When to book Florida

[Kate555578]

Hi I'm looking to book Florida for next end of July/august 2018 for two weeks. I know only virgin have their deals out at the moment so I've been comparing the cost to this year to price up. When's the best time to book?
We're looking to book a Disney hotel with the quick service dining plan, and park tickets. I've seen previously BA have included the dining plan and tickets but don't do this all the time.

I've just booked for October 2018 and also went May 2016 and a handful of times previously. We now, never book a package tour. I have booked straight through Disney (hotel and tickets) for hotel including free Dining (through a cashback website). We've booked Port Orleans and upgraded our Dining plan.

Last year I booked flights through Thomson's which fly into Sanford airport and preferred this to Orlando International (where the majority including Virgin fly in to). I will probably do the same. I also book car hire independently. Packages say they give you a car free, but I've found the cost of the insurance to be more than hiring a car elsewhere. Thomson flights are out 11 months in advance so it's too early for us to book flights yet.

totally agree that you should book the elements for yourself. we have been a couple of times and found it much, much cheaper to do it like this than booking a package because of all the hidden costs like car insurance.

buy the books WDW with kids and Beyond WDW and join the DIBB forum and this will help you find your way through it all as you can shop around for each of the elements that you need.

we always book our own villa - big family like the space through VRBO or owners direct also airbnb and we use skyscanner and momondo to find the cheapest flights. the two books I mentioned above have help on the park tickets and dining plan info.

depending how long your stay is you might want to think about a few nights in the hotel and a few nights in self catering to keep the price down and give a bit of variety.

When's the best time to book?

For flights, then it's best to book about 10-11 months in advance, IME.

Most flights aren't released until about then. If you want to book earlier than this, then it's usually as part of a package, which tends to cost more.

You need to book before July for the $200 gift card.

I can really recommend Kenwood Travel agents for Disney bookings.
They talked me through all my options and once I'd decided what I wanted they booked all the elements for me, flights, Disney hotel, meal plan, park tickets, transfers etc.
They even managed to get us a massive discount on the hotel after Disney announced that the one we were due to stay in would be undergoing refurbishment work while we were there.
Friends of ours booked through Virgin for the same hotel and the compensation my friend received was half of what we got.

I've booked for May next year with Florida Escapes who are also offering a discount on Disney direct prices. I'll book my flights separately 10/11 months in advance...