JulieSharp
Joshua will always be my 'little boy'
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2008
Hi,
Firstly I would like to explain I am a total novice not only at trip reports but also a newcomer at posting on the DIS, so I don't have high
expectations at the quality of this thread.
My husband (you know him as johnnysharp2), has over 6,000 posts to his credit but for various reasons, he will not like me for saying this, has decided to retire with honour from the DIS and thereby handed the reigns over to me..gulp! (he has helped me a bit with the photos).
I have read a few trip reports recently and feel like I would like to share our plans with you all.
Anyway here goes....this is a pre-trip report for our forthcoming holiday this April.
We have been to Florida I think 14 times now, our first holiday being our honeymoon in 1990, so long ago, we have been hooked ever since and been fortunate to have travelled all around the Sunshine State from as far apart as Sarasota to the Keys, from elegant Naples to vibrant Miami.
There are not many places we haven't been to.
Since our son was born he is now 12, our plans and ideas have changed as he has got older. Somehow now moving away from Orlando doesn't seem quite right.
Therefore we don't travel around the state as much as we used to, and to be honest in a way as much as we would like to. Pic from his 1st trip below:
Over recent years we have found our holidays, maybe Orlando in particular has become slightly over-familiar, I suppose there are many reasons for this, including perhaps the number of times we have now been.
As I am sure John (you didn't really believe his 'real name' was Johnny did you?) has explained our son Joshua has Autism , something that was diagnosed several years ago. He is also unable to talk.
Since then and has he has got older, our holidays have become more complicated and at times our lives more stressful. For many reasons we haven't been since August 2006 and have actually cancelled our last 2 planned trips.
Again, various reasons/complications..not least mine and Joshua's inablity to cope with the intense summer heat, and perhaps a feeling we needed a couple of years off.
As Josh gets older (and we do too!), it gets more difficult for us, even going out in the evening (when he is usually very tired) or trying to go out to a restauarant (when he can get stressed out), makes planning our holiday harder, or at least different than most of your average plans.
All that said, we are looking forward to our April holiday and with the following details in mind we hope it's a good one.
pic of Joshua from last holiday below:
Who : Me, Julie, husband John and son Joshua (no ages specified!).
When : April 7th to 21st, just the 2 weeks this time. With my teaching job, Easter is the best time for us to go with summer now being too hot for us.
Yes the parks will be busy, but to be honest we don't mind. It's not like we spend every day at the parks because we just don't and never have done.
Joshua being such an early riser means when we do go to a park in the morning we are usually there for opening times.
To be honest some of the parks we feel at best are just a stroll around, Josh has never taken to MGM (Hollywood Studios) so we limit ourselves to an evening stroll.
Flights : Virgin Atlantic from Manchester, upgraded to Premium Economy both ways and have booked seats in the 'bubble'! Adds to the cost but just can't see going with Joshua in Economy again (at this point my husband would have explained why in great detail, me?.. I will leave that I think).
The portable DVD player we have, armed with 4 batteries, and I estimate around 50 DVDs should be enough to keep 'his lordship (Joshua not John!) happy we hope.
Accomodation: The hardest part, what we have found over the last few years especially when staying in villas is that Joshua (the little home boy) is often reluctant or too tired to go out later in the day, say after 5pm, happy to wind down, play in the pool or just watch DVD/videos (we bring quite a few DVDs with us for the flight/villa and a few US format tapes too). Just makes life easier for us and keeps him happy at all times.
We like the freedom to able to relax on holiday, whether that be sitting out in the sun or playing with Josh in the pool.
However, we also feel that there is a need to stay at a 'resort' rather than just a villa.
Hence we have booked ourselves in at the Polynesian, requesting SAMOA view, for the first 4 nights, close to Magic Kingdom which is easily our favourite WDW park and with restaurants/shops and a bar on-site, something we have not experience for a very long time.
In itself that means if I am honest we really don't know how Joshua will react to staying in a hotel - it is years since we have done.
What we do know is the Poly looks fab and if Josh does settle there we know it will be a great first few days for us.
For the remaining 10 we are staying at the villa below at Terre Verde, which is a gated community just off Poinciana Boulevard. An area we are very familiar with, Publix nearby, restaurants and more importantly the Outback restaurant nearby too (we love to get take-out from there).
Not only that but it's a 'resort' with community pool, internet cafe, clubhouse and Tiki Bar.
The owner's are in the UK and are really lovely, helpful people.
