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.

I'll see if I convince DH to stick to Orlando only without the coast... Then we could do both I suppose.

Definitely Universal for 15yo - we went with 2 & 6yo and found it may be a little old for them, the younger stuff is a bit outdated there too. I'm in awe of the Harry Potter bit though.

We're days away from deciding to book for next year

Fleur we did 10 days disney area villa and 4 days beach last time and thoroughly enjoyed the beach part but staying in the villa and relaxing more this time has not made us miss the beach at all. I was told a few days ago there are quite a lot of nasties in the sea this year because of the heat - something about flesh eating bacteria???

Yes ditch the coast, you could always take a drive to Daytona/Clear Water beach one day.

Would Space Kennedy Center/Daytona Speedway be of interest to your DH?

Can you get tickets for the day directly there? Just a thought... As in just one day entry tickets.

I find it so ridiculous that it cost 4 people £600 for 2 days.

You can get tickets on the door but they are more expensive and give you no flexibility - the price for 14 days is only slightly more and gives you the opportunity to go back whenever you like. This time of year is ridiculously hot even without children I wouldn't have been able to spend an entire day in the park, it also means if you want to see the fireworks and there is a thunderstorm you can go a different night.

I think there is no getting away from the expense unfortunately.

Thank you all for all the great advice by the way. Choosing what parks to do in Orlando is a nice problem to have isn't it?

Strawberry you have done Discovery Cove haven't you? Is it worth it? Oh I wish I didn't read the thread from the beginning so I didn't have this issue

Yes I have, I know I wasn't planning on it until I joined the thread either! we all had a fantastic time there. The reef is just amazing, I loved floating around with my snorkel on and it was an excellent was for dd1 to experience it all safely.

Another tip I got here was the astronaut lunch at Kennedy Space Centre which we went to yesterday and it was excellent, really enjoyed it. We also saw an alligator just milling along the river on the way there yesterday, so excited as I've looked in every bit of water here trying to find one.

How did the vow renewal go strawberry everything go swimmingly and as planned?

Fleur DC is also all inclusive so you eat breakfast/lunch/snacks there and they even provide sun lotion I did it way back in 2006 and I always said I would've paid double it was so so good!

Yes thanks, it was excellent everyone was so surprised with the swimmers it was excellent, they were brilliant - just marched in grinning and walking into the water! We've got the pics back from the photographer already - I'll post a detail or two....

This is where we had the ceremony, it was a little darker at the time and the hanging lights were one and the lovely cake dh had made for us!

Thank you Strawberry and Dog did you also do any of the parks included with DC?

Congrats for your renewal Strawberry!

I've just realised my over-use of the word excellent I'll just be off to flick through a thesaurus.

It is slightly cloudy so the wine has come out early in my defence.

Thanks Fleur

Yes we went to sea world but only for a couple of hours to see the dolphin show and the animal show. We only went really because the ticket was included in the DC ticket but probably won't bother next time.

Oh yes Strawberry, I totally forgot about the renewal! Glad it went well, it looks like a lovely experience. And MAN, that cake!!! Amazing!

Fleur, yes, it is far more expensive to buy a walk-up Disney ticket. As Strawberry says, there is no getting away from it, sadly - it's such a huge cost that it's one that you have to factor in when deciding to go :( Universal is much cheaper - about £130 per person for 2 weeks.

I'm a huge Discovery Cove fan and have been several times now. I assumed it would be a 'one time only' thing but now I couldn't imagine going to Orlando without doing DC. Although we only did the dolphin swim once and I don't feel the need to do that again, which saves a lot. I also meant to say that children of all ages will probably love the water parks. I'd happily not bother with them but they're probably my kids' favourite parks and there's nothing like them in the UK. If you're desperate to visit the beach you can easily do the East Coast ones in a day trip (an hour's drive away). The west coast (the nicer beaches) are more like 2 hours drive away buit you can still technically do a day trip.

Looks lovely strawberry!

I bought the DC/SW/BG option, I like the thrill rides so BG is a good park for that. Back then I loved SW but I went again last year and I didn't enjoy it...I think it has too much bad press these day, we left after a few hours.

Yes there is not an option now not to do discovery cove, it is a unique experience for the kids. Aquatica looks really good also and so does Busch Gardens. So we will do these for sure.

I think we'll book the Disney tickets as late as possible to see if the budget can stretch to more days and maybe do a few days less on the coast.

It is exciting but we will keep the second week by the coast as it also looks amazing and it will be our only holiday next year, I will need some time to recover after all the buzzing.

Sounds like a good plan

I agree with ditching the coast and doing parks instead, it's such a unique experience to go to Florida, all the Disney Parks are brilliant, the attention to detail is second to none.

I'm trying to fit in everything into our 2 weeks, DS loves Sea World (he's 6) that we need 2 days there, 2 for universal 2 or 3 in Magic, 1.5 days Epcot, half a day for Animal 2 days in Hollywood Studios. Add in Kennedy / Busch and Aquatica and I'm having to double up on some days

You can't take children to Florida and not do Disney

I've just planned the next 2 days fast passes, I'm loving this but also feel under pressure to organise 8 people's holiday

I was the same when I did mine..I was sorting FP for the ages ranging from 1 - 65 and at the start I was getting peed off with everything falling on my shoulders.

My sister still hasn't got her bloody passport. I wonder if she's even applied for it!
Well DH will be doing most of the driving (if and when my mum decides she's well enough to come out, she will drive as well), my dad is paying for most of the flights and villa, we are hiring the main car and paying for our tickets and flight for DH, so it's down to me and Dad. My sister and her kids aren't spending a penny so they don't have a say as such. Obviously I am planning with their enjoyment in mind though!! But we aren't wasting time on activities that only suit her.

Strawberry that cake looks amazing!

I might have another look at DC. Everyone says how great it is, I don't think we'd go to any of the other parks included though.

DH has been showing the DC videos on youtube of the rides. DD wants to go on everything so I'm hoping she will be tall enough.