Mixed accommodation in 2015 - how to book?

[DLPDreams]

Hello all

Pretty new to this area of the forum (although have been a regular on the Paris bit in the past). We are planning our first WDW trip in summer 2015, we had looked earlier but our girls will then be a good age for the long travel etc.

It seems it's been left to me to plan/organise it all . We will want to mix our accommodation - probably Disney hotel for 2 weeks (hopefully with free DDP - but then I have read sometimes it's as cheap to book without it as they load the prices when they offer it?) then a villa offsite for 1 week. I am not sure if I'd be more comfortable booking an accom package with flights included (happy to book park tickets myself), but using a traditional operator seems out if we want to mix accom and also if we want to go for longer than the traditional 14 or 21 nights (we might cut it slightly shorter or longer depending on flights and dates).

Can anyone recommend how I can go about booking the mixed accommodation with one company - and perhaps also flights? I have read about travel city direct and complete orlando on here. Perhaps I should give them a call in the new year? I am guessing as they'll use scheduled flights, that these aren't released until 11 months before - is this correct?

Any tips will be gratefully received .

Look forward to reading on here and finding out more about WDW and Orlando in general .

 

[Elise79]

If you want free dining then you need to book your Disney tickets along with your accommodation.

It sounds like you might be best booking DIY as then you can book a specific villa that you know you will like rather than using an operator and just booking a type.

You will need to do your Disney stay first if you want to be able to use your Disney tickets for the whole holiday.

I always book DIY as do a lot of people on here so if you have any questions just ask.

 

[2Tiggies]

You can go for a number of nights other than the traditional 7, 14 and 21 with Virgin Holidays and Disney direct. I am fairly certain you have this option with Complete Orlando too.

Usually it is cheaper to book your own flight separately, but there are always exceptions to the rule so don't count out any options out without thoroughly checking first.

I am not sure that they load the prices during free dining but this year they were offering fewer discounts alongside them and then only for certain resorts. We've stayed at the same resort 4 times now and always got free dining and about 20% off the room price, stacked together. This year we got the dining free for next year's trip, but there were no discounts so it cost a substantial amount more per night for the room.

If you want to eat most of your meals onsite I think many people are better off with the dining plan and it will save you money, however again, there is no hard and fast rule that applies to all. You have time to do some research and play with some combinations, price up the restaurants you may like to eat at, make a note of your eating habits and food choices and see if you can come up with a rough average per day. Remember when calculating meal prices that the menu prices do not include tax or gratuities unless specified; you don't pay tax on the dining plan as it's already incorporated. You could still save if you are not interested in desserts with every meal or if you like breakfast as your main meal of the day, but these are questions only you will be able to find answers to.

DIY has saved me, a party of two, approximately £1000 per trip on average, over booking a package. I like having control over my booking and you have far less of that when you have booked everything under one umbrella. Both have their pro's and cons, aside from the price.

 

[micksn]

I would book your accomodation direct with disney and include 21 day park tickets, that way you'll get free dining for the duration of your stay in the disney resort. Booking flights separately is usually cheapest option, try Thomas Cook or Thomson for cheapest deals. They usually release them in May/June whereas Virgin or BA are released 11 months out and tend to be more expensive particularly in school holidays.
You can book any number of nights with disney and then make up the difference in your villa.
Good luck with the planning

 

[DLPDreams]

Thanks for all the advice .

If I want to book mixed accommodation though, won't I have to book with someone who can offer that? The likes of Virgin don't - it's single accommodation from what I gather, think Thomas Cook offer a 'twin centre' holiday but it's Disney and then a hotel on I'Drive which I don't want to do.

I don't fancy Disney tickets for the whole 21 days (unless it was 21 for the price of 14), as I don't think we will go back into Disney after spending the first 2 weeks there. We want to do Seaworld / Universal / possibly Legoland (my kids are huge lego fans and I don't see that waning) and then malls for a bit shopping, as well as relaxing by villa pool etc. So, I can't see it being worthwhile - unless on an offer as I said.

I guess I'll just need to keep looking and in the new year perhaps ring Complete Orlando or someone to see what they can offer/suggest.

 

[Samaya]

As you're looking to stay around Orlando for the 3rd week to visit Seaworld / Universal and possibly Legoland I would advise you to reconsider the 21-day ticket as it might only cost an extra £30 each and it will give you more flexibility so you could break up the vacation and visit Seaworld during the first week, maybe Universal the second week and Lego the 3-week.

I would also suggest you compare the cost of one-week off-site plus the cost of food for that week against staying the extra week at Disney as that will include free dining.