So we feel we have everything covered, in the past when Joshua hasn't wanted to go out and to be honest if he doesn't then I don't either, sometimes John has gone out on his own - which he hates doing, well 'hates' is too strong a word. We have little social life at home, partly by choice, but John does like to dress up smart and go for a drink sometimes. Naturally staying at both the Poly and Terre Verde means he can do that without driving anywhere as there are bars on-site as it were at both locations.
Where possible we will endeavour to go out together later in the day as much as we can, but fact is some times Josh just won't want to and just loves to play in the pool and 'just play' before bedtime.
Having some kind of facilities on our doorstep throughout our stay will be something really good for us.
Terre Verde looks lovely, it is one of the few villa resorts we haven't actually driven around - we tried in 2006 and rightly they wouldn't let us in through security, that in itself means we feel more safe there.
They even have a grocery store and small beach, whilst we liked the likes of Indian Creek, TV does look more appropriate for our needs now, and the Clubhouse is literally a 2 minute walk from the villa.
Naturally we plan on using the car as little as possible the first few days, so we will concentrate on the Disney parks these days, especially MK.
*edited to remove Polynesian photos*
Car Hire : We booked a minivan through Dollar, via usrentacar - just before the prices went sky high, phew! John does all the driving
(and I should point out all the Publix shopping too).
Money : Having cancelled previous trips I guess we were lucky we have $3500 ready and waiting - so much shopping to do!
Thankfully we got our $$$ over a period of time when the rate was much better.
Park Tickets : We have 2 day Disney park hoppers left from our old Magic Your Way Tickets, with 'we think' 3 water park days left too.
Have added brand new 6 day MYW tickets to this too, all of these are non-expiry/hoppers.
Universal we bought 7 day passes from Dreams Unlimited, to be activated when we get there.
Sea World we qualify for discounted tickets through Joshua's disability so we will get these at the gate.
Plans : To be honest we have never planned more than just a few days in advance, we have never seen the point as with our son there has to be so much flexibility about what we do each day. To be honest we kind of like it that way.
What we have got planned is the following:
1) Arrive Tuesday 7th, stop at Publix briefly on way to Polynesian, unpack just 1 case and get Joshua something to eat as priority. Rest of evening perhaps have a look around the resort.
2) Wednesday 8th, Character Breakfast booked at Ohana's for 07:30. Followed by Magic Kingdom, via Monorail of course! Perhaps returning in the afternoon or maybe visiting another WDW park. (As an aside, lets hope John doesn't fall outside Pirates ride again on them wet cobblestones, he cracked his head on the floor was helped up by some concerned fellow guests, me and Joshua has walked ahead, all he was bothered about was scuffing up his designer trainers! Y3 Adidas ones apparently, why he needs 4 pairs I really don't know)
3) Thursday 9th EPCOT, Josh has never been on Soarin' or Test track so we plan on doing both these this morning. Probably relax around the resort after that and plan a walk over to Grand Floridian too. Back to Magic Kingdom (if we get can Josh out of the room or pool, later in the day).
That's pretty much as far as it goes! We have an ADR on Monday the 13th for breakfast at Boma's and will probably wait till we get to the villa before starting our Universal adventures.
We are definitely going to Clearwater Beach one day, shopping trips to Mall At Millenia, Premium Outlets and others including a long awaited return to Pointe Orlando planned. John will be desperate to get stocked up on Tommy Bahama shirts ASAP, even though he has said he has at least 6 ready for the suitcase already! Spotted him eyeing up their website the other night and writing things down....hmmm
It's years since we visited Clearwater and St.Pete's, I am sure if we don't go early on the holiday then we probably won't bother.
We have pencilled in a drive there on Easter Sunday stopping off at the fab International Plaza mall at Tampa (must remind John to check it is open that day as we remember most of the malls in Orlando were closed on Easter Sunday back in 2005).
Most of our other 'plans' will pretty much be on the day, there are several things we have lined up, some bar John wants to visit at Celebration I think, a trip to Old Town maybe too (even though we hated it last time).
All in all we have high expectations of this holiday. We feel it's all set up for us nicely, main thing as always is our son has a great time, after the last holiday dissapointment we really feel we deserve this one. I think in the past we may have been guilty about planning the 'perfect' holiday, with Joshua it's so difficult to expect everything to run smoothly, hence we have adopted a more relaxed attitude this time...well at least until we get there!
Hopefully the weather will be nice, and that we all have a great time - thanks for reading.
