Orlando / disney on a budget. Can it be done?

[Monroe]

Or is it just wishful thinking?

I have had a (small) unexpected windfall. We haven't been on holiday for 3 years and my first thought was to book a week away somewhere at the end of the year. But what I'd really like to do is use it as a deposit for a trip to Orlando next year. The dc's will be 9 and 6 and I feel if we don't do it soon we never will.

But a quick look at prices is scary! We were thinking early June and staying probably on I drive which isn't too bad but the park passes are Ideally we would like to do disney world and universal. Can you get combined tickets for these? And are there any packages which do the lot - flights, accommodation and passes - at prices which won't break the bank?

Sorry if it's all been answered a million times already

We did Easter which was a bit cheaper. Indirect flights. The villa was necessary for us rather than a hotel as a full day in the parks for kids is exhausting and villa was very private. We did a long half day in the parks with a lazy pm by the pool. Combined Disney and Universal studios tickets for five of us was £2k. Car hire, villa, insurance and expenses for two weeks brought us up to £10k. We couldn't have done it for much cheaper and only had a few meals out, mostly cooked in the villa.

Just one more thing, try co-op travel. Personally I think there isn't a need for a package holiday and cheaper to book yourself, but if you do want one, they gave a good price. Also, we booked a 7 seater car (family of 5) with insurance for the same price that the extra insurance would have cost us with virgin's "free" 5 seater car car.

Go to a travel agent and ask them to give you a quote using Theme Park Beds - it has the best prices on on-site Disney hotels - hundreds of pounds cheaper than booking direct or through a package company. They also have the cheapest tickets and can match the free dine / 14 days for 7 on tickets etc. You just then need to add your flights separately. You can book direct but you'd need to email as need to be a travel agent to log in to use the site. Details online at www.themeparkbeds.com

It all depends on what you mean by a budget. We've done Disney three times each time staying on site at a luxury disney hotel (AKL or saratoga) with full dinning plan plus discovery cove or universal and have never spent more than £7k (including all our spending money too - not that a lot is need when all your meals and drinks are included in the dining plan).

We book the accommodation through disney directly, book the flights through whoever is the cheapest (usually thomson) and then get a transfer from sanford. WE don't bother with a car since you don't need it if you're on site at disney.

You can do it for less than this. You have to plan and you have to grab the free dining offer when its there (which it is at the moment for next year).

IMO disney isn't much more expensive than much of europe.

We are two adults and two DCs (10 and 8) btw

I think you can do it for six grand if you stay in one of the mid range hotels like port Orleans. You get the quick service dining though rather than table service. This means you'd pay extra for character meals though. Easter will be cheaper and quieter than summer. October half term is the best time to go. Great weather and no queues.

Monroe, you don't need to do everything. If you can get the Disney Dining plan you could stay on property and not need to buy any other food. On property there's no parking charges at Disney, and if you are happy to use the shuttles, you don't #need# a car. We bought a 14 day Disney ticket, and didn't see everything. You don't #need# to buy Universal, SeaWorld etc. too!

Just back . . . we did three kids (all of them over the bizarre Disney adult age of 9 years . . .), two adults, all Disney Parks, Universal, Disney hotel, Hard Rock hotel, no Disney Dining Plan (not that organised), flights (UK to NY then Orlando - much better to avoid Orlando as your first point of US entry as horrendous queues), for under £10k.

We've never hired a car on any of our trips there - transport from Disney hotel is free (and you only need a basic hotel as you'll be there so rarely) and regular, you can walk from Universal hotels. Stay in Universal hotel (not Cabana Bay) and you get free unlimited fast passes for rides which is great.

It was busy and hot though . . .

Try this specialist USA agent, we got a fab deal through them that was cheaper than Thomson. Plus, the staff are ultra knowledgeable and have been everywhere and know all the top tips. They are a long way from us but you can do it all by phone/email.

I agree with indirect flights and this means you can tag on a couple of nights in a big city elsewhere in the USA if you want to and budget allows.

I think it can be done quite a bit cheaper by booking it separately (rather than a package) without having a crap holiday.
We went last October, Me, DH and DDs (4 and 7 years old) for 2 weeks. I went to the travel agent to price flights, car hire and villa and they quoted something like 5.5K.
I decided to do it myself and got the flights, car hire and villa for just under £3000. We then spent approx £900 on Disney tickets, didn't bother with Universal, and took about £1500 spending money.
I thought the villa was better than being in a small hotel room for 2 weeks, but obviously the dining plan can be a big draw to stay in a hotel.
We ate out a lot but didn't spend too much doing this as we rarely ate in the Disney parks.
Oh and we flew into Tampa which seemed to be cheaper than Orlando and is a smaller airport so can be quicker for customs etc.

Staying in a suite hotel can be very cost effective, such as Embassy Suites or Drury Inn. You get a one bedroom/lounge/bathroom with sofa bed, we found it to be plenty of room even with 5 of us.

You get a buffet breakfast included, so no need for much lunch other than a snack/icecream, and many of the hotels include a free happy hour/drinks/snacks/full meal, which really cuts down the costs.

