Planning our first holiday...

duchy

melanzana wrote: »

OK, I am so sorry for having a view that does not concur with your own lol.

I get that you have been everywhere Disney is, good for you. That is amazing.

I will never post anything here again in case I upset you. (Well never say never!) :rotfl::rotfl:

No need to throw your teddy out of your pram Dear !
No-one had been everywhere but it is probably fair to say that if you are expressing a strong opinion (like telling someone their holiday choice is such rubbish that they should go somewhere entirely different on a different continent even ) on a destination -that you should have some first hand knowledge (or at least accurate knowledge) of it.

I spent decades booking people on holidays that were my idea of hell (I worked in the travel industry for twenty years plus) but was their idea of heaven. I admit there were times I did I did suggest better alternatives -like the couple who came in wanting to book one fairly brash Spanish resort . I started chatting about the place they'd chosen and they told me their friends had recommended it........ the conversation then went something like ......

Me: Do you and your friends like the same sort of holidays
Them: Oh no they like it lively-We prefer it quieter

(pause as I wait for the penny to drop with them but it doesn't LOL)

In the end I took a deep breath (remember they'd come in purely to book not for advice on where to go) and said I really thought it might be a bit too lively for them and more their friends type of resort.
They DID take my advice - and booked a quieter resort further up the coast . When they came back they popped in to see me - and to thank me. They had visited their original choice of resort on a day trip - and realized they loved it for a visit but would have hated staying there . (Phew ! )

We all have different tastes - I'm ridiculously excited to have an Amtrak train trip and a night on a Boatel moored in the centre of Gothenburg on my next trip. (Both firsts for me) Yet one of my friends can't understand why I don't fly the train leg- or why I don't stay in a hotel on land as it'd be more spacious and wouldn't rock Just not their cup of tea - and that's fine. They wouldn't have even gone via Gothenburg to get to the US (air fare from there was a third of the cost of flying to the US from London) but for me it's a bonus not a trial

My point was don't rain on someone else's parade -If it is clearly a horrible choice (for them not for you ) because it doesn't meet their needs there are ways of saying it - but just because you think you wouldn't like it (but have never been) is not reason to tell someone they shouldn't go.

duchy

marcsshell wrote: »

John is correct it is Florida that we are talking about.
Other option is the two weeks Easter holidays they have. What is it like then?
We are prepared to pay the fines that school will more than likely hit us with if we keep them off the 2 weeks in October. I would tell the truth and not get someone to phone the schools telling then they are both ill.

July is really hot (and very humid which is the real issue -) and you'd be paying high season costs not just for airfare but also hotels as it is US holiday time too. Easter is really nice time to go -still hot but not humid and the US schools don't have a long Easter break like we do.
October tends to be very popular with UK holidaymakers as fares are lower and there are often staff training days tacked onto that half term (schools can only fine in most cases if you miss more than 10 sessions (a session is half a day) so if you can keep the absence down to below a week off school (eg week of half term , plus a training day day and 4 days off school) it might pay you to do so. May be worth checking the school's policy on fining.
It is hurricane season in October - but the reality is it usually means it tips it down with rain for half an hour - then the sun comes out again and within half an hour it is hot again. It shouldn't stop you going then. My friends who worked at Disney used to call the end of October "Brits week" as there were noticeably lots of Brits in the parks then

zagfles

duchy wrote: »

I'm a bit tired of certain posters putting down people's choices because THEY wouldn't like it (and often haven't even visited themselves.........we are seeing far too many posts "I want to go to Vegas/Florida etc" getting little short of lectures about how they should do something entirely different like a tour of national parks ......or an entirely different continent. It's ridiculous.

What are you blabbering on about? The OP is talking about their first holiday - so what is wrong with mentioning alternatives which the OP might not have thought about, especially as they've mostly been based around the OPs original theme. You go on about axe grinding and throwing toys out of the pram, seems the only person doing that is you!

I think this whole thread will have been really useful for the OP. Well apart from your rants about other posters. And this post

duchy

I don't believe that just because it is someone's first holiday it gives anyone the right to tell them it's a wrong choice (how on earth could they know they don't know them) just because the naysayer has travelled abroad before to entirely different places. It that makes no sense to you ........so be it.

zagfles

duchy wrote: »

I don't believe that just because it is someone's first holiday it gives anyone the right to tell them it's a wrong choice (how on earth could they know they don't know them) just because the naysayer has travelled abroad before to entirely different places. It that makes no sense to you ........so be it.

