A great big beautiful – Summer 2022

[Leelashpurple]

It's great to read this and congratulations on your DVC purchase. We have flights booked for August which means I will be back after results day (I am deputy head of sixth) they were booked back in 2019 for 2020 after failing to get the head of sixth role and I though sod it!

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by Cutiepie

Hi Abby, how exciting that you are planning another trip.. Loving the accommodation plans so far and delighted that all your research paid off for your DVC purchase

I’m currently reading up on Gene + for Disneyland. I’m also looking at Touringplans. I have never used them before but I think you have.

I’m actually beginning to think that we will actually get to go in the summer I hope I haven’t spoken too soon

Looking forward to the next instalment. Happy planning

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Thanks Kelly, I'm glad your Disneyland trip is still being planned and looks to be going ahead. This is brilliant news. I've actually not used Touring Plans or the Lines app before, but funnily enough I did download the app yesterday for WDW to see what it looked like and I think I will subscribe as people have certainly rated it in the past and I hope it will be useful this summer.

Originally Posted by Buggles94

I am delighted to report that after many many cancellations we made it to WDW for Christmas! So worth it 😀😀😀 I really didn’t believe it though until the plane took off!

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Hurrah I'm really pleased you made it back. I bet you were thinking any moment that it might get cancelled. I hope you had a magical time!

Originally Posted by Leelashpurple

It's great to read this and congratulations on your DVC purchase. We have flights booked for August which means I will be back after results day (I am deputy head of sixth) they were booked back in 2019 for 2020 after failing to get the head of sixth role and I though sod it!

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I get your reasoning! We are lucky as teachers to have so much time off, but the flip side is we can only book holidays at those times of the year. I hope your rearranged trip from 2019 and 2020 is wonderful from the start to the end.

[Goldia]

Flights

Right then, I can confirm we have flights booked! Whoop, whoop ! Once again, for those who want the abridged highlights and don’t want to have to read the whole post we are flying with BA direct from Gatwick to MCO economy on the way out and premium on the way back. So, yes, that is 2 suitcases each on the return flight. The best part is it only cost us £870.99 total, for the three of us .

If you want to read the full story and find out how come we got flights so cheaply then that’s set out below, but first a little back story

I’ve been subscribed to the glitch cheap flights thread and I was hoping to bag a bargain. I am not loyal to any airline and will happily travel with whichever one is the cheapest. My criteria are fairly set though.

1. I want to fly from a London airport, Gatwick is closest to us but I don’t mind travelling to Heathrow if it turns out cheaper.
2. I want to arrive at MCO. I don’t want airports all over Florida as I don’t want to have to drive out there and we have no interest in hiring a car. Uber/Lyft has worked fine for us in the past and means we can both have a cocktail if we want to. Also, the cost of parking was always an additional nail in the coffin, now we are DVC members though we don't have to pay for parking when staying using our membership so this is a potential consideration
3. I don't mind direct or indirect, we've done both and there are pros and cons for each.
4. I’m reasonably flexible on dates, but it does have to be in the summer holidays and I want to be back by 18th August.
5. I’m usually not too fussed about getting booked up as soon as the flights are released. I know if I’m patient the flights will appear.
6. I don’t want to pay more £600 each really. This is what we've paid in the past and so each year I hope to keep at around that figure.

In 2014 we flew direct with Virgin, that flight was all part of the package for the trip. We’ve not flown with Virgin to Orlando since then as they have never been the cheapest option.

In 2016 we had United indirect via Washington Dulles. We ended up sitting on the plane at Dulles waiting about 2 hours for it to take off to MCO as it was grounded due to storms in MCO and they didn't want more planes coming in to the area. So, that part wasn't fun , but we got there in the end.

It was around this time that I started reading up about American Express cards, earning points for flights and their 2 for 1 vouchers. I wanted to be able to one day travel in Club and this seemed like a cost effective way of doing that. So, we’ve both had BA Amex cards, in the beginning we got bonus avios points for referring each other after 6 months and this was really useful.

In 2017 we flew with BA from LHR to JFK as we had the 4 nights in NYC, then from JFK to MCO and for the return we did indirect via Miami. This was a great deal booked in the BA September sales.

In 2018 we waited until January and booked indirect with Aer Lingus via Dublin so we had the pre-clearance. I really didn't think we would make the connection as we were delayed leaving LGW and we raced through Dublin airport, but make it we did. The pre-clearance was great and once again we landed into MCO as domestic passengers.

In 2019 we had Mum and Dad with us and I was pleased to get direct flights with BA booked in the October. It was nice to not have the hassle of indirect as we'd had our close calls and our lost luggage previously, but oh boy that immigration hall, luggage collection and then the monorail is not something I particularly want to repeat. It was grim.

It was also in 2019 that both Dave and I had earned a 2 for 1 voucher each and we booked up to go to Washington DC flying Club with BA. This was in October half term and it turns out this was the last time we set foot on American soil. The Club seats were awesome and of course we wanted to do this again.

For our cancelled 2020 trip I booked flights earlier than I’ve ever booked them. We had only been back from our 2019 Orlando 10 days and I saw there were lots of posts on the glitch thread about Lufthansa deals, flying indirect via Frankfurt. I checked it out and they were coming out at £500 each for dates that were near enough what I wanted from London and into MCO.

I had a quick chat with Dave, which basically involved me saying "wow these flights to Orlando next summer are cheap" and him saying "hmm" to which I responded "shall I book them?" and he replied "do I get a say?"... I suppose not. So, of course I booked them, even though it was still August. It took an age for Lufthansa to finally refund the flights after they were cancelled, but all the money was received back in full.

For our cancelled 2021 trip I never got round to booking flights as it just seemed like such a long shot I had the WDW hotel booking ‘just in case’ the trip could go ahead, but it didn’t so no flights that year.

