys can all do their own thing and us girls can have a little quiet time enjoying the beach. We will be doing Busch Gardens the following day on the way back from Clearwater! Talk about killing two birds with one stone!!
February 2006
We've now decided that whilst we're in Clearwater we will do a Dolphin Encounter on the 'Little Toot'. We saw this boat when we were there in 2004 and it looked wonderful, the dolphins were having a whale (pardon the pun!) of a time swimming alongside the boat and all the passengers seemed to be having a great time too
I've also been working on our plan and would appreciate any thoughts or advice. It does look busy, but DH and I have agreed that as we don't know when our next trip will be (because of DS2s kidney probs) we have to make the most of this one. OK, her goes:Day 1 - Monday
Arrival Day
Day 2 Tuesday
Seaworld priority seating for dinner with Shamu
Day 3 - Wednesday
Relax at the villa
Early dinner (3pm?) at Planet Hollywood followed by Disneyquest and shopping in Downtown Disney & Ghirardellis.
Magic Kingdom for Spectromagic (2nd show) and Wishes
Day 4 - Thursday
IOA Mythos for late lunch
MGM Fantasmic (2nd sitting)
Day 5 - Friday
Shopping Orlando Premium Outlets
Typhoon Lagoon PM
Old Town
Day 6 - Saturday
Animal Kingdom late lunch at Rainforest Cafe
Pointe Orlando
Day 7 - Sunday
Discovery Cove
Medieval Times PM
Day 8 - Monday
Universal
Dinner at Outback
Day 9 - Tuesday
Clearwater Beach trip overnight stay at Hilton Clearwater Beach
Little Toot Dolphin Trip
Day 10 - Wednesday
Busch Gardens on return from Clearwater Beach
Chilis on way home
Day 11 - Thursday
Epcot - leave around 2:30pm
Universal Citywalk for dinner (Margaritaville)
Day 12 - Friday
Magic Kingdom Lunch at LTT
Wonderworks
Day 13 - Saturday
Shopping Mall at Millenia/Florida Mall
Dinner at Wolfgank Pucks
Epcot - Illuminations
Day 14 - Sunday
MGM Studios
Tony Romas for dinner
Day 15 L - Monday
Drop off bags at TCD, LBV. Possibly last visit to Seaworld.
March 2006 - From Little acorns...............
I decided that rather than eat at Mythos the majority of our crew would much prefer Hard Rock Cafe and so posted a question as to making a PS. I then started thinking about the fact that there would be no FP at Universal and how much it would cost to purchase the Express tickets (for 7 of us!) = $350. I quickly realised that for $150 - $200 extra we could stay at Hard Rock Hotel, have FOTL access with our pass keys, get Priority Seating and experience staying onsite too
So the deed was done - 19th July, an overnight stay at HRH. Thanks to the advice from the DIS, I registered as a member with the Loews Hotel Group before I booked and so now get a welcome gift on arrival, a free paper and an upgrade (if available). I've decided not to tell the kids as this is going to be a huge surprise. May 2006
Countdown to 90 days was on as I really wanted an Illuminations Cruise. My hands were shaking as I dialled the number but as soon as she asked for the party size I knew I'd got it. The relief
I also posted to see if anyone would be interested in sharing with us and now Foxylady (brilliant siggy) and her family are joining us for what I think will be a magical night. The excitement is really building now as were only 2 months and 2 weeks out. Whohoo! I'll be updating this as time goes on so please check back for more!!
. Neither my DH or DD did the dolphin swim but both loved the day and enjoyed the other activities.
