Is a 'bargain' trip even possible?

[Ellibop]

Hi,

We've got our 3rd Florida trip coming up this Summer - our usual plan is staying onsite at Disney with free dining and then between 2-5 days staying onsite at Universal. This year we're skipping Universal though due to attempting to reduce costs!

We completely love Florida, and our plan is always to aim to go every 2 years (even though we'd happily go every year if money wasn't a consideration). However, I'm now struggling to find anywhere else we really want to go to on the 'off' years - European holidays just don't hold the same attraction any more, and actually seem to be getting increasingly expensive anyway, and are starting to seem like a waste of money.

We pay around £2000 per person for our family of 3 for 2 weeks in Florida, all in including food, park tickets, spending money etc which compared to European holidays now, isn't too bad I don't think when you look at what you get.

Now my question is, would it be possible to get a 'cheaper' Florida holiday for our off years inbetween the Disney trips? We're missing Universal this year, so I'm thinking if I could manage a 2 week stay next year to include Universal but not Disney, how much can I expect to pay? If I can get something for around £4500 in August it might be an option! (Obvs I haven't mentioned any of this to DH, but if I can get some decent prices I'm sure I could persuade him). Was also thinking of including MNSSHP to get a little bit of Disney in. But am I dreaming re the price..? Previously I DIY but is anyone even offering 2020 prices/packages yet? Any help/advice gratefully received!

[Smilesonfaces]

If you are going in school holidays for £6k for 3 of you and this includes absolutely everything you sound like you are already doing quite well to me.
We went on a bargain trip in 2017 and just bought the 3 Park 14 day Seaworld ticket It was only £90 each and we used it for 6 entrances. We also did MNSSHP. Maybe you could make it cheaper missing Disney and Universal all together and have a villa holiday and visit other places in Orlando you haven’t seen before.

[LLamb]

We did full on Disney last year so just doing Universal this year.
May half term hols flying lgw-fll. Few days at the beach then 3 nights cabana bay, 1 night rpr.
Then a week in an apartment at Windsor hills.
2a2c (5&2) so only three park tickets.
All hotels, car, tickets etc is £3846. Not sure about how much more you would need to pay for August.

Booked the flydrive with BA last September, then used some Tesco vouchers and Avios to save a bit on the rest.
Booked cabana bay hotel only with virgin to save on the parking fee.
It can be done

[Procrastinator]

Yes, but you have to think of it as a cheapy and not try to do everything at the perfect time.

So we are doing a more full on hol this August, but have then lined up a cheapy for 10 days over feb half term. Lucked out with direct flights for £250pp, but no luggage or seats. But that is fine. Villa and car (after sharing a bit of cost with other family who are also coming) is £1,050 for the 4 of us. We are going to upgrade our universal and se world tickets on the aug trip to AP. That will cost maybe £300-£400. Then we wont do disney.

So for £2,350-£2,450 we will have got flights, villa, car and tickets. If we dont go nuts on spending we should easily come in only a bit over £3k all in.

If you want to do it in Aug, flights will never get that cheap, but you might get some indirects for £500 or bit less. Then only do disney 1 year, and get AP on other parks. Visit last 2 weeks of Aug in first year. Then first 2 in second year to use the AP. The second trip could be a lot cheaper as you spend so little on park tickets.

[sassysar]

We have just done for 4 adults ( 2 older teens ) flights £1600 one stops with virgin to Miami
11 night Caribbean cruise food and non alcoholic drink included £3000
Some points cashed in for 3 nights holiday inns which would be about £250 English max .
A couple of one night car hires £100
So a touch over 1200 each
All in Xmas school holidays but they missed one day in January on return

[BevS97]

This year we got indirect flights for £300 each (July/August)

You can pay what you want for accommodation. From £500 at the Clarion Inn I drive. Upto whatever.

Universal park tickets are £262/each.

So you could have the basics of a holiday for £2200.

Saying that our flights were very cheap. But there do seem to be bargains most years if you are lucky. You can definitely pay under £500 which would take your total up to £2800

You might want to add a car and you need to budget for some spends obviously but it can definitely be done on the cheap. The next question is how cheap do you want. And would you be happy with what that gets you.

[Ellibop]

Ooh so it's not completely unachievable then?!

We really love the ease of staying onsite and having the dining plan, and visiting parks most days or relaxing at the (amazing!) resort, so I'll need to make sure we don't omit all the things that we actually enjoy about an Orlando holiday. But perhaps if I can find us a comparable off-site resort with good pool area, only buy one set of park tickets (eg just Universal) and fly indirect, maybe it's doable...?! Need to avoid spending a fortune on food, snacks and drinks too. We're so used to getting them in the parks included on the plan.


Lots to think about - I think some research is required! Thanks everyone. Need to look into AP options too...

[Mel49]

Definitely achievable when you don't stay onsite or visit Disney as tickets alone save you £1200 and there are plenty of things outwith the bubble to have a fantastic holiday.
Over the years we've stayed in hotels, timeshare, villas and once onsite (no DDP), some years we visited all the parks, some years just DIsney, some just Universal, some few days at Disney and others just outwith the parks. They were all different and kids at various ages but we enjoyed them all. Have a look on the Beyond the Park Section and you will see there are plenty of things you can do that are cheaper but fun in the Orlando area or even branch out and visit other parts of Florida.

[duchy]

We did an everything (almost) trip last year , stayed at the Boardwalk then moved to a villa then did a cruise and also got married.
This year is showing my husband you can do Florida without spending a bomb.
I think the trick is not to view it as a "downgrade" or second best to doing a Disney holiday but view it as an entirely different type of holiday as if I Drive was nowhere near Disney geographically so you aren't playing the comparison game.
We are staying on I Drive have Seaworld, Aquatica and Busch Garens with the Discovery Cove add on and have a couple of nights booked in Tampa. After that we are going to southern Florida for some beach time.
It's just a different sort of holiday, less crowded, no need to prebook meals or make touring plans . Lots of good food choices on I Drive at far from Disney prices , I'm really looking forward to it . It'll be far more relaxing as each day can be as busy or relaxed as we choose . I do find on site to be a bit relentless at times !
There's so much more to Florida than just Disney !

[bigkid2014]

We are doing a week October half term on I Drive. Purchased Discovery Cove non dolphin swim tickets (4 of us) £127 each. Means we will do DC, Aquatica and Seaworld and tootle up and down I Drive. May have a stroll through City Walk at Universal.