Orlando/Disneyworld Thread (Part 3)

Bell98

Steve1500 post #6210 is absolutely right. We bought our Aer Lingus flights from Dublin direct to MCO for next year at £520pp (the € rate helped). Our daughter is flying from England with Virgin. Her flight would have cost £1200 at the same time we bought ours. Using our Tesco points / Clubcard vouchers with some air miles she collected with Virgin last year we got her flight for less than £500 (including £25 seat allocation charge) and she's Premium E. on the return leg. That would have taken the cost to £1400pp.

wishing4kissing

I've been to Orlando before and stayed lake Buenavista but we had a car, however this time it's just myself and the kids and my friend with her children. Where is best to stay with transportation to the parks and also near restaurants etc. I first thought international drive. Ut have seen some great deals at maingate East and west and downtown Disney. Where are these locations and would I get what I'm looking for here?
Thanks.

balletshoes

wishing4kissing wrote: »

I've been to Orlando before and stayed lake Buenavista but we had a car, however this time it's just myself and the kids and my friend with her children. Where is best to stay with transportation to the parks and also near restaurants etc. I first thought international drive. Ut have seen some great deals at maingate East and west and downtown Disney. Where are these locations and would I get what I'm looking for here?
Thanks.

I-Drive is closer to Universal, Maingate East, West and Downtown Disney are closer to the Disney parks (Maingate East is Kissimee). Downtown Disney is Lake Buena Vista area.

If you're intending doing mostly Disney, then I'd say your choices at Maingate East, West and Downtown Disney would be good ones, as they will more than likely have free Disney shuttles and they won't be too far away for journey time.

John259

wishing4kissing wrote: »

maingate East and west and downtown Disney. Where are these locations

Main Gate East and West are US192 (Irlo Johnson Memorial Highway) on each side of its intersection with the main Walt Disney World entrance road (World Drive). Here's a map:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/search/motels/@28.3367767,-81.5723802,15z?hl=en
You might also want to drop into StreetView mode and wander up and down that road.

Downtown Disney is shown on this map:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Downtown+Disney/@28.3664555,-81.5356605,13.25z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x88dd7f8136a04afb:0x85a2c311efe17283?hl=en

wishing4kissing

Thankyou. Is there plenty to do on maingate East and west? Restaurants etc?
Who do all you seasoned travellers book through? I'm looking at Virgin flights then adding accomodation separate but not sure who to book accom through or if doing a package works out better.

John259

wishing4kissing wrote: »

Is there plenty to do on maingate East and west? Restaurants etc?

Yes, tons. Google Maps again:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/search/restaurants/@28.3395802,-81.5973368,16z?hl=en

StreetView (click on the image to move along the road, drag the image to turn or tilt the camera):
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@28.332592,-81.5821491,3a,75y,263.21h,89.45t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sMiyXd27B6wAFnvGTuW2BQQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
If the above link doesn't work then try this one:
http://goo.gl/maps/9ILVW

Dashcam video (not made by me):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vQ8M1N-GEU

MoneyMission2015

liz-paul wrote: »

Hi folks - quick Q's if anyone has the time:

So we're going next year for 3 weeks in July (flights booked) and my thinking at the moment is to stay in a disney hotel for the first week and then probably a villa (or other sc option) for the 2nd 2 weeks. I'm looking at moderate resorts with free dining and the cheapest 2 are coronado springs and Caribbean beach resort. Any recommendations for those? For about £50 more we could stay in either of the port orleans resorts - anyone recommend spending the extra to do this, and why? for about £300 extra we could stay at saratoga springs or old key west resort and get an upgraded meal plan - does anyone recommend this, and why?

Also as we going for 3 weeks I am tempted to pay extra (about £100) to get 3 week instead of 2 week tickets). I am hesitant to do this as we wouldn't spend any more time in Disney world we could just spread or days out more (we want to do other non disney stuff we're in Orlando). Is it worth the money for the extra flexibility and convenience or is just throwing away £100 that we could spend on other days out?

