How cheaply can you do WDW or DLR in the summer holidays? I need some help please?!

[RoseBug]

We are at the dreaming stage. We really want to take DD to WDW or DLR in 2014 or 2015 (more realistic for saving). As a teacher I can only go in the school holidays and everytime I have searched it's coming in at around 5k for the 3 of us, which is just too much.

Is there any way to do it cheaper (without a silly long multiple stop flight)? We would prefer to fly direct from Newcastle but it seems only Thomson does this. But could do Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester (at a push) or even Dublin if we had to and it saved us loads.

I'm just feeling very lost about it all!

Any advice?

Thanks

 

[Kath2003]

You can do it cheaply (we average under £100 per person per day all inclusive) but to do so you need to be flexible - mainly on flight. if you're prepared to look at a range of dates, a range of airports, a range of airlines and fly indirect, you can get summer flights in the £500 region without too much hassle. If you're set on flying from Newcastle, it's unlikely you'll get a good deal at one airline has a monopoly on that exact route.

Generally package holidays work out significantly more expensive than booking it yourself in the school holidays so consider this if you've not already.

 

[married2mm]

Hi,

Fellow Geordie here!

We used to book package holidays from Newcastle,then when we stepped into the big brave world of diy- we were shocked by the price asked to fly from Newcastle.
We have since flown from Glasgow and Manchester-won't fly indirect though.

I would love to fly from Newcastle again,but whilst they're asking such silly prices,it's not happening.

I like to play around looking at prices- and for thomson flights from Glasgow versus flying from Newcastle-its £3000 more for August- was over £6800 for the 4 of us.

 

[RoseBug]

Thank you so much for your replies, we have ruled out Newcastle flights - just silly prices! And 2014 is out as she won't be old enough to swim with dolphins!

I obviously can't price up for 2015 yet. But having a play around I have found the following for 3 weeks:

Flights from Dublin (cheap enough to get there from Newcastle) for £795 each (IF I can get 2 days unpaid leave from school, small chance for once in a lifetime trip as it's last 2 days of term - so no teaching)

Superior Villa for 8 people (we would possibly be joined by 4 relatives from the USA) through the WDW site for £2k (so we would be paying £1k)

2 weeks WDW tickets - £248 each

DiscoveryCove swim with dolphins and 2 week passes included for Seaworld/Aquatica/Busch Gardens - £226 each

Universal 2 week pass - £116 each

So totalling just over 5k for the 3 of us. Is this good for all of the above?

I know prices will go up, but also we may be able to get deals booking a year in advance?

I also know we will need a car, hoping Uncle might get a people carrier for us all.

He is going to price things up his end, is it likely he will get villas/tickets cheaper etc. being in the USA?

We would maybe manage about £1500 spending money. Is this do-able if we eat at the villa one meal a day?

I also want to do the Beluga thing (my faves) and obviously princess meals etc in WDW. But hoping DD will get some money from grandparents/uncle etc. to do treats too.

Does this sound realistic or am I WAY out and looking at LOTS more?

This is do-able for 2015, just!

 

[natalielovesdisney]

Hello, been to Disney each year since 2008 and i have booked independently each time. Travel agents are a complete rip off!

I think what you've worked out is about right. I always say to people it's £5k for a family as a guide.

Flights are released exactly 11 months prior if booking direct and in my opinion and experience this is the best time to book! We travel over the October half term and take 4 days to make two weeks (one day inset). So even though it's not all school holidays it's still peak season coz a lot of Americans go to disney over Easter. As a guide, this year we are paying £744 for direct flights from Manchester with VA.

I would also note that the last two weeks in august is always the cheapest weeks to go in school holidays. I believe this is because of the American kids going back to school.

Booking the villa through wdw could be expensive, there are so many independent American villa sites where you could prob get one for half that price. Search google for vacation rentals and ask your us family friends to look and if they live in Florida you can get discounts at the attractions - usually.

The dining you mentioned is a must! If dining as a party of 8 Disney automatically charge you 18% tip which maybe doesn't sound too bad but at some of the character spots this adds up as we found out. Just something I'd mention for your planning.

Another thing to look for is an offer for free Disney dining. This offer is usually released around September time and valid for the year after!

Happy planning!

