22 Days

... 22 days until our annual pilgrimage to Florida ... and we both can't wait!

Florida is one of our most favorite vacation destinations for many reasons. Florida is blessed with a very hospitable semi-tropical climate almost year-round. Unfortunately it is also subject to the threat of tropical storms and hurricanes during the late summer and fall (usually when we go!! LOL). Luckily, we've only ever encountered one hurricane in all the years we've been heading down (hurricane Wilma in 2005) - and during that encounter, we managed to fly home the day before the hurricane hit.

Besides the great weather, Florida has some great attractions and beaches (both Gulf coast and Atlantic coast), amusement parks (Disney, Universal, Seaworld, Busch Gardens), and then there's the Florida Keys. There's just so much to see and do in Florida and it's all within driving distance!

We head down to Florida twice a year (in May and October) and Orlando has really become our home away from home. We've got more friends in Florida than we do here at home, and yes, eventually we'd like to retire there (YAY no more snow!!) ... but that is some years off yet.

Back to our October trip ... we usually head down the same time each October (early to mid October) and start off the vacation with Spooky Empire's Ultimate Horror Weekend. Spooky has become a staple in our October vacation - as much as Disney and Universal - and we've met some great friends there, who are basically extended family. We very much look forward to kicking off our vacation by spending the weekend with them all! Once Spooky is over, we pack up our belongings and head over to our Disney resort for the 2nd part of our vacation, where we visit the parks (Universal and Disney), we take in Halloween Horror Nights every year, as well as Disney's Food and Wine Festival, and of course Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (yes we're just big kids).

As I mentioned in a previous blog, this year we're splurging and staying at Disney's Polynesian Resort instead of our regular Pop Century Resort. I honestly don't know if we'll miss Pop Century or will be spoiled by the Poly and never want to go back to Pop. One good thing about staying at the Poly is it is a monorail resort, therefore when heading to the Wine and Food Festival at Epcot, we both can partake in "drinking around the world" without having to worry about one of us driving. The Poly is also just a short boat ride/monorail ride to the Magic Kingdom which means not having to park at the Transportation and Ticket Center and taking the monorail or ferry over to MK (which usually adds about 20 minutes to your travel time) ... so I can clearly see the pros to us staying at the Poly.

Even though we are staying at a Disney resort (and thus have free Disney transportation to any of the parks, Downtown Disney, etc), we do rent a car. Mostly for the convenience of not having to wait for Disney buses, plus we do like to see and do other things in the Orlando area. This year I booked our October rental in early April when I booked our rental for our May trip. I'm so glad I did because car rental prices for our dates are outrageous ($218/week for a mid-size rental). That is the highest we've ever seen in our many years of traveling to Orlando in either May or October!!

With only 22 days left, we're getting our items ready to take to Spooky (posters, etc for signing). The suitcases are out ready for packing (the cat seems to like snoozing in them/on them) and I keep checking our flights for last minute changes and car rental for a better rate (this is something I do until usually the day before we leave). Our tickets for HHN have been purchased and have been put in a safe place, along with our daytime tour (Unmasking the Horror) ticket. I'll be paying off our Disney hotel in the next few days (so we don't have that expense while we're at Disney) and I'll start freshening up our warm weather clothes for the trip.

... I'm sure 22 days will go by very quickly ...