Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

Reue

Hey guys, have spent a long time reading all the adivce on here and other forums and have finally started planning the trip for my parner and I. Was just wondering if people thought my plans were a good deal and anything I may have over-looked or missed.

- Flying on a last-minute deal with Thomson, Flights + Accom 2 weeks: £620
- Park entry for Disney (14 day): £235
- Park entry for universal (2 park, 14 days): £95
- Park entry for Seaworld (2 days): £50
- Train fare to airport: £43
- Airport Transfers Sanford to hotel: £40

Plus Visa cost takes it to about £1100each for the 2 of us.

Obviously this is excluding food and spending money, transportation (we wont be hiring a car) etc. What do people think? I know some of the tickets could be done in difference combinations but we're not really interested in doing Aquatica, Busche Gardens or Wet n wild so I think thats the cheapest way of doing it.

Many thanks!

Birdie85

mulberrybush wrote: »

Thanks. That's helpful. Thomson is better then?

Pricing up a cheeky trip and there can be so many variables!

Well I haven't flown to Florida with Thomson before but flew to the Dominican a couple of years ago and it was a much better experience on the whole than when we flew with Thomas Cook. Not only are the planes a bit nicer, the food and entertainment are better etc but all of the staff are better IMO too. From the travel agents to check-in staff to air hostesses, they all just seem so much nicer and better trained than TC! I'll be able to give a proper review come November though! :cool:

Reue, you seem to have all of your basics there and it looks like you're getting a good deal. If you stay on I-Drive get passes for the I-Ride Trolley ($17 each for 2 weeks), the trolley is great for getting around. You can get 7-day passes for the Lynx bus too for $16, they're a bit further reaching than the trolley but they're less frequent, and since the locals use them they tend to get very busy at rush hour. If you're not staying at Disney and ever need to get a taxi to/from the parks, use the free Disney busses to get to Downtown Disney then get a taxi from there, can save quite a few dollars off the fare, if you're lucky you might be able to catch the Lynx from there too, we never seemed to get our timing right for the bus but that was just our bad luck.

Reue

Birdie85 wrote: »

If you're not staying at Disney and ever need to get a taxi to/from the parks, use the free Disney busses to get to Downtown Disney then get a taxi from there, can save quite a few dollars off the fare, if you're lucky you might be able to catch the Lynx from there too, we never seemed to get our timing right for the bus but that was just our bad luck.

Funny you should mention this, I was just looking at google maps and our hotel is only about a 30 minute walk from downtown disney... so we may well get the disney buses there and then walk back (Or the Lynx bus).

Do the disney 14day passes include free use of their transport?

Idiophreak

Reue wrote: »

Funny you should mention this, I was just looking at google maps and our hotel is only about a 30 minute walk from downtown disney... so we may well get the disney buses there and then walk back (Or the Lynx bus).

Just in case you're not aware, "walking" isn't really "done" in Florida....There aren't many foot paths anywhere and there's often quite a lot of "interesting" wildlife on the verges...

Our hotel was right next to sea world, but we still had to take our chances somewhat on the roads to get there...

I imagine you'll manage the walk if you really need to, but I wouldn't go planning on it as a way to get around...

meer53

Idiophreak wrote: »

Just in case you're not aware, "walking" isn't really "done" in Florida....There aren't many foot paths anywhere and there's often quite a lot of "interesting" wildlife on the verges...

Our hotel was right next to sea world, but we still had to take our chances somewhat on the roads to get there...

I imagine you'll manage the walk if you really need to, but I wouldn't go planning on it as a way to get around...

We took a "short stroll" out of the gates of our villa community and were met by a very large alligator one morning. Didn't try it again.

We were also amused by the vultures taking the lids off the bins on the day the trash truck called.

venny911

Disney transportation does not run from Downtown Disney to the theme parks directly, this is to stop people parking at Downtown and getting the bus to the parks. Disney transportation only runs from Downtown to the Resorts, thus to get to a theme park via a Disney bus you will have to take a fairly convoluted route, either by transferring at a Resort or by catching a bus to a Resort which is close to (note, just because a Resort is close does not necessarilly mean it is walkable) a theme park, such as The Contemporary for the Magic Kingdom.

All-in-all, I'd highly recommend against using Disney Transportation in this way. It will easily add an hours travel time in both directions and you do not really want to have to wait for a bus, then transfer and wait for another bus to get back to Downtown Disney and then have a half hour walk back to the hotel after a full day in a theme park.

