The first trip of a lifetime PTR

[jothp]

I thought that seeing as I have now passed my 180 day mark it was time to make a start on the PTR.

The Who
Me (Jo) - the wife and mum, been wanting to go to WDW since our first visit to DLP in 2009
DH (Olie) - the husband and dad, not so keen on Disney but happy to go anywhere that makes me and the girls happy
DD1 (Robyn) - 12 years old, loves Eeyore and still has a soft spot for Belle even though she has outgrown princesses.
DD2 (Harriet)- 9 years old (10 by our trip), loves Tigger and Olaf.
DD3 (Evie) - 7 years old, loves snow white, minnie and anything frozen!

Here is a photo of the three girls from our last trip to DLP in 2012


The When
Wednesday 12th August until Sunday 30th August.

The Where
Four nights at RPR club level 12th August - 16th August followed by 14 nights at OKW in a 1 bed villa with DDP 16th August - 30th August.

The travel
Outbound: Virgin direct Gatwick to MCO on the 11.15 flight.
Return: Virgin direct MCO to Gatwick on the 17.15 flight.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

I like your thinking with the title of your report! It seems like you have planned a great holiday, and having 16 nights at OKW should be great Plenty of time to enjoy Universal and then time to take in everything at Disney. Bet you all can't wait. We are on countdown to our trip in July, still got to sort out a few things yet.

 

[jothp]

I like your thinking with the title of your report! It seems like you have planned a great holiday, and having 16 nights at OKW should be great Plenty of time to enjoy Universal and then time to take in everything at Disney. Bet you all can't wait. We are on countdown to our trip in July, still got to sort out a few things yet.

Thanks we can't wait. I know that we will all be desperate to go back as soon as we get home so I thought the title was appropriate. I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping that we'll be able to afford it again one day. It seems I can't count though as I meant 14 nights at OKW I have now edited.

 

[jothp]

The plan so far.

Wednesday 12th August - Arrive in Orlando, taxi transfer to RPR
Thursday 13th, Friday 14th, Saturday 15th August - Universal.
Sunday 16th August - Early taxi transfer to OKW, check in and collect magic bands, TL or BB for the rest of the morning, pick up hire car and check in, relaxing evening.
Monday 17th August - MK morning, Ak afternoon, relaxing evening.
Tuesday 18th August - Ep morning, rest afternoon, HS evening.
Wednesday 19th August - Seaworld day, relaxing evening.
Thursday 20th August - MK morning, rest afternoon, EP evening.
Friday 21st August - TL or BB morning, MK afternoon for FoF parade, relaxing evening.
Saturday 22nd August - HS morning, rest afternoon, 6.15 Hoop Dee Doo.
Sunday 23rd August - AK morning, rest afternoon, HS evening.
Monday 24th August - Kennedy Space Centre day, relaxing evening
Tuesday 25th August - MK morning and evening, rest afternoon.
Wednesday 26th August - EP morning and afternoon, relaxing evening.
Thursday 27th August - Ak morning, rest afternoon, EP evening.
Friday 28th August - HS morning, rest afternoon, evening free to see any evening show we have missed.
Saturday 29th August - free morning for any park we want to revisit, rest afternoon, MK evening.
Sunday 30th August - check out, return car, take magical express to the airport, return home

We are not yet 100% certain that we will do seaworld as the cost of tickets is a lot for just one day and I don't think I want to take anything out of the plan to give us more time at seaworld.

 

[DopeyforDonald]

Loving your plans so far! The majority of my trips have been in august and it's a brilliant time to go, as long as you like the heat! haha Your girls look lovely I bet they're so excited. We'll be there just a couple of months before you so I look forward to reading your plans

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

I know what you mean about SW. We love it and just did Universal, SW, Busch and Discovery Cove last time but haven't got tickets thus time as we would only do 1 day. We have Universal and WDW tickets.

With the car are you planning on shopping with your daughters?

 

[bex7583]

we did seaworld for just one day and really loved it , we couldnt quite fit in all the shows we wanted to watch. as we knew we only had 1 day spare in our plans we paid the bit extra and had the queue jumper ! this was amazing way more priority than fast passes etc you literally got straight on the rides ( we travelled in august) we got there for opening and were shooed out at the end of the day at closing

 

[Rach78]

Hi, your plans sound great! We did our 'one off trip of a lifetime' in 2012, also stayed at OKW. Needless to say we are going for the 3rd time in October this year. I have 2 girls and I have to say SeaWorld is one of their favourite parks. Its the only park we 'have' to go to when we visit and your girls are at an age where I think they would all get a lot out of it. It is hard to fit everything in though, hence why we have to keep going back!! Enjoy the planning and the build up, there is nothing quite like the first time!!

