Long time since I was there, but I did enjoy it. We booked a package as it was a lot easier. Before kids we went to LA and that time we booked everything ourselves - flight, hotels, car - it's possible and gives you flexibility.
Been several times, normally get a virgin fly drive & book accomodation separetly. I prefer villa's to hotels, but that's just me, plenty of villa's normally available but make sure it's not to far from attractions etc. In the past we did a 3 weeker, 2 weeks in Orlando one on the coast, you need a rest after all the parks! If you can afford it really suggest you do this, it's not cheap but the third week can be a God send.
Been several times, normally get a virgin fly drive & book accomodation separetly. I prefer villa's to hotels, but that's just me, plenty of villa's normally available but make sure it's not to far from attractions etc. In the past we did a 3 weeker, 2 weeks in Orlando one on the coast, you need a rest after all the parks! If you can afford it really suggest you do this, it's not cheap but the third week can be a God send.
Agree. Villas down the 27 are your best bet. Avoid USA school hols - they vary quite a bit. Best time to go is May/June as it avoids many hols and is before the shower season. Plan the Parks like a military operation. It's 7 years since we last went but got park tickets through cheap deals here but make sure they are the ones that send you the tickets here well in advance. Virgin used to have a checking at Downtown Disney meaning you got an extra half a day at a park. Great place, great time, enjoy!
Was thinking of getting a car as would be a lot easier to get around, not sure what parks to do, but magic kingdom, animal kingdom, islands of adventure look good.
Do villas come with just one bedroom? Or better to get motel?
Was thinking of getting a car as would be a lot easier to get around, not sure what parks to do, but magic kingdom, animal kingdom, islands of adventure look good.
Do villas come with just one bedroom? Or better to get motel?
I'm planning 21st of may to go for 10 days!
Personallly, I'd put Seaworld ahead of Animal Kingdom. Universal Studios is very good and completely different to IOA. the Disney water parks are excellent for half rest days.
Much more flexibility with a car (realistically, you can't walk anywhere) but ensure you budget for full insurance.
Trust me, book a hotel on International Drive.15 minutes drive to Disney or Universal and most hotels have free shuttle buses for evenings leaving the afternoons available for beer. International Drive also has many very reasonably priced and good 'pubs', bars and restaurants that you can walk to. Not sure the villas can boast that. For cars do not upgrade on line, I was upgraded from a compact to a jeep at Stanford Alamo just for wearing a Red Sox top. Sounds bad but the Harry Potter ride is brilliant and I'm in my 40's
We went just before Christmas. For a hotel try the Radisson Lake Buena Vista, very close to the entrance to Disney but very resonably priced. A rental car is a must, collect it from the airport. Try Dollar or Alamo for a good deal, remember to take the car back with no fuel in it. Get to the parks half hour before they open, plan your rides and literally run round and do them when the gates open, then use the rest of the day to explore the parks and ride again. Universal was our favourite park, Kennedy Space Centre is a must, take the additional KSC Close Up Tour. Try Boggy Creek Airboat rides and don't forget a breakfast at Perkins!
Virgin Holidays the best way to go ..........and an International drive hotel -and get a car --gives you more freedom
Seeing its your first time then do all the parks Disney and Sea world and Universal studio (both parks are great ) and also good for shopping -- can work out a dear holiday but i feel its worth --i so enjoy Florida
Out here at the moment. Defo stay on International drive as it is central to all attractions. A car is a good idea and we got one through Alamo. spring break has just finished so you haven't got millions of groups of kids to contend with at the moment. Busch gardens, sea world, Kennedy space centre are all worth doing and get down to universal where you have the choice of islands of adventure or universal studios to pick from or do both with a 2 day park ticket for 145 bucks. Trust me there is shed loads to do. Harry potter ride well worth the wait. Wasn't too fussed about doing this ride but afterward I would have queued for another 2 hours to do it again! Flew with Virgin but try going via heathrow as their planes have been updated ( in flight entertainment was not on demand with virgin from gatwick but the planes are being upgraded this summer I think ).
I would suggest you can get a cheaper deal booking individually. Virgin are usually cheapest for a direct flight, sometimes BA have good deals. For a cheaper flight, you could go indirect changing planes in the US, look at an airline like Delta for some indirect flights. Would save you a few quid but it takes a lot longer to get there.
read the unofficial guide to disney, got great advise in there.
if you have a family i'd avoid hotels and get a villa along 192, i-drive is ok but if you are looking for some down time on your holiday then you aren't going to get any there.
plan your days in the parks, they can get very busy and you don't really want to miss out on something that you have built up to
ponderosa is fantastic huge breakfast, but only on days not in the parks, you don't want to waste the rest of your day queuing up all because you saved yourself $3
get to the parks as early as you can to get on the main rides before everyone else saunters in around 1030 and you can sod off home for lunch/swim/nap and come back later. in peak parks close very late.