Nobody has told them it's a wrong choice. People have given their ideas and opinions, the vast majority of which were help with exactly the sort of holiday the OP suggested in the first place, with a couple of suggestions for similar alternatives.

Now put your toys back in your pram, stop grinding your axe, stick to giving the OP your ideas and opinions about their holiday, not about other posters. You don't get to censor this board.

sandsy

We did our first trip to Orlando in October 2014 - kids were 11 (Yr 7) and 9 (Yr 5). After spending many hours reading TheDibb forums, it became apparent that booking ourselves was going to give us the flexibility to achieve as much as possible in 2 weeks. Weather wise, it was a great time to go with only one poor day (our last day). With good planning tips gleaned from the forums, queuing was negligible, we saw all the shows and all the firework/evening displays.

We flew with BA, but that came down to price at the time we booked. We stayed onsite at Disney for the first 9 nights booked direct with Disney, including tickets and a dining plan. This meant we got picked up at the airport by Disney's Magical Express which saved hassle of driving when tired after a long journey on strange roads. Being onsite has certain advantages such as Early Magic Hours and earlier booking of fast passes. We used the Disney waterparks as our 'rest days', but would go back to a park late afternoon so we didn't waste the day's fastpasses and do somerides before dinner. This works well at Epcot where fast passes are tiered. Disney table service restaurants can (and should) be booked 6 months out for the best choice.

We were keen to see more than just the Disney bubble though so collected a hirecar from the Disney Car Care Centre on our last afternoon there. We spent the next 5 nights in an apartment not far from Universal, booked through Universal Vacations which gave us early access to Universal. But we also took time out from the parks to visit Kennedy Space Centre and Discovery Cove, and some shopping malls!

It was a busy holiday but we honestly came away with no regrets, no feelings that we should have done anything differently and no desire to rush back as we'd done everything we wanted to do.

zagfles

marcsshell wrote: »

John is correct it is Florida that we are talking about.
Other option is the two weeks Easter holidays they have. What is it like then?
We are prepared to pay the fines that school will more than likely hit us with if we keep them off the 2 weeks in October. I would tell the truth and not get someone to phone the schools telling then they are both ill.

Easter would be an excellent time to be there weather wise, though not sure how busy it'd be.

For flights Easter can be a cheap time to go (in comparison with other school holidays) since schools have different timed Easter breaks in different areas. We've had loads of cheap flights in the Easter hols.

Also check the tripadvisor forum for Florida - tripadvisor is far better than here for destination specific advice (and less flame wars, usually ).

John259

With a car I'd highly recommend a side tip Kennedy Space Center. NASA do an excellent job of making it very interesting even for someone who only has marginal enthusiasm for the subject. It's about 60 miles from Disney World.
Map: https://goo.gl/maps/ZJ6fQ9KLHiB2

Distances in the USA can be deceivingly large. For example, Disney World to Miami is 230 miles each way, making it more than a day trip for most people even though it's in the same state.
Map: https://goo.gl/maps/JGJeHtmDPLF2

Here's a dashcam of the route taken by the Disney Magical Express from Orlando airport. It shows how good the roads are and how easy the driving is in the area, as it is throughout most of the USA except in the big cities:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJGOW9OT4-8

I found the heat and humidity of Florida in summer too much. Life consisted of getting from air conditioned car to air conditioned building as quickly as possible. I can tolerate the dry heat of the southwest of the USA far more than the humid heat of the southeast.

duchy

zagfles wrote: »

Nobody has told them it's a wrong choice. People have given their ideas and opinions, the vast majority of which were help with exactly the sort of holiday the OP suggested in the first place, with a couple of suggestions for similar alternatives.

Now put your toys back in your pram, stop grinding your axe, stick to giving the OP your ideas and opinions about their holiday, not about other posters. You don't get to censor this board.

I might offer you exactly the same advice - except my phrasing would be classier ! Still your tantrum was mildly amusing.

balletshoes

zagfles wrote: »

Easter would be an excellent time to be there weather wise, though not sure how busy it'd be.

For flights Easter can be a cheap time to go (in comparison with other school holidays) since schools have different timed Easter breaks in different areas. We've had loads of cheap flights in the Easter hols.

Also check the tripadvisor forum for Florida - tripadvisor is far better than here for destination specific advice (and less flame wars, usually ).

The DIBB has regular WDW visitors who have just returned, or are still on, their holidays, and they have all reported that Easter weekend and most of last week, was very busy in all the Disney parks.

Between Easter and October these days (I went in August last year and it was very humid, with a thunderstorm every couple of days) I'd go with October.