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Trip Planning Florida Florida Holiday Planning Questions, Suggestions and Tips.

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Old 25 Oct 20, 12:46 PM  
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Sandy_Plankton
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Thinking about starting to plan for 2022 and feel totally overwhelmed!

Hello all!

In the hope that the world will be largely back to normal in 2022 I’m starting to think about maybe going to Florida in 2022. I’ve been reading around here, and various blogs and things, and I feel completely overwhelmed by it all.

There are 3 of us: me, my husband and my daughter, who will be turning 6 in June 2022. None of us have ever been to Florida or any Disney parks before.

I think we would be looking to go either around Easter, or at the beginning of the Scottish school summer holidays at the start of July (although I worry about the heat at that time!). Given the age of my daughter I think we would be focusing on Disney.

Neither of us can drive, so we would not be able to rent a car. Does it make sense for us to stay in Disney property in the case? I know offsite is cheaper, which appeals, but I have no idea how to narrow the options down to places that would be manageable without a car!

How long should we go for? My husband is a bit dubious about the whole idea and is absolutely unwilling to go for two weeks - he thinks that 10 nights is his limit. Is that enough time?

I also have no idea when I might be able to start looking for 2022 - when are those holidays usually released? What’s the situation with free dining - when is that usually available(assuming it ever comes back!)

Should we book everything separately, or look at packages? And where do we look?

Basically, as should be apparent, I haven't got a clue, and we need to budget and save so I need to have some idea of what I’m doing!

So grateful for any advice about what to start with first!
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Old 25 Oct 20, 01:24 PM  
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Floridadreams
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I was a newbie planning our trip for February this year (so lucky we got there!) and felt exactly like you! Firstly, you have plenty of time - don’t panic!
To answer some of your specifics, we stayed offsite and did not hire a car. We used Uber everywhere and it was great - and I think worked out cheaper! Next, what is it that makes your DH say 10 nights is his max? Is he thinking 10 days in parks is all he can do? You will need rest days - pool days, or you can go to a water park, go to Disney Springs (shopping and restaurants) or explore other things in Orlando. So if you look at it that way then you might be able to stretch him to 14 days. You will not be able to do 10 days solid in parks - we tried and we had an 11 and 15 year old! We needed lazier days.
So in terms of budgeting, at this stage the best thing to do is look at prices to go the same time in 2021 then add a bit! That’s what I did. That way you can look at the price of packages and booking separately. We concentrated our search on International Drive and Buena Vista areas as I quickly realised the accommodation that worked for us onsite was out of our price bracket. Decide what you want - so do you need a pool, do you want a separate bedroom or all together, do you want self-catering facilities (can be helpful to bring cost down - we did, but didn’t cook! That said, it was useful for quick and cheap breakfasts), do you want a shuttle or happy to Uber? I suppose the same things you’d go through for a normal holiday. I then had a shortlist of a few places that worked for us and looked for them when it came to booking. I think if you’re doing things separately flights normally come on stream 11months beforehand, so you could also now look at flights for 2021 and base your budget on that.
I’d also recommend Attraction Tickets to get ticket prices and they also do Disney packages so you could talk to them about when the packages for there would be available. They are really helpful.
In terms of if 10 days/14 days or whatever is enough time...there is never enough time to do everything! But, if you are just concentrating on Disney you should be ok with that.
In terms of a food/spending budget, the Disney site has all of the restaurants and menus on there so you could have a look at them to give you an idea. Remember, you can grab cereal, pastries etc much cheaper to have in your room for breakfast and snacks to take into the park if you want. You can also eat offsite much cheaper than at the parks - we often grabbed dinner after our park day.
Once you have a rough budget and some decisions made about where you’d like to stay, then you can turn your attention to the parks - rides, specific restaurants you might want to book, etc.
You will love it - as will your DH (mine was dubious but absolutely had a ball!)

Edited at 01:38 PM.
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Old 25 Oct 20, 02:04 PM  
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disney_daddy
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Just to answer a few questions If you only intend on doing Disney and cant drive and your budget allows then staying in the Disney bubble is a no brainer, you cant beat the proximity to the parks and indeed the transport options available to you including shuttles to and from the airport. The free DDP is usually released in April for the following year so April 2021 is when you should be able to book for 2022 however Easter holiday dates are usually blanked out as its the 2nd most popular time to go to Disney world next to Christmas. ohh and if your husband is worried he will be bored over 14days he wont be the parks are huge with loads to do and see, I have been 3 times for 14 nights and they are many things I still haven't done yet but want to.
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Old 25 Oct 20, 02:19 PM  
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rjhsteel
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Also a great idea to watch some vlogs on YouTube.
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Old 25 Oct 20, 02:19 PM  
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Rebecca_
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As you won't be driving over there I would definitely stay onsite if its within your budget. I've been several times before & stayed both onsite and offsite - I won't drive in the USA and my partner can't drive so onsite is so much more convenient for us when doing Disney. If you take in to account the cost of an Uber to and from the parks each day an offsite hotel may not end up that much cheaper. Plus you get free transport to & from the airport, extra magic hours ability to pop back to your hotel for a couple of hours in the middle of the day for a rest.

If you're planning on doing only Disney then I think 10 days is doable, although I would personally want to go for as long a trip as I could. With 4 parks, 2 water parks & Disney Springs there is definitely enough to keep you busy for 14 nights. I've never been at Easter or in July but I believe both are busy times and July is very hot, humid and rainy.

I find the best and cheapest way is to generally book hotel and tickets through Disney direct and then book flights directly through the airline at 11 months when they're released. We tend to fly with Virgin but for Sept 2021 I've just booked with BA. I added 1 night at an airport hotel to make it a package and so have only had to pay a deposit as opposed to the full price of the flights.
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Old 25 Oct 20, 02:21 PM  
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Sandy_Plankton
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Thanks all.

I guess the thinking behind the 14 days is that we wouldn’t usually go on holiday for that long - usually a week to ten days away from home is enough for us and we’re fed up of being away from home and glad to be back. He’s always been of the view that it’s better to come home wishing you’d been away longer than find a holiday goes on too long. Also I would think that two weeks all together in a small hotel room might just be too long for us!

Disney property does appeal - I figure if we end up going in July it will be really hot and we will want start out early in the morning and go back to the hotel for a break in the middle of the day when the heat is worst - it seems like this would be easiest if we were on property. It just seems sooo expensive!

Edited at 02:43 PM.
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Old 25 Oct 20, 02:23 PM  
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disney332
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When you factor in the cost of car hire and parking, an onsite stay with free transport and free dining if offered, can be cheaper.

Have fun

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Old 25 Oct 20, 02:44 PM  
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Sandy_Plankton
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What about the hotels like the Swan and Dolphin that are kind of Disney-adjacent iyswim? They have some but not all of the perks is that right?
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Old 25 Oct 20, 03:01 PM  
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Kat11
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Originally Posted by Sandy_Plankton View Post
What about the hotels like the Swan and Dolphin that are kind of Disney-adjacent iyswim? They have some but not all of the perks is that right?
Yes and there are also associated hotels at Disney Springs that have most of the on-site perks, transport, fastpass and early dinning reservations, but without the (not so) expensive prices.

With them also being walkable to Disney springs there are lots of opportunities to eat at reasonable prices.

Although, if the Dinning plan is released for 2022 I’d definitely be trying to stay in an on-site hotel to get that perk if you can afford it.

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Old 25 Oct 20, 03:56 PM  
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Sandy_Plankton
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Probably best to just keep saving and not give it too much more thought for a bit and see if free dining returns I guess!
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