Orlando Florida/Disneyworld (Part 2) *CLOSED*

rommers

wanye wrote: »

got a potentially silly question, but if i'm a member of the AA in the uk, will this cover me for breakdown in the US?

i wouldntve thought so, but i've read a couple of sites saying they used their AA card for stuff whilst in the states...

If you quote AAA in the states you will get discounts as well if your an AA member

dinglebert

Amy83 wrote: »

That hotel looks lovely - it'll have to go on the list for next time. If/when...

We got a great deal on it. We are staying 12 nights over next Easter. It was coming up at around £1700 at most of the sites but for some reason alpharooms had it for £925 for a 2 bedroom grand suite. I know its still twice the price of some of the other choices but to have the freedom of what is basically a really good apartment rather than all 5 of us being in the same room did seem worth the extra. Mind you with the schedule we seem to now have we may not be spending much time in it.

disney_cjd

disney_cjd wrote: »

No worries.

OK, so here is where you are staying (and very nice it looks too) http://www.floridaysresortorlando.com/orlando-attractions/index.cfm and is located Floridays Resort Orlando 12562 International Drive, Orlando, FL 32821

Using yescarhire.com as a guide... and then using Google maps as a location search I found this..

There is a rental pick up place on IDrive at t he Sheraton Studios on IDrive (address is 5905 International Drive, Orlando, Florida USA, 32819  ) so not a million miles away and maybe a five buck cab ride? You can collect your Alamo car from their and then return it to the airport. There is no additional charge for this.

As for the size of car, with 5 of you I would not go smaller than a FULL Size, but why not for a mini van? Loads of room and honestly the roads are so wide and parking easy its not too depressing.

I do not know what dates you are going and I have only checked one site but for instance a full size was 283 for 14 days from Oct 15 and a mini van was 336 (this is pounds btw).

So Alamo are a good option for you, when looking at the car hiore sites look for a pick up near iDrive and then a drop off at MCO which is the Orlando Airport (if you are going into Sandford then you can do that also.)

As for getting from the airport, Tiffanys quote 70 for a van one way although you can print a five dollar coupon off their site. There may be cheaper options but I doubt a cab will be. Try googling for Joes transportation, he is quite good also for pick ups.

Good luck and any questions, just shout there is loads of help available here.

All the best
craig

Hiya

As I now know you are off at Easter I can check the car hire again if you like?

disney_cjd

NickyDee wrote: »

Travel City Direct provided me with a catalogue in the post yesterday and found my perfect package in there, no wait! LOL

disney_cjd, would appreciate any recommendations you have in terms of a starting point with this. At the minute I have ordered the Virgin Holidays catalogue?

Hi NickyDee

No worries, i think thats a mamouth task to be honest so good luck!! I would make sure you have a stiff drink with you at all times.

Seriously though I think that you have two choices (well maybe three). The first is that you say sod it and bite the bullet and go with an all in package like with Virgin or BA holidays. Will cost more but will also take all the hassle out of it. There are still ways to get discounts on these types of holidays such as booking on line or using quidco cahsback sites.

The second option is to get a travel agent to actually earn their commissions and do it for you. They can price it all up separately and you can haggle etc. Thats always wortha shot as you are under no obluigation to go with them.

Finally you can do it yourself. Much more rewarding but a lot more hard work. The point to start here is always with the fligths. Get those in the bag or at least gt an idea of the cost element of this when comparing the package.

Flight prices will increase fora while I can see (actually they will not increase what will happen is Virgin and BA will stop offering discounts on the fares so the real cost is exposed). Try sites such as kayak to monitor the flight costs.

As you are going out of school holidays then the costs could be cheaper. A recent check was that you can get two weeks flgiths to Orlando on Virgin for 327 all in in economy and 720 from Premium economy.

Also as you are going for two weeks you could consider the charter option but make sure you book with a credit card please.

All charter flights operate into Sandford airport which is smaller but a little further away.

Also if you are considering BA look at flights into Tampa. Its a lovely airport, not at all as busy as Orlando and only an hour anf 15 mins from Orlando on one straight road.

Right acconimdation. Lots of choice but a villa or two sound ideal. My favoriate places for Villas are on Emerald Island. The Villas are our of this world and all have huge areas of play and party great pools and its in an awesome location. Try lastminuitevvillas http://www.lastminutevillas.net/ or try some of the owners directly such as Simbas Pride http://www.thebestfloridavilla.com/

There are lots of websites that allow you to do enquires for villas, you pop in your requirements and you want I would say two 5 or 6 bed villas. Some you can book next two each other.

