Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

blue_monkey_2

mintster wrote: »

Blimey - don't even remember putting that on there but yes - staying in the Enclave Suites and we do have a car. And no I don't mind it being posted - in fact I appreciate it!

No, it wasn't on there, it was on here and I went back and looked. I just wondered in what area you was staying for easy access to shops theme parks and shops and for time.

mintster

You are a star and that is exactly the sort of advice I have been looking for. I have had too much wine to make changes now but I will make changes tomorrow and will post afterwards. I really do appreciate all of your advice - maybe I could pay for you to come as an official tour guide!!!

blue_monkey_2

mintster wrote: »

You are a star and that is exactly the sort of advice I have been looking for. I have had too much wine to make changes now but I will make changes tomorrow and will post afterwards. I really do appreciate all of your advice - maybe I could pay for you to come as an official tour guide!!!

LOL, I am on my way.....

I did not want to seem too bossy but we have done it a few times now and you get to know what maximises your time.

Are you not interested in going to the Halloween Party?

Also, as you are doing so many of the parks and are staying off site, have you considered getting an Annual Pass for one of you so you can get free parking at the parks (worth £11 a day) as you then get discounts off food and gifts too as well as other little discounts. I believe you can get the money of your Ultimate's refunded against the price of an Annual Pass but you might need to call and verify this. I have been looking an AP for our trip to see if we can save money. You can get one for $550 - around £343. Assuming you have an Ultimate for £230 then that is £113 more after your parking, once you start buying food and gifts you'll be making a saving. Maybe something to have a look at also. To save on parking you would be best off going to DTD on your first night and getting it sorted so you can go to MK early on the 1st day.

Who did you book your flights and accomodation with BTW?

blue_monkey_2

Minster - can I also suggest, if you have a spare evening on ID there is the 'outta control magic show'. Costs £16 for adults and 12% cashback via quidco: http://www.expedia.co.uk/pub/agent.dll?qscr=tsdt

It is fab, we saw this about 10 years ago but it is unlimited pizza and salas and soft drinks, wine and beer with the meal. It was is good value. You could spend that on dinner out anyway. For about £6 more you can go into Wonderworks:

WonderWorks
Try to stay standing during the shaking of a 5.3-magnitude earthquake, get blown away by 71 mph (114 kmh) hurricane force winds, maneuver the controls of a NASA spacecraft to land the shuttle, step inside an astronaut space suit, feel the sensation of 3,500 nails elevating you, fly a fighter jet, make a 3-D impression of your entire body on the WonderWall, ride the wonder coasters, play virtual sports, plus much more! Included in your admission is a ticket to climb the 3-story indoor ropes challenge course and experience the 4D theater located on the 3rd level/the basement.

We did not go last time as we could not get there (no car) but if you are on ID then it is definately worth considering if you come away from a waterpark early or if the weather is bad, it is great value for money.

mintster

blue_monkey wrote: »

LOL, I am on my way.....

I did not want to seem too bossy but we have done it a few times now and you get to know what maximises your time.

Are you not interested in going to the Halloween Party?

Also, as you are doing so many of the parks and are staying off site, have you considered getting an Annual Pass for one of you so you can get free parking at the parks (worth £11 a day) as you then get discounts off food and gifts too as well as other little discounts. I believe you can get the money of your Ultimate's refunded against the price of an Annual Pass but you might need to call and verify this. I have been looking an AP for our trip to see if we can save money. You can get one for $550 - around £343. Assuming you have an Ultimate for £230 then that is £113 more after your parking, once you start buying food and gifts you'll be making a saving. Maybe something to have a look at also. To save on parking you would be best off going to DTD on your first night and getting it sorted so you can go to MK early on the 1st day.

Who did you book your flights and accomodation with BTW?

OK - have made some changes to my plan. All waterparks are now only scheduled for mornings (well half days) and have removed typhoon lagoon. so that we can pretty much take the day as needed and I have put in a rest / shopping day in the middle with trip to MK in the evening.

I think we will only be treating it as a general guide and will be as flexible as possible.

Will double check the disney tickets we have got - would that be free parking in all parks (ie Universal)?

