Top Ten Tips for Orlando, Florida

bcirl03

Does anyone know if there is much free wireless in Disney and Orlando?

Reason I ask is there are some clever apps out there with wait times etc and would be handy to use over wifi. For obvious reasons I aint paying 3g charges whilst roaming.....

flanzer

bcirl03 wrote: »

Does anyone know if there is much free wireless in Disney and Orlando?

Reason I ask is there are some clever apps out there with wait times etc and would be handy to use over wifi. For obvious reasons I aint paying 3g charges whilst roaming.....

I'm sure you could buy a SIM with some data on it for half nothing?

bcirl03

flanzer wrote: »

I'm sure you could buy a SIM with some data on it for half nothing?

Excellent idea....thanks

stargazer 68

Just had an email from attraction tickets - they sent me a quote last week for park tickets. The exchange rate has affected their prices and the rate has now gone up to euro 411. Just wondering should I book my tickets (for March) or do you think I will get them cheaper? Have looked at the sites recommended in this thread and they are the same prices on the all.

slave1

Good thread, few bits to add

Do your homework before you go, there is a mountain of activities in Orlando and this thread just scratches the surface
We stay in Kissimmee, it's about 10/15 minutes drive from Disney
Driving is not that difficult, you adapt quickly, don't be afraid because to restrict yourself to public transport in Orlando is a damn shame.
Don't eat breakfast out, when you have a few kids etc. it can become a habit, just get new and unusual cereals at Walmart or Target, is it not enough of a treat to be in Orlando, there are better things to be spending your money on.
In Disney get a photpass, it's a credit card sized card that you hand to all the official photographers in the various Disney parks and all your photos go onto it (they will also take a snap with your camera!!), when you get home you go on the net and can order whatever you want, if you do not want to order anything then you've nothing to pay. Best value is to prepay your photopass for $100 and then just buy an unlimited amount of photos (well, whatever can fit onto a CD).
Travel light in the parks, I had no problem with the quality of the water fountains and they are everywhere, yes the food is pricey but your 'sides' are as much as you can eat in a few places so I was bulking up on the mushrooms and onions, salad etc
Do not try and do it all, you cannot do Orlando in 3 weeks never mind shorter trips, remember you are paying for a villa (perhaps) so get your money's worth out of that pool out the back!
Plan, we went there for 24 days last year, were out and about for 21 of those days, not tired or stressed out, as we would do something in the morning/afternoon then chill out in the evening and following day chill out by the pool for the morning/afternoon and then hit say, The Magic Kingdom for 6-midnight, a lot quieter after the parades and you're indoor anyhow so being dark outside is a mute point.
Hire as big a car as you can afford, we had a mini-van (5 of us) and it swallowed the 5 full size bags and 5 carry on bags with ease.

If you have kids do it for the first time when they are of an age to believe and haven't yet hit tweens and rebelling, bonus if they can walk and no stroller.
Ours were 4, 7 & 8 and it was perfect, all smiles every day!!

PcAngel

Can you purchase a Flexiticket in the States when you get there? Thanks.

ScouseMouse

This is all fantastic info. I have a few months to go so keep em coming (mods willing of course). Going for 15 nights on June 1st.

Everyone seems to have a different opinion on park tickets. There seems to be a good deal on 14 days for the price of 7, but would I - or anyone, really do more than 7 park days out of 15? I am unsure. Got an baby and a nine year old so other parks are of interest aswell (Legoland) and maybe Kennedy space for me!

There are loads of places online selling the passes and Touramerica seems to have them too. Any realistic options or opinions anyone ????

slave1

superscouse wrote: »

There seems to be a good deal on 14 days for the price of 7, but would I - or anyone, really do more than 7 park days out of 15? I am unsure.

We went and did 13 park visits in 24 days as a guide, not an issue.
Don't forget that it gives park to park option which is good e.g. we relaxed around the pool one day and then went to Magic Kingdom car park and got the monorail to Epcot, we stayed there from 5 till close (9PM) and caught the closing ceremony, then got the monorail back to Magic Kingdom and whilst everyone was looking at the Disney fireworks we had all the rides without queues, we ended up staying until 1AM in the magic Kingdom and were not tired at all as there was little or no queuing, we sat for most of the rides and had a treat of chippies at 11PM which was wolfed down.
Next day we slept in and lounged around the pool again but hit another park in the evening.
Granted you have a baby, so that may effect your plans.

When I looked around everywhere for tickets, attractionticketsdirect were the cheapest, they have real good knowledge, I gave them a call and we stayed talking for a good half hour and I got good advice but there was no hard sell. In the end I phoned them back and got my tickets from them, they post them via registered mail and I think they have an office in Dublin somewhere. Also, be wary of tickets versus ticket vouchers, with the vouchers you have to exchange for tickets at the parks and some of those queues were horrendous, we had 'real' tickets and simply walked straight in.

Enjoy your trip!!

youcancallmeal

We are off to Orlando in 5 weeks. I have been looking into some of the cheap ticket sites people have mentioned on this thread but can't really find any to suit us? Also went into Tour America and they were only doing 7 or 14 day packages.

