Disneyland Florida - worth it these days?

[ollie05]

broken biscuit said:

Rosen Inn on international Drive was the hotel I was looking at - very 'budget'

Understatement right there.

I stayed there over 10 years ago and it was just ok, but not as bad as it is now, but the first room we stayed in this year, looked like it hadn't even been painted since before that.

I say first room as there were sewage issues in the block we were in, raw sewage in the bath tub!!

Second room we were moved to was apparently fully refurbished, but was the same design, bathroom, sinks, beds etc as the old room, they had literally painted it, and done a st job at that.

The air con is what I'm convinced made me ill, those old school units which smell musty and have never been maintained or had filters changed. The one room we moved to pissed water all over the floor when it was turned on, so they said we will swap it. Hour later, came back with a replica unit from the fking 80s which stank for the first few days, so obviously hadn't been used in years.

Lots of TripAdvisor reviews praise it, and if serious low budget is your thing, crack on, but I won't stay there again as long as I've got a hole in my arse.

Fat Brits drinking all day round the pool, wearing football tops and not keeping control of their bd kids plus the stty rooms just let the holiday down. Sound like a right snob, but it's true, like a scene out of shameless

In fairness, the location is decent, and breakfast was ok, but that's it.

Next time, I will do a villa I think

[broken biscuit]

We will be 'separating' prior to our holiday, and one taking each of our children out of school as it is our school's policy to fine per child per parent taking the holiday. Another hour of research is needed I think, and a visit to the travel agents.

[GreatGranny]

After doing EuroDisney approx. 6 years ago which we all loved, we started costing up Florida a few years later with 3 kids (15, 13 & 8), reached £8k+ not including spending money and thought f*ck that!

So now do UK in the summer for 2 weeks and Turkey All Inclusive in October for 10 days which they all seem to enjoy.
I know its not the same and Disney would be fantastic but we can't justify £10k+ on one holiday.

[PistonBroker]

broken biscuit said:

We will be 'separating' prior to our holiday, and one taking each of our children out of school as it is our school's policy to fine per child per parent taking the holiday.

Yes, I used to be a Governor at the kids' school and was the only one who went on the training in that respect. Oh, the irony!

Seems as though nothing happens if attendance is at least 97%. But yes, the idea of a £60 fine each, per session - that's morning and afternoon! - for 5 days away isn't a nice one.

[Jefferson Steelflex]

broken biscuit said:

wife wants to go back.

All answers are irrelevant if this is the case.

On a serious note...

10yo will love it, nothing there for the younger ones as they can't go on any decent rides (and therefore neither can you). The only way to make the best of it is to go out of season/school holidays as at least you won't queue for 2 hours each ride.

It can be relaxing if you aren't constantly at the whim of young ids, in this case you just won't get any respite. If you can convince your Mrs to wait, even a couple of years might be ok.

[Saleen836]

broken biscuit said:

I have daughters aged 4 and 5 who are both Disney princess obsessed. I cant go to florida without doing the parks.

The wife also wants to do Discovery Cove and swim with dolphins which is £1300 for the 5 of us!!

I have a few things I want to do - Kennedy Space Centre, Daytona (circuit and beach), possibly down to Miami for a day so really 7 day park tickets will suffice.

One thought - I have distant family out in Florida - not known well enough to go and stay with etc, but who I could get to purchase tickets for our parks - is it cheaper for locals to buy tickets?

I have no issue with taking the kids out of school but my work is also school-based, so not only do I have to pay £120 fines for taking them out of school, I then have to pay for childcare for the two weeks I would have been off in the holidays...

Miami for a day? forget it unless you and the family dont mind the 8hour round trip!

Sheepshanks said:

Saleen836 said:

Is that price a package for flights and hotel? have you looked at costs for booking flights seperately (flight sales on at resent) you can rent a huge villa close to the parks for around £300 a week if you shop around

I daresay you'll post a link up to one now but having been many times I'm going say that's way out. Huge and close to the parks is going to be £1000/wk, especially as the OP is talking about the summer holidays. And good places will already be booked up for this summer.

We've been most years since 1990, we always make our own arrangements for flights, accommodation, car hire and tickets and I try never to add it up! Reading TheDibb about families booking for 2018 and looking at £15K causes me a bit of a gulp.

