Hilary
There's always something new to learn!
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2000
- Messages
- 6,483
There goes Florida, part 1 getting ready
Cast
Me Hilary, 48. Beginning to suffer from trip-planning overload, but looking forward to seeing some new-to-us parts of Florida.
DH Jeremy, 49. Looking forward to fishing opportunities in the Keys and on the coast, but could do without quite as long in Orlando.
DD1 Rhian , 19. Looking forward to forgetting university studies for two weeks anything else will be a bonus.
DD2 Amy, 15. Looking forward to first trip to IOA , Mission Space and the Hard Rock Hotel, but not looking forward to the prospect of being ill on the flights again.
Faced with the prospect of 7 separate check-ins in the space of 18 nights, I wondered whether Id been a little too ambitious with this trip! There were sound reasons behind all the switching of resorts, but I knew that Id be the one doing the packing every time we moved on...
Our hotel itinerary looked like this:
1 night at the Comfort Inn, Heathrow (before our flight to Miami)
1 night in the Wydham Miami Airport Hotel(to get our bearings before driving to the Keys)
3 nights at the Banana Bay Resort on Marathon in the Keys
5 nights in the Park Shore Resort in Naples on the Gulf Coast
1 night in the Hard Rock Hotel (to give us front-of-line access for two days in IOA and USF)
5 nights in Disneys Old Key West Resort
1 night (or afternoon) back in the Comfort Inn, Heathrow (to recover from the flight before driving home)
Back in the dim and distant past when Id been trying to book the flights, wed managed to save over £300 each by leaving two days before the end of the school term before the Easter holidays, and flying to and from Miami instead of Orlando how could I refuse?
I couldnt I booked fly-drives for us, departing from Heathrow on Wednesday, 31st March, returning from Miami on Thursday, 15th April. As we would be in Miami, this seemed like the ideal trip to fulfil one of Jeremys Wish List destinations of the Keys. Then we fancied a few days on the Gulf Coast, plus a night in one of the USF hotels to get front of line access in the parks (we would be there over Easter so we knew wed have to have some crowd-beating strategies), plus at least a few nights in WDW, and a couple of nights in Disneys Vero Beach Resort on the way to or from Miami. It would also be our 25th wedding anniversary whilst we were away, and I really wanted to be in WDW to celebrate that, so the anniversary proved to be the lynch-pin of the trip, around which we fitted the other destinations. I admitted defeat we couldnt do it all. Well, not without running ourselves ragged and spending almost as much time in the car as at our destinations. Im afraid Vero Beach would have to wait until another time. 
I did run myself ragged over the next few months, looking for accommodation to suit us in the Keys and on the Gulf Coast. Eventually, I buckled under the strain and just added accommodation to our fly-drive with Virgin. It was too easy. Step 1 - turn away from the computer and the search engines, preferably going into a different room. Step 2 pick up the phone and ask the nice lady at Virgin if she could add a couple of nights here, and a few nights there, from their Florida brochure. Step 3 pat self on back and have a cup of tea. I even added a night at Virgins featured hotel in Miami airport to round things off nicely. I love the D-I-Y approach, but this time I was happy to let Virgin take the strain of picking out suitable accommodation for us.
Hang on, you know me better than that, though, dont you? I wasnt exactly happy and contented. I worried whether Id done the right thing; about whether I could have got the same accommodation for less by booking direct; about whether I could have found better accommodation in better locations, etc., etc. Basically, I just worried, but it was too late for that; it was booked. I did salvage some of my D-I-Y credibility by booking the HRH, OKW and the Heathrow hotel and parking myself, but there wasnt much thrill of the chase in that.
So, on 30th March 2004, we set off for the delights of the Comfort Inn, Heathrow (check-in Number 1). We had a very nice, newly decorated quad room here; DH and I managed a quick drink in the bar on our own, and we all managed to get a reasonable sleep before our early alarm call the next day.
Cast
Me Hilary, 48. Beginning to suffer from trip-planning overload, but looking forward to seeing some new-to-us parts of Florida.
DH Jeremy, 49. Looking forward to fishing opportunities in the Keys and on the coast, but could do without quite as long in Orlando.
DD1 Rhian , 19. Looking forward to forgetting university studies for two weeks anything else will be a bonus.
DD2 Amy, 15. Looking forward to first trip to IOA , Mission Space and the Hard Rock Hotel, but not looking forward to the prospect of being ill on the flights again.
Faced with the prospect of 7 separate check-ins in the space of 18 nights, I wondered whether Id been a little too ambitious with this trip! There were sound reasons behind all the switching of resorts, but I knew that Id be the one doing the packing every time we moved on...
Our hotel itinerary looked like this:
1 night at the Comfort Inn, Heathrow (before our flight to Miami)
1 night in the Wydham Miami Airport Hotel(to get our bearings before driving to the Keys)
3 nights at the Banana Bay Resort on Marathon in the Keys
5 nights in the Park Shore Resort in Naples on the Gulf Coast
1 night in the Hard Rock Hotel (to give us front-of-line access for two days in IOA and USF)
5 nights in Disneys Old Key West Resort
1 night (or afternoon) back in the Comfort Inn, Heathrow (to recover from the flight before driving home)
Back in the dim and distant past when Id been trying to book the flights, wed managed to save over £300 each by leaving two days before the end of the school term before the Easter holidays, and flying to and from Miami instead of Orlando how could I refuse?
I couldnt I booked fly-drives for us, departing from Heathrow on Wednesday, 31st March, returning from Miami on Thursday, 15th April. As we would be in Miami, this seemed like the ideal trip to fulfil one of Jeremys Wish List destinations of the Keys. Then we fancied a few days on the Gulf Coast, plus a night in one of the USF hotels to get front of line access in the parks (we would be there over Easter so we knew wed have to have some crowd-beating strategies), plus at least a few nights in WDW, and a couple of nights in Disneys Vero Beach Resort on the way to or from Miami. It would also be our 25th wedding anniversary whilst we were away, and I really wanted to be in WDW to celebrate that, so the anniversary proved to be the lynch-pin of the trip, around which we fitted the other destinations. I admitted defeat we couldnt do it all. Well, not without running ourselves ragged and spending almost as much time in the car as at our destinations. Im afraid Vero Beach would have to wait until another time. I did run myself ragged over the next few months, looking for accommodation to suit us in the Keys and on the Gulf Coast. Eventually, I buckled under the strain and just added accommodation to our fly-drive with Virgin. It was too easy. Step 1 - turn away from the computer and the search engines, preferably going into a different room. Step 2 pick up the phone and ask the nice lady at Virgin if she could add a couple of nights here, and a few nights there, from their Florida brochure. Step 3 pat self on back and have a cup of tea. I even added a night at Virgins featured hotel in Miami airport to round things off nicely. I love the D-I-Y approach, but this time I was happy to let Virgin take the strain of picking out suitable accommodation for us.
Hang on, you know me better than that, though, dont you? I wasnt exactly happy and contented. I worried whether Id done the right thing; about whether I could have got the same accommodation for less by booking direct; about whether I could have found better accommodation in better locations, etc., etc. Basically, I just worried, but it was too late for that; it was booked. I did salvage some of my D-I-Y credibility by booking the HRH, OKW and the Heathrow hotel and parking myself, but there wasnt much thrill of the chase in that.
So, on 30th March 2004, we set off for the delights of the Comfort Inn, Heathrow (check-in Number 1). We had a very nice, newly decorated quad room here; DH and I managed a quick drink in the bar on our own, and we all managed to get a reasonable sleep before our early alarm call the next day.
You must be an excellent packer Hilary!
