Orlando, Florida - Some questions for you all!

LegacyUser

Hi all,

Myself and two or three other lads will be going to Orlando in late August or September. We have not booked yet. We would like to go to all the theme parks like Disney and Universal Studios etc and some water parks if available. Basically see all the things in Orlando.

I have a few questions:

1) Is a car necessary?

2) How far apart are all the places?

3) Whats a great hotel central to all the locations and beaches?

4) Whats the best area to stay in? We do not have money to burn but we would like to stay in a decent place.

5) Is September a bad time to go since they have a lot of rain then?

6) Is it still hot in September and are all the places still open?

Cheers!

Lots of questions but I trust the boards.ie folk to help me out!

Mucho Gracias!

Xero

ok, well i've been there 3 times myself so i'll answer u questions based on my own experiance

1) Yeah, u definitely need a car, i dont recall seeing many buses, none actually. but there might be buses that go to the parks, but it might be cheaper to rent a car anyway

2) the different parks are a good bit appart, the disney ones, mgm studios, disneyland, and typhoon lagoon are close together but universal and the rest are out a bit

3) + 4) the best area i found staying in was called "international drive" it just have everyting u need in the area

5) + 6) the 3 times i went were in september, its the perfect time to go, everywhere is open and the q's for the parks are not as big because the summer travellers are gone

LegacyUser

Excellent stuff buddy! Thank you very much!

PS: My test is in August. If i fail, can i rent one on a provisional? It just won't be worth it if I can not rent a car. Everyone i spoke to says its essential.

Man i better not fail.

Mucho Gracias for the answer RE: florida!!!!

daveg

I've been 3 times as well. In fact we are just back about 4 weeks since our last trip



1) Is a car necessary?

Absolutely.

2) How far apart are all the places?

Parks are fairly spread out over say a 15 mile radius. International drive is perfect for dining.

3) Whats a great hotel central to all the locations and beaches?

Beaches are about 1 1/2 hours away. Would highly recommend Clearwater (west) and Coco beach (east). Have never stayed in a hotel myself (we stay in a villa).

4) Whats the best area to stay in? We do not have money to burn but we would like to stay in a decent place.

Some of the motels are ok and cheap.

5) Is September a bad time to go since they have a lot of rain then?

Very hot. Not too much rain if I recall correctly. Last time we were there in September we had to evacuate the Florida Keys to Orlando due to a hurricane !!

6) Is it still hot in September and are all the places still open?

Everywhere is open year round.

PS: My test is in August. If i fail, can i rent one on a provisional? It just won't be worth it if I cannot rent a car. Everyone i spoke to says its essential.

No. You need a full licence.

Some additional info:

Parks - For a group of lads would recommend:

Islands of Adventure (the best),
Busche Gardens (Tampa),
Universal Studios,
MGM Studios.

Disney parks tend to be kids orientated (animal/magic kingdom ect).

Make sure you try eating in Bahama Breeze. Nicest restaurant in the world imo.

Great website for Orlando info - http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/

If need more info shout.

daveg

Forgot to mention make sure you visit the outlet malls (Belz/preium outlets etc.). Loads of great deals (2 levis jeans for $50 etc).

PCwiggum

One thing I discovered last year was that you should change your cash to dollars before you go - better still just use a credit card. I went there on my honeymoon and didn't get time to change money before I went. The exchange rate in the kiosks on International Drive isn't great, also you can't change money in most of the banks unless you are a customer! If you do need to change money over there, the best place I seen is the bank in Wallmart.

Hope this helps.

LegacyUser

Thanks a million for all the info so far! You guys truly are so helpful. It is greatly appreciated. :cool:

Ok I will be 20 years of age going. I have found https://www.lmcarrental.net for car rental for people aged 18 and over. Mind you that will cost roughly 700euro for the three weeks for a car which will be split by three!

Flights will be about 500Euro each.

How much is accomodation? 3 lads going for definite right now. Recommend a good place which is good, clean and near places preferrably in international drive according to this thread. I am so excited about this.

Is it possible to have flights, accomodation and car rental for under 1000euro? That is our aim.

How difficult is it to drive in orlando? I will be the only driver and will have my full license one month prior to going which is not a problem according to that car rental place!

Cheers for all the info. You guys are really helping me out and it is greatly appreciated!

daveg

The first time we were there we stayed in a motel around kissmiee. You could easily get a motel for about $50 per night. There are tonnes of them so you might not even need to prebook (dont hold me to that though). I don't recall seeing too many motels on international drive but if you check out Kissimee you should be ok.

The cheapest car hire site we could find was http://www.uscarhire.co.uk/. Their deals include all insurance which you can easily get ripped off on so bear this in mind when searching for car hire (a lot of the companies hit you for insurance payments when you pick up the car. Look for all inclusive deals). Tbh I think you have to be 21+ to hire with them though.

