Please help us book our Summer Holiday in Florida/Disney with a difference.

davetrousers

Florida has:

Kennedy Space Center
Daytona Raceway and beach
Everglades
The Gulf Coast, stunning fine sand beaches, Clearwater Beach boat trips to see wild dolphins that play in the wake of the boat (Clearwater is near Tampa which is where Busch Gardens is)

and plenty more

terriandaaron

look at bonnet creek resort, its on disney propery has buses to parks and has condos 2 or 3 bed suite type rooms so best of both worlds, or do a split stay and a week at each, best of both worlds then.

tori.k

Wuwyambard wrote: »

WOW, WOW, WOW

Thank you VERY much to you folks who have taken the time to comment. It is VERY much appreciated!

Still stuck between Disney & I Drive though! lol

The usual layout for a hotel room sleeping 5 is 2 double beds and a rollaway sleeper would your kids be happy to share a bed? price wise there is not a lot in it you'd be looking at around £400 for 2 weeks sharing a room at a days inn where you could get a 3 bed condo on windsor hills for £440 that is 2 miles from disney http://www.closesttothemagic.com/windsor/index.html and a lot more for your money then one room

kaz0705

I haven't been for years and years now but when I did go, I stayed in on I-drive one year (was too young to hire a car out there) and in a villa another year.

If your wife and kids have already done Disney, I would personally do this:

Villa for 2 weeks (lots of companys include car hire). Geta 14 day 5-park pass (assuming they still exist). This is for: Universal/ Island of Adventure/ Busch Gardens/ Sea World and Wet n Wild.

You can visit any of these parks as many times as you want over a two week period with the pass. We would often chill out by the pool when it was really hot (and busy) and then go later afternoon/evening for the rides- less queues, less heat.

Means you can have some days of just chilling out and your kids get to experience more of the rides on offer, forgetting disney as they've already been.

The only downside is that you miss out on free jump passes but if you have more flexibility in times AND more choice, it probably won't matter.

I really hope these passes still exist. I spent 2 weeks both times I went getting more than their monies worth! :-)

Good luck!

kendogriff

Hi Wuwyambard

Just to put a bit of a spanner in the works..you have to have a look at the Disney Cruise Line.

It has an adults only section with pool, sun loungers, jacuzzi's and more importantly a bar. Its also has a family section which again has a pool but has a huge screen playing disney movies and a foody bit with free food and drinks. The rooms are fantastic, all the food and drinks are free (except alcoholic) and the evening meals are in brilliant restaurants.... one even changes colour as the evening goes on like your in a cartoon being coloured in! It has a teenagers bit were NO ADULTS are allowed so it stays cool for your teenager but they have hundreds of cast members so they are very very safe. They also have childrens clubs and even babysitters. They have theme nights, fireworks and even a theatre with Disney plays.... you really do forget your on a ship and i get sea sick so thats saying something.

There are loads of different places you can go from Florida but we went on 3 night Bahama cruise. It went to Nassau but we didnt spend any time in the town because we went on a pre arranged trip to a little island were we swam with sea lions. We then went to the Castaway Cay which is Disney's private island. Its very very safe and again plenty of staff who can even take your kids to the family beach while you and the missus goes to the adults only beach.

I seriously cannot reccommend this enough, we went for 3 weeks for our honeymoon and did 10 nights International Drive-the cruise-cheap Disney hotel. The cruise was the best part of all

OnceUponADream

Wuwyambard wrote: »

1. If you book your Holiday with Disney, the theme parks open up an hour early in the morning just for Disney customers.

If you stay on Disney property you get 'Extra Magic Hours' - that translates to the one of the four parks opening an hour early or staying open for up to 3 hours (I think) in the evening.

If you book with Disney you also get a 'Key to the Kingdom' card which allows you to purchase food/drinks/gifts etc in the parks and charge them to your room.

Also, if you stay on Disney property you get free car parking at the parks - the current cost is $14 per day, although this does allow you to say leave Magic Kingdom and park at Hollywood Studio the same day at no extra cost.

1. If you book with Disney you'll be confined to eating with them for the duration of your stay, which may not be to your liking.

Only if you take a disney dining package, even then it depends upon which package you take, (you may even be offered it free). Disney can be expensive to eat at.....we paid for a breakfast at Ohanas (Character) $98.00 excluding tip during Dec 11.

Counter service was around $10.00 pp (or slightly less) for usual fayre of burger and chips.

1. You wanna stay on International drive and hire a car to go to the parks. This way is cheaper.

It can be but take into consideration parking costs etc. It can cheaper to stay 'off site'. With your family I would consider a villa. US27 is one of the more popular areas. Linfields, Davenport, Highlands are just a few to consider. This way you also have facilities to make breakfast in the morning, therefore saving money eating out.

1. Don't stay on International drive and hire a car. It may be cheaper in the beginning but it is very expensive to park your car at the Parks.

As above

1. If you stay at Disney you get free transport to all the parks.

You can bout as mentioned parking is free anyhow for disney guests.

1. You don't have to stay at a Disney Hotel to get free transport to the parks. Most of the Major Hotels have free buses to the parks.

You can't normally park in the (Disney) hotels unless you have a dining reservation, you can park at Downtown Disney and hop on a bus or boat to a resort and then hop on a park bus - very long winded and could take up to two hours.