Also as I am here - any suggestions or recommendations for non disney stuff to do? We've already planned to do Kennedy space center, dinosaur world, orlando science center, wonderworks. I'd quite like to find some stuff that is outdoors/nature/exercise themed, some animal stuff, anything science related, anything related to the history of the area, nice parks to visit, nice town/city areas to visit.

Thanks so much for reading

We've stayed at Caribbean beach 3 times and it is lovely. The food court is adequate for the occasional evening you may decide not to go too far, our whole family enjoyed the breakfasts there and always found something suitable. There's loads of choices, they have a pizza place that you can order from and can even have delivery to your room. The pools are great, the main pool & kids area fab for the children and then each block of rooms has their own pool so 7 pools in total IIRC and they are usually quieter so great if you just want to relax by the pool for a few hours.


One little annoyance we did have with CB is the bus service. It seemed that the buses always seemed a lot busier for CB and seemed to be less frequent as well, although I bet they're not really because I can't imagine Disney letting that happen. We did find a few times when we went to Downtown Disney we would be waiting for 20-30 minutes for a bus to turn up, which doesn't seem a lot but we're used to them being much quicker than this and we had one occasion where it turned up and we had to wait for the next one because there were so many people in front of us that they filled the bus. But in true Disney fashion, the bus stop attendants radio'd in and got another one over to DTD within the next 10 minutes.

Coronado springs, we haven't stayed here but I'm guessing as it's Disney it will be lovely. I can't comment on the food or pools unfortunately.


Port Orleans - we haven't stayed at either PO resorts but 2 families I know have stayed there and loved it so I would say the extra £50 is probably worth it. The one family were highly complimentary of one of the restaurants on one of the resorts but I can't remember which one it was sorry. However they did say the resorts were lovely, very relaxing and quiet, pools were great and rooms were fine.


Saratoga Springs is our favourite resort. To us it is worth the extra money but it depends on your own personal preferences. The rooms are a great size and the resort itself is lovely to walk around. Pools are fab, although you don't have as much choice as Caribbean beach. It's about a 5 minute walk to Downtown Disney which is great if you all need a walk after eating a big meal at one of the DD restaurants. The one thing that slightly (and I really do mean slightly) lets SS down is the food court. Because the resort is aimed at self catering/DVC the food court isn't massive and doesn't have the biggest selection. However there is a good enough selection that you can get something if you are hungry and not too fussy.


Old Key west - I've heard this is very similar to Saratoga but a little bit dated as it's one of the older resorts and is in need of a little TLC.


The upgraded food plan is a lot better in my opinion because you get to have a proper sit down table service meal every day, which for us is essential as we do a lot of walking all day every day, so need that sit down and a good meal each day. We usually work it out that we use a snack or quick service meal for breakfast, then snack or quick service for lunch and table service for dinner. It works well for us.


One final thing, we haven't done much 'off Disney' apart from Universal, Busch Gardens, SeaWorld and the shopping malls, but when my daughter went with her school they had an excursion booked for a day out on the Kissimmee swamp tours. As it happens they didn't end up going because it had been double booked and the other party had booked first so took priority, but it might be something you're interested in.



I hope I've helped with some of your questions. We go back next year now and can't wait! 2 weeks in Saratoga and then a Disney cruise :j

mintster

I need help...Currently working on the other half to see if she will let me book a late deal for both of us and our son for half term. All was going well - cheap flights, accommodation, car hire but then we hit the park tickets.

Not looking at all parks as only there for a week. Would like both Universal, 1 Disney (probably Hollywood Studios) and 1 waterpark (probably Typhoon Lagoon). They would seem to be in the region of £200 each so this would be the reason for her to put her foot down and say no!

What is the absolute cheapest method of getting park tickets. Would even consider attending a time share presentation etc if needs be!

I hope someone can help me!

mintster

Forget last post - going for 18 nights next August/September now - I cannot put in words how happy I am!

2gorgeousgirls

Just booked - soooooo excited, roll on July.:T :j

Dublin - mco, 1 week staying in Pop to blitz Disney, 1 week international drive for Universal and shopping.

This is my 8th trip and I get more excited each time, wish I could afford to go every year.