Florida here we come!!!

[french-fancy]

3 star hotel on international drive,buffet breakfast included,free transfers to and from the airport,flying with virgin(the best!) in november,when its christmassy,not too hot and the end of the rain and hurricane season,parks not too busy,£2,699 for 2 adults,2 teens and a child! bargain,don't know why everyone says its expensive,its cheaper than a package deal to greece! located in the middle of all the best parks,with free coaches to and from if needed or i-ride buses that take you everywhere $1 each return! going november again,can't wait!!!

 

[Shazpaz]

3 star hotel on international drive,buffet breakfast included,free transfers to and from the airport,flying with virgin(the best!) in november,when its christmassy,not too hot and the end of the rain and hurricane season,parks not too busy,£2,699 for 2 adults,2 teens and a child! bargain,don't know why everyone says its expensive,its cheaper than a package deal to greece! located in the middle of all the best parks,with free coaches to and from if needed or i-ride buses that take you everywhere $1 each return! going november again,can't wait!!!

I'm going in November too. The problem is most people don't like to take their kids out of school. You can double/treble that price in the school hols. Plus a lot of people don't want to be in the same room as their kids in a hotel, so either want a villa/condo or two hotel rooms...the price then goes up considerably.

I like you got Virgin flights for November...they were £299 pp when I booked them, the are now over £1K pp just for the flight.

People all want different things out of their holiday...I love I Drive, but some people hate it and want a villa in a quite area.

 

[Sez]

I'm going in November too. The problem is most people don't like to take their kids out of school. You can double/treble that price in the school hols. Plus a lot of people don't want to be in the same room as their kids in a hotel, so either want a villa/condo or two hotel rooms...the price then goes up considerably.

I like you got Virgin flights for November...they were £299 pp when I booked them, the are now over £1K pp just for the flight.

People all want different things out of their holiday...I love I Drive, but some people hate it and want a villa in a quite area.

I would have loved to have gone that time of year, but with a son approaching GCSE, and 9 year old daughter and working in a school myself , there was just no way it could be done. Hence the £5k, for the Kissimee villa, flights and car........

Poop!!

 

[french-fancy]

too be honest ive never had a problem taking my kids out of school for 2 weeks,although i wouldn't do it every year or if they were doing important work of course,but the fine thing wouldn't stop me,if they fine you and you pay it within 7 days its only £50 anyway,and even £100 each child is still cheaper than going holiday time,plus i personally think that xmas time in florida is just magical! i have friends who can't go because they work in schools and can't go during term time,its such a shame they they miss out on the best holiday ever because of work i don't have a problem with the room sharing either,we only sleep there anyway,too tired for anything else!!! don't think we've had one day around the hotel pool relaxing either,there's just way too much to do isn't there! looking forward to aquatica this year,and the new harry potter theme park thats finished in 2010 looks fantastic,time to start saving again!

 

[Mrs Depp]

Tell me about it!! I work in a school, so am really tied to school hols. Our Easter trip next year is costing just shy of £5k for the four of us, thats before theme parks and no food (selfcatering!). For that we get our flights, hire car and 3 bed villa, air con, private pool.

We just thought its now or never, so we jumped in!!!! Scary tho!

OMG! That's expensive Sarah!! As you say though, now or never, and prices seem to be going up al the time!

 

[Sez]

OMG! That's expensive Sarah!! As you say though, now or never, and prices seem to be going up al the time!

Truthfully, we shopped around well & truly. I often use the www to book hols etc. Last year we rented a Spanish villa, in August and did it all independently, flights as well. It was great & worked well. However, for this one I could not find the dates we needed anywhere at all. ( I was tied to one departure date, without any flexibility). Finally we visited a local travel agents and she had a hard time coming up with the goods too, but eventually she came through! She even said we didnt have a bad price!! (I have since checked dates a week either side of this break and it seems she wasnt spoofing!!)

