Florida

Villa about £1000-£1500
Flights about £2000
Tickets maybe £3k
Car hire about £500

I haven't checked tickets so that's a tough guess.

Will the agent give you a choice over villa etc?

I think I'll do week at CBR and then week or two in villa next time.
Yes he read out a few options and I picked one, one of the options was a random villa
 


Yes he read out a few options and I picked one, one of the options was a random villa
I know exactly where that villa site is. Decent location, but I paid about £1k a fortnight for three bed last year right next to it. There are lots of villas nearby.

I reckon you'll save a canny bit if you didn't book as a package.
 
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I know exactly where that villa site is. Decent location, but I paid about £1k a fortnight for three bed last year right next to it. There are lots of villas nearby.
do you know what site you used for villa? Potentially we might need a bigger villa as more might add on.
 
I’ve been quite a few times over the last 3 years we have a place out there and the one thing I’d really recommend is hiring a boat to watch the fireworks it’s about £300 for a private boat which isn’t bad if there’s a few of you. There was about 8 of us last time. It’s a fantastic way to end the holiday on the last night. They ride sets off from the jetty at the grand Floridian and take you on a tour before they start. The bloke in charge of our boat said his is the best and most sought after job in all the parks. The Grand Floridian dock is also a great place to watch them from if you don’t fancy a boat ride. They even have the music etc pumped in through speakers for people watching.
 
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Stayed in Highlands Reserve before, ideal location, about 30 minutes to the parks, closer to Disney parks
Aye. Just down the road from a big Walmart too.
I’ve been quite a few times over the last 3 years we have a place out there and the one thing I’d really recommend is hiring a boat to watch the fireworks it’s about £300 for a private boat which isn’t bad if there’s a few of you. There was about 8 of us last time. It’s a fantastic way to end the holiday on the last night. They ride sets off from the jetty at the grand Floridian and take you on a tour before they start. The bloke in charge of our boat said his is the best and most sought after job in all the parks. The Grand Floridian dock is also a great place to watch them from if you don’t fancy a boat ride. They even have the music etc pumped in through speakers for people watching.
The terrace in their restaurant is a great spot too. If you eat the they'll give you a ticket.
 
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aye , buy off some teletext page without the benefit of trip advisor, what could ever go wrong ...
Well the agent we’re liberty world travel and there office was just half a mile away from where I’m sitting now, and I also new someone who worked there although that didn’t affect the price.
 
Bars, I get that. The place I go doesn't have many, certainly not cheap ones. Except it does have a Millers Ale house
This seems to be the only advantage that I can see in iDrive, there must be more?




This was half of why I posted this. People seem to think there are only 2 options
1 - Villa
2 - I Drive
(and 3 - Stay onsite at Disney / Universal)

This isn't true. The Lake Buena Vista resorts (hotels) are great and reasonably priced
Sure, there's not as many places to eat and drink and shop, but there is a complex of eateries and other places nearby. There's even a Millers AH a 10 min walk away. PLUS, there's the entire Disney Springs area on the doorstep (literally within eyesight range) which is rammed full of places to eat and drink, albeit at inflated prices.

If your Orlando holiday is focussed around Walt Disney World, then it makes sense to stay on its doorstep, rather than a 30-45 min shuttle bus away.
If you're more interested in the universal stuff, then the opposite applies of course.

And if the only benefit of i Drive is shopping and bars, then for some people, that's a poor trade.

Damn.
The LVB Crossroads just outside Disney Springs has been closed, and will be demolished to allow for an I4 offramp to take traffic direct to Disney.
That place was ideal. 3-4 good places to eat right next to the places on Hotel Plaza Boulevard.

Still the Dennys and Millers within walking distance, but they're not *as* close. Big shame. Now with no fastpass advantage, no free magical express, the reasons to stay on that strip are much less than before. The shuttles are excellent still, but is it enough when the hotel charges $10/day to park and another $15/day for the resort fees (which includes the shuttles).

Need to find a villa with good places in walking distance, for next time. Not that I'm overly keen on travelling to the USA right now with the way they're going on.
 
I stayed in a condo Grande Villas Resorts not far from Millers. Close to Chillis, Millers and couple others. Was ideal for walk out to eat n drink rather than drive. The condo was fantastic, bigger than my house. £1600 for 2 weeks
 
Some of my family used to do this yearly. Knocked it on the head because the car hire and fuel rises just make it much more expensive. Think the park tickets have been hiked considerably too.
 
Over £500 per person for Disney tickets next year. Be lucky to get change from £1000 by the time you added the other parks.
That's a major issue for me now that I have to buy 5 sets.

And Genie is $15 per day each - so $75 per day to be able to do a few fast passes. Say we use that 7 times in a 2 week holiday, that's another £450 ish on top of that £2500 just for tickets. £3k gone!
 
£900 for Disney, universal, Sea world and Busch Gardens. Two weeks. I have to buy six of them in the next few days…. 🙄
Check Discovery cove tickets. You can sometimes get them with Seaworld, Busch and even parking included.
Discovery cove is a fantastic day.
That's a major issue for me now that I have to buy 5 sets.

And Genie is $15 per day each - so $75 per day to be able to do a few fast passes. Say we use that 7 times in a 2 week holiday, that's another £450 ish on top of that £2500 just for tickets. £3k gone!
Stayed on site in May and tried the Genie + a couple of times and found it a complete waste of time.
Best option by far was getting to the parks before opening ( they’d always let you in early) knocking off 3-4 big attractions before it gets busy. Then maybe watch one of the shows before going back for a swim and nap. Head back out to the parks late on when they quieten down. Take no notice of the posted wait times especially in the last hour, I’m sure they inflate them just to put people off joining the queue. If you are in the queue at closing time you will get on the ride.
 
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Check Discovery cove tickets. You can sometimes get them with Seaworld, Busch and even parking included.
Discovery cove is a fantastic day.

Stayed on site in May and tried the Genie + a couple of times and found it a complete waste of time.
Best option by far was getting to the parks before opening ( they’d always let you in early) knocking off 3-4 big attractions before it gets busy. Then maybe watch one of the shows before going back for a swim and nap. Head back out to the parks late on when they quieten down. Take no notice of the posted wait times especially in the last hour, I’m sure they inflate them just to put people off joining the queue. If you are in the queue at closing time you will get on the ride.
That's exactly the way we do it
 
Stayed on site in May and tried the Genie + a couple of times and found it a complete waste of time.
Best option by far was getting to the parks before opening ( they’d always let you in early) knocking off 3-4 big attractions before it gets busy. Then maybe watch one of the shows before going back for a swim and nap. Head back out to the parks late on when they quieten down. Take no notice of the posted wait times especially in the last hour, I’m sure they inflate them just to put people off joining the queue. If you are in the queue at closing time you will get on the ride.

The Fast Pass system worked well with the 3 passes on the App, especially if you knew how to use them well. We stayed at the Swan and Dolphin one year for a 2 or 3 nights purely to take advantage of the early entrance and the early access (60 days) for booking your fast pass rides. There was actually a point to staying on site with those perks but seems hardly worth it now.

The cost for "genie" is dreadful for families now.

We are thinking of going back in summer 2023 but the whole Genie thing puts me off going to Disney even though there will be a lot of new stuff that we've never experienced (Star Wars World, Tron, Epcot changes etc).
 

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