planning Archives - Journeys Are My Diary

Preparing to go on Holiday

October 9, 2017 by Bel 1 Comment

Planning a holiday is one of my absolute favourite things to do and right now I’m planning what I hope will be the holiday of a lifetime. I’m very lucky to be able to say, we do go away quite often. It’s not always for very long or even very far, but a few times a year we get away as a family. This year we have been away to Blackpool, Chichester, London and Paris. Later this month we’re going to Jersey for a week as well. Last year we managed France twice, Scarborough, Chichester and London – while the year before we had an amazing trip to Florida.

Packing is pretty much my least favourite part of the holiday. I love the planning; where, when, how aspects and even writing a list of what we need to take, what we need to buy before going etc. but the actual packing I just find a bane. That said, the unpacking when you get home is even worse so I suppose packing is at least better than that. As a mum of two girls, it’s important to always be prepared. We try to pack light but at the same time, I like to know we have everything we might need. Throwing in clothes is the basics, but remembering a hat and suntan lotion, or raincoats and umbrellas, those are the things I try to remember.

Before heading off on holiday, we of course take out holiday insurance. Touch wood, I have never had anything bad happen on a holiday before but I always like to make sure I’m covered. After that I think it’s important to remember you can get a free EHIC card for when travelling in Europe but you need to remember to apply at least a week or so in advance to allow time for it to arrive. After that, there is a lot of common sense involved – what things can you take from home that you might appreciate when on holiday – Capol for kids, paracetamol or ibuprofen for adults, plasters, tweezers, antiseptic wipes and cream etc. Other holiday essentials include sun hats, suncream and glasses for hot weather and warm clothes for cold (and of course the anticipation of it being the opposite to what you expect).

If you travel abroad on an airplane, its important to stay hydrated as high altitudes can make the air very dry. Unfortunately can’t help being trapped in the small space, with everyones bugs and germs, but keeping yourself hydrated can help fend off colds and flu. Walking around will also keep your blood circulated and hopefully avoid deep vein thrombosis.

Hand sanitiser and wipes are also great for holidays. You can wipe down places that you think may be more likely to carry germs and of course also for your own hands.

Eating well and also sensibly is important. For a start, drinking bottled water is always advisable while abroad. Also be careful of any food you wouldn’t normally eat and any food known to be highly likely to cause food poisoning when cooked or prepared wrong.

It goes without saying to make sure you wear a hat, sunscreen, glasses etc. when out in the heat. This will avoid sunstroke, sunburn and so on. When we were in Florida, my youngest daughter had her whole face swell up for the first few days and after that we were much more careful in the sun than we had been to begin with. Getting too hot can also lead to headaches and overheating so always be sensible with the sun. Being careful with alcohol consumption, especially in the sun, is also something to be advised. This can lead to dehydration.

Of course there are many more things you can do, but these are some of the main points. That said, you can’t always prepare for everything that might happen and sometimes you do end up ill or having an accident on holiday. At this point you should look into holiday claims by Your Legal Friend as they can help you claim for all sorts of aspects that may have ruined your holiday.

Planning well is always the best idea for a good holiday and I’m still hoping that my holidays continue to go smoothly. I can’t wait to start booking my next holiday and then of course, everything else that goes with it to make it the perfect holiday.

How To Have A Really Successful Family Holiday

March 2, 2017 by Bel 1 Comment

Going on vacation with your family can be extremely stressful. It can be hard to not only get everyone on the same page, but the communication can lack in some places. Planning out the perfect holiday isn’t easy, and it takes patience and a plan. Preparation is key, and you’ve got to invest some of your time to plan a vacation that is successful.

Communication is essential

When you are planning a family vacation, communication is going to be crucial. You want to avoid a lot of drama caused by miscommunication and instead, make sure that everyone is on the same page right from the beginning. This means that you should sync up your flights, how you are getting to the hotel and even what you are doing throughout the stay. There are a lot of different apps out there that can help keep you organized and keep your family in the loop.

Be realistic with your money

This is another thing that can cause a lot of drama. Money can be tight for some family members, and that is why being practical with money up front is huge. While you are planning out what you are going to be doing throughout your holiday vacation, make sure that you incorporate some free things, as that will help offset some of the costs for those that have thinner wallets.

Pad your time

What this means it that if you are set off across the country with your family to check out different amusement parks or malls, leave a chance to explore. You might have a list of things that you want to see and a list of stuff that you want to do but pad your time. Leave time in the agenda for family-time too, that’s important, and it will help everyone bond and be a little closer.

Keep it active for the group

If you are not a keen conversationalist with your family, why not up the ante and plan something active? A sporting event is one of the best things to go to with a group. It also provides a lot of memories for your family, and it doesn’t require a lot of personal interaction.

Safety first

Whenever you are traveling with a bigger group, preparation is essential to keep the stress at bay and to ensure that everyone is safe. If you are going with small kids, you should keep a photo of them as well as the entire family on you at all times. The younger kids should also carry an identification card with their parents’ names, address and phone number of where you are staying. Safety first, especially when it comes to family holidays.

Have a packing party

Packing is probably one of the most stressful things when you are preparing for a trip. You have to make sure that you have everything and that is why coming prepared with a checklist and having a packing party is huge. Make a game out of it, see who can pack up everything the fastest. There are also packing hacks that you can use to understand how to pack for a longer trip without the stress.

WiFi is paramount

Finally, don’t try to fight it, WiFi is going to be vital when you are traveling. If it is a cost? Spring for it. It will stop a lot of fighting, a lot of drama and it will make the trip that much better. There are also a lot of ways that you can get WiFi for free and save a few bucks.

