Opinions please

[furballs]

Hi, its been a while since ive posted anything on here, although i thoroughly enjoy reading all the threads. I never seem to be able to add anything constructive, to what everyone else so elequently does lol.
Anyways, we are planning our hols for next year and just wondered what you guys thought of them. Since it will be DD16th and my, ahem 40th birthday and also our 20th wedding anniversary all in the same year, we thought we would push the boat out a little and celebrate with one big trip.
So, heres our plans. Four nights at Vegas staying at the Mirage, then off to Florida, staying on site at Coronado springs resort for five nights. Then off to I drive, staying at the Marriott Residence for eleven nights.
Although this will be our fourth visit to Disney, we have never stayed on site before and are really excited about been right in the middle of all the fun. We also have always gone in Nov, but this time will need to go in July due to DD starting college.
We are planning to book everything separately and i have started looking into flights and hotel prices. Ive been told that most airlines wont release next Julys prices untill Sep although Virgin release theirs on Aug 7th. Guess i will just have to be patient a little longer.
I would really appreciate any comments, advise or tips regarding our plans. Everything seems so different this time, since we are staying on- site and also at a totally different time of year.
Im just soooo excited to be planning another trip i can hardly contain myself. Im really not sure how i will cope with a whole year of waiting for it come around
thanks xx

 

[The Fetherstons]

Happy Planning, your trip sounds fabulous,

Im sure there are flights out now for next year, as Ive checked for September and December 2009.

Hope you get sorted soon

 

[Grumpy John]

Excellent. So you finish your holiday with the wow factor why not stay for the last 5 days at Disney rather than in the middle. Then you can take advantage of early hours and late hours and would be a great way of finishing what sounds like a wonderful trip

We are going for 10 days at the beginning of September. Doing 5 days at the Fairfield LBV then going on the Caribbean Beach for the last 5 days

Just an idea

 

[wayneg]

My main advise would be don't pre-plan which hotels you want to stay in. Look for the best deals, OK bear them hotels in mind but you might get something way better for your money by looking at all options. We were expecting a moderate hotel for out last 3 nights in August but then got a great rate with our Annual passes at Animal Kingdom lodge, same price as I was going to pay at Port Orleans.

Never been to Vegas before? if not 4 days is not enough, we don't drink or gamble and 4 days was not enough last October. We went with the idea we would not like it and would be ready to leave after 2 days, how wrong we were, amazing place. Personally I would prefer more central to Mirage, its one of the last hotels right at the bottom end of the Strip, we stayed at the Flamingo, older hotel but better location IMHO. Again I would be open minded and look for the best deal.

Flights are available 336 days from your return date, approx 11 months. If you plan on returning say 1st August then you need to look around 1st Sept.
Only way of booking before is with a package, doubt that will be suitable for what you want to do.
Look at Orbitz.com, I have booked a couple of trips wth them this year, getting great prices.
Last year for Vegas and Los Angeles I used AA.com, try Kayak.co.uk they quote all AA prices and a lot of others.

Shout if you want any more advise.

 

[disneyholic family]

Hi, its been a while since ive posted anything on here, although i thoroughly enjoy reading all the threads. I never seem to be able to add anything constructive, to what everyone else so elequently does lol.
Anyways, we are planning our hols for next year and just wondered what you guys thought of them. Since it will be DD16th and my, ahem 40th birthday and also our 20th wedding anniversary all in the same year, we thought we would push the boat out a little and celebrate with one big trip.
So, heres our plans. Four nights at Vegas staying at the Mirage, then off to Florida, staying on site at Coronado springs resort for five nights. Then off to I drive, staying at the Marriott Residence for eleven nights.
Although this will be our fourth visit to Disney, we have never stayed on site before and are really excited about been right in the middle of all the fun. We also have always gone in Nov, but this time will need to go in July due to DD starting college.
We are planning to book everything separately and i have started looking into flights and hotel prices. Ive been told that most airlines wont release next Julys prices untill Sep although Virgin release theirs on Aug 7th. Guess i will just have to be patient a little longer.
I would really appreciate any comments, advise or tips regarding our plans. Everything seems so different this time, since we are staying on- site and also at a totally different time of year.
Im just soooo excited to be planning another trip i can hardly contain myself. Im really not sure how i will cope with a whole year of waiting for it come around
thanks xx

fabulous!!!....sounds like you're going to have a wonderful time..

i agree with wayne about the hotels.....although in July it's difficult to get really good deals...
as for july vs november.....be prepared for HEAT and HUMIDITY!!!!
and i say that as someone who lives where it's even hotter and equally humid...
it's good you'll be there for a long time, since you have to take things much slower in july....
on the bright side, it's great swimming weather...

also, vegas is VERY HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT in july - but not at all humid....it's very dry.....if you want to have an idea of the weather in vegas in july, turn your oven to high, get in, close the door....that will very nearly approximate the temperature in vegas in july.....

Never been to Vegas before? if not 4 days is not enough, we don't drink or gamble and 4 days was not enough last October. We went with the idea we would not like it and would be ready to leave after 2 days, how wrong we were, amazing place. Personally I would prefer more central to Mirage, its one of the last hotels right at the bottom end of the Strip, we stayed at the Flamingo, older hotel but better location IMHO. Again I would be open minded and look for the best deal.

