Holidays for 'family of 5'

helsmadhouse

Yipee, am not the only 'odd' family having problems with hols. I have three (very!) active boys 9,7,4 and a husband who won't drive abroad. (V limiting LOL). We have just booked Disneyland Paris (Explorer Hotel) - kids U12 stay free between jan-April 2009 - and have got 6.5% through quidco. Cost under £1300 for 4n/5days during feb half term.
We eneded up buying a folding camper this year for our holidays, so now looking for some great campsites.

markandjayne

Hi

how did you get quidco on the Disneyland Explorers hotel? what site did you book through
We are a 5 and fancy Euro Disney at the end of August
cheers

poet123

We are holidaying as a family of 5,classed as 4 adults and 1 child and we have booked a villa with private pool,games room, in Spain for !£1300,flights cost us £500 and car hire £350 for 2 weeks. So we are quite pleased. We have stayed in lots of villas and the amenities are better but of course you dont have the entertainment on tap. One hotel which has 5 bedded rooms was the Bonaire in Cala Bona Majorca,and the Don Toni (mentioned earlier)in Playa D'en Bossa,we found the Fiesta group very good for families.

anonymousie

Not read all the replies, but we are a family of 5- DD1 (15 just) DS 12 and DD2 9.

We don't actually like package hotel type holidays, perhaps just as well really:rotfl:

When they were little we did static caravan holidays in the vendee (select france was the best for us) that were quite fun really at the time. We also did disney paris from a caravan site too that worked well and was cheaper than staying on site.

We now go to houses booked via the web- mainly france, as flying anywhere adds 1k to the cost (and the likely need for a car when there too). We did go to salzburg last year and stayed here http://www.austrianfamilyholidays.co.uk/
which was totally lovely and family friendly- the public transport was so good we didn't need a car either. We had half of the large appartment at a re negotiated rate. THe owners and their kids are lovely, and having small children and child friendly garden facilities neant that the kids played happily too!

This year we aer off to the south of france and, driving down aside, it is going to be quite a budget option (2 houses averaging £330 a week and crossings on tesco tokens on the tunnel).

Best thing we have done for this year though is to shun the french chain hotels and go to small B+Bs on the way down; more relaxed (DH hate sleaving a fully packed car in a hotal carpark, he thinks it is a thieves target)and larger family friendly- we have family suites of 2 rooms with a bathroom both ways. THey aren't "bargain basement" prices but are pretty good for somewhere nice.

Booked this years hols via the owners direct site, as easy to search for dates and what you want, but will try to be even more independent in future and shun the "agent" sites!

anonymousie

helsmadhouse wrote: »

Yipee, am not the only 'odd' family having problems with hols. I have three (very!) active boys 9,7,4 and a husband who won't drive abroad. (V limiting LOL). We have just booked Disneyland Paris (Explorer Hotel) - kids U12 stay free between jan-April 2009 - and have got 6.5% through quidco. Cost under £1300 for 4n/5days during feb half term.
We eneded up buying a folding camper this year for our holidays, so now looking for some great campsites.

Folding campers are brilliant! We have a Dandy that we use in the UK, with the kids in a 2 man tent. BUT to go abroad an electric hook up pitch is around £330/week not counting increased crossing costs so that is why we are booking gites!

PS have you tried driving in france if DH wont- it isn't that hard really, though gameboys to "gag" the kids dos help:rotfl:

anonymousie

poodledoodledoo wrote: »

I Want To Join This Thread!!!!

Our kids are 13, 9, 8 and 3 months.
Out of interest, do ANY of the disney hotels in Paris accommodate a family of more than 4????

Doubt it and you'd be better staying off site really, cost wise. If you have tesco points coupons maybe look at the "siblu" sites near- my sis went recently by this route and it was fine.

