Day 1
I woke up bright and early...well really not bright....at 3:15am. We wanted to be at our condo by 4pm for check in and to be there to receive our stroller (more info below on that).
Grandma showed up on Friday afternoon, but the girls were still clueless that they were going to be going on a trip. I couldn't believe we had kept it a secret the whole time! The only thing Kyleigh asked was why we hadn't put groceries up we had bought earlier that week (I had bags of stuff to take all on the counters). We thought about telling them Friday night, but since they hadn't figured it out yet, maybe we could keep it a secret the whole time! The girls went to bed Friday night without a clue I would be waking them up at 4:30am the next morning:
On the road the girls were really good and I couldn't believe how well Bobby got the car packed! We arrived at our condo around 3:30 and were able to check in early. I had done a lot of researching putting this trip together and choose the condo because of the cost difference when you have a family of 5 (evidently Disney caters more towards families of 4, who knew! Check out my cost comparison below). The condo was in a private gated community and it was very spacious (we each had our own rooms as opposed to staying all together in one hotel room), laundry room, full kitchen, two full baths, etc. Of course the best part for the girls was the pool they had.
I know this looks like a brochure picture, but this was really what it looked like!
And only second to that were the lizards that were all down the walkway to the pool. Here is Kyleigh with one of several that she caught
The best part? Let's don't forget the girls STILL had no idea what was in store for them! All they knew was they were in Florida. Kyleigh was so into the movie she was watching on the way, she completely missed the signs for Disney (the condo was 1.5 miles from Disney). We got everyone in bed early that night in preparation for a big day 2 at SeaWorld!!!
Below every day, I will list some cost savings we were able to find and also what everyone liked the most that day. This may not be helpful to some of you, but I thought it was always great to read other family's reviews on restaurants, facilities and definately ways to save money! Whether you are planning to do now or a few years from now, I hope these help!
SAVINGS
Lodging (family of 5, suite so we have our own rooms and are not sleeping in the living room together)
Coronado Springs on Disney property - 6 nights = $350/night X 6 = $2,100
Winsor Hills (www.pleasantstays.com) 1.5 miles from Disney - 6 nights = $120/night X 6 =$720
THAT'S A $1,300 SAVINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Travel
5 round trip airplane tickets to Orlando = $1,250
3 tanks of gas = $135
THAT'S A $1,115 SAVINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stroller Rental
4 days of stroller rental at Disney Parks $31/per X 4 = $124
1 day of stroller rental at SeaWorld $18/day
TOTAL = $142
(not counting the hassle of having to leave it there and carry your kids, bags and shopping back to the car)
7 days of stroller rental from Orlando Stroller Rentals, LLC = $85 (they brought it to our condo and picked it up. It was roomy for both girls and we had it the whole week)
THAT'S A $57 SAVINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
REVIEWS
Windsor Hills gets a thumbs up. Great property, great condo, very close to everything
Orlando Stroller Rentals, LLC gets a thumbs up. So much cheaper, the stroller was great quality and so nice to not have to bring our own and have it all day for the girls and our bags.
Black Angus Steakhouse gets a huge thumbs down. Steak was horrible and we even saw insects crawling up the wall. EWWWWW.
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