Realistically how much for Disney world/Florida?

[Thedarksideofthemoon30]

Hi :)

Dd4 has been asking to go Disney for a year now and the older two (13&11) have been asking to go America for years so we thought we would kill two birds with stone. Wouldn’t be until next year.

The questions are-

Villa or hotel?

Which parks?

What to do around the area that isn’t parks?

How long to go for?

And more importantly how much spending money?

Thank you!

Following as I have been wondering the same thing!

It's very personal really. We stay in villas over the hotels as we like our own space and pool to chill out in after the busyness of the parks.
Park tickets are expensive especially if you choose to go to Disney and Universal.
Spending money, again a personal thing but we spent $25 a day to park at Disney which adds up. A couple of supermarket trips for easy meals and eat out once a day. Didn't bother so much with shopping or gifts.

It’s an expensive holiday to be sure as park tickets are pricy. We were due to go last May out Covid took care of that.. so for 5 adults, car hire, Villa and park tickets - Disney and universal we had paid approximately £9,000 and had £2.5 k and spending money.

We are planning to go in 2022 - hopeythings will have settled down completely by then. So saving again :) ( the refunds from the cancelled holiday became new double glazing and doors)

The 4 year old would get more out of the Disney Parks. The older ones would probably prefer Universal. As for other things to do there's the space centre and gator experiences. For animal welfare reasons, I'd give Sea World a swerve.

Flights and accommodation are about 1k per person, park tickets £700 and then you need spending money. So as a minimum you need 2-2.5k per person.

It’s fabulous though. We went in 2018 and are going again next year. There’s a fabulous Facebook group called it’s Orlando time. They will give you so much advice

We’ve been a few times, we stay in cabana bay hotel. It has a great location/views/rooms with a shuttle to the parks. It was roughly £1400 for two weeks... I think.

Tickets are the big expense, car hire was £450 for two weeks. We also did gator land/legoland didn’t go shopping as that’s not our thing but took around £2,500 spending for the 4 of us, didn’t spend it all even though we ate out twice daily.

I’d say the kids are at a great age to go so make the most of it.

@Thedarksideofthemoon30

Hi :)

Dd4 has been asking to go Disney for a year now and the older two (13&11) have been asking to go America for years so we thought we would kill two birds with stone. Wouldn’t be until next year.

The questions are-

Villa or hotel?

Which parks?

What to do around the area that isn’t parks?

How long to go for?

And more importantly how much spending money?

Thank you!

And to answer your questions.

We are a big family so go with a villa as we’d need 2 rooms in a hotel.
Disney and universal. We went to sea world and it was pretty rubbish. Bare in mind the shows they do don’t get ahead of there is a thunderstorm within 1 mile and in summer that is a daily occurrence.
Shop? Good outlets or beach. Some go to the swamp lands, Kennedy space centre, loads to do
We went for 14 days which I think most do.
Lots

Min two weeks, villa would be better IMHO, so you and can relax on non park days. Disney parks for little one, Universal for the older one, they will be plenty at Universal for the little one to see too. I would also avoid Seaworld, I feel quite ashamed that we have visited, if you watch the documentary Blackfish you will understand why. It’s a great holiday, I think you are wise to book for 2022, can’t see international travel being feasible this year.

May or Easter is a great time to visit.

Cost £14,000 for 3 adults (children 13 and over classed as adults) and 2 children when we went 3 years ago. Spent another 3k in spending money. Now had more kids so saving to take them again (insert eye roll here).

I think we would take 3-4K for a 2 week holiday if everything else was covered but we do all love shopping too.

We stayed at Port Orleans at Disney and had a couple of nights at Royal Pacific for the fast passes.

We got free dining at Disney and upgraded so that covered all of our meals there, eating in Universal was £££ but just outside the parks was much cheaper.

The benefits of staying onsite for us was definitely early access to fast passes for Disney, free dining, shuttle bus to all Disney parks and being able to walk to universal from our hotel.

We were in the parks all day so only slept in the rooms and both hotels had great pools for the kids which were open until late so they could have a dip after a day in the parks.

We managed to get on every ride we wanted with minor queues because of the fast passes (hopefully they come back along with dining). Friends who were out at the same time as us and hadn’t planned anything only got on a couple of rides a day so didn’t enjoy the holiday. Planning is everything. There are sites dedicated to it.

We went in the summer holidays and loved it.

Haven’t been since I had DC but I used to stay in a hotel, though I would think a villa might be more appropriate with DC at the ages yours are. You can get 2 bedroom suites though in some hotels. I would second the poster that recommend It’s Orlando Time on Facebook, the advice on there is fantastic.

If you are going to have access to a car you will only be a couple of hours from the beaches, we always take a drive to Clearwater. Spending money will depend on a number of factors, however we generally take £1k per adult (budgeted £500 for DC but sadly our latest trip Cabot go ahead due to Covid) which was plenty and we ate out every day and had a couple of shopping sprees at the outlets.

I’d say a comfortable minimum of 10k is needed.

It is very expensive to go, but so so so worth it!
Are you planning to just do Walt Disney World? Or universal studios and Busch gardens etc?

