[Travel] Holiday plans this summer?

[Herr Tubthumper]

Hi mate. Has anybody asked? We're off to France on the 13th.

Should be Covid free by then, as I am sitting at home with my second dose in four months at the moment...

Oh dear. Get well soon.

And yes, [MENTION=12090]Garage_Doors[/MENTION] has it I’m afraid.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Oh dear. Get well soon.

And yes, [MENTION=12090]Garage_Doors[/MENTION] has it. If he doesn’t use it I’ll let you know.

Cheers mate, see you soon.

 

[dazzer6666]

Thanks Dazzer - does it generally matter who you buy the tickets through?

Haven’t been for a little while but not in my experience - they all supply the same thing (in exchange for an arm and a leg, obviously :rolleyes)

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/...-covid-travel-restrictions-as-half-term-nears

Good news for those heading off in half term to these destinations

 

[HastingsSeagull]

Hopefully UK as a honeymoon for 3 weeks though sadly in pre-season. A few days stop over in some beach resort on the way doesn’t seem likely currently though given covid stuff.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

So, given the slight chink of light at the end of the tunnel, I've been giving holiday plans some thought again. As it happens, I speculatively booked a holiday for the four of us (wife and two nippers) for this coming August, back in September last year as things were relatively stable and I could see things going a bit nuts price-wise if and when things got better.

I booked a package holiday through BA, for 18 nights staying at the Waldorf Astoria. So, assuming all goes well, we're pretty much set on that front; the only thing we don't have sorted is park tickets and transport. In terms of park tickets, what's the best way to do this given we're staying slightly longer than a fortnight? The kids will be 8 and 6 so will probably be more focused in the Disney stuff, but we definitely want to do Universal too.

Transport-wise, I've thought about hiring a car however I'm not sure I can be arsed. It's gonna be hot, and the kids will inevitably stress me out from time-to-time so I know I'm going to want to have a beer or two at some point. The hotel is a Disney partner hotel, so we get free transfers to and from the Disney Parks. Beyond that, I'd have hoped Uber would be able to pick up the slack however I'm not 100% sure as Uber wasn't a thing when I was last in Orlando.

Thoughts and any tips welcome.

Cheers!

Personally, I would never go to Florida without hiring a car - IMO it's a must - you may not use it every day but there's so much to do/see that IMO you'd miss out without one.

I'd contact Bozza for more info - he's the expert...

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Personally, I would never go to Florida without hiring a car - IMO it's a must - you may not use it every day but there's so much to do/see that IMO you'd miss out without one.

I'd contact Bozza for more info - he's the expert...

You want to book it way in advance atm - serious supply issues in some areas which is affect avalibilty and cost.

 

[Bozza]

So, given the slight chink of light at the end of the tunnel, I've been giving holiday plans some thought again. As it happens, I speculatively booked a holiday for the four of us (wife and two nippers) for this coming August, back in September last year as things were relatively stable and I could see things going a bit nuts price-wise if and when things got better.

I booked a package holiday through BA, for 18 nights staying at the Waldorf Astoria. So, assuming all goes well, we're pretty much set on that front; the only thing we don't have sorted is park tickets and transport. In terms of park tickets, what's the best way to do this given we're staying slightly longer than a fortnight? The kids will be 8 and 6 so will probably be more focused in the Disney stuff, but we definitely want to do Universal too.

Transport-wise, I've thought about hiring a car however I'm not sure I can be arsed. It's gonna be hot, and the kids will inevitably stress me out from time-to-time so I know I'm going to want to have a beer or two at some point. The hotel is a Disney partner hotel, so we get free transfers to and from the Disney Parks. Beyond that, I'd have hoped Uber would be able to pick up the slack however I'm not 100% sure as Uber wasn't a thing when I was last in Orlando.

Thoughts and any tips welcome.

Cheers!

Car: prices are, in the main, ridiculous, right now. For 18 nights, you may well be looking at £1,500 - £2,000 for the rental. Additionally, most hotels charge a fair whack for parking now (even Disney's own hotels have now gone the same way). A quick check suggests the Waldorf is $40+tax per night, so that's another £500+ right there.

Is £2k+ worth it for you to have a car available now and again?

Even before the post-pandemic hire care price hike, we typically split our Orlando holidays into different phases. For our Disney phase, where we always stay in a Disney hotel, we don't get a car because:

- Disney transport is good
- Uber and Lyft fill any gaps in the above
- We'd be paying to rent/park for a car we'd barely use
- We both like to have a drink in the parks and with meals etc

The Waldorf is eseentially a non-Disney hotel on Disney property so you get most/all of the Disney perks and I'd imagine their transport is also decent given the hotel's pricepoint. Again, Uber etc can help when needed.

