Let the countdown commence!

 

We've booked (again)!

It's been quite a journey but we've finally taken the plunge and booked a replacement holiday.  

The difference between the one we originally booked and this one is huge, thanks mostly to Bob Chapek and his mission to charge everyone more than they can afford.  I did a lot of research, contacted all sorts of different companies, looked at booking as part of a package deal and by pricing everything individually.  In the end, the best deal was a package one; and the biggest change is that we are no longer staying at or near Disney, but in Universal.   This worked out even cheaper than renting an Air BnB with all other things considered.  

So now I'm in full-on planning mode.  I have a spreadsheet with multiple tabs, each one concentrating on different aspects of the holiday - what needs planning, what we need to buy, where we want to go and what we want to do.  Since this is likely to be our only full family holiday for many years, it needs to be as good as it can be - we simply don't have the funds to do it more often, possibly never again.

So, we arrive in Orlando on 7th May and depart two weeks later.  During that time, we have tickets for Universal (all three parks) and Disney (all parks) and are looking at other activities such as an escape room and snorkelling.  I still have more questions than answers but at least we now have something tangible to look forward to!  

This whole thing has been as much an emotional roller-coaster as a physical one.  So we're keeping all our collective fingers crossed that we do eventually board that plane on 7th May.