Your most viable option is hiring a car, but obviously this costs, not just for rental, but in daily parking fees (around $14/day), it also means you can't have a drink (although not a problem in the Magic Kingdom, which is alcohol-free). Other options are some hotels which have shuttle transfers to the parks, although these are not like the regular Disney Transport buses and will normally only pick up a few times in the morning and collect similarly in the evening. Then, there are taxis, which again is obviously an expense.

maemaesmummy

Idiophreak wrote: »

Just in case you're not aware, "walking" isn't really "done" in Florida....There aren't many foot paths anywhere and there's often quite a lot of "interesting" wildlife on the verges...

Our hotel was right next to sea world, but we still had to take our chances somewhat on the roads to get there...

I imagine you'll manage the walk if you really need to, but I wouldn't go planning on it as a way to get around...

We walk a lot in Florida, as do a lot of residents...it depends where you are I guess...a tourist area perhaps but the "real-life" areas people do walk and do so on a regular basis.

There is different wildlife here but as long as you are careful you should be just fine..:rotfl::rotfl:says the person who enjoys bushwacking

Birdie85

We didn't mind using the Disney Transportation (which is free regardless of whether you have passes or not, just jump on) to get around, yes it added some travel time but we found that it wasn't that big a deal. But then it was just the 2 of us, would probably be a different story if we had hot, tired kids with us!

A nice way to do it is get the boat from DTD to one of the Hotels then get the bus from there to one of the parks. It might take a bit longer but it's free and it's a nice little trip. There's also the option of going to one of the hotels with the Monorail to get to Magic Kingdom or Epcot, which is a bit of fun too. Obviously the public transport option isn't for those who feel like every hour has to be accounted for but we were getting an 8.30 shuttle from our hotel to Epcot then moving between parks using the busses and we weren't feeling like we were losing out too much, it was so hot it was a relief to sit in the air-con for a few minutes! I think that as long as you are in a relaxed frame of mind and accept that you may have to take the scenic route then it's fine. Honestly, we panicked a little about 'fitting it all in' for about 3 days then realised that we'd still have more than enough time to do everything we wanted even if we got to the parks an hour after opening time and left an hour or 2 before closing so we just relaxed and decided to go with the flow and the number of free journeys we made balanced out the taxis we paid for when we wanted to get to a resort early for breakfast or stay late to watch the fireworks.

Last year we were so impressed with the Disney transport and the ease of getting around that we're staying at a Disney hotel this year.

Reue

venny911 wrote: »

Disney transportation does not run from Downtown Disney to the theme parks directly, this is to stop people parking at Downtown and getting the bus to the parks. Disney transportation only runs from Downtown to the Resorts, thus to get to a theme park via a Disney bus you will have to take a fairly convoluted route, either by transferring at a Resort or by catching a bus to a Resort which is close to (note, just because a Resort is close does not necessarilly mean it is walkable) a theme park, such as The Contemporary for the Magic Kingdom.

All-in-all, I'd highly recommend against using Disney Transportation in this way. It will easily add an hours travel time in both directions and you do not really want to have to wait for a bus, then transfer and wait for another bus to get back to Downtown Disney and then have a half hour walk back to the hotel after a full day in a theme park.

Your most viable option is hiring a car, but obviously this costs, not just for rental, but in daily parking fees (around $14/day), it also means you can't have a drink (although not a problem in the Magic Kingdom, which is alcohol-free). Other options are some hotels which have shuttle transfers to the parks, although these are not like the regular Disney Transport buses and will normally only pick up a few times in the morning and collect similarly in the evening. Then, there are taxis, which again is obviously an expense.

Thanks for all the info! Unfortunatly hiring a car really isnt an option for us and although the hotel does do a free shuttle, we were worried about missing it if we stayed in a park late etc.

venny911

Sounds like your best option would be to get the hotel shuttle. If you then miss is to get home you know you have some other options - taxi or Disney Transport.

Disney Transport runs until an hour past park closing officially, however unofficially it is until the park is clear of guests and everyone is back at their hotel. That means you should have no problem getting back to a Disney Hotel and from there you should be able to transfer to the Downton Disney bus/boat. Downtown boats run until approx 11pm and buses run until at least 11pm and normally later, although their frequency later in the night can be inconsistent.

Just another note to say that again 'officially' Disney Resort buses (i.e. not theme park to theme park buses) are for Disney Resort Guests only. However in all my time, I have never once been asked for any form of Disney Resort ID to get on the bus. Although this is a good excuse to stay in a Disney Resort next time!!