5,4,3,2,1… Orlando Here We Come - May 2022

[sheluk]

5,4,3,2,1… Orlando Here We Come - May 2022

5 years since our last visit
4 first trip as a family of four
3 weeks and 3 lots of accommodation
2 number of new people being introduced to the magic
1 chance to make memories <3

So, like most Dibbers we’ve had a fair few changes from our original plans and this trip is 20 months later than intended!

As a very brief history October 2020 was a trip to celebrate my husbands big 4-0, which then quickly turned into a rescheduled 2021 trip, followed by another reschedule into later in 2021 before finally pushing it to May 2022.

And here we are… 74 days to go… and it seems to be happening. EEK.

Introductions

Us at Christmas ‘21:

Michelle - turning 35 on this trip, holiday obsessed Dibber, mummy to C&P and solicitor (to pay for the holidays).

Very clearly on a non mummy/daddy day!

Richard - 41, sports fan, daddy, solicitor (to pay for everything else )

Charlie - 4, our energetic (!), funny, TALL paw patrol lover.

Penelope (Penny) - turning 3 on this trip, another active member of the crew, our determined and cuddley little one and peppa pig fan.

The Plan

16 May - 6 June 2022

Flights
Flights, as usual, with VA from Manchester. Given we save miles like an obsession - credit card, Tesco club card points, miles away etc etc.

Very lucky to be flying Upper Class thanks to points and Companion Rewards. Little nervous how the kids will be, but they have flown before and had no big issues, albeit this is a lot longer than the 4 hours they’ve done before!

Can’t wait to use the lounge before the trip and let go of all that check-in anxiety (anyone else unable to relax until check-in and security are done?).

Not at all excited for the fact the flights seem to be taking longer given the change of aircraft (& think we are on our third aircraft change so far).

We’ll gloss over the many hours on hold to VA over the past 2 years to move, change flights etc - it was a bit ridiculous to be honest how many simple mistakes were made with our booking but #covid and swiftly moving on…

Tickets
We had originally bought Disney and Seaworld (3 park) 14 day tickets with Klook in 2020. They refunded the Disney tickets and we rebooked with Attraction Tickets who have been great.

Currently don’t have the add on Genie+ and really undecided what to do with 2 little ones who reallllly don’t like queuing.

They wouldn’t refund the Seaworld tickets so we have an extension on those, I also emailed Seaworld themselves to have it in writing and they responded promptly confirming all ok up to the end of 2022. Just to solve any gate issues we may have! We’ll visit all three of those parks - Seaworld, Aquatica and Busch Gardens. Parking is also included which is quite nice.

Then, finally, we are also considering Peppa Pig land for our final day. We don’t *need* it with so many other things to do but our daughter loves it and it’s her third birthday so think we may give it a go. I think it might be too old for them if we don’t do it this trip.

More to come…

[sheluk]

Accommodation

As mentioned above we have 3 sets of accommodation - each for a week each during our trip. I would have rather stayed put and had a 2 week / 1 week split but Richard was keen on trying out another resort. So we have:

16-23 May: a 1 bedroom at Copper Creek at Disneys Wilderness Lodge (DVC).

We can’t wait to eat at Geyser Point, use the fab pool and get the boat over to Magic Kingdoms

23-30 May: a 1 bedroom at Beach Club Villas at Disney’s Beach Club (DVC).

This stay is all about the amazing pool and the closeness to Epcot. Hopefully the kids will be up for staying up later by this point of the trip so we can have a few evenings in there - sunset at Epcot is one of my favourite memories from previous trips.

30 May-6 June: a 2 bedroom at Vista Cay booked via Air BnB.

This will be all about location. We booked the ‘Millennium’ block as its newer and we wanted somewhere more modern to a lot of the other condos we looked at. It backs onto Publix and is well located for all our fave things to do and places to eat on International drive.

This will be our first Welcome Home stay since joining DVC in 2021 and our home resort is Copper Creek. After some encouragement from another Dibber who has become a good friend we looked into it and decided that for the next 40+ years of holidays it did make financial sense if we are travelling to Disney at least every other year. Disneyland California and Aulani are also on our hit list one day too. We did buy Resale as it far outweighed the benefits of Direct for us (even with the discounts you get Direct) but can understand why many would like the perks.

We will spend the first two weeks focussing on the Disney parks as a result and then the final week utilising our Seaworld ticket and doing some shopping!

[Princess Ariel]

Ah you fly the same day as us but we are flying from Gatwick! Your plans sound great, will be so amazing to finally be on a plane to Orlando again won’t it?!

[sheluk]

Originally Posted by Princess Ariel

Ah you fly the same day as us but we are flying from Gatwick! Your plans sound great, will be so amazing to finally be on a plane to Orlando again won’t it?!