Firstly I would like to explain I am a total novice not only at trip reports but also a newcomer at posting on the DIS, so I don't have high
expectations at the quality of this thread.
My husband (you know him as johnnysharp2), has over 6,000 posts to his credit but for various reasons, he will not like me for saying this, has decided to retire with honour from the DIS and thereby handed the reigns over to me..gulp! (he has helped me a bit with the photos).
I have read a few trip reports recently and feel like I would like to share our plans with you all.
Anyway here goes....this is a pre-trip report for our forthcoming holiday this April.
We have been to Florida I think 14 times now, our first holiday being our honeymoon in 1990, so long ago, we have been hooked ever since and been fortunate to have travelled all around the Sunshine State from as far apart as Sarasota to the Keys, from elegant Naples to vibrant Miami.
There are not many places we haven't been to.
Since our son was born he is now 12, our plans and ideas have changed as he has got older. Somehow now moving away from Orlando doesn't seem quite right.
Therefore we don't travel around the state as much as we used to, and to be honest in a way as much as we would like to. Pic from his 1st trip below:
Over recent years we have found our holidays, maybe Orlando in particular has become slightly over-familiar, I suppose there are many reasons for this, including perhaps the number of times we have now been.
As I am sure John (you didn't really believe his 'real name' was Johnny did you?) has explained our son Joshua has Autism , something that was diagnosed several years ago. He is also unable to talk.
Since then and has he has got older, our holidays have become more complicated and at times our lives more stressful. For many reasons we haven't been since August 2006 and have actually cancelled our last 2 planned trips.
Again, various reasons/complications..not least mine and Joshua's inablity to cope with the intense summer heat, and perhaps a feeling we needed a couple of years off.
As Josh gets older (and we do too!), it gets more difficult for us, even going out in the evening (when he is usually very tired) or trying to go out to a restauarant (when he can get stressed out), makes planning our holiday harder, or at least different than most of your average plans.
All that said, we are looking forward to our April holiday and with the following details in mind we hope it's a good one.
pic of Joshua from last holiday below:
Who : Me, Julie, husband John and son Joshua (no ages specified!).
When : April 7th to 21st, just the 2 weeks this time. With my teaching job, Easter is the best time for us to go with summer now being too hot for us.
Yes the parks will be busy, but to be honest we don't mind. It's not like we spend every day at the parks because we just don't and never have done.
Joshua being such an early riser means when we do go to a park in the morning we are usually there for opening times.
To be honest some of the parks we feel at best are just a stroll around, Josh has never taken to MGM (Hollywood Studios) so we limit ourselves to an evening stroll.
Flights : Virgin Atlantic from Manchester, upgraded to Premium Economy both ways and have booked seats in the 'bubble'! Adds to the cost but just can't see going with Joshua in Economy again (at this point my husband would have explained why in great detail, me?.. I will leave that I think).
The portable DVD player we have, armed with 4 batteries, and I estimate around 50 DVDs should be enough to keep 'his lordship (Joshua not John!) happy we hope.
Accomodation: The hardest part, what we have found over the last few years especially when staying in villas is that Joshua (the little home boy) is often reluctant or too tired to go out later in the day, say after 5pm, happy to wind down, play in the pool or just watch DVD/videos (we bring quite a few DVDs with us for the flight/villa and a few US format tapes too). Just makes life easier for us and keeps him happy at all times.
We like the freedom to able to relax on holiday, whether that be sitting out in the sun or playing with Josh in the pool.
However, we also feel that there is a need to stay at a 'resort' rather than just a villa.
Hence we have booked ourselves in at the Polynesian, requesting SAMOA view, for the first 4 nights, close to Magic Kingdom which is easily our favourite WDW park and with restaurants/shops and a bar on-site, something we have not experience for a very long time.
In itself that means if I am honest we really don't know how Joshua will react to staying in a hotel - it is years since we have done.
What we do know is the Poly looks fab and if Josh does settle there we know it will be a great first few days for us.
For the remaining 10 we are staying at the villa below at Terre Verde, which is a gated community just off Poinciana Boulevard. An area we are very familiar with, Publix nearby, restaurants and more importantly the Outback restaurant nearby too (we love to get take-out from there).
Not only that but it's a 'resort' with community pool, internet cafe, clubhouse and Tiki Bar.
The owner's are in the UK and are really lovely, helpful people.
