another newbie here

[Hbabe78]

im still in a bit of shock and highly exited, and ive still got a year to wait lol

im heather and yesterday i decided to suff it and not only bookour first big family holiday but to make it special so on sept 20 next year were heading to disney land

ive manged to book a 1 bedroom app on international drive for our family of 5 next year the kids will be 13 8 and 5.

i cant beleive how excited i am lol.

its going to take a lot of saving.

but im so confused about all these passes to all the parks. i have no clue what to buy. we have booked through thomas cook. thay have passes in there book for the disney land ones for about £180 per adult just a wee bit less for the kids

then theres all the pther ones like universal, and i havent even looked at everything. (although i would love to swim with dolphins) there no way i can affort to buy passes for everything.

anyway i look forward to learning a lot form you that have been before

((and i also just wanted to have an excited chat to people who get as excited as me lol))

 

[Hilary]

Hello and welcome to the DIS boards!

I think you've definitely passed the excitement-meter test

 

[Hobbes]

Congratulations-you will not regret booking this holiday. Just one thing before anyone else comments-I think you booked Disney WORLD not LAND-couple o' thousand miles apart ! As for the tickets, tell us how long you're going for, the ages and likes/dislikes of the family and I guarantee someone here will steer you in exactly the right direction. I can recommend swimming with dolphins but it is horribly expensive-mine was a 40th birthday pressie to myself. As far as Universal goes, this will depend very much on the time you have in Orlando, and the ages of the family-there are a lot of BIG scary rides at Universaland if you're not thrillseekers and/or nutters it may not be worth it, plus you will need a reason to come back another time (Beware of the "Well its a once in a lifetime trip" syndrome-WDW is SERIOUSLY addictive!) Tell us more and let us help you

Sorry-just spotted you did tell us the kids ages-my bad!

 

[Jakey Rowling]

Wow big question

Don't buy your tickets from Thomas Cook, you'll get them cheaper on line, and there's no rush to buy the general park ticket deals early either.

Almost all your choices will be driven by what you and the family like/want/expect from the parks which i think makes it hard to advise so it's all my opinion.
You seem to accept you can't do everything which is correct, so target what is important and fun for your family.

As a rough guide the universal parks are for older children, certainly the 13 year old, but the other two will suffer from height restrictions in IOA. Consider splitting the family across IOA and US for a day if you fancy Universal.

The ticket package deals offer best value for money for the longer durations and it's often financially a choice between Disney and Universal for a two week break.

Personally I'd opt for a Disney ticket deal for a first trip given your children's age.

Buy/borrow or see the library for some guide books and see if you can narrow the choices down, plenty advice on specifics here. Price the tickets up and see how it fits within your budget.

Plan in a few rest/shopping breaks as well.

Happy planning!

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Hi and welcome,

As for park tickets, do your research and ask plenty of questions.

We all have different ideas on our park visits and where to buy our tickets, we get our Disney one's from www.mapleleaftickets.com and our Universal one's (we have Annual passes) direct from www.universalorlando.com

Your children's tastes can have an impact on which parks you will enjoy the most, our 10 year old son likes Universal Studios more than any of the WDW parks , with the exception of Magic Kingdom, so I would definitely recommend you fit in visits to US/IOA - especially because the 2 parks are walking distance apart and Universal always have great ticket offers on.

I would plan a few days rest for shopping and other things, although I have never been a fan of visiting theme parks day after day as we like to do other things too.

 

[Claire L]

Hi and welcome

I am not sure if you said how long you are going for and if you have a car as this will also determine what you want to do.

Claire

 

[natalielongstaff]

welcome to the boards

the 1st time we went we only did the disney parks but i agree with Johnny universal and islands of adventure are well worth a visit

don't be afraid of getting a car ....everything is easy to find

 

[Hbabe78]

its definatly disney world, i keep saying land thoughi allready got a lecture from an american friend.

im going for 2 weeks, ill need to have a good look though whats in all the parks, but i too have thought that the disney parks would be better. my 8 year old doesnt like rides, but a lot change in a year, neither does my husband he wont go on any, whare as myself and my 13 year old will try anything, and off coarse me wee girl is princess and anything disney related mad.

as for the dolphins its also my 30th next year and think ill play on that, its maby even something id do on my own or with my eldest.

i know its a year away but time seams to pass before we know it, and im a planner, i like to have evrything organised.

thank you every one for your responce i really appreciate it.

in the broshure there was free car hire but i think we have forgone that for the transferes between airport and hotels, i just thought it would be less stressfull for my hubby as he gets stressed out

but it is allways an option to hire a car for a few days if it would be worth while as we both drive.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Just to clarify Universal is not just about coaster's and rides for older children or teenagers.
There are lots of attractions such as ET, Woody Woodpecker, Curious George and Barney's playground that are suitable for a younger child.

You also have rides like Shrek - probably one of THE best rides in Orlando for all the famly.

 

[Goofysmate]

Hi Heather

 

[team harris]

Welcome Heather! Wow, you are going to have fun planning over the next year. We always do mainly Disney, using the Water parks every few days as "rest days". Universal, IOA are also a must in our house, there were only a few rides that our youngest couldn't do the first time we visited IOA, but that was a good reason for returning! Space Kennedy is a good place and easy to drive to. In August we did 10 days in the Disney parks, 3 at Universal and 1 at Space Kennedy, fitting in the Converse shop to and from Universal. Do your research and don't but tickets thro your travel agaent - you will get so many deals on the net.