PLAN WITH US – WALT DISNEY WORLD 2023

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Hey, friends! So when I came to edit this post and finally publish, the title was “Plan with Us – Walt Disney World 2020”. It was that fateful week that I booked our place on the plane…and then Walt Disney World closed its gates to the public during Covid just a couple of weeks later. Anyhow, lemons, lemonade and all that – it’s now thanks to that original flight booking that we are able to visit Disney World this Summer as luckily [but frustratingly for us at the time] the airline wouldn’t refund the tickets and we were left with a voucher, which then turned into an open ticket, and, well, here we are three years later and looking forward to finally seeing Mickey.

The last time we visited Mickey was in October 2013, with Jensen and Lyoto as teeny little Wilderness Explorers – and a stowaway I discovered the day of our departure as I packed the bags into the car. Nothing like discovering you’re pregnant as you’re leaving for a three week trip to another continent! This time, Hero will finally get to feel the magic and ride the rollercoasters with me, instead of making me feel queasy everytime I saw a cupcake, or smelled the Polynesian waterfall [why? WHYYY?]. In fact, I was so terrified that being pregnant at Disney would turn me off ever going again, because the smells were all too much for me. I remember crying on Gav in the Poly lobby. Poor Gav.

Where to Start? Walt Disney World Planning

It’s all SO different now! There was always a lot to plan for before, but this time it’s just so overwhelming! So if you’re booking your first Disney Trip, or you like us haven’t been for a decade, and are wondering how to piece all of the bits together that make a smoother and more fun holiday, you can follow along with me as I plan. First up was the main thing I worry about – flights.

Flying to the USA – Airlines and Airports

VIRGIN ATLANTIC

We love Virgin Atlantic. We’ve flown with them quite a few times and their customer service is far superior to other airlines we’ve flown with. Thanks to our open tickets we were able to easily rebook online and an operator took care of everything for us. We’re flying from London Heathrow to Orlando MCO. We’ve flown indirect before and whereas it can be more stressful having to change planes, the upside was that indirect flights will clear homeland security in their initial arrival location in the USA on the way over which should make the wait shorter when you finally get to MCO [if that’s where you’re ultimately headed].

FLIGHT COMPARISON SITES

I tried Kayak, Skyscanner and all manner of sites and each time we’ve flown to Florida we’ve gone to Virgin directly because I was worried about luggage not being included until I got to the airport. So we each have a confirmed 23kg and a cabin bag too. We flew with British Airways also when we were younger and loved them too, but honestly in this climate I’d just be looking for the cheapest and easiest way to get to the Sunshine State.

Disney Accomodation for Five People

This has been the tricky part. There are now five of us to fit into a hotel room – and our budget doesn’t stretch to two rooms. Thankfully Disney has resorts which fit five. We chose the Caribbean Beach Resort because it’s one of the resorts we’ve never actually stayed at yet, it has the new [to us] Skyliner, and it was on offer [£4,000 for 21 nights].

Other five person hotel resorts at Disney are:

• DISNEY’S YACHT CLUB RESORT
• ALL STAR MUSIC FAMILY SUITES
• ART OF ANIMATION FAMILY SUITES
• PORT ORLEANS [RIVERSIDE]
• FORT WILDERNESS
• ANIMAL KINGDOM LODGE
• BEACH CLUB RESORT
• BOARDWALK INN
• CONTEMPORARY RESORT
• GRAND FLORIDIAN RESORT
• OLD KEY WEST VILLAS
• POLYNESIAN VILLAGE RESORT
• WILDERNESS LODGE
• RIVIERA RESORT

We always book directly with Disney because in our experience they’ve been very willing to change any bookings on to the best offers that are available at any time before our holiday, they’ve refunded without fuss when we haven’t been able to go [2020] and I always feel confident that my booking is in the safest hands possible.

So, flights and accommodation sorted, the next step is tickets!