Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

jeanniebeanie_2

elantan wrote: »

thanks jeannie for all your help deff food for thought ....

i have never heard of Anna Maria island .... but i will certainly give it a looksy .... hope you dont mind but i might just take you up on the pm

I love Anna-Maria. We first went 15 years ago when it was almost undiscovered. It is a popular island now, which is a shame but it is still lovely. We stay here http://www.palmtreevillas.com/resort.htm. which was recently refurbished to a high standard, yet has retained it's quiet uniqueness. It has the beach within a short walk and there are lovely casual seafood restaurants around. Not much for kids, but perfect for couples for a few days.

Forget St Pete"s or Clearwater if you want a couple's break!

We are flying to Sanford then travelling through Georgia and S Carolina this year but I will miss Anna- Maria.........sigh....and the sunsets.......just amazing.........

Nowadays people gather on the beach just to applaud the sunsets.......

amanda40

elantan wrote: »

hi all ... a few questions if you dont mind (i'm sure i will have loads more soon lol)

i have noticed the parking is up to $12 a day now for the theme parks (last time i was there it was less than half of this .... it's been a while he he) is there a kinda buy in advance/ get a reduction package for parking?

ive also just spotted were going during Easter (i know i know silly mistake to make) any recomendations about visiting parks at this time of year?

i plan on using the fast pass system where possible .... last time i was there you had to be very early into the park to get these ... is it still the same?

thanks in advance

We are in Florida just now - last full day though...:(

Parking at all the aprks ( with exception Typhoon Lagoon) has been $14 a day. We have been working it though so we are there all day from open to close, so no more expensive than city parking. We did park at the Ploynesian one night last week to go into the Park for Electrical Parade as it was free, but they had a security man on the gate and had to show photo Id - kids were worried we would come back and the car would be towed! :eek:

We picked up a lot of tips for our holiday from this and the Dib and Dis boards. We stayed off site in LBV but only 5 mins from Downtown Disney and it has suited us great getting away from Disney for a bit. We when first arrived I thought we had maybe made a mistake and should have stayed onsite and went for ddp, but that would have tied us to the parks and although they have been quiet - at the weekend they are just mobbed so we have stayed away compleltly. We have ate out every day at least once and the kids have bought alot to take home ans so far we have maybe spent around £1300 total - including gifts etc and that has been for 2 weeks. We expected to spend a lot more than that tbh.

One thing for your kids not to miss if any you have kids 7 or 8+ is the Kim Possible Worls Showcase Experieance - our two DS ( 9 & 12) loved it. It is a scavenger hunt round the world showcase - they can do as many or as little countires as they like - we done all bar Britain and they had a ball!! It lets you see parts of the WS you may have missed otherwise and great fun for the kids too!

r.mac_2

sounds like your having a fabulous time amanda!

I think we are almost decided.

We want to stay in the siesta key area (or similar with close proximity to the beach) for a week or so after Orlando - can anyone recommend any accommodation. What I've seen online seems very similar and I'd love a recommendation.............

Thanks

elantan

Hi all,

thanks for all your very helpful comments .... i still have to learn how to do multiple quotes ( only been on mse for years and years lol) and didnt want to take over the thread

so the parking is up to $14 a day now .... ok i spose they have a captive audience and they are a business .... but man that sucks .... last time i was there it was $5 a day ( yep it was that long ago) ... it cant be avoided however so i think i will do the same as yourself Amanda and stay for the day .... we are planning on doing epcot and magic kingdom in one day so will just get the monorail that day and just park the once .... other than that it is a park a day ... i do quite fancy doing the paper chase myself ( we dont have kids going) i love doing these kinda things and i really am a big kid anyway so that is something to plan into our day thanks... also thanks for letting me know how much your spending has came to ... it gives me a better idea of how much to take ... last time we were there we spent a fortune ... we had our son with us and we wernt as money savvy as we are now ... and i think for us we really panic when it comes to going on holiday and not having enough spending money .... we did this for our honey moon and it was a nightmare so we promised ourselves that we would never do that again ... so we tend to go nuts with spending money and spending it ....

