florida experience

[elastic band]

Hi folks,

thinking of taking family to florida in october -3 teenagers plus myself and the missus -looking at villa idea but as we have never driven abroad or been to florida wondered if anyone had any suggestions, advice etc.

many thanks again

[alanatkie]

Hi haven't been myself but a friend recommended this site - http://www.thedibb.co.uk (http://www.thedibb.co.uk/)

[scorpion]

Hi there ,we went to Florida last july and stayed at the Vista Cay resort in Orlando ,we booked a three bed apartment and it was incredible ,three large bedrooms ,the master bedroom had an en-suite with large bath ,huge shower and two handbaisins ,there was a dining area ,fully equipped kitchen ,and a large sitting area which had three sofas ,big coffee table ,42" plasma tv ,playstation and computer with internet access , a veranda with a chair and sofa finished it all off nicely .The resort was immaculate ,had a leisure centre with swimming pool ,private cinema which you could book ,game machines and pool tables ,cant recommend the place enough .Go to google search engine and punch in Vista Cay and you`ll see what i mean

[ploo251]

My wife and I took our 3 kids to Florida in October of last year. I too, did not want to drive so was advised by Arcade Travel to stay at the Springhill Suites in Marriot Village at Lake Buena Vista. The hotel was very nice and clean and had 3 double beds in the largest hotel room / suite we have ever stayed in. There was free buses to all the Disney Parks that you could use as often as you liked and taxis to the Disney Parks were only about $12. Most of the big shopping malls were near by and there was plenty of restaurants within walking distance. We hope to go back to Disney in 2010 and will definitely be staying in the same place again. I like hotels to be well run and very clean and this hotel lived up to both of that.

Make sure you buy all your park tickets from the UK as they are much cheaper here.

Enjoy your time in Florida.

[Fluff]

Ploo is that true about the tickets? I have been told by 2 separate people who went last year the tickets are a lot cheaper if you buy on the door

[scorpion]

If you want your tickets cheaper ,there are booths around the place in shops ,restaurants etc and if you sign up and go along to a presentation on buying into timeshare ,they will give generous discounts on tickets for the parks and various dinner shows ,would highly recommend Arabian Nights

[Kevin Milkins]

We went in the October time and stopped just outside Orlando at Kissimi????

had a great time:Razz and plenty to see, but had some friends that took a cheap break and it was the hurricane season:eek: and turned out to be the holiday from hell.

Not sure what time of year it was ,but I would check that out.

[Whitewater]

Hi 'elastic band' the villas are great and good value for money, by hiring a villa you will also be better to hire a car to get you around more easily, and you can go and come as it suits you. However, if you are near to, or on International drive there are buses which will take you back and fore to all the theme parks but I'm not too sure of the frequency, I know all the hotels usually have courtesy transport, but it is all local to Orlando. When you hire a car, you can get to many interesting places in Florida easily, and driving in America is not difficult. Good luck.

[Kevin Milkins]

Also if you go down to the Beltz???at the end of international drive for a shoppig spree (all the named products are so cheap,IE Timberland Wranger Levi Etc) be carefull of the sizes.

I made an impulse buy while waiting at the checkout and picked up a pair of Timberland Boxer shorts size large.

When they say large out there, they are large.:eek: We could have gone on a camping holiday in my new purchase.lol

[philupmaboug]

Hi, went there in 07 with friends and hired a villa with pool, it was fantastic. We hired a car and I found the driving no probs but I also hired a sat nav for $50 and it was worth its weight in gold getting to all the parks and getting back to the villa (no falling out with the navigator)...... only problem was steering the wife away from wallmart.......nightmare.

[lynne duncan]

arcade travel can organise it all for you

with three teenagers and yourselves a villa would give you tons of space
some of the hotels are doing suites now so again would give you the space
enclave suites have 2 bedroom suites and they are located at the top end of international drive right beside wet and wild, very close to US and IOA. can't remember if they provide disney travel.
if you stay on i-drive then there is a brilliant local bus service (i-ride trolley),
we have never found driving to be a prob and if you have a satnav then its really easy, dad used me as the satnav as i swatted up on where to go.

as said before i can 100% recommend thedibb.co.uk website anybody who is a florida/disneyaholic (me for one) live on there, they can answer any q's you have a very freindly lot - worse than here
another brilliant thing about the dibb site is that they post trip reports so you read about the different experiences between villa/ hotel

if you book to go to universal studios and actually stay there it entitles you to express passes so you can bypass the q's totally and walk straight onto the rides so handy, disney also offer a similar system of fastpass where you get a time slot and go staight on at that time

virgin website can offer some good travel packages

thedibb website shows you what villas are available with some giving video tours

my pal stayed at the liki tiki resort last year and thoroughly recommended it

www.thedibb.co.uk
www.internationaldriveorlando.com
disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdwi/en_GB

any more q's don't hesitate to ask
i'll talk florida and disney any day from morning to night

[ploo251]

We wanted to book to go to any of the Disney Parks at any time throughout our holiday. We paid just over £800 for the 5 of us and that gave us unlimited access to all the Disney Parks, including the Disney Water Parks for the complete holiday. You can buy passes for the parks in the States but cannot buy tickets that will give you 14 days entry. I think the most you can buy in the States is for about 8 or 9 days.

The other tip I would give is buy the book 'Brit Guide to Orland' It advises you of all the best rides at the parks, what times to go to avoid queuing and what order to around the parks. I had the 2008 version with me last year and it was the most useful holiday guide I have ever used.

[kas]

Hi there ,we went to Florida last july and stayed at the Vista Cay resort in Orlando ,we booked a three bed apartment and it was incredible ,three large bedrooms ,the master bedroom had an en-suite with large bath ,huge shower and two handbaisins ,there was a dining area ,fully equipped kitchen ,and a large sitting area which had three sofas ,big coffee table ,42" plasma tv ,playstation and computer with internet access , a veranda with a chair and sofa finished it all off nicely .The resort was immaculate ,had a leisure centre with swimming pool ,private cinema which you could book ,game machines and pool tables ,cant recommend the place enough .Go to google search engine and punch in Vista Cay and you`ll see what i mean

We stayed here last March/April and like scorpion could not praise the place enough, it was stunning and very convenient. I have photos if you want to see them, then send me a PM.

Only thing was you really had to drive if you stayed here, as there was no bus routes then. It is a new resort just off of International drive. However it was so close to all the Orlando parks (all under 10mins in the car), then around 25 mins to Disney.

Again as mentioned, the Brit guide to Orlando is money very well spent. I would buy this before you start looking for deals as it will give you an idea on what you want to go for.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brit-Guide-Orlando-Simon-Veness/dp/057203489X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233082043&sr=1-1

[elastic band]

thanks everyone who replied, you have all given us some fantastic ideas and tips -the troops at home here are very grateful.

thank you Orgers

mo