Anyone got a Disney World/Florida holiday planned? Part 3

[McKayz]

I thought I'd start a new thread as number 2 is nearly full.

Links to old threads:

thread 1

thread 2

We haven't got ours booked yet. But we are planning on going August 2016. DH and I both turn 30 in the next 11 months so it's like a big birthday holiday.

Strawberry, thanks for the hotel tip - might be a bit chilly for the pool in Dec though! No specific NY plans yet either... All very much a work in progress, and I need to renew my passport ASAP so I can start booking stuff!

Zig Ahhh, yes it definitely will be chilly in the pool - if you like theatre and want to try something totally out of the box and slightly mind blowing try Sleep No More.

Dog I have packed a few clothes, am desperately trying to finish off all work before we go and it seems there is something that pops up any time I try and get things done. I've hired a double buggy from Orlando Stroller Rental but have the feeling dds aren't going to be interested and no they don't know and it's still hurting me three more days and no more feeling like I'm going to burst....

Zig, can you really only do the one day? Magic Kingdom is great, and if you can only do one then it should be on the list but I think Hollywood Studios is excellent for adults. It depends what you're after really.
If you want the whole Disney experience (which is amazing), the Magic is your thing.
And then there's Mission Space at Epcot and Test Track.... And It's Tough To Be a Bug at Animal..... You're going to have to extend your holiday I'm afraid

Strawberry - thanks, I'll look into that!

Shifty - I'm definitely open to suggestions! I think Epcot seems a bit strange from what I've read online though! I'm considering the watermark though...

We like Thorpe Park/Alton Towers type places.

Is it better to spend 2 days at Disney or 2 days at universal?

Is orlandoattractions.com a good/safe place to buy tickets?

Zig, if it's thrill rides & coasters you're after then Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios are your best bet. The Disney parks have fewer rides like that.

Orlando Attractions is a good place, yes. I think I'm right in saying that the only 1 or 2 day Disney tickets you can get in the UK are from Undercover Tourist though.

Oh and if it's only one day at Universal then Islands is better for thrill rides than Studios.

Thanks Lucas! I didn't realise I would have so many questions - thank goodness for this thread

I have stumbled across this thread tonight. I am thinking of booking up to go August 2016. Hubby has fixed hols (in Aug next year) and I am hoping it will be the back end of August as it should be quieter then (US schools back). He rarely gets school holidays off and it is amazing he has 3 weeks of the school hols next year (hence, why I am dreaming USA)!
I am so overwhelmed with it all though (the booking/what we would need/the best price). I have done Disney/Universal in California a few times but we have never been to Florida. Our children will be 12 and 8 next year so a nice age to go. My youngest is obsessed with dolphins so I would love to take her to Discovery Cove. Also, Universal, Disney and Kennedy would be great too.
I think a villa would suit us and I know that hubby won't spend the entire 2 weeks in theme parks so a car would be needed to go elsewhere for him. I don't think he would tolerate 14 days of theme parks!! My daughter would love to go to Clearwater Marine Aquarium as she loves the 'Dolphin Tale' movies.
Will have a read through here for tips...

Hi Country, we are going August 2016 too and my DCs will be roughly the same age as yours then! It seems overwhelming but it needn't be - knowing that you want a villa is a big planning hurdle sorted. You just need to book flights & villa and then the rest can be sorted out as and when. We'll talk you through it :)

We are going in August 2016 too.

Can't wait.

For those of you going in 2016, have you booked your holiday yet? We want to book for Oct 2016 but not sure whether to go ahead and book a package holiday now, or to just book the accommodation now or to be patient and wait for the flights to go on sale.
I think we would probably end up paying more if we book a package so ideally don't want to do that. I'd like to book the accommodation now but worried if we do the flight prices might be extortionate when we eventually come to book! The sensible thing to do would be to wait until flights go on sale but that won't be until November - not sure if I can wait that long!

