Orlando Florida/Disneyworld (Part 2) *CLOSED*

princessflea

Hi all,
I booked a package through Orchid Travel (Thomas Cook) which is flights, hotel and car hire. Now I have done my research the reviews for the hotel are awful and I am terrified.
Does anybody know what I can do if I get out there and things are bad? What are TC like for sorting things etc?
Thanks for any help or advice.

Edinburghlass_2

Depends who have reviewed the hotel in lots of ways as I've read some bad and good reviews on a hotel and you wonder if they have stayed in the same hotel. Which hotel is it?

broonbear

princessflea wrote: »

Hi all,
I booked a package through Orchid Travel (Thomas Cook) which is flights, hotel and car hire. Now I have done my research the reviews for the hotel are awful and I am terrified.
Does anybody know what I can do if I get out there and things are bad? What are TC like for sorting things etc?
Thanks for any help or advice.

we've been to florida quite alot and know some of the hotels quite well. tell us the name and location of your hotel and i can maybe give you a review of it

jackieblack

wannabedebtfreee wrote: »

The food at discovery cove is Brill, its more fast food stuff, chicken/burgers/hotdogs. chips salad etc. its pretty basic, but nice food.

They had lobster on offer when we were there! My husband had salmon last time and a great hand carved turkey and ham club sandwich this time which was so huge he couldn't finish it all. There are 'fast food' options but also nicer stuff. The key lime pie is heavenly, and the cherry cheesecake is pretty good too!
If you get there early the restaurant serves breakfast, cereal, fruit, croissants, pasties etc (it closes at 10am).

Have been twice, it isn't cheap but it is SO worth the money. We upgraded(for an extra $50 each) to include 14 days unlimited entry to Seaworld, Busch Gardens (includes the transport if you don't want to drive) and Aquatica and bought the Ultimate Parking Package for an extra $35 which included unlimited parking at all these parks.

One tip, Seaworld run a shuttle to Aquatica which had MASSIVE queues when we were there, which the shuttle whizzes past! One day we went to Seaworld for opening time, walked straight on Kraken and Journey to Atlantis 2 or 3 times each, then went out and got the shuttle straight over to Aquatica until mid-afternoon then went back to Seaworld for shows and evening stuff. Left the car where we'd parked first thing (you get platinum prefferred parking with the pass). It really worked well.

Just talking about makes me want to go back again - and we've only been home a week!

maby66

Hi - first time posting to pass on a good deal/tip for my holiday and to also ask a question.
Firstly, I'm now booked to go Florida in the first 2 weeks of June of this year - I'd been looking at various options, including using Tesco Clubcard vouchers, to bring the overall price of the holiday down. For a Flight, Car and Villa holiday via Cosmos I had been looking at a base price of £2162 for 2 weeks (2 adults 2 children under 7) - adding what I would class as an esential upgrade to the flights (seating together, over 25kgs baggage allowance etc) took this to just over £2500.

Today I booked 4 scheduled flights with BA from Gatwick, flying Worldtraveller, for just over £1300 in total. Registering for the Executive Club on the BA website took £20 off per ticket straight away!

I'm now going to book a villa for 2 weeks via First Choice for £564 total cost through their Flex travel service (if anyone can beat this I'd be impressed).

They offered me an intermediate car from Sun Cars for £296 fully inclusive which would make my total holiday cost just over £2200 travelling on a scheduled flight as opposed to charter - which I'm pretty happy with. Add on the £40 Family Travel Insurance from Flexicover from this site and I'm doing well!

One question I did have is that if I use Travelsupermarket for checking Car Hire costs, I get linked to Angus Car Hire and an offer of £195 for an intermediate 4 door vehicle.

Both policies include Theft insurance, Third party insurance, Collision damage insurance, Breakdown Assistance, Airport Fee and Unlimited Mileage - Angus includes a full tank of gas and bringing it back empty - but I'm wary of being stung (by either company) of additional insurance charges at the collection desk.

There are no "top up" options at all on Argus cars, and Sun Cars select package is only extra drivers and a tank of gas - can anyone who has been recently confirm that the above set of insurance is not just the minimum required and I wont get stung on picking the car up?

Many thanks

Edinburghlass_2

If you haven't done your insurance yet, do check out going via Quidco or rpoints for further discounts

jackieblack

maby66 wrote: »

They offered me an intermediate car from Sun Cars

We've just returned from Florida and had an 'intermediate' car from Dollar, which was a Dodge Caliber. Internal seating space was fine but even though we travel light (three medium size cases and a holdall between three of us) we struggled to get our luggage in, ended up with two bags on the back seat which was fine because we only needed one back seat.

The car had an efficient cold air 'blower' but no climate control or cruise control which we have had before.

mell

Hi Maby, could you tell me about the Flex Travel service? Can't find anything about it.

Also, I am interested in flights for July 2009. Does anybody know when BA flights for then go on sale?

Many thanks.

maby66

Hi Maby, could you tell me about the Flex Travel service? Can't find anything about it.

Hi Mell - I'm not a First Choice agent or employee (!), so I can only tell you what I saw while discussing my options.

While searching through package deals and flights with the employee at First Choice, we started talking about the component parts of the holiday - flight was "x", car was "y" and so on.
The employee entered a different system to the full package enquiry tool, and it was called First Choice Flex Travel (unless I misread the screen) - through that she priced up just single items and offered me a standalone price for the villa and car rental, without flights.

Hope that helps.

20x10

Just gone on seaworld.com for a flex ticket i.e universal,islands of adventure, aquatica, wet n wild and seaworld. 235 dollars for adults and 195 dollars for kids. Has anyone just got back from usa and how much were they there? plus do they add tax on to the final price on seaworld.com?