Now that you know some of the best ways to cut down on the stress and to have a fabulous family holiday, what are some of the tips that you have? Share them!

How travelling can bring you and your family closer together

September 28, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

A great holiday can create memories that last a lifetime, and what better way to create these memories than by spending time with your family? Upon your return, you might be surprised at just how much the dynamics of your family have changed. Here are our top reasons looking at how travelling can bring your family closer together.

You can discuss plans beforehand

Before you jet off, you might like to get the whole family together and construct a list of all things you’d like to do on holiday. This is a great way of including everyone in the preparations and ensuring that all interests are catered for. This technique promotes dialogue – something that is often hard to achieve in a busy family home where everyone has their own likes and dislikes. Bali is a destination that has something for all tastes. You can book your flights to this Indonesian paradise through an operator like Imagine Holidays.

You may have to learn as you go

If you’re planning on taking your family abroad, then it’s vital that you all work together to ensure the trip goes smoothly. For example, you may have to work together to navigate your way around a strange city or work out how to order food off a local menu. This is a great opportunity to encourage communication and teamwork, and you may even discover that family members have hidden skills that would not have been required back home.

You’re exposed to a new atmosphere

Arguments can be pretty common at home, and that can lead to ill-feelings developing among family members. A great holiday takes you away from that toxic environment and gives everyone a chance to clear their heads and focus on what’s really important. You could find that the anger that had built up at home suddenly disappears from the moment you get on the plane – allowing you to wipe the slate clean and just concentrate on making magical memories with one another.

The memories will last a lifetime

When you return from your trip, you may find that the experiences you shared as a family are still being discussed for months later. This keeps your home filled with goodwill and preserves that foundation of communication that had built up during your trip. Even the most mundane of events could remain a talking point for years to come. Travelling is a great tool; the more you travel as a family, the more memories you make.

You learn to compromise

When travelling, you and your kids may be forced to share the same hotel or B & B room. This can present many challenges for you all to overcome. Space can come at a premium and issues may start to appear when everyone wants to get their own way. However, these conflicts will need to be sorted quickly because they could ruin the rest of the holiday. This situation, although unpleasant for a small period of time, teaches everyone about conflict resolution and compromise, and these techniques can be utilised back home to create a more harmonious environment.

Technology will not be as intrusive

Technology is a huge part of family life, and this can mean that family members become disconnected from each other because they’re too distracted by what’s happening in a virtual world. When you go travelling, the role that technology plays will surely decrease.

First of all, you will all be too busy taking in the surroundings and embarking on new challenges to worry about what’s happening online. Secondly, you could be in a remote location that does not boast an internet connection or phone signal, so your so devices will become redundant. This factor means that your family members will be able to spend genuine, quality time together – and this can only be a good thing.

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Week 26 – Monday Round-up

June 29, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Another busy week but I’m actually getting around to doing this post early (it’s Sunday night!). Monday to Friday the kids were at school but Chris was off from Monday to Wednesday. After taking the kids to school on Monday, I settled down to finish of the Murder Mystery I’d been working tirelessly. It took me all day but I finally managed it by about midnight! Obviously I picked up the kids, had dinner etc. but for the most part my day was solely spent doing this.

On Tuesday Chris and I took the girls to school and then headed to the storage unit. We needed to grab a few things, including the futon, which meant taking furniture to pieces and packing it into the car. After that we headed back home but we needed to go to Tesco and visit Chris’ nan too. We decided to go to Chris’ nan first and stayed for about an hour, we then went shopping and did a good weeks shop. Finally we got back home and Chris offered to put the futon back together while I took a bath. For a change it was a really long bath, because I got quite into the book I was reading. When the girls got home from school, via their few hours with their dad, I managed to catch him about Megan getting her ears pierced. He agreed and she was thrilled!

On Wednesday I took the girls to school and Chris was out on his driving test (sadly he failed). When I got home, he arrived shortly after me and while we wallowed for a little while, he soon headed up on his computer and I got sewing for the day. I picked out a pattern to do, traced it and cut it out. I then stopped for lunch with Chris before heading out to Boyes and buying some material. I got back and cut out my pattern pieces but then it was time to pick the girls up from school. Megan was having her friend Elizabeth back for dinner and so that pretty much took up the rest of my evening.

Thursday Chris was back at work but my mum was coming around for the day so I still didn’t get an awful lot done. She read through my murder mystery completely though (noting the odd mistake) and she liked it, so that made me feel positively about the party on Friday. She stopped for lunch and didn’t leave till I went to get the girls from school. After school we went into town and made an appointment for Megan’s ear piercing. We also picked up the Snow White Tsum Tsums which had just been released from Clintons. In the evening I had my nephew (or sort of at least) overnight as my brother and his girlfriend were working the next day when he was off school and they had no one for the early part of Friday. The kids didn’t get that long together but they were no trouble. Once they were in bed I baked some cakes, trying to bake them flat for the first time ever. It was definitely an interesting experience.

On Friday morning I had three kids to get up and ready but again they were no trouble. I took all three to school with me, met up with mum and sat with her and Charlie to watch Megan’s assembly. After the assembly finished, Charlie and I headed off so I could take him home, via McDonalds for breakfast of course. By the time I got home, I had ten minutes to grab my breath before heading out to meet Amy and Liv. I walked down to the train station to meet them and then we all headed back to my house. Since the girls were going to my mum’s that night, we didn’t need to go out and get them from school. In the end we all just chilled out together, headed in to town for a little while, played with some Tsum Tsums and watched Walle. After Olivia went to bed, Amy and I got ready for the murder mystery and finished the cake.

