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Honey Bunny
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19-04-2008 07:10 PM
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Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 836
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| Have been considering whether we may go to Florida, seen one or two deals. However I can't get over the prices of some things.
For example when is a ten year old not a child?
Why do you have to pay for Parking at the attractions after paying for expensive tickets?
Also why do they search your bag for food (that seems a bit too much to me!)
I know now is a good time to go with the exchange rate , but it is so confusing all the different tickets etc such as hopper/fast track ones (which wont work if everyone has one surely?)
Seems to be as much as the holiday on tickets?
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My Latest Review: May 2007 Lesse Hotel, Hanioti (9/10)
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iaintwoeyes
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19-04-2008 08:53 PM
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Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 2247
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| I think you hit the nail on the head there Honey! Florida is great but when there it does cost a small fortune for other things. Parking at the theme parks is a right rip off....but there is not a lot of alternatives. Tip for you though, when parking, don't upgrade to Priority Parking. I did once and parked about 3 rows of cars closer to the entrance....:-((
Fast-track passes are well worth it. They don't cost a fortune but you will save hours by by-passing the main long queues. Meaning that you get to see so much more. When I was there, they didn't stamp my pass and so we went on The Mummy six times!!!
Food.......they want you to buy their food!
As for children.....yeh agreed, a ten year old is not an adult but is treated as as one. I would guess that it's because they can ride most rides. Although height comes into it as well in a big way.
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My Latest Review: Jun 2008 Hardwick Hall Hotel, Sedgefield (7/10)
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yogi_bear
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19-04-2008 09:00 PM
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Joined: 12 Nov 2007
Posts: 13
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| its been a few years since i went to florida but if i remember rightly there are frequent free buses (if you have tickets) from the main hotels and you dont need to be stopping at the hotel to grab the bus.
And on a more important point avoid the "its a small world" ride like the plague... 30 minutes of that same refrain over and over and over.... it still haunts me to this day.
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HW Bex
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19-04-2008 10:19 PM
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Joined: 03 Feb 2005
Posts: 1856
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| I've just booked our tickets direct with Disney. I got a 14 day ticket for the price of a 7 day ticket. £475 - 2 adults, 1 child(7). They still have that promotion on till the May 1st.
They didn't search our bags for food. They searched our bags for explosives... guns.. knives.. tazer's lol and any thing else that could have been offensive to Mickey, Donald, Pluto... oh, and me & the family.
They did say the cheese and pickle sarnies were almost offensive but we were British. I'm sorry to be so flippant about the the food, but they never took anything away from us. Top tip for me was to freeze small bottles of water and then pack them with your food and as they defrost you can drink them, whilst still keeping ya picnic cool.
Parking whilst I agree is a rip off, it costs no more than parking at the multi-storey in the town for the day when you go shopping.( or at least it is in my area). $10 ish last year. There is the local transport, if you want to use it.
Agree with the 10 yr old thing... but as Iain said, height plays a major part.
I'm going again in August, and I can't wait. :o)
Bex.
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My Latest Review: May 2008 Express By Holiday Inn Derby Pride Park, Derby (8/10)
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Honey Bunny
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20-04-2008 09:18 AM
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Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 836
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| Yes Bex Ive seen them tickets on attraction tickets for about 149 for kids and 169 adults but with five of us 2 adults 3 kids (1 whom is 10 and will be an adult?) its going to cost us a lot more if we go and then there is the Orlando flex ticket for the rest at similar prices.
Did you get the Kids eat free tickets too free with your order of 500+as advertised some site?
Also did you bother with the Hire Car? I know some folk just use the hotel transport , with the fuel being so high etc.
The deal Ive seen includes car hire but without insurance if we want the insurance its around 400 quid for a mpv/minvan thingy, I dont know if its worth it , can you do it without a car?
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My Latest Review: May 2007 Lesse Hotel, Hanioti (9/10)
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Honey Bunny
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20-04-2008 02:56 PM
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Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 836
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| Also can you let me know how much spending money you need for drinks and food etc.
We normally do Greec and the canaries for just over a grand on the five of us, so how does the usa compare?
Is a thousand enough for two weeks?
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My Latest Review: May 2007 Lesse Hotel, Hanioti (9/10)
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lizzybear
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21-04-2008 09:48 PM
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Joined: 21 Apr 2008
Posts: 12
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| On the food issue: As long it's not a honking great cooler stuffed to the brim then I don't think they care. A few sandwiches, drinks and snacks won't be a problem and can be a good way to cut costs for a family (you can eat well for breakfast and dinner outside of the parks and save money by bringing your own lunches as the counter service park food can be poor value for money) Outside of the parks food is great value for money and there are lots of fixed price 'all you can eat' buffet chains which are fab for picky eaters.
The Express Pass tickets at US/IOA are sold in limited quantities per day so although there may be a small queue using them on very busy days it won't be nearly as long as the normal one. We found in September though that we didn't need them as the parks were so quiet, it depends what time of year you go.
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lizzybear
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21-04-2008 09:51 PM
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Joined: 21 Apr 2008
Posts: 12
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| Also, if you don't hire a car then check that your accomodation has transport to the parks you want to visit.. Accomodation on International Drive would probably be your best bet. With 3 kids though you may be better off in a villa (you could save even more on food costs then if you wanted to as you'd have a kitchen) though you would need a car then.
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Honey Bunny
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21-04-2008 09:55 PM
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Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 836
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| Thank for that info we was looking at Lake Buena Vista Resort Village Condos not too far from disney etc. Have Read really good reviews. They do have the complimentry transport but have heard it comes back to early for the fireworks etc.
