Newby but not a newby

[Bigkitty266]

Hello

I class myself as a newby as it has been 14 years since we went as a family of five back in 2009.

I am now a single mum with four children (33,29,25 &13).

I joined this group back in 2008 as we planned (and did) travel in 2009 for an amazing 14 day holiday, back then there was myself, my husband and three of the said four children. We also planned and booked to go back in 2012 for our 40th birthday celebration however my husband passed away in late 2011 so after a lot of thought we cancelled the holiday.

My youngest came along in 2010 and is now 12 nearly 13 he know we went on the holiday in 2009 and has wished (and moaned a lot) about me taking him. My daughter took him to Disneyland Paris in January this year for two days and he hasn't stopped talking it about it since.

I am now 51 and the first three children have all left home two of them have children of there own. We do go on holiday every year with the exception of the "Covid" years and have always travelled to Paphos in Cyprus as this is where me and my husband married and where i continued to go as i felt safe there on my own with my family. However me son recently said to me as he was going to Disneyland Paris "This is the first time i have been abroad that hasn't been Cyprus" He wasn't moaning in anyway simply stating a fact.

I was diagnosed with having a rare eye cancer in 2015 that but things into perspective, things were very scary at the beginning however 7 years on its in remission so all good.

Each year i have thought about going back to Florida but each time its the money and to be honest still is but i have come to think if i leave going away this year i could possibly afford to go next year plus when you get to 51 you kinda of think why not "you only live once"

So basically i will be starting all over and i am sure things have changed a lot in the past 13/14 years so it will be like starting all over again.



I will have lot and lot and lot and lots of questions as time goes on.


Here goes for my first question...

Back in 2009 we booked everything separately = Flights, Villa, Car, tickets and spends and we did get some amazing deals and offers mainly from tips on this site.

So question is ...

Is it still more affordable to book things separately rather than a package ?


So excited (least i think i am )

[mintybadger]

Hi Catherine. Welcome back. I’ve never booked a package so can’t comment. Will it just be the 2 of you this time? Are you planning on Universal and Disney or just disney?
If it’s just 2 if you and you’re just planning on staying in orlando. I probable wouldn’t do a villa and you might not need car hire either.

[EssexSue]

Welcome back Catherine.

[Bigkitty266]

Yes just the two of us and yes we wouldn't need to do it as "Big" as we did back in 2009. Also not sure about the driving it was scary as a passenger when my husband did the driving its something i will have to look at.

i do want to do Disney, Universal and Busch to be honest, but would need to look at how to get around x

[mintybadger]

Originally Posted by Bigkitty266

Yes just the two of us and yes we wouldn't need to do it as "Big" as we did back in 2009. Also not sure about the driving it was scary as a passenger when my husband did the driving its something i will have to look at.

i do want to do Disney, Universal and Busch to be honest, but would need to look at how to get around x

See more...

Busch would be the tricky one without car but not having a car will save you money. Car hire and parking really adds up. I’d stay onsite at Disney and Universal. Uber is good for trips when you don’t have a car but think getting to busch would be expensive

I booked my universal hotel via topcashback on expedia. If you stay at Royal Pacific, Hard Rock or Portofino you get express pass, really useful during busy times but Cabana Bay looks like a cool place to stay.

No real benefit to staying in Disney Hotels now except obviously the transport to the parks.

[Picalily]

There is a free shuttle to Busch gatdens, leaving from quite a few pick up points in Orlando, so easily doable. Takes just over an hour in a coach with toilet.

[simon]

Hello and welcome back to the Dibb , enjoy your planning .👍

[Carrotcruncher]

Welcome back

[babbymint]

Welcome back - sounds like you have the makings of a great holiday looming.
As others have said, I would look to book onsite - Disney may push out some offers soon for next year, which may or may not include some elements of dining, but will negate the need for hiring a car. That said, uber/lyft is very easy and pretty cheap to use too.
Some of the universal hotels are quite reasonable and offer transport to their parks and are worth looking at.
There is a free shuttle to Busch too (buschgardens/tampa/park-...uttle-service/) which may be worth considering.

[lovinit]

I would definitely research tailoring your own package and booking separately. If you are a nervous driver, Uber and Lyft would be an ideal compromise.
Doing Disney, Universal and Busch is a lot in one holiday. Maybe do universal or Disney plus Seaworld/ Busch. Wait for Black Friday deals.