Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

Andy_89

Lip_Stick wrote: »

Hi all, I'm looking for a bit of advice, (well a lot really) on taking my son to Disney.

I want to go in 2016, around May, and it'd just be myself and my son who will be 8 or 9 at the time. First of all, is May a good time to go?

I don't drive, so would like to stay on site and I'm wondering how easy it'd be to get to other places, such as Universal Studios, Seaworld, and maybe Epcot, from Disney? Are there any that are a hassle to get to?

At the moment he's a bit of a baby when it comes to rides and if they look too fast or scary he won't go on them (hopefully that will change!). That might be to do with me dragging him on Big Thunder Mountain in Paris when he was younger, think it's put him off for life lol. He does like superheroes and Harry Potter. Any suggestions about parks for his age group with this in mind?

Also, will it be easy to transfer from Airport to Disney and back again, and cheaper to book them myself separately?

Any advice for dining? Am I best buying a dining option and would I be able to get an offer on them? I think I'd prefer a dining option so it'd be one less thing to worry about, but I'm open to suggestions.

What price would 2 weeks for 1 Adult and 1 Child would you consider reasonable with all things factored in, like food, transfers and Disney tickets?

That's all the questions I can think of at the moment, but I'm sure I'll have more lol. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

TIA

Hi!

Getting around isnt that hard, you can get Lynx buses from site to I-Drive. From there you can use the I Ride Trolley up and down International Drive. Epcot is on the Disney site, but apart from the first bit of the park and maybe the new frozen ride, it may be a little boring for a 9 year old.

http://www.golynx.com/plan-trip/trip-planner.stml

http://iridetrolley.com/


Islands of Adventure has Harry Potter world, which is like a picture taken right out of the movies. The main ride is great fun, just close your eyes if you don't like spiders!

Virgin holidays were including the Disney Dining Plan on our package (June 2015 - 153 days to go!!!) which had two quick serve meals and 2 snacks each per day! This will save alot of spending money on our holiday.

IMO don't try and do it all in two weeks, its just a killer on the body.

vinny67o

Hi, also looking for some advice.........


I am booked up to go to Florida on the 8/6/15 with my wife and 2 kids ( 8 year old and 2 year old )


We are staying in the emerald island resort in my boss's villa


From what I have read we are going to try and stick to Walt Disney world parks as our children are still a bit young for maybe Busch gardens and universal.........we want to go to deep sea world but I'm not sure If I need too buy my tickets before I go or can I pay into that 1 when we get there? Am I correct in thinking my 2 year old doesn't need a ticket to get into the parks?


I am looking for a bit of advice who is the best to buy my park tickets from and who I would be better off getting the hired car from, if anybody could point me in the rite direction?


Cheers Vinny

steve1500

We are going in August. Hire car is with Alamo, booked through Netflights & Topcashback. after first using a hire car comparison site Park Tickets through Florida Tix again via Topcashback. 2 years old free

Andy_89

vinny67o wrote: »

Hi, also looking for some advice.........


I am booked up to go to Florida on the 8/6/15 with my wife and 2 kids ( 8 year old and 2 year old )


We are staying in the emerald island resort in my boss's villa


From what I have read we are going to try and stick to Walt Disney world parks as our children are still a bit young for maybe Busch gardens and universal.........we want to go to deep sea world but I'm not sure If I need too buy my tickets before I go or can I pay into that 1 when we get there? Am I correct in thinking my 2 year old doesn't need a ticket to get into the parks?


I am looking for a bit of advice who is the best to buy my park tickets from and who I would be better off getting the hired car from, if anybody could point me in the rite direction?


Cheers Vinny

I stayed at Emerald Island last time I was in FL, beautiful resort.

Universal does have some child related rides - Minion Ride and Simpsons Ride. Islands of Adventure has Seuss Landing which is a whole area devoted to Seuss characters.

In terms of Sea World (I assume thats what you meant?) I would be tempted to get an Orlando Flexticket. It gives you access to Universal IOA & Studios, Wet and Wild, Sea World and Aquatica.
Works out a little more than paying in individually (£50 ea. according to the site) on the website it states kids are 3-9 so I'd assume they're free.

Florida escapes . co .uk for this..

I am afraid I can't comment on the Car hire.

onlyroz

Hi all, we're planning a trip to Orlando during October half-term. I've been keeping an eye on the Skyskanner site and it seems like the prices are dropping (currently around £500 each) presumably due to the recent falls in fuel prices. Should I book the flights now or wait a bit longer in the hope that they'll fall further? And is Skyscanner a reputable site to book the flights from?

Also, what is the best way to get Disney park tickets? We don't necessarily want to spend the entire week there so a 4-day pass would be my preference, if such a thing exists.

And is there a way to get to the Kennedy space centre from a hotel in International Drive without having to hire a car?

Birdie85

onlyroz wrote: »

Also, what is the best way to get Disney park tickets? We don't necessarily want to spend the entire week there so a 4-day pass would be my preference, if such a thing exists.

And is there a way to get to the Kennedy space centre from a hotel in International Drive without having to hire a car?

Disney tickets- there are plenty of posts here with various options and suggestions for where to buy them, just have a look back over the last few pages. There are 3/4/5 day park hoppers available but I can't recommend a site as the people I use (Floridatix) only do the 1/2/3 week options.

Kennedy Space Center - you can buy tickets that include transport from several pick-up points (these are available from Floridatix).

Lip_Stick wrote: »

Hi all, I'm looking for a bit of advice, (well a lot really) on taking my son to Disney.

