March is often a month that we end with a sigh of relief. It is crammed full of family birthdays, often Easter and a Mother’s Day, that make it expensive and busy.
We’ve survived another and with my niece heavily pregnant there was a brief time when her booked cesarian on the 28th of March would add another birthday to the huge list, but at least the delay of her new daughter’s arrival until next week sees us enjoy a respite by a week for the years to come.
We were out for tea last night with Rebecca, Tom and the boys and as often seems to be the case when the weather brightens a bit and we all (nurses aside) get a long weekend off, thoughts and chat turned to plans for our holiday in October.
For the first time we chatted about preferences, parks and plans. Having done Volcano Bay without us when we went to Daytona Beach and they stayed in Orlando, in May 23 there was a request from Rebecca to do that again this time as they were very impressed.
Food wise, Teak Neighbourhood Grill may get a place on the plan having been skipped the last couple of times. We’d been a heck of a lot and our last visit to eat there, when Louise stayed home to look after her Mum, was, let’s not beat about the bush, a bit poor.
It was still in the lingering grip and aftermath of Covid, the place was dead and our server hopeless. It very much deserves another chance as it has blown our socks off on so many previous trips.
Sickies is already on the plan. It is the eatery of the moment it seems and Louise and I have loved it on both occasions and very much would like Rebecca, Tom and the boys to experience it.
I’d like to get us into Beaches & Cream if I can. We haven’t been since it was extended and hopefully that will make an ADR easier to come by. Tom, Freddie and now Dougie are the biggest ice cream fanactics in the world so a Kitchen Sink has to be on the cards.
Credit to Disney Food Blog for this pic…..
The ADR that seems to be most elusive these days is Space 220. I’m under no illusions that you go for the theming and experience and pay heftily for it, but the boys would love it and so if by any chance we can get in, we’ll try to do that too.
In a vain attempt to keep costs down I am trying to limit on-site sit down meals. There will probably be a Fantasmic Dinner Package to be done, but other than that, oh and maybe a character meal of some sort, hopefully we can eat off site more often than not.
It never seems to work out that way, but hey, we come this way but once, so I’m not going to sweat it.
I say that having attended a family funeral last week where we said goodbye to a lovely chap who was taken by cancer at just 55. The injustice and cruelty of that is indescribable and if something like that doesn’t tell you to not worry so much about saving money I don’t know what does. Who knows how long we’ve got to spend whatever we have/can earn.
Dining plans cannot be finalised for many months yet of course, until I think mid-August. Am I right in thinking you can now see all available slots for eateries on My Disney Experience rather than have to speculatively plug in endless different dates and times in the vain hope of striking lucky? That will be a massive help if that is the case.
For our May trip there is little to plan beyond what is already done of course. I paid for the car hire this week, thinking as I did, would we really *need* a car but it’s safer to have one and of course essential from and to the airport so we may as well have one in case we fancy a ride up or down the coast to see what is there.
Everything is paid up apart from the remaining 50% balance on the accomodation which we pay at check in, so all we have to do is wait for the next few weeks to hurtle by whilst at the same time trying in vain to shed a few pounds. I can’t tell you much harder that is at this time of life.
It feels like I haven’t planned a theme park trip for ages. I am rusty and out of practice and a little anxious at the prospect if I am honest. With a party the size of ours, with two small kids, we are not built for commando style early arrival and late leavings so we shall have to swallow the bitter pill of Genie+ and just take what we can achieve on a day by day basis.
I have a good amount of time to get back into the swing, do some research and watch some vlogs so we’ll probably be OK.
Hello all. It’s been some time since I was not writing up a trip, the latest taking from our return in late November till mid-March. It feels like a long time, but I suppose 14 days means 14 weeks unless I start doing multiple posts a week and I haven’t got the time for that, in the same way you haven’t got the tolerance.
As ever, after finishing up a trip report I feel like I have forgotten how to do a bog standard blog like what I used to, with life updates and goings on so I’m not sure where to start.
I’ll just say that everyone is OK and like everyone else we’ve been through our fair share of stress, worry and trauma since we last “spoke” alongside some good fortune and positive stuff.
