Pre-Trip Planning Complete

So just another quick update... Realising that the countdown has sped up and it is only 13 days until we go it was time to complete the remaining tasks. on my To Do list.

First up was Memory Maker.

This was great for us last year and now includes videos of certain rides. Bought and linked to our MyDisneyExperience account and hopefully our tickets and magic bands. Will need to check this in advance or upon arrival to ensure we are all good to go...

Finally it was the car rental. If only I had booked it when I started looking... Like all things in life I waited and followed the pack. Everyone was saying it would get cheaper but it didn't. Then people said the price would reduce. I don't need to tell you the rest, and I did check nearly every day.

In a moment of inspiration I checked to see how many Avios points I had amassed with British Airways and decided to use these against a car booking. This has resulted in a saving of £85 over the Alamo quoted price and for a full size car as opposed to an Intermediate one. Result!

Oohh Dole Whip... That's Going Straight Into My Basket...

I'm sure this isn't the only thing we've not tried when we've been Stateside, but it's now on our to-do list. We will let you know if it lives up to its reputation.

For those of you who don't know, a dole whip is a pineapple flavoured, soft serve frozen desert only sold at certain Disney venues.

Within the Magic Kingdom, the Dole Whip is available at the Aloha Island stand within Adventureland.

Weeks Not Months

So in terms of the preparation for the holiday we are nearly there. I've paid the balance on the villa (gulp...) Fortunately the dollar has recovered against the pound, which means my projected spend on the villa is about spot on.

I'm also making our Fast Pass selections. As we are staying off-site we need to wait until we are 30 days out and log on each day and choose our selections.  If you are staying at a Disney Resort, you get the ability to do this at 60 days out.

You need to have a My Disney Experience account and have added all party members to the account, with the final task being assigning your tickets to each family member.

It sounds really involved but trust me it really isn't. You just need to follow the instructions...

As I write this we have 17 days to go, and I have to be honest I am now counting down my working days - it's 9 days, in case you're interested.

So what is the status of my to do list? I only have a couple of items remaining. The first is Memory Maker, this is great and has been improved for this trip. Essentially if you have any photos taken in the parks by Cast Members, or ride attractions that capture photos, you get all of these to download for free - aside from the one off purchase price of course...

That goes for the waterparks as well. Basically anytime you have your photo taken by a Disney Cast Member.

Even if you opt for the single rider queue and are on different carriages, or not even on the same ride, as our Magic Bands are all linked - it just works. Amazing!

Magic Bands are RFID (Radio Frequency Identification - to save you looking it up, if you didn't know) enabled devices and once you have linked these to your ticket allow you access within the parks and entrance to rides when your Fast Pass times are available. Essentially the same technology as contactless debit cards, if you have one?

You even get videos of certain rides which creates even more opportunities for staged performances.

Plus I return home with actual proof that I was actually in Orlando. Lovely family photos for the memories.

The final item is booking the car. I've almost decided what to do, so this is nearly done and once I have completed this I will update you.