Finally we are up to date and thinking about the 2022 trip. I had been keeping an eye on skyscanner and the flights were coming in pretty pricey. With indirect over £600 each and direct flights knocking on the door of £1000 each – crazy prices . I did not want to book at those rates. Multiple times I tried making a package on BA adding on car hire (which we didn’t want) adding on an airport hotel (which we do want) and I even tried looking at Tampa and Miami airports (which I didn’t really want). None of those options brought the cost of flights down to a ‘sensible’ amount .

So, then yesterday evening I thought I’d have a look and see if there were any reward flights for BA as we have one 2 for 1 voucher that we can use. And I couldn’t believe it because there were flights . I don’t think I’ve ever seen availability for reward flights to Orlando this late, usually they go right as the 330 day booking opens up. I decided it was karma and meant to be so I didn't wait, I called Dave downstairs and we booked them there and then.

We fly on Wednesday 27th July at 13.50 from LGW to MCO in economy and we return on Tuesday 16th August at 20.50 in premium economy. We have one checked bag each on the outbound flight and two pieces of checked luggage on the return flight . In total the cost was 97,500 avios points and £870.99 you have to pay taxes and fees with the voucher. So, I’m thinking that’s a bargain as it’s less than £300 each for direct flights with one flight being PE.

It's fab to have this all in place and now I can start thinking about what to do for hotels prior to checking into Copper Creek on 1st August. We need accommodation for 5 nights 27th to 31st July inclusive. Here are the options:
1. there is no availability at Coronado on the WDTC UK site prior to 29th so we cannot extend our stay before the 29th I'm thinking I should just cancel this booking as it will be too much chopping and changing to keep this for just 3 nights.
2. there is no DVC availability at Copper Creek on Sunday 31st July. I could waitlist it and hope this comes up so I can currently only book 4 of the 5 nights and we would have to find somewhere for 1 night before then coming back to WL on 1st August .
3. there is DVC availability at other resorts at the moment for the full 5 nights. So, should I book up somewhere else? Then move to WL on 1st August?
4. book a hotel reservation at one of the other Disney resorts, value or moderate for this part of the holiday?
5. book elsewhere not on site for these 5 nights?

What do you all think? What should we do? I don't want to do the Universal stay at the beginning of the trip as we have seasonal annual passes and therefore cannot enter the parks in July. I'm really not sure, what would you do?

[caitlinsmummy]

Those are amazing prices for the flights Abby well done! You should definitely go into trip planning if you ever don't want to teach

Regarding the hotel situation I think I would book at one of the other DVC resorts for the 5 nights just so you aren't chopping and changing, then at least you're still in the Disney bubble xx

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

Those are amazing prices for the flights Abby well done! You should definitely go into trip planning if you ever don't want to teach

Regarding the hotel situation I think I would book at one of the other DVC resorts for the 5 nights just so you aren't chopping and changing, then at least you're still in the Disney bubble xx

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Yes that's what I was thinking too. So, I logged into the DVC member website and tried to make a booking for Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House. Annoyingly I got this error message pop up.

Gosh darn it (or more harsh language) those Disney websites can be mighty frustrating.

[Buggles94]

Fantastic flight price Abby - and fantastic news re the luggage allowance! We always need more and after this trip my spirit jerseys need their own wardrobe! Have you got points to extend the CC stay - you can always borrow like I have to a lot! Definitely worth trying for a waitlist… in these times I can imagine you have a decent chance? I would definitely try to book another DVC in the meantime.. when you set the waitlist up you can say that they can use the points from the other booking and you can cancel a waitlist and change booking - loads of flexibility! Just hope you can get on the site very soon! Love all this holiday planning 😀

[nothingless]

I agree, go for option 3! Last time we did a split stay that was booked kinda late, we stayed at AK Jambo House, Saratoga Springs, and Old Key West and we loved all 3! If there's availability at any of those, I'd go for that!

[Lizzim]

Is there anywhere else you could change CSR to? Might be availability at a different resort and then you would still get tickets as part of the package?

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by Buggles94

Fantastic flight price Abby - and fantastic news re the luggage allowance! We always need more and after this trip my spirit jerseys need their own wardrobe! Have you got points to extend the CC stay - you can always borrow like I have to a lot! Definitely worth trying for a waitlist… in these times I can imagine you have a decent chance? I would definitely try to book another DVC in the meantime.. when you set the waitlist up you can say that they can use the points from the other booking and you can cancel a waitlist and change booking - loads of flexibility! Just hope you can get on the site very soon! Love all this holiday planning 😀

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I need to look into the waitlist thing and see how to do that. Hmm, so book somewhere else meanwhile then change the reservation. Thanks for the tips.

Originally Posted by nothingless

I agree, go for option 3! Last time we did a split stay that was booked kinda late, we stayed at AK Jambo House, Saratoga Springs, and Old Key West and we loved all 3! If there's availability at any of those, I'd go for that!

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Thanks for the advice, yes all three of those resorts are available. I'm tempted by the Jambo House option.

Originally Posted by Lizzim

Is there anywhere else you could change CSR to? Might be availability at a different resort and then you would still get tickets as part of the package?

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Yes, I thought about that. There are other moderates or value resorts available. I need to make a decision

[Sparksy72]

Abby that is amazing news about your flights! You will absolutely make great use of that second piece of luggage each on the way home. 😁 the choices really are endless for your accommodation (availability pending of course!). Would it be worth seeing what DVC availability there is for that 5 nights and trying somewhere you haven’t stayed before? We personally don’t mind swapping hotels after a night or two but seeing as it has been such a long time between visits, you might prefer to not move around so much? Isn’t it exciting to be able to have these excellent dilemmas again after such a long time! #holidayplanningagain!