Happy New Year

In just a few hours, we can say, we're going to Orlando this year.  Can't wait!  Hope 2013 is your year, the way it will be ours.

Been a while...

But we only have 182 days before we leave for Orlando.

Christmas is over and we have a wee break to Centre Parcs booked.  But the planning has started on our Florida holiday but keeping it a secret is hard work.  We have to discuss when Lil Miss and The Boy aren't here.  Or else we start texting each other.  

The ticket searching has begun. Looking forward to actually ordering.  

Christmas was good to us all.  We had a quiet Christmas as Mr Groovee was on call.  

Just chilling now while we enjoy the christmas break.  Mr Groovee was working today so Lil Miss had the day with Granny while I took the boy to his bowling competition.  He enjoyed his day I think.  

Desperate to get the books out and plan but we may have our reveal for Lil Miss and The Boy.  But will keep that for when we tell them. 

247 days, 22lb lighter and head manic...

Only 247 days till we head to Orlando.  Can't wait.  But we've been through so much lately hence the lack of blogging.

My dad got very ill and spent some time in intensive care then HDU before the main ward and getting home.
He's doing really good now but at first he wasn't happy we'd taken him in.

Lots of friends have had baby boys.  Including my first great nephew.

A dear friend's husband died very suddenly.  Huge shock to the system.  So unfair at such a young age.

I've lost 22lb to date.  Aiming for another 6lb by christmas. 

No planning being done and no saving really as I've had to have time off work.

Mr Groovee has a new job thankfully.  I'm still no closer to a long term contract :-(

Hopefully our Brits Guide to Orlando will arrive soon.  We're also off to Centre Parcs in February.  Had a good time in London and at a wedding.

The Boy is 10 next week... not a big celebration but exciting for him.

298 Days... and already 12 pounds lighter...

Good morning everyone.  It's been a while.  Am delighted to say that I have lost 12lb's so far in my weight loss.  We go to London in 12 days and hoping to be 1 stone lighter for then.

Been flicking between a few various sites and keeping up to date with Disney and Orlando.  The other night, we got the video camera out and was very awwww at the little Groovees.  Lil Miss never stopped talking.  The Boy was so cute.  We did so much we'd forgotten about.  It was lovely to watch.  Would love to see it on DVD for future years.

Mr Groovee's laptop is still away.  It's been gone for ages.  We're hoping they will write it off now and allow him a new one.  Having 1 laptop is driving me mad.

Have been to work once.  Really need to make an effort to go to work more to get the rest of the money for the tickets then the rest for our spending money.  

Back to School

and only 316 days til we'll be on route to Sanford. Can't wait.  The children still don't know we're going, so it's very exciting.  I can get time to plan before I go back to work.

I've lost 6lbs to date and also walking a lot.  Hopefully going in the right direction and long may it continue to come off and I stick at it. 

Co-incidence?

That the boy keeps singing "Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggory Dog!"  It's come from nowhere but is a Playhouse Disney Song.

The Olympics are coming to an end.  Kids walked to tesco and bought themselves bargain bucket items of merchandise including boom sticks and Mandelville.  They got loads for £4.50.

So want to do more planning, so am hanging around The Dibb and Disboards a lot.  Have discovered a rumours board.  Lots of fun reading there.  But with my laptop dying, I've lost a good blog I had discovered.   Keep looking for it but not having much luck.

Planning, Planning, Planning

I lost another 2lb this week.  Very happy with the way the weight loss is going.  I will be slimmer for Orlando.


Planning has commenced.  Budgeting $15 for parking a day.  We're doing 14 days but realistically only need 12 days. But the extra 2 days are spare anyway.  Looking at around $100 a day for food so thats $1400 roughly but we will mainly be eating breakfast in the villa while snacking at the park and possibly lunch in on a day in so rolls or salad and hopefully dinner out or takeaway in or will do a Walmart shop.


We need 4 disney full price tickets and 4 universal tickets which works out to be around £1600 for us.  I have around 75% of that saved and we reckon we need about £1900 for spends.  If I can get a good contract at work on supply til Christmas, I would have most of that saved by then.  Fingers crossed and positive vibes for work.


Meanwhile it is another rainy day here.  So we'll just chill out for a while.

Feeling Happier

Feel much happier despite what's been going on. We've paid for the holiday, so it is just spending money we need. 

Children are off to Granny's. Heading to see the new Ted film. Then hopefully me and Mr Groovee can do some planning. We're still saving. After London, the kids can save for Florida, but without them knowing.

Olympics are in full sing. The boy keeps recording every roger me going, and the TiVo box is never ending.

We had some nice weather yesterday which was fab. Made us want more. Kids had a ball in the country park and we had nice family time.

:-(

Not really planning just now as some things have changed for us.  Feeling really down about it all.  But at least we have lots of looking forward to do.

Whoa, there was blue skies today....

And it could have been Florida weather without rain.

Lil Miss's Godmother came to visit.  They're just back from 3 weeks in Florida.  We may be coordinating dates next year, so we may get to see them and do some parks together.  Would be fab to see them.

Meanwhile I have done lots of washing and chilling.  Long may the weather last.

Weight

Well after a bit of a disaster, I got weighed... It was not a pretty sight. So am now on a weight loss challenge for our London Trip. But to be able to be comfortable in Orlando, I need to loose weight. Hopefully I can do it. I will get rid of my extra tyres round my middle. Sadly my laptop isn't very well. Hopefully, Mr Groovee has fixed it. But posts may be sporadic. I have managed to get my £2 coin jar to save £2 coins, but I may include £1 and save £1 a day as well.

