Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

johnnyroper

betsie wrote: »

We have booked with Virgin and are going to POR next October. I phoned today to see if we could get our Harry Potter early entry passes at the airport as we do not want to go to the welcome meeting and have already bought are disney and universal tickets with them. She said we would get all are tickets 14 days before we go but I am not convinced these will come. To those who have been what do these passes look like and did anyone else maage to get them in advance. Also when can I get my ref number to book my seats she couldn't give me a date and said to phone up some time in December (great help) We fly out on 13th Oct - is it 11 months from the day you fly or return. Thank you. Also can anyone recommend the best place to sit on the plane 2 adults and 2 kids (9 and 13) dont like being in the middle. Thanks

the virgin atlantic booking can be accessed 11 months from your return date so you can do it now.
you will need to request the virgin atlantic locator code from virgin hols though as holiday ref will not work.i sent an email requesting it to the cust service email addy.

as for best seats i always find the last few rows on the 744 to be the best but with 4 of you at least one person will need to be in centre row as aircraft are configured 3-4-3 in cattle class.

have a look at this site it will give details of the seats

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Virgin_Atlantic_Airways/Virgin_Atlantic_Airways_Boeing_747-400_1.php?Orig=LGW&Dest=MCO&Date=

KarenG

johnnyroper wrote: »

the virgin atlantic booking can be accessed 11 months from your return date so you can do it now.
you will need to request the virgin atlantic locator code from virgin hols though as holiday ref will not work.i sent an email requesting it to the cust service email addy.

Actually, I am sure you can use the Virgin Holidays booking reference on the Virgin Atlantic website to access your flights. I am sure I did.

KarenG

blue_monkey wrote: »

Thanks Karen. I did not know that about BLT but it is pretty close to be able to go outside and see the fireworks surely? You'd just not see the castle, besides, some of those rooms do overlook it quite well too. It will not be so 'new' when we got. Also at AKV thid year we did not get charged for our Internet connection, supposed only to be free for DVC members. However, we did at OKW.

As you all know from my previous messages.... we hate the sun and heat..... however when we was there the average temp of the first week was 88 and really missed it when it got cold...... so we are now thinking of going back the kast 2-3 weeks of August 2012 as we got used to it and it was not actually that bad. LOL. We figured that with EMH we could do the parks in the evening when it was still warm but not really hot, and go swimming or shopping during the day!! This trip changed me because of the weather. There are also a lot of things we would not feel the need to go back and do this trip. I think it'll be BCV and BLT then. Excited. Less than 2 years to go.

BM - I have seen the MK fireworks many times, but you have never seen a view like it when you see it from the lounge.

We stayed at BLT for 10 nights in August and went to the lounge at least 5 times - the view is incredible, no crowds (well not like in MK ), music piped in (also into rooms at fireworks time) etc. It's incredible.

It's my home resort and I really love it :T

KarenG

tich2 wrote: »

My wife and I have been twice before but always with family including elderly relatives. We never really did much in the evening apart from go out to eat as they wanted to be in the villa in bed at 10pm.
This time we want lots of ideas of what we can do. We are staying in a hotel this time opposite wet n wild and have a car. It will be nice to do some things in walking distance so I can have a beer or two.
Any ideas let me know.
Thanks!

What sort of things do you like to do? Mini golf, pubs, activities.....?

johnnyroper

KarenG wrote: »

Actually, I am sure you can use the Virgin Holidays booking reference on the Virgin Atlantic website to access your flights. I am sure I did.

Defo did not work for me this year or for next years booking,VS told me I needed locator code.

tich2

Hi Karen
We are planning on doing the parks and shopping malls during the days and then going out in the evenings to eat and then have fun. We have always played a round of mini/crazy golf in the past and I am sure we will do it again. We will also be looking at having a night or two out having beers.
We are both up for doing anything that we can't do at home.
One thing I am really looking forward to is going in the Outdoor World Bass Pro Shop. I love my fishing and this place is unreal. Watching the pros actually fishing for bass in a huge tank is unreal.
Last time we went we went to the mardi gras in the evening, I think it was at Universal but not sure. This was so busy and it took hours to get out.

blue_monkey_2

tich2 wrote: »

My wife and I have been twice before but always with family including elderly relatives. We never really did much in the evening apart from go out to eat as they wanted to be in the villa in bed at 10pm.
This time we want lots of ideas of what we can do. We are staying in a hotel this time opposite wet n wild and have a car. It will be nice to do some things in walking distance so I can have a beer or two.
Any ideas let me know.
Thanks!

Are you staying at the Four Points? We stayed there in 2000 fo a few days, nice hotel.

Tbh there are loads of things to do on ID in the evening such as Ripleys, Wonderworks but you'll need to get the i-ride or a taxi as everything is so far away. No matter where you are there is nothing to do every night without using a car or cab. Of course, you'll also be in walking distance of Universals CityWalk - there is nothing else I can specifically think of that is around that area as it is all hotels, restaurants and gift shops around there.

It really depends on your interests though, the same as everything else, as what we would do you might not. There are plenty of dinner shows to go to though - again a cab ride away though.

blue_monkey_2

KarenG wrote: »

Actually, I am sure you can use the Virgin Holidays booking reference on the Virgin Atlantic website to access your flights. I am sure I did.

Yes, you can but you have to go through the advanced search option for some reason, it never finds it on the basic search but I did mine there.

tich2

blue_monkey wrote: »

Are you staying at the Four Points? We stayed there in 2000 fo a few days, nice hotel.

Tbh there are loads of things to do on ID in the evening such as Ripleys, Wonderworks but you'll need to get the i-ride or a taxi as everything is so far away. No matter where you are there is nothing to do every night without using a car or cab. Of course, you'll also be in walking distance of Universals CityWalk - there is nothing else I can specifically think of that is around that area as it is all hotels, restaurants and gift shops around there.

It really depends on your interests though, the same as everything else, as what we would do you might not. There are plenty of dinner shows to go to though - again a cab ride away though.

We are actually staying in the metropolitan express as I had to stay to a tight budget for booking. I thought I would rather spend my money on the attractions rather than somewhere we will just be sleeping. If we had kids it would of been different.

How long is it to walk to the city walk??

Thanks

tonymc

karenljay wrote: »

Is there anything specific that would be helpful to know about/see/do/prebook for the Christmas and New Year period? - we are looking at going 16th Dec to just after New Year. I know some places do Christmas day packages, like Planet Hollywood, are these good value as it is a heckuva lot of money for five of us?

As already noted, it will be extremely busy over the Christmas period. May be worth looking at some of the Busy Day Guides (Google this) to see which parks may be quieter (relatively speaking!!) and make a rough plan around these days. Get to the parks early to try and get at least a few rides in, especially as noted earlier in your first week.

If you are planning to eat at any Disney Table Service restaurants over the period, try and get a reservation now as you will probably be unlikely to get anything if you turn up on the day. If the park restaurants have no availability, try nearby resorts/hotels (e.g. Contemporary/Grand Floridian/Polynesian for MK, Boardwalk area for EPCOT/Hollywood Studios) which may have some availability.

I suspect a lot of restaurants outside of Disney will offer special Christmas Day meals, but again these would need to be booked in advance. However, you do have the option of eating in your villa if you cannot get a reservation.