Would you book...?

[madmumof2]

Out of the loop a bit with Florida so only starting to look again but found a fair deal. No idea if it's a good price any more though.

2 adults, 2 children (9 and 6) and an infant (will be 1).

Flying with Thomson, 11th Oct 2012 - 25th Oct 2012 from Gatwick to Sanford.

£2,851.

Saratoga Springs resort + free dining + 14 day Disney tickets + Universal + Seaworld with Complete Orlando

£3,122

Total £5,973 for 5 of us, hotel, flights, tickets, food etc

Is this a good price? Would only need shopping spends and a car added.

Or is it worth waiting a bit? I've only managed to find flights only with Thomson, all the rest I tried are only doing packages which are more expensive than this.

 

[wayneg]

Personally I would wait, I never book flights until they are all released 11 months out. £2851 seems a bit OTT to me in Oct.
You could book the room now if you wanted but the offer is on until end of Nov so no rush.

I would also go for OKW, I don't like SSR half as much but we love OKW (check in on Friday)

I am not one to book early, I am still looking for this Oct
For next July/Aug I will start looking around Sept/Oct.

 

[madmumof2]

They're both villa type accommodation aren't they? I'll have a look at OKW :S

We were originally looking at a villa and I'm still debating whether to go for it but the free dining is enticing me.

5 of us for 2 weeks will cost a fortune (we will be doing character meals, dining on site etc) so to have that free...but then we have our own pool with a villa....aggghh!

So in your opinion, the flights are too pricey but the hotel and tickets is a good enough price to book now?

 

[wayneg]

Yes they are both Deluxe DVC, what size room you looking at? SSR is newer but smaller rooms, OKW older but all just been refured the past year and bigger rooms. Do some Googling, there is plenty of info out there.

We don't like villas or private pools, we don't mind being in an offsite hotel but the free DDP has enticed us onsite for the 3rd August in a row, last year 3 of us ate food to the value of $3430.69 (21 days)

As I said I would wait for flights, hotel you could book or wait, I prefer to book flights 1st then hotel but last year I booked room & free DDP 1st.
Some people prefer to book flights early and pay more, its your choice. If you fly into Sanford then no free Magical Express if thats something you want, you need to fly into MCO for that.

 

[madmumof2]

We just need a big enough room for 2 adults, 2 children and a cot so both are big enough.

We stayed in POP last time and although people say they're big enough for 5 they're not really from what I saw. Fine with just me and the two children, but not this time.

I want a car this time so not too fussed about the Magical Express.

When's the best time to book good priced flights? Nearer the time?

 

[crabbie1]

Another for OKW mainly for the room size. They are a lot bigger than SSR and u will hv 2 queen beds and plenty of room for the cot. Depends on u for flights. I nearly always book accom first but as wayne says u hv till nov to book free dining. For our sept hols last year I booked april before. I presume ur goin half term?

 

[dixonsontour]

Half term is later next year in a lot of areas - I know it's 29th-2nd for schools in lancashire.

If you are prepared to fly indirect if need be you will beat £2800 for flights.

We've paid £500 each for indirect this October - half term dates - booked on day of release.

 

[wayneg]

When's the best time to book good priced flights? Nearer the time?

No-one knows, you might already have the best price(I doubt it myself) I never start looking til 11 months out.

 

[madmumof2]

I think it's about a bit less than a week before half term starts so they'll have a few days off school but I'd rather them take a few days off before than after when they have jet lag!

We get 2 weeks off in October so they'll have a few days to recover before going back to school.

Had a look at both and like both about the same! lol

And looking at villa holidays the price difference is massive. About half the price, although no tickets or Disney benefits. :S

 

[cornish pixie]

Hi Jumping in, We have had many lovely stays in villas but when I think about it we do spend really very little time in them as we are the get to the parks early type of people they are nice if you are styaing more than 2 weeks and are planning to have some rest days in between. Next year will be a first for us as we are staying OKW with free dining Hubbie is very good and will always scour around for good prices due to our children being 16 and 15 when we next travel they can eat a heck of a lot more than they use to so for us staying in a studio( okw has 2 double beds saratoga has 1 bed and a pull out) because we have 4 in the room it's a heads down winner as if we stayed hotel or villa we would still have to buy our tickets we would still have to buy our meals yes you can eat a lot cheaper out of the parks but we would never be able to eat in so many disney restaurants paying for 4 adults so it's a real treat and we are really excited plus we can use disney transport if we like and we can get the magic hours and other little perks.
our biggie is waiting for the flights to come out August next year thats going to be our biggest dread how much are they going to be
What ever you do you will have a brilliant time these boards have been invaluable to us over the years and have influenced us staying at OKW ( thanks Wayne hope you have a good trip bye the way and will be looking forward to photos, tips and trippies )
Take Care
Cornish Pixie

