Hello all, we've been back a couple of days now, feeling barely human still but back at work.
The trip was a first for us, a very last minute spur of the moment booking (booked on the Monday, flew on the Friday) as we just needed a break and the price was too good to ignore. There were lots of firsts for us and I thought I'd review a few of them to help others.
Thomson MAN-SFB
Brilliant flight for the money. We booked last minute and got the flights for £388 per person, this includes baggage and food so except for drinks, no real extras to pay for. I have to say, the Dreamliner aircraft is fantastic, I think it really shames Virgin's aircraft. It was more comfortable, more roomy (particularly ceiling height), better service, quicker, smoother and just an all round pleasant trip. We were very lucky to be given extra leg room seats at no extra cost, a perk of the last minute purchase I suppose but we could have been stuck anywhere and for a while it looked like we were going to be seated apart. The entertainment system was great, plenty of films to watch although the kids mostly played on tablets (which you can trickle charge from the USB slot on the screen!). Food was ok, fine for me as I'm a human dustbin, DW and DDs weren't so keen but we knew they wouldn't be so bought snacks before we flew. Premium Economy looked nice beyond the curtain but as this was a cheap trip, it was economy for us and I dont regret it at all. Id happily choose Thomson over Virgin now if it werent for the fact they generally seem to want crazy money as well, last minute aside, they can be very pricey, economy next Easter is over £1000 per person!
Sanford
What a great little airport, what everyone says about being out of the door in 30 minutes from touch down really is true, we got off pretty quickly, immigration was done in minutes and cases were out shortly after. Wed landed at the same time as a Gatwick Thomson and a United from Europe as well but this didnt seem to impact anything. We walked out of the customs line and we were outside! I know Id read about it being small but we did a double take, surprised that was it, all done. Alamo car pick up was a doddle, its a short walk for Alamo, other firms are slightly closer but no more than 5 minutes. There were 4 intermediate SUVs and they were going quickly so its good we were out quickly. Not that I wouldnt have argued to get something bigger if theyd run out but it would have been hassle and delays I just didnt want. Id booked the car through Holiday Autos at £170 cashback and including a full tank which was just the right amount of fuel for our trip. Alamo didnt try the hard sell, just a couple of questions about how much luggage etc. Mental note, stop booking intermediate SUVs, they are pretty small really, two suitcases and two trunkis filled the boot. We chose the 417 toll road all the way, there was only one unmanned toll booth and the whole journey must be around the $10 mark. Yes you can save the money but late afternoon on the I4 just isnt fun or a good use of time.
Disneys Pop Century
What a great little (big) hotel. Wed decided on booking onsite as with only a week there and wanting to do lots of Disney and not much else the buses really sold us on a Disney hotel. The food court was great as well, we had breakfast there most days and decided to buy the refillable mugs which was a great decision. It was a big first bill of over $100 but we each had at least 4 drinks a day out of them, sometimes more if we were using the pools and we get souvenir cups to take home. We were allocated the 50s block on the top floor and although I know the 80s and 90s are further, Id say the distance to the food court is just not an issue for anyone except those with mobility problems. Id read some reviews about preferred vs standard rooms and I definitely wouldnt go preferred now weve been standard once. We paid about £450 after cashback for the week which I know is £200 more than offsite but we were guaranteed service, fun for the kids and those buses which are ace. Its only one bus stop at Pop Century by the main building but the walk from the room was nothing. Buses were fairly regular, nothing compared to OKW I dont think but still never waited long and only had to stand a handful of times. As others have said before though, Pop Century bus stops seem to be the furthest from the park entrance at every park. Thats particularly rubbish at Magic kingdom as the bus station is massive now. Not enough to put us off but it was noticeable.
Going for a week
I thought this was worth a heading as sometimes people ask if its worth it. Absolutely yes. Now weve been a fair few times so were not under so much pressure to pack stuff in anymore but Id definitely recommend a week long trip for anyone other than first timers. Whether it was the buses or the fact we just went with the flow, it really felt like much longer than a week. Two days in it felt like wed been there for a fortnight already! We generally did two/three things a day, ie park in the morning, swim after lunch and park in the evening. I think being onsite really helped here, although I love a villa holiday and were staying in a villa when we go in summer, we packed so much more in staying in a Disney hotel.
Fastpass Plus
Brilliant is all I can say, it suits us down to the ground. I recognise it wont be great for some people and in possibly first time visitors will need to research a lot more what they want to focus on. But as repeat visitors with no particular urge to go on any specific rides, it was great. Wed generally decide in the evening what we wanted to do the next day and what was the most important ride to get, then Id go on the phone and book it. There was almost always a fastpass slot for every ride we wanted and we tended to book what we fancied then use the phone to tweak the reservations as the day went on. The one exception is Toy Story Mania which I had to book 3 days in advance as availability was much lower. An extreme example is our last day. We got up pretty late and had booked nothing, we decided wed go to MK one last time even though we only had 3 hours before needing to go to the airport. On the walk up Main Street USA at 11:10am, I booked Winnie the Pooh for 11:15 and Haunted Mansion for 12:15! There were slight fastpass queues but still much better than standby, especially as it was getting busier as the week went on.
Three mobile roaming
Having my own number with my brilliant data allowances was great with one hiccup. For the first couple of days I couldnt get on and no amount of online chat or account access could get the phone working. I finally rang three on DWs phone and it turned out international roaming was off! Ive never had a contract before where its off by default and it seems a little absurd given its now free to roam in so many countries. After 4 hours it was on and latched onto AT&T in most cases and generally a good speed of 3G (HSPA+) when not on Wi-Fi. I definitely found having a mobile connection useful when either on the edge of Disney Wi-Fi range or when Disney were having problems.
