Are you thinking about, or have you booked a trip to Disney World? Are you feeling overwhelmed by all the information and endless list of things to do? Don't worry. You're not alone!
I am often asked by friends how I book our holidays to Florida, and it can be very daunting at first, especially if you're a first timer. Disney World is a far cry from your typical beach holiday. You won't be sitting around a pool or a beach all day. It's a full on, energetic holiday with fun and adventure around every corner. There is SO much to see and do, and you won't fit everything in one trip. That's why so many people return again and again. My family included. We just love it!
My family and I are about to embark on our 4th magical adventure later this year, so I thought would write a series of guides along my way which I hope will help others when planning their next trip. This blog post will be about actually booking a Disney holiday, and I will write another one next week about what do do after everything is booked.
First of all, a little background... We booked our October 2017 trip way back in April 2016 when Disney Holidays released their free dining plan offer. This offer is due to be released for 2018 bookings on 20th April 2017, so keep an eye on the website if you're looking for a similar package.
We booked direct with Disney Holidays which included:
- 14 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge
- 14 day Ultimate Tickets
- Free Disney Dining Plan
- $200 gift card
- Free Memory Maker
The free dining plan offer includes 1 table service meal, 1 quick service meal, 2 snacks and a refillable resort mug per person, per night of our stay. For more on the dining plan, please click here).
On previous trips, we have stayed in a hotel in Kissimmee, a villa in Kissimmee, a Universal Hotel and most recently, Disney's Old Key West Resort.
For the purpose of this blog post, I will only be talking about Disney World. Of course there are tonnes of other parks and things to do, but that would keep me talking forever! Maybe I will do a separate post for those at a later date.
When to go
So the first thing you need to think about is when you want to go. When is right your your family? Are you bound my certain times of the year i.e school holidays? This part is down to personal preference. We have previously visited in June/July (very hot and humid), May/June (hot and humid) and November (quite cold in the evenings and some days hats and gloves were needed!), and as I mentioned above, our next trip will be in October. We decided to go then for several reasons: The weather is said to be nice and warm, it would also give us a bit longer to save and we've always wanted to visit at Halloween time.
Were to Stay
Once you've set a rough date, it's time to start looking at where you will stay. If you're a large family and don't mind driving in the USA, a villa may be for you. If you're a couple then maybe a hotel would suit you, close to the bars and restaurants, with easy access to the parks via buses. Or if you're like us and don't want to leave the magic in the parks, then staying in a Disney resort may be for you. We have tried all three options, and although I liked staying in a villa and having our own pool, my favourite by far is staying in a Disney resort. There are huge perks to staying on site:
- Complimentary airport transfers to your resort from Orlando International Airport
- Free parking at the parks (if you choose to drive)
- Free magic bands
- Free transportation to the parks and other resorts if you're not driving
- Extra Magic hours (early park opening and later closing at select parks for resort guests)
- Early access to FastPass+ planning
- Book dining reservations for the first 10 days of your trip. More about that in next week's blog post.
If you didn't book your park tickets when you booked your accommodation, you will need to decide which ticket option is best for your family. Disney World is made up of 4 theme parks and two water parks (and lots more in between!):
- Magic Kingdom
- Epcot
- Hollywood Studios
- Animal Kingdom
- Typhoon Lagoon
- Blizzard Beach
There are lots of different ticketing companies who sell park tickets. The most popular ticket option for UK visitors is Disney's 14 day Ultimate ticket. This includes:
- Unlimited access to all 6 Disney theme parks - Magic Kingdom Park, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park and Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park for 14 consecutive days
- ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
- Disney's Oak Trail Golf Course
- One round of mini golf each day of your 14-day Ultimate Ticket at either Disney's Fantasia Gardens Mini Golf Course or Disney’s Winter Summerland Mini Golf Course
- Unlimited use of the Disney transportation system.
- Use of the FastPass+ system which reduces queuing time.
You can also park hop on these tickets. For example, you could visit Magic Kingdom in the morning and then jump aboard the monorail to Epcot in the afternoon.
