Change of Accomodation Plans

Yesterday I was looking through the Virgin brochure at the villa we've booked and came across a page that I had not seen before. It was a page listing all the Orlando villa resorts and their specifications with a tick list of what's included in each resort.

When I looked at Calabay Parc's specification I noticed that it didn't have a spa whirlpool (jacuzzi); something Paul had set his heart on. He and my Dad were really looking forward to cracking open a few beers and sitting in the spa, bubbling away and relaxing after a hard day at the parks. Men are simple creatures aren't they?!

So I looked at the other Villas which offered a spa whirlpool and there were only 3 that offered one in their specifications; Emerald Island, Tuscan Hills and Windsor Hills. I did a lot of research and even looked at them all on Google Earth to see where they were. In the end I thought Emerald Island would suit our needs best. It was closer to the parks, it is a gated community, has a clubhouse with loads of amenities and it also has 4 bedrooms, so Oliver and Amelia will have their own rooms. Paul called Virgin who told him it will cost an extra £230, plus an extra £35 admin fee He said he would talk it over with me and get back to them.

We've been umming and ahhing over it all day and all last night. I sent links to the Emerald Island website to my Mum and Dad who fell in love with it and they called me this evening and said that if we upgrade to a villa there, they will pay half . Paul is at work but is going to phone Virgin back tomorrow and book it!

Getting more excited now! I keep looking at it on Google Earth and it looks lovely. It's completely surrounded by woodland and lakes. Some of the lakes looked a bit swampy on the satellite image! I'm hoping there are no alligators in there, or bears in the woods! Hehe.

Planning already

Well not much has happened since my last post but I thought I would update a few things that I have done towards the holiday so far.

I was having a nosey on ebay last week and saw a man who calls himself Mr Brit who is a travel writer and has produced a CD ROM PACKED with information about Orlando. It was on a special offer at £7.99 so I thought, why not! I bought the disc and it came the next morning. The amount of information on the disc is amazing and I haven't been able to put it down! It's taken me nearly 3 days to read it all. I have been to Orlando once before but this disc gives so much information and tips that I didn't know before. I would thoroughly recommend buying a copy. Especially if you have never been before.

I have decided that we are not going to take advantage of the car seat hire for Amelia that comes with the platinum insurance through Virgin. Apparenly they are really tatty and dirty. So I have bought a car seat bag and also a buggy bag, both from Kiddicare.com so that I can put her car seat and buggy on the plane without them getting damaged.

My other little purchase this week for our trip is my favourite. I bought Amelia a Little Life Lady bird back pack! It is soooooo cute. I can't wait till she can wear it. It's just big enough for a drink bottle/sippy cup, baby wipes, snacks, etc and has a little hood in a pocket which has eyes on it! It's adorable!

I worked out 330 days before our flight home to be 20th January, so we can book our flights on that date! I can't wait! Looks like we'll be flying on a new Airbus 330-300 which are being released in April.

We went to my Parents' house for dinner on saturday and we were talking about Orlando. My Dad loved the Mr Brit CD ROM, especially the parts about where to eat! He also said he would pay for the pool heating so that's a bonus and something else we won't have to pay out.

I have a HUGE piggy bank that was given to Amelia when she was born and we have put it in the kitchen to save all our loose change for spending money. I have taped up the bottom with a sign on saying "DO NOT OPEN UNTIL 30th November 2011" so that we won't be tempted to dip into it. I have also put some ££ notes in which my DH doesn't know about! Got a feeling we might have to smash the piggy bank to get them out! I didn't think of that when I put them in!

I have been making notes of Mr Brit's tips and have a list of places and restaurants I want to try. I will add these on later.

Disney Memory Box

I'm so excited to be going back, I have already made a Disney memory box!  I am going to use this to store our tickets, park maps, leaflets, wrist bands, etc when we get back to keep them safe.

I make cards and memory boxes in the evenings while Paul is hard at work, earning money to pay for our upcoming trip.  I have sold quite a few of these, especially Grooms boxes.  I sell most of them on ebay, but also have a website and a blog.  The money I get from them is going to be saved up as spending money, or a new camera! I have a Nikon Coolpix S8000 but it keeps turning itself off all the time.  I really want an SLR, especially for Florida.  I love photography and would like to learn more about it.

Anyway, this was my first Disney box.  I think it turned out quite well (if I do say so myself!)

We're going back!!

I know it's probably waaaaaay too early to be writing a pre-trippy, but now that Christmas is over and we're into the New Year, I am really looking forward to our holiday in December! I know it's a long way off, but talking about it gets me in the holiday mood and cheers me up no end when having to live in this horrible, cold miserable country, and as I have nothing better to do this evening, I thought I would make a start.

I think I will start by telling you a bit about me and my family who are coming with me;

Me

                                           
I'm 29. I grew up with Disney from a young age and had all the Disney videos when I was little. My all time favourites are Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid. I work from home as a Registered Childminder and I also make cards and memory boxes in my spare time which is something I really enjoy doing. I have been to Orlando once before in 2009 (see older posts in my blog archive for details), but not to Disney so I am really looking forward to this trip!

Paul, 34.

He has been to Orlando three times now, but he has never been to Disney. I don’t think he has a favourite Disney film as such, but he watches Playhouse Disney every day with the children we look after. He says he really feels at home in Florida, like he lived there in a past life! It is our ambition in life to own a villa over there someday. He LOVES rollercoaster’s. His favourite rides are the Hulk and Revenge of the Mummy which he rode both by himself last time we went as Oliver and I wussed out! Bless him!

