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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

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Original poster

Florida at Easter - another question!

18 replies

Buda · 26/01/2009 17:26

Still contemplating whether to do this. DS breaks up from school on 10th April - Good Friday. From what I have read the week before and the week after Easter are busy at the parks. We were thinking of doing first week at the beach - Anna Maria Island or similar and then doing the second week at the parks - so from 11th to 18th at beach and from 18th to 25th at parks.

Doable? Busy or not? Anyone know?

OP posts:

Clayhead · 26/01/2009 17:59

this book has a section in it which tells you how busy the parks are likely to be each days of the year!

I only have the 2008 version but if you could find someone with the 2009 version they might tell you.

HTH

Original poster

Buda · 26/01/2009 18:14

Thanks Clayhead - that book looks great!

In the 2008 one how busy do they say the week directly after Easter is? And is the following week any less busy>?

Have added the book to my Amazon basket but it won't get here for a week or so (am in Budapest).

OP posts:

Clayhead · 26/01/2009 18:15

Have leant it to my friend, will try to get it back!

There is a website www.touringplans.com but it only has info to the end of February at the moment.

bellavita · 26/01/2009 18:25

Buda - here look

says it is one of the busiest times to visit

Original poster

Buda · 26/01/2009 18:58

Thanks Clayhead.

bellavita - I saw that, thanks. Just wondering if the week we were thinking of will be as busy. I understand that the week before and the week directly after Easter will be busy. It is the following week (last week in April) I am wondering about. The Dibb site seems to say that the last week in April is 'medium' busy.

OP posts:

bellavita · 26/01/2009 19:05

Tbh Buda, when it says "medium" busy you have got to think there are still thousands and thousands of people visiting these parks, but it is all relative to how we perceive medium to be.

To me, it would probably feel really quiet, as we have been in May/June, two middle weeks in July and July/August, but to some people who have never been to Florida, then they might think it horrendous.

I would say bite the bullet and just go for it and enjoy!!

Original poster

Buda · 26/01/2009 19:08

You may be right bella! DH and I have been to Florida but it was November 1992! And in 1990 we went to Disney in California on a wet day between Xmas and New Year - it was empty!!!!

Medium busy sounds manageable!

OP posts:

Clayhead · 26/01/2009 19:11

Buda, if you do buy the book it does give you strategies of how to make the most of your time, even if it is crowded. I am anal a planner and drove dh mad quoting from the book and reading it before we went but by day two he was asking what it said. The second time we went, we used it too, to roughly plan our days (didn't do the actual plans suggested in the book) and it was very successful.

Even on the busier days getting up and out and hitting the parks early allows you time to see plenty and using the fastpasses helps too.

bellavita · 26/01/2009 19:13

I love booking holidays - giving Florida a miss this year as we have done it the last three in a row!

If you have enough money in your budget, I would recommend Discovery Cove swimming with the dolphins - a fab day. There is lots to do and see. All food and drinks, snacks are included in the price.

LadyMuck · 26/01/2009 19:25

We went at Easter, 2 years ago. We tended to hit the parks early in the day, and Disney was fine. We did spend 3 nights in Disney accom in order to be able to get into the Disney parks as soon as they opened (prob 7 or 8am from memory), but each day we had pretty much "done" most of the park by 1 or 2 pm. Bear in mind that with jetlag you do tend to wake earlier. I do remember that on Easter Sunday we hit Magic kingdom early and ds1 and dh had done all of the big rides a couple of times by the time ds2 and I had finished breakfast at Cinderella's Castle.

Universal Studios was busier imo than Disney and the queues were longer.

If you are Ok or even prefer early starts then out of available school hols Easter is the most obvious choice I think. If on the other hand you like a slow start to the day it might be a rtaher different experience. We certainly noticed that the queues were busier as we left around 1ish. But tbh the parks are open from around 7am to 11pm so even if you went, so long as you stayed late you'd be fine.

