Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

SirAlfonso

rhubarb22 wrote: »

Hi would like some advice regarding Florida if possible. Have been to Paris several times, as we don't like flying, however we are going to try and overcome our fears as we really want to go. We have got a price for next October 2012 - 18 nights at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort, 14 days park tickets, flights, and dining plan for 2 adults and one child - £4700 - I was hoping someone could give me their thoughts on this ??? (also $300 spending money)
Thanks in advance.

Hi Rhubarb,

That isn't a bad price at all. Who's that with? Is that just Disney park tickets? Direct flights?
To give you something to compare against, i'm going this September for 20 nights. i've booked it all seperately and my prices are:

An adult virgin flight was £550.
Saratoga springs resort in Disney was £110 a night including the dining plan (i think your dining plan will be the quick service one as Port Orleans is a moderate hotel)
14 Day Ultimate Disney Tickets were £215 for an adult ticket.

So for 18 nights doing it my way for 2 adults and 1 child would be just over £4k i think. So you do have potential savings to make and a nice upgrade on the hotel and dining plan, but this was all booked in Feb this year, and there's never a guarantee the same prices will come up for next year.

maemaesmummy

moneysavvy35 wrote: »

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.........

Probably a bit late but we have done, Villa De Flora at GP, Peabody and the Omni at champions gate...they were all around the same price about $50. would advise booking as soon as the window opens. Also very, very busy...think 4 hr queues for rides and no fastpasses left at 11am :eek: the 4 and the 192 was like a car park last year.
Also the weather has been unpredictable the last 3 years to say the least but last year OMG it was -2 some days..we had thick coats, jumpers, hats, scarves and gloves and were still freezing.

spoonk1

blue_monkey wrote: »

We are all happy to help on here.

I'd say there is something for your boys at all the parks.

Wet & Wild we went to once and was not that fussed about.

Busch Gardens has lots of big rides but I am not sure your 6YO would get on, mine couldn't and the height for a lot of rides there is 48". It is a shame when they have to miss out so if that bothers you I'd not worry about BG.

Universal, go on a weekday, we got around in a day. Again, the one thing I would say is t check the height restrictions on everything. There are a lot to go on at US and IOA to be honest, but not so many of the big coasters like Hulk as they were 48".

It is hard but from experience I'd do
2 days Magic Kingdom
1 day Epcot - my kids have never been fussed about the world showcase
1 day Animal Kingdom
1 day Hollywood Studios (make sure you choose a Fantasmic day!)
1 disney waterpark, you can go do something in the evening then - weekends are quieter as locals go to Disney.
1 day maybe aquatica/wet & wild (we've never been there) again, do something in the evening
1 day Seaworld - again, check heights on the rides
1 day Busch Gardens if going
1 day Islands of Adventure
1 day Universal - however, we have in the past managed to do both parks in one day, choose a day when it closes late.

So as you can see there is a lot to cram in. There is nothing better than another, it is all down to personal choice as to what rides you want to go on and how tall your lads are so that you can plan, plan, plan so you can fit as much in as possible.

Thanks for that Blue,so if i done it this way but without bg which tickets do i need?is there one ticket that covers all this.
AAAArrrgh feel another day on the net surfing is much needed.

blue_monkey_2

spoonk1 wrote: »

Thanks for that Blue,so if i done it this way but without bg which tickets do i need?is there one ticket that covers all this.
AAAArrrgh feel another day on the net surfing is much needed.

No, there is not one, there is one called 'The One' but that gives you 3 tickets as well.

What you need to do is sit down and look at all the parks and find out where you want to go and when, what shows you want to see and what you do not. I had a diary and I marked down what we were doing on what days, opening times, Extra Magic Hours (if staying at Disney you get longer in the parks), parades, shows, everything. You can find everything you need on the internet. Take one oark at a time, one attraction at a time. Mark down the height restrictions - some are 54" so neither of your kids can get on, that can be crossed off the list.

14 days is hardly any time at all to see everything.

Do this before you buy anything. You might find you only want Seaworld for one day and not 14, and not Aquatica or Busch Gardens, if this is the case, paying on the gate would be better and cheaper (last year when we went they had buy one ticket get kids ticket for $5).

if you want to go to Busch Gardens then get the park pass with the travel option as then you can get the shuttle bus to BG for free.

I really cannot stress how important it is to plan your time there. We come back absolutely exhausted but it is so worth it as there is so much to see and do. Parks are open later on some days than others but generally, year on year they are the same so look for this years times, dates and shows and plan around that. You would be gutted to get there and plan a night there to find it has closed late. Likewise where you want to eat, if the kids want a character meal, especially at Chef Mickeys (Over-rated for the money IMO though, sorry - we felt really rushed there) you need to book these 6 months in advance and you can do it online.

