*All opinions are my own, I have not been sponsored, paid or gifted any items in respect of my views and opinions.*

As a family, the one thing we budget for is our annual summer holiday ‘stay-cation’. I made a decision that after having our son that we would have a ‘proper’ holiday and not three nights in a Premier Inn on the side of the A38 (Not that there’s anything wrong with a Premier Inn, love them in fact). Becoming a family of four in 2010, it changed the dynamic of our road trips, hotel stays and general days out. We needed more room, more belongings and more time to explore, suddenly we didn’t have the option to rush around.

Thinking forward to 2019, I have compiled a list of a few family trips I would like this year. If they are booked, I will include who we booked with!

1. Perran Sands, Perranporth, Cornwall – Haven (Granted awarded from Family Fund)

2. Disneyland Paris – Magic Breaks

3. Beach trip – My family live by the sea, so always an excuse for a visit!

4. Theme Park – Considering Alton Towers or Drayton Manor – neither of our last two trips were successful!

1. Perran Sands – Perranporth, Cornwall

After much research and having stayed with smaller parks, I wanted somewhere in the North of Cornwall. Near the beach and with excellent facilities. I think ‘Haven’ came up in one of the searches and I found ‘Perran Sands’. It had recently undergone a renovation and had on-site perks that other places didn’t. This year will be our eighth visit. We are however mixing it up this year and our usual ‘summer holiday’ will be in the Spring Bank Holiday half term.

We are still staying at Perran Sands and booked it through Haven and for the last few years we have been awarded a holiday voucher from ‘Family Fund‘. Thomas was diagnosed with a long term/life-limiting disability around the age of three and since he started school we fund some of our annual summer holidays with the help of the grant, like so many families if we didn’t receive it, we just wouldn’t be able to go. I will talk more about Family Fund, but I wanted to dedicate a whole post to them, the grant, the booking process etc.

For the first time this year, we have booked an adapted caravan for seven nights, in a prestige class. We usually pay more for platinum with decking but last year we couldn’t use it and as we wanted two breaks this year, we opted for the cheaper class. There isn’t a lot of difference, I’m just a little bit of a travel snob!

We have always been quite lucky with our caravan choices and on booking made requests that have pretty much been granted but last year we had a few issues (by no fault of Haven) and felt safer knowing that what to expect.

If I’m honest, my husband is the big Cornwall fan. Like most places. We’ve had some good times, some bad but we made the most of it. However, the reason it is earlier than usual is that I have been saving my pennies for ‘Disneyland Paris’ and I cannot wait!

2. Disneyland Paris

It seems like a lifetime ago that I actually booked our trip to Disneyland Paris! We’ve been twice previously, once as a couple in 2004, as a family in 2015 and again this year. I booked it through Magic Breaks back in the beginning of 2018 and were due to go in April this year but due to some family circumstances we had to move it to August (I was gutted). We will however get there! The photograph below was from our last trip! Unfortunately, my son was a little overwhelmed and cried. Poor Woody pretended to cry along too before this photograph was taken!

Now the booking!!!

We have booked a three-night stay on site at Hotel Cheyenne, our little boy is obsessed with Toy Story and Woody so we couldn’t not book into the Woody/Cowboy themed hotel. Our original booking, I booked for half-board plus to try out the dining plan but on moving dates, we got free half board essential dining which is still perfect and saved a bit of money too! We also get the extra magic hours which we’ve never used before, so that will be exciting.

As I booked the trip so far in advance the Eurostar wasn’t taking bookings. When they opened the dates, I left it a few months not realising and now they are more expensive but then having moved our trip our daughter moves up an age bracket and becomes a Youth so it’s all relative. But next time I will book the moment they appear!

I am going to write two separate planning posts, one on our trip to Cornwall and then the Disneyland Paris trip. We have a lot to consider with a disabled son, especially with packing, travel and days out. I will also be adding packing posts and reviews! Please follow my blog or twitter for updates!

Anyone else planning any 2019 trips? Maybe you have some tips of your own to share! What are some of your favourite places to visit in the UK?

Thanks for Reading…