Wayne, i don't know what you're talking about the Mirage being one of the last hotels.....we've stayed there before - it's right next to treasure island and near the venetian..

are you thinking of mandalay bay? which is the last one on the strip (near the airport)?.

the mirage is very nice......although i like the venetian better...
but they're both nice..
in fact most of the big hotels in vegas are nice....

if you like to swim, mandalay bay has a water park sort of outdoors area...

as for number of days - i disagree with Wayne on this one too - 4 days is MORE than enough for us in vegas....especially in July when it's difficult to do any hiking because of the heat...
one thing i would try to do - a visit to the grand canyon - i think you can do this by helicopter or airplane....since you're getting all the way over there, it would be a shame to miss it...

 

[furballs]

Hi,
Thanks guys, i really appreciate you all taking the time to reply.
Seems like we are along the right lines with our planning.
Sorry, cant work out how to use the Quote
Grumpy john.... Your idea at staying at Disney at the end of our hols is a good one. I will ask the rest of the family if they would like to do this.

Wayneg..... No, we havent been to Vegas before. Since we have children with us we wont be gambling or drinking, so was thinking that 4 days hopefully will be enough. Its just really a case of checking out the hotels, a spot of shopping and a trip to the grand canyon. I will also keep an open mind about hotels. We have trawled through the net and picked out these particular 3 but will definately be on the look out for other deals.

Disneyholicfamily......We have been warned about the heat and humidy of Vegas in July but i really dont think we appreciate just how bad it is. I think we will probably just be diving from one hotel to the next just to get into the aircon to cool down.
Yes, we do plan to do the Grand Canyon. Like you say it would be a real shame to go all that way and miss out on it. I like the sound of the helicoptor tour, just hope we dont get the pilot from Airwolf
Thanks again guys xx

 

[wayneg]

Wayne, i don't know what you're talking about the Mirage being one of the last hotels.....we've stayed there before - it's right next to treasure island and near the venetian..

are you thinking of mandalay bay? which is the last one on the strip (near the airport)?.

as for number of days - i disagree with Wayne on this one too - 4 days is MORE than enough for us in vegas....especially in July when it's difficult to do any hiking because of the heat...
one thing i would try to do - a visit to the grand canyon - i think you can do this by helicopter or airplane....since you're getting all the way over there, it would be a shame to miss it...

You are right I was thinking of Mandalay Bay, Doh!!!, Mirage is a great location.

We had 4 days there, drove to Grand Canyon after considering helicopter, so glad we drove though, highlight of the holiday. Saw 2 shows, Walked non stop for 2 days, still didn't see half of what we had on our list, Freemont Experience, Coasters on top of Stratosphere, The Liberace Museum, see TI show, could have easily spent another 2 days there. We just found everything took so long to do, like Sunday lunch at Bellagio, 15 mins to walk there almost and hour line to get in then 2 hours to eat, over 3 hours for lunch Another 2 hours in M&M world and the Coke store. 4 days might be enough if you rush around a little and don't see everything Vegas has to offer but for us too much to fit in 4 days.

 

[Young Pooh]

We did 4 days in Vegas for DH's 40th and loved. We didn't have kids at the time so did drink and gamble!

We went in November so although it was nice and warm during the day it got pretty cool at night. We did plenty whilst we there but as we hadn't set ourselves a specific "to-do" list we didn't feel that we had missed out on anything. Saying that, we would jump at the chance to go again as we know there is still so much to experience.

I would definately recommend a helicoptor trip to Grand Canyon. We used Sundance who were one of only two companies with authoriy from the Native Americans to land inside the actual canyon. Other companies can only land near to the rim. They are more expensive but well worth it. We took the afternoon trip - you fly over the hoover dam to the canyon, fly along the canyon and then land inside. You get a picnic meal and then back to Vegas. They bring you in at the top end of the Strip (it is dark by now) so you fly down the strip (quite low - lower than top of Stratosphere) looking at all the lights - fantastic!!

I agree with the OP - go for the Disney hotel at the end - it will be more of a high to the end of the holiday.

 

[disneyholic family]

Hi,


Disneyholicfamily......We have been warned about the heat and humidy of Vegas in July but i really dont think we appreciate just how bad it is. I think we will probably just be diving from one hotel to the next just to get into the aircon to cool down.
Yes, we do plan to do the Grand Canyon. Like you say it would be a real shame to go all that way and miss out on it. I like the sound of the helicoptor tour, just hope we dont get the pilot from Airwolf
Thanks again guys xx

it's not humid in vegas at all.....it's very dry, which makes the heat a bit easier...
but it is so very hot in july, it really makes it difficult...
when we were there it was 108 degrees!!!! that is HOT....
we actually ended up taking taxis from hotel to hotel, since it was way too hot to walk (and keep in mind that i live in a very very very very hot climate, so i'm kind of used to heat)...
but taking taxis was very inexpensive, so it's not really a big deal....

You are right I was thinking of Mandalay Bay, Doh!!!, Mirage is a great location.

We had 4 days there, drove to Grand Canyon after considering helicopter, so glad we drove though, highlight of the holiday. Saw 2 shows, Walked non stop for 2 days, still didn't see half of what we had on our list, Freemont Experience, Coasters on top of Stratosphere, The Liberace Museum, see TI show, could have easily spent another 2 days there. We just found everything took so long to do, like Sunday lunch at Bellagio, 15 mins to walk there almost and hour line to get in then 2 hours to eat, over 3 hours for lunch Another 2 hours in M&M world and the Coke store. 4 days might be enough if you rush around a little and don't see everything Vegas has to offer but for us too much to fit in 4 days.

i think had we been there when it was cooler we would have wanted to be there longer...we love to hike - and i had hoped we'd make it to the red canyon and some of the other nice hiking spots nearby...
but not in july....not if we wanted to live to talk about it...
in 4 days we did manage to see all the main hotels and 4 shows (FX, the two cirque de soleil shows, blue man group)....so we did pretty well....