Newbie

[Clarab]

Am new to this board but have been posting on the Paris one as we go on Monday to Disney for 4 days

Am looking at going to Florida WDW in October, but being new to this, do I book with a travel agent, or do it all myself, in all of you experienced peoples opinion, which is cheaper??

Not bothered weather it is a hotel or villa/apartment but would like cooking facilites and a fridge and preferably not all in 1 room....(I sound so demanding )

We are a family of 4, me, hubby and 3 year old twin girls.

Any advice would be really really appreceiated.

Thanks

Clarab

 

[Pegasus928]

Everyone has their own way of doing things and it is down to personal preference - not just cost.
We prefer to book a villa - direct with the owner, arrange our own flights, hire car etc.
I think you need to decide what accommodation you would like and go from there as there are too many options in each to go through them all. Once you have done that I would think you can get advice a little more tailored to your needs.

 

[eyoreaud]

Hi Clara and welcome to the boards!

If i were you i'd check out the diy first then check out the TA's and see if they can price match Depends what your budget is and if you want to stay on or off site and how many people will be traveling and ages of kids etc...

Sounds like a villa, suite or condo would be a good idea for you but as i have already said it all depends on your budget

Here are some sites to check out...

netflights.com~airline-network.co.uk

virginholidays.co.uk~ba.com/florida

For villas try~

floridasunshine.com~fro-group.com~sunvillasfloridadirect.com

For suites~

marriott.com~doubletree.com and cariberoyal.com

Disneyhotels and resorts www.disneyworld.co.uk

For tickets we like undercovertourist.com

I have never stayed in a villa personaly but i know many do
Maybe a good travel guide lke the brits guide os passporter would be a good idea, they're packed full of tips and ideas just like here on the dis

Hope this helps, happy planning!

 

[wayneg]

Hi Welcome.
If you post the dates you want, are they flexible? and nearest airport I will have a look at prices for you.

Also check Virgin holidays, If its a 2 weeks hol Travelcity direct, Thomas cook, thomsons
If its easy try a Travel agent but they are usually more expensive.

 

[madmumof2]

90% of the time it's cheaper to do it seperately, but occassionaly you can get a great deal through a ta, like I did.

Your best bet is to search, search, and search some more. Look at diy holidays online, then go to a few travel agents and get them to beat the online quote, and each other until you hit the floor. I managed to knock over a grand off my holiday by doing this.

 

[Gingernut]

Hi and Welcome

I agree with what's already been said, its best to shop around and see what
you prefer for your budget.
Personally I wouldn't pay TA prices, we do it all ourselves and it works out cheaper.
I will say with a 5year old boy, we've done hotel rooms - for 1 year - but now only do a villa. YOu have so much more space than a hotel room, for them and you and the private pool is a must *** he's in it all the time, with one of us - then again may be a bit hard to cope with, with twins at that age. Maybe a suite somewhere would be better at your twins age and you would get a kitchen and a seperate bedroom for them.
Good luck with your planning

 

[Clarab]

Wow thanks for all of you for the responses, really appreciate the time you have gone to to reply.

WAYNEG - looking at end of September or October whichever is the cheapest.

So far from Thomson have had a quote from Thomson for a holiday;

24 Sept- 9 Oct flights from manchester staying at the Econo Lodge with transfers and a offer of 'kids eat free' (dont know exactly what this is!?) without park tickets is £2474, she asked what park tickets I would want?

Dont really know if this is a good price or what park tickets would need/want.

Thanks

Claire

 

[Goofyish]

Welcome to the UK DIS boards Clair

As others have said there is more to the choice between package and DIY than just cost. DIY is more flexable and you can tailor your vacation the way you want. A package is simpler and gives you peace of mind (you are ATOL protected with a package - but if you book flight only you are not. A flydrive is classed as a package though).

I did see on TV the other day that package holidays are good value at the moment because the travel companies fixed their prices last year when the dollar was weaker - don't know if that is true or not.

 

[Cyrano]

As we were planning our first WDW holiday we went for the package route through Virgin Holidays. Though because of the good folk here did not take the "free" car hire. Since the insurance extras will be more expensive that hiring seperately

 

[wayneg]

Wow thanks for all of you for the responses, really appreciate the time you have gone to to reply.

WAYNEG - looking at end of September or October whichever is the cheapest.

So far from Thomson have had a quote from Thomson for a holiday;

24 Sept- 9 Oct flights from manchester staying at the Econo Lodge with transfers and a offer of 'kids eat free' (dont know exactly what this is!?) without park tickets is £2474, she asked what park tickets I would want?

Dont really know if this is a good price or what park tickets would need/want.

Thanks

Claire

Firstly I hope you meant this year not next.
Flights, not done lots of searching but 2 options I would consider.

Virgin direct into Orlando International £1,785.60 24th Sept~9th Oct (15 nights) (if you use Quidco they give 2% cashback)

AirFrance(Delta Flights) Indirect with good times £1,157.60 24th Sept~8th Oct (14 nights) booked thru Opodo.co.uk (if you use Quidco they give 1.7% cashback)

For indirect it would mean change of plane in Atlanta outbound 3 hour change, comimg home 2hr 27mins. But would save you £628

Hotels you can pay anything from around £15/night/room, econonlodge is not much above that catagory. For a little more money you can get a lot better.

