Vacation Packages?

[Supe]

I know some of you are far more bargain-hunter saavy than I am. Anyone have some good leads on Florida vacation packages?

Looking for something along the lines of 3 day/2 night for three adults and a kiddo. The idea is to let Junior hit a Disney park for a day or two, meet all her princesses, thereby making me her hero for life, and on the last day, Supe gets to act like a kid in Universal Islands of Adventure whil junior gets to follow Grandma around.

Everything I seem to come across is either - a) no real bargain when you break it down, or B) some bullsh*t timeshare garbage.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

I've never found travel packages to be much of a bargain. I just do the standard stuff, try to go offseason, try to go mid week, use flyer miles or a companion ticket if I have them, stay at a no frills motel, get my breakfast and lunch stuff from the grocery store instead of eating out, etc.

 

[Dexman PE]

For 3 days of activities, you really should be looking more into a 5day-4night package, simply because you have to discount the first and last days as "travel" days, especially with little ones involved.

I'm always a fan of using Orbitz or other similar sites for airfare and hotel accomodations as they tend to give decent discounts. Are they the best, no, but they still give decent rates. The only real way to get bargan basement rates is to do what VTE said with "off peak" travel times (mid-week, off seasons).

 

[Road Guy]

when we have gone to Orlando we generally stay in one of the bigger hotels off Disney (but ones that have shuttle services) you can generally get a suite type hotel with free breakfeast for ,$100/night. and your pretty much stuck with the parks ticket fees I think..

 

[MA_PE]

If your a member of AAA, contact them and tell them what you're trying to do. AAA has their own discounts and can act like a travel agent for you. Also, it wouldn't hurt to call a trvael agent and see if they can put together a good package. Disney offers some attractive package deals staying in one of the park hotels.

Also, If you're a veteran, I believe Disney gives military discounts, too.

Like others have said, you get your best deals during off-peak times.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

I know a great engineer in Orlando who could show you around town...

 

[Chucktown PE]

Supe,

1st, you're a good man. I haven't even taken my own kids to Disney World, although I want to take them soon. 2nd, I'm guessing this is going to earn you lots of favors from your lady friend. Is it a suprise? 3rd, the friends I know that have taken their kids all drove down over a Sunday, went to the park during the weekdays, and said that there is usually some kind of special on tickets that you can plan around. Also, they said to bring your own food/drink into the parks, bananas and waters are something like $4 each.

 

[Dexman PE]

Another thing to consider for lodging, is look into vacation rentals (ie, apartments / condos) or people trying to sell their timeshares. My wife and I got a 2 bedroom fully furnished apartment on the beach in San Diego a few years ago for $75/night. Granted, it was a little bit of a drive to anything we wanted to do, but the money saved on the lodging went a long way towards paying for things to do & food.

There are tons of websites out there with people trying to sell their timeshares (especially during off-peak times), and because everyone seems to be strapped for cash you can get some pretty screaming deals simply because any money they get back is better than nothing. You would end up with a full week in the room, but remember that the room is only reserved for the full time, you don't have to use it and the cheaper rates offset the fact you're not using it full time.

 

[cement]

^vrbo is a good site for those apartments.

but if you really want to make it a special trip for your little girl, there is nothing like a character breakfast at snow white's castle. if you book directly with disney there are some pretty good deals too.

 

[jeb6294]

A couple years ago we went mi-to-late September. That must be the best time to go because I think the longest line we had at any park was about 15 minutes and that was for the jungle boat thing at Disney. The last day we actually left by about noon because we had done everything multiple times. A couple other tips. If it's hot, you can get free ice water at any of the McDonalds french fry stands and the best place to get your picture with Mickey is at Hollywood Studios in the back of the art gallery type thing (where you can get the cells). When we went there was no one in line at all.

when we have gone to Orlando we generally stay in one of the bigger hotels off Disney (but ones that have shuttle services) you can generally get a suite type hotel with free breakfeast for ,$100/night. and your pretty much stuck with the parks ticket fees I think..

We stayed at one of those...the Doubletree I think? It was nice having the shuttle, but they don't run as often as the park shuttles so figure about 45-minutes to an hour for travel time. I've heard a military ID gets you free parking so if we go again, we'll either stay at one of the Disney hotels or stay at a condo and just drive.

^vrbo is a good site for those apartments.
but if you really want to make it a special trip for your little girl, there is nothing like a character breakfast at snow white's castle. if you book directly with disney there are some pretty good deals too.

I know they are always offering deals. In fact, no lie, as I was writing this my wife just forwarded me an email she just got offering discounts (25-40%) at some of the Disney resorts for trips between 1/2/11 to 4/16/11 and 5/1/11 to 6/5/11 and I know they are always doing free meal plan deals.

 

[Supe]

Thanks for the suggestions. My parents have AAA, so I may be able to book some stuff through them, or at least get discounted tickets in advance for some of it.

If I can muster something together, the plan will be to drive down on November 10th, hit Disney on the 11th (my birthday), Universal on the 12th, and shoot back home that Saturday the 13th. I need to be back a bit sooner than planned due to work scheduling. I think one full day at Disney will more than suffice, and I could do without Epcot or the Animal Kingdom crap. It's my understanding that this falls in the "best time to go" range, as prices go up and so does the congestion between Thanksgiving and Christmas, since all of the holiday decorations and activities are in place by then.

