Where to start?

[sweetiepie71]

We have been to DLRP a couple of times now, and our kids are getting a bit bigger (6,5,2) and I am tentatively considering looking at a Florida trip at some point in the future. I have briefly looked online but it is all *so* confusing and also *so* expensive. We really don't have a chance of saving 10 grand for a trip!! I looked on the Virgin website and got a completely random quote for 2 weeks in Jan for the 5 of us and it came up with 6 grand on a room only just with tickets and car hire.

So, is it possible to *do* Disney in Florida on a budget? Anywhere to look for simple info for people who have never been and know nothing, like not even which part of Florida Disneyland is in....(have tried reading posts on here but there are too many abbreviations and I'm lost )

When is the best (and cheapest and least crowded) time to go? We don't really like it when it's too hot so not fussed about it being roasting sunshine.

Thanks

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi,

To do it reallyyyy cheap especially when you have children is difficult.
Personally we book a fly-drive with Virgin and generally our accomodation/tickets seperate - if you shop around and possibly look at the likes of Travel City Direct you can find more cheaper prices, however there is an element of truth in the Disney with a family = not cheap, being true.

Park tickets you can certainly save money by shopping around.

One such problem with the prices is if you go during school holidays, which naturally with children many of us are restricted to , flight prices tend to be much more expensive.
Having said all that you can certainly do it for considerably less than 10 grand, a lot will depend on if you can go at anytime of the year.

The ideal times to go for a good balance of nice weather and manageable crowds are probably late April (missing Easter) and now - ie October through early November.
Probably one of the cheapest and coolest times of the year would be January through early February, late November and early December (before the flight prices go sky high) is also worth considering.

I would suggest you avoid June through September as it will more than likely be roasting hot a lot of the time.

 

[castanea1985]

Hi,
The best way to see Disneyworld is to stay 'on site' - as it saves a lot of time, and you do get alot of benefits, like early entry into the parks. Try shopping around for the best deals? Try different tour operaters, if you can go 'outside' of school holidays, it wiil be alot cheaper. Unfortunately, we can only go at peak periods and end up paying the price!
Another alternative than paying for an 'onsite' hotel, is one at Lake Buena Vista. These are right next to Down Town Disney, and are as near as you can get at a budget rate. They are all pretty nice hotels, and if I wanted to do Disney on a budget, I'd go for a hotel down Palm Parkway.
Make sure you do go to WDW, it is fantastic! Try and take in the shopping - the Premier outlets - I love getting them some retail therapy there!!
Good luck with your planning! But try and get there - you won't want to go anywhere else!!!!
Tracy

 

[jen_uk]

November is a great time to go as the crowds are very low (apart from Thanksgiving weekend), the weather is great and the Christmas decs are up. Im sure you can get it alot cheaper than 6k. As Castanea1985 said the easiest way to do your first trip would be to stay onsite as then all of your transport problems are solved! You wont need to hire a car then which will save money. On the Virgin site they often run promotions on weekends when you can get 10% off when booking online so I would look out for one of those.

 

[jen_uk]

Ive just quickly priced 2 weeks in Nov 2007 on the Virgin site, for flights with Virgin, 14 nights at the Comfort Inn, car hire and Ultimate park tickets for 2 weeks it came in at £3200. If you look around you can probably do better than that. Dont worry you should be able to do it for way less than 6k!

 

[Groovee]

When we returned from our holiday in the summer (salou) we decided to start checking out sites. I went to Airtours, first choice, Virgin, Thomas Cook. I priced up 3 hotels which were POP, All Stars and Port Orlean's. Virgin were wanting over £5000. First choice wanted £4000 and Airtours gave me a free child place and including car hire fully paid for.... we paid £3732 for the 4 of us for 2 weeks in July flying on great flights from Glasgow. Holiday Hypermarket is good for bringing up airlines who go there and then you can go to the websites and cost them all up. It's cost less for 4 of us than it cost for 3 of us 6 years ago including full car hire.

 

[wifey]

I can highly recommend the Comfort Inn at Lake Buena Vista the rooms are way bigger than the All Stars (better for families with 2 or more children) they also have kids suites and you get a fridge microwave hairdryer and coffee maker complimentary tea and coffee, close local shops and lots of food places close by too. Regular buses run from the hotel to the parks and back and there are time tables available at the check in area.
We have stayed on site before but it can get expensive depending on the time of year.
We usually buy our theme park tickets before we go and if you shop around you can save money over buying them from a travel agent or actually at the parks.
We don't hire a car but we do sort out transfers from the airport to the hotel and back when we book (last year with First Choice next year with Virgin).

Hope you find something to suit your budget and your family needs

 

[Soprano]

Its completely possible for you to go!

We, 2 adults, 2 children went this year in Feb/Mar with Virgin staying on International Drive for under £3k (excluding spending money) including Disney, Sea World, Universal Studios tickets etc. I would guess you could do pretty much the same if going same time.

There are a few things you need to sort out before planning. When to go, what you want to see and what your budget will be. Once you decide on those you are ready to make a start.

