1st Trip

[gracieclaire]

Hello everyone, iv been to DLP 5 times and now feel ready to do florida

Planning on a august 2015 trip there will be 6 adults, and two children aged 9 and 16.

Please can anyone help, i have no idea where to start who to book with? where to stay etc etc anyone experienced in travelling from the uk want to take pity on me and help me i will be extremely greatfull

 

[Squidgyness]

Hello everyone, iv been to DLP 5 times and now feel ready to do florida

Planning on a august 2015 trip there will be 6 adults, and two children aged 9 and 16.

Please can anyone help, i have no idea where to start who to book with? where to stay etc etc anyone experienced in travelling from the uk want to take pity on me and help me i will be extremely greatfull

Oh wow, it's going to be a little daunting.

Some general questions to get the ball rolling here would be...

1) what length of holiday do you want? 7,10,14 or more days?
2) what parks do you want to visit? Disney, universal, seaworld, or all three?
3) what type of accommodation are you looking for? Some general things to clarify would be stuff like do you want a disney themed hotel (I.e. onsite) or would you prefer a more budget offsite hotel or villa?
4) interests of the adults and kids? Big on thrills? Disney-holics?

Personally I've always gone for 14 nights offsite hotel with a travel agent, so my experience might be a little limited, and last time was 09, but if you can clear some of that up I'm sure others might be able to help on aspects I can't.

 

[disneyholic family]

and our preference is to stay onsite at disney world for the entire time and just go to the disney parks - the main ones and the water parks..

so it's important for you to figure out what you want....

if you're going in august, it's possible that the UK free dining plan will again be offered at that time...
but we'll only find out next year...

 

[Elise79]

Hello everyone, iv been to DLP 5 times and now feel ready to do florida

Planning on a august 2015 trip there will be 6 adults, and two children aged 9 and 16.

Please can anyone help, i have no idea where to start who to book with? where to stay etc etc anyone experienced in travelling from the uk want to take pity on me and help me i will be extremely greatfull

Well you will not be able to book anything until next year so you have got plenty of time to have a read and decide what you want to do.

How long are you looking to go for?

The best place to start will be to decide which parks you want to - you will need to consider how long you are travelling for as it is not possible to see everything without coming home exhausted:
Disney (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom & water parks)
Universal (Studios & Islands of Adventure)
Seaworld (Seaworld & Aquatica water park)
Bushe Gardens
Kennedy Space Centre
Legoland

Personally, Universal holds no interest for us and we haven't been in 15 years. Legoland is a bit of a drive and only opening a couple of years ago and we are yet to visit. Bushe we are waiting till our DD is tall enough for all the rides as she loves coasters and DH & I don't really want to spend the day rider swapping as its an hours drive from Orlando.

We spend most of our time at the Disney parks and water parks. We enjoy at day out at Kennedy which DH & I really enjoy and even our DD who was 5 enjoyed and took an interest in.

Seaworld is nice too but we had APs for a couple of years so have seen everything and nothing has changed much so it will be a couple of years before we go back.

Next decisions will be accommodation & flights.

Flights you can fly direct from the UK to Orlando International with Virgin & BA. There are lots of airlines where you can fly indirect. You can also use the charter airlines to fly direct to Sanford which is further out. Charter airlines will fix you to 7, 14, 21 nights where we go for things like 9 or 16 nights so they never work for us.

Accommodation - do you all want to share or will you split up into family groups? Onsite will be limited if you want to share. Offsite you would be able to get a 3 bed condo or a villa.

We always stay onsite now and even when travelling with family each group has got their own room to give everyone some time apart. We have done a villa in the past and it was OK but I would recommend multiple cars if you do so everyone is tied together.

Hope this helps as a starting point and feel free to come back with more questions

 

[joolz1910]

We went on our first trip to WDW last year after going to DLP several times. We are a family of 5, including 3 children. I wanted to just 'do' Disney so we decided to stay onsite at Old Key West in a 1 bed villa with 14 day ultimates and free Disney Dining.
I wouldn't change a thing.

In my signature there is a link to my pre-trip report. The first page is a brakdown of all of my costs - might be helpful.

 

[gracieclaire]

O wow, amazing reply's already. I knew it would be a bit more complicated than DLP but omg good job iv got 2 years to worry

We have decided on 14 nights and thats about it so far will have a good look at the pre-trip report and thank you for all your input

 

[MrRomance]

Firstly, congratulations on your decision to go to Florida!

You will find that it is VERY different to DLP in just about every way!

Your first choice is on-site or off-site, followed by the type of accommodation you're looking for and what budget you have.

You will not be able to book until around April next year for 2015, so as others have said, you have plenty of time to read and research.

We always book our accommodation directly with the Walt Disney Travel Company. They offer good incentives if you book early and I find that they are very flexible. I'm a belt & braces type person so keeping my booking under the Disney roof makes me feel happier!

We usually book our flights later when they are released 11 months out. Sometimes we've had to shuffle our dates a little to get good flight prices, but Disney will accommodate that without charge usually. We tend to book flights during the BA or Virgin Flight sale.

Having 6 adults and 2 kids, you will need to decide if you want to be in one space or split across 2 rooms. Most hotel rooms accommodate 4-5, but the DVC resorts (Saratoga, Old Key West particularly good value) offer 2 and 3 bed villas.

 

[juliebro]

I'd recommend that you get yourself a copy of the 'Brits' Guide to Orlando and Walt Disney World' by Simon and Susan Veness.

