Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

Paddywack41

purplemusky wrote: »

We are going to Orlando next May 2 adults 2 children and I notice a lot of people talking about restaurants they have booked prior to going. We are staying on international drive and will have a car so where are the best ones or some suggestions where would be good for us to book before going. The children will be 10 and 6. Thanks.

The questions you need to ask yourself first is what you like eating and what you want to spend. You will likely find that even with a car you are goign to be eating in a fast food our chain restuarant of some kind. I personally have never really been to any bad restuarants but some i prefer better than others for example I love Cracker Barrell, Perkins, Applebies and the good old Denny's but am not that fussed on IHOP but i know there are others out there who would probably say vice versa.

I have had some bad meals in pretty much all the restaurants at some time or other but I have never had any problem when I complained about them.

sunshine_shell2000

Hey everyone,

My husband and I have just booked flights from the 31st August til the 15th Sept 11 to Orlando and are in a bit of a pickle about hotels. We would like to go to Universal & IOA, Wet n wild, Seaworld, Aquatica, Busch Gardens and all the Disney Parks. We don't intend on driving and thought it would be best to split our 15 days by having 8 days on i drive/Universak and 7 days closer to Disney.

Would you be able to suggest some hotels on i drive and nearer Disney that are moderately priced that offer shuttles to and from the parks and have breakfast? I must say all the reviews on the hotel booking websites are so mixed that my head is in a spin!!!

Also could someone please give me info on transfers from Orlando International? I understand the taxi is around $55, could i do this any cheaper?

One last thing......If we were to get the one ticket via Pilliangertravel would we qualify for the Busch Gardens free coach travel?

Thank you so much in advance and apologies if these questions have been answered somewhere within the 201 pages.

kompendium

sunshine_shell2000 wrote: »

Hey everyone,

My husband and I have just booked flights from the 31st August til the 15th Sept 11 to Orlando and are in a bit of a pickle about hotels. We would like to go to Universal & IOA, Wet n wild, Seaworld, Aquatica, Busch Gardens and all the Disney Parks. We don't intend on driving and thought it would be best to split our 15 days by having 8 days on i drive/Universak and 7 days closer to Disney.

Would you be able to suggest some hotels on i drive and nearer Disney that are moderately priced that offer shuttles to and from the parks and have breakfast? I must say all the reviews on the hotel booking websites are so mixed that my head is in a spin!!!

Also could someone please give me info on transfers from Orlando International? I understand the taxi is around $55, could i do this any cheaper?

One last thing......If we were to get the one ticket via Pilliangertravel would we qualify for the Busch Gardens free coach travel?

Thank you so much in advance and apologies if these questions have been answered somewhere within the 201 pages.

I can't suggest any specific hotels because I've always stayed in a villa whenever I've been to Orlando. I thought I'd suggest a few things for you to think about though:

- You could stay in a villa but then you would have to drive yourself to the parks

- To answer your question about transfers from Orlando, Disney offer a free shuttle service from the airport if you stay at one of their hotels (it's called 'Magical Express') but I'm not sure if you have to have booked the flights with them at the same time as the hotel, may be worth looking into though.

- If you do stay at a Disney hotel it makes it a bit difficult to get to the other parks (Universal, etc.) because Disney will provide free bus/boat/monorail service to its own parks but not other theme parks. Of course you could stay at a Disney hotel for 7 days like you say then move to a hotel on i-drive. Or there may be non-disney transport to other parks that picks you up near to Disney, but I'm not sure about that.

- One final point I'd like to make is you say that you are thinking about staying at a hotel on i-drive then moving to a hotel closer to disney - i-drive is very close to Disney, Universal, IOA, Wet n Wild, SeaWorld and Aquatica, you shouldn't need to move hotels to do Disney unless you want to stay in a hotel inside of Disney like I mentioned above. It is actually Busch Gardens that is further away, but I'd imagine many hotels offer a shuttle service to that aswell since it is such a popular park despite its distance from Disney.

Hope some of that helps. Coincidentally, I'm going to Orlando from 1st Sep 11 to 14th Sep 11 so I'll be there the same time as you!

terriandaaron

Id do a split stay...its nice to stay at diffrent places, some of the timeshare resorts...sheraton, and holiday inn villages are lovely and central for both universal and disney.

clairey1208

If any one is looking to book I highly recommend Charter Travel. We've just booked a really good deal for 2 adults & 3 kids Thurs 23rd Feb - Tues 6th March 2012. Flying with Virgin Manchester to Orlando, staying in a 2 bed apartment at Cane Island Resort in Kissimmee, including car hire £2759!!!!

