Trip Report Outside the Bubble

Hello friends!

This report will be different from previous reports because as the title states we stayed outside of the bubble. After two trips last year, it was decided we would skip this year and head to the beach for our family vacation, but we just couldn't stay away. However, we did not stay on property nor did we visit any of the 4 main parks, but we did have some Disney fun. So if you are interested, stay tuned!


Me (Heather), Cam and Josh

 

[fractal]

Here!

 

[Disstevefan1]

YaY here!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Sounds interesting!

 

[heatherhy01]

Yay!! I am NEVER this early to the party

 

[PacNWTigger]

 

[LisaBelle]

 

[Bullseye1967]

I'm in!

 

[MickeyCB]

In and following!

 

[joshsprincess921]

After some internet searching, we settled on a Villa in Kissimmee. Since we would need more things then what we would need when staying in a hotel, we decided it would be better to drive. Josh had to work the night before we wanted to leave, so he slept some on Saturday morning, we brought our dogs to the sitter around 3:00pm and by 3:30pm we were on the road to begin our 10 hour trek from Louisiana to Central Florida. But today it would only be about 4 hours. I booked an overnight stay in Crestview, FL at the Hampton Inn.

The hotel was pleasant and clean and we had a good night's sleep. The next morning we went up the Cracker Barrel for breakfast. We should have known when we walked in that it wasn't a good decision when we saw a huge portable AC blowing right by the entrance. I had made a comment about how this was the first time I'd ever see outside seating at a Cracker Barrel, but we chose to sit indoors. It wasn't long before it started to feel quite muggy. They obviously had an AC issue so eating a hot breakfast in a stuffy room just wasn't comfortable, but none the less, we had food in our belly's!

After a quick stop at Starbucks and the gas station, we were back on the road again. The drive was smooth. The only place we hit any backups was in Ocala which probably set us back a good 30 minutes. We stopped and got our cold goods from the grocery store before checking in to our Villa.

The name of our Villa was Paradise Falls Villa. This little sign was hanging right as you walked in.

We took a little tour of the place. It had two floors and 6 bedrooms. Way too big for a family of 3 But we chose it for the amenities!
Here are some pics I took of the place. There were lots of Disney touches.

 

[joshsprincess921]

They had converted the garage into a theater room, which was one of our favorite things about the Villa.

I thought these little mirrors were so cute. In the evenings when the lights were on, they would shine on the mirrors and the shapes would reflect on the door across from them.

Then our favorite part was the outside area.

Also a cute touch was this sign hanging on the patio wall.

When we were touring the Villa and went upstairs, the first thing that hit us was how HOT it was upstairs compared to downstairs. The thermostat said it was 80 degrees up there. There was a sign that said you could not move it lower than 72 which it was already set to, but it wasn't running. The downstairs thermostat did read 72 though. I'm very hot natured so wasn't thrilled we couldn't move it lower than 72 at night to sleep, but was more concerned about the upstairs. We called the maintenance guy and left him a message and he soon texted back wanting a picture of the thermostat and then said he would be sending someone over.

 

[joshsprincess921]

A few more little décor pieces I thought were cute.

Loved this picture in the theater room. I'd love to have it for myself.

After unpacking and settling in, we decided to relax a bit. Cam went straight for the pool.

I read a little while he swam.

And Josh watched the LSU baseball team lose the regionals on the big screen.

The AC tech did not show up to the house until almost 10 pm and I was really upset when he had no idea how to fix the issue and said someone else would have to come tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, the hot tub was also not working and the pool fountains stopped running at 7pm. We paid an extra $20 a day for the hot tub heat, so we were messaging the maintenance guy about that also. He claimed that we would get a partial refund for our first night since we couldn't use the upstairs rooms and he'd send a pool tech the next day too. I sure that most of the time these villas are rented by big families, so I can't imagine where everyone would have slept if that were to happen to a large party and they all had to sleep downstairs. The only room downstairs was the master.

We put Cam on the couch in the main living room which was right outside of our bedroom. It was around 1 am when I heard a scream from the living room. Yep, he had rolled off the couch and landed on the hard tile floor. Funny thing is he was delirious and doesn't even remember this happening. We moved him in the bed with me and Josh moved to the couch. But now Josh was paranoid and afraid he'd roll off the bed so he went around the house gathering up all the pillows. I told him it was overkill, but you can judge for yourself.

Cam and I slept peacefully the rest of the night, while Josh didn't sleep a wink on the couch. The next AC guy showed up at 8:30 the next morning and new right away that it was a clogged line and had it fixed within an hour. We were happy that was fixed.

 

[Swissmiss]

Wow - Cam is really growing up!

 

[joshsprincess921]

Wow - Cam is really growing up!

I know...sure wish time would slow down. He will be 9 next month.

 

[cgersic]

I was just going to say the same thing about how much Cam has grown up! Sorry to hear about the villa issues, but I'm along for the report!

 

[joshsprincess921]

I was just going to say the same thing about how much Cam has grown up! Sorry to hear about the villa issues, but I'm along for the report!

Thanks for joining! The AC issue was a bummer, but I was so happy they got it fixed the next morning.

 

[Vacationeer]

Good to hear the issues are getting resolved. I look forward to hearing about Emerald Island

 

[Katiekitten]

I look forward to hearing more about your trip!

 

[joshsprincess921]

After a couple of days of driving, we decided our first full day at the house would be a relaxing pool day! Also, when we got up, the pool fountains and hot tub jets were running again, so we figured the pool tech had been sent out early like the AC tech.

But first, it was coffee and breakfast time! I brought my flat griddle from home so I thought it would be nice to set it up on the patio and cook up some breakfast for the family. The only issue was that there was only 1 plug and I didn't have an extension cord, but I made it work. It turned out delicious!

The rest of the day was just having fun in the pool.

And reading my book outside of the pool.

My best friend lives in Lakeland, Florida, so her and her two boys drove over later in the day to visit and the boys had a blast. They are each one year apart and for the most part get along really great.

Then I asked the boys to let me get a picture of them together and this was the results of that.

 

[joshsprincess921]

Many attempts later, this is what I ended up with. Silly boys!

At least I did get this one.

So not a whole lot going on this day, but it was so nice visiting with my best friend and the boys getting to play. But guess what, pool fountains and hot tub shut off again at 7, so at this point we figured it must be on a timer. We contacted management again and again they said they'd send someone out.

We finished out our wonderful day by watching some Monsters, Inc.