My son and daughter-in-law confirmed they will be joining us for at least PART of our May 2020 trip (for those uninitiated, this is the “compromise” senior trip plan that now combines both my son and daughter’s trips into one much bigger trip). So, this certainly narrowed the scope of our rental property choices. We had to go with one of the 5 bedroom places, as a result. (I had narrowed down from over 300 possibilities down to 19 that I had my family vote between, but only 3 of those were 5 bedroom options because we didn’t initially think my son and daughter-in-law would be ready to commit to such a trip.)
Anyhow, since they have confirmed going, and since I figured I’d do something really wild and crazy and plan ahead (I know, I know), the rental is now booked.
For those who are totally fascinated with my life and all the planning efforts I make, wanting to better understand what makes such an awesome guy such as myself tick, I’m providing the link to the rental below.
For those who don’t really care two-hoots about me, my family, or anything really at all, other than some mild interest in what 5 bedroom rental property someone might pick…well, you can click on the link as well.
Everyone else? You’re on your own. Click. Don’t click. Que sera sera.
That is almost exactly the same house as the one I stayed at in my last two trips. In my case it was free as it was owned by a friend. I’m not using it for my next trip partly out of embarrassment at asking again, and partly because I want to try the full on-property experience, including 60 day FPP booking.
BTW, for those who like to do a little sleuthing…looking at the photos, I’m guessing the pool is on the north-facing side of the house. The main photo looks like it is probably early in the day (long shadow, but bright and sunny) so I think the sun is in the east there. A later photo shows the pool in what is presumably the evening, with the sun setting. This would indicate that would be the west, so the house is not exactly square-on South-facing, but angled slightly. Front door probably facing more southeast. Would you all agree?
However, it IS possible that the “evening” pool photo was actually shot in the early morning, and that’s the sunrise made to look like the sunset. I doubt that, though.
Anyhow, if that is correct, then most likely I’ll end up having to pay for pool heat. Was hoping to avoid it, but it seems rather inevitable.
Last trip where we rented a house, we stayed in Haines City, which was nice. Davenport isn’t quite as far, which should be nice. Haines City, though, literally had an Aldi about a mile from our house, which was great, since we’re Aldi shoppers.
I did some financial calculations a few weeks ago and the current plan is to come to Orlando every summer in perpetuity.
If Pop works out, I may just stay on property in future. The total cost of next year’s trip is similar to this year’s and last year’s, despite “having” to stay on-property. This is because I’m not doing any flashy extras — last year I did the VIP tour at UOR (and paid for much of my friend’s expenses for the whole trip), this year I did V&A and flew Upper Class (i.e. business class) from the UK.
Although the house in Davenport was really lovely, there are downsides. It feels like there must be a limit to how many times I can stay at someone else’s holiday home for free. And there’s a whole lot of Uber-ing involved. And you can’t really come home in the middle of the day. Plus you don’t get 60 day FPP. Or DME.
As for swimming pools: the house I stayed in had a pool and hot-tub but I used both far less than I imagined. Coming home for a dip in the pool in the afternoon just didn’t seem practical. Maybe I would have felt differently if I was driving. So that just left mornings and evenings. It all felt like too much of a faff, to be honest.
I don’t know how heating of pools works. I don’t even know if the pool I had was heated. The hot-tub wasn’t hot. Which was fine because it was hot outside. The pool and hot-tub were both the same temperature, which was cool. Not cold, but pleasantly cool.
One of the attractions of YC for me would be Stormalong Bay, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if I never actually used it. I’d be scared to use it during the day if the sun was out. And I have other things to do in the mornings and at night. I’ve never made time for either of the Disney waterparks (UK tickets include entrance) and I’ve never bothered with Volcano Bay after the shockingly poor reviews it receives.
I’m kinda too lazy to carry towels and swimwear, get changed, get wet, get changed again, and so on. It all sounds fun in principle, but it practice I can’t be bothered. I’ve avoided wet rides for the same reason.
Each place is different. Some homes don’t actually have a “hottub”, but just a jacuzzi that is the same temperature as the pool. If you need to heat the pool, you pay for the heat.
Most places that have a jacuzzi/hottub and pool. You still pay to heat both, but the hottub is actually hot. That was how our house in Haines City was.
This particular house is different. The hottub is heated separately. Heat for the hottub is included in the price, but you have to pay extra to heat the pool. So, if it is warm enough during the days/evenings, then in theory you shouldn’t need to heat the pool. But mid-May is iffy in that regard. The pool water would cool down quite a bit during the night, and without direct sun during the day, won’t heat up too much.
Since we drive, the Uber and DME plays no roll. But the lack of 60 day FPP is a definite downside. Since we choose relatively low CL days, it so far hasn’t been a huge deal. But who knows how it will affect this trip with SWGE having just opened.
Water Parks don’t interest us too much. Last time I’ve been to a Disney water park was Typhoon Lagoon on our honeymoon! We have, twice, done water parks attached to other amusement parks…but only because they were included in admission. We wouldn’t actually pay for them.
Technically speaking, with the private pool at the house, you don’t really NEED swimwear. But then, you have the house ten steps away, so it isn’t really the hassle it is when compared to water parks or hotel pools.
Yes. Well, we’ve passed the torch. It is now up go our progeny to produce grand-progeny. And the thought has occurred to us that between now and May 2020, my son and daugher-in-law could be expecting…or even having a little one in tow. That isn’t their plan at the moment…but sometimes, you know…kids just happen!
