Luggage
Luggage itself is important - if you have a lot to transport and children to keep control of then it’s vital to ensure that the luggage you have is easy to handle. Always use luggage that can be rolled on wheels and can be stacked easily. Most suitcases, large and small, can be found with wheels these days - pay the extra if you need to - it’s worth it.

Children/Kids
Ensure that children have their own, manageable, luggage that contains their own things for the journey. This keeps them focused while moving and when packing they become more responsible for their own entertainment (do make sure that the younger ones pack enough to keep them occupied as they tend not to think too far ahead).

Entertainment
For the younger children try to create something new for them during the trip to keep them interested and happy. Wrapping up small gifts of, say, pencils and coloring books or some small cheap toys that can be found at most stores goes a long way here - distribute the gifts throughout the trip as appropriate (remember to plan for the return journey too!)

Travel Accessories
There are some travel accessories that are worth their weight in gold but most that are not. Depending on how organized you are and how well you can keep track of all the paperwork you may find document organizers useful. Remember that when planning you’ll be less stressed than when on the trip so be over-cautious on making your life easy. Travel pillows are hit-and-miss - on flights it’s usually difficult to find a place to put your head on it without it slipping off - it may be more comfortable to sit on the travel pillow to relieve sore parts on a long journey!

For large groups you can choose from the many vacation rental resort areas to find a cheaper place to stay that’s more like home. For smaller groups hotels are always offering specials and some include transportation to the theme parks.

You can also find cheaper attraction tickets on offer but beware that you may need to sit through some kind of promotion if the tickets are at a greatly reduced price. Buy them online before you go and pick them up when you arrive.

Check out the offers below, happy hunting!

Disney World offer their own accommodations along with some advantages of early park entry - but they are so much more expensive compared to staying outside of the park. It’s not even that quick to get from one of their hotels into a park via the transport system as it takes a slow and circuitous route.

Staying at one of the many hotels or vacation rentals in the area can offer great savings. For a small group a hotel is great and they often have shuttles to the parks. Most of the hotels are to the East and North of Walt Disney World.

For larger groups a vacation rental home is the way to go. You get lots more room and facilities for your money. The further away you stay the cheaper it is, of course. Most vacation rentals are to the South and West of Walt Disney World.

The hotels in Las Vegas are usually cheap as they don’t want to deter you from spending your money in their Casinos. Many companies hold large meetings in Las Vegas as conference facilities are also cheap. When there’s a convention in town there’s even more life in Las Vegas. Some of the closer hotels are not so cheap any more - try and get a room at the Hilton hotel during CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center!

You won’t need to hire a car in Las Vegas unless you have large items to haul around (your casino winnings I hope!) - most people walk, use the public transportation (buses, monorail) or a taxi. The roads can become a nightmare during big conventions so plan your engagements with plenty of slack.

If you have something specific in mind then take a look at the types of destination listed here through the vacation destination links on the right.

If you are not sure where to vacation then just take a look through the special offers listed above. You may find a great deal on a vacation package that you’d never considered before. If you have flexibility in dates and location you should be able to find a really cheap deal on a vacation.

The closer you are to the arrival date the better the deal should be - but there’s no guarantee that you’ll find something at the last minute. Keep a look out for the last minute deals in the offers. Contact the providers by email or phone and ask them for their best deal on some dates that they need to fill.

A cheaper vacation may mean cheaper travel (your flights and car hire), cheaper accommodation (your hotel or vacation rental home) and cheaper activities when you get there (such as Disney World attraction tickets).

Take a look at these other deals below: