The One With All The Birthdays.... a Pre-Trip

An Introduction (or, who the hell is this mad women rambling on and on)

So, before I get too carried away with myself I guess I better do some introductions

I think most people know me by now, I'm the mad obsessive planner. As my user-name suggests, my name is Robyn, I'll be 30 when we fly. My birthday is actually in July but I have absolutely no desire to ever head to Orlando in the middle of summer or peak season, so its somewhat of a belated celebration for me. I'm a big Tinkerbell fan, I think she's tiny but fierce! I couldn't choose a favourite Disney movie, there are FAR too many to choose from, though the Little Mermaid was the first film I saw in the cinema so it holds a special place in my heart. I can't pinpoint when exactly my obsession began, I first went to Walt Disney World as a teen but the obsession was already set in by then. The Disney Channel was a permanent fixture on our TV much to my dad's disgust.

This is what I look like...

Then there's my hubby, Simon or Sy. This is what he looks like...

I often say he's so laid back he's horizontal He's very easy going and will pretty much go along with any plan I make. I like to think its cause my plans are so awesome but most probably cause he will do anything for an easy life hahaha! He will be 32 when we go. His dream is to be an imagineer, he loves knowing the back story to everything, how it works, why it is the way it is - think its the architect in him. He likes the classic Disney Characters best. He said he's finding it hard to choose a favourite Disney movie but he does love Up (it was the first Disney movie we watched together).

Next up are my parents, Sian...

and Bill.

They are both celebrating their 60th Birthday's this year. My mum in March and my dad in October (but before we get there). My mum will tell anyone that she is 28 though so I'm sure to get a slap for mentioning her real age on here Funny story about that, we all went on a TV show here in the UK called Eggheads. Its a quiz show that you go on in teams and take on the 'Eggheads' who are basically brainboxes. We went on as a family, Sy, both of our mums, Sy's brother and my brother in law (I was there too but that was only as an extra in case someone was taken ill). At the beginning of the show you have to introduce yourselves, say your name, age, job etc. Well my mum told everyone she was 28 years old with some years experience... She ended up trending on twitter as the mad woman who told everyone she was 28 but clearly much older! HAHAHAHA! Whoops...

Anyway, I digress. My parents took me to WDW for our first trip when I was a teen, my granddad said he was going to take me but he died suddenly before we were due to go I was very, very close to him and that was the year we had adverts with a little girl and her grandpa in WDW. My aunt offered to take me as my parents didn't really want to go however we all ended up going together and we were all hooked from that very first moment. We only went for a week and did Universal, Seaworld, Wet and Wild, plus Disney and Shopping. Oh boy, it was a BUSY week! But we loved every second and we were all hooked. We went back a few times as a family over my teens, and then my parents have come back with me and Sy twice, this will be the 3rd time we all go together as adults.

Then comes Sy's parents...

Anne...

and Cliff...

Anne turns 60 in August (Cliff celebrated his 60th last year, he's the old sensible one). I'm not 100% sure Anne and Cliff were that excited to visit WDW on their first trip. Sy had just been for his first visit (our honeymoon) and he had the bug BIG time, so we convinced them to come with us along with my parents in 2010. I think our excitement rubbed off on them a bit and they were excited, though I think they were humouring us a little They had such a fab time that they agreed to come back again in 2011 with just us (my parents couldn't come that time ), 2012 with their friends Steve and Jude (plus us and my parents), and again now 2014 They visited the Keys in 2012 so we are relying on them to tell us where all the good places to go are They do love Disney but its more just being in Florida that they love, Anne loves wildlife especially birds, and loves all of the different species that can be found. Cliff is a bit like Sy (or maybe that should read Sy is a bit like his dad) in the way that he is very easy going and will go along with pretty much any plan, as long as the plan doesn't include shopping

[Sections of this post have been edited by the Administrator for confidentiality.]

The Plans!

The original plans were to fly out the last two weeks of October and stay a week and a half on our own into November. However the school holidays times in the UK are for the last week to two weeks of October and thus has made the flights uber expensive We have to make use of the holidays as Simon's mum works for school so we were a bit worried to say the least... We monitored flight prices for a few weeks and into the sale however they were still over 900 pounds ($1450 ish) each We couldn't really afford that much, we had a few lengthy discussions about it and Simon's parents said that we should think about going without them as the week before was so much cheaper. Of course we didn't want to do that but it was coming to the stage of either going without them or not going at all What a total bummer! We kept an eye on the prices further in the vain hope that they might come down but it wasn't looking likely... and then...

