Disneyland Florida

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Hoping to go next year with HID and the wee fella but it's a minefield of options, tickets, locations, types of accommodation, when to go, what to avoid etc etc

I imagine loads of you have done it before, looking for the definitive guide to....
A) not being ripped off
B) going to the right type of accommodation (ideally in the parks)
c) when and where to buy tickets for the attractions (theres always someone who paid half of what you did lol)
D) time of year to go
E) Do's and Dont's

Thanks
 
Best Florida resource without a doubt is theDibb.
I went a few years ago with the other half in November/December. It was absolutely great, the parks were near enough empty at the start of December. We literally didn't queue for rides. The only time we spent in the queue area was walking back through to go straight back on :)
The busy day guide on theDibb seemed pretty good and we used that to plan hich park we were going to on which day.
The rest of your points should be covered on the site :)
 
DV, if money is no object stay in disney. Lots of options outwith the parks for accomodation and Im happy to recommend plenty areas. Same again regarding tickets, Ive plenty knowledge on that.

As for researching, I agree the best source is the dibb. There aint much missed on there.

Date wise, May-Sept is boiling with Juine, July and August very humid. April and Oct is nice and warm and a bit cooler at night.

Golf wise, anytime is good but more bareable outwith months of June July and August
 
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DarthVega said:
Hoping to go next year with HID and the wee fella but it's a minefield of options, tickets, locations, types of accommodation, when to go, what to avoid etc etc

I imagine loads of you have done it before, looking for the definitive guide to....
A) not being ripped off
B) going to the right type of accommodation (ideally in the parks)
c) when and where to buy tickets for the attractions (theres always someone who paid half of what you did lol)
D) time of year to go
E) Do's and Dont's

Thanks
Click to expand...

I'd suggest not staying in a Disney hotel to be honest.If you're going for a fortnight, you'll so over it in the first week the second will drive you mental.
I'd suggest staying on International Drive (north end).Most of the hotels do free shuttle services to disney, there are loads of options for eating, plus it's close to Universal/Island of Adventure (which is better than disney imo)

I go every second easter.Sure it's busy, but I need to go in school holidays and summer the weather isn't as good.

It also depends on what your lad is into...maybe disney isn't the way ahead....the onsite hotels at universal are great too.
 
We rented a nice villa on Orange County estate with our own private pool. Rented a Mustang and a People carrier for the 2 weeks, there was 9 of us in total. Wouldn't do it any other way as we got to do what we wanted, when we wanted, especially when it came to food, no having to eat off menus.

With the parks we got one of the 2 week passes. Think they were about £200 each lasted for 2 weeks from the moment you used it the first time and allowed you into any of the 6 parts as many times as you wanted throughout that period of time. The parks covered were Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Aquatica, Sea World, Wet n Wild and Busch Gardens. I'm sure they do a Disney pass similar. We also did one day at Disney Magic Kingdom on my sons first birthday.

Lots of different options, they have thought of nearly everything but I would highly recommend hiring a car as Florida is a big place with loads to do and see, relying on cabs or public transport would suck!
 
Can definitely second getting a villa with pool if there are a few of you going.
Nephews and niece voted messing about in the pool as the best bit,
despite in laws spending $100s on theme park tickets - kids eh!!

Just done a quick search for where we got our tickets.
Place called Billy Boys - looks well iffy but it was fine, saved quite a bit.
Word of warning : if you stay in a hotel, someone will offer you mega cheap tickets.
All you need to do is go to a presentation (usually for a time share).
Don't, it'll just spoil your day and you'll end up threatening to hurt someone (allegedly!!)
 
Adi2Dassler said:
I'd suggest not staying in a Disney hotel to be honest.If you're going for a fortnight, you'll so over it in the first week the second will drive you mental.
I'd suggest staying on International Drive (north end).Most of the hotels do free shuttle services to disney, there are loads of options for eating, plus it's close to Universal/Island of Adventure (which is better than disney imo)

I go every second easter.Sure it's busy, but I need to go in school holidays and summer the weather isn't as good.

It also depends on what your lad is into...maybe disney isn't the way ahead....the onsite hotels at universal are great too.
Click to expand...

If I had stayed in a hotel on my first trip I'd never have went back I'm afraid, especially on I Drive up the top end, don't get me wrong it's ok but not for me. I go every year now.