The evening went really well and it was nice to hang with friends. The murder mystery worked fine too so that was a relief, though not having rounds of food to break it up with, meant that it all went pretty fast (we were naughty and ordered Dominos!). Even once we finished though, we all sat around chatting and since we were a small group, that was nice too. In the end we headed to bed around midnight.

In the morning, I managed a lie-in till 10.30am but I still felt tired! The kids arrived home around midday and since they all pretty much occupied themselves in the afternoon, Amy and I spent time together in the dining room – researching everything from Paris accommodation to cosplay ideas. We were still in the dining room when Chris came home from work at 10pm, though obviously we’d got the kids dinner and fed ourselves too. We headed to bed a little earlier than usual as we were pretty tired. However I managed to lie-in till 9am again the following morning!

This time the girls got up and occupied themselves quietly until we were all up. Then we all just sat together, had cups of tea and chatted. I took Amy and Liv to catch their train at 1pm, then came home and helped Megan with her homework. Chris and I spent the afternoon strimming and trimming the front garden and it took ages! Finally I came inside, hoovered around and then ended up sorting all my jewellery supplies out. After getting everyone (and myself) dinner, it wasn’t long before the girls headed to bed. I spent the evening cutting Chris’ hair and then when he went for a bath I watched Holby City while writing this blog post! We’re now settling down to watch Humans and I’m scheduling this post and turning off my computer. I imagine we’ll head to bed after one episode as I have to be up early in the morning!

Hope you all had a good week. See you again this time next week!

Planning for the future – finances

June 23, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

I am really terrible at planning for the future – I’m sort of a live in the moment type of person. That’s not to say I don’t like to plan and organise, I’m just not very good at it when it comes to money.

I first started working when I was around 16, though I’d had paper rounds, babysitting and shop work even before then. My first “real” job was waitressing and it evolved from 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, to pretty much every evening from 5pm-11pm and all day Saturday. I was holding this same job when I started University and although I couldn’t do the same amount of hours, I still came home every Friday and worked the whole weekend. Eventually when University was finished and I’d met a guy, I moved away to live with him and get married. I held down a full-time position with a ferry company, then as a Practice Manager in a dental surgery. These have been my only proper jobs really – or at least my only full time jobs.

After leaving my then husband, I moved back home and gained another waitressing job. I then moved to another not long after that. This was full-time too I guess but for some reason waitressing has never felt like a proper job (no offence to anyone who does it, I’ve done it nearly all my working life!). I then met my next husband, though there was dating and stuff of course, trained for a pub ownership, only to decide on getting a business of our own. We ran our own restaurant for three years, before eventually selling up and I became a houswife and stay at home mum to our then 2 year old, with another baby on the way. Since then I have worked part-time and self-employed for Betterware, until finally getting a job about two years ago as a Kitchen Assistant. It was part time as well and a hard adjustment as a full-time mum and part-time worker. Anyway my long winded point is that I’ve never really had what felt like a proper job – certainly nothing that resembles a career. There have been times when I’ve considered re-training for a career too – even started a course at Lincoln college – but it just didn’t really pan out.

I spent 3 years as a single mum, living on benefits and wow did I get myself in a financial mess. I wanted to give my kids everything I felt they would have had if I were still with their dad – and more. Sadly, though it didn’t really seem that way at first, I couldn’t afford to do that and I got myself in so much debt. However, thanks to my mum and also to being careful, I’m definitely coming out the other side of that.

Now I’m currently unemployed again and I’m concentrating on my blog as well as launching a new business in the coming months. I’m also decorating our house with the hope we can get it on the market and sold – meaning we can move back to Saxilby where the girls go to school, near to my mum and also easier for Megan and secondary school next year. Before meeting Chris I never expected to own my own house again (I did with my first husband but it was sold when we separated). I’ve lived in rented accommodation all my adult life and I never truly thought I would be in a financial situation whereby I could get a mortgage and buy a house.

Does it make me worry for the future? Of course it does. I think about whether or not I’m up to date with my National Insurance contributions and more importantly whether I will have a decent pension when I’m old enough to retire. I’ve been looking into a company called Nutmeg who offer both pension schemes and ISAs (my mum has one of these so again it’s something to think about for the future). They offer expert advice, which considering I know nothing about finances, is pretty important. Their website is really simple to understand and they offer an easy-to-use service. These are exactly what I’d be looking for when considering a pension scheme. Sure, if I’m self employed at that time, maybe I won’t feel the same need to retire as early as I might if I’m back in employment, but it’s all things to consider. My mum is in her 60’s and living off her pension. She worked hard all her life as a teacher and she has a good pension – she also has a widows pension due to losing my dad. She enjoys her life now and goes on holiday often, but I’ve noticed more and more that she’s beginning to be more careful with her money.

I want to be able to provide for my kids if they want to go to university. I want to be able to help them through their adult lives, like my parents helped me. I want to not have to worry where the next pay is coming from and enjoy my life now that it’s finally happy. I know I need to get my finances in order and get a secure plan. I must get myself out of debt so I can concentrate on providing for my future.

Florida 2015 (1 week to go!!) The Packing

March 25, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

OMG, it’s one week today until we leave the house and head off on holiday. Today I’m sharing with you the final process of our Florida planning – the packing stage. We’re not so organised that it’s all done already, but we are getting there bit by bit. The girls have stopped wearing the clothes they want to take and we have started to put clothes into the suitcases. We have check lists going and a bed dedicated to packing – so we’re definitely on our way to being ready.

