A Few Questions From First Timers!!

[x96oun]

My fiance and I are really stuck here. We are going to be in orlando for 8 days before we sail out of fort lauderdale to get married. We are both 27. We want to do some days at Disney (4 days maybe). We also want to do Universal (2 days), and Seaworld (1 day). We also need the 8th day free to do some shopping outlet stores for ship attire. All we have left to pay for are our tickets to the parks. I totalled what seems to be the best priced tickets with no expiration etc..looking at almost $1200 for 2 of us. We are not sure when we will return to Disney (most likely when we have children). We are just confused on which ticket options to buy. Also whether it is wirth the time to do seaworld. Are sea world and Universal close to Disney? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

We are really on a tight budget with the wedding and everything. Plus getting all the way there from Maine.

Mike

 

[swilshire]

Hi Mike,

I think I'd be tempted to either do Disney or Universal and save the other for another trip. My reasoning is that tickets for either get cheaper the more days you use, so trying to do both in one trip is quite expensive. Sea World is nice. We had 2 year passes there a while back and enjoyed it very much. I doesn't, IMHO, compare to either of the bigger parks, however. I'd probably skip it, too.

I would do five or six days at one of the parks and spend a couple of days just enjoying the area. There are lots of places to wander that charge nothing at all.

Enjoy your trip and best wishes for your wedding.

Sheila

 

[Ellester]

Well, first, CONGRATULATIONS on your upcoming wedding. How exciting! The best recommendation I have is to go to www.mousesavers.com. Deb has tons of ideas on how to save money, best places to get tickets, stay, etc. Her site is a great starting point. Then if you have specific questions, no doubt someone here will be able to point you in the right direction. Disney is about 20-25 minutes from Universal and/or SeaWorld by my recollection. Will you have a car?

 

[EthansMom]

IMO, you may be trying to do too much with travel from/to Maine, Disney, Universal, Sea World, shopping, cruise, and wedding all at the same time. You're talking about a lot of stress.

Personally, I'd trim the trip down to Disney and one day at either Universal or Seaworld.

If you're big shoppers then have fun at the outlets. Personally, I would shop for my cruise clothes ahead of time back home -- hit the malls and the internet and you'll get clothes at prices just as good as the florida outlets that cater to the tourists. You'll want lots of slacks and shorts -- I buy us lots of Dockers for our cruises. Since you'll only wear the slacks for dinner, you can get by with wearing the same pair a couple times. You don't want denim jeans -- much too hot in the caribbean. Also, you'll need some decent t-shirts and casual dress shirts (blouses for your fiance) -- I usually load up on them at Old Navy or Eddie Bauer. You'll want a suit with two shirts/ties to wear for formal night (two semi-formal/formal dresses for your fiance) and a jacket/tie/dress shirt combo for semi-formal night.

You don't say if you're planning to drive or fly, but if you're driving, I'd pack the bags for the parks (more casual clothes) and then repack them the day before the cruise, leaving all of your heavier and more casual clothes in your car at the dock. Hint: There are washers/dryers at WDW, but may not be any on your ship.

Your ticket prices sound a bit high. If you have a tight budget, skip the non-expiring ticket and go with one that expires. Also, only buy the ticket for the number of days you'll be going on THIS trip. For you, the Magic My Way with Park Hopping is probably the best option for Disney World. Also, you may find that it would be cheaper to go to Disney for 5 days, Universal for 2 and save Seaworld for another visit. If you don't plan to use the extras like the water parks, Pleasure Island, etc. much then don't have them added to the ticket either -- you could always pay for the ticket at Pleasure Island for one night separately.

The trick to all of the planning, I think, is to realize that this is not going to be your only trip you ever take to Disney World/Orlando. Having fun and relaxing with each other is more important than seeing/doing absolutely everything.

There are sometimes AAA discounts for Universal and SeaWorld tickets, I think. Also, if you're planning on staying at a Disney World hotel, ask for the AAA rate -- you don't have to have the card when you make the reservation, just for check in. In my experience, getting the AAA rate more than pays for the card. (Saved me $175 for 7 nights on my upcoming WDW trip. And only costs $56 for the card.)

I hope this helps!

EthansMom

 

[x96oun]

Thanks folks for the info. We have decided to skip sea world so far. Maybe we will do the Magic your way 7 day with no expiration. We will then spend one day at Universal and spend the rest of our time at shops. The problem is, that many people say that it is cheaper to get your clothes before we leave, but Maine is very much a 4 seasons state and although we have outlets prices tend to be higher because they carry only seasonal clothes. Locals have told us Florida is cheaper because they sell year round summer clothes (shorts, sandals, t-shirts etc...). Is one day at universal enough do you think? Some people have told me is was great while others have told me not to waste my time and stick only with Disney?