Louise returned to work, in January, following a break of a couple of years which included looking after her Mum full-time and then getting over Mary’s and my Dad’s passing. Neither of us has fully “dealt with” those events and I’m not sure you ever do. She’s back nursing in the community and seems to have got back into the swing of things really well. I’m not saying she’d carry on post-lottery win, but she enjoys that area of nursing the most.
Emily (now 28!) has a WDW trip booked with her boyfriend in September. It will be his first experience with anything Disney park-related, but she is undertaking rigorous training via endless vlogs. They are staying in the All-Stars and doing Disney and hopefully Universal. He has the best guide ever to take him for the first time.
Rebecca (now 26!) and Tom are all good or as good as you can be when parenting two kids of almost 2 and 6. Over the past few months, Freddie has had some worrying health issues, but he seems to be coming out of them now, with a diagnosis at least and hopefully a plan that will see all that behind him shortly. It’s been a very worrying time. Dougie is adorable and a terror all at once. He needs 24/7 supervision to ensure he does not kill himself and those around him. Imagine Baby Jack Jack from The Incredibles, but cuter.
We looked after him yesterday whilst Freddie went karting, a hobby he is really getting into. It was Freddie’s first time on an outside track and he did brilliantly.
Dougie and I undertook a more sedate outdoor activity.
How am I? Well, I am my usual debonair, svelte, hirsute self, thanks for asking. These days, I spend most of my time working, attending to things that have gone wrong with the house, looking after animals and recycling (it seems). Our current animal count is 2 dogs, 3 cats and 2 rats.
One new thing I have done since we last “spoke”…
You may have noticed over the years that I enjoy a pithy/witty T-shirt and have bought them from all sorts of places to wear on my holidays. I had been looking for some shirts that carried certain themes etc recently and failed, so despite having no clue what I am doing, I have opened an Etsy Store, with a few shirts and things I designed myself, perfect for the discerning Disney fan/visitor.
This is my favourite so far –
I bought one myself, to make sure the quality wasn’t awful and it seems OK to be fair. Whatever you do, don’t buy so many that I have to give up work and do that full-time as that would be awful. If anyone is silly enough to buy anything I would love to see a photo of it out in the parks etc in due course.
Normally, certainly in recent times, as I finish writing up one trip, many of you might suspect that I will announce our next one. We have been very fortunate in recent years to have had many holidays, almost back-to-back and it is safe to say that our trips overseas are very important to us. We both work long and hard and choose to spend much of our earnings on such. It seems inevitable though that this run would need to come to an end at some point.
That point is not now.
We do have travel plans in May, but I assure you they do not involve Orlando. We wanted a beach holiday for resting and relaxing for Louise and me, and have decided to go somewhere completely different this time.
Having gone through the usual routine of scouring the planet (literally) for a suitable beachfront destination, with ample eateries and bars and good weather, as ever we struggled. I know that sounds ridiculous, but all the usual issues came up.
Anyway, after much research I have found us a lovely little boutique hotel in the resort of Delray. Where is Delray I hear you ask?
OK, yes it’s in Florida, but it isn’t Orlando!
It’s been a while since we booked it so I forget the detailed “journey” to choosing that destination, but having exhausted and discarded every other place on the planet, I think it was kicked off by looking at flights with Tui, going into Melbourne and realising that puts us in the middle of the East coast of Florida, opening up all the coastal resorts in that neck of the woods. Vero (the original reason to look into a Florida trip) was not available of course. I’m not sure we’ll ever get to stay there again unless we plan a whole trip around it and get it booked as soon as it is possible with the DVC rules etc.
More by luck than skill I think (and hope) I have stumbled across a perfect little gem for us in Delray Beach. It appears to have a lovely beach and then, in Atlantic Avenue, a long street filled with bars, nightlife and restaurants, to allow us to indulge in another trip like the one you just read about.
So yes we are flying with Tui for the first time into Melbourne on May 28th.
It’s about a 2-minute walk from the beach and it is situated close to all the nighttime action. I write that as if we will be partaking in any action of a night time. Typically, we will eat, have a drink or two and then go to bed.
This video is a walk along Atlantic Avenue if anyone is as sad as I am and wants to watch that.
We’ve hired a car via Discount Florida for the duration, which I think is about 10 nights, flying home on the 7th of June. It’ll be interesting to see how that airport is for things like immigration and picking up the car etc. Who says we don’t do anything different on our holidays?
