Sorry slightly off topic but where do you even start with a Florida holiday? Looking at going 2024 which is a while off but the whole thing blows my mind with where to go with it
read the wiki..
read the wiki..
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Book a Disney hotel and tickets, Alamo car if you want the freedom of getting about busch gardens, universal, NASA etc. but all the Disney hotels have shuttles every X amount of minutes to and from the parks.
disney dining plan (worth every penny) and then book all your dining/fast tracks a few weeks prior to going. There’s a few online FB groups/pages too which help!
Truff a stinky fish
TheDibb forums were really helpful when we did our first trip: https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/index.php
Don't do package deal, they might make it out like its great but you pay double the price, I go to the agents an get them to phone around an make it into a package for me, we phone around different airlines to see which flights are the cheapest an which agent can get the best deal for Disney hotels that come with extras since we only go for disney/universal, the disney hotels are amazing for transport an we use a uber for the few days we do universal
I agree that the disney dinning plan is sooooo worth it, not sure if they are still doing it or not but we get the two snacks an two quick service one, 3 snacks work out as 1 quick service so don't feel like you are going to run out of credits cause we never do an we eat an drink a lot
But it definitely pays a lot to have airlines an agents compete with one another, if one thinks they are losing you due to a better price elsewhere, you will be surprised with what they will lower with price or throw in to keep you, I've went round travel agents with a notebook comparing them all
some can get pissy but there's been times I've knocked almost 1k off the entire price with making them compete with one another lol
I agree that the disney dinning plan is sooooo worth it, not sure if they are still doing it or not but we get the two snacks an two quick service one, 3 snacks work out as 1 quick service so don't feel like you are going to run out of credits cause we never do an we eat an drink a lot
But it definitely pays a lot to have airlines an agents compete with one another, if one thinks they are losing you due to a better price elsewhere, you will be surprised with what they will lower with price or throw in to keep you, I've went round travel agents with a notebook comparing them all
some can get pissy but there's been times I've knocked almost 1k off the entire price with making them compete with one another lol
Book flights and hotel separately!
If you don't want to stay in Disney , there are a few hotels that do free shuttles to theme parks so takes the weight off.
Transfers are quite easy to use from the airport.
First time I went was with TUI and they were good but now I travel a lot I do it all separate and save a lot of money. We are going in Sept!
If you don't want to stay in Disney , there are a few hotels that do free shuttles to theme parks so takes the weight off.
Transfers are quite easy to use from the airport.
First time I went was with TUI and they were good but now I travel a lot I do it all separate and save a lot of money. We are going in Sept!
what kind of holiday do you want, Florida theme parks, beach, bit of both. Certainly look at booking flights separately as soon as booking opens, you can also fly into 1 airport and out of a different one if you want. I've done ski and Florida, flew into Boston, spent a week in Killington, flew down to Miami (I lived there so wanted to see friends but Orlando is easier obvs) drove to Orlando and stayed at the Comfort Inn, did 4 days parks, then booked a few days at Club Med in Florida then back to Orlando for some more parks then back to the UK, was fab. So much accommodation available that once you have the flights, you can piece that bit together at a later date. Personally I'd avoid Summer and try for Easter or October, by far the nicest months. There are some fab resorts on the Panhandle for a bit of a different vibe.
I'd also make sure that whatever you do you double check it's protected in case anything goes bust or anything gets cancelled, I think it's atol or somthing it's called but some places also do covid protection as well now, so make sure you get all your protections checked out
Also consider when you are going. If you're planning on Orlando (Disney/Universal), then the summer months are brutal; almost 99% humidity, high temps, and heavy showers (but they don't usually last long) and lots and lotssss of kids on summer break. Something I always liked about these parks are the different events going on throughout the year such as Halloween celebrations, runDisney 5k, food & wine festival etc so it'd be great if you can attend something special happening when you're there. If you are looking at different parts of Florida for a beachier holiday (Key West, Miami), those trips are a lot less complicated to plan.
