How much is too much?

[wayneg]

I like this idea - it's the best of both worlds. Could anyone recommend any suites? I looked at The Staybridge Suites LBV - they looked nice but the supplement for under-occupancy was £700 over 14 nights!

Here is very popular http://www.cypresspointe2.com/ gets good reviews for 2 weeks this August would cost £680 for a 2 bed apartment.

 

[PoppyAnna]

Eldest DD has been in hospital the last few days and DH has gone all soft and said that maybe we can squeeze in a two week trip the Aug/Sept. I've been pricing all sorts of combinations today the cheapest for our preferences so far is Thomas Cook flights - £1541 (never done them before but look at the price!).
14nights POR and 4 x 14 day Ultimates. £1641. This includes a current special offer of 14nights for the price of 10 and 14 day ultimate tickets for the price of 7 days. It's the first year youngest DD needs a ticket, so if we bought Ultimates (which we usually do) the tickets alone would be about £850.

 

[madmumof2]

Eldest DD has been in hospital the last few days and DH has gone all soft and said that maybe we can squeeze in a two week trip the Aug/Sept. I've been pricing all sorts of combinations today the cheapest for our preferences so far is Thomas Cook flights - £1541 (never done them before but look at the price!).
14nights POR and 4 x 14 day Ultimates. £1641. This includes a current special offer of 14nights for the price of 10 and 14 day ultimate tickets for the price of 7 days. It's the first year youngest DD needs a ticket, so if we bought Ultimates (which we usually do) the tickets alone would be about £850.

That's a great price!

 

[Lizzybear]

There's quite a few but these seem to get the best reviews.. Fairfield Inn & Suites, Homewood Suites (there are 2, not sure there is much variation aside from location), Floridays and Springhill Suites. All are on International Drive.

 

[joolz1910]

Eldest DD has been in hospital the last few days and DH has gone all soft and said that maybe we can squeeze in a two week trip the Aug/Sept. I've been pricing all sorts of combinations today the cheapest for our preferences so far is Thomas Cook flights - £1541 (never done them before but look at the price!).
14nights POR and 4 x 14 day Ultimates. £1641. This includes a current special offer of 14nights for the price of 10 and 14 day ultimate tickets for the price of 7 days. It's the first year youngest DD needs a ticket, so if we bought Ultimates (which we usually do) the tickets alone would be about £850.

Hi Joanne, so your total cost for flights accommodation and tickets is just under £3200? Can I ask how many there are in your party?

 

[PoppyAnna]

Hi Joanne, so your total cost for flights accommodation and tickets is just under £3200? Can I ask how many there are in your party?

Hi
There are four of use, two adults and two children (3&6) Both having a seat on the plane and both having an ultimate ticket. If you drop down to Pop century you can get the entire cost for around £2900

 

[joolz1910]

Hi
There are four of use, two adults and two children (3&6) Both having a seat on the plane and both having an ultimate ticket. If you drop down to Pop century you can get the entire cost for around £2900

Ah, I have 3 children so it would be more than that. What a shame! Do you have to pay for your 3 year old?

 

[wayneg]

If you are considering staying onsite I would wait until they offer free dining, see what offers they have.
We have 16 nights at OKW for 2 adults and a teen for £1456 plus £708 for 21 day tickets, but it includes 2 meals and a snack every day which I estimate to worth about £1,200

 

[joolz1910]

If you are considering staying onsite I would wait until they offer free dining, see what offers they have.
We have 16 nights at OKW for 2 adults and a teen for £1456 plus £708 for 21 day tickets, but it includes 2 meals and a snack every day which I estimate to worth about £1,200

I would like to stay onsite to take advantage of EMH but I could live without it for the right price offsite. I looked at OKW when Disney had a 44% off offer - it looked wonderful! I am definitely interested in a suite - I would like the option of getting away from the kids in the evening and cooking meals to save money. I think I would rather have the current offer of 14 nights for the price of 10 than the free dining.