It was the weekend before Christmas, we had all gone to a Christmas ball together at a local vineyard. We were sat round the table talking, you can picture the scene I'm sure, glammed up, in high spirits, wine flowing... and up came the subject of Florida. Anne said how she was upset about not being able to come when Cliff said that she was being silly, of course they were going to come! The school were going to have to like it or lump it And anyway, a lot can happen in a year's time. (Anne isn't a teacher so its not like she would be leaving students). We were all over the moon That was it, Cliff had spoken no way they could go back on it now, and come Christmas day we booked our flights

Not only that, but we booked our flights home Premium Economy! And still a few hundred cheaper than the original 900 OMG! I've never flown anything but economy so this is so exciting!!! And what comes with Premium? More luggage! And you know what that means.... MORE SHOPPING!! YAY!

look at the swish seats...

Probably should note that its just Sy and I that are flying back premium LOL our parents are flying back before us and they wanted to save and stick with economy

We had wanted to fly into Miami and to spend time in the Florida Keys at the start of our trip, however in October they have something called fantasy festival that well, let's just say isn't the sort of fantasy festival that you would want to visit with your parents and in-laws In order to escape it we were going to fly into Orlando spend some time in Disney, travel down to the Keys stopping on the way, spend some time in the keys and then travel back up and spend some more time on our own in WDW, while our parents fly home the day we get back up to Orlando. I'm sure you will agree, that was a heck lot of driving and a bit of a waste of time in the car, however understandably we really didn't want to get to Key West while the fantasy festival was going ahead. BUT now that our dates have changed we were able to fly into Miami hitting up the keys at the beginning of our trip so saving a lot of driving around and doing the best bit at the end.

So now the plan looks like this;

Fly into Miami together, spend one night near Miami as we don't get in till quite late and it will be very late to our body clocks. Up early the next day and drive to Key West, spend three nights in Key West and then drive up to Naples, spend one night in Naples before heading to Walt Disney World for the rest of the trip.

Now this is where the next change comes in... Originally we had booked a two-bedroom value room in Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo house for the parents and a club level studio for us. We thought long and hard about this as we didn't want to leave our parents out, but we could add them as guest to our reservation so that they could enjoy the club level facilities so we went ahead and booked. And then... We carried on talking and decided that as much as we would save points and would enjoy trying club level, did we really want to spend time away from each other on our holiday? We were supposed to be on holiday together after all... Plus the value rooms are smaller than the normal DVC two bedroom rooms, there wasn't going to be much room for all of us to sit and relax together so we decided to forego it and move the reservations over to Kidani.

We have booked a two bedroom savanna view and a studio standard view, we have put my parents in the studio as they like to go to bed early and get up early whereas Simon's parents are more night owls like us, plus Simon's dad snores really loudly so at least his mum can get out the sofa bed if she needs to escape (now you know where Sy gets it from!), it was actually on suggestion from my mum to do it that way round, I wasn't taking any part in the decision other than saying we were having the big bed LOL.

We stayed in a dedicated 2 bed in 2012 with my parents so here are a few pictures of the room, so excited to stay there again!

Looking forward to having a bubbly bath in this...

We fly to Miami on the 11th of October and we get to Disney on the 16th, we are staying 11 nights in Animal Kingdom Lodge and then we say goodbye to our parents as they then fly home from Orlando While we checkout of Animal Kingdom Lodge and head over to the Villas at Grand Floridian to stay for eight nights on our own

We're planning to do only Disney on this trip. As you may have seen we have been to Universal and SeaWorld in previous trips but we are intending to take it a bit easier this time - everyone is that much older and not and as good a health Plus it can be a bit of a rush to try and fit everything in, least this way we can have a little bit of down time Sy's parents are undecided whether they might visit Universal, they also might go to Kennedy Space Centre again, there's still plenty of time to decide though. We wont be doing either, neither will my parents as they would rather save the dosh and take Disney at a slower pace.

Planned activities at Disney

As we are staying at AKL we are planning to do lots of things around the hotel, including the culinary tour and the sundown mingle - we were intending to do the sunrise Safari offered to concierge guests but we will have to say goodbye to that now ah well!

