Orlando Florida/Disneyworld (Part 2) *CLOSED*

missfendiuk

dizzybee wrote: »

anyone got any ideas where to get the best deals on universal tickets?
needed for end of DEC this year

http://www.viator.com/Orlando-tours/Theme-Park-Tickets-and-Tours/d663-g14-c50

SCRIBES

lesley1960 wrote: »

have you been before ? , because imo i think you need 3 days at universal ( one day for each side and a third day to do the bits you missed or redo the bits you liked ) and I think one day at seaworld isnt quite enough? , you could stagger the start date of the tickets to cover the three weeks

Have been several times, last time was 4 years ago. We liked Universal and would probably go back for the extra day. Intend to stagger the tickets as suggested. I reckin 1 day to do SeaWorld is enough - it's a good day out but I reckon 1 day is enough. have seen other suggestions for the rest of the days - thanks, anymore? Myself and OH (early 40 somethings) + daughter 7.
Just read about the disney tickets grrrrrr - why do that, why not just wait until the offer ended!!! Wait until I see Mickey!

george2

SCRIBES wrote: »

Have been several times, last time was 4 years ago. We liked Universal and would probably go back for the extra day. Intend to stagger the tickets as suggested. I reckin 1 day to do SeaWorld is enough - it's a good day out but I reckon 1 day is enough. have seen other suggestions for the rest of the days - thanks, anymore? Myself and OH (early 40 somethings) + daughter 7.
Just read about the disney tickets grrrrrr - why do that, why not just wait until the offer ended!!! Wait until I see Mickey!

you may think 1 day at seaworld is enough, but i see you have a seven year old daughter, which means you will probably be going back more than once!!!, have you done the airboat rides, kennedy space center, what about any shopping days. as if you dd is anything like my granddaughter there will be some princess dresses that need trying / buying?

PHOTON

We have just got back from Florida today and I wanted to view this forum as it proved very useful prior to our visit. Having read some of the threads I just wanted to add my thoughts on how long you need at each park. It does all depend on your party size and mix but worked well for my family of 2 adults and 2 kids (7 & 15).

Hollywood Studios (we did one main day and went back to spend our last couple of hours there prior to our flight home) - Get there early if you want to go on the new Toy Story Ride (it's well worth it but currently all the Fast Passes get sold out by about 11:30am and this morning their was a 70 minute wait if you wanted to queue). Tower of Terror and Rock n Roll had about 15-20 minute waits.

EPCOT (we did 1 day and arrived around 11am and stayed until 9pm to experience the fireworks over the lake - Fast Pass the Test Track and Soarin as they had about 60 minute waits).

Seaworld (you can do it in a day and its well worth it with a great mix of rides and shows). I know it's not everyone’s cup of tea to see animals in captivity but if you read the literature and talk to the staff you can see that they are doing a great deal for conservation especially with their efforts to protect the dolphins, whales and manatees.

Magic Kingdom (we did 2 days at the park but can be done in one). Our second visit was for Mickey's not so scary Halloween Party on the 31st and it was absolutely spectacular for all the family. I would recommend this for anyone who is over their next Halloween as it's a real family occasion. If you have got younger kids then I would definitely recommend doing 2 days at the park.

Universal & Islands of Adventure (we did 1 day at each park and went back for a further half day at each one). Simpson’s & MIB at Universal are a must and they had about 40 minute waits. Jurassic Park & Ripsaw are great at IOA but be warned you get very wet so spare clothes for the kids is a good idea or at the very least a towel.

Water Parks (we did half a day at Blizzard Beach & 1 day at Aquatica). BB is OK but the water temp for this time of year was a bit cold. Aquatica is fantastic and the water is lovely and warm. There is a great selection of rides and a great play area for the kids. There are plenty of sun beds to go around so need for a mad dash early in the morning (maybe different in peak season). They have great river rapids that run round the park and the water is nice and warm. Put on one of the life vest and sit back and relax.

Busch Gardens (we did 1 day at the park and got there for about 10am - 1hr drive down I4). This was our favourite park and we would recommend it to everyone as there is a great mix of rides for all the family and the wildlife is great. This park had the best food choices out of all of the parks we visited.

