Orlando Florida/Disneyworld (Part 2) *CLOSED*

jackieblack

singingsister wrote: »

My fiancee and I are staying in kissimee for our honeymoon (2 weeks) and we've already booked all the tickets, paid for the hotel and car. But the question is, what money will we need to take out with us. I kind of want to budget for food - we want to eat well (brekkie, snack for lunch and dinner) but don't want to underbudget on food. We're planning on hitting places like the Ponderosa and Sizzler to eat some of the time but I really can't work out how much to budget for food per day.

Can someone help me please.

When we went last year, I allowed $100 per day for food, parking and tips. This worked fine for us (Myself, hubby and daughter who was aged 10 at the time, but we bought a 'kids eat free card' so she ate free most of the time). Recommend Sizzler for breakfast (all you can eat buffet). We bought snacks and drinks at Wal-Mart to take with us each day, and just bought an occasional Ice Cream or frozen lemonade inside the parks. We generally ate at Sizzler/Ponderosa type restaurants in the evening when not in the parks, otherwise at counter service restaurants in whichever park we were at.

We are going back next year, I am allowing roughly the same again, although daughter will be 12 so will be counted as an adult at most restaurants, although she and I may well share a meal at some places as the portions are huge!

stan747

Myself and the missus went last year and we are going again this year for the 1st 2 weeks in december, great time to go as it's between thanksgiving and christmas so not many americans on holiday, a little early for the canadians and not that many brits so short queues for rides (i think the longest one we had was for duelling dragons and was about 1/2 an hour).
we didn't get a car but we found the hotel shuttle and the i-ride trolley met our needs.
we stayed at the rodeway, booked directly through their website, comes to about £20 per night and had air con, 2 double beds, fridge, in room safe, ,tv,microwave and kettle. pretty basic but we only used it for sleeping in.
enjoyed a few beers at the murphy's arms and made some good friends in there. a few other places we visited seem to have attracted the worst of the british tourists, (drinking too much, being loud and aggressive), but murphy's was o.k. and buckets of bud where about $7

if you get the i-ride trolley map there are lots of vouchers for various place (from food to perfume) in them and tokens you can exchange for discount booklets at the malls.

lots of good places to eat and shop, and if anyone is going anytime soon and plan on driving, you can visit a town called christmas, just the other side of orlando, to post your christmas cards back home, so they arrive with the 'from christmas' postmark. an easy and cheap way to impress all your friends.

we flew with travel city direct last year but wasn't really impressed with their service so we are trying first choice this time, only they don't offer you the option of luggage upgrades so not so much shopping this time
you can get to the resort through orlandocouriers.com if you don't want to drive, we used them last year, there desk/coaches are right outside the airport and are fairly inexpensive.

this year we have also booked a cruise from miami at the end of our holiday for 4 days in the caribean, cost just over £300 for 2 people for a sea view room through cruises.com, booked it through a nice lady named renata who was very helpful and thorough.
other things we are thinking about are the go orlando card, the seaworld/busch gardens combo ticket and a wet'n'wild one day pass (there is an offer at the moment where you can exchange the one day pass for an unlimited pass valid til the end of december).

we will also be travelling up to cocoa beach to watch the shuttle launch on the 6th as well, we went out for the one last year but the launch was delayed so we saw it from the back of the pub the night after.

stan747

Hi, i went for the first time last year and i'm about to go again in 2 weeks, i put more details in the florida thread.
don't be scared of booking everything seperately, it really is easy, we got the flights with travel city, (just ring them and say you have a relative there so you don't need a car), orlando carriers have a desk and coach stand right outside the sanford airport terminal and took us right to the door of our hotel and we booked into the rodeway on i-drive via their internet special rate on their website, cost a little over £20 per night. there is an i-ride stop right in front of the hotel and wet'n'wild is just over the road, there is also a complimentary shuttle that runs to universal and seaworld. a couple of bars and lots of resaurants within a few minutes walk and the i-ride runs to the 2 major malls on i-drive for a dollar each way (or you can buy passes).
edit:
total cost for this year, 2 adults, flights with first choice, £480 and £290 for the room for 2 weeks, we are hiring a car this time and that will be a little over £100 per week, works out at less that £500 per person including the car, but bear in mind, it is december but the weather is still good (80-90 degrees same time last year).
orlando carriers will be $50 return pp on a coach or orlando transfers for a bout $100 return for up to 4 people in a car.