Also on the plan is a morning of golf for the boys while us girls go off to the spa at the Grand Floridian

The Marceline tour, though I'm not sure if we were doing this on our own or with our parents. Will have to give them some info about it and see what they think.

Behind the seeds tour, I know Anne really wants to do this so I'm going to do it too, not sure who else wants to join in yet.

Mickey's not so scary Halloween party, I know my parents aren't that interested in the party I'm not sure about Simon's parents. Ruth is planning on coming with us though

Watch the fireworks from Top of the World Lounge at least once!

Catch a concert or two at eat to the beat.

I've hinted strongly to Sy that I'd like to do a horse and carriage ride round Fort Wilderness so fingers cross that comes about (he keeps saying he wants to arrange a few things for me as surprises but as I'm the chief planner he finds it hard)

LOL well I must admit, I'm a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE friends fan, had them all on VHS, now DVD, watch a dvd at bedtime every night.... so yeah Friends is where I stole the name from

Right from when I first starting writing TR I wanted to call them 'the one...' but then thought people would think I was mental so I didn't. Maybe i'll start the tradition now

Awww thank you! you know me by now, there's always more to come hehehe

ahhhhhhhh thank you soooo much I am totally in love with that saying, I'm going to try and use it today!

ahhh another friends fanatic sadly I'm not sure this will be as funny, but hopefully slightly longer

I hope it will be!

LOL he didn't wanna wear those ears, I had to use my wife charms to get him in that outfit (wife charms ALWAYS work ) but he did like it once he was in it, and all the attention he got

You totally can start your TR! In fact, I expect to see it up and running in the next few weeks and I really hope our paths cross more than once looking forward to it xxxxxxxxx

Now onto the good bit.... FOOD!

Food places we intend to visit,

1900 Park fare, breakfast (with Ruth)
Whispering Canyon cafe, breakfast
Kona Cafe, breakfast
Grand Floridian cafe, breakfast
Captain's Grille, breakfast (though this might change to lunch or dinner once the new menu is out)

Sanaa, lunch or dinner (with Ruth)
The Plaza, lunch or dinner
Beaches and Cream (I think maybe with Ruth)
Via Napoli, lunch or dinner
Ohana, dinner on the day of our vow renewal (with Ruth)
Chefs des France
Coral Reef
Tokyo Dining
Hoop de doo musical Revue (with Ruth)
Grand Floridian garden view tea room for some afternoon tea.

Off site eats

Bob Evans (breakfast)
Outback
Fuddruckers
Longhorn
Kobe
Chili's
Texas Road house

There will be more added to those lists I'm sure Currently we aren't sure what out of those we will be visiting on our own and which we will visit as a family, that needs to be worked out over a few family get togethers.

Must eat snacks

Well of course, the first thing on this lost has GOT to be....

Dole Whip From Aloha Isle or Captain Cook's, I dont care where it comes from as long as it goes into my tummy!

Next up, in infamous Napoleon.

I LOVED the old napoleon from the France bakery, why o why did they have to change it?! Its still nice but now the starring rolls napoleon overtakes it - in my opinion anyway

Funnel Cake comes next on the list, we tried it for the first time on our last trip and OMG its soooooo good! Gotta get at least 1 of these

I really want to try an ice cream at the new L'Artisan des Glaces in the France pavilion.

I've never been into Karamell Kuche but I love anything toffee or caramel so I think we need to make a spacial effort to get something in there, not sure what yet, I just know I want something

Another place I've never been is Kringla Bakery in the Norway pavilion, I want suss out the menu and decide what I want to try in there

Now that we have covered the sweet stuff, I guess I should cover the small list of savoury snacks I wanna fit in

I love stopping by Liberty Square Market to get a baked potato! Baked potatos are one of my all time favourite foods so the trip wouldnt be complete without stopping here... They are such an amazing use of a snack credit too! I want to try a sweet one next time

Also want to try a mickey pretzel which will be a new one for me I've had a jalapeno cheese one before and loved it (and want one of those too).

This list will be majorly added to once the full list of food and wine is out, but that probably will involve its own entry to the report!

Car Hire

This has been a damn PITA to organise if I'm honest and we have ended up with 3 separate car hires.