We are only planning on doing 2 Disney and 2 Universal parks. Anyone know of any tickets that would encompass that or should we just not bother trying to get a deal and pay up front over there?

naughtysmurf

youcancallmeal wrote: »

We are off to Orlando in 5 weeks. I have been looking into some of the cheap ticket sites people have mentioned on this thread but can't really find any to suit us? Also went into Tour America and they were only doing 7 or 14 day packages.

We are only planning on doing 2 Disney and 2 Universal parks. Anyone know of any tickets that would encompass that or should we just not bother trying to get a deal and pay up front over there?

www.mapleleaftickets.com sell two day tickets for Disney & Universal.

Buy your tickets before you go would be my advice

JudyD

This is a great thread!

So much has been covered but here's one or two things that come to mind:

I visited in mid-September - the weather was lovely and warm but no blistering heat and practically no queues in the theme parks so a good time to visit if you can organise it at all.

There are some great dinner attractions around Orlando - we went to Arabian nights (I'm a bit of a horse lover) where the food was grand (nothing special just average) but the show was wonderful - thoroughly enjoyed it.

Do try to avoid eating out where possible though - prices are exorbitant in the parks and its just not worth the money (to my mind anyway).

Also we splashed and stayed in a Disney hotel for some of the trip but wouldn't do it again. Overpriced for what was involved and we were still 30mins from each of the parks.

ScouseMouse

Ok folk, no posts in two months.

Going in five weeks. Anyone got anything else to add?

All posts greatly appreciated.

stargazer 68

We are just back from Florida

A couple of things. Our intention was to bring sandwiches etc to the parks but didnt the first day. Glad we didnt - it was so warm the sandwiches would have been in bits!! Brought one of the huge bags of crisps though and some fruit. So the sambos got knocked on the head! Disney have been criticised for their food options in the parks and I have to agree - mostly chicken nuggets and burgers. Yes you can get lovely meals but you have to book these restaurants in advance (or so we found). And we prefer to eat in the evening after our day out so struggled at lunchtime for snacky stuff.

Our kids are 19, 17 and 13 so we did Magic Kingdom once, Hollywood Studios once and Epcot for half a day (even that was too long for us).

Animal Kingdom was great - the safari was the best bit and got great pics of the animals. Universal and IOA were definite favourites - visited both parks 3 times!! The q for Harry Potter ride was 2 hours! :eek: We took the single rider line and it was 35 minutes! That is the only ride that is badly organised IMO. You have to queue for the lockers which seems to take forever but they are inside the ride rather than outside (as in Men in Black) so when you get to the lockers there is chaos as people are putting stuff in and others are trying to get their stuff out using only a couple of machines. Nothing stopping anyone from coming off the ride and going straight back on again - just join the single rider line!

Use the single rider lines for all the rides if you can - 9 times out of 10 some of your party will be riding together anyway and as most of the rides are in the dark so it doesnt matter who you are with!

Hmm - anything else?

Gatica

If you're going in the summer during their wet and showery season buy one of those plastic ponchos before you go to the parks, they fleece you once you're inside. They're very light to carry and are perfect for those heavy showers. They also come in handy for any watery or wet rides in the parks.
Wear very light clothing that won't make you sweat too much and that dries easily should you get wet. Wear very comfortable supportive shoes. Don't wear loose shoes like flip-flops, or you may need to take them off for some of the rides.
Bring sandwiches with you that won't get soggy looking after a few hours at the bottom of the bag. Had no problems with being told they cannot be brought in at Universal, dunno bout Disney.
If you've a older relative among you rent one of those motorized lazy strollers. They'll save them walking for hours and get all of you past the main queues as they usually get classed as disability. If you feel dishonest doing that, then don't.
Disney Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom are both perfect for very young kids. They have a whole section in the park with rides for little ones alone or with parents. Universal also has a Dr Seuss area that's perfect for little kids if that's where your group ends up.
If your group is old enough that you won't worry about them getting lost, agree on a meet zone should you get separated from each other and update it every so often as you progress through the park, you don't wanna be at the furthest end of the park only to have to walk back all the way to the entrance!
If you're a Harry Potter fan, plan on spending most of your day in Harry Potter Land, as apart from having some very good rides they have a huge queue for anyone wishing to get a wand (can't remember if there was a sorting hat thing you can go to that assigns you your Hogwarts House?). Try the butterbeer there and keep the mug as a memento

stargazer 68

Gatica wrote: »

If you're going in the summer during their wet and showery season buy one of those plastic ponchos before you go to the parks, they fleece you once you're inside. They're very light to carry and are perfect for those heavy showers. They also come in handy for any watery or wet rides in the parks.

If you're a Harry Potter fan, plan on spending most of your day in Harry Potter Land, as apart from having some very good rides they have a huge queue for anyone wishing to get a wand (can't remember if there was a sorting hat thing you can go to that assigns you your Hogwarts House?). Try the butterbeer there and keep the mug as a memento

Ponchos are about 2 dollars in Walmart etc.
The wand shop - queue was massive to get into it. They sell most of the same stuff in the huge shop just inside the Universal entrance - think its called the Outpost. So if they want a wand etc but dont want to queue. And oddly enough the stuff in the Outpost is cheaper than in HP World - we picked up a few things (including sweets) that were at least 5 dollars cheaper!

