Disney!

d-gal

Am thinking of bringing the missus to Disney Florida in August for 2 weeks. Any tips or advice on how to book and some general other stuff?!

Cheers!
Dave

jester1980

if your into the whole disney thing stay in one of the hotels. there are about 20 ranging from the cheap to very luxurious. we stayed for 10 days when travelling america and stayed in the all sports, it was perfect, big food hall, pool, nice decent rooms...Each hotel has buses every 10-15 mins going to and from every park..

google disney hotels orlando and there is a site there, you can price all the hotels with the tickets. Tickets include entrance to all parks any amount of times for certain amount of days and are well worth it. also include 6 extras which you can use on the swim parks, mini golf, pleasure island nightclubs (these are great)...

RedXIV

Just from experience:

I went with my family twice in the last 5 years and both times we rented out a holiday home instead of staying in the disney hotels, but we wanted to see a bit more than disney. If you're doing disney in florida, it can be very tiring walking through the parks so what we did was go to disney one day, relax the next, back to disney the day after, then relax etc.

On the days you're relaxing, because you're not IN disney, you can drive around to the various parts of florida to get a better look at america (we had never been so this was big for us )

Also, we went in september and october and it was still very hot, august is supposed to be very VERY warm, just be aware.

If you're comfortable driving over there, rent a car, you'll need it to get around but if you're not, staying anywhere on International drive will have bus stops to get you to disney.

As regards spending the day in disney parks, bring a rucksack with plenty of water. Don't overlook this, water costs a fortune in the parks as does most of the food. If it's just you and the missus, for the wow factor, make sure you see the end of the day firework shows, they will literally blow you away.

DON'T FORGET TO TIP!!!!

and lastly, don't forget to stock up on everything from clothes to gizmos, everything is cheaper over there

Have fun!!!

jester1980

Temp in August wasn't too bad at all but i like the heat. One thing i did hate about August which is when i went last time was the Q's. Id never go back in August, went in January before and was great. Thinking of going back myself in Novemebr for a third time.

RedXIV - Can you recommend any where to rent a villa as would love to try this as have stayed in Disney, and i 100 % agree about clothes, bring an empty bag to stock up....

thewools

Was there twice and planning a third this year...

Last year we went and stayed along International Drive and previously we stayed in a rented house in Kissimmee, Orlando.

Prob stay on international drive again this year - as the "I Ride" buses runs along it and can get you to the Outlet stores, Seaworld etc...

Have a look on touramerica.ie - some nice prices!

Peckley

Hi Dave,

Heading there myself with bf ifor 15 nights in August. €1,600 for both of us. Booked flights with Virgin & hotel through travelrepublic.com, checked travelsupermarket.com first will bring up the cheapest sites for you to book on

ncmc

If you are planning to go in August be aware that this is hurrican season. Don't worry though, Orlando very rarely gets hit by hurricane because it is inland. However the weather will be very hot and humid and you can expect it to rain in the afternoons most days. The rain tends to be torrential but doesn't last very long. I would strongly recommend the last two weeks of August rather than the first two, most of the American kids will be back to school at that stage and the queues will be noticabley lighter.

I am going to be there this August from 22nd for two weeks and I have booked one of the Disney hotels. However, that's because I am planning to concentrate on the Disney parks. The Disney hotels are much more expensive than comparable hotels outside the parks. That said, they are very beautiful and have wonderful grounds. If you are planning to split your time between the Disney and the Universal parks, then a hotel in International drive would probably be your best bet. There are 100's to chose from in all price ranges, and varying in quality, I would recommend checking out their rank on Trip Advisor before booking.

I would second the recommendation for renting a car, although public transport is ok (a lot of hotels offer free shuttles to the parks) having your own car gives you so much freedom and the oppurtunity to explore all the other stuff that central Florida had to offer as well as the parks. Also the fact that it will be so hot when you are there, it is nice not to have to stand waiting for a bus in the heat. With your own car, you can blast the air con and away you go. You should be able to get a car for about €250 for two weeks and driving over there is easy peasy. Bear in mind that parking in the theme parks is about $12 a day (free if you stay in one of the onsite hotels), so this does add to the costs.

