Disney Florida Advice
Discussion
CoinSl0t said:
I took my family in July last year, utter disaster, all the US/Euro/UK kids all off at the same time, massive queues from 10 in the morning, unbearably hot and the Villa was miles away.
The 2nd week we spent in Naples, far more relaxed and enjoyable as the whole place was so quiet for some reason, a total contrast.
Really want to take our 2 kids in the next couple of years but this is what puts me off (Alton towers is bad enough! For being busy!) The 2nd week we spent in Naples, far more relaxed and enjoyable as the whole place was so quiet for some reason, a total contrast.
Thing I read about car being a must is that the parks are so far away from each other (can be an hour or two apart) Orlando is huge.
We usually go in August (yes it's hot! and you get incredible storms!), we went in 2013 for 3 weeks with a 3 day stay in clearwater in the middle.
With the Parks we found that if we only went in the afternoon, getting there about 2pm (after lunch) and stayed until close. After about 4pm the ride queue's started to disappear, and on the ride of the hippogriff in Universal the kids went on 6 times in a row, just running round the queue and getting straight back on, this was the same for some of the bigger rides too!
Have to agree that we loved both Discovery Cove and Aquatica, and sea world got 3 full days too.
IF you only want to mainly do the Disney parks (and stay in them), you could just hire a car for a few days to do the 'outside' stuff such as the 192 strip and Old Town (Kennedy is a good hours drive away).
The best thing for us about having the Villa is that it gives you some personal space back, being stuck in close confines with other people for each meal, and then having no lounge area to kick back in would be hellish after a day in a busy park, then having your own pool to dip in, the ability to cook your own food etc.
I know for a lot of people it's a one off holiday of a lifetime, but like others we love it and reduce spending on interim holidays so we can afford to go every 2-3 years (we have family in the states who join us down there too so it's a good chance for cousins to meet up again), we have been about 5 times now and we are still finding new things to do every time, and there is still stuff to cross off the list from the first visit! So be prepared to want to go back again (usually hits about 6 months after we get home)
With the Parks we found that if we only went in the afternoon, getting there about 2pm (after lunch) and stayed until close. After about 4pm the ride queue's started to disappear, and on the ride of the hippogriff in Universal the kids went on 6 times in a row, just running round the queue and getting straight back on, this was the same for some of the bigger rides too!
Have to agree that we loved both Discovery Cove and Aquatica, and sea world got 3 full days too.
IF you only want to mainly do the Disney parks (and stay in them), you could just hire a car for a few days to do the 'outside' stuff such as the 192 strip and Old Town (Kennedy is a good hours drive away).
The best thing for us about having the Villa is that it gives you some personal space back, being stuck in close confines with other people for each meal, and then having no lounge area to kick back in would be hellish after a day in a busy park, then having your own pool to dip in, the ability to cook your own food etc.
I know for a lot of people it's a one off holiday of a lifetime, but like others we love it and reduce spending on interim holidays so we can afford to go every 2-3 years (we have family in the states who join us down there too so it's a good chance for cousins to meet up again), we have been about 5 times now and we are still finding new things to do every time, and there is still stuff to cross off the list from the first visit! So be prepared to want to go back again (usually hits about 6 months after we get home)
Soir said:
Thing I read about car being a must is that the parks are so far away from each other (can be an hour or two apart) Orlando is huge.
The Disney parks are all in one area - a few mins apart by car / Disney Transport.SeaWorld is 10-15 mins away. Universal is 20 mins. Both by car. The only one any real distance is Busch Gardens at Tampa. An hour ish by car, or they run a free bus from various places.
pherlopolus said:
With the Parks we found that if we only went in the afternoon, getting there about 2pm (after lunch) and stayed until close. After about 4pm the ride queue's started to disappear, and on the ride of the hippogriff in Universal the kids went on 6 times in a row, just running round the queue and getting straight back on, this was the same for some of the bigger rides too!
Universal isn't anything like as busy as the Disney parks. Getting there at 2 means you're arriving at the hottest part of the day - it likely will be getting quieter as others will be heading back to their hotels to avoid the heat.pherlopolus said:
IF you only want to mainly do the Disney parks (and stay in them), you could just hire a car for a few days to do the 'outside' stuff such as the 192 strip and Old Town (Kennedy is a good hours drive away).
