Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

PROUDMUMMYTOTHREE

hi does anyone know when will i be able to book for june 2012 with thomson

or when the 2012 brocure comes out

delwynshd

Hmmm not sure to be honest, Virgins prices are out

Del

Winter_Jasmine

JulieJesta wrote: »

Hiya, new here.
Sorry if its been covered......... almost certainly with the last 168 pages..... :eek

Anywho, My son just won us a holiday to universal florida. We have NOTHING, no passports and no clues what else we need. I've never ever flown, used an airport or any of this stuff other people do as normal.
I watch the news, know america can be paranoid on security - so I know a passport alone is probably not enough. What other rules do america have? A friend at work said you cant travel on a new passport, must be at least 3 months old, is that ringht? Can't find anything about this online, but then I really do not know what I'm looking for!

We will be travelling as a family, 2 adults, 2 kids. Whst about medical stuff, my partner has to have medication, and how about travel insurance?

Car rental - does anyone know the cheapest way to do it? And if you are staying IN universal, can you get to a supermarket easily? We cant afford to eat out every meal! Are there any famly run type cheap but good cafes within 10 miles anyone can recommend to us?

I thank you all in advance.

All i know is I need TSA locks on our suitcases, need passports, hotels flights and transfers are included in prizes, but expenses (food etc arent) a 7 day pass for each universal park included.

Ooh congratulations! As you'll see from my signature, I won a holiday to Universal too

I've never heard that you can't travel on a new passport, I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I think you'll be fine there. You'll need to get 'ESTAs' for each of your group too (there's info on this on the Overseas travel section of the main site - they cost around $14 per adult, not sure about kids.

There's a Walmart and a Publix within a couple of miles of Universal, the only thing is I think all the on-site hotels are room only so you can't prepare meals in your room. Restaurants/cafes within the resort are pricey but you're only a stone's throw away from International Drive - there are loads of cheap and cheerful family eateries there. We love IHOP and Ponderosa and Golden Corral are also good. It's not like eating out over here - when we were there in 2009, I think the the Ponderosa buffet breakfast was about $4.99 (so about £3.00) for an adult - if you eat enough you'll only need a light meal/snack in the evening!

blue_monkey_2

JulieJesta wrote: »

Hiya, new here.
Sorry if its been covered......... almost certainly with the last 168 pages..... :eek

Anywho, My son just won us a holiday to universal florida. We have NOTHING, no passports and no clues what else we need. I've never ever flown, used an airport or any of this stuff other people do as normal.
I watch the news, know america can be paranoid on security - so I know a passport alone is probably not enough. What other rules do america have? A friend at work said you cant travel on a new passport, must be at least 3 months old, is that ringht? Can't find anything about this online, but then I really do not know what I'm looking for!

We will be travelling as a family, 2 adults, 2 kids. Whst about medical stuff, my partner has to have medication, and how about travel insurance?

Car rental - does anyone know the cheapest way to do it? And if you are staying IN universal, can you get to a supermarket easily? We cant afford to eat out every meal! Are there any famly run type cheap but good cafes within 10 miles anyone can recommend to us?

I thank you all in advance.

All i know is I need TSA locks on our suitcases, need passports, hotels flights and transfers are included in prizes, but expenses (food etc arent) a 7 day pass for each universal park included.

Hi Julie, Congratulations!!

Well, here goes.

Passports are taking 8 days at the moment so they will not be new - get them now. They are around £70 each for adults, £50 for kids.

As someone has said you need to apply for an ESTA, if any of you have had a criminial record - even a caution I believe - then you'll need a Visa and this needs looking into more.

Disney is a fair way from Universal and you will need seperate tickets for there. Also to Seaworld, Wet n Wild, Aquatica, etc.... I personally would find it boring to be in Universal only for 7 days - it took us a day to do each park and that was with riding some rides several times. Universal is quiet in the morning, Islands of Adventure (especially Harry Potter World) is quiet in the afternoon. If you are staying on resort you should have queue jumping and early entry tickets also - so you'll get it done quicker.

You will need medical insurance yes, you pay more if you have meedical conditions and you need to declare EVERYTHING, and I mean everything, no matter how minor in case the insurance finds a reason not to pay out. Medical treatment costs a lot of money in the USA.

I am going to bite the bullet and ask - when you say you cannot afford to eat out every day, just how much money do you have for this holiday? You say that usually you can only afford to go camping. In Universal you'll get a room, you may have a fridge but you won't have cooking facilities to, say, cook a pizza.

I think you need to sit down.

It is going to cost around £800 to £1000 for passports Esta's, travel insurance and a weeks car hire for the 4 of you.

On top of this you have
Food (Min £500 for a week - Universal is expensive to eat). You can eat out for less but you still need to pay for fuel to get there.
Petrol and money for tolls and parking
Spending money (you would not be able to go and not buy a single thing, would you?)
Tickets for other parks. Seaworld, Aquatica, Busch Gardens (are 3 for 2 at the moment) cost around £75 each for a 14 day ticket. Disney tickets, a basic 5 day 'Magic your way' ticket is around £120 each I believe - these are the 'basic' parks, there are more.
It is not somewhere you can go if you are on a real tight budget - and that is being honest. Sorry if that is harsh but it is better someone tell you now than 4 weeks time. What sort of budget to you have?