Off site hotels have limited buses and it can restrict your day with timings etc

1. The benefits of staying on International drive are: Free transport to the parks. You can wander about at night and choose where you want to eat as you are not confined to eating within your Disney reservation.

We have never stayed on Intl Drive - we prefer LBV

1. Be prepared to be stood in queues all day in sweltering heat.

Fast pass most rides and make sure you plan what your must sees are

1. Book your tickets and passes with Disney and you get fast tracked to the front of the queue at parks.

You don't have to book with Disney to get you're fast passes - you're not fast tracked to the front of the queue you get a return time for the ride - depending upon the ride - popular ones like Toy Story Mania run out of fast passes very quickly.

10. You can save A LOT of money by booking your accomodation, flights and transfers seperately. Disney packages are way over the top.

Depends, we have done it both ways. You would need to research that. Decide where you want to stay, what airport you want to fly out of and into and start from there.

I would recommend hiring a car no matter where you are staying just so you can go out and explore


There are may other anecdotes but I have listed the main ones here. Basically I just want your advice on the points I have mentioned here as I have no idea what is true or false.


Now the important bits....


Because I (Dad) don't really enjoy Parks and rides etc we have come to an agreement on our Holiday.


We want to spend the first week going round the Theme Parks etc and then spend the second week in a Hotel or apartment where we can Lazy round the Pool and go on the odd day trip etc. Any suggestions please people??

Probably better not to cram the parks into one week but have a day on day off

We are confined to going around end of July first two weeks in August. We are travelling from Manchester but if the price is right we are flexible.




I have no problem booking flights, car hire, accomodation etc seperate. So, to recap...


Week 1. Theme parks etc. Where should we stay?
Week 2. Hotel/apartment where we can chill etc. Must be access to swimming Pool.



Here's hoping for some great advice.

In my opinion you'd be better going for a villa and staying there for the full two weeks, buy 14 day disney ultimate tickets (usually only a couple of quid more than a 7 day pass).

Check out thedibb - it's a fantastic resource.

Enjoy x

SnowBelle_2

Hi,
Welcome to the board and the beginning of your USA addiction!
We went to Orlando six years ago on a once in a lifetime once only holiday...fast forward 2012 and last December was our 7th Trip!
There is not really a lot I can add to the great info you have had on here but I will add a few more things that we personally did.
Yes you can be overloaded by information and some boards/forums can have people who have very strong feelings on what you should and should'nt do ie: Some are very pro Disney and would not dream of going off site,Some would only hire a car etc etc
Remember it's only you that knows you family,likes/dislikes limitations etc.So don't feel like you have not seen it all if you don't try and cram it all in a once.

Disney/Orlando and the USA are a huge sensory experiance and you will feel a little overwhelmed at times.
I did note that you holiday is limited to august but is there any way at all you could posibly go a little later? As it will be very hot and the humidity can be very high and draining during the summer months.
Also would you consider going to the Gulf beaches for a few days? they really are lovely and break up the heady orlando pace for a while...also you can go to Busch gardens which are in that area.

We always have a car now as the first year we went we relied on shuttles and the I trolley and for us I found it a nighmare,waiting for a crammed I trolley on I drive with a lot of tired,hot Irritable people was not my scene same goes for the shuttle buses to Disney at least if you have a car when you have had enough you can leave and not be tied to bus times.

We have not used a villa but wish that I had when we took our teenagers in 2010( they don't come with us each time,as they are actually my stepsons and go away with their mum)
It was expensive as most hotels(not Disney ones) are room only so eating out can add up.

I drive itself has two ends to it one being much quieter than the other,some people are not keen on it as it is busy and full of more 'souvenier' type shops and loads of eating areas,it can get a little 'lairy' at times.
we really enjoyed LBV and would definately stay there again,We have stayed on I drive a few times(near Pointe Orlando end) and have never had a bad holiday.

Ok phew.....Have a good look at the tickets you will buy for the parks as there are loads of options and you will need to buy whats best for you as they are expensive and you would'nt want to waste any.
lastly we have always done our holidays DIY as it works for us.
All in all You will have an amazing time and no doubt you will want to go back.
Take care
clare

Polmop

Hi for somewhere to stay have a look at the Floridays resort, there are 9 of us and we are staying on one of the 3 bed apartments.
This is on I drive and has free shuttles to the parks and the Itrolley stop is just outside.
We also just went 4 years ago as a lets all have one big holiday abroad, this is our 3rd time of going we all love it.
However we are not doing any disney this year (gutted) as the youngest is 13 and only want to go to universal.
It is just too expensive for 9 of us to get a 2 day pass each for Disney (MGM and Epcot).
Whatever you decide you will have a great time, instead of 1 week at a park and 1 week resting how about taking it in turns ie Monday at a park, Tuesday Lazy day, because full on parks will really tire you out.

peachyprice

I would go villa with own pool every time. Yes, it's a bit further to drive to the theme parks, but certainly not unbearable. It gives you the benefor if having down time when you want, not when the hotel wants you to, and the downtime will be quality time, relaxing by the pool, not HAVING to go out for food, eating in, I thin you need to have a few dys doing nothing, otherwise you come home feeling more tired than before you went.

As for parks, I'm not a great Disney fan in Florida, I think they're too spced out, too much hassles to get in an out of and far too expensive. I'd choose Universal over Disney any day.

There, a little more to think about!