So we feel we have everything covered, in the past when Joshua hasn't wanted to go out and to be honest if he doesn't then I don't either, sometimes John has gone out on his own - which he hates doing, well 'hates' is too strong a word. We have little social life at home, partly by choice, but John does like to dress up smart and go for a drink sometimes. Naturally staying at both the Poly and Terre Verde means he can do that without driving anywhere as there are bars on-site as it were at both locations.
Where possible we will endeavour to go out together later in the day as much as we can, but fact is some times Josh just won't want to and just loves to play in the pool and 'just play' before bedtime.
Having some kind of facilities on our doorstep throughout our stay will be something really good for us.
Terre Verde looks lovely, it is one of the few villa resorts we haven't actually driven around - we tried in 2006 and rightly they wouldn't let us in through security, that in itself means we feel more safe there.
They even have a grocery store and small beach, whilst we liked the likes of Indian Creek, TV does look more appropriate for our needs now, and the Clubhouse is literally a 2 minute walk from the villa.
Naturally we plan on using the car as little as possible the first few days, so we will concentrate on the Disney parks these days, especially MK.
*edited to remove Polynesian photos*
Car Hire : We booked a minivan through Dollar, via usrentacar - just before the prices went sky high, phew! John does all the driving
(and I should point out all the Publix shopping too).
Money : Having cancelled previous trips I guess we were lucky we have $3500 ready and waiting - so much shopping to do!
Thankfully we got our $$$ over a period of time when the rate was much better.
Park Tickets : We have 2 day Disney park hoppers left from our old Magic Your Way Tickets, with 'we think' 3 water park days left too.
Have added brand new 6 day MYW tickets to this too, all of these are non-expiry/hoppers.
Universal we bought 7 day passes from Dreams Unlimited, to be activated when we get there.
Sea World we qualify for discounted tickets through Joshua's disability so we will get these at the gate.
Plans : To be honest we have never planned more than just a few days in advance, we have never seen the point as with our son there has to be so much flexibility about what we do each day. To be honest we kind of like it that way.
What we have got planned is the following:
1) Arrive Tuesday 7th, stop at Publix briefly on way to Polynesian, unpack just 1 case and get Joshua something to eat as priority. Rest of evening perhaps have a look around the resort.
2) Wednesday 8th, Character Breakfast booked at Ohana's for 07:30. Followed by Magic Kingdom, via Monorail of course! Perhaps returning in the afternoon or maybe visiting another WDW park. (As an aside, lets hope John doesn't fall outside Pirates ride again on them wet cobblestones, he cracked his head on the floor was helped up by some concerned fellow guests, me and Joshua has walked ahead, all he was bothered about was scuffing up his designer trainers! Y3 Adidas ones apparently, why he needs 4 pairs I really don't know)
3) Thursday 9th EPCOT, Josh has never been on Soarin' or Test track so we plan on doing both these this morning. Probably relax around the resort after that and plan a walk over to Grand Floridian too. Back to Magic Kingdom (if we get can Josh out of the room or pool, later in the day).
That's pretty much as far as it goes! We have an ADR on Monday the 13th for breakfast at Boma's and will probably wait till we get to the villa before starting our Universal adventures.
We are definitely going to Clearwater Beach one day, shopping trips to Mall At Millenia, Premium Outlets and others including a long awaited return to Pointe Orlando planned. John will be desperate to get stocked up on Tommy Bahama shirts ASAP, even though he has said he has at least 6 ready for the suitcase already! Spotted him eyeing up their website the other night and writing things down....hmmm
It's years since we visited Clearwater and St.Pete's, I am sure if we don't go early on the holiday then we probably won't bother.
We have pencilled in a drive there on Easter Sunday stopping off at the fab International Plaza mall at Tampa (must remind John to check it is open that day as we remember most of the malls in Orlando were closed on Easter Sunday back in 2005).
Most of our other 'plans' will pretty much be on the day, there are several things we have lined up, some bar John wants to visit at Celebration I think, a trip to Old Town maybe too (even though we hated it last time).
All in all we have high expectations of this holiday. We feel it's all set up for us nicely, main thing as always is our son has a great time, after the last holiday dissapointment we really feel we deserve this one. I think in the past we may have been guilty about planning the 'perfect' holiday, with Joshua it's so difficult to expect everything to run smoothly, hence we have adopted a more relaxed attitude this time...well at least until we get there!
Hopefully the weather will be nice, and that we all have a great time - thanks for reading.
)