From multiple personal experiences, definitely stay in a Disney hotel, the cheaper ones are great for kids as the themeing is incredible! So one of the All Star Resorts (sports, music or movies) or the pop century resort are amazing! And you get extra magic hours to the parks if you stay in their hotel.

If you're only planning to visit Disney & stay on property, the free busses are fab and you won't need to hire a car unless you really wanted too.

Disney it's self has 4 theme parks, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Epcot, and 2 water parks, Blizzard beach and Typhoon Lagoon. All are an absolute must in my opinion.
The way my parents always planned our trip was to do a water park on the first full day as the theme parks are long, tiring days and after a day of traveling it really does tire you out before your holiday has really even started. Then we did 3 days in theme parks, another day in water parks, 3 theme, 1 water, 3 theme etc. Just means you can have a break and slow the pace a little.

Outside of the parks, I'd recommend going to Disney Springs (the downtown shopping area) as well as the crazy golf courses, winter summer land golf and Fantasia golf. If I remember correctly they both have 2 courses. We used to do these on an evening after a day in the water parks as they close earlier than the theme parks.

We usually went for 2 weeks, but if you're wanting to do other stuff outside of Disney, I'd recommend 3 weeks, if it's within your budget.

I can't speak about spending money as I have not been as the adult yet, my parents always dealt with the money.

I would highly recommend booking the meal plan, 2 meals, 1 refillable drinks cup, and I believe 1 snack, per person per night of your stay. We would use the meals for breakfast in the hotel and our lunch and then have a more expensive evening meal, where we could sit and reflect on the day as a family and rest a little before the last bit of our day and the evening show.

I have sooooo much more I'd like to type but already feel this is a long message, but if you would like to know more or have any questions please feel free to PM me on here and I'd be thrilled to help you plan a magical holiday for your family!

We went as a couple 4 years ago and stayed at animal kingdom for 10 nights then did 4 nights in Clearwater. For a family I would think a villa will be cheaper but if you stay at a Disney hotel you can get a dining plan, coach transport to the parks and be in the parks earlier/later.

We went to the space centre which was amazing! About an 1hr/1.5hr drive I think. There is also Busch gardens which we did on the way to Clearwater and we watched Cirque at Disney springs but I don't know if that's still running.

I would estimate a day at each park (we would go for opening go around everything then mid afternoon head back for a nap then go back at night) and alternate with either a rest day or a water park day.

We have been twice, family of 5. villas both times because of having a pool to relax in - very needed after a day at a park.
mixture if meals in and out - youngest was 5 the first time and definitely needed the odd night chilling at the villa.
eldest is 7 years older than youngest but easy holiday to please both age groups.
costs were approx £12,000 first holiday and £15,000 for second but last time we went was 2013 so would expect prices to have increased.

also we did August both times and would again. A beach day is great if you have a car and the rangers are fab with the kids explaining local wildlife, what to look for etc.
We had a rough plan for each day which does help but were flexible if kids tired/ wanted to fo something different

Disney world requires a lot of planning - there are some really good websites to help you. I recommend TouringPlans and Disney Tourist blog and then the DIBB gives a U.K. perspective in terms of deals etc.

I am interested in responses too. I have been to Disney Paris and California but years ago with my parents.

All those saying avoid Sea World for animal welfare reasons, I understand why you are saying that, but what do you think happens to the killer whales if Sea World closed / has no money to keep going?

Would you consider going to California instead? I personally much prefer the Disney parks there, plus you can turn it into bit of a road trip and see LA, Sam Francisco, Yosemite, San Diego etc. The climate is a lot nicer and it’s less of a theme park centred trip - perfect if your teens want to see a bit more of the US.
Also, by doing a road trip you can be a bit more savvy with where you stay - breaking it up into a few days in each place.

The flight is a bit longer (11 hours instead of 9 to Florida)

I can't really answer your question to how much etc but when I was 8 I went to florida for 2 weeks (this was back in 1997!) it was the most wonderful holiday I remember from my child years. We stayed in a villa and did all the parks, Disney, mgm, epcot, universal, the waterparks, sea world and Bush Gardens. At the time we absolutely loved sea world but again due to what I have seen on the blackfish documentary I wouldn't go. Bush Gardens was amazing for big roller coasters at the time.. Not sure if that is still the case.

I remember back then everything was super cheap there. Not sure if that's the case now.

I now have a DS who is almost 2 and another due in 8 weeks and would love to take them in a good few years time. It was truly magical x

The park tickets are the killer for sure and we like to stay on site which really adds up. However the first time we went we stayed in an apartment on a resort that backed into a nature reserve which was ridiculously cheap but stunning with fab amenities - pools, bar, etc and the apartment itself was huge. You could sprint from one end to the next. There's definitely bargains and if you self cater you can do a most enjoyable big shop at Walmart

It can definitely be done on a budget and be fabulous.

I've been 4 times and villas are always best. It's nice if you just want a chilled day to be there with the pool to come and go as you please and not have to worry about getting up for certain times for breakfast etc.

You can get multi park tickets which are the best way to visit. You'll find you'll go to some of the parks multiple times. We sometimes did a water park in the day when it was very hot, and then go to the theme park in the evening as they stay open till late.

If you go outside of uk school times, double check American school holidays. We made the mistake 1 year of going over American spring break!!