a lot of height restrictions in ioa but harry potter is a must. get in early and head straight there, don't deviate from the plan
don't do kennedy center unless you have time to kill,although only an hour's drive it is slightly interesting but you might as well go shopping instead.
shop around for the car, we did virgin fly drive and booked the car for 1 night to get the deal (we didn't take their car at all) then we booked another car seperately for 14 days. this gave us cheaper flights and car.
when booking your car in uk, get full insurance. then collecting in orlando you can just blank their upgrade attempts as you are fully covered.
busch gardens is a great park and worth a visit but 90 minute drive and really your holiday time is very precious. there is more than enough in orlando to keep you occupied.
we used dollar the last time we went but have used others in the past, just shop around - different deals at different times. the fly drive price was cheaper between us and we booked a budget car for 1 night just to qualify for the deal (which we didn't collect) the car was no good to us as the reality was that we required a people carrier anyway.
we booked a sea world/ busch gardens combo ticket online as this was the cheapest way we found for doing those,i think we might have had vouchers too giving extra discount or there was some promotion running. i don't think you can get disney tickets cheaper anywhere, i could be wrong though
there are sites that give accurate predictions of crowd sizes to expect when planning, use these as they make a big difference when choosing what park to visit on a specific day that will have an extra 10k or not
Cray I've just got back from trawling the charity shops of Eltham and they all had guide books to Florida/Orlando, rough guides to the USA etc. Worth investing a couple of quid.
I went when we played our 2 playoff semi games against swindon
Stayed on international drive in a cheap but cheerful hotel. Bought bus tickets for the 2 weeks which were very cheap and the buses come along ever 15 of so minutes. We walked to universal studios, wet and wild etc. You get your dodgy cabs that stop at bus stops and offer you lifts aswell so at 1 point we decided to jump in the cab with a few other couples at the bus stop and paid a couple of dollars each.
I'd recommend going to the retail outlets at night. I left with bags and bags of clothes and trainers and left most of the stuff I took out there.
Busch garden was enjoyable although about an hours bus drive but worth it. Seaworld is quality aswell
Only down on the holiday was seeing Bailey sky that penalty
Whenever I travel to the States I use a car rental broker(?) called the Car Hire Agency based in Wales. They seem to consisently come up with the cheapest rates and often throw in a free upgrade and excess-free insurance deals. They have deals with many of the well-known firms. Don't bother with a convertible if going in the summer: it's either too hot or too wet to have the roof down. Here's their web site: www.carhireagency.com (Oddly CHA aren't usually so competitive for European rentals.) Don't go in the summer it's too humid and invariably rains in the afternoon (that's not to mention it being hurricane season). Our winter is the peak season in Florida but for some reason us Brits don't seem to have got the hang of that and get ripped off by airlines with summer rates on hotels and car hire. Different people like different things of course and I enjoyed the Space Centre but thought Busch Gardens was a complete waste of time and money (much like their beer). All the Orlando parks (except Epcot maybe) are worth a visit if you like their rides and Seaworld is good. Always arrive at the parks early and go round in the opposite direction to everyone else - it cuts down on the queueing times which can be lengthy. I usually book flights, car rental and villas separately (but pay by credit card if doing that because you won't get the ATOL/ABTA protection you get with package deals if something goes pear-shaped). Even though there's only two of you you may find a villa with its own pool is cheaper than a decent hotel room for two weeks. Try to get to the Gulf coast beaches and some of the barrier islands. If you're interested in that sort of stuff, check to see whether either Daytona or Sebring have any races on while you're there.
Comments
Don't get drunk and head to Sarasota.
In the past we did a 3 weeker, 2 weeks in Orlando one on the coast, you need a rest after all the parks! If you can afford it really suggest you do this, it's not cheap but the third week can be a God send.
Was thinking of getting a car as would be a lot easier to get around, not sure what parks to do, but magic kingdom, animal kingdom, islands of adventure look good.
Do villas come with just one bedroom? Or better to get motel?
I'm planning 21st of may to go for 10 days!
Pop along to the Kennedy Space Centre if you can - very interesting.
Much more flexibility with a car (realistically, you can't walk anywhere) but ensure you budget for full insurance.
Seeing its your first time then do all the parks Disney and Sea world and Universal studio (both parks are great ) and also good for shopping -- can work out a dear holiday but i feel its worth --i so enjoy Florida
So is everyone booking there holiday as a package or individually?
So far the cheapest I've found is £555pp for a flight and a 10 night stay in a OK motel...
Have always stayed in a villa because we share with friends.
You definately need a car, just gives you a bit more freedom.
Always get most of the park tickets before we go. You can can get Universal flex plus gets you both Universals, seaworld and Busch Gardens.
