Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

tonymc

Hi NickAJ,

Your suggestion regarding a split stay may work for you, especially if you want to avoid driving too much. If you stay on-site at Disney, you then get the benefits of the Disney Transportation system between your resort and the theme parks/downtown Disney. Alternatively, if you stay at one of the Downtowndisney area hotels, you get a roughtly 30 minute frequency shuttle to the parks and you are within walking distance of Downtown Diensy and the Crossroads area (shops and restaurants).

For your second week, I would decide which parks you will be visiting most (Universal/IoA or Seaworld/Aquatica) and base yourself nearest to these if you are planning to use the buses.

One suggestion that may be a timesaver (which we did at Easter 2009) was to book one night at a Universal hotel which then gives you "Front of Line" privileges for some of the most popular rides (and early admission to Harry Potter) for both your arrival day and departure day. Although expensive, this would allow you to do most of the rides in both of the Universal parks in the two days, then maybe move to a hotel nearer to Seaworld for the remainder of your stay. Universal also operate an Express Pass system which they charge for - when we went it was around $45/day/person, so for 5 of you for 2 days it would cost $450 (only allows one Express Entrance per attraction) whereas a hotel (probably looking at the $350 mark) gives you unlimited Express Entrance access. PM me if you want any further info.

If you do decide to rent a car, bear in mind that this will give you much more flexibility, but unless you are staying on-site at Disney, factor in parking costs of around $14/visit to the parks (with the exception of the Disney Water Parks - free parking).

HTH.

blue_monkey_2

A_little_stressed!! wrote: »

Been looking about, but just want to check. Is the offer on MSE for Disney tickets the best offer around? Adult ticket £240 for 14days? Through DisneyInternational.com want to buy asap

Edit I'm going for 21 days but dont want to go to parks every day.

You do realise that you only get 14 days from the 1st day of use, so use it on day 2 of your holiday it will run out on Day 15. it is not for 14 individual days?

I got mine direct from Disney and paid £249 for a 21 day ticket.

A_little_stressed!!

blue_monkey wrote: »

You do realise that you only get 14 days from the 1st day of use, so use it on day 2 of your holiday it will run out on Day 15. it is not for 14 individual days?

I got mine direct from Disney and paid £249 for a 21 day ticket.

Yes I did see that, I'm fine with that, will prob juse on 2nd/3rd day, then I get a few days rest at the end. Wasn't sure if there were different tickets that work in different ways.

Thanks for help, :beer:

blue_monkey_2

A_little_stressed!! wrote: »

Yes I did see that, I'm fine with that, will prob juse on 2nd/3rd day, then I get a few days rest at the end. Wasn't sure if there were different tickets that work in different ways.

Thanks for help, :beer:

Ah I see, just wanted to be sure

Might be worth looking at the Disney website, depends on what you want really. You get some extras when you buy from them such as $15 Planet Hollywood voucher and free gift, Free round of Golf, priority fireworks viewing - just little extras and ends but prices were pretty much like for like and for just a few extra £ you have the security of knowing Disney are not going to go under 2 days before you leave.

You can get Magic Your Way tickets which you can add to for the things you want to do - so if you know you are not going to go to the waterparks they would be a saving for you. To be honest, this forum on the dibb is very comprehensive and you'll get more joy over there: http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=122

Orlando attractions have a 5 day Magic Your Way ticket plus 2 days extra free: https://www.orlandoattractions.com/tickets/ticket/view/29/37 With this you have 14 days of first use BUT the 7 days do not have to be used consecutively so you might find this a better option for you.

KarenG

For anyone waiting for better flight prices for next school summer holiday, there are some £600 ish prices on Opodo with Iberia (codeshare). They are for DIRECT flights with British Airways.

I have just bought an openjaw for California next summer holidays and I'm very pleased with the price, compared to what the prices have been for end of July - August 2011 recently.

Hope that helps someone :T

papalazarou

Hi all,

Wonder if anybody can help, apologies first as I know that this subject probably been covered a hundred times on here already but I'm offshore at the moment using a slow internet connection and it would take me weeks to go through the search links!:( I thought that this may be the best place to ask the question.

