A Week Today

Not long to go now. A whole week in fact before we pack the few odds and ends we take with us to Florida and set off across the Pennines to the airport. Of course those of you who know me will also know that my suitcase will almost certainly look as neat and tidy as the one in the picture, although the contents wont be as 'floral'.

After an evening with brother in law and family who conveniently live close to the airport and offer their taxi service and car storage facility every year. We will start our holiday with an overnight stay in a Travelodge - It can only improve!

On arrival in Florida we check into The Old Key West Resort. We've never stayed there before but got a free dining plan as part of the deal so decided to give it a go. Hence my unsucessful attempt to lose weight before we go as I know I will return the size of a small whale!

After a few days 'doing the Disney's', shopping and the usual things we find to occupy ourselves we change to 'Universal mode' and head off up the I-4 to my favourite hotel, The Hard Rock Hotel. We stayed there a couple of years ago and loved it. It's such a cool place. Hopefully we wil get to experience poolside rock bands and movies as tropical storm Faye put a stop to that last time.

One of our main reasons for staying at a Universal Hotel is so that we get a free 'fast pass' which comes with a room key card so we can enjoy all the big rides with minimum wait. This year we will be visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which according to reviews is amazing and has queues a mile long.

One of the perks of going to Florida at this time of year is that American schools go back earlier than ours so we get a week or so of quieter time in the parks. However, there is also a higher risk of thunderstorms and hurricanes!

I want to get a real life proper wand from 'Ollivander's'. I know, I'm such a big kid!

All that's left to do now is the usual pre holiday checks. Passports, tickets, passes, coupons, eyelash tint........