If you stop in one of the top tier 3 hotels you also get an express pass for each person in the group this is like a sort of fast pass jump the queue pass.
Oh I didnt know this! Thats a great perk too. We stayed in Cabana Bay so I think its one of the lower tier ones (this was also a good few years ago too so I think they have newer properties too)
We went to Florida this last August and yes it is hot and you get almost daily afternoon rain, BUT everywhere, every shop, indoor ride queue, eatery and show has air con and the afternoon rain is refreshing and cooling. We found go out in in the morning for a few hours then back to the hotel/villa for a cool down, maybe a shower or change then out in the late afternoon/evening. Rarely did the rain stop us going into the parks, take ponchos and/or brollies and keep going, the rain is warm and the best days it was more like a drizzly spray that cooled you down. One of the nest evenings we had was going into the Magic Kingdom and having already seen the fireworks earlier in the holiday we went to the back of the park and kept on riding stuff during fireworks.
Many people waited and then watched the fireworks from the hub in front of the castle, then they leave. But the firework show is at 9pm and the park stayed open till 11pm. So from about 8pm onwards the wait times on the rides go right down. You still get the music and the fireworks and in fantasyland they are right above you and very loud lol. We walked on to Peter Pan, its a small world etc. etc. The only ride that had any kind of wait was mine train and even that went down to 30 mins. We also pretty much walked on the jungle cruise at about 10pm and it is a completely different ride at night, the boat is lit up and the scenes are lit but there is a real sailing through a jungle at night feel and in part of the tunnel all the lights went out and it was dark and spooky-our kids are 12 and 14 so loved it lol. On the way out we grabbed ice creams at the shop on main street and at about 10.45 was able to sit at a table facing the castle all lit up and eat them. Was a really special night and obviously way cooler in the evening, more like a pleasant summer day here. We strolled down main street and found the CM's were really good at getting people out of the park without actually asking them to leave, just guiding them out. We sailed across the lake back to our car and drove back to our villa after a truly memorable evening.
Would definitely recommend considering a villa our girls loved the extra space and having their own pool, also made eating easier and cheaper as we could cook/eat in or eat out in cheaper places than on site. After having done both onsite and offsite we prefer off, but if my kids were smaller I think onsite would be easier for getting back to the room for a rest with little ones. Offsite is way cheaper and all of the things that made the onsite expense worth it like disney dining, magical express, early fast pass etc have been removed. Onsite is basically alot more expense for proximity/location and staying in the disney bubble. But for us we enjoyed things outside of disney as well so offsite was better. Also I think the girls would have driven us mad all in one hotel room for two week lol.
Also we fly Man to Mco with aer lingus as they were way cheaper than Virgin and we found the economy seats had much more leg space-hubby is 6ft 4 and said he felt way better after getting off the flight than when we flew with virgin. The food was nice and tasty and the entertainment had plenty of movies and tv to watch, the staff were great and overall it was a good product for the price. On the return flight we had to ask for blankets which they were happy to hand out rather than them being on seats when you got on-but other airlines seem to be going the route of you have to ask for extras as well, saw a vid where someone had to ask for the amenity kit on Virgin.
The main difference I could see is the free alcohol with virgin, Aer Lingus had a drinks service and soft drinks were free but alcohol you had to pay. Given that 3 of us don't drink and I just had one on the way this wasn't an issue for us.
Worth considering them for anyone flying from Manchester.
.
Atol covers package holidays that include flights. It simply covers you if the company you booked with goes bust. ATOL is a legal requirement so if any company doesn't say you will get it and you are booking a flight and other element together then run a mile.