How difficult is it to drive in orlando? I will be the only driver and will have my full license one month prior to going which is not a problem according to that car rental place!

Apart from driving on the other side of the road it's a breeze. Fantastic roads.

Make sure you check out insurance cover with your car hire. I did a quick check on that website you listed and didn't see any mention of any cover. Check http://www.uscarhire.co.uk/ for details on what insurance cover you will need.

A I said before check out http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/ for some great info on vacations in Orlando. If you need more help just ask

LegacyUser

Thanks a lot DaveG! Its appreciated! That website you gave me to Orlando guide is really really impressive.

daveg

No worries Cheese. If you want motel/restaurant/park etc information or reviews use the search engine on that site. Thats how we picked all our places to go when we went.

Have a great time

Humphrey

cheesedude I hope you know rent-a-car company require you to have your full licence for at least 2 years.

humphrey.

LegacyUser

Originally posted by Humphrey
cheesedude I hope you know rent-a-car company require you to have your full licence for at least 2 years.

humphrey.

https://www.lmcarrental.net is the one I am going with - Is rent-a-car company an actual company or a general term used for all car rental places? I actually am not being smart. I just do not know.

Thanks anyway,
Cheesedude

tezz7628

someone mentioned money earlier

did you know you can take $travellers cheques and use them like cash

hand over the cheque and get the change back in cash

but keep to $20's and under, $50's don't go down to well

but having said that i believe some company is trying out credit card style travellers cheques i'll be definately giving that a go

no more wrist ache!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dub13

I am just back from Orlando about a week,it was my first trip and it was great cant waite to go back and like you I had no kids with me.We stayed here www.rosencentre.com its a top end hotel but well worth the money.

Aslo about the carhire I am 24 (25 in Aug) and because I was under 25 I had to pay an extra $30 a day which was a bit of a bummer but we still upgraded to a convertible.

As for going i September I here its like going in May,busy but not to bad.As someone said before leave Disney out its for Kids.Ands buy your tickets for the parks over there you get a better deal your travel agent will try and sell you them befor you go.

Also dont forget to bring plenty of ID....it took me back a few years being asked for ID all the time,in one of the parks we were in Budwiser School and my other half did not hav and ID..and they would not giver her any dring and it was FREE.

ROVER

Check out this site for coupons cheap motels / hotels etc. when you get over there you can pick up these free coupon magazines in McDonald Burger King etc. or esle print them off from the net. I saved a fortune with them http://www.roomsaver.com/search_display.php?state=FL&city_id=29244

bucks73

I was there in September 2001 and while the parks were not busy the weather was very humid and we got a lot of heavy showers.

There is also the chance of a tropical storm but that wont affect Orlando too much. We had one pass over while we were in Clearwater.

LegacyUser

Hey Guys,

Me again. Thanks for all the info.

Ok some last advice, what do you think I should do honestly?

Assuming, i get my full license etc. Do you think we should stay in a hotel or a villa. Someone I know thinks the holiday I have planned is more suited to 40 yr old parents with two kids. I think it is the whole renting a villa thing. I really am impressed with the idea. But someone I know is saying but what about evenings? Now my one friend coming is 21, so i was thinking he could go to the off license, pick up some beers and bring them back to the villa. But this person is saying since we are all under 21 apart from one guy, we should stay in a hotel as there would be better night life and we may get into clubs. This person is telling me that we will be bored in the nights in the villa. What do you guys think?

Thanks a lot.

Confused. lol

Cheesedude

bucks73

There are bars down International Drive which arent too strict on ID. Its just a case of trying them out.

Hanging around the Villa drinking cans will get boring pretty quick. You could do that here.

Dub13

there is an Irish bar on International Drive that is grand for not asking for ID,cant think of the name of it maybe somebody else will remember it.One of the Best deals you will get in Orlando is at Universal studios,there is a night time part they call Citywalk they do two great deals we did both one is $19 for a Movie (we say Kill Bill2) and a meal in any of the restrants in CityWalk there are a few but we went to Hard Rock you cant go wrong for $19.The other good deal at City Walk is $9.99 and that lets you in to all the pubs/nightclubs in citywalk,also a good deal.

LFCFan

We're heading there on Friday. Flying to Baltimore and driving down. Can't wait. A lot of good info in here. We're using www.yescarhire.com. UK based broker for Alamo. Very good and reasonable priced.

Dub13

LFCFan,would it not be cheaper to just fly down to Orlando....?I would say that would be a long long drive.

LFCFan

Originally posted by Dub13
LFCFan,would it not be cheaper to just fly down to Orlando....?I would say that would be a long long drive.

We're meeting up with friends in a couple of places on the way. Looking forward to the drive actually. Seeing a bit of the east coast.

Dub13

Sounds nice,I am just back from Orlando its great.How long will the drive take.....?