Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

blue_monkey_2

meer53 wrote: »

Blue Monkey, i did point out that this was just my personal view, we go on holiday to enjoy ourselves too, and just find that having the freedom to go where we want, when we want suits us more than planning for buses, shuttles etc. Your kids must be very well behaved, (maybe older than mine ?) the combination of the humidity, the heat and the sheer excitement of being in the presence of Mickey Mouse, Cinderella or Spiderman knocked my kids for six when we first started going to Florida ! We've also managed to do Kennedy Space Centre, St Petes, Tampa, Busch Gardens, Clearwater, Sanibel Island etc alternating our visits to the parks.

We've been to DLP 3 times too but i'm not impressed ! Think i've given it enough chances now, won't bother again !

I know you did but you was making it sound impossible without a car but we do not really go on holiday to drive, I get enough of my husband tutting and sighing about driving in this country let alone why on holiday in another country!!

As for well behaved, no not really. My son has Autism and ADHD but as long as we go with his flow we are usually fine, we also go when the weather is much cooler. We have a plan for the day and that helps him though. We have mever left early, we'll stop for an ice cream and then get on our way again. I cannot justify spending 7k to sit by a pool anyhow - luckily we all love being on the go.

Besides, it means you can eat loads and all the walking means you never put weight on.

We only do the parks with the odd day shopping (which the kids love of course, LOL) and we are out every day. We do not even do pool days or going to the beach, we just find that boring and like to be on the go all day and fall into bed exhausted. We was going to the pool in the evenings on the last visit though so we are going back this time when it is hotter.

Florida is very much an indivual experience and it depends on what you want for a holiday to be fair. We go for rides, rides and more rides. My kids are not really into waiting for the characters so that is a bit of a bonus but we like the parades and see them several times.

DLP is not Florida - the parks are different, the people are different, I've been loads of times and I love it for different reasons every time I go. Off again in 3 1/2 weeks time.

jackieblack

ffotogirl wrote: »

Currently in the lead is the Hawthorne Suites at Lake Buena Vista but it looks like it might be a bit tatty... anyone stayed there?

ffotogirl, rang my brother, he, SIL and twin nephews (who will be 8 at the end of this month) stayed there for the 2 weeks before Easter.
They picked Hawthorn Suites because they wanted a separate bedroom for the boys. Not bothered about amazing luxury, just wanted somewhere clean, comfortable and conveniently located.
He said the location was brilliant, it was really easy to get to all the parks, convenient restaurants (including a Sizzler they went to several times) and a nearby Winn-Dixie, also not many minutes from the big Wal-Mart on SR535 (but they did have a car).
He said it was very clean and quite relaxed, the room they had was great, larger than they expected, the decor was slightly dated in style but the room was clean and comfortable. Breakfast was decent and saved them time getting out in the mornings.
The pool was nice, quite small but not crowded so not a problem, and clean.
The one negative thing he could think of was that the pipes in their room were quite noisy (water noise) but not enough to keep them awake, and may have just been their room, not enough of a problem for them to bother complaining about.
He said if they ever went back they would stay there again.

Hope that helps.

spoonk1

meer53 wrote: »

This is just my personal view but rather than all the messing about with buses, shuttles, extra costs etc, would it not be simpler to just pick up a car at the airport for the time you're there ? If you want to do as many parks as possible, you'll probably find that you're limited by shuttle times, it's a VERY tiring holiday to fit it all in, in 2 weeks, especially with kids in tow, i know, i've done it more than once.

I wouldn't contemplate going without having the freedom a car gives. With a car, if the kids get cranky and tired (and they will !) you can leave the parks and go back later when they're in a better mood, you can't do that on a shuttle bus, well you can, but do you want all the hassle ? Until you get there you don't realise how big the Disney area is, it's not like here, for Magic Kingdom, you don't park your car and walk in the park gates ! You park your car, then get on a tram, then you either take the monorail or the boat to the entrance ! At Universal it's a huge hike on foot from the car park to the entrance (unless you use the more expensive valet parking service, highly recommended !)

