Our MEGA vacation FOS pre-trip report with pictures

[Tinkers70]

Hi all *waves*

 

Hope you don't mind but since we are doing a fairly big holiday this year I thought i'd do a pre-trip report to give everyone on here an insight to our fabulous trip across the pond for 2012!

 

I will attached photo's as we go along with things we are planning on doing and places we plan on visiting.

 

Here is a brief detail of our holiday so far.....

 

Disney World

Cape Canaveral

7 nights on Freedom of the Seas

Log cabin in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee

 

We are cramming all of the above into 14 days.....i'm one crazy lady:eek: but that's how I live

 

Here is a family photo of us from last year at Disney World

 

 

 

So let me introduce you to my family. There is me, moi,......Marion - 41 (shhhhh). Actually, the older I get the younger I feel! Honestly, i'm like a big kid all over again. I get a bit over excited at things like booking holidays (vacations), christmas, birthdays (not mines since i'm older haaaa). I have my own business as an events stylist. Basically the biggest part of my business is styling wedding venues. We hire out chair covers, table centrepieces, make wedding invitations, balloon decor etc etc. We don't just specialise in weddings, we also decorate corporate events, birthday celebrations etc too. I love what I do but we are bang in the middle of wedding season right now and I haven't had a day off for over 3 months.....seriously! I'm exhausted and desperately NEED this holiday.

 

Anyhooooo, enough about me. Next up we have my husband Ramsay. He's a quiet kinda guy and just goes with (my) flow. He just leaves everything like arranging holidays (vacations) to me. He's a happy go lucky type of person and very laid back. Nothing seems to stress him out - I think I do the stressing out for both of us. Ramsay will be 39 on his birthday in October but likes to keep it low key. He also has his own business. He makes rubber.......don't ask! lol

 

Next we have our eldest son Callum. He just turned 15 yesterday and is your typical teenage boy. Want's to sleep all day and play his xbox all night! He's a great kid though. Very quiet and likes to keep to his own mix of friends. He's not very outspoken and he's into weird music. Yip, just your typical 15 year old lad. He is very sporty though and wants to be a PE teacher when he's older.

 

Last we have the youngest in our family....our wee Scott. He has just turned 10 and he's a chatterbox like me! Well they do say you don't get 2 the same. Both my sons are definitly opposites, they're like chalk and cheese! Scott is a very social kind of person and likes meeting new friends. Scott gets easily excited like me when it's getting close to our holidays, christmas, birthday etc. He always counts down the sleeps! i.e. "39 sleeps till we go on holiday mum". Me and him bounce around the house whilst Ramsay and Callum just give us the 'look' :rolleyes:

 

Anyway, that's our family. We live in a town on the east coast of Scotland called Kirkcaldy. It's about 30 minutes by car from Edinburgh. I'm originally from Glasgow so coming from a fairly big city to a small town was a big culture shock to me. But i've been here now for 17 years and can't see us moving on anytime soon.

 

So, i'll move on now to tell you all about our big vacation. I had always wanted to do a caribbean cruise but I also love disney! We have been going to Orlando almost every year since 2007 and I didn't know if I could tear myself away.

 

I definitly wanted to do something different this year but since we stay in Europe I didn't want to holiday here. I love the USA and everything about it and that's one of the reasons we return to Florida every year.

 

We thought about doing a week at Disney and a week cruising but I really wanted this holiday to be totally different. So......I went into planning mode and decided on the following :

 

2 nights at Disney (1 day at Magic kingdom)

1 night at Cape Canaveral

7 nights eastern caribbean cruise on FOS

4 nights in a log cabin in the Smoky mountains of Tennessee

 

So I start by giving you a day by day itinery of what we're planning starting by our travel day (which is in just over 5 weeks time.......excited......MUCH!!!!)

 

Thursday 4th October

 

It's an early morning start for us at 5am:eek:. Will need a few cups of tea to wake me up I think. We are scheduled to leave our house in Kirkcaldy at 6am for our 9.30am Continental flight from Edinburgh - Newark

 

 

We love flying with Continental. They have a great selection of movies and other entertainment on board and it keeps the boys amused on the 7 and a half hour flight into Newark. We can't fly direct from Edinburgh to Orlando, we always have to go indirect which is a bit of a pain but i'd rather connect in Newark than connect in London Gatwick!

