Advice on disney please

[becaroo]

Hello.

I am trying to cost a holiday to disney world in florida for sept/oct 2012 - yes I know! but we have our hols booked for next year and I need to start seriously saving for this!!!!! - anyway, I wondered if any of you could advise me on the following;

ds1 will be 9, ds2 will be 4. Is 4 too young IYE? Its a long flight isnt it???

Am looking at going with Virgin (went with them to new york pre kids and was impressed) good idea or no?

Would love the animal kingdom lodge or something similar for 10 nights and would need tickets to all the parks etc. Would also love to do the dolphin swim too. I am thinking it will easily be £4000/5000. How much spending money would we need too (assuming we have the tickets and our meals and drinks are free??)

Really would love to go but need to have a fugure in mind so I can get saving after xmas!

Thanks!

I think 4 is a lovely age to go! Flight is quite long, but lots to keep them occupied.

These sites are vv helpful

DIS

DIBB

Keep an eye out for deals on those forums. This year in Aug/Sept there has been 42% off some deluxe accomodation and free dining deals, when staying on-site at WDW.

Wow!!! Thanks!!! Will check those out x

Hi, we're doing animal kingdom lodge this october with dining plan, disney tickets, transportation to and from airport, discovery cove, sea world, car hire for two days, child car seat hire (think that's everything ) for £5400 if that helps. AKL is on very special ofer though at the moment and is actually cheaper than the moderate resorts and so that might be giving you an artificial view if you're not traveling for a couple of years.

My youngest was 4 when we visited Disney this Easter and he had a great time. The only slight issue is that he was too small for some of the rides.

However, I will never fly with Virgin again (unless in a complete emergency!). We travelled with them several times pre-DCs and thought they were great. This time (Gatwick to Orlando) they were abysmal. It didn't help that their handling of the volcanic ash situation was atrocious (still waiting for compensation) but this was not the deciding factor.

I would second the Dibb as a useful source of information and "mousesavers" sometimes have good deals. We bought our Disney tickets through "Undercover Tourist" and Seaworld were cheapest booking direct. Trailfinders are very good at finding reasonable flights.

We prefer staying in a villa so that we have the extra space and a washing machine!

Thanks littleredsquirrel Thats about what I thought. Have a great time! x

badpups Sorry you got caught up in the ash situation - what a nightmare! We would be going from manchester - orlando.

Was talking to a friend yesterday about it - she has been twiec with her LO - and now I am more confused than ever!

On the one hand a self catering villa is what I am used to and is great for young dc HOWEVER I have not had a proper holiday in 8 years i.e. not cooking, cleaning, washing so I really like the idea of a disney hotel. Sigh.

Am I right in thinking if you stay at a disney hotel you get drinks and meals free?? My friend recommended the embassey suites which she stayed in. Also, with a villa we will have the added cost of paying for food/eating out.

I would really like to book with a travel agent rather than do it myself - partly because of bad experiences with budget airlines and not getting money back etc. In fact we lost a hol to Italy in may due to easyjet cancelling its schedule from our local airport.

blimey, there is a lot to consider!!

Cost up a few. Your dates will be all important. September is low season and cheaper (but you'll get some rain) but you'll probably hit half term if you go in October and cost of flights rockets. October is the end of the rainy season and so still expect a bit.

We found that the First Choice package was hard to beat and saved having to spend lots of time in the car and paying for parking. Car hire isn't cheap either because of the insurance and the extra for kids car seats. The dining plan is currently free if you stay in a disney hotel and book your Disney park tickets at the same time. The DDP looks great and for the deluxe resorts allows you to have one table service meal (includes character meals), one quick service meal and one snack each for each night of your stay. Means you don't need to worry too much about food costs and you can do all the character meals which are part of the disney experience. We managed to get reservations for all the popular ones even though we go in less than 3 months time.

Our DSs are 5 and 3 and I really wanted to relax a bit and so for us the AKL won hands down. In my view it is just as kid friendly as a villa (as long as you dont mind sitting on a balcony once the kids need to go to bed). There is a kids club, a park and a large pool, plus fridges in the rooms and a laundry room.