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Oh fab! What time do you guys land? We are currently 15:10 xx

[akhurstf1]

Welcome home! We became DVC members in 2016 and our only regret is we wish we had done it sooner. Copper Creek is amazing and we love the food choices there too. Hope you have a fabulous time!

[2littleboys]

Great start Michelle. I’m so looking forward to this- always loved your previous trip reports.

[sheluk]

Carhire

Our 2020 trip was initially meant to be a villa so we defo needed a car and had booked via Discount Florida Car Hire and again with the rescheduled trips. However, when it came to this one the prices had sky rocketed. We contemplated just using the Disney buses but we do ultimately like the freedom of a car and staying DVC means we don’t have to pay for parking.

Plus it will make the two hotel moves a bit easier too! With two prams, 4 (or more) suitcases etc.

We searched (& continue to do so) but Avis booking direct was the best price, after seeing a Dibb tip that if you pick up from the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal it’s quite a bit cheaper. Plus if you ring up it’s often discounted further.

Both were true for us too and we’ve booked for the day after we land for Richard to collect after a morning at Magic Kingdom. He’ll probably Uber there as I imagine the kids will be tired so I’ll keep them at the resort.

It is due to be a “mid size” which is a Ford Edge or similar for 20 nights and drop off at MCO.

Avis doesn’t have the *best* reviews for its cars upon pick up, as you don’t get to pick you just get what you’re given, but let’s hope the discount makes it worthwhile any potential issues. If not, Richard will be driving it back to MCO!

Other Stuff
So I think the above covers most of the big ‘stuff’ booked and we’ve also:

* ordered our Landrys card for Richard ✅
I already have one but we’ll have his new membership credit to use along with my birthday credit too.

* completed our ESTAs ✅

* done our park reservations for Disney ✅

* completed online check in for our Disney hotels (yes, already!) ✅

* booked our private airport transfers with Skippy Transportation for our arrival day, which includes a short stop off at a grocery store ✅

Plenty of other things to do but next up is ADR day…

ADRs

Fast approaching our 60 day window & nervous for if we’ll get anything at all but it’s much less about the sit down restaurants for us this trip. I see us doing a lot more quick service and “as and when” the kids are hungry (all the time) and awake etc.

We always tend to do Breakfast in our room with a few exceptions, so it’s mostly lunch and dinner.

I’m not sure if the kids will be for very much in the evenings after we first arrive, they are NOT used to late nights and are we are routine-y people so good luck to us 😂

But anyway! Those we want:
* Topolinos (late breakfast)
* Ohana - hopefully on my birthday
* Homecomin’ - love it here & so desperate for a slice of their Hummingbird cake after being too full last time
* Yachtsman Steakhouse - still a maybe but always wanted to try it and so close whilst we are at Beach Club
* Via Napoli - all about the mahoooosive pizza here

Would like to do the Boathouse & Wine Bar George but just not sure we have enough time. The next trip I guess…

We’ll also use our Landrys for
* Yak n Yeti
* Rainforest Cafe or T Rex

Then some quick services we want to do:
* Casey’s - firm fave
* Satuli Canteen
* Blaze
* Polite Pig
* Earl of Sandwich (ALL about the holiday sandwich no matter the time of year)

Then finally lots of off site faves:
* Longhorns
* Outback
* Bahama Breeze
* Millers
* Teak
* IHOP
* Market St Cafe in Celebration

It’s a good job we are there for 3 weeks 😂

And, that’s before I’ve even covered snacks and treats which is my favourite part. Looking forward to also seeing what the Flower & Garden festival has to offer too!

[sheluk]

Originally Posted by akhurstf1

Welcome home! We became DVC members in 2016 and our only regret is we wish we had done it sooner. Copper Creek is amazing and we love the food choices there too. Hope you have a fabulous time!

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Thank you so much, that made me feel so excited - I don’t think there’s much better than other real life experiences so great to here you love it there. It’s our home resort too - should have mentioned that! Xx

[sheluk]

Originally Posted by 2littleboys

Great start Michelle. I’m so looking forward to this- always loved your previous trip reports.

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What a kind comment - thank you so much! This is my actual commitment to doing a trippie, I’ve been undecided given how young the kids are and what a commitment it is but I do want the memories. Even the not so great ones xx

[JoJo88]

Originally Posted by sheluk

What a kind comment - thank you so much! This is my actual commitment to doing a trippie, I’ve been undecided given how young the kids are and what a commitment it is but I do want the memories. Even the not so great ones xx

See more...

It'll be so worth it in years to come when you can look back, in detail on your trips with the little ones. I so regret not writing a report for our first holiday, but I'm very thankful I did for subsequent trips (I might have forgotten for the last couple though, but then they all got a bit samey!)

Really looking forward to following along x