Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

dmurray0

5 days until we go..soooooooo excited !!!

Topaz1977

Could anyone give me an idea of what the weather is usually like in February and also how busy the parks are likely to be? tia

KarenG

Topaz1977 wrote: »

Could anyone give me an idea of what the weather is usually like in February and also how busy the parks are likely to be? tia

Depends!

It will be busy over Presidents Day and may start to get busy at the end as Spring Break arrives. You also might want to avoid the Half Marathon weekend which can be chaotic (though that has usually died down by the time normal people get up!)

It should be lovely and quiet in the parks for the first two weeks of Feb, though.

The weather was cold the year we went, as in jeans and furry jackets with frost on the ground, but it normally heats up and us sunny midday. Most Febs though, the weather is pleasant.

KarenG

kellyanddarrell wrote: »

Hi everyone!!

We are going to Florida in March 2014, 2 adults and 3 children, aged 14, 10 &5. We have already booked our flights with BA and have money sorted for car hire & villa hire. I need some advice on how much spending money I should save, we are spending a week in Orlando & will be doing a day at Disney, 2 days at Universal, 1 day at seaworld, 1 day at DC and a day at either blizzard beach or typhoon lagoon. We are then driving down to Fort Myers Beach to spend a week down there, just relaxing & chilling out!! I was thinking about £3-3,500 should be enough, is this about right? Also because we are only planning to spend a day at Disney & a couple of days at Universal would it be easier to purchase our park tickets when we are over there or prior to when we go? Sorry for all the questions but this is our first time going to Florida so I have no idea lol!!

So does your budget need to cover tickets also? When you say you want a day at Disney, you do know that there are four theme parks there?

Buying day tickets on the gate is very expensive relatively speaking - don't think you'll get much change out of $500 for a one day Disney pass for the five of you. I'm not sure though that there are many advantages to buying one day tickets in advance.

You can usually buy tickets for DC that give you SeaWorld, and Aquatica, access for not a lot more. I'd be inclined to do that and forget the WDW waterparks which you will have to pay extra for (as you only want a one day ticket for Disney)

Personally I'd forget Disney altogether and focus on the other parks, or just do Disney. Your preferred park combo is pretty expensive for what you will get.

If you are there over Easter, do arrive at the theme parks early (before published opening hours) as its a very busy time.

Apologies if you've been before and that's why your choices are as they are.

KarenG

Bigwigg wrote: »

Hi all, probably been asked a million times before but I am planning to make my two children 5 and 8 to Florida in the next couple of years and to make it happen we will need to start saving now. I could do with a realistic cost including everything we will need to go in the summer school holiday late July/August for 2 weeks including car hire, spends, park tickets etc but in budget accommodation and budget food prices. If anyone could give me a rough idea of how much they have budgeted then that would be great,
Liz

It's really difficult to answer that because there are so many variables.

That's quite an expensive time of year to go, unfortunately, so you will need to be like a bird of prey to get reasonable flights

If you can be flexible with dates, prepared to fly indirect, midweek, that's likely to be the cheapest way.

How many parks you choose to do will totally amend your budget.

Can I suggest you pop over to https://www.thedibb.co.uk where you will get loads of fab advice from Florida lovers :T

Topaz1977

KarenG wrote: »

Depends!

It will be busy over Presidents Day and may start to get busy at the end as Spring Break arrives. You also might want to avoid the Half Marathon weekend which can be chaotic (though that has usually died down by the time normal people get up!)

It should be lovely and quiet in the parks for the first two weeks of Feb, though.

The weather was cold the year we went, as in jeans and furry jackets with frost on the ground, but it normally heats up and us sunny midday. Most Febs though, the weather is pleasant.

Thanks were going on the 9th February so sounds like it may be a bit of a mixture and we'll be packing a variety of clothes!

KarenG

Topaz1977 wrote: »

Thanks were going on the 9th February so sounds like it may be a bit of a mixture and we'll be packing a variety of clothes!

You might be absolutely fine - we went in Jan once and had shorts and Ts on mostly (light jacket in the evening, and jeans). Definitely pack a variety, though.

mrsellabella

Hi there all
Annoying newbie here with question you have all probably been asked a million times.

Am considering taking my husband and baby to Orlando in late September.
I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations of travel companies to use that may be cheaper for booking a package than Virgin or Disney?
We have looked at Thomson and Thomas Cook but they dont fly on dates we want to so dont work.
So far we are looking at £2500 for Virgin flights from Manchester and 10 nights in WDW resort Port Orleans.

Does this sound reasonable, will we be able to find cheaper?
Thanks all!
(PS I know its crazy to take a baby under 1 to Florida - lots of reasons to do it tho as well)

Topaz1977

mrsellabella wrote: »

Hi there all
Annoying newbie here with question you have all probably been asked a million times.

Am considering taking my husband and baby to Orlando in late September.
I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations of travel companies to use that may be cheaper for booking a package than Virgin or Disney?
We have looked at Thomson and Thomas Cook but they dont fly on dates we want to so dont work.
So far we are looking at £2500 for Virgin flights from Manchester and 10 nights in WDW resort Port Orleans.

Does this sound reasonable, will we be able to find cheaper?
Thanks all!
(PS I know its crazy to take a baby under 1 to Florida - lots of reasons to do it tho as well)

We booked through Travel City Direct - they're a sister company of Virgin but were slightly cheaper for us although we're not staying at a Disney hotel.

mrsellabella

Topaz1977 wrote: »

We booked through Travel City Direct - they're a sister company of Virgin but were slightly cheaper for us although we're not staying at a Disney hotel.

Thank you - I have not heard of them so will have a look now!