Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

chocolateteddy

Hi natters
we are currently planning our trip for next feb. When we went to paris for the 3rd time we knew what to expect and we planned our days and had a much better time. But having never been to florida I was worried about getting it wrong! We have discovered a website - mentioned on here, google Tour Guide mike (and in the forums) we paid $21 worked out £15 and it is brilliant, You get all park hours, recommended parks for your particular holiday dates. loads of insider tips, like best time to book adr for etc etc etc . I know most of the information is probably avaliable but we were going round in circles, it has saved us hours of research and the info on the site is so user friendly. It includes touring plans to avoid queues depending on your party makeup (toddlers, children, teens or just adults)best place to stand for parades. how to get out of the park without getting crushed.
It is a once in lifetime trip so we want to make the most of it. The children are better when they know exactly what they are doing. so a day to day plan works for us. Will update once we've been as to how effective it was!!

chocolateteddy

Thanks blue monkey for your info re spending money I know - how long is a piece of string- each to their own for amount but it reassured me that the £1500 we currently have is heading the right way still got time to save a bit more!!!!
Glad you are at last looking forward to your trip, have been following your saga re tickets, glad you got it sorted . Have fun

chaosweddings

Im sooooo excited, we are going to florida on the 17th october for 2 weeks,
we are staying at the doubletree resort on i drive.

we have saved £1250 on dh fairfx card, £700 on my fairfx card , ds has £350 and we have about $800 in cash.

i have never been to florida before, we have booked mnsshp for the 22nd oct and discovery cove for the 28th oct and pirates adventure dinner for my mums birthday (we are meeting her there as she is going on a 7 day cruise then 7 days disney)

any tips for a florida newbie would be great

moggitymog

chaosweddings wrote: »

Im sooooo excited, we are going to florida on the 17th october for 2 weeks,
we are staying at the doubletree resort on i drive.



We stopped there and we loved the hotel, it had been refurbished and the hot tub was fantastic, don't take any towels there was always plenty at the pools.
We wanted to try the buffet breakfast but it wasn't on and ended up paying a fortune for brekkie,
stock up on water and snacks from the local supermarket, publix it's either stop 39 or 40 on the i ride and your hotel is stop 29

johnnyroper

chaosweddings wrote: »

Im sooooo excited, we are going to florida on the 17th october for 2 weeks,
we are staying at the doubletree resort on i drive.

we have saved £1250 on dh fairfx card, £700 on my fairfx card , ds has £350 and we have about $800 in cash.

i have never been to florida before, we have booked mnsshp for the 22nd oct and discovery cove for the 28th oct and pirates adventure dinner for my mums birthday (we are meeting her there as she is going on a 7 day cruise then 7 days disney)

any tips for a florida newbie would be great

as has already been said use supermarkets to stock up on drinks we also bought sandwiches and snacks to take in to the parks as disney really do know how to charge.there is a walmart on kirkman road about 10 minutes from i-drive (assuming you have a car)

another money saving tip is try the buffet places ponderosa,golden carrot etc for evening meals a couple of times it works out fairly cheap,my favourite was cici's pizza on i drive think it was $6 per person for as much pizza,salad,pasta,cake and soft drinks you can handle,it worked out ideal on parade night get back to hotel shower change over to cici's for quick cheap evening meal then off to MK.

Musicman

johnnyroper wrote: »

as has already been said use supermarkets to stock up on drinks we also bought sandwiches and snacks to take in to the parks as disney really do know how to charge.there is a walmart on kirkman road about 10 minutes from i-drive (assuming you have a car)

Sorry for sounding a bit nieve, but I thought when we last visited 13 years ago, you could not take food into Disney parks? As I said it was 13 years ago, so my memory may be playing up?

Any advice would be appreciated, as are there lockers in the parks so that you can store anything taken in, so that you do not have to carry it around?

maemaesmummy

Lots of signs at security check before you enter the parks ...the only place I saw this rule enforced was Sea World and Discovery Cove.

maemaesmummy

yes there are lockers around the parks!

KarenG

maemaesmummy wrote: »

yes there are lockers around the parks!

They aren't free but they can hold quite a lot

I have never ever seen the "no food" rule enforced, and we've been going most years since 2002.

jmr_2

We are doing the Orlando thing and I spent hours the other night reading all of the posts on Thread 3!!! Took a while but amazing info, tips and a little overwhelming but the best few hours I have spent since deciding we will do Florida next year. Blue Monkey you are clearly obsessed, in a good way! You have mentioned several times the Key West offer and I checked it out, and it looks good (but what do I know, nothing really!) We are considering that offer, but I am insecure as its our first trip and, like others, I want to get it right. We have two kids 16 & 10 next year and both like the idea of doing the whole Disney thing (despite their age), also they want to do the Harry Potter thing at Universal. I want to get a good balance for them and us. We will go for three weeks and I priced up the key west deal, does this sound about right to you, 2 adults, 2 kids A three week break: Flights Virgin approx 3500 (can't actually check precise price as we will go late August). Accomm Key West booking 1 bed room 3kws £3180, 21 Day tkt 1096 (debate whether to do 21 days or the 14 for 7 day tks 960?), and free dining Plan for 3 wks. We still need to price up the Universal tkts? These are my questions, so any help on these from yourself and other would be appreciated. 1) Is it good idea to stay in the resort for 3wks 2)How big is the accomm (other posters indicated they know this resort well 3)How far is Disney to Universal, was it you that said to use taxis, which seemed a good idea 4) August sounds hot and humid, have you been around then 5) What type of tkt would be best for Universal so that we get to see HP and the other bits too, and how long do we need. I have considered doing two weeks in the resort and 1 week in a Villa, but I also like the airport transfer thing that Disney do, and also the other perks. I have only looked briefly at Villa's but with this current deal there wasnt much in it pricewise, at least that's how it seemed to me, but over to the MSOE's (Money Saving Orlando Experts) for your help would be great. I loved all your MSE tips when in Orlando, drinks etc. It's all fantastic.