Florida advice

So, in a moment of weakness, after two much red wine, I stupidly agreed that we could go take our little one to Florida next Easter. We’ve got flights and a villa booked (my parents are coming too and some other friends from the US joining us for 3 nights), for pretty good value to be fair.

Anyhoo, what I didn’t realise is it costs £100 per person per day to get it in to Disneyworld. As much as I’m looking forward to pauing £300 a day for queuing up to watch my 4 year old get her photo taken with a college student dressed up as Rapunzel, I’m wondering if anyone has any tips.

Basically we are in Florida for 11 nights. Our original intention was for 2 days in the parks (due to visiting friends and wanting to do some other stuff) and I can’t realistically see us going to Disney for more than 3 or 4 days.

Anyway, the purpose of my rambling is that Disney currently has a sale on and its £300 per person for a 7 day unlimited ticket, with an extra 7 days free. I hate paying for something I don’t need. But I’m guessing its better paying for this and then having the freedom to go more if I don’t suffer an involuntary descent in to locked in syndrome on the first day of being accosted by an oversized foam Goofy character...

 

Take a look on www.americanattractions.co.uk they have loads of different types of tickets you maybe interested in.

We have used them several times and they have always been good value.

 

http://www.attraction-tickets-direc...ining/orlando-meal-tickets/kids-eat-free-card

Get one of these. Makes paying top dollar for food in Disney a bit more palatable.

 

I absolutely love Florida!! Been 3 times in last two years, look on here for cheaper tickets. https://www.undercovertourist.com/ Completely trustworthy, used them everytime with no bother.

If there's a ticket with more days as you say then DO IT. I'm not saying that because I'm Disney obssesed (I'm actually really not) but because it is so huge you are going to need that time. There are 5 parks and although you could do Animal Kingdom in a day, Epcot in another day etc. Magic Kingdom is going to take at least 2 days. Also, splash out and get a hopper if you can. There's free, very regular, transport between the parks and that way you can hop around. Spend the morning in Animal Kingdom, go for dinner in Epcot, spent the evening in Magic Kingdom which is open the longest etc.

Also, you don't seem to have considered going to Universal Studios? I actually preferred those parks to Disney and they are much cheaper. It's quite expensive to do one or two days but there's normally a '14 day unlimited pass' which works out about the same price as a couple of days hopper and includes the water parks too. Even though you may only use one or two of the days it's cheaper than buying the smaller passes as a general rule.

Unless you are desperate to go to Sea World I really don't recommend it. I was very excited to go there but it is very small and there's really not much to see or do.

In terms of spending money, I never went with kids so obviously never had to think about all the things kids might want, but in reality the prices aren't anywhere near as bad as people make out. As we bought our tickets before we went we actually spent hardly any money at all whilst we were there. Go to Walmart and stock up on food. If your kids want souveniers don't buy in the parks, there are literally hundreds of shops round and about that sell Disney themed products much much cheaper.

 

Thanks. Disney princess obsessed 4 year old (despite my concerted attempts to avoid any gender stereotype parenting. She does know who the Beastie Boys are mind). Just don't think we'll be able to justify Universal as well, or that we would get enough out of it with a little one. I am hoping to go to Kennedy Space Centre though.

So do would you just plump for the 14 day pass given it seems to be only a couple of quid more than a 3 day pass (which also doesn't have any of the Fastpass etc benefits).

I didn't realise I needed a doctorate to understand theme park tickets...

 

Absolutely 100% yes. I'm slightly concerned that you may have read it wrong though as that seems too good compared to the things Disney normally offer (they are quite tight with deals when it comes to tickets).

Magic Kingdom is very Princess-y and child orientated (well it's great for adults who want to be childish too - no-one judges!) and what you would expect when you think of Disney. The park is HUGE so to do it justice you would need 2 full days there minimum if you can afford it time wise (unless you don't mind missing things). Those Fast Passes will be super important as they give you a half-hour slot where you can go back to the ride and skip three quarters of the queue (important if there's a ride you fancy but don't want to queue for 2 hours for it). You can have up to 4 Fast Passes at once I think and as soon as you've used one you can then book another ride. Do it EARLY though (I think you can now book online up to 60days in advance which is properly bonkers) otherwise when you try in the park you'll only be left with night time slots.

Animal Kingdom is very calm and scenic. Very beautiful place, not very thrills and spills although there are a few rides. We went on a very rainy day (more on that later) so we only spend half a day there which was probably long enough).

Epcot is themed around different countries. Not really Disney at all except for they have character greetings in the countries where the story is set. Amazing places to eat food from all different cultures!! Sometimes we hopped there just for an evening meal and then went back to a different park. Kids might get bored depending on their ages as there is a lot of walking and looking at things - great learning opportunities to be had though. Very, very few rides.