blue_monkey_2

You'll have a great time!! check out www.disboards.com they are a great source of information. Also, the time you are going is not the best. you say you have a little one but you do not say what age - it will be VERY hot and VERY busy. We went in January/February this year and we also went on 30th December a few years back. I would go again this time of year and we did have a tornado warning when we was there but it passed over us and hit Lady lake. the people most at threat are those living/staying in trailer parks and not very well built homes. I think that the threat is there almost any time now as with the climate changes, but the hotels are built strong and it does not really affect them - it might mean you have to have a few days in that is all. That is what we was told by a cabbie.

I would suggest the following: Book to fly into Orlando International - I highly recommend Virgin because they are great for the kids - the flights will be around £500 I guess for that time of year, maybe more/less, shop around for the best price. Then, if you do not want to drive, book on Expedia or direct with Disney to stay in a Disney hotel (the Pop, Movies and Sport are a bit naff, maybe go up a star rating) and you get the Disney Express for free, they were giving 6 nights for the price of 7 when i last looked, and they will take you to your hotel for free. Do one week in Disney and then another on International Drive in a hotel there, maybe drive for the 2nd week if you want but we don't drive when we are there. You'll have to get back to the airport though if you don;t drive. The breaks with Travelcity seem to be limited to a few dates, as with anything, but you are looking to book peak time and you are more looking at around £1000 each. Maybe adjust your times if you can. i can recommend going after Xmas as you get the New year celebrations, everything is still Xmassy with lights and celebrations and after the 3rd Jan everyone else goes back to work leaving the place empty and getting the pic of the rides. It's fab!!

When we went in Feb this year the weather was not all that bad, a few rainy days but nothing that was a problem and it was bearable for the kids which is what we was worried about. We was in Universal Studios and the rides were going around with just a few people on them. We did Universal in the morning and Islands of adventure in the afternoon. And to think we bought a 2 week ticket!!

Hope that helps.

PS. Loved it so much we are of to Disneyland Paris on Monday - it's not on the same scale but great to get another Disney fix without the huge costs and with the kids going on the same rides over again. it really is something that your children expereince in different ways depending on their age so plan well and get as much in as you can - if you forget something it's not like you can pop back over again!!

-1-

Going to the U.S. for the first time (Florida).

A few questions if you knowledgable people can help.

1. Do we need a Visa ?.

2. One of our party has a criminal record for "Harassment" will he be allowed in ?. (He has been to the U.S. before but i'm not sure if this was before or after his "offence"), the rest of us 3 are good citizens.:rotfl:

3. If he is allowed in, is there anything in particular that he needs to fill in or someone he needs to advise he's coming ?.

kitchen_buff

You will receive a green visa waiver form on the plane. Fill it in with no mistakes and you will be OK. But your friend I am not so sure, He or she is best contacting the american embassy in london and query this. Tell them to get a name of who they spoke to at the embassy if they say it is ok. If he declares no crim record on a waiver form he can be refused entry at florida. Hope your flying into Orlando international not Sandford.

-1-

kitchen_buff wrote: »

You will receive a green visa waiver form on the plane. Fill it in with no mistakes and you will be OK. But your friend I am not so sure, He or she is best contacting the american embassy in london and query this. Tell them to get a name of who they spoke to at the embassy if they say it is ok. If he declares no crim record on a waiver form he can be refused entry at florida. Hope your flying into Orlando international not Sandford.

Thanks.

It would be sanford actually. Whats wrong with Sanford ?.

alanrowell

I thought Sanford was OK and it's Orlando International that's the problem?

PBA

kitchen_buff wrote: »

He or she is best contacting the american embassy in london and query this. Tell them to get a name of who they spoke to at the embassy if they say it is ok.

If he has ever been arrested he needs a US visa. Of course, whether the US will actually know about his past indescretions is anyone's guess, but that's what the rules stay.

-1-

I called the U.S. Embassy and I think us 3 are ok and just need the visa waiver form.

However the person with the record needs to file a visa application and might have to go to the Embassy for a meeting to see if he can enter the U.S. or not.