I know I read about this but I wasn't expecting it

[halloween12]

Genuinely feeling down
Our holiday was a holiday of a life time and was also our wedding, the whole fortnight was just amazing and I am genuinely feeling low now that it is all over.

I honestly don't think we will be able to ever afford to go again, this holiday cost us about £15,000, we saved £5000 of that and we will be paying off the rest over the next 3yrs.
There is really no point in me looking... But I have anyway, I've been trying to see how cheaply a good holiday in orlando could be done.

It would be nice to have a glimmer of hope in the future, it won't be for about 5 yrs.
We flew direct, manchester to Orlando with virgin but I know it can be far cheaper for indirect flights. This cost about £2500
The 4 of us stayed in a 2 bed villa at OKW, with free dining and 14day ultimate park ticket for the price of 7. This cost about £4000
We also did MNSSHP, HHN, universal studios, island of adventure, discovery cove, sea world, Busch gardens.
Car hire
The wedding, photographer, videographer
Spending money and holiday clothes
Presents sat nav, photopass etc

How do you frequent visitors make your time over there affordable?
There are obviously things like the wedding that we wouldn't need to do again, could maybe do without MNSSHP, HHN, discovery cove as these were all amazing but expensive and we already have our memories from these.

Genuinely need to feel a bit better, I do suffer from depression and I am feeling quite glum... Dispite putting my Xmas tree up

 

[Kath2003]

Genuinely feeling down
Our holiday was a holiday of a life time and was also our wedding, the whole fortnight was just amazing and I am genuinely feeling low now that it is all over.

I honestly don't think we will be able to ever afford to go again, this holiday cost us about £15,000, we saved £5000 of that and we will be paying off the rest over the next 3yrs.
There is really no point in me looking... But I have anyway, I've been trying to see how cheaply a good holiday in orlando could be done.

It would be nice to have a glimmer of hope in the future, it won't be for about 5 yrs.
We flew direct, manchester to Orlando with virgin but I know it can be far cheaper for indirect flights. This cost about £2500
The 4 of us stayed in a 2 bed villa at OKW, with free dining and 14day ultimate park ticket for the price of 7. This cost about £4000
We also did MNSSHP, HHN, universal studios, island of adventure, discovery cove, sea world, Busch gardens.
Car hire
The wedding, photographer, videographer
Spending money and holiday clothes
Presents sat nav, photopass etc

How do you frequent visitors make your time over there affordable?
There are obviously things like the wedding that we wouldn't need to do again, could maybe do without MNSSHP, HHN, discovery cove as these were all amazing but expensive and we already have our memories from these.

Genuinely need to feel a bit better, I do suffer from depression and I am feeling quite glum... Dispite putting my Xmas tree up

Our trips are affordable because:
We fly indirect (£420 per person in the school holidays)
We stay offsite (hotel room that could sleep four costs £30/night - even if you got a suite etc. you could find somewhere lovely for £60-80/night)
We do fewer parks (2-4 parks in 10 days) - we don't feel like we are missing out. We can take our time and enjoy the parks at a slower pace.
We don't rent a car and use the buses.
Spending money is minimal. We don't buy "holiday clothes" - never got this concept. We just wear our regular summer clothes.
We don't do photo pass etc. We don't buy souvenirs. We go to the parks, eat well and enjoy it.
We eat offsite. £25 per adult per day is plenty for all of our food and drinks (including alcohol).

10 nights - 2 adults -
Food £500
Hotel £300
Flights £940
Insurance £50
Transport £40
Park tickets £220
Total = £2060 or £1030 per person = £103 per person per night all in.

So I'm guessing the four of you could do the same for under £4000...

For me, I'd rather shave off a few "luxuries" like new clothes, doing every park etc. and go more often.

