April 2007

[Adz1984]

Hello to you all, i have just joined this forum in search of some answers and hopefully to join in on some good conversations.

We have reccently booked out holiday to florida using Travel City Direct, we are staying at the homewood suites universal for two weeks. We depart on arpil 27th and return on the 11th may.

Could anybody tell me what the weather will be like for the time of year, and also if the parks are going to be busy? I have also booked for me and my girlfriend to visit discovery cove for her 21st birthday, is this something she will never forget?

Has anybody got any ideas for little things i can do to make this my girlfrinds best holiday to date and one she will never forget?

Your help is apreciated..

cheers.

 

[Shane]

Hiya Adz.

Welcome to the boards!

The weather in April is usually warm, not as hot as the summer what I think is a plus (too hot for us), I've not been those dates myself so I cant be sure, but there are websites out there what give you a detailed archive of past years weather. An example: http://www.touristflorida.com/weather.html.

The crowds in April usually tend to be quite big, specially around easter, but start to get smaller in may. We went from May 27th-June10th and the crowds were small, the max wait was around 20 minutes a ride. So hopefully they crowds wont be to big, but I'm pretty sure you will find the first week busier than the second.

Discovery Cove, we done this a few weeks agos (Trainer For A Day Experiance) and its a life-changing experiance and you will never forget it, not with the video you can buy, hehe. It's worth every penny and you get treated like V.I.P's. If you need anymore information on Discovery Cove, or anything, just let me know.

Welcome to the boards again!

 

[Adz1984]

Thankyou for the welcome, i hope it isnt too busy as there are alot of things i would like to see and do whilst i am there. It cant be dead as there would be no atmosphere but i dont want it to be rammed and have too mush atmosphere.

Is there any must sees or must do's that you would reccommend? Or is there anything you would advise against doing?

I have not been to florida since 2000, so i expect there will be alot of changes and hopefully some new rides to do.

Does anybody know anything about homewood suites universal? do they provide free shuttles to the parks, or do they provide a shuttle which i could pay for?

Thanks again...

 

[Miffy2003]

Hi Adz and welcome to the Dis

 

[JohnnySharp2]

You are going at one of the best times of the year, a good combination of ideal weather and in missing Easter hopefully the parks should not be too busy too.

Are you planning on visiting all the parks, WDW & Universal/Sea World?

 

[Adz1984]

Yes we have gone a little mad with the tickets this time, we are going for 14 days and have tickets for about 22 days, lol.

We have :

14 Day Disney ultimate ticket
7 Day universal ticket
1 Discovery cove which includes 7 day seaworld.

Hopefully we will have enough time in all the parks to make the most from them. I am really looking forward to Expedition Everest, i saw some photos last night and this looks excellent.

Cant wait..

 

[Deedee]

Have you thought about the birthday package at Discovery cove, my DH did it for my 40th birthday last time we went. They make the dolphin swim a little bit more personal they threw a bouy out to the dolphin and he bought it back to me it said happy birthday denise on it plus other little things. you also get a huge b day cake.

 

[Shane]

Hiya Again

Wow, I cant reccomend enough, hehe. I would suggest checking for any American Holidays / Bank Holidays, as these can be a real pain if you get caught in the crowds. Although alot of people tend not to plan what there going to do day by day, I do like to have a good idea of whats going to be going on, and when. Something I do, is write a list of of Parks and Attractions that are a must, and work around them.

Something we stressed over, was the "Aqua Socks" for Discovery Cove. These arent actually needed at all, inless you have some kind of condition with your feet so dont worry about buying them (Although, I beleive they sell them at the park just incase). Also, you can change your 7 days of Seaworld Admission to 7 days Busch Gardens admission, we changed because not all of the family took part, so it worked out cheaper to change, so keep this in mind.

We also did the "Marine Mammal Keeper Experiance" at seaworld, that lets you go behind the scenes of seaworld and care for the animals. During this we were told by alot of the trainers that the best days to goto Busch Gardens and Seaworld are Tuesdays and Sundays (Early), reason being alot of people are at church / having a rest. Once again, hope you have a fantastic time at Discovery Cove, were hopefully going to be doing it again next year!

Good Luck

 

[Cochise]

Homewood suites gets good write ups too i think.

 

[Adz1984]

I would definatly be intrested in the birthday package at discovery cove as i think this could make it even more special, where can i get information about this? and can i still book this as we have already booked the park tickets?

Does anybody know where i can find a good review of homewood suites and maybe some pictures? I have looked on the official site but there pictures are not the best qualty on there.

I think there is a definate that we will eat at Mythos, as its had good reviews from everywhere, do we have to book this or can we walk straight in? and is there any other nice food places that would be worth visiting?

Is there any rides out that that you would reccomend are a must? to be honest i dont think there will be enough time on the holiday to do all the rides and shows, but i would apreciate it if people could show the reccomendations and we can decide from there. Im 23 and my girlfriend will be 21, we dont really want to be in a queue all day to find out that the ride was not too good.

There are a few definates which must be done :

Mythos
Most things at IOA
Mummy the revenge
Expedition Everest
Fantasmic
The stunt show at MGM
Mission space
Test track

Are there any more that you people would make a definate on your visit to the states

 

[Shane]

Hiya Again Adz

If you ring Discovery Cove on there toll free number (On website or paperwork) they will be more than happy to change this, besides you can get a refund upto 30days prior to the event for a 100% refund or change. I'm not sure about the Birthday Package but I would recomend the "Trainer For A Day" Experiance that me and my family did. You get escorted round the park with your own trainer and you get extra dolphin time, feeding sharks, feeding fish, feeding rays, even more dolphin time at the end of the day, and lots more. Although there was just 3 of us, and there can be upto 18 "Trainer For Days" at one time so we were extremely lucky just to have are family and no-one else.

Also, I recomend the Star Wars Weekends / All Shows at MGM Studios!

 

[juliebro]

Trip Advisor has got some excellent reviews of the Homewood Suites

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_...Suites_Orlando_Universal-Orlando_Florida.html

Try the above link.

Julie

 

[ely3857]

If you like photo's then you'll love videos....

expedition everest

the hulk

ripsaw falls

big thunder mountain railroad



Jodie

 

[Cochise]

There are at least two sites for Homewood suites, make sure you have the correct one.

 

[JoeSam]

We went this year April 26th to May 10th, and it was very hot - we hit 97 degrees on the last few days. Crowd wise though it was a very good time, although you do need to get there for opening times if poss, and make plenty of use of Fastpasses in Disney. It certainly wasn't rammed.

My SIL & family stayed at the Homewood Suites Universal and loved it. Free internet, and free breakfast most impressed them, with a nice pool and very clean rooms.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Homewood suites have a very good reputation for quality accomodation and reasonable prices.

 

[dc1964]

Homewood suites are excellent, stayed at the international drive one at Christmas 2005, they did free hot breakfasts and free drinks and a buffet Monday to Thursday Evenings, They do this to attract people to stay there from the convention centre which is nearby, I don't know if the one at Universal does the same. One thing stood out was the helpfullness of the staff, Excellent overall.

 

[Adz1984]

Thanks for the vidoes, enjoyed them. Does anybody know where i can find a video of mission space, or some sort of simulation?

From what i have seen on the internet, homewood suites is looking very promising, and it seems to be getting a few good reviews on here.

Thanks for all your help its been brilliant so far.