Some help with planning Florida holiday

[McKayz]

We have been thinking about taking the DCs to Florida. DH went with a friend before we got together and he loved it.

Obviously it is very expensive and so there are a few questions I wanted to ask.

Does it work out cheaper to book it through Disney themselves or through a travel agent?

Also is it better/cheaper to stay at a Disney hotel or to hire a villa and get a hire car?

Any other tips and suggestions would be great. Thank you

Can I just say, if you decide to do just DisneyWorld, don't automatically discount staying onsite and booking direct through Disney. We booked in May last year (£200 deposit) to go in August this year and we saved 40 % on a two bed villa at Saratoga Springs. This includes the free dining package too.

British Airways came up cheaper for flights for months so we booked those but have since seen that Virgin have come down to similar prices.

The last time we went we hired a car and villa but frankly found it a PITA. Long queue at the hire desk in the airport, followed by a longish queue in the garage to pick up the car. Not fun for a fractious 18 month old (or his mother) who had just had a 9 hour flight. But if you do decide to hire a car, do make sure you remember to tie something on the aerial to distinguish it in the car park at the parks from the 9999 other hire cars if you have accidentally forgotten the precise co-ordinates of where you parked it...

Try to get a recommendation for a villa- ours was covered in stern notices about what we could/could not do, not to touch the control for the a/c, water the something-or-other (forget what now) etc etc. Not very welcoming.

Our first trip there was actually the best- a three bed villa (sort of maisonette style) with shuttle transfers to the park. The times of the buses were quite limited but you could always get a taxi in/out at different times.

Whatever type you go for though you'll have a fab time. Before we went the first time I was a bit meh about it but actually, it's the best holiday with kids we've ever had. (Hence the return visits )

Easter will be much more expensive than say October/November.

Villas work out much cheaper than a few motel rooms. Have a look at Loyalty Homes, a company owned by an english lady who only manages luxury homes with pools within 4 miles of Disney. You can get a 4 bedroom villa from around $100 per night depending on the season. www.loyaltyusa.com
or www.ownersdirect.co.uk/usa/F1895.htm this villa with a private pool and gamesroom and themed Mickey and Minnie room less than 5 mins drive to World Drive.

For flights, have a look at BA flying into Tampa instead of Orlando. It is only about an extra 15 mins drive to the Disney area but a lot cheaper. We are saving 1.5k by flying to Tampa this summer instead of Orlando.

I'd also say don't give Seaworld a miss, its a great park.

Tampa is not necessarily cheaper than Orlando, it just depends on availability on your date.

If you do fly into Tampa it makes sense to spend a night there and see Busch Gardens in the morning. They've got a good set of roller coasters there.

They are the same company as SeaWorld so if you are going to Busch Gardens, it's cheap to add on SeaWorld.

If you want to visit Discovery Cove, the 'swim with a dolphin' park it costs very little to add on Busch and/or SeaWorld, so if you are going to Discovery Cove, don't buy separate Busch/Sea World tickets, buy the discounted Discovery Cove + SW/BG bundle

Well I got quotes for Easter, Christmas and Summer hols and they were on average 1.5k cheaper (for 6 of us) so it is worth getting quotes.
Isn't Busch Gardens aimed at older children than the OP has? I've never been but thought it was a lot more roller coasters for older kids, not much for younger? Might think about going if suitable for younger ones.

Poulay - thanks so much for all that great information.

What Disney parks do you recommend? Has anyone been to animal kingdom? And at Xmas have we got any chance of getting on the Harry potter ride at islands of adventure or will the queue be too long?

I would recommend all of them tbh. You can get on Harry potter if you stay onsite or have virgin early entry or go there first and be prepared to queue. We did ollivanders first though in our onsite early entry as that queue got much bigger more quickly.

Is it worth staying onside for one night to get early entry or would it be too much hassle? Price wise, not too different to paying for express passes for 2 days.

This is great as we go in 5 weeks and I haven't planned any of this.

We went to IoA mid-December, Harry Potter was walk on. Obviously the week before Christmas would be rammed with 2 hour queues though. Need to plan.

Animal Kingdom is good, the Dinosaur ride is nice and scary and the safari ride is pretty good.

Busch Gardens has a Sesame Street area and a zoo and quite a lot of other kiddie stuff.

We went at Easter. Busy of course but as we had nothing to compare it to as we were Disney virgins I wasn't overwhelmed by the crowds. Get to IoA for Harry Potter as the turnstiles open and run to the ride. Did single rider line and we were on it within 15 mins. Universal single rider lines are really good if you have older kids who don't mind if you aren't sitting right next to them when you get on the ride. Harry Potter is in the dark anyway so you might as well be sitting next to Voldemort once you are in your seat for the ride anyway.

My dc's are too young for us to do single rider lines and will want to be with us.

How about meals? I am so confused as people have said that you have to book the popular restaurants 6 months in advance! How will I know what I will be doing?

Frankie, yes, if you book one night onsite then you will get two days early entry and front of the line passes.

In terms of the meals, if you have free Disney dining then yes it's worth booking you can't just turn up at character meals. And by looking at touring plans.com or easywdw then you will know which are the best days to go to which park so you know where you will be. Sad but true.

We've recently got back, stayed in Animal Kingdom Lodge but out of school holiday time so not horrendously expensive and it was very nice. If you do want to book character meals do so ages in advance as they book up very early. I think you can book something like 6 months in advance, sure the website will tell you. If your DD likes princesses I'd say the best character meal is in Cinderella's castle in Magic Kingdom, breakfast in Epcot is ok but seemed to have less time with them.
There weren't huge queues when we were there but do plan what you want to go on and take advantage of the fast pass system. We bought the Unofficial Guide book which amongst masses of other info has plans for the most efficient ways to get around based on different family profiles. We didn't need it too much as it wasn't hugely busy but if you're going in school holidays it might help. I would certainly consider a pushchair for up to 5 year olds as there's lots of walking in hot, humid conditions. The ones you can hire there look pretty uncomfortable and lots of people were using towels and things as cushions. Depending on whether you hire a single or double and for how many days you may be better taking or buying a cheap one there.
The 2 parades I enjoyed were the Move it Shake It parade in Magic Kingdom, they stop in the street and you and the DC can dance with the characters, the electric light parade in Magic Kingdom was also lovely.
My DC's favourites were the Lion King show in Animal Kingdom, Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh and It's a small world in Magic Kingdom, Voyage of the Little Mermaid in Hollywood Studios, Finding Nemo ride and Turtle Talk with Crush in Epcot. They also loved Blizzard Beach. (They're 3.10 and 16 months).
I'm very jealous I'd love to go back it was fab

I would give Animal Kingdom a miss out of all the Disney parks. It was nice enough but other parks are better, I think. And I don't like Busch Gardens. We didn't think that much of Blizzard Beach - I think other water parks (Acquatica?) are better. Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios, Universal and Islands of Adventure are a must. I'm a big fan of Seaworld too. The queue for Harry Potter ride isn't too bad as it's walking through the castle so you're not just waiting in a boring queue.

Oh and as for booking restaurants 6 months in advance, you only need to do that for character meals or if you have a particular restaurant you really want to go to. There will always be loads of places that you can pop in to get a quick lunch so it's not a case of 'if you don't book you'll go hungry'.

If you want to go on the Harry Potter ride at IOA head there first as soon as the park opens. It is at the far side of the park and if you go there first thing the queues will be much shorter. If you leave it later, you might not get to go as they sometimes close the area off if it gets too busy.

Animal kingdom is great and if you want to go on the safari ride, again, head there first thing (far side of park) when park opens. DC 3 and 4 haven't been to AK yet so are going for the first time this summer and I know will love it. For younger DC I personally wouldn't bother with Epcot but each to their own.

Last time we did the breakfast with Cinderella in Magic Kingdom and booked it around 4 months in advance. Very expensive but excellent in that the princesses come to you for photos and you don't have to chase them around the parks

Agree with MOS about Animal Kingdom, probably my favourite, lots of things for younger DC to enjoy. The safari is very good though love love love the Lion King show, get there early for the best seats. My DD unfortunately love the Khali River Rapids so I got drenched quite a few times . The only thing the DC really enjoyed in Epcotvwas the Finding Nemo ride and Epcot oh and the water jets that you can play in on one of the paths. If your DC are younger this would probably be the one to miss for me if you had to miss one.

Should read before posting . Was supposed to say the 2 'rides' in Epcot the DC enjoyed were Finding Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush.

We loved the Kim possible interactive adventure at Epcot, and mine liked collecting stamps from the countries. With Kim Possibleyou get a gadget like a mobile phone, and goto track down baddies, the phone leads you places, and you interact with displays, and even once had to say a code phrase to someone in a shop. It helps with all the walking at Epcot.

Interesting, my 3 year old loved Epcot - The Nemo ride and Crush were great and there was room and space for her to run and the character interactions were all great. Plus the Mexico ride and Maelstrom in World Showcase and Figment. Lots for younger dc to do and so much less busy then MK which annoyed me when it filled up.

I think the Lion KIng and Nemo shows at AK are unmissable as well - you can do them on the way to Blizzard Beach if you're not fussed about anything else as Blizzard Beach and AK share buses.

We liked Blizzard Beach too - I took dd into the childrens area while dh and ds went on some flumes, then we all went on the lazy river before having lunch, grabbing some sunbeds and chilling out. ds loved the big pool and dd was happy building sandcastles.

this has been a usefull site no need to register if just reading but you can regiter for free and ask questions

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Typhoon Lagoon better than Blizzard Beach, imo.

I think we'd have to see the Nemo show. DS2 loves Nemo, has several cuddly ones in his bed and pictures on the wall.

Yep shodan but in winter only one of them is open gah. Hopefully if we go again it will be Typhoon Lagoon.

McKayz - you know the new Art of Animation Suites at Disney have a whole Nemo section with themed rooms,huge themed pool and everything?

Nope I didn't know that. I will go have a look now!!