But if you do decide to book mixed accommodation then you just do that yourself, book your Disney stay through http://wdtc.disneyinternational.com and off-site at say Universal through https://www.universalorlando.co.uk/Holiday_Packages/holiday-packages.aspx
or just book your hotel direct though websites such as www.expedia.co.uk or if it's a villa through one of the many sites offering them such as http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/VacationRentals-g34515-Reviews-Orlando_Florida-Vacation_Rentals.html or http://www.flipkey.com/orlando-vacation-rentals/g34515/
Happy planning

 

[Tony Toon]

As regular (annual) visitors to WDW, we enjoy mixing our accommodation - a couple of weeks at a Disney resort with free dining and then a villa for a couple of weeks (dining offsite, well, but more cheaply). After the more hectic Disney hotel fortnight the calmer more relaxed pace of the villa with its private amenities come as a welcome change, much as we love staying onsite. We also then have the freedom, planning ahead, to maybe spend a few days at the beach, Gulf Coast or Atlantic coast if we wish. As has been said above, there are many websites to point you in the right direction as far as villas are concerned and you will find plenty of help right here if you require further advice. I would agree that DIY is the way to go - we surf constantly for scheduled flights, accommodation etc. to get a deal right for us to make up our own package.

Incidentally we find that we can pay as much in gratuities on DDP as we do for the entire meal offsite.

 

[2Tiggies]

I would advise you to reconsider the 21-day ticket as it might only cost an extra £30 each and it will give you more flexibility so you could break up the vacation and visit Seaworld during the first week, maybe Universal the second week and Lego the 3-week.

I second this, if you want to keep some flexibility. It cost me about £50 for 2 of us to upgrade our tickets from 14 to 21 days for next year; way cheaper than even adding a single one day ticket and you don't have to work everything around when your 14 day period expires.Depending on what you settle on in terms of plans, this may not be the best option for you, but it's one worth keeping open while considering your plans as the cost difference is relatively nominal

 

[chmurf]

I am not sure that they load the prices during free dining but this year they were offering fewer discounts alongside them and then only for certain resorts

that's something you can hear from time to time.

european guests might have the impression that Disney is loading the prices with free dining, but here's what happens :

The rates for the next year are released sooner for UK guests than they are for US guests.
Free Dining is released for the next year. So Free Dining packages on UK sites are more expensive than their counterpart on US sites, but that's not because prices are loaded, but because they are not compared on the same year.

example :

february 2013 : UK gets 2014 rates. And we get Free Dining on top of that.
US guests will only get the 2014 rates in june 2013 (something along those lines)

so when FD is out for the UK, the only rate you can compare that with, are the US rates, but the 2013 rates, not 2014, and we all know where US rates will go : up !

So the prices only seem to be loaded because we get the next year's rates sooner than the US rates. And, as you mentionned, discounts are also phased out, so we all get the sticker shock from one year to the next.

 

[Sam1]

Thanks for all the advice .

If I want to book mixed accommodation though, won't I have to book with someone who can offer that? The likes of Virgin don't - it's single accommodation from what I gather, think Thomas Cook offer a 'twin centre' holiday but it's Disney and then a hotel on I'Drive which I don't want to do.

If you're wanting a full package instead of DIY, Virgin Holidays do split stays. You won't be able to book online, but you can phone them up and get quotes. We booked a split stay with them at the beginning of the year and then again a week or so ago. Going by comments on here, sometimes a package can be cheaper, but most of the time they're not. For us it was probably about the same price as booking the hotels and flights separately.

 

[Samaya]

I agree with chmurf's response about UK prices not being loaded.

We had a price for 20-days in a 1-bed at OKW including two theme park tickets with free dining at a cost of £5,095, there was a Quidco 4% cashback on offer at that time which would have taken the price to £4,892 plus Disney was offering a free $200 gift card.

If you booked today on the US web site for the same time in 2014 it would cost for room only in a 1-bed at OKW for 20-days $13,185, approx. £8,154.

On the UK web site today, 20-days in a 1 Bedroom Villa in 2014 is priced at £7,040.

But if you combine the room with Disney tickets you can save £1,408, which takes the price with park tickets down to £6,188.

And if you want to add dinning the price comes to £7,827.

So booking early and during the free dinning offer saves around £3,300 on the current 2014 US room only price and about £3,100 on the current UK equivalent price.

 

[WiganTony]

If you want free dining then you need to book your Disney tickets along with your accommodation.

You will need to do your Disney stay first if you want to be able to use your Disney tickets for the whole holiday.

Can't emphasise this point too much!! If you book the free dining package with hotel/ticket, your park tickets officially only start from the day you check-in to your Disney hotel.

I have seen quite a few threads on various forums where this has not been made clear to people when they book, and they have lost out on some or all of the time to use their tickets before checking into Disney.

With regard to pricing, Saratoga Springs and Old Key West over the last few years have offered substantial discounts, although the discount rate does seem to be reducing!! For example, this year we booked for August 2014 and paid around £170/night for a one bed studio, and we got free Disney Dining Plan (the plan with a Quick Service and a Table Service meal per night's stay).

Although OKW is not currently available, a check for the same dates at Saratoga Springs (which was the same price as OKW) is currently coming in at £276/night for a studio without any free dining.