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Original poster

Please help me book a holiday to Orlando

61 replies

SoupDreggon · 24/03/2013 11:03

Currently looking at the Comfort Suites Maingate East with Virgin.
Me and three children (14, 12, 7).
I will not be driving as I find the thought of doing it all myself very stressful.

Travelling mid August for 14 mights. Am I mad??

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mummymeister · 24/03/2013 11:16

no but you will need to plan in advance otherwise it can be v expensive and lots of queues in august. also your older 2 will get more out of universal than disney so plan to be this side of disney rather than the other. why not driving Op? first thing buy the book wdw with kids and beyond disney and this will save you bags of time. whats your budget? would you be better off s/c than in a hotel.

bunchamunchycrunchycarrots · 24/03/2013 11:18

Are you doing the 'Disney' thing? If so, and you don't want to drive, I'd consider staying at a Disney hotel if I were you. The all day free bus service is just the ticket if you don't want to drive. Non Disney hotels do tend to have free shuttles but they are more restrictive on times. The cost of taxis out with the shuttle times can be very expensive.

Original poster
SoupDreggon · 24/03/2013 11:25

I said why I wasn't driving in my OP - I find the whole idea of doing it all myself very stressful. I've been to the US many times before so I'm not basing it on nothing! This rules out self catering villas.

The hotel I'm looking at offers shuttles to all the main parks which may be restrictive timewise but this will be fine.

I don't really want to be confined to Disney so have ruled out Disney hotels.

Practically speaking, money is no object!

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mummytime · 24/03/2013 11:46

I would really strongly advise a Disney Hotel if you are not driving. You could then use t axis to go offDisney if you want. Or maybe have a second base at Universal or on international drive.

Original poster
SoupDreggon · 24/03/2013 13:00

Thanks but I don't want to be tied to Disney. I don't want to have to use a taxi every time I want to eat somewhere else etc.

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ChippyMinton · 24/03/2013 13:11

I've been looking for August 2014, and the advice seems to be go the second half of August when the US schools have gone back.

bunchamunchycrunchycarrots · 24/03/2013 13:12

Soup you don't have to be tied to Disney but if you don't want to drive and are relying on shuttles you are not thinking about how the heat will affect what you do and when you do it. That's fine when driving as you can come and go as you please but the shuttles are very restrictive time wise and you will end up paying a small fortune on taxis. In August the temp will be pretty high. That can wipe out an afternoon and you'll need to get taxis to get back to hotel. There will be days you'll need a later start as you'll be knackered from the day before, and you'll not get a shuttle to start mid day etc. you can start early, get back to hotel to lounge in pool then head back out for a late night if you are able to use the free bus service for Disney. You can easily spend the day at one of their water parks and then head to a late opening park etc. if money is no object then booking one of the mid to high price Disney hotels would make more sense. If you aren't wanting to do the whole Disney thing then fair enough but if you aren't driving then as long as you have enough to pay for cabs everywhere then, again, you'll be fine but it is very expensive if you don't drive but don't have access to the Disney bus service.

MTSgroupie · 24/03/2013 13:18

If you don't want to take taxis, just to go somewhere to eat then a hotel on International Drive would be a better location.

Original poster
SoupDreggon · 24/03/2013 13:40

you are not thinking about how the heat will affect what you do

Thanks - I've been before so I do know how hot it is and how heat affects us :) (7 visits to Antigua in July/August show that it affects the kids not at all and I'm fine with a hat and a bottle of water!)

I was thinking of International Drive but dithering (which is what I do best). It's not that I want to be able to step outside and go sightseeing/mall shopping, just have breakfast/dinner out rather than the same place every time etc. I have fond memories of breakfast at Dennys and cinnamon rolls at an all you can eat buffet breakfast for example...

Due to Scout Camp, is is the second half of August I'm looking at, which is lucky :)

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bunchamunchycrunchycarrots · 24/03/2013 13:46

Ok it seems you don't actually need any advice then Smile

AnnoyingOrange · 24/03/2013 13:51

What about two hotels in two different locations ?

AttilaTheMeerkat · 24/03/2013 13:52

I would look at hotels on International Drive (specifically the ones located south of Sandlake Road) as these are more centrally located to both Disney and Universal than where you are planning to stay in Kissimmee.

