Florida

[North Cardiff Blue]

Re: Florida

you guys are doing it wrong, we've enjoyed Florida hols every year for over 30 years now, we rent a villa in Clermont and live like the natives, we shop at Publix and eat breakfast at our pool every morning, no Bristol or Birmingham accents to deal with and no Europeans hogging the sun loungers, staying in tourist resorts or even on International Drive is rediculously expensive, we stay in the suburbs and hire a car.

Nice, 30 mins from the parks?, not bad for airports, who do you use for Villas?

[NYCBlue]

Re: Florida

you guys are doing it wrong, we've enjoyed Florida hols every year for over 30 years now, we rent a villa in Clermont and live like the natives, we shop at Publix and eat breakfast at our pool every morning, no Bristol or Birmingham accents to deal with and no Europeans hogging the sun loungers, staying in tourist resorts or even on International Drive is rediculously expensive, we stay in the suburbs and hire a car.

Do you bother with the theme parks? I've been to Miami a few times as you can go to the beach there in December. But I've never been interested in theme parks and thankfully neither have my kids. I've been to Disneyland in California a few times. But that's much less of a commitment. In the '90s, you could go there in the evening for almost nothing.

[Wash DC Blue]

Re: Florida

I like the Gulf Coast…Tampa/St Pete’s, Sarasota…etc.

My Brother in law moved to Tampa about 10 years ago and we were thinking of moving down there. Sadly he passed away earlier this year and my Wife is no longer keen on the idea.

[blue matt]

Re: Florida

Last time I went in 2022, the price had doubled from what I paid in 2018. Looking at it now, I’d say they are charging more than double for the same package I booked in 2018….
Food cost a fortune there and the fast pass system for the rides turned from being great (pre booked before you arrive even) to a pain in the arse ( get up at 6am to book on the day) thank god im done with Disney

we got back a few weeks ago, enjoyed DL in LA, it lacks the occasion of WDW, the 2 parks were decent, we will return

from a cost perspective, the exchange rate is helping a little ( but still not 2 for 1 ) , we ate onsite at disney ( $300 ) to Taco Bella ( $60 ) where as we would normally eat onsite most nights, its now maybe every 3rd evening , we enjoyed the Italian chain Olive Garden this time ( both in LA and Orlando ) , bill came to $ 145

never used the Genie plus ( the new fast pass ), we were sensible about the rides, got on the big wait rides early in the day while the wait times were low, we stayed on site at Wilderness Lodge and had a extra 30 mins early entry, at MK we had ridden Torn twice and 7 dwarfs mine train all before the off-site guests arrived

[blue matt]

Re: Florida

Sent you a PM, you can move to the alternative, didn't realise this was the main board.

I'll reply

[blue matt]

Re: Florida

I did 10 days in the Keys earlier in the year. Probably the most expensive place I’ve been to. Stunning place, we loved it but every fecker expects a 20% tip for doing their job!

in a few places in LA they had a 30% option

[blue matt]

Re: Florida

Animal Kingdom was great to stay at but the most expensive place I have ever been.
Disney was fine…but no desire to go back.

we loved AKL, only downside was its so far from MK and Epcot

we have stayed at the Polynesian and Grand Floridian, on the Monorail loop which is great

[ToTaL ITK]

Re: Florida

Turned into an AirBnB thread; Yawn!

[goats]

Re: Florida

you guys are doing it wrong, we've enjoyed Florida hols every year for over 30 years now, we rent a villa in Clermont and live like the natives, we shop at Publix and eat breakfast at our pool every morning, no Bristol or Birmingham accents to deal with and no Europeans hogging the sun loungers, staying in tourist resorts or even on International Drive is rediculously expensive, we stay in the suburbs and hire a car.

Staying on site was decent a few years ago, easy access to parks when kids are young, no driving, free food on a dining plan and no queuing for any rides….it was dreamy. If I went back I’d probably hire a villa now, pick and choose days at a park and do things more leisurely

[blue matt]

Re: Florida

Staying on site was decent a few years ago, easy access to parks when kids are young, no driving, free food on a dining plan and no queuing for any rides….it was dreamy. If I went back I’d probably hire a villa now, pick and choose days at a park and do things more leisurely

My brother-in-law does this, they went for 3 weeks this year, stayed in a villa, would get up at a holiday time say 9 am, have breakfast and then head to the parks, sometimes they arrived at lunch time, would moan like hell that the wait times were massive and it was too hot ( we were over there at the same time and it was hot, 36 C most days ) would ride 2 or 3 rides and head back to the pool at the Villa, then they would have a rest day and stay in the Villa

Now we would rope drop at 7.30, get loads of rides done before they had even got in the car, when it got really hot head back to the resort pool or the room for a chill, wait for the afternoon storms to pass and head back in

now for me, the disney tickets are £500 ( be that a couple of days tickets from the US price or the UK 14 day ticket ) and its a massive waste just doing the odd day here the there, you pay all that money for the flights, for the park tickets you might aswell hammer it to death, I can rest at home, I dont travel all that way to rest

I know we are all different but its the only way I can ever see us doing it, and as for rest days, you rest on the 8 hr flight over and then the 8 hour fight home, thats enough rest

[Der Kaiser]