For our non-Disney phase we typically move off-site, renting a house with pool and get a car for this part of the holiday. I appreciate that's not an option for you if you have an 18-night booking, but you could still do a similar thing, ie:

- Focus on the Disney parks first - there's the four main parks and the two water parks
- Do other stuff in the second part of the holiday, which may be Universal, Sea World, Kennedy Space Centre, heading out for a beach day the Gulf Coast, checking out the malls or outlets on etc - things where a car will be useful.

The Disney Car Care Centre is close to the Magic Kingdom and has an Alamo rental desk. They'll come and pick you up to take you to collect your car, and also drop you off when you return the car, although if you do get a car for the second part of your trip, you may want to pick up on Disney property and then drop the car back off at MCO on your way home.

Tickets: it doesn't matter where you get them from really. As posted above, Attraction Tickets are as good as anyone and have a decent reputation.

 

[Commander]

I've noticed UK self catering prices have hiked up some quite ridiculously.

I went to book 2 nights in nice forest log cabin in Hampshire for September yesterday. They wanted A THOUSAND POUNDS. For TWO nights. I could fly to Mallorca for the weekend and stay in a half decent hotel, go out for dinner both nights and do more or less whatever I wanted for that price.

I'm sorry but that is utterly ****ing ridiculous. I thought about what I could do at home for two nights for a thousand pounds and promptly decided against it. Are people actually paying these prices? It's insanity.

 

[Poojah]

Car: prices are, in the main, ridiculous, right now. For 18 nights, you may well be looking at £1,500 - £2,000 for the rental. Additionally, most hotels charge a fair whack for parking now (even Disney's own hotels have now gone the same way). A quick check suggests the Waldorf is $40+tax per night, so that's another £500+ right there.

Is £2k+ worth it for you to have a car available now and again?

Even before the post-pandemic hire care price hike, we typically split our Orlando holidays into different phases. For our Disney phase, where we always stay in a Disney hotel, we don't get a car because:

- Disney transport is good
- Uber and Lyft fill any gaps in the above
- We'd be paying to rent/park for a car we'd barely use
- We both like to have a drink in the parks and with meals etc

The Waldorf is eseentially a non-Disney hotel on Disney property so you get most/all of the Disney perks and I'd imagine their transport is also decent given the hotel's pricepoint. Again, Uber etc can help when needed.

For our non-Disney phase we typically move off-site, renting a house with pool and get a car for this part of the holiday. I appreciate that's not an option for you if you have an 18-night booking, but you could still do a similar thing, ie:

- Focus on the Disney parks first - there's the four main parks and the two water parks
- Do other stuff in the second part of the holiday, which may be Universal, Sea World, Kennedy Space Centre, heading out for a beach day the Gulf Coast, checking out the malls or outlets on etc - things where a car will be useful.

The Disney Car Care Centre is close to the Magic Kingdom and has an Alamo rental desk. They'll come and pick you up to take you to collect your car, and also drop you off when you return the car, although if you do get a car for the second part of your trip, you may want to pick up on Disney property and then drop the car back off at MCO on your way home.

Tickets: it doesn't matter where you get them from really. As posted above, Attraction Tickets are as good as anyone and have a decent reputation.

Thanks for that Bozza; really helpful and appreciate you taking the time to post.

The plan was to get a 14 day Disney pass (which I believe you can still use over an 18 day period) and a 7 day Universal pass and do that bit somewhere in the middle. We’d planned to build in a couple of chill out days at the hotel as the kids are inevitably going to get tired with so much walking in the heat and late nights to boot, so beyond that didn’t plan to do much else.

It sounds like it may be prudent to book a car for a few days in case we wanted to visit some malls or go to the beach. Any recommendations on the coast out of interest?

 

[Bozza]

Thanks for that Bozza; really helpful and appreciate you taking the time to post.

The plan was to get a 14 day Disney pass (which I believe you can still use over an 18 day period) and a 7 day Universal pass and do that bit somewhere in the middle. We’d planned to build in a couple of chill out days at the hotel as the kids are inevitably going to get tired with so much walking in the heat and late nights to boot, so beyond that didn’t plan to do much else.

It sounds like it may be prudent to book a car for a few days in case we wanted to visit some malls or go to the beach. Any recommendations on the coast out of interest?

Yeah, that's right - the new Disney "Magic" ticket can be used on any 14 days over an 18-day period (the old one was 14 in 14).

Getting to Universal is easily done in an Uber/Lyft and, given that if you drive parking is something like $27, it won't cost much more. It will also free you up to have a couple of drinks, if that's your thing - there are some great food options in Universal's Citywalk.

As a broad strategy, you may find it works well to hit the parks early - particularly in the first few days when you wake up early as your bodyclocks adjust - head back to the hotel to chill, swim, nap etc during the afternoon heat, and then return to the parks in the evening when the sun has gone down, the temperatue is a bit easier on everyone and the parks look great lit up at night.