You will often get special offers if booking your tickets and accommodation with Disney directly, such as the free dining plan, or extra nights free.
I also have first hand experience at booking with Attraction Tickets Direct who are very good and will price match any other companies if you find the same tickets cheaper. Note though that you won't get any of the free gifts that they offer if they quote a price match price for you. They currently have a free La Nouba ticket offer running which is great perk. So weigh up your options. You could save a few ££'s if you price match, or gain a night out which, for a family of four, would usually cost around £228.
Attraction Tickets Direct also have £100 off at the moment AND 14 day Ultimate tickets for the price of 7 days. Which works out £25 a day for all 6 Disney parks! You even get free Memory Maker too! You can secure tickets with a deposit of £20pp with the balance due 6 weeks prior to departure.
Other ticket companies are of course available, but I'm just mentioning the companies I have actually used and would recommend.
Flights
So that's your accommodation and tickets sorted. The the next big expense is getting there. Flights are generally released 11 months prior to your departure date when booking direct. Some travel agents will be able to book flights earlier than this. For example I could book a package holiday to Disney World for December 2018 right now with flights included through Virgin Holidays. There are pros and cons to booking through a travel agent and again, it is down to personal preference. For us personally, we would prefer to shop around to get the best price.
Pros:
- Everything is booked with one company
- You can pay a deposit to secure the holiday and pay the balance off a little at a time.
- They usually work out a LOT more expensive than booking yourself, DIY.
I usually leave the flight part to Paul. He likes his planes and it's the only part of holiday planning he actually does! But this year I actually enjoyed searching for them too. We both downloaded the Sky Scanner app on our phones and looked several times a day for the best prices. I also signed up for email alerts which is how I found our flights in the end. They were Virgin Atlantic flights through Expedia for £490 each direct. We even called Virgin who said they couldn't match it and told us to book through them, which we did straight away. The day after, the price went up and have been on a continuous rise ever since, so we were lucky we booked when we did.
There are heaps of airlines who fly to Florida, both direct and indirect, but for some reason we've always flown with Virgin. Flying indirect isn't really an option for us as we have children. It would be do-able, but I like to just get off at the other end knowing i'm at my destination and not faffing about with luggage and transfers. Flying indirect might be more cost effective for you though and may be something you would like to consider.
Airport Hotels and Parking
Have you thought about how you will get to the airport? Will you be able to fit all your luggage in your car? If you're driving yourself, you will need to find airport parking for the duration of your holiday. On our 2012 trip we used a meet and greet car parking service called Cophall Farm. My Mum and Dad also booked car parking with meet and greet using a company called Looking4parking through Air Parking. We both recommend using either of these as they were very efficient and took the stress out of parking. I wish we had booked the same for our following trip. In 2014 we used Purple Parking which, looking back, was a stressful affair; finding the place, parking, unloading the car in the rain, in the boggy car park, loading and unloading the luggage on to a shuttle, and then there seemed to be something wrong with our car when we collected it which may or may not have had anything to do with the car park attendants, but I know I wouldn't want to leave our car there again. Meet and greet all the way for us in the future. Unfortunately we now have a smaller car and can't fit all our luggage in the boot, so my Sister is going to drive us down to Gatwick this year, which has saved some travel day stress !
If you live a distance from the airport, you may also want to stay in a hotel the night before your flight to avoid any traffic problems. We will be doing this again this year and have booked the Premier Inn at North Terminal, which is literally a stones throw away from the airport. Since Virgin and British Airways have now switched terminals, we will by flying out of North Terminal this year making our PI stay very convenient indeed. It's nice to start the holiday off with a few drinks and a nice meal to get you in the holiday mood.
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| Taken from outside Gatwick North Terminal to show how close it is! |
Getting Around
Have you thought about how you will get around in Orlando? If you're staying onsite, you won't necessarily need a car to get around, but it is nice to have if you don't want to rely on buses and would like to see more of what Orlando has to offer. There are some fantastic malls and outlets a short drive away from the parks. As well as lots of other parks and attractions If you do decide to hire a car over there, don't forget to take both parts of your driving license and they will need to swipe a credit card to hold on their system. Something we discovered in 2012 when we didn't own a credit card! We have always pre-booked our car with Alamo which seems to be a breeze. We just turned up, chose our car and drove off. I'm afraid I don't have any experience with other car hiring companies. We have decided not to hire a car on our October trip and will be relying on Disney transport and Uber to get around.
