Planning an extended visit to Central Florida

[iatkotc27]

Good day, I am not sure my question totally is in tune with the title of this thread, but I could not find a thread which seemed a perfect fit.

First let me say that I have been to Disney at least twenty times (most of the visits being at least 7 days). I do not consider myself a Disney expert by any means, but I do not feel I am a novice either. I will explain my issue and any recommendation anyone has to either my specific concerns (Disney Park access during an extended stay), or more generally suggestions for other things to do during an extended stay.

I will begin with explaining that I have recently retired and my wife intends to retire by the end of this year. With this in mind, I have started to play with the idea of knocking off a bucket list item - being in the Florida during baseball's Spring training. The intent would be to see the players during some practices and, hopefully, get to watch a few games. This thought morphed into perhaps finding a place to rent for about a month during next Spring (perhaps all of, or most of March). The now expanded idea would include spending time:
* attending the Spring training facility in Tampa
* spending some time visiting both coast
* some time researching the local areas for either future extended "snowbird" stays
* maybe a visit or two to Sea World
* and, of course, no respectable Disney addict could come to Central Florida and not visit "HOME"

My main concern is that in one month I would most likely wish to visit WDW 6, 7, 8 or more times, but not necessarily have all visits crammed into a small window of that month. Also, it would be unlikely that my wife and I would be back to Orlando within the year, so I doubt an Annual Pass would be a reasonable solution. I hope that buying a single day ticket each day we decide to go a park is not the only solution either.

I apologize for the long rambling note, but a wanted to make sure the reader understands what I am trying to do. Any suggestions as to the best ticket solution(s), places to stay and things of interest to see or do would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you in advance for any assistance you can offer.

Rick

 

[scrappinginontario]

For 7-8 park days it will not be cost effective to purchase an Annual Pass. A better option might be to purchase a few 2 or 3 day passes. 2 day tickets are good over a 4 day period. 3 day tickets are good over a 5 day period.

The bulk of your thread is not Disney focused so has been moved to an area of DISboards offered for people looking to visit the Central FL area. Hopefully you will find a lot of helpful info here.

 

[Dave006]

A better option might be to purchase a few 2 or 3 day passes. 2 day tickets are good over a 4 day period. 3 day tickets are good over a 5 day period.

Adding to @scrappinginontario;s above response.

You are able to purchase a dated ticket from 1 to 10 days in length. For example for a 10 day ticket you have a range of a 14 day window based on your initial date start date. You are able to use any 10 days in the window, and your park days don't have to be used on consecutive days.

Does this make sense?

Dave

 

[SusanDK]

Are you planning to drive to the parks? I haven't costed out the suggestions above with buying multi-day tickets vs. an AP and I know the previous posters know their stuff much better than I do, but I'd still be very tempted to go with an AP because it also provides free parking and gives you park hopping which, I think, would have an additional charge if you go with multi-day tickets.

Also, you say you might want to go 6-8+ times, but an AP would give you the flexibility to pop in for short visits. Years ago we had the non-expiring tickets but I always felt a psychological barrier about using a day from the ticket, including paying for parking, unless we planned to go for the whole day. And if we got there on a day when crowds were brutal or we didn't feel great, it felt like a waste.

We enjoy going in for short visits a lot, and APs work well for that. Park hopping can be good if you start at one park and, for whatever reason, want to shift to another park later in the day. You could also do the Water Parks & Sports add-on to an AP which is quite a bargain (I think around $99 - not sure since we do renewals now which are even less) if you have any interest in going to the water parks, playing mini-golf, foot golf, regular golf, etc. since you asked about other things to do when you're in the area.

Regarding places to stay, we had family visit last year and they booked a stay at the Melia hotel at the edge of Celebration where they had a 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom condo unit with full kitchen and really enjoyed it. One bedroom units with kitchens are also available. They booked via AirBNB which gave them a better rate at the time than via the hotel's website. It would be very convenient to WDW.

 

[Judique]

My main concern is that in one month I would most likely wish to visit WDW 6, 7, 8 or more times, but not necessarily have all visits crammed into a small window of that month. Also, it would be unlikely that my wife and I would be back to Orlando within the year, so I doubt an Annual Pass would be a reasonable solution. I hope that buying a single day ticket each day we decide to go a park is not the only solution either.

