Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

Crabman · 16 July 2009 at 7:00PM

Orlando/Florida Questions & Answers Thread Part 3

Crabman · 16 July 2009 at 7:03PM

SmileyS posted just a few seconds before I closed the old thread so here is the post:

SmileyS wrote: »

Quick question or 2 planning to go to Florida next year and i needed to Know
1 can i hire a car with points on my License
2 Will my sat nav work in a American car
3 can i take over my laptop can i charge it up over their
thanks in advance

Fiver29 · 16 July 2009 at 8:38PM

Originally Posted by SmileyS
Quick question or 2 planning to go to Florida next year and i needed to Know
1 can i hire a car with points on my License
2 Will my sat nav work in a American car
3 can i take over my laptop can i charge it up over their
thanks in advance

Don't know about the first one, but your satnav should work but you'll have to download the maps.
And yes you'll be able to charge up your laptop, just make sure you buy a Worldwide plug adaptor.

theskintfamily · 16 July 2009 at 9:31PM

Hi

Its hard to tell you whether to take the car of not. When we never used to take a car it was before the kids were born so we only had to worry about ourselves. So I would be minded to suggest a car for a few reasons really.

If your 3ry was anything like mine last year then they still have a buggy and even if they do not use one at home here they may well want one over there. Its much easier to throw this in the boot than lob it around the trams

Also you will have freedom, you will leave when you want and arrive when you want and your kids can sleep. You will also be free to go places like Busch Gardens etc nice and comfortably.

Now if you do not take a car there is a huge cost saving. The IRide trolley is so cheap its unbelievable but to get to other place you may need a cab or shuttle.

As for your car hire quote thats a lot! We just got my inlaws a mini van for 12 days for 210 quid all in. So I would shop around. The usual sites like Travel Supermarket or carhireflorida. Also there is a great new service you coudl try if you do not want to drive from the airport which is www.caronthedrive.com Peter who runs this company basically will collect you from the airport and take you back home again and your hire car will be waiting. Tell him Craig sent you and you want a good deal!! Cars are about 45 dollars NOT pounds a day.

HTH
Craig

Thank you so much for this info, think I'm swaying towards getting a car, for convenience more than anything but will shop around for quotes rather than just book through the travel agents.

atro1 · 17 July 2009 at 5:57AM

Good Lord Crabman thought you had gone to the great website in the sky!!! Been some real interesting times on here!!

jackieblack · 17 July 2009 at 8:27AM

theskintfamily wrote: »

Thank you so much for this info, think I'm swaying towards getting a car, for convenience more than anything but will shop around for quotes rather than just book through the travel agents.

There is a big debate about the need for a car regularly on here.... personally I would not do Orlando without one, others never bother.

For us the main advantage of having a car is is in the time we save not hanging around for buses/shuttles etc. If you spend 15 minutes am and pm waiting for a bus, over two weeks that adds up to 7 hours (the best part of a whole day!) wasted, and I am not paying all that money to spend a day of my precious holiday waiting at a bus stop! Also we like to get to the parks early (before opening) and at the end of a long tiring day in the parks the last thing we want to do is hang around waiting for a bus! With a car you can take off for wherever you want to be when its convenient for you.

The first time we went, the driving was the thing I was most worried about, but it was fine, I remember thinking that hundreds of thousands of other tourists manage it perfectly well, and I'm sure I'm just as capable as most of them!

ailuro2 · 17 July 2009 at 9:31AM

This is how some people might work out the car thing -

We are going in December, so costs are higher.
flights for three - £1800
accommmodation - £1200

Time available to use in the fortnight- around 200 hours taking sleep and downtime for jetlag into the equation (from experience, we need a quiet first day to make the most of the rest of the holiday)

Every hour we are there it costs us around £15

If we hire a car it will cost us around £300 so to pay for itself it should save us 20 hours of time - I think that will be quite easy when we factor in shopping, travelling to and from parks (twice a day - we're going at Christmas so are doing the early morning then late afternoon plan for touring) and a day trip to Kennedy, plus of course the journey to and from MCO.

Of course it will cost us to park,another thing to factor in is we are very happy to drive there:D people who are reticent should add in the stress factor of the 'wrong side of the road', we are staying in Clermont in a villa rather than a hotel, we don't really drink much on holiday, but people who do would need a designated driver etc.so all these things need to be taken into account,

if we were staying in a Disney hotel on a dining plan then it would make sense to use the buses and no food shopping to speak of, so no need for a car (unless we wanted to explore the region, in which case we'd not be staying in Disney anyway.)

I think there's no proper answer to the car argument - you have to do what's best for your own circumstances.

Weggy · 17 July 2009 at 10:40AM

I've never done a trip there without a car so can't give the pros and cons comparing one to the other... but I would never go without a car. The US is so car orientated and it really is a must have, in my opinion. Gives you good flexibility too - if we want to get up and go to Kennedy, a Mall, the beach, Disney or whatever... we can. We don't have to worry about buses, taxis etc and their schedules, costs etc. Remember that petrol is a lot cheaper over there too and the road network is excellent.

disney_cjd · 17 July 2009 at 11:20AM

Some of the car or not car considerations......

- Do you have kids? - CAR
- No kids and just having fun as DINKs

- NO CAR NEEDED
- Staying on Disney and only wanting Disney - NO CAR
- Staying at a Villa - CAR
- Staying on I DRIVE - EITHER OR REALLY
- Wanting to see more of Florida than a theme park - CAR

HTH.

There are lots of ways to get around without a car lile I RIDE TROLLY or Mears Shuttles etc ALso if you get off the plane and do not wont to drive then car hire companies like https://www.caronthedrive.com are great or a town car service like https://www.quicksilver-tours.com and https://www.tffanytowncars.com are a good option.

Cheers
Craig

aitch-aitch · 17 July 2009 at 12:23PM

Hi Crabman - the following link in the first post of this thread is taking me to the Euro currency thread - is it me doing something wrong:rolleyes:

US Currency Questions & Answers Thread

Crabman · 17 July 2009 at 1:47PM

aitch-aitch wrote: »

Hi Crabman - the following link in the first post of this thread is taking me to the Euro currency thread - is it me doing something wrong:rolleyes:

US Currency Questions & Answers Thread

Sorry about that, I've corrected the link.

Thanks for pointing it out

Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

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