Florida questions.....yes, more - I am sorry!

[gregssausageroll]

Ok. We are looking at 2 weeks in March. BA have good flights/times and I much prefer them to Virgin. We need to come down to London from Edinburgh.

So villas - where do you start to look? We are taking DS who will be nearly 4. We want something near Magic Kingdom I think and want a private pool.

I am sure I read somewhere here that there is a car rental firm that picks up at the airport and drops you at your villa where your car hire will be? Can you recommend and do you have a website.

Tickets - does it pay to shop around? I am sort of presuming that a 2 week pass is the way to go?

Where do I book meals with the characters?

Other than that, we don't intend to plan too much and want to take each day as it comes - unless you tell me I am an utter fool!

Thanks and I know these questions have probably been asked before!

Buy the books Unofficial guide beyond disney and unofficial guide WDW with kids 2012. we were advised to do so by a lovely MNetter and we are so glad that we have. We are going in 2 weeks time with BA and staying at Sunset Lakes which is 5 mins from the magic kingdom, gated and secure all have own pool and lovely lake view. Indian ridge is nice and anything near to I92. We are going with BA and will self drive. We have decided on 2 week passes for both sets of parks so we can chop and change as we want. Character meals - get the 2 books detailed above some book out 180 days in advance!!! PM me if you want further details.

ref villas, look at Loyalty homes, owned and run by an english lady who is based in Kissimmee. All her homes are luxury villas within 4 miles of Disney and most have private pools and many have games rooms. Have a look at www.loyaltyusa.com
or, look at www.ownersdirect.co.uk/usa/F1895.htm which I can highly recommend

Hi - if you use the DIBB website www.thedibb.co.uk you will find loads of villas for rent. As they are all rented by users of the website, it feels a little safer than renting them through someone completely random. There is also lots of info on all the different villa communities, where they all are, which are gated, what facilities they have etc.

The website also gives you answers to ALL your questions, the forums are a brilliant place to find out whatever you need to know. It will also help with your planning, eg which days are busiest in which parks etc.

To book character meals, go through the Disney website and remember you can book them three months before you need them - which is worth doing to get the times you need (you don't have to actually pay for the meals until you eat, apart from some of the really popular ones like Cinderella's Royal Table). For a nearly 4-yr-old I would recommend Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh et al and Hollywood and Vine with the Disney tv characters like Handy Manny and the LIttle Einsteins (they change these from time to time, I am hoping Jake and the Neverland Pirates will be there soon!). Also, I liked the Mickey Mouse et al breakfast at Animal Kingdom, Tusker House, because the food was a bit more "exotic" than the norm!

Any more questions do ask me as we went twice last year with dd's aged 2 and 4 (then 5), so have lots of recent experience! We're going again next year....

Hi,
Restaurants in the Disney owned hotels and parks can be booked up to 180 days in advance - some people book their meals before they have booked their trip!
The different WDW and Orlando forums can be very helpful with trip planning, with Destination Experts who know it very well.

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowForum-g34515-i19-Orlando_Florida.html

Some friends of mine love Disney so much that they moved to Kissimmee from the UK. They made friends with the Real Estate Agents that they used to buy their property, and one is now working for them in the holiday rental section. Her photo is on their website.
See this link - I am sure she will help to find a suitable villa for you.

www.mickeyhomesflorida.com/Rental_Homes/page_2239825.html

Being a massive Disney fan and visiting the parks frequently, she will also be able to answer questions about that, and transport options.

Agree with buying the Unofficial Guide to WDW by Bob Sehlinger and Len Testa. They have now published one for Disneyland Paris as well.
Worth checking with forums as well though, as by the time books go to print things can have changed!
People on WDW forums should know what is currently going on there.

We have been to WDW five times, staying in a Disney hotel and also staying with our friends in Kissimmee. We had park tickets included in our Disney hotel package, but when we stay with our friends we buy them from Attraction Tickets Direct and had some great deals for WDW and other parks including Discovery Cove, SeaWorld, Universal Studios, Islands Of Adventure, Busch Gardens, and waterparks.

www.attraction-tickets-direct.co.uk/

I phoned them and discussed what I wanted for the best deals. They post actual park tickets, not vouchers, and were very quick. We got some nice freebies with them as well like underwater cameras and small fans.

Re timing - try to avoid American Spring Break weeks and other holidays if possible - the parks are packed!

As another poster said, Kissimmee is the area you want to stay in and there are a great number of gated community properties around the area. Look on homeAway for direct bookings with owners. Or go to Palm Tree Vacations who are based there, I think they come up as 'closesttodisney.com'. Or something like that. We have used them and the home was immaculate and perfect location.

Good luck.

When you say you want to be near Magic Kingdom - that is one of the 4 Disney parks inside resort. Walt Disney World is huge - 4 theme parks, two waterparks, and many hotels.
The nearest hotels to the Magic Kingdom are the Grand Floridian and the Contemporary. Both have a monorail that passes through to the Magic Kingdom park.

However, the Magic Kingdom is at the top of WDW resort, so some distance from Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon waterparks. You may prefer to look at a resort hotel that is more central if you decide not to have a villa outside resort.

We stayed in All Star Movies three times, and our boys both liked it very much. Nice pool, good Disney theming with large models of Characters, and free buses around resort.
Only budget category, but fine for what we wanted as we are out most of the time.

You can read Disney hotels reviews on Trip Advisor.

The benefit of staying in a Disney hotel is the Extra Magic Hours - we had 3 hrs extra before opening and 3 hrs after closing in a different park each day. It does help get more rides done when parks are busy.

We used taxis to visit parks outside Disney, but you can hire a car for that if you prefer.