Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

clairey1208

If anyone is looking to buy tickets for 2012 we've just bought ours from Florida Escapes - no credit card fee, free postage & 2011 prices if bought today!!!

http://floridaescapes.co.uk/tickets

blue_monkey_2

KarenG wrote: »

Ohhh, you are in for a treat! We've stayed at the FQ and the Riverside (I much prefer the Riverside, don't know why, just prefer the theme I guess). The new rooms look stunning!!

I like being able to kick back and relax a bit more now, we used to do the theme parks commando style, but so much more fun now to be able to do them in a more leisurely way. What view have you booked at BLT? Are you SV, LV or MK? If you're LV do you know the room types to request to have a chance of a bit of MK view? Do not miss the chance to watch the fireworks from TOTWL. I can't imagine it's going to be there forever so use it when you can.

We've only done SV - points don't go far enough for the others - but oh my we love it there :cool:

Thanks for reassuring us, I am looking forward to it, it does look a lovely hotel and I'll get the kids round the campfire one night too.

We have a LV at BLT, I wanted one over 7SL so we could watch the water pagaent and we was going to try and get into the Lounge to see the fireworks, if not we will head over to the SkyBridge instead.

2 weeks does not seem long enough somehow.

cjmumto2

We just came back after 2 weeks in Orlando, it was the best holiday we have ever had. Well worth the money, we had 7 day magic your way tickets, we did boggy creek, wonderworks, the kennedy space centre, the orlando science centre and 2 days of swimming and the last day we visited the town of Celebration.

None of the parks were full and we did Hollywood studios on Xmas eve to see the Osbourne family lights which were out of this world and we only arrived at 3pm. Did animal kingdom on the 27th Dec. We stayed a Mango Key in Kissimmee which was very close to Disney Parks and will stay there again. We used car on the drive for the hire car.

Christmas Day we went to Gaylord palms which was amazing, lunch at villa de flora then ICE then 3D movie of Puss in Boots which was Fab fun.

lolabugx

It may be helpful for someone planning their trip, we discovered https://www.bookit.com some of the hotels have bundled and reduced disney and universal tickets.

samandmillie

I am so close to booking my trip but cannot decide (apart from someone telling me that there are rennovations going on in the Magic Kingdom which has slightly put me off)...looking to travel May this year for 14nts, myself, husband and 4.5yr old daughter. It's our first time to Disney and we'd like to stay on site.

We've been quoted

£2,796 virgin flights, 14 day disney tickets, all star music/movies resort

£3,475 virgin flights, 14 day disney tickets, Port Orleans with quick dining

Having never been I wondered, is it worth paying the extra to stay in a moderate resort and have the dining plan? Will we save money by being on the dining plan or is it very restrictive? Also, I read that you can get the boat/walk to dtd from port orleans, is anything within walking distance from the value resorts?

Many thanks (I have also posted on the Dibb for opinions from there too)

blue_monkey_2

samandmillie - have a look at https://www.funwayholidays.co.uk as we found then cheaper than Virgin. I found them on the Clubcard website http://www.tesco.com/clubcard/deals/product.aspx?R=2232&bci=4294967232|Holidays*4294967217|Worldwide We have loads of vouchers so I think I may save them and be tempted to use them for our next holidays as the cost of their hotel and flights package was £1000 cheaper than our Virgin Fly Drive - going out on the same date!!

I would definately take the free dining option and pay slightly more, it;ll pay for itself. We did not find the DP restrictive at all. You can upgrade to the next plan if you want table service meals as well so that is also something to consider. We are staying at Port Orleans for our next holiday so it had bettwe be good We have stayed at All Stars Movies and was itching to get out after 5 days, the food was dreadful for a start and the resort was just, I don't know, basic I suppose.

The only value resort that interests me is Pop Century, there seems to be more going on there.

69chick

Hi, I have been hoping to book a disneyland florida holiday for 2013 and have been trying to save for the past couple of years.

I have been looking at costs on virginholidays and from what people are saying it looks like for me dh and 3 kids (11,7,7) it is around £5500 for the flights and accomodation! I have looked on here to see what I can find out and am thinking maybe I can get a better deal by booking accom and flights separate. Can anyone give me any advice on taking 3 kids to orlando? have you done it and more reasonable than that sort of price? I am looking to go in April 2013 and would really like to get some of it sorted and deposits paid etc.

blue_monkey_2

69chick wrote: »

Hi, I have been hoping to book a disneyland florida holiday for 2013 and have been trying to save for the past couple of years.

I have been looking at costs on virginholidays and from what people are saying it looks like for me dh and 3 kids (11,7,7) it is around £5500 for the flights and accomodation! I have looked on here to see what I can find out and am thinking maybe I can get a better deal by booking accom and flights separate. Can anyone give me any advice on taking 3 kids to orlando? have you done it and more reasonable than that sort of price? I am looking to go in April 2013 and would really like to get some of it sorted and deposits paid etc.

69 chick, if you can wait a few months they will be offering free dining at WDW for 2013 breaks - for that price you will get free food for 2 weeks and be able to stay at a Walt Disney World resort. Keep looking for Port Orleans Resort Riverside, they have rooms that sleep 5 people and you'll get a free Quick Service disney Dining Plan - which you can upgrade to the Disney Dining Plan if you want to. You can go for a suite but they tend to be more expensive.

When I booked early with Virgin I was given a free kids Disney 14 day ticket for booking when the preview brochure came out.

What month are you looking for? Do you know where you want to stay?

It can be cheaper to book the flights/accomodation seperate but the flights are not released until a year before you travel so you'll have a while to wait if you want to find that out.

You can book the accomodation with Disney though and Disney give free transfers from the airport to and from your resort, then you might just need a car for a bit of the holiday (if you want one at all) and it'll save you a bit of money too.

I think you need to be more specific really but yes, that is certainly do-able. You could do it for less if you wanted to stay someone cheaper in i-drive, not my cup of tea but everyone is different. The Point Orlando offers 2/3 bedroom suites for about £100 a night and is right next to Universal. oooh, also look at The Castle by Holiday Inn on I-drive. Unless you have all boys, LOL.

By booking with Virgin your hotel choices are limited, that is the only thing. Have a look at funway holidays (found on the Tesco Clubcard website).

tori.k

Easter will be expensive and the parks busy, but you can get some great deals during low season, do price a DIY its easy to do and can save a small fortune (remember to use the cash back sites) off site an option? you will need a car but you can get some lovely villas with private pools&games room for around £400 a week. we are in the process of booking ours and are looking at just over £5k (excl spends) for 5 Adults (kids are teenagers) for 3 weeks back end of the year,altho we are not doing Disney. you will find kids over 9 are classed as an adult in most places.

blue_monkey_2

You do not really need a car though, you can get around perfectly OK without one.

You will need a car if you hire a villa - is this what you was trying to say tori but got muddled?

We have been loads of times and never had a car, we usually split our stay so a week at Disney a week near Universal and get cabs everywhere - even to the supermarket. We spent less on cabs than we would have done on hiring a car.