Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

blue_monkey_2

maemaesmummy wrote: »

Deluxe Disney Dining Plan so loadsa food lol...am planning on doing a complete Disney holiday no other parks as only going for 8 days..:eek: but am going back the month after for 3 weeks :T

Goodness, I don't think I'd be able to walk around let go on the rides after all that food - I did look at the Deluxe plan and it would have been too much for us.

I believe some of the restaurants are only open during the day so go to those if you have never done that.

It'll be nice to keep to the same areas without travelling too much to other places though. You'll have an amazing time.

maemaesmummy

blue_monkey wrote: »

Goodness, I don't think I'd be able to walk around let go on the rides after all that food - I did look at the Deluxe plan and it would have been too much for us.

I believe some of the restaurants are only open during the day so go to those if you have never done that.

It'll be nice to keep to the same areas without travelling too much to other places though. You'll have an amazing time.

lol..me too but am thinking of going to some of the 2 TS restaurants..

cuffie

Right...I seem to be getting closer to ticking things off my list! Flights, car hire, discovery cove (with Busch Gardens, Seaworld and Aquatica) all booked and paid for. Now for the villa. We have been recommended Emerald Island (apparently closest gated villa community??), and also Lake Berkeley for locations. Does anyone else have any recommendations, or places to avoid? We want a 4 bed villa with private pool. And want to be no more that 10 mins drive away from Disney. Whose are the best websites to use? Has anyone used homeaway.com? Also, just another quick question....I haven't bought any park tickets yet, but if I buy the "hopper" tickets, will that allow us to leave the park and go back to the villa if we want to, and then be allowed back into the same park in the evening using the same day ticket (if you see what I mean?).
Thanks for your help.... xx

blue_monkey_2

maemaesmummy wrote: »

lol..me too but am thinking of going to some of the 2 TS restaurants..

Sounds like a plan, have you thought about the dinner shows they have at WL and PR?

whamfanuk

its now been hammering it down badly for over 2 days, parks are closed, weather warnings in place, i am glad to be going home to be fair

blue_monkey_2

whamfanuk wrote: »

its now been hammering it down badly for over 2 days, parks are closed, weather warnings in place, i am glad to be going home to be fair

I've been reading about how bad the weather is on The Dibb, I forgot you was there at the moment. I am sorry that your holiday got spoiled whamfam. A short shower is not too bad but constant heavy rain is not funny and you can never dry out properly in a hotel either. I have heard that it is still going and is forecast until Tues.

I remember DLP when it did that and after 3 hours I said enough. First time I had ever said that and called a halt on our theme parking but our coats and shoes were still wet the next day as well and we had to buy more (at DLP prices too....!!!:eek:)

Birdie85

I just got back on Friday (so it looks like we avoided the realllly bad weather, thought our first week was bad but clearly we were lucky!) and had a fantastic time!

We stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Villages which was a lovely resort but too self-sufficient for us; no cleaning service, just fresh towels once a week and the rubbish collected at the same time unless you paid extra for a more thorough clean, the resort was huuuuuuge and we got lost a couple of times (:o) and although there was an I-Ride and Lynx stop right outside the gate, it was right at the end of I-Drive and took ages to go anywhere interesting, was a total nightmare for the malls!

We're already planning on going back and we'll be staying in Disney when we do as we loved the hotels, the restaurants and the bus and ferry services and it just feels more special when you're on-site! We're definitely doing the DDP next time too, we only had 3 proper meals (including breakfast) in Disney restaurants but wanted to do more, we really enjoyed Wolfgang Pucks and The Yak and Yeti. We did the character breakfast at Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club Resort and it was a good breakfast, not stupidly priced, lovely setting and good character interaction although I was a bit disappointed that there were only 3 there.

For a blow-out meal I can't recommend Cuba Libre at Pointe Orlando enough, we were lucky and got a special deal as September was their 'Magical Dining Month' so we got 3 courses for $30 (when OH's main course alone cost $29 on the regular menu!) but it was still the most expensive meal of the trip, totally worth it though. Theming in the restaurant is brilliant (like you're sitting in a Cuban street) and the food and service are outstanding.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is amazing, we went twice and spent about 4 hours there each time, but we're massive Harry geeks! Just a couple of tips for anyone planning to send Owl Mail home, 1) Bring a pen! They only have feather quills available in Hogsmeade at $9.95 a pop, we went to Suess Landing a bought a Universal pen for $2.95 instead but kicked ourselves for forgetting to bring one with us. 2) Bring stamps! There are sheets of lovely Harry Potter stamps, either with Hogwarts castle or the Hogwarts crest on at $14.95 for a sheet of 10, we didn't mind buying the fancy stamps since they looked lovely on the envelopes (and see above comment about being geeks!) but you need 3 x44c stamps to send a letter to the UK so the stamps had to be overlapped to fit them on and it felt like a waste. Had we been forwarned we'd have bought some regular stamps before going and used 2 regular and 1 fancy stamp on each envelope to make them go a little further.

diadeb

cuffie wrote: »

Whose are the best websites to use? Has anyone used homeaway.com?

I found my villa via HomeAway (or Holiday Rentals as was) and they had by far the best search mechanism I found. I also tried Holiday Lettings (where they seemed to be a more at the lower price bracket) and gave up with Owners Direct. You can also try the DIBBS forum. Be warned - there's too much choice, so try and decide which area you want for starters if you can.

Pinklepurr

cuffie wrote: »

Right...I seem to be getting closer to ticking things off my list! Flights, car hire, discovery cove (with Busch Gardens, Seaworld and Aquatica) all booked and paid for. Now for the villa. We have been recommended Emerald Island (apparently closest gated villa community??), and also Lake Berkeley for locations. Does anyone else have any recommendations, or places to avoid? We want a 4 bed villa with private pool. And want to be no more that 10 mins drive away from Disney. Whose are the best websites to use? Has anyone used homeaway.com? Also, just another quick question....I haven't bought any park tickets yet, but if I buy the "hopper" tickets, will that allow us to leave the park and go back to the villa if we want to, and then be allowed back into the same park in the evening using the same day ticket (if you see what I mean?).
Thanks for your help.... xx

I've stayed at Windsor Hills (in 2008) which is only 5 mins (via the short cut of Sherberth Road - to AK), a bit further for the other Disney parks. You really cannot be much closer! Villas of varying sizes and one of the newest villa communities. It's a gated community so we felt very safe. We are going again in 2012 but this time have picked a villa in Emerald Island. Its only a couple of minutes further away from the parks but was better value for money. Windsor Hills owners charge a premium compared to other communities. Other resorts near there would be Windsor Palms, Formosa Gardens. All of these are close to the 192 for restaurants and supermarkets.

Check out The Dibb forums as you can do a villa search on there. We booked our Windsor Hills one via windsorhillsrent.com and our Emerald Island one just trawling the internet and found the owners website.

meer53

We've had lovely villas at Mission Park and The Shire at West Haven, both off the H27 so a bit further afield but no more than 20 mins to Disney, about 30 to Universal and IOA. They are both gated communities and really easy to find.