Florida - Most cost effective way to visit..

[Manc in London]

Hi all,

Had some good feedback on here prior to a Gran Canaria trip so hoping that my brethren are able to offer some pears about Florida.

We are looking (me, wife and 3 kids) to go and the whole disney, universal joblot for three weeks. We are looking at November 2018 or around feb/ March 2019 for three weeks.

We have been quoted so far (based roughly on what you are able to price on this years prices) around £7500 for flights, hotel, care hire and tickets for all the parks we want) Thats before spending money, food etc.

Its a pricey destination I know, but I was wondering if anyone has any advice around bringing that price down.

We are open to staying in villas etc but it seems the price does not present significant savings.

Once we have established price etc we are going to invite family members (22 of us went to Gran Canaria, dont envisage that many).

Cheers

We are going for 17 days during the summer break. The costs are making my eyes water. A good place to check for flights is momondo.com.

Stay in a villa. We are paying £90 per night for a 4 bedroom villa, with swimming pool, games room, one shared bathroom and two ensuites. Friends will be staying with us for a while, so we will paying on average less than £60 per night. I'd rather not stay in the Disney hotels. They are manic, some look tatty and they are not good VFM, IMO.

Eat off site. Missus has booked us a Disney princess breakfast. Bloody £45 each for a breakfast that looks very basic.

We are going direct as we got a good deal with car hire included - £2700 for the three of us. There were some indirect flights, with no car, available for around £1600. I guess they will be cheaper in November. Be prepared to fly from London for better prices.

Look at flying into a different city. Sometimes, it can be cheaper flying into Tampa (about 1.5 hours from Disneyworld), Fort Lauderdale or Miami (about 3 to 4 hours away, I believe). If you are staying south of Disneyworld, Tampa is probably not that much further away than Orlando International. It apparently takes considerably less time to get through Immigration at Tampa than it does at Orlando International.

Don't book a package with Virgin. They are well over priced. I got a quote from them and then priced up the various elements separately. The package I priced up was well over £1000 less.

Check out the DIBB forum. Lots of good tips, details of discounts, links to vouchers and reviews of restaurants, hotels, car hire companies etc..

Another good source is mousesavers.com

Search for 'Alamo Brits' for car hire. You could save plenty on car hire by simply buying a travel book on ebay and presenting it at the Alamo car hire office at the airport.

Get a Landry Card. Free $25 during your birthday month. You can lie about your birthday. You and the missus both get one each = free $50.

 

[Cityisland]

We are going for 17 days during the summer break. The costs are making my eyes water. A good place to check for flights is momondo.com.

Stay in a villa. We are paying £90 per night for a 4 bedroom villa, with swimming pool, games room, one shared bathroom and two ensuites. Friends will be staying with us for a while, so we will paying on average less than £60 per night. I'd rather not stay in the Disney hotels. They are manic, some look tatty and they are not good VFM, IMO.

Eat off site. Missus has booked us a Disney princess breakfast. Bloody £45 each for a breakfast that looks very basic.

We are going direct as we got a good deal with car hire included - £2700 for the three of us. There were some indirect flights, with no car, available for around £1600. I guess they will be cheaper in November. Be prepared to fly from London for better prices.

Look at flying into a different city. Sometimes, it can be cheaper flying into Tampa (about 1.5 hours from Disneyworld), Fort Lauderdale or Miami (about 3 to 4 hours away, I believe). If you are staying south of Disneyworld, Tampa is probably not that much further away than Orlando International. It apparently takes considerably less time to get through Immigration at Tampa than it does at Orlando International.

Don't book a package with Virgin. They are well over priced. I got a quote from them and then priced up the various elements separately. The package I priced up was well over £1000 less.

Check out the DIBB forum. Lots of good tips, details of discounts, links to vouchers and reviews of restaurants, hotels, car hire companies etc..

Another good source is mousesavers.com

Search for 'Alamo Brits' for car hire. You could save plenty on car hire by simply buying a travel book on ebay and presenting it at the Alamo car hire office at the airport.

Get a Landry Card. Free $25 during your birthday month. You can lie about your birthday. You and the missus both get one each = free $50.

Great stuff.

Where did you source the villa?

We went 3 years ago and had the princess breakfast in the castle. Was superb. Kids loved it. Meet and greet. Breakfast was of a higher standard than the greese alot of places served up.

 

[Manc in London]

Great stuff.

Where did you source the villa?

We went 3 years ago and had the princess breakfast in the castle. Was superb. Kids loved it. Meet and greet. Breakfast was of a higher standard than the greese alot of places served up.

That's the one. It's in the castle. I have spent so much money on character breaks.

We used TripAdvisor to find the villa. There are other sites that are trusted. Our friends go twice a year and they always use homeaway.co.uk.

 

[Stockton Heath Blue]

Try Travel City Direct - http://www.travelcitydirect.com

It's been a few years since I last went to Orlando so don't know how competitive TCD are these days. With 3 kids, a car is a must as it's the easiest way of getting around and Florida is not a boozy holiday to be worried about getting pissed. Disney and Universal are amazing albeit a money printing machine - the kids will never forget the experience!

