planning ahead...still not sure?

[happyheartlondon]

Hi all, this is my first ever post! Have been avidly reading the forum and so far found it very helpful, am sure asking my own questions will help me to decide what to do, so here goes....

Am thinking of booking a big family trip in 2012. Not sure whether to go Orlando Disney or California Disney.

Can only go during school holiday's, late July/August

Family will be all young adults, no younger children.

Do not want to drive at all.

Really would like to do self catering, a villa would be great, but not sure if that's possible as we don't want to drive.

Will be a first BIG family holiday, which is going to mean a lot of hard saving, so really want to get it right as it will be a once in a lifetime trip. Would be so grateful for your advice and opinions in helping me to decide.
Thank you.

 

[2Tiggies]

First of all, a bit welcome to the DIS!

WDW is much bigger than Disney in California. There is a lot more choice there.

How many adults are you going to be?

Do you want to stay onsite? I see you want to do self catering but this could be a bit more tricky without a car. Off site would be much cheaper and shops more easily accessible, but if you opt for an offsite villa, I think you really do need your own transport.

Will you have no car because nobody can/wants to drive, or are you hoping it will save you some money by not having one?

One more thing, almost all of us on here went to Disney once upon a time for a 'once in a lifetime trip' ...... and have been going back ever since.

You will get lots of information and many perspectives based on everyone's different experiences. Ask as many questions as you need to.

 

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

Hi! Welcome to the Dis!

Am now going out so will have to be quick, but someone will be along with much longer answers!

First re Villa's . . . you would really struggle staying in a villa without driving in my opinion, nothing apart from the odd restaurant is in walking distance of most villa areas, so you would be stuck with a lot of taxi costs. I would look at a hotel, or maybe one of the Disney villas at the Disney Vacation Club resorts?

Re Orlando v California, I've been to both. There is obviously loads more to do in Orlando . . . on top of the of main Disney parks and two Disney water parks you also have two Universal parks, Sea World, Discovery Cove and about a million other things - you can easily fill 2 - 3 weeks and still not have done everything.

California has two Disney parks (which you can easily do in three days) one Universal park, and I think a couple of other parks further out (Knottsberry Farm is one, I think), so not as much to do park wise. But, there is other "touristy" stuff to fill your time - all the famous Hollywood sights, movie studio tours, that type of thing. So it comes down to your choice between that really. I would say California is harder without a car than Florida, as the majority of Florida hotels do put buses on. For a first time I would definitely pick Florida, but thats just my choice!!

That was longer that I thought!!!!!

 

[happyheartlondon]

Thanks for prompt responses so far, just to clarify, ages of group would be between 17- 25 (5 people) and me and Mr happyheart, late 40's. So 7 of us. Not wanting to drive through choice really. Want to stay somewhere that is well equipped but pretty much self contained, if possible.As we don't have young kids to please, would be quite nice to all be able to please ourselves some of the time.

Are there any accomodations that will enable us to withdraw from the 'magic' like a villa probably would?Not sure I can cope with theme parks everyday! Can appreciate that we may have to compromise if we don't want to drive.

Thought that California may be an option because the climate is a little better ie; not so many storms for the time of year we plan to go? Just from what I've been reading so far.

Am taking on board all your thoughts and suggestions, thanks again.

 

[2Tiggies]

It does sound like a villa would suit your group best so I think you have that pretty spot on.

I still think that if you are going there with the main aim being to spend time at Disney, you are going to struggle without a car. People have used buses with success, but these are usually people staying onsite and using a bus for the occasional offsite splurge. You could look into an onsite villa which would probably suit your needs much better. You could pre order your groceries to be delivered to the villa which is pretty easy to do. However that is going to push your costs up and I think the first thing you need to do is to assess your priorities and your points of compromise.

 

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

The Disney villas have full kitchens and aren't too "disney-ish" - apart from the value resorts which are big and gaudy most of the Disney hotels are fairly elegant. You definitely feel you have escaped from the parks when you are back in the resort, and can do your own thing easily in one of the villas. If you are set on a villa but no car I would definitely look at that as an option. Saratoga Springs Resort, Old Key West, Beach Club all have large villas (including if you can stretch to it the new tree house villas at SSR!). The cabins at Fort Wilderness are another option (none of these options have individual pools though, thats the main difference from an off-site villa).

California would possibly be a better option weather-wise in July / August. The main thing to remember with no car is that the majority of parks in Orlando are within 25 minutes of each other, and pretty easy journeys. In California you are looking at an hour between Disney and Universal, Hollywood is also an hour from Disney. I'm not aware of any buses from when I was there (could be wrong!) so you would be dependent on long, expensive taxi rides to get around. Roads are also crazy busy there!!!!

We are doing California again next year actually, a road trip though for 16 days. We are staying 4 nights at Anaheim to make the most of Disney, then staying 3 nights in Hollywood to do the sights . . . maybe something like that would be an option if you do decide on Cali. There are a lot of hotels in walking distance of the Disney parks, which is a nice change from Orlando I must say!!!

 

[happyheartlondon]

Thanks. Will research the Disney villas as suggested. Very helpful comments so far, nice to talk to people with some experience as this is such a big thing to plan.Will keep asking!

 

[2Tiggies]

Thanks. Will research the Disney villas as suggested. Very helpful comments so far, nice to talk to people with some experience as this is such a big thing to plan.Will keep asking!

The great thing on here is that you will get input from people from all different aspects of trip planning. If it is a variety of options you want, you have come to the right place.