Above is a picture of the girls suitcases. They have one each which I bought them for Christmas. Majority of the dresses they are taking with them were also bought for Christmas, as they really had no summer dresses to speak of so I picked up loads throughout the sales and saved them till Christmas. In my last post I talked about the shopping we had done for Florida and the majority of the suitcase (other than dresses) is filled with the extra bits and pieces we’ve picked up, including shoes, sunhat, cardigans etc. This is probably about half of the girls checklist ticked off.

As well as all the things they’ve already packed, we have several things unticked. These are largely dresses that I’ve made for them and fancy dress costumes. Ultimately the girls are hoping to get all the dresses they’d like (disney themed mostly) sewn and ready before we go. As such they are holding off on packing the fancy dress. If the “inspired” dresses get done, the dress up stays at home – if not, then I’m sure the costumes will get packed instead.

The girls also have their flight bags mostly packed, these are upstairs alongside the suitcases. At the moment the girls are both still going to school every day and although they break up on Friday, their dad is having them over the weekend. Unfortunately they won’t get home until Monday night so I imagine there will be a lot of last minute packing on Tuesday – or I’ll be doing it for them.

Mine and Chris’ packing isn’t quite as far along as the girls but it is at least started. I’ll be honest and say that majority of Chris’ packing was done by me, but I’m sure he’ll show an interest at the very last minute. He’s a “it takes 10 minutes to pack” type of person. While we both have the majority of our clothes packed (baring things we can’t do without in the meantime like underwear) but we are nowhere near with all the extras. Chris and I (and the girls) use our ipads, chargers etc on a daily basis so it just isn’t possible to pack those things. Also things like toiletries. makeup, hair stuff, will all be packed last minute too.

So it’s now one week till we leave. For the next few days I’m concentrating on sewing projects and making sure I get as much as I can finished before we leave. However once the girls go to their dad’s on Saturday I’m sure I’ll be dedicating a bit more time to making sure we have everything in order. Tuesday is the deadline for everything being ready as we leave first thing on Wednesday morning – to travel down to London, go to the Cinderella Exhibition and then stay over at a Travelodge. A week tomorrow we fly off to Florida and I can only hope we’re completely ready by then!

Florida 2015 (3 weeks to go) The Planner

March 11, 2015 by Bel 2 Comments

Hey! So this post should really have gone live earlier today but unfortunately I didn’t get time to finish it (I spent the evening sewing a blue Cinderella inspired skirt). As such its a little late on this evening, but even if it had been tomorrow, its still technically 3 weeks to go, because we actually fly on the Thursday. If you’ve read my other posts, you’ll know that I’ve covered the preliminary planning (accommodation, flights and park tickets) and then pre-planning for the things you want to do (character dining, photo passes and fast passes). This week I want to share with you my actual physical planner, with our actual plans!

At first, my planner didn’t start off as an actual planner. Instead it started off as the odd print off here and there. However as my planning grew (especially with the fast passes booked) it seemed like a good idea to get some sort of organisation. As such I created this planner, with a folder I already had kicking around and a whole bunch of freebie stuff.

The first page is a calendar, but only really of the days we’re on holiday. I googled for an April 2015 calendar and then chopped it down until it only had the days I was interested in. I then printed it off and completed it – in pencil of course, in case there were any changes! After that came the maps. I’d found these a week or so earlier, but I’d printed them off and stapled them together in various forms. I had a map for each park – Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Universal Studios etc. and also ones for Downtown Disney and Universal’s CityWalk. Each one of those got a separate pocket in the folder so I could see them easily. Along with that map, I’d also downloaded some Character Meet maps from Kenny the Pirate. I slid these into the same pockets (Disney only), but back to back so I could see both sides.

After the map sections, come actual planner sections. These were free to me, because Amy sent them to me, but I know she originally bought them off Etsy. I personally wouldn’t have bothered buying something like this and probably would have just made a few pages in Word, but I have to admit they do look lovely and give a sort of uniformity to the planner. I printed one for each park and slid those into separate pockets too. The Ride Plan page is really the only one I’ve used for each park, but it contains space for Park Opening Times, Crowd Predictions, Fast Pass Reservations, Ride Wishlist and then Notes. This was really all I wanted.

As I began to fill them in, I realised that it would perhaps be better to have a few more for Magic Kingdom, as its the one park we have plans to be in for more than one day. After completing my planner page for Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, I printed out a further three copies of the Magic Kingdom one (four in total) and completed these too. It seemed natural to place them in date order and so almost unintentionally I was making a day by day guide.

Because of this, I decided I would like a similar thing for my days in Universal and also at Kennedy Space Center. I went searching the internet for Universal Orlando planners, but basically drew a blank. There was something on Etsy which I did actually buy (it was less than £2) but to be honest it was rubbish and not worth the money. However it gave me a basis and a place to start, so instead I chopped it around myself and edited it, making it be what I wanted it to be. I made one page of solely Harry Potter rides and attractions -in both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure – and two pages of all the other rides and attractions – one for Universal Studios and the other for Islands of Adventure. I then printed these off and gave them their own pocket, marking out the days in my planner that would be designated to them.

After that I researched into the Kennedy Space Center. We already have our tickets and although they’re not for a definite day, we do have one in mind for visiting. I looked up how far away it is from where we’re staying and also some directions to follow. I printed off a complex map too so at least we have a rough idea of what there is to do and how long it might take us to look around.

