As first timers I thought I'd drop a few thoughts down of our 3 weeks as complete newbie's to Florida, some of my comments below will be obvious to some but others may find it useful.
2 Adults & 2 Children age 10 & 17
Travel Dates: 1st to 22nd April 08
Air Flights: American Airlines from Stansted changing at JFX to Orlando
Car Hire: usrentacar
Villa: Privately Booked
Flight
We flew from Stansted via AA interconnecting at JFK, the only frustration here was that we had to collect our baggage at JFK & then check it in again for the flight to Orlando, we also had about hour & half delay with the flight from JFK to Orlando. On the return journey back from Orlando to JFK our luggage was transferred direct to our flight to Stansted, just wished some one would have told us it would be different on the way back instead of waiting to collect our luggage again. Flight from JFK to Stansted was delayed by about 6 hours, there was an announcement saying there was a problem on the plane & the maintenance crew were dealing with it. This was a bit concerning getting on the plane knowing that they had just carried out some repairs. Some one on the flight complained to the Stewardess on how it was announced / handled, shortly after that the Captain on the plane made a further announcement advising everyone it was to do with the fresh air intake valve which opens on landing & had stuck.....
Car Hire
We used USRENTACAR Booking through usrentacar was the most cost effective for the type of vehicle size we wanted & also came with the Gold option (full tank of petrol & additional driver cover).
As a first time visitor driving, we arrived quite late at Orlando so we only queued for a few minutes to book our car out, we booked the 4x4 Gold package & were issued with a Durango, this vehicle is more than sufficient for 4 people with 4 large suite cases & 3 smaller ones, great vehicle take a day or so to get use to it especially when parking as it quite a high vehicle, only a little 4.7lr engine.
My main comment here was that when we went across to the Multi Storey Car Park just outside the terminal & checked in with Alamo they just pulled the car round & handed us the keys...... No comment to say what type of fuel it was no other useful comments like brake release (glad I read that some where before going) just nothing.
I checked the car as best I could & found nothing, the car had just been washed, however the next day I noticed a small chip in the screen, pleased to say this was not pulled up when I checked the car back in.
Useful points:
1. Ask what type of fuel your car takes, ours was a Hybrid so there were two options (had to find this out in the car manual)
2. Make sure you have a good idea how the brake system works (releasing & engaging)
3. If the car has just been washed double check the Window Screen for chips.
4. Keep your booking paper work out with you as you will need this when exiting the car park.
5. Be well prepared with your route as once you leave the car park you are on the main roads & there is no easy pull over point to get your bearings. Make sure your Sat Nav works (mine decided not to work right when we needed it) make sure you have a back up route / maps just in case (we did), Manage to get the Sat Nav working the next morning (thank god, made navigating around the area much easier & less stressful).
Just a point when filling up at the Garage Petrol Pumps, if your not paying by Credit card you will need to go into the kiosk & pay in advance on how much you want to fill up, the petrol pumps stop automatically at the pump at the amount you have paid. Remember once you have taken the pump out of the holder you will need to lift up the lever surrounding the holder (hopefully that makes sense).
In the 3 weeks we were there using the same petrol station the fuel prices went from $3.31 to $3.46 a gallon. Just wish they were those prices here
Road Traffic
We noticed on the 192 it got busy after 8.20 am, so if you have to navigate the 192 to get to the parks make sure you allow for this, from where we were staying we managed to find a back route / sand track that lead us down onto the I4 around Jcn 60, saved us about 20-30 mins when it was peak traffic time.
Villa
I'm pleased to say we had a nice Villa just off 192 on Hwy 27 at Davenport. The Villa was ideal for us, it gave us that independence away from the Theme parks, was spacious came a with a Pool & games rm. We also had a visit from a Snake in the Garage (thats another story).
Food
Breakfasts - It was a 50 / 50 split between eating at the Villa (toast, cereals & orange juice) & having Buffet Breakfasts at Ponderosa or Golden Corral. Like others on the boards if youre looking for a good selection Golden Corral was best.
Lunch / Dinner - This was the 50 / 50 approach again, if we had Breakfast at the Villa then we would end up eating at the parks & also having an evening meal out some where, we didn't book any ADR's we had a plan of action but wanted some flexibility & didn't want to be tied down with Dinner reservations. When we ate at the parks we had Counter Service meals (averaging $40 to $60 for a family of 4).
When eating out it was a big mixture again, Golden Corral, Ponderosa (we found Ponderosa best if you wanted a set meal (16oz Rib eye Steak = $14.99) that included the all you can eat Buffet area too. The Ponderosa we visit was at 7598 W Irlo Bronson Hwy, Kissimmee, Fl 34747, best Servers there were Marsha, Stephanie & Frank, we did have some others but the 3 mentioned made our visits a pleasure.