We've booked already. We wanted to stay at Disney with the free dining. The offer finishes soon so we had to get it booked.

We go in 2016, but in Feb. we booked about 3 weeks ago.

The free dining offer ends in stages. The full offer ends soon (9 July?) but after that the offer is for free dining +$100 gift card for moderate and deluxe hotels. I'm not sure when the free breakfast at value resorts ends. All free dining offers end in November sometime, so still lots of time to book (albeit possibly with slightly reduced extras) if you want to stay onsite.

We book packages. By the time I've added up what we want and priced it out, there isn't a huge amount of difference so we go ahead. Bt then we do a lot of ADRs and character meals as that suits us (2 x ASD means queuing to meet characters just doesn't happen, and you can't always get FP, plus we need meals to be clearly organised and laid out (ASD strikes again!) so it makes sense for us to do table service meals a lot of the time and the costs soon add up, especially for CRT or Chef Mickey etc). So the free dining works well for us, meaning an onsite package stay. We also only do Disney (we go for 7-10 days only, and children are young enough/not into big fast rides to not make Universal worthwhile yet - that is changing as dd2 loves big rides now but is not yet tall enough)

But it all depends on what type of holiday you are after, and what suits your family.

Oh, and seconds on how flexible you can be as well.

We only fly direct, and won't go in the summer as too hot. Which leaves us with quite narrow dates for other school holidays. That cuts down our options a lot, so DIY doesn't always work for us when coupled with the reasons from post above as well.

We definitely want the free dining offer and seem to remember we hurried to book by the end date but then the offer continued but without the gift card. Hopefully will be the same this time because it would be very early to finish next year's offer.
We stayed at port orleans fq last time and loved it, don't want to do exactly the same again though so thinking of carribean beach this time but maybe pay for a preferred room.

Free dining offer is similar to before. Free dining + $200 gift card ends 9 July. Free dining + $100 gift card carries on for some time. Not sure of exact end date (there is a thread on the Dibb with all the details) and then Free dining alone ends in November. There is definitely some form of free dining offer until November.

shiftyfades we go on the 8th so may well see you there melting in the heat!

I'm just trying to organise a cake for my DD's birthday lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table. The only thing I'm concerned about is having to carry the cake around with us after lunch!!

lucas hello again fellow Disney Nutcase! I've been to Florida twice. Once when I was 10 and then when I was 21, which was 24 years ago (bloody hell, that's shocking !)

Bought some very comfy Birkenstock type shoes and some pool shoes this morning...........42 days to go

DH and the DCs are away camping this weekend so I've got tonnes of time to plan!

Think I need to,get an idea of which Fastpasses to book in a months time. Will go and consult my towering stack of guidebooks!

Bacon, could they box up the cake and get it sent to either park gates for collection on your way out (like you can with shopping) or your hotel if staying onsite?

Or go for the special dessert at CRT (is it a choc slipper, or similar) and arrange a cake back at your resort. I am facing s similar dilemma for my dd2's birthday next Feb, so I will await your decision and outcome with interest

bacon if you let me know what rides you really want to do I can let you know the wait times when I was there. Its a good feeling walking past a 80 min wait time and going on the ride within 5 mins.

Fantastic Bacon, I will no doubt walk past you at some point, completely unaware that we've "met" on here

I am worried as I broken my ankle 6 weeks ago, it's still painful to move in many directions. I'm off work untilThursday so am going the doctor on Wednesday, I think another week and possibly physio might be needed!

I've told travel insurance company, might be time to warn the airline, can I take crutches in the cabin?

Has Strawberry gone now? Have a fab time, Strawbs!!

Where's the best place for travel insurance? Might look at the post office as I think we've used them before.

Lots of great tips on here. We've got flights booked for March 2016 and need to figure out accommodation. Any recommendations for sites to book villas?

I have a question about magic bands. If you are staying on site and have magic bands, do you need to carry around cash or card?