Recommendations for Websites & Hotels etc Please

[Chilly]

Hello All - I'm about to start putting together a document for the people we are inviting to our Disney Wedding (Dec 2009) of usefull information for booking an Orlando holiday so i'd be grateful if people could recommend:

Websites for booking
When flight sales might be
Budget hotels offsite
Moderate hotels offsite
Deluxe hotels offsite
Tips for saving money
And anything else you can think of...

Thank you as always

 

[UKDEB]

I can help with the luxury offsite hotels, Claire. In no particular order, my top picks would be Reunion Grande, Rosen Shingle Creek, The Ritz-Carlton, Omni ChampionsGate, and the Celebration Hotel.

The first four are golf resorts and the Celebration Hotel is as good as, thanks to a tie-up with the Celebration Golf Club.

Reunion Grande has 3 championship-golfer designed courses, a rooftop pool, bar and restaurant; a steakhouse; a clubhouse restaurant and bar, as well as a lobby bar. It also has its own water park. There are extensive views from the rooftop pool area and it's possible to make out all the WDW icons (Spaceship Earth, Tower of Terror, Tree of Life) and to see the fireworks (Wishes and IllumiNations simultaneously when they're on at the same time). It's a condo hotel, so the rooms are one or two bed units with a separate living/dining/kitchen area. It's located right next to exit 58 of the I-4 and is about 5 miles south of WDW. It's a very simple hop up the I-4, then directly onto World Drive.

Omni ChampionsGate is in the same location (on the opposite side of exit 58 of the I-4). This is the only one we haven't stayed at (although we've come pretty close a couple of times), but we have visited regularly as David's Club (upscale sports bar) is one of our favourite restaurants. It has both regular rooms and recently added "villas" (i.e. the condo-style units) which are often available at good rates.

The Ritz-Carlton, Grande Lakes is situated near Sea World. Apart from the golf course, it has a standalone spa and several good restaurants including the fabulous Normans. In the same grounds is the JW Marriott. It's slightly cheaper than the R-C, but still a beautiful hotel and also has some good eating options, plus a lovely pool with a lazy river. You have access to all the facilities at both hotels regardless of which you stay at. Check out the Grand Lakes website for an overview - it has some great 360 tours.

The Rosen Shingle Creek is fairly close to Grande Lakes and just two miles from Pointe Orlando. For the moment at least, it has nothing much around it, although all the infrastructure is in place with beautifully manicured landscaping along the new stretch of road on which it's built.

The Celebration Hotel is a small boutique hotel. It has a lovely lobby bar and an award-winning restaurant, but as it's in the middle of the town center, it's also surrounded by other dining options.

Please ask if you have any questions. Good luck with the planning - what fun!

 

[amberandolly]

Trip advisor for hotel reviews.
Alpha rooms for hotel booking - I've not found anyone cheaper.
Virgin Atlantic / Virgin holidays for flights - it can sometimes work out a lot cheaper booking a flydrive with VH than flight only with VA.
They have a big sale on Xmas day - if you join flying club you get notification of all the other offers too.
You can't go wrong with somewhere like Embassy suites or Residence inn for mid range rooms and they have the benefit of a seperate bedroom and small kitchen area, so ideal for a big family or 2 couples.

For offsite luxury, I would go for Gaylord palms, it really is lovely.

 

[Chilly]

 

[wayneg]

I knew there was another thread I was supposed to reply to

For flights
Travelsupermarket.com,
Kayak.co.uk,
Orbitz.com (used twice this year paid in $US what UK agents wanted in £UK.) http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/login (login as guest and change sales city to LON)

Hotels
travelsupermarket.com,
expedia.co.uk( got a little pricey)
One of cheapest for past year has been Hotelopia with 10% code and 10% cashback thru quidco.com

I have so many sites I search but these usually find soemthing.

Doubt we will be able to make Dec 09, sorry

Edit 5,000th post alert!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ware Bears]

Doubt we will be able to make Dec 09, sorry

Claire, I'm there then, you don't need another bridesmaid by any chance???!!!

Seriously now, we're staying at the Comfort Suites Maingate East again. We stayed there last time following recommendations from US DISers on here and the good reviews on Trip Advisor. It would be a good choice if any of your guests are on a tight budget as not only is it inexpensive, it also provides an excellent complimentary breakfast each day.

 

[Chilly]

I knew there was another thread I was supposed to reply to

For flights
Travelsupermarket.com,
Kayak.co.uk,
Orbitz.com (used twice this year paid in $US what UK agents wanted in £UK.) http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/login (login as guest and change sales city to LON)

Hotels
travelsupermarket.com,
expedia.co.uk( got a little pricey)
One of cheapest for past year has been Hotelopia with 10% code and 10% cashback thru quidco.com

I have so many sites I search but these usually find soemthing.

Doubt we will be able to make Dec 09, sorry

Edit 5,000th post alert!!!!!!!!!

Well done on 5000 posts! Thanks for all the help, if you can think of anything else that would be great thanks

Claire, I'm there then, you don't need another bridesmaid by any chance???!!!

Seriously now, we're staying at the Comfort Suites Maingate East again. We stayed there last time following recommendations from US DISers on here and the good reviews on Trip Advisor. It would be a good choice if any of your guests are on a tight budget as not only is it inexpensive, it also provides an excellent complimentary breakfast each day.