For the Keys we needed a car big enough for 6 adults, 6 big cases and 6 hand luggage cases, plus my mum's ECV. As we were flying into Miami we didn't have the option of leaving a few cases somewhere, so really the only option we had was a massive mini bus. Unfortunately the minibus option is quite pricey We looked at having 2 cars but by the time you added the cost of petrol, tolls etc. there wasn't any sort of saving. So we decided to book the mini bus for the touring part of the holiday and to change to just a normal 7 seater when we get to Disney.

This is what I'm sure is going to be commonly known as 'THE BEAST'

I know, its total overkill having that thing but at least we wont have to worry about trying to fit everything in! Does anyone know if the tolls will be higher in this type of car? We dont really have tolls over here, there are only 1 or 2 roads in the whole of the UK with tolls on, none of which are close to us so I'm still learning when it comes to them Actually, while I'm asking questions... I've read that a lot of the roads down to the keys are Sunpass only, how do we set that up? I know the car hire company will offer it but as far as I am aware they charge a fortune, so is there a way of setting it up ourselves?

As we won't ever need to get all of us, our cases and scooter in the car after getting to Disney it didn't matter how big the second car was as long as we could fit us in it so we have gone for one like this....

We actually had one of these on our trip in 2012 so we know the size and how it drives. We have booked to swap the cars at the Disney Car Centre so it shouldn't take too long. The day our parents fly home they will drive themselves to the airport, without us in the car there will be enough room for all of them, plus their cases and scooter. In the past we have gone with them to the airport but this time we will just have to say goodbye at Disney.

Then that leaves us needing a car for the last 8 days of the trip. We could probably get away with not having a car for at least part of that time, if not the whole time but really we aren't fans of the Disney buses and like having the freedom of our own car... But then we will be at the Grand so we have the monorail to MK and Epcot, boat to MK... Oh I don't know! We haven't properly decided what we are going to do about our car hire yet. Will decide closer to the time I guess

Renewing our vows

This could be my favourite entry to the report I could go on and on and on and on and on... so feel free to ignore me and skip right through if you bore easy There will be SO much more to add to this section over time I'm sure but this is just what we have planned and thought about so far.

The Plan of Day

We aren't having a big ceremony, just an intimate ceremony in our room at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We plan on popping out in the morning to get some food and drinks to have in the room (though we may well do that the day before depending on time etc), then get ready and have some drinks with our family and a couple of friends, have the officiant come to the two-bedroom villa and perform the ceremony while Randy takes some pictures, before going off to another resort (yet to be decided) for some more family photos. Then we're going to hire one of the pontoon boats on Seven Seas Lagoon and head out for an hour just cruising around and celebrating, before heading to 'Ohana for dinner and then get a space on the beach at the Poly, grab a cocktail from the bar and watch the fireworks from there

As of last night, things are ticking along nicely with the day planning. I've got an AMAZING friend who lives in Orlando who does wedding planning especially for brides from the UK, she has been helping me to arrange things with our officiant Tim, and Randy Chapman (photographer). Last night we set the date so it will be happening on the 23rd of October We did want the 24th but Randy is already booked for that day. We are happy with the 23rd though. We are having the ceremony at 2pm, I thought we should go for slightly later but Sy was adamant that we should go for that time so that we have enough time to fit everything in. We are going to try and get an ADR at 6:30pm at 'Ohana so that leaves a lot of time for the ceremony, pictures and a boat trip As its a Thursday I think it will be a MNSSHP night and so Hallowishes will be on 9:30pm I believe.

Clothing

I have a dress in mind already. I did some bridal modelling for a friend last year and part of that I did some modelling of bridesmaids dresses, one of which I totally fell in love with I couldn't stop thinking about it so I went to try it on again, and yup, I still love it I did take a picture but I'm undecided if I'm going to put it up as its a bit small and I don't look that great in it lol. I haven't ordered it yet as I'm currently losing a bit of weight so I'm going to wait a few months till I've lost what I want to. (Digressing here, I bought a dress in a size smaller than I've bought in a LONG time yesterday so I'm on the right track ). In addition to me losing weight, Sy is also losing a bit of weight and following the same diet as me. He wants to buy a light grey linen suit for the day to wear with a white linen shirt. Shoes wise, think we are going to get Sy some Tom's, he's been wanting a pair for ages anyway and we thought they might go quite nicely with the relaxed theme. I amd still utterly clueless on my shoes, I might get a pop of colour or I might just go for plain... I think I need to give it some serious though lol

This is the dress I want... I'm not sure it looks all that amazing on the model, its much prettier in real life I'm going to have a sash in yellow.