 

[madmumof2]

Thanks for all of your replies. So torn! Have just found flights and a Disney area villa for £3200 for the 5 of us, with car hire :S

No free dining obviously but we can go walmart for supplies there for eating in, and I didn't have free dining last time which worked out ok. :S

I did stay onsite though, can you still book ADR's if off site?

I'd only need tickets if I chose this one.

I'd love to stay on site and take advantage of the free dining though. But the down side to that is having to wait months to book flights and they might be really high :S

 

[joolz1910]

Thanks for all of your replies. So torn! Have just found flights and a Disney area villa for £3200 for the 5 of us, with car hire :S

No free dining obviously but we can go walmart for supplies there for eating in, and I didn't have free dining last time which worked out ok. :S

I did stay onsite though, can you still book ADR's if off site?

I'd only need tickets if I chose this one.

I'd love to stay on site and take advantage of the free dining though. But the down side to that is having to wait months to book flights and they might be really high :S

We are staying at OKW next year in a 2 bed villa (family of 5). Have you tried Pillenger Travel, Travel City Direct, Charter or Cinder's Mum on the Dibb? We booked with Cinder's Mum and we are flying from Man - Mco. It cost £7000 in total (including tickets, flights, free DDp) but you would get it cheaper as you could fit in a 1 bed. Our flights came to £2800 with Virgin and I was happy to pay that.

 

[madmumof2]

Tried TCD, they're more expensive. Never heard of Pillenger travel?? Will have a look

Is Cinder's mum a person?

 

[joolz1910]

Tried TCD, they're more expensive. Never heard of Pillenger travel?? Will have a look

Is Cinder's mum a person?

Sorry typo, it's Pillinger, also Charter or Kenwood might come up with a good price. CindersMum is Val Ramsay and she works for Travel Counsellors. She advertises on the Dibb.

Her contact details:
You can contact me by Telephone: 0845 058 7261 or email me at: val.ramsay@travelcounsellors.com

 

[mickeyforpresident]

I'm no expert at all, but it seems a good price to me. I looked at a similar deal a week ago, but am going to wait to see price of Virgin Atlantic prices at 11 months out and hope that CO still have a good price on the Contemporary.

I was put off with SSR as it's a sofa bed for the kids - back back city!!!

It's really difficult this far out isn;t it!!!

 

[crabbie1]

I booked in the march before our august trip 2007 and flights were £1100 ish for 2 ad and a child. Good old days hey. There are deals to be had espec if u fly indirect. We are in the same boat. August flights quite prepared to go indirect though. Hv u tried looking to see if any flights availible for this year for ur dates? Will show if leaving it pays off. If u book as soon as they come out I doubt u will get much cheaper than £700 each but good luck . We booked ours with CO this time and 5 nights of our holiday as doing dcl and dvc and they were cheaper than va and disney direct however now the m+m prices are lower than what we paid but i wanted it booked and paid with a low deposit.

 

[madmumof2]

Yeah I looked at this octobers prices and they're not much different to what I've been quoted for next year.

We'll be travelling about 20 odd hours as it is so with 3 small children direct is the only option this time! lol When they're older though we'll be doing indirect

I THINK I'm going with a Disney area villa for 14 nights, 0ct 11-25, with good timed flights with monarch and car hire for just over £3200 for 5 of us

Does this sound good??

Hoping to book it today

 

[OrlandoMagic]

Yeah I looked at this octobers prices and they're not much different to what I've been quoted for next year.

We'll be travelling about 20 odd hours as it is so with 3 small children direct is the only option this time! lol When they're older though we'll be doing indirect

I THINK I'm going with a Disney area villa for 14 nights, 0ct 11-25, with good timed flights with monarch and car hire for just over £3200 for 5 of us

Does this sound good??

Hoping to book it today

If your happy with your choice then go for it, I think you have got a pretty good price there!