Disneyland Florida

Ph3n0m

I am planning to bring my daughter to FLorida during the summer and I am just wondering who is the best place to book/go through to make sure there are as little f**k ups as possible.

Can anyone recommend a good tour operator/travel agent that they have personally dealt with and have proven themselves to be competent?

Badabing

I went with American Holidays on Pearse Street last september, I found them very good price wise and they where very helpful, You can also buy Disney tickets off them.

crippledshutin

I don't know what your budget is, but if you can, book to stay on Disney property and if you can swing it, rent a car to get around in. It's much simpler that staying outside the park and driving around Disney is dead easy and a great advantage. There's tons for adults to do at night as well, so you will have a great trip. One bad thing, the food there is incredibly expensive :eek: unfortunately.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

snappieT

Buy your attraction tickets before you go from Keith Prowse ( http://www.goldenpages.ie/Results.asp?origin=HOME&rubric=select&what=keith%20prowse&where= )
That way there'll be no sudden price increases, no queue to buy your ticket there and the Disney Corperation fully recognise the company.

Very reliable. Have used them several times, including for Disneyworld, Wet 'n' Wild and Universal Medditerania (In Spain)

Widget

DO it yourself - been 4 times in 10 years, kids love it.
We rent a villa or condo, lots of room and we make sure it is 10 minutes or less from Disneyland. It is similar price to hotel with more flexibility. Have your own pool and spa - and it is GREAT to get away from the Disney Hype (tripe). Car hire is easy to organise and you can purchase attraction tickets before you leave your front door
Flying over with Aer Lingus next month myself on business, smashing price - going back via New York, once again very reasonable fares.
Think about it, cutting out middle man saves your plenty of EURO

Ph3n0m

Excluding food, etc - how much did people pay for their hotel, flights and how long were you staying>?

Widget

It all depends when you want to travel. Easter, Xmas and July + August peak season so expect to pay top whack for everything - plus the theme parks are heaving. Easter 2002 rented a villa 5 bedrooms, pool, spa etc.. around Euro 800 per week, 3 bedrooms should cost around Euro 500 per week, a condo or townhouse cheaper still. The flights are very variable supply and demand rules but Aer Lingus are surprisingly competitive at the moment anyway. They fly Dublin to Orlando 3 times per week non stop and return via Shannon. The tickets are expensive - there are some discounts available but no ore than 10-15% off the Disney price, a 5 day pass should be sufficent - Universal is fantastic for the older kids and teenagers. food and eating out in Florida is cheap - quantity amazing, quality not great, it costs almost the same to eat out as to do it yourself at home

40crush41

whatever you do, do not go late july/august -hot and Humid, just nasty. and you'll have to wait online all day... never mind it being more money. April is a good idea, nice weather and off season.

its been sometime since ive been there -so i have a kid's view of Disney, but i remember staying at this hotel http://www.disneyvacationguide.com/disney-world-resorts/walt-disneys-all-star-sports-resort.html
remember loving it, and its located in the park so you can get around by shuttle if you don't want to rent a car. yea, they had a really cool pool.
and if you can look into that breakfeast with the characters, thats a wonderful memory
hmm, and Universal Studios is also a great park, a lot of great stuff there too.

and hope that Space Mountain is open for you, loved that ride!
know you didn't ask for any of this information, but thought it could help. Hope you have a Great time when you get there ~Beth

Jenny_H

Widget wrote:

DO it yourself - been 4 times in 10 years, kids love it.

Hi Widget,

We have the villa and flights booked we are now looking at Car Hire and Tickets - can you recommend any good value websites to book online? We will be there for 20 days - should we go for a 14 or 21 day pass for Disney - I can't see us denying the kids the chance to go to Disney in the first and last few days.

Have you any other recommendations?

Thanx in advance.

Widget

Sounds exciting. I don't know how old your kids are but I think it would be a shame just to restrict yourself to Disney only especially if the children are over 8 or 9 years old as both Universal and Sea World are well a trip. Even when my kids were young after a week or so they got "disneyed out". You can get a 5 day pass which gives you 5 days in a theme park and usually two add ons in the water parks - this was ideal. You will never see everything and it leaves a bit to come back to in the future. Also if you have a ticket which expires you feel obliged to drag everyone into Disney to get your's money worth. A Hopper Ticket doesn't expire and if you have a day left over you can use it sometime in the future.
We got our tickets from a specialised ticket agent in UK 00448703 303030.
We have also used a catch all website www.orlandovillas.com which has usually got good value tickets.
Their website also does car hire - I used them last year and they were excellent value. They tend to be brokers for Dollar - which is located on the airport so no need to get on a shuttle bus - once you arrive it great to be on your way as soon as possible . Don't let them talk you into an upgrade and if you buy the silver or gold package - you don't need any further insurance. You can also try www.yescarhire.com or www.travelsupermarket.com. The last one searches several companies for the best deals so it gives you an idea what deals are out there. Lastly the boots of American cars are quite small in comparision to their overall size. A minivan is a very comfortable way of getting around with lots of room for everyone.