Package or DIY?

[DisCharmed]

First of all, hello everyone. I have been lurking and reading avidly for a week or so and thought it was about time I jumped in and posted!

I've bought Simon's book and my husband has threatened to 'shove it where the sun DON'T shine' if I quote any more bits at him

What I really want to know is ..........

Is it best to get a package deal with flights, hotels and tickets in or is it worthwhile to put it all together yourself. When I say worthwhile, I mean saving more than £300.

In case it makes any difference we're planning on going for 3 weeks in August 2005 (can't have any other dates as I'm a teacher), and either staying for 3 weeks at Port Orleans OR splitting the stay with 1 week on I-drive and 2 weeks in Disney.

I know this may seem very early to ask but the school holiday dates always sell out way before everything else (and we need ages to save up too!)

I hope someone can help, any advice will be appreciated.

 

[matty624]

Welcome to the boards...I'm a teacher too, I sympathise!
We are stuck with July/August as a result. When we've been for three weeks in past years, we've tried to make sure we were there as late in August as possible, as the last week that month is slightly quieter. We always do DIY now, as it invariably is far cheaper.
Next years villa is costing us about £1250 for 4 weeks (4 bed, pool, excellent location), flights for 2 adults and 2 children with Virgin (Virgin Travel Store)£2459. If we'd gone for a package with someone like Virgin, I would hate to think of the cost, but I reckon it would have added at least £1000 (probably alot more)on to the cost.
This is definitely the best place to get info to save money. Hope this helps.
Ian

 

[vernon]

You don't say if you have kids or not, that can sometimes make a difference to which works best ( or if you can reach the £300 saving mark). If you have kids then for 3 weeks I wouldn't stay in a hotel for the whole trip, IMHO it gets too claustrophobic, I'd look at some time in a villa or a condo so you and your partner get some privacy. In general you can usually save money by booking DYI, how much you can save does depend on how flexible you are.
By flexibility I mean, for example, considering other airports, you have the choice of Tampa, Miami, Orlando (MCO) and Sanford. For accommodation 3 weeks on WDW is EXPENSIVE and if you plan to visit other (non WDW parks) no real benefit. IMHO unless you plan to spend ALL your time on WDW it doesn't make sense to have all your accommodation there. The benefits of staying on site at USF mean that I would give some serious thought to spending at least 3 days in one of their hotels, particularly in August.
If you have kids I'd look at first week in PO to give a big bash on all the Disney parks and make the most use of being able to take a mid day break for a swim to cool off, then 10 days in a villa to cover SW, BG, KSC,shopping and maybe a couple of easy days round your own pool then finish off in style with 3 nights at one of the Universal hotels. If you don't have kids I'd stay the middle 10 days at a hotel on Idrive using something like hotwire.com to get a great deal on a hotel. You should be able to get a good hotel for $50-60 a night using them or priceline.

 

[matty624]

Vernons right. As you do have two children (I looked at your web site, how sad am I), I would strongly recommend time out of hotel rooms, as he said. There are fantastic villas available for good prices, especially when you consider the current exchange rates. Also, consider the tickets you're going to buy. If, for example, you bought 10 day world tickets, you might not want to spend only a week in PO (you can use the 10 days over a 20 period though), just something to consider.
Ian

 

[DisCharmed]

Thanks very much, it certainly gives me somethings to think about. I suspect that 3 weeks in a hotel room might be hard going.

The only reason I'm so set on spending some time on Disney property is that we went to DLP last year and stayed offsite - and although it was much cheaper (almost half the price) I still wish we had stayed onsite as we all found the days long and tiring and wished many a time that we could have nipped back to the hotel for a couple of hours.

Thanks for the tip about going late in August too, we have to be there the 13th August as it's my oldests 10th birthday, but otherwise we're flexible about dates

thanks!

 

[juliebro]

I'd also give some thought to your flights too. There's money to be saved by flying indirect on scheduled flights. Also, I am told that seat pitch on Virgin is not good compared to other airlines, such as US Airways.

Try Airline Network and Expedia websites. There's also Bon-Voyage, which I haven't used myself, but have seen recommended on these boards.

Good Luck!

Julie

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

Originally posted by DisCharmed
The only reason I'm so set on spending some time on Disney property is that we went to DLP last year and stayed offsite - and although it was much cheaper (almost half the price) I still wish we had stayed onsite as we all found the days long and tiring and wished many a time that we could have nipped back to the hotel for a couple of hours.

Unlike DLP, WDW hotels are some distance from the parks - at least a bus ride/short car journey/monorail hop, so taking a midday break is not quite as straightforward as at Paris. As a result, there is not a huge amount of difference between popping back to your on-site hotel and popping back to your off-site villa. If you do a DIY holiday you can choose the exact location of your villa, so taking some time out in the middle of the day (useful in the heat of August) does not have to be too much hassle.

