Daydreaming: Help me plan our next trip

[mshanson3121]

Okay... our fingers are crossed for June 2022. My husband has promised all of us that our first trip post-Covid is going to be Florida. My guess is it will be our last trip. We have so many things that we want to do, but... only so much money, LOL.

On our wish list:

- 3-4 days Disney (my guess is either 3 days with park hoppers of 4 days of one park per day - we already have a one day park hopper ticket for all of us)
- Kennedy Space Centre
- Wild Florida
- ideally, a few nights/days to relax at a beautiful beach
- a dolphin cruise/tour
- some snorkeling (was thinking of something like this http://www.funstpete.com/cruises.php )

Chances are we'll be driving, so we'll have our own car. I think ideally we'd want to keep it to 10-12 days max in Florida, by the time we add on 4-6 days for driving there/back. IF we flew and rented a car we could probably stay 12-14 days, but it would really depend on budget. Unless we get a really phenomenal sale on Frontier, it's cheaper for us to drive, than fly/rent a car.

So... 1. How would you plan it so we have the least amount of driving around? While doing Disney/Kennedy we would need a rest day every 2 days (so 2 days Disney, rest, Kennedy, Disney, rest etc...). While part of me would prefer to do the beach stay in Florida (gulf side), to save some money, we could make it part of our drive home and perhaps do a few days at Hilton Head, or somewhere in NC or VA.

And, 2. Do you think by using VRBOs, buying groceries and cooking/packing snacks etc... we can do all this for $6K CDN all inclusive (tickets, lodging, meals, excluding cost to drive there/back).

 

[wdwmom3]

Okay... our fingers are crossed for June 2022. My husband has promised all of us that our first trip post-Covid is going to be Florida. My guess is it will be our last trip. We have so many things that we want to do, but... only so much money, LOL.

On our wish list:

- 3-4 days Disney (my guess is either 3 days with park hoppers of 4 days of one park per day - we already have a one day park hopper ticket for all of us)
- Kennedy Space Centre
- Wild Florida
- ideally, a few nights/days to relax at a beautiful beach
- a dolphin cruise/tour
- some snorkeling (was thinking of something like this http://www.funstpete.com/cruises.php )

Chances are we'll be driving, so we'll have our own car. I think ideally we'd want to keep it to 10-12 days max in Florida, by the time we add on 4-6 days for driving there/back. IF we flew and rented a car we could probably stay 12-14 days, but it would really depend on budget. Unless we get a really phenomenal sale on Frontier, it's cheaper for us to drive, than fly/rent a car.

So... 1. How would you plan it so we have the least amount of driving around? While doing Disney/Kennedy we would need a rest day every 2 days (so 2 days Disney, rest, Kennedy, Disney, rest etc...). While part of me would prefer to do the beach stay in Florida (gulf side), to save some money, we could make it part of our drive home and perhaps do a few days at Hilton Head, or somewhere in NC or VA. And, 2. Do you think by using VRBOs, buying groceries and cooking/packing snacks etc... we can do all this for $6K CDN all inclusive (tickets, lodging, meals, excluding cost to drive there/back).

Why not do the beach stay in conjunction with Kennedy and stay at cocoa beach? Do Disney then drive to Cocoa beach have a rest day then Kennedy then some more time to relax etc.

 

[mort1331]

For snorkel and dolphins why not try discovery cove. Always been wanting to try. Includes passes to bush gardens as well.

 

[mshanson3121]

For snorkel and dolphins why not try discovery cove. Always been wanting to try. Includes passes to bush gardens as well.

$$$$

Honestly I'd love to go, so would the kids, but its just too much money.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

$$$$

Honestly I'd love to go, so would the kids, but its just too much money.

Actually I think if you price out the tickets for the wild florida, a dolphin cruise and a snorkelling tour, you'll find that it's probably not that much difference in price, with more value since you have access to the other parks. Plus it includes all food and drink for the day.

I know on black friday they usually have some awesome deals for discovery cove.

Your lodging and food, etc can easily be kept down staying off site. If you're driving, you can bring a ton of stuff from home too, that you can get cheap and on sale in Canada to eat in the condo. If you can, rent directly from a management company. You will save some of the VRBO fees. But keep in mind cancellation policies. Since COVID, many of them have changed. Make sure you're able to cancel or that your travel insurance covers a private rental.