It's a (typically) £5-£7.5K holiday. You can hire a mid-size SUV all-in for around £300 for most 2 week periods so it's neither here nor there in the great scheme of things and the day rate for car hire means once you get past a few days you might as well have it for a week so it's really not worth messing around with hiring a car for odd days.Same reason I tell people to get length of stay park tickets. Sure it looks like a waste as you can't use all of the days, but the extra cost is minimal and it means you don't fret if you have to abandon a park day due to weather or someone feeling a bit off. You can also visit for a couple of hours without it seeming like you've wasted a day's admission.
pherlopolus said:
The best thing for us about having the Villa is that it gives you some personal space back, being stuck in close confines with other people for each meal, and then having no lounge area to kick back in would be hellish after a day in a busy park, then having your own pool to dip in, the ability to cook your own food etc.
There's pros and cons for all accommodation - we've done every type and for a largely Disney holiday you can't beat staying in a Disney hotel but I'd say it depends on your kids. If you could afford it a Disney villa / suite would be ideal, but we all fit in a normal Disney hotel room. Lack of storage space for 2 weeks stuff is the biggest problem - Americans typically only go for 5 days.We have 2 girls and the holiday is so knackering that we're pretty well all going to bed and getting up at the same time. Plenty of room to run around in Disney hotels, bigger pool(s), bar if you want it etc.
I have to admit we have largely grown out of Disney, didn't even spend 1 day there last time (if you don't count a quick whizz round downtown disney after dropping off our bags there with Virgin on the last day before heading back to Seaworld!)
I do agree that 2pm is the hottest time of the day, but having spent all morning in the pool it's not so bad.
We tend to share a 4/5 bed villa with my Sister in laws family so generally we have catching up to do. We generally don't breakdown the cost of the villa/flight/car but all in it was £6400 for the 4 of us, a 4 bed villa and a 7 seater car for 3 weeks. by the time we had gone to clearwater for a few days, added the park tickets (full discovery cove, 14 days in universal and free legoland tickets), shopping, food etc it was £10k but we didn't budget before hand and flew with virgin - direct from Manchester rather than a lower cost charter flight.
Everytime we go we use Dial-A-Flight and ring to book about 18 months before we plan to go, mainly to make sure we get the manchester flights.
I do agree that 2pm is the hottest time of the day, but having spent all morning in the pool it's not so bad.
We tend to share a 4/5 bed villa with my Sister in laws family so generally we have catching up to do. We generally don't breakdown the cost of the villa/flight/car but all in it was £6400 for the 4 of us, a 4 bed villa and a 7 seater car for 3 weeks. by the time we had gone to clearwater for a few days, added the park tickets (full discovery cove, 14 days in universal and free legoland tickets), shopping, food etc it was £10k but we didn't budget before hand and flew with virgin - direct from Manchester rather than a lower cost charter flight.
Everytime we go we use Dial-A-Flight and ring to book about 18 months before we plan to go, mainly to make sure we get the manchester flights.
If there's a bunch of you then a villa is a no-brainer. We just got back from staying in one, but I did miss being on-site. The better and bigger villas get booked a long time in advance (2 yrs for peak periods). We just got back, booked over a year ago and had a bit of panic once we got down to booking as the first couple of places we tried were booked up.
To be honest, I think a lot of Orlando is pretty tacky and even Disney went a bit "off" a few years ago but they pulled it back. Lots of complaints from people this year though as they're doing a lot of building work (the DTD area is a disaster zone).
I always say we're not going next year and then we end up going again. But even my missus (who loves the place) is talking about having a different holiday next year.
To be honest, I think a lot of Orlando is pretty tacky and even Disney went a bit "off" a few years ago but they pulled it back. Lots of complaints from people this year though as they're doing a lot of building work (the DTD area is a disaster zone).
I always say we're not going next year and then we end up going again. But even my missus (who loves the place) is talking about having a different holiday next year.
Edited by Sheepshanks on Monday 8th September 11:48
pherlopolus said:
Dial a flight use a local management company, I think we will go direct to them next time to have more control over the villa, we havnt had a bad one, but we have one we want again.
We used Homeaway, who connect you directly to owners. There is a bit of risk with that (you can protect it through Homeway though) but it does throw up delights such as:This isn't the most bonkers, by any means.
It's not so much an issue now, but a few years back people were turning up at repossessed Villas where the owners had taken the money and not told them the bank owned it!, hence we let D-A-F deal with it now. Apparently they only had one family turn up to a villa that wasn't right (a flood apparently) and they had keys to an alternative within an hour...
