Florida

jellybaby2

Planning to go on a family holiday to Florida in October for first time haven't got a clue where to go or how best to book. Package or seperate?, buy park tickets before I go?, best location for young children?, hotel or villa? anyone have any tips?

steamer529

i go there alot and my uncle (who lives there) always tells me to book everything beofre i go, eg car rental, day trips etc as its cheaper to book from the UK due to some US tourist incentive they do. menaing its cheaper to book from the UK. i booked car hire with car hire3000 online. u pay when u book then pick up from airport. but do not be fooled into buying the extras that they say you have to. because you dont. all u need is insurance.

as for the villa, try owners direct, holiday lettings etc, where they are no agents involved.

for flights we used virgin as they were the cheapest

and for holiday insurance we used money supermarket.

dont forget to do your ESTA visas. online, directly from the site. 14 dollars per person

kelloggs36

I can recommend https://www.orlandovillas.com for everything but if you want even cheaper car hire, go with netflights - we did this and we got a car with Thrifty for a bargain price and it was an excellent car.

My hubby got the tickets from the link on the orlandovillas site and they were delivered a week before we left (we left ordering them until virtually the last minute). Always have used them and have never had any problems. The owners are contactable by phone and e-mail so you can be rest assured they are genuine. We came back from our last Florida holiday less than 2 weeks ago and I am very jealous of anybody going there as it was such a fabulous holiday!!!!

izzitme

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1820085

http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/

matt987106

If you want to stay on-site ( disney ) they are doing FREE DINING for oct, it will save you a fair bit

henly124

try website thedibb.co.uk do research -floridavillas.com- kissimmee.net-floridadiscountholidays.co.uk- if u have young kids u must go with virgin dearer but loads better than the rest - if u want to be able to go for a drink at night time stay at a hotel on international drive preferrabley on the south end - if u dont mind driveing on the wrong side of the road stay near kissimmee old town onthe 192 highway attraction tickets not sure nowadays if its better getting them before u go you can get a day ticket there but long queues get to the park as earley as u can i mean 0800

17lbp

I've always found it cheaper to book it seperately rather than a package although that normally entails scheduled flights with 1 or 2 stops but then I'm happy to go with that to save a few £££ (although I hate flying :0) Another tip if you are looking at scheduled flights is to also try pricing flights toTampa airport - often a bit cheaper than Orlando and Sanford and only about 1hr away.
We've been to Florida quite a few times and much prefer villas, definately more expensive but love the freedom and space they give. If you go to thedibb.co.uk (as rec'd by others) there is a villa owners forum where you can request your dates and what you require etc. We have rented through there a few times and they always seem to go that extra mile to please you, more so than booking through a travel agent etc would and you can always contact them in the lead up to the trip for details, queries etc
Usually book car hire via http://www.usrentacar.co.uk/ as they usually work out the cheapest for us at the time and often give free upgrades.
As others have said we always buy tickets before we go as it seems to be cheaper.
Another thing I would say about Florida is its the one holiday where a bit of forward planning is advantageous, decide how many days you wish to spend at disney/universal/seaworld etc, so you can buy your tickets. Since its your first time there you probably won't manage to do all the parks - there are so many.
Finally, someone said to me before we went the first time that once you go you will never want to go anywhere else - oh how true they were

kirky1969

Looking for some good advice!

I am looking to go to Florida next year for 14 days, around the last week in May first week of June. Are these date good?

Villa or Hotel?? I like the idea of villas with the freedom however the hotels work out cheaper (on Package Holidays)

Tickets and car hire get in the UK but which ones and where???

Flights??

Kids will be 11 & 5 at the time of flying.

I have been looking and reading up on lots of good ideas and advice.

Any help will greatly be appreciated. :beer:

madcal87

Try cosmos holiday ¬

nuttyp

I agree with madcal87, definatly try cosmos - often cheaper. Virgin are great to fly with, but are dearer. There is also Thomas cook, we flew with them last time, they were ok - just very expensive for onboard drinks!!

Try thedibb website theres loads of infomation on there, or ask on the florida thread on here.

gregg1

We have always gone to Walt Disney World with Virgin and it worked out well. We have also always stayed at a Disney Hotel on site. Huge advantage (for us anyway) in that if you want to get to the parks early you have early entry to at least one park each day before the general public, free transport to the parks and, particularly at the Carribean Beach Resort, their restaurant opens really early in the morning so you can have breakfast and still get to the parks for the early opening time.

Also if you buy stuff in the parks they will deliver it to your hotel room for you (a big advantage if you have people like my eldest with you who would manage to find stuff to buy in a plumbers yard!!). We always had a car so we could drive off in the evenings but have to say I think you would actually do it without a car if you just wanted to do the Disneyworld stuff.