I am hoping to take my daughter back to DisneyWorld next March/April Time. Unfortunately I have to make this between the 24th March - 18th April as that is the time I am on leave from work. For this reason I can never book holidays far in advance because I never know for sure when I will be off work. Easter school holidays is from the 8th - 27th April so I was thinking around the 1st to minimise the amount of school days she will have to miss.

Is there anywhere that is doing good deals at the moment for semi late bookings. Ideally I am looking for a villa/chalet type place (last time we were there we stayed at Bahama Bay Resort which was great despite some of the reviews on TripAdvisor) with a kitchen so we are not tied to meal times so we can come and go when we please. Like last time I will probably be hiring a car to get to the Disney and Universal parks.

Also I did some shopping around for tickets last time we went (got 14 days for 7 on the Disney ones and I think 7 days for 3 on the Universal ones) and I seem to remember I used a site called something like theme-park-tickets or similar but can't seem to find it now? anybody know what I'm rambling about or can recommmend a good site for tickets.

Sorry for the long winded post, if anybody can help it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Shaun.

vivatifosi

tinkertaylor05 wrote: »

Also am thinking of just 7 days doing parks followed by a cruise has anyone any experience of this, in particular interested in Disney cruise?Do you think 7 days will be enough? Any recommendations of TA's or accomodation on site which is best suited for MK?

Sorry it's taken a while to answer, in the run up to Christmas I've not been on as much as usual as I've had wrapping duties!

I have been on a Disney cruise and to WDW, the latter on many occasions. The Disney ships are amazing. You walk along the corridors and see characters all the time, everyone is smiling, the kids clubs are amazing (the young ones even have their own corridor between them that adults aren't allowed into, took me ages to work out why I couldn't see out the portholes on one side of the entertainment deck . The entertainment is very family oriented but there is plenty to do for adults too. Unlike other ships I've been on, its geared around family entertainment, so there is more to do in the daytime but it tends to wind down earlier in the night (well midnight-ish). Cabins are bigger than on other ships too with plenty of storage except in the very lowest grades.

There are very few TAs offering both WDW and Disney cruises. Try Virgin or book direct with Disney in the US. Disney offers a coach service from WDW to Port Canaveral and back and also from the airport.

heather8

You can also try a company called dreams unlimited who specialise in Disney holidays. They are american travel agents, so no abta protection etc, but you can view your booking on the Disney website and see that deposits and monies have been paid over to Disney. They do packages for hotels and cruises too, not sure about flights as I do our own. Loads of people in the UK use dreams unlimited, there is a good website here WDWINFO and another called the DIBB.

We're using dreams next year for our Med cruise with Disney. Flights to Barcelona are a lot cheaper than to the states.

Disney may also be offering free dining plan for your dates, you will need to check on the Disney website. Disney UK will also book a package for you with flights including the cruise and is ABTA ATOL protected.

sheilavw

hello,
my daughter is planning a holiday to florida in april 2011 (somewhere around the 8th for 10/14 days) she is going with three friends. they are all aged between 18-22 and are students so are on tight budgets! where can she find cheap flights? she is staying in a villa owned by one of the friends family so accommodation isnt a prob! also, she wants to visit the parks - thats what theyre going for (which are the best?) and especiallys wants to visit the harry potter theme park, because shes a big fan! where can we find cheap park tickets? are there any that incorporate all the parks including the harry potter one?
many thanks!!

blue_monkey_2

Sheila - She is going to need to drive if staying in a villa. I am sure there is a restriction of over 25 on car hire - can anyone advise. Some of those villas can be quite a distance from the theme parks so I would have thought Public transport/cabs are an option. Is this something she has thought of?

There are some very good deals on the Virgin website at the moment - certainly can get accomodation and flight for the same price as a direct flight. www.virginholidays.co.uk/special_offers

If she is not actually tied to specific dates they have a Special Offer on there for £495 inc accomodation and flights. Hotel is this one and gives free shuttle to and from the parks: http://www.virginholidays.co.uk/brochures/florida/holidays/orlando/kissimmee/ramada_maingate_west/ Plus virgin have 10% off at the moment too.