Orlando Florida/Disneyworld (Part 2) *CLOSED*

disney_cjd

yummymummyoftwo wrote: »

hi,we go to disney florida on the 25th of august,just wanted to know wheres the best place to go do some shopping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and we have 2 kids who are going to want everything they see,but the funds arent going to stretch that far any ideas????
cant wait now:T :T
only 10 days to go

Walmart is good and cheap, if you have a car though try and go to the ones NOT near the rental home areas as these are a little more expensive that the other ones. We live on the US27 north of Four Corners and there are two Walmarts. One to the north of us which is way away from the rentals and one right bang in the middle of it, The one to the north is MUCH better. Cheaper and has more varity.

Also, if you need clothes for the kids, dont go to the Florida Mall, whilst its a nice big mall its a normal retail mall. Check out the outlet malls such as Lake Buena Vista Factory stores and check out the Old Navy which is owned by GAP and has really cool clothes. Smart graphic t-shirts for five dollars etc! Jeans for 25 bucks although you get the same price in jeans from lots of places.

For food there are lots of places that do free kids meals on certain days, check out two of my favorites in Mannys Chop House on the 27 in Haines City (but gets v busy) and also the LoneStar steakshoue which has kids eat free on Tuesdays. These are really nice places to eat and not like those pretty dire buffet places.

Cheers

disney_cjd

jackieblack wrote: »

We stayed at the marriott Village in April and loved it. It is clean, comfortable and just the other side of Orlando Premium Outlets from your previous accomodation.
Don't know how many of you in your party/ how many rooms you need/ what you mean by cheap-ish etc but there are 3 hotels in the 'village', might be worth a look!

http://orlando2stay.com/village/index.html

Thats a great place to stay

disney_cjd

If you have youngish kids (mine are 6 and 4) then a great night out that costs nothing is a Friday or Saturday night at the DownTown Disney Kids Party. This used to be held on the stage in DTD but this is being rebuilt and so is held on the floor fountain outside the large Toy Shop. Each Fri and Sat they have an entertainer doing hulahoop competitions, dancing competiions, limbo and all sorts of games. My kids LOVE it and will be there for three hours.

Not bad that Disney does something for free!

disney_cjd

There has been some refernces to the Florida Mall on here and whilst its a good place and HUGE there are also the Outlet malls I mentioned above,

Also there is a real nice newish mall http://www.mallatmillenia.com/experience/experience.htm which is the Mall at Millenia which is built and owned by the same people as did Bluewater in Kent.

Posh shops but it has a Johnny Rockets, great burgers and also a Cheesecake Factory which you just have to see. Has a HUGE menu and really lovely cheesecakes.

Its located next to Ikea.

disney_cjd

GRIGGSY wrote: »

Hi
I was wondering if anyone had flown into Tampa before and what the car rental place was like there. I know that some people have been given free upgrades at Orlando Mccoy but I am assuming that Tampa isn't as busy so if you book an economy car thats what you get - DH really doesn't want to be driving anything like a corsa over there! Also I have been quoted £1600 for the two of us going next Monday from Edinburgh this includes flights, accom and car no extras to pay, just wondering if this was a good price. lastly anyone stayed at the Kingstown reef before?

Thanks for any help
Jo

Tampa is a lovely airport to arrive into. We arrived there on Aug 1 and leave from Orlando Airport (MCO) just how the flights worked out this time.

The good thing is the immigration is quick and easy. The BA flight is dealt with quickly. In MCO there have three Virgin and two BA flights each day

its takes us about 75 mins to get to Clermont from there.

As for which car hire company. Be careful there are some ON SITE and some off. Try and get Dollar, Hertz, AVIS etc as these are there in the airport.

Cheers

disney_cjd

All

If you have kids under say 11 then please go to this park. Its Florida's oldest theme park and is wonderful.

It costs half the price of Disney or US and you get a free second day.

It has a waterpark with a wave pool and big !!! slides etc in it.

It has Floridas oldest rollercoaster which is a classic wodden coaster called the StarLiner. Really great.

Also has loads of great rides, some old school like the MaryRose etc but the kids just love it.

There are NO queues we would ride the Starliner four times in a row,

It has some great shows such as the waterski show etc.

It really is a hidden gem. You will not be dissapointed.

furrypig

Thanks disney cjd for all your tips, cypress gardens sounds lovely we are going in Feb and will be between 7 and 74 with rollercoaster lovers and haters swimmers and non swimmers and this sounds like a great mixture for everyone! Been to Orlando 3 times before and never knew much about this one (though I haven't been for several years!).

Thanks

lrr_2

Has anyone tried the new simpsons ride at Universal and toy story at MGM? Is the simpsons one just like the back to the future ride or better?

buckster

disney_cjd wrote: »

All


It has Floridas oldest rollercoaster which is a classic wodden coaster called the StarLiner. Really great.

That rollercoaster is excellent. I got on thinking "oh it'll be nowt lol", next minute I'm hanging on for dear life laughing my head off. Cypress Gardens is nice and when I went there was no queques for anything.

Amy83

lrr wrote: »

Has anyone tried the new simpsons ride at Universal and toy story at MGM? Is the simpsons one just like the back to the future ride or better?

I prefered it when it was Back to The Future, but I last went on that 10 years ago, so my mind could be playing tricks on me. It's pretty similar to be honest, seems they've just updated it for the kids who don't know or care for Back to The Future. It's well worthwhile though, a simulator of a rollercoaster.

The queues for it were getting quite horrendous by late afternoon (this was back in May) so I'd recommend heading there first thing.