Laniy
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2012
Hi everyone and welcome to my pre trip report! I have enjoyed dipping in and out of other people’s reports for many years and thought it would be nice to finally make a contribution 
-At DLRP in 2012
I’ve been planning this trip for such a long time but it’s never quite been the right time. Finally the planets aligned and I made the first official booking for the trip back in March 2014 for the WDW package part of the holiday. I still can’t believe how quickly the last year and a bit has gone, but with it being my final year of university I suppose it is quite understandable!
So this trip is something I have been putting together for a long while now and I have a lot planned! As mentioned previously I've been at uni the past 4 years, just finished in June and it's my graduation a few weeks before our trip in October. I'm going to be going back to do a Masters in January so am going to enjoy being away in October as it'll be a few more years before it's possible again!
As for the actual logistics it’ll be just myself and my mum going, to make it happen I have booked up and paid for all the key components (eg accommodation, tickets, flights) and the rest of the costs we have split. I’m so happy that I can finally get to experience WDW with my mum as it’s a particularly special goal of mine. When I was a kid we actually were in the process of booking a trip but we couldn’t go in the end as I got sick and was spending too much time in the hospital. So it’s especially meaningful for me that we will get to go now and have an amazing time all these years later!
-Me and my mum earlier this year at an Elvis tribute!
Okay so on to the details. First up is the accommodation and flights:
Booked a package with WDTC for park tickets and 7 nights at Pop Century with free dining – this turned out to just be the free breakfasts which they have been using for value resorts so a few months later we called up to upgrade to Old Key West and get the full dining plan. This worked out brilliant as we got an extra $100 dollars free as part of the package. So we’ve ended up with 7 nights at an Old Key West deluxe villa, 14 days ultimate tickets and $200 gift.
Next up was the booking of the Universal part of our stay. I booked 9 nights at Cabana Bay through Virgin Holidays. I’m just as excited about staying here as I am OKW, I think my mum is actually more so. I just love anything retro and am so looking forward to all the fantastic photo ops! I booked the Universal tickets through Attractions Tickets Direct – A+ service, and got the tickets in the mail yesterday!
Flights – These I booked with the Flight Centre. They couldn’t quite match the prices I had found online but they were from sites that had gotten some dubious reviews online. For the very slight extra expense I thought it was worth the peace of mind dropping into my local high street branch and getting it sorted there and then! Left with my tickets in hand and when I got home I was straight online to book seats. We are flying with Virgin Atlantic and have booked bubble seats on both legs of the trip. (Little off track note here – I’ve had nothing but trouble with Virgin in regards to seat booking. Despite going on and paying for the allocated seats they gave them away to someone else without informing us. Only noticed by chance when I went on to check and saw that they were not there. The worst thing is that I wasn’t even offered an apology on the phone when I called to fix it. Just told to choose different seats).
The Extras:
MNSSHP - We are going on Halloween night and I am beyond excited. Just went to get materials for my costume yesterday but heaven knows when I am going to find the time to make it in the next month! I always have a ready made Princess Anna dress in the wardrobe if all goes awry.
HHN – I haven’t brought tickets for this yet as we already have our Universal tickets already so would have ideally liked to have brought the HHN tickets as an add on. We are planning on doing this when we get there but I might end up booking the HHN ticket full price from the website before then as I hate leaving things to chance! Would love to know if anyone has any advice on this as we’re planning on going 01/11 and as far as I could gather from reading online, this night has never sold out by the morning of so we might still be okay buying the tickets when we arrive mid day? I am a little bit terrified of going, I think I might have ear plugs on all night haha!
Discovery Cove – The child inside of me will be coming out on our DC day! I used to love anything with dolphins on when I was a kid. I am hoping this will be one of the highlights of the trip but my only worry is how awful I am going to look in the photos they take of you with the dolphin as I can’t help but squint when it’s bright out (I have sensitive eyes).
We are also looking at going to Aquatica and Seaworld, haven’t decided exactly when yet. I’m in the process at the moment of planning the second week of the holiday – I feel like after the regiment of WDW it will be best to make it a little more flexible.
Also on the table is a trip to the Outlets Mall on I-Drive, the Florida Mall and Walmart. Can’t wait to buy my own weight in junk food and clothes!
