Florida 1st timer

[Allbymyself123]

So never been to Florida in my life. My kids will be 16 & 12 this year & thanks to some inheritance we can finally have a decent holiday (never been abroad as a family) thinking of Florida they’d love universal particularly the Harry Potter parts & mario & also maybe some disney like star wars etc but i’ve got no clue where to start!

do i book it all individually or is there a company with package deals? Do i need something like a 14 days pass for parks? Where do i book that? Limited to (Scottish) school holidays so worried about the heat and being on the go all day. Also worried about queues and how busy it will be!

where to stay? What to eat? How much spending money? Please can someone talk me through it like an idiot and where to start please?

Also is 2 weeks enough?

The 14 day pass will usually work out cheaper than several individual days. Easter might be better weather wise? Google the concept of "ghost rooms" - buying a night or two at a selection of Universal hotels can come with fast passes, and is cheaper than buying the fast passes. (Does not apply to all universal hotels). You will have a great time!
There are loads of Facebook groups giving tips

You can go to the Universal water park too. It's cheaper to do Universal OR Disney, rather than trying to do them both. Could take a trip out to the Kennedy Space Centre, or on an alligator boat trip, or go west to Busch gardens in Tampa.

Wow how amazing! The most helpful thing we did was to join theDIBB - it's a website/chat thing for planning hols and we got so much advice! We went over Christmas which was very busy but it was still amazing but I would definitely advise you to research lots then plan thoroughly. It is not a place to turn up and wander. I would 100% recommend discovery cove. We didn't end up doing universal as in two weeks there wasn't time so stuck with Disney (5 theme parks, 2 waterparks and downtown Disney kept us very busy!). We loved the convenience of staying in a Disney hotel as it meant no hassle with transport etc

As @Badlifeday said - The Kennedy Space Centre is really good and perhaps a good thing for teens. I went to Florida with DCs about 25 years ago - so take more up to date advice - but we hired a villa ( not sure exactly where - maybe Kissimmee - sp? ) and drove to the theme parks . Which is cheaper because in nice weather you can cook at home. There will be different opinions but I would say 2 weeks is more than enough and also look at what else apart from the theme parks , because to me 2 weeks just going to those would end up being a bit boring. But I don't know what your DCs would like . There are Everglades tours I think , lots of outlet malls and some nice places with farmers markets and nice shops but so sorry , my information is out of date 😊

We went at Easter in 2018, the weather was perfect, hot enough for shorts and t-shirts but without the unbearable humidity in August/September. Also bear in mind that the hurricane season is from June to November. We booked flights, villa and car hire through Virgin, park tickets through Attraction Tickets UK and yes, the 14 day Disney tickets are cheaper and give you more flexibility. You can download the Disney and Universal apps, and you can pre-book restaurants before you travel. I've never been one for planning each day of a holiday but with Orlando you absolutely have to! We didn't bother with Sea World and we did Legoland instead of Discovery Cove which was a massive mistake, Legoland Windsor is much better! You need to plan for a couple of rest days as it is tiring. Universal and Disney are amazing, we also did Busch Gardens in Tampa which was incredible and Kennedy Space Centre - if you have a rough idea of dates, you can get launch tickets in advance if there are any planned while you are there. Ours was scrubbed, unfortunately but we were allowed to spend the value of the launch tickets in the gift shop. It's the best thing we ever did, and your kids are the ideal age, we saw so many tired and overwhelmed younger kids with parents gritting their teeth at having spent a small fortune only to have to leave the parks after a few hours. Only other piece of advice is a sports bra if you're going on the big rides and comfy well worn in trainers for the parks as you'll be on your feet for at least 8 hours!

I would avoid Easter. Next to Christmas it’s the busiest time to go. The perfect time for us (Scottish) was out October holidays. We went just a couple of days before they broke up and did 2 weeks. It worked out well. We did 10 days Disney and 4 at universal.

There are several very good Facebook groups that I suggest you join. This will take planning to make the best of your time in the parks.

We stayed onsite for both Disney and universal. We didn’t hire a car as found disneys transport to be fantastic and we just used uber and Lyft when we wanted to go elsewhere. Cheap as chips to get around.