Many people waited and then watched the fireworks from the hub in front of the castle, then they leave. But the firework show is at 9pm and the park stayed open till 11pm. So from about 8pm onwards the wait times on the rides go right down. You still get the music and the fireworks and in fantasyland they are right above you and very loud lol. We walked on to Peter Pan, its a small world etc. etc. The only ride that had any kind of wait was mine train and even that went down to 30 mins. We also pretty much walked on the jungle cruise at about 10pm and it is a completely different ride at night, the boat is lit up and the scenes are lit but there is a real sailing through a jungle at night feel and in part of the tunnel all the lights went out and it was dark and spooky-our kids are 12 and 14 so loved it lol. On the way out we grabbed ice creams at the shop on main street and at about 10.45 was able to sit at a table facing the castle all lit up and eat them. Was a really special night and obviously way cooler in the evening, more like a pleasant summer day here. We strolled down main street and found the CM's were really good at getting people out of the park without actually asking them to leave, just guiding them out. We sailed across the lake back to our car and drove back to our villa after a truly memorable evening.
Would definitely recommend considering a villa our girls loved the extra space and having their own pool, also made eating easier and cheaper as we could cook/eat in or eat out in cheaper places than on site. After having done both onsite and offsite we prefer off, but if my kids were smaller I think onsite would be easier for getting back to the room for a rest with little ones. Offsite is way cheaper and all of the things that made the onsite expense worth it like disney dining, magical express, early fast pass etc have been removed. Onsite is basically alot more expense for proximity/location and staying in the disney bubble. But for us we enjoyed things outside of disney as well so offsite was better. Also I think the girls would have driven us mad all in one hotel room for two week lol.
Also we fly Man to Mco with aer lingus as they were way cheaper than Virgin and we found the economy seats had much more leg space-hubby is 6ft 4 and said he felt way better after getting off the flight than when we flew with virgin. The food was nice and tasty and the entertainment had plenty of movies and tv to watch, the staff were great and overall it was a good product for the price. On the return flight we had to ask for blankets which they were happy to hand out rather than them being on seats when you got on-but other airlines seem to be going the route of you have to ask for extras as well, saw a vid where someone had to ask for the amenity kit on Virgin.
The main difference I could see is the free alcohol with virgin, Aer Lingus had a drinks service and soft drinks were free but alcohol you had to pay. Given that 3 of us don't drink and I just had one on the way this wasn't an issue for us.
Worth considering them for anyone flying from Manchester.
Dining plan went away with Covid and isn't back as yet. Can confirm I work in travel and we price match all the time lol.Don't do package deal, they might make it out like its great but you pay double the price, I go to the agents an get them to phone around an make it into a package for me, we phone around different airlines to see which flights are the cheapest an which agent can get the best deal for Disney hotels that come with extras since we only go for disney/universal, the disney hotels are amazing for transport an we use a uber for the few days we do universal
I agree that the disney dinning plan is sooooo worth it, not sure if they are still doing it or not but we get the two snacks an two quick service one, 3 snacks work out as 1 quick service so don't feel like you are going to run out of credits cause we never do an we eat an drink a lot
But it definitely pays a lot to have airlines an agents compete with one another, if one thinks they are losing you due to a better price elsewhere, you will be surprised with what they will lower with price or throw in to keep you, I've went round travel agents with a notebook comparing them all
I work in travel and most airlines and travel companies are moving to remove the Covid protections now its not so much an issue and bookings are going back to standard terms. But irrelevant of what the companies offer get good comprehensive travel insurance, especially for the USA where even minor medical treatment can be crazy money. We found it was actually cheaper to get a good worldwide policy than one for the 3 wks we went. So worth pricing up both. We may be able to do a second trip on the same policy if we time it right
. Atol covers package holidays that include flights. It simply covers you if the company you booked with goes bust. ATOL is a legal requirement so if any company doesn't say you will get it and you are booking a flight and other element together then run a mile.
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A word of warning, self booking is fine when things go perfectly but you are completely on your own iif things go wrong and airlines etc can be very difficult to get hold of when your flight is delayed. After a summer working at Gatwick and seeing the utter lack of customer service from airlines, I'm not sure I'd risk self booking anymore or even using an internet based company. Interestingly an acquaintance works for dial a flight who are not internet based and they are busier than ever.