Disney Orlando in August - Good idea or not - plus Villa or staying in Disney Hotel?

[pepsi]

DH and I are hoping to take ds8 and dd6 to Orlando this summer. It will be in the school holidays. I have been many years ago to Orlando, but never with children. I know it will be hot but how bearable is the heat over their. Also DH wants to stay for 2 weeeks in a park hotel, whereas Im unsure about how we would cope with having to get up for breakie every day. Although being in a disney park does have its benefits in being able to get away for a break in the hottest part of the day or go for a swim. Ive been looking at stuff about Orlando and I find all the choice rather overwhelming. We have been to Paris and stayed at the Hotel New York there but I didnt feel it had the disney magic about it so if you know of a hotel that really has the disney feel please let me know. Thanks all.

Hi. I have been to Florida quite a few times with and without dcs. We are going again in November. I have to say I have been in April, November, july and August. If I am honest I would not recommend August with children if you can help it. They will fry!! It is really, really hot and the humidity makes it almost unbearable at times. Sorry, just wanted to be honest.

There is so much to do there and if you have been pre-children you will see the difference in pace trying to do it with them along. It is a totally different type of holiday but so so much fun. Every time I look at their little faces I come over all silly!!! We are lucky enough to have taken our 2 DDs when they were 2 & 5 and then when they were 5 & 7 and this year they will be 6 & 9 when we go. Each holiday has been fantastic for different reasons and the holidays have changed as they have grown. Florida is such a fab place as there is something for every age range.

What are extra magic hours?

We have got Disney ultimate 14 day passes - are magic hours included do you know?

You get them if you stay at a Disney resort hotel and have you show your pass to the people in the park handing out the magic hours wristbands. It let's you stay in Magic Kingdom for example, three hours later than everyone else.

Sorry about all the questions! Just remembered something else - we were thinking of taking a stroller as I know he will get tired.

Is it expensive to hire one? Is that what most people seemed to be doing?

As we are coming in from the car park (we are staying in a villa) it would be a pain taking our stroller on the bus.

And don't forget to use the fast passes. You put your park tickets in the machine by certain popular rides and it gives you a time to come back (usually an hour later) and you get to jump the queue!! Get a fast pass, go and wander, have a drink and bite, go back and voila, you're on the ride!

Oh, we won't get extra hours then!

Never mind, think our little man will be shattered by early evening anyway!

I think they were $21 a day for a single and $31 for a double or something like that. The buses are equiped for people bringing their own strollers though.

And as an added note, Disney caters exceptionally well for disabled people. On their own transport there is always room for scooters and wheelchairs and they get priority boarding of course. There are no kerbs to bump down in the parks either, everything is flat and has ramps.

Most nights Magic Kingdom shuts at 11 anyway and who could stay until 2am unless you were a teenager?!!

It's so bewildering before you go, I had a million questions ... but once you've been and found out all the little things that make the trip so much easier you can't wait to go back. I have $24 in the kitty for next time!!!!

Yes, LONG time since I was a teenager!

Are you planning to go next year?

We bought a stroller for about £13 in a supermarket on our first day. This worked out much cheaper than hiring one. It was very basic but had a sunshade included. It saw us through 14 days fine. It was fine gettting on and off Disney trams. You have to fold it up but you get plenty of time and seats are plenty roomy to keep a folded up sroller next to you comfortably. The Disney strollers are quite bulky and heavy to manuvere imo. Also as they are identical people tend to walk off with yours all the time, not necessarily a problem as you can get another but annoying if you have stuff in the back. Anyway, buying one worked well for us.

No, not next year, took us long enough to get the money together for this trip. Hopefully the year after, maybe.

Another useful snippet of info, we spent on average £100 ($200) a day, that was buying all meals and drinks and general crap the kids wanted to buy in the gift stores. Sometimes spent less and we carried out $100 to the next day but then spent more on somewhere posher for lunch or dinner!!

Yes, they sell strollers at the entrance to Magic Kingdom and presumably at most parks. There were always heaps of strollers parked up and I noticed there was a bit at the back where you write your surname on so you can identify it.

Hi kbear. Unfortunatley for us our surname is not very unusual ( basically I mean quite common) so ours was taken from outside the rides twice!! Have you recovered from the jet lag yet? Nice to see you are planning your next trip already. Girl after my own heart.

The jet lag has wiped us all out. Thankfully we had from Thursday when we landed until tomorrow before school but DH had to go to work last night and tonight - he is pretty tired. DS has woken up three nights running at 1 am and said he was hungry! Hopefully tonight he will sleep all night.

Heres to wishing you a lovely, peaceful nights sleep, then.

thanks!

Sorry, got one more question...did you take travellers cheques and if so, were they easy to change? or did you take all cash?

You would think I had never been away before!

Took about £700 in cash and the rest in travellers cheques. You just spend them like cash anywhere you go, restaurants, Disney parks etc. You will need you passport with you for ID unless you are a Disney guest then your room key is sufficient.

Also, if you are taking a credit card, check how much they charge you for each transaction - some charge 2.75% on top of what you spend, each time you use it. In fact most do. Post Office and Nationwide don't. If you have time get a new credit card.

Pepsi, friends of mine who love Disney and have a annual pass say August is a time when Americans don;t go because it's too hot, I remember thunder storms (very short ones) everyday when I went in August. If I were ever to take my children we would go in August for shorter queues!!

February is a brilliant time of year - very quiet and warm apart from evenings. Did have a very near miss with a tornado though which destroyed houses 2 blocks from us.

Thanks Kbear!

Must go, need to do some packing !

Hope you have an unbroken nights' sleep tonight!

Will report back on heat etc. on return!