Finally that just left the things like dinner reservations, flight info and accommodation. Although I already have the information written down elsewhere, I figured I may as well complete it, just so that it makes one whole complete planner – and perhaps a souvenir of our trip afterwards. So now I had a page for almost every day that we’re away, not including the day we fly, the two days after we arrive and the two before we leave. I realised it was likely that we’d probably spend another day in Magic Kingdom at some point, so I made a blank page and listed all the other rides and activities I wanted to cover, that weren’t already FastPass’d on other days. I figured this would give me a good place to start for what was left to do and what we wanted to do. With every day we spent in Magic Kingdom I could mark off anything we’d managed to do, so by the end of the holiday I could see what was left.

The whole thing was really simple and easy to do and since doing it I feel a lot more organised and ready to go. Whenever I think about something I need to do or want to make a note of, I just go to my planner and add it there. Since making it I have gone through it several times and even sat and gone through it with my mum. I’m pretty proud of all the work it contains and fingers crossed it will give me all the information I need when we’re away on holiday!

Next week I’ll be updating on the shopping we’ve done for holiday – the girls shopping trip to Meadowhall and Chris’ birthday present clothes. It will include the dresses I’ve most recently bought from Hot Topic and also the clothes I’ve made for us to take with us! Please come back next Wednesday to see what else I have to share with you!!

Florida 2015 (4 weeks to go) The Planning: Part 2 – Booking in Advance

March 4, 2015 by Bel 5 Comments

As I mentioned last week, in my initial post Florida 2015 – The Planning, I do love to plan. However I also mentioned that when it comes to a holiday, I like to leave room for flexibility. I’m not one for itineraries and agendas, I don’t want every day planned out. That’s exactly how I’ve had every holiday in my adult life… until now.

If you’re heading to Orlando and you’re wanting to make the most of your holiday, there are definitely some aspects I recommend you plan in advance. That’s what this post will focus on – the things to do when you’re there, that you should plan in advance!

Of course, like I mentioned last time, you need to make sure your passport is up to date (renewal costs around £46 for kids and £72.50 for adults, so it’s an expense you should take into account too). Usually it’s recommended that you do this several months in advance but in my experience, a passport is usually returned to you within a week or so, especially off peak. You also need to apply for your visa, under the ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorisation). This costs $14 per person – a charge of $10 for the visa and then $4 for admin fees, which works out around £9-£10 total. Don’t leave it too late, just in case you have any unexpected problems! Finally, another essential is of course travel insurance. My mum has an annual policy but I just used Travel Supermarket to compare the prices for a family of four. I’ll be honest and admit I just picked the cheapest but they all seemed to offer very reasonable amounts of cover so I wasn’t cutting corners. This cost around £32 (I also checked Compare the Market and Confused but generally Travel Supermarket came out a pound or two cheaper than the other sites, for the same quotes).

Not all of those things needs to be done immediately when you first book your holiday, but you do need to write them on your “to do list”. However, once you’ve got all the essentials spoken for, you need to consider what else you’re wanting to do. My first tip would definitely be to buy a book specifically for Florida, or even better Orlando. Even if you’re going specifically for Disney World or even the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, its great to get a general book to begin with as it will cover the basics of everything there is to do and therefore help you narrow down where your interests lie.

Guide Books – I personally started off with Brit Guide Orlando 2014 (Brit Guides), a book which came with a 4.5 rating on Amazon. It was a great read and very thorough – including some great tips. It included everything from villas and hotels, to each park with map and break down of attractions, to everything else there is to do in Orlando, including eating out and shopping. However as I bought it early in 2014 (published October 2013) and my trip is April 2015, I soon realised a lot of the information – especially with regards to Universal Parks and Walt Disney Parks – was out of date. Nonetheless it was a great starting book and nearer the time (i.e. February 2015) I paid out for two newer books, one for Universal and one for Disney. These also included information on booking hotels, but obviously at that stage I wasn’t interested in those things. To be honest, I don’t think you really need a book to help you book accommodation – just some common sense and probably Google.

After reading a guide book, you’ll hopefully have a better idea of what you’re looking to do. If Walt Disney World is part of your trip, then I highly recommend downloading the My Disney Experience App to your phone or tablet, or signing up for the Disney website and using the My Disney Experience options there.

Character/Themed Dining – I do know that Universal Orlando has some character and themed dining options, but I want to be honest and say that I’m not at all interested in that so I’ve made no bookings and have no experience of what to do when it comes to booking for Universal Studios or Islands of Adventures. I do however have several reservations for Disney, so that’s really what I’m focusing on. Dining at Disney World (parks and resorts) can be booked 180 days (6 months) in advance. Some of the dining is VERY VERY in demand and unless you’re lucky, there’s a high chance you’ll miss out unless you get in there at the earliest moment. If you’re staying in a Disney Hotel you can actually book ALL your dining, at 180 days from your first day (you have to ring up though), meaning you’ll get in before a lot of other people, especially for the harder to get dining.