Re: Florida

My brother-in-law does this, they went for 3 weeks this year, stayed in a villa, would get up at a holiday time say 9 am, have breakfast and then head to the parks, sometimes they arrived at lunch time, would moan like hell that the wait times were massive and it was too hot ( we were over there at the same time and it was hot, 36 C most days ) would ride 2 or 3 rides and head back to the pool at the Villa, then they would have a rest day and stay in the Villa

Now we would rope drop at 7.30, get loads of rides done before they had even got in the car, when it got really hot head back to the resort pool or the room for a chill, wait for the afternoon storms to pass and head back in

now for me, the disney tickets are £500 ( be that a couple of days tickets from the US price or the UK 14 day ticket ) and its a massive waste just doing the odd day here the there, you pay all that money for the flights, for the park tickets you might aswell hammer it to death, I can rest at home, I dont travel all that way to rest

I know we are all different but its the only way I can ever see us doing it, and as for rest days, you rest on the 8 hr flight over and then the 8 hour fight home, thats enough rest

Or better yet just sack the parks off completely and head down to the coast Far superior outing, Disney and Universal don't change enough to warrant a trip more than once every 5 years.

[North Cardiff Blue]

Re: Florida

My brother-in-law does this, they went for 3 weeks this year, stayed in a villa, would get up at a holiday time say 9 am, have breakfast and then head to the parks, sometimes they arrived at lunch time, would moan like hell that the wait times were massive and it was too hot ( we were over there at the same time and it was hot, 36 C most days ) would ride 2 or 3 rides and head back to the pool at the Villa, then they would have a rest day and stay in the Villa

Now we would rope drop at 7.30, get loads of rides done before they had even got in the car, when it got really hot head back to the resort pool or the room for a chill, wait for the afternoon storms to pass and head back in

now for me, the disney tickets are £500 ( be that a couple of days tickets from the US price or the UK 14 day ticket ) and its a massive waste just doing the odd day here the there, you pay all that money for the flights, for the park tickets you might aswell hammer it to death, I can rest at home, I dont travel all that way to rest

I know we are all different but its the only way I can ever see us doing it, and as for rest days, you rest on the 8 hr flight over and then the 8 hour fight home, thats enough rest

Agreed, we used to hit them very early and do all the best rides first before the queues using fast passes along the way, we used to buy the ultimate guide to Disney World, for the fastest, most efficient route to see as many of the best attractions as quickly as possible.

[goats]

Re: Florida

My brother-in-law does this, they went for 3 weeks this year, stayed in a villa, would get up at a holiday time say 9 am, have breakfast and then head to the parks, sometimes they arrived at lunch time, would moan like hell that the wait times were massive and it was too hot ( we were over there at the same time and it was hot, 36 C most days ) would ride 2 or 3 rides and head back to the pool at the Villa, then they would have a rest day and stay in the Villa

Now we would rope drop at 7.30, get loads of rides done before they had even got in the car, when it got really hot head back to the resort pool or the room for a chill, wait for the afternoon storms to pass and head back in

now for me, the disney tickets are £500 ( be that a couple of days tickets from the US price or the UK 14 day ticket ) and its a massive waste just doing the odd day here the there, you pay all that money for the flights, for the park tickets you might aswell hammer it to death, I can rest at home, I dont travel all that way to rest

I know we are all different but its the only way I can ever see us doing it, and as for rest days, you rest on the 8 hr flight over and then the 8 hour fight home, thats enough rest

When you arrive in Florida the jet lag means your up at 5am so not taking advantage of that is daft. We were always at the gates early most days for rope drop, it was never so hot in mid October so it was all good. Like you say cane it in the morning and back to pool Pm.
I’d probably still do this even with a Villa, I don’t think I could do August heat and queues mind after having it so easy in the past.

[NYCBlue]

Re: Florida

When you arrive in Florida the jet lag means your up at 5am so not taking advantage of that is daft. We were always at the gates early most days for rope drop, it was never so hot in mid October so it was all good. Like you say cane it in the morning and back to pool Pm.
I’d probably still do this even with a Villa, I don’t think I could do August heat and queues mind after having it so easy in the past.

I don't think I've ever experienced jet lag traveling west. You're gaining time. It just takes a short adjustment.

[blue matt]

Re: Florida

When you arrive in Florida the jet lag means your up at 5am so not taking advantage of that is daft. We were always at the gates early most days for rope drop, it was never so hot in mid October so it was all good. Like you say cane it in the morning and back to pool Pm.
I’d probably still do this even with a Villa, I don’t think I could do August heat and queues mind after having it so easy in the past.

we have done Aug the last few years, it was 36 C a few times this year, thats Hot, we did LA aswell, now that was low 30's but its a dry heat, the Orlando Humidity is mental, I didnt realise till we flew from LA to Orlando and the temps were similar but such a different experience, when you leave the room at 7am and within 15 mins have sweat running down your back you know its hot

I don't think I've ever experienced jet lag traveling west. You're gaining time. It just takes a short adjustment.

we find 1st morning up at 5 am, 2nd morning 5 am, then 6 for 2/3 days and then its 7 (but we would be up then anyways to hit the parks, so we find its about 5 day

LA was similar though, we were out eating breakfast 4.30 am after going to bed at 10.30pm , so maybe its just you need 6 hours sleep