We avoided August because of the high humidity & possibilty of hurricanes, on the advice of our American sis-in-law, and I NEVER want to do Xmas away from home, so Easter it had to be. (My only other breaks are just for a week. )

So, as said, we went for it!! Now we are saving like mad, the kids have little jars of "Florida" money they can see growing and we are hoping that the exchange rate will stay good for us!! (Well, there has to be some recompense doesnt there!!!)

Oh, and as an aside, I dont get paid for school breaks so its a double whammy in a way!!!!!:cry:

 

[Shazpaz]

The flight prices were horiffic this school holiday. Obviously in my job I'm searching daily and decided it was out for this year. Then when searching for someone else I spotted the November flights and thought what the heck I'm taking my daughter out of school. I'm taking her out for 17 days!!! I'm gonna speak to the headmistress and ask for school work for her. She can do it on the plane both ways...theres 18hrs she can use wisely. The teacher is aware that I take my daughters schooling very seriously so there should not be a problem...if so tough!! We'll be basking in the Bahamas or on The Tower of Terror in MGM....think a £50 fine would be worth it!!

 

[french-fancy]

we're always home for christmas,usually fly home on the 11th or 12th december,although now the kids are all older it would be nice to be away,its just much dearer!
the first time i took them i was told by someone in the know that if the holiday has an educational element about it that the schools are far more lenient,so,we specified the fact that we were doing the kennedy space centre and epcot (different cultures etc!) the schools were fine,the next time it was for a family wedding,not sure what i'll say this time although it was 3 yrs ago so it could be another family wedding!
also,we always book on line as you get discounts and we book as far in advance as we can,giving us longer to pay for it!

 

[hev]

We went to Florida at Easter this year, we had a great time - you'll love it . We stayed in a villa with a pool and paid extra to have the pool heated, because of the time of year, but we hardly used it as we were getting in too late. Would prefer to stay in Disney next time - saves on the travelling (what a pain). We weren't far from Animal Kingdom but no matter what time we left the villa the traffic was still busy :sigh:. Make sure you take a sat nav (you can hire one from car rental when you get there) I am really good at finding my way round but the sign posting in US isn't like ours and we kept getting lost. You will have a great time, as for tickets there are loads of sites try www.thedibb.co.uk and they will advise you and here's loads of help off other travellers going to Florida. If you want to eat mainly of a night in Disney you need to book in advance - we didn't and regretted it, info is on the site above. Happy planning .

 

[Sez]

We went to Florida at Easter this year, we had a great time - you'll love it . We stayed in a villa with a pool and paid extra to have the pool heated, because of the time of year, but we hardly used it as we were getting in too late. Would prefer to stay in Disney next time - saves on the travelling (what a pain). We weren't far from Animal Kingdom but no matter what time we left the villa the traffic was still busy :sigh:. Make sure you take a sat nav (you can hire one from car rental when you get there) I am really good at finding my way round but the sign posting in US isn't like ours and we kept getting lost. You will have a great time, as for tickets there are loads of sites try www.thedibb.co.uk and they will advise you and here's loads of help off other travellers going to Florida. If you want to eat mainly of a night in Disney you need to book in advance - we didn't and regretted it, info is on the site above. Happy planning .

Thanks Hev! We are taking our Tomtom as it has the Us maps, so we can use it there! Thanks for the tips on helpful sites etc as well, much appreciated!!

 

[smartlazydaisy]

Well we are all book now for November!, my boyfriend came home last week from work and was all quiet, had his tea and went on the net for an hr!

Came off it and said 'are you going to thank me then', I said 'what for?, I cooked the tea!', he said 'no for this' and pulled a piece of paper out his pocked and it was the holiday booking details that he had done that day!

How chuffed was I, he had the biggest sloppiest kiss ever!

We are going for 2 weeks this time, OMG!

 

[lilack]

I love Disney - have been to WDW 6 times and Disneyland Paris twice. Booked to go back to WDW in Feb 2009.

