August 2019 club

[Corky]

Originally Posted by derenstar

Yay, can I join? We’re going 24 August - 6 September; hoping to stay 10 nights in a 1 bed villa at OKW 🤞 followed by 3 nights at Portofino Bay club level. I will be celebrating my 40th so very much looking forward to having an absolute blast- Epcot Food and wine festival- here I come!😜

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Celebrating my 40th as well on the 26th

I didn't check food and wine dates when, does that start?

[derenstar]

Originally Posted by Corky

Celebrating my 40th as well on the 26th

I didn't check food and wine dates when, does that start?

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The food and wine festival normally runs from end of August to October/November. They haven’t published dates for next year yet but this year it runs from 30 August - 12 Nov so I expect it’d be similar dates next year.

disneyfoodblog/2018-e...wine-festival/

[mason1]

We’ve booked a villa for 3 weeks (1-22 August), but need to sort flights before confirming timings. First time DH has been ok with me booking before we’ve gone on this year’s holiday 😜. There’s me, DH, DD(13) and DS(11).

[GALE88]

Originally Posted by GezzasGem

Currently heading off the 15th August 2019 for 14 nights at AKL but talking about adding a couple of nights on (before? After? Still not sure! ) at either RPR or Hard Rock - we last went November 2016 and didn't do Universal as DD only 4 at the time, but will be 7 1/2 this time round so talking about it!
Any advice on which Universal resort and whether before or after Disney welcome! 😉👍

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Hello, another August family here! 😀
We’re going hopefully on August 12th. So far I’ve booked 3 nights at HRH followed by 12 nights at POFQ with DDP. There will be the 4 of us, me, DH, DD1 will be 12 and DD2 will be 9.
This is for my (whispers) 40th too although my actual birthday is in February we couldn’t make the dates work then. 👋 to other 40th celebrators 😄
It took me a while to decide which way round to do our split stay, I got a lot of opinions on here as everyone has different ideas and what’s best for one family isn’t for another. The main decider seemed to be whether it was important to see the castle at MK on the first morning or the last evening. For us we had an amazing last night in MK last August so that is what we are going for this time.

Anyone else nervous about getting a good price for flights? I’ve never done DIY before and August is so expensive so I’m hoping I get a good deal. We’re considering flying into Miami a day early and driving up to Orlando the next day as there seem to be good deals with BA on this route.

[derenstar]

Originally Posted by GALE88

Hello, another August family here! 😀
We’re going hopefully on August 12th. So far I’ve booked 3 nights at HRH followed by 12 nights at POFQ with DDP. There will be the 4 of us, me, DH, DD1 will be 12 and DD2 will be 9.
This is for my (whispers) 40th too although my actual birthday is in February we couldn’t make the dates work then. 👋 to other 40th celebrators 😄
It took me a while to decide which way round to do our split stay, I got a lot of opinions on here as everyone has different ideas and what’s best for one family isn’t for another. The main decider seemed to be whether it was important to see the castle at MK on the first morning or the last evening. For us we had an amazing last night in MK last August so that is what we are going for this time.

Anyone else nervous about getting a good price for flights? I’ve never done DIY before and August is so expensive so I’m hoping I get a good deal. We’re considering flying into Miami a day early and driving up to Orlando the next day as there seem to be good deals with BA on this route.

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Hello fellow 40th birthday celebrator! You’re in good company, my actual birthday is in January but like you, we couldn’t make the dates work so we decided I’d have an extended year of celebrations with the trip being the climax!

Re: flights and DIY - it’s dead easy. If you’ve managed to book the hotels you like and presumably the universal tickets yourself, you can definitely do the flights yourself too! Price wise, if you’re flying earlier in August, direct flights can be expensive so you might want to consider going indirect as the savings can be considerable. Prices also drop around about the last 2 weeks of August. Have a look at prices for the same time this year to give you some idea of rough costs. I’ve found flight prices have been relatively static last 2-3 years so could be a good yardstick.

Also, download the Skyscanner app when flights for our dates are released (11 months before date of travel) and set some alerts for your budget. Skyscanner will then do all the work for you and alert you when a fare within your budget comes up. There is also a July/August flight price thread on here where wonderful dibbers post their finds so could be worth subscribing to the 2019 thread when that’s created.

