Whats the cheapest way to do Disneyworld? Share all your tips pls!

[carriedawayannie]

Is there a cheaper way to fly?
Are villas cheaper than the hotels?
Is there an area in which the villas are cheaper?
Is there a cheaper time to go - (thinking of going in November next year)
Car hire tips?

Any suggestions on anything gratefully recieved

Also with a 6yo and a 3yo is worth doing anything other than the Disney Parks?

fly into tampa rather than orlando. sometimes miami is cheaper as well. book the flights as far in advance as you can. villas can be cheaper we stayed in one that was £550 a week including pool and everything. the further out you go the cheaper the villas are but do you really want to be stuck in a car for 40+ mins each way. buy the book wdw with kids and look on the dibb website for tips before you go. we go in Dec and Jan. weather is good but not boiling and there are virtually no queues. avoid school hols or you could spend a lot of time queuing. what are you budgetting for this holiday because whatever you do it still aint going to be cheap.

Just disney would be fine for 3 &6 year old. I didnt like universal, it was better for older ones.
We stayed in a condo, it was massive and a lot cheaper than a villa. Nice shared pool.

condo we stayed was called club cortile

Flying into Tampa will bring the cost down but only BA fly there from Gatwick. Would avoid flying into Miami at all costs due to very long wait times at Immigration due to Federal cutbacks and a massive long walk from the plane to the immigration area (about 3/4 mile!).

To further reduce costs would look at avoiding all half terms. I don't think there is really a low season in Orlando any more. It will not be cheap regardless of how you fly or stay there because Orlando is popular anyway with visitors and prices reflect demand.

I second avoiding miami at all costs. It took us almost 4hrs to get through immigration!!! we then missed our connecting flight and had to sleep in the airport.

I don'y have a budget yet, Im just trying to work out the cheapest way to do it.

Hows long is the drive between Tampa and Orlando?

Tampa to Orlando is approx 1.5 hours drive, depending where you are staying. You could try booking through an American airline such as United Airlines, as they can be a lot cheaper than Virgin or BA, although they are not always direct flights.

We have stayed twice in villas and once in a hotel. Overall I thought that the hotel was better value. We stayed at Embassy Suites in Lake Buena Vista, lovely big rooms. Breakfast was included, and also free drinks and snacks early evening, and it was the same price as a villa if you shop round a bit. Some suite hotels actually offer quite substantial meals such as pasta or hotdogs, which can be quite a saving

Go self catering. The food is generally poor when eating out. Take picnics to the parks. Highly recommend the Lake Buena vista resort.