 

[scottish mum]

i think you would be best to phone disney and just ask for prices for various places. That way you will know how much it will cost and then you will know how much you need to save. they are usually very helpful on the phone and will try and get you the best deal.

 

[joolz1910]

i think you would be best to phone disney and just ask for prices for various places. That way you will know how much it will cost and then you will know how much you need to save. they are usually very helpful on the phone and will try and get you the best deal.

I thought about going to a travel agent to let them do the phoning for me. When would the prices for August 2010 be out? I am going to have to sell an awful lot of stuff on eBay to fund this trip.

 

[fuse04]

I thought about going to a travel agent to let them do the phoning for me. When would the prices for August 2010 be out? I am going to have to sell an awful lot of stuff on eBay to fund this trip.

As one or two have said DIY is really easy and this is the best place to start. this is our first DIY trip and thanks to these boards it has been great sorting it all out. I would say that from what I have seen the trvael agents will be more expensive which is why we DIY for this year.

 

[joolz1910]

As one or two have said DIY is really easy and this is the best place to start. this is our first DIY trip and thanks to these boards it has been great sorting it all out. I would say that from what I have seen the trvael agents will be more expensive which is why we DIY for this year.

I have pretty much been converted. What I thought was that I would price up a holiday with a travel agent and then I would know the maximum I would have to pay. I will definitely price up a DIY package as I am curious about how much I could potentially save. I will also keep an eye on Disney's offers as they have been pretty good lately. I am going to save my Tesco vouchers too - I'm covering all bases.

 

[amberandolly]

I don't think Tesco deals are much use anymore - for a start you have to book a full price package.
If you want to stay onsite then book with Disney UK ( unless the £1 suddenly rockets ), wait until later in the year to see if they offer free dining - if you get a good deal then book it, you can always change if they do the 14 nights for 10 again next year if it works out cheaper - it has for some people but not others this time.
Best flight prices seem to be available around late November / xmas time - I got them for £320 each for late August this year - the schools seem to go back a bit later next year too - it's the 7th for Staffordshire according to the LEA.
If you want to fly Virgin then join the flying club, it will be difficult to get 10k miles ( 2k each for m+m flights) but not impossible - I've got 2k in 3 months just from Texaco star rewards - that is petrol for 3 people though.
If you can save £100+ per person on flights then it's worth spending £60 on buying extra miles if you need to - a Virgin cc for all your spending would soon add up too.

When I priced up the 14 night offer for 4 adults it was £3600 for a 1 bed suite at Old key west with ultimate tickets, if you reckon £1500 ( I think that's optimistic fr Mid August though) for flights that makes £5100 + food and spends of say £1500 - £2000.
Any flights earlier than about the 22 August will be double the price though, I'm afraid

 

[joolz1910]

I don't think Tesco deals are much use anymore - for a start you have to book a full price package.
If you want to stay onsite then book with Disney UK ( unless the £1 suddenly rockets ), wait until later in the year to see if they offer free dining - if you get a good deal then book it, you can always change if they do the 14 nights for 10 again next year if it works out cheaper - it has for some people but not others this time.
Best flight prices seem to be available around late November / xmas time - I got them for £320 each for late August this year - the schools seem to go back a bit later next year too - it's the 7th for Staffordshire according to the LEA.
If you want to fly Virgin then join the flying club, it will be difficult to get 10k miles ( 2k each for m+m flights) but not impossible - I've got 2k in 3 months just from Texaco star rewards - that is petrol for 3 people though.
If you can save £100+ per person on flights then it's worth spending £60 on buying extra miles if you need to - a Virgin cc for all your spending would soon add up too.

When I priced up the 14 night offer for 4 adults it was £3600 for a 1 bed suite at Old key west with ultimate tickets, if you reckon £1500 ( I think that's optimistic fr Mid August though) for flights that makes £5100 + food and spends of say £1500 - £2000.
Any flights earlier than about the 22 August will be double the price though, I'm afraid

Thank you. Did you get your £320 flights with airmiles or was that the price they were advertised at? I will have to keep an eye on flight prices. Perhaps I could reduce down to 10 nights and then go from 22nd or later?