 

[jothp]

Loving your plans so far! The majority of my trips have been in august and it's a brilliant time to go, as long as you like the heat! haha Your girls look lovely I bet they're so excited. We'll be there just a couple of months before you so I look forward to reading your plans

Thanks for reading, the girls are very excited but perhaps not quite as excited as me.

I know what you mean about SW. We love it and just did Universal, SW, Busch and Discovery Cove last time but haven't got tickets thus time as we would only do 1 day. We have Universal and WDW tickets.

With the car are you planning on shopping with your daughters?

I am still torn about Seaworld as it is a lot of money but even though I know we will all want to return it is likely to be at least a few years before we can afford to. I don't think we are planning on doing any shopping really apart from getting some water etc from somewhere like walmart - the girls don't really enjoy it yet and aren't into any of the designer things we might be able to get cheaper. I'm sure that will change very soon though!

we did seaworld for just one day and really loved it , we couldnt quite fit in all the shows we wanted to watch. as we knew we only had 1 day spare in our plans we paid the bit extra and had the queue jumper ! this was amazing way more priority than fast passes etc you literally got straight on the rides ( we travelled in august) we got there for opening and were shooed out at the end of the day at closing

How long were the queues for the more popular rides? We would plan to arrive for opening and stay most/all of the day. I did look at the queue jumper but I'm not sure how useful it would be to us as I don't really like big rides and of the kids I think Robyn is the only one who will be tall enough for the biggest rides.

Hi, your plans sound great! We did our 'one off trip of a lifetime' in 2012, also stayed at OKW. Needless to say we are going for the 3rd time in October this year. I have 2 girls and I have to say SeaWorld is one of their favourite parks. Its the only park we 'have' to go to when we visit and your girls are at an age where I think they would all get a lot out of it. It is hard to fit everything in though, hence why we have to keep going back!! Enjoy the planning and the build up, there is nothing quite like the first time!!

Thanks it is looking like I really need to leave Seaworld on the plans then. I am enjoying the planning but it is also a bit stressful trying to work out what they might like the best and what to plan FP+ for when we've never been before.

 

[bex7583]

i honestly cant have any idea how long the queues were , for the bigger rides like manta we just went through the ride exit and were seated in a matter of seconds. from memory i think atlantis was about 40 min we did see the main queue from our fast pass entrance for that one . our 4 year old was big enough to ride atlantis so maybe just check the height , you can also but just individual members of your party the que jumper so if you have older kids that want to ride manta and kraken it would be handy for just them to have them as you wouldnt be waiting for them too long . my dh rode loads of extra times than me and i would only just sit down and get a a drink and he was back where as in disney using the fass pass /rider swap i would sometimes be waiting 30-40 mins our youngest dd who was 4 fell asleep on the floor of the exit shop for both rock n roller and everest !!

it was quite hard to fit in all the shows as some of the timetables clashed , we hadnt looked at any park times or show schedules so may have been able to seen a bit more with some planning , i also found the park felt really big and took some time to get from one thing to another.

yes another day would have been nice but still felt we got the majority of what we wanted to see and do done , got some lovely souveniers , and felt we had our moneys worth .

shamu is still dds highlight of the entire trip !! we had added the dine with shamu aswell to our 1 day ticket it was educational kids know loads of whale facts

 

[jothp]

i honestly cant have any idea how long the queues were , for the bigger rides like manta we just went through the ride exit and were seated in a matter of seconds. from memory i think atlantis was about 40 min we did see the main queue from our fast pass entrance for that one . our 4 year old was big enough to ride atlantis so maybe just check the height , you can also but just individual members of your party the que jumper so if you have older kids that want to ride manta and kraken it would be handy for just them to have them as you wouldnt be waiting for them too long . my dh rode loads of extra times than me and i would only just sit down and get a a drink and he was back where as in disney using the fass pass /rider swap i would sometimes be waiting 30-40 mins our youngest dd who was 4 fell asleep on the floor of the exit shop for both rock n roller and everest !!