Original poster
SoupDreggon · 24/03/2013 14:06

Not sure what your problem is, bunchamunchycrunchycarrots Confused

I'd thought about two hotels but if I can avoid the hassle of transferring between two, that would be preferable. With the packing up and transferring, I wonder if it's too much hassle for a one-adult-non-driving group. [dither]

South of Sandlake road... I think I need an old fashioned paper brochure!

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Original poster
SoupDreggon · 24/03/2013 14:13

These hotels are crap at catering for families aren't they? WRT beds - all are two queens so 2 children have to share a bed. Or am I missing something?!

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ChippyMinton · 24/03/2013 15:13

This all-suites hotel was suggested by my travel agent. I thought the rooms looked good for a large family group. The only downside will be how good the hotel's own shuttles are. It's meant to be a good location for I-Drive and Disney.

Like you, we are not keen to be driving everywhere, although we probably will have a car for convenience, and take buses when we can.

NinaNannar · 24/03/2013 15:15

there is a LOT of travelling to be done in Florida - even in winter we found it hard work. plus teh q ing that seems to happen in the summer

Being on a beach in antigua is no comparison

NinaNannar · 24/03/2013 15:15

why not just get a villa and a car?

far easier - eat out all the time but you can have days at home then.

mummytime · 24/03/2013 15:35

Having been to St Lucia in August and Orlando, I would say Orlando was more draining. Although whether that was because of a) lack of a sea breeze, or b) the much larger travelling distance (Antigua is 442.6 square kilometres, greater Orlando is 10,400 square kilometres).

bamboostalks · 24/03/2013 15:39

I don't see the point of asking for advice and then blowing that advice out the water? Strange op IMO.

YouBrokeMySmoulder · 24/03/2013 15:42

Have a look at floridays to solve the beds problem but yes they expect dc to sleep together. It is normal in the US. We did split stay Disney/Universal and had free dining, express passes at universal, magical express to and from the airport. Easy.

ChippyMinton · 24/03/2013 15:44

Have you stayed at floridays, Smoulderv(great name btw)?

Original poster
SoupDreggon · 25/03/2013 07:50

NinaNannar Why don't I hire a villa and car? Because I am not going to drive! I've said that twice. And I am well aware of the heat because I've been there before.

bamboostalks If I've said "I am not going to drive and do not want to stay in Disney" and then saying "why don't you drive or stay in Disney" isn't really advice is it?

It's perfectly possible to do Orlando without a car. My brother has done it. It was not a problem. I thought MN may be able to offer a wider suggestion of where to stay/go about it as his requirements were slightly different to mine.

Thanks to everyone who managed to offer suggestions that actually related to what I said.

However, I kind of wish I'd never asked.

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YouBrokeMySmoulder · 25/03/2013 08:12

We properly investigated the whole thing without a car as we dont drive and looked at lots of suites and even villas that you can cab from but when I number crunched it was worth it to be on site, especially with the dining. The hard rock hotel was especially worth it with the express passes and walking to citywalk for dinner and drinks.

Chippy, we didnt stay there in the end but it is very popular on the Dibb. Just thought it was a bit expensive in the end for what it was and we were worried about the shuttles.

Original poster
SoupDreggon · 25/03/2013 08:13

At the moment it's looking like Renaissance Orlando Resort at SeaWorld, ditching private sleeping for location/transport.

I'd looked at Floridays and discounted it for some reason - but having looked at it again I can't remember why Confused It offers transfers to all the parks so I really can't imagine why. I'll have another look. It may be that I saw it on the exchange page for my timeshare company but decided not to use them. However,it's offered by BA so I'll look at it again. Thanks

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Original poster
SoupDreggon · 25/03/2013 08:18

If there were two adults in my party, split centres would work. As it's just going to be me handling everything I'd rather find one place and stay put.

If I had my choice, we'd just go back to Antigua again - it's easy. However, the children desperately want me to take them somewhere different and I do want to take DD to Disney as she's never been and I don't want her father to have that joy. So much of this will be about the children that I need to make some compromises to make it a holiday for me too.

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