Booking Tips and Trick

[DisneyLover96]

Hello All!

I'm new here and I'm just looking for some tips and tricks when it comes to planning a trip to Florida.

What are some of the best agencies to book through and if you usually do it individually, what are some of the bets cost effective airlines and hotel booking sites you guys use?

Would you recommend onsite or off site? and why?

I'm not looking to go until 2022 however some pointers in where to begin would be great.

Thank You in Advance guys!

[berlin]

I cannot recommend agencies as we have always gone independently. For us being offsite was preferred , i.e. a villa, just to have a break away from the crowds and have a rest day by and in the pool. I'm sure there are many advantages to being onsite that other will help you out with.

[DisneyLover96]

Thank you! I was swaying more towards offsite so that we could just relax on a few down days, and being able to explore other parts of Orlando. The more research I'm doing the tougher it becomes to make a decision

[mick]

Welcome to the DIBB

You might get a more focused response if you could let us have your party size and ages. Assume you might want to do theme park overload.

One initial tip if you plan to hire a car is to go through a UK broker site to ensure you get the appropriate insurances included. Going via a USA site probably won't. I can pad this out if you want.

I'll follow this post with my regular "why a villa" standard response.

Mick

[mick]

Why villa over hotel?

Apologies for a list but as I’ve responded to this question a few times it’s a bit easier for me to summarise. Would like to clarify this list though by saying that we’re both 70+ and have visited over 35 times but haven’t been to a park since 2010. Also there’s only two of us in a 4 bed villa. Our needs and holiday plans are highly unlikely to be typical of other Dibbers.

1. Park at your front door not a mile away.
2. Lots of space to spread out
3. Own private pool within 20’ of lounge and use it any time of day.
4. Own spa to watch the sun rise and set.
5. Pop back inside any time for drinks – hot or cold.
6. Spare bedroom to store shopping.
7. Spare bedroom for family occasionally joining us (after notifying owner obviously).
8. Choice of bathrooms if one engaged – including one on the pool deck.
9. Eat meals and snacks whenever you like prepared in the full kitchen.
10. Listen to your own music without offending fellow guests and neighbours.
11. Watch TV in the lounge or bedroom (s).
12. Separate walk in shower in the master bathroom plus a large tub.
13. Ability to keep on top of the clothes washing.
14. The lanai at the villa we use allows shade and sunbathing easily.
15. Freedom of access without wondering if housekeeping are there or have been.

Mick

[DisneyLover96]

Originally Posted by mick

Why villa over hotel?

Apologies for a list but as I’ve responded to this question a few times it’s a bit easier for me to summarise. Would like to clarify this list though by saying that we’re both 70+ and have visited over 35 times but haven’t been to a park since 2010. Also there’s only two of us in a 4 bed villa. Our needs and holiday plans are highly unlikely to be typical of other Dibbers.

1. Park at your front door not a mile away.
2. Lots of space to spread out
3. Own private pool within 20’ of lounge and use it any time of day.
4. Own spa to watch the sun rise and set.
5. Pop back inside any time for drinks – hot or cold.
6. Spare bedroom to store shopping.
7. Spare bedroom for family occasionally joining us (after notifying owner obviously).
8. Choice of bathrooms if one engaged – including one on the pool deck.
9. Eat meals and snacks whenever you like prepared in the full kitchen.
10. Listen to your own music without offending fellow guests and neighbours.
11. Watch TV in the lounge or bedroom (s).
12. Separate walk in shower in the master bathroom plus a large tub.
13. Ability to keep on top of the clothes washing.
14. The lanai at the villa we use allows shade and sunbathing easily.
15. Freedom of access without wondering if housekeeping are there or have been.

Mick

See more...

Thank you for that Mick, its a very well compiled list and a villa wasn't something that we had actually thought about.

With villa location is it recommended to hire a car or can you do it without.

As per your other response we will both be 25 and 26, with a party size of 2. I think we are quite reluctant to hire a car as we know the parking at the parks is quite high and we plan to do a lot of the theme parks (we also do enjoy a cocktail or 2 at the end of the night)

Thank you again, it's definitely another form of accommodation to consider!

[mick]

Originally Posted by DisneyLover96

Thank you for that Mick, its a very well compiled list and a villa wasn't something that we had actually thought about.

With villa location is it recommended to hire a car or can you do it without.