 

We are due to land in Newark at 12.30pm local time and our connection flight leaves for Orlando International at 14.30. So basically we have 2 hours to clear immigration and have something to eat and drink. The time literally flies past

 

We are due to land in Orlando International at 17.30 and i've arranged a hire car from Alamo. I've booked us a SUV as we will be doing quite a bit of driving on this holiday. We always use Alamo as it's hassle free (no pushy sales reps trying to get us to upgrade), plus we also get to choose which car we want.....bonus!

 

I've booked us into Disney's Pop Century for 2 nights (need my disney fix!).

 

 

If all goes well we should arrive here approx 1900 local time. I imagine we'll be pretty exhausted as by now we'd have been on the go for about 15 hours!

 

We don't intend doing very much on this first night. We'll probably just head to Downtown Disney to soak up the atmosphere and grab a bite to eat

 

To be continued ..........................

[socialsea]

OMG!!! that sounds like an awesome trip. we have been to disney several times and we have done the tennesse cabins also. it is soooo beautiful there. we loved it. so quiet, so peaceful. good thing that the cabin is your last stop. maybe you can sit back and relax and enjoy the scenery?? our cabin had it's own hot tub on the wrap around porch with wooden rocking chairs. it was at the top of a mountain looking down. need i say more??? anyways, i can't wait to hear about your whole trip when you get back. you sound like a lot of fun and i like your style of writing. i hope you and your family have a fantastic vacation. we just booked our annual cruise a few days ago for the end of january on the FREEDOM OF THE SEAS. i will be hanging on your every word about her. take lots of pictures of her for me. we have been on her sister ship, liberty of the seas three times and absolutely love her. we have been on all the classes, except oasis class and the freedom class is our favourite. you are in for a real treat!!!

[lrn2cruise]

Hi Tinker!!!! Love reading your plans. You guys are quite adventures!

 

I find it interesting that you guys make it to the states every year. I cant imagine making it to Europe every year. Hats off to you guys!

 

We have been to every place you are going to this year. We have done Disney, FOS and the Smokey Mountains. You will love the Smokey Moutains. When you get to that point, I would love to know what area you are staying.

 

I am a wife to Keith, and my son is Caleb. He is 12.5 yrs. We live in South Texas-hot hot hot

[Tinkers70]

continued......

 

So I imagine we would have an early night after the long travel day on the Thursday but at least i'll be happy knowing that i'm back in my 'happy place'

 

Friday 5th October

 

Today I imagine we'll be up at the crack of dawn due to jetlag. I'm always up before 5am on our first day on Orlando then i'm exhausted that night.

 

We'll have a quiet lazy morning today I think. Just watch a bit of American tv in our beds while we wait patiently on the sun rising lol. Hoping to have breakfast at the hotel at around 8am then we plan on catching some sun rays for a few hours at the hotel pool. It'll be nice to chillax for a few hours and let the kids have some fun in the pool.

 

I'm hoping to have lunch around 1pm so we are finished and back in our room for 2pm. I have a tight schedule today as i've bought us tickets for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party on this night! whoooo hooooooo. can't wait to get my disney fix!

 

 

I want to leave our hotel no later than 3.30pm so we are at the gates for 4pm. The times for this event is from 4pm until midnight and I don't want to waste any precious minutes.

 

We've got literally 8 hours to do as many rides as we can, meet and get photo's of as many characters as we can, see all the parades, and the fireworks (hallowishes). we also need to find time to have dinner too but that's bottom of my 'to do' list lol

 

I do however need another disney fix and that's a Dole Whip (wow....how delicious are they!) I'll be heading straight for Aloa Island or whatever the counter is called that sells them. I know exactly where it is, just can't remember the exact name lol

 

So I imagine at Midnight we'll literally be thrown out of Magic Kingdom. Generally that's the only way of getting me out of there! I'd stay there forever if I could. We'll head back to Pop Centuary and probably go straight to bed as we'll still be pretty darn tired from the day before.

