Nervous Disney Newbie

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

You sound like a great dad and not at all mad!!! What lovely memories to make with your children!

Once you decide to go (which you will!!! ) make sure you get reading some food and trip reports - they will give you great ideas for what to do, and some fabby tips for in the parks! www.allearsnet.com is also great for info (though no nice forums on there )

 

[Girlsontour]

Something that hasn't been mentioned is a plus point for a hotel is that the pool areas are often a place for your children to play and meet with other children - its a reason why i choose a hotel over a villa.

 

[rotothread]

I can see there are as many advantages/disadvantages with a hotel as there are with a villa. I would like a park hotel but to be honest after a day at the park ith the kids and then being stuck in a hotel roomn with them may send me a bit cuckoo!
I've been offered a villa for £1000 for 2 weeks. Its a bit more than I need but it's big and that is a big plus. But do I need pool heat? One of my kids only need look at an ice cube and she goes blue.
Flights seem to be around £2500 direct.
Only need to figure car hire and tickets. Any ideas?
Would love to do:
Magic Kingdom
A water park
Universal
and space center.

 

[wishspirit]

Thanks for the advice and the support!

I do have 3 kids 7 and 8 (twins +1)!!!

An indirect might be a bit more fun and I hadn't really considered it. I had no idea either about condo as I had no idea what they were!

I would like space though, a fiend of mine went ad stayed in a hotel and by the end of two weeks they were ready to kill each other.

But what about food? Most people I know who have been say the food in Disney is shocking. And its better to do some grocery shopping if your in a villa rather than ea out every night. Thoughts????

If you have a car there are some great places to eat outside of Disney, we always go to the chains for some cheap eats such as Bob Evans or Pondarosa (sp?), TGI Fridays or Sweet Tomatoes. If you have a car you can also go grocery shopping so you don't have to spend money on eating out at breakfast, and the amount of new and interesting food in the states will take your breath away! It was one of our scheduled activities, just to see what they had to offer!

Staying in a villa/ condo- your gut knows best. We have both stayed on and off Disney property, when I was younger me and my sister would of killed each other if we had to share a room! We stayed off site so we could have our own pool and chill out spaces, plus we didn't mind cooking a few meals ourselves (which we couldn't do in a hotel room!)

Thank you so much! Yes, if I'm honest they do have a great dad (awww shucks). Shocking mother though.

Sorry that one made me laugh! Don't worry about a thing, us Disney obsessives love to plan (or over plan as the case maybe)! We will hold your hand every step of the way! It gives us a sense of purpose!

I can see there are as many advantages/disadvantages with a hotel as there are with a villa. I would like a park hotel but to be honest after a day at the park ith the kids and then being stuck in a hotel roomn with them may send me a bit cuckoo!
I've been offered a villa for £1000 for 2 weeks. Its a bit more than I need but it's big and that is a big plus. But do I need pool heat? One of my kids only need look at an ice cube and she goes blue.
Flights seem to be around £2500 direct.
Only need to figure car hire and tickets. Any ideas?
Would love to do:
Magic Kingdom
A water park
Universal
and space center.

When we went in august with a pool I don't think it was ever heated, and we didn't have a problem! Honestly it is SO hot in the summer, you will be all about the ice cubes! Thank goodness for air conditioning!

Right, I would recommend buying a guide to Disneyworld, it can give you some of the real basics, as this trip can be a mission! I recommend buying 'The Unofficial Guide' but there are other great books out there. Disneyworld consists of 4 main parks- Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. You are going to want to do them all, and for more than one day to! Disney also has two water parks- Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon, both of which are excellent, there are some other alternatives such as Aquatica near SeaWorld and Wet and Wild (i haven't been in years!)

Universal has slightly more intense rides than Disney and is separated into two parks- Universal Studio Park and Island of Adventure. Both are great, and we usually spend a day in each, however some might be too intense for smaller riders (depending how easy your kids are to scare)

Kennedy space centre is great (and best to get to if you have a car) and the space ice cream is yummy (I hope they still have that!)

If you need any more help (and you probably will!) just post or PM me!

 

[rotothread]

Good Lord! Should I ever get married again you lot are all invited.

 

[wayneg]

For car hire there are 3 I have used, I have put them in order of usually cheapest 1st.

USrentacar.co.uk
carhireflorida.net
netflights.com

 

[Tinks1984]

Good Lord! Should I ever get married again you lot are all invited.

We'll remember that

Oh and as someone mentioned above, get yourself a guidebook so you can get more ideas and see things you may like to do. From the book you can then come onto the boards and ask further questions. You'll get an answer each time.

There's some guidebooks on Amazon which are cheaper than buying from the shops. One which would be good for you is 'The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World with Kids'. I've looked and its on there for £8.49 at present

 

[rotothread]

I have ordered the book form Amazon!

Does anyway have any experience of Sandy Ridge and its villas?
Do you have to pay for car parking at WDW?
And finally, I've found a direct flight for the 4 of us from Gatwick for £2516? Is this a good price?

 

[amystevekai&bump]

Just wanted to say to the Dis!!


I also think you should get a guide book, there are some terrific rides at Epcot, Animal Kingdom and imho especially at Disney's Hollywood Studios!! (But then I am very biased towards the new Toy Story Mania ride!!)

You might decide that a multiday Disney pass, that incorporates the water parks is the way to go. It is a cheaper option than buying individual day tickets for sure.

I am a huge Universal fan, so I am reluctant to dissuade you from going there, but as someone has mentioned before, you know your children - if you think they will prefer the less intense 'cute' rides then perhaps stick to WDW this trip.

