When should I start thinking about summer 2010?

[cally73]

This will be our third trip and up until now I have always booked it as a package and we have gone at easter. We are planning to go Aug 2010 ( I am tied to school holidays as I work in one). I was wondering if I was brave enough to DIY it this time. There will be myself, Dh, Ds 12, Dd 4 and we are also taking my hubbies niece 21, her boyfriend and their son 5. I realise that flights dont come out until 11 months beforehand. I want to fly direct with having little ones. Should I wait to book a villa until I have flights, although we know the dates. What are your opinions on a villa verses on-site. We have only done villas so far and really like them but i think our neice would prefer on-site. Any help would be fab as to where to book for good prices. I want to get it right as I am booking for them too. Thankyou

 

[orangetiggs]

we booked a package for our disney wedding around may 2007 for our aug fly date.

This time we diy'd it and we booked the free dining deal around sept last year fro aug this year and flights on virgin at 11 months on when they went on sale.

 

[wayneg]

I always book flights 1st, there is always accomodation available so I my 1st thing is flights, I also like to be a little flexible when looking at flights, last August we got a lot better deal flying on the Friday instead of our preferred day, Thursday.
Ruling out indirect can make it very expensive. August 06 Virgin direct wanted about £800, we paid £330 indirect. August last year we went out using miles and returned indirect total £336 (+miles) compared to full fare Virgin direct £880. This year Virgin came down to about £780 but going indirect to Tampa business class for £465.
So you can save upto £500pp for sake of swapping a plane, to me direct is not worth anymore than a £100 premium as I don't mind indirect at all.
Accomodation is a personal choice, only your family know whats best for you. I don't like Villas or Condos but also not a fan of onsite (even though we are this August as with free dining its cheaper than offsite, an option maybe you should look at) we prefer a hotel just offsite at Lake Beuna Vista.
We save at least 50% on Virgin holiday August prices but you have to be flexible.

 

[fizz13]

I'm another believer in flights first. Right now i am price watching on flights for this august and it is amazing to see prices jump around almost daily. i also agree that indirect can save serious money over Virgin or BA. And now I have done indirect i prefer it as I deal with immigration at the first airport and just breeze through Orlando super quick.
the only time I have known WDW rooms to sell out is Xmas or maybe not my first choice when free dining is around. Other than that i dont see a problem, i can still get every resort i would want for Aug 09.
for flights i use netflights.com, they seem to offer cheaper than going direct through the airline.
villa vs. onsite: well everyone has their own opinion. I have done both and while i love the space of a villa, i also love being in that disney bubble. I have only done disney the last 4 trips though, and thats because i dont want to break my bubble. I have promised my children next trip that we are going back to seaworld and universal (they will be a little bigger) so then i will be doing offsite. So i think it depends what you are planning to do while there.
A good option is to maybe do one week onsite at WDW, and one week off. in fact i bet thats what I end up doing so I get the best of both worlds.

 

[WiganTony]

What are your opinions on a villa verses on-site. We have only done villas so far and really like them but i think our neice would prefer on-site. Any help would be fab as to where to book for good prices. I want to get it right as I am booking for them too. Thankyou

Why not split your stay between on-site at WDW for a week (with the possibility of free DDP in August 2010), then a week in a villa? This would meet your niece's wish to stay on-site, but then a villa would probably be cheaper for the remainder of the holiday (plus you wouldn't be paying the premium for staying at a WDW hotel if you were planning on visiting other parks.

 

[wayneg]

but then a villa would probably be cheaper for the remainder of the holiday (plus you wouldn't be paying the premium for staying at a WDW hotel if you were planning on visiting other parks.

If free dining is available it could well be cheaper to stay in Disney, all depends on deals they offer.
We are paying £91/night (£637/week) to stay at OKW this August, other options were available cheaper. Ours Includes 1x CS, 1x TS & one snack/day.
How much would a villa and food cost with exchange rate as it is? I know we spent upto $55pp/day at Xmas just for food(without tips), for 3 of us thats $165/day. I know that was most we spent in one day but with poor exchange just now Free dining is a great option, and I am a big offsite fan.

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

You should check out travelsupermarket for flights, they have some good deals! I agree with PP about it being cheaper doing indirect, but for June 2009 you can fly direct with Virgin for £313 from Gatwick. With young children I would definately recommend direct flights! Hell is a 16hr travel time with children under 15 yrs!
We like staying onsite, but that's personal choice, and I feel the Dining Plan is great value, but if you could get it free that would be even better. It's great for young children, and you get a great selection of restaurants to choose from. Plus if you have Dining Plan that's your meals sorted for the stay! Our last trip - one character meal and the dining plan had paid for itself that day! Plus, I like going to all the different deluxe resorts to eat so I can see how the other half lives!

Di x

 

[wayneg]

Hell is a 16hr travel time with children under 15 yrs!

Di x

All depends how much you enjoy travel, seeing city skylines, trying other options. We can only travel in school hols so Virgin are usually £700-800 each(August) we have used them a lot and done very well with their Airmiles but about half our trips have been indirect with DS since age 5 upto now he is 14. Not once felt it was a hassle or inconvenience. Last Oct drove over 3 hours to Heathrow, then indirect flight thru Detroit, back to Heathrow and 4 hours back up home. Would do it anytime. If flights into Florida ever get too expensive I would consider flying into somewhere like Charlotte NC and doing the 9-10 hour drive down to Fl,
Some people don't like travel Some do, all part of the adventure for us.

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Wayne,

Our one and only experience with indirect flights unfortunately put us off them! One of the flights was suddenly cancelled so we nearly missed the next connecting flight and then to top it off they lost our luggage for a day! But then, that was a VERY indirect flight!

Our last holiday, we flew from Gatwick as that was all that was available (sudden need to rebook as XL went bust 3 days before our holiday!), so it was an 8hr drive through the night for us to get there, but it was fine! We would probably just do that again to get a cheaper direct flight, but it all depends what is the best value. I definately wouldn't do another indirect that had more than 1 connection again!

So far, when I've been pricing I've been able to get good deals with direct flights from London - indirect from Scotland/North England have been more expensive!

di x

 

[traceycooper]

I have to say Arghhhhhhhh!!!

why you say? - we have always booked a package & everytime i try to price up a DIY the flights are too expensive!!!
DD is 14 now & it seems that as she is charged as an adult on a flight only, it is dearer than the package as she is usually discounted a lot more!!!

& the arghhh is because everytime i see people getting flights at such great prices I can never find any

ah well!!!

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

I have to say Arghhhhhhhh!!!

why you say? - we have always booked a package & everytime i try to price up a DIY the flights are too expensive!!!
DD is 14 now & it seems that as she is charged as an adult on a flight only, it is dearer than the package as she is usually discounted a lot more!!!

& the arghhh is because everytime i see people getting flights at such great prices I can never find any

ah well!!!

try travelsupermarket.com and see what comes up, they update the prices daily so check over a few days. We also found flying from Gatwick a LOT cheaper, rather than Glasgow which is our local airport. It's an 8 hr drive down for us, but we still save about £600!!!!!

Di x