We booked it all through Holiday Genie (car and tickets we booked separately).

Let me know what you think!

Edit: Forgot to say - we looked at the Halloween parties and felt our budget would not stretch to it (Mickys party seemed the only one appropriate for our son). We guessed we would see what was around when we got there.

KarenG

blue_monkey wrote: »

I believe you can get the money of your Ultimate's refunded against the price of an Annual Pass but you might need to call and verify this. I have been looking an AP for our trip to see if we can save money. You can get one for $550 - around £343. Assuming you have an Ultimate for £230 then that is £113 more after your parking, once you start buying food and gifts you'll be making a saving. Maybe something to have a look at also. To save on parking you would be best off going to DTD on your first night and getting it sorted so you can go to MK early on the 1st ?

Yes you can definitely get the face value of the Ultimate applied against the cost of the Annual Pass.

BM, are you talking about an AP or a PAP?

Also someone mentioned black out dates - is this a new type of AP, as I've never come across this before? I know the Florida resident AP has those, but you can only get one of those with proof of address in Florida so that doesn't work for most of us, ie non villa or condo owners.

Which view have you got at Bay Lake Tower....??

KarenG

mintster wrote: »

Will double check the disney tickets we have got - would that be free parking in all parks (ie Universal)?

.

No, definitely not. Disney parks only. Universal and Disney are rivals and don't do anything to help guests visit each other, quite the opposite unfortunately!

blue_monkey_2

KarenG wrote: »

No, definitely not. Disney parks only. Universal and Disney are rivals and don't do anything to help guests visit each other, quite the opposite unfortunately!

Yes was going to say the same, AP is onyl available for use in Disney.

Karen, I still find Disney owning Marvel all a little weird with Marvel being at IOA and all that....!!

blue_monkey_2

KarenG wrote: »

Yes you can definitely get the face value of the Ultimate applied against the cost of the Annual Pass.

BM, are you talking about an AP or a PAP?

Also someone mentioned black out dates - is this a new type of AP, as I've never come across this before? I know the Florida resident AP has those, but you can only get one of those with proof of address in Florida so that doesn't work for most of us, ie non villa or condo owners.

Which view have you got at Bay Lake Tower....??

Hi Karen,

I was looking at the standard AP - did not think we was going to bother with Disney water parks when we went next time - might take a trip to Daytona and go to the beach though as well as going to W&W and Aquatica.

It is only going to be worth it for us if we get the 40% discount on the room - PORR in the new Royal Guest Rooms - and a saving on the DDP. Apparently it is a 30% saving on the room and DDP if you are an AP holder but I do not want to commit to buying if we are not going to get that. We would save around £450 on our stay if we can get the offer - that would be an AP for 'free'. Got to sort the workings out though and make sure I get it right, I am not sure whether it'll work but we will see. A bonus if it does. We want 5 nights there but starting Easter Sunday so I do not think we'll get it cheap.

You are right on blackouts, I looked at the words under a different section.

Would be nice to just be able to go and not worry about tickets though. Thinking about MYW tickets with no expiry in case we do.

blue_monkey_2

mintster wrote: »

OK - have made some changes to my plan. All waterparks are now only scheduled for mornings (well half days) and have removed typhoon lagoon. so that we can pretty much take the day as needed and I have put in a rest / shopping day in the middle with trip to MK in the evening.

I think we will only be treating it as a general guide and will be as flexible as possible.

Will double check the disney tickets we have got - would that be free parking in all parks (ie Universal)?

We booked it all through Holiday Genie (car and tickets we booked separately).

Let me know what you think!

Edit: Forgot to say - we looked at the Halloween parties and felt our budget would not stretch to it (Mickys party seemed the only one appropriate for our son). We guessed we would see what was around when we got there.

If you are going to be there for Halloween, take a costume for your son and drive to Celebration. The houses there are nothing short of amazing. We saw one done up as a pirate ship - you could not even see that it was a house. I have never, ever, seen anything like it. But we went early November and most of it had gone, just a few houses left that were done up. I am sure they will have Halloween Activities there and all of them are usually free.