The biggest cost will be tickets. I find it's cheaper to add on Disney days and just stay there. Our next trip there will be so much new stuff to see, I know we will spend most of our time there. And cheaper than buying tickets for another venue. But if it's your last Flordia trip, then it's cheaper to buy more tickets than go on another trip! Ha. So perhaps kids can decide what they want to do, and next year's Christmas presents can be money towards activities. Or a DC ticket, if you're able to snag an awesome "Blue Friday" special next year.

 

[mshanson3121]

Actually I think if you price out the tickets for the wild florida, a dolphin cruise and a snorkelling tour, you'll find that it's probably not that much difference in price, with more value since you have access to the other parks. Plus it includes all food and drink for the day.

I know on black friday they usually have some awesome deals for discovery cove.

Your lodging and food, etc can easily be kept down staying off site. If you're driving, you can bring a ton of stuff from home too, that you can get cheap and on sale in Canada to eat in the condo. If you can, rent directly from a management company. You will save some of the VRBO fees. But keep in mind cancellation policies. Since COVID, many of them have changed. Make sure you're able to cancel or that your travel insurance covers a private rental.

The biggest cost will be tickets. I find it's cheaper to add on Disney days and just stay there. Our next trip there will be so much new stuff to see, I know we will spend most of our time there. And cheaper than buying tickets for another venue. But if it's your last Flordia trip, then it's cheaper to buy more tickets than go on another trip! Ha. So perhaps kids can decide what they want to do, and next year's Christmas presents can be money towards activities. Or a DC ticket, if you're able to snag an awesome "Blue Friday" special next year.

Yes, we did price it, but it's still significantly cheaper doing those things, almost half the cost of going to DC, and that's factoring into buying DC tickets on a sale! That's basically the main reason we chose those alternatives, as originally yes, we had considered doing DC.

That's the kid's list of things they want to do. They love Disney, but they don't want a Disney-only trip; they really want to do different things, too.

I like the idea of maybe getting the tickets for things as gifts. That would help a bit. I'm just wondering if we can really do it within our budget. Are there any legit discount places for Disney tickets or not really?

 

[momof2gr8kids]

Yes, we did price it, but it's still significantly cheaper doing those things, almost half the cost of going to DC, and that's factoring into buying DC tickets on a sale! That's basically the main reason we chose those alternatives, as originally yes, we had considered doing DC.

That's the kid's list of things they want to do. They love Disney, but they don't want a Disney-only trip; they really want to do different things, too.

I like the idea of maybe getting the tickets for things as gifts. That would help a bit. I'm just wondering if we can really do it within our budget. Are there any legit discount places for Disney tickets or not really?

Hopefully once our travel restrictions are over, they will bring back the Canadian Disney ticket discount to lure us all back. Other than that, undercover tourist has tickets a bit cheaper but not much.

Thankfully we have 2 never expire disney tickets we got from airmiles a few years back and another 2 that we can pay to upgrade if we can't use before they expire (both airmiles as well - Canadian Discount). But the tickets through AM right now are not a good deal, IMO. Better off using AM cash if you collect AM or PC points and put that $$ towards tickets you can get refunded on, if needed.

 

[mshanson3121]

Hopefully once our travel restrictions are over, they will bring back the Canadian Disney ticket discount to lure us all back. Other than that, undercover tourist has tickets a bit cheaper but not much.

Thankfully we have 2 never expire disney tickets we got from airmiles a few years back and another 2 that we can pay to upgrade if we can't use before they expire (both airmiles as well - Canadian Discount). But the tickets through AM right now are not a good deal, IMO. Better off using AM cash if you collect AM or PC points and put that $$ towards tickets you can get refunded on, if needed.

It took me a second to clue into what AM meant We do collect PC points and we're going to start banking those to help pay for the trip.