 

Saturday 6th October

 

whoooo hooooo.....it's getting closer! 1 more sleep until our cruise! Will I be able to contain my excitement?? I imagine i'll be driving Ramsay and Callum insane by now

 

So today it should be another lazy morning. We'll just hang out in bed watching tv until it's time to drag ourselves out, get showered, pack up our stuff and check out of our room.

 

I'll be sad to say goodbye to my Disney hotel but at least we've got our cruise and the smoky's to look forward too.

 

We're hoping to leave about 11am and drive to Cape Canaveral. I'm not quite sure yet how long this drive is but we're not in any hurry to get there anyway as we can't check into our hotel until 3pm ( I think)

 

I have booked us into Country Inn and Suites.......

 

 

My friend cruised on Freedom of the Sea's last year and she stayed here. She recommended it so that's the reason why i've booked to stay here for 1 night.

 

I really didn't fancy driving from Orlando to Port Canaveral the day of the cruise. I'd be petrified we'd miss the ship! So I thought it would be more relaxing to drive here the day before and chill out at the hotel pool for a while, then have some dinner and then an early night.

 

I don't think i'll be doing a lot of sleeping though. I'll be both too nervous and excited. I'm only nervous as this is our first cruise and I suppose it's the un-knowing that i'm nervous about. I'm sure we'll all be fine though.

 

I've booked the cruise and park package at the hotel so they will keep hold of our car until we return. I can't remember how much this cost but it wasn't that expensive.

 

And as far as I know the hotel offers transfers to the ship on the morning of your sailing *makes a mental note the check this out with the hotel*

 

Sunday 7th October

 

 

This is the day i've been dreaming about like forever! I've always wanted to do a caribbean cruise.Ideally we wanted to do the western itinery but with the way our school holidays fell this year we were forced to do the eastern cruise. I just wanted to do a western cruise because i've always wanted to visit Jamaica.

 

Don't get me wrong, i'm delighted to be doing the eastern cruise, it just means I have to return again sometime in the future and check out the western itinery......so it's a win win situation for me lol

 

Anyhoooooooo......I'm hoping to be one of the first on the ship! I don't know yet exactly what time we can offically board but I want to spend as much time as possible on this beauty.

 

I've already sent the link to Port canaveral webcam to all my friends and family here in Scotland so they can tune in and wave bye to us:D I've told them where to find us too.......right at the front at the helipad (if I can find it!)......deck 5 right??

 

I'll be the one frantically jumping up and down waving my hands in the air (nothing unusual there then lol). I just hope it's a lovely day for sail away. I've been watching the webcam over the last few weeks and it's been a bit grey looking every sunday. It almost looks like our weather lol

 

For the rest of the day I imagine we'll just be finding our way around the ship and eat. I really can't wait to see our room. I've booked us a catagory D1 stateroom with balcony (9318)....please tell me this is a good location! I wanted kinda middle of the ship so that's the room we got allocated, although I did kinda pick it myself.

 

I just hope there is ample room for the 4 of us and our luggage but if not i'm sure we'll be fine for 7 days

 

We are on MTD as I prefer to have a bit of freedom when it comes to the times we eat. We are generally late eaters anyway so this should be perfect for us. I'm really excited about trying lots of different things on the menue. I've had a look at the menu's for each day and quite frankly i've never heard of half of the things on there! Me and Ramsay aren't fussy eaters so I know we'll both be fine and will love whatever we choose. My 2 sons on the other hand are very fussy!

 

I was actually dreading eating in the MDR because of this but i've asked a few questions and have put my fears to rest. I now know that if Callum just wants steak he can have it.....without sauce or anything else over the top. He'll probably have that every night as he loves steak. He just doesn't like it with any sauce over it.

 

And as for Scott, i'm quite happy that i've been told he can order from the kids menu so that's us all sorted now ....there shouldn't be any food issues.

 

I'm hoping we'll still be slightly jetlagged and have an early night. An early night for us will be around 11pm probably. I want to be awake early in the morning for us docking off Cococay

 

 

This is one of the reasons I booked us a balcony. I'm hoping to be up and sitting on the balcony for coming into the ports.

 

I'm not really a beach type person. I love to be on the move all the time but i'm actually really looking forward to this day (as long as there's no tropical storms or hurricanes).