 

[amberandolly]

Our flights were £320 + 2000 flying club miles ( full price was £420) - I booked early November for 29th August but had I waited a couple of weeks the prices came down to £330 and I could have saved my miles for next year - I'm trying to get 4000 miles to add to my 4000 or so that I already have so there are enough for 4 adult m + m flights for next August. I know that with our flights, the difference in price for the week before was enormous, I think flights around the 15th were £740 each!
I honestly think that you might struggle to get good deals much before the bank holiday weekend, that's when the prices really tumble.
You'll just need to keep checking, diy isn't always the cheaper option and packages are out far earlier than flights, it is worth checking flydrive prices too, they should be out at the end of April. At least that way you have a starting point for prices.
If you do cut it down to 10 days, free dining will almost certainly work out cheaper than the other deals, I'm planning on 12 nights as I prefer to come home on a Friday.
Our trip this year - staying at Port Orleans with free dining, worked out cheaper than staying at a budget offsite hotel, when you factor in food and parking charges, that is just for two of us though - £720 each in total, for flights from manchester , the resort + dining and Ultimate Disney tickets, we will use the magical express and just hire a car for a few days onsite I think.
I couldn't find an all inclusive deal anywhere nice that cheaply, we paid over £1000 each for our upcoming trip to Egypt, with no food included.

I can recommend the services of Val ( user name Cinders mum) over on the DIBB - she is a travel agent and a Disney expert, if she can't get you a good price, no-one can!

 

[Portugal1000]

We booked 2 adults and 1 child on Virgin for 11th August for £500 each plus 2000 points pp. Most I have paid for Virgin flights without an upgrade but I was pleased with this price. We have 17 nights in a 1 bed at Saratoga Springs including free dining and 14 day tickets for £2200. I have stayed there before and I think thats a fantastic price. However, December just gone I stayed at Bonnet Creek which is even nearer to the parks. We had a 2 bedroom deluxe (bigger than my house) for $120 a night. That is without a doubt the best deal I have had and will stay there again this December. The price in August was $240 but comes down to $120 if you book less than 6 weeks in advance. I booked direct with owner which is where the saving is made. December just gone was our 4th trip in as many years and we have never booked a complete package. They are nearly always more expensive. I am hoping that Disney will offer the free dining in August next year.

 

[joolz1910]

Thanks for the tips! I have also joined the DIBBS forum - I need all the help I can get.

I phoned to get a couple of quotes: 24th Aug - 7th Sept, 2 adults, 3 children at Staybridge Suites, accommodation and tickets £2185 or Fort Wilderness at £2695 - both with Disney.

Cosmos quoted me: Cypress Pointe 2 bed £4730 for accommodation, flights, car hire and insurance. This did not include tickets.

I must say Wayneg's Cypress Pointe quote was far cheaper - looks like I'll be pricing this separately after all.

 

[kizzy212]

What parks are you wanted to visit? dont forget you have the universal, islands of adventure, sea world, & busch gardens which i have found difficult to get to when staying at disney.

I have booked for Aug 2010 with virgin last night.

2 adults 1 teen 1 child with 7 seater car upgrade. and 7 day tickets for disney and 6 park pass for outside disney parks for £4000

we stay on international drive for the convience to all the resturants and shopping etc. selected hotels offer free transport to disney and other parks for free. local buses and trolleys take you all around orlando.

 

[joolz1910]

What parks are you wanted to visit? dont forget you have the universal, islands of adventure, sea world, & busch gardens which i have found difficult to get to when staying at disney.

I have booked for Aug 2010 with virgin last night.

2 adults 1 teen 1 child with 7 seater car upgrade. and 7 day tickets for disney and 6 park pass for outside disney parks for £4000

we stay on international drive for the convience to all the resturants and shopping etc. selected hotels offer free transport to disney and other parks for free. local buses and trolleys take you all around orlando.

That is a great deal! Unfortunately there are 5 of us, so it always comes up a bit dearer. Where are you staying, if you don't mind me asking? Also, do you know what sort of 7-seater you get?