We were in Florida Easter this year. Stayed in a villa and had a fantastic time. The only thing I would say is Easter is one of the very busiest times to go. The parks will be heaving. But if you are prepared to do a bit of planning and get to the parks as soon as they open you will be fine. We didn't queue for anything more than 15 mins.

Someone else has already recommened thedibb.co.uk which is a great website. There is also disboards.com and tourguidemike.com. Tourguidemike is a subscription forum - can't remember exactly how much but about the price of a guidebook. There is loads of information on this site and he gives you a guide of what park to go to on what day and a suggested order to do the rides and the shows. It is only for people who like to plan though - if you like to take things as they come you won't like his approach!

Hope you have a fantastic holiday!

 

[Sez]

I love Disney - have been to WDW 6 times and Disneyland Paris twice. Booked to go back to WDW in Feb 2009.

We were in Florida Easter this year. Stayed in a villa and had a fantastic time. The only thing I would say is Easter is one of the very busiest times to go. The parks will be heaving. But if you are prepared to do a bit of planning and get to the parks as soon as they open you will be fine. We didn't queue for anything more than 15 mins.

Someone else has already recommened thedibb.co.uk which is a great website. There is also disboards.com and tourguidemike.com. Tourguidemike is a subscription forum - can't remember exactly how much but about the price of a guidebook. There is loads of information on this site and he gives you a guide of what park to go to on what day and a suggested order to do the rides and the shows. It is only for people who like to plan though - if you like to take things as they come you won't like his approach!

Hope you have a fantastic holiday!

Already signed up for Tourguidemike, as I do like to plan, and as you say it will be so busy!! Just hope we have a great time, with all the snowbirds there too, could be a bit manic!!!

 

[lilack]

I'm preaching to the converted then! His plans work really well - have had two holidays following them.

My family thought I was mad doing so much planning but after the first day they were very happy I had done!

 

[Mr_Wombat]

My family and I went to Florida this June just gone and had a great time. We stayed in the Quality Inn at Maingate West, Kissimmee as part of a package deal with FirstChoice, for two weeks.

We hired a car and sat nav, I think if you are driving around then having a sat nav is a fantastic idea to help you find your way, as well as to search for points of interest that you may have missed otherwise.

One place I'd like to recommend is Gatorland, a wonderful place with Alligators (naturally), Crocs, Snakes, birds etc... a nice walk around and worth the price. They do shows throughout the day too such as Gator feeding.

Restaurant/Food wise, we tended to use the steakhouses quite a bit (mainly on Highway 192, Kissimmee), the best one IMO was a place called the Colorado House of Beef, a little more costly than some other places but well worth it. Also, for Italian food, try Carrabas, fantastic food! Of course this holiday was before I started to think about shifting weight Avoid Flippers Pizzeria like the plague though, we went to the one next to Old Town and came away with absolutely nothing nice to say about the place.

 

[Sez]

Thanks for the tips Mr W. Interesting re the pizzeria, will def remember that as DH wont touch the stuff so we always have to menu study b4 we go in, to check he CAN eat there! Will remember that name!!

 

[kelly1977]

Ooooohhh I cant wait till my 1st florida holiday on 11th oct,, Yippeeeeee,,

 

[Mr_Wombat]

I am officially jealous of you all as I would go back without fail if I had the opportunity

 

[kelly1977]

I am officially jealous of you all as I would go back without fail if I had the opportunity

Did you put any weight on??

 

[flirty40greeneyes]

We're going to Florida for Christmas and New year - me, Kp, my eldest daughter and her boyfriend, my middle daughter and her boyfriend, my son, my SD, my sister and her boyfriend!!! We are staying in a 4bed 3bathroom villa with pool and jacuzzi and I'm so excited.

Anyone been there at Xmas or New Year?? Do they celebrate the same as we do?? Will places be open?? Restaurants?? How hot will it be??

I've just arranged a new passport for my son - as his would have only had 3months on it by the time we came back. Do we need visas?? Last time we went was 8years ago - and Easter time ... so totally different.