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An EPIC Adventure - A Live & Interactive trip report

As most of you know I am an avid fan of the parks, Orlando and Florida in general, over the last 10 years I have made 16 trips which has seen me travel all over Florida From Miami to Clearwater and Key West to Daytona (I drove the whole route on the old A1A road). Over the course of 2, 3 and occasionally 4 week trips I have ended up seeing more of Florida than I have the UK.

This trip is a little different, it is one that will tick off a few bucket list items, will see me visit 4 states, take in 6 parks none of which are Disney, but I will still get my Disney fix from a trip on DCL.

Along the way I will be catching up with old friends and maybe making some new.

I start this EPIC Adventure with my GF two weeks today, after over a year of planning the wait is nearly over and the big departure day is fast approaching.

Here is rough plan and just a few of the Highlights I have planned.

  • Over night stay in Manchester before an early morning flight into JFK
  • 5 Nights 6 Days in the Big Apple to Include all the tourist stuff and maybe a trip out to Coney Island to ride Cyclone if I can Squeeze it in. I just have to do Katzs Deli too.
  • Overnight Greyhound to PA to spend a week with my good buddy @maddog. Cedar Point and Kennywood days are planned and I am expecting some quality ambience :grin:
  • From PA its a road trip down to Tennessee where we are staying at Pigeon Forge in a traditional log cabin with some old friends of the site, Good ole Bob and Dianne. During our week here we are hitting the Moon Shine Trail and have Dollywood tickets booked. Also looking forward to seeing the Smoky Mountains and eating BBQ at the cabin whilst howling at the moon.
  • We leave Pigeon Forge and head down to Port Canaveral for a week aboard the Disney Fantasy for a western Caribbean 7 nighter, This will be Halloween on the High Seas and will complete the set of all 4 DCL ships for me. Also looking forward to a sunset meal at Remy whilst onboard.
  • After the rest and relaxation of the cruise it will be a quick Uber over to Uni for the final leg of our trip. we finish off with 2 nights at RPR and 4 at the shiny new Aventura Hotel, this will complete the set of Uni hotels (I know you can book for the news ones but they aint open yet so I am claiming it :grin:). Highlights will include first trip to VB, HHNs and of course hanging out with my good buddy @Disneyhead .
This really is an EPIC Adventure and I invite you all to join me.

So right at the top I said live and interactive........

Live

I will post here whilst on my travels and keep you all posted of my adventures (presuming anyone would be interested). @Mad Dog and @Disneyhead can contribute and I will even try and get good Ole' Bob to show his face.

Interactive

This trip really is a once in a life time one, it has taken a lot of hard work and planning so I intend in getting the very most out of it so Ill also be looking for tips and Ideas when I'm there, maybe you can suggest a great roof top bar whilst I am in NYC or have a must do for Kennywood, I wanna know it all :grin: Oh and if you are in town, in a park or nearby when Im in town, give me a shout, maybe we can have a beer :cheers:.



Oh and one last thing, for now. No trip report is the same without photos, I struggle uploading to forums from mobile so I will post photos on my Twitter feed if someone wants to link from there that would make life easier.

Sounds like a fantastic EPIC trip. Pack me along in one of your bags pretty please?
 
...and I watched the movie, “The Queen” last night in preparation of your visit! :look:
Next on the list, "Yankee Doodle Dandy" with Jimmy Cagney.....and then , "The Deer Hunter" which was about the people here in in the Monongahela River mill towns. A very accurate portrayal that still largely exists, even though most of the mills died.
 
So the countdowm is well and truly on, Im busy packing bags, charging devices, downloading movies and checking all the paperwork is on order.

The garden chores are done and excitement is starting to build as my online check-in time grows ever closer. Its nearly time to print those boarding cards guys and gals :peace:

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I hope that's not all ones:grin:

LOL, Nope :grin: although many I time in the States I have had a wedge of notes in my clips and thought I was rich, only to have it turn out to be a few bucks, never seems to work the opposite way round though :_:
 
This is the day, it's finally here :grin:

Yes guys and gals it is

DAY 1 - Manchester Airport

So I just checked in online for tomorrows flight to NYC with Thomas Cook Airlines and we got seats together. Always makes me laugh when airlines try and charge to choose your seats early, Thomas Cook wanted £20 each for the privilege

I'm just about packed and ready to go. I will be getting picked up at 2PM to make the hour and a half journey to our airport hotel.

We are staying at the Holiday Inn Express, cheap and cheerful, with good amenities, small bar and restaurant and a decent breakfast included. Nice way to relax before tomorrow mornings flight.
 
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