The Holy Grail - Florida vacation every year!

[tia 33]

Well what can I say? What a great forum and what a helpful bunch you all are! Your posts make fascinating reading and I have learnt so much, but they have brought on a major bout of impatience as I want to be there NOW! [msnmad]
Hubby and I are taking the kids (aged 7 and 5) for the first time in May (we have been before in '94 & '96) and just know that no other holiday will ever match up to this and will therefore want to be Florida bound every year. However, without wishing to create a political hot potato, how do we afford it every year (against a European holiday)?
The costs really do mount up with flights, car hire, car insurance, park tickets etc. I have looked at the links at the top of the page regarding costs (sadly I had booked everything before being recommended to this site [msnsad]) but the savings aren't huge against what I have already paid.
I know a lot of you guys own villas and therefore accomodation costs do not apply (can you just pretend you would have to pay?) and I would not want to stay in a hotel (I think a villa really makes the holiday) are there any other ways to cut costs? I notice that on some posts, there has been mention of non-direct flights to Orlando, does this save money?
I apologise to anyone who thinks I am being contentious, I do not mean to be, I am just in search of the Holy Grail.........[msnsmile]

[stabard]

Can quite understand you wanting to go every year - most people on this forum would love to do the same[msnsmile2]and personally I think the villa does make the trip for me.
Although we own our own I would not say I am getting my accomadation for free as the "cost" of the week or more I am there is that it is not available to be rented out to any other lovely vacationers[msnwink]
We have found that you can save money on flying indirect but there are also deals to be had on direct flights if you can afford to go when those deals come up and if you are willing to fly into say Miami or Tampa instead of MCO.
Also - do you have to do parks every trip? Or maybe just a couple of days and not every day. If you have a read of the forum you will see there is loads of other things to do as well as the parks.
The links at the top of the page are a good place to start but I will be watching this thread to see if there are any other tips I can pick up too[msnwink]
Have a great trip this time.

[Lynne S]

Hello Tia,

Welcome to the Forum. Yes, it may cost more to go to Florida but just look at how much more holiday you get for that extra.
I was a complete convert to Florida, always said "I have 3 children and I would take them just once!!!!"

Yes, we came, we stayed in a beautiful villa with another family. This worked out about the same cost as a holiday to Spain. It was the Park Tickets that makes it that bit more expensive.

Oh boy was it worth it, we fell head over heals for Florida and have now bought our own villa with the friends we shared our 1st Villa with.[msnwink][msnwink][msnwink]

Owners may not have to pay for our villas when we stay in them....We pay all year for owning them, but most of us think that's worth it.[msnsmile2][msnsmile2][msnsmile2][msnsmile2]

Have you got a family you could share the cost of a villa with ? A mini van with ? Buy a bigger Disney Park ticket with no expiry date on, this will then last two holidays and work out much better value. Just a few things that worked for us.

I'm sure other owners and Florida lovers will give you more tips[msnsmile2]

Have a great holiday when you do go this year [clap][clap][clap]

[chris c]

We first visited Florida about 16 years ago with our 4 (then young) children.

Like you, having sampled a Floridian holiday, we could not imagine wanting to go anywhere else.

We used to do a U.K. holiday one year and Florida the next as we could not afford to go every year.

Surprisingly, villa accommodation has not increased much in price in all those years!!

[christhear]

when I go in May/June this year it will be just me and my son. I have purchased the universal four park flex tickets. This cost under £200 for the pair of us and will allow us to go to a theme park everyday if we wish. I know this does not include Disney, but if you are planning on going every year there is no need to visit Disney everytime. If you alternate the parks you visit, not only do you save money but it means there will be more new rides the next time you go.
PS - although my son loves the fast rides his favourite park is actually Seaworld.

[Snapper]

There are a few things you might consider Tia.

If you are able to travel out of season you typically find flights priced a little lower, especially the flights into Tampa, which isn't much further (time wise) than Orlando International or Sanford. Booking flights well in advance sometimes helps, as does having the flexibility to travel on odd days. BA's website is excellent for giving a comparison of the costs of flights on different dates. It can be quite significant!