You may want to do the math on this. Cheapest ticket I see in March is $159 + tax 10.34 =$169.34 for Animal Kingdom - if you want Magic Kingdom go up to $179 + tax on the cheapest day. (Only two days in March 3/3 and 3/4 have that 'cheap' price! There's a small discount when you do a two day ticket.

Overall for your dates an Annual Pass to cover your 6,7, 8 or more times is a good bet. Perhaps rethink whether you would return in late 2026 or early 2027. Looks like it's borderline on price with a whole lot more flexibility.

I am retired with an annual pass and I live in Maryland. Sunk money and it works for me.

Let me say that without the annual pass splurge, I'd rethink every time I wanted to go to a park and cheat myself out of the 'fun' when I'd start looking at prices!

There are also a lot of little perks - free parking, hopping, meal and merchandise discounts. If not staying at a Disney hotel, 6 to 8 days of parking may tip the scale enough to make it a wash.

Your plan sounds great! Getting out around the Florida area is what I have been doing for years. In addition to the spring training and games, there are many lovely state parks, beaches, and other attractions to enjoy.

 

[CarolynFH]

I would check ticket prices too, to cover the specific dates you’re most likely to visit (as above, a ticket that gets you in for X number of days can be spread out and used over Y length of time). An AP may or may not be less expensive.

 

[bankr63]

You might also consider buying tickets from the UK Disney site. There is a long thread on it here https://www.disboards.com/threads/tickets-available-on-the-uk-website.3844812/ in the Canada Forum. I haven't tried it personally, but many Canadians apparently have. The reason suggesting here is that those tickets have a longer window to use the admissions, probably because for many UK residents a visit to WDW is a once in lifetime and they will do longer stays. This will give you more time to use the admissions purchased. They also tend to be a real bargain compared to other discount options.

 

[PetePanMan]

Let me say that without the annual pass splurge, I'd rethink every time I wanted to go to a park and cheat myself out of the 'fun' when I'd start looking at prices!

This is true for us as well. We don’t always have an AP but they sure do take the pressure off decisions to buy tickets and enhance our trips by allowing us to enjoy the parks the way we want (I.e. not feel we need to spend all day at a park).

 

[NH-to-FL]

I apologize for the long rambling note, but a wanted to make sure the reader understands what I am trying to do. Any suggestions as to the best ticket solution(s), places to stay and things of interest to see or do would be GREATLY appreciated.

I think you have the outline of a great visit!

First, some background on where my thoughts come from. DW and I spent 5 winters as Disney snowbirds right after I retired. We had purchased a home, a "vacation villa", in Davenport a few years before I retired. We switched to Florida resident AP's and enjoyed a number of long vacations there before becoming snowbirds.

As previously suggested, do the math, making sure to add in the free parking, and find a way to factor in your perceived value of the day to day planning convenience that an AP would provide. We really enjoyed the "looks like a nice day to go to the park" flexibility that an AP provided. For the few years before I retired we were taking two, 2 week vacations a year in Florida. Of course, other than a lot of relaxing, our vacations still were Disney focused and the resident AP pricing made the math even easier. Only you can make the tradeoff of cost verses flexibility of daily or multi day tickets against an AP.

Another suggestion is to make a more specific to do list for your visit, remembering to scatter in a few relax days. After you make the list you might discover you only have a couple of days to allocate to Disney.

As to where to stay, were you looking to find one place for the entire month our move based on what you were interested in doing? For an extended stay I would suggest looking into renting a house. You will have the space to spread out and relax. And probably get a pool for less than or equal to an extended stay hotel. Spending some time on VRBO will show you plenty of possibilities. Though if you want a one month stay during the prime late winter/early spring period you will want to book early. There are a lot of homes for rent southeast of Disney in Polk County, which allows short term rentals, if you are thinking of staying near Orlando. If you are planning on visiting both coasts then staying in the Orlando area makes sense.

You will definitely want to allocate some time to drive around some areas to get their flavor if you are considering snowbird possibilities. Our choice to be near Disney was easy for us. We were frequent Disney visitors and had no interest in being near the beach or the water. One of DW's sisters winters in Fort Myers and they are golfers so they have a place near some courses. And not too far from the beach.

Good luck with your planning and happy retirement!

 

[team bradfield]

we stay at FW for a month every year now that we retired, the AP's work great for us, come and go as we please, we do around 20 park visits, some all day, some 1/2 days, so money wise AP is a better option,