So this will be another of our, med-style holidays but in the familiarity and comfort of Florida. But I have to get originality points for Delray Beach right?
I can already hear the murmurs of excitement amongst you at the prospect of reading about another beach holiday!
I hear you and with that in mind, if you can get through that one, in October we are returning to our roots with a full-blown, bring as many family members as we can, theme park bonanza!
Yep, myself, Louise, Rebecca, Tom and the boys will be in WDW from mid-October (Emily will have just got back from her own trip and so won’t have enough holidays or money to join us).
This is an old-school WDW trip with none of this beach and bars nonsense. It’s for the purists and those who love the parks, which is us.
As I said above, it will be interesting to see how Melbourne is in May as that is where we are flying into again in October. Aer Lingus were sold out on crucial dates that we needed (getting so many folks on one trip is like threading a needle blindfolded) and Virgin were, as they often tend to be, just ridiculously expensive, being some 30-50% higher than Aer Lingus at best.
So I looked at Tui, despite that 90-minute drive from the airport to Orlando not being ideal. They had availability and prices that were just about tolerable.
Again, we’ve booked our mini-van from Discount Florida and I am so happy to say that our favourite ever villa was available. It is absolutely stunning and we can’t wait to return.
For now, we are just planning on doing Disney, but we may, nearer the time, add a night at Universal if we can justify the expense. With Dougie being just two at that point, the Universal parks may not offer him too much to do so we’ll see. I have booked our 14-day passes from Floridatix with a deposit. It is so nice not to have to stump up all the ticket money this far out to make park reservations.
I must admit to some trepidation about tackling the parks. All I seem to see online is how busy they are these days regardless of the time of year and I know we’re going to have to shell out for the increasingly more expensive Genie+ more often than not. The plan, as it stands in its early phases, allows for a good many rest days, which will be needed and we’ll just take it as it comes I suppose.
So there we have the content for the next few weeks laid out as I share with you our plans, hopes and dreams for these two trips. I know it is indulgent, I know we are lucky, but we just choose to spend our disposable cash on these trips. As the saying goes, we are not rich, (we might be if we didn’t do as many holidays!) just really irresponsible.
Hopefully, there is something in there for both of my readers and we can look forward to a holiday-packed 2024 together.
The end of this trip, an extended trip at that and one besmirched by shite weather for the majority of it. That’s all relative of course as we would not have been lying outside in our shorts back home at this time, but you go to Florida so you can.
Anyway, this last day started like most of the others with an awakening around 7am. For some reason I noted that I frequented the “bathroom” a good few times this morning. Maybe a delayed reaction to the gallons of Espresso Martinis on this holiday?
We did the dreaded packing and were out of the room by 10.40 with the car pointed at Disney Springs for one last visit. We parked in Lime and left all the bags in the car, in which was the camera, so I only have a few phone shots for you today.
Despite thinking we had finished gift shopping we were still looking for ways to spoil the grandkids, so we found ourselves in the Harley Davidson shop debating whether to spend a silly amount of money on a leather jacket for Freddie. In the end, we decided against it as he would grow out of it in about six minutes.
We wandered into World of Disney, still desperate to hand over more dollars and having done that we needed some lunch. Today would be the day we finally tried the Polite Pig.
It was only 11.30 but packing had meant no breakfast and hey, we were still on holiday.
We got a platter for two and it was absolutely delicious. As you can see it wasn’t a huge amount of food for two people but maybe that is just us fat knackers. It was $55ish. I hadn’t realised this was a counter service place rather than being served at your table so I share that in case you didn’t either.
With that devoured, we headed over to Starbucks and got a couple of coffees and something sweet in the form of a cookie and a blueberry scone. We found a bench to eat them on whilst “enjoying” what seemed to be a school band on the stage.
You can enjoy them too….
I think the term, “bless them” covers that sufficiently. As a very average musician myself I tip my hat to these youngsters and their abilities that already outstrip mine.
Once they were finished we found a little wall to sit on and people watch for a few minutes soaking up the last bits of warmth before making the final walk back to the car. We filled it up at the Gas station opposite the Springs for $28 and set off towards MCO. Terminal C still has the feeling of not quite being open. Everything feels empty, which is no bad thing.
