Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

blue_monkey_2

elsie52 wrote: »

Bunny200


Hi,

We are going to Orlando 21/5/2011......2 adults + 2 children for 2 weeks. Staying at Continental Plaza on International Drive, + upgraded hire car and including CDW.and also including direct flights.

Total £3200.......with Thompsons


Good luck
I couldn't find this holiday cheaper anywhere,

Free Dining plan starts again on 1st May.

I know it seems like I am going on about it but Disney OKW is offering free dining st OKW for around £800 a week which is just a ridiculous offer, it makes it almost free to stay at a 5* resort and it is almost the same price as the Pop type resorts but you get no dining plan with them. It seems to be a 'hidden secret' because it does not come up in Travel Agents searches if you go to an Agent.

Unless you are booking on a holiday period, you CAN get direct flights for 2011 for under 2k ATM and for £3,200 you can a Disney Resort and Free Dining Plan with that - which is worth over £700 a week in 'real' money.

I'll never use an agent again to be honest, you can get more for your money if you shop around because they have to make money somewhere.

Bunny200

blue_monkey wrote: »

Free Dining plan starts again on 1st May.

I know it seems like I am going on about it but Disney OKW is offering free dining st OKW for around £800 a week which is just a ridiculous offer, it makes it almost free to stay at a 5* resort and it is almost the same price as the Pop type resorts but you get no dining plan with them. It seems to be a 'hidden secret' because it does not come up in Travel Agents searches if you go to an Agent.

Unless you are booking on a holiday period, you CAN get direct flights for 2011 for under 2k ATM and for £3,200 you can a Disney Resort and Free Dining Plan with that - which is worth over £700 a week in 'real' money.

I'll never use an agent again to be honest, you can get more for your money if you shop around because they have to make money somewhere.

I was having a fiddle with the Disney Hotel bookings and it seems you have to buy the Park tickets through Disney to get the free dining option, also you can't do it online, have to phone an operator. I haven't looked into tickets yet but is buying the tickets from Disney the best option or are there better places to get them from? Staying at the Disney hotel sounds great & getting the free transport in, & the free dining all sounds like a great deal but I wonder does buying the tickets change that?

poet123

blue_monkey wrote: »

Free Dining plan starts again on 1st May.

I know it seems like I am going on about it but Disney OKW is offering free dining st OKW for around £800 a week which is just a ridiculous offer, it makes it almost free to stay at a 5* resort and it is almost the same price as the Pop type resorts but you get no dining plan with them. It seems to be a 'hidden secret' because it does not come up in Travel Agents searches if you go to an Agent.

Unless you are booking on a holiday period, you CAN get direct flights for 2011 for under 2k ATM and for £3,200 you can a Disney Resort and Free Dining Plan with that - which is worth over £700 a week in 'real' money.

I'll never use an agent again to be honest, you can get more for your money if you shop around because they have to make money somewhere.

It does seem a good deal, but it isn't actually "free" dining. You can book an offsite villa for £450, so the difference would pay for some of the meals, and meals outside of the allocated restaurants. With a villa you have more space and private amenities.

You also have to purchase the tickets via the site (or that is how it appears to me) I havent shopped around for tickets but Disney is not always the cheapest place to buy them (or it wasnt last time I went)

I have always done DIY, and found it cheaper, but sometimes it is possible to book components as a package (flights and car with cheap accom that you dont use) then add a villa, and have it work out cheaper than doing it all individually, or even just flight and car.

I will be looking at all options for next August, but we have just been informed that our niece is looking at wedding packages for Florida in August, so we now have to tie our dates in around that.:T

The dining plan is a stress free way to stay though.

elsie52

Hi

Our holiday is over the May half term.

blue_monkey_2

I was having a fiddle with the Disney Hotel bookings and it seems you have to buy the Park tickets through Disney to get the free dining option, also you can't do it online, have to phone an operator. I haven't looked into tickets yet but is buying the tickets from Disney the best option or are there better places to get them from? Staying at the Disney hotel sounds great & getting the free transport in, & the free dining all sounds like a great deal but I wonder does buying the tickets change that?