We found it to be overall cheaper than staying on site at Disney, or even in a villa, as we spent far less on food. And didn't feel at all that we doing it 'on the cheap'

Oh, and definitely book it all separately yourself. We got a quote from a travel agent, and it was over £2000 more expensive that doing it ourselves, for exactly the same thing.

Some activities include park tickets too. A friend and her family did a days swim with dolphins and in the package was fortnights passes to Universal. The dolphin experience was the same price as her buying Universal tickets but this way she got the swim too.

We when I was a kid went for a promo talk about time shares - it was a two hour talk and everyone went for the free Busch Gardens tickets.

Everyone has a budget. You really need to be clear what your actual budget is op, other than a tight one, which could mean anything.

I agree with a pp that you would do better on a five star stay in say Disney Paris and a nice five star in Paris afterwards.

We got direct flights from dublin to Mco for 5 of us 4 adults and 1 child for €3250,
2 bedroom suite in homewood suites I Drive for 15 nights for €2350, that includes breakfast buffet every morning and free food and drink from 17-19 Monday to Thursday and free shuttles to disney and universal.
14 days at both universal parks, blueman group show, wonderworks including outta control dinner show, orlando eye, Madame tussauds , sealife aquarium and $150 to use at fun spot usa for €1650
So €7250 all in
If we had gone indirect and stayed at a cheaper hotel we could have got it for close to €5,00
Out of curiosity I priced up haven holiday park at hafan y mor for 2 weeks in summer and the luxury lodge and ferry would cost us €6,250!!
I know which holiday we would prefer!

Hi,

I am watching this thread with interest too!
I am hoping to go next year but hubby has his 3 weeks FIXED holidays in August. We are also restricted to the school holidays due to the 'no term time holidays' rule. It is very rare for hubby to have school hols off and to get 3 weeks is making me look at holidays!
Our children will be 12 (boy) and 8 (girl) in August 16 so I think that they are great ages to go.
We have been to the USA before (before kids) a few times but never Florida. I have absolutely no idea what I am looking for and I am so confused by the different options available. My eldest has been asking to go to Florida for a while now.
My youngest is mad on dolphins so a trip to Discover Cove would be definite for us. Also, we would like to go to Disney, Universal, Kennedy Space Centre.
We are in the north east so we are looking at flights from Newcastle. So mind boggling!

Monroe, I went last year as a single parent with my 2 children for 16 nights.

We stayed in a Disney hotel, had the disney dining plan so included all our food and snacks, transport was included but I hired a car for £17 a day to go over to Kennedy Space Centre, etc, had indirect flights and

it was under £3k for absolutely everything! Holidays are expensive as you want to make them, go to a travel agent and you will be talking nearer to double that price. I would suggest looking at the US WDW site rather than the UK one, you get much better package deals. :-D

We're doing it on a budget:

3 separate flights booked - London to Copenhagen (not actually booked that one yet), Copenhagen to Orlando (total of £1, 487 for 2 adults and 2 12 year olds) and flights from Copenhagen to London (about £20 each).

Staying on International Drive (2 double rooms for 7 nights costing us US$1,133 - about £726)

The hotel has a free shuttle to Disney - no car hire costs.

We'll book the 4 day water park fun and more tickets in advance. That will give us 4 days at Disney theme parks and 4 fun days eg at a water park. They'll be about £240 each.

It's not what I'd call a cheap holiday (compared to a lot of our other ones), but it's not too bad. We're going at Easter so I'm guessing that's one of the more expensive times of year to go.

If you want to do Orlando on a budget, take a look at netflights, I paid for under £2000 for 6 people including 4/5 star accommodation. High street chains want to charge the earth. Its about shopping around and being flexible on your dates. I have been to Orlando on my own to check out where I would take the kids and what places to eat, there are plenty of places where kids eat free with a full paying adult. I am planning to buy cereal, milk, snacks, bread, fruit for breakfast and lunch then go out for dinner in the evenings to cut down on cost otherwise it will soon add up. I am taking the kids to one of the parks and plan to pay on arrival because we are only in Orlando for a short stay we will only go to the parks one or two times. My teenagers want to shop and my 7 year olds will be happy going to the beach and bush gardens as they love animals.

Accommodation is your lowest cost in Orlando generally. Even in height of summer you can get 3/4 bed villas with private pools for £400-500 a week. You can get smaller places with shared pool for less.

Food - eat off site. Perkins etc are not expensive though I'd avoid the buffet type places like Ponderosa personally as the food quality can be a bit rubbish. Pizza places and supermarkets are good value. You can eat breakfast and a one other meal at home. You could take a picnic to the parks if you wished too. We never have. You don't have to do big meals though you might want to book a character meal during your stay. There are plenty of snack type outlets - huge turkey legs burgers, fries etched. Have a big breakfast, a snacks lunch out and then meal off site later. Or if your doing a firework night - breakfast and lunch out; last meal there.
Take your own water in there if you don't mind carrying bags - when it's hot you don't tend to want to drink much more than water. There are water fountains you can drink from but I don't like the taste - think there water has something in it.