Most of the malls are easily Uber-able too, and one of the main outlet places - https://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlet/orlando-vineland - is only just outside Disney property.

Yeah, getting a car for a spell will give you some freedom, certainly. I just did a dummy car only booking on Virgin Holidays (often come in better for car ony prices than other places) from 12-19 August and got a price of £466, which doesn't feel too bad in the current market. It might be good for you to come up with a skeletal plan, and book a car based on that, making sure you can cancel (Virgin Holidays allow cancellation) if you change your mind/see a better price. Fingers crossed the market returns to more normal levels by the summer.

Clearwater and St Petersburg are lovely spots on the Gulf Coast and an easy drive to reach.

 

[Poojah]

Yeah, that's right - the new Disney "Magic" ticket can be used on any 14 days over an 18-day period (the old one was 14 in 14).

Getting to Universal is easily done in an Uber/Lyft and, given that if you drive parking is something like $27, it won't cost much more. It will also free you up to have a couple of drinks, if that's your thing - there are some great food options in Universal's Citywalk.

As a broad strategy, you may find it works well to hit the parks early - particularly in the first few days when you wake up early as your bodyclocks adjust - head back to the hotel to chill, swim, nap etc during the afternoon heat, and then return to the parks in the evening when the sun has gone down, the temperatue is a bit easier on everyone and the parks look great lit up at night.

Most of the malls are easily Uber-able too, and one of the main outlet places - https://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlet/orlando-vineland - is only just outside Disney property.

Yeah, getting a car for a spell will give you some freedom, certainly. I just did a dummy car only booking on Virgin Holidays (often come in better for car ony prices than other places) from 12-19 August and got a price of £466, which doesn't feel too bad in the current market. It might be good for you to come up with a skeletal plan, and book a car based on that, making sure you can cancel (Virgin Holidays allow cancellation) if you change your mind/see a better price. Fingers crossed the market returns to more normal levels by the summer.

Clearwater and St Petersburg are lovely spots on the Gulf Coast and an easy drive to reach.

Thanks again - will do a bit of digging and pull together a bit of a plan (I might run it past you, if you don’t mind!).

 

[Bozza]

Thanks again - will do a bit of digging and pull together a bit of a plan (I might run it past you, if you don’t mind!).

Sure thing - it's a holiday that's a big investment and you want to have the best possible time!

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

I wonder that affect Russia's military thrusting will have on this years holidays, Cyprus and various other areas will obviously have less Russians out and about, so some good news.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Well, we are going to Anglesey. Should be able to avoid pandemics, airport queues and European wars. No such thing as bad weather just bad clothes.

 

[The Wookiee]

Fueteventura middle of May for two weeks

 

[Machiavelli]

We don't usually fly, but are going to southeastern Spain in late July. For those who have better familiarity of getting cheaper flights, is now the best time for me to book or is a 'sweet spot' at, say, three months prior to travelling?

 

[dazzer6666]

Yeah, that's right - the new Disney "Magic" ticket can be used on any 14 days over an 18-day period (the old one was 14 in 14).

Getting to Universal is easily done in an Uber/Lyft and, given that if you drive parking is something like $27, it won't cost much more. It will also free you up to have a couple of drinks, if that's your thing - there are some great food options in Universal's Citywalk.

As a broad strategy, you may find it works well to hit the parks early - particularly in the first few days when you wake up early as your bodyclocks adjust - head back to the hotel to chill, swim, nap etc during the afternoon heat, and then return to the parks in the evening when the sun has gone down, the temperatue is a bit easier on everyone and the parks look great lit up at night.

Most of the malls are easily Uber-able too, and one of the main outlet places - https://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlet/orlando-vineland - is only just outside Disney property.

Yeah, getting a car for a spell will give you some freedom, certainly. I just did a dummy car only booking on Virgin Holidays (often come in better for car ony prices than other places) from 12-19 August and got a price of £466, which doesn't feel too bad in the current market. It might be good for you to come up with a skeletal plan, and book a car based on that, making sure you can cancel (Virgin Holidays allow cancellation) if you change your mind/see a better price. Fingers crossed the market returns to more normal levels by the summer.

Clearwater and St Petersburg are lovely spots on the Gulf Coast and an easy drive to reach.

Clearwater is fantastic……had a couple of weeks there at one point in a rented apartment. Would happily move there.

 

[Deanbha]

We don't usually fly, but are going to southeastern Spain in late July. For those who have better familiarity of getting cheaper flights, is now the best time for me to book or is a 'sweet spot' at, say, three months prior to travelling?

The later you leave it, the more expensive the flights tend to get. The best website to use is skyscanner. Just select whole month of July and play around with the prices.

Likely to be pricey, as its peak time.

 

[Deanbha]

Just booked, Cyprus for 10 days end of April. Then got Menorca for 10 days in August.