Animal Kingdom (we did this in 1 day). This park is OK but felt very compact and crowded and we didn't enjoy it as much as the other parks. If you have got time the Lion King show is definitely worth doing and was the highlight of the day.

Sorry for the long winded post but hope this proves useful to people going out in the next few weeks or so.

disney_cjd

george2 wrote: »

you may think 1 day at seaworld is enough, but i see you have a seven year old daughter, which means you will probably be going back more than once!!!, have you done the airboat rides, kennedy space center, what about any shopping days. as if you dd is anything like my granddaughter there will be some princess dresses that need trying / buying?

its sad day my six year old does not want her princess stuff anymore. Its all hannah montana and HSM now

disney_cjd

I know many people dont like searching so i will post some of my key tips from many pages ago

---

calling home...

go to https://www.paytone.com and get a Bizon card.

2 c a min back to the UK - piece of pi$$ to use.

Enjoy

disney_cjd

disney_cjd wrote: »

Hi NickyDee

No worries, i think thats a mamouth task to be honest so good luck!! I would make sure you have a stiff drink with you at all times.

Seriously though I think that you have two choices (well maybe three). The first is that you say sod it and bite the bullet and go with an all in package like with Virgin or BA holidays. Will cost more but will also take all the hassle out of it. There are still ways to get discounts on these types of holidays such as booking on line or using quidco cahsback sites.

The second option is to get a travel agent to actually earn their commissions and do it for you. They can price it all up separately and you can haggle etc. Thats always wortha shot as you are under no obluigation to go with them.

Finally you can do it yourself. Much more rewarding but a lot more hard work. The point to start here is always with the fligths. Get those in the bag or at least gt an idea of the cost element of this when comparing the package.

Flight prices will increase fora while I can see (actually they will not increase what will happen is Virgin and BA will stop offering discounts on the fares so the real cost is exposed). Try sites such as kayak to monitor the flight costs.

As you are going out of school holidays then the costs could be cheaper. A recent check was that you can get two weeks flgiths to Orlando on Virgin for 327 all in in economy and 720 from Premium economy.

Also as you are going for two weeks you could consider the charter option but make sure you book with a credit card please.

All charter flights operate into Sandford airport which is smaller but a little further away.

Also if you are considering BA look at flights into Tampa. Its a lovely airport, not at all as busy as Orlando and only an hour anf 15 mins from Orlando on one straight road.

Right acconimdation. Lots of choice but a villa or two sound ideal. My favoriate places for Villas are on Emerald Island. The Villas are our of this world and all have huge areas of play and party great pools and its in an awesome location. Try lastminuitevvillas http://www.lastminutevillas.net/ or try some of the owners directly such as Simbas Pride http://www.thebestfloridavilla.com/

There are lots of websites that allow you to do enquires for villas, you pop in your requirements and you want I would say two 5 or 6 bed villas. Some you can book next two each other.

There are lots of communities and lots of different villas. Its a mindfield. All say as I said before that they are 15 mins from Disney but take that with a pinch of salt! Try and get one of the newer houses and you can tell this by its look and description. Or let me know where it is and I can tell you about it as I have seen most of them over the years.

As for what you want to do in your two weeks thats very very hard. You have a lot of people to please and you will not be able ot please them all. That is why two cars is a very very good idea. As I said above the luggage space in cars is often overlooked so I always try and get the biggest that I can afford when travelling from an aiport to the house (We have a car in the garage when we get there). The websites I have mentioned are good just make double, no triple sure that if you use a broker that that will pay the car company when you pay them. There is nothing worse than getting to the airport with a voucher and the muppetts at Dollar etc want more dosh.

For tickets, the flex is good as are the Disney ultimates. However before you get that far I would work on a itinary. There are lots of sites that even help with this too,

So to sum up (you will eb glad to hear). Price the entire thing with Virgin or a travel agent like Thomas Cook. Then price the flights yourself and the villas and cars.

Hope this helps.
craig

A little help on where to start

disney_cjd

disney_cjd wrote: »

Hi there

I remember this place, its south of i4 on the 27 isn't it, between Davenport and Haines City just past the new mall?