You could, of course, get the convenience of a villa and then plus points of a hotel by staying at somewhere like Floridays. Which although looks like a hotel, every room has a sitting room, separate bedrooms, en-suite and a full kitchen and laundry equipment. Maid comes in and makes beds, empties trash etc. Down in the communal area is a big pool, bar & restaurant. We stayed there a few days last time we went, whilst waiting for our villa to be vacated. Really enjoyed it . . .
we went easter 2011
like you there were 3 of us and we also booked through Virgin for the hotel , flights and hire car
we stayed in an appartment in the lake buena vista area just a few miles from disney world
everywhere was busy, but not so bad that we had to queue for everything or miss out on anything we had planned
the weather was in the 90's every day so pretty hot but bearable
the total cost of the holiday including 14 day passes for both disney and universal + a visit to kennedy space centre, parking and dining, but not including gifts and visits to tha malls for cheap clothes came to roughly £7k.
I wouldn't want to do it without a hire car as it will very much restrict your freedom to explore, if your worried about driving over there, don't be,
it's easy, much easier than the uk,
most of the roads around the area are like our motorways,
even disney world itself which has a motorway system that takes you to the individual parks,
everywhere is well signposted and driving on the left takes very little time to get used to.
A sat nav is a good idea though, for getting you to your accomdation from the airport or stopping you from getting lost if you decide to venture out of the area
we decided to go for the cheapest option when booking a car as I just wanted something to get us from A to B
but wish we'd gone a bit more premium as the car we ended up with was very basic and was a bit cramped for the 3 of us
I don't know if they still do it but, one of the benefits of going with Virgin was the early entry into harry potter world at Universal studios,
it meant getting up at about 4am,
but ourselves and a handfull of others were taken into the park before it was open and treated to a breakfast and then had the place to ourselves, including getting 1st in line for the rides before the onsite guests and everyone else piled in after they opened the gates.
I would definitely recommend going self catering, there are plenty of Wall Marts and Publix for supplies and lots of great restaurants to try
or if you just fancy a night in there's usually a Pizza hut not far away
If you join Dibb you will get loads of great advice about what to do, what to take with you and the best place to buy park tickets etc
we really enjoyed it and will definitely be going again
edited to add,
we went for 2 weeks
like you there were 3 of us and we also booked through Virgin for the hotel , flights and hire car
we stayed in an appartment in the lake buena vista area just a few miles from disney world
everywhere was busy, but not so bad that we had to queue for everything or miss out on anything we had planned
the weather was in the 90's every day so pretty hot but bearable
the total cost of the holiday including 14 day passes for both disney and universal + a visit to kennedy space centre, parking and dining, but not including gifts and visits to tha malls for cheap clothes came to roughly £7k.
I wouldn't want to do it without a hire car as it will very much restrict your freedom to explore, if your worried about driving over there, don't be,
it's easy, much easier than the uk,
most of the roads around the area are like our motorways,
even disney world itself which has a motorway system that takes you to the individual parks,
everywhere is well signposted and driving on the left takes very little time to get used to.
A sat nav is a good idea though, for getting you to your accomdation from the airport or stopping you from getting lost if you decide to venture out of the area
we decided to go for the cheapest option when booking a car as I just wanted something to get us from A to B
but wish we'd gone a bit more premium as the car we ended up with was very basic and was a bit cramped for the 3 of us
I don't know if they still do it but, one of the benefits of going with Virgin was the early entry into harry potter world at Universal studios,
it meant getting up at about 4am,
but ourselves and a handfull of others were taken into the park before it was open and treated to a breakfast and then had the place to ourselves, including getting 1st in line for the rides before the onsite guests and everyone else piled in after they opened the gates.
I would definitely recommend going self catering, there are plenty of Wall Marts and Publix for supplies and lots of great restaurants to try
or if you just fancy a night in there's usually a Pizza hut not far away
If you join Dibb you will get loads of great advice about what to do, what to take with you and the best place to buy park tickets etc
we really enjoyed it and will definitely be going again
edited to add,
we went for 2 weeks
Edited by timberman on Monday 8th September 20:07
we went easter 2011
like you there were 3 of us and we also booked through Virgin for the hotel , flights and hire car
we stayed in an appartment in the lake buena vista area just a few miles from disney world
everywhere was busy, but not so bad that we had to queue for everything or miss out on anything we had planned
the weather was in the 90's every day so pretty hot but bearable
the total cost of the holiday including 14 day passes for both disney and universal + a visit to kennedy space centre, parking and dining, but not including gifts and visits to tha malls for cheap clothes came to roughly £7k.
I wouldn't want to do it without a hire car as it will very much restrict your freedom to explore, if your worried about driving over there, don't be,
it's easy, much easier than the uk,
most of the roads around the area are like our motorways,
even disney world itself which has a motorway system that takes you to the individual parks,
everywhere is well signposted and driving on the left takes very little time to get used to.