FlapsOfDoom

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of using loveorlandotickets.ie? It sells the cheapest park tickets i have found on the internet but does it in e-voucher form so we don't actually get the tickets until we redeem them at the park gate upon arrival. Seems slightly dodgey although I could just be too paranoid.

Thanks.

naughtysmurf

FlapsOfDoom wrote: »

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of using loveorlandotickets.ie? It sells the cheapest park tickets i have found on the internet but does it in e-voucher form so we don't actually get the tickets until we redeem them at the park gate upon arrival. Seems slightly dodgey although I could just be too paranoid.

Thanks.

They may well be fine but you will have to Q to get your tickets & the Q's could well be substantial, unless you are making a big saving I reckon most of the advice you will get here will be to get your tickets before you go

Gatica

they're a google ad sponsor, so I can't imagine they're not legit. Also their name has come up in boards.ie before when someone else had used them. Seems ok...
Are you sure you need to collect tickets at park? We got our tickets online and just had to print them as they scan a barcode on entry.

FlapsOfDoom

Gatica wrote: »

they're a google ad sponsor, so I can't imagine they're not legit. Also their name has come up in boards.ie before when someone else had used them. Seems ok...
Are you sure you need to collect tickets at park? We got our tickets online and just had to print them as they scan a barcode on entry.

Thanks. Yeah when going through the order process it tells you they are not tickets and need to be redeemed at the park gates upon arrival. Thats the part that has me slightly worried

FlapsOfDoom

naughtysmurf wrote: »

They may well be fine but you will have to Q to get your tickets & the Q's could well be substantial, unless you are making a big saving I reckon most of the advice you will get here will be to get your tickets before you go

Q'ing isn't a problem, just want to make sure that they will be valid when we get there. There has been pretty positive feedback from the site and other sites so just wanted to double check.

naughtysmurf

FlapsOfDoom wrote: »

Q'ing isn't a problem, just want to make sure that they will be valid when we get there. There has been pretty positive feedback from the site and other sites so just wanted to double check.

Q'ing only becomes a problem if you have excited kids in tow and you have to explain why you are going to stand in line for maybe 30mins to change your voucher into tickets when most others are walking straight into the park, especially when getting into the park early is pretty important anyway

My opinion is unless you are saving big time, get your tickets before you go get to the park and walk straight in

How much are you saving out of interest?

naughtysmurf

superscouse wrote: »

This is all fantastic info. I have a few months to go so keep em coming (mods willing of course). Going for 15 nights on June 1st.

Everyone seems to have a different opinion on park tickets. There seems to be a good deal on 14 days for the price of 7, but would I - or anyone, really do more than 7 park days out of 15? I am unsure. Got an baby and a nine year old so other parks are of interest aswell (Legoland) and maybe Kennedy space for me!

There are loads of places online selling the passes and Touramerica seems to have them too. Any realistic options or opinions anyone ????

With a nine year old you will be doing more than 7 park days out of 15 and the adults will enjoy it too, Orlando is infectious

FlapsOfDoom

naughtysmurf wrote: »

Q'ing only becomes a problem if you have excited kids in tow and you have to explain why you are going to stand in line for maybe 30mins to change your voucher into tickets when most others are walking straight into the park, especially when getting into the park early is pretty important anyway

My opinion is unless you are saving big time, get your tickets before you go get to the park and walk straight in

How much are you saving out of interest?

I'm just travelling with my girlfriend, we're only a young couple ourselves. we're saving big time altogether as we have about 95% off flights so those return tickets alone are cheaper than any park tickets. But still, we're only young so the cheaper the better no matter how much we're actually saving.

naughtysmurf

FlapsOfDoom wrote: »

I'm just travelling with my girlfriend, we're only a young couple ourselves. we're saving big time altogether as we have about 95% off flights so those return tickets alone are cheaper than any park tickets. But still, we're only young so the cheaper the better no matter how much we're actually saving.

Go on, break it to me gently then, how did you get 95% of the cost of flights, airline employee(s)?

FlapsOfDoom

naughtysmurf wrote: »

Go on, break it to me gently then, how did you get 95% of the cost of flights, airline employee(s)?

haha, you guessed correctly

john the revelator

There is a UK based hotel company offshoot called Laguna Villas which owns some really nice villas in Kissimmee about 10 minutes from International Drive ..... you need a car, but the villas are private and spacious and excellent value.

BorneTobyWilde

Would love to get there,
I fear plane might crash lol

john the revelator

Everyone should go to Orlando at least once .... its the one holiday destination where you will never hear anyone say....."I'm bored" ... regardless of what age they are .... really has something for everyone ....

naughtysmurf

FlapsOfDoom wrote: »

haha, you guessed correctly

Hope you end up Qing for hours to save a few bucks to redeem your park tickets, not jealous at all

FlapsOfDoom

naughtysmurf wrote: »

Hope you end up Qing for hours to save a few bucks to redeem your park tickets, not jealous at all

to be honest i'm expecting it now that i think about it, cheers