Also, see if you can choose when to go. Some times of year are better than others and at peak times, the queues are hours long so you'd be best avoiding these times. Try to go at any time that the kids in the US are not off. And avoid Spring Break like the plague as it is full of drunken teens!! August is very hot (115 degrees last year) and very wet - this is why we have chosen not to go in August - with a rainstorm every day. October half term would be good for Halloween and the kids are off school here but not in the US and it is not that busy at all. Plus they have free trick or treating at Seaworld. Lots of sweets. Yum!!

Lastly, how old are the children as this will have a massive impact on just what rides are there for you to go on. Small kids cannot go on a huge amount so there would not be loads for them to do, if your child is under 48 inches, that knocks a lot of the rides out too as you they have a height limit on coasters. Might be worth waiting til they grow slightly so they can go on more.

Sorry, I thought it better to ask before you get caught up in the 'I won a holiday' stuff and then find that you cannot afford to go. I get cross that they give prizes but do not include food or car hire as these cost a lot of money, and they just assume that everyone can afford it. We could afford it my someone like my sister, whois on a very low wage, would not be able to afford the extras to be able to go. And this is why I get cross. Rant over.

JVRMac

PROUDMUMMYTOTHREE wrote: »

hi does anyone know when will i be able to book for june 2012 with thomson

or when the 2012 brocure comes out

I think the new brochures come out end of April beginning of May, I only know cos this is when I booked last year.

blue_monkey_2

busymum1 wrote: »

Hi

Now we have decided to stay at Hyatt Place at international Drive. Has anyone statyed there before and how much are the taxi charges from International Drive to the theme parks as i been told there is no shuttle services.

Please someone help me we want to stay at hotel where we can get the shuttle easy or easy access to all the parks.

Many Many Thanks.

It will be a fair bit to be honest, maybe $25-$30 each way plus tip - but if it where I think it is you can get the i-ride up and down international drive which can then link you to a bus stop. Seaworld would be your best set. You can get free transport to Busch Gardens from SeaWorld too. For rough price of a taxi, put the details into www.mearstransportation.com and you'll get a rough idea of costs.

Have you thought about staying at the Four Points by Sheraton in Int Drive. It is right next to Wet n Wild, walk to Universal and you can get the I-ride to Seaworld and Aquatica and to the outlet centres. It is the most central hotel I know and very much like the Hyatt.

You can get the I-ride to Seaworld (green line 5 min ride) and then can pick up the No 50 lynx bus which runs to Disney Transportation Centre (20 minute ride) - the big car park where you get the buses and the monorail to the theme parks and that will take you to the rest of the Disney parks.

I-ride is $10 per week kids under 12 ride free (should get this from your hotel OK) and the ticket for unlimited use on the Lynx bus is $15 per week, kids under 6 go fee. The Lynx network is vast, we have used it and it is very good value for money.

I would advise everyone not to rely on hotel shuttle transportation, first you are limited on times getting there and back, second you have no gaurentee you are going to get a seat on the bus and then you'll be up the swannee, having to pay for taxi's you have not budgeted for.

amanda40

JulieJesta wrote: »

Hiya, new here.

We will be travelling as a family, 2 adults, 2 kids. Whst about medical stuff, my partner has to have medication, and how about travel insurance?

I took a letter from my gp listing all the medication i take along with my medication in my handluggage - couldnt take the risk of it going astray. I showed it at customs but no questions were asked.

We have just returned from Florida a week ago and ate out every day - snacka nd meal - had breakfast then cereal for supper after parks closed - we spent around £1500 maximum - that was all our food - and we bought a lot of gifts and clothes to bring home and that also included what the kids spend - around £150 each - we were there for 2 weeks and hotel provided breakfast. We ate at the parks most days and had a few meals out the park - cheapy and cheerful like Sizzlers ( about $30), Cici's ( $20 - used kids eat free cards) also went to Hard Rock Cafe, Cheesecake Factory, TGI's

hillcats

We (2 Adults and 2 Kids) went to Orlando in April 2010 for 2 weeks, and plan to return 2012 and the whole trip from start to finish cost us £5,500 including food and all spends whilst there.
This was Passports / Flights / Villa / Spending Money / Car Hire / Travel & Medical Insurance / Park Tickets Etc.

maemaesmummy

Flights have gone up A LOT especially in school holiday times ...this year for August we are paying just under £4300 for economy flights Man to MCO 2 adults 2 children.... For December we are paying £6500 for same flights but 4 Adults and 2 children....:mad:

Simac

blue_monkey wrote: »

October half term would be good for Halloween and the kids are off school here but not in the US and it is not that busy at all. Plus they have free trick or treating at Seaworld. Lots of sweets. Yum!!

Hi Bluemonkey,

I know this wasn't the main point of your post, but free sweets caught my attention :T! Do Seaworld do this all through October or just on specific dates? We are hoping to take in the Disney Not too scary halloween party (Definately not the Universal horror night as our DS would be terrified!), but i didn't even realise that Seaworld did this. We :heart2: Halloween so it would be brilliant to go trick or treating there too. We are all big kids :rotfl:

Oh and congratulation Julie, that is a fab prize!