Orlando and California – trip report by Froggee (paterfamilias)

[Michael C]

@SamG we found October (with 9-yr old) to be a perfect time of year for Florida.
Just to add on to what others have mentioned: the Disney price was utterly
insane: think it was $200 pp for a one-day pass for 2 parks with no fast pass.
We did have a great time, and would have had another day if it had been half the price!
However, it was by no means the highlight of the Florida trip. A very random tip
for any families reading is the Hampton Inn (thanks, @NorthernLass !) in Dunedin: the whole
area was gorgeous, with trams down to Clearwater.

@Froggee : the Trevornick holiday park in Cornwall is great for youngsters!

[Froggee]

AndyW wrote:

Brilliant read as always, shame about the trip, especially for that level of expenditure.

Froggee do you write as part of your job, certainly a skill to keep a reader engaged – one that I have certainly lost sitting in front of screens, spreadsheets and numbers all day.

Well I’m unemployedretired so no, I don’t write as part of my job. But yes, in my prior employment I did do some writing. Weirdly we had a team of two with the job description of “investment writers” but they were not really up to the task. So either I had to completely re-write what they wrote or present their efforts to a board of directors, all of whom were from the @JDB school, and prepare to be destroyed.

After a few cycles, I gave up and just did it myself which was probably more efficient than re-writing and less abrasive on the posterior than presenting their efforts. It was not a task I enjoyed though as my grammar is weak (believe it or not, they didn’t even teach grammar at my state comprehensive other than in foreign languages) and it took a fair amount of time.

[chelseafifi]

Thanks Froggee. Brilliant report as always, we loved all our Florida holidays with our two boys and have happy memories, our last trip was 2015, glad it was a few years ago as prices weren’t so crazy! Around 2003 we bought 14 day Disney passes and on first activation we were able to pay a small fee at Guest Relations to remove the expiry date for the remaining days, this was a great option as the passes lasted for a few holidays and we only went to the parks when we felt we were all up for a full day, including park hopping.

[HampshireHog]

I have never ever regretted dodging the bullet of having children, thanks for reminding me how lucky I am

[Man of Kent]

I haven’t been to Disney in October but is it full-on Halloween then?

[Ladyshopper]

Man of Kent wrote:

I haven’t been to Disney in October but is it full-on Halloween then?

it’s been Halloween for a few days already in WDW. Yes they start Halloween in August!

They sell tickets for an evening event – Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, meaning that if you haven’t parted with extra money to attend that and you’ve decided to go to Magic Kingdom on a day when it’s on, you get hoofed out much earlier than usual.

[Man of Kent]

Yikes @Ladyshopper so presumably Thanksgiving and Christmas start next week!!!

[Misty]

Wow, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Thank you so much for making the effort, to chronical another of the Froggee family’s adventures. I particularly enjoyed the mention of the ‘encrusted brown staining’ in your SIL’s guest house’s toilet.

Our kids were 3 & 5, 6 & 8, and 9 & 11, when we did Orlando. After the third time I had really had enough and haven’t been back since. We did always visit Disney and Universal and various other random theme parks somewhere called Busch Gardens (not sure if that’s still a thing), plus had a week on the Gulf Coast at Sanibel/Captiva/Naples, so we felt like we had actually had an holiday.

Ironically my Daughter recently said wouldn’t it be lovely for the four of us to go back to Orlando, now we are adults.

I didn’t sleep well that night.

[elguiri]

Wow @Froggee, I needed 3 sittings to finish this episode!
Our Florida escapades have definitely been lower key affairs than yours.
In our last trip we also did Orlando insofar as we went to the Crayola Museum (suitable for most ages, and you can fill your pockets with loads of crayons. well, we did!) before going to the airport for our flight to New Orleans the day the airports started locking down…