Re: Disney Florida Holiday - any pointers?
Ok here you go
I wrote the guy two emails as his daughter was going in April this year. Note that since I wrote them (the last time I went was December last year) Disney has changed their fast pass scheme. I believe (through friends) that the new system works very well but you need to plan your day / book your options.
In my / my friends experience, ‘most’ people have an expensive first time in Florida and don’t get the most out of it. Careful planning can fix that so if you are not a planner, just throw all this info at you misses and tell her to get on with it
The first email :
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi,
This is the place we have used numerous times with no problems. We have collected from their office in the states and had them delivered to the UK :
http://www.park-tickets.com/
This is the place that Kay has used :
http://www.attraction-tickets-direct.co ... on-tickets
My park advice in simple steps …
• Identify what people want to see – write them down.
• Draw up a plan (make sure everything fits !) – use some common sense with regards splitting up consecutive ‘long’ days, avoiding big parks at weekends, adding rest (beach / villa pool / water park / shopping) days etc.
• Buy the minimum days or best value combination tickets to suit the plan – chances are is that any excess in days bought will just go to waste costing you money …
• Stick with the plan the best you can !
• Parks get busier as the day goes on, the best time to get on the big / latest / most popular stuff is first thing (don’t sleep in on park days !)
• Disney – plan and make best use of ‘fast passes’ e.g. pick one up before lunch, get straight on the ride after lunch, minimise you queuing times.
• Visit the gift shops when leaving the park at the end of the day – better a busy gift shop than a busy ride …
• Check what’s on in what parks on what days – if you want to see the fireworks, make sure you go on a fireworks day … lol
• As a rule, eating in the parks is expensive – avoid if you can.
• If you are going to eat / drink in parks check out the meal deals or drink deals – a refillable cup bought between a couple can work out cheap and can be reused within the same ‘chain’ of parks.
Other tips in general :
• Make use of free stuff – city walk / down town Disney / celebration etc make for a nice afternoon or night out on a rest day.
• You’re in a villa – make the most of it. Go to Wal-Mart every few days and stock up on breakfast, snacks and pack lunch stuff. It can save you a lot of money and time.
• Unless you want to bring loads of stuff home, Florida is unlike most other holiday destinations as in it’s expensive before you go but cheap when you are out there (if you are selective where you spend on food etc).
Let us know if you want any guidance etc – happy to help
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And the second :
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi again,
Just a follow up on the below having forgotten some stuff and the recent trip reminding me … ! (and some extra info).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For ‘inside’ Disney info check out this guy’s site : http://www.easywdw.com/category/calenda ... -calendar/
In particular, check out the ‘Crowd Forecaster’ for the time you are going – attached in pdf (but it may change / get updated so get a new one from the link before you go)
You will probably need the instructions to initially understand it. This is a great tool though to help you plan / minimise the crowds / see everything you want to
If your into twitter, I believe Josh can be followed on there to ?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have a smart phone get Disney’s app (scan the QR code on the Disney park maps I have sent) and set up an account / log in. I have it on an iPhone and it works great ! It’s free to use (even with data roaming turned off) as it uses wifi and GPS when you are in a Disney location. It does loads of stuff but I found it most useful for :
• Telling you what’s on / what’s around you.
• Queue times.
• What rides have fast passes and if you were to get a fast pass now, what time you can use it from.
It uses live data so it’s always up to date and using a combination of info from the above three tools, it can really save you time / help you make the most of your day.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Does anyone have a tom tom / GPS / smart phone with sat nav etc ?
Although we didn’t the first few times that we went (and still managed perfectly well with the tourist maps and road signs), it’s a good idea to use one – and a good stress reliever for the map reader … lol
One of the magazine’s I bought back has some sat nav info in it for the parks but in my tom tom, I have a full range of favourites including general tourist stuff, the place that we have picked villa keys up from, the ticket place we have used from the email below etc. If you are interested (and will also be taking a tom tom) I will try and extract all this so you can load it straight into yours. Just let me know.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Food :
As mentioned below eating at the villa or taking packed lunches from the villa saves a lot of money – I kept an eye on costs this year to give you a better idea.
‘Unbranded’ supermarkets can be expensive and are generally aimed at tourists – stick to named chains – Wal-Mart (Asda) / Publix / Target.
We went to Wal-Mart twice to keep the villa stocked with breakfasts / packed lunch food / park snacks / fruit / drinks / toilet roll etc.
We were there for 12 nights this time, we ate 10 breakfasts in the villa and made packed lunches for 6 days.
Average costs to eat out (standard food and drinks / without being extravagant) for two adults and one child :
Breakfast (Ponderosa / Denny’s / Ihop etc) = $20
Lunch (In parks) = $30
So based on eating out prices for the 10 breakfasts and 6 lunches = $380
Total spent at Wal-Mart (including extras) = $90
If you are going to do packed lunches, buy small / mid sized bottled water in multipacks and freeze half of the pack. Make your sandwiches and pack them with the frozen bottles to keep it cool until lunch – also gives you cold water in the afternoon.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have loads of other info if they want it – dining / cinema deals (this can be a great money saver) etc. Just let me know if I can help etc
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The info above may not suit everyone but it suits us, everyone has their own way of doing Florida so it’s hard to specify the ‘perfect way’.
Although my bike builds may suggest otherwise
we like to get up and get things done – seeing and doing lots of things rather than sleeping in / lounging around a pool etc. Florida suits us a family perfectly !
We have done it 8 times now over a 11 year period – we are still learning and still finding new tips and tricks that suit us and save money. We can’t go this year (the GF is cooking number 2) but we will return next year in December (our favourite time) for the first time as a family of four (we will have a one and a six year old then), I can’t wait, buzzing already !
Have fun and shout up if I can help with anything more !
WD