 

[TheRemainsOfTheDave]

Try Travel City Direct - http://www.travelcitydirect.com

It's been a few years since I last went to Orlando so don't know how competitive TCD are these days. With 3 kids, a car is a must as it's the easiest way of getting around and Florida is not a boozy holiday to be worried about getting pissed. Disney and Universal are amazing albeit a money printing machine - the kids will never forget the experience!

Their parent company went bust around 2008 and they are now part of Virgin, so probably not as competitive as they used to be.

 

[TheRemainsOfTheDave]

I'd rather not stay in the Disney hotels. They are manic, some look tatty and they are not good VFM, IMO.

Port Orleans Riverside (mid range) was in excellent condition when we went and having the extra hours in the parks morning and evening was really good. We loved having the leisurely canal cruise back to our apartments after a long day in the park. It wasn't the height of summer, though, so maybe it's different then.

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

I'm typing this in a hotel 15 mins from Disney, spent Monday at Animal Kingdom, yesterday at Hollywood Studios and will be leaving for Magic Kingdom in a few hours.
I paid for my daughter and 2 grandkids,, direct flights Manchester to Sandford / Orlando with Thomson for £1200 for the three of them.
Thomas Cook is pretty much the same price too, term time obviously, more expensive during holidays.
We are staying in hotels each of the 14 nights, 3 in Daytona, 5 just outside Disney and 6 at Clearwater - 2 queen size beds each room for $975
Obviously I didn't have to hire a car.
Good thing is the hotel here, indeed. most hotels have free shuttle buses to all the parks and attractions. Though yesterday I drove to Hollywood studios (15 mins) as it took two hours each way to Animal Kingdom via 2 buses and a ferry! Two hours to go 8 miles!
I am fortunate that living in Florida we can buy Disney tickets cheaper. Our 3 day pass cost $150 each person - non Florida residents it is $309 plus tax!
Adults have to show Florida ID upon arrival so I can't but them for you (they don't need ID for kids and I just bought mine online and said it was for me and 3 kids and on arrival my 25 year old just kept out of the sight of the receptionist!)
You will save money booking everything yourself, flights and hotels etc.
As mentioned the value of the pound has fucked everything too.

 

[Manc in London]

Port Orleans Riverside (mid range) was in excellent condition when we went and having the extra hours in the parks morning and evening was really good. We loved having the leisurely canal cruise back to our apartments after a long day in the park. It wasn't the height of summer, though, so maybe it's different then.

Nice. If we were going to stay at Disney, we would have stayed at POR or POFQ. Although I wasn't keen on the fact that most rooms have doors that open outside rather than into a corridor.

POR costs as much as £200 per night for a non-preferred room. If you get the right deal, you can stay in a top hotel like the Astoria for not too much more. A nice villa would be less than half the price.

It's not for me to say what's best. My initial post was to give ideas for saving money.

 

[DTKOAG]

Comeback Freddy Laker

Sent from my SM-J320FN using Tapatalk

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

We are going for 17 days during the summer break. The costs are making my eyes water. A good place to check for flights is momondo.com.

Stay in a villa. We are paying £90 per night for a 4 bedroom villa, with swimming pool, games room, one shared bathroom and two ensuites. Friends will be staying with us for a while, so we will paying on average less than £60 per night. I'd rather not stay in the Disney hotels. They are manic, some look tatty and they are not good VFM, IMO.

Eat off site. Missus has booked us a Disney princess breakfast. Bloody £45 each for a breakfast that looks very basic.

We are going direct as we got a good deal with car hire included - £2700 for the three of us. There were some indirect flights, with no car, available for around £1600. I guess they will be cheaper in November. Be prepared to fly from London for better prices.

Look at flying into a different city. Sometimes, it can be cheaper flying into Tampa (about 1.5 hours from Disneyworld), Fort Lauderdale or Miami (about 3 to 4 hours away, I believe). If you are staying south of Disneyworld, Tampa is probably not that much further away than Orlando International. It apparently takes considerably less time to get through Immigration at Tampa than it does at Orlando International.

Don't book a package with Virgin. They are well over priced. I got a quote from them and then priced up the various elements separately. The package I priced up was well over £1000 less.

Check out the DIBB forum. Lots of good tips, details of discounts, links to vouchers and reviews of restaurants, hotels, car hire companies etc..

Another good source is mousesavers.com

Search for 'Alamo Brits' for car hire. You could save plenty on car hire by simply buying a travel book on ebay and presenting it at the Alamo car hire office at the airport.

Get a Landry Card. Free $25 during your birthday month. You can lie about your birthday. You and the missus both get one each = free $50.

You are correct about Tampa being just over an hour from Disney (Orlando is a few more miles up I 4) and easy to get through customs - however, both times my mum has come it has been Manchester / Paris (or Amsterdam) / Atlanta and then Tampa. There are no direct flights.
Spend time at Disney and then drive back to Tampa Bay and stay at Clearwater or St Pete.