 

I tried to talk Callum into doing RCI's teen adventure trip when they can go snorkelling and have fun on the aqua park out at sea. He's generally a quiet boy and has a close group of friends that he hangs out with. He's not very good at making new friends. He would never dream of approaching someone else his age and striking up a conversation with them. So when I suggested this to him he just gave me a look or horror a the thought of it! He said he's rather hang out with the 'auld yin's' (that's me and his dad BTW)

 

Scott on the other hand is quiet socialable and will go out his way to make new friends although he is quite shy too. He's keen to go to the Adventure Ocean kids club. He might not last very long if he doesn't make any friends quite quickly but he'll give it a go anyway.

 

Scott is just excited about doing the aqua slide on the island. He's not a good swimmer so it's not a good idea for him to do the aqua slides out at sea. Plus i'd be petrified he'd get stung by a jellyfish *shudders*

 

Contined......................

[Tinkers70]

OMG!!! that sounds like an awesome trip. we have been to disney several times and we have done the tennesse cabins also. it is soooo beautiful there. we loved it. so quiet, so peaceful. good thing that the cabin is your last stop. maybe you can sit back and relax and enjoy the scenery?? our cabin had it's own hot tub on the wrap around porch with wooden rocking chairs. it was at the top of a mountain looking down. need i say more??? anyways, i can't wait to hear about your whole trip when you get back. you sound like a lot of fun and i like your style of writing. i hope you and your family have a fantastic vacation. we just booked our annual cruise a few days ago for the end of january on the FREEDOM OF THE SEAS. i will be hanging on your every word about her. take lots of pictures of her for me. we have been on her sister ship, liberty of the seas three times and absolutely love her. we have been on all the classes, except oasis class and the freedom class is our favourite. you are in for a real treat!!!

 

Hiya :D

 

I'm a bit of a rambler when it comes to writing up trip reports (i've did a few on some of the Disney sites). I forget to shut up sometimes lol.

 

I'll be taking literally thousands of photo's on this trip and will do a day by day trip report on here when we return. We call it a trip report back here in the UK but over the pond it gets called a review.....same thing though I guess lol

 

We are also staying in a cabin with a big balcony overlooking the smokies. I booked it through Sugar Maple Cabins. We also have a hot tub too:D I've got photo's of our cabin to put up on here once I get to that bit, it might be near to the one you stayed in xx

 

Hi Tinker!!!! Love reading your plans. You guys are quite adventures!

 

I find it interesting that you guys make it to the states every year. I cant imagine making it to Europe every year. Hats off to you guys!

 

We have been to every place you are going to this year. We have done Disney, FOS and the Smokey Mountains. You will love the Smokey Moutains. When you get to that point, I would love to know what area you are staying.

 

I am a wife to Keith, and my son is Caleb. He is 12.5 yrs. We live in South Texas-hot hot hot

 

We just love visiting the States every year. It is expensive though but we manage it because we don't smoke and don't drink very much either and with both me and my husband having our own businesses we don't often have the time for a social life. So every little penny we have goes on a luxury holiday.

 

Living in Scotland we don't get much sun:( It's like autumn (fall) here all year round! Honestly, I brought our my 'summer' clothes back in April and i've not had the chance to wear them yet. We've had so much rain this year it's unbelieveable. So my little luxury is to visit Florida each year for some much needed sunshine:cool:

 

We used to go to Spain, Greece, Turkey and various other European countries every year but it's so expensive to go to these places now for us that i'd rather spend a bit extra and go to the USA where I know i'm guaranteed a great vacation :D

[Classynfun1]

My Mum is Kiwi and had always wanted to go to Jamaica as well. I had heard stories and wishes about it while growing. However, though we have cruises A LOT together as a family over the years, she somehow never ended up on our cruises that included Jamaica. Until June 2012 when I took her on a last minute Oasis cruise.

 

I tried to warn her, but she would have no part of it. However, after getting to Jamaica, doing an island tours, etc. Her response after all what said and done? A blank stare and, "well, that is the most disappoint tick off of my bucket list. THAT is Jamaica?" Anyway, it is one the very, VERY bottom of her port lists now. She says Eastern is better! :-)

 

ENJOY

[hcazrat]

You are going to have a fabulous time. We did the Halloween thing at Disney a couple of years ago and had a great time. It wasn't very crowded so we got to ride our favorite rides multiple times. We were with my sister and her husband and she made sure I tried the Dole Whip. Very good.

