advice on florida/disney in october would be much appreciated

[Danielle24]

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[Guest]

Originally Posted by grottyrotty

Welcome to the Dibb

Prepare to find hours passing without you noticing

It all depends on you and your family. Our 1st trip was a package with Virgin in a hotel off site, and the kids were 5 & 7 yrs old.

Lovely holiday, but we didn't like all being in one room, and DH having to amuse the kids whilst I did some washing

2nd time we went, I did a DIY in a villa for 3 weeks - this was an absolutely fantastic holiday. But not so good if you don't want to drive (this was no problem to us).

3rd time, it was another package with TCD (before taken over by Virgin) and it was the worst holiday ever! We had an AOA villa that was the pits :angry:

So, we decided we'd done Disney to death and would not be returning

Fast forward to 2015. It was our silver wedding anniversary. We decided it was 9 year since we'd visited The Mouse, and wanted to go back. Our children were 21 and 23 We did another DIY - booking a Dibb villa (owen5558) on Highlands Reserve.

We also had a small inheritance for this holiday and wanted it to be the best ever. So we booked a car with COTD (and wished we'd done this on every visit! ).

And what a fab holiday that was too So much so that we have booked the villa again for this year. We loved the villa so much that we booked our holiday around the villa availability I'm even giving up wine to book a car through COTD again

So, as I say... what you book and who you book with depends entirely on your family. But the Dibb is a fab place to start

Deb

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Can i ask who you booked your car through please?

[Mexy02]

hi and welcome

Do you want a villa or would you prefer a condo which has the benefits of a fully equipped apartment but hotel facilities? Or onsite at Disney or universal or a split stay ? Are you driving?
If you want to price up a package there are lots of offers around especially as it looks like you are going in term time. Packages are not always dearer than doing it diy and take out some of the stress. Virgin, travel city direct, Thomson, Thomas cook , ocean Florida are all good agents.
Before you decide take a look at the tickets and parks you fancy visiting. This is a massive chunk of your holiday and may factor where you want to stay, restaurants around you etc . Location is A top priority especially if you are not driving. Villas often need a car . If you want diy have you thought where to fly from and to and do you want to do and indirect or direct flight.
Sitting down and writing down what your needs are first often helps you to decide what's best for your family because a Florida holiday can be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be and no holiday will be the same. X

[Guest]

thanks for the info much appreciated, i think sharing a hotel room for 2 weeks would be a bit to much and we would need our chill out space, i think a condo maybe a very good idea,is t better to leave it late or book well in advance and are they any offers on like free dining etc?

[Danielle24]

Originally Posted by sarahn

thanks for the info much appreciated, i think sharing a hotel room for 2 weeks would be a bit to much and we would need our chill out space, i think a condo maybe a very good idea,is t better to leave it late or book well in advance and are they any offers on like free dining etc?

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Is it this year you are looking to go? Onsite in more than one room is expensive. There are lots of lovely condo resorts.we stayed in Floridays last year in a 3 bed, they also do 2 beds. There's Sheraton vistana resorts, blue heron beach, blue tree resort. Lots of options. We chose townhouse with hot tub at Regal Oak with a jacuzzi out back this year to be near Disney, walking distance to restaurants, old town etc. Like yourself we couldn't manage a whole holiday in one room.

[Mexy02]

Free dining normally released in April but it will be for 2018 as 2017 booking has now passed and Disney do offer 1 bed options. Art of animation is one Resort you may enjoy.
Lots of family condos like lake Buena vista spa resort, bahama bay etc they have 2 and 3 bed options .if you fancy that post a thread for suggestions for family friendly condos and people will suggest some more for you. You can book these direct , Expedia etc or through an agent as a package . Start doing dummy bookings to give you an idea of prices , then price up a diy , check all options but remember prices change daily especially flights . Again if you fancy flights post a thread on flight prices October to see what prices people have paid to get an idea what's a bargain and what isn't . Most places are room only but some offer free breakfast. It's a minefield but you can whittle it down to what you would like . There are bargains all the time , but booking early can be an advantage as well as booking late.
Don't forget to factor in estas, insurance, parking at Disney and universal, food costs including character meals etc ( which you can book if you stay offsite from 6 months before ) as it all adds to the holiday cost . Fir a car you will require fully comp insurance and the agents who offer free cars don't offer the fully comp so you need to add that or book a car yourself. X

[Guest]

thanks for the info, i am trying to plough my way through it all, it is very complicated to a novice