If you take a week, have a look at the websites for each park and let us know what you want to do we can advise on how long to allow for each attraction and when would be the best times to go and you can go from there.

We pencilled in one day for AK but it rained really, realy hard and we had to go home and it actually took us 3 half days to see everything in the end. We just fitted in some shopping or DTD in the afternoon instead.

If you do a waterpark you could do a dinner show in the evening. Or go to International Drive and see the things along there. Or go shopping, malls are open til 10pm.

I am off to DLP next Saturday (crickey, I've got NEXT in the sentence, scary where the time has gone) so if I do not answer before I go, I'll speak to you when I get back.

Take some time, you have ages to get your tickets yet (next June right??) so have a look through and plan what you would like to do and what you would not want to do. Make a list of your wants and want nots and go from there.

Planning this trip will take over your life until the day you get back.

PROUDMUMMYTOTHREE

is there anyway i can find out when and where the late firework displays and shows are for 2012

yellowmonkey

blue_monkey wrote: »

Planning this trip will take over your life until the day you get back.

and then when you get back you plan the next one

amanda40

chocolateteddy wrote: »

Amanda40 when were you there? We were there in feb too 3 - 17th and we did 4 days at Epcot as the kids (12, 9, 5) liked it a lot especially Test track and the Kim possible missions. They were not keen on Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios (loved Toy Sory Mania and Animation Class though and unfortunately star tours wasn't open)
We only did disney as 5 year old was too short for a lot at universal/ioa (leave that for next time!!) we did 4 days at MK and Epcot, 2 days AK, 2 days HS and 1 day typhoon lagoon, 1 day DTD/Disney Quest.

We were there 8th - 23rd February - First visit for us and loved it!! We done a full day at Magic Kingdom ( then back another free nigth for electric parade), Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and Epcot - all these days were there for park opening and till it shut! We had a day at Seaworld in the morning then Aquatica later on. One day at Island of Adventure then two days at Universal Studios ( with a quick go on Spiderman rider at IOA). We had a couple of days shopping and at Downtown Disney and spent two saturdays at Typhoon Lagoon. One day it rained (second day there) so we had day at Florida Mall and another dayy we were burned at the water park so again at the malls!

We loved it - We done the Disney Photo pass thing and were delighted wth the photos got 236!! Made up some photo books from Lidl ( buy one get one free) and they have turned out great!!

blue_monkey_2

PROUDMUMMYTOTHREE wrote: »

is there anyway i can find out when and where the late firework displays and shows are for 2012

Generally are the same every day.

Epcot is 9pm every day for Illunimations.

Magic Kingdom fireworks are at 8pm unless there is something else going on but you won't find that out until nearer the time. When we was there they shut for a private function so Fireworks were at 6.30pm (oh, that would be the life wouldn't it??) If you plan for 8pm you cannot go far wrong though. They also have Spectromagic at 9pm on selected nights. My favourite parade.

Hollywood Studios: Fantasmic Sunday and Thursday, 2 showings 7.30pm and 9pm - get there an hour before it starts.

The one thing we saw for the first time was the Water Boat parade, just a few boats that are all lit up that go around the WDW area lake.

Nothing at Animal Kingom, Universal or Islands of Adventure.

Sometimes Shamu Rocks (if it is still going) but seems only to be on Saturdays out of summer season.

nuttyp

Has anyone stayed at the staybridge suites at lake buena vista? Jsut wondered what they were like, they offer free breakfast everyday and have some free evening snacks. Just wondered if this is 1 to go for or avoid!!!

amanda40

nuttyp wrote: »

Has anyone stayed at the staybridge suites at lake buena vista? Jsut wondered what they were like, they offer free breakfast everyday and have some free evening snacks. Just wondered if this is 1 to go for or avoid!!!

We swithered between that and the Hawthorn Suites - ended up going for Hawthorn but for no special reason tbh.

It was so Handy for Disney ( we had a car but it was 2 mins to main gat and 5 mins to downtown disney) there were plenty of restuarant s and shops ( Winn Dixy, Walgreens etc) within a 5 min walk too, we were right on the road to Walmar at Turkey lake Rd and Universal was 10 mins away - If we were going back we wouldnt hesitate to stay at same place.

Ours served buffet breakfast and snacks a few nights a week but although we had breakfast every day , we were never back in hotel at 5 for free snacks. The breakfast was fine - got a bit samey after the week but only to be expected. There were cereals, fruit, yogurt, toast and alternate days had, bagels, waffles, pacncakes, sausages, bacon grits ( :eek:) and either scrambed egg or omlettes.