 

[Sue M]

I’m not sure of new rules on ticket use since they changed to date pricing if you have to use the 3 or 4 day ticket on consecutive days or not? Something to look into. With such a short time at wdw I would stay on property for your WDW days.
A couple of times we added on 2 days at Cocoa Beach before WDW and stayed at The Hampton Inn. Large rooms and breakfast included.
You have lots of time to save, if possible even though it will cost more I’d fly. Vacay time is precious. And may allow you to do more exploring. Like maybe driving down to the Everglades and The Keys.

 

[mshanson3121]

I’m not sure of new rules on ticket use since they changed to date pricing if you have to use the 3 or 4 day ticket on consecutive days or not? Something to look into. With such a short time at wdw I would stay on property for your WDW days.
A couple of times we added on 2 days at Cocoa Beach before WDW and stayed at The Hampton Inn. Large rooms and breakfast included.
You have lots of time to save, if possible even though it will cost more I’d fly. Vacay time is precious. And may allow you to do more exploring. Like maybe driving down to the Everglades and The Keys.

I'm really hoping we can afford to stay on site while at Disney. I've never even considered the Everglades or Keys. Are they worth it? I'm not even that familiar with them besides name, lol

 

[Sue M]

I'm really hoping we can afford to stay on site while at Disney. I've never even considered the Everglades or Keys. Are they worth it? I'm not even that familiar with them besides name, lol

Love the Everglades. We go to the Shark Valley entrance and do the tram tour with a naturist on board. Very worthwhile. We’ve also done the airboats too. But we learned a lot on tram.
The drive going thru the keys is amazing. Loved Key West. I’d like to go back and do some things I didn’t get to like eco kayak tours and exploring the other keys. It all depends how much time you have. Maybe a next trip to Florida and concentrate on south Florida.
My parents lived in So Florida so I’ve done a lot of exploring.
If you can’t stay onsite, maybe consider one of the 7 Disney Springs Hotels. They are on Disney Property and have their own continuous bus transportation to the parks. We got a discount code from Mousesavers for The Doubletree Suites. Very comfortable 1 bedroom suite and included breakfast with the Mousesavers code. For a little more than the cost of a WDW value hotel.

 

[hdrolfe]

We did an everglades tour post cruise and kiddo really enjoyed it, though I kept thinking he was leaning too far over to see the gators (he wasn't really but it's a bit unnerving to be so close to those big carnivores!). He loved being able to hold a baby gator at the end of it too.

Your trip sounds like a lot of fun. I hope in 2022 to do a Disney/Universal/Cruise combo trip.

 

[DavidL]

@mshanson3121 - What is your starting point? (Where do you live?)

We live in London ON and have done the drive to Florida many times (7 years in a row) and have also done Kennedy Space Center.. We have some tips, but need to know your starting point to do some calculating....

 

[mshanson3121]

@mshanson3121 - What is your starting point? (Where do you live?)

We live in London ON and have done the drive to Florida many times (7 years in a row) and have also done Kennedy Space Center.. We have some tips, but need to know your starting point to do some calculating....

A bit farther away than you We're starting in New Brunswick. Last time we drove we stayed inland to avoid the 95 and the major cities, but we could rethink that if necessary.

 

[Aug2020distrip]

I highly suggest vrbo. We have always had a great experience. We have one booked, it’s a 4 bedroom house with 3 bathrooms and 2 floors and it’s costing $2000 after taxes for 14 days.
We generally do a big grocery shop either the day we get there or the next day. Tend to have big filling breakfasts (ex prep some bacon or sausages and hard boil some eggs) for quick heat up for breakfast. Filling snacks as well to bring to parks/exursions. Some days we may pack a lunch but usually we do eat out for lunch and or supper, especially on a park day.
You then do have to factor in a vehicle rental though.
I would love to stay on site, but when we go with our family it just makes more sense to do it this way money wise.

 

[Chickinvic]

VRBO. The villa I rent down there costs me $90US/night (plus $10US night for pool heat since I go in November). It is beautiful, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, games room, laundry, private pool and hot tub. Plus the resort it is in also has a pool, workout room, tennis, etc. Very close to Disney (10-20 minutes) and lots of restaurants, shopping, etc. You can eat breakfast at your villa, etc. For rest days, it is nice enough just to hang out at the rental house. Very fun with the private pool, etc.

I find my most expensive part are the admission tickets.