A sat nav is a good idea though, for getting you to your accomdation from the airport or stopping you from getting lost if you decide to venture out of the area
we decided to go for the cheapest option when booking a car as I just wanted something to get us from A to B
but wish we'd gone a bit more premium as the car we ended up with was very basic and was a bit cramped for the 3 of us
I don't know if they still do it but, one of the benefits of going with Virgin was the early entry into harry potter world at Universal studios,
it meant getting up at about 4am,
but ourselves and a handfull of others were taken into the park before it was open and treated to a breakfast and then had the place to ourselves, including getting 1st in line for the rides before the onsite guests and everyone else piled in after they opened the gates.
I would definitely recommend going self catering, there are plenty of Wall Marts and Publix for supplies and lots of great restaurants to try
or if you just fancy a night in there's usually a Pizza hut not far away
If you join Dibb you will get loads of great advice about what to do, what to take with you and the best place to buy park tickets etc
we really enjoyed it and will definitely be going again
edited to add,
we went for 2 weeks
like you there were 3 of us and we also booked through Virgin for the hotel , flights and hire car
we stayed in an appartment in the lake buena vista area just a few miles from disney world
everywhere was busy, but not so bad that we had to queue for everything or miss out on anything we had planned
the weather was in the 90's every day so pretty hot but bearable
the total cost of the holiday including 14 day passes for both disney and universal + a visit to kennedy space centre, parking and dining, but not including gifts and visits to tha malls for cheap clothes came to roughly £7k.
I wouldn't want to do it without a hire car as it will very much restrict your freedom to explore, if your worried about driving over there, don't be,
it's easy, much easier than the uk,
most of the roads around the area are like our motorways,
even disney world itself which has a motorway system that takes you to the individual parks,
everywhere is well signposted and driving on the left takes very little time to get used to.
A sat nav is a good idea though, for getting you to your accomdation from the airport or stopping you from getting lost if you decide to venture out of the area
we decided to go for the cheapest option when booking a car as I just wanted something to get us from A to B
but wish we'd gone a bit more premium as the car we ended up with was very basic and was a bit cramped for the 3 of us
I don't know if they still do it but, one of the benefits of going with Virgin was the early entry into harry potter world at Universal studios,
it meant getting up at about 4am,
but ourselves and a handfull of others were taken into the park before it was open and treated to a breakfast and then had the place to ourselves, including getting 1st in line for the rides before the onsite guests and everyone else piled in after they opened the gates.
I would definitely recommend going self catering, there are plenty of Wall Marts and Publix for supplies and lots of great restaurants to try
or if you just fancy a night in there's usually a Pizza hut not far away
If you join Dibb you will get loads of great advice about what to do, what to take with you and the best place to buy park tickets etc
we really enjoyed it and will definitely be going again
edited to add,
we went for 2 weeks
Edited by timberman on Monday 8th September 20:17
I've been several times.
Stayed in villas and hotels/complexes.
Villas are nice but you can feel isolated as they are largely in gated communities away from the action.
A great resort I found was Floridays. Located very centrally on International Drive, the main tourist drag. The rooms are all suites, 2 or 3 beds, really big with a full kitchen, a proper home from home but with the advantage of maid service and great pools and communal facilities.
I've always hired a car and found it best to book a basic car and negotiate an upgrade with the clerk at the desk, generally got some nice wheels. I find driving very difficult there. Road deigns are very poor and off ramps confusing to me at least.
Aquatica and Discovery cove are must dos together with the Disney parks, Universal and, if you like yo shop some good outlets.
I'd also go for an airboat ride on boggy creek and get down to Clearwater if you can.
Surprisingly I didn't much care for Florida on my first visit but went back and loved the place.
Stayed in villas and hotels/complexes.
Villas are nice but you can feel isolated as they are largely in gated communities away from the action.
A great resort I found was Floridays. Located very centrally on International Drive, the main tourist drag. The rooms are all suites, 2 or 3 beds, really big with a full kitchen, a proper home from home but with the advantage of maid service and great pools and communal facilities.
I've always hired a car and found it best to book a basic car and negotiate an upgrade with the clerk at the desk, generally got some nice wheels. I find driving very difficult there. Road deigns are very poor and off ramps confusing to me at least.
Aquatica and Discovery cove are must dos together with the Disney parks, Universal and, if you like yo shop some good outlets.
I'd also go for an airboat ride on boggy creek and get down to Clearwater if you can.