it was quite hard to fit in all the shows as some of the timetables clashed , we hadnt looked at any park times or show schedules so may have been able to seen a bit more with some planning , i also found the park felt really big and took some time to get from one thing to another.

yes another day would have been nice but still felt we got the majority of what we wanted to see and do done , got some lovely souveniers , and felt we had our moneys worth .

shamu is still dds highlight of the entire trip !! we had added the dine with shamu aswell to our 1 day ticket it was educational kids know loads of whale facts

Thanks. It's great to know that the quick queue really is quick! I've looked into it and it would be $19 each for our date, that does seem quite reasonable compared to what you would pay elsewhere but it is still quite a bit of money. I could just get it for anyone who would be riding the big rides but then they would end up wasting their other ride entitlements as the rest of us would have to queue anyway. I think I'll think on this one for a while longer.

 

[jothp]

Seeing as all ADRs are now made I thought I would post the current list.

Monday 17th August: Crystal Palace 8.05am, Saana 6.30pm
Tuesday 18th August: Akershus 10.30am
Thursday 20th August: BOG 12.25pm, Via Napoli 6.30pm
Friday 21st August: O'hana 7.30am, BOG 1.15pm
Saturday 22nd August: Hollywood and vine 10.10am, Hoop de doo Revue 6.15pm
Tuesday 25th August: 1900 Park Fayre 11.00, CRT 8.05
Wednesday 26th August: Chef des France 1pm
Thursday 27th August: Yak and Yeti 12pm
Friday 28th August: Sci fi dine in 12.10pm
Saturday 29th August: BOG 8.35pm

We have booked 15 table service credits worth of meals but will only have 14 credits each. We may not keep all our reservations but haven't quite decided yet. We also have two lunch ADRs for BOG and will probably only keep one especially as they are on consecutive days. I'm also a little concerned by the number of character meals we have as when we have had character meals in the past at DLP they haven't been as relaxing as other meals. However the kids are keen to meet as many characters as possible so meals with them seems preferable to queuing in the park.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

We have been to a few of the places you have chosen and have too booked Via Napoli, BOG and 1900 Park Fayre for our upcoming trip. I was looking at HDDR but can't decide Hope you enjoy everything

 

[DopeyforDonald]

I can see what you mean about character meals being less relaxing, we were so busy watching the characters we kept forgetting our food! haha but it really is a great way to get some time with the characters without having to queue, if you want to meet as many as you can it's a great way to do it. We had some great interactions with the characters at crystal palace while having breakfast x

 

[bex7583]

i prefer the meals to standing queing!! its nice to sit in the cool with a drink and have them visit you instead

 

[jothp]

We have been to a few of the places you have chosen and have too booked Via Napoli, BOG and 1900 Park Fayre for our upcoming trip. I was looking at HDDR but can't decide Hope you enjoy everything

Thanks I hope you enjoy your trip too.

I can see what you mean about character meals being less relaxing, we were so busy watching the characters we kept forgetting our food! haha but it really is a great way to get some time with the characters without having to queue, if you want to meet as many as you can it's a great way to do it. We had some great interactions with the characters at crystal palace while having breakfast x

Great to hear that the character interaction was good and we'll be glad not to have to stand around queuing for them.

i prefer the meals to standing queing!! its nice to sit in the cool with a drink and have them visit you instead

Yes, really starting to look forward to it now.

 

[jothp]

Well, there has been some juggling of the plans so I thought it was about time I posted the updated version here.

