Total Newbie looking for help!!

[DisneyFamily 2011]

Hello,

I registered in 2011 and since then have been casting an eye over this board in the hope one day we can afford our trip. Well we are now planing for next August 2015 and I am totally bamboozled with the right way to plan the trip.

Ideally we would like a week in a Disney Hotel and then a further week in a Villa in Kissimee so that we can explore the other Orlando attractions, then a week in Hawaii…

If someone could tell me how I go about planning this without it costing the earth I would be so grateful.

It has been my dream to take my family to Disney Florida and now my daughters health is a bit better we can finally make it happen

Thankyou.

 

[wayneg]

Welcome.

I always start with the flights, there are always hotels available. Your flights will become available from Sept.
Its really a bit early to start planning yet, just keep involved with the forums, watch for any flight deals posted, any offers you might be interested in. Pick up as much info as you can. Ask anything you want to know.
Unfortunately August is the most expensive month of the year. Hope you find reasonable prices.

 

[chmurf]

Wayne is right, start with the flights. You will always find a hotel. but trying to find flights for set dates is more difficult.
Still, WDW deals should be coming end of April, so it might also be worth is securing a deal with a £50pp deposit if you're already sure of your travel dates.

If you're going to do Orlando and Hawaii, consider booking a multi-city flight.
In case you're not familiar with this, it's a flight itinerary which allows multiple airports/flight legs.

I'm mentionning because quite often travellers would book a return flight UK->Orlando and then another return flight Orlando->Hawaii.

A multi-city flight will be cheaper and look like this : UK->Orlando / Orlando->Hawaii / Hawaii->UK and will be cheaper and faster than 2 return tickets.

Now, you might also want to consider the order of your flights
When going "West" some people will prefer going all the way to the western end of their journey, and then proceed back towards the east;
It has to do with jet lag that's easier to cope with.

Eastbound flights are usually red-eyes (night flights) and even if it's marginal, this saves on a hotel night since that Hawaii-Orlando night is spent on a plane.

Doing UK->Hawaii / Hawaii->Orlando / Orlando->UK might save time and money. But you'll need to do the maths and check schedules to see if it's doable/desirable.
Also, London to Honolulu will be 20hrs+ on a plane (considering a 3hrs stopover in LAX) it's up to you to decide if it's better to have this looooong flight on the way out or on the way in.

 

[DisneyFamily 2011]

Thankyou , wow , that is a lot to consider… I hadn't actually realised it was 20 hours to Hawaii, and Im really not sure I fancy that at all!.
We are now thinking Orlando for 2 weeks and the the Keys/Clearwater for a week. Or maybe just 2 weeks full on Disney.

So I need to look at WDW in april? and then flights in September? We are stuck with August really, School holidays

Will keep an active eye on here from now on

 

[peachiepie]

So I need to look at WDW in april? and then flights in September? We are stuck with August really, School holidays

In previous years deals are announced around April. Last year it was free dining and $200 gift card, this then decreased to free dining and $100 gift card, then just free dining towards the end of the year.

 

[Elise79]

Thankyou , wow , that is a lot to consider… I hadn't actually realised it was 20 hours to Hawaii, and Im really not sure I fancy that at all!. We are now thinking Orlando for 2 weeks and the the Keys/Clearwater for a week. Or maybe just 2 weeks full on Disney. So I need to look at WDW in april? and then flights in September? We are stuck with August really, School holidays Will keep an active eye on here from now on

Also with Hawaii there are no direct flights from Orlando so you will have to stop somewhere and looking at the flights it is around 12-14 hours travelling. Hawaii ties in much better with a CA trip than Florida.

The beaches on the west coast of Florida are beautiful and only a couple of hours drive. Our personal favourite is Longboat Key which is between Sarasota and Anna Maria

 

[bex7583]

that sounds an exciting trip

lots of useful tips about adding the hawaii above so am

i agree some really lovely beaches in florida , we did miami , keys and clearwater tagged on to our trip , if you do really fancy going somewhere else why not look at some carribean/bahamas destinations ( that are at least on the same side of america )

i planned and planned then once the flights were booked everything else changed along the way we had a whole week unbooked when we departed and it all turned out better than i ever could have imagined

 

[chmurf]

If you have 2 weeks for Orlando and one week for Florida ... well ... sounds like a Disney Cruise might be an idea

 

[DLPDreams]

I'd also like to add not to discount charter flights (many people on here fly scheduled as it fits their plans). If you live near Manchester or London airports it's not an issue using scheduled. If you have charter flights going from your local airport you may want to look at those too i.e. Thomas Cook or Thomsons who both fly to Orlando.

I say all this as I know Thomsons release their flights end April time this year for next summer (so way ahead of scheduled flights). I am not sure about Thomas Cook but I guess it may be the same for them.

The convenience of going from our local airport, as opposed to a 3 hour drive each way to Manchester is swaying me towards booking charter (and I want to try the Dreamliner as I've heard so many rave reviews ).

 

[ev08]

We,re also going August 2015 and have already booked our fights and villa!! Lol. The first couple of villas we wanted were already booked!! Booked our flights as a flydrive and think we've got a good price. £3100 for 2 adults and a child.

 

[WiganTony]

If you have 2 weeks for Orlando and one week for Florida ... well ... sounds like a Disney Cruise might be an idea

Just about to suggest a cruise myself but beaten to it!!!

Could be worth leaving your final week free (i.e. no accommodation booked), then about 3 months before your final week, start looking at some of the US Cruise websites, as you can usually get some very good prices by booking late.

There are options for cruises from Jacksonville, Port Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale and Miami (all on the Atlantic Coast), and a limited number from Tampa, all with different cruise lines.

If you book say a 5 night cruise, you shouldn't have difficulty in finding accommodation for the remaining nights before your flight back to the UK.

 

[DLPDreams]

I meant to say today, but it was just a quick post, that some people like above, have already found villas are booked up. August is a very popular time for UK visitors from what I can gather as it's our school holidays, and normally the majority of US schools have gone back by the last two weeks of August. But, next year, due to a late labor day holiday, US schools could potentially still be off at least the 3rd week of August as well .

Fly drives are an option too - Virgin and BA (I think) are offering them now but many of the good prices have already been snapped up. Therefore, it is probably a case of waiting until flight only release if you want those airlines.

A Virgin rep told me August are the most expensive flights after Christmas - not sure if that's true, but based on flight prices I've found already it seems the case . Of course, if you are happy to fly indirect, you have more options at a cheaper price too .