It's got loads of great information and advice to help you decide exactly what you want from your trip - and all the options you have.

Although we're now planning our 13th trip, we still buy their book every year!

 

[gracieclaire]

Thanks again everyone, iv been looking on virgin so far and also have sent off for brochure from disney will have a look on Amazon now for the Brit guide

 

[queendisney]

Thanks again everyone, iv been looking on virgin so far and also have sent off for brochure from disney will have a look on Amazon now for the Brit guide

Another idea is to get all the brochures you can so you can compare their prices and see lots of different accommodations and then also start doing quotes (when you can for 2015) on places like Complete Orlando, WDW Travel Company. DIY doesn't always work out cheaper but generally it does so don't be put off doing it that way. Lots of the folks on here do it that way so there is always help.

 

[gracieclaire]

If I book flights seperately could you give me an idea of how much they would cost? and when is the best time to book them please

 

[joolz1910]

We booked with Val Ramsay (Cinder's Mum on the Dibb) and we were able to book around 18 months in advance. I will be booking with her after Christmas for Aug 2015. Our flight prices for Oct 2012 were around £550 each with Virgin.

 

[royal99]

Hi, for planning you have come to the right place.


Just to say that if you are staying for two weeks you could just do disney and have amazing time but looking at your ages and 6 adults I would at least look at two days at universal, it's really come on recently. Not suitable for younger kids but your group perfect.

To get a real feel of place and if you have some spare time type in popsong1 into YouTube his channel has endless films of disney and universal. His films give you a real feeling of places, maybe head to resort section first.

Good luck planning

 

[queendisney]

Hi, for planning you have come to the right place.


Just to say that if you are staying for two weeks you could just do disney and have amazing time but looking at your ages and 6 adults I would at least look at two days at universal, it's really come on recently. Not suitable for younger kids but your group perfect.

To get a real feel of place and if you have some spare time type in popsong1 into YouTube his channel has endless films of disney and universal. His films give you a real feeling of places, maybe head to resort section first.

Good luck planning

Yes and also Phil, Emma and Ben on YouTube. They do good trip reports.

 

[disneyholic family]

I'd recommend that you get yourself a copy of the 'Brits' Guide to Orlando and Walt Disney World' by Simon and Susan Veness.

It's got loads of great information and advice to help you decide exactly what you want from your trip - and all the options you have.

Although we're now planning our 13th trip, we still buy their book every year!

oh yes, definitely get the Brit's guide....excellent information for any brit thinking of visiting WDW!!

 

[khibs]

You will love WDW its amazing and completely different to DLP! I personally think DLP lacks the atmosphere that WDW has (although I didn't think DLP lacked it until I went to WDW). My family are def onsite people and love staying on Disney property. We find the ease of the transport and being able to have afternoon pool breaks/naps a big bonus to staying onsite. I have always found Travelcity direct to have very good competitive prices and when I have booked in past I have always taken this price to my travel agent to beat! We always fly direct from Manchester with virgin but flight prices can be expensive! If I was you I would start watching the August 2014 flight prices when they come out so you have a rough idea of cost and possibly best time to buy. If you did went to stay onsite you could look at renting out DVC points this could work out cheaper if your wanting a villa. Happy planning!

 

[peachiepie]

As another guidebook option I found "The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World 2013" by Bob Sehlinger and Len Testa really useful for our trip last year. We're planning on going back in 2015 and will get that edition when it's published.

 

[ashearer]

I second the Unofficial Guide there's a LOT of reading !we used Walt disney world and booked separate flights last time and stayed at Saratoga Springs it was amazing and they have larger villas.this time we phoned Ocean Florida they were very competitive but decided on Virgin because they price matched and could get us direct from Gla instead if Man but I would use in future if price was right.
As you have a large party I think onsite is a good option because if some want to go back to pool etc they can use Disney transportation unless you hire more than 1 car and someone's going to have drive and its easy to go to a park for just an afternoon/evening.
Also if you can get free dining even better. Food is very expensive in parks but its really convenient and very good.
Try a few days at end of trip at Universal we are doing 4 nights club level at HRH. It looks expensive but rooms sleep 5 , you get free breakfast, free soft drinks all day, beer and wine 5-7 pm and desserts 8-9pm.best if all FREE unlimited front of queue pass for most rides and 1 hour early entry to HP.
I know you can get a villa, hire a car(insurance,petrol)cook yourself (go food shopping)but when you add in all the extra costs might not be too much more.
By the way I kept all our food receipts for 2010 and with free dining plan we had about $1800 worth of food and snacks for 2 adults,1 ch,1 teen. I'm going to do the same this year and I will post.
Good luck

 

[paul_toria96]

Flythomascook also fly direct from Manchester to Orlando and we've just paid £3500 for 2 Adults 2 Teens for next August.

When we decided on our dates I stalked Kayak for the year before and got a rough estimate on how much it would cost but someone on here mentioned that flythomascook did direct flights and they were really reasonable, but just be warned there are extras, but this still made it a lot cheaper than VA.

Always ask on here, you can never ask too many questions, someone will always help you

We are staying off site in a 4 bed villa with another family and we will get 2 cars and we can do what we like on our own or with them. We are Disney mad so only doing WDW, DC and SeaWorld (our DD has decided that she wants to work at DC)

We have set ourselves a budget and working everything in (flights, accommodation (got that off here by asking), cars, insurance, tickets, ESTA, passports and spending money) we can do it all for less than £8,000 in August

Just remember the DIS is full of helpful people