Flowers

I plan to do my own flowers for the day, I have done bouquets in the past and as I only want something very simple - a posy of roses - it will be easy to do that morning. I also intend to make a few button holes for everyone else. I'll take the ribbon over there with me and make up the flowers either the day before or that morning. The colour of roses we are going to have is yellow I am a huge lover of yellow and would have chosen that for our wedding but hubby wanted pink (yep, he chose the pink, not me) so I have chosen the colour this time.

Hair and Make-up

I plan to do my own hair and make up (I did my own make up on our wedding day too, I love make up and hate the way other people do it on me - I always think I do a better job LOL). I don't like in your face make up so to speak, I like it to look understated I may go for some subtle false eyelashes though Hair wise, I'm going to go for a loose messy bun on the side with a few flowers in my hair, like this...

Decorations

As its only a simple affair we aren't going OTT with anything, though I am going to make a few little decorations for the room like some bunting, and I'll maybe grab a few balloons too. The decorations list may grow slightly if I have time to make stuff I do want to make a few signs for us to hold in some pictures. I'm thinking of along the lines of 'We (still) Do' or a sign for us each to hold, one saying 'I (still) Do' and 'Me Too'. Thought they were really cute I did also want to make something that says 'Time To Renew, and Say We Do' thinking of maybe making something like that to hang somewhere...

I was also looking at making something like this in yellow and white should be easy enough!

Music

I plan to make a playlist and just play with on speakers in the room through my phone or iPad. I have got a smallish speaker system now but I'm not sure its small enough to carry across at Atlantic, so I might try to find something a little smaller, like a plug in speaker.

Cake

I'm planning to order a mini 2 tier cake for after our meal in 'Ohana, I've been obsessively watching the cake chatter thread on the Dis (I know I'm a traitor, sorry!). Think I'm going to go for a vanilla sponge with passion fruit mousse with a white frosting with yellow mickey accents. A bit like this...

Yay to the similarities, we both must be awesome Very jealous that your trip is so soon! I've been reading your pre trip today, looks like you have an action packed trip. I do know about the fav Disney film being the most recently watched, I watched Tangled the other day and thought it could be a new favourite lol

Yeah those potatoes totally stand in for a meal for me too very filling and yummy. And you are so right, such a bargain! Sy usually pops over to get a tuna sandwich from Columbia while I have a potato.

Thank you I did know about the evening safari but I wouldn't enjoy the Jiko bit as there's not a thing on the menu I would eat and I don't wanna spend all that much for a meal i'm not going to eat lol Thanks for the heads up in Karamell Kuche, i'm so hungry right now, its not helping talking about all this yummy food hehehe

Hey Karen
No we haven't picked places to eat on the road yet, though there is a Longhorns right by the Miami hotel so we may end up there so Sy can get a good chunk of meat There's also a place in Key West that was on Man vs Food that apparently does the best Key Lime Pie, so I know we are planning to head there. I need to hunt out restaurant reviews and menus to make sure we end up somewhere with food I can eat, i'm such a fussy cow.
Yeah we are thinking of getting a budget car, we could still get us and our cases in the teeny car (cause lets face it, teeny American cars are our midsized cars over here LOL).
We did do a week at the beach club with no car and I HATED it, I think we have decided we will be getting a car, just not sure which size

OMG I am SO excited that you could be there when we are! When is your birthday? Do you think you will head there for the actual day?

oooooh what's school bread and where do I get it from??

Actually while I'm speaking of cakes...

I intend to order a cake one evening for my parents and Anne to celebrate their 60th birthdays. I was going to do it to share saying happy 60th birthday but no name so it would be something to share - I'm not sure we want 3 seperate birthday cakes lol. Thinking of doing Sanaa our first night and having it there. Will worry about it nearer the time though as you cant book the cake this far in advance.

I've also been dropping serious, serious hints to Sy for the Chocolate Slipper dessert... Knowing my husband it won't come to anything but I'm not giving up the hope just yet. I'm not sure when it would fit in, I believe it has to come from the Grand Floridian so it has to be a restaurant thats served by their bakery so a GF or Contemporary restaurant.

