Help - planning Disney holiday of lifetime

[KinkyDorito]

Hi all

I have booked for us to go to Disney in Florida next August. There will be DH and I, and DD (14) and DS (4) - ages for next year.

I want to make this holiday as special as possible. I have been to Florida once, but I didn't organise it. I want to create something very magical. It was DDs request to go there; she has leukaemia and she is due to finish chemotherapy in April 2013. This holiday is to celebrate the end of it, and to give us all something to look forward to.

What I'm after are insider's tips - best places to go, things to see, ways to get best service. We will be staying in the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Currently, I don't plan to drive, so we will be using local transport (I am a big wuss, and I want to enjoy myself and relax after what has been the most difficult time of all of our lives). We have park tickets for all the big ones - Universal, Seaworld and Disney. I think we will also book Discovery Cove.

Any tips would be very gratefully received. I'm working a year in advance so plenty of time.

We had a 8 year old who was tall enough but didn't want to ride. We asked about switching processes. They pushed us through the ride, then diverted the child and one adult out, without giving "fast pass" tickets as most rides do. The adult and child ended up in the area at the end of the ride which was basically unmanned. When everyone else arrived we couldn't find staff to help.

We walked back to the start of the ride. Wayne basically said he had been there all the time, he didn't recognise us. He hadn't been there when we went through at the start. No one would have pushed us through like that. and that we were lying.
This upset everyone in the party. In the end we went to customer services who were great. Made a note about Wayne. Gave us 10 use anywhere (except the Buzz Lightyear) fast passes valid for 5 days.

Customer services are great. A few members of staff are not. They seem to be best at Magic Kingdom, slightly less wonderful at the other parks.

(We did do the Rock and Roller Coaster without waiting.)

I am increasingly militant after the last couple of years we've had as a family. Wayne'd better beware .

Love Rock and Roll Rollercoaster. It is my favourite.

Can I say a big thanks again for all the help and tips?

Thomson's won't let us upgrade to concierge floor of hotel as they can't offer that through their company (suggestion was made up thread). I am starting to get quite unimpressed with them, tbh. I booked the holiday (which is very expensive) through them 16 months in advance. They said they could insure us, but when I rang the insurers up after we booked to check details I was refused. I called Thomson's the very next business day to say that if I couldn't find an insurer then we wouldn't be able to go as it's too much money to risk, but they said I would still lose my deposit for cancelling. Not impressed when they didn't check that we were okay on the insurance that they gave us.

Live and learn, I suppose. I'm not used to buying holidays through an agent... or any holidays for that matter.

I would phone Disney direct Kinky to see if they can do it - they are very good. it would be a good opportunity to mention the reasonb for your trip as well - they will do lots of little things for you.

I have also used memories by betsy to do surprise gift baskets - they deliver them into your room so that they are there when you come back from the parks - you can have anything in the disney shops onsite apart from food. its lovely.

:-( Kinky

OK, now I am really worried too. We are going to Savannah for a week in a weeks time and then driving to Orlando. We will arrive in Orlando on Monday 27 August and then meet family who live in the States on Friday 31st for four days and stay with them in Wilderness Lodge and do Magic Kingdom before leaving on the 2nd. So, other than staying in Wilderness Lodge and doing Magic Kingdom (which I know will be busy as it is labor day weekend) we have planned nothing between 27th august and 31st August. Am I mad? We have accommodation at Floridays for that time but in terms of theme parks I just thought I would sort it out when we got there. DD is 8 and DS is 6. I thought we would probably do Universal between 27th and 31st. I have just registered with the Disney for Brits site but now I am totally confused and overwhelmed! I don't want to do any of the dolphin swimming / sea world type places but other than that what should we consider and what should I book in advance? Any advice gratefully received!

Go to easywdw and look at the recommended days, stick to them, get to the park half an hour before opening on a non EMH day and tour properly doing the most popular things first and using fast pass. You do need to plan that weekend or it's going to be a nightmare.

If you are going to universal then the same principle applies, get there for opening and do the most popular things first, look into express pass prices.

Youbrokemysmouldr thank you so much. Have looked at easywdw and getting a little more organised. In your opinion are we better off going for the seven days pass for Disney and giving universal and ioa a miss or should we rally not miss ioa and universal. Ds is a tall and quite confident 6 and dd is 8. It is our first trip to any Disney so I am sure they will be blown away by everything but ioa and universal does look great but it does make it so much more expensive. So..... Just Disney or do we accept it is going to be super pricey and do universal too? Tanks so much for the help !

Accept it is going to be super pricey and do both. I think IOA and Universal are unmissable tbh unless you are going to be going back within 2 years or so.

I think the Universal tix arent that bad - I think we paid 95quid for a 2-day hopper.

You need to update us on how it was Lockey. Hope you are having a lovely time .

Reading this thread makes me exited
We are off to Florida in oct
I am counting down the days
Went last year and loved it.
I'm gonna buy loads of nail varnish and more converse!

ihate have a fab time, and come back and let us know how it was .

has anyone on this thread been to LA and done Disney/universal and seaworld there? how does it compare?

and what place would you recommend most, eg. Florida or LA?

Hi ssd I have done Disney in LA but not Universal - we went to Florida instead last time for Harry Potter which isnt in California. You do get Carsland at Disney in California though.

The main difference is size - in Florida, WDW is the size of a city with 4 differen parks and 2 waterparks and umpteen hotels, in California its the size of one block.

