Orlando Florida/Disneyworld (Part 2) *CLOSED*

lrr_2

allure-homme wrote: »

Has anyone stayed at one of the Universal Resort hotels in Orlando?

Just wondered how it was, what else there is to do close by etc? Also probably won't have a car, so how easy is it to get down to Disneyworld, cost etc?

Thanks.

im going to florida for my 4th time this year and never used a car ever.if i was you stay at universal and get the free queue jumps. then if you want to go anywhere use the local lynx buses. they take you anywhere and really cheap. im staying at disney and use the buses all the time (really cheap and you get free transfers - just remember to ask when you buy your ticket). i buy the express plus tickets for universal (as not staying on site) and they are worth every penny. no real waiting in queues (you can wait upto 2 hours for some rides! e.g spiderman) :eek: . only downside is that you can only go on each ride once with this ticket. however if you go on every ride you will find thats all you have time for anyway. the new simpsons ride will be a nightmare to wait on without an express ride ticket.

iduncan

allure-homme wrote: »

Has anyone stayed at one of the Universal Resort hotels in Orlando?

Just wondered how it was, what else there is to do close by etc? Also probably won't have a car, so how easy is it to get down to Disneyworld, cost etc?

Thanks.

Ive stayed at the hard rock hotel.

miles from seaworld and disney!

beautiful hotel though, and as someone said you do not have to queue for any rides/attractions at universal theme parks

(the free "fastpass" system at disney/universal only lets you get alloted times for a ride (one ticket at a time, ie if you have a ticket for Mummy for 3.30pm then you cannot get another ticket until after 3.30), hotel room key lets you in to the rides in any order at any time.

DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER WITHOUT A RENTAL CAR THOUGH! (that applies to orlando as a whole, far too big and too much to see to use public transport.

disney_cjd

loonygooner wrote: »

Thanks RJG but it still factors the increase in when you select 2009.

Doesn't look good for me and even more money saving required.

You can always buy your Disney tickets now and add the "no expiration option". Disney tickets are fully customizable. If you add the no expiration options (I do not know the cost at the moment but check it out on disneyworld.com) then your tickets will NEVER expire. That means even if you do not use all of your days this trip of next you can use them again and again.

Disney ticketing is actually quite complex which is a shame, it should not be.

Froggitt

disney_cjd wrote: »

You can always buy your Disney tickets now and add the "no expiration option". Disney tickets are fully customizable. If you add the no expiration options (I do not know the cost at the moment but check it out on disneyworld.com) then your tickets will NEVER expire. That means even if you do not use all of your days this trip of next you can use them again and again.

Disney ticketing is actually quite complex which is a shame, it should not be.

An example of how complex is that the above NO EXPIRATION option applies only to "Magic Your Way" tickets bought from the US or on the door. It does not apply to the 7, 14 or 21 day "Ultimate" type tickets that are sold on UK websites.

disney_cjd

Froggitt wrote: »

An example of how complex is that the above NO EXPIRATION option applies only to "Magic Your Way" tickets bought from the US or on the door. It does not apply to the 7, 14 or 21 day "Ultimate" type tickets that are sold on UK websites.

Indeed but remember if you are using the agents mentioned on this thread then they sell either. Or some sell one or the other.

Just because you are from the UK there is no reason why you need to have the ultimate ones. you can buy the Magic ones as well.

Its never easy thats for sure.

disney_cjd

here is some more inforamtion for you moneysavers as I know you will end spend hours on this

The US tickets and prices are here

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/genPage?id=MagicYourWayStarterPassesPopUp

The UK developed Utliamte tickets are here

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdwi/en_GB/tickets/ticketsUKTickets?id=UKTicketsPage

The thing with everything money saving is to see what you actually want to use them for. So if you are going only once this year and maybe not for a few years after that then it could be the UK Ultimate ones are the way to go. You will have them before you arrive etc etc.

However if you are a frequent traveler or know you are going to return then you can buy the US ones and add the NO EXPIRY option.

You can buy tickets on the door and there are very short queues for this. Also you can buy online and have them delivered to your hotel/villa. I can not recall if you can even collect them from the gate.

Hope this helps. As I say its complex and the real thing is to know how many days use you are going to have. If you are going for a fortnight just think of the days....

Sat to Sat....

That really leaves you 12 days. Four Disney parks. Two universal ones. Plus Sea World Thats 7 out of 12. Maybe some shopping, Kennedy Space Centre and a trip to Buscj Gardens? Thats 10 add a water park or maybe the excellent Cyrpus gardens and you are done (and in need of another holiday to get over this one!)

So if you don't need 14 days access don't pay for it.

Mind you I love the Magic Kingdom so would go everyday if I could

mrposhman

Thats pretty good advice from disney_cjd above, any first time orlandoers should use this.

Though I would DEFINATELY recommend going to Busch Gardens and i also think that Animal Kingdom is the best Disney park (though Magic Kingdom is the best for young kids). Oh and Seaworld is a great day out too, remember its not just Disney and Universal (which is quite overrated to be honest).

If you only have 1 day to go to the Universal parks either get a hopper ticket and do both in 1 day (you can do it but may need to purchase the fasttrack ticket as mentioned in previous posts) or just go to Islands of Adventure as Universal Studios is quite boring, this is only if you want rides though as IOA isn't great if you don't want to go on the rides or if you have young kids.

Anyway, don't go on the days I will be there, it'll be rubbish!! :rotfl:

mellywoo

chuckie8857 wrote: »

Hi. I thought I'd check with the group about the deal I am being offered through a company advertising on teletext for a family holiday to Orlando in August. Not sure if it is a good deal and what I should watch out for before confirming the booking.

2 adult and 2 kids. 14-nights travelling from Manchester mid August to early Sep. Hotel off International Drive / Universal Drive and car (inc insurance) for 1 driver. Total £2650. It sounds good compared to some of the prices I have seen on the board but:

1 Is it a good deal?
2 What should I watch out for before confirming?
3 What about once we are there? Any tips?

TIA

That does sound good, could I please ask who it is with?
I am trying to get 3 weeks for August next year, 2 weeks villa in Orlando , 1 week Sarasota in hotel, car hire etc 2 adults and 2 teens, I am getting stupid prices, looks like it will be 2 weeks in caravan, lol. Went last year for 4 weeks and pushed the boat out but now trying to get a more budget one this time.

Edinburghlass_2

You can in fact upgrade the UK 7 Premium tickets to non-expiry at Customer Services in any of the Disney parks. They will give you price which is dependant on the days remaining on your ticket. Edited to say it now appears to be a standard charge of $95 + tax no matter how many days are left on the ticket.

For the small amount of money extra I prefer to have a Disney ticket for the number of days I am there as that way you can spend the day at say Seaworld then finish the day at a Disney park for fireworks or indeed the other way round.

Edinburghlass_2

allure-homme wrote: »

Has anyone stayed at one of the Universal Resort hotels in Orlando?

Just wondered how it was, what else there is to do close by etc? Also probably won't have a car, so how easy is it to get down to Disneyworld, cost etc?

Thanks.

You could maybe consider staying a couple of nights there and the rest at Lake Beuna Vista where you will be nearer to Disney and most of the hotels at LBV have courtesy coaches to the Disney parks and plenty of restaurants etc round about.