I want to go in 2016, around May, and it'd just be myself and my son who will be 8 or 9 at the time. First of all, is May a good time to go?

I don't drive, so would like to stay on site and I'm wondering how easy it'd be to get to other places, such as Universal Studios, Seaworld, and maybe Epcot, from Disney? Are there any that are a hassle to get to?

At the moment he's a bit of a baby when it comes to rides and if they look too fast or scary he won't go on them (hopefully that will change!). That might be to do with me dragging him on Big Thunder Mountain in Paris when he was younger, think it's put him off for life lol. He does like superheroes and Harry Potter. Any suggestions about parks for his age group with this in mind?

Also, will it be easy to transfer from Airport to Disney and back again, and cheaper to book them myself separately?

Any advice for dining? Am I best buying a dining option and would I be able to get an offer on them? I think I'd prefer a dining option so it'd be one less thing to worry about, but I'm open to suggestions.

We used to go in May when I was younger and it was a good time to go. Warm but not too hot or humid and not too busy either.

My DH and I have been twice without driving and found getting around to be quite easy. Nowhere is a hassle to get to, you can get the Lynx bus or a taxi. Think we spent about $50 on a taxi from the Animal Kingdom Lodge (which is pretty out of the way) to Universal and about $30 to Sea World. Not the cheapest way to get around, but it was cheaper than hiring a car and easier and quicker than taking the bus! We set aside around $200 for misc transport costs so we don't feel too put out when we do need a taxi and we don't spend it all. Epcot is a Disney park so the free shuttles go there.

Universal's Islands of Adventure will be ideal for your DS as it has the both the Harry Potter section and Marvel Superheroes. There are some pretty scary rides that he'll be too small/scared of, but there's still plenty to do. Universal itself may be a little old for him, but have a look at the website and see if it appeals.

If you're flying into Orlando International and staying in a Disney hotel you can book onto Disney's Magical Express for tranferring from the airport to the hotel. If you're going into Sanford, you'll have to get a transfer through the travel agent/ book a taxi. Can't remember how much our taxi was but it wasn't *that* much more expensive than the coach and so much better! It was 45 minutes instead of 2hr45 thanks to the coach stopping at a dozen hotels, having to go back for the same party of idiots twice because they kept getting off at the wrong hotel (and there were 8 of them... with 8 suitcases to get out and load back up each time!).

I've never done the Disney Dining Plan but I get the general feeling that if it's included, it's well worth it and it does look easy; we're there scrabbling about for change and muttering about how expensive the food is whilst everyone else (it feels like!) just hands over their room card and it's all sorted! There's a website called The Dibb which has a lot of discussions about getting the most out the DDP, as well as a lot of traveller reviews from pretty much every restaurant there so you can decide what you like the look of. I also follow Disney Dining on FB which posts a lot of handy hints for when you're there to get the best value for money.

atro1

I was a regular on here many eons ago.
We are now thinking of doing it all again!
But what shock with prices! My favourite villa site LASTMINUTEVILLAS .NET has gone airlines charging extra for everything except fresh air,
Not charging to use the loo's yet are they.
Best site for renting villas please or is the Dibb still the best. Don't fancy Ebay somehow.
Car rental, used to be USRENTACAR. Who is it nowadays?

tori.k

we've always used the Dibb for villas and have never had an issue, Flying direct a flydrive has worked out cheaper than booking car hire separate for the last 3 years but it's 3 week hire for us with a dodge caravan for the size of our group

sophiejames

Hi,
Wondering if anybody can give me a rough idea on how much spending money I need to budget for a family of 4 (kids aged 13 and 10, not big eaters) for a fortnight?
I realise everybody is different, just looking for a rough idea with us eating breakfast at the villa, taking sandwiches, snacks etc with us during the day and eating out at night, probably not even every night.
Thank you so much in advance.

vivatifosi

Hi Sophie. Basic meal in the parks with a drink... $15 per adult. Child's meal if a young child will run to half of that. Meals out.. depends where you go of an evening. If you are on a tight budget, can be done for less than $5 per person at cheaper fast food joints, up to $15 for a cheap sit down, more if you go for character dining.

You could blow anything from $3 at Taco Bell to $200+ at Victoria and Alberts. Have a look at some on the chain menus online and that will give you a good idea of pricing for what you want to eat. Dennys, Olive Garden, Chillis, ihop, TGI Friday's are common chains that spring to mind, though there are plenty of others. Cheesecake Factory is v nice and has a wide menu too.


We allow $50 per adult per day, no kids. That gets us everything we want including some spending on souvenirs etc... then we have cards for any extra spend if we need it. Sometimes we spend it all and put stuff on the cards, sometimes we come back with change. We visit twice a year. Hotel, flights, car hire and park passes not included in total. As we visit regularly, we probably spend less on souvenirs than most.

For our $50 we have breakfast in the room. Lunch in parks. Meal out somewhere simple most though not every evening. Where we stay has fridge and microwave. We get a shop in at Winn Dixie or Wal-Mart which costs us about $100 total for two weeks "room food"... bread and butter for toast, cereals, bagels, juice, milk, snacks, water, sodas etc. If you go to Winn Dixie, get one of their loyalty cards from staff before you pay as savings can be quite large.

Don't know if you've been to the US before, but if not, bear in mind that the sales tax is not included in prices, so you need to allow extra for that.. about 7%. Also tipping is expected in restaurants, allow 15-25% of the bill for that (Americans do this on the price before the tax is added and tend to round to the dollar).