If you're buying tickets for all the parks, (Ultimate tickets are usually the best value for Disney and Flex tickets for Universal/Seaworld etc) they're not cheap so you need to make sure you can make the most of them, why not make it easier for yourself if you can afford it ?

Thanks for the reply,But i would be a nervous driver in belfast city never mind Florida,what with being on the wrong side of the road,left hand drive and do right turns when the lights are red i dont think so,as for the kids getting like imps i cant see it happening we travel a lot to my hubbys homeland and it is a lot of travelling and when we visit inlaws there is a lot of walking as they want to show us everything,but the kids are great because they get spoiled rotten,and they will be doubly spoiled in wdw.
We are travelling in 2012 i was just saying about waiting till nearer the time as package holidays leaving in june 2011 are going at the cheaper price think it was in around £2500? i posted a little while back.

blue_monkey_2

Ah I see spoonk, I misunderstood.

I think it is taking a chance, a lot of flights are sold out and we could not even get seats for when we looked, they were sold out. When we booked our last trip, we booked in Feb for October, the next week the only seats left were upper class at 2k per person....!!!! It's wether you take that chance tbh and whether you are fussed about who you fly with. We like flying with Virgin so we booked with then when we could.

You might not be able to pick and choice your dates then as well so worth bearing in mind if you have school children.

PROUDMUMMYTOTHREE

spoonk - we are hoping to go june 2012 and the prices for this year are coming up at around £2300 for 2 weeks :eek: however we can only fly from newcastle and the only flight that goes from there is thomson :mad: so we cant risk waiting
we have also totally changed our minds on what we are doing and are hoping to book seperatly and book a nice villa

PROUDMUMMYTOTHREE

you can NOW book for summer next year with thomas cook packages from manchester are quite reasonable

chaosweddings

We went october 2010 and didnt not hire a car, we took the i ride and taxis, we paid around $300 for taxis for 14 nights and we went to all of the parks,

we are going again in 2012 and wont be hiring a car again, we are planning on staying near to i drive again .

im just waiting for some decent prices , first choice release their prices today for october 2012

minxtress

PROUDMUMMYTOTHREE wrote: »

spoonk - we are hoping to go june 2012 and the prices for this year are coming up at around £2300 for 2 weeks :eek: however we can only fly from newcastle and the only flight that goes from there is thomson :mad: so we cant risk waiting
we have also totally changed our minds on what we are doing and are hoping to book seperatly and book a nice villa

I would wait for the Newcastle Flight to drop before I booked it. Im going June this year with Thomson from Newcastle and it has dropped every month, and flight only has just dropped again today, they were £2020 yesterday and are now £1700, and they will go down again.

spoonk1

minxtress wrote: »

I would wait for the Newcastle Flight to drop before I booked it. Im going June this year with Thomson from Newcastle and it has dropped every month, and flight only has just dropped again today, they were £2020 yesterday and are now £1700, and they will go down again.

So would you advise to wait till closer to the time?
I know people have said that the flights sell out or rise in value but i have been on the net for ddddaaayys now and all flights going out in june and july 2011 are coming in at round £2500 that's with hotel and transfer for 4 of us,and for next year june-july flights are coming in at the minute at £600 each,on the net.
Rang my local travel agent this morning and she can get me exactly the same as the one above^same flight and hotel with transfer june 30th 2012 for 15 days at a cost of £3800,That's a massive difference and could very well be a lot more spending money for us to use.
WAIT OR DONT WAIT?
I have not been researching wdw for long but what i have seen there are still hundreds of flights left and at cheap prices if you wait.Has anyone really ever waited till closer the time and booked? and did you get a bargain.

spoonk1

Just had a quick look on the tomson site as you said and flights going from gatwick on the 1st june to the 15th june are £291.98 each. for 4 plus taxes and charges that's still only £1,167.92