Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

jeanniebeanie_2

tori.k wrote: »

both DH & I are veggies do you know if there is a decent veggie place to eat, somewhere like thrive in Miami, we are hoping to sneak off one evening without the kids

I believe there is a new Indian veggie restaurant near Florida Mall, but I haven't tried it.
http://www.saravanabhavan.com/menu/U.S.A/florida_us.pdf

When we took a veggie we found Chilis and most Italian Restaurants had a few things and so do some of the Universal CityWalk restaurants (Latin Quarter was good). The 'better' restaurants usually just asked what sort of food she would like or asked their chef for suggestions and made something to order. They were mostly very happy to oblige.

ETA Cracker Barrel had quite a good choice. They had sizzler platters and quite a lot on their all day breakfast menu.

Cupcake_Mummy

Hiya,

I am looking to go this year with my hubby and our 4 young children, it's the only place in the world we love lol!

Do you know the cheapest way of doing it? We stayed in a villa and hired a car last time, is it best to do that or stay on the I drive? Also is it best to book online or with a travel agent and all together or look for things separately?

Thank you

rd350lc_2

hi all, real newbie florida daft question but does anybody know what airports in the midlands/ luton/ stansted fly to orlando ? what is the main airport you fly to for the theme park type holidays ? is there usually a premium on flight charges from smaller airports in the uk? thanks in advance

tori.k

rd350lc wrote: »

hi all, real newbie florida daft question but does anybody know what airports in the midlands/ luton/ stansted fly to orlando ? what is the main airport you fly to for the theme park type holidays ? is there usually a premium on flight charges from smaller airports in the uk? thanks in advance

You can fly from Luton but it will cost you about 3k as you will have a couple of stop overs..one in Israel...so you could call that a premium..most direct flights are from Gatwick or Manchester, altho you could get a indirect flight (2 stops) from Birmingham for around the same price as a direct one from Gatwick but that does mean about 38hrs travel time compared to a nine and a half hour flight....38 hours of airline food :eek:

tori.k

Cupcake_Mummy wrote: »

Hiya,

I am looking to go this year with my hubby and our 4 young children, it's the only place in the world we love lol!

Do you know the cheapest way of doing it? We stayed in a villa and hired a car last time, is it best to do that or stay on the I drive? Also is it best to book online or with a travel agent and all together or look for things separately?

Thank you

This will also be our first time doing Orlando altho we have done the states before, we found it cheaper to off site with a car rather then on but my kids are teenagers so classed as adults, if you have under 11's the kids eat free pass is really cheap, best idea is to cost both up and see which you prefer, lots of people prefer to be on-site but we always like a villa so in the evening i can put my feet up relax and have a glass or two and the kids are entertained with the pool, have a fantastic holiday whatever you choose

northwest1965

Cupcake_Mummy wrote: »

Hiya,

I am looking to go this year with my hubby and our 4 young children, it's the only place in the world we love lol!

Do you know the cheapest way of doing it? We stayed in a villa and hired a car last time, is it best to do that or stay on the I drive? Also is it best to book online or with a travel agent and all together or look for things separately?

Thank you

From what I have seen now and in the past its cheaper by a long way to book seperately. In my opinion I drive is too far away but others dont mind.
This is a great map with the villa locations.
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/villa-map.php

Dont forget to use topcashback for flights if you can:)

MsConfused

Hi all,

Thank you for all the useful info! My husband, brother and I are thinking about going to Disneyworld this year! We're all big kids at heart. Was thinking early April, but after finding out about the free dining package, maybe May. I've never 'bought' a holiday before (only been abroad to Italy and that was all sorted by the travel agent) so am a little nervous. However, think I've got it sussed.

Hoping to stay at the French Quartet Disney Resort (did love the sound of Animal Lodge but can't really justify the extra expense), which has a discount and as I say the free quick dining package (although will upgrade to the standard package). Also the 14 day Disney ticket is the same price as a 7 day ticket when bought direct. I worked out that buying my own flight will be slightly cheaper than buying it with the hotel from Disney so think I will do that. For the three of us, I've worked it out as £4050ish. Will then buy Orlando tickets separately, and need to account for transport costs. Does all this sound about right? So excited!

Forgive me if this has been asked (I've read so much I have information overload), but how do the dining packages work? Can you eat anywhere at Disney or only at the resort? Sorry if all this sounds really naive - I'm a real travel newbie!

delwynshd

Hi MsConfused

You have to book the tickets with the hotel package in order to qualify for the disney dine plans

Thanks
Del

cybil22

I wonder if any of you can give me any advice/tips? I am looking to book a multi centre holiday to Orlando and New York around 11th July for 2 weeks, 10 days Orlando and 4 Nights New York. So far the best i have come up with is £5450 for 3 nights New York and 9 nights Orlando, this is for 2 adults and 2 children aged 13 and 15. I have tried pricing everything myself and flights are coming up around £3200, i just wondered if any of you experienced people could give me any tips as i think i have exhausted myself looking!

Beatrice8

MsConfused wrote: »

Hoping to stay at the French Quartet Disney Resort...
Forgive me if this has been asked (I've read so much I have information overload), but how do the dining packages work? Can you eat anywhere at Disney or only at the resort? Sorry if all this sounds really naive - I'm a real travel newbie!

Information about the dining plan is on the Disney World website (sorry, can't post a link 'cos I'm new so MSE won't let me!) and on the same page the pdfs to the right are leaflets listing the restaurants covered. You can eat in restaurants throughout the parks and also in the other resort hotels. I suggest that you study them in detail because there are Terms and Conditions, particularly regarding how many 'credits' you need for the nicer restaurants. Also strongly suggest that if there is a particular restaurant you would like to go to you ring in advance from the UK to make the reservation as they get booked up - the reservations staff are very helpful, and when you arrive at your Disney hotel the reception staff will print off a schedule of all the reservations you've made.

Everyone has their own favourites but we loved Le Cellier in Epcot and Boma in Animal Kingdom Lodge. By the end of the holiday my son had decided that his favourite words were 'snack credit':D

Btw we stayed in French Quarter and loved it. It's very pretty. Port Orleans Resort is divided into Riverside and French Quarter, connected by a river. FQ is smaller, in fact probably the smallest of the Disney hotels. The advantages of this are that it doesn't take conventions (so no 100-strong groups of cheerleaders racing round the corridors at 3am) and it only has one bus stop, which the Disney buses go to before they go to Riverside i.e. you always get on!

I'd also recommend the Disney forums e.g. DIS Discussion Forums for lots of up-to-date info.