Anyone got a Disney/Florida Holiday Planned Part 2

[Groovee]

Old Thread

Haha!

We're off site in a large villa.

Went to blizzard beach today and doing Animal Kingdom tomorrow. Kids currently having an evening splash in the pool and I'm having a sunbath! :-) you?

The management keep changing their minds at Orlando with regards to pax and their luggage. At one time no-one was allowed to take their cases onto the train (which goes to the main terminal) now they allow pax to take bags on again. If you choose not to put bags onto the transfer carousel (and they do seem to take a long time to arrive at the other end) you then have to negotiate either the not very wide escalator or a tiny lift with said bags before you board the train.

Immigration lines at Orlando can be very long indeed; its usually taken us 40 minutes plus to get to the head of the stop/start moving line. Wear comfortable shoes!!. Having only 4-6 desks open out of a possible 40 (that's how many were opened the last time we went there) does not help matters either. They never have enough staff available and do not seem aware or are disinterested in the fact that two/three flights from the UK arrive at around the same time.

Do ensure that your customs form is completed correctly; I have seen them send people to the back if paperwork is not accurate.

(At least all pax have now been thankfully spared the rigmarole of having all their hand luggage searched whilst still airside on arrival after getting off the train!. Even they eventually saw how pointless that measure was).

We didn't find the escalators a problem with luggage, as we all stayed at the bottom whilst DH and DF took them up one at a time and came down for more, then took the kids & buggies up one at a time. It was the train that was the problem because once you get on it you can't come back, so you HAVE to take everything with you!

Hmm after reading about the airport I've decided I'm not taking the double buggy....I'll take a single buggy for my 2 yr old and a sling for the baby then after we've unpacked I'll buy a cheap one at Walmart

Thanks for the info

I really don't think a double buggy would present any more problem than a single at the airport...

Parking for cars at the parks is so far as follows (assuming you don't have it prepaid/included)

Hollywood studios $17
Blizzard Beach $0
Animal Kingdom $17

We are just back from an outstandingly amazing week.

If anyone wants a free copy of the Unofficial Disney Guide 2014, barely used (I bought the kids one as well and mostly used that!) PM me and I'll post it to you.

Re: double buggy it probably depends how wide it is - we saw someone coming back who queued to get through security at Orlando with a wide double and she was told to come through the wheelchair line instead. Which was massively long and moves at half the speed of any other queue. Luckily for her she didn't have to go to the back.

Also we were not allowed to take our hold luggage on the train and forced to recheck it in for that stupid extra bit. Of course the Virgin re- re-claim carousel is also completely separate from all the other ones

Thanks it's pretty wide and a pain in the butt to open and fold so even going to the theme parks and squeezing on the wee trains that take you to the front will annoy me, I think 2 singles is a better idea.

I also don't want it flung about by the baggage handlers

We're going in October for 31 nights! The first 5 nights we're at the Saratoga Springs resort (me, DH, Dd and DS) then we move to a villa off the 192 for 3 weeks where we'll meet up with family, then down towards the keys for 3 nights before spending the last 2 nights at the Hard Rock Hotel in Orlando. This will be our 5th trip to the Mouse, I absolutely love it. We've got just under a fortnight before I can book our ADR's and we've chosen to book CRT for breakfast on the first full day. Whether we'll get it or not could be a different matter. If we hadn't got the dining package as part of the accommodation deal then we wouldn't be bothering with CRT as it's expensive for what it is. DD will absolutely love it though.

We are currently in Orlando staying in a villa on The Manor complex near Championsgate. Distance from the parks is perfect. I can really recommend the easy WDW blog/website for tips and crowd calendars we have done really well so far using that and the unofficial guide.
Having an amazing time

We are currently in Orlando staying in a villa on The Manor complex near Championsgate. Distance from the parks is perfect. I can really recommend the easy WDW blog/website for tips and crowd calendars we have done really well so far using that and the unofficial guide.
Having an amazing time

We are currently in Orlando staying in a villa on The Manor complex near Championsgate. Distance from the parks is perfect. I can really recommend the easy WDW blog/website for tips and crowd calendars we have done really well so far using that and the unofficial guide.
Having an amazing time

We are currently in Orlando staying in a villa on The Manor complex near Championsgate. Distance from the parks is perfect. I can really recommend the easy WDW blog/website for tips and crowd calendars we have done really well so far using that and the unofficial guide.
Having an amazing time

Tazzletoes. I can't work out how to PM you. I love to get that book off you if it's still going? Can u PM me at all?

Thanks. This thread has such great tips. .

Hi all,

Joining in as I am booking our holiday tomorrow! Very excited. Am going with DH, our 2 DC and my parents.

We are taking the kids out of school for one week (naughty I know!) and the other week will be in the summer half term next year.

Trip is as follows:-

Fly from Gatwick (use of V Room for free) on 18th May
Pick up hire car in Orlando then we have 11 days there in a villa (Tuscan Hills) - we have 14 day WDW passes and 14 day Universal passes which I think is enough to keep us busy
On Friday 29th we drive to Port Canaveral, drop off the car and board the Disney Dream for a 3 day Bahamas cruise! Stops are Nassau and Castaway Quay
On the final day we get back to the port at 7.30 and need to be at the airport at 3pm so might do a final trip to a Disney Park before we fly home.

I am ridiculously excited about this! I went to Disney in 1994 when I was 16 so I guess a lot has changed. We have never been on a proper holiday as a family (too broke for a while and now doing up our new house so camping in the UK is the best the DC have had). They will be 10 and 8 and have never been on a plane before so hopefully they won't be nervous. Very happy we are doing the cruise too - looks amazing and always wanted to go to the Bahamas :)

Any tips on good guidebooks for Disney/Orlando?

I'm off to Florida 2morrow , cases are sorted, dogs in kennels.....just wish bedtime would hurry up!

I've just sorted all our fastpasses for our on-site week . Got everything we wanted, so just have to wait for a slot for lunch at Be Our Guest to open and we're all set.

We're going next Easter. Just starting research etc. excited!

Wish you luck with the Be Our Guest - currently it's the most sought after dining in Disney. I got mine booked 180 days out by constantly pinging and refreshing the website, and eventually got a reservation for our final day.
Keep hitting the website, they do get cancellations. And if you don't get lucky for dinner reservations, remember they do walk-ins for lunches.

We go on the 8th August.
Most of the FP tickets now booked and a restaurant for most Disney days. Just need to do the final day's FP tomorrow when it opens up to us.

We are not staying on site so only have the 30 day FP option, so haven't managed to get a Mine Train FP so will have to use standby for that.

DD is so keen to go to the new HP park bit so no doubt our first day will be spent queueing!

Do I need to be booking meals for every day??
I've booked 3 we wanted to do but was just hoping we'd either eat where we want or eat off park before heading back in the evening