Need advised for a soon to be single mom

[marimario]

Hi all;

I been here so many time but never in this section. I'm going thru a nasty devorce trying to keep my self together:scared1, I will need a vacation after all this is over. Beside we promise our 6y ds a Disney vacation this year and he don't stop talking about it since we came back from our last Disney trip.
We been onsite 2x and we love it, but this time will be my 6y ds and my self. My 21y ds might join us but not sure. I never stay offsite therefore I need help to decide. I'm trying to save money everywere I can and at the same time keep my promise to my son.

I was thinking off site villa but I need help here. I will like one close to Universal and Disney. I'm thinking Christmas time since this is the time I have vacation, I know this is a peak season but I would not have other free time to go.

 

[spiceycat]

between WDW and Universal is the Seaworld area.

so marriott's vacation club, hilton grand vacation club, think there are some more.

so sorry you are going thru this.

if you don't stay at Disney and need to fly - then you need to also get a rental car -plus you will paying for parking - $14 a day.

so you might add up what you are paying for offsite plus the rental car plus WDW parking and compare it to a value resort with disney dinning (quick service)

 

[happily single]

First of all to you and your ds.
Secondly there is absoultely no reason you wouldn't be able to take your son alone. If you can handle him at home you can handle him at Disney!

I would recomend staying on-site, much easier to navigate. I have received two pin codes within the past 3 weeks offering me 40% off any Disney hotel. I am sure there will be deals announced.

If your still not sure about going alone Maybe see if a friend can plan their trip the same time as you; but ultimately I think it would be a wonderful bonding experience for the two of you.

PS. I'm in the very beginning stages of planning a trip from 12-12- through 12-18. I'll be travelling alone with my dd13; ds11 and ds6 and would be more than happy to meet up if we are there at the same time.

PPS: I did take my kids ALL BY MYSELF in January, 2009 and had a wonderful time!

 

[A Mickeyfan]

I am not a single mom, but when it comes to Disney, I am. My DH came with us once in a blue moon. I live just under 3 hours from Orlando and did too many trips to count with just my kids when they were young. Still doing it with them now that they are older too. There were times my DH came, but would stay in the room and not do parks.
Anyway, back to your question... There is also Westgate Lakes that is on Turkey Lake Rd, between Disney & Universal. But if it is just the 2 of you, why do you want a villa? You can find some very good deals on rooms all over the place if you look carefully. I am staying at the Radisson Orlando on I-Drive this coming weekend. I won it on Priceline (3 Star) for only $26 per night!
If you check out Priceline, Hotwire & Ebay, you can do a decent trip on less money. I have won Cypress Pointe Grand Villa's, 2 bedroom for July 4th week, just $400.02 total. I also got Bonnet Creek (but not close to Universal) for $200 for 4 nights, 2 bedroom again..
Do some research and save some money. Another good website to go to is kayak.com... they will search for deals for you. I got the Embassy Suites Lake Buena Vista for $65 thru them.. for a July check in.
Good luck in everything! You are very capable of doing Disney as a single mom.. heck, it will be more fun...

 

[marimario]

First of all to you and your ds.
Secondly there is absoultely no reason you wouldn't be able to take your son alone. If you can handle him at home you can handle him at Disney!

I would recomend staying on-site, much easier to navigate. I have received two pin codes within the past 3 weeks offering me 40% off any Disney hotel. I am sure there will be deals announced.

If your still not sure about going alone Maybe see if a friend can plan their trip the same time as you; but ultimately I think it would be a wonderful bonding experience for the two of you.

PS. I'm in the very beginning stages of planning a trip from 12-12- through 12-18. I'll be travelling alone with my dd13; ds11 and ds6 and would be more than happy to meet up if we are there at the same time.

PPS: I did take my kids ALL BY MYSELF in January, 2009 and had a wonderful time!

Thank you very much for your advised and the offer of meeting us.
We went by ourself two years ago and stay in Caribbean Beach Resort and my son love it. It supposed to be a family vacation but my soon to be ex had a emergency eyes surgery two days before he couldn't go but we havw alot of fun. We also went on free dinning that was great too.
I did received a pin 3 month ago but not remember if I receved on recently, it will help a lot if I have a 40% pin code for hotel, I will check that.

Once again thank for the offer of meetting us, I'm sure my son will love to play with your kids. I will let you know.

 

[mrzrich]

If you are planning to go during the actual week of Christmas, I would advise staying ON property. The parks sometimes close due to capacity during that week. The closings are in phases, off site guests are the first to be turned away.

On site guests are promised admission to at least one of the parks. Maybe not your first choice, but at least a park none the less.


Also the parks open early during this week, like 7 AM, with Morning EMH at 6 AM. If you have the will to get up that early, you could probably accomplish some must do's before the crowds get unbearable.

 

[Planogirl]

I've been several times alone with my son and it was always fine. We stayed onsite and offsite and have visited most of the area attractions.

I would decide how much hotel I could afford and then plan accordingly. Look through the listings at Expedia.com to get an idea of what's available and what it costs and then check tripadvisor.com and places like here to see how others feel about certain hotels. There's an overwhelming number of possibilities in the Orlando area!

 

[sk8jdgca]

Single mom here..I've done both on and off site. I like on-site better for these reasons.
1) this is also my vacation and I don't want to be cooking, cleaning, laundry and dishes like you have to in a vacation home
2) Your children can't read maps. Unless you really know the area, it is easy to get lost and the signage isn;t always the best. You will need to rent a car if you stay off site
3) there are other adults and kids around with lots of activites onsite- Windsor hills wasn't like this-although it looks like Bonnet creek is
4) magic express gets your luggage- you don't have to keep one eye on your kid and one eye on the luggage rack

Vacationing is easy with your kids- I like it better no tip toeing around hoping not to anger him, I can leave when I want to and do what I want to (and not have to deal with a pouting 40 year old brat)

Good luck

 

[sjanus]

Vista Cay is a location that would meet your needs for location between Disney and Universal. Great upscale accommodations for a reasonable price. However, I must say if I were alone with the children, I would feel less stress staying on site. Probably, I would stay at Disney so many days and then at Universal a couple of days. The fact that then you won't have to worry about driving by yourself, as someone said children aren't good navigators, etc. That's just me though.

But if you don't mind the driving, I'm sure you can save money by staying offsite with having breakfast, snacks; convenience of washer, dryer; more space when at the condo/villa; etc. Can see both sides. Depends on you and how you feel about it.

Whatever you decide, great for you that you are going for it!

Sandy