Orlando & Florida - Questions & Answers (Part 1) *CLOSED*

Edinburghlass_2

GIRLPOWER wrote:

If you pay in the morning to park at say MK and then return in the evening do you have to pay again to park?

As we were using Disney buses I'm not sure but I have a feeling that your parking ticket does you all day and I believe its up to $10 now.

GIRLPOWER_2

Has any one stayed at hard rock hotel?

Reason I ask is everything booked for our trip apart from 2 nights.. will list where i am so far so it makes sense.

travelling are myself & husband (early to mid 30's) my brother(16) and our 3 sons aged 5, 6 & 15.

23rd aug fly from manchester with travelcitydirect on a flydrive arrive at 17.30 and collect hire car. (NO ACCOM FOR THIS NIGHT YET)

24th. plan to do universal. (AGAIN NO ACCOM BOOKED YET)

25th morning in universal then have to be at port canaveral after lunch as have a royal carribean 7 night cruise booked. need to park car at port on it sails at 17.00.

2nd sept. land back at same port at 07.00 collect car and have booked accom for the following 5 nights with alpharooms.com staying at deluxe orlando convention centre in a 6 bedded suit. cost £175.47 total)

http://www.alpharooms.com/hotel.aspx?establishmentkey=C671CDD7-0D56-4A5F-BC25-2C325088043D

plan to spend the next 5 days doing disney and a spot of shopping.

So back to the hard rock.. with only needing 2 nights pre cruise is it worth the extra to stay there?

TIA, Nikki

Amys

Edinburghlass wrote:

As we were using Disney buses I'm not sure but I have a feeling that your parking ticket does you all day and I believe its up to $10 now.

That is right, once you have paid for the day thats it, save the ticket ans how it on re-entry. If you are staying onsite it is free as well.

Amys

Hard Rock is good, but of the three onsite hotels at Universal it is probablty the most 'tired'. However, the themeing is great. The Royal Pacific is the same quality, but not as tired.

All are very good, go to the loews hotewl website and jpin loews first and then you can get a free morning paper and a free welcome gift, such as wine, or a basket of fruit and water. If you are a member of the AA book direct and ask them for the AAA rate, it can save more than $40 a night.

With the room key you get to use the express lines for all the rides, thatis FANTASIC, and well worth doing, esp in Aug when it is hot and there maybe some queues.

Poppy9

23rd aug fly from manchester with travelcitydirect on a flydrive arrive at 17.30 and collect hire car. (NO ACCOM FOR THIS NIGHT YET) You will be tired and I assume you will fly into Sanford which will be quite a drive to Universal. I know when we flew in there a few years ago we didn't get to our hotel on ID till about 10pm and then had to change rooms 3 times as the first 2 were smoking rooms and stunk.

24th. plan to do universal. (AGAIN NO ACCOM BOOKED YET) Jet lag may set in!!

25th morning in universal then have to be at port canaveral after lunch as have a royal carribean 7 night cruise booked. need to park car at port on it sails at 17.00. Quite a drive down to Cape Canaveral so depending on what time you have to be there to get the most value for your Universal ticket you will need to be there early.

Poppy9

GIRLPOWER wrote:

If you pay in the morning to park at say MK and then return in the evening do you have to pay again to park?

No you just pay once per day at the Disney parks. If you park hop with your car you just show your parking ticket.

scoop99

Help.

Booked flights for May but got no accomodation yet & hoping to stay on I-Drive. Taking 2 daughters 15 & 18 (who need a bit of privacy) so should I book 2 rooms in a hotel or 1 room with 2 bedrooms. Last option seems a bit expensive from what I've found.
I keep getting told about the apts. located on I-Drive which would be a cheaper option than maybe a hotel for 2 bedrooms.
Does anyone know the names of these apts. or where I can get a price to compare with the hotels.

Its our first time so all help is appreciated.

Edinburghlass_2

Use the link in post 1481 for comparing prices and you'll find hotels and suites there to check.

If you go down to the bit under the search box where it says more rooms, star ratings etc it will bring up another search box and you can put in destination as Orlando.

GIRLPOWER_2

Poppy9 wrote:

Quite a drive down to Cape Canaveral so depending on what time you have to be there to get the most value for your Universal ticket you will need to be there early.

Thanks for the tips.

I looked it up and it was only a 1 hour drive from orlando.

Was going to set off about 1sh anyway so its not such a rush. but even so had not thought that we will only get about 3 hours on a day pass.

Poppy9

GIRLPOWER wrote:

Thanks for the tips.

I looked it up and it was only a 1 hour drive from orlando.

Was going to set off about 1sh anyway so its not such a rush. but even so had not thought that we will only get about 3 hours on a day pass.

If I remember rightly it took us more than 1 hour to get there. Once you are on the toll road it's clear but it's a long run. Prior to picking up the toll road there was quite heavy traffic. It is often heavy around Universal/ID drive. Talking of toll roads, you will need loads of coins as not many of them are staffed and there are quite a few on the road. We kept a good collection in our car in readiness. Coming from the airport the second time we visited we went through the SUNPASS toll as we were forced to keep in that lane by other cars and we were tired after the flight etc. We expected a fine via the car hire company - we declared it to them, but never heard anything. I think they may allow some discretion with holiday makers on the road out of the airport.