Orlando Florida/Disneyworld (Part 2) *CLOSED*

Blink_Eden

KarenG wrote: »

Personal choice, but between October and May I would. So yes, I would get the pool heated at Easter.

We have bee 3 times between Feb and April, and only went without pool heat once :eek:

Money well spent - it is horrible having a pool that is too cold to go in

disney_cjd

On pool heat - find out what sort of heater is in teh pool. If its a Gas heater then its money well spent as those things cost s fortune to run, if its a Heat pump or electric then try and negotiate that for free with the owner. They do not cost a huge amount to runa day and the villas owners make a nice earrner on pool heat from those units.

Also MAKE sure the villa has a pool blacket. This is a sort of rubber cover that goes over the water a night and keeps all th ehat in. The reason for this is that a pool heater takes many hours to work and if all the heat has gone from the pool it will be cooler in teh morning. The blanket will keeop that heat in

as for temp/ I have mone set to 86 and its lovely

paul_dunn

Thanks all for the help with pool heat. I'm not sure if it is electric or gas but they do have solar heat which is free. Maybe this will be enough to heat the pool.

Paul

KarenG

vivatifosi wrote: »

I was talking about this issue with a cast member friend last time I was in WDW. Here are the ways I know of to get free parking:

1. Stay at a Disney Hotel
2. Buy an annual pass (does not apply to Fl residents whose passes are cheaper)
3. Go in the evening when the parking attendant has gone off duty (beware, doesn't always work, depends on the park and evening activities).
4. Go to Downtown Disney and Transfer to a hotel, then get a bus from the resort to the theme park.

Excellent post there and I agree 100% with your sentiments. Many's the time it's been near impossible to park at DTD, and I am sure that all those cars aren't people out shopping there

Just to add to Vivatifosi's post though, I am all for money saving but do consider how much time you waste if you resort to parking at DTD and bussing to the parks. There are ways to minimize this, but broadly:

1. Get to DTD, park and walk to the bus stop
2. Wait for a bus to arrive, then leave
3. Sit (if you're lucky ) or stand as the bus weaves its circuitous route to the resort
4. Get off bus, wait for a bus for the park you are aiming for to arrive (not always as quick as you'd like)
5. Sit (or stand) on the bus while it goes around various other stops at the resort (or even other resorts) to pick people up.
6. Bus heads to theme park

At the end of the day, reverse all the above, but this time factor in being very tired and sharing the buses with sweaty and grumpy theme park guests.

At the end of the day, I'd sooner shell out the $12 (?) to park than put myself though the above. I spend so much on theme park tickets I view it as a waste of that expenditure if I am adding un necessary steps to my day. Not very MSE maybe but that's how I feel....

ailuro2

Can someone point me in the direction of a link that will show me where the Disney parking lots are? Or give me a zip code - it's for comparing distances of different villas we're looking at to Disney main gates.

Thanks:D

vivatifosi

This map gives a pretty accurate representation of where the parking is. It is immediately adjacent to the theme parks, except in the case of the Magic Kingdom where it is the other side of Bay Lake:

http://www.wdisneyw.co.uk/wdwmap.html

Sorry, don't know the zip codes.

ailuro2

Thanks, that's great - I hadn't realised each park had a car park - I was thinking there was a giant carpark somewhere at the front of the whole of Disney and everyone got the bus from there.:doh:

Now it make sense what it said in the guide book about parking where you will leave from at the end of the day.

Thanks, that makes a whole lot of sense now. :T

Birdy12

Mikepcon wrote: »

I notice a few people have car hire in the package. We were offered "free" car hire last time went, but when you look at the small print there are al kinds of surcharges you need to pay before you get the car. The girl on the phone even admitted it was pretty worthless really.
We ended up hiring a car ourselves from another company. Made a big difference because the queue at the "free" car hire desk was huge. We just walked straight up to our desk and were away in minutes.

Thanks, Mikepcon, for this info. We went to Florida last year but stayed on International Drive and got the I Ride everywhere. I've got this idea in my mind of going again in December of next year but this time hiring a car. Can you let me know what car hire company you used and if you booked it online?

Fiver29

I'm sure this has probably been answered before, so forgive for asking again.

What are the rules now for taking electronics in hand luggage to the US?

I want to take my DSLR on the plane rather than put it in the hold, and two DS Lites for the kids to keep them amused for 30 seconds :rolleyes:. But the last time I went on holiday was before the Twin Towers and I know things were tightened up after that.

furrypig

Hi Fiver29

we're in Florida at the mo and took our cameras and the kids DS's on the flight no problem!!