4 miles = 2 bridges + 2 stiles (and a lot of mud)

A slight deviation from the theme today.  And it's a few days late because within a couple of hours of returning from this adventure, I came down with a chest infection, thanks to my lovely daughter. 

So a week ago on Saturday morning, Phil and I ventured out on a walk we'd done a few weeks before-hand and really enjoyed.  It was a lot warmer this time, the sun was finally out and there was almost no wind. Perfect conditions for a morning walk in the New Forest.  

It's only a four mile route but there's a few slight hills in there just to get our blood racing a bit.  The route goes through farmland, woodland, fields and over the river (twice.)  Hence all the mud.  We came back with half the Forest on our boots; but we firmly believe that means we've had a great time!

As we drew into the car park at the beginning of the walk, we spotted a rabbit with a mouth full of bedding material who promptly disappeared through the hedge - Spring was definitely already in the air.   Later in the walk, Spring was confirmed beyond all doubt with our first sight and sound of a chiff-chaff.  This is absolutely my signal to start looking to get my shorts out and do some major work in the garden during the lighter evenings.  

Now, it's the law, clearly, that each time you cross a footbridge you are obliged to play Pooh Sticks. Even if there isn't much water and it's not flowing well, it's obligatory.  On both these occasions, the water was a good depth and flowing very fast! So we each selected our favourite sticks and took on the challenge. Last time, I was the champion.  This time, I lost. Every. Single. Time!  

This was Phil's Champion's pose....

Along the way, there was an assortment of deer, ponies, Highland Cows (with calves - so adorable!) a veritable cacophony of noisy bird-life, and a few early butterflies as well.  We saw donkeys on the way home so our day was as perfect as it could be thereafter. 

A great and fabulous day.... until I then started to feel very, very ill :(

So what's all the fuss?

 I feel I should explain why I'm feeling so stressed about planning this holiday.   

The first key issue is that we're from the UK.  We can't just come to Disney or Universal for a long weekend or three-day trip.  So for most UK residents, such a trip is once a year at most; and in our case, once per decade and only then because of a one-off injection of cash.  If it were just based upon our salaried income, we would never make it.  When you're spending thousands on flights across The Pond alone, the only real way to do this is for at least 10 days or longer.  There is a benefit.  Disney, and to some extent Universal, offer special packages for UK visitors because they factor in the long stay duration when calculating the per diem rates.   However that only applies to the park tickets, not the resorts.   If we were to pay for even the cheapest Disney resort for 14 nights, that cost alone becomes prohibitive.  The thought of managing to afford a moderate or deluxe hotel is completely unrealistic, even if only for a few days before switching to something more budget-friendly.  As a result, we plumped for a booking at Universal's Endless Summer resort because that cost a similar amount to an I-Drive hotel and was about as much as we could afford.  The benefits that booking offered were also great for our Universal days and didn't impact too heavily upon our Disney days. 

For all of the above reasons and many more, this holiday needs to be planned as if it were a one-off, never to be repeated experience.  When you include the fact that we've waited to do this for over two years, it becomes particularly important.  Like so many others, two years ago we had our plans to go to Orlando completely scuppered. In our case we were going to celebrate my daughter's 21st and my 50th.  We still are going to celebrate - 23 and 52 are totally big birthdays now!

We've spent hours, literally way too many hours, watching YouTube videos by our favourite Disney  vloggers, #allears #dbf and #wdnt, among others, to allow us to decide where we want to go, what we want to do and which restaurants we want to visit.  I felt suitably armed with all the information I needed to plan a holiday we'd all remember forever.   My excitement was at a level of extreme expectation, not just for myself but for the family as a whole. But my hopes and dreams have now officially been dashed. Totally destroyed beyond all the utter disappointment I thought possible.

Now, many days later (I started this post well over a week ago) I've been trying to get dining reservations first thing upon the magical 60 day marker, and have failed miserably.  I've watched the reservation screen go from nothing to the list of available restaurants, only to find time and again that the list is considerably shorter than it should be.  For example, not once did Cinderella's Royal Table or Space 220 appear, among others.  Not once.  I've literally managed to get only three reservations for the many restaurants we wanted to eat in, and only one of those is at a time we'd prefer to eat.   That's after trying to book on all 14 of the days we are scheduled to be in Orlando.  Disney appears to no longer be somewhere for all families to have a magical time.  It's now only possible if you are willing and able to pay for the top hotels, passes and experiences.  Those of us who are too lowly for Mr Chapek clearly no longer matter. 

Never fear, I'm very good at picking myself up and starting again.  We will absolutely be having the holiday of a lifetime; but the emphasis will now be very much towards the Universal parks.  When we do visit Disney, it will be for just one day per park and for the most part with food we bring with us.  So that's ten days we will not be in Disney, not buying Genie+, not eating Disney food and, most likely, spending considerably less on Disney merchandise.  I appreciate we're just one family of four and that this will represent a drop in the ocean to Mr Chapek's profit margin; but I strongly believe that we are not alone, and that even families in the US with lower travel costs are also now finding Disney a less-attractive option.  It's so sad that this is what appears to be the legacy of Mr Chapek's tenure at the top.

That's my rant over. We now have 46 sleeps until we step forth upon the hallowed Orlando earth and we cannot wait!  It's going to be an amazing holiday and a fortnight to remember for the rest of our lives. 

56 Sleeps and the pressure is on

All the experts say how hard it is to get certain reservations in DisneyWorld, but it's not until you've spent three hours constantly refreshing your phone screen that you fully appreciate how frustratingly difficult it really is.

We've now passed the magical 60 day mark when we can start making bookings.  However, we do appear to be suffering somewhat from a lack of availability for non-resort guests. 

My daughter and her fiance are due to celebrate their anniversary whilst we are away, so I had wanted to book Cinderella's Royal Table as part of the celebration.  I knew that reservations become available at a certain time in the morning (11:00) UK time, thanks to AJ of DFB!   I started refreshing my phone screen every few minutes from 08:00 just in case; but when the reservation screen finally became visible, despite it being on the very specific list of two in "My Day" on Disney Genie, Cinderella's Royal Table simply never appeared, not even for the briefest of moments.  I did manage to snag a booking at Be Our Guest however, so we will still be having an amazing meal and hopefully an unforgettable experience.

I had previously and very unsuccessfully tried booking Space 220 for a different day, so knew it wasn't going to be easy; but I desperately wanted to give my daughter something really memorable for that special day. Who knew that planning a holiday could be so stressful! 

This is nothing however compared to the diabolical experience we have had at the "hands" of our tour operator.  That review will come when we return and I can vent without fear of repercussion; but suffice it to say I will never book a holiday through them again even if they do provide the best deal.  The resultant stress just simply isn't worth the financial saving.