Trip Report Another Three Week Trip, Another Who Knows How Long Trip Report

Hi again everyone. If you’ve followed my other trip reports you’ll know that I’m not the quickest at writing them and I’m not very good at being brief so this could go on for a while. But I will finish

This trip was me and my two youngest daughters, Alice and Lexi

Our first two weeks were in a studio at Saratoga Springs, we’d booked this way back in September and had the UK guest special deal of a free full dining plan. Then about a month before, we decided two weeks wasn’t quite long enough so changed our flights and booked a week at Caribbean Beach, the first time staying there for us. We had the UK 14 day park tickets, which are valid for 18 days from check in so we had a few non park days to stretch them out then had a few days at the end with no tickets where we’d planned some chilling out time with a few fancy meals.

 

[Baron Von Capybara]

 

[Piglet_the_brave]

Monday 6th July: Travel Day

We were flying out of Heathrow and stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn the night before, the first time staying there for us

Our family room was very nice

Didn’t have the best view though

You can book rooms with a runway view but the extra cost didn’t seem worth it to us. Despite the very busy road, the room was very quiet, eerily so. The soundproofing was excellent and we all got a very good night’s sleep

Our flight wasn’t until 1.30ish so we had a bit of a lie in and a lazy breakfast

Breakfast dessert, not as good as Disney pastries

Alice finds the detailed adult colouring books very relaxing and she had all of her supplies with her. Lexi didn’t want to be left out, and chose a book at the airport

Our flight was on time and uneventful until right near the end. With about 30 minutes to go the pilot informed us that we couldn’t land because of a storm in the area, not something you want to hear after 9 hours in the air, and we would have to circle until it was safe to land. This added another 30 minutes to an already long flight.

Once we were in the terminal, it seemed to be taking forever for our luggage to arrive. There was finally an announcement that due to the storm the luggage couldn’t be taken off the plane, it ended up taking over an hour for it to arrive. This was really making the already long day drag out even more

The queue to go through immigration was horrible, but luckily I had downloaded the Mobile Passport Control app and filled everything in during the long wait for luggage. There was only one family in front of us and we were through quickly

I’d booked Mears and was expecting a bus but we had a van and it was a very awkward, cramped journey. We were at Terminal C so the last to be picked up and the only seats left were on different rows. Because of the awkwardness we didn’t manage to get photos going into Disney which I was a bit disappointed about because it was just after 9pm and for the first time ever we could see fireworks going off over the welcome sign

 

[Piglet_the_brave]

Woohoo. It helps a lot being in the same time zone

 

[Piglet_the_brave]

Monday 6th July (cont)

We usually drop our bags at the room and then get something to eat but it was still raining quite a bit so we decided to keep our bags with us and I mobile ordered some pizzas from Artist’s Palette while we were still in the van

First Disney food. It was ok, nothing exceptional but I was hungry and wolfed it down

I was determined to make the most of the dining plan so quite often had an alcoholic drink with my meals. There wasn’t a lot of choice so I went with wine. It wasn’t fancy but I enjoyed it after such a long day

I liked the lights

Then off to find our room

 

[Piglet_the_brave]

Monday 6th July (cont)

I’d originally requested to be on a higher floor and to be in the Grandstand section but when I’d checked the day before my room requests had disappeared. And it was no longer possible to request Grandstand, only the Carousel or Congress Park. So I just requested a higher floor and not a section and luckily we got the Grandstand. We were in room 9723 in the furthest possible building, almost in the Treehouse section, and we were very pleased with our location

We loved the room, it was very spacious and had loads more storage than a regular hotel room

And our balcony view, we had a fountain right outside

 

[Piglet_the_brave]

Monday 6th July (cont)

More room photos

Lots of room in the bathroom area

Huge closet that the girls used as a changing room

Speedy, Piglet and Patch getting comfy

We finally got to bed at around 11, 4am UK time. It had been a very long day

 

[Tiggertoo56]

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn for the first time in March - had a better view (just!) than you but found it was very quiet. Spent the evening in the Runway Bar. Didn't have breakfast as we had a lounge booked which was good too. Normally we use Premier Inn or similar but decided this trip to 'upgrade' prior to our flight etc.

