Nervous Disney Newbie

[rotothread]

Hi there! I'm a single Dad with 3 kids (aged 7 and 8) and I'm thinking of taking them to Disney in Mid August 2009 for two weeks. I have 2 questions:
1) Am I mad?
2) Any top tips?

Many thanks!

 

[wayneg]

Welcome

Nothing mad about wanting to take your kids to Disney.
My main fear is you have left it too late to get a good price. Is cost a major consideration?
You need to decide things like direct or indirect flights, direct can be upto double indirect. Booking everything seperate or using a Travel agent or Tour op. Onsite or Offsite hotel
Is it your 1st time to Florida?
Lots of decisions to be made.
If you do go there are plenty of us here that will help.

 

[rotothread]

Thanks for the prompt reply! So nice to know there is help.
I'd leave from Gatwick and would like to fly direct but cost is a bit of an issue.
I'd prefer to rent a home than a hotel and liked the look of these:
themagicrental.co m

Including flights and accomodation (not tickets) I'm getting prices around £3500 - 4000 which makes my knees shudder!

Are there better ways??

 

[wayneg]

Just looked at that site, don't know the villas but stayed at Windsor hills last Easter, nice resort but for a small family a very expensive way to go. For 2 weeks that would cost $1,977.50 incl tax, or £1,412.50 at todays rate. I am sure others will post and advise on Villas and prices, to me thats way OTT but I prefer hotel and have my bed made and be more central around LBV area.
To me a good compromise is a 2 bed Condo or even 3 bed would be way cheaper than a Villa. Without spending any time on looking I come across this one at LBV that gets good reviews http://www.cypresspointe.net/visit.html just looked on a site I use, £581 for 2 bed, £679 for 3 bed. for 14 nights in August. A massive saving on the Villas you saw but maybe you definitely want a Villa.
You said 3 kids but only 2 ages, is it 2 or 3 kids?

For flights there has been some great prices but just now gone up, prices don't drop until the 22nd August which I guess is too last for you. There has been plenty indirect around for about £350pp now they look to be nearer £600pp or Direct £700pp (Adults fares)

 

[Curious Yellow]

It would be mad NOT to go

Get yourself booked at either Pop Century, or Allstars, great hotels for kids and easy access to parks and and cheap!

and have a good time! any other questions let us know

 

[Tinks1984]

Welcome to the DIS! You'll find lots of advice from people on here about booking your trip.

Sounds wonderful that you want to take your children to WDW.

I know you said about renting a villa, but as the previous poster said, look into the All Stars and Pop, as family rooms are offered and sometimes in August there's free dining available, which would cut your costs quite a lot, as pretty much all your food would be included.

Keep checking different ideas and see which comes out best for you.

Good luck on booking your trip - sounds like the kids have a wonderful Dad!

 

[rotothread]

Thanks for the advice and the support!

I do have 3 kids 7 and 8 (twins +1)!!!

An indirect might be a bit more fun and I hadn't really considered it. I had no idea either about condo as I had no idea what they were!

I would like space though, a fiend of mine went ad stayed in a hotel and by the end of two weeks they were ready to kill each other.

But what about food? Most people I know who have been say the food in Disney is shocking. And its better to do some grocery shopping if your in a villa rather than ea out every night. Thoughts????

 

[rotothread]

Welcome to the DIS! You'll find lots of advice from people on here about booking your trip.

Sounds wonderful that you want to take your children to WDW.

I know you said about renting a villa, but as the previous poster said, look into the All Stars and Pop, as family rooms are offered and sometimes in August there's free dining available, which would cut your costs quite a lot, as pretty much all your food would be included.

Keep checking different ideas and see which comes out best for you.

Good luck on booking your trip - sounds like the kids have a wonderful Dad!

Thank you so much! Yes, if I'm honest they do have a great dad (awww shucks). Shocking mother though.

 

[wayneg]

I know you said about renting a villa, but as the previous poster said, look into the All Stars and Pop, as family rooms are offered and sometimes in August there's free dining available, which would cut your costs quite a lot, as pretty much all your food would be included.

Unfortunatley Free dining is over for this August now and wasn't available in Vaue resorts. Possibly could still be offered on Disney.com but their prices are way OTT and I believe have already priced the hotels to include dining so not really getting free. At least the UK offer was genuine.

 

[wayneg]

Thanks for the advice and the support!

I do have 3 kids 7 and 8 (twins +1)!!!

An indirect might be a bit more fun and I hadn't really considered it. I had no idea either about condo as I had no idea what they were!

I would like space though, a fiend of mine went ad stayed in a hotel and by the end of two weeks they were ready to kill each other.

But what about food? Most people I know who have been say the food in Disney is shocking. And its better to do some grocery shopping if your in a villa rather than ea out every night. Thoughts????

3 kids, certainly have your hands full there.
Condo is short for condominuim or apartment to us, If you look at this link its photos of one we stayed in at Windsor Hills last Easter, All the pics on this page were the same condo. This was only 2 bed but as I said you can get 3 bed ones http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y236/wayneg1/Hotels/

1 adult and 3 children is probably too much for a hotel room, even though I much prefer hotel maybe not for you.