the vegetarian food issue ... i am so glad it has changed vivatifosi thanks for that info .... i had this fear that basically i wouldnt be going out for dinner anywhere and whilst we are on a bidget i do fancy a couple of nights out... the avacado sounds delicious .... silly thing but i thought the cheesecake factory was literally a cheese cake place .... like a dairy maid idea full of loads of different cheese cakes to try lol ... i didnt know it would do other things like avacado rolls .... mmmm not the sharpest pencil in the case am i ... i find going out for a meal in the u.k frustrating but have been lead to believe that we are at the fore front of vegetarian resturants ( i dont think i believe this as in reality the vegetarian resturants where i have been to are a huge let down) so was a bit worried about going to a massive steak, burger and rib eating place ( as i have found the U.S to be in the past) and eating the preverbial salad with maybe a dressing on the side being my only option

Jeannie thanks again very much for the info on Anna Maria island it looks stunning ... and i noticed the bit about sun sets being a big thing that's something i would love to do ... hubby and i looked into it last night and if we can afford it then i think we deff will go there for a few days ... i have saved the link you put up in my favourites and will be looking into it in more depth in the next few weeks ... thanks again for all your help last night deff gave us alot to think about

thanks you all again for taking the time to answer my questions and to give me advice it really is appreciated

chaosweddings

We are planning on booking again for october 2012,
there will be 5 of us this time, myself, dh, ds 13, my mum and my brother age 13.
what would be the best accommodation option for us,
we dont want ds and brother to share a room, we are planning on staying on the universal end of idrive as last time we were at the doubletree by seaworld and we didnt have much around us othe than village inn

if anyone has any ideas that would be great

jeanniebeanie_2

We want to stay in the siesta key area (or similar with close proximity to the beach) for a week or so after Orlando - can anyone recommend any accommodation. What I've seen online seems very similar and I'd love a recommendation......

Whilst Siesta Key has beautiful sand as does Anna-Maria, I much prefer Anna-Maria personally. Siesta key is pretty much centred around one small town with a line of high rise hotels. More to do within walking distance though if that's what you prefer, but inevitably that means busier beaches.

Then you have Longboat Key with its very upscale high rise resort hotels and golf courses then you have Anna-Maria.

Anna-Maria is very close to Siesta Key, but has no high rise hotels. It is very Caribbean in feel and very laid back. There are many more hotels now than there used to be, but they are not allowed to build the high rises. The beaches are lovely and most accommodations have direct or very close access to them. At one time you could find beaches all to yourself on Anna-Maria, now not so much, but a crowded beach (apart from the public beaches with car parks) means there is someone within a 50 yards of you!

Elantan:

so i think i will do the same as yourself Amanda and stay for the day .... we are planning on doing epcot and magic kingdom in one day so will just get the monorail that day and just park the once ...

You only pay once a day for parking at Disney. Your ticket is then valid for the other Disney parks.


Wish I knew how to post some of my pics, but if you look here

http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotos-g34297-Holmes_Beach_Anna_Maria_Island_Florida.html

will give you a feel for Anna-Maria

r.mac_2

thanks jeaniebeenie. I'd been to the area before, but a long time ago so good to know that its changed a bit!

Would you still recommend anna maria for a small child? 2.5yrs? Any accommodation recommendations?

chaos weddings, if you need 4 bedrooms, would a villa not be the most practical solution/cost effective for you? In October you should be able to find one at a good rate. We've been looking for Oct 2011, and prices were coming in for anything £500 per week upwards......perhaps someone with more knowledge than me could help more though....

jeanniebeanie_2

As I posted above, we stay here

http://www.palmtreevillas.com/resort.htm

If your little one is happy on the beach, then yes!

It's very close to the beach and has a pool too. They have little wagons you can load up and pull to the beach and they supply all chairs, beach toys etc.and a free laundry and bbq area

If you want more than the beach there is a wonderful eco tour run by the Mote Marine laboratory at the bottom end of Longboat Key. It lasts about 3 hours and is a boat trip to uninhabited islands where you are taken on a nature walk. You should see dolphins and the guide trawls a net and passes the catch around. It's run by working marine biologists, so is very informative and fun and you can tour the aquarium after.

r.mac_2

jeannie - it looks beautiful there. I'm off to enquire about our dates! Thanks for your help.

Beckie1

Hello All!
I'm going to florida (as mentioned before) on the 5th april! Im going with my boyfriend and its his 19th birthday whilst we're there, how would i go about arranging a cake at a restaurant, also any recommendations which restaurants would be best for this? as we're going just the two of us, i wondered if i could arrange it/contact someone whilst still in the UK as to not ruin the suprise. Anybody celebrated birthdays here before and have any ideas on how to make them special at disney?
Thankyou!
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