Florida

Three kids who'd be 10, 8 and 4 so would want to do all Disney, Universal and maybe 1 or 2 water parks. Don't want to do Sea World and can't be bothered to go down to Busch Gardens but would definitely like to head across to Cape Canaveral for 1 day

Staying on site is fantastic with kids, especially if you get a dining plan. We did two weeks on site and two in a villa earlier in the year. Best of both worlds.

I think next time I'll do week and week.
 


Staying on site is fantastic with kids, especially if you get a dining plan. We did two weeks on site and two in a villa earlier in the year. Best of both worlds.

I think next time I'll do week and week.

How did you get decent value going on site?
 
How did you get decent value going on site?

It worked out decent with the dining plan. Was just under £5k for the five of us at Caribbean Beach, which is very nice. That was including tickets for us all and the meal plan where you got to meet the characters and stuff. Got a free £300 gift card too. Spent next to nowt while staying onsite. The two weeks off site was the opposite really, £1k for the villa and lots more spending.

I enjoyed both parts lots though. I have done the onsite by itself and the villa by itself in the past. Both have their advantages, but with young kids I would say having character dining included is great.
 
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It worked out decent with the dining plan. Was just under £5k for the five of us at Caribbean Beach, which is very nice. That was including tickets for us all and the meal plan where you got to meet the characters and stuff. Got a free £300 gift card too. Spent next to nowt while staying onsite. The two weeks off site was the opposite really, £1k for the villa and lots more spending.

Did you book it all separates like?
 
:lol: I've driven central London plenty of times so it'll be nowt, plus I've driven Canada as well.

I'll look into a villa then cheers mate.


That's great thank you.

The Villa was lovely -great pool with that bug netting round it. We usually ventured out in the morning and came back in the afternoon on non park days. Kids loved the pool and the fridge was the size of a Tesco express - fully stacked with ice cold Sam Adams.

Kissimmee has plenty of great diners and its an easy 20 min run to the parks. Also centrally located for longer jaunts.
 
Did you book it all separates like?
Yeah. Flights were about £2k the the 5 of us. We had a few days in a hotel too as we were there all of January.

Think it came to about £12k or thereabouts including what we spent.

School holidays would cost a lot more though, obviously.
 
It worked out decent with the dining plan. Was just under £5k for the five of us at Caribbean Beach, which is very nice. That was including tickets for us all and the meal plan where you got to meet the characters and stuff. Got a free £300 gift card too. Spent next to nowt while staying onsite. The two weeks off site was the opposite really, £1k for the villa and lots more spending.

I enjoyed both parts lots though. I have done the onsite by itself and the villa by itself in the past. Both have their advantages, but with young kids I would say having character dining included is great.
It’s brilliant isn’t it. Chef Mickey’s was a big highlight of our last hol . . I can’t imagine Disney without that sort of service. Hope it gets back to normal
 
Staying on site is fantastic with kids, especially if you get a dining plan. We did two weeks on site and two in a villa earlier in the year. Best of both worlds.

I think next time I'll do week and week.
Staying on site is best imo, love the whole feel of it.
 
It really depends what you want out of it. I know one family who go regularly. One year they stay at Disney and only go to the disney parks, then the next they stay at universal and only do universal parks. We have been 3 times in 13 years so we tend to cram as much in as possible. Therefore we found for us the best way was to hire a villa and rent a car. The first time we went we pre-uber. We stayed on international drive so had to get a bus to seaworld, then another from seaworld to disney transport hub, then bus to the park. Trashing for just us, I'd had to have had kids in tow. The next 2 times we had a villa a rental car, it changed it completely. A private pool, your own cooking facilities etc. The 2nd time we went Uber was just starting up so I didn't drink very much, it's not that kind of holiday so I wasn't bothered. The third time Uber was everywhere, we could easily get an uber to disney springs to go for a meal and few drinks then get an uber back again. We still had the car for going to walmart, Busch Gardens etc.