The guy I spoke to was really helpful, gave me lots of different options to consider & suggested I Google each resort before deciding!

liney

terriandaaron wrote: »

Id do a split stay...its nice to stay at diffrent places, some of the timeshare resorts...sheraton, and holiday inn villages are lovely and central for both universal and disney.

Which Holiday Inn Village do you recommend? I have a vague recollection of someone saying they are golfing resorts so I haven't bothered looking into them.

roseability_2

Hi there,

I've been reading through a good chunk of the threads on here about Disney and was hoping that I could pick some of you lovely Disney people's brains please!

My OH and I are getting married next March and hoping to go to Disney for our honeymoon- the plan is 7 days in Disney and 5 days on the coast- at the moment we're thinking Clearwater.

My question is, we'd be looking to go on March 26th. However, this is the week before the Easter hols and I gather from the posts on here, that it will be very very busy. In your experience, would we be better off waiting for a quieter time and just having a few nights away after the wedding? If so, what kind of time would you recommend? And would it be cheaper? We've been quoted £2800 from Virgin for 7 nights at the Fairfield Inn and 5 nights at the Hyatt Regency in Clearwater.

Many thanks! I'm sure I'll be on here lots with more questions- I'm so excited already and it's ages away!

KarenG

roseability wrote: »

Hi there,

I've been reading through a good chunk of the threads on here about Disney and was hoping that I could pick some of you lovely Disney people's brains please!

My OH and I are getting married next March and hoping to go to Disney for our honeymoon- the plan is 7 days in Disney and 5 days on the coast- at the moment we're thinking Clearwater.

My question is, we'd be looking to go on March 26th. However, this is the week before the Easter hols and I gather from the posts on here, that it will be very very busy. In your experience, would we be better off waiting for a quieter time and just having a few nights away after the wedding? If so, what kind of time would you recommend? And would it be cheaper? We've been quoted £2800 from Virgin for 7 nights at the Fairfield Inn and 5 nights at the Hyatt Regency in Clearwater.

Many thanks! I'm sure I'll be on here lots with more questions- I'm so excited already and it's ages away!

I would wait for a quieter time. We had a similar scenario for DH's 40th (not as exciting as a wedding I know!) and we postponed the actual celebration for a couple of months. That way we still had it to look forward to, and the weather, crowds etc made our holiday way better. I'd agree with the idea of spending the weekend away though, so you don't feel too "flat" after the wedding

I'd consider late September / early October as a great time to go, but that could be too long for you to patiently wait after getting married, so how about end of April after the Easter crowds have gone? Weather and crowds should be great :T

ETA Logic dictates it will be cheaper but price it up online to get an idea

kompendium

roseability wrote: »

Hi there,

I've been reading through a good chunk of the threads on here about Disney and was hoping that I could pick some of you lovely Disney people's brains please!

My OH and I are getting married next March and hoping to go to Disney for our honeymoon- the plan is 7 days in Disney and 5 days on the coast- at the moment we're thinking Clearwater.

My question is, we'd be looking to go on March 26th. However, this is the week before the Easter hols and I gather from the posts on here, that it will be very very busy. In your experience, would we be better off waiting for a quieter time and just having a few nights away after the wedding? If so, what kind of time would you recommend? And would it be cheaper? We've been quoted £2800 from Virgin for 7 nights at the Fairfield Inn and 5 nights at the Hyatt Regency in Clearwater.

Many thanks! I'm sure I'll be on here lots with more questions- I'm so excited already and it's ages away!

The time of year you're planning on going would be extremely busy at Disney, it is one of the busiest times of the year. If you went that time of year you would have to expect very long wait times for rides. The quieter times of year would be away from school holidays, especially in Jan/Feb late Sep / Oct. I would expect it would be cheaper those times of year too. I personally would recommend going those times of year because you can get a lot more done in the same amount of time compared with going at busier times of the year.

KarenG

kompendium wrote: »

The time of year you're planning on going would be extremely busy at Disney, it is one of the busiest times of the year. If you went that time of year you would have to expect very long wait times for rides. The quieter times of year would be away from school holidays, especially in Jan/Feb late Sep / Oct. I would expect it would be cheaper those times of year too. I personally would recommend going those times of year because you can get a lot more done in the same amount of time compared with going at busier times of the year.

Agree, but Jan / Feb weather can be less than ideal. Also, if going in February we found late February horrendously busy around President's Day and Spring Break. But yes, Jan / Feb are cheap (if you avoid half term). I'm not sure they are cheaper than end April/early May or late Sept though - think they are pretty comparable.