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For a Mediterranean island with good year round weather, a friendly local English speaking population and facilities to rival that of any of her competitors, Malta is a suprisingly often forgotten island for many people planning a holiday in the Mediterranean.

Malta missed some of her own government’s tourist targets in 2005, but a recent visit by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh resulted in four days of positive media coverage in the island’s most important market - the United Kingdom - and also in over 50 other countries attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, including Canada and Australia.

The Queen began her official visit to Malta before she opened the meeting, and was warmly greeted by friendly islanders.

Malta was governed by the British for a hundred and fifty years, and became independent in 1964. But the island has retained many British characteristics, including driving on the left, and British visitors account for nearly half of the island’s tourists.

The George Cross ranks with the Victoria Cross as Britain’s highest award for bravery - and Malta was awarded the Cross in 1942 by King George VI for the island’s resistance to German attempts to occupy the island, with Malta being under almost constant attack from June 1940.

As well as the challenge of drawing tourists away from other Mediterranean islands like Mallorca and Menorca, Malta has had to face the additional challenge of new holiday destinations in the former Eastern Bloc opening up, such as Bulgaria and Croatia, which tend to be cheaper.

Brighter Future

But where the Maltese tourist board has singularly failed to market the island’s appeal to the mass holiday market with any degree of success in recent years, the Queen’s visit has come at the right time for hotels and holiday companies hoping for a good 2006.

Tribune Properties, a British based company specialising in overseas properties including Malta comment:

‘Malta is not a high priority on the list of holiday destinations for many British people compared to the Spanish Costas, Canary and Balearic Islands. The visit of the Queen showed Malta in a very positive light, and hopefully the island’s tourist officials will be able to capitalise on the trip and increase hotel and holiday bookings in the months ahead. Given Malta’s past record of promotion though if 2006 sees an increase in visitors it will be despite of the official promotions, and not because of it.’.

More good news for the Malta holiday industry came in October with the announcement that low cost airlines had been been given the right to fly to the island.

‘This will help both the hotel and property industries in Malta’ add Tribune. ‘With the cost of getting to the island coming down, Malta should see her share of the short stay European holiday market increase substantially, increasing employment locally and benefitting the economy overall’.

Details of property for sale in Malta can be found at http://www.maltaproperty.info

For Malta holidays Holidays in Malta, for the weather in Malta Malta weather

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What you are about to read will save you loads of money!

Many families get quite a shock when they calculate what it will cost them to have a Walt Disney World holiday.

You’ll need flights, accommodation, car hire/driving costs, food, passes to Walt Disney World (they are expensive - children are classed as ages 3-9 years old and costs not much less than adult prices), entertainment, and more…

I am going to show you how to have a budget-wise Disney holiday.

Tip # 1. Do it Yourself

Book your Disney World vacation online.

You will find the cheapest rates by booking each component separately yourself - air, accommodation, car hire and even theme park tickets.

You can book way in advance and still get the same savings as if you had booked last minute. The difference is that booking last minute can cause you stress. So Relax!

Take your own food and drink. If you’re taking a charter flight, you can pay far more than you want to pay for in-flight food and drinks. You might not even enjoy it.

Tip # 2. Rent an Orlando Villa directly from the owner.

Stay in a privately owned villa or vacation rental home within 20 minutes drive of Walt Disney World.

People in Europe have been holidaying in private villas for years. Many Europeans and North Americans now own villas in Orlando all within 20 minutes drive of Disney.

These privately owned homes belong to families just like yourselves. Because these families vacation in their homes as well, they are fully equipped with everything that you could hope for.

The price you pay is where the bargain comes in if you book directly from the owner of the property. Vacation homes near Disney can start from as little as $79 to less than $160 per night for a whole family sized house. Price often depends on the season and quality, level of privacy and amenities of the villa that you want.

Your whole family could have room to themselves instead of cramming together in the same hotel bedroom.

Plus, you can have lounge, private pool, spa, game room, full kitchens and much more than I can mention here.

To make your holiday even cheaper, split the cost of your villa with another family.

Orlando has many huge villas that can sleep 2-3 families. Many have multiple master bedrooms. So each family can have a master bedroom and extra bedrooms for the rest of the family. They also have multiple bathrooms and multiple living/dining areas.

So if you don’t mind sharing with friends or family you could save even more money on accommodation.

Sign up for newsletters on Orlando vacation rentals websites. That way you can keep abreast of special deals available.

Look out for last minute deals from private villa owners.

Once you rent a private villa you won’t want to ever use a hotel again.

Tip # 3. Go Off Season

Prices plummet when the kids are back at school! You save more than 50% on flights, and at low season, Orlando vacation rentals are much cheaper.

Flights:
You would be amazed how much you can save in airline tickets if you go low season, especially if your family is large.

Sign up to newsletters with your favourite airlines to hear about the best flight deals first.

Seize the specials by looking out for bargain flight offers in good time.

Many websites specialise in finding air fare deals. Use farefinders. These are websites that search for cheap airfares.

Look out for newspapers that offer flight discounts that involve collecting tokens. Some have ‘buy one get on free deals’ on flights at specific times of the year.

Don’t fly at weekends if there are surcharges.

But, who wants to go to Walt Disney World when kids are Back at school ?

If you are a bargain hunting holiday-maker, you might consider it if you realise the savings you could have.

Tip # 4. Spend Less on Your Family’s Food

Food is expensive in the theme parks without a doubt.

You can eat meals in your Florida Villa and save money. You get a fully equipped full-size kitchen. You don’t have to cook. You can fill the refrigerator with food from the Supermarket.