There are lots of communities and lots of different villas. Its a mindfield. All say as I said before that they are 15 mins from Disney but take that with a pinch of salt! Try and get one of the newer houses and you can tell this by its look and description. Or let me know where it is and I can tell you about it as I have seen most of them over the years.

As for what you want to do in your two weeks thats very very hard. You have a lot of people to please and you will not be able ot please them all. That is why two cars is a very very good idea. As I said above the luggage space in cars is often overlooked so I always try and get the biggest that I can afford when travelling from an aiport to the house (We have a car in the garage when we get there). The websites I have mentioned are good just make double, no triple sure that if you use a broker that that will pay the car company when you pay them. There is nothing worse than getting to the airport with a voucher and the muppetts at Dollar etc want more dosh.

For tickets, the flex is good as are the Disney ultimates. However before you get that far I would work on a itinary. There are lots of sites that even help with this too,

So to sum up (you will eb glad to hear). Price the entire thing with Virgin or a travel agent like Thomas Cook. Then price the flights yourself and the villas and cars.

Hope this helps.
craig

wanye

rommers wrote: »

If you quote AAA in the states you will get discounts as well if your an AA member

is this for car hire stuff, or just life in general?

(cheers)

disney_cjd

NickyDee wrote: »

Thanks disney_cjd!

Would you advice be generally the same if I were looking for a general type of holiday to Orlando - i.e. flight, car & villa?

no worries, glad to help.

Yep, that would pretty much be the way to do it.

= price it from a tour operator
= bug a travel agent
= price it yourself.

The tinternet has made it easy but also daunting at the same time. Just be so careful with who you book with at the moment and although it may cost a few quid more please use a credit card!

disney_cjd

NickyDee wrote: »

As the flights are over a year away, I can't get many quotes and therefore don't want to book accomodation just yet... very frustrating!

I'm also getting mixed advice about whether to try and book flights now or hang out for a later deal?

NickeYDee

everyone has an opinion and the best thing is you can ignore whoever you please I have been ignored many times and I really dont mind

The flight thing is an issue for about one month only. BA release flights just under a year in advance, Virgin are 11 months. So come October you will be able to check the prices. Remember at first they may well be expensive, they may not it all depends on what the airline predict the sales will be like.

You can of course wait and as you are not going at peak times then that may be an idea but you can never gtee that you will get space for all you need on a flight.

C

SnowWhiterThanWhite

http://www.orlandoinfo.com/uk/vacationkit/index.cfm

disney_cjd

Thought this one might of be of interest to a few of you:

By Scott Powers | Sentinel Staff Writer
1:00 PM EDT, September 18, 2008
Next year everyone will be able to come to a Walt Disney World's theme parks on their birthdays and get in free.

That's the cornerstone of the 2009 national promotional campaign, "What will you celebrate?" announced today by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Anyone showing up with a valid ID including proof of birthdate will get a free ticket on that day in 2009 for one of the theme parks at Disney World or at Disneyland in California.

Disney officials announced the promotion as their effort to cash in on what they described as a growing trend called "celebration vacations" -- trips to vacation spots that people take to celebrate big birthdays, big anniversaries, honeymoons and other momentous personal occasions.

Disney World probably already gets a lions' share of such vacations, according to a Ypartnership marketing survey that Disney commissioned. But until now the company has never put together a unified marketing campaign to attract such celebrations on a large scale.

Even though a free ticket -- essentially $75 discount -- might seem almost insignificant in a family vacation budget that might run several thousand dollars, Disney's goal is to get more people at least considering bringing their birthdays to Disney World.

The promotion also will give Disney a new tool to help assure that its theme-park turnstiles keep moving in the next year even if the teetering national economy starts dragging down the tourism business.

While the promotion was announced in New York City, with the aim of attracting national and international visitors, Central Floridians may cash in most easily and most often.

"We not only open up the opportunity, we hope they'll take the opportunity, " said Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. "The flip side of that is, nobody celebrates their birthday by themselves. They bring their family, their friends and their kids with them."

Nala

Thanks disney_cjd. Not that I'll be heading there next year Other plans but I know it'll be of interest over on the DIBB.