My best piece of advice is work out your dates and then join some Facebook groups and the Dibb. Sit with a note pad and pen and start jotting down some ideas and thoughts. You’ll get a huge amount of information on You Tube as well.

I booked everything myself as it worked out cheaper than using Virgin holidays or TUI etc. We did Edinburgh via Gatwick to Orlando going out and then Orlando, JFK, Edinburgh coming home.

I am adding in please avoid discovery cove and sea world. Utterly hateful places using animals for your entertainment.

Agree - they aren’t anything more than centres of animal cruelty . They should be closed down.

So we went a couple of years ago end of July/august and booked as a package. Try and get a morning flight on the way out as that helps with the time difference.
Queues were not bad at all, nothing like I’d been expecting but a friend went at Easter and said it was horrendously busy.
we booked the 14 day park hopper which was great as you could come and go as you wanted and move between parks
it wasn’t cheap to eat in the parks but not ridiculously priced, much better priced then Uk theme parks and better quality.
Id give universals water park a miss as their queue system just didn’t work, Disneys was far better.
you’ll have the best time over there!

Thanks everyone! Sea world etc we’d avoid (daughters are veggie, big animal lovers and against things like that anyway)

not keen on driving. Ideally want to do universal and disney but not all the disney parks (too old for princesses etc and never been into mickey mouse!) all love theme parks and have did the uk ones. It is this or a road trip around european ones and whilst this is more expensive and a blow the whole inheritance trip it really is once in a life time. For various reasons from lack of money, husband working away, my fear of flying (will suck that up somehow for the kids) we haven’t been abroad and Florida is somewhere i have always wanted to take them as i have never been and they’ve walked about it as plenty of friends have been so ir really is a once time thing (whilst we are ok for money now we don’t have the spare funds Florida costs to do it properly) kennedy space centre would be good.

the 14 day thing was nearly £3k for tickets so do i just buy that kyself and can go to any park on any day? Looked at villas but how do you get to the parks and what about parking? Not so keen on driving with never being abroad and doing it before. Are there no packages is it all booked separately? I had hoped i could book flights, hotel etc in one place 🙈 it needs to be the summer holidays (we only get 1 week in october) if we do or this year because of exams etc i’m not taking them out this year. Would have on previous years but not this one and probably not next year either for the same reason. Is 3 weeks too much? Thinking to get round the parks and have rest days and go elsewhere? Budget isn’t infinite but i do have money i never had before and i don’t know what is realistic e.g £20/£30k? Madness to think blowing that amount of money on a holiday but bucket list for me, i know my kids would love it & its a one time thing for all of us. Also i know my parents wouldn’t see it as a waste as they could never afford to take us growing up and always wanted to and this way we can but i have no idea whwre to start with it all and maybe next year is better?!

I went with similar age kids for a similar reason and booked it all myself through a variety of sites. My advice is:

1. Start with flights. They do sell out at busy times. Try to fly direct to Orlando. Book them separately so you’re not tied to one accommodation.
2. Stay in a Disney hotel for a few nights (4-5) to do the Disney parks. You get early entry and other benefits. You don’t need a car here. Disney transport is good. Uber from the airport. We chose Pop Century and squeezed all four of us into a family room. We only used it to sleep.
3. If you go at a busy time, budget to use the Genie+ system to skip queues. Remember that Disney is not the place for big rollercoasters etc. There are some excellent rides, but it’s about the other stuff too.
4. Consider the Disney dining plan. It’s not a cheap way to eat, but it allows you to have prepaid your meals for the Disney part so you’re not looking at (extortionate) prices all the time. There are lots of blogs about how to make the most of it. We did the table service plan and it was the right decision for us. I booked the hotel, park tickets and dining plan all in one go direct from Disney.
5. The tickets were 14 days for the price of 7. Don’t buy individual days. You’ll want the freedom to park hop.
6. We then hired a car (there’s a rental place in the Disney resort) and stayed in a villa for 7 nights. We did Aquatica, Seaworld etc on one ticket, then the space centre (the drive is easy and the tolls were less than we thought they’d be!) and other stuff that took our fancy. We also popped back to Disney for another day. If I was extending the holiday, we’d have just had the villa for longer and gone to the coast etc from here.
7. Finally, we took the car back and Ubered to a universal resort for (3-4 nights). I’d really recommend staying at one of the top end resorts here to get the free express passes. They’re definitely necessary if you love big rides. We also paid for club level access which paid for itself with the free breakfast food and free drinks hour each evening!