Hollywood Studios is full of rides all based on films as you would expect (action type films, not Disney Princess films). I'm not big on films or scary rides so not my favourite place but you can catch some good shows here.

A tip for if you or your partner fancy a ride that isn't suitable for the kids. The parks have a 'child swap' facility for most of the popular rides so that you don't have to queue twice. This mean that you all queue up as a family and then you for example go on the ride whilst your partner stands with the kids. Once the ride ends, you stand with your kids whilst your wife gets to go on the next turn.



*Oops forgot to comment on the rain. Florida rains. A. Lot. You can generally predict when it is going to happen at the same time each day which is nice but when it rains it absolutely pours!!!! Take some cheap ponchos with you. They do sell them there but not at a price I imagine you would want to pay. Don't be fooled into thinking you can put up with a bit of rain, it's a full blown monsoon when it comes down. It does pass quickly though so you may avoid it most days through queueing, eating etc. Saying that, I haven't been at Easter so it may be different then (we went in August and then May twice).

 

If you get a longer pass (7-14 day) for a similar cost then its not really a difficult decision. You can go to Disney for a few hours on a day and combine it with other activities - If you hire a car, then both coasts are only a couple of hours drive, as are some of the state parks with natural springs and other attractions. We took Jr when she was about 4-5 and had a week in Orlando and the other week out in St Petes beach on the coast. One of the few things she can remember now (12 years later) is a boat trip in a speedboat at Clearwater with dolphins following/leaping out of the water.

 

I've never been to Disney, but fully endorse this bit - the Gulf coast is top drawer, we've been two or three times including driving along the Gulf coast with a 3 year old and a one year old and it's fantastic, plus Tampa as a city is pretty cool and interesting, Ybor is actually a bit of genuine American history. You might just be late enough to catch a baseball game as well which I'd recommend.

 

We were thinking of doing Florida this spring until we saw the park entry prices. Absolutely insane, especially with the current dollar rate. I'e decided to save my dough for the playoff final instead.

 

That is a very good point. Going to the parks is absolutely shattering so it would be far better to do a few hours on a day with a more relaxing activity later, than only having a couple of days access and feeling that you can't leave because you want your money's worth/might never be going back. The only downside is having to pay the parking fees each day if driving in, we always got a shuttle or the bus as they were very frequent and easy to use. It would depend on where Ark's villa is though of course on the feasibility of that. Another tip Ark - wear comfy shoes!! 99% of the people will be wearing trainers as your feet will be killing at the end of the day, you will be walking miles without realising it.

 

Thanks for this, gold dust advice

 

Yeah, Gulf Coast is on the list and fancy Tampa. Its mid April when unfortunately all US sports are out of season. I've seen the Yankees before when in New York (which was great) but really fancy an American Football game (just for the experience).

 

Yeah, was right smug when I'd got flights and accommodation sorted. Then I looked at theme park prices...

 

We used this one https://www.floridatix.com/

You need a day in each park which you intend to visit.

I'd probably not bother with Universal Studio's if your young un is, well, young. Just the Disney parks.

#TeamsLikeBarnsley

 

To be honest I'd agree with Tyketical. The Gulf Coast is brilliant, and to be honest in my opinion the best park by miles is Busch Gardens. They even used to have a fountain in the wall giving out free help-yourself Budweiser! I've heard that they don't do that any more though. Shame, as even Bud tastes vaguely acceptable if it's gratis!

 

Voted for trump. Youll not like dem locals...

 

Saying nowt, I haven't renewed my Esta yet...

 

Hurricane Season starts end of May and ends in early November. Last time I was there in May we saw the thunder clouds come across every night - it was a good show from the hotel balcony over the Gulf! It only really rained on us once, but it was too heavy to drive in or get out of the car. For 30 minutes it was probably the heaviest rain I've ever seen and the road was about 6 inches deep in places

 

I was in Florida in April 1997, I've just booked for New York this May - hope lightning strikes twice

 

I've never seen anything like it (well, I saw it loads of times whilst I was there but you know what I mean). When we went in May we got the bus to Walmart on the first day and when we came out the heavens had opened. It was at least a ten minute walk back to the bus stop (which had no shelter) so that wasn't an option so we decided to wait but after an hour we got worried about all our frozen stuff and it clearly wasn't going to stop so we got a taxi. He couldn't see a thing out of the window the whole way but somehow he got us back safe. We ended up tipping him $20 just out of sheer relief to be back in one piece! I took literally one step from the shop door to step into the taxi and I got completely soaked through. I could wring my clothes out when I got back in the hotel.

When we went in August the rain wasn't as heavy but the electical storms were something else! Beautiful to watch but a little bit scary too.