Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

purplemusky

busymum1 wrote: »

Hi all

Just come back from Disneyworld Holidays on 2.5.11. We had a great time. We stayed at Embassy Suites on international drive south. The best hotel. Had a great help from blue_monkey before we went and now i am more then happy to help if anyone has any questions just PM me and i try to help you am no expert but can let you know on my experience. We booked everything separately and it worked out lot cheaper then booking alltogether.

Thank you.

Hi - I have been looking at these suites for our family 2 adults 2 children was wanting a separate living area. Can you tell me who you booked everything with and if you encountered any probelms at all. thanks:j

lisalasvegas

Can anyone tell me do Villas normally have a safe/deposit box?

Thanks in advance.

purplemusky

Has anyone stayed at the Springhill Suites at Seaworld? Thinking of these as wanted a separate living area in the rooms.

Will have a hire car but is it too far away from I Drive??

moneysavvy35

Hi Everyone

Managed to get a week in Orlando xmas week. Can anyone tell me what I can expect at this time. I will probably do Universal & Islands of adventure/Seaworld/Busch Gardens rather than the disney parks (or maybe just one disney park ) I would also like to know where I could have dinner xmas day, I've asked this question elsewhere and someone suggested a place called gaylord palms, but thier prices are rather high (around $55 pp without tips).

Thanks in advance to anyone who replies.........

jackieblack

moneysavvy35 wrote: »

Managed to get a week in Orlando xmas week. Can anyone tell me what I can expect at this time.

Mainly big crowds.... and long queues
Get to whichever park you're going to early - often they close the entry mid-morning once the crowds reach maximum capacity.

moneysavvy35 wrote: »

I would also like to know where I could have dinner xmas day, I've asked this question elsewhere and someone suggested a place called gaylord palms, but thier prices are rather high (around $55 pp without tips).

Thanks in advance to anyone who replies.........

I've heard the Peabody Hotel does a good Christmas Day dinner that is popular with locals (you may need to contact them to enquire).
Just like on Christmas Day here though, expect to have to book early and expect to have to pay over the odds.

busymum1

purplemusky wrote: »

Hi - I have been looking at these suites for our family 2 adults 2 children was wanting a separate living area. Can you tell me who you booked everything with and if you encountered any probelms at all. thanks:j

We have double bedroom suites. We had a living room with sofa bed and my 2 kids 10 year and 6 year slept on that and then in main bed room we had 2 double beds. The hotel was great. we had a great services from staff.

We booked with hotels.com as they gave us the quidco cash back to us as deduction for e.g. the flights were £900 and quidco was giving 10% cashback so they gave us £90 discount straight away instead of waitng for cash back from quidco.

Once you book let me know if you need more information.

loobylou69

I've started looking for flights for summer 2012 as I knew the Virgin flydrives are out. We only need flights and car for 2 adults and 2 kids. Have got a quote from agent we booked through last time for £4111 which is flights with Virgin for 3 weeks in August and an SUV.
Have found flights with Monarch and Thomson too which come out around £3200 but then the car would be to pay for on top of that.
Has anyone done long haul with Thomson or Monarch - what are they like?
Any advice on whether you think these prices are reasonable will be gratefully received. Last time we went we didn't fly direct which was a bit of a pain really so want to go direct if possible this time. Thanks in advance:)

blue_monkey_2

purplemusky wrote: »

Has anyone stayed at the Springhill Suites at Seaworld? Thinking of these as wanted a separate living area in the rooms.

Will have a hire car but is it too far away from I Drive??

No but I've stayed at Hilton Grand Vacation Club at Seaworld and they have 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments there. One bed is quite reasonable at around $150 a night and the onsite restaurant is really nice and cheap too (which surprised me!!) they also have pizza hut take away, starbucks coffee, etc... It is walking distance from Seaworld. We had a fab time, would not hesitate in going back there.

It is not far from I-drive at all and you can get the i-ride if you do not want to drive. Have a look on googlemaps and you'll get an idea of how far away it is.

johnnyroper

loobylou69 wrote: »

I've started looking for flights for summer 2012 as I knew the Virgin flydrives are out. We only need flights and car for 2 adults and 2 kids. Have got a quote from agent we booked through last time for £4111 which is flights with Virgin for 3 weeks in August and an SUV.
Have found flights with Monarch and Thomson too which come out around £3200 but then the car would be to pay for on top of that.
Has anyone done long haul with Thomson or Monarch - what are they like?
Any advice on whether you think these prices are reasonable will be gratefully received. Last time we went we didn't fly direct which was a bit of a pain really so want to go direct if possible this time. Thanks in advance:)

thomson long haul is actually rather good on board their 767 fleet with more legroom than BA and VS,you can also get premium for a reasonable price which includes priority boarding,twilight check in, access to the lounge at SFB and free drinks on board.generous baggage allowance.
monach on the other hand are rather poor in my opinion with legroom that is only adequate for short haul let alone long haul,the baggage allowance is also low,15kg springs to mind.

as a lower cost option i would use thomson over virgin but i would never contemplate monach unless someone else was paying.

check out seat guru website for more info/reviews

CAH

We used Monarch a few years ago - no problems. Flying into Sanford has its advantages over Orlando with it being much smaller. That said re Monarch, given the issues last year with Volcanic Ash I did see stories where they were not as helpful as they could have been. We were stranded in LA and Virgin were excellent.