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My Latest Review: May 2007 Lesse Hotel, Hanioti (9/10)
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hannahs mum
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23-04-2008 05:07 PM
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Joined: 23 Apr 2008
Posts: 11
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| hi i think if this is your first trip to florida then a flex ticket and disney tickets would be to much for you to do we have been twice and are unable to drive so have stayed on international drive am going at christmas this year and staying at the sheraton vistana which has free buses to disney so even if you have a car this is a way to avoid the parking charges in 2006 stayed at the enclave which was nice and had the kitchen which was great.As for food at the parks we had a insulated backpack and there was no problem we had juice and some snacks i think they just check the bags as a safety precaution and must say they are always very nice.Disney has fastpass which is free you put your ticket in a machine at certain rides and you get a time to go back and that takes you to a seperate line as for universal it costs cant remember how much.Tickets have used attraction tickets direct they are great reasonable and will price match if you do go please make sure they are atol are abta bonded as there are quite a few that sell tickets on the web that are not and a few have went bust lately this is on the attraction tickets forum which may also be helpful for you.If there is anything i can help with please dont hesitate to ask.
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Honey Bunny
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23-04-2008 05:21 PM
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Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 836
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| Thanks , Actually yes there is something else..............
how do you get from the airport to your accomodation without a hire car?
Do they do shuttle buses or do you just have to hail cabs down?
not sure if we are going yet but thinking about it and it would be good to know. We are a party of five and we will prob have four cases and hand luggage as well as ourselves to fit in.
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My Latest Review: May 2007 Lesse Hotel, Hanioti (9/10)
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hannahs mum
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23-04-2008 05:46 PM
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Joined: 23 Apr 2008
Posts: 11
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| Hi both times we went it was package holidays with airtours and then first choice they used mears for the coach transfers but i think you can still use them by purchasing coach transfer there was a window at the airport and lots of people used them.I think they have a website it was sanford we flew into so am unsure about the other airport must say they were very good and they also took us to our welcome meeting with first choice it was at dixies stampede which unfortunatley has closed down.Hope this helps anything else just ask.
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Honey Bunny
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23-04-2008 07:48 PM
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Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 836
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| If we are going to go (unsure just now) we will be going with First Choice , we normally go on our hols with them every year so we know they are good , but we havent done florida with them yet. I know they are supposed to have the best Florida fligths though with the Star Class etc.
My other half seems to think it might be a waste of time just yet as the kids are all short or too soft to go on much and he thinks he would be too much for 5 yr old son.
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My Latest Review: May 2007 Lesse Hotel, Hanioti (9/10)
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hannahs mum
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23-04-2008 11:38 PM
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Joined: 23 Apr 2008
Posts: 11
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| hi first choice flight was fantastic paid extra to upgrade well worth it although normal seats looked grat as well.If your kids are young disney is your best bet hannah was 6 her first time and loved it there was plenty for her to go on she was not keen on universal but liked busch gardens and seaworld.
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Honey Bunny
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24-04-2008 02:04 PM
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Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 836
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| How do you pass nine hours though!
I would be really bored , there is only so much reading you can do etc.
Do is pass quickly?
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My Latest Review: May 2007 Lesse Hotel, Hanioti (9/10)
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hannahs mum
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24-04-2008 02:58 PM
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Joined: 23 Apr 2008
Posts: 11
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| Yes very quick there is so much to do on the plane with first choice we upgraded and were seated first you are then given either orange juice or wine before take off then you can have a wee look at your complimentary therapy pack which has socks toothpaste toothbrush deodarant and some other things which i cant remember.The seats all have there own tvs in and there was plenty to choose from new films some not even released in britain tv shows music kids channels and other things as well.You then recieve a light snack then a wee while later your hot meal which was really nice and we got hot towels which i had not seen on a plane in a long time a short time before landing you get another snack if you upgrade drinks are complimentary and you depart from the plane first with your bags being first off as well which saves time it is the same on your return.You could even watch something and pause it if you need to sort the kids.Airtours upgrade is virtually the same.
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disneydopey
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28-04-2008 07:29 PM
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Joined: 28 Apr 2008
Posts: 4
| It is so worth going and usually when you've been once you get the bug to go back again. The theme park tickets are expensive but its woth looking around as they can vary quite a bit. Once you get there the parks entertainment is top class and you don't pay for anything else except for food. If you want to see some videos/pictures of some of the parks here's a link to some great ones. http://www.doingflorida.com/#/videospictures/4524373406
Its a wonderful place and we spend less when we're there than if we were in Spain. The food is out of this world and you won't be hungry the whole holiday!
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jackieblack
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29-04-2008 07:29 PM
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Joined: 22 Apr 2007
Posts: 143
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| My tip regarding park tickets (this might sound a bit obvious) is to decide what you want to do and don't get sucked into buying too many tickets or tickets that include features you might not use such as park hopping and water parks.
We decided on our last visit that we were only going to go to one Disney park in a day, and we wanted to go to Aquatica instead of the Disney water parks this time, so we contacted the Virgin Reps in Orlando and booked park tickets through them. We paid in $ so took advantage of the strong exchange and collected the tickets from the desk at the airport when we landed. We ended up paying just over £100 each for 7 day tickets (any 7 days in a period expiring 14 days from first use).
We also booked Discovery Cove (direct from their website, also paying in $) (which included unlimited entry to Sea World, Aquatica and Busch Gardens). But we met a family who had also booked Discovery Cove AND bought Orlando Flex Tickets as well because they wanted to go to Universal and IOA which meant they had paid twice for entry to Seaworld, Aquatica and Busch Gardens!
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My Latest Review: Apr 2008 Fairfield Inn Hotel, Lake Buena Vista (10/10)
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