Trying to do everything in one trip is very tiring, not to mention VERY expensive!! So you might want to research each park and decide what the priorities for your family are.

Any questions - do come back - as mentioned already, we love to help all newbies

 

[wayneg]

If you are flexible on flights you just have to look as much as poss at different dates. Like 7th-21st August would save you a little at £2,442.60 with Virgin. Indirect would save you about £400-500

Parking is free if you stay in a Disney resort, stay offsite and its $12/day, maybe $13 by August depends when they have their annual rise.

 

[orlandothebeagle]

Def will not need a pool heat, make sure it has a pool gate/fence though.

 

[wifey]

Def will not need a pool heat, make sure it has a pool gate/fence though.

Definitely get a villa with a good fence around the pool it's worth keeping the 'gators outside, when it's really hot and dry they will invade any area of water. We've seen reports on Orlando Sentinel in the past must be very scary to get to a villa and find your pool occupied by one of them like some of the locals have encountered in the past.

 

[higgy66]

Hi

Just wantd to say Welcome and good luck with all your planning.

I'm sure you'll get all the answers you need on here - it's like having your own personal Walt Disney world guide, travel rep, trip advisor rolled into one!

 

[anthony2k7]

you mentioned wanting to go to the space centre? you should consider thats its actually about a 2 hr drive (each way!). Infact its worth factoring in that everywhere takes a while to get to - even going between disney parks can take 15 minutes drive. This is mainly because they all drive soooooooo slooooooow over there!

 

[phgannon]

Hi rotothread

I'll just add my welcome along with all the others you've had!

You've made a really good start on planning your Disney vacation by joining both DISBoards and TheDibb. Good work!

It's easy to get overwhelmed by the choice offered to you by Orlando but calm relief is at hand in the form of "The Brits Guide to Orlando and Walt Disney World" by Simon & Susan Veness - it costs about £14 and is updated most years. I strongly suggest that it's your next move in planning your trip (unless you've already done so!).

You don't need to read the guide from cover to cover but you just dip in as and where required

The book covers the whole vacation experience from planning, the best time to go (the book has a particularly useful graph that shows typical attendance vs temp/rainfall), how to get there, the climate, where to stay, where to eat, car rental, suggested itineries, the best days to visit the individual parks, what to do when you get there, descriptions and ratings for all of the rides and attractions and all are crammed with useful tips which, when followed, will ensure you get the most from your Disney vacation.

I have many books on Florida and this is the only one that actually comes with us!

If you're a Brit then it really is a must have and will pay you back in dividends.

Kind regards and good luck!

Patrick

 

[rotothread]

Thanks so much for everyone's help, I really couldn't have got this far without you guys.
Here's an update:
I've got a villa on the Sunset Lakes complex. A friend and his kids are coming so I've only got to pay £600 for 2 weeks. I've booked this.
I'm looking at an indirect flight with US Airways with 1 stop in Philidephia for £2000.
We're gonna hire a mother-of-a-van to get us all around to save on car parking costs (1 van instead of 2 cars).
Changed dates of hols to try and see a shuttle launch.
And finally a stretch limo is taking us to the airport!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Comments???

 

[wayneg]

Sounds great, sharing a villa cost makes a big difference for a small family.

We land on the 6th August so hoping for a day or 2 delay for shuttle, which there probably will be. We saw a launch about 2 years ago, one of best thing ever seen in my life. We will be going to Titusville to watch it again if at all possible.

 

[Tinks1984]

Thanks so much for everyone's help, I really couldn't have got this far without you guys.
Here's an update:
I've got a villa on the Sunset Lakes complex. A friend and his kids are coming so I've only got to pay £600 for 2 weeks. I've booked this.
I'm looking at an indirect flight with US Airways with 1 stop in Philidephia for £2000.
We're gonna hire a mother-of-a-van to get us all around to save on car parking costs (1 van instead of 2 cars).
Changed dates of hols to try and see a shuttle launch.
And finally a stretch limo is taking us to the airport!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Comments???

Sounds great!

It'll be much better for you to be able to share a villa - and there's some adult company there for you also once the kids are off to sleep for the evening. Least you can both chill out and have a beer, or two!

Great idea about the van sharing too Just gotta make sure there's no problems in where you both want to go each day. Don't wanna cause any problems on your dream holiday with your kids.

And the stretch - love the idea. Your kids will feel like royalty!! Gotta say I'd love to do this and I'm 25

Well done on the planning so far, sounds good!

 

[Pegasus928]

All sounds good so far, particularly sharing the cost of a villa and car. Should cut costs, especially on parking as you already know.
Also remember that if you have already paid to park at Disney, then decide to go to another park in the same day, you don't have to pay for parking again.

 

[JulieSharp]

You get so much more room with a villa, and flexibility plus the private pool will be great for the kid's.
A car is a must though.

Grocery shopping can be expensive, it is not that groceries are dearer than they are in the UK it is just that the extent of what you have to buy can vary so much, it's not just food you have to cater for it's other things such as 'washing up liquid - bin liners - cooking oil' etc etc so you will have to allow for that. You could turn up at the villa and find there isn't even a pot of salt in the cupboard, but it just depends really.
Naturally how much you cook or eat out depends on you. If you stay in the Kissimmee area the parks are all within easy reach, and you have supermarkets and restaurants closeby too.

Going in August it will be extremely hot, perhaps around 100 degrees. So you will have to bear that in mind, it can be tiring touring the theme parks in the summer months, especially with children.