Food is not bad in Disney but very expensive. We much prefer to eat offsite, there are some very cheap good places.
Will you be having a car?

 

[Tinks1984]

Unfortunatley Free dining is over for this August now and wasn't available in Vaue resorts. Possibly could still be offered on Disney.com but their prices are way OTT and I believe have already priced the hotels to include dining so not really getting free. At least the UK offer was genuine.

Ah, sorry for the mis-guided info on this one then! Least Wayne has mentioned it to save you going to look for it

 

[rotothread]

To be honest a car may cause me more hassle. Quite prefer to go green and set and example.
A condo looks good, certainly for reasons of value but I'm looking for something a little bit special as I'm the big 40 this year. Yeah I know I can't believe it either.

My budget would be around 2500 - 3500 sterling.

 

[spookysarah]

Hello and welcome,

I've had a few thoughts. Most accomodation requires driving certainly most villas and a car means you can come and go as you please eg visit a park in the morning then back to villa for a swim before heading out to dinner. Nothing worse than standing in that heat waiting for buses and taxis could be expensive. You can find villas on www.thedibb.co.uk We have booked with a Dibb villa owner for next year. A quick search brought up a whole bunch of villas/townhouse with prices under £400 week inc a 3 bed for £350 a week. If you choose not to drive then an offsite hotel with good free transport would be cheapest.

Sarah x

 

[wayneg]

To be honest a car may cause me more hassle. Quite prefer to go green and set and example.
A condo looks good, certainly for reasons of value but I'm looking for something a little bit special as I'm the big 40 this year. Yeah I know I can't believe it either.

My budget would be around 2500 - 3500 sterling.

Without a car you have a added problem of getting to and from the parks from a villa, the villa complexes can be a long way from the parks. Plus a lot more difficult getting out to eat and shop.
I know many people do Florida with out a car, not an option for me.
People don't realise how big Disney is (47 square miles) I know while on Dsiney land there is free transport but beyond Disney it is also vast, taxis between places can be expensive.

Lots for you to consider, bet you wish you were going to Blackpool now.

 

[rotothread]

Without a car you have a added problem of getting to and from the parks from a villa, the villa complexes can be a long way from the parks. Plus a lot more difficult getting out to eat and shop.
I know many people do Florida with out a car, not an option for me.
People don't realise how big Disney is (47 square miles) I know while on Dsiney land there is free transport but beyond Disney it is also vast, taxis between places can be expensive.

Lots for you to consider, bet you wish you were going to Blackpool now.

A car it is then. Sod the environment we're off to Disney!
The Dibb site looks a excellent place to start. I've seen muh bigger and better villas fo a 3rd of the price. I'll report back.
I am so grateful to you all!

 

[spookysarah]

A car it is then. Sod the environment we're off to Disney!
The Dibb site looks a excellent place to start. I've seen muh bigger and better villas fo a 3rd of the price. I'll report back.
I am so grateful to you all!

So glad we can all help. If you have any more questions just holler.

Oooh edit to add - on the dibb you can post your villa requirements, budget and dates and see who can offer you something suitable.

 

[susieh]

Have you thought about which parks and places you want to go? Ticket's arent cheap and it isnt clear if you are allowing for them on top of your quoted budget.

Our youngest was 8 the first time we went and we only did Disney and Sea World (ie no Universal Studios). We found plenty to do for the 2 weeks - in fact we didnt have time to do all we wanted and have been every 2 or 3 years since!

We stay on-site and use the Disney transport some of the time but have a car so we can get offsite to eat, visit the shops and got to Sea World or Universal

 

[Pegasus928]

We always go for the villa option whenever we go to Florida, for many different reasons. We have done hotel holidays in Europe and and hated the claustrophobic feeling of it all. Once we did our first villa holiday there was no going back for us. As has already been mentioned there are plenty of good villas at really good prices to be had at the moment - just have in mind a list of requirements that you will need when looking. For example:
South facing pool that is not overlooked - and preferably overlooking a lake or conservation area.
Games room with pool table/air hockey etc (a really good distraction for the kids when they have had enough of the pool)
Bedrooms with Playstations, DVD players
PC with internet
Free phone calls
Once you start to have a look round the ones on offer you will see why so many people prefer this way to do a Florida trip.

 

[wifey]

Just wanted to say to you and your children, feel free to ask any questions no matter how silly you think they may be, we are here to help.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to take your kids to Orlando it's a great experience for them and quality time for you all as a family too.

As for ticket prices WDW price their tickets by 3-9 and 10 and over so the age of your kids is great from a pricing point of view. I'm sure you'll get plenty of help regarding accommodation options. US and IOA have lots of great stuff for boys to see and do too we are looking forward to the Simpsons Ride ourselves If you can get the chance to go to them and Disney I would do it definitely they all have their own merits it's just a case of transport. Some hotels off site provide buses to both areas.

Anyway here's some enjoy your planing and have the best holiday ever.

 

[Macl1uk]

If you send me an email at chris.martin@tiscali.co.uk I will send you my notes from my two previous trips, which I have tried to update. This offer is open to everyone but aimed at first timers.