We stayed in a caravan via "select france" a few years ago- can't remember exactly where, but it was towards paris, near an RER to disney, and worked well (though was chilly at oct halfd term!)

malima

poet123 wrote: »

We are holidaying as a family of 5,classed as 4 adults and 1 child and we have booked a villa with private pool,games room, in Spain for !£1300,flights cost us £500 and car hire £350 for 2 weeks. So we are quite pleased. We have stayed in lots of villas and the amenities are better but of course you dont have the entertainment on tap. One hotel which has 5 bedded rooms was the Bonaire in Cala Bona Majorca,and the Don Toni (mentioned earlier)in Playa D'en Bossa,we found the Fiesta group very good for families.

Hi poet123,
please can you tell me where you booked your villa, flights and carhire from?

Thank you
malima

asimon

Hi I have posted this on the Travel, Trips and Holiday forum, but have not received any reply’s as yet, found this post, and thought I may be able to get some response here, and hopefully I may be able to receive advice with regards to my specific situation.

• Family of 6, 3 Son's (20, 16, 12) and a daughter aged 10
• Would like to go to Florida in December, to visit Disney, clothes shopping, do not have to stay within Disney complexes, however would not want to be to far away, as I have never driven in another country before. I now I'm leaving this late, but in general would still like advice, main issue is can only travel during school breaks
• minimum of 10 day stay, preferably 14 days
• Looked at holiday packages from Thomas Cook and the, quite expensive, Tried doing various searches, to build my own package, but have not had experience doing things this way, some of the response that came back, did not really accommodate us.
• All prices seem to be coming out at around £6,000 or more, I know it would be a challenge, but looking for a more reasonable price than this.
• Prefer a Villa, within a complex rather than a private villa, or a resort 3* self catering will be fine.
• Each of our children will need separate beds (can be bunk beds)
• Flying from London Gatwick or Heathrow

Thanks in advance for your responses / advice.

Rachie_B

anonymousie wrote: »

Doubt it and you'd be better staying off site really, cost wise. If you have tesco points coupons maybe look at the "siblu" sites near- my sis went recently by this route and it was fine.

We stayed in a caravan via "select france" a few years ago- can't remember exactly where, but it was towards paris, near an RER to disney, and worked well (though was chilly at oct halfd term!)

lots of us tesco deals fans have booked these apartments, with frenchlife
http://www.frenchlife.co.uk/uce/fl?action=readParentDetails&cottageParentId=387732&startdate=&duration=&sleeps=6&propertyTypeId=3

sleeping up to 7

shuttles to and from disney too

we go 2 weeks on thursday :T

this is bookable with tesco deals too

http://www.canvas-life.co.uk/Campsites/Paris/LesEtangsFleuris-Overview.aspx ( canvas life are the camping part of french life) 25 mins drive to Disney

Rachie_B

asimon wrote: »

Hi I have posted this on the Travel, Trips and Holiday forum, but have not received any reply’s as yet, found this post, and thought I may be able to get some response here, and hopefully I may be able to receive advice with regards to my specific situation.

• Family of 6, 3 Son's (20, 16, 12) and a daughter aged 10
• Would like to go to Florida in December, to visit Disney, clothes shopping, do not have to stay within Disney complexes, however would not want to be to far away, as I have never driven in another country before. I now I'm leaving this late, but in general would still like advice, main issue is can only travel during school breaks
• minimum of 10 day stay, preferably 14 days
• Looked at holiday packages from Thomas Cook and the, quite expensive, Tried doing various searches, to build my own package, but have not had experience doing things this way, some of the response that came back, did not really accommodate us.
• All prices seem to be coming out at around £6,000 or more, I know it would be a challenge, but looking for a more reasonable price than this.
• Prefer a Villa, within a complex rather than a private villa, or a resort 3* self catering will be fine.
• Each of our children will need separate beds (can be bunk beds)
• Flying from London Gatwick or Heathrow

Thanks in advance for your responses / advice.

there are tonnes of villas to choose from in florida
i would go down the DIY route rather than a package

have you had a look / ask on www.disboards.com or www.thedibb.co.uk

x