Booking Family Holiday in Orlando Florida

usher1890

Hi Guys

I am looking to book a family holiday for 14 nights in Orlando Florida. It seems fairly costly (a lot looking for only 7 nights as well) from looking online but I have been told there is a lot of savings to be made by booking direct flights, a 5* rented home, and renting a car. Has anyone any experiences of booking?

Also, can someone please tell me why they are looking for full price for a 1 year old who will be sitting on one of our knees??

Thanks

Rashers72

To save money here are what I suggest:
Flights:
Suggest use one of the named operators who search across multiple airlines for prices, then book direct with airlines. Have used them all via Newark twice, Atlanta twice, and direct with EI once. My no.1 recommendation is watch for when the prices are released, generally 330 days in advance.
From my experience with a family, book a house with a pool, and a hire car is a must. We booked a house in this estate very similar to this one: http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/accommodation/p8029505
Make sure you look at a map for where the house is v's where you want to go. Every house is listed as 10 mins from Disney. More like 1 hour door, to park entrance for most. Use google maps if in doubt.
re theme parks. We booked Universal directly, and booked Disney via a website in Edinburgh. Cannot recall the website, but is a very popular one for European buyers
The rate was completely different when we went - always between 1.35 and 1.50. That makes a huge difference. To be honest it is 5 years since I went, so I am not up to speed on latest best sites. Disboards or something similar is very good. Also there is a company on Adelaide Road, Dublin Attraction Tickets or something similar which might be good for tickets - if they locked in on a good exchange rate late last year for this year, their Euro prices might be better then going direct.
I have only ever gone for 2 weeks, and would generally only do 1.5 parks, with always a rest day after a full park. Discovery Cove is great also, but that is a one in 10 years visit!
I think you need to estimate a budget and work around that. I am sure your no.1 challenge will be budget v's what you can do. Orlando is fantastic, really is. Easter is a great time to go. Just get to the parks early (before they open), get the main attractions out of the way by 10am, do slower rides etc. till 1pm. The either grab some lunch in the park, and do shows in the afternoon, use a couple of fast passes for late afternoon and head home. That way you will be good for an earlier start the next morning.
Or else head back to your house/hotel for lunch, have a nap or swim, and then head back for about 6pm-end of day fireworks etc. But plan a pool or shopping day the next day, but don't plan to get up till 11am.
We always did a detailed plan, day by day, with plenty of down time, and flexible to do 1-2 unplanned things. At Easter or Christmas, you simply have to plan, or you will waste hours in queues. We also used touring plans.com for Disney. Couple of dollars to register, but you will get a plan that will match your ages/rides. The red unofficial guide books to Disney/Universal etc. are a must also. Huge amount of reading, but well worth it. It may seem a little ott, but when you see people opening a map for the first time when they enter a theme park, and wondering what they should do, you know they are in for a day of long queues, and frustration.
re booking a car - I have always used a UK company, called usarenta car or something similar. However, I was paying in sterling when rate was .9 v's .7 this week.
Does not seem right about the infant price. Have travelled before with an infant, and only paid a fraction of the price. Suggest you ring them if in any doubt.
Sorry don't have as much up to date information. Orlando is really great, but you have to plan. Sounds like a lot of effort I know, but I promise if you plan early you will save money, get best accommodation, and waste less time in line at the parks.

usher1890

Thanks, I've seen some houses that say based on 8 sharing but we will only have 4. I think I need to ring around different places

Rashers72

usher1890 wrote: »

Thanks, I've seen some houses that say based on 8 sharing but we will only have 4. I think I need to ring around different places

I have only ever rented the house, regardless of how many stayed there. I always travelled as a family of 4 and rented a 3-4 bed.

tink2

You could also try renting a condo if houses seem expensive, most of them are the square footage of a house! I stayed in one the last two times and found it great. The one I stayed in was Vista Cay on universal boulevard or there is one called Floridays that has water park style pool. The advantage to this is the kids meet others to play with on your rest days! I always got good rates through Golden Holidays a UK company...I'm sure there are condos too near Disney if you are set on staying there!

billy few mates

I'm in the States at the moment and one thing to be aware of is the exchange rate is a real killer and not likely to improve anytime soon. I've been here many times and eating out and shopping were always great value, not any more. Any time we'd been here before we'd hit the outlet malls and load up with bargains, there's just no point now, you could get the same stuff at home for a similar price and cheaper in a lot of cases. As for eating out? For a family of four you're going to be looking at about $80 for breakfast and about $120 to $150 for dinner, $5 for a bottle of lite beer and the bill when it comes "helpfully calculates" the 20% tip they expect you to give, it all adds up to make for an expensive holiday.
Then you have to start thinking about entrance fees to the theme park which can add another $250 per day for a family of four. The only thing that is cheap is petrol, I can fill up this rental car for $20.

usher1890

billy few mates wrote: »

I'm in the States at the moment and one thing to be aware of is the exchange rate is a real killer and not likely to improve anytime soon. I've been here many times and eating out and shopping were always great value, not any more. Any time we'd been here before we'd hit the outlet malls and load up with bargains, there's just no point now, you could get the same stuff at home for a similar price and cheaper in a lot of cases. As for eating out? For a family of four you're going to be looking at about $80 for breakfast and about $120 to $150 for dinner, $5 for a bottle of lite beer and the bill when it comes "helpfully calculates" the 20% tip they expect you to give, it all adds up to make for an expensive holiday.
Then you have to start thinking about entrance fees to the theme park which can add another $250 per day for a family of four. The only thing that is cheap is petrol, I can fill up this rental car for $20.

Yes I am aware of that. I've been to LA before and it was great then but its been like that a while now. I will say though that I don't intend to eat out much. I eat a lot in relation to training and with what I would need to eat it wouldn't be worth going!

TimHorton

Your looking at 6 to 8 Grand to "do it" properly , I have been 3 times the last being Jan this year.