I was lucky because my best friend Amy is visiting Florida at the same time as us and staying in a Disney Hotel, where we’re staying off-site in a villa. Because of her we have all the dining we wanted, even the most sought after. While a little tricky, Cinderella’s Royal Table for breakfast was possible, just using the regular 180 days. However Be Our Guest for dinner proved to be virtually impossible. It was only because she rang to enquire and realised she could book slightly further in advance, that we were able to secure this booking, literally a few days before we go home. Also, at the time we originally booked all our dining, Be Our Guest was only available as a dinner reservation. This system has now been changed and you are able to book lunch reservations too – though this is quick service and not table service dining. We’re now booked in for lunch there too. As well as the three bookings I’ve already mentioned, we also have breakfast booked at 1900 Park Fare, which is located in the Grand Floridian Resort and has Alice in Wonderland characters in attendance, along with lunch at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Epcot which has Princesses Storybook Dining on offer. The only other thing to note really is that all of these reservations require a credit or debit card to secure the booking – however only Cinderella’s Royal Table requires (full) payment in advance.

FastPass+ – While Character Dining is obviously an optional extra to your holiday, if you’re planning to do anything in any of the Disney Parks, FastPass+ really isn’t that optional. Yes you can try without it and yes its still possible to get on all the rides you want to, but honestly if you’re hoping to avoid as much queuing as possible, plus fit in as much as possible, FastPass is really the best way to go. For people staying in a Disney Hotel, FastPass is available at the 60 day mark. For those staying off-site and purchasing their tickets separately, FastPass booking starts at the 30 day mark. Again, thanks to Amy, we were able to book the majority of our FastPasses at the 60 day mark, due to the fact she’s staying in a Disney Hotel. However the only problem with that is she could only book us all the same FastPasses as her, rather than pick and choose for smaller numbers within our party. As such we have a few bookings that need altering when it gets to our 30 day mark, but I’d rather have that than not have them at all. The best thing about FastPass is that it’s completely free and just included with your ticket – so need to worry about high costs, just to cut queues.

For all four of the parks, each person can only hold three FastPasses at a time. In Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, you can book any three attractions or rides (providing they have FP options), however in Epcot and Hollywood Studios, there is a Tier system, where you can only book one from the A group and two from the B group. It’s a bit complicated but if you some searching you’ll find lists of what rides and attractions fall into each group and hopefully figure out what suits your family/group best. The three FastPasses you are able to book in advance, all need to be within the same park. However once you’ve “spent” all three passes, if you move on to another park (say later that day/afternoon) you will then be able to book further passes in another park. This applies even if you’re not moving to another park, that you can book extra FastPasses. Just visit a FP kiosk and see what’s available to book.

It is worth noting that some FastPasses are better to have than others, depending on what you’re hoping to achieve. Most shows are available on FP for example, but if you’re not too fussed about “the best” seats, then its probably not something to worry about. Likewise if you’re not too worried about meeting characters, these FP options can be skipped as well. If you’re happy to choose according to has the shortest queue at the time, then you’ll not need a FP. However if you’re dead set on meeting Anna and Elsa – by all accounts, FP is a must. That said, they also fly out as fast as they become available, so be prepared to book early and maybe even take a reserve list option! It’s worth researching which rides gets the busiest and which rides generally don’t. This will help you decide which three options you should “spend” your FP on!

Express Pass – Again, while I have no experience of booking this (or even wanting it), its worth mentioning that Universal has their own version of FastPass, called Express Pass. As with Disney, not all rides have the Express Pass option, but a large amount of them do. However unlike Disney, the Express Pass is NOT free. Prices start at around $60 for both parks, or $50 individually. Since the website states “starting at”, I can only imagine that these prices are for whatever the basic version and the more you pay, the better your Express Pass options are. If you stay on-site with Universal, then Express Pass IS included in your tickets. From what I’ve read, this is the most cost effective way to purchase the Express Pass, by actually just booking a day or two at an actual Universal Hotel.

I do think its important to note though, that not many of the Harry Potter rides are included in the Express Pass. Exempt from the Express Pass is; Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, the Hogwarts Express and also Ollivanders (technically a shop but since it has a sort of pre-show, I figured it was worth mentioning). This means the only Harry Potter ride you can use the Express Pass on is Flight of the Hippogriff. That said, there are loads of other great rides that will definitely benefit from you having Express Pass.

PhotoPass – Disney World offers a complimentary service called PhotoPass to all their park guests. Photographers are located around the parks and after having your first picture taken you will receive a PhotoPass card that you can then use each time you have a picture taken, placing all your photos together in the same place. After your holiday you just go online and make an account, using the PhotoPass to retrieve your photos. If for whatever reason you’ve acquired more than one card, its not a problem as you can just combine all of the cards into one online account. You can then view the photos and make edits, whenever you want. Now of course, with it being a free service, that does lead to some disadvantages. While you can view and edit photos as much as you like, you can’t download digital copies – or at least, not without paying. You can pay to download prints (approx $15 per photo), you can pay to have printed copies made, you can pay to get your photos put onto certain objects (like a t-shirt or mug). However every little thing you want to do, will cost you money. Also because all photos expire at some point, it does mean that if you don’t download them and you haven’t bought prints, then you will lose the pictures eventually. Of course there are options such as a photo CD or photo book, but all of these will cost you extra money.

Memory Maker – If you’re interested in using the PhotoPass option but don’t want to get caught out with the prices afterwards, there is another option. It’s quite expensive but overall could work out cheaper. It also gives you more benefits such as ride photos and dining photos too. Disney’s Memory Maker is basically an advanced version of the PhotoPass, which you buy in advance (either months in advance or at the beginning of your vacation). It costs $169 if you book online or $199 if you wait till the day you need it. Having the Memory Maker allows you to not only collect all the PhotoPass photo options, but also have Ride/Attractions photos (and sometimes videos too), along with Dining photos as well. Afterwards you can go online in just the same way as with the PhotoPass and view/edit all of your photos. However with this option, downloading all your photos are free. Of course you can still pay to have a photo CD or place a print on a mug, but at least you know you can download and keep all your photos, without having any hidden costs (especially if you’ve had 1000’s photos taken).