 

The drive from Orlando to Cape Canaveral is not very long, so you'll have plenty of time. You should be able to board the ship sometime after 11:00. We sail on Freedom in three weeks to the Western Caribbean and can't wait. We've been on her sister ship, Liberty, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Your kids will love it.

 

We have stayed in several cabins in the Smokies, including one booked through Sugar Maple Cabins. What a great way to top off your trip.

[Tinkers70]

My Mum is Kiwi and had always wanted to go to Jamaica as well. I had heard stories and wishes about it while growing. However, though we have cruises A LOT together as a family over the years, she somehow never ended up on our cruises that included Jamaica. Until June 2012 when I took her on a last minute Oasis cruise.

 

I tried to warn her, but she would have no part of it. However, after getting to Jamaica, doing an island tours, etc. Her response after all what said and done? A blank stare and, "well, that is the most disappoint tick off of my bucket list. THAT is Jamaica?" Anyway, it is one the very, VERY bottom of her port lists now. She says Eastern is better! :-)

 

ENJOY

 

Hiya

 

I can quite believe it. I've mentioned to a few people before about Jamaica and they've all said it's not that great a place to visit. I don't know why I want to see it, I think it's just one of those places that come into my head whenever I hear the mention of the Caribbean.

 

I'm actually so glad now that we've booked an eastern itinery as i've reseached some of the islands we're visiting and they are beautiful.

 

The island I would love to visit most (one of these days) is Barbadous. I just hope if I ever manage to get there that i'm not disappointed :) xx

[Beth C]

The sounds like the makings of a great trip report... can't wait!

 

One thing that could save you a couple hundred $$$$ - don't rent and park your Alamo SUV for the week while on the cruise... turn it in the morning you go to the ship and pick up a new one when you get back a week later... will probably save a few $ on the hotel as well :) Unless of course you got a phenomenal deal on the rental and the price has gone up alot if you went to book it today

[emdia43]

Are you keeping the rental car during your cruise? Why not return it at the port then get another when you return...? You will be paying for a week rental for nothing, plus parking fee..:eek:

[AmberTeka]

Glad to see you are staying inside Disney.Fall has low rated..low low rates and you get the free transportation...the extra hours and it is safe. Orlando..sadly is thriving in Gang Activity. Be careful where you go. Lake Buena Vista is still Safe. We often eat the Olive Garden there....or the Red Lobster...they have a Carrabas that my DH loves not far...Even International Drive...gets scary after dark. Makes me mad. Disney is a national Treasure. The crooks we pamper in Congress could keep their pet thugs away from places like Disney...

 

Hope you have a great time. My family is Scotch-Irish. We have traced one of them back to 1604. They were poor, but honest and hard working, and they kept up with each other!

[lovethesun1960]

Hiya

 

I can quite believe it. I've mentioned to a few people before about Jamaica and they've all said it's not that great a place to visit. I don't know why I want to see it, I think it's just one of those places that come into my head whenever I hear the mention of the Caribbean.

 

I'm actually so glad now that we've booked an eastern itinery as i've reseached some of the islands we're visiting and they are beautiful.

 

The island I would love to visit most (one of these days) is Barbadous. I just hope if I ever manage to get there that i'm not disappointed :) xx

 

I've always wanted to go to Jamaica too, but haven't got there yet. Falmouth is really not a touristy place, so just make plans to go on an excursion to Dunn's River Falls or to a resort for the day.

 

When you finally get to Barbados, you will be glad you did. It is lovely.

 

You will also enjoy the Smoky Mountains. The area around the park is just jam packed with touristy crap, it kind of reminds you of Orlando, but the park is exceptional. Be sure to spend as much time in the park as you can. There are a lot of great hikes to be done. I am so jealous of your holiday!