If you want to do the beach then fine. But there will be plenty to fill 2 weeks in Orlando. Trying to fit it all in 1 week would be either slightly exhausting or you would have to be very selective.

Original poster

Buda · 26/01/2009 20:01

It's all so hard to figure out! If we do the parks in the second week we won't be jet lagged. If we do them first week it will be mega busy. And now you say we may need more than a week doing parks etc. Aarrggh!

My poor head!

I actually want to go to Vietnam and visit friends but DH is not keen. He thinks Florida will be more relaxing!

OP posts:

bellavita · 26/01/2009 20:58

Florida is never relaxing!

Park one day, pool next day and so on, otherwise you will burn yourself out.

changer22 · 26/01/2009 21:02

I haven't been to the parks but I did spend a week on Anna Maria island and I thought it was lovely. We were at the northern (?), quieter, more residential end.

We were there in early December a few years ago so it was pretty quiet and the older people had yet to arrive for Christmas apparently so we had it to ourselves.

The children swam in the sea!

mumoverseas · 27/01/2009 06:18

Agree with LadyMuck that if you are tied to school holidays, easter is probably the best one to go. We used to always go at Easter and it wasn't too bad but the last few years we've had to change that and go in July which is manic.
I'd go Easter and risk it being a little busy but no-where as bad as summer/october/christmas.
Also, bear in mind that no matter what any books say, the don't/won't take into account the current financial situation and that probably not many people can afford to do the Florida thing at the moment, including many americans so I would imagine it would be quiter than usual.

If you want a bit of relaxation time in Florida, I'd go for a villa as opposed to hotel/motel. At the moment you can get really good deals on villas with private pools, from around $95 per night for a 4 bed villa which can sometimes be cheaper than a couple of hotel rooms. You can then have a really nice relaxing pm/evening after a hectic morning at the parks

LadyMuck · 27/01/2009 09:08

Yep, definitely go for villa where you can. Most of these are now set up for kids as well, so will have a gamesroom, games console, toybox and inflatibles for pool etc. The one possible exception is if you choose to stay onsite at Disney for a day or two to give you (very) early entry, though you can also get in early by booking a character breakfast in the parks.

Even if you don't want to cook there are penty of places to eat. But American portion sizes are so large that we often didn't need a second meal in a day but it was handy to be able to fix something quick for the kids.

We had been thinking about going this Easter but the fuel surcharges put us off, and ds2 is still 5 so too young for Discovery Cove.

If you are thinking of Easter you need to get your skates on. To get the most out of Orlando it is definitely worth reading up and planning in advance otherwise you will miss stuff that might suit you. Discovery Cove for example has a 1,000 person limit per day so needs to be booked in advance as well as some of the character meals. Have a look at the Dibb website/forums for ideas on itineraries etc.

Unless you are going to be very selective I wouldn't try to fit Orlando in a week - there is simply too much to do. It will be a more relaxing trip to stay there for longer and plan more time by the pool or in the water parks.

cheapskatemum · 31/01/2009 20:31

Cocoa Beach also nice and you can "commute" to Orlando for parks from there, plus it's very near Kennedy Space Centre. We really like Sanibel/Captiva Island. Definitely get a villa; Google "Villas in _ ". Good luck & enjoy! We'll be there this summer - I envy you as it's v. humid in August.

smartiejake · 31/01/2009 20:40

The worse time to be in FLorida is during the American spring break week. FInd out when that is before you decide which week to go to the parks.

Anna Maria Island is stunning BTW. We stayed in Bradenton last year (about 7 miles away.) The beaches are just beautiful there.

soapbox · 03/02/2009 13:45

One trick which I used last time is to book one night at one of the universal on-site hotels. This gives you an unlimited express pass for all the rides - so you go to straight to the front of the queue for all rides all day on the day you arrive at the hotel and all of the following day. We had a ball using it!

The basic hotel rooms are not too expensive and you can sleep 4 in each room quite comfortably.

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