Help a struggling Aussie vacation planner!

[PrincessMummyDownUnder]

Hi everybody! This is my first post, and I really need some of your expert advice. My family and I are planning a big U.S. Vacation next December and January to celebrate my husbands 40th and my daughters 10th birthdays (we are a family of 5). We have already booked a cruise on the fantasy for their actual birthdays, but despite it still being early I am keen to get moving on the rest of the planning since Christmas and new year is such a busy time. We think at this stage that we will visit San Francisco and New York before travelling to Orlando on or around Christmas Day. I think that we might like to do Universal first for a few days before immersing ourselves into the Disney bubble, but I'd like to save some money here instead of staying on property at universal (the Aussie dollar is horrible!). My question is, do you think that it would be better to stay in a vacation rental home for just under a week or an off property hotel close to universal? What area would be best and does anyone have any suggestions for properties or hotels? If we rent a house we would also need a hire car I suppose, whereas we may not if we stay in a hotel with theme park shuttles - does anyone have any experience with these? Last question for now...I'm thinking about allocating 8 days to Disney parks. Too much? My children will be 3, 9 and 11. Thanks in advance! Any and all advice is much appreciated

 

[londontime]

Hi @PrincessMummyDownUnder
Wow. Thats some vacation. I'm sure several people will jump in, but you will definitely need a hire car for the Orlando leg. New York and San Fran are easily navigable by Public Transport and Foot/Taxi, but Orlando is not. Also, if you are looking to save a few AUD's, staying on property with no car is not really the economy option, as you will be eating on resort (unless you have gone for the disney dining, which is not that economical). The theme park shuttles are pretty good, but we have always had a car. 8 Days is Disney is a pretty big run, but what it does allow you to do is visit in chunks of 3-4 hours, which would be best for the 3 year old, as they get a bit hyped and therefore grouchy. We did this last year with our 2.5 year old and it worked great. Everyone is different obviously, but we try and hit the park little and often, going back to the pool or naps/film for the kids, which is where on resort properties really come into their own.

 

[nherbert]

Hello from fellow Aussie.
This is our third visit here, so I can help with car hire question. When you are doing Disney, the Disney transport (buses) is great. Lots of people complain but they probably haven't experienced Aussie public transport. So we love the buses. Yes you might have to wait 20 minutes as worst case scenario (mostly 5 minutes) but that is better than dealing with driving on the wrong side of the road all the time when you are tired!

If you are traveling round Orlando you will need a car to get to/from universal to Disney. It costs a lot to park a car at universal though. It's actually not a long drive between Disney and universal and you could just drive up if you can't find anywhere to stay. We hire a car through Alamo, there is a pick up location on Disney property to make things easy.

If you go to universal at xmas time you will want express passes - these are included with some onsite hotels. If you go outside the Christmas week (we went first week of January) you don't need them. We recently stayed at RPR (for passes) but we walked to cabana bay and wished we had stayed there (CB does not include the express passes) but even so, it looked really great.

From your message I can't work out how many days in Orlando for both universal and Disney before the cruise? If you haven't done disneyworld before given ages of kids I suggest you don't need more than 2 days at universal, maximize Disney.

 

[NH-to-FL]

Hello PrincessMummyDownUnder,

Welcome to DIS!

Your question concerning on site verses off site hotel verses a vacation rental home can be complicated. You will get a lot more, private pool, plenty of space, for less money with the vacation home. But off site does come with some extra costs. You would need to rent a car for either of the off site options. My very limited personal experience with off site hotel shuttles was that they did not run very frequently. Rental cars can usually be had for reasonable rates out of Orlando Airport though I have personally never tried to rent during the peak holiday period.

You can save food money by cooking meals at a vacation home (or hotel suite) but will need to allocate time for shopping/cooking/cleaning up. In my opinion this trade off works better the longer the stay. You can find all of the Disney menus online and look up your potential food costs to get a feeling on the potential savings.

Parking will add $20/day for off site visitors. Do not be afraid of driving and parking. The roads are well marked. Do be aware that there are a few days around the holidays, Christmas and New Year's Eve, when the parks will under go a phased closure due to peak crowds. On site guests get priority.

