Mrs M's Favourite Holiday

My mind always turns to holidays at this time of year - cold, dark and miserable January. Summer has never seemed further away, and for me, holidays are all about summer. Wall-to-wall sunshine. The idea of taking a holiday somewhere cold and snowy appeals to the romantic in me but generally when it comes to holidays, I'm looking for warmth.  Which is fortunate really as our holiday in 2011, and my favourite ever holiday, took us to Orlando, Florida. In August. There's only one word to sum up that holiday - HOT! 

We booked our two week break to Disneyworld with Thomson Holidays, just over a year in advance so there was plenty of time to get everyone excited and more importantly for those who know me, plenty of  time for me to write lists, plan itinerary's and even decide where we were going to eat dinner every day.  A Disney holiday really feeds my planning obsession!

One of the only things I dreaded about travelling with the children was the long flight. In the past we'd managed a 2-3 hour flight easily but this being nearly 11 hours, with 3 hours in the airport before even getting on the plane was a whole new ballgame. My handy hint? Just keep feeding them. Seriously. We flew with Thomson Fly from our local airport which meant travelling to the airport was stress-free and once on board the plane we were pleased to discover just how comfy the seats were and what a great pitch the Thomson Fly long haul planes had. The children were entertained with the seat back tv sets which had a good selection of films and games to keep them busy in-between meals. It was definitely a great start to the holiday.

Our hotel - Port Orleans Riverside

Having been to Orlando before (pre-children) I knew that we were in for a treat and we weren't disappointed. If you've not been before, then you should definitely go, it's out of this world on every level.  Staying on site at Disney, the customer service is incredible and you really get the feeling that they just cannot do enough for you, nothing is too much trouble. The theme parks are meticulously well-kept and there's something there for everyone.  

We got to see favourite Disney shows like Fantasmic and the awesome Beauty and the Beast show, eat at lots of lovely restaurants including the world-famous and iconic Cinderella's Castle, go on scary rides, boat rides, 3D shows, we saw the most incredible fireworks show that we've ever seen, had dinner next to a turtle, met all the characters from our favourite films,  went to an all-you-can-eat dessert party, fulfilled my sons dream of riding on a monorail, spent all day playing at water-parks (Typhoon Lagoon is the by far the best), all whilst sweating more than I ever thought possible!  It was a holiday completely geared towards spending quality time as a family with the children's happiness and enjoyment being the first and foremost thing on our minds, which lets be honest, when it comes to holidays isn't always what we are thinking about!

It wasn't a perfect holiday by any stretch of the imagination. Very often due to the heat we *cough* were all tired and a little grumpy but it's one that I will look back on and remember forever. The children still talk about it now and ask me when we can go back (erm, when Daddy has recovered from this one kids!) and I hope that they'll always remember it as fondly as I do.

There really is not another holiday like it and I hope that we go back many, many more times  - although this year I'm hoping that our holiday will have a little more down-time!

This blog post has been written as an entry into the Tots 100/Thomson Al Fresco competition which is running over on the Tots 100 blog. For more information about Thomson Al Fresco you can click here!

love & kisses 
Mrs M x