Photo Connect – As with most things, Universal have a similar (usually lesser) version of everything Disney has. Instead of Disney’s PhotoPass, Universal offers Photo Connect. It’s basically exactly the same thing, whereby if you get your picture taken in the park or on a ride, you receive a Photo Connect card and you can redeem it later online or within the park to receive a print (paid for, obviously). The Photo Connect card itself is free, but getting a print will cost you money. Also, major downside – if you don’t retrieve your photo that day, in some way, shape or form, then the photo is gone by the end of the day.

Star Card – Either in advance, or at the time of getting your first Photo Connect card, you can choose to get a Photo Connect Star Card. This basically upgrades your Photo Connect card, to something worth having for a longer term. Star Cards are available in a range of options, including 1 Day, 3 Day and 14 Day periods. There is also an annual pass too. The standard option in the park is a 3 Day Star Card, with 1 Day and 14 Day only being available to order online. Also, the 3 Day Star Card is $69.95 in the park, whereas it’s $59.95 if booked in advance. Apparently it is possible to extend your Star Card, with options of 1 Day and 3 Day extensions. There is plenty of information available online about this so I would recommend you look into it thoroughly.

The main advantage to having the Star Card, is that your photos become available online. Not only that but instead of expiring at the end of the day, they are available for some period of time afterwards, meaning you can get home and download them all safely, without any further cost. Not just that, but also by buying the Star Card, you are able to get certain other advantages. One of these for example is the option to buy prints at a cheaper price. Where a print of a Photo Connect print may cost you $10 each, with the Star Card you can purchase prints for as little as $2. You also get access to a smartphone app, a lovely lanyard to keep your card safe and if my information is correct, a couple of free prints too. A 1 Day Star Card costs $39.95, while a 3 Day one costs $59.95 (when booked online in advance). While you can book these passes on the Universal website, I would strongly recommend going directly through the Photo Connect site. Booking with Universal will cost you $39.95/$59.95 etc plus tax, where as booking through the Photo Connect site will simply cost you the face value price (no tax). Check out all your options before making a decision, especially Shutterbuttons if that’s on your list, as there is a Star Card to include that video too.

If you’ve made it this far through my post, then well done! I never expected it to get this long but once you start writing about Florida, it’s sometimes hard to stop! So far I’ve covered booking your dining options in advance (especially Disney’s Character and Themed Dining) along with Disney’s FastPass+. I’ve also discussed the various photography options available. There are loads and loads of other add-ons to consider, Universal’s which can be found here and Disney’s which can be found here.

Both Disney and Universal have a variety of Dining Plan options, again with plenty of information available online about them. While we haven’t gone for a Dining Plan with Disney – just booked the specific meals we want to do – I have booked a Dining Plan option with Universal. I’ve bought in advance, though I don’t think that was money saving particularly, though the plan itself is. I paid $19.99 (plus tax, which is approximately $24) per adult and $12.99 (plus tax, which is approximately $15.50) per child, which gives us 1 main course and 1 non-alcoholic drink, in any quick service restaurant (there are a couple of exclusions), 1 snack (from various carts and shops around the park) and 1 non-alcoholic drink (again from carts and shops around the park). This works out at approximately £15 per adult (or £10 per child) for a meal, two drinks and a snack – hopefully enough to last us through the day. To tell the truth, I actually upgraded the kids to the Universal Dining Plan plus Coca-Cola Freestyle. The Coca-Cola Freestyle option is basically a souvenir cup which you can refill during the day, at various locations in the park. Stand-alone price for this is $11.99 each but when bought with a Dining Plan it’s only $6 extra. I know the kids will love trying out the various Coca-Cola flavours and since they’re free refills, I’m sure the adults might benefit from the odd sip here and there too!

This concludes my second post in the Florida 2015 series, but I will be back next week with post number 3. From now on I’ll be focusing more on our personal preparations – The Shopping, The Packing and probably the Panicking! Please pop back next week to see what I have to share with you.

Florida 2015 (5 weeks to go) The Planning

February 25, 2015 by Bel 6 Comments

Last week I mentioned that I was going to start a mini-series, documenting the before and after of our trip to Florida this year. Today is my first post of the series and I decided I’d start with “The Planning”.

I love to plan! All of my friends will tell you how much. Whether its planning the next holiday to look forward to, picking the next Murder Mystery we might get together for, or organising someone’s birthday plans – I’m the person for the job. Not only do I like to plan what and when, I also love to plan EVERYTHING to do with the event. I’m a bit of a perfectionist to be honest. And probably a control freak too. But no one in my social group seems to mind, so it’s all good. However, as much as I love to plan a good holiday – I’m not keen on OVER PLANNING. I don’t want to make itineraries or schedules, I don’t want to know what I’m doing every single day and I most certainly don’t like inflexibility in holiday plans. I’m a sort of “fly by the seat of your pants” kinda gal when it comes to the actual holiday itself. All of this has proved very interesting while trying to plan this Florida trip… but I’ll get to more of that later.

These are the people coming to Florida – Megan, Chris, Me, Lily and my Mum

I’ve mentioned several times before, but I feel I should really mention it again, that this trip would not be possible without my mum. Back in January 2014, she announced that she would be taking us as a family (and my brother was offered too but he declined) to Florida in Easter 2015. The girls and I had been saving up pocket money for a short while, with the view to going in several years from then, but never in our wildest dreams did we expect to go so soon or to have someone else pay for the majority of the trip. My mum is the best mum in the world and I love her dearly.