Surprisingly I didn't much care for Florida on my first visit but went back and loved the place.
Did two weeks back in May and one of those was half term, with my wife and 8 year old daughter, we also had the inlaws with us but they behaved 
We stayed at a Disney resort,the Caribbean Beach and it was great, bought the holiday through Virgin, so got the complete package, flights , hotel, park tickets and transfers, even used one of the dining plans and for the five of us it was just over ten grand, so for three of you, seven grand should be doable. Didn't need a car in the entire two weeks as has been said, all the Disney parks have free buses from the Disney hotels and they work well.
Any further info you need just ask
We stayed at a Disney resort,the Caribbean Beach and it was great, bought the holiday through Virgin, so got the complete package, flights , hotel, park tickets and transfers, even used one of the dining plans and for the five of us it was just over ten grand, so for three of you, seven grand should be doable. Didn't need a car in the entire two weeks as has been said, all the Disney parks have free buses from the Disney hotels and they work well.
Any further info you need just ask
Sheepshanks said:
CoinSl0t said:
...the whole place was so quiet for some reason,
...because there's nothing to do there, especially for kids.Naples/Marco is where all the "snow birds" go (to their second homes) from places such as Michigan for the winter and a lot of them go back "home" for the summer hence it's quieter around that time of year.
Edited by The Moose on Wednesday 10th September 00:25
Ive just booked our trip to Disney!
We go with Thompson at the end of August next year. 2 adults and kids ages 7 and 9. We are staying at Vista Cay Apartments located just behind IDrive. We couldn't decide Villa or hotel but the 2 bed apartment seems a perfect combination of both.
Really really looking forward to it. Just need to sort care hire and park tickets.
We go with Thompson at the end of August next year. 2 adults and kids ages 7 and 9. We are staying at Vista Cay Apartments located just behind IDrive. We couldn't decide Villa or hotel but the 2 bed apartment seems a perfect combination of both.
Really really looking forward to it. Just need to sort care hire and park tickets.
Did Disney and Universal last Christmas, although we had a car we didn't use it at the parks.
Stayed at Walt Disney World Swan for 5 nights and used the Disney boat and Bus to get to the parks - if you drive you have to pay for parking and its still a bus ride to the main entrance for each park. You also get fast pass or whatever its called, at Universal we also stayed on site and again there's a boat from the hotel to the park entrance and again you get the fast pass, which was a god send for a Potter crazy 10 year old - 2 hour queue at 10am with by which time we'd done the forbidden journey ride 3 times, potter world so busy access was closed for 3 hours or so in the afternoon
Parking at Disney Swan was free and $30 or so at Portofino Bay where we stayed, after 8 days we were parked out and drove down to Clearwater in the Camaro Convertible for some R&R on the beach!
Stayed at Walt Disney World Swan for 5 nights and used the Disney boat and Bus to get to the parks - if you drive you have to pay for parking and its still a bus ride to the main entrance for each park. You also get fast pass or whatever its called, at Universal we also stayed on site and again there's a boat from the hotel to the park entrance and again you get the fast pass, which was a god send for a Potter crazy 10 year old - 2 hour queue at 10am with by which time we'd done the forbidden journey ride 3 times, potter world so busy access was closed for 3 hours or so in the afternoon
Parking at Disney Swan was free and $30 or so at Portofino Bay where we stayed, after 8 days we were parked out and drove down to Clearwater in the Camaro Convertible for some R&R on the beach!
Lemmonie said:
Ive just booked our trip to Disney!
We go with Thompson at the end of August next year. 2 adults and kids ages 7 and 9. We are staying at Vista Cay Apartments located just behind IDrive. We couldn't decide Villa or hotel but the 2 bed apartment seems a perfect combination of both.
Really really looking forward to it. Just need to sort care hire and park tickets.
Google 'Alamo Brits'We go with Thompson at the end of August next year. 2 adults and kids ages 7 and 9. We are staying at Vista Cay Apartments located just behind IDrive. We couldn't decide Villa or hotel but the 2 bed apartment seems a perfect combination of both.
Really really looking forward to it. Just need to sort care hire and park tickets.
Jonathanbr said:
Stayed at Walt Disney World Swan for 5 nights and used the Disney boat and Bus to get to the parks - if you drive you have to pay for parking...
You don't pay for parking at the theme parks if staying in a "proper" Disney Hotel. The Swan & Dolphin are sort of halfway houses. I thought they charged a chunky resort fee too (they definitely used to) - Disney hotels don't.Some people prefer Swan & Dolphin for the very reason that they're not full-on Disney, they're a bit more business-like.
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