We found Disney tickets pretty much like for like to be honest and it was the same prices as with Virgin - we bought them from them as the accomodation was through them, £249 for a 3 week pass - we'll probably only use it for 2 weeks then sell it with a week on it so will get about £100 back on all of them. You can get them cheaper if you go to a cheap ticket booth when you get there but we cannot be bothered with all of that, I'd rather have it sorted now. I think the most you'll save is £25 per ticket and you'll pay that for one character meal in all fairness. I'd rather have the free meals.

Yes, we called to book as well, done it on the phone, it was not a problem, they are based in the UK I think there is an 0845 number - but the lady was american so maybe it transfers there. There is no CC charge, £50 deposit PP and balance is due 8 weeks before arrival - which was good for us as Virgin need paying Mid August and Disney Mid Sept.

You do get lots of extras with the Disney tickets, free golf, boat ride at the Marina, priority fireworks at Epcot/MK, $15 dining voucher at Planet Hollywood, Magical Express, Spa Discount and Disney Store discount. So for us, it was like for like. For the sake of a few ££ we get to stay in Disney which is what we want to do. And as the week before we are at Kidani Village we do have some standards to adhere to We do not drive when there so a villa is no good for us, we do like everything Disney so the character meals, and lunches, for free are an excellent bonus.

We are staying in an Apartment though, not a studio, as we found a better offer on the studio - I did not check the price of that. We could have done the studio but wanted the apartment I do not like the idea of a villa at all, we never have. I don't even unpack (which horrifies my friends, LOL).

80 days to go

johnnyroper

blue_monkey wrote: »

Easter is quite late next year, Good Friday is 22nd April. To fly on Thurs 14th April for 14 nights is £2400 for 4 passengers - any time around then is more or less the same price so you could get away for the Easter Break but bear in mind that it is the busiest time of year.

I went to the Virgin Holidays website and chose those days and Ramada maingate as it was coming up cheapest - it is £3653 for that break.

I checked the fly drive way I used to get 10% but it is not working and comes out at much more, huge supplements added so maybe it was a glitch when I got it as I got flights cheaper and I did post it on here so maybe someone saw it.

I'd look on Expedia for your accomodation though as it would be cheaper and book it yourself. A long van booked with Mears is $60 from the airport to Int Drive and you can book that online too.

Something else I have just checked is the free dining plan dates. If you stay in Disney Accomodation you get free dining from early Jan up to 17th February and you can stay at Old Key West for £819 for a week but this entitles you to the free dining plan - and you can have a character meal every day for free as well as a lunch so you could save a fortune by doing this. We have 7 booked including Chef Mickey and Breakfast with Lilo and Stitch (pre-book these though!!). You do have to buy your tickets with them though they are not more and you get some extra bonuses (like priority firework viewing and Planet Hollywood $15 off and free merchandise voucher)


If you have not given it much thought and you can get the kids off school how about this:

Book your flights on Virgin Atlantic website (get Quidco Cashback), 10th Feb - 24th Feb is coming up priced at £1858 at the moment. However, book it now, we faffed around and the flights went up £400 from £1800 to £2200 in a few days when we was deciding on whether to book and see if it would go down. We booked 8 months in advance too.

1 week stay 10-17th Feb (runs into half term) for a week at Disney Deluxe Villa Resort http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/old-key-west-resort/ in a Studio (sleeps up to 4 but you get a kitchenette so you can have breakfast in your room) with free dining plan is £819. The Free Dining Plan is a good one as this is a 5* resort so each day you get: 1 x counter meal, 1 x 3 course table service meal (including character meal) and 1 snack. This is 'worth' around $160 a day if paying as you go.

This would also get you onto the Magical Express from Orlando International for Free, they collect your luggage at the airport and take it to your room and you get to go on the Disney Bus: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/benefits/airport-service/

Then a week in International Drive area (Around £300 for a 3-4* hotel) so you can go to Seaworld/Universal easily then coming home a few days after half term.