If you're going to California then do the parks as well but its not all of the holiday - its an add-on. If you want to just do parks with a little bit of beach added on then go to Florida.

Time of year matters as well of course as, for us, its too hot in Florida past may.

thanks youbroke

we'd be going June/July....I don't like the heat (!) so where would be bearable for me IYSWIM?

we aren't totally mad on the parks, we like sightseeing, beaches (I hide under trees..)and generally getting a feel for the place, wandering about and people watching

is there anything you'd recommend in California, I have teens?

God yes, I think california would be great for teens.

Our itinerary was: LA (Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Hollywood, galleries and museums, Disneyland, Newport Beach - for surfing), then down to San Diego for some chilled out but alternative vibe beach scene (and Seaworld if you're interested), then Palm Springs as a base for the Joshua Tree national Park for a bit of desert, if you had longer you could drive out through Death Valley etc. Then back to LA again.

There is so much to do in California.

Florida is great too but outside of Orlando and Miami a much more laidback holiday - you can do the everglades then drive down to the Keys.

You can get away with not driving in Orlando though and of course there is Cape canaveral if your teens are into that, and Florida would come in cheaper as well with the deals you can get...

yes, Florida is coming in cheaper, Ca more of a tailormaid holiday

what about weather wise? where is hotter?

Florida hotter and stickier but there are ways to get round it by going to the parks early and then a waterpark or hotel pool in the afternoon. It's lovely in the evening too.

California not quite as hot but dryer heat and nowhere near as much rain.

Would you stay on site at Disney or universal?

we'd probably stay nr Anaheim

its just so very expensive, isn't it!

we've been saving for ages to take the kids abroad and have looked at going to maybe a city/beach holiday where there's different things to do

we looked at Barcelona and then the coast line near to it, but a holiday there was coming in at over £3k for 2 weeks and that wasn't somewhere "posh"!!

I figured if thats for 2 weeks in Spain we might as well spend a bit more and go to Ca, where we love....or Florida, which everyone raves about

I know we could get a cheaper deal 2 weeks abroad somewhere, but the kids of holiday where its all sun/beach/pool then entertainment at night in the hotel really sounds awful to me and I think the kids would get bored pretty soon, although I've never done it so really it might be great, who knows

Hi, we've just come back from 3 weeks in California of which 2 were spent between Anaheim and San Diego.
The weather was stunning! Never a cloud in the sky and around 26-28 degrees, so very manageable.
We did hire a car and hubby hated the driving because there was traffic at all times of day and night. The highways are also very complicated with lots of lanes and intersections.
Disneyland went beyond my expectations! I was expecting a beautiful theme park....it's actually a magical place. You need to see it to believe it. We also loved Disney California Adventure which is next to Disbeyland and was included in our park hopper tickets. In terms of where to stay, the hotels inside the resort are very expensive so we stayed at the Candy Cane Inn. Brilliant and 5 minutes walk to the parks' entrance.
Universal also went beyond my expectations, with the tour of the studios where such famous films are shot! Loved it!
As for Hollywood, must be seen I guess but don't spend more than a day there. It's basically a residential area with a famous theatre (Kodak theatre) and stars on the pavement (the walk of fame).
We also loved Seaworld and the San Diego zoo. We didn't have time to go to Knot Berry Farm and Knots Soak City (the waterpark) but I've heard good things.
The beaches in Santa Monica and La Jolla are great. We didn't like Venice beach as too dirty and full of druggies.
I recommend getting a Southern California City Pass to save on entrance tickets.
If you need any more info dont hesitate to ask!

Ssd, in your situation I would do Florida, a week in Orlando and then a few days on the gulf coast. Properly planned the heat isn't a problem and if you can go in a free dining period and stay on site at Disney then you save money or you can get a cheap villa from owners direct with all the games consoles and satellite telly included.

The bonus of being onsite as well with teens is that they take themselves to the parks on the bus, marvellous.

Very exciting thread, we won't be able to go for years yet so I'm very excited for those that are!

Wishing your family lots of luck kinky.

youbroke, sadly the kids are just turned 13, couldnt let them go off themselves! can I ask why you prefer Orlando to Ca?

really like the sound of your holiday annaliza,,,,can I ask what you did the other week, did you go inland or further up the coast?

sorry for this hijack op

I reckon you could, absolutely there, it's so safe you wouldn't believe it, you can deffo do it in a park itself, after all they will want to go on rock and roller again and again and you won't. They get themselves to school don't they?

I prefer CA overall as a holiday but it's much more planning, organisation and money. Florida is much easier and cheaper. Because the dc were happy all of the time I found it very relaxing, it's not real of course but it is easy.

I'll take your word for it

where did your kids prefer?

Hmm interesting question. It was only ds for CA and he was only 5. I think if they were given an option they would do Florida again. California he loved but said it was a lot of time in the car. Yours are so much older though and so presumably that won't be a problem.

You can get a much more varied holiday in CA but the first time I did Florida pre dc we flew to Miami, did that, did the Everglades, drove down to key west for some diving etc, then back up to the gulf coast for the Dali museum and some beach time, the a few days in Orlando, space coast and cape canaveral then fort lauderdale and back to Miami.

Now we wouldn't do that because realistically you need 2 days for universal and then however many for Disney, we took 5, one for each park and some waterpark and downtown Disney time.