Florida flowers and Caribbean cruising LIVE TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 3/8 - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I love the idea of split stays in theory- such a great opportunity to experience different resorts.... but I can never bring myself to do it when I book.... It seems to work really well for you guys though!
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I love the idea of split stays in theory- such a great opportunity to experience different resorts.... but I can never bring myself to do it when I book.... It seems to work really well for you guys though!
I will admit it's so much easier when you have a rental car. It means you can move things yourself, which I much prefer.
Sounds like another wonerful trip in the works!! I am sooo jealous that you get to go at this time of year. It is definitely on my bucket list as well as Christmas.
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Waiting for our next adventure after enjoying our Alaska cruise. Jenn
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I'm glad I'm not alone with having to tinker with the calendar over and over! A shame your family can't join you. We've wanted to do this, too, but with schedules, budgets, and preferences so different - it really is like trying to put a square peg in a round hole.
Now, that Treehouse villa sleeps 9, and there are only 2 of you ... ... you'd barely even notice me just sayin'
A nosey question ... why do you prefer the one-bedrooms? I notice you don't cook. Is it just the space and whirlpool tubs?
Fingers crossed you get a MK-area resort at 7 months
Did I read that the Sunrise Safari has been canceled?
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Yay! So excited to hear all about your plans for this trip. It's been too long.
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I'm glad I'm not alone with having to tinker with the calendar over and over! A shame your family can't join you. We've wanted to do this, too, but with schedules, budgets, and preferences so different - it really is like trying to put a square peg in a round hole.
Now, that Treehouse villa sleeps 9, and there are only 2 of you ... ... you'd barely even notice me just sayin'
Oh ignore my previous comment - you're right, it is nine people, not eight! I'm sure we could fit more people in, but you'd have to put up with us getting up at some amazingly unreasonable hour due to the jetlag... just sayin' back!
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A nosey question ... why do you prefer the one-bedrooms? I notice you don't cook. Is it just the space and whirlpool tubs?
I love the whirlpool tub and we like having our own washer and dryer, as it's so much easier than having to head out to do the washing. We also enjoy the space.
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Fingers crossed you get a MK-area resort at 7 months
Did I read that the Sunrise Safari has been canceled?
Pre-trip report – part two: our first partners in crime for this trip!
Well, that last instalment gave you the basic story to our plans. From here on in, I’m going to use a style of writing for the trip report that’s worked for me in the last few, which is more like a set of diary entries, documenting our plans, and how they come together… hopefully!
Tuesday 13 May
Ok, so it’s time to get in touch with some fellow PassPorters, and let them know our plans and our dates for our next Disney trip. I know it’s very early for even us planners to be making arrangements for next year, as the rates haven’t been released yet, but at least fellow Disney Vacation Club Members can book that far ahead, so I’ve sent out a few private messages and emails to various people, giving them details of what we’re up to. Hopefully some of them will be able to join us…
Thursday 29 May
Well, we have our first partners in crime joining us for this trip! It’s Larry (LLaffinPlace) and Bob (UncleBob), who’ll be at Disney for our second week. I am so excited that we are going to be able to spend more quality time with them again, and hopefully enjoy some wonderful dining with them both!
Friday 30 May
I had an interesting email tonight when I got in from work from one of the companies I’ve used before to book attraction tickets with. They had an offer where if you ordered certain tickets to Orlando parks, then you would get a free ticket to LEGOLAND per person. That interested me, as I wanted to go to LEGOLAND, more to say we’d been there, and so that I’d know what it was like, but I wasn’t overly keen on paying for it. Well, this would solve that issue…
I went online, and checked out the deal, and the tickets I was planning on getting anyway for Universal were covered by the deal… hmmm….
Saturday 31 May
Today I finally got on to sorting out our Busch Gardens and SeaWorld tickets. We had some for our last trip, but we never used them, as I figured in the end, it would’ve been too much to pack those parks in, and in hindsight, that was the right decision. Anyway, I’d already got them altered to 2014 tickets, when I thought we were going at Christmas, so I was hoping I could do the same thing again, and get them changed to 2015. I got in touch with the company I’d bought them from, and I had no issues at all. They got the dates changed, and even better, we got a £5 ($8) refund per person on the tickets. I think it’s because the pound has been doing pretty well against the dollar (let’s hope that continues! ) and the companies buy the tickets in dollars, then sell them in the equivalent in pounds, no doubt keeping a little bit for profit, so that was a result!