Our AKL prices were for standard room without a savannah view by the way. Expect to double the cost for a view!!

AKL is slightly less expensive because you do spend a little longer on the transport buses getting everywhere.

The hotels that are closer to the parks tend to be the most expensive ones.

IMHO all the Disney hotels I have stayed in (and have stayed in a few!) are great and have good facilities - fab swimming pools, decent sized rooms, very clean and, of course, excellent service).

Have not heard of the meal plans, that would make a big difference.

WRT the flight. Have travelled with mine a few times from babies onwards. You just need to be very organised. Have a rucksac full of 15min activities (stickers, colouring, electronic games, fuzzy felt, audio cd/ipod with stories, putty/playdoh) and only bring each one out at a time. Hide any favourite toys/games for a couple of weeks beforehand so they can be re-discovered on the flight.

The worst thing we found in the first few days was the children waking at 3am (and having to entertain them until breakfast!) and then passing out in the afternoon/early evening and then missing dinner.

I must admit its the flight but that is really worryng me! My youngest will be 4 by then though so hoepfully easier!

Out of interest, which month do you think is he best to go weather wise etc? My ds1 is home schooled so we dont have to worry about going in school hol times x

Last year we stayed in a two bedroom Disney Villa at Saratoga Springs. It is a DVC (kind of Disney time share) villa, but anyone can book them.

These villas sometimes come with free dining (depends on offers on). Also it has housekeeping every day (beds made, tidied, bins emptied). For us it was the best of both worlds, could make some meals in, handy for early breakfasts etc. It had more space than a hotel room would have. There are lots of these DVC resorts in WDW.

Lots of discussions about best time of year. I like May, but it can be really hot. As said above September good but higher chance of rain. look here for great advice

I'd probably choose to go when schools go back after Easter- the easter hols are usually very popular because the weather is warm and not so humid.

Travelling with a four year old will not be relaxing but should be perfectly fine if you are organised . Certainly, not as bad as travelling with a toddler or baby who has just started walking and wants to be on their feet all the time!

I was in Orlando this summer, we went with friends, so had 5 kids between us, the youngest was 4.

The flights were long (we were flying from Scotland, so had 2 changes and were 23 hours from house to Villa in Florida) The kids coped with the flight(s) really well, I think excitement got them through it.

We travelled with BA and the kids entertained themselves for quite a while just watching films. They got a bit restless near the end (and we had a complaint ) but it was fine.

A night flight on the way home was good, they crashed out as soon as they got on and woke up 8 hours later on landing

We stayed in a villa, a mixture of eating in and out. We also loved having our own space, pool, somewhere to chill out and a break from the parks. Also the cost was fantastic, it was £700 for 2 weeks for a 4 bedroomed, large villa with our own pool.

Thanks all, some great advice x

we are going next week and decided on Saratoga Springs resort as we are have a bedroom and a sofa bed in the lounge for the children so we are not all cooped up together in 1 room, we have a balcony a kitchen and a bathroom with jacuzzi bath too !

AKL does look lovely but its so expensive for a savannah room we are going for a meal there so can see what its like :)

Have a great time!

I think I am going to go for a villa with pool.....best of both worlds then. If we eat out a lot I wont be cooking all the time and dh doesnt mind driving and my friend told me that the parks are only 15-20 mins drive away from the villas anyway.

It's really cheap to eat out anyway, might as well enjoy yourself unless you have a fussy eater - but I travelled with 2 fussy eaters and we were able to stuf our faces every night for a fortnight somewhere.

Becaroo Just be careful about where the villa is. I've known people advertise villas which are 'minutes from Disney' and technically yes they are, around 45 mins which is not a fun drive with excited kids in the car.

Have a look at www.loyaltyusa.com This is a management company run by an english lady who only manages luxury villas with private pools and all are less than 4 miles to Disney. Depending on the time of year you go you can sometimes get a 4 bed villa with a private pool for less than the cost of 2 rooms in a cheap motel.

thanks mumoverseas will check that out!