Will be adding another post with our dining plans next.
-At DLRP in 2012
I’ve been planning this trip for such a long time but it’s never quite been the right time. Finally the planets aligned and I made the first official booking for the trip back in March 2014 for the WDW package part of the holiday. I still can’t believe how quickly the last year and a bit has gone, but with it being my final year of university I suppose it is quite understandable!
So this trip is something I have been putting together for a long while now and I have a lot planned! As mentioned previously I've been at uni the past 4 years, just finished in June and it's my graduation a few weeks before our trip in October. I'm going to be going back to do a Masters in January so am going to enjoy being away in October as it'll be a few more years before it's possible again!
As for the actual logistics it’ll be just myself and my mum going, to make it happen I have booked up and paid for all the key components (eg accommodation, tickets, flights) and the rest of the costs we have split. I’m so happy that I can finally get to experience WDW with my mum as it’s a particularly special goal of mine. When I was a kid we actually were in the process of booking a trip but we couldn’t go in the end as I got sick and was spending too much time in the hospital. So it’s especially meaningful for me that we will get to go now and have an amazing time all these years later!
-Me and my mum earlier this year at an Elvis tribute!
Okay so on to the details. First up is the accommodation and flights:
Booked a package with WDTC for park tickets and 7 nights at Pop Century with free dining – this turned out to just be the free breakfasts which they have been using for value resorts so a few months later we called up to upgrade to Old Key West and get the full dining plan. This worked out brilliant as we got an extra $100 dollars free as part of the package. So we’ve ended up with 7 nights at an Old Key West deluxe villa, 14 days ultimate tickets and $200 gift.
Next up was the booking of the Universal part of our stay. I booked 9 nights at Cabana Bay through Virgin Holidays. I’m just as excited about staying here as I am OKW, I think my mum is actually more so. I just love anything retro and am so looking forward to all the fantastic photo ops! I booked the Universal tickets through Attractions Tickets Direct – A+ service, and got the tickets in the mail yesterday!
Flights – These I booked with the Flight Centre. They couldn’t quite match the prices I had found online but they were from sites that had gotten some dubious reviews online. For the very slight extra expense I thought it was worth the peace of mind dropping into my local high street branch and getting it sorted there and then! Left with my tickets in hand and when I got home I was straight online to book seats. We are flying with Virgin Atlantic and have booked bubble seats on both legs of the trip. (Little off track note here – I’ve had nothing but trouble with Virgin in regards to seat booking. Despite going on and paying for the allocated seats they gave them away to someone else without informing us. Only noticed by chance when I went on to check and saw that they were not there. The worst thing is that I wasn’t even offered an apology on the phone when I called to fix it. Just told to choose different seats).
The Extras:
MNSSHP - We are going on Halloween night and I am beyond excited. Just went to get materials for my costume yesterday but heaven knows when I am going to find the time to make it in the next month! I always have a ready made Princess Anna dress in the wardrobe if all goes awry.
HHN – I haven’t brought tickets for this yet as we already have our Universal tickets already so would have ideally liked to have brought the HHN tickets as an add on. We are planning on doing this when we get there but I might end up booking the HHN ticket full price from the website before then as I hate leaving things to chance! Would love to know if anyone has any advice on this as we’re planning on going 01/11 and as far as I could gather from reading online, this night has never sold out by the morning of so we might still be okay buying the tickets when we arrive mid day? I am a little bit terrified of going, I think I might have ear plugs on all night haha!
Discovery Cove – The child inside of me will be coming out on our DC day! I used to love anything with dolphins on when I was a kid. I am hoping this will be one of the highlights of the trip but my only worry is how awful I am going to look in the photos they take of you with the dolphin as I can’t help but squint when it’s bright out (I have sensitive eyes).
We are also looking at going to Aquatica and Seaworld, haven’t decided exactly when yet. I’m in the process at the moment of planning the second week of the holiday – I feel like after the regiment of WDW it will be best to make it a little more flexible.
Also on the table is a trip to the Outlets Mall on I-Drive, the Florida Mall and Walmart. Can’t wait to buy my own weight in junk food and clothes!
Will be adding another post with our dining plans next.
