Hi
I was wondering if anyone here has been to Florida (Orlando) & if yes if they can give me any advice.
I'm looking to go to Universal for 6 ish days next September & want to do it as cheaply as possible.
Any ideas on hotels etc?
Any info would be much appreciated.
Thanks
can I recommend this site - its amazing for advice, we have been to Florida a few times and the tips you get from here make the holiday so so much better
I also recommend staying for at least one night at a universal hotel, you can get deals and it is well worth the money as you get front of line passes from 7am the day you check in to the end of the day you check out, no waiting and no limit on the times you use them, plus the hotels are amazing !! it really is a good thing to do
"Tall and proud my mother taught me, this is how we dance" - RIVERDANCE
We went 2 years ago and bought a guide book before we went (sorry, can't remember what it was called but its on ebay) and it was full of tips on the best deals, rides, eating places etc - well worth the investment.
One bargain we found (and a real eye opener if you like people watching etc) was the all you can eat breakfast LOL!
Universal was amazing. Would def recommend a day at the Aquatica water park - I hate swimming pools, but went cos everyone else wanted to go but I'm so glad I did, it was incredible!
Been 3 times and planned it to death every time, but we were more Disney-focused. 6 days may be a bit of a long time in Universal, even with the Harry Potter bit open now (which is great, BTW). Staying in the Disney property (or, I imagine, the Univ property) is great and comes with perks, but they are significantly more expensive than what you can expect "off-property". How big will your party be?
The best Disney site on the web is www.allearsnet.com, but it doesn't really cover much outside of WDW. Have you booked anything at all yet? Are you taking pre-school kids, or will you incur the wrath of the teachers?? Will you be hiring a car?
Thanks for all the great advice, much appreciated.
SQC1, I would be going with my 2 best friends (we will all be 21 when we go)
We can't get a car as I don't have a license & my friends haven't been driving long enough.
I did go to Florida when I was 12 but we stayed in a private villa and my parents hired a car so it will be completley different doing it myself with friends.
Interesting you say 6 days would be too much for Universal, I wanted to do Disney as well but realistically didn't think we'd fit that all in, in a week & can't really afford to go for longer.
6 days wont be too long for Universal, you have Islands of adventure and Universal to see, plus Seaworld and aquatica if you want - and there is shopping, shopping shopping at the outlets too
if you want a Disney fix go to downtown disney, free to get in, amazing shopping and eating ...
I LOVE Orlando !!
"Tall and proud my mother taught me, this is how we dance" - RIVERDANCE
You definately need 2 days for each park if you want to cover everything-you can spend half a day in just harry potter world alone. If you can afford it I would also recommend one night in a universal hotel. When we priced it, we ended up paying just a little over what 4 fast passes would have cost us. That way you get your fast passes and you're allowed in the parks an hour earlier which is great for harry potter as we walked onto the ride twice before gates opened. The queues for this ride are still horrendous-2.hrs and more in august!! So it was worth it just for that. Also if you go to the mall you can pick up a bus to downtown disney for 2 dollars. Would recommend a night out there. It's amazing. Good luck in planning it all. It does take some time!
Thanks again for the great advice.
My friends LOVE Harry Potter so I can see us spending absolutely ages there, so as a rough idea I was thinking 2 days at Islands of Adventure (as HP world is there), a day at Universal, a day at Seaworld, a day at Aquatica and then maybe a day to go and get our Disney Fix at Downtown Disney.
Mogs how much are fastpasses for the parks? & do you only get the early entry by staying in a Universal hotel?
If you are going to Seaworld & Acquatica too then yes, you've got enough to do for 6 days without "doing Disney" too. I agree with the others - take in Downtown Disney instead (plus maybe Disneyquest if you like video games :-)). If you are an all-adult party then Universal++ is more likely to be your thing.
One word of warning re. tickets. When we went last year I bought the cheapest online that I could find for Universal, only to find that the company we bought it from went bust a few weeks before we were due to fly. I ended up forking out another £400 to get some more tickets, and just hoped I'd get the money back somehow. (In the end I managed to get it back from my credit card company as a "charge-back" - phew.) So, just be careful who you get them from. Online is definitely cheaper than buying at the gate, if you are going for multiple days, but look for some reviews first. From memory you need to make sure they physically send you the tickets in advance, rather than just a voucher of some sort.
One of the ways to save money is to avoid sit-down meals in the parks. Just grab some fast food for lunch and then eat at a restaurant off-site, near your hotel - it will be a lot cheaper.
Enjoy! Oh, and make sure you are there when the park opens, particularly if you are going to HP world. Just run straight there, and get in line at Olivanders, if you are buying a wand - the queues for that were absurd when we were there. :-)
Thanks again for your reply SQC1
Been talking to my friend about which parks we want to go to & we've decided we would probably prefer a couple of Disney Park rather then Aquatica & Seaworld so will split our time between Universal & Disney. If we were to do that would it be better to stay on International Drive or a Disney resort?
We stayed in a disney hotel but travelled across to universal for 3 nights. it took about 15/20 mins in a taxi and cost about $30. So, if there are a few of you you can split the price.Or get the bus to the mall for $2 and then a taxi from the mall to universal as it is just up the road.
I cant remember sorry if the fast passes included the harry potter ride-i really don't think they did (which is why we were keen to stay as it was the ONLY ride i wanted to do) but someone who has been recently could correct me. The good thing about staying in a universal hotel is you are allowed in an hour earlier and there were no queues. Again we cant remember what the express passes cost but it worked out cheaper for a family of four to stay in their hotel. The basic passes this year seem a bit different as they are only letting you bypass the queues once. If we liked something we just went on it again and again.Maybe there ae more expensive ones you ca purchase that allow you to do this. They were really worth it as we did not queue for more than 10 mins on any ride and this was in the middle of August!
Harry Potter land is truly magical. My dh had to drag me out of there and told me not to cry as it wan't real. I just looked at him and said 'How can it not be real. I'm looking at Hogwarts and i have a butterbeer in my hand!'
mogs wrote:Harry Potter land is truly magical. My dh had to drag me out of there and told me not to cry as it wan't real. I just looked at him and said 'How can it not be real. I'm looking at Hogwarts and i have a butterbeer in my hand!'
I have a feeling my friends will be exactly the same & that I will very much be dragging them out
I definitely think fastpasses would be a great idea, i'm slightly impatient & I don't want to waste half my holiday queing for rides so will make sure to look into them. Maybe we could look at doing 3 nights in a Disney hotel then 3 nights in a Universal hotel or something.
Think a trip to the travel agents will be needed when I go home for christmas as you can't get split hotel deals like that on any of the websites i'm looking at.
