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

xtratime

zigmonkey wrote:

Now i'm under 25 so assume i'll have to pay a supplement so i'm wondering if this deal will work out worthwhile when such factors are included. Do you think we're better off trying to find a cheap flight and sorting out a better car hire/accom deal ourselves?

Given i love my theme parks, the more money i can save on this the more i can "invest" in thrillseeking!

Thanks for any help!

You may find that the extra insurance on the "free" car is more expensive than actually hiring a car all inclusive separately

Mike_J

Zig Monkey

We did International drive for a week at Xmas. Simple tip - "forget Disney". Too much to do and you can spedn the week doing the "universal" parks (IofA, US, SeaW etc)

Stick to that and sort your week out and you could probably even manage without a car. The I Drive trvalodge is "basic" but in US "basic" is still better than many of our travelodges/travelinns etc.

jt25

We would like to stay on i drive what villas or apartments are on or close to it.

thecornflake

Hi,

We are thinking about doing the Disney thing this year, before our daughter starts school. I went about 10 years ago, the others have never been.

Thinking about doing just a week, with Magic Kingdom and a couple of other parks maybe. Staying in a hotel on ID as I don't want to drive out there and that's what I did when I was there last.

Is it going to be cheaper doing everything separate, or are the packages best? I got a Virgin package down to about £1800 for 5 days in a good hotel and 5-day Park Pass. This was for the last week in April.

koru

thecornflake wrote:

Hi,

We are thinking about doing the Disney thing this year, before our daughter starts school. I went about 10 years ago, the others have never been.

Thinking about doing just a week, with Magic Kingdom and a couple of other parks maybe. Staying in a hotel on ID as I don't want to drive out there and that's what I did when I was there last.

Is it going to be cheaper doing everything separate, or are the packages best? I got a Virgin package down to about £1800 for 5 days in a good hotel and 5-day Park Pass. This was for the last week in April.

We waited till our daughter had turned 5, so she would walk well enough not to need a pushchair. I wish I had waited longer, as they are very long days (often 12 hours in the parks) and a 5 year old just doesn't have the stamina. Epcot opens at 9am, for instance, and the fireworks are at 9pm, and probably later in the summer. Just a thought for you.

Bear in mind that WDW is about 10 miles from Universal, so wherever you stay you'll have to do some driving. If you have only 5 days you don't have enough time to do it all, so it might be better to pick one area or the other, and stay as close as possible, so you can get to the local parks by monorail/boat/bus and lose little time travelling.

izzitme

zigmonkey

We stayed at the Travelodge at the top of I-Drive last May. It is tired-looking & a bit basic, but plenty comfortable enough for somewhere to sleep, which is really all you need.

The staff were always polite & helpful. It is about 10 minutes walk from many restaurants, Wet 'n' Wild is about 5 minutes away & you can walk to Universal in around 15 minutes.

Plenty to do & you could manage without a car if you stayed there, but we found having a car helped see more of the area.

Enjoy it & try Fuddruckers in the Festival Bay shopping mall if you like burgers!

Mike_J

Cornflake.

Seriously, seriously, seriously think about staying at a Disney hotel if thats all you are doing. We took our daughter when she was about 4 and the worst thing was 4pm in the afternoon when she was dead on her feet, woudn't go to sleep and "we had paid for the day so we're staying". The prices look high on paper but when you add evrything in (tickets/trsnsport etc) it can be very similiar. the enxt time we went it cost us £25 extra for four to stay in Disney rather than I Drive, buy tickets and car.

the big advantage is if the child is getting tired mid-afternoon just nip back to hotel for nap and back to park later. Disney transport is superb.

firework

me and my OH have just started thinking about going to disneyworld with our son who is at moment 5 years and 2 months old. I have sent off for an dvd/info pack because basically i know nowt about it (apart from what I have seen on here). I am concerned whether or not my son will have the stamina to handle it, and also concerned about the weather - too hot / hurricanes, and also do we HAVE to drive when we get there. we both drive (for a living too) and would rather not do it over there. any advice on these initial worries would be gratefully received. I'm not normally a worrier but this has me chewed before we even start! Thanks for any advice.:o

Amys

It is worth considering staying on Disney property, that way you can take breaks in the afternoon and stamia is not an issue. You do not have to drive, and it is easier to aviid is you stay onsite at Disney. Howeve,r drving over there is a LOT easier than over here.

A good starting point is https://www.thedibb.co.uk
there is a lot of informaion there as well as forums and good advice.

FRANCIS13_2

Hi, Iwas wondering if someone can help me, I am going to Florida in November (2 weeks in MIami and 2 weeks in Orlando) and I was wanting to know about Sat nav, do car hire companies give them out or would it be better to buy a cheap one over there. I would be grateful for any advice.
thank you