My children;

Oliver will be 11 when we go and Amelia will be 20 months.
Oliver LOVED it in Florida last time we went in 2009 and has many Disney DVD’s. He’s not a fan of rollercoaster’s but he says he’s going to try a few this year! He is most looking forward to Aquatica this time as we spent the best part of a day just going around and around on the rapids last time! We had such fun!
Amelia loves Playhouse Disney and will happily sit and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Handy Manny which is great when we need to cook the dinner or do a bit of housework! This will be her first holiday and first trip to the mouse! I am looking forward to taking her to see Playhouse Disney Live where she will be able to see all her favourite characters in the flesh!

My Mum and Dad.

Mum will be 53 when we go and Dad will be 57.
My Mum's never been to Florida before but I’m sure she will get caught up in the Disney magic and might even try a few rollercoasters! She’s keeping her fingers crossed for some sun!
My Dad has never been to Florida either and is looking forward to it. I bought him a Florida guide book and a map for Christmas and he has been looking at it, getting excited. He was amazed by how many lakes there are over there when looking at the map. He’s up for a bit of rollercoaster action!


If you're a follower of my blog, you'll know that the first time I went to Orlando was in June/July 2009 when Paul, Oliver and I went there on our Honeymoon. As soon as I stepped out of the airport I couldn’t get over how hot it was and had never experienced heat like it before, previously only visiting countries in Europe. We thought it was going to be the trip of a life time and never thought we would be able to afford to go again for at least another 5 years or so. But I got the bug and just HAD to go back again! In 2009 we didn’t go to any of the Disney parks. My parents had a timeshare and got us a room in the Vacation Village at Parkway, so we stayed there for the 14 nights and visited the other parks with our Flex ticket Plus tickets. We had a fantastic time but Oliver refused to go on any of the rides and Paul and I missed out on quite a bit. It was such a shame and kind of ruined our honeymoon.

Two weeks after we got back I fell pregnant and gave birth to Amelia (on my birthday!) in April last year. We were looking around for holiday destinations a few months ago and my Paul really fancied Egypt, but I kept saying no, as it would be far too hot for a baby, and when we priced it up, it wasn't that much cheaper than Florida. So we started to look around to see how much it would be for the four of us to go to Orlando and also to take my Parents with us as their Christmas present; at least that way we would be able to go on some rides as we could take it in turns waiting with the children and we wouldn’t have to pay much for Amelia as she’ll be under 2. We found a good deal with Virgin and worked out that if Paul took on a few extra shifts at work, we could afford to do it… So we took the plunge!

We provisionally booked through Virgin Holidays in our local Tesco store and the lady was so helpful. She knew everything there was to know about the villas over there. We were going to book a standard villa but it worked out only £50 dearer for a Superior one and so I booked a three bedroom villa at Calabay Parc which looks lovely. I have done a lot of research on The Dibb and everybody who has been has given good reviews on it. We also booked a 7 seater car, Platinum insurance, and Magic Me tickets for all of us. I couldn’t afford to pay the deposit there and then but said we would be back in 2 weeks to pay it which she said was fine, but to be aware that the prices were due to increase in the next couple of weeks as all the cheaper tickets sell first.

We went home and a week later Virgin called us at home saying that as it was month end her boss said she could give us free V Room lounge passes if we booked that day! I told her we couldn’t pay until the following weekend and she said it was fine; she would put it on the system that we had paid by cheque so she could still hold the price for us “while the cheque clears”.  I was so excited when I put the phone down. I had just booked another Florida trip of a lifetime!!
We paid the deposit the following week and ever since I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it!
So we are going on 2nd– 16th December 2011 flying from Gatwick. Upgraded the car later to an 8 seater through Alamo so we’ll have more room for luggage, platinum insurance, car seat for Amelia and a booster for Oliver, Magic Me tickets for 5 and the V Room lounge! Now all we’ve got to do is pay the balance!
We weren’t going to tell my Mum and Dad until Christmas day. I had planned a big Mickey Mouse Helium balloon wearing a Santa hat to float out of a box with their “ticket” attached to some ribbon at the bottom, but I couldn’t contain myself! I’m useless with secrets! I got my lap top out one evening when I was at their house and showed them the villa and they were really surprised, but a little worried about how we could afford it. But I explained to them that we can afford it and they have come round to the idea and are really excited too!
So now I have a year of planning! I have already started getting a few bits together; Mothercare had a sale on a few months ago so I bought a stroller for Amelia which we can use over there. The Mamas and Papas Sola she has now is too big and bulky and I don’t want it getting battered on the plane. I have also bought her a Minnie Mouse swimming cosie!

So now just the following to do…

• Estas
• Passports (Paul, Oliver and Amelia will all need a new one!)
• Pool Heating
• Check child seats will be in car when we collect it
• Hire a Sat Nav from eBay
• Airport parking and hotel the night before flight
• Holiday Insurance
• Someone to look after our pets (we have a dog, a cat, fish and four chickens!!)
• Spending money
• Cirque du Soleil tickets (I really wanna go)
• Consider changing our Magic Me tickets to Thrill Me tickets….

The only difference is with Thrill me you get Busch Gardens instead of Aquatica. I really want to go to Aquatica but have been researching the weather that time of the year and it sounds like it will just be too cold for a water park. If we do get a good day we can always pay on the gate. We missed a lot of Busch Gardens last time as it was so hot we were shattered by 3pm and went home. I know my mum will love it there. We’re all big animal lovers so it will suit us more I think.

Well I think I better leave it there before I bore everyone! I will update when there is anything new to add.
Only 332 days to go! We’ll be able to pick our seats in a few weeks! So exciting! WE’RE GOING BACK!!