I've been Dibb member for years but my last trip was 10 years ago so I haven't been an active poster in a long time, just lurking and dreaming
The cast of characters has changed somewhat since my last trip:
Me aka Liz
OH Ian
DD1 Nancy (7)
DD2 Astrid (4)
DS Dominic (3)
It'll be my fifth time but everyone else's first. We almost booked to go to Orlando in 2013 when it was just me, Ian and Nancy but decided, grudgingly, to be sensible and put the money towards our impending house purchase. That and 2 more additions to the family 17 months apart meant the holiday pot wasn't too healthy for a while but i'm so excited to finally say we're going to Orlando next year
The kids have had a taste of Disney already as we went on our first family trip to DLRP in 2017, staying in Davy Crockett Ranch. I was a bit apprehensive about taking 3 little ones (they were 5, 2 and 1 at the time) but it was fantastic, they all loved it and Nancy cried when it was time to go home bless her! It was a total change of pace to my previous trips as part of a couple, you're definitely forced to slow right down and spend far more time in the loos
but seeing the magic through your children's eyes is amazing and just made us more determined to take them to WDW
The tentative plan is 3 weeks over May half term (the girls' school has 2 weeks off) plus the week before. Staying 10 nights onsite (likely CBR) for hopeful free dining which we'll upgrade to get the TS meals and 11 nights offsite (some kind of self catering accomodation, villa/suite/condo not sure yet)
For our 10 nights onsite we won't be hiring a car and plan to enjoy being firmly in the 'Disney bubble' with our only concern being not buying too many souvenirs
Offsite we'll be hiring a car and enjoying the other Orlando attractions and restaurants. Universal, KSC, Seaworld and Gatorland are must dos plus a trip to the Florida Mall. I'd like to go to a beach one day aswell, just deciding which one
I'm also considering a night in a Universal hotel to get the express pass perks if the price is right
As far as flights go Manchester is our airport of choice but i'm not tied to any particular airline. Currently weighing up if it's worth the hassle of flying indirect as the savings can be quite significant, though on the other hand the idea of missing a connecting flight or it being cancelled with 3 kids in tow makes me very nervous indeed
Hoping I can find a good enough direct flight price that this won't be an issue!
As we're not even a year away from the holiday at this point I have a fair bit of time to plan, but some definite restaurants/activities we have in mind are:
-Harmony Barbershop in MK for Dominic
-Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for Nancy and Astrid (bringing the dresses from home!)
-Cinderella's Royal Table (hopefully after BBB)
-Cheesecake Factory (a must do for me when in the US)
-IHOP (same again!)
-Keke's
-Garden Grill in Epcot
-Bubba Gumps
-Cracker Barrel
-T rex (I know the food gets mixed reviews but Dominic loves dinosaurs so I think he'll be in his element here)
With it being so long since my last trip a LOT has changed in the parks, I almost feel like a first timer
I've been poring over the Brit's Guide to 'refamiliarise' myself and watching youtube videos, especially loving DFB
The biggest change is in the fastpass system (no more of those machines you put your paper ticket in it seems!) but i'm hoping the 60 day perk of staying onsite will mean we can get on all the rides we want to at some point during our trip
That's all for now... I know this section of the forums isn't as active as it used to be but I always loved writing these back in the day, I feel like it adds to the excitement of planning a trip and hopefully a few of you out there feel the same