Hi Elaine - well if my BM pulls out because its too expensive I'll give you a shout

Thanks for the suggestion on a budget hotel.

 

[Chilly]

Has anyone else got any suggestions?

THANK YOU

 

[cowza]

Flights...

www.cheapflights.com
www.ebookers.com

Always good to check the prices against the airline direct too

I'm not sure about flight sales. I think Virgin had theirs in October last year. It's usually around this period after the summer madness.

 

[luke]

We're staying at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress for our wedding next month (at Cypress Grove tho, not Disney).
Our guests are staying at a mixture of Fairfield Inn (Lake Buena Vista), Sheraton Safari, Enclave Suites, Lake Buena Vista Resort Village & Spa, and the Buena Vista Palace.

We just got out disney tickets from onlineflorida.com (came 2 days after ordering them, highly recommended!!).

Best of luck

 

[Chilly]

Keep them coming!

 

[luke]

Keep them coming!

Do some work yourself, lazy bones

Seriously, we were gonna do this too, then my mate's dad who is a travel agent and who we booked with (through Virgin Holidays) sorted everyone out when we told everyone to go to him.

Who have you booked with? Maybe worth getting your guests to speak to the same person you booked with if it was in a travel agents?

Also, as some if not most of your guests will more than likely not be as much of a Disney addict/knowledge knower as you, then i recommend you tell them to at least read through Simon Veness' Brits Guide to Orlando - a few of our wedding party have got this on my recommendation (you owe me commission Simon ).

Get your guests to price up dummy bookings with maybe Virgin Holiday's website (again, with many not being Disney fans, a package holiday may be easier than a DIY and make them feel more comfortable) and price up various options.

Find out who is and who isn't hiring a car - this can be important when recommending hotels to them.

For theme park tickets, bare in mind that some of your guests may not want to do the same parks at the same time as you, with the same frequency, for example my mum, dad and nan only want to do Magic Kingdom (well, my dad doesn't, but i DO call him "Mr Happy" ), Epcot and Animal Kingdom as well as Sea World and maybe Universal Studios (not IoA) so i've said they should just buy their tickets out there rather than buy one of the UK options.

If i can think of any more then i'll let you know.

Are you planning on having a party when you get home too? We are and at the moment wish we weren't as it's proving a million times more hassle than the actual wedding!!

Let me know if there's anything you wish to know

 

[Chilly]

Do some work yourself, lazy bones

I will I will!

Seriously, we were gonna do this too, then my mate's dad who is a travel agent and who we booked with (through Virgin Holidays) sorted everyone out when we told everyone to go to him.

Who have you booked with? Maybe worth getting your guests to speak to the same person you booked with if it was in a travel agents?

Also, as some if not most of your guests will more than likely not be as much of a Disney addict/knowledge knower as you, then i recommend you tell them to at least read through Simon Veness' Brits Guide to Orlando - a few of our wedding party have got this on my recommendation (you owe me commission Simon ).

Get your guests to price up dummy bookings with maybe Virgin Holiday's website (again, with many not being Disney fans, a package holiday may be easier than a DIY and make them feel more comfortable) and price up various options.

Find out who is and who isn't hiring a car - this can be important when recommending hotels to them.

For theme park tickets, bare in mind that some of your guests may not want to do the same parks at the same time as you, with the same frequency, for example my mum, dad and nan only want to do Magic Kingdom (well, my dad doesn't, but i DO call him "Mr Happy" ), Epcot and Animal Kingdom as well as Sea World and maybe Universal Studios (not IoA) so i've said they should just buy their tickets out there rather than buy one of the UK options.

If i can think of any more then i'll let you know.

Are you planning on having a party when you get home too? We are and at the moment wish we weren't as it's proving a million times more hassle than the actual wedding!!

Let me know if there's anything you wish to know

We aren't booking with a TA and everyone coming lives at opposite ends of the country so we can't all go to the same one sadly plus I think everyone will fly out/back on totally different days etc.

I have already lent them some of my guidebooks and will include info in my wedding pack about car hire and distances plus tickets etc.

Not sure about a home party yet, think it will be a knightmare as you've said plus the cost.

Thanks for all your help and advice.

 

[leicesterbob]

For hotels alpharooms or travelrepublic seem consistently good value.
For a budget hotel I don't think the Courtyard by Marriott on Palm Parkway can be beat, expect to pay £30+ per room without b/fast.
For luxury the Hyatt Grand Cypress is a lovely hotel and these 2 hotels only minutes from each other

 

[luke]

For hotels alpharooms or travelrepublic seem consistently good value.
For a budget hotel I don't think the Courtyard by Marriott on Palm Parkway can be beat, expect to pay £30+ per room without b/fast.
For luxury the Hyatt Grand Cypress is a lovely hotel and these 2 hotels only minutes from each other

Hyatt is where we're staying, Fairfield Inn (same complex as Courtyard) is where my best man is staying, so i concur

 

[penlanspice]

For our wedding nearly everyone stayed in villas.

There was 24 people staying at Highlands reserve on the US27 and we had our disney transport bus pick everyone up there on the day and dropped them off there again after. Just another cheaper alternative if you have families going.

Sam