 

[wayneg]

The cheapest way is out of season on last minute flights, there were plenty around this year from around £200pp but if you want to plan in advance you are looking nearer £400pp.
Trip we just returned from cost us £2,000, that was for 10 nights, 2 adults incl car, hotel & spending money. We already had Annual passes for Disney, SW & Busch.
Florida holiday cost as little or as much as you want, reasonable hotels cost from under £25/nt but not going to be in the same league as a 2 bed villa at OKW. Offsite meals can be bought from about £3 all you can eat pizza.
Airmiles also save us quite a bit.
Most I have ever spent is around £7,000 (3 adults) when we flew buisness class, OKW for 3 weeks, cruise, car etc.
School hol prices don't help but its all about booking at the right time when you see a deal you need the money there to book.

 

[jen_uk]

15K ouch!! I am sure you can do it cheaper than that, the best person to ask is Wayne!! Our annual trip costs around 4K for the two of us, I've read on here people getting a trip for four at around the 6-7K mark. I read a post on trip adviser today about someone having a quote with US airways and a villa for £600 each!

Good luck and happy planning!

 

[halloween12]

Thanks guys
We didn't mind spending £15000 it was an amazing time for all 4 of us, we did it in pure luxury and we enjoyed every single minute. It is great news though that we could do a much cheaper holiday.

 

[dmdelight]

Genuinely feeling down
Our holiday was a holiday of a life time and was also our wedding, the whole fortnight was just amazing and I am genuinely feeling low now that it is all over.

I honestly don't think we will be able to ever afford to go again, this holiday cost us about £15,000, we saved £5000 of that and we will be paying off the rest over the next 3yrs.
There is really no point in me looking... But I have anyway, I've been trying to see how cheaply a good holiday in orlando could be done.

It would be nice to have a glimmer of hope in the future, it won't be for about 5 yrs.
We flew direct, manchester to Orlando with virgin but I know it can be far cheaper for indirect flights. This cost about £2500
The 4 of us stayed in a 2 bed villa at OKW, with free dining and 14day ultimate park ticket for the price of 7. This cost about £4000
We also did MNSSHP, HHN, universal studios, island of adventure, discovery cove, sea world, Busch gardens.
Car hire
The wedding, photographer, videographer
Spending money and holiday clothes
Presents sat nav, photopass etc

How do you frequent visitors make your time over there affordable?
There are obviously things like the wedding that we wouldn't need to do again, could maybe do without MNSSHP, HHN, discovery cove as these were all amazing but expensive and we already have our memories from these.

Genuinely need to feel a bit better, I do suffer from depression and I am feeling quite glum... Dispite putting my Xmas tree up

hope you feel happier when you look at your photos, and think of your precious memories.
whether the first or last trip to orlando, they're all wonderful.

sadly, we've never managed on a budget either.
we won't do indirect flights, will fly from a choice of uk airports though, that's enough for us.
we usually travel in august, but have been feb/march time too-this was much,much cheaper.
have stayed in villas with pools,without,townhouses and onsite at wdw.
never visited any parks other than disney.

our first trip was supposed to be our one and only, but happily we've budgeted so far for several return trips.

 

[dixonsontour]

Coming home is always back. I think it is worse coming back November as it's cold and dark - I didn't feel half as bad in May.

There is no cheap Florida but there are cheaper ways to do it.

I don't blame you for going all out for your wedding.

We usually fly indirect - book when flights are released, travel on off peak days eg a Monday. Charter flights do have bargains - we went in May with cosmos for £300 each inc condo on a late deal. September and early December are also good for late deal charter prices.

Off site accomodation is cheaper. If you book a villa or condo you can also eat in sometimes which saves money.

Eating - we come in under $100 a day offsite - i've done two budget dining threads links in my signature.

Tickets - the MYW tickets are cheaper than UK ultimates or do the other parks instead. We just did disney this time, last year seaworld and universal.

Do stick around, there are lots of threads about saving for Florida and tips and advice.

 

[Elise79]

The biggest saving you can probably make is on your accommodation - a 2 bedroom for 4 people is probably overkill. You could slice a big chunk off by going with a studio or looking it at offsite condo accommodation if you wanted seperate bedrooms.

