It's been 7 years...

[Kirsteen]

It's been 7 years since we last saw the mouse. We did a split stay between GF and POR flying from Edinburgh - Gatwick - to MCO for our honeymoon. I can't believe it's been so long!

I am tentatively starting to plan our next trip and first trip as a family of four (Me, him, DS (7) and DS (3) (they are only 5 and 1 at the moment). Where the heck do I start?

We are planning to go for the October school holidays in 2015 (I've never had to try to fit a holiday into school holidays before). The hols here are 12-23 October 2015.

A quick shifty on WDW website has me at £7500 for 14 nights at CBR flying from Edin - Newark - MCO with 14 day passes for all 4 of us. Is this roughly what I should be looking to spend?

Any advice on traveling with kiddos, how much a holiday for 4 will cost (we're open to villas - in fact we'll probably opt for a villa - I was just checking the WDW hotels to get any idea of costs).

Help?! (but in a help I've got a good problem kinda way and I any excuse to start planning lol).

Thanks!
Kirsteen

 

[NikkiMouse]

Hi Kirsteen

Welcome back to the planning mode of a Disney vacation! Never too early to have a plan!

We've done October hols before. Weather lovely and of course the Halloween decorations and party. Don't forget about food and wine at Epcot!

Disney deals are about to be released end of April for travel in 2015.

Keep an eye out for the room discount and free dining at Old Key West and saratoga Springs.

Think of travelling with wee kiddies and how much time you plan to spend in the parks. If you are going to visit Disney daily then I suggest staying on site to cut the amount of time you spend in the car!

I would probably only aim to visit Disney this visit. It's too much to cram into one vacation. I love Universal and Islands but they aren't the same wee kid friendly as WDW. I remember how sad my daughter was when she wasn't tall enough to ride Hulk when she was 7!

Check out some resort photos and and reviews to see if there is something that would suit your family.

Happy Planning

 

[2Tiggies]

Hi Kirsteen

Your flight route is a great one. Probably our favorite route from EDI to MCO. They were not the cheapest for us the last two trips though but I really tried to justify it as we liked the ease of the change over and arriving on the domestic side of MCO.

If you are looking at a moderate resort I'd hold off for a month. Promotions for 2015 should be out by late April/early May and we are anticipating free dining again, which should cover your October dates.

Also, not a hard and fast rule, but often booking flights separately works out cheaper than doing them as part of a package and gives you more control and flexibility over your booking and flights. With children making up half your party, I think the quote you pulled up is a little on the high side to be honest.

 

[Nicnic]

Hi,

We went last October 2013 in our school holidays, weather was great, we went 23/10-07/11, only had 1 half day of rain.

£7500 looks a bit high to me, I paid £6300 last year for the Beach Club for 15 nights, 14 day pass, free dining and direct flights from Manchester with VA.
This was for 4 of us, kids aged 10 and 2, the 2yo went free in the parks so add £250 for her ticket if she were 3.
I know prices do increase year on year but I have an idea of what I am willing to pay and generally stick to it. I have checked the BC for next year and it's ridiculous at the moment, compared with this years price, I will check again when offers are released.

We booked flights direct with VA in the December but I had the hotel, dining and tickets booked direct with Disney as soon as it went on sale in May of 2012! Very prepared!

I would definitely book this way again unless I saw a package for less, we saved about £500 doing it this way compared to virgin holidays with a discount so probably saved even more!

Have you considered flying from Glasgow with VA for the direct flight?
We live in Newcastle and traveled to Manchester, we have also flown from Glasgow when it's been cheaper then Manchester, this is especially handy when our schools are off and Scotland's are back.

Have you looked at the POFQ? It's a smaller resort and easier to get round, plus you have the boat to DTD, we stayed there a few times and loved it. Rooms are the same set up as CBR but you can walk to everything very easy, CBR looks a bit spread out to me! Pool looks cool tho!

Your kids are going to love it, my youngest had just turned 2 (her first time) and she had a great time, watching her run for the rides and get so excited was priceless, I know she won't remember it but I will and that's what counts! My eldest has been a few times already but she still loves it and I'm so pleased I have the pictures of them both at this age. With other family holiday commitments coming up, they will be a few years older when we return

Good luck with your planning, have a good look round on the internet, don't rush into anything, like I said I waited to book my flights, kept checking every other day and VA had a sale on after Xmas and got a great price with upgraded seats on the return for the same price as economy!

X