Let's try this again! Our First Family Trip May/June 2023

[LizzyBear]

Welcome to my pre trip report for our first family holiday to Orlando This trip was originally planned for May 2020 but we all know how that went! I never thought we'd be this late rebooking but this year just felt too soon for various reasons. Next year we feel should be enough time for things to settle down a bit more and get back to as 'normal' as they're going to for a while. Fingers crossed the pre departure testing is removed soon aswell!

Going on this trip is myself (Liz), my partner Ian and our 3 children: DD1 Nancy (10), DD2 Astrid (7) and DS Dominic (6) I'm the only one who has been to Orlando before, albeit not since 2009.
We're going for 3 weeks, 13th May-3rd June, staying for 1 week onsite and 2 weeks in a villa with 1 night at RPR or HRH somewhere in there. I'm buying Disney and Universal tickets in advance and we'd also like to visit KSC, Gatorland and have a day at Clearwater.

So far I've booked:
-7 nights at CBR for our first week in a 5 sleeper standard room with 14 day Disney tickets and $700 in credits. Its not nearly as good as free dining for us but I really wanted to stay onsite before the kids get much bigger and we need 2 rooms!
Still to book:
-Villa for the remaining 2 weeks. Comparing a few quotes at the moment. Rebooking our 2020 choice is not an option unfortunately.
-Flights. Waiting for these to be released and I'm open to flying from Manchester or London, though direct is a must.
-Universal tickets. Waiting for a good offer as one just ended earlier today.
-Car hire. Steeling myself for this as I've heard prices have shot up! Still a must for our family though.
-1 night at HRH or RPR for FOTL access. Pricing up and not finding any unmissable deals at the moment so will keep checking for a bit longer.
Thanks for reading. I will update as the planning and booking progresses

[vampiress88]

We are similar. We were booked for 17th May 2020 and rebooked now 30th May 2023.
I’ve booked flight and villa with virgin. Car hire is with Andy off here but there was a post few weeks back so we are getting a car from airport for one day then redoing it in winter haven for the remaining 20 days. It’s a mess about but it’s saved me £1200! And I can change it if the prices come down. Wouldn’t have booked if I couldn’t get round that price.
We are doing Disney, Clearwater or somewhere near there. Oh and hubby says discovery cove is none negotiable we have to do leaving off universal for now.

We need a May 23 thread

[MrsCupcake]

Yes to a May 2023 thread!

3 weeks sounds amazing. We are just 2 weeks in CBR.

Sounds like your plans are coming together. Happy planning!

I've started a dining/snack spreadsheet... Lol

[vampiress88]

Originally Posted by MrsCupcake

Yes to a May 2023 thread!

3 weeks sounds amazing. We are just 2 weeks in CBR.

Sounds like your plans are coming together. Happy planning!

I've started a dining/snack spreadsheet... Lol

See more...

And I thought I was a planner with my spreadsheets lol

Do love a dining and snack spreadsheet so you might have to share when we get a May ‘23 thread.

[LizzyBear]

Just found a May thread
https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho...2#post15483722

[smithlane]

Ooh exciting! I should think by next year things are a bit more ‘normal’ with crowds and prices.
Keep an eye on the Car Hire thread as there have been some amazing deals on there for this year through Hertz, but someone will always post when they find good prices. We’ve saved over £1500 on our car hire this year as we always prefer the 7 seater SUVs and they were coming in at nearly £3000 for 3 weeks 😱
I can highly recommend Formosa Gardens Estate for villas, it’s our go to when in Orlando. Or actually anywhere around that area as it’s the closest to Disney and all the restaurants and shops you need.
We’ve booked through Top Villas for this year but have previously used vr360homes.
Looking forward to reading your updates

[LizzyBear]

Thanks I'll definitely subscribe to the car hire thread, we are also wanting the 7 seater suv.
Formosa Gardens looks fab and very close, we ended up choosing a lovely Dibb villa (Orlando Dream) on Lindfields. Ticks all the boxes for us and the location looks ideal. I remember enquiring about it in 2019 but it was booked for our 2020 dates so it must be fate!
Currently pricing up flights but they're not all released yet so I think I need to hang tight. Hoping for circa £500pp with baggage.

[LizzyBear]

Spotted a price drop with Virgin from Manchester so booked our flights. 13/5-3/6 and treated us to economy delight both ways. Only thing I have left to book now is Universal tickets but I'm waiting til black Friday or another 2023 offer. Provisionally booked car hire with Andy but will keep checking prices on that. Now I can turn my thoughts to the fun stuff like parks and meal planning

[LizzyBear]

So with 2 months to go I figured I should do some planning! 2019/early 2020 me would be bamboozled by my lack or organisation tbh. ADRs made this morning:
Sebastians dinner (due to poor recent reviews of Ohana dinner which we did want to try, we thought this looked similar but more reasonably priced and convenient as we are staying at CBR)
Boma dinner
Ohana breakfast (for my Stitch mad son)
Sci-fi dine in Fantasmic package
Via Napoli dinner
Cinderella's Royal Table lunch (post Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique which I also booked)
We have about $900 in various Disney gift cards but realistically that'll cover 3 table service meals for 5 of us, it's crazy expensive without free dining and with the price increases and exchange rate even more so. Fingers crossed it doesn't drop any more!

[Goldia]

I hope you all have a fantastic trip. On our first, and second, once in a lifetime WDW holidays we stayed at CBR. It's a fantastic resort for your kids. The main pool is great fun with the water slides and the quiet pools are good too. You can see the Epcot fireworks from the resort, one evening we went for a night swim and the fireworks went off. We were the only ones in th3 quiet pool so it felt really special.

Not long now! The next 8 weeks will fly by I'm sure.