Just the Two of Us May 2023

[ChoppyGirl]

Hello

We have been to WDW as a family of 3, with extended family and with friends but this is the first time that me and DH have been on our own. Our DD is studying vet med at uni and even though we offered to go when the dates suit her, she said she is not that bothered as has been quite a few times and will be 21 when we go.

We decided on going in May back a couple of years ago and during lockdown (and still now) I have been watching many many vlogs about the resorts. We stayed onsite the first time at Saratoga Springs when they had the free dining plan and a big discount on that and OKW and also at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Last trip we stayed at a villa and had 2 nights at The Boardwalk renting DVC points from Dave's Vacation Villas.

We had no problems renting through Dave's and we thinking of either trying to rent for 14 nights or 2 lots of 7 etc etc. I originally was looking at Grand Floridian villas but there were lots of reports of some of the rooms needing updating and at £10,000 cash price it was looking too expensive and it wasn't guaranteed we would get the points through Dave's. Plus it's a big chunk of money if anything were to go wrong with the rental.

We decided that we were going to go for 3 weeks - 2 nights at the beach, 5 nights at a Universal Hotel and 14 nights at Disney aiming to fly Friday 5th May.

I really like the look of the Universal hotels and couldn't decide between Cabana Bay, Hard Rock Hotel, Sapphire Falls or pushing the boat out going for Portofino Bay. DH isn't too bothered and trusts my judgment (fool) and so we went with Portofino Bay booked through Travel Republic with just a £15 deposit. It wasn't 'that' much more for club level so we went with that. Total cost was £1807.95.

The next 'leg' of the trip was the WDW part and we were hoping for some kind of dining plan but as there we no rumours as there usually were so as soon as WDW released the 2023 dates we booked and went for Yacht Club Water view for £8661.72 including tickets less 5% Blue Light Card discount. We paid £100 deposit. I asked if a dining offer came out could we add it and was told they would just cancel and rebook using the same deposit if rooms were available.

A few years ago we were looking at staying at Coronado Springs. This was before the tower was built. I kept thinking about the resort but the travel options to the park did worry me. After seeing lots of vlogs with Grand Destino Tower and the new dining options including 3 Bridges I was having doubts about Yacht Club. As a bigger lady the footfall of the general public by the pool area did worry me and I was also concerned about how busy it would be by the pool in general.

Sooooo then dining credit offer was announced by WDW... tbc

[ChoppyGirl]

As the last post finished, the dining offer was announced. Again I was really feeling Coronado Springs Resort and not Yacht Club and Yacht Club wasn't exactly cheap if we weren't sure. I decided that I would let the gods decide and if, on the day of the offer being released Yacht Club wasn't available then I would go for Coronado Springs in the Grand Destino Tower. After waiting a while from 9am on the day of release I got through quite quickly and no Yacht Club rooms were available for the offer at that point. I asked the price of CSR in the tower and was given 2 prices -1 for a water view king and 1 for club level. Club level with tickets, dining credit and Cirque tickets, less Blue Light Card discount was £6539.80 so we went for that!

I am more excited about the CRS booking than the YC one so I think it was meant to be. We are hiring a car for the first week (not yet booked until flights are) and have decided that if buses are an issue getting to parks we will just get an uber if we need to get there at a certain time.

So now there are the first 2 days to book and we were thinking of either Disney's Vero Beach or somewhere in either St Pete's or Clearwater where we have stayed previously.

The prices were better for Vero Beach through Dave's Vacation Villas so about a week before the 11 month mark I put a request in with the deposit which is refundable if they can't get you the reservation. The day the window opened I received an email saying they had secured the reservation and the balance was due. The total price was $798. As it was a 'big trip' we decided to go for an ocean view room as I am queen of booking upgrades

So that's all the accommodation booked. We just need to sort the flights. We have a Virgin Atlantic Credit Card + and have a companion voucher plus about 150,000 points between us so are aiming to fly upper class. Either Manchester or Heathrow to Orlando or Heathrow to Miami for the outbound leg. As our first nights are at Vero Beach it doesn't really matter if we fly into Orlando or Miami as Vero Beach is between the 2. I am subscribed to Seat Spy so fingers crossed we get something in the next 2 or 3 months otherwise I will go for Premium and keep watching.

[MrsBC]

Sounds a lovely trip. 'Adult couple trips' are great!
We're usually Y&BC people too, but price wise for this year the WDW part is at the Dolphin, and next year (so far) at POR in a royal room so I know we'll get in the mansion section.

[ChoppyGirl]

Originally Posted by MrsBC

Sounds a lovely trip. 'Adult couple trips' are great!
We're usually Y&BC people too, but price wise for this year the WDW part is at the Dolphin, and next year (so far) at POR in a royal room so I know we'll get in the mansion section.

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Thank you. The only problem is that we just have each other to talk to! Although my bff and her family (Littlelish0544 on here) are going around the same time for a couple of weeks so we are hoping to meet up. Our trip was heading towards £13k so DH was relieved when I changed to CSR.