We were too early to check in, so after a painless car drop-off and standing in the queue for too long, it finally opened at 2pm. Security also was a bit shit but we finally made it through and made our way to Gate 238 by 3pm.
As ever my notes dry up here. I did note that we were sat in the extra legroom seats, near the emergency exit and therefore had one of the flight crew sitting opposite us for take-off and at times during the flight. She was lovely and really helped Louise who as you may know is a nervous flyer. She explained every noise, bump and wobble and was generally just excellent.
As is customary on a return to the UK, you have to be reminded what a mess things are by waiting over 90 (yes, 90) minutes to have the cases appear on the carousel. Every time!
We finally got our luggage, walked to the car and made our way back to reality.
So it’s time to sum up this one. In summary, here are my takes if anyone cares.
I know I’ve moaned about the weather throughout this trip and I have been justified in doing so. It did not ruin the holiday for us but it certainly affected it. It made us extend the trip if nothing else.
Aer Lingus took us there and back and were absolutely fine. There were no issues, edible food and despite being in economy, albeit with extra legroom on the way back, comfortable enough. We find their entertainment choice a bit dated/limited, but in the scheme of things, you just need that big tube thing with wings to get you there and back safely and economically and they do the job very well.
The Drury Plaza Hotel is excellent. It is new so all the facilities are just that. The rooms are large and spacious and most with nice views. It has so many extra perks compared to other hotels and if you can get the free parking offer (I think via Travel Republic, if it still exists) that will save you a lot too. Free breakfast, the early evening kickback (which we never used) free coffee in the lobby, buses to the parks, early entry and a superb location make it a no-brainer. We will definitely consider it when we want to do a similar trip in the future.
Recently, we seem to have created a new kind of Florida trip. New for us anyway. This adults only, no parks, doing what would be a holiday to the Med but in Florida thing, and it really works for us.
We’ve loved this trip and similar previous ones and we will do it again. It gives us all the familiar Florida stuff we love –
Guaranteed quality of food and accommodation
Endless options for dining and drinks at Disney Springs and the resorts
Not having to figure out a new place with only a precious few days to spend there.
None of the stress, planning and crowds involved with going to the parks
I know for many, that endless discovery of new places is exactly what is sought but with holiday time being so precious (and expensive) this works for us. I would thoroughly recommend it. We did not miss the parks at all; honestly, it was as if they did not exist.
I should say, there is no falling out of love with the parks. We will be back soon enough for a full-on theme park commando dawn till dusk ride fest. It was just not on the agenda for this trip.
We thought going to Florida would guarantee the weather too but we’ve just had some really crappy luck there. Our stay at Daytona last May was badly affected by unusually terrible weather so if and when we ever return we surely are due some proper old-school Florida sun.
Don’t get me wrong we adore going to Florida with as many family members as we can muster and we will definitely do that again ASAP, but the freedom of being just the two of us makes it what we hoped and that is a stress-free relaxing break. I think I have had more alcohol on this trip than in the last ten years, but variety is the spice of life as they say and a little bit of excess in moderation doesn’t hurt.
Thanks again for enduring, especially this one which was literally us sitting by a pool or moaning that we couldn’t, followed by an evening meal and maybe some drinks. For those who did endure, thank you.
Dig in folks, we are now at the “last full day”. Once we get this one out of the way there’s just the brief and sulky travel day to endure and then we can all move on with our lives.
After a late and boozy night, there was no rush at all to get up this morning. My dislike of the weather continued as it looked to be cloudy AF (I am down with kids) again.
It was a solo breakfast once more this morning but I did take a hungover Louise some coffee and sweet things on my return.
With no sun to speak of, we jumped in the car and headed up the I4 to City Walk to do some final gift shopping. We parked up and headed on in.
We initially stopped off in the gift shop at Bubba Gump’s. Louise bought too much stuff. It wasn’t a financial concern, well it was a bit, but I was very worried about our lack of luggage space for the return leg. We were pretty much at our limit on the way out and we had already accumulated many gifts to return with.
We strolled on and did a full loop around the water.
We stopped in most of the shops along the way and did manage to get everyone who merited one, a present.