[SECdawg]

Sounds like you will be having two of the best weeks on your vacation. If the boys like water activities I would suggest they wear their swim trunks onboard the first day and hit the flowrider. The first day always seem to have the shortest lines. It opens at 1pm and we are always first in line, at least close to the front, to get the wristbands. You can sign the releases electronically and that will speed things up. I think a parent still needs to be with them in order to get the wristband.

They usually start boarding between 11-11:30 so get there close to 11.

Have a great time on your vacation, can't wait to here all about it.:)

[lrn2cruise]

Tinker, I went to Edinburgh as a teen. Talk about GREEN country! it is beautiful!

 

I understand the working hard and saving money! That is honestly what a great American is. You will fit in fine around here!

 

You excitement for your trip is contagious!

[Tinkers70]

You are going to have a fabulous time. We did the Halloween thing at Disney a couple of years ago and had a great time. It wasn't very crowded so we got to ride our favorite rides multiple times. We were with my sister and her husband and she made sure I tried the Dole Whip. Very good.

 

The drive from Orlando to Cape Canaveral is not very long, so you'll have plenty of time. You should be able to board the ship sometime after 11:00. We sail on Freedom in three weeks to the Western Caribbean and can't wait. We've been on her sister ship, Liberty, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Your kids will love it.

 

We have stayed in several cabins in the Smokies, including one booked through Sugar Maple Cabins. What a great way to top off your trip.

 

We've did the halloween party twice before at Magic Kingdom and it's great fun. This time we won't be dressing up though. We love how most the rides are walk on and we love the atmosphere

 

I hope you enjoy your trip on Freedom in a few weeks time.....hope you're going to do a report so I can read it :)

 

The sounds like the makings of a great trip report... can't wait!

 

One thing that could save you a couple hundred $$$$ - don't rent and park your Alamo SUV for the week while on the cruise... turn it in the morning you go to the ship and pick up a new one when you get back a week later... will probably save a few $ on the hotel as well :) Unless of course you got a phenomenal deal on the rental and the price has gone up alot if you went to book it today

 

Are you keeping the rental car during your cruise? Why not return it at the port then get another when you return...? You will be paying for a week rental for nothing, plus parking fee..:eek:

 

I have hired the car for 2 weeks......I know, I know, i'm mad to have done this but I just figured it would be much easier and less hassle this way. We are having to bring more luggage than normal so we're going to leave our Tennessee luggage in the car as I wasn't sure how much space we'd have in our cabin (I don't travel light):D

 

Plus I want a quick get away when we get off the ship as we've got a long drive ahead of us.

 

It just seemed more logical to keep the car.

[jennmaybe]

Hiya :D

 

We are also staying in a cabin with a big balcony overlooking the smokies. I booked it through Sugar Maple Cabins. We also have a hot tub too:D I've got photo's of our cabin to put up on here once I get to that bit, it might be near to the one you stayed in xx

 

 

We always use Sugar Maple! They have the best cabins! We always get one with a game room and/or theater room. We are never bored in these cabins!!

[Cruisingboyo]

Sounds good Marion... So jel of the Tennessee trip!!

 

Your fb bud, Ste :)

[tndisneyfan]

I'm looking forward to your trip review. We will be arriving at WDW as you are leaving.

 

I live in the Smoky Mountains, about an hour and a half from the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area. We take a lot of day trips there but rarely spend the night. I hope you enjoy the area.

[Just The 3 Of Us]

This is fantastic - what a wonderful idea to have a pre-trip report - love it - keep it coming!!!

 

:)

[lrn2cruise]

We rented from "Cabins for You" and rented a cabin right on the river in Gatlinburg. The cabin was awesome and we had a great time but next time I do not want to stay IN Gatlinburg. I want to be outside either in Sevierville or in Cosby by the river. We are even talking about camping there.

 

Staying IN Gatlinburg is more expensive. The fishing was odd to for my Husband. There are certain rules, etc that he had to follow on days

[Classynfun1]

Hiya

 

I can quite believe it. I've mentioned to a few people before about Jamaica and they've all said it's not that great a place to visit. I don't know why I want to see it, I think it's just one of those places that come into my head whenever I hear the mention of the Caribbean.

 

I'm actually so glad now that we've booked an eastern itinery as i've reseached some of the islands we're visiting and they are beautiful.