A quick search... https://www.orlandovillas.com/florida-vacation-ren... £525 a week and only 5 miles from Disney, go further out and the price will drop, been a while since I looked at prices but there are deals to be found

[Sheepshanks]

Saleen836 said:

A quick search... https://www.orlandovillas.com/florida-vacation-ren... £525 a week and only 5 miles from Disney, go further out and the price will drop, been a while since I looked at prices but there are deals to be found

I know you just picked one at random but I wouldn't stay in that location because of the airport and police firing range. There's nothing horribly wrong with the villa itself but it ain't "huge"!

And even £525 is a lot more than £300, but it says "from" and the actual price could be higher if they base it in USD - $850 is £630 or so and it doesn't mention tax, which is 13.5%.

[98elise]

Sheepshanks said:

Saleen836 said:

A quick search... https://www.orlandovillas.com/florida-vacation-ren... £525 a week and only 5 miles from Disney, go further out and the price will drop, been a while since I looked at prices but there are deals to be found

I know you just picked one at random but I wouldn't stay in that location because of the airport and police firing range. There's nothing horribly wrong with the villa itself but it ain't "huge"!

And even £525 is a lot more than £300, but it says "from" and the actual price could be higher if they base it in USD - $850 is £630 or so and it doesn't mention tax, which is 13.5%.

I've booked through Orlando Villas a few times and it's always been inclusive of tax. Checking a few of the villas it does say includes taxes.

Last time we went we did a late booking and ended up in 6 bed place at 3 bed rates! It also had 2 livingrooms (one with a pool table) and the pool had a jacuzzi.

Another time we ended up in a huge place with 2 dining rooms, two living rooms, and a games room

I hate booking hotels in Europe when I look at what we can get in a Florida villa.

Edited by 98elise on Tuesday 2nd January 19:07

[interstellar]

We went for the fourth time in April this year, 3 of us including a 9 year old.

Had a great time, it cost 8k all in.

Some of the cheaper ways to do things are

Fly to tampa not orlando, shorter queue for customs and only 40 miles further to our house in Kissimmee.
Kennedy is by far the cheapest day. half price tickets online
Watched the nba (Orlando magic) in the city, one of the highlights.
Your girls will want to go to bibbedi bobbedi boutique , expensive but worth it, at Disney Springs.
Book you car hire asap, holidayautos is a great broker.
With the dollar as it is clothes and surprising food is not cheap anymore. The supermakets are expensive.

[OldGermanHeaps]

DELETED: Comment made by a member who's account has been deleted.

Your a cheery chappie.
Anyway if they are so smart how come they keep swimming into tuna nets?

[Countdown]

OP - my 4 kids were aged between 7 and 21 when we first went.

It cost circa £12k all-in but speaking as a tight fisted northerner I can say it was worth every penny. Everybody had a great time, we did the 6 Disney parks twice, DTD, meals out, everything that we wanted to do. Definitely recommended.

If I were you I'd leave Universal until your kids are a bit older IMO

[Geffg]

Know what you mean about cost. Booked ours for this August, 2 adults, 2 kids 8 and 12.
Booked a villa for 3 weeks from middle of August and was £1500 about half hour from Disney.
But total cost is roughly £10,000 for everything except spends!!!
Cost is ridiculous but things happened couple years ago and just thought what the hell only live once. Also was only gonna book for 2 weeks but then thought 3 weeks would be better and was only gonna cost another £500 for the villa for the extra week and some spends and on the scale of the cost may as well do the extra week.
It is a lot of money but me and the mrs went before we had kids and both thought it was the best holiday ever had so looking forward to it, even though gonna have to sacrifice holiday next year to pay it off.

[broken biscuit]

Just costed it out again - for 3 weeks:this time

Flights 3k - skyscanner

3 bed condo with communal pool - 1600 - ownersdirect

car hire 400 - gocompare

discovery cove (inc 14 day busch, seaworld and aquatica tickets) 1500

Disney 14 days tickets 1900

Total of £8400 + spends so figure £11k

That's a very nice second hand car, or two years of competitive motorsport for me...

Some serious saving to do!!

[andy43]

We've been to Florida twice. Unless kids are actual Disney princesses it's not worth the bother based on the two Disney parks we went to.
Disneyland was packed and a bit crap for 13 y.olds. Very expensive. I couldn't stay within Disney at a hotel, it's just silly money. Plus side - I felt very slim while I was in Disney Oh, and his'n'hers mobility scooters anyone?