We stay in one bedroom villas with the 3 of us however its a luxury and we save other places.

We don't do all the parks - we are just doing Disney at the moment. Next summer we may add a trip to Legoland. We will go to the beach for a day though (free apart from gas!)

We don't have the DP most times as we have DVC so eat offsite - 3 of us can eat a really good meal for little more than one at a Disney restaurant. I also use the kitchen in the villa (shock horror!!) to cook dinner once or twice - I really enjoy shopping in Publix. We will also have lunch in probably every other day.

 

[misspickle]

our up coming trip for 15 nights flying from gatwick-mco staying at wyndham grand orlando bonnet creek 2 adult,1 teenager and 1 child £2,948.65
then you add on the extras

 

[LeaversOnTour]

There are 5 of us. 2 Adults, to Children and an Infant.

We are staying 2 weeks at Sheraton Four Points and then 2 weeks at OKW with Free dining. With tickets and spending money for 4 weeks its costing
£7K We would have cut this by over £2K by staying offsite for the whole time. £600 for two weeks at Four points £3K nearly for 2 weeks at OKW.


There are "cheaper" ways of doing it. But its never "cheap"

 

[almcg]

This year we stayed for two weeks but by shaving two days off and staying at the Wyndham Grand Orlando Bonnet Creek as opposed to staying "on-site" we have managed to book next years holiday for £2000 less than what we paid for this years! Don't get me wrong, this year was a complete splurge for us as we always did it on a budget before. We had the best time but the way we see it is that the £2000 we saved will go a long way towards buying tickets etc and another trip.

 

[adamsy73]

Bless you we've been 10 times now and only times we've got it cheaper (because there is no cheap lol) it's been last minute. We won't do indirect flights and we always have a car but with plenty of planning and advice from the amazing people on this forum it can be done. That said we have always gone out of peak times except for once in 2001 it was the most we'd paid and worst hotel (suites at old town) I had EVER stayed in but didn't have trip advisor and such then lol. Off site is alot cheaper than Disney and so is eating out we went with our 2yr old for 1st time this year and found being in an apparent which only cost £480 for 12 nights was brill as he's a very fussy eater and found ourselves having lunch or dinner at the apartment which saved loads and it's good relaxing time which you don't usually do in a hotel. There is so much advice and help out there today I'm pretty sure you could do it. My wife gave me a budget of 2grand for our lasting ye trip and the only reason we went over was because she chose the hotel in St Petes which was nearly £300 for just 2 nights which I thought was silly but it was beautiful .

 

[wayneg]

Anyone looking for a late deal Thomsons have some going this weekend for 13 nights at £238pp (plus luggage)
http://flights.thomson.co.uk/thomso...=0&duration=0&destA=SFB&destB=none&destC=none

 

[halloween12]

Wow wayne what a great price!!!
this is the kinda thing i will be after in a few years... you guys have given me lots to think about... and aim for
gunna try really ahrd to go back x

 

[robinb]

I just looked at your wedding pictures and it looked like you had an amazing time! But £15K ... ouch!

Why not shoot for a 4 or 5 year anniversary trip? You'll have your wedding paid off and then you can continue to set aside that same amount into a vacation fund. You'll have £5K saved after the 4rd year. The biggest money saver is for you to either (1) stay offsite or (2) book two regular resort rooms with free dining instead of a villa.

You could easily book a house or condo for less than £600 per week and have lots of room to spread out. We are renting a whole 4-bedroom house for $800 US for the week, including taxes and pool heat over Christmas (!). The house is 3 miles from Animal Kingdom. Of course, you would still have to budget for a car and park passes and food. You could cut back on the parks that you will visit. Disney *and* Universal *and* Sea World *and* Busch Gardens probably cost a fortune. We go to WDW 1-2 times per year and usually stay for 10-14 days and we only do WDW. There is plenty to do and see without branching out.

Good luck and happy planning. I would say that a very small percentage of people who hang out on the DIS have a single "trip of a lifetime" and end up planning their next trip as soon as they get home.

