Looking for help for our first trip

[mickb]

Please help we are booked for the first two weeks in July 04 and will be staying in the Quality Inn International. Can all you veterans please advise what to do and how to fit everything in to 2 weeks. Also looking to hire limo from airport any advise would be most grateful.

 

[mkingdon]

Hello Mick, and a BIG welcome to the boards

Here are my top tips for first timers

1. Buy a good guide book NOW - A Brit's Guide by Simon Veness should do the trick

2. Do lots of reading here of existing posts. It's amazing what you will learn.

3. Post away - best to have a seperate thread for each question to increase replies.

With regard to the limo, personally I have used Happy Limo (www.happylimo.com I think) and they were great. There are other companies and I'm sure others will point you at those to compare prices etc.

You won't fit it all into 2 weeks, it's impossible, so a good plan is the way to go, and you've come to the right place.

Enjoy

Craig

 

[yourwelcome]

Hello there!

My biggest piece of advise would be to plan each day
before you leave the uk.

If for example you want to do Magic kingdom on your first day then plan the schedule. We always find out in advance what parks are offering disney hotel guests early opening priority
and avoid them like the plague. It works! Plan to do the most popular rides as early as possible before the lines get to big.

Be sure to plan in rest days or half days at least as it is very tiring.

I would definately get yourself a copy of "the Brits guide to Orlando" as it is full of help and advise. The information in this book will go along way to ensuring your holiday is as fulfilling as possible.

By the way if any of you want a quiet relaxing day then the Orlando science museum is great. The cine dome in there is awsome. not sure what is showing now but we visited Egypt and went scuba diving whilst lying back in the reclining viewing seats.
It only cost about ten bucks each but was good fun.

whatever you do make sure you plan. Its Vital, especially on your first visit.

keep smiling!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Disneyfan100]

We went to quality inn the first time we went very good hotel

 

[vernon]

Hi Mick welcome to the DIS. For a start forget about fitting everything in 2 weeks, it can't be done. What you can do though is cherry pick the that are most important for your family and leave the rest for following visits.

There is a limo service that advertises on this site, and although I haven't used them myself they seem to get good reviews.

Getting Simon's book is a good start as it will give you a better idea of the multitude of things to do. Disney itself is a week minimum. You'll need a day each in AK, Epcot and MGM studios and probably 2 days in Magic Kingdom, adding a day each at the excellent waterparks there's 7 days. Depending on your kids ages You can consider a day each in Universal, IOA, Seaworld and Busch Gardens. Allowing for your day's travelling and a bit of shopping I reckon that's your 2 weeks pretty much dealt with. There are ways of maximising your time, if your kids are of an age where they would like to get autographs from and interact with the characters a "Character meal" or two is the best way to cover a lot of the characters while "wasting" the least amount of time in queues. The meals are a little more expensive than a regular meal, but as the characters come round to your table I'd guess they save you about 3 hours standing in queues waiting for photo shoots and autographs.

Having an itinerary plan may sound like an "anorrak"type thing to do, but on your first trip it really is a good idea to have a loose plan to work from.I don't think I've ever stuck to a plan, but it does allow you to at least have a good idea of what you want to do and it should mean you don't get to the end of the holiday and find you have one day left and 3 days of park tickets in your hand that are "use em or lose em" that trip. I find that if , for example, you find that a waterpark day is forcast storms, bring forward somewhere like SW, Epcot or shopping where rain isn't too much of a inconvenience for the day. Alternatively you may find you planned 3 days in themeparks in a row and you're too tired for the third, swap in a waterpark and move the themepark back.

If you tell us the make up of your group ( number, sex and ages of kids etc) may help to fine tune what are likely to be the highlights for your family.

Things I haven't put in,but are worth thinking of depending on your own interests, are Cirque du soleil, Disney Quest, Space Centre, wildlife/airboat rides, golf, horseriding and a multitude of other activities.

 

[juliebro]

Don't forget the eating too!


Lots of great eating experiences available!

Julie

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

I'll echo Vernon's comments about not doing everything in two weeks - it's simply impossible. For our first visit we only visited the Disney parks and the Kennedy Space Centre. Even though we concentrated on WDW we still felt that we hadn't really sampled everything on offer there.

If you are looking for a limo transfer does this mean you are not planning on getting a rental car? While it is perfectly possible to have an Orlando holiday without a car I stronngly recommend you do get one if at all possible. The convenience of having your own transport will alllow you to make the most of your time, reducing the hours spent waiting for buses or taxis.

Regards

Rob