package deals/ any information

[steven1986]

hi everyone,

hope all is well, im new to this forum so this might have come up before

me and the wife to be are looking at going to orlando for our honeymoon in november 2012. i was wondering if anyone on here offers flights, villa and/car rental . we will be staying for 2 weeks commencing 14th november or around about there

if no were does this does anyone no where to get cheap flight and car hire, we are coming from scotland but are willing to travel the uk to get the cheapest return flights,

also what villas are recommended at a fair price, i have seen some nice villas on here at around £350. is this good, is there better

it is our first time in orlando and as this is pretty much the only thing i have to do for the wedding (being male) ha ha, i want it to be perfect for her.

i have a budget in mind but want to see what members say first

thankyou very much in advance

steven

[MTP]

Hi Steven,

Great news about the wedding, so lets make life simple for you with the planning that you need to do. Then you can sit back and relax, while looking attentive and interested. Learn this trait well - it is a survival essential for the married man! Here endeth lesson 1.

Now - Lesson 2 - look up! No, not that high!!

At the top of the forum is a whole series of links - the car hire and flight links are highly recommended and reputable companies who will get you the best price while not sacrificing service.

For a villa, Orlando Villas and Orlando Villa Rentals are the places that you want to be searching. You were asking about prices and November is a great time to be going as you will get to see Orlando at a time of the year when the crowds are perhaps at their lightest. As to what represents good value for money, only you can decide. Personally I wouldn't rent our villa out for £350 a week, however, if there is only the two of you then you may find a four bed would be too big. It can be difficult sometimes to make the right choice as you may think that a lot of the villas are very comparable. The devil is in the detail!! Now this is where you are really going to earn your worth as husband material. Make the right choice and your lovely lady will have a fabulous start to the adventure that is wedded bliss with you ... make the wrong one ... well ... we don't need to go there!

So I would really recommend that you start to look at what you want to enjoy for your honeymoon. Do you want a spa? Do you want a games room? A large pool/ does it need to be south facing? Once you start to put together your shopping list of priorities you can then start to filter your search to find the perfect place to treat your bride to the honeymoon she deserves.

Lesson 3 - putting together the components of your holiday into your own tailor made "package" is the surest way to only purchase the products and elements that are right for you with, ultimately (in my opinion) saving you money and adding great value to your purchase.

Lesson 4 - have a great wedding and a great honeymoon in Florida!

PS This is the only bit you have to do ... so do it right!!

PPS I also forgot to mention Park Tickets and Balloon Flights!!

[steph_goodrum]

Congratulations Steven on the forthcoming wedding and enjoy the planning.

As Euan has said the things you need are all catered for on here but are booked as individual components giving you much more flexibilty to get exactly what suits you rather than a package.

Mid november is probably one of the cheaper times for flights which helps to keep the budget down, but as the last Thursday is Thanksgiving there are many American families who like to go away to celebrate Thanksgiving so the villa prices may reflect this. If you're Fiancee is a shopper, she'll be pleased to hear that the day after Thanksgiving is Black Friday and you usually get the best sales bargains of the year nad don't always have to queue as many of the stores have cyber sales and you can pick up in store.

At the end of the day, although you may think "it's just a place to sleep" as many first timers do, in reality once you step inside and look at the facilities it becomes much more than that. We have had many Guests say they needn't have bought park tickets as they keep having to drag the family away and they would have been just as happy indoors.

Once you have some ideas of what you think you would like then by putting out a request and narrowing it down a bit you can guage what the prices might be. It may be the one you have seen is great value at £350 (as we don't know how other people set their pricing and how much they can subsidise it themselves), but as always remeber the saying, if it seems too good to be true it probably is.

If you should receive any direct responses by pm before enquiring then please let the site owners know as this is against policy as, you may find that someone comes in with a low price but they won't have been verified as genuine owners, which we all have to do every 6 months to ensure that the Guest , on arrival, will find the home that has been promised and paid for i the one where you stay.