Mike

 

[onobono]

IMHO, If your trying to minimize ticket costs, then Sea World is one of the better deals. Purchase your ticket at the gate, then go to the "2nd Day Free" booth just inside the gate on your left. There, you'll both receive another SeaWorld entry within 7 days for free. (Make sure this offer is still being run during your visit. It has been going on for quite some time now.)
Also get a Southwest Airlines Dividend miles card from their website. You can even print one out on-line. Then at SeaWorld, show it at the ticket booth for 20% off your ticket cost.

 

[Taja]

Mike, a lot depends on what you and you fiancee enjoy doing. Do you like big thrill rides (both of you--not just one!)? Or are you going to use this as a time to relax and chill before the wedding? If it's the latter, I would go with WDW and SeaWorld (check on that second day option--it sounds like a terrific opportunity).

If you are determined to purchase clothing in Florida and can swing it financially, rent a car for two days during your trip. If you're staying at WDW, some of the rental companies (Alamo & National?) have counters at S&D and the Car Care Center. Sometimes you can get better rates for weekends, sometimes during the week. Check allears.net and mousesavers.com for strategies and discounts.

Where I was going with the car rental, is it will cost $30 to $40 or so round trip to most of the major shopping areas. If you have a rental car for two days, you can save a some money on taxis and go where you want to go! That includes eating off property and Universal or SeaWorld, as well as shopping. Many of the stores are open quite late at night, so you could have a day at a non-Disney park, then shop. There is a new Target Super Centre on 192 (I think--I can get there, but would need to look up the address) and an existing 24-hour WalMart Super Centre on 192 around Mile Marker 14. Can't remember if the Target is 24-hours or not. It was open quite late, though. I was there around 9:00 p.m. my first night at WDW in December, 2004. Forgot my camera and had to buy another one!

Florida Mall, Belz Outlet, Premium Outlets tend to be the standard shopping places in the WDW area. Millennia Mall is great for looking and seeing if you can find some good bargains. It's an upscale centre, but sometimes the sales can be excellent!

 

[FLORIDAFUNFAMILY]

I would assume that you are driving by your trip. You really will have plenty to do at Disney to keep you busy the days that you have. You might want to add the park hopper option as it is nice to go to more than one park a day with differnt closing times events etc. of course you don't need tickets for the day that you arrive and depart and you might want to plan to use the weekend to do shopping instead of the parks . The stores will be a little more crowded than during the week but not as crowded as the parks on the weekends. I suggest that you pick-up a local Orlando Sentinel paper and shop the sales . Avoid the factory outlets on international drive as they are tourist oriented and go over to the sandlake road area Florida Mall , Marshalls, Tj Maxx, Bealls outlet,and the sales at Burdines Macys can produce some quality clothes at reasonable prices.
It's a waste to take more than a pair or two of jeans and better to take cotton blended slacks (dockers) Most ship don't allow jeans in the restaurant for dinner and they tend to be too hot. If you have good credit many stores offer to give 10% to open up a credit card and if you find some good buys the extra can make a big difference. Burdines espescially caterers to there credit customer and often offers additional 15% to them on top of he other discounts. Don't over plan your stay you will have a better time if you take it in stride, be sure to plan someother free days as there is a lot to do at Disney that you don't need to burn park days toi enjoy, Downtown disney, the boardwalk etc. are great attractions that don't require tickets. Congrats and Enjoy!!

 

[x96oun]

Wow so many responses already today...thank you all and keep the idea's coming. We are actually flying into Orlando from Maine and we have rented a car from the airport. We did this because we got a full size with unlimited miles for $13.99 a day and we have to drive to Fort Lauderdale for our cruise on the 9th of April and pick friends and family up at the airport in Ft Lauderdale. I was thinking of bringing like 5 pairs of shorts, couple of swimming trunks (as I will wear these all day on the beaches of the cruise). I will bring a suit with 2 shirts and ties (there are 2 formal nights). I will also bring 4 pairs of docker type pants for meals. The cruise is 10 days and to be honest we will most likely not sit down to a semi-formal meal EVERY night.
I think we will park our car at the theme parks each day and take a cooler for the trunk with lunch food and food for dinner). We will eat late some nights so we can do this outside the resort as we are staying at the Double Tree on Lake Buena Vista. I hear there are tons of places (like my favorite) Subway to eat right next door. I am not a HUGE souvenir fan, but love pictures from my trips....so i will take lots. All in all i think that once you get the tickets covered, parking, bring most of your own food and water), then we should be set.

Mike

 

[x96oun]

No more advice anyone??