DIY or Package? There's no 'right' or 'wrong' answer to this question. It's best to get quotes for DIY and for package and see which works out best for you. We've found that DIY is better for us as it gives us the flexibility to book exactly what we want - we normally spend about the same as a package holiday, but I think we get better value for money (eg annual passes rather than hopper passes, better grade of hotel, etc).

I think the benefits of staying on-site at WDW are a bit over-rated considering the premium you pay for Disney hotels. If I was planning a three -week holiday I'd spend 18 days in a villa and the final three days at one of the Universal hotels as their Front-of-Line privilege for on-site guests is a great perk.

Make sure you consider whether annual passes or hopper tickets are best for your three-week holiday. For such a long holiday you might think it is worth spending the extra on APs to get the complete freedom to visit the parks whenever you want to. You would also be entitled to additional benefits such as free parking (if staying off-site) or possibly hotel discounts (at WDW and Universal).

Regards

Rob

 

[keswick1uk]

There is also a fun in the sun ticket. 30 days unlimited Disney park and extras (disney water parks, quest, sports etc) use plus 6 other places inc Kennedy. A free character or ordinary breakfast is thrown in and my passes cost $300 adult $245 child.

You need to buy one that covers your holiday dates as they do expire but great value for a long holiday.

 

[edie w]

DisCharmed - I'm sure you will save lots of money by going DIY. I'd recommend a villa, especially with kids.

If you get one close enough to Disney you will be able to go home for a few hours and then go back for the evenings, if that's what you want to do. Just make sure you find one that really is close to Disney. You want to be at Formosa Gardens or the neighbouring areas of Rolling Hills or Indian Creek. Check out www.orlando-maps.info for the locations of all the homes.

We booked through www.1stfororlando.com, who were great and happy to answer endless trivial questions about the villa, even after we'd paid up! This is an agency in the UK and you can pay with your credit card which gives you more rights in UK law than booking direct with the owner or a US website. Having said that, I've heard no horror stories from those who have booked privately.

There are websites where you can get cheap car hire apparently -wish I'd known that before we booked ours through Thomas Cook Signature!! Someone will post them here soon.....

You will be able to book charter flights soon, if not already, and schedules 330 days in advance. There are always savings to be made - someone will give you some websites to use.......

And you can definitely get good deals on tickets either by using www.attraction-tickets-direct.co.uk or similar, or by buying from the USA while the exchange rate is in our favour.

Happy planning!

 

[edie w]

DisCharmed - I'm sure you will save lots of money by going DIY. I'd recommend a villa, especially with kids.

If you get one close enough to Disney you will be able to go home for a few hours and then go back for the evenings, if that's what you want to do. Just make sure you find one that really is close to Disney. You want to be at Formosa Gardens or the neighbouring areas of Rolling Hills or Indian Creek. Check out www.orlando-maps.info for the locations of all the homes.

We booked through www.1stfororlando.com, who were great and happy to answer endless trivial questions about the villa, even after we'd paid up! This is an agency in the UK and you can pay with your credit card which gives you more rights in UK law than booking direct with the owner or a US website. Having said that, I've heard no horror stories from those who have booked privately.

There are websites where you can get cheap car hire apparently -wish I'd known that before we booked ours through Thomas Cook Signature!! Someone will post them here soon.....

You will be able to book charter flights soon, if not already, and schedules 330 days in advance. There are always savings to be made - someone will give you some websites to use.......

And you can definitely get good deals on tickets either by using www.attraction-tickets-direct.co.uk or similar, or by buying from the USA while the exchange rate is in our favour.

Happy planning!

 

[edie w]

Sorry - internet is a bit "sticky" at the moment!

 

[amf]

Originally posted by edie w

There are websites where you can get cheap car hire apparently -wish I'd known that before we booked ours through Thomas Cook Signature!! Someone will post them here soon.....

No sooner said than......

Airline Network
Skycars

 

[juliebro]

We go DIY all the time, even for holidays to Portugal. To me it's part of the holiday, doing all the planning, as well as saving money. I'd feel cheated if someone else did it for me . What we really like about it is that we can choose exactly what we want i.e. when to travel, how long to be away for, where to stay, which airline etc etc. It can be time-consuming though!

Julie

 

[DisCharmed]

This place really is a mine of information, I've started pricing up hotels and flights etc and I'm going to try and put it all together myself. If it ends up being the same price as a package, all I'll have lost is a few enjoyable hours reading

Thanks for all the suggestions.