Advice Please - Party of 11

[gmgohara]

I am looking to put together a holiday to Orlando for a party of 11 (6 adults / 5 children) departing 24th Jan 05 for 14 nghts

Could someone advise the best way to do this and any recommended companies to use (e.g. package / independant)

Would a villa be more cost effective or hotel rooms ??

Preferred airline for travel would be Virgin

Advice appreciated

 

[Sue F UK]

Hi,

Firstly you need to decide on whether you want Hotel or Villa. The villa option would undoubtedly be an easier and cheaper option. You would need at least 3 hotel rooms for your party of 11 and they do not come cheap! A villa would also give you loads of space and probably a private pool and kitchen as well. A lot of money can be saved just by having breakfast in a villa rather than having to pay for it at a Hotel every day. (e.g: $5 x 11 people x 14 days = tons of dosh )

Once you have made up your mind about accommodation you can then decide on package v. diy. It really boils down to how much control you want over your holiday. If you want to fly with virgin then a package through www.virgintravelstore.com or through your travelagent would be an easy option. They will arrange either your hotel accommodation or villa included but will not be willing to let you choose your own villa. Package holidays, of course, have the comfort of having a rep available at all times and a welcome meeting for additional local info. (and buying tours, tickets etc.)

As Virgin are a scheduled airline you can book flights with them through any broker and there are loads of easy to use internet sites for the flights, car hire and also villas which can all be booked separately, usually at a substantial saving over package holidays (usually, but not always!) Villas can be booked direct with the owners, most of whom have local companies available to you if something goes wrong during your stay.

Just a few sites to get you started:

www.expedia.co.uk
www.airnet.co.uk
www.vrbo.com
www.orlandovillas.com
www.lastminutevilla.net

Having found these boards is a great first step and will give you the knowledge and confidence if you decide to go DIY, just post any questions and someone will be happy to help. A search on these boards or on Google will also give many more flight/car/villa/hotel booking sites for you to explore.

Happy planning

 

[Netty]

Hi
Also try
www.cheapestflights.co.uk
and for villas this site is pretty good and reasonable-
www.traveloptionsdirect.com
Jeanette

 

[UKDEB]

I'm an exponent of both villas and DIY. A villa will certainly be more cost effective for a party of 11. DIY becomes more so the more specific your requirements, in my experience. If you're happy for someone else to choose all the components of your holiday, packages can often work out as cheap or cheaper. After 10 trips we've become really fussy and a package to include all our 'must haves' doesn't exist. I can never imagine circumstances in which I would consider a package these days, but it is an attractive option if you've never been before. Resources like the DIS didn't exist the first time I went, but I know lots of people here still choose packages, so it's very much an individual thing.

What are your priorities? Are you wanting rock bottom budget (2* accommodation, etc), or just to get what you want without paying over the odds? How old are the children in your party? Is this your first trip?

We always phone around as many places as possible for our Virgin flights, but we usually find that Virgin Travelstore manages to beat most others. Not always, though, so do phone around. We seem to get better prices by phoning than online.

 

[annette_tr9]

i have just booked a holiday for 18 people so i know what you are going through!!

with 11 people you will definately get group discount so remember that when you book flights and tickets. I rang several places for flights (we are going with virgin as well) and the cheapest flight prices i found was with First Choice, they were cheaper than going direct to virgin. what i did was write to all of my local travel agents telling them what i wanted and waited for the replys. some gave me some good discounts on tickets.

we ended up getting our tickets from maple leaf, if you e-mail them with everything you need they may give you group discounts as well.

we have decided to go for a villa (well, we have to have 3 villas but you could all fit in one!). Apart from being lots cheaper than a hotel it's nice to have the privacy of your own pool.

e-mail me if you want to know any other info!

 

[vernon]

I'm sure you'll find that a large villa is going to be the cheapest option for accommodation.

There are a couple of things worth taking on board with large groups. While you obviously all get on well together it's unlikley that you are used to living in one house, therefore it's a good idea to plan in some options that give you all a little space. If you're three families I would suggest you rent at least 2 cars/vans (preferably 3) at least that way if anyone gets too vexed with a housemate (or one of the kids has a crying/whining session) at least you get an hours break driving to the parks as a break. If there are plans/wishes for a break to the coast I would suggest each family takes a 1,2 or 3 night break at different times. i.e. family 1 goes for nights 4+5, family 2 goes nights 8+9 and family 3 goes nights 11+12. It gives each family a little time on their own and also gives you all a fresh experience to chat about when you get back together. You could also think about visiting different coasts or areas. i.e. one family tries Clearwater/St Pete's, one tries Naples and one tries Daytona or Vero. You may find at that time of year one group may like an overnight break to Crystal River and try snorkling with Manatees.

By giving yourself a little space it allows any small disagreements to ebb away, whereas the tendancy when you're all together is that they fester and can easily be continued to such a degree they make for an unpleasant atmosphere. If you plan the breaks in beforehand it's a lot easier to say "hey we're all having such a great time together, let's keep together this weekend" than the rather more tricky " I think we'll go off on our own this weekend" with the implied message " If I spend another minute in you company I'm going to kill someone".

It does require a little tack and diplomacy to broach the subject, but I've found if you ask each of the groups to make a list of their "must do things and places to visit" you'll find there are enough variations in the plans for you to later suggest the idea that each group does their own "special interest" trip a different times so that when they return it gives you a good opportunity to talk over each persons trip. Otherwise I've found if you all share the same experiences everyday it can limit your conversation.