Bring snacks and drinks with you from your villa, to the Disney Parks, especially on hot and humid days when your kids need to drink lots of liquids all day long. Freeze drinks in a drinks cooler and take them with you frozen.

You and your family can return to your villa for lunch and a rest and go back to the Theme Parks refreshed and fed.

If you drive from home to your holiday villa, shop before you go. Bring your favourite items from home.

Have breakfast at restaurants that allow kids to eat free. They advertise this in their windows.

Look out for restaurants offering free kid’s meals.

Pick up money saving booklets from the local Supermarket. They are loaded with money saving coupons.

Look out for coupons that save you money at full service restaurants as well as your fast food chains like McDonalds.

You can find some good deals at Walt Disney World if you choose carefully. A family of four can easily spend $50 for little more than a snack.

A better option is for you to splash out once or twice in the Disney World ‘Parks on the ‘all you can eat character meals’ or on ‘fun themed restaurants’. This can make your
holiday even more memorable and make for good photo opportunities.

Popular buffet restaurants with fairly good prices include character breakfast at Cinderella’s Royal Table, and the Polynesian Resort’s dinners where food is cooked at a firepit, games are played with the kids, and food is brought to your table time and time again. The Boma restaurant at Animal Kingdom Lodge has a huge selection.

Also, for a bit more than $50, you and your family could eat a full buffet at a fun restaurant such as the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom, which has Winnie the Pooh and his pals in attendance

Breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets are $15-$29 per person. Kids have their own meal choices, plus a make your own sundae bar. There is a good selection for parents and your glass of drinks will be refilled to your content.

Tip # 5. Save money on Theme Park Tickets and General Entertainment

It’s always wise to spend some time developing an itinerary before you buy your Theme Park tickets, because the right passes for you depend on how you plan to spend your days.

Be sure to check all your options. You may be overlooking a special deal for which you qualify, such as Florida resident, military/civil service, and corporate discounts

There are lots of legitimate ways to get discounted Walt Disney World passes.

Unfortunately, there are also lots of places where you can get ripped off.

So be very careful.

The WalMart at 4444 W. Vine in Kissimmee, has a travel agency called Wal-Mart Vacations that sells discounted Disney World tickets. The prices are discounted about 5%. But, they may not carry every type of ticket.

Pick up a money saving coupons booklet from the local supermarket. It is not just for food.

There are also money saving coupons in those booklets for admission discounts to places like Universal Orlando, Sea World, Busch Gardens and more.

Some popular events are also promoted at times such as Disney on Ice, “buy one get one” coupon.

You can even save money on adventures like go-cart racing, with free ‘buy one get one free coupons’.

Tip # 6. Free Admissions at Disney!

Visit Disney’s resort hotels (for example when you dine at Boma), but you do not have to dine.

Tour the grounds, marvel at the gardens and architecture, listen to the music, and mingle with the cast members.

If you do dine make sure you give yourself a lot of time before dinner, so that you have plenty of time to savour the sights in daylight.

Tip # 7. Car Hire Savings
Look out for car rental savings from almost all of the national car hire companies.

Tip # 8. Airport Parking
Book your airport parking in advance. It is much more expensive on the day.

Check your car insurance or roadside assistance membership for special offers on airport parking.

Some airport hotels offer one night pre-flight stays that include holiday parking.

Look out for other parking offers.

Book your cab/minivan in advance. Negotiate a deal with the driver to pick you up on return as you are giving them double business.

Tip # 9. Buy Low Cost Travel Insurance
Compare prices and make sure that it has what you need. If you’re going away more than once in the year consider an annual policy.

I always save loads of money whenever I go to Disney, and I still have a Disney holiday in luxury and style… you can too!

Tim Burton is a travel writer for the popular Orlando Villas Florida website at http://www.milkriver.co.uk and Worldwide Villas website at http://www.worldwidevillas.net

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One of the first questions that comes to mind when thinking of leasing a car is: “What will my monthly lease payment amount be?” or “How much can I save by leasing when compared to buying?”

Getting the answers can be as simple as using an online lease calculator such as the Lease Calculator from LeaseGuide.com, which calculates payments, finance charges, taxes, and total lease costs by walking you through a number of easy steps in which you answer questions and input information about your lease.

Lease payment calculators use a standard leasing industry payment formula to determine monthly payment amount. Additional calculations are performed to determine other costs.

Even though you may not know some of the factors you need to plug into the calculator, you can guess or make some assumptions. Then you can go back and change some of the factors to see how it affects the results. In this way, you can play with the calculator to get the answers you want.

If you have all the figures about a specific lease deal from your dealer lease price (cap cost), down payment (cap cost reduction), lease-end value (residual), length of lease (term), and finance rate (money factor) you can check the honesty of your dealer’s payment calculations by using an online lease calculator. A dealer’s figures should exactly match yours. If not, then the dealer is using numbers that he has not accurately disclosed to you. If you both are using the same numbers as input to your calculations, the results will be precisely the same to the penny.

If you want to compare the cost of leasing to the cost of buying, use a Lease vs. Buy Calculator. Based on the input figures that you provide, you can easily see the difference between buying and leasing.

Lease payments are always smaller than loan payments for the same vehicle. However, this does not necessarily mean leasing is right for you, nor does it mean that a specific lease is a good deal. To understand this better, see the Lease Guide for more details.

Al Hearn is owner and operator of LeaseGuide.com, a popular web site for automotive consumers interested in leasing. It has served thousands of visitors since 1995.

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