A few pointers which I hope can help:

Feb/March is a cheap time to go. We took our kids out (3, 4) out of school time. The weather was fantastic. No rain, plenty of sun, not even an overcast day or cold evening. But I hear it was better than average.

Staying in a hotel outside Disney will save quite a lot of money. We like doing other things in Orlando, rather than just Disney so like staying off-site which gives us a taste of America, rather than just Disney.

We have only every flown with Virgin, but they are not the cheapest out there. It may be a good idea to wait until Virgin offer FREE CHILD PLACES which will save you a £300 odd. They do this a number of times a year.

Perhaps you can book up a year in advance and pay it off Direct Debit?? As said other airlines are cheaper, but I have no experience with them myself.

Two weeks at least. Anything less would wear you out trying to cram everything in.

You don't NEED a car if the hotel has free transportation to theme parks. Most do. But a car would be nice and handy for your family.

***
Just keep asking questions, no matter how trivial or silly you may think it is. People on here have helped me so much, they are a great bunch.

 

[wifey]

If you have a decent book shop near you try to get a copy of A Brit's Guide to Orlando by Simon Veness.. it's really informative and family friendly too, lots of helpful tips and ideas of things to do before you go and while you are there well worth buying

 

[Eljay]

Here is a link to Mouse Savers, I find it to be a totally reliable source of great deals for Walt Disney World. Lots of money saving tips.
http://www.MouseSavers.com

 

[AndRu]

Hi,
The best way to see Disneyworld is to stay 'on site' - as it saves a lot of time, and you do get alot of benefits, like early entry into the parks

But it is also the most expensive. If all you want is Disney then by all means stay on site but there is lot more to Orlando than just WDW.

You don't NEED a car if the hotel has free transportation to theme parks. Most do. But a car would be nice and handy for your family.

I agree with Soprano and Johnny2 in virtually everything they've written but a car makes an Orlando visit so much easier. America was designed around the car and in many cases it's safer to drive from one shop to another across the street rather than try and walk!

We did a 2 week Virgin fly-drive in Feb '05 for £1800 and got a half price villa (i.e. 2 weeks for the price of 1) so the flights, car and villa cost us £2400. I'm not saying those deals are there now but, as others have mentioned it is possible to get a good deal, especially in Jan / Feb.

Good luck!

 

[jen_uk]

It can be more expenxive to stay onsite but I think the benefits of doing so more than make up for this esp if you are going to be doing mostly Disneyworld. If its your first trip then I would stick to just seeing the Disney stuff with just a couple of days elsewhere, WDW is HUGE and there is so much to see and do that it makes sense to concentrate on that for your first trip. If you stay onsite you have all your transportation sorted, no driving between parks etc, you can get into the parks early and stay late and as you are so close it is easy to go back to the hotel in the afternoon for swim/nap, if you are staying 30 mins away then this would be a pain to do.

 

[stteb1]

Hope our story helps you with your dream.

We have been visiting Orlando every year since October 1992,(except '94, thought we couldn't afford it, went to Tenerife instead and realised what we were missing !!) our youngest then was nearly 2 so thought we would take the chance and go on a holiday of a lifetime, it was always a dream of ours to go to the States and thought that it would be our one and only time.....Well here we are in Oct 2006 and we're still going (we were there for a week in Feb and in California for 17 days in Sept), off again this Monday 30th Oct for a quick week, and have never paid anymore than £1,600 for our flights, car and hotel, that's for 4 people, Have used various companies over the years, Back in the early '90s we used travel agents but now the internet or teletext to book, usually fly from Glasgow or Manchester, we never stay onsite at WDW (Although we have done at DLP, 3 times) recently we have been staying at the Courtyard by Marriott at Palm Parkway LBV, if you are willing to book late, look at websites and teletext then it's worthwhile, or you can walk into a Travel Agents a year in advance and pay over the odds.
My brother could never understand why and how we we could afford / want to visit every year, he like a lot of people get the brochures, saw the prices and freaked, our Father took us in Feb this year and I kid you not, 30 minutes after being in Downtown Disney he said to my wife " Now I know why you come back every year" We hadn't even set foot in a theme park yet !
Bottom line is.....Yeah you can go with BA and Virgin (which we have, with Virgin, and they are fantastic) But you can do it cheaper if you are prepared to spend a little time looking around, Like most of us, once you get there and experience it you won't want to go anywhere else

 

[Amyrlin]

At the moment there is a special offer on for Aug/Sept next year, if you stay at a dinsey hotel (tye values are reasonble) and buy tickets you can get the dining plan for free. The dinning plan gives you credits for a table service meal, a counter service meal and a snack for every night you stay, that can add up to a lot. It also includes tax and tips. A lot of travel compnaies are offering it, but it needs to be booked by Nov 6th. Compnaies doing this include

Virgin (where you can combine this with a 3 nights free promtion if you stay at POP Century)
Airtours
Jetsave
Travel City Direct
First Choice



If you stay on site and don't use a car (the insurance is a lot) then that also saves money.