Villa or Townhouse is the way to go, I had 2 weeks in a townhouse this year for £630, it had its own courtyard with hot tub and a communal pool not even 100 yards away. The only stipulation about renting these is you must hire a car, but TBH I'd always suggest this regardless of where you a staying
 
We've been to Orlando the past two years and the Dibb is a great site to use to plan your trip. A few points from me:
* If you're just doing Disney then I Drive is a poor location as you'll have to deal with the traffic everyday. Travelling north of Sandlake road which cuts across I Drive is a pain and leads to long queues. The Southern part of I Drive around Pointe Orlando is much nicer to stay and closer to Sea World and Disney.
*Staying on or just off HW192 is better for accessing Disney each day. Also the area just outside Downtown Disney is a good location and has some big name hotels.
*Staying on site is much more expensive than off-site so waiting for the Disney free dining offers that come around would help to lessen the blow if you decide to do that.
* It will rain most months, mostly just the odd afternoon shower but sometimes it can hang around all afternoon. Some people on the Dibb expect 14 days of pure sunshine and feel cheated when they have an afternoon of rain. September is a popular month for the dibbers as you avoid the hottest weather and the queues are shorter. The hurricane season is from June to October so there is always a small risk in this period. Try not to book over a US bank holiday. they don't get many so the parks are usualy extremely busy on holiday weekends.
* The Disney bus system is free, frequent and easy to use.
* You can usually get a cheaper deal if you book everything yourself rather than going for a package holiday.

We bought our park tickets before we went from www.orlando-ticket-deals.co.uk. They send you the real paper tickets (like a train ticket) rather than an E-Ticket which means you can avoid the queue to collect tickets on the first day.There are similar sites, that may be cheaper but it's best to check them out via the dibb as any horror stories about a ticket site will be on there. There are loads of places to buy tickets out there but I had no way to know which were legit as they all look pretty rough.
 
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Lots of excellent advice chaps thanks. The dibb seems favourite, what about universal studios, is there a dibb equivalent for that as I think universal might be better and just a couple of days at Disney.
 
DarthVega said:
Lots of excellent advice chaps thanks. The dibb seems favourite, what about universal studios, is there a dibb equivalent for that as I think universal might be better and just a couple of days at Disney.
Click to expand...

DV, spend a bit of time on the dibb there is lots of info there, it is a Florida holiday board not just Disney and covers everything from airports, car hire, accommodation, parks and tickets and so much more. You won't go wrong there.
 
Should add if you fancy just a day or 2 at Disney then park tickets become a bit easy as you get combo deals for universal parks and seaworld parks, Disney maybe better paying on the gate for a day or 2. Along with the ticket site mentioned I've always found the best ticket deals at floridatix.co.uk, real tickets and not vouchers that said Orlando ticket deals do come up with good deals from time to time.

Genuinely feel free to ask for any info, I've had 7 trips in the last 5 years so well covered on most topics.
 
We have now been 5 times and each time have stayed in Disney in one of their hotels, the last 3 times we stayed in Port Orleans French Quarter and we have always enjoyed it.

If you want to stay in a Disney Hotel and book your tickets through them as well there are deals to be had at certain times where you get free Disney Dining Plan which gives you free meals and snacks in your hotel and many other places for the length of your stay, you if you want more info on that give me a shout.

If not staying in Disney and booking your tickets elsewhere Orlando Ticket Deals have always been cheapest we could find and for car hire try usrentacar.co.uk and when booking car take the "platinum" or "gold" package, its slightly dearer when first paying but will save you money in long run plus you dont need to take car back with fuel in it.

We have always went in May and the weather is superb, high 80s into the 90s most days but without the humidity of june, july and august

Its a fantastic place and there are so many other things to do as well as the obvious theme parks where a lot is going to depend on the age of the wee man and what sort of rides he can get on as remember if he is young and not going to get on roller-coasters you and the mrs are going to have to go on alone while the other stands with him

If you want any advice on staying in Disney hotel give me a shout
 
Cannot add more to the above but do not give Seaworld a miss and from memory your one day ticket allows further entry for the week fortnight.
One thing I will guarantee is you will come home knackered.
 
some really great advice pouring forth, thanks chaps, Valentino and Smange you might regret offering advice as I'll be in touch with a zillion questions lol

With so many options I can see how you can get it wrong but through your experience I'm hoping to get it right first time, wee fella will be 6 when we go plus daddy hates rollercoasters so hopefully he can get on most of the other stuff with me and the mrs
 
Been a few years since I went but I would recommend Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. I stayed on the Disney Resort (Dolphin Hotel which is more business orientated so less likely to be driven mad by happy characters) and had tickets included for all Disney Parks etc. Only went to each once and, to be honest, found Disneyworld a bit dated but could not get enough of Islands of Adventure. Also, get to Seaworld. Aside from the obvious attractions, it had my favourite rollercoaster of all there, the Kraken.
 
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