 

[Laszkowicz]

Hi

No real help from me as I'm a first timer (due to go oct 2013) and I feel I might have paid over the odds after reading these boards. Others will give you ample help - its great here !

So just more to let you know there are other people out there that spend thousands.

Cost me 7K for 2 weeks, 2 ad 2 kids, inc all disney, universal, seawold busch etc and DCove swim. No dining plan. Direct flights virgin from Manchester. And blue man group show.

Bit gutted but its booked now n paid. It was easy as a package but I wish I found these DIS boards before I booked.

 

[RoseBug]

Hello, been to Disney each year since 2008 and i have booked independently each time. Travel agents are a complete rip off!

I think what you've worked out is about right. I always say to people it's £5k for a family as a guide.

Flights are released exactly 11 months prior if booking direct and in my opinion and experience this is the best time to book! We travel over the October half term and take 4 days to make two weeks (one day inset). So even though it's not all school holidays it's still peak season coz a lot of Americans go to disney over Easter. As a guide, this year we are paying £744 for direct flights from Manchester with VA.

I would also note that the last two weeks in august is always the cheapest weeks to go in school holidays. I believe this is because of the American kids going back to school.

Booking the villa through wdw could be expensive, there are so many independent American villa sites where you could prob get one for half that price. Search google for vacation rentals and ask your us family friends to look and if they live in Florida you can get discounts at the attractions - usually.

The dining you mentioned is a must! If dining as a party of 8 Disney automatically charge you 18% tip which maybe doesn't sound too bad but at some of the character spots this adds up as we found out. Just something I'd mention for your planning.

Another thing to look for is an offer for free Disney dining. This offer is usually released around September time and valid for the year after!

Happy planning!

Thank you!

There would only be a max of 7 of us, so would avoid the 18% tip - although my Uncle is a big tipper anyway (its the American thing)

The thing is, as a teacher, it is not that easy to get ANY time out of school - at most I might be able to wangle 2 days, but it would be the 2 days (unpaid) before the summer hols. Would never get September. And I would be VERY lucky to get the 2 days in July! I love my job...but it makes holidays an impossibility!

We are going to work on this figure, and save £200 a month - if we are on target by next year we will book for 2015. If we are not on target, we will keep saving £200 a month and book for 2016. Now that I have realised DD needs to be at least 6 to swim with dolphins (she can swim now at 4, and this is her dream!) it's no big difference between 2015 and 2016!

Thanks guys!

 

[RoseBug]

Another quick question: If we booked the villa and tickets through WDW as stated above, if there was a free dining offer would that be included for villa bookings? Or is it only hotels?

 

[scoobydooby]

For what it's worth I'd keep saving until you can do it the way you want to do it. That may or may not mean 5k is sufficient. It all depends on your parameters. I haven't got it for 5k since 2008. Then my preference is to stay on site, with a car, eating out at Disney twice a day staying in at least a moderate hotel and direct flights with Virgin. I can't do it for less than 8k nowadays the way we like to do it, but there are many ways to do it cheaper as people have said.

Schools holidays restrict us too as we have school aged children! Prices do drop the last two weeks of August. And it will be slightly quieter. Happy planning.

 

[RoseBug]

For what it's worth I'd keep saving until you can do it the way you want to do it. That may or may not mean 5k is sufficient. It all depends on your parameters. I haven't got it for 5k since 2008. Then my preference is to stay on site, with a car, eating out at Disney twice a day staying in at least a moderate hotel and direct flights with Virgin. I can't do it for less than 8k nowadays the way we like to do it, but there are many ways to do it cheaper as people have said.

Schools holidays restrict us too as we have school aged children! Prices do drop the last two weeks of August. And it will be slightly quieter. Happy planning.

Thanks for your reply. It would be an offsite villa for us, as my Uncle would not want to do an onsite hotel. This also means we can split the cost so 3 weeks for 1k in a superior villa for the 3 of us I think is a pretty good plan.

Also, we want to do 3 weeks, so last 2 weeks of August wouldn't benefit from the cheaper prices!

I know I have a long time and will find different prices, some cheaper and some more expensive...I just need some hope that we can afford it at some point!