 

[bex7583]

15k holiday expensive !! but think of it as a 15k all in wedding and i think thats pretty good budget !!

why not set up a small direct debit to run along side the wedding repayments , we had loads of debt and have only just managed to get sorted but all the while we were repaying it i had a £30 a month dd set up its not much but over a couple of years you will have a nice start when in the position to save properly again

i think even staying onsite with free dining dining the amount you will save by not having the 2 bed okw will be huge

 

[married2mm]

Anyone looking for a late deal Thomsons have some going this weekend for 13 nights at £238pp (plus luggage)
http://flights.thomson.co.uk/thomso...=0&duration=0&destA=SFB&destB=none&destC=none

wow wayne, that's fantastic.
flights for the 4 of us, are practicely the same cost as we're paying for one next august!
sadly can't go though, dh does not have enough annual leave, dd not broken up from uni and ds still at school. if i could, i would!
how often do you spot these deals, is there a particular time of year?

 

[wayneg]

wow wayne, that's fantastic.
flights for the 4 of us, are practicely the same cost as we're paying for one next august!
sadly can't go though, dh does not have enough annual leave, dd not broken up from uni and ds still at school. if i could, i would!
how often do you spot these deals, is there a particular time of year?

Not been looking for a while but they are often available when kids are in school, older ones at Uni and Other half can't get time off work
Someone posted a few days ago saying there were only about 100 seats filled on their flight, low season they struggle to get people to go so they discount heavily, we then pay for this in school hols, its not that the airlines are profiteering, we have to subsidise low season or the go bankrupt.

 

[married2mm]

Not been looking for a while but they are often available when kids are in school, older ones at Uni and Other half can't get time off work
Someone posted a few days ago saying there were only about 100 seats filled on their flight, low season they struggle to get people to go so they discount heavily, we then pay for this in school hols, its not that the airlines are profiteering, we have to subsidise low season or the go bankrupt.

we'll just have to look forward to low season when kids educations are all finished, and we're happily retired!

 

[Portugal1000]

Theres definitely lots of ways to save and still have a great time. We go on 22nd July for 22 nights and this will be our 10th trip since 2005. We are flying indirect for first time £415 with Delta for 3 of us. We have stayed at lots of places including Saratoga Springs three times on free dining in a 1 bed villa. However we really don't like having to have someone sleep in the loving room so we need 2 bedroom which makes the price just too much even if free dining is included. So we stay our our favourite resort, Wyndham Bonnet Creek in a 2 bedroom which is far bigger than a 2 bedroom at Saratoga or OKW. This cost us about £90 a night in summer holidays but cheaper in December which is the other time we go. This is a huge saving but the resort is still fantastic. Its next door to Caribbean Beach and has 5 pools, 2 lazy rivers and lots going on. After our trip this year I realised that we probably wouldn't stay anywhere else from now on as I just loved it. I was actually feeling quite tearful when we left!
We had Universal tickets this year and stayed 1 night at Hard Rock which really bumped up the cost but I could easily live without that. We take $200 a day spending but came back with over $1000 so thats a $1000 less we have to save for next year. We don't really buy souvenirs and don't buy presents for people. My son does buy lots of lego though. The only thing I bought myself this year was 2 pairs of Converse but I could easily not even visit a single shop while there.
When we first went we stayed at a Homewood Suites which I think are great if you are hitting the parks every day. They are around $80 to $120 a night for a 1 bedroom suite but you get unlimited breakfast, managers reception 4 times a week, shuttles to the parks so I think they are a great choice of you are on a budget. If you don't mind being in one room then you can get some really great deals, however I would have a nervous breakdown sharing a room with my 12 year old son for even a couple of days
Next years trip is costing £7000 all in (Assuming we take $4600 spending) I know thats still a huge amount of money but I think its great value for 22 days where everything is included. I started paying for it as soon as we got back from last trip and I only have 2/3 of hotel left to pay. We don't use a credit card while there so never have anything to come back to so just start saving again.