We don't do many Disney parks so bought tickets from a booth and got them for half price and got into the parks no problem.
Ponderosa for breakfast all you can eat for $2.99.
If you like your food you're in for a treat. Longhorns steak house is the mutts.
The rides are brilliant especially all the coasters in Busch along with Harry Potter and the Simpsons.
The clothes shopping is so cheap. Take as few clothes as possible so you can load up for the return flight.
It may sound sad but try to do an itinery as it makes life easier when you're there and make sure you have a few rest days.
Basically it's like being a big kid.
It's f*cking brilliant.
PS I'm jealous.
if you have a family i'd avoid hotels and get a villa along 192, i-drive is ok but if you are looking for some down time on your holiday then you aren't going to get any there.
plan your days in the parks, they can get very busy and you don't really want to miss out on something that you have built up to
ponderosa is fantastic huge breakfast, but only on days not in the parks, you don't want to waste the rest of your day queuing up all because you saved yourself $3
get to the parks as early as you can to get on the main rides before everyone else saunters in around 1030 and you can sod off home for lunch/swim/nap and come back later. in peak parks close very late.
a lot of height restrictions in ioa but harry potter is a must. get in early and head straight there, don't deviate from the plan
have a car
So far I've got
• Rent a car (with Alamo?)
• Visit Space centre
• Plan as much as possible
• Get to parks early
So tickets for parks have to be bought over here? Or is it cheaper just to wait until I get there?
Disney - Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios (MGM) are sounding really good.
Universal Studios, Sea World and Islands of adventure are also coming up good.
That's 6 days of the 10 already gone! Any parks on that list above not really worth it for first timers over there?
This is a lot harder to plan than I first thought!!!
shop around for the car, we did virgin fly drive and booked the car for 1 night to get the deal (we didn't take their car at all) then we booked another car seperately for 14 days. this gave us cheaper flights and car.
when booking your car in uk, get full insurance. then collecting in orlando you can just blank their upgrade attempts as you are fully covered.
busch gardens is a great park and worth a visit but 90 minute drive and really your holiday time is very precious. there is more than enough in orlando to keep you occupied.
you can't plan it enough
Did the fly drive with virgin work out a lot cheaper than any where else? Also where did end up renting a car from?
@1stevieG
Did you do everything individually? How much spendingoney you took etc?
Wow so much to plan!!!!!!
we booked a sea world/ busch gardens combo ticket online as this was the cheapest way we found for doing those,i think we might have had vouchers too giving extra discount or there was some promotion running. i don't think you can get disney tickets cheaper anywhere, i could be wrong though
floridacarhire.com/
seaworldparks.com/seaworld-orlando/book%20online/tickets
there are sites that give accurate predictions of crowd sizes to expect when planning, use these as they make a big difference when choosing what park to visit on a specific day that will have an extra 10k or not
http://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/crowd-calendar
I've just got back from trawling the charity shops of Eltham and they all had guide books to Florida/Orlando, rough guides to the USA etc.
Worth investing a couple of quid.
Stayed on international drive in a cheap but cheerful hotel. Bought bus tickets for the 2 weeks which were very cheap and the buses come along ever 15 of so minutes. We walked to universal studios, wet and wild etc. You get your dodgy cabs that stop at bus stops and offer you lifts aswell so at 1 point we decided to jump in the cab with a few other couples at the bus stop and paid a couple of dollars each.
I'd recommend going to the retail outlets at night. I left with bags and bags of clothes and trainers and left most of the stuff I took out there.
Busch garden was enjoyable although about an hours bus drive but worth it. Seaworld is quality aswell
Only down on the holiday was seeing Bailey sky that penalty
Don't go in the summer it's too humid and invariably rains in the afternoon (that's not to mention it being hurricane season). Our winter is the peak season in Florida but for some reason us Brits don't seem to have got the hang of that and get ripped off by airlines with summer rates on hotels and car hire.
Different people like different things of course and I enjoyed the Space Centre but thought Busch Gardens was a complete waste of time and money (much like their beer). All the Orlando parks (except Epcot maybe) are worth a visit if you like their rides and Seaworld is good. Always arrive at the parks early and go round in the opposite direction to everyone else - it cuts down on the queueing times which can be lengthy.
I usually book flights, car rental and villas separately (but pay by credit card if doing that because you won't get the ATOL/ABTA protection you get with package deals if something goes pear-shaped). Even though there's only two of you you may find a villa with its own pool is cheaper than a decent hotel room for two weeks.
Try to get to the Gulf coast beaches and some of the barrier islands. If you're interested in that sort of stuff, check to see whether either Daytona or Sebring have any races on while you're there.
If you go onto www.thedibb.co.uk it's a site used by people that own villas and go disney every year, we got a villa for 2 weeks for £700.
This site will tell you absolutely everything you need.