 

[WiganTony]

The last two times we have been (both late July/early August, 2010 and 2012), for three of us (2A and one teenager so effectively an adult), it has cost us in the region of £4,500-4,800. In 2010, this included 4 nights at Universal's Royal Pacific and 12 nights on-site at Disney's Old Key West in a studio so we had the free Disney Dining Plan,which saved us a small fortune!! Also include 14 day Disney and Universal tickets. For 2012, we had a few nights offsite in LBV then 14 nights again at OKW with free dining.

As noted above, the main cost driver is flights, and it is helpful if you can be flexible. For our 2010 visit, we had direct American Airlines flights from Heathrow to Miami (booked connecting flights from Manchester separately using Air Miles) for £403 each - these were booked in Nov 2009 thanks to various posts on this site. For last year's visit, we booked Manchester - Paris - Orlando flights through Delta but flying with Air France, for £500 each, booked back in Sept 2011 again thanks to posts on these boards.

 

[micksn]

Fellow teacher and Geordie! Last year we flew from Manchester with fly thomas cook for £700 each plus 10% discount from our bank, you can also get 10% discount on Thomas Cook through the NUT countdown if you are a member. We stayed in a Studio at Old Key west with free dining plan and payed roughly £4,500 for 3 of us for flights, tickets and accommodation. In the past we have flown from Newcastle, but now too expensive. We found the journey to Manchester leaving home at 5.30 am for an 11.00 flight much easier than we expected. The 2 bedroom villas at OKW or Saratoga might be an option with free dining if there is a large group of you. We hired a car with family for 3 days just so we could visit offsite. Good luck planning!

 

[RoseBug]

Thank you. So it seems with careful planning we should be able to do it well!
From what I gather from your posts you can get free dining if you book a villa through WDW? That would be a huge help!

Mind - the way things are going, we won't have any summer holidays, or holidays to look forward to anyway, as Gove is determined to keep all teachers and all kids locked up in classrooms forever!

 

[tinkerpea]

Thank you. So it seems with careful planning we should be able to do it well!
From what I gather from your posts you can get free dining if you book a villa through WDW? That would be a huge help!

Mind - the way things are going, we won't have any summer holidays, or holidays to look forward to anyway, as Gove is determined to keep all teachers and all kids locked up in classrooms forever!

Yes you can get free dining if you book at villa through WDW company, although it has to be an onsite villa! I see from your other posts that you said your uncle would not stay onsite? Disney only deal with Disney resort hotel and villas,

Also you say you will be a family of 7 unfortunately that means you will still have to pay the auto 18% tip on Disney meals as its for party's of 6 or more including infants,

It's very doable if you was to get free dining and split the cost of your villa, a offsite villa could work out cheaper by a lot of free dining is not offered so you will have to crunch numbers, the dining plan though is a must IMO if your thinking about a lot of princess and character meals as these can run very expensive! We always get the plan for this reason.

 

[luke]

! I see from your other posts that you said your uncle would not stay onsite? Disney only deal with Disney resort hotel and villas,

.

Disney offer a selection of offsite hotels on their website don't they? I'm sure they always used to?

 

[scoobydooby]

Disney offer a selection of offsite hotels on their website don't they? I'm sure they always used to?

You are right. They are not always there but often are. Also villas.

 

[tinkerpea]

Disney offer a selection of offsite hotels on their website don't they? I'm sure they always used to?

Sorry that was supposed to say Disney only do dining plan with onsite villas not offsite as the poster said they was looking at free dining but that their uncle only would stay offsite so they would not be able to get dining plan.

 

[RoseBug]

Sorry that was supposed to say Disney only do dining plan with onsite villas not offsite as the poster said they was looking at free dining but that their uncle only would stay offsite so they would not be able to get dining plan.

Sorry, when I said offsite I meant not in a resort hotel. So as long as it was a villa, he'd be good for it, and if we got free dining on top, he would certainly be swayed!

The tipping thing isn't an issue tbh!

 

[RoseBug]

Thanks for your help everyone.

When are flights available etc? Is it 11 months before? And usually when do the best deals/free dining offers pop up on the WDW site?

Thank you!

 

[Chilly]

The Villas that would get free dining are resort hotels really, the cheapest 2 are SSR and OKW.

Flights are available 11 months from your return date.