We spent 16 days in Florida. I could easily have made it 3 weeks. Your budget will cover it.

Virgin or BA will do flights and hotel package.
I don't think you need to spend anything like that budget - keep 10k back for the future

My teens weren't interested in Disney, they wanted the big coasters. You can watch walk through videos on YouTube of all the parks to see what interests you.
We spent most of an afternoon just walking around Walmart!

There are loads of Florida travel agents out there who can help. Our last trip (sept/oct) we booked direct with Virgin stayed on Disney and only had tickets for 2 days at universal (we go a lot so had been in may and prev Oct) October especially the start is a great time to go. Or the first few weeks of Scottish school summer hols July is too hot for me.

decide where you want to go, if no Disney stay nearer the universal parks so it’s easier to travel - they have some budget hotels which have transport to universal or you could do a week at Disney then one closer to universal which is what we did Oct 24 we still went to Disney the second week. It’s a really full on holiday. We don’t drive over there as stay on site and use the transport available but try the dibb and watch some videos on YouTube re planning. V exciting for you, we go in October this year and it feels too far away

What’s your budget OP?

We went this summer due to similar reasons to you.
kids were 15 & 11.

we stayed in a villa in Kissimmee.
used Ubers for the whole trip as neither me or DH wanted to drive.

we flew direct from Edinburgh to Florida which felt straight forward.
this was with TUI. We booked villa and flights.
we then had 14 day passes for Universal and Disney.
I wouldn’t miss out on Universal as the parks are brilliant. Some of Disney felt quite young for my children.

I wish we had went for 3 weeks.
There is so much to do.

we did lose some 1/2 days due to thunder and lightening.

We’ve actually booked again to go in October this year.
our “once in a lifetime” trip but we all loved it so much. So much for everyone.

it is a lot of money but honestly it is like no other holiday. It was great to see our 15 year old son excited 😛

You will all have a ball!

i have £40k all in but would rather keep some of it for smaller city breaks too so £25k for florida? .

Already put money in savings for the kids and paid some towards our mortgage so not bothered by “wasting” this much on a holiday because as i said its a once & life time thing for me and we want to make the most of it!

With that budget, why does it have to be once in a lifetime? Just split it in half!

I recommend going on an air boat excursion to see the alligators and have others have said Space Kennedy Center is really good.

Don’t like flying so i’d rather do it once and make the most of it & we’ll be able to have a smaller holiday but still abroad next year but closer which we’ve never had before. Already paid to mortgage and savings for kids & i know my mum & dad wouldn’t see it as a waste as they couldn’t do it when they were alive

We went this year, with 2 teenagers, flew from Edinburgh and booked a package via Virgin. We did not want to drive and both DCs were interested in big rollercoaster rather than Disney. We have chosen a hotel that provided free transport to universal and Volcano bay (Endless summer Surfside).
With regards to tickets we went with 14 day Universa/volcano bay ticket. I bought us a night ticket for Magic Kingdom and Hollywood studios, we saw the fireworks and went in Tron 4x, 4x Tower of terror, minimal queues, free popcorn, drinks and ice-cream but not all attractions opened. This worked out perfect for us.
We also had a 14 day ticket for the bus that goes along international drive. It a was a bit of unreliable but we were fine with it.

Go on The Dibb Forum to start planning (there’s a lot of planning!). We found October was a good time to go if you have two weeks at half term then. Not humid, warm during the day and light cardigan at night. Also not as crowded as at other times. Universal Studios would be good for this age, space Kennedy centre and the water parks. Maybe animal kingdom too.

you won’t need anything like £25k…£15k max and that would be without cutting corners!
we’ve done for £12k with virgin and £1k spending

You don’t need to blow £20k - you can do it cheaper but just as well with some careful planning. If you’ve never been abroad before, Florida in July/August will be uncomfortably humid and hot. Virgin usually have good deals if you prefer a package particularly for villa holidays. You’ll get a lot more out of the trip if you drive. Florida isnt really set up for walking.

The Disney and Universal hotels can be expensive but they offer a transport network to other parks.

You did well to only spend 1k when
you were there.