Staying on site is best imo, love the whole feel of it.
The second time we went it was for our honeymoon, we did 3 days in New York, then down to florida where we did 2 days in a disney hotel and 12 days in a villa. After those 2 days in disney I was done. It was too much too often, I was sick of eating off paper plates with so many people. If you've never been and think you'd like it it'd suggest half on site and half villa, just to get a flavor of both. Unless it was one of the very expensive lodges in the Animal Kingdom resort, I doubt I'd stay in another Disney hotel.
 
It’s brilliant isn’t it. Chef Mickey’s was a big highlight of our last hol . . I can’t imagine Disney without that sort of service. Hope it gets back to normal
It's fantastic. Carribbean Beach is fantastic since the refurb and the Skyline. That made all the difference for us over the time before. So convenient. We got a room next to the skyline and I could be at Hollywood Studios within 10 minutes of walking out if the room.

The Riviera which is attached has a fantastic character breakfast too.
 
We are going across in 2022. We plan to fly back from Tampa after spending a few days in Clearwater, but I’m not sure on the flights out yet.

I’m hoping BA move some of their Orlando flights to Heathrow as it removes the pain of getting across to Gatwick from Heathrow.

There are some flights from Heathrow now to Orlando. Booked on one next August (not that I expect to be taking the flights mind!!)
 
There are some flights from Heathrow now to Orlando. Booked on one next August (not that I expect to be taking the flights mind!!)

I think we'll be giving it a miss in 2021, unless there is a miracle vaccine.
Seems a canny split in villa/staying at Disney. Seems big Joe has more on his plate reuniting America than I thought.

Consider both. Do the first week onsite (free transport from the airport if mco) get the full experience but buy two week tickets. Then after the week pick up a car at car care center and drive to the villa. You'll still have 7 days tickets remaining.

You'll be able to use your remaining dining credits on check out day before you go to villa too.
 
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Staying on site is fantastic with kids, especially if you get a dining plan. We did two weeks on site and two in a villa earlier in the year. Best of both worlds.

I think next time I'll do week and week.
After 3 years of on site stays we mixed it up last year and did 10 days on site, then 7 days I Drive, which was much better than we envisaged. Used that time to do trips we wouldn't normally have done, gator land, the air boats trip which was excellent and a few others.. Booked with a company called Ocean Florida, spot on, and got the above trips for free, and a days trip to clearwater beach, which we will look to do a few days next time, very good.
 
After 3 years of on site stays we mixed it up last year and did 10 days on site, then 7 days I Drive, which was much better than we envisaged. Used that time to do trips we wouldn't normally have done, gator land, the air boats trip which was excellent and a few others.. Booked with a company called Ocean Florida, spot on, and got the above trips for free, and a days trip to clearwater beach, which we will look to do a few days next time, very good.
Sounds ideal. We enjoyed staying in the villa, didn't really do loads, but the kids enjoyed the pool and shopping in American shops etc. Then we did the full on Disney thing afterwards. In hindsight the opposite way might have been better, but Disney was expensive and busy due to the marathon.
 
Seems a canny split in villa/staying at Disney. Seems big Joe has more on his plate reuniting America than I thought.

On site has the Disney themes, free dining potentially, some extra hours in parks for on site guests only & free busses to parks so can do without car hire

off site cheaper and more choice, but need a car.

a lot depends on what you want & maybe age of kids. Could always do split stay
 
no reason not to try both? I wouldn't be going all that way for less than 2 weeks so a week in each?
If you do both and want to visit Disney while staying off-site, you have to do the onsite part first as the ticket isn't activated until you check in. It's probably the better way anyway.
On site has the Disney themes, free dining potentially, some extra hours in parks for on site guests only & free busses to parks so can do without car hire

off site cheaper and more choice, but need a car.

a lot depends on what you want & maybe age of kids. Could always do split stay
They charge about £20 per night to park now if you have a car and stay on site. The fee came in this year.

It's a bit of a piss take really, but you don't really need a car if staying onsite anyway and the can just pick one up for the day of you want to go to the outlets etc.

The Skyline is brilliant if you're staying at CBR, Riviera or that cartoon themed one.
 
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