Flights are the biggest cost. And I don't like doing indirect though you can save money doing that. Look around. Different days of the week can make a difference - though check your accommodation to make sure you can turn up at every day not just Friday or Saturday. And choose your weeks. If your happy to do term time holidays it's a lot cheaper. And book in advance for long haul. Look out for early booking discounts or sales - Virgin have a new year sale early January for example. Flights going into Sanford are often cheaper - and actually Sanford is easier in the sense it's smaller and it's still not that far. In fact we often get to our places quicker from there than having the business and delays you often get atOrlando airport.

And tickets - yes, a big cost. But worth it. We normally go for the 14 day tickets for both Disney and Universal. We like the flexibility and we do parks every day. We don't do sea world but like to do a day at the space centre. Not done Busch Gardens but would like to - wouldn't bother with younger children though.
Disney - you don't need the hopper tickets. universal - you need them of you want to ride the Hogwarts Express ride. It's worth it.

Car hire is relatively inexpensive.

We've done Orlando a few times now. We have stayed onsite (Animal Kingdom) and off site in different villas. on February we are staying at Hard Rock Hotel. It's generally cheaper to stay off site ime. We didn't really benefit from staying in the Disney hotel as we like to be in the parks a lot with just an early morning or late night swim - less easy to do with a shared big pool in a hotel. However, we are trying the HRHas it is really close to Universal.

Also check dates - we are going at February half term. We went same time a couple of years ago and weather was great - shorts and t short weather but without the immense heat and humidity. But just a week. Our half term isn't the same as much of the country it would seem so it is costing us just under £1000 less than the week after would. Avoid Christmas and Easter as too busy. May/October - weather will be ideal. But be flexible of you can.

We've never really done it on a budget by we don't go mad either. It's not a cheap holiday but is a fun one.

Price carefully - sometimes DIY is cheaper than a package and sometimes it is not. We try and stay on Palm Parkway in Lake Beuna Vista as from there we can get a Lynx bus to downtown Disney then use the free Disney buses to get to the parks. - no hire car and no daily Disney parking charge either!
We have some meals in Disney and some outside of Disney.
We stay in a condo (suite hotel) so we have a small kitchen as well as all the hotel facilities including a free breakfast.
Park tickets - Universal is more for older children unless you are desparate to do Harry Potter, with your age children I wouldnt bother
Don't miss Disney Quest at Downtown Disney - it's included in the Disney tickets and is a great cool air conditioned day out.
Buy cheap water bottles to take into the parks and refill. You can also ask for a cup of iced water for free at any food outlet.

Oh yes, free hotel shuttles - have a back up plan up your sleeve as often the times of these are restricted so you miss rope drop (park opening) IMO It's CRUCIAL to make park opening at least once for each park to get on the most popular rides with minimal queues otherwise you loose loads of time queuing - even using the fastpass system.

I would always stay onsite, that way you can easily be at the parks for rope drop and do all the busy things in the first hour and have a much easier time of it generally. The free dining is amazing if you get one with table meals - you can then book character meals as well.

Charter travel are very good and for a reasonable amount Help Around the Mouse (google them) will sort out a schedule over however many days and itineraries for every day so that you go to the park on the right day of the week - less busy, and no the rides in the right order - no queuing plus they will make all your dining reservations etc. I think it cost us $100 it get everything done but took all the stress out of it - we didnt queue at all and watched people queue for an hour with toddlers to go on rides later on in the day that we had waltzed onto first thing.

We stayed at Old Key West in a 1 bed condo onsite at Disney and then the Hard Rock at Universal for the early entry for Harry Potter for 10 days altogether at Feb half term, it came to about 5.5k for 2 adults and 2 children. No car as we didnt need one.

There are lots a variables depending on what's important to you, what time of year you go, height restrictions for rides, characters that your DC like. The list is endless. There are also lots of things to do outside of the main parks which are just as fun.
Dinner shows (pirates, Vikings etc). There's wonder works which isn't fab like the parks but is really fun to spend an hour or two in. There's go-carting, the free entry Disney areas (downtown and boardwalk which both have street entertainment, magicians and fairground games) and universal boardwalk for crazy golf or a meal and movie deal to see a movie 6 months before anyone at home sees it.

Staying on site V off is also down to personal preference i.e would you like the dining plan/free shuttle but be limited to what they offer/timetable or would you like a little more freedom to cook and eat what you like as a family and plan your own schedule? Is a private pool necessary when you have so many places to see and things to do? Even a trip to a super centre Walmart is great fun for the kids but you need a car.

You don't have to cook every meal either. If you have a car you can have breakfast at Denny's or Sizzler for a very reasonable price. A pizza takeout delivered to your hotel or picked up from any of several place on I-drive is also a great option for a chill out evening at the hotel.

Next time we go we're staying in Floridays on I drive. Check out their page or any of the other 'all suite hotel' options.

Can you go in term time? Staying on site can be really beneficial during peak times as the parks do early open and late closing for in house guests which may be your best option during the stampedes busy peak times.

Loads to think about. What would be your top 5 wants/needs?

You can see the busy/less busy day calendars on a few sites. Such as The Dibb.
Always useful to have a plan in advance for Orlando