We also had to visit the worlds largest McDonalds (for the kids of course). We did do Outback too, I wasn't impressed here, the waiter was hopeless, I asked for a Well done Steak it was sent back twice before it was cooked, the manager did take my meal off the bill, to be honest I had a better meal in Ponderosa, our typical bill in Ponderosa was about $55, Outback was $110.
Don't forget to look out for the voucher booklets for the various discounts for Golden Corral, Ponderosa & other restaurants, on our visits most English families were not taking advantage of the discounts available, remember the voucher booklets are often located just in the entrance / exit to these places so worth a look before your meal, thats more money you can then spend on shopping.
Shopping
Buying Disney merchandise - Strangely enough we found Walmart to be far cheaper than all the small shops we visited (T-Shirts between $5&$15), we did do the Disney store at the Premium Outlet & found some good buys there too, worth a look.
We bought some walkie talkies in Walmart one set for $18 & the other for about $35, came in very useful when the family split up at some of the parks & Disney Quest.
We were also advised by our letting agent about a shopping Mall on the 192 just past Walmart called Bells, was surprisingly cheaper than some of the other Malls for Clothes.
Trainers - You are spoilt for choice & the prices for a good pair of Trainers is between $40 & $60, have a good look round before you buy as some of the sports shops have the big name trainers cheaper than the main named brand outlets.
Our Plan of Action
Day 1 Tue Traveling + Pick up Hire Car arrive 18.45pm
Day 2 Wed Unpacking / Shopping / Magic Kingdom (9-11pm)
Day 3 Thu Typhoon Lagoon
Day 4 Fri Animal Kingdom (9-8)
Day 5 Sat Universal Studios + Mardi Gras with Hewy Lewis in Concert - 9am to 10pm
Day 6 Sun Rest Day / Shopping - Pirates Meal (6pm)
Day 7 Mon Magic Kingdom (9-10)
Day 8 Tue Aquatica / Fast Boat Ride
Day 9 Wed Universal Islands of Adventure (9-7)
Day 10 Thu Gatorland - 9am to 5pm / City Walk Eve
Day 11 Fri Bush Gardens (9-7.30)
Day 12 Sat Universal - Wet & Wild / Shopping down I Drive
Day 13 Sun Hollywood Studios (9-8.30) - Fantastic Starts at 8.30 need to be there for 7.45pm
Day 14 Mon Sea World
Day 15 Tue Rest Day / Shopping - Medieval Meal (4.30pm)
Day 16 Wed Epcot (9-9)
Day 17 Thu Disney Quest Indoor Interactive Theme Park (11-11)
Day 18 Fri Discovery Cove
Day 19 Sat Kennedy Space Centre
Day 20 Sun Aquatica
Day 21 Mon Shopping / Packing / Eve Meal
Day 22 Tue Traveling - Drop off Hire Car Depart Plane 12.10 leave Villa for 7.30am!!!!
As you can see we were very busy, thoughts at the end were that the family would have enjoyed more rest days / late starts, I was waking the house up around 7am each morning to ensure we got to the parks early enough & we were not getting back until around 11-11.30 pm some times later pending where we were that day.
We used the visits to the various Wet theme parts as rest days, arriving after mid day, however this back fired with Aquatica, the day we visited the park was closed off ( so we swapped it with our Fast boat Ride day) we later found out that once they have so many people in the park they turn people away, so don't be later than 10.30am or else there is a chance you won't get in, I'm not sure if you can park across in Sea World & walk / shuttle bus a cross to Aquatica.
As part of day 21 we had planned a day of shopping, packing & a fast boat ride, we had to swap this around with Aquatica (reason above).
We did two themed meals Pirates & Medieval.
The Pirates evening was by far the best food & entertainment would defiantly do this again when we next go.
The Medieval meal, we were place 2nd row from the front at the Green end, which is not the best end to be seated at as the bulk of the action is in the middle / opposite end, anywhere in the middle seating I feel is good but you have to up grade to this as it's not part of the standard package, it may be worth the few extra dollars to do this if considering this as an option.
Budget
We budgeted for about $200 a day which covered Food, Petrol & spending money for various items.
We gave the girls both $35 each a week to manage & spend on small gifts & sweets etc, main items like clothes & major gifts came out of the main budget.
After 3 weeks we as a family spent about $4000, & we ate out every day (twice) & bought loads of stuff shopping & came back with some spare $.