As per your other response we will both be 25 and 26, with a party size of 2. I think we are quite reluctant to hire a car as we know the parking at the parks is quite high and we plan to do a lot of the theme parks (we also do enjoy a cocktail or 2 at the end of the night)

Thank you again, it's definitely another form of accommodation to consider!

See more...

Before I reply I should clarify that in our 35+ trips we've hired a car every time and I've probably driven over 50,000 miles as we like to see more of the 65,700 square miles that Florida offers.

However after 16 years on here I willingly admit that this is only my opinion and not a fact. Scores of Dibbers get by perfectly well using Uber even in a villa.

If you're staying on site and only making an occasional trip to the mall or Walmart then Uber is almost certainly the way to go.

However I will follow with another saved response that I've used on here before. Absolutely no rights or wrongs on this

Mick

[mick]

As promised

We are very far from being typical DIBB visitors now. Haven’t been to any parks since 2010 (although we certainly had our share in the years before that). We love the 47 square miles of Disney but now prefer to explore the other 65,700 square miles that Florida has to offer. Also we’ve never stayed on site.

I should admit immediately to the fact that what I know about Uber or Lyft could be written in size 72 font on the back of a postage stamp. I’m also fully aware that dozens and maybe hundreds of Dibbers use them (and other taxi services, shuttles and public transport) completely successfully and would never dream of hiring a car. I would also add that, like maybe 90% of Dibbers who always hire a car, I totally agree that Uber/Lyft will work perfectly well and far more economical if you’re on-site and only want to make a couple of trips to the malls and Walmart.

However a typical day for us in a villa might be :-

Popping out for breakfast and returning to the villa for a couple of hours reading, sun bathing and swimming.

Around mid-day deciding we'd like to go to the Mall at Millennia for a bit of shopping but whilst we are there realising that we need something from Premium Outlets as well. Then we return to the villa for more chilling.

Early evening our thoughts turn to dinner at Longhorn Rolling Oaks but we think it would be nice to have a stroll round Disney Springs first and maybe then a game of golf at Winterland/Summerland before dinner. After dinner we realise that we need some stuff from the supermarket so we call at a Publix on the way home but sadly they don’t have what we want so we need to go home via Target as well.

Not forgetting spontaneous trips to AMI, Winter Garden, Bok Tower and Winter Park.

I just can't imagine how we'd do our travelling by using taxis or public transport. Quite simply we like to be in complete control of where in Florida’s 65,700 square miles we go and when we go, how long we stay and the ability to change our mind regularly. Apart from which we leave our mobiles on flight mode all holiday and would struggle to communicate with taxi services.

To be honest though we’ve been about 35 times, always hired a car and driven maybe 50,000 miles over there and we’ve never used taxis or public transport so we can’t really give an experienced opinion on the alternatives to car hire – only the reasons in our opinion as to why we always hire.

Others will have equally good and practical alternatives.

Mick

[DisneyLover96]

Originally Posted by CAD

I have stopped both onsite and offsite and both have their pros and cons.

For me, on site slightly wins as I like that I don't have to worry about things like driving, parking, purchases (within Disney) can be sent back to resort, extra magic hours etc.

Having said that however, I do like stopping offsite as I like to eat in the cheaper places and it's good to get away from the Disney bubble.

We were planning to go in 2023 (I hope this is all resolved by then), and there will be six adults and 3 children. Logic would suggest a villa would be more suitable but when we've thought about what things we want from our holiday and factored in parking etc. we felt a disney hotel (within budget) would be more suitable for us.

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Thank you, this is helpful! Where offsite have you stayed and where onsite have you stayed?

We don't have any children so we weren't 100% sure if a Disney Hotel would be worth it for us. There so much to consider

We aren't planning to go until 2022 so we have plenty of time to decide, if this is all resolved, like you said!

[tiggers friend]

We are fully in the sort of boat that Mick describes. Most years now we have the first part of our holiday on the Gulf Coast, favourite spot being Sanibel.

In your case though I would suggest that you firstly consider what type of holiday you want. I suspect that as it is your first visit you will likely want to do the parks. If that is the objective staying on site might suit you better, although you do need to consider if Universal and/or Sea World feature in your plans. Once you have thought this through you can then think about accommodation options and whether you want a car.

In all the years we have been, starting in 1991, we have only stayed on site once and like Mick always had a car.

Hope this helps.