So Direct with Virgin and hotel you should get something for around £2,100 or Indrect £1,500

Ticket you need to decide which parks, Most popular are Disney(4 parks), Universal(2 parks), Seaworld & Busch(Tampa)

You would also need to get too and from hotel, a taxi is around $50-60 each way or if any possibility you can drive I highly recommend it.
Let me know if you want anymore help

 

[Clarab]

WAYNEG - thanks so much for the time you have out into looking, it is really really appreciated

Do many people chage planes?? is it easy and are the US known for running planes on time? As £600 is a massive saving, are those flights from Manchester??

looks like I may be able to convince hubby into going as at those prices it is ot much more for a spanish holiday.

Which websites do you reccomend for accomadation??

Thanks again

Claire

 

[wayneg]

Just found something that might interest you.
Virgin have a 14 day Disney offer you can stay onsite in Disneys pop century resort, free transfers to and from airport, includes 14 day Disney unlimited tickets worth £686 Total package £2,988.90 less 3% Quidco (£89.66 back) making hol £2,899.24
Thats going on 22nd Sept, supplement to go end of week.

They have lots more options onsite and offsite if you look at their website mess with dates there might be cheaper, you need to drop the 2nd box to Disneys 14 night offers, they include the 14 day Disney tickets. Ignore 1st few hotels that show between £200-300 they don't include flights.

Just read your next post before I posted,
We have had absolutely no problems over the years chaging planes, from our Son being same age as your daughters. With them times you will have no problems but some will only fly direct. Its all straight forward and you get immigration done in Atlanta so on arrival in Orlando it is just a matter of collecting your cases and out.About half our trips below are indirect, only one delay took about 3 hours to get a new crew from New York for some reason. But check out the Virgin website and see what you can find on there.

I (or others on here)can help with hotels if you are going down the DIY route, never a problem with hotels thats one thing they never sell out of in Florida.

 

[wayneg]

Sorry missed a question, yes everything I have quoted there is from Manchester.

 

[UKDEB]

Do many people chage planes?

Firstly, welcome to UK Trip Planning, Claire .

Changing planes would be a nightmare for me, but many people do so without qualms. I'm a nervous flyer, so getting there as quickly as possible is a priority. In the early days, we flew with charter airlines which necessitated a stopover in Bangor, Maine, where we would disembark, clear Customs and then re-board the same plane for the onward flight. I would never want to return to those days, let alone having to make a connection. 8-9 hours on a plane on top of checking in, passing through security, hanging around before boarding, clearing Immigration and Customs, collecting baggage and sorting out the hire car is more than enough for me! Of course, everyone's different, and only you can define your own priorities.

 

[Clarab]

WAYNEG - that Virgin deal seems a really good price, but in your vast experience, for our first trip do you think staying on site would be a bit much? Is it good to have a break from Disney?

if I was to book flight only, how much is a transfer from the airport to resort?


Thanks again

Claire

 

[wayneg]

WAYNEG - that Virgin deal seems a really good price, but in your vast experience, for our first trip do you think staying on site would be a bit much? Is it good to have a break from Disney?

if I was to book flight only, how much is a transfer from the airport to resort?


Thanks again

Claire

It is a good price for an onsite Virgin package, I was looking again and I think for another £300 you could upgrade to Port Orleans moderate resort.

I am the wrong person to ask about staying onsite, we stayed in a value (All Star Movies) 8 years ago, they are not for us, we found too basic. although nice theming around the resort inroom was no better than a travelodge, I believe Pop Century being newer is a lot better resort. Also stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge, great for 3 days, that was enough for me but I was not thrilled with the beds(view from the balcony was amazing) this year trying Old Key West for 16 nights as we have free dining and was cheaper than a budget hotel offsite, time will tell if we have made a mistake.

Thats my experience onsite, other people won't do anything else, they love being onsite. Everyone is different, If you are not having a car then onsite could be easier as you have all the Disney transport to get you around Disney.
I only know taxi's for airport, they are $50-60 each way + tip, I am sure there are other options but we always have a car so not looked into any other way.

It is so difficult to advise bacause as many prefer onsite as they do offsite, there is no right, no wrong just need to find which you prefer.
There are so many options its so difficult for your 1st visit. If it was me I would pay £300 extra to stay in Port Orleans resort or French Quarter over a value but there are many fans of Pop, depends what type of hotel you used to?

Bed time now, if you need more help I will be on tomorrow.

 

[wayneg]

Another option would be book the indirect flights at £1,157.60 then book hotel and tickets thru Disney.co.uk, they have offer on 14 nights at Pop with 14 day tix £1,324.00. Total £2,481.60. This will include Disney Express for airport.
Same price as your T/A but you get to stay onsite and includes 14 day tix for you all. Downside you have to change in Atlanta.

Doing this option it could be upgraded to Moderate resort(Port Orleans) for another £310.

 

[tttessa]

Hiya,

in your " demands" you sound a lot like us - kids in a separate sleeping area, some cooking/refrigeration facilities - we went for a villa booked through Virgin Holidays, was very nice... yes we could have done it cheaper, but prefer not having the hassle - that was worth the £360 difference to us..

Staying on-site depends really if it is a DISNEY holiday or a Florida/Orlando holiday - we wanted to do Busch Gardens / Seaworld / US and IOA too . If you just want to do Disney and use their transport system, then I would maybe stay on site, but we much prefer eating out AWAY from Disney, so off site with a car is best for us...

Tessa