Cant wait till the next time
2 Adults & 2 Children age 10 & 17
Travel Dates: 1st to 22nd April 08
Air Flights: American Airlines from Stansted changing at JFX to Orlando
Car Hire: usrentacar
Villa: Privately Booked
Flight
We flew from Stansted via AA interconnecting at JFK, the only frustration here was that we had to collect our baggage at JFK & then check it in again for the flight to Orlando, we also had about hour & half delay with the flight from JFK to Orlando. On the return journey back from Orlando to JFK our luggage was transferred direct to our flight to Stansted, just wished some one would have told us it would be different on the way back instead of waiting to collect our luggage again. Flight from JFK to Stansted was delayed by about 6 hours, there was an announcement saying there was a problem on the plane & the maintenance crew were dealing with it. This was a bit concerning getting on the plane knowing that they had just carried out some repairs. Some one on the flight complained to the Stewardess on how it was announced / handled, shortly after that the Captain on the plane made a further announcement advising everyone it was to do with the fresh air intake valve which opens on landing & had stuck.....
Car Hire
We used USRENTACAR Booking through usrentacar was the most cost effective for the type of vehicle size we wanted & also came with the Gold option (full tank of petrol & additional driver cover).
As a first time visitor driving, we arrived quite late at Orlando so we only queued for a few minutes to book our car out, we booked the 4x4 Gold package & were issued with a Durango, this vehicle is more than sufficient for 4 people with 4 large suite cases & 3 smaller ones, great vehicle take a day or so to get use to it especially when parking as it quite a high vehicle, only a little 4.7lr engine.
My main comment here was that when we went across to the Multi Storey Car Park just outside the terminal & checked in with Alamo they just pulled the car round & handed us the keys...... No comment to say what type of fuel it was no other useful comments like brake release (glad I read that some where before going) just nothing.
I checked the car as best I could & found nothing, the car had just been washed, however the next day I noticed a small chip in the screen, pleased to say this was not pulled up when I checked the car back in.
Useful points:
1. Ask what type of fuel your car takes, ours was a Hybrid so there were two options (had to find this out in the car manual)
2. Make sure you have a good idea how the brake system works (releasing & engaging)
3. If the car has just been washed double check the Window Screen for chips.
4. Keep your booking paper work out with you as you will need this when exiting the car park.
5. Be well prepared with your route as once you leave the car park you are on the main roads & there is no easy pull over point to get your bearings. Make sure your Sat Nav works (mine decided not to work right when we needed it) make sure you have a back up route / maps just in case (we did), Manage to get the Sat Nav working the next morning (thank god, made navigating around the area much easier & less stressful).
Just a point when filling up at the Garage Petrol Pumps, if your not paying by Credit card you will need to go into the kiosk & pay in advance on how much you want to fill up, the petrol pumps stop automatically at the pump at the amount you have paid. Remember once you have taken the pump out of the holder you will need to lift up the lever surrounding the holder (hopefully that makes sense).
In the 3 weeks we were there using the same petrol station the fuel prices went from $3.31 to $3.46 a gallon. Just wish they were those prices here
Road Traffic
We noticed on the 192 it got busy after 8.20 am, so if you have to navigate the 192 to get to the parks make sure you allow for this, from where we were staying we managed to find a back route / sand track that lead us down onto the I4 around Jcn 60, saved us about 20-30 mins when it was peak traffic time.
Villa
I'm pleased to say we had a nice Villa just off 192 on Hwy 27 at Davenport. The Villa was ideal for us, it gave us that independence away from the Theme parks, was spacious came a with a Pool & games rm. We also had a visit from a Snake in the Garage (thats another story).
Food
Breakfasts - It was a 50 / 50 split between eating at the Villa (toast, cereals & orange juice) & having Buffet Breakfasts at Ponderosa or Golden Corral. Like others on the boards if youre looking for a good selection Golden Corral was best.
Lunch / Dinner - This was the 50 / 50 approach again, if we had Breakfast at the Villa then we would end up eating at the parks & also having an evening meal out some where, we didn't book any ADR's we had a plan of action but wanted some flexibility & didn't want to be tied down with Dinner reservations. When we ate at the parks we had Counter Service meals (averaging $40 to $60 for a family of 4).
When eating out it was a big mixture again, Golden Corral, Ponderosa (we found Ponderosa best if you wanted a set meal (16oz Rib eye Steak = $14.99) that included the all you can eat Buffet area too. The Ponderosa we visit was at 7598 W Irlo Bronson Hwy, Kissimmee, Fl 34747, best Servers there were Marsha, Stephanie & Frank, we did have some others but the 3 mentioned made our visits a pleasure.
