Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

atro1

chrisandrob wrote: »

Last year we put our details into a villa rental site and the owners then emailed me with quotes,,cant seem to find it now though,anyone help ?

Try http://www.lastminutevillas.net/

mandy.h_2

jackieblack wrote: »

I wish!

Flying via India seems a bit much too!

I don't think it will affect our next trip stateside as we're already booked, but for the future I think we may have to invest in some new cases - the ones we usually take aren't as big as the maximum size allowed, but it wasn't a problem before because we could take a fold-up holdall inside and bring back two bags each!
I think if we must take fewer cases, they will have to be bigger! :eek:

i would check if i were u collected tickets yesterday fly 22nd sept luggage allowance 23kg per passenger

joshieg3011

Hi everyone,

We are visiting friends today to discuss with them about going to Florida next July for 3 weeks. I have had a quote from Travel City Direct - £4,024 for 2 adults and 2 children (8 and 4). That's per family - their children are the same ages as ours. That's for a 4-bed villa, 2 cars, return flights from Glasgow for 3 weeks. Do you think that's a good deal or do you think it may be cheaper to book all of this separately?

Also, can you advise on whether it is possible to go to Florida without hiring a car? I thought about staying in a motel/hotel near International Drive and then getting the bus everywhere.

Many thanks

atro1

mandy.h wrote: »

i would check if i were u collected tickets yesterday fly 22nd sept luggage allowance 23kg per passenger

I would check your tickets again. I have just read the Virgin policy and it quite clearly states one extra 23k bag! and that's from 25 Nov. Present rules are for two pieces of luggage at 23K.

ailuro2

joshieg3011 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

We are visiting friends today to discuss with them about going to Florida next July for 3 weeks. I have had a quote from Travel City Direct - £4,024 for 2 adults and 2 children (8 and 4). That's per family - their children are the same ages as ours. That's for a 4-bed villa, 2 cars, return flights from Glasgow for 3 weeks. Do you think that's a good deal or do you think it may be cheaper to book all of this separately?

It's a personal decision whether or not to get a car - if no car then stay closer to the places you want to be visiting.

With a villa we are paying £500 a week for a 4 bed villa with pool heating and games room in a newer resort. Our flights were approx £600 per person, 4x4 car (they call them SUVs) is £180 per week including insurance. We are going at Christmas which is the most expensive time of year, probably the same as the height of summer (or dearer in some cases) We fly from Edinburgh to NY, then NY to MCO with continental.

So, adding it up for you using our figures - £2400 for flights, £750 for share of 4 bed villa, £ £540 for car.

So, a rough total of £3690 each family.

However - you could rent an MPV cheaper than our SUV that would seat all of you and share the car - so saving of £270 (each family) or more straight away. You could probably have a villa in an older resort (we are in Glenbrook which has some resort faciilities too) for less money per week.
Buying flights as far in advance as possible can save money too - try to go before the English schools come off, so end of June, early July to save a bit more.


https://www.flyglobepsan.co,uk are throwing out a price of £3K each family for flights plus car, add accommodation on top. So, no is the short answer - £4k is not cheap.;)

Continental.com are quoting £2500 for just flights.

You've got room to save there.:D

ailuro2

ps Joshie - think about having the kids eat out for 3 weeks solid if you were to stay in a hotel / motel- and you'll end up ino a villa.;)

Driving is much easier on the wrong side of the road than you first imagine.:rotfl:

joshieg3011

Hi there,

Thanks so much for all the info - will definitely look into booking separately. Can you tell me who/where you got your villa through, please?

Thanks again,

Donna

ailuro2

we used https://www.villarenters.com becuase we like using a third party to take the money, but th ere are plenty of others.

https://www.ownersdirect.com is another similar one, someone posted lastminutevillas.net on here recently too.

It takes a bit of time to work out where they all are, so have a look at this

http://www.orlandovillas.com/Map.aspx

and work out where you want to be - it's got a nice description of most of the areas too.

Narrow it down to where you want, what standard you want (own pool , games room, gated resort or not , villa or apartment/condo each etc, because 3 weeks under the same roof with another family might be too much) then start looking on the various sites for the areas you liked. We chose Glenbrook because it has a communal pool, is newer, and is quite close to the Disney end of things. Only you will know what you want.

sar80_2

aitch-aitch wrote: »

Got back from Orlando on Saturday 5th and thought I would share some of my comments / tips. These are based on our experience as a family of 5 (me, OH, DD (12), DS (10) & DS (6)):-

1. Weather - was hot but bearable for us (early 30's). Rained some days in the late afternoon but not more than 15mins generally. Had one bad day when it rained from 4 till 8 with thunder storms.

2. We managed to "do" every park whilst we were there (13 days) as it was DS (6) first visit we wanted him to see everything. We were tired by the end but had a "rest" day at Discovery Cove the day before we flew home which reallly recharged our batteries. My advice is if you know you will go again don't try to fit everything in.

3. Parks we would visit again - MK (a must), AK, Seaworld, IOA & Epcot (part!), DHS

4. Parks we would miss next time if no changes have been made - Universal Studios (was disappointed with this park as has not really changed much since we last went in 1992!!, Universal seem to have invested all their time and effort into IOA which we loved).

Busch Gardens - saw very few animals in comparison to AK and also as only DD and OH were big enough for the thrill rides.

5. Money - excluding park tickets we spent $2200 in 2 weeks. This paid for all food and drinks (we ate a "snack" in the parks most days and then a meal outside the park), souveniors / T shirts and parking charges ($12 per day)

6. We used the touring plans from the Unoffical Guide to WDW book / website and found these invaluable. The longest queue we had was 10mins with the exception of Toy Story Mania in DHS which was 30 mins at the start of the day.

7. We used the 1.5 day touring plan for MK which allowed for a 3-4 hour break in the middle of the day. We left the park around 12 and returned around 5. We found this an excellent way of doing MK. The next time we went was towards the end of our hols and we "finished" the park plus saw Spectromagic and Wishes

8. Seaworld - if you are going to see the fireworks from the Bayside stadium do NOT sit in the upper seating area as your view of the fireworks is blocked by the "roof".

9. Discovery Cove - loved it! The dolphin swim was the highlight but you don't really get to "Swim" much with them. The rest of the park was lovely and we were made to feel "special" all day. All drinks and food are included in the price - breakfast is cold buffet style, Lunch is served 11 to 3 so you can fit in 2 if you are hungry enough! Snacks and drinks served throughout the day. Please note that you are not permitted to take cameras / video to the dolphin swim but you can purchase a DVD and photos of your day. These were expensive $200 for 5 prints / DVD, 2 key rings + disc with all photos on. Try and find a "friend" who is prepared to video / photograph you without doing the dolphin swim themselves.

10. Our favourite family ride - Toy Story Mania in DHS by far. The most inventive / interactive ride we have ever been on!

I have tried to cover the basics without to much waffle . Am happy to answer other questions.

Hoping to go next year so this was all very helpful. Everyone I know who has been has struggled to remember all the little things like how much things cost and what rides were at what parks. hehe Thanks!

mustbemoreorganised

Hi, I am looking for some advice before I book a flight. I have only travelled to Florida in October and so have not noted the flight prices at other times of year except when the odd deal is posted on here.

I can get direct virgin flights in march for £429 for the adults and £370ish for the kids. Has anyone travelled in March before, should I grab it or hold on do prices drop for that time of year. We can go indirect for about £360 each and although I would go indirect I wouldn't for such a relativley small difference, total for virgin 1600 and total for indirect 1420

Any advice would be welcome.