 

[Tiki Traveler]

Glad you finally made it!

Just curious, did you book a preferred room? And also, what floor were you on for a higher room?

Sounds like it will be a great trip!

 

[Piglet_the_brave]

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn for the first time in March - had a better view (just!) than you but found it was very quiet. Spent the evening in the Runway Bar. Didn't have breakfast as we had a lounge booked which was good too. Normally we use Premier Inn or similar but decided this trip to 'upgrade' prior to our flight etc.

It was a bit pricey, it’s a lot more than the Gatwick Hilton that we’ve stayed in a lot, but it was worth it for the walkway to the terminal so we didn’t have to lug our cases onto the tube or shuttle buses

I thought about going up to the bar but wasn’t sure if Lexi would be allowed because she’s only 16

 

[Piglet_the_brave]

Glad you finally made it!

Just curious, did you book a preferred room? And also, what floor were you on for a higher room?

Sounds like it will be a great trip!

We didn’t have a preferred room, those are in the Springs and the Paddock I think. I’ve stayed in the Grandstand section a few times and think the walk over to the main building from there isn’t too bad

We were on floor 3 of 4. I didn’t actually mind that much as long as I’m not on the ground floor because I like to spend time on the balcony, a ground floor terrace isn’t very private. Also I’m very scared of and I’m convinced they can get in my room if I’m on the ground floor

 

[riverside]

I’m looking forward to this!! And 3 weeks-wow!!

Huge closet that the girls used as a changing room

That’s a brilliant idea!!

 

[Tiggertoo56]

It was a bit pricey, it’s a lot more than the Gatwick Hilton that we’ve stayed in a lot, but it was worth it for the walkway to the terminal so we didn’t have to lug our cases onto the tube or shuttle buses

I thought about going up to the bar but wasn’t sure if Lexi would be allowed because she’s only 16

There were youngsters around in March.

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Yay, a trip report! I plan to start mine soon. It was so nice to meet you!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Looking forward to seeing all the fun!

 

[littleroo]

I am looking forward to this!!!

 

[Piglet_the_brave]

Yay, a trip report! I plan to start mine soon. It was so nice to meet you!

Lovely to meet you too, even though the meeting place was a bit awkward

I’m looking forward to this!! And 3 weeks-wow!!

Looking forward to seeing all the fun!

I am looking forward to this!!!

Welcome everyone, thanks for joining in

 

[Wicked Sisters]

We have stayed at the Hilton twice and will be in November as well. They gave us a runway room last time without us asking which was lucky. It just makes it so easier for the airport. Looking forward to your adventures.

 

[BrerWayne]

Lovely to meet you too, even though the meeting place was a bit awkward





Welcome everyone, thanks for joining in

Fashionably late, but I too am here for all of the fun!

 

[Piglet_the_brave]

Tuesday 7th July

Our plan for the morning was Animal Kingdom early entry. I didn’t set an alarm, I didn’t think I would need to because it usually takes a couple of days to get used to the time difference and I was expecting to be awake at silly o’clock. But the long travel day must have got to me and I was surprised to see that it was almost 6.15 when I woke up, not the 4am that I was expecting. So I could wake the girls up and we could rush out or we could take our time and miss early entry. I opted to take our time, I’m the sort of person who needs 30-40 minutes of quiet time with my Diet Coke in the morning before I face the world

Morning balcony view

The golf course is on the other side of the trees but it was closed and having some work done on it while we were there

We eventually got going and were at the bus stop by 7.20

The first bus of the trip was a ‘loser’ one. We met a little girl last year on the skyliner who liked to shout out the characters and any cabin without a character she shouted losers at, she was very funny.

One of the reasons I like to stay in the Grandstand section at Saratoga is that it’s the first bus stop on the loop for the parks buses (the Disney Springs buses stop at the Springs section first). So we always got a seat in the mornings

Our driver had to slow down at one point because there was a runner in the road. Seriously?!! Saratoga has so many looping footpaths, it’s the easiest resort on property to get a good run in. I’ve done it quite a few times in the cooler months, even run to Old Key West and back, never once thought it would be a good idea to run in the road (mini rant over, I’ll try not to have too many of them during this report but the people were peopling a lot during this trip)