Go for an airmiles type programme like BA's or Virgin's and then restructure your life around acquiring points. For example, if you put your whole family's spend through either Virgin's or BA's credit cards you will be surprised how fast the miles rack up.

There are 4 of you. If you have any other families that you get on really well with get them to join you. The bigger villas are great for two families, and as well as splitting the cost of the villa you can split the cost of the car hire too; especially with the options offered by this site where you don't pay over the odds for having lots of extra drivers.

Look for smart ways to ticket your theme parks and take as much advantage as possible of any special offers like free extra days. If you've booked a villa, ask the owner to keep an eye open for things like this. Maybe do only Disney on one trip and only Universal on another.

Spend a few extra days by the pool in the villa. Sometimes you do wonder who is the driving force behind visiting the theme parks. The kids are almost as happy spending a day in the water.

Look for different events that aren't as expensive as the theme parks. A launch from Kennedy costs you nothing more than the drive there and back. Have an afternoon around Kissimmee Old Town or catch one of the classic car cruises. Gatorland is still very reasonably priced and is a great afternoon out.

Each piece of the puzzle might only be small, but if you keep chipping away at it everything adds up in the end. You can't eat an elephant all in one go, but if you turn it into elephant burgers you can nibble away at it until it's all gone.

[brizzle]

A way to save money on tickets and you want to go every year is plan for a trip just within 12 months (e.g. December 2005 and then November 2006).
Then buy Annual Passes on your December 2005 trip for Disney/Universal/Seaworld and use them for next years trip too.

Brizzle.

[E. Cosgrove]

You can pick up cheap (er) flights if you shop around Tia. This easter we paid £245 for flights to MCO via Charlotte with US airways, my niece who could only join us for part of our trip paid over £600 to fly direct with Virgin. Aer Lingus are also offering very reasonable prices on flights from Dublin and you can pick up a Ryan Air flight to Dublin for peanuts!!
I don't think the price of car hire from this site can be beaten. Shop around for travel insurance, the travel agents offers are way in excess of anything you can get on the net, although they will often lure you through the doors with promises of free insurance if you book a holiday with them.
You don't need to do the theme parks all the time, maybe just a couple of days and make them very full days so you will appreciate the relaxation when you don't go. There are so many other things to do in and around Orlando.
Like other villa owners have said, our accommodation is never free!!!
We pay all year round, and as Jan said, when we use it ourselves it cannot generate income for us.....a bit like being self employed and taking a holiday. I do have to agree though the best way to holidat in Florida is in a villa so if you can share the cost with another family it is really economical.
If you can't go to Florida every year, just think of how much you will appreciate it when you do!!!

[heathercobbett]

If you factor in the cost of your trip at the start of the year,somehow you will afford it, put some cash aside every month

And as has already been stated,if you only go occasionally,you spend a lot more money because you don't want to miss anything

We send our renters a free things to do leaflet,full of great days out.Mix that with the odd day at the parks,State Parks,that only cost a dollar or two and some time in your villa and around the pool and it will be a reasonable holiday even with the flights

Plus,you can plan to eat in more and with careful shopping you can take home some bargains that also offset your holiday costs.Keep your eye on the dollar and change your money at the best rate

All in all,can you afford to vacation anywhere else?

[trevlad]

laura echoing above,
we are flying direct with virgin for the same price as indirect with american. you just have to research and belucky. if you can go at short notice even 4 of you can fly cheap. out of season you can pick up a fly drive from £79 plus costs.
re the parks - get up early , get out and spend full days in the parks. cheaper a few full days than several 11 o'clock starts.

you could do the time share thing and get free or $10 tickets. yes its a pain. 6 years ago when the kids were small and our finances tight we did a 2 hour presentation, got free breaky! kids had a supervised play park use of club facilities all day if you wanted, $20 to spend in the club shop and a family 2 day pass to universal.

we had no intention of buying , couldnt afford to, but it meant for the use of that morning our family got 2 great fun days. i wouldnt do it again now, but for us then, it worked.

set yourself a date in the future and start saving. even buy the park tickets as you go along(save the family allowance) cos they dont expire - go on you kmow you want to[msnwink]