As with most holidays abroad, one of the first things to plan is your flights. Not only that though, but also your accommodation. For us the two pretty much needed organising simultaneously because we wanted to book flights out (and back) while knowing we definitely had accommodation that could accommodate us for the full time. Luckily this wasn’t too difficult as there are LOADS of villa options in Orlando and while mum did all the research on that, I did the research for the flights. In the end we got it all booked back in June of last year.

Flights – Both our flights out and our flights back are in two parts, with short layovers between. Of course there were hundreds of flight options but these suited us best due to length of journeys, time of day etc. We leave the UK on a Thursday lunch time and arrive in Florida later on that evening. Returning home we leave Florida just after dinner and arrive back in the UK in the morning. Both flights are a really reasonable amount of time – the first only 12 and a half hours total, the second less than 10 and a half total. Outbound we’re flying Air Canada and return is United Airlines. I’ve never flown with either before, so I’m quite excited!

The Villa – Our villa is situated in a place called Davenport and it looks beautiful (though very like every other one I looked at from the outside!). It’s 3 bedroom and 2 bathroom. When we were originally looking for villas, my mum asked what my criteria for accommodation was and at first I said I didn’t really mind. However in the end I gave her only two. 1) The villas MUST have wifi and 2) the villa preferably had to have a pool. This place has both, as well as lots of other things so honestly I couldn’t be happier. It is apparently 15 minutes from Disney and 30 minutes from the airport. Sounds all good to me!

After booking both the flights and accommodation, two out of three big holiday costs were taken care of. The flights were a total of £3,239.05 for three adults and two children and the villa was £900 for two weeks. I only mention it really in case anyone has stumbled across this blog post and is looking for approximate costs. Anyway, that left Theme Park tickets as the main outlay that was left.

Park Tickets – After doing A LOT of research, I found that American Attractions was the cheapest option for both our Disney Park tickets and also our Universal tickets too. These we booked in September 2014. We opted for Disney & Universal Combo tickets that would last the full 14 days of our trip. They worked out at £392 per adult and £369 per child (these prices have actually gone up since). With regards to the Disney Parks, this gives us access to all 6 parks (Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach) as well as access to Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex, DisneyQuest, Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course and a round of mini golf each day at either Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Mini Golf Course or Disney’s Winter Summerland Mini Golf Course. With regards to Universal, we get access to Universal Studios, Universal’s Islands of Adventure and Universal CityWalk.

After booking all three of these things, the bulk payments for the holiday were made. Mum organised a rental car too, though I have no information about that, but I believe that was probably the next highest amount to pay. After all this was done, there were still other things to organise of course. Even today I’ve booked something else to add to our holiday package. There has been Lily’s passport to renew, holiday insurance to find, ESTA visas to organise, character meals to book, photo passes to decide on and all sorts of other incidentals. While I’m sure no one is interested in passport renewal, visas or holiday insurance, I will be talking a little about character meals and photo passes in my next post! I will also be discussing what we’re most looking forward to doing on holiday, the attractions that most appeal in the parks (and out of the parks) as well as Disney’s FastPass system – or at least what I understand of it. The next post will be next Wednesday (4th March) and will represent our 4 week countdown mark. Though to some extent the content will still fall under the heading of “planning”, I’ll be calling it something like “when we get there”. I hope you’ll all pop back then to see what I have to say!

Week 23 – Monday Round-up

June 9, 2014 by Bel 1 Comment

I know I’ve said this before, but writing these weekly round-ups, doing my weekly picture and also doing a weigh in Wednesday, doesn’t half make the week go fast! It doesn’t seem like too minutes since it was last Monday!

This week has been fairly uneventful and that’s definitely no bad thing. Work has been the same every day, the girls have been at school and for the most part its been a pretty simple sort of a week. It has however, been a week of getting organised and planning future events – such as our next Murder Mystery, Comic Con and of course the #LincsBlogMeet! Monday and Tuesday evenings were both spend organising the Blog Meet – sorting through emails and figuring out what still needs to be done. Wednesday and Thursday I had moved onto ideas for Comic Con costumes (the Rapunzel one is down the drain – don’t ask!) and by Friday and Saturday I was sorting out next weekend’s Murder Mystery.

On top of that I’ve spent a long time uploading photos from the Harry Potter Day, my birthday and also my murder mystery – mostly because I wanted to post about them all on my blog! I discovered that Disney are doing Villain covers for all of their movies and I’m heartbroken that I can’t justify owning/buying another copy of movies I already have!

Game of Thrones was a cracking episode this week and I can’t wait to see what tonight’s will bring! I’m so sad that lots of my TV shows have finished, especially things like Revolution, OUAT and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D. On the plus side, I’m going to start watching Grimm and Orange is the New Black, both of which are on Netflix!

I’ve also been having a lot of fun with the TimeHop app. I know its something that’s been kicking around for a while now and I’m sure it drives other people mad to always get TimeHop statuses, but I’m finding it really enjoyable to reminisce.

The only real events of any note, were Nat coming around on Friday night and the girls and I having a movie night on Saturday. Otherwise its been a really quiet and enjoyable week – with the odd stress and panic, but for the most part pretty great. I’ve not worked any extra, I’ve not had to host any parties or bake any cakes and its been all good.

Bring on next week, I’m ready!