The nice thing is that MIAF's mother was able to get some time off as well, so she'll be able to chip in a few bucks for gas/hotel and presumably cover the costs of her own tickets, while acting as a full-time babysitter the second day at Universal so I can have some fun.

 

[cableguy]

Our latest trip to Disney was last year. My wife (yes, I still love her anyway) got us a 6 day 5 night package.

If you love your family, DO NOT STAY AT FREAKING DISNEY FOR A WEEK. You will go nuts. I was done after 4 days. Ready to go home. The last couple days were miserable. There was whining, weeping, hunger pains for regular food, tired and cranky, and heck - that was just me. The kids were worse. We left on a Sunday when other people were arriving. On Saturday we were the zombie family sitting on a bus full of bouncing new arrivals.

Wife asks about the 'next' trip to Disney. I tell her to have fun with her mom & the kids. See ya babe. LOL.

 

[roadwreck]

I was at Disney World two days ago. We had free passes (give a day get a day volunteer program). We only spent one day at the Magic Kingdom. My wife borrowed some guide book from the library which had tips on how to get the most out of your time there. It also gave you info on when the best time to go is (i.e. when the crowds are the smallest). This is supposed to be the quiet time of year, but by late afternoon it certainly felt like the park was full.

One of the most handy things in the guide book was a schedule on how to proceed through the park in order to hit all the major attractions before the lines get crazy long. That in combination with the fast passes (system where you get a "ticket" to come back to a ride later and skip past a lot of the line) we were able to get on all the major rides, multiple times with little to no waiting. We did space mountain and thunder mountain each three times and did most of the other major attractions at least once.

The best tip is to get to the park early. The park opened at 9 the day we went, but we had already parked, gotten our tickets, ridden the monorail and made it to the gates by 8:30. They let you through the gate before the park opens, but kind of keep you corralled near the front until they officially opened. If you get their before their official opening though get through the gates then ask to use the restroom. The restrooms are inside the actual park, so they let you in. Once inside you are free to roam around main street. None of the attractions are open (and the other areas in the park are actually roped off) but you have full access to main street which makes it a good time to take pictures in front of the castle (you are free to walk all the way to the castle) before the crowds get there. Plus you don't feel rushed since there is no where to go at that point.

 

[Supe]

Good tips. I've always been a "get there as early as humanly possible" kind of guy when it comes to theme parks. Any way you could check with your wife on the name of the book?

If we go, we are now schedule limited by both my and MIAF's mother's schedules. It would be down on the 11th, Magic Kingdom on the 12th, Universal Islands of Adventure on the 13th, then drive back on the 14th, so that's what I have to work with.

 

[roadwreck]

Any way you could check with your wife on the name of the book?

I'll ask.

 

[MA_PE]

Our latest trip to Disney was last year. My wife (yes, I still love her anyway) got us a 6 day 5 night package.
If you love your family, DO NOT STAY AT FREAKING DISNEY FOR A WEEK. You will go nuts. I was done after 4 days. Ready to go home. The last couple days were miserable. There was whining, weeping, hunger pains for regular food, tired and cranky, and heck - that was just me. The kids were worse. We left on a Sunday when other people were arriving. On Saturday we were the zombie family sitting on a bus full of bouncing new arrivals.

Wife asks about the 'next' trip to Disney. I tell her to have fun with her mom & the kids. See ya babe. LOL.

We went for a week back about 15 years ago when my kids were ~4 and 5. QWe stayed at the carribean beach resort (a disney hotel). We'd get up early and pick a park and get there shortly after opening. Lines wern't too bad and the kids were fascinated by the place. We bopped around until ~supper time and then headed back towards the room. We'd eat supper, wash the kids and get them ready for bed by 7:30-8:00 (which was their normal bedtime). I was toting around my 8mm video camera and we'd watch the 20-30min. I taped that day with the kids in bed. They crashed watching it and I'd grab a beer and the local newspapaer and sit by the pool for an hour or so while my wife watched tv in room with the kids. I'd go back and hit the hay and we'd start the whole process around 7-8 the next morning. It worked out great. I'm a tourist and I love that crap anyway. We liked Epcot so much we went back 2-3 different days. We had park hopping passes so the last couple day or two s we visited our favorite things. We spent one day at bliizard beach and went out of disney for one day at Sea World. great time! Too bad they're o0lder now so I can't do it all over again.

 

[cement]

^Wow,

that is pretty darn close to my experience. same time frame too. I swear I enjoyed it as much as the kids did. Disney and epcot are great, and we really enjoyed Diney Universal studios. we hit it at off season and would run the tower of terror 3 times, then the aerosmith roller coaster three times. The star wars ride is awesome too. I love all the detail and care they put into all the attractions, main street, the rides, the restaurants, even the queues for the rides set the mood for the experience. well worth it.

now I gotta wait 10 or 15 years for grandkids to drag down there ldtimer:

 

[roadwreck]

Any way you could check with your wife on the name of the book?

I'll ask.

It was The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney World 2010

http://www.amazon.com/Unofficial-Guide-Dis...s/dp/0470460261

 

[Supe]

Sweet, thanks!

 

[chaosiscash]

We went (just the wife and I) last October for a few days. We had a great time, but I would guess its a completely different experience with kids. The international food and wine festival at Epcot during October was awesome.