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| 8 seater Toyota Sienna from our 2012 trip |
Passports
Needless to say, be sure that your passports are in date and will not expire before or while you're on holiday. Both of our children's passports expire in the next couple of months which has added an unwelcome cost to the overall cost of the holiday, but can't be avoided. Once we have renewed them, we can then fill out our ESTA forms.
ESTA Forms
ESTA stands for Electronic System for Travel Authorisation. Visitors to the USA who are traveling under the Visa Waiver Program will be required to complete an online registration called ESTA before they travel. This is mandatory for all qualified Visa Waiver travelers. Without an ESTA, you can't enter the USA.
ESTA only authorises a traveler to board an air or sea carrier for travel to the United States. It does not automatically guarantee entry into the United States; that decision rests with the immigration official at the Port of Entry in the same way that travelers currently entering the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program or with a visa are subject to inspection.
Key Points:
When to apply?
- All passengers must complete the forms.
- If you require a new Passports you must receive the new Passports BEFORE applying for ESTA.
- Infants must also have the ESTA Forms completed.
- ESTA applications currently cost $14 ($10 per person plus $4 to process the application)
(beware of sites that want to charge you more for this service)- You must be eligible to travel under the Visa Waiver Program
- Make your ESTA application HERE
The online version is available for use now and should be completed at least 72 hours before departure – applications can be made after that but they run the risk that approval may not be received ahead of travel.
What happens to ESTA applications?
Once the online application has been completed and, assuming it is satisfactory, the system will normally respond with an approval very quickly. Travelers should make a note of the ESTA approval number in case they need to access their application later – such as to register a change of name or marital status. Some applications may take up to 72 hours to approve whilst data is checked. Currently there is a charge per person for an ESTA application and no more information is sought than has been required under the I-94W system.
Who can complete ESTA?
Each family member traveling is required to complete an ESTA application and third party entry of data into ESTA is permitted – whether a relative or not. However the third party must be completely certain as to the accuracy of such entries. Any inaccuracies will be taken up with the applicant - NOT the third party and the applicant remain totally responsible for their own records.
For more information about completing an Esta form, click here.
Currrency
Don't forget you will need spending money when you're over there. Even if you have the dining plan, you will still need money for tips and all those pins and souvenirs that jump out at you in all of the shops! I won't pretend to be knowledgeable in the art of stocks and exchanges as it's like a foreign language to me. But I wish we had the money now to exchange our currency as the rate has gone down from 1.20 to 1.17 over the past couple of days. It was 1.54 when we went in 2014. Such a difference.
Planning
So those are the major factors of booking a Disney World holiday. Then there's the fun part - planning! Like I said earlier, Disney World is unlike any other holiday you may have been on. If you're limited on time like most of us here in the UK. The majority of us have just 2 weeks of Disney magic, so you can't just rock up at the airport and play it by ear what you do each day. Well I don't think you can anyway. Depending on the time of year you travel, Disney World can be incredibly busy and queue times for the rides can be very long. Disney have so many perks such as the extra magic hours, advanced dining reservations and fast pass+ which they have put in place you help YOU get the most out of your holiday. You wouldn't want to spend your entire 2 weeks queuing for things when you don't have to. You have already spent so much money on your trip, so you want to get the most out of it.
Planning for your trip is a whole different ball game and I think it deserves a blog post to itself. There are so many things to consider; when to visit each park, how many days you will need in each park, which rides require a fast pass+, and then there's the advanced dining reservations you will need to make so you're not waiting hours for a table at the most popular restaurants, such as Be our Guest and Cinderella's Royal Table. It can be mind boggling and overwhelming.
I LOVE the planning part of the holiday and have a dedicated Microsoft One Note containing spreadsheets, lists, tips and plans which I will share with you next time. Until then...
Have a magical day! x
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