On the way home you can book the Virgin Downtown Disney Check In and then you have another day free to explore the parks. Don;t get wet though obviously!! http://www.virginholidays.co.uk/extras/postbooking/holidayinfo/valet.shtml

Total cost less than £3000. But you'll be getting £700+ of free meals and it is really cheap to eat on International Drive. At least you'd not have to worry about the cost of eating in Disney and you can do special things without thinking about money.

I do appreciate this is all dependant on the kids being able to get time off school - around here we are allowed 10 days - but not only would it be quiet you also get free food for a week at Disney which for me was a real winner. I've booked all our meal reservations online (you do not pay, you pay when you eat) already and on average a character meal is $40 ad and $20 child - $120 per evening meal saved, plus then lunch, another $30, plus a snack. They say on most LA websites that it is allowed for a 'once in a lifetime opportunity' and even our School Chair of Governors told me that it was too good a chance for the kids to miss.

You can stay somewhere slightly cheaper in Disney but you'd get a basic room and Old Key West is a deluxe resort. KarenG and Vivatosi both have studios there so they will tell you what it is like. For me, the free food evened out what we was paying for the Disney accomodation, we are staying in an apartment.

I hope this helps somewhat. ETA. Apologies, that was a long thread after all that, I hope you did not get bored of reading.

the flydrive way is a legitimate way to book it is part of what vhols are about,the ability to have flight and car and then plan your own itinery.the reason it is coming up with supplements is down to availability they will be for premium or upper for either outbound/inbound or both legs depending on what seats are left.
the thing with VA's orlando route is a % of seats are allocated to vhols a % allocated to travel city direct a % to continental airlines and the remainder to virgin atlantic direct sales in uk and us.


if the op is fixed with them dates then i would be scouring all the tour operators and expedia,skyscanner etc to get the best deal possible.

poet123

I have just checked out ticket prices via a few different outlets and you are correct there is very little difference in the cost of the 14 day ultimate tickets all are around £210pp or more, which surprises me, and does make the dining option very attractive if you want to stay on property. We may do that for 1 week and then a villa on the gulf for the next week, that may be the best of both worlds for us. Thanks for the info Blue Monkey, as you say, it is not well known option.

blue_monkey_2

poet123 wrote: »

I have just checked out ticket prices via a few different outlets and you are correct there is very little difference in the cost of the 14 day ultimate tickets all are around £210pp or more, which surprises me, and does make the dining option very attractive if you want to stay on property. We may do that for 1 week and then a villa on the gulf for the next week, that may be the best of both worlds for us. Thanks for the info Blue Monkey, as you say, it is not well known option.

I know not everyone wants ultimate but we park hop quite a lot, will do one park in the morning then another in the evening, or do a water oark then go onto a park.

Happy to be of help It's going to be full of us MSE'rs :rotfl:

blue_monkey_2

johnnyroper wrote: »

the flydrive way is a legitimate way to book it is part of what vhols are about,the ability to have flight and car and then plan your own itinery.the reason it is coming up with supplements is down to availability they will be for premium or upper for either outbound/inbound or both legs depending on what seats are left.
the thing with VA's orlando route is a % of seats are allocated to vhols a % allocated to travel city direct a % to continental airlines and the remainder to virgin atlantic direct sales in uk and us.


if the op is fixed with them dates then i would be scouring all the tour operators and expedia,skyscanner etc to get the best deal possible.

I know it is legit but the prices it was coming up with when we booked were the same as their flights on the Virgin Atlantic website - but we was able to get 10& discount - the 10% has now ended and it is 5%.

If we had booked just flights on the VA website it was £2400 but I was charged £2165.50 with a car ( butno Ins) and discount by going through VH instead. I checked earlier and it is coming up with more supplements so I think there might have been a glitch when we booked - hence getting it so cheap.

blue_monkey_2

We don't do 'days off' either - I am usually asleep before the kids are though, ha ha!! Even when we move hotels we have found the Disney Events are on in the evenings (Halloween and Xmas Parties) so we will do those later in the day as they are at 7pm. I hate the first morning when I am up at 3am, unable to sleep, waiting to go out *sigh*. LOL. Asleep at 8pm - awake at 3am. I only get into a normal pattern on day 12 - when it is time to go home.