Wednesday 12th August - Arrive in Orlando, taxi transfer to RPR No change.
Thursday 13th, Friday 14th, Saturday 15th August - Universal. No change.
Sunday 16th August - Early taxi transfer to OKW, check in and collect magic bands, TL or BB for the rest of the morning, pick up hire car and check in, relaxing evening. No change.
Monday 17th August - MK morning, Ak afternoon, relaxing evening. Now just MK today - planning to stay for FoF parade then heading back for a quiet evening.
Tuesday 18th August - Ep morning, rest afternoon, HS evening. No change.
Wednesday 19th August - Seaworld day, relaxing evening. Now AK morning, rest afternoon and Epcot evening.
Thursday 20th August - MK morning, rest afternoon, EP evening. Now MK morning, rest afternoon and HS evening.
Friday 21st August - TL or BB morning, MK afternoon for FoF parade, relaxing evening. Now Seaworld day.
Saturday 22nd August - HS morning, rest afternoon, 6.15 Hoop Dee Doo. No change.
Sunday 23rd August - AK morning, rest afternoon, HS evening. Now Kennedy space center day.
Monday 24th August - Kennedy Space Centre day, relaxing evening Now AK morning, rest afternoon and Epcot evening
Tuesday 25th August - MK morning and evening, rest afternoon. Water Park morning, rest afternoon and magic kingdom evening
Wednesday 26th August - EP morning and afternoon, relaxing evening. No change
Thursday 27th August - Ak morning, rest afternoon, EP evening. Now HS morning, rest afternoon and a free evening to relax or see anything we have missed.
Friday 28th August - HS morning, rest afternoon, evening free to see any evening show we have missed. Now MK morning, AK afternoon, relaxing evening.
Saturday 29th August - free morning for any park we want to revisit, rest afternoon, MK evening. No change
Sunday 30th August - check out, return car, take magical express to the airport, return home No change

I was never quite happy with the original plan but settled on it so that I had something to arrange my ADRs around. I'm much happier with the new plan now

 

[jothp]

To go along with the changes in the plan there have also been changes to the ADRs so here we go...

Monday 17th August: Crystal Palace 8.05am, Saana 6.30pm - cancelled
Tuesday 18th August: Akershus 10.30am
Thursday 20th August: BOG 12.25pm, Via Napoli 6.30pm - cancelled. Sci fi dine in 9.05pm added instead
Friday 21st August: O'hana 7.30am , BOG 1.15pm cancelled O'hana 9pm added.
Saturday 22nd August: Hollywood and vine 10.10am - cancelled, Hoop de doo Revue 6.15pm
Sunday 23rd August: Yachtsman Steakhouse 7.40pm added.
Monday 24th August: Yak and Yeti 1.30pm added
Tuesday 25th August: 1900 Park Fayre 11.00 - changed to 8.10am, CRT 8.05
Wednesday 26th August: Chef des France 1pm - changed to 12.30pm
Thursday 27th August: Yak and Yeti 12pm - cancelled. Hollywood and Vine 8.00 added.
Friday 28th August: Sci fi dine in 12.10pm - cancelled. Saana 5.20pm added.
Saturday 29th August: BOG 8.35pm

I have 17 credits worth of meals booked. We will not do both O'hana meals on the 21st but haven't yet decided which one we are going to keep. I think we will be able to stretch the credits a bit as there will be some meals where our youngest DD will share meals with the rest of us instead of having her own and some meals where our DDs who are Disney adults will want to order a childs meal and I will pay for those OOP rather than using their adult credits.

 

[jothp]

I thought I would follow in Joolz's footstep and write a list of how much everything had cost to help anybody considering a trip with their budget. I haven't finished buying things yet so will update as I do.

Airport parking £120 for 19 nights parking at Gatwick booked with looking4parking.com plus quidco cashback. Again I left it too late to get the best deals
Flights £4200 flying direct with Virgin from Gatwick. + cashback from quidco
Universal hotel 4 nights royal pacific club level £850 booked with BA + cashback from quidco - I could have got this quite a bit cheaper but left it too long to book!
Universal tickets £606 floridatix + cashback from quidco
Disney hotel £4792 for 14 nights in a 1 bed villa at OKW including 14 day tickets, free dining plan and $200 gift card. + cashback from quidco
Transfer from airport to Universal and transfer from universal to Disney total $123 with Mears (about £77)
Hire car £251 (14 nights midsize with alamo brits deal from disney car care)
Memory maker
Estas $70, about £45.
Travel insurance Upgraded current account for £11.50 per month to include insurance and car breakdown cover.

 

[jothp]

Next up is the list of things still to do soon! It is quite long and I really need to get a move on now as it is getting close.
Sorry if this is a bit dull - I'm hoping that putting it here will inspire me to get on with it!

Buy universal tickets
buy memory maker
sort out airport parking
book transfer from airport to universal
book transfer from universal to disney
book hire car
Get some spending money
Seaworld and Kennedy space center tickets
Choose seats for return flight (1st July)
Write a packing list and make sure we all have enough clothes!
Finish making girls' autograph books

Well it's working. I've done one of the jobs already. I'll turn them red as I do them.