When buying tickets, make sure you buy from a reputable site. There are so many sites out there that would be more than happy to part you from your money. Try www.undercovertourist.com www.mapleleaftickets.com or www.ticketmania.com they all offer slightly discounted tickets and are authorised dealers. Unfortunately, you will never get really cheap tickets. If they are really cheap, then there must be a scam involved! Work out how many days you plan to spend at the parks before you buy your tickets, you buy them in 2, 3 , 4 ,5 etc days and obviously pay more, the more days you buy. No point in paying for a 10 day Disney ticket of you only plan to visit one or two parks. Disney comprises of 4 parks and 2 waterparks. Universal has 2 parks and a waterpark, Seaworld has 2 parks and a waterpark, so there is a lot to do! Might be no harm to do a bit of research and decide what parks you are interested in before you buy your tickets.

I would recommend the Trip Advisor Orlando forum, you will get so much info on the parks/hotels/tickets etc even by reading it for a couple of weeks. It is such an overwhelming holiday destination, a bit of forward planning really can pay off. http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g34515-Orlando_Florida.html

Maybe i'll see you there if you're there after the 22nd!

Rabeile31

Hi
I headin there the last 2 weeks of August with my whole family. there is 6 of us and we rented a house which was gr8 coz we had our own pool and after walking all day which u will find exhausting at the end of the day it was gr8 jus to chill in the pool.

I would strongly recommend UNIVERSAL STUDIOS too, especially if your going for the 2 weeks.

buy the multipark tickets, this time we are waiting till we get out there to see if there is any deals on offer from the parks because I've heard they are a bit quieter than last year.

Just enjoy yourselves and relax it was the best holiday that we'v ever been on

And bring loads of money for shopping the Outlets are class

Have a gr8 trip

Berty

I have nothing to add other than echoing the other replies.

I will add(even though I previously said I would not) that you should not miss "Soarin" in Epcot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soarin%27_Over_California

ncmc

Berty wrote: »

I will add(even though I previously said I would not) that you should not miss "Soarin" in Epcot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soarin%27_Over_California

I must be one of the very few people who didn't get the big attraction with Soarin, I didn't think the screen was that clear and you can see the feet of the person above you hanging down which kinda ruins the illusion! I must give it another go in August, but I have to say I was thoroughly underwhelmed!

Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom, now that is a super ride. Visually amazing and just the right amount of thrills.

OP, just to add to my previous post, the best tip I can give you is to get to your chosen park early (ie at opening time or earlier) and ride the most popular rides first. You will feel very smug as you pass a two hour queue for a ride later in the day!

Rabeile31

jester1980 wrote: »

Can you recommend any where to rent a villa as would love to try this as have stayed in Disney, and i 100 % agree about clothes, bring an empty bag to stock up....

we stayed in Kisssimee in an place called Hampton Lakes... there are a lot of housing estates type villas and it was very private with our own pool it was brilliant after a long day of walking around the parks.

i dont think it was any more expensive to rent the villa than to stay in a hotel we booked it through american holidays and i think the crown in florida was called florida homes they have a website u could look it up.

oh and all the houses have washing machines and dryers we made the mistake the last time of bringing loads of clothes this time we will be only bringin the bare essentials and buying the rest as we need it:)

Berty

ncmc wrote: »

I must be one of the very few people who didn't get the big attraction with Soarin, I didn't think the screen was that clear and you can see the feet of the person above you hanging down which kinda ruins the illusion!

Ah but you see with the luck o' the Irish we were ushered to the centre glider(type thingy) and to the very front so nothing but Vista in front of us.

brousuka

I must admit that I thought "Soarin" was brilliant! the best virtual ride i was on during our trip there last July. Btw we rented a Villa with pool in Kissimmee in the Rolling Hills Area it was super I would highly recommend it. As stated earlier it is pretty exhausting doing the parks and when I got back to the villa I was usually flattened and just felt like chilling out. I've got to say although it was a fantastic holiday Orlando is not really great for nightlife or pubs, well, say for adults and if you don't like kids or having them around this is definitely not the place to go!!