If you Fiancee likes dolphins, don't forget to look at Discovery cove, that is a fantastic day out any time and although it may look expensive for a day is well worth it and I'm sure would get you extra brownie points

[brizzle]

Warning: we went for our honeymoon in 1998 and have been back pretty much at least once a year since as it ticks every single box.

We booked a package as we were young and naive. Don't be tempted to go that route as "it's easier" which it appears you aren't as you are here. You get so much more holiday for less money by following the advice on here.

Links at the top for flights, tickets, car and villas and forums right here for first hand advice. Better than any travel agent by far.

Don't know your budget but if you get quotes for the flights, villa and car, anything else is the icing on the top.

As a first timer then the parks are the obvious (and almost mandatory) choice *but* there really is so much more, so if the budget doesn't stretch to park tickets then don't scrap the plans. There are gorgeous beaches, state parks which cost very little in comparison (petrol, parking). If you can get the tickets too though, go for it as well :-)

[SteveandJan]

Welcome Steven, congratulations on your forthcoming wedding and enjoy planning your honeymoon. We had some guests last year who combined their wedding and honeymoon, they were got married at Hard Rock and when they landed at Miami someone picked up their bag with her wedding dress in. Thankfully it was found and they arrived at our villa 1 day later on Thanksgiving and as Steph has said Thanksgiving is busy with American guests. The parks are fantastic but there is so much more to Florida. You could not have found a better site for your car hire, villa, park tickets and flights; you can choose what ticks the boxes for you and tailor it to your own specifications. As brizzle says above once you have been, you just love to come back year after year.

[Jill]

Congratuations on your forthcoming wedding. I think Euan's idea for a balloon flight as part of your honeymoon is a wonderful idea - and will give you a totally different view of the area which will be far more serene and peaceful than attending the Black Friday Sales which make a rugby scrum look dainty. However, they are great 'fun' and you can pick up some wonderful bargains. What ever you decide to do you have made a wise choice in chosing a villa over a hotel.

[lynnroy]

Hi
Congrats on your forthcoming wedding- you will have a fab time in Florida on your honeymoon.

I thoroughly recommend booking all the seperate elements yourself - we also usually fly from Scotland(glasgow) and have paid from £600 odd up to £800 odd for flights but thats going at easter and summer.

So you might be cheaper in Nov although doubt you will get a direct flight from Glasgow at that time- unless Thomas Cook still fly in winter cos I thing Virgin stop for Winter. We are going in July this year and have ended up flying from Manchester with Virgin as it was £630 as compared to £950 from Glasgow.

You could try BA and fly via London. Another good one if you can get it is Aer Lingus via Dublin cos you get to clear US customs in Dublin and then its straight through once you get to Florida.

As for villas I doubt you will get anything decent for £350- I would budget more like £600 per week- it also depends on the area you choose as the further out areas are cheaper and although further out I have been assured by folk who choose to rent villas there that you are only talking an extra 10 mins to the parks- my chidlminder always rents in Haines city down the US27 in areas like Davenport and she always gets her villas for great prices whereas we prefer to be off the US192 more central in areas like Emerald Island.

For a first timer I would say area will not matter one iota as you have nothing to compare it against and most of the areas/communities are really lovely. There is a map on here if you look up any of the villa's you will see it just bellow the villa ref no- and it shows where each communtiy is on the map.

As for budget I reckon you need around£5k to do it- we've always spent that or around that.

Thats budgeting £1000 for flights, £1200 for villa, £600 for park tickets, £400 for car hire(thats for a decent car and not economy) and £1400 speanding money(that £100 per day).

This is a great forum for info and I always book my car hire via here. I don't think I would have been able to book everything the first time without all the lovely folk on here helping me.

[steven1986]

ho guys,

may i start by sayin thankyou very much for the congratulations, and also taking the time to reply to my post,

i have taken everything on board and now i no what i have to look for i can get started, and the bonus is there is nothing negative been said in your reply.

once again thankyou for your time

regards

steven