DIY - planning the next one!!

[lisagirlyUK]

Hi!!,

Even though I actually havent been to Florida yet (going in August with all the family), H and I were talking about planning another trip about next April/May time, just the 2 of us and maybe do a 2 centre holiday.

So I have the following questions which I hope you can help me with.

We intend to spend 1 week in Orlando (probably doing all the things we didnt have a chance to do in August!). Where else would be a good place to stay? We are looking for somewhere by the coast where H can do a bit of fishing and get back to nature a bit and relax. If you could also recommend a hotel there, that would be great.

Whats the cheapest way to hire a car - do you go to Dollar directly?

How do you work it with flights so everything ties up? Do you book flight first (as I know these can get expensive) and then the hotels or the other way around?

Any hints or tips would be much appreciated!!!!

 

[Kenbar]

Definately book your flights first. if you're flexible you can save $$$ by flying a day later/earlier. Car hire and accomodation can easily be booked very near to your departure date.
Generally agencies have the best rates for car hire. Search for car hire reccommendations and links on these boards. When comparing prices make sure you are comparing eggs with eggs particularly on insurance packages. A recent thread here had a link to www.yescarhire.com.

Ken

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

If you are going twice within 12 months you should consider whether it would be better to buy annual passes for Disney and/or Universal. This might be cheaper to buy one annual pass than two sets of Hopper/10-day tickets. You also then have the additional benefits of the discounts that annual passholders are entitled to.

Regards

Rob

 

[vernon]

Rob's suggestion of looking at an AP is a good one, maybe not for both parks if you're only planning a week in Orlando on your second trip, but still worth pricing up.

It's worth checking flights into/out of Miami and Tampa as well as Orlando, often you will find Miami's the cheapest.

Options for other places.
As there are just two of you going later in the year I would suggest looking at Miami (South Beach is my favourite place in Miami to stay) and the the Keys. Key West is a fun and historic place to visit. Fishing (deep sea) out of the Keys is top class I believe and there are other "nature" things to do like snorkle the coral reef that's included in a half day boat trip off the jetty at Key West. There are a couple of marine state parks in the Keys that also offer a great chance to get up close to nature. Naples is a very nice area ( although I thought it a little too "stepford wivesish) Anna Maria Island is worth looking at for a relaxing break as is Disney's Vero beach resort. If you'd like a bit of History then St Augustine on the northern Atlantic Florida coast could interest you.

 

[lisagirlyUK]

Its a bit late for the APs though as my parents have already bought the tickets. We may be able to use up whats left from our hopper tickets (though admittedly we aren't huge Disney fiends and H wants this trip for us to see bit more of the countryside and to get back to nature and all that!)

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

If you need to, you can upgrade your Hopper tickets (including partially used Hoppers) to annual passes at any Disney Guest Services office.

Regards

Rob

 

[allie5]

If you need to, you can upgrade your Hopper tickets (including partially used Hoppers) to annual passes at any Disney Guest Services office

Just a note that they will happily upgrade the Hopper passes but they wont upgrade the 10 day World Pass or Fun In The Sun Tickets. These are regarded as "Special Offer Tickets" and are exempt from upgrading. I was caught out with this last year, though I had a sneaky suspicion they wouldnt .

 

[lisagirlyUK]

We may only end up sepnding a few days in Orlando - it really depends on how much we get done this year!!!! Im really interested in going to Key West or Maco Island - it would keep H happy with the fishing but I hope there would be enough for me to do!!!

PS - I looked at a hotel on Expedia in Key West that looked really nice until I realised it was a naturist resort!!!! ooeeerr!!!

 

[Hilary]

Our trips now always include fishing opportunities for DH

We've recently returned from a trip which included quite a lot of fishing, dolphin encounters, an air boat ride and general 'nature' (but not naturist ) interests in the Keys (Banana Bay resort on Marathon - ok) and Naples (Park Shore Resort - very nice). Like Vernon, we found Naples a bit too refined and full of antique shops for our taste.

Previously we've really liked Sanibel, Captiva and Punta Gorda too , but stayed in villas here so can't recommend hotels. Further north we also really liked Crystal River for the manatees and stayed in the Plantation Inn Resort, which was very good. We stayed only three days here, and felt that was probably long enough for us.

 

[Found Nemo]

If fishing is high on your list I'd agree that the Keys would be perfect. Places like Key Largo, Islamorada and Marathon Keys have some of the best sport fishing opportunities in the world- you could charter a boat and spend the afternoon relaxing on that while he gets his tackle out (so to speak).

They're also great for scuba diving and snorkelling if you're into that. And you can drive down to Key West and experience the hippy and nightlife there, not to mention the brilliant sunsets.

For a shorter drive, the Gulf Coast has some lovely resorts. The quieter ones include Sanibel, Captiva and Sarasota. St Pete and Clearwater are more developed holiday resorts.