DLP veterans go BIG for our first WDW trip - 34 days of park time

[wycombedad]

Hi everyone, I'm very excited to be here as this forum has already become a great resource to us in planning our trip of a lifetime next spring.

A bit about us
We're a family of 5, DS1's about to turn 18, DD 16 and DS2 10. We've been offered the very generous option of staying in a friend's Florida villa for as long as we want next year, and so we thought we'd make the most of it as we've never been able to afford the WDW experience before. I went as a 12 year old kid and still treasure the memories.

We are however, complete Disney fanatics. We've clocked up over 50 days at Disneyland Paris as a family, visiting pretty much every year since our two eldest were at an age we thought it was worth it .

Our secret advantage
Part of the reason we could always afford DLP also answers the question some of you might be asking about how the heck we can also take our kids to Florida for so long - we home educate our three kids, so one of the big bonuses has always been the ability to take holidays out of season.
In fact that's how we've been able to clock up so many DLP days - we've only ever been in January, February and occasionally March. The double joy of trips like that is super low crowds, but also amazing prices.
Our first ever trip to DLP, staying at Santa Fe, for three days (our only 3 day trip, we made all of them four or five from then on) was only about £400 including Eurostar. Yes, that's for all of us.
We upgraded to the delightful Sequoia lodge for several years, again still rarely paying more than £500 - two of those included dining! We got an amazing deal on Newport Bay one year, and had Disney in the snow, which was magical. We then peaked with a single trip including the Disneyland Hotel when my wife was pregnant with our third - so she didn't have to walk far.
Since then it's been Davy Crockett's cabins for us all the way. We love taking the euro tunnel and driving ourselves, and they seem to have bobby bargain sales every year.
We took three years off during all the huge renovations and park upgrades as lots of that closed our favourite rides in the time we go. But got back there last year and loved it as much as ever and are so excited about the upcoming developments now it's properly in Disney's hand's.
That trip was quite traumatic though, it was the finale to a mini tour around a few European countries, and my youngest's appendix burst while we were in the middle of nowhere in Holland. Amazingly, with incredible care from a small hospital there, and keyhole surgery, he was out in three days and approved to still go to Disney! Disney were incredible, I tear up even thinking about it. Not only did we get passes to skip waiting in queues for the whole family (as he was wheelchair bound the whole time which he loved by the end) but they upgraded our rooms to be near the car park and gave each of the kids 25 euros to buy a big teddy bear each. See, even DLP cast members can be something special.
(I was going to post a then and now picture here but it seems I'm not allowed yet).

So firstly, if you have any questions about low season visits to DLP, fire away.


And now, Florida and Disney WORLD...
But now, we have an entirely different proposition. A little more than a month in central Florida. We're actually in the States for 7 weeks, we're going to fly into Miami mid February, do a few days visiting it, the Keys, and drive up via the Everglades. Then after leaving bags at the villa, head over to New Orleans to have a long weekend there and catch Family Gras - wifey and I have always wanted to see the place.
And at the tail end of the trip we're doing an east coast drive, visiting some friends on the way up to finish with three days in New York before we fly home from there.

But right in the middle is 34 days of park focused time.
The plan is to get the 21 day Disney tickets, the 14 day Universal tickets, and also the 14 day Seaworld/Busch/Aquatica passes. The last two will be used over the same period.
Obviously that gives us lots of time for rest days, we don't plan to use ALL of them. Although we'll probably do an initial five days of early morning visits to get a day in each park under our belts, and then decide how we want to go from there.
I've subscribed to the Touringplans service which gives you optimised plans on how to make the most of each day, although it's a bit more focused on if you only have one or two days in a park. However our time there covers the busy spring break time so I figured it'd be worth it.

We're hiring a car for the whole time (ouch, that adds up) - but trying for something a bit cunning to save money on that, which is a big part of the cost is the one-way fee it'll be to drop the car off in New York. However, when we are doing that part, which is the first week of April, there are always 'Florida drive out' deals which scrap the one way charge and drop prices, as they want to get the Snowbird cars back up north. So we've hired the car till the 1st April and will make use of those deals when they appear nearer the time.

We're staying to the west of the parks, in Winter Haven. We know it'll mean a busy commute to the parks but it's a free villa, we can't be picky. (Villa is on one of the lakes, and has a pool, and a boat, seriously, we're so lucky). Any advice on that area would be very welcome. (Ironically Legoland is the only park we don't want to do as we visit the one here scores of times as Merlin Pass holders.)

So, there you have it. Probably a once in a lifetime trip so we want to make the absolutely most of it. I'd love any advice or tips you'd have for any of it. I'm a big planner so already have 8 spreadsheets of budgets, ideas and schedules on the go! Part of the fun, right?

Looking forward to getting to know you all better,
Simon

[candycat75]

Hi and welcome

[wycombedad]

Thank you!

[a11mark]

Welcome to The Dibb, I hope you have a magical time on your trip. Sounds fun

[DiszeeBelle]

Welcome! We too are DLP veterans and love to self drive there. We are going in a few days. We have finally been able to book Florida for July and can't wait but it is daunting compared to DLP. Wish we could've booked a longer trip but I'm grateful for getting there since I've been wanting to go since I was about 5! Have fun!

[pooh's gal]

Hi and welcome. Wow! that sounds like one heck of a trip. Hope you have a fantastic trip and that everything goes well. Please stay on the board here so that we can live the trip with you

[wycombedad]

Thanks everybody. We're so excited! I'm having such fun planning every little thing, although I know those plans will probably go to pieces once we get there.
I've just learnt about the whole 'throwaway booking' trick which I think could be great as we were going to buy magic bands anyway and so with two days parking and five magic bands we're $45 even without the fact we can book at 60 days.
Where's the best place in the forum to post about how plans are coming together and get feedback from those more experienced than us?