Magical family memories in June 2017

Sue Pattenden on 31 January 2018
It was time to arrange my own family holiday! Having promised the youngest one she would be able to meet Ariel and all her favourite princesses, I set about planning the perfect family trip.

What did everyone want from this trip? For me it was about spending time with my baby sister and her family as they were holidaying there at the same time as us. For our two eldest it was about shopping, shopping and more shopping. I wanted Casey to experience 'Disney Magic'.

Flights were booked with Thomas Cook Airlines and car, villa and theme park tickets booked. I also added on a trip out to Wild Florida for a bit of adrenaline on an airboat. The final thing was Meet & Greet car parking at Manchester Airport.

I then set about trying to plan all the necessary Fast Passes - this is a must in Disney as the most popular rides can be very busy and beating the line is the best feeling ever. Growing up, Casey had always wanted to be a 'princess' (if not a unicorn) so I opted to book her a Bibbity Bobbity Makeover session. I managed to get her into Cinderella's Castle, although they also offer it at Disney Village. There are lots of different packages to choose from.

The time came for our family adventure. We decided to do the Sunset Check In – a great idea, so no need to worry the next day.

We had seats down the back of the aircraft which was OK, but we were the last off the aircraft and last in the queue for Immigration. The entertainment upgrade was worth it to keep the children happy. The moral of that one is go for seats nearer the front next time.

We picked up our rental monster from Alamo. It's an easy process, just make sure you have a good sat nav and some dollars for any toll roads.

Our villa was allocated on arrival, so we had to collect instructions from a local office, finally arriving at the villa, all very tired. Can you guess the first place the children went? Yes, the pool, which I might add wasn't heated, but it didn't worry them. Let's go find a Walmart, mum!

The first day with that magical moment walking into Magic Kingdom with a very excited girl made everything worthwhile. I was so glad we had the Magic Passes as it meant we didn't need to carry cameras around all day and you can easily use the various Disney Apps.

Drinks and food are expensive in the parks, so it's a great idea to take a water bottle to fill up at the various water stations. Fill up at breakfast - a favourite of our family was Golden Corral - everything you could ever want and more. We did eat at one of the food areas in Harry Potter world, an authentic Hogwarts experience with huge turkey legs. Pricy but memorable.

The day had come for Casey's adventure at Bibbity Bobbity for her makeover. I highly recommend what they do for the little ones. Her Fairy Godmother Mizzy made her feel so special.

We did spend a day away with my sister at Wild Florida which I’d never been before, but it was amazing. A little bit of a drive out of Orlando but well worth it. You can spend time walking around the sanctuary interacting with all the Florida residents. My worst nightmare was the alligators, but you can even have an encounter with a sloth and hold an alligator.

The airboat ride was out of this world. The water level was down a little but the thrill of speeding through the rushes, swallowing flies, was amazing. We spent another day at Typhoon Lagoon Waterpark. We arrived a little later in the day and it was quite difficult to find sunbeds/chairs, great fun for the kids though.

There are so many amazing restaurants in Orlando, our family favourites were Bubba Gump Shrimp Co, Five Guys and Chick-Fil A amongst others.

Orlando Premium Outlet Malls were some of the best shopping areas with great bargains. Maybe not current season but still good value. You just needed to be careful not to go over the baggage allowance!

All in all - a wonderful tiring trip.

My Recommendations: - Book Premium Seats on the flight - Try and take a credit card (car deposit) - Don't over pack - Use Fast Pass pre-booking - Plan, plan, plan - Don't go when Ant & Dec are recording a show!