I am booked for weight loss surgery on 26th August - it wasn't planned when I booked the trip - so am thinking that the club level offerings will fill me and the dining/merch credits won't need to be spent on meals I will waste. For the meals we do book DH will just have to finish it off for me

[MrsBC]

You'll find it's very relaxed just only having to think about what you want to do.
For next year DH, who's normally not keen on the moderates due to no internal corridors, no balcony etc, became very enthusiastic when I told him the price difference

[ChoppyGirl]

Originally Posted by MrsBC

You'll find it's very relaxed just only having to think about what you want to do.
For next year DH, who's normally not keen on the moderates due to no internal corridors, no balcony etc, became very enthusiastic when I told him the price difference

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I'm with your DH in the not liking internal corridors although I can live without a balcony. This is why we are booked into the Grand Destino Tower. Nobody wants to walk passed the window and see me in my pants

[ChoppyGirl]

About 10 days before the Virgin reward flights for our outbound journey was released (according to the pattern on SeatSpy), I saw a thread on The Dibb with a link to Head for Points. It said that Virgin was now guaranteeing 12 reward seats upon release and were catching up with this the next day ie 12pm 29th June.

I went into Virgin Atlantic to do dummy bookings using cash to work out the best flights for us as we can travel from Manchester or Heathrow being based in Worcester. My first choice was the second flight from Heathrow as I really like the look of the club lounge there and I don’t know what it will be in Manchester next May. I also had a list ready of alternatives.

I had refreshed the VA booking pages a few times during the morning and at 11:45 up popped availability for the exact flights I wanted so I got on the phone to Virgin and joined the queue, refreshing the website to make sure the seats were still available. After about 40 minutes I got through to Flying Club and explained I wanted to book flights using DH’s companion voucher and our points as we had previously got DH to authorize me to use his account. She checked all was ok and said there was a companion and an upgrade voucher on the account (I’m still not sure what that means) so she would transfer me to the upper class line to book 😳 An automated voice came up and said to press 1 for upper class bookings and 2 for reward seat bookings. I pressed 1 and hoped it was the right choice as I joined another queue.

After another 30 minutes I got through and spoke to a fantastic lady who double checked the flights I wanted (outbound and inbound were both available) and looked at the different options to get the best use of our vouchers, points and cash. She really was so friendly and helpful. I was expecting 142,500 points and about £2400 cash but the best deal with the extra voucher was to book premium with points and upgrade using vouchers so it cost 90,000 points and just over £1900. Both me and DH had about 75,000 points each on our accounts so she just transferred some over and we still have 60,000 left. I was soooo impressed with the level of service and she really knew her stuff. So we are booked on the VS135 13:00 from Heathrow to Orlando which is a a350 leisure configuration and back on the VS92 at 17:45 which is the same.

She also booked the seats for me and we decided on 3a and 4a for both journeys as DH said he would prefer a window seat.

I am so excited as it’s the first time we have flown upper class and it’s the exact flights and configuration we wanted. Just have to hope Virgin don’t change the planes but it’s not the end of the world if they do as grateful to be flying upper.

I booked 3 payment for the price of 2 and adult for the price of a child Universal tickets with Attraction Tickets deposit only last week so just airport hotel and car hire to do now.

[ChoppyGirl]

So as we now know we are flying from Heathrow, I started looking at airport hotels as even though we have a 1pm flight, I like to travel up the night before just in case. You never know if there will be a motorway closure plus your holiday starts a day early.

We decided to go for the Sofitel at Terminal 5 which means we can get a taxi to Terminal 3 and use the upper class wing

Due to my upcoming gastric bypass, I will only be able to eat small portions afterwards so I booked a room with lounge access as the canapés will be perfect for me and DH can grab something afterwards. That’s my excuse anyway.

As we are staying at Vero Beach for the first 2 nights we need a car and decided to book for a week so we can go to the outlets and Walmart whilst we are at Portofino Bay. Whilst we are at CSR we will use Disney transport and get an Uber if needed as you now have to pay to park at the resorts. I got a quote by sending an email to Andy (well Kelly) at Discount Florida Car Hire. DH was desperate to get a sports car and as there will be just the 2 of us and it’s just for the week we booked a sports convertible for £648. DH is hoping for a red mustang

[ChoppyGirl]

Nothing really has happened for ages as things we’re all organised.

But today I booked tickets for 18th May at Discovery Cove with dolphin swim in the Black Friday sales. I need to juggle the plan but that that was the cheapest day for the time we are there and there were no firm plans as such.

[ChoppyGirl]

I’ve been looking at dining reservations for our trip and have booked some for our Universal Stay. Out of the 5 nights, 3 we will be eating at Citywalk and for the other 2 we will stay at the resort.

I’ve booked NBC Grill

Margaritaville

And Cowfish

We haven’t eaten at any of these before (just Bubba Gumps and Hard Rock Cafe) and DH isn’t very adventurous so I think these will suit us perfectly.