There are plenty of vacation home rentals out there. Many are south and west of Disney. Less convenient for Universal though still drivable. If you decide to go that route book early as the holiday fills them up as well. I am not into Universal so I can't comment on off site hotels in that area. You might post a more specific question about that down in the Universal section.

I assume that this is your first WDW visit. For a first visit I might suggest budgeting for an on site stay to maximize the "Disney bubble" experience. Though be prepared for crowds and a busy Disney transportation system during the holiday period. Leave plenty of time in your plans for travel. If your family can do it, get up early and plan to be at the park before rope drop. It is amazing how much you can do before the crowds start building after 10am. You can find plenty of planning information here on DIS. Also check out the easyWDW web site.

And 8 days is not too much for a Disney visit. There is so much to do. Especially since you will probably want to plan an "off day" somewhere in the middle. Relax and enjoy the resort and do some lower key, non park activities.

Happy planning!

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

As ŷou plan to arrive around Christmas Day remember it will be very busy and try and plan early starts to make the most of your theme park visits.

We went in July for 3 weeks and stayed 5 nights at CSR before moving offsite to a 3 br condo at Windsor Hills and having a 1 night stay at Universal RPR. Over the many years we have been we have always rented a car, even when staying onsite.

If it were my choice I would book 2 nights at a Universal deluxe such as RPR to get the Fast Pass entry (especially at Christmas), hopefully you would be able to make the most of the passes before moving on to Disney.

If cost is an issue, then you would probably get more value from an offsite stay. We have stayed at villas and condos at Windsor Hiils, Windsor Palms, Emerald Island and Sheraton Vistana. All are very near to WDW. You should be able to get a rough idea of costs for comparison to a WDW hotel, then it's up to you to choose which option will more suit your family needs (and wallet!). I always enjoy my vacations wether on or offsite, each have their own benefits.

Good luck with the planning

 

[TwoMisfits]

So, you're thinking of a trip to the Orlando area from about Dec 25 - Jan 4? If it were me, I'd stay onsite at Universal Studios on Dec 25-26 to get FOTL for days and to ensure you have access to the parks...they will be MOBBED those days and unlimited FOTL will be a godsend. Then, I'd move offsite to a 2 bedroom condo for the rest of your time in Orlando. If you are worried about access to the Disney parks, go at rope drop AND pre-book an ADR in the park - you get preferred entry if closure procedures happen. I would rent a car and drive for the duration - the cheaper cost of the condo will more than offset the cost of driving and parking (and probably half your restaurant costs - Xmas week is EXPENSIVE!)...I'd enjoy meals at the condo at least 1 time a day (breakfast would be a gimmie) to keep your costs down b/c gorceries are really cheap and Disney meals are really expensive...

 

[nacho113]

We think at this stage that we will visit San Francisco and New York before travelling to Orlando on or around Christmas Day.

WOW that is a really energetic vacation. San Fran and New York are on opposite sides of the continent (3000 miles - 5000 km apart)
New York to Orlando is 1100 miles (1600 km), hope you're flying these links.

Staying on-site either at Disney or Universal over Christmas will be your best bet, crowds are crazy in the parks at this time and the park gates will quite often be closed due to capacity for off-site guests early in the day.

 

[PrincessMummyDownUnder]

Hi @PrincessMummyDownUnder
Wow. Thats some vacation. I'm sure several people will jump in, but you will definitely need a hire car for the Orlando leg. New York and San Fran are easily navigable by Public Transport and Foot/Taxi, but Orlando is not. Also, if you are looking to save a few AUD's, staying on property with no car is not really the economy option, as you will be eating on resort (unless you have gone for the disney dining, which is not that economical). The theme park shuttles are pretty good, but we have always had a car. 8 Days is Disney is a pretty big run, but what it does allow you to do is visit in chunks of 3-4 hours, which would be best for the 3 year old, as they get a bit hyped and therefore grouchy. We did this last year with our 2.5 year old and it worked great. Everyone is different obviously, but we try and hit the park little and often, going back to the pool or naps/film for the kids, which is where on resort properties really come into their own.

Thanks for your suggestions!