We also had to visit the worlds largest McDonalds (for the kids of course). We did do Outback too, I wasn't impressed here, the waiter was hopeless, I asked for a Well done Steak it was sent back twice before it was cooked, the manager did take my meal off the bill, to be honest I had a better meal in Ponderosa, our typical bill in Ponderosa was about $55, Outback was $110.
Don't forget to look out for the voucher booklets for the various discounts for Golden Corral, Ponderosa & other restaurants, on our visits most English families were not taking advantage of the discounts available, remember the voucher booklets are often located just in the entrance / exit to these places so worth a look before your meal, thats more money you can then spend on shopping.
Shopping
Buying Disney merchandise - Strangely enough we found Walmart to be far cheaper than all the small shops we visited (T-Shirts between $5&$15), we did do the Disney store at the Premium Outlet & found some good buys there too, worth a look.
We bought some walkie talkies in Walmart one set for $18 & the other for about $35, came in very useful when the family split up at some of the parks & Disney Quest.
We were also advised by our letting agent about a shopping Mall on the 192 just past Walmart called Bells, was surprisingly cheaper than some of the other Malls for Clothes.
Trainers - You are spoilt for choice & the prices for a good pair of Trainers is between $40 & $60, have a good look round before you buy as some of the sports shops have the big name trainers cheaper than the main named brand outlets.
Our Plan of Action
Day 1 Tue Traveling + Pick up Hire Car arrive 18.45pm
Day 2 Wed Unpacking / Shopping / Magic Kingdom (9-11pm)
Day 3 Thu Typhoon Lagoon
Day 4 Fri Animal Kingdom (9-8)
Day 5 Sat Universal Studios + Mardi Gras with Hewy Lewis in Concert - 9am to 10pm
Day 6 Sun Rest Day / Shopping - Pirates Meal (6pm)
Day 7 Mon Magic Kingdom (9-10)
Day 8 Tue Aquatica / Fast Boat Ride
Day 9 Wed Universal Islands of Adventure (9-7)
Day 10 Thu Gatorland - 9am to 5pm / City Walk Eve
Day 11 Fri Bush Gardens (9-7.30)
Day 12 Sat Universal - Wet & Wild / Shopping down I Drive
Day 13 Sun Hollywood Studios (9-8.30) - Fantastic Starts at 8.30 need to be there for 7.45pm
Day 14 Mon Sea World
Day 15 Tue Rest Day / Shopping - Medieval Meal (4.30pm)
Day 16 Wed Epcot (9-9)
Day 17 Thu Disney Quest Indoor Interactive Theme Park (11-11)
Day 18 Fri Discovery Cove
Day 19 Sat Kennedy Space Centre
Day 20 Sun Aquatica
Day 21 Mon Shopping / Packing / Eve Meal
Day 22 Tue Traveling - Drop off Hire Car Depart Plane 12.10 leave Villa for 7.30am!!!!
As you can see we were very busy, thoughts at the end were that the family would have enjoyed more rest days / late starts, I was waking the house up around 7am each morning to ensure we got to the parks early enough & we were not getting back until around 11-11.30 pm some times later pending where we were that day.
We used the visits to the various Wet theme parts as rest days, arriving after mid day, however this back fired with Aquatica, the day we visited the park was closed off ( so we swapped it with our Fast boat Ride day) we later found out that once they have so many people in the park they turn people away, so don't be later than 10.30am or else there is a chance you won't get in, I'm not sure if you can park across in Sea World & walk / shuttle bus a cross to Aquatica.
As part of day 21 we had planned a day of shopping, packing & a fast boat ride, we had to swap this around with Aquatica (reason above).
We did two themed meals Pirates & Medieval.
The Pirates evening was by far the best food & entertainment would defiantly do this again when we next go.
The Medieval meal, we were place 2nd row from the front at the Green end, which is not the best end to be seated at as the bulk of the action is in the middle / opposite end, anywhere in the middle seating I feel is good but you have to up grade to this as it's not part of the standard package, it may be worth the few extra dollars to do this if considering this as an option.
Budget
We budgeted for about $200 a day which covered Food, Petrol & spending money for various items.
We gave the girls both $35 each a week to manage & spend on small gifts & sweets etc, main items like clothes & major gifts came out of the main budget.
After 3 weeks we as a family spent about $4000, & we ate out every day (twice) & bought loads of stuff shopping & came back with some spare $.
Cant wait till the next time
, if only I'd have found these boards before our 1st trip in 2003