Animal Kingdom was quite good but Busch (with behind-the-scenes tours at extra cost - got within six feet of Hippo, big cats etc) absolutely blew it out of the water.
Best day for me was Busch or Discovery Cove (we just had basic tickets, didn't do the dolphin swim), kids (then 11) thought Universal for Harry Potter was a tie with DCove. HPotter rides were incredible, the whole setup was amazing - very jealous we didn't have Potter when I was growing up.
Avatar ride (Animal Kingdom I think) is supposed to be brilliant, but OPs kids maybe too small.
You get entry to Busch etc included in the Discovery Cove tix, so valuewise it's pretty good.
Seaworld was good, but as per the anti dolphin swim links already posted google Black Fish before booking.

I did try using TheDibb for info, but it's just so big as to be impossible to drill down enough specific advice without spending months on it.
Individually booked T Cook flights Manc-Miami with a night in Miami, townhouse/apartment in Orlando and car hire (Alamo Brits - 2nd hand guides on ebay just in case they ask...) worked out cheaper for us. Bought Disney park tickets in Florida - note magic-your-way Disney tix aren't (or weren't a few months back) available in the UK. If you do buy when you're there, make sure they're official tickets and don't bother with the cheaper timeshare sales option - cost us nearly half a day to save not much money at all on our first trip.

Get ESTA sorted asap too. Plus I reckon 4yo is pushing it, personally I'd wait a few years as they'll remember a lot more and be able to go on bigger rides. It's not at all cheap, apart from eating out, and in school holidays you are completely screwed - we went in October as our school gets a two week half term - wouldn't have considered it at 'normal' school hol prices, or in the summer, as it's warm enough in autumn.

[andy43]

broken biscuit said:

.....

That's a very nice second hand car, or two years of competitive motorsport for me...

.....

But what price the memories?
I've never tried trackdays....

[lost in espace]

interstellar said:

The supermakets are expensive.

I discovered this in August, it was cheaper to eat out if you chose the restaurant with care.

[surveyor]

lost in espace said:

interstellar said:

The supermakets are expensive.

I discovered this in August, it was cheaper to eat out if you chose the restaurant with care.

My wife can do serious damage in Publix.

Last time we went we skipped Disney. From memory we only had the Busch, Sea World and Aquatica tickets. Busch is superb, Sea World a bit samey after the same visit. Aquatica my daughter has loved every time we have been there.....

[Sheepshanks]

andy43 said:

Bought Disney park tickets in Florida - note magic-your-way Disney tix aren't (or weren't a few months back) available in the UK.

You have to 'build' Magic-your-Way tickets if you want anything other than single park entry. UK gets "Ultimate" tickets, which I think are unique and get you into any Disney park / water park for 7, 14 or 21 days. They often do the 14 day one for price of 7 and the 21 day is only slightly dearer.

If your Disney exposure is going to very limited then it might be worth buying tickets locally, but the big thing about the Ultimate tickets is you can come and go as you please. If you buy individual tickets and the park is rammed or the weather is bad or one of the party is having an off day then you're a bit stuffed.

[Chris4410]

It really is Disney that puts the cost of an Orlando holiday at this ridiculous level. My wife, son and I have been to Orlando over 10 times and during the first 3 or 4 trips we always headed to Disney and the cost is over the top.

During our last 6 or 7 trips the most recent being last month we haven't been near Disney and we don't miss it at all, however I can understand it as a must for folks visiting for the first time or who have younger kids who are obsessed with the whole Frozen etc thing.

Having said this I will definitely head back to Disney when the Star Wars theme land opens, unfortunately it will stupidly expensive and stupidly busy.

My advise is to go in May or October, these tend to be the quieter months and the weather is far nicer. Standing in a queue for 2 hours in 35 degree heat with 100% humidity is not fun.

[Brave Fart]

To the OP: my advice is simply "don't try to do it all in one trip" - especially if it's your first. You may think three weeks is a lot, but if you want to do all of the Disney and Universal parks, and Kennedy, and Miami..........you'll spend all your time rushing around, queuing, sat in traffic.....you get the picture. It's very tiring - for example it can take 30 minutes from reaching the Universal car park entrance (yep, $20 to park before 6 p.m.) to entering the park itself. And then another 20 minutes all the way round to Harry Potter. All in 30 degrees heat. And you're stressed 'cos you're lost already!

Find a UK owned villa with lots of space and a pool (find one on the Dibb), have some lazy rest days, visit the beaches (Clearwater, or Cocoa Beach, or both), go for ice creams at Celebration, visit The Cheesecake Factory. And yes, take in a couple of parks - your youngsters will LOVE the water parks. I think Disney is OK for under-nines, but Universal would be wasted on them at that age. They will like Busch but will be too small for the big roller coasters.

Anyway, just remember that Orlando is full on, and it can overwhelm you if you're not careful. And if you like it, you can always go back another time.