Thats all I can think of for now, if anyone has any questions let me know.
The trip was a first for us, a very last minute spur of the moment booking (booked on the Monday, flew on the Friday) as we just needed a break and the price was too good to ignore. There were lots of firsts for us and I thought I'd review a few of them to help others.
Thomson MAN-SFB
Brilliant flight for the money. We booked last minute and got the flights for £388 per person, this includes baggage and food so except for drinks, no real extras to pay for. I have to say, the Dreamliner aircraft is fantastic, I think it really shames Virgin's aircraft. It was more comfortable, more roomy (particularly ceiling height), better service, quicker, smoother and just an all round pleasant trip. We were very lucky to be given extra leg room seats at no extra cost, a perk of the last minute purchase I suppose but we could have been stuck anywhere and for a while it looked like we were going to be seated apart. The entertainment system was great, plenty of films to watch although the kids mostly played on tablets (which you can trickle charge from the USB slot on the screen!). Food was ok, fine for me as I'm a human dustbin, DW and DDs weren't so keen but we knew they wouldn't be so bought snacks before we flew. Premium Economy looked nice beyond the curtain but as this was a cheap trip, it was economy for us and I dont regret it at all. Id happily choose Thomson over Virgin now if it werent for the fact they generally seem to want crazy money as well, last minute aside, they can be very pricey, economy next Easter is over £1000 per person!
Sanford
What a great little airport, what everyone says about being out of the door in 30 minutes from touch down really is true, we got off pretty quickly, immigration was done in minutes and cases were out shortly after. Wed landed at the same time as a Gatwick Thomson and a United from Europe as well but this didnt seem to impact anything. We walked out of the customs line and we were outside! I know Id read about it being small but we did a double take, surprised that was it, all done. Alamo car pick up was a doddle, its a short walk for Alamo, other firms are slightly closer but no more than 5 minutes. There were 4 intermediate SUVs and they were going quickly so its good we were out quickly. Not that I wouldnt have argued to get something bigger if theyd run out but it would have been hassle and delays I just didnt want. Id booked the car through Holiday Autos at £170 cashback and including a full tank which was just the right amount of fuel for our trip. Alamo didnt try the hard sell, just a couple of questions about how much luggage etc. Mental note, stop booking intermediate SUVs, they are pretty small really, two suitcases and two trunkis filled the boot. We chose the 417 toll road all the way, there was only one unmanned toll booth and the whole journey must be around the $10 mark. Yes you can save the money but late afternoon on the I4 just isnt fun or a good use of time.
Disneys Pop Century
What a great little (big) hotel. Wed decided on booking onsite as with only a week there and wanting to do lots of Disney and not much else the buses really sold us on a Disney hotel. The food court was great as well, we had breakfast there most days and decided to buy the refillable mugs which was a great decision. It was a big first bill of over $100 but we each had at least 4 drinks a day out of them, sometimes more if we were using the pools and we get souvenir cups to take home. We were allocated the 50s block on the top floor and although I know the 80s and 90s are further, Id say the distance to the food court is just not an issue for anyone except those with mobility problems. Id read some reviews about preferred vs standard rooms and I definitely wouldnt go preferred now weve been standard once. We paid about £450 after cashback for the week which I know is £200 more than offsite but we were guaranteed service, fun for the kids and those buses which are ace. Its only one bus stop at Pop Century by the main building but the walk from the room was nothing. Buses were fairly regular, nothing compared to OKW I dont think but still never waited long and only had to stand a handful of times. As others have said before though, Pop Century bus stops seem to be the furthest from the park entrance at every park. Thats particularly rubbish at Magic kingdom as the bus station is massive now. Not enough to put us off but it was noticeable.
Going for a week
I thought this was worth a heading as sometimes people ask if its worth it. Absolutely yes. Now weve been a fair few times so were not under so much pressure to pack stuff in anymore but Id definitely recommend a week long trip for anyone other than first timers. Whether it was the buses or the fact we just went with the flow, it really felt like much longer than a week. Two days in it felt like wed been there for a fortnight already! We generally did two/three things a day, ie park in the morning, swim after lunch and park in the evening. I think being onsite really helped here, although I love a villa holiday and were staying in a villa when we go in summer, we packed so much more in staying in a Disney hotel.
Fastpass Plus
Brilliant is all I can say, it suits us down to the ground. I recognise it wont be great for some people and in possibly first time visitors will need to research a lot more what they want to focus on. But as repeat visitors with no particular urge to go on any specific rides, it was great. Wed generally decide in the evening what we wanted to do the next day and what was the most important ride to get, then Id go on the phone and book it. There was almost always a fastpass slot for every ride we wanted and we tended to book what we fancied then use the phone to tweak the reservations as the day went on. The one exception is Toy Story Mania which I had to book 3 days in advance as availability was much lower. An extreme example is our last day. We got up pretty late and had booked nothing, we decided wed go to MK one last time even though we only had 3 hours before needing to go to the airport. On the walk up Main Street USA at 11:10am, I booked Winnie the Pooh for 11:15 and Haunted Mansion for 12:15! There were slight fastpass queues but still much better than standby, especially as it was getting busier as the week went on.
Three mobile roaming
Having my own number with my brilliant data allowances was great with one hiccup. For the first couple of days I couldnt get on and no amount of online chat or account access could get the phone working. I finally rang three on DWs phone and it turned out international roaming was off! Ive never had a contract before where its off by default and it seems a little absurd given its now free to roam in so many countries. After 4 hours it was on and latched onto AT&T in most cases and generally a good speed of 3G (HSPA+) when not on Wi-Fi. I definitely found having a mobile connection useful when either on the edge of Disney Wi-Fi range or when Disney were having problems.
Thats all I can think of for now, if anyone has any questions let me know.