Crazy Golf

The sun is shining so we headed to Fife where they have a fantastic American Style Crazy Golf.  They have a pirate theme and 2 courses of 18 holes.  It can be quiet but weekends and holidays makes it busy but it makes for a different day out.  Did KFC for lunch then headed over and did Pirates Cove for a change as we've done Treasure Island the last few times.  Mr Groovee won.  I came last and I think it was Lil Miss and then The Boy.  Met some of the boys friends there too.  

It reminds me of the first time to Florida, when Mr Groovee and myself decided to go to the Crazy Golf on I-Drive.  I walloped the golf ball right across the course, to which an american man futher down asked to borrow my Big Bertha.  It meant nothing to me at the time but it's a standard joke now for us.  I hope to get out crazy golfing in Orlando.  So need to check out some places.  I do fancy the disney one for a change as we've never actually taken the time yet.

Something else to explore.  

On another note... The children's Electronic ATM arrived yesterday.  They think it's for the trip to London but realistically it's for saving for Florida once we're back from London.  It's been great fun and it accepts notes which helps.

Lost the Car

I took the children to the opticians to get their eye tests.  Because of the time of the appointments, I decided to do a food shop after.  Mr Groovee came to help with the food shop and when we came out, I knew I was at the right side of the car park but which part of that side had I parked at.  Caused Mr Groovee to start laughing and ask me quietly how I aim to find the car when we hit the parks.  Must start practicing looking where we've parked haha.

Memories

Met my friend BusyLady today.  Let the kids go swimming while we recalled our memories of visits to Orlando when our kids were little.  No planning as such but lovely to chat to someone without the kids over hearing and was fab to see my friend and I feel so much happier within myself.  Kids get on so well and had a ball.  The boy was getting more confident in the pool.  


Lil Miss's godparents are on route home from Florida now.  Unfortunately they have an 90 minute delay already.  Hope they get home safe.

Am going to have an early night.  Have the Thelma Madine Autobiography which I am enjoying.  Hope I can stay awake.

We have been Authorised

Our ESTA's have been Authorised, whoop whoop.  Have pre ordered a Brits Guide to Orlando which comes out in October.

Meanwhile I can start planning our trip to London in 8 weeks and 2 days.  We're going to the Harry Potter Studio Tour and hopefully to Shrek. I'd like to do the Science Museum this time too.

Only 345 days till we go.

ESTA's check, API Check

Have completed the ESTA and the API as the children aren't here.  We've been out and bought 2 guide books and the planning has started.  Need to pre-order another book I want.  Will be glad when Mr Groovee's laptop returns from being repaired.

As we're there over July 4th, we're wondering whether we should hit the beach or do a park... Answers below in comments if you have suggestions.


I wish we were going now. Not sure I can wait 345 days!!!

Gathering Tips

Seeing as it's the first time off site for us.  I am gathering tips.


1) Buy breakfast goods, snacks, milk, water, tea and coffee.  Top up with what you want if you choose to cook.


2) As soon as you enter IOA head to HP and either ride first or get a pass if they are handing them out to come back later.  


Will update whenever I have other tips to hand.


I'd love to start planning what days we do what, but at the moment it's too early to know Disney's extra hours for guests in which case I would avoid. I really want to know where we will be the first day.  Hopefully a park.

347 Days

It's 347 days until we arrive in Orlando.  Mr Groovee and I keep having private wee talks when we're out of earshot of the children.

We took the children swimming this morning and had fun.  The Boy needs more confidence, so we plan to try swimming at least once a week if possible.  I took the children to a kind of fun kind of pool but ideal for the boy to gain confidence in for next summer.

I keep looking at clothes but have no idea's of what sizes we'll need.  I spending forever on the Dis Boards and The Dibb.  I so want to load up the main computer to be able to get all my links from 2007's trip.  But the kids will know something is up.  So I'll have to be patient until they aren't here.

Have roughly planned what tickets we want to get for what parks.  So lets hope the prices don't jump up too soon.

Just posting my ticker.  I just love countdowns.

The Villa

The villa is based on the Highway 27 in Kissimee.  Part of the Westridges complex.  It has 3 bedrooms an it's own pool.  Mr Groovee is keen to know if we have a fob for the garage door so we can drive right in and not use the front door!!!

We decided on a villa this time so that we could chill out and not stress with 4 of us in one bedroom with a small bathroom.  We'll have 2 bathrooms here.  That will be very exciting for the Groovee Family as we only have one bathroom in our house.

Would you look at the top of the picture... it's BLUE sky!  Not seen that in a while ho hum,

The Groovee's are off to Orlando

Hello, Welcome to the blog. I'm Groovee. I'm from Scotland, where I live with Mr Groovee. We have 2 children Lil Miss and The Boy. We last went to Orlando in 2007. We had a ball but a lot of sitting about as the Boy was too small height wise. So me and Mr Groovee think it's time to return. In 11 months and 2 weeks we will be there. In 12 months, we'll be home and jet lagged. We've always stayed at a Disney Hotel. This time we're trying a villa cos 4 of us in one room is fine for a few nights, but 2 weeks in Orlando may have us at each others throats. So we're looking forward to the villa. Oh and before I finish, Lil Miss and The Boy know nothing. We hope to break the news at Easter, in a magical way. Looking forward to sharing my trip planning and adventures with you all. Speak soon Groovee x