Well, good restaurants, that's a really hard one. It depends on budget. let me mention a few for you

1) The V&A - this is a wonderful restaurant situated within the Grand Floridian hotel. Probably the most expensive one in Disney but I have to say well worth it! See menu at http://allears.net/menu/menu_va.htm

2) The Californian Grill at the Contemporary hotel - one of Floridas best, a little cheaper thant he V&A. See menu at http://allears.net/menu/menu_cg.htm

3) The Flying Fish a tthe Boardwalk - again menu at http://allears.net/menu/menus.htm#bw

4) Yachtsman steakhouse - a lovely place and REAl meat menu at http://allears.net/menu/menu_ys.htm

The above all obviously Disney resturants within Disney hotels the plus side of this is that you can book them in advance (see my post above witht eh phone number and ways to call teh USA also). The down side is they cost a little more.

For resturants around your area.....

1) Manny's chop house. Nothing special to look at from the outside or in but the food is second to none and GREAT value for money. It shocked me when iw as there last the amount of people celebrating anniversays there.

2) Carabbas - a slightly more upmarket Italian resturant. I still prefer teh food in teh Olive garden but Carabbas is better for me thatn say Macaroni Grill.

3) Charleys Steak House - again quite nice and not Disney prices.

Its quite a hard thing to advise on really. You could check trip advisor but they will go from the Sizzler (no thanks at all) ro the Victoria and Albert (V&A).

How many in your party, age range? fac type of foodd, budget all come into play
Cheers
Craig

A selection of nice places to eat for those of you going over the Christmas period

disney_cjd

disney_cjd wrote: »

Hi there

A few questions before I can offer detailed advice..... Is this your first time? If so then I have a few suggestions (same as things in previous posts but its a mind field going back over this forum for answers I know).

Car hire, if you have five people its no so much fitting those five people in a car but its the luggage space. Let me give an example, if you hire a minivan mor often than not you will get a Dodge Caravan which seats 7 in comfort. You will be lucky though to get a suitcase in teh boat if all seven are seated. So make sure you get a big enough car for the luggage.

Second thing is palces to try. There are only probably five or six rental companys. Lots of others are brokers mind you in light of the poor souls and XL sopme may be scary of brokers. However they all issue you a voucher immeadiatly and if you always pa by a credit card yo uwill be OK,. So I would ussgedt you comapre your quote against quotes scarhore.com; www.usrentacar.com or www.airlinenetwork.co.uk for a few. These4 all use either Dollar or alamo whicha re fine.

As for getting a cab, no a standard yellow cab will take 4 passengers. So you will need a van, dont worry there are lots of them around. However I would never use a cab when you can use Tiffanys for less and they will meet you at baggae claim and carry your bags for you. www.tiffanytowncars.com

Hope this helps.

As for the 11pm, thats shocking, poor you. I woud lsay that the airport is a lot quieter at night. between 4-7pm is madness but I have arrived mandy times at that time at night from my office in Chicago and its a breeze, but that does not help if you have not driven before and its dark etc.

Where is your hotel? Sometimes you can even get them to collect you (for a fee).
Cheers
CJD

info on car hire and airport transfers

disney_cjd

disney_cjd wrote: »

Hi Wayne

OK so you need to make sure you have UNLIMITED miles. To be fair most of them offer this but best to check.

Also its not always the size of the car but the boot. Remember you need to get your bags in there so sometimes you may want to go a class higher.

All US cars have aircon otherwise you will melt. I can remember many many years ago coming with my folks and hiring an old Torino and melting in it as they had no AC.

As for where to hire, I did post many pages ago now some good places. Check out....

www.yescarhire.com
www.usrentacar.com
www.airlinenetwork.co.uk

Also look to see if you have a car company ON airport. There is nothing worse than getting there and realizing you now need a bus to get your car. To do this take a look at Sanford's website.

Finally, as you are the worng side of 30 like many of us you will not get lumbard with age restrictions.

Have a scout around and if I can find more info on the other places to hire a car I will add this in.

car hire info