Hi, I would say it is definately a viable option. I always check BA.com first, BA are percieved to be expensive but I have had good deals from them, better than charter airlines, they also have the facility to search + or - 14 days from your preferred date, it's amazing how much flights can vary just by going a day or 2 earlier or later. Once you have a price from BA you can search around other airlines and places like lastminute, expedia etc. to see how they compare.
I have always found Airline Network to have the best prices for car hire in the US they often have offers such as free upgrades or free insurance upgrades and their prices are usually cheaper than the "free car" option offered by the tour operators, as the insurance for the "free" car is around £25-£30 a day.
Park tickets can be expensive so it is probably best to cost up a package and then work out the DIY cost and take it from there. We are a family of 5 so either need 2 rooms or get penalised in under occupancy supplements if we have a bigger room/ villa so DIY is the way we go.
You really can't go wrong with the Villas in Florida, even the modest 3 bedroom ones are very spacious and usually have 2 bathrooms, pool etc.
The choice is yours really, be prepared to spend hours surfing for the best prices though, hope this helps, good luck, Rich.

Check the USA thread at the top of the board, many of us DIY to Florida, some of us wouldn't do it any other way!. We've done a couple of package flydrives in May but as our local airport (Newcastle) only flys there from April to October every other time we've gone we've flown scheduled via Gatwick , price wise it can work out cheaper
This October we're going with AerLingus from Dublin, 2A and 2C 11 & 15 (so paying for 3A & 2C) for £1034 plus a quick hop to Dublin at £96 return, flying scheduled means we can pick which days suit us best and are going for 23 days in total including a couple of days in Dublin on the return.

Booking your own hotel, villa or condo is easy and you get to a much better choice, the actual difference in price between a reasonable 3* hotel and a 3 or 4 bedroomed villa is very little, going in low season (not school hols) gets you better flight prices and villa/condo prices as well.

Rich is quite right about Airline network, 99 times out of 100 they are the cheapest for Florida car hire, their Platinum upgrade is also excellent value, it covers all drivers over 25 and you pickthe car up with a full tank and return it empty, it's on offer at the moment as a free upgrade
Here's a link to the section,

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=2

I've also posted a list of useful weblinks for Florida flights, accomodation, car hire, tickets etc. on this thread, lot's of useful info on there
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=121

Post away, ask anything you want, we're very friendly and don't bite at all

planning a trip to florida april 07.

party of 4 (2 ad 2 ch)

not too fussed about where in orlando but close to the major attractions.

wish to fly direct from glasgow to orlando int but will consider any london/manchester airport.

we have been twice before, once in hotel once in villa.

looking to diy this time and hope anyone can give me pointers as to where to start, recommmendations, web sites companies etc to use.

many thanks to all who post.

nemo.

Firstly book your flights. Virgin don't seem to get quite the good reviews that they once did although they do fly from Manchester (not sure about Glasgow.) BA fly to Orlando - but possibly only from London. They should soon (if they don't already) have their flight schedules out.
Another airline to consider is American Airlines - check out their web site.
There are also of course lots of charters to Orlando/Sanford - Thomson, First Choice etc. some of these offer a premium class should you want the extra space.

For your party of 2 adults and 2 children I would probably consider booking a villa privately. That way you can relax in your own pool after the hustle and bustle of the theme parks. Most villas seem to be in Kissimee which is not too far from the parks. Check out Owners Direct, Holiday Lets, Holiday Rentals etc. There are also lots of apartments/condos should you want to be on a complex instead.

Car Hire is easy to book and although the basic car hire price looks cheap don't forget the insurance mounts up.

Florida is easy to book DIY and although we haven't been back since 2000 if we went again then we would go DIY - wouldn't go Virgin though as their standards seemed to have declined somewhat over the years.

Hope this helps,
Pippa

If you are looking to go cheaply .....I believe there is a new cheap charter company that has just started flying direct from Glasgow called Globespan - could be worth a look ?
Also worth considering is TCD - Travel City Direct for fly drive.

For car hire Airline Network are very competative.

Make sure you book direct (preferably with a British) villa owner for good prices - there are plenty about.

Another useful site for advice & tips on DIY Orlando ;
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/

Don't forget your travel insurance.

thanks for the sound advice.

nemo

If you are looking to book a Villa have a look at http://www.vrbo.com

I have been recommended that Windsor Hills are the best location for visiting disney parks and it is a gated community and seems very safe.

Also have a look at http://www.tripadvisor.com and then the United States and Florida and then Orlando and you will find lots of information.

Hope this helps. We are hoping to do DIY to Orlando for Oct. 07.

Did diy to florida (family of 4) in 2004. Booked flights with Expedia or E-bookers to Orlando International. Car hire booked online. Stayed first at Oak Plantation at Kissimmee, also booked on expedia or e-bookers. Then had to move to Doubletree hotel nearer to theme parks due to Hurricane wiping out Oak Tree. No problems with anything and certainly wouldn't book a package to florida as diy was so easy and saved a lot of money - especially if you can book well in advance

Might interest you to know that Virgin now fly direct from Glasgow as from this summer.... they might be a bit expensive, but read reviews and you will find that they are the best... free drinks on flights, meals included, amenity kit, online check-in, DTD check-in... etc... etc...

We were going to do DIY, but there's only 2 of us and Virgin offered us a great price (they do tailor-made holidays --- we chose 2 hotels for 21 nights) that we just couldn't refuse... so much less hassle as well!!