Florida & Disney
Discussion
Its a holiday that requires a lot of research now and changed considerable post pandemic.
Your approach is a good one, but the cheaper Disney Hotels are pretty basic but do have amazing theming. Art Of Animation is probably the best the Value Resorts, but the multi room suites are eye wateringly expensive and you can get a villa for less!
However a Villa forces a car and that can get quite tiring day after day and the parking at Disney resorts is $25pd too apart from the water parks where the parking is free.
Kennedy Space Centre is well worth a trip and brilliant IMO. Great contrast to a day in the parks and usually much quieter too.
Have a look at the Frugal Brit on YouTube or maybe DFB Guide for food stuff. Its Orlando Time on Facebook is also quite good for general questions and I have already found out a few gems on there.
We are off on Christmas Day and only booked last week whilst we were in Lanzarote for our summer holiday. I've been looking at Florida for years and we last went in 2016, so I'm looking forward to seeing Galaxys Edge, but I suspect our 8 year old who is ADHD/Autistic is going to find it hard going, but wife is convinced we can do enough to pre-warn him what its going to be like.
Your approach is a good one, but the cheaper Disney Hotels are pretty basic but do have amazing theming. Art Of Animation is probably the best the Value Resorts, but the multi room suites are eye wateringly expensive and you can get a villa for less!
However a Villa forces a car and that can get quite tiring day after day and the parking at Disney resorts is $25pd too apart from the water parks where the parking is free.
Kennedy Space Centre is well worth a trip and brilliant IMO. Great contrast to a day in the parks and usually much quieter too.
Have a look at the Frugal Brit on YouTube or maybe DFB Guide for food stuff. Its Orlando Time on Facebook is also quite good for general questions and I have already found out a few gems on there.
We are off on Christmas Day and only booked last week whilst we were in Lanzarote for our summer holiday. I've been looking at Florida for years and we last went in 2016, so I'm looking forward to seeing Galaxys Edge, but I suspect our 8 year old who is ADHD/Autistic is going to find it hard going, but wife is convinced we can do enough to pre-warn him what its going to be like.
they do have the quite rooms for them too from what i have seen. might also be worth asking about the disability service as it can help. friend of ours hates crowds (panic attack inducing) so basically they give you a lightning lane for everything as far as i can tell so you dont have to wait in the queue as much
Someone mentioned Universal California vs Universal Florida, having been to both Florida is the much better park as is Disney. Best rides in Disney were Everest and Slinky dog (imho). They are not extreme rides but they are fun which is what Disney is all about. Didn't ride on Tron but that looked good.
This year was the first time I have ever been to Disney and I really enjoyed it, but we booked early, managed to get some dining credit and stayed in the art of animation studio. Art of animation is like an oversized travel lodge (with the addition of dining table / kitchen. The big advantage of Disney hotel is that it is very easy to get everywhere and you can head back to the hotel fairly quickly, have a rest then head out again later. Food is not cheap but then it all depends on what you eat. There were a lot of US travellers staying in the hotel and we didn't hear anyone complaining. They have swimming pools as well.
We always do a week in Disney then head to the coast and stay in a Villa.
Driving down the interstate everyday with traffic might not be a relaxing experience if you stay outside of Disney.
Also we flew into Tampa, hired a car which is much better than Orland or Miami. It's a couple of hours out of Tampa to Orlando and the roads / driving is so easy in the US. Tampa is cheaper if you are on a budget, think I spend about £120 on fuel for the whole three weeks we were there so transport costs are cheap if you use a car.
This year was the first time I have ever been to Disney and I really enjoyed it, but we booked early, managed to get some dining credit and stayed in the art of animation studio. Art of animation is like an oversized travel lodge (with the addition of dining table / kitchen. The big advantage of Disney hotel is that it is very easy to get everywhere and you can head back to the hotel fairly quickly, have a rest then head out again later. Food is not cheap but then it all depends on what you eat. There were a lot of US travellers staying in the hotel and we didn't hear anyone complaining. They have swimming pools as well.
We always do a week in Disney then head to the coast and stay in a Villa.
Driving down the interstate everyday with traffic might not be a relaxing experience if you stay outside of Disney.
Also we flew into Tampa, hired a car which is much better than Orland or Miami. It's a couple of hours out of Tampa to Orlando and the roads / driving is so easy in the US. Tampa is cheaper if you are on a budget, think I spend about £120 on fuel for the whole three weeks we were there so transport costs are cheap if you use a car.
Its a holiday that requires a lot of research now and changed considerable post pandemic.
Your approach is a good one, but the cheaper Disney Hotels are pretty basic but do have amazing theming. Art Of Animation is probably the best the Value Resorts, but the multi room suites are eye wateringly expensive and you can get a villa for less!
However a Villa forces a car and that can get quite tiring day after day and the parking at Disney resorts is $25pd too apart from the water parks where the parking is free.
Kennedy Space Centre is well worth a trip and brilliant IMO. Great contrast to a day in the parks and usually much quieter too.
Have a look at the Frugal Brit on YouTube or maybe DFB Guide for food stuff. Its Orlando Time on Facebook is also quite good for general questions and I have already found out a few gems on there.
We are off on Christmas Day and only booked last week whilst we were in Lanzarote for our summer holiday. I've been looking at Florida for years and we last went in 2016, so I'm looking forward to seeing Galaxys Edge, but I suspect our 8 year old who is ADHD/Autistic is going to find it hard going, but wife is convinced we can do enough to pre-warn him what its going to be like.
Your approach is a good one, but the cheaper Disney Hotels are pretty basic but do have amazing theming. Art Of Animation is probably the best the Value Resorts, but the multi room suites are eye wateringly expensive and you can get a villa for less!
However a Villa forces a car and that can get quite tiring day after day and the parking at Disney resorts is $25pd too apart from the water parks where the parking is free.
Kennedy Space Centre is well worth a trip and brilliant IMO. Great contrast to a day in the parks and usually much quieter too.
Have a look at the Frugal Brit on YouTube or maybe DFB Guide for food stuff. Its Orlando Time on Facebook is also quite good for general questions and I have already found out a few gems on there.
We are off on Christmas Day and only booked last week whilst we were in Lanzarote for our summer holiday. I've been looking at Florida for years and we last went in 2016, so I'm looking forward to seeing Galaxys Edge, but I suspect our 8 year old who is ADHD/Autistic is going to find it hard going, but wife is convinced we can do enough to pre-warn him what its going to be like.
Trustmeimadoctor said:
they do have the quite rooms for them too from what i have seen. might also be worth asking about the disability service as it can help. friend of ours hates crowds (panic attack inducing) so basically they give you a lightning lane for everything as far as i can tell so you dont have to wait in the queue as much
Yes, they call it the DAS pass I think. We plan to apply for it as otherwise its going to be a real struggle in the queues. We got it for Chessington last year and it was a real game changer. For Vampire, we queued 7 minutes. If we had done the 90 minute queue, either me or my wife would have walked out the queue I suspect. Universal requires application in advance. We are still undecided on if we are going to do Universal as well.
first time we went we did magic kingdom, hollywood studios, animal kingdom, typhoon lagoon, blizard beach both the disney golfs, universal studio, ioa, wet and wild, aquatica, discovery cove, seaworld and busch as we said we would only go once
yeah that didnt hold true and been back pretty much every year since (damn you covid) and likely twice next year!
last year we did discovery cove 3 or 4 hours at seaworld and a few hours at aquatica that was it rest of the time was spent doing other stuff
last time we were at disney we just did one day per park and an after hours event at magic kingdom
its f
king exhausting on its own is disney even for 2 adults let alone with a kid but we tended to do rope drop till close we now tend to go later in the day as alot have left so its just easier and we can do other bits during the day.
also visitor numbers are still dropped off a cliff compared to pre covid
yeah that didnt hold true and been back pretty much every year since (damn you covid) and likely twice next year!
last year we did discovery cove 3 or 4 hours at seaworld and a few hours at aquatica that was it rest of the time was spent doing other stuff
last time we were at disney we just did one day per park and an after hours event at magic kingdom
its f
king exhausting on its own is disney even for 2 adults let alone with a kid but we tended to do rope drop till close we now tend to go later in the day as alot have left so its just easier and we can do other bits during the day.also visitor numbers are still dropped off a cliff compared to pre covid
bakerstreet said:
Trustmeimadoctor said:
they do have the quite rooms for them too from what i have seen. might also be worth asking about the disability service as it can help. friend of ours hates crowds (panic attack inducing) so basically they give you a lightning lane for everything as far as i can tell so you dont have to wait in the queue as much
Yes, they call it the DAS pass I think. We plan to apply for it as otherwise its going to be a real struggle in the queues. We got it for Chessington last year and it was a real game changer. For Vampire, we queued 7 minutes. If we had done the 90 minute queue, either me or my wife would have walked out the queue I suspect. Universal requires application in advance. We are still undecided on if we are going to do Universal as well.
I Forgot about the Star Wars rides at Disney, Both were really fun with the cast members playing the role of empire guards.
TheTImeTracker is another one to watch on YouTube.
I'm in the early stages of planning for August, not been before. I looked at packages (TUI) and staying on park, but wow, the cost of the hotels is crazy. Current plan is to rent a villa (there's some really nice ones), fly into Tampa, get the 14 for 7 day Disney ticket, do Busch/Universal/Seaworld/whatever over a 14 day period. The only proviso I've set the kids is that I want to do Kennedy. I think 14 days to do all that should be pretty relaxed.
Comparing costs of that to 14 nights in Port Orleans hotel it's about 3-4k cheaper than the TUI Disney package (based on 1 adult and 2 teenagers). Having said that flights aren't out yet for end of August so it might shift a bit.
We usually stay on park (Efteling, Gardaland, Portaventura, Parc Asterix etc) but I can't justify the difference, and 14 days in the same room, hmmm no thanks, I'll take the 4 bed villa with the private pool and games room!
Comparing costs of that to 14 nights in Port Orleans hotel it's about 3-4k cheaper than the TUI Disney package (based on 1 adult and 2 teenagers). Having said that flights aren't out yet for end of August so it might shift a bit.
We usually stay on park (Efteling, Gardaland, Portaventura, Parc Asterix etc) but I can't justify the difference, and 14 days in the same room, hmmm no thanks, I'll take the 4 bed villa with the private pool and games room!
toastyhamster said:
I'm in the early stages of planning for August, not been before. I looked at packages (TUI) and staying on park, but wow, the cost of the hotels is crazy. Current plan is to rent a villa (there's some really nice ones), fly into Tampa, get the 14 for 7 day Disney ticket, do Busch/Universal/Seaworld/whatever over a 14 day period. The only proviso I've set the kids is that I want to do Kennedy. I think 14 days to do all that should be pretty relaxed.
Comparing costs of that to 14 nights in Port Orleans hotel it's about 3-4k cheaper than the TUI Disney package (based on 1 adult and 2 teenagers). Having said that flights aren't out yet for end of August so it might shift a bit.
We usually stay on park (Efteling, Gardaland, Portaventura, Parc Asterix etc) but I can't justify the difference, and 14 days in the same room, hmmm no thanks, I'll take the 4 bed villa with the private pool and games room!
imho no that isnt enough time you will be run ragged Comparing costs of that to 14 nights in Port Orleans hotel it's about 3-4k cheaper than the TUI Disney package (based on 1 adult and 2 teenagers). Having said that flights aren't out yet for end of August so it might shift a bit.
We usually stay on park (Efteling, Gardaland, Portaventura, Parc Asterix etc) but I can't justify the difference, and 14 days in the same room, hmmm no thanks, I'll take the 4 bed villa with the private pool and games room!
fly
magic kingdom
animal kingdom
hollywood studios
epcot
busch
seaworld
ioa
universal studios
kennedy
typhpon lagoon half day
blizzard beach half day
aquattica half day
volcano bay half day
fly depending on time your not doing anything that day either
thats using everything you will have had tickets for
thats 13 days without going back or getting rained off out of 15
and your missing discovery cove imho its a must do especially on the first day lets you relax and get into the holiday as you wont relax for the rest of it
keep in mind you will likely be at the park for rope drop say 9am so you will likely be getting up at 6:30/7am and not leaving the park till 7pm depending on park and time of year then maybe an hour or more to get home sometimes maybe 2
Another one that has been many times and would always have a villa (with pool) and a car. We have had some brilliant villas for very little money vs hotels.
Parks are exhausting so you really need to be spending some time doing other stuff. If you have a villa then you can have a few days just chilling around the pool.
I would also say that if your kids are older then the Universal Parks are better than Disney. You can get better deals for universal as well.
Parks are exhausting so you really need to be spending some time doing other stuff. If you have a villa then you can have a few days just chilling around the pool.
I would also say that if your kids are older then the Universal Parks are better than Disney. You can get better deals for universal as well.
98elise said:
Another one that has been many times and would always have a villa (with pool) and a car. We have had some brilliant villas for very little money vs hotels.
Parks are exhausting so you really need to be spending some time doing other stuff. If you have a villa then you can have a few days just chilling around the pool.
I would also say that if your kids are older then the Universal Parks are better than Disney. You can get better deals for universal as well.
for me i hate screen based rides so universal is poor value. i dont think ive ever really seen universal give any real deals Parks are exhausting so you really need to be spending some time doing other stuff. If you have a villa then you can have a few days just chilling around the pool.
I would also say that if your kids are older then the Universal Parks are better than Disney. You can get better deals for universal as well.
and usually the only deals you do get are at blackfriday
Trustmeimadoctor said:
98elise said:
Another one that has been many times and would always have a villa (with pool) and a car. We have had some brilliant villas for very little money vs hotels.
Parks are exhausting so you really need to be spending some time doing other stuff. If you have a villa then you can have a few days just chilling around the pool.
I would also say that if your kids are older then the Universal Parks are better than Disney. You can get better deals for universal as well.
for me i hate screen based rides so universal is poor value. i dont think ive ever really seen universal give any real deals Parks are exhausting so you really need to be spending some time doing other stuff. If you have a villa then you can have a few days just chilling around the pool.
I would also say that if your kids are older then the Universal Parks are better than Disney. You can get better deals for universal as well.
and usually the only deals you do get are at blackfriday
Edited to add...
Just looked it up. An adult 14 day 2 park ticket for universal is about £300, as is the 3 park ticket. Before volcano bay opened the 2 park ticket was £200.
Disney multi park tickets seem to be more like £500 per person. That's for more parks but I found Disneyworld and Animal Kingdom we only worth one visit, and Epcot just doesn't appeal.
Edited by 98elise on Monday 4th September 18:28
Universal 2024 is 345 per adult for 3 park ticket or 138 per day based on 2.5 days
Disney is 555-579 per adult in August 24 Disney is 115 per day based on 5 days 1 day each park and 1/2 each water park
Best value by far is the discovery cove ticket at 248 in August of 71 per day based on 3.5 days of stuff to do
Disney is 555-579 per adult in August 24 Disney is 115 per day based on 5 days 1 day each park and 1/2 each water park
Best value by far is the discovery cove ticket at 248 in August of 71 per day based on 3.5 days of stuff to do
I just bought new Universal Annual Passes and for the preferred tier (so free parking) it was about £600 per person for unlimited access (US and IOA) for 15mths with no blackout dates - bargain in my opinion - a 2 week pass can easily run to this for the universal parks and that’s without the $40/day parking fee.
Trustmeimadoctor said:
Universal 2024 is 345 per adult for 3 park ticket or 138 per day based on 2.5 days
Disney is 555-579 per adult in August 24 Disney is 115 per day based on 5 days 1 day each park and 1/2 each water park
Best value by far is the discovery cove ticket at 248 in August of 71 per day based on 3.5 days of stuff to do
I've seen Universal tickets a bit cheaper but there seems to be a general push to sell multi-day tickets which is not really our experience of European parks. So many options! I see a day per park in Disney and then longer where the more extreme rides are.Disney is 555-579 per adult in August 24 Disney is 115 per day based on 5 days 1 day each park and 1/2 each water park
Best value by far is the discovery cove ticket at 248 in August of 71 per day based on 3.5 days of stuff to do
Thanks for the previous advice, be amazed if we do any water parks, got one non-swimmer and one poor one, none of us would get much value out of them but I'll take a closer look at Discovery Cove, ta. Long days in theme parks are what we do, so we've probably more stamina than most, and if we do flake we've got the Villa. My only concern is the heat, but that comes with lower queue times, we've been monitoring last few days and queues are very acceptable.
Research continues.
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