On the subject of tickets, I had another look at the offer I’d had through the day before, and decided to go for it. In the end, I got our Universal tickets, tickets for Kennedy Space Centre (now it’s got a shuttle, I really want to go back and see that! ) and free tickets for LEGOLAND for the very reasonable price of £330 ($530, which I was very pleased with. I think that’s all our park passes purchased, as I still have an Annual Pass voucher for Disney somewhere… Ok that is something I need to do, located that voucher, as I have no idea where it is…
I also decided I should get our ESTA applications sorted out. For those who don’t know, ESTA stands for the Electronic System of Travel Authorisation that all foreigners visiting America (I assume not Canadians though…) have to apply and be approved for before visiting the States. Well, I got into a few problems with our application, because I didn’t realise that we still had one that was apparently good until August… I thought ours would long be expired by now, but
Anyway, I figured I’d carry on with the new application, because they tell you to get one as soon as you book your flights, and it’s already been about three and a half weeks since we booked our flights, so I didn’t want to wait any longer. The system took my money, then told me authorisation was pending, which I’ve never had before. It usually approves us immediately. I figured it was probably something to do with confusing the system by having an existing ESTA application already, and decided that we’d check back in a few days, just to check it had gone through…
Wednesday 5 June
I had an email today from the place we’d booked our Universal, LEGOLAND and Kennedy Space Centre tickets, saying that they wouldn’t be able to send them out to us until August, as the parks hadn’t actually released them yet, which is fair enough. At least they’re paid for and so long as I receive them at some point, I’m fine with that…
I did also go back and double check on our ESTA application, and it’s all been approved – phew!
Sunday 8 June
Right, I have half a plan now for dining, with a list of places I want to eat at. It’s nice to be spending the whole two weeks at Disney, as it gives us the opportunity to try a variety of different places, and to go back to some old favourites. There are still some gaps at this stage as well, which is a very pleasant change to what usually happens – that we run out of meals before we get through our list of places we want to go back to and want to try…
At the moment, and of course this is all subject to change, this is my list of places I’d like to get reservations for.
Artist Point (dinner)
Beaches and Cream (lunch – twice! )
Be Our Guest (dinner – this is going to be the tough one… )
Boma (dinner – twice!
California Grill (dinner)
Chef Mickey’s (breakfast)
Citrico’s (dinner – we haven’t been here in about eight years now after a bad first experience, so hopefully it will be better!)
Crystal Palace (lunch)
Flying Fish Café (dinner)
Garden Grill (dinner – I don’t think we’ve ever had dinner here, but we used to enjoy breakfast and lunch when it used to serve those…)
The Hollywood Brown Derby (lunch)
Il Mulino (dinner – we last ate here in 2007 and really enjoyed it..)
1900 Park Fare (breakfast – we always enjoy this place, but again, we haven’t eaten here in many years)
‘Ohana (breakfast)
Portobello (dinner – this is another we haven’t eaten at for many years…)
The Plaza (lunch – we haven’t been here in about eight years now… )
Shula’s Steak House (dinner – a first for us)
Teppan Edo (lunch)
Tokyo Dining (lunch)
Trail’s End (breakfast – another one we’ve never eaten at)
Turf Club (dinner – I think the last time we ate here was shortly after Saratoga Springs opened in 2004!)
Tusker House (breakfast)
Add into this the fact that we’ll have a meal snacking around World Showcase, as I’m hoping that they’ll have those snacks again for the Flower and Garden Festival. The other place I’d like to eat is the replacement for Kouzzina on the BoardWalk, provided that it’s open by the time we go, that is… I always enjoy trying brand new restaurants, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed on that count…
Now just to wait until August before I can try for those reservations…
Friday 27 June
I got an email earlier in the week to say our tickets for Universal, LEGOLAND and Kennedy Space Centre were being dispatched, and they turned up today. I feel like we’re all set now, and good grief, we’re still the best part of eight months out from this trip! Of course, there’s still much planning to do, but having all the tickets does feel like one huge chunk has been completed now.
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Waiting for our next adventure after enjoying our Alaska cruise. 
Jenn
... you'd barely even notice me 
I'm sure we could fit more people in, but you'd have to put up with us getting up at some amazingly unreasonable hour due to the jetlag... just sayin' back! 
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