Having spent a handful of calories walking, the sensible thing to do would be to nip into Toothsome for a Freak Shake, so we did.
I had the Red Velvet and Louise the Espresso Buzz. They were glorious of course and being stupid we kept the plastic cup things and somehow managed to bring them back across the Atlantic so they could sit in our cupboard never to be used again.
We completed our loop, stopping in more shops and Bubba Gumps again to use their restroom on our way back to the car. The forecast said there may be some sun to come so we were headed back to the pool all full of hope and expectation.
Naturally, pretty much as soon as we lay down by the pool the drizzle started.
You can have that footshot for free.
We moved under cover on the patio area and hoped to wait out the fleeting shower. It did not fleet and just got worse so we eventually gave up and returned to the room. We read and rested for a bit before getting ready to go out for dinner (tea).
Our destination was Olive Garden just around the corner and we got there around 8pm. We were seated immediately.
You will know what happened first.
We both opted for the Tour Of Italy…
We both had Diet Coke too, having had enough of alcohol last night.
The bill was a very reasonable $70 including a good tip and after what had been some rocky ground here since Covid this felt like a return to form for Olive Garden and I was glad we hadn’t given up on it.
We went straight back to the hotel, having neither the desire nor stamina to do any drinking or revelling this evening. We watched The Hunger Games in bed and went to sleep around 11pm. Hardly a glorious finale to our trip but it’s what we felt like doing and isn’t that what holidays are all about?
Fear not faithful readers, we are approaching the end of this seemingly endless Groundhog Day trip and then you will surely be spared any further trip reportage from me for some time. Right?
I was awake at 6.30am. This was intentional as there was a football match back in the UK that I wanted to watch. Not too surprisingly the TV in our room did not carry the required channels to watch it, so I had to resort to watching it on my phone instead. Having watched an acceptable draw, I ventured down to breakfast alone at 9.45. Louise could not muster the enthusiasm to do so this morning, so after eating I brought her a muffin and a coffee because I am a model husband.
With days fast running out, we went to the pool despite the cloudy weather. It was warm enough and certainly warmer than it would be when we would get home in a few short days so we endured.
I think I must have nodded off at one point because when I opened my eyes Louise’s sunbed was empty and I eventually saw her on the other side of the pool, chasing the intermittent sun.
We got our customary snacks and Lays for lunch again and continued to do nothing until around 4pm.
For reasons I now cannot remember I had decided that this evening we would be eating at Saltgrass Steakhouse at Lake Buena Vista, so after showers, we drove the short distance.
After enjoying them so much at Sickies once we saw the Pickles and Peppers on the menu they were bound to be our appetiser.
They were large and very nice, as, increasingly was I. We also had a bread service and a salad before our mains arrived.
I figured, if you are coming to a steak house then it would be silly not to so I ordered, possibly the largest steak I had ever eaten.
It was a 22oz Porterhouse and it was awesome.
Louise had a Chicken Sandwich. After all these years, even Louise forgets to not go near her food until the photo has been taken!
I didn’t make a note of the bill, but I think it was decent value all things considered. This being our first time here, I would say it is worth a try. It is a no-frills affair and seemingly very popular with locals which is usually a good sign.
We left around 7.45 and dropped the car off back at the hotel. A Lyft took five minutes to arrive and it transported us to The Boardwalk. It took an age. The traffic past Disney Springs was ridiculous. What should have been a sub-ten-minute journey took over twenty.
I feared that Jellyrolls, our destination, would be full by now, but we managed to snag the last table and it was right by the stage. This can be a worry if you are not a fan of audience participation but we were not troubled tonight.
As ever the performers were great despite not being any of our favourites. We had a couple of requests played, Teenage Dirtbag and That Thing You Do (again).
We had a few rounds of drinks. You know you’ve been to Jellyrolls a lot when the waitress comes to your table and says “the usual?”. I think we probably funded her mortgage for the month during this trip.
I think we left around 12.30 and ordered our Lyft home. We were picked up by “Flash”. I may be cynical but that was probably not his real name. Regardless he was a superstar. We had a lovely chat all the way home about his home of Jamaica and all sorts of random things. What a lovely man.
We said goodbye and I probably over-tipped him before falling into bed around 1am.
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