Disneyland FLORIDA-a few questions!

[ash6605]

Don't know if anyone has seen my other thread but to cut a long story short we have just been informed theres building work going on in the hotel at Turkey we have booked for May.(5 weeks away)we don't fancy going now so are going to ask to be transferred to another holiday. this one cost £1800 and we quite fancy using it to go to Disney now instead,Pop Century resort is same price.problem is that we have no spending money as turkey was all inclusive,florida is room only so don't know if its feasible.this is probably going to be our only chance to go for a while as we are ttc so don't want to spend the whole 2 weeks skrimping and worrying about money.at the same time though,5 weeks isn't long to save.

how much do you think we would need for food,drinks etc? we are a family of 4-2ad 2kids.

also are the tickets to the main disney parks(14 day ultimate)going to be enough to pass the 2 weeks or would we be bored after a while?

any other tips appreciated. thanks

We have been to Florida twice and did the parks pretty much for the full 2 weeks. We did have tickets for Universal (2 parks) and SeaWorld as well.

Will you have car hire?

Eating out in America is pretty cheap IMO - although not in the parks. Sneak a packed lunch in And portions are massive, so chances are you will only need to buy two adult meals and then get extra plates for your DC.

its been a while since i went but in all honesty it wasnt cheap. you would defo be able to fill your 2 weeks with those tickets though because not only is there the main parks but other smaller ones to that you get access to, such as water parks and night time ones too, what would you be doing about transport, is car hire included? if so are all the inurances included? they are usually a fortune. there are loads of places to eat outside of disney that arent so expensive but if you are spending all day for 2 weeks at the parks, food is v expensive in there.

We were at Disney in October - had no trouble taking food in didn't realise you were not supposed to!!!
it is NOT a cheep holiday and IMHO parks EVERY day is impossible we had tickets for 7 days (were there for 14) and only went to parks for 5 days - it is just too tiring. Would think seriously about getting 14 day tickets if I were you.
other activities are costly but if you go to the tourist info asap after arrival you can pick up books of vouchers with literally hundreds of money off/buy one get one free etc - saves you A LOT of money.
Like others have said before you will NEED a car to get about so consider the cost of this.
If i think of anthing else i'll come back to you....

the car hire is included,insurance isn't though so i would need a quote for that.

are we talking thousands then for spending money? i can probably save £1000 in time but is that enough.

also meant to ask about weather-whats it like end of may? have a full new wardrobe of bikini's,sarongs,skirts,dresses etc,thinking we were going to Turkey can i use most of them for florida(obviously i wouldn't be walking around wdw in just a bikini)

am i being too optomistic and would i be better off just playing it safe and sticking with an AI sun holiday??

as i said its been ages since i went but again from memory all the insurances are a couple of hundred quid, i am sure that your travel agent will be able to tell you, there are various options though, make sure she tells you about all of them, I think if you are sensible about food and take packed lunches by shopping at supermarkets, and then maybe making sure that you go local rather than disney to eat on an evening you should be ok, doint know how old your dc's are but make sure that they realise they cant buy eveything they see as well!!!

TBH I think if money is a problem then Florida isn't the place to go. If you are worried about spending too much then I don't think you will enjoy it. (I'm salivating just thinking of the all-you-can-eat places that you won't be able to resist).

Disney only for 2 weeks? Trust me, you will be sick of the sight of the mouse after 4 days. The water parks are brilliant but I think you will find yourself spending money on other places to go.

There is little else worth going too, other than the parks really though. The Disney area attractions are not that fab! Space Kennedy is worth a visit, but you need car hire and it is a long drive.

We had no problem doing parks for the whole time - including the 4 Disney parks, 2 Disney water parks, 2 Universal[arks and Sea World. Plus we had a couple of lazy mornings by the pool, and a couple of shopping trips. DD was 2 the first year and 4 the next - and she kept going longer than any of us! LOL! Couldn't get her out.

If you aren't stuck to eating in a Disney hotel or resort then you can eat relatively cheaply outside. Cheaper than UK.

i am now having another MAJOR problem if anyone can help me!! im going to post this in chat aswell cause i really need advice.

booked disney this afternoon,managed to get a really good deal,even cheaper than turkey(by £600-enough to buy our park tickets)so thats done

BUT i have a problem with my visa.i was arrested last year(see my post in the Maxine Carr thread) so was told AFTER we booked that i'd need a special visa to enter USA-it was only an arrest FFS! but can't get an appointment with the embassy until end of may-two weeks after we are due to travel.problem is i've already told the kids we are going,they are now excited,ive only just realised about the visa or i would never have told them.

so i either cancel the hol altogether(delaying is not an option)or i take my chances when i get over there.people in RL are saying just go,deny any arrests or convictions and there are loads of people on here who have done it but these are for arrests/convictions from years ago not recently. exactly what happens when you arrive,i know they scan your fingers and take a photo but why? would that then show up if you had a record?when i was arrested they did my fingerprints and took a photo and i'm wooried that they can catch me out that way.

shit shit SHIT i really don't know what to do i've had the year from hell,both my parents and a baby and really need this hol,HELP! sorry for the long post.

meant LOST parents and baby

Have you phoned the embassy and asked them for a more urgent appointment?

they told me the earliest app was end of may and they do not have cancellations.maybe i was just being fobbed off and it may be worth ringing up again tommorrow to see if anyone else can get me an earlier app but,even then it can take weeks to get the visa through. looking at past posts on here,people have waited 6 months for it to come through.

ash6605 - did you try the London embassy? I know you can also go to one in Ireland - Belfast I think - they might have an earlier appointment.

There was a long thread about this on the holidaytruths website. We have been planning on going to Florida for yonks but dh has a conviction for drunk and disorderly (over 20 years ago)when someone tried to pick a fight with him outside a pub and the police threw them all in the cells.

Apparently the USA receive the passenger lists from the airline so they check out the details in advance so if anything comes up and you haven't a visa they don't let you in

I've been florida 3 times and they are REALLY strict when it comes to entering the US. WE went a year after 9/11 and they had notched up security like you wouldn't believe!! Be honest and don't try sneaking through! if you get turned back thats it!

how true is that saffy? i've never heard of that happening(sorry i'm not doubting you) i really hope thats not the case.

we lose all our money now if we cancel because of it being a last minute deal

I don't know how true it is - like I say with dh's conviction I was just looking into it and read it on holidaytruths.

Have found it - it's called the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) basically consists of name, address, passport number, date of birth etc. That is sent to the USA before the plane takes off. What I don't know is what the Americans do with it? Do they carry out checks on criminal records?

They check everything (they even get details of your credit card used to pay for the flights so they can check any suspicious spending which might indicate terrorism or drugs)

When you get there they do these biometric pictures of your eyes and fingerprints.

I know someone who had a parking conviction in the US that was 10 years old who wasnt allowed back in until he had paid it (plus interest)

They will and do check all passenger lists and run them through computers so anything 'abnormal' will show up - and anyone without the correct paperwork will be sent back home

thanks for all the advice,i have cancelled my hol for now and will re-book when i get my visa.