This will be our 11th trip to Florida and we’ve only done a package once. DIY is pretty much the only means I know; I enjoy the planning, researching and organising as well as the flexibility of putting together exactly what suits us but I know some people like to outsource all of that As long as you get the holiday you want in the end, it really doesn’t matter I think. You will be fine, honestly!

[donna252]

We def in the August 2019 club - last 3 weeks but that’s as far as we’ve got!going round and round in circles trying to decide what we want to do, where we want to go, whether to try our first cruise or not. Decisions decisions lol.

[Deano]

So we are able to join this very fine club as of last night.
Around 21nights, maybe more maybe slightly less based on what flights get released. Plan is to travel around 10th August.

So far have booked 14 nights at Coronado Springs from the 17th With QS Dining plan. There was an offer with Quidco this weekend for an extra £25 discount on top of the 4% cash back so decided to go ahead and book that portion of the holiday.
I may look to move this booking to Saratoga Springs where we normally stay if/when it comes available but I also like the idea of staying in the new Tower at CSR which should open next summer.

We then plan to stay for the first 7ish nights at Cabana Bay.

I looked at booking packages with 99% of the well known TA's and based on the costs of the accommodation booking direct their flight prices were stupidly expensive, around £3.5K for direct and £3K for indirect...I don't think so.

So I will chill and wait for flights be released and be all smug that my DIY deal is much better than the packages on offer.

[Jacko5]

Excited to be joining this group (although strictly speaking we are July!) Go 28 July for 18 nights at Emerald Island.

Going to book POR for one night early on to get 60day fast passes and a night near discovery cove so we can make the most of the all inclusive day!

[Scotty0910]

Hi, another August trip planned for me, DH and DS1 (13) - booked 14 nights Caribbean Beach from 14th and paid for upgraded dining plan. It's our first time with the dining plan so it will be fun to see how much weight I can pile on in 2 weeks!

We are planning on booking a night in one of the Universal hotels to get FOL passes but haven't done that yet. Stayed at Royal Pacific Resort for 1 night during 2014 holiday and it was definitely worth it. This will also be our first time without a car so are planning on using Uber for journeys to Universal, shopping etc

[GALE88]

Originally Posted by derenstar

Hello fellow 40th birthday celebrator! You’re in good company, my actual birthday is in January but like you, we couldn’t make the dates work so we decided I’d have an extended year of celebrations with the trip being the climax!

Re: flights and DIY - it’s dead easy. If you’ve managed to book the hotels you like and presumably the universal tickets yourself, you can definitely do the flights yourself too! Price wise, if you’re flying earlier in August, direct flights can be expensive so you might want to consider going indirect as the savings can be considerable. Prices also drop around about the last 2 weeks of August. Have a look at prices for the same time this year to give you some idea of rough costs. I’ve found flight prices have been relatively static last 2-3 years so could be a good yardstick.

Also, download the Skyscanner app when flights for our dates are released (11 months before date of travel) and set some alerts for your budget. Skyscanner will then do all the work for you and alert you when a fare within your budget comes up. There is also a July/August flight price thread on here where wonderful dibbers post their finds so could be worth subscribing to the 2019 thread when that’s created.

This will be our 11th trip to Florida and we’ve only done a package once. DIY is pretty much the only means I know; I enjoy the planning, researching and organising as well as the flexibility of putting together exactly what suits us but I know some people like to outsource all of that As long as you get the holiday you want in the end, it really doesn’t matter I think. You will be fine, honestly!

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Thanks, hopefully it will be OK, I just don't want to pay way over the odds. I'll definitely be on all the August 19 flight threads.

I was off sick from work on Friday so spent a lot of time browsing and planning. (Dangerous! ) I'm now thinking of flying into Tampa and adding a couple of nights at Clearwater or Saint Pete. It seems to make more sense than flying into Miami and staying in the airport hotel. DH just looked a bit perplexed when I mentioned this to him, he is a big fan of being in The Bubble and doesn't feel the need to leave it. I'm sure I can persuade him though!

Anyone else planning some time staying on the coast?