 

The island I would love to visit most (one of these days) is Barbadous. I just hope if I ever manage to get there that i'm not disappointed :) xx

 

I promise, you will NOT be disppointed in Barbados! :)

[Tinkers70]

Glad to see you are staying inside Disney.Fall has low rated..low low rates and you get the free transportation...the extra hours and it is safe. Orlando..sadly is thriving in Gang Activity. Be careful where you go. Lake Buena Vista is still Safe. We often eat the Olive Garden there....or the Red Lobster...they have a Carrabas that my DH loves not far...Even International Drive...gets scary after dark. Makes me mad. Disney is a national Treasure. The crooks we pamper in Congress could keep their pet thugs away from places like Disney...

 

Hope you have a great time. My family is Scotch-Irish. We have traced one of them back to 1604. They were poor, but honest and hard working, and they kept up with each other!

 

Lucky in all the times we have been to Orlando we have never encountered any problems. We have however watched the local news on tv and know that there is a problem with gang activity and robberty etc. It's such a shame as Orlando is beautiful but I guess you will have the same problems no matter where in the world you are. :(

 

I've always wanted to go to Jamaica too, but haven't got there yet. Falmouth is really not a touristy place, so just make plans to go on an excursion to Dunn's River Falls or to a resort for the day.

 

When you finally get to Barbados, you will be glad you did. It is lovely.

 

You will also enjoy the Smoky Mountains. The area around the park is just jam packed with touristy crap, it kind of reminds you of Orlando, but the park is exceptional. Be sure to spend as much time in the park as you can. There are a lot of great hikes to be done. I am so jealous of your holiday!

 

We will be spending as much time in the National Park as possible doing some of the trails. I'm a bit nervous of encountering any wildlife though :)

[Tinkers70]

Sounds like you will be having two of the best weeks on your vacation. If the boys like water activities I would suggest they wear their swim trunks onboard the first day and hit the flowrider. The first day always seem to have the shortest lines. It opens at 1pm and we are always first in line, at least close to the front, to get the wristbands. You can sign the releases electronically and that will speed things up. I think a parent still needs to be with them in order to get the wristband.

They usually start boarding between 11-11:30 so get there close to 11.

Have a great time on your vacation, can't wait to here all about it.:)

 

Thanks for the tip about the boys wearing their swim trunks. I'll be sure to pack them in our hand luggage. My eldest is really looking forward to the flowrider but my youngest I think will be too chicken for it

 

We'll be at the port for 10.30 sharp! lol

 

Tinker, I went to Edinburgh as a teen. Talk about GREEN country! it is beautiful!

 

I understand the working hard and saving money! That is honestly what a great American is. You will fit in fine around here!

 

You excitement for your trip is contagious!

 

Scotland is a very green country and there's a good reason for that......rain!! Honestly, the amount of rain we get is ridiculous sometimes. That 's why we have to travel far to chase some sunshine:D

 

We always use Sugar Maple! They have the best cabins! We always get one with a game room and/or theater room. We are never bored in these cabins!!

 

We have booked one with a games room and also a hot tub on the balcony. I'll post photo's of the one i've booked when I finish this report hopefully later today :)

[Tinkers70]

Sounds good Marion... So jel of the Tennessee trip!!

 

Your fb bud, Ste :)

 

Booooooooooooo! Fancy meeting you here Ste!! :D Not long now till your cruise too xx

 

I'm looking forward to your trip review. We will be arriving at WDW as you are leaving.

 

I live in the Smoky Mountains, about an hour and a half from the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area. We take a lot of day trips there but rarely spend the night. I hope you enjoy the area.

 

I don't know what i'm looking forward to the most. Our Disney stay, the cruise or Tennessee! We are staying in the Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg area. It looks gorgeous.....can't wait!

 

This is fantastic - what a wonderful idea to have a pre-trip report - love it - keep it coming!!!

 

:)

 

I go on Disney forum (a UK one) and lots of people do pre-trip reports about their Disney vacation. I suppose it adds to the excitement and lets everyone know your plans before you actually go. Plus it's good to look back on throughout the years and read up on all the planning you did:)

[Tinkers70]

I'll get round to finishing the rest of my pre-trip report later today.......off to work now - Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :)