stretch
Striker
The dibb board is canny.
We’ve just booked villa for late August next year so will be looking out for flights soon
Florida
- Thread starter Stormo
- Start date
The dibb board is canny.
We’ve just booked villa for late August next year so will be looking out for flights soon
Monkey
Winger
I’ve been back a week and a half and still got the blues.
I loved being in the Disney bubble and all the little extras you get from staying on site. Port Orleans is a cracking hotel, it’s just a shame we didn’t spend a bit more down time there. The Disney dining plan, fast passes and memory makers are a must if you want to see a lot of characters and the only ride I had any sort of wait for was an hour for flight of passage, as I couldn’t get a fast pass. It was well worth the wait. Do character dining if you have young-uns. My favourites were Tusker House, Ohana breakfast and Be Our Guest for Dinner. Raglan Road at Disney Springs was excellent and my daughter loved getting the chance to dance on stage. We managed to get 48 character autographs by the end. Be expected to do a lot a walking - we did 75 miles over the 17 days.
If you book a hotel that is sold as a resort, there’s a decent chance they’ll get you to commit to a timeshare talk. We stayed at Summer Bay at the bottom of the 192, and The Guy Harvey Outpost at St Petes and both expected us to sign up for a ‘look round’ the resort. Did the first one and got $150 for 90 minutes of telling the bloke we’re not interested. Easy money tbh.
The only thing I would change was I wish I’d booked an extra night or 2 at the beach for the end of the holiday, as well as getting sun stroke and having a burst ear drum.
We’ll probably book again for 3 years time, counting the days.
I loved being in the Disney bubble and all the little extras you get from staying on site. Port Orleans is a cracking hotel, it’s just a shame we didn’t spend a bit more down time there. The Disney dining plan, fast passes and memory makers are a must if you want to see a lot of characters and the only ride I had any sort of wait for was an hour for flight of passage, as I couldn’t get a fast pass. It was well worth the wait. Do character dining if you have young-uns. My favourites were Tusker House, Ohana breakfast and Be Our Guest for Dinner. Raglan Road at Disney Springs was excellent and my daughter loved getting the chance to dance on stage. We managed to get 48 character autographs by the end. Be expected to do a lot a walking - we did 75 miles over the 17 days.
If you book a hotel that is sold as a resort, there’s a decent chance they’ll get you to commit to a timeshare talk. We stayed at Summer Bay at the bottom of the 192, and The Guy Harvey Outpost at St Petes and both expected us to sign up for a ‘look round’ the resort. Did the first one and got $150 for 90 minutes of telling the bloke we’re not interested. Easy money tbh.
The only thing I would change was I wish I’d booked an extra night or 2 at the beach for the end of the holiday, as well as getting sun stroke and having a burst ear drum.
We’ll probably book again for 3 years time, counting the days.
Hank Scorpio
Striker
I’d recommend Clearwater/St Pete’s to anyone mate. It’s a brilliant way to chill out after the madness of the parks.
We are in the process of getting booked up and I’m going to try and get 5 days in Clearwater. The kids loved it the last time
Brexit
Winger
Don't book yet if this is for 2019. Wait a couple of weeks and BA fly drives usually plunge in price.
Hank Scorpio
Striker
Cheers mate
Brexit
Winger
End of September is when they tend to come out. Especially if you're willing to go indirect to Tampa or Miami. Miami is usually best from Sunderland North as you don't have to change from Heathrow to Gatwick.
Monkey
Winger
We went on Little Toot dolphin trip at Clearwater, and a lad wearing a Sunderland t-shirt got on as well. It was just about the time we went 1-0 to Oxford a few weeks back. Spotted the dolphins in the first 10 mins and spent the rest talking SAFC. It’s a small world at times.
WASTID
Striker
After our trip this year I think I am kind of Disneyed out.
Next trip will be more about the various other places that we have never done - I hope!
Mind staying on-site at Disney and Universal was great. Didn't do any major queuing really as had fast pass for the main things and we took advantage of the extra hours as well
Next trip will be more about the various other places that we have never done - I hope!
Mind staying on-site at Disney and Universal was great. Didn't do any major queuing really as had fast pass for the main things and we took advantage of the extra hours as well
Skandhaless
Striker
Try getting a,bit further south , sannibelle and captiva island , about 20 years since I was last there but canny.
Tongey
Winger
Aye me dad whos organising it posted on there and had little luck
He wanted to get flights sorted first before the Villa, so now they are sorted thats the next thing as car hire, park tickets etc can all wait until closer to the time.
He had 1 lined up but something didnt sit right with him as the woman was a Manc
and he wasnt sure she was actually in Florida and didn't sound very professional and couldn't find out much about the website etc she posted on
stretch
Striker
Aye me dad whos organising it posted on there and had little luck
He wanted to get flights sorted first before the Villa, so now they are sorted thats the next thing as car hire, park tickets etc can all wait until closer to the time.
He had 1 lined up but something didnt sit right with him as the woman was a Manc
Probs the one we booked, she’s a nightmare to deal with compared to the previous fella
The Butcher
Striker
Trying to sort first trip out there for next year, however our lass and daughter don't like rollercoasters, me and the boy do. My thinking was to stay on Universal and Disney, however the wife wants to do Discovery Cove, SeaWorld etc. So I think Disney may have to be missed next year. What would people recommend:
Universal , Busch Gardens, SeaWorld, Discovery Cove, Aquatica and Space Centre
or
Disney and Universal (staying on site)
Also any recommends to stay in decent Orlando hotel close to bars/restaurants. How much is it to hire a car by the way?
anth
Winger
your daughter will want to go to disney. You cant go the first time and miss it out.
I've been three times now and would pick universal, busch gardens, seaworld ect everytime. But you have to see the Disney stuff first.
Think about doing a few days at a universal hotel to use their fastpass system then move to a disney hotel for the rest to use theirs. Alternatively book a villa, this is what we do, you loose out on being near bars and you have to drive everywhere, but to me this isn't a drinking holiday. If I want a beer I have it round the private pool out the back of the villa.
I think I paid about £400 to hire a 'SUV' last time. It got bumped upto a 7 seater since they had none left which was fine by me. You can probably get it closer to £300 for a smaller car, just don't go for something tiny, you'll have suitcases to fit in.
jedi_toaster
Striker
We always (well, last time in 2016 and this time in 31 days) go for a villa. We also do everything available on the multi-tickets...so Disney,universal, sea world and Busch gardens plus the 4 water parks. People often recommend limiting the scope of what you do so you’re not running around all mental and ending up knackered, but for me I treat it like it’s the only time I’ll get there so want to do it all! It wasn’t a problem last time, and we got plenty down-time, too, so this year we’re really going to go for broke and wreck ourselves spending every waking minute doing something. We’ve got an SUV booked which was about £300, private villa with pool about 10 minutes from Disney entrance and about 30 minutes to universal. I don’t drink so it drives the wife loopy that I can’t drive as she has to have soft drinks when we go out for dinner! As you say, for me it’s not really a boozy type of holiday, due to how fresh you need to feel to get up and go every morning.
PTR
Striker
As much as its not a drinking holiday, the bar crawl around World Showcase is a class night
Agree with the above though, a first trip to Orlando really has to include at least 1 day at all 4 Disney parks as a bare minimum.
Accept that you'll not do everything though, its impossible.
Many people will disagree, but I wouldn't bother with Bush Gardens if time is a problem. Maybe even Sea World too as much as I like it. Do the big things. Disney, Universal and a couple of water parks.
The 2 best tips I can give
1 - Get to the parks before opening. Yes, its a fuck on getting up so early, but its worth it 100%
2 - For Disney, plan your fastpasses 30/60 days in advance
Agree with the above though, a first trip to Orlando really has to include at least 1 day at all 4 Disney parks as a bare minimum.
Accept that you'll not do everything though, its impossible.
Many people will disagree, but I wouldn't bother with Bush Gardens if time is a problem. Maybe even Sea World too as much as I like it. Do the big things. Disney, Universal and a couple of water parks.
The 2 best tips I can give
1 - Get to the parks before opening. Yes, its a fuck on getting up so early, but its worth it 100%
2 - For Disney, plan your fastpasses 30/60 days in advance
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MackemMagic
Striker
Have you looked at Home Away?
Tongey
Winger
yeah he's looked at that too, but seems to be a fair bit more expensive
MackemMagic
Striker
Yeah? We got a cracking deal on one for this October - but that's probably down to peak/off peak timings.
jedi_toaster
Striker
Busch gardens is THE place to go if you’re a roller-coaster lover, though.As much as its not a drinking holiday, the bar crawl around World Showcase is a class night
Agree with the above though, a first trip to Orlando really has to include at least 1 day at all 4 Disney parks as a bare minimum.
Accept that you'll not do everything though, its impossible.
Many people will disagree, but I wouldn't bother with Bush Gardens if time is a problem. Maybe even Sea World too as much as I like it. Do the big things. Disney, Universal and a couple of water parks.
The 2 best tips I can give
1 - Get to the parks before opening. Yes, its a fuck on getting up so early, but its worth it 100%
2 - For Disney, plan your fastpasses 30/60 days in advance
I tried to do everything in 14 days back in 2016, but know I missed loads, even though I did get to every park. Epcot has loads of stuff that I just zipped past last time as I was busy dealing with a small gout flare-up and was really grumpy due to all the walking, so this time we’re going to explore it in more detail.
Tongey
Winger
Aye we're right at the end of peak times i think. We'll keep looking, used Home Away plenty of times over here, but when he's paying a decent chunk of money for 2 weeks he wants to be sure it's legit, so might end up having to pay a bit extra for peace of mind.