Look at the gorgeous yumminess...

I've also seen this gorgeous thing that I would like to try and incorporate...

I thought I might be able to arrange for a plate like that with 2 swans on it for me and Sy while we are at afternoon tea. Will need to speak to Pat at the Grand Floridian, fingers crossed she's in a good mood Though I did think maybe if she's not up for doing the swans, she might let me have this written on the mini wedding cake plate.

A Possible Change of Plan

Already there is what could well be another change of plan. We had discussed stopping at Naples on the way up to Orlando however we had the in laws over here at the weekend, they did that trip last year with their friends Steve and Jude, they said it was a loooong trip, by the time they got to the hotel all they did was sleep and leave early the next day. We aren't planning on doing anything in the area the next day as we want to get to Disney so its pretty much all we would be doing as well, so it would probably make more sense to stop on our way up somewhere that isn't so much out of the way. So we were thinking of stopping at Ft Lauderdale, Boca Raton or Hollywood instead, less of a drive the day we leave Key West so it would mean that we could actually do something in those areas the afternoon that we get there. I will be sad to leave out Naples as its somewhere I really want to visit but I think we will have to save it for a trip in the future and head there for a few days.

We still haven't made any final decisions but we still have a few months before we need to start deciding.

What's booked and what's left to book

Booked so far

Flights

2 sets of car hire

DVC at Animal Kingdom Lodge and Grand Floridian

Vow renewal

Still to do/organise

Car hire for after our parents leave

Hotel in Miami/Homestead

Hotel in Naples/Ft Lauderdale/Boca Raton (need to decide which)

Hotel in Key West (thinking of the Parrot Key Resort as they have 3 bedroom villas)

Buy AP's for us and sort tickets for parents

ADR's

Marceline tour

Behind the seeds tour

Things for our vow renewal

MNSSHP tickets

Book Spa & Golf

Buy Memory Maker

Sort the cakes - EEEEK!

WOW! That's still a heck of a lot on the To Do list isnt it?

Still to come in the Pre Trip,

Key West - a list of places to eat and things we plan to do while we are there.

Naples/Ft Lauderdale/Boca Raton - a list of things to do in the area, just the small matter of deciding where to stay first

A heck load more on the Renewal

As I've been mad planning the trip that's coming up in just over 2 weeks, this one has taken a slight backseat. That being said, I've still been a busy bee planning, its just been a bit behind the scenes

A Possible Change of Plan

Already there is what could well be another change of plan. We had discussed stopping at Naples on the way up to Orlando however we had the in laws over here at the weekend, they did that trip last year with their friends Steve and Jude, they said it was a loooong trip, by the time they got to the hotel all they did was sleep and leave early the next day. We aren't planning on doing anything in the area the next day as we want to get to Disney so its pretty much all we would be doing as well, so it would probably make more sense to stop on our way up somewhere that isn't so much out of the way. So we were thinking of stopping at Ft Lauderdale, Boca Raton or Hollywood instead, less of a drive the day we leave Key West so it would mean that we could actually do something in those areas the afternoon that we get there. I will be sad to leave out Naples as its somewhere I really want to visit but I think we will have to save it for a trip in the future and head there for a few days.

We still haven't made any final decisions but we still have a few months before we need to start deciding.

Hotel in Key West is BOOKED!

Woohoo!

With the exchange rate as favourable as its been, it seemed a good idea to get our hotel booked, as it was going to be cheaper to book direct with the hotel anyway. When we first look at this hotel is was going to cost 390 pounds each couple for 3 nights, now with the exchange rate so good its cost about 300 each a nice big saving!

Where are we staying?

Parrot Key Resort, in an ocean front 3 bed villa

It has 3 bedrooms plus a living space.

2 bed room on the ground floor.

The Master and living space on the middle floor

3rd bedroom is on the top floor.

Isn't it just sooooooo pretty?!?! We had actually looked at staying here on our honeymoon but we ditched Key West in favour of spending more time in Disney.

The hotel is a bit out of the busy part of Key West, its about 5-10 min car ride but that's not a problem for us seeing as we wouldn't be able to walk far with mum anyway so we would take the car everywhere we needed to go. Plus it means we can be right by the ocean which is always a bonus for me The hotel does offer watersports but I highly doubt we will be partaking in any.