tips for DIY holidays or how to save money for another trip

[raymondcky]

hi guys

been back a month now but looking to book for oct 2011 last time we went with first choice had a great time it was nice and easy but i want to go again but might not be able to afford to do it at the price we got

£1,800 per person
2 weeks in colardno springs
disney dinning plan
car hire with almao
discovery cove + sea world + dolphin swim
universal tickets
disney tickets
flight from gatwick

so is there anway we can do it by ourselfs and save a few hundered i know just by knocking the dolphin swim off will help or just knocking discovery cove off full stop but then we would have to pay for sea world

so if anyone is bored and wants to give it ago feel free to do it

 

[2Tiggies]

I can't really advise you on DIY as I have done my first (Disney one anyway) this month.

Are you able to shift your dates at all? We did October this year and by moving our trip next year by one week (last week September/first week October) it is actually costing less for the same trip, but with one extra night than what we did this year. The room, ticket and Dining plan package with Disney UK was a few hundred pounds less just by going a week earlier.

You could drop a few luxuries if you wanted to save money, but it depends how important they are to you. There are some things I don't want to forgo and would rather save a little longer and have them than just go and do without so you need to assess. Of course you could book the basics and add on the dolphin swim later if you felt you could comfortably do so.

 

[Kath2003]

hi guys

been back a month now but looking to book for oct 2011 last time we went with first choice had a great time it was nice and easy but i want to go again but might not be able to afford to do it at the price we got

£1,800 per person
2 weeks in colardno springs
disney dinning plan
car hire with almao
discovery cove + sea world + dolphin swim
universal tickets
disney tickets
flight from gatwick

so is there anway we can do it by ourselfs and save a few hundered i know just by knocking the dolphin swim off will help or just knocking discovery cove off full stop but then we would have to pay for sea world

so if anyone is bored and wants to give it ago feel free to do it

Flights: Connect. It's the easiest way to save money. Last year we saved £350 per person by connecting. Also cut off a couple of days - if you want to go for two weeks, consider going for 10 or 11 days in the middle to find the cheapest flights.

Stay off-site: I know that to some people it's practically illegal to even suggest it but you get significantly more for your money.

Select your parks: we don't do Disney any more. We simply can't justify the cost.

Use public transport: we spent less than $40 on transport for two people for 10 days last year. Parking alone is $12/day - we reckon we saved well over £500.

We did 9-nights/10 days all-in (including shopping, food, drink etc.) last year for £900 per person in the school holidays.

 

[2Tiggies]

We did 9-nights/10 days all-in (including shopping, food, drink etc.) last year for £900 per person in the school holidays.

You know Kath, if I got you to plan my trips I think I might be able to go twice a year AND pay you commission

 

[Kath2003]

You know Kath, if I got you to plan my trips I think I might be able to go twice a year AND pay you commission

If I were that good, I'd be able to do it again this year Flights have gone up almost £200, my budget has only gone up by £100, so putting my foot down

 

[Laurafoster]

Flights are the biggest problem - they have gone up massively this year!

If your wanting Disney Dining Plan im assuming your not planning on spending a whole lot of time off site. If thats the case do you really need a car? Car Hire can be a few hundred pounds so that will save.

We got our Universal Tickets through Dreams unlimited this year and for the same price as Universal direct we got free transfers.

Another option is to rent points from the DVC Board to stay at Old Key West. 2 weeks in Oct would be 142 points, you can usually rent them for around $10 a point making the accomodation $1420ish.

 

[brer rabbit 28]

If you want to stay onsite and do dining can you go when they offer dining for free? I have always stayed offsite but I imagine the free dining is a big pull for families.

 

[scotlass]

If you do go DIY look at Tampa flights.

We flew into Tampa and drove up this October and saved £300 on flights.

Its only about 40/50 mins drive and the airport is really nice.

Big,big bonus was how helpful and.....wait for it......friendly the immigration staff were.

So much so I will probably look at Tampa flights first next trip.

 

[T16GEM]

All those parks plus DC are going to be a push to fit in to a two weeker, I would suggest cutting down on the park tickets and maybe having a few down days where you just chill out, that can save you some money.

I would also recommend the connection with the flights to save money, but obviously you have got to factor in whether it's important to you to get there in one foul swoop so to speak. We have connected at Newark for our last 4 trips, 3 of them being with two under 5s. We had a terrible time last year and all in all ended up having a delay of 37.5 hours, if I was only having a 14 night trip I would have been a bit peeved to have lost a whole day of my holiday. Needless to say we are flying direct this year!

 

[WiganTony]

All those parks plus DC are going to be a push to fit in to a two weeker, I would suggest cutting down on the park tickets and maybe having a few down days where you just chill out, that can save you some money.

One area to reduce ticket costs may be to purchase the USA Disney Magic Your Way tickets. You can get a 10 day Base Ticket (one park visit per day, 10 visits in a 14 day period) for around £160 which is some £60-70pp less that the UK Premium/Ultimate tickets. That said, you cannot park hop and they don't give admission to the Disney Water parks.

However, you can add the Plus option for the Disney Water Parks for around £26pp, so still saving between £24 and £34pp - every little helps

 

[martinrmn]

We fly on a Thursday as apparently airlines say a Friday is a weekend and charge a little more. We also like the twin centre holiday having done it for the third time this year. If you shop at Tesco save the vouchers and use them against the cost of a Virgin holiday. I know they were worth 4 times the face value but from next month only 3. In my opinion still a good deal if you shop in Tesco. If you can, try and fly in early December, we found it much cheaper.

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