# Holiday to America



## andysubaru30 (May 11, 2008)

Hey

I was wondering if I could pick the brains of a few people. Myself and my partner are planning a holiday to Florida next year but a bit stuck in where to start arranging things. I would like flights and accom as one and possible buy park tickets also, which is safe.

I went as a youngster back in 2004 but things have changed alot since then.

Any website or advice would be grateful

Thanks


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

Hi mate I love going to Florida so will try and give you some advice here. There have been a few similar posts in the past so you will end up with conflicting responses where its upto you to decide on the best solution.

I have been to florida several times ranging from going on a complete package including everything to totally arranging it ourselves and getting everything seperately. It really depends if you can be bothered surfing the web and making lots of phone calls. and it depends what deals are out there.

My tips -

How long are you going for? For me it needs to be 2 weeks min if its your first visit for a while and want to do alot of the parks. Ideally 3 weeks would be nice!! but obviously down to funds and leave etc.

DONT buy park tickets on the day from the park as they cost a fortune.

Decide which parks you really want to visit and get a combined ticket to include them all.

Save cash by renting a basic car, its tempting to rent a mustang or camaro.

Dont overlook the off the beaten track attractions and the space centre and daytona which take a day to travel to and therefore will be two days out of your holiday. I can highly reccomend the space centre and daytona speedway and daytona beach.

Build in rest days at the villa or shopping and visiting parks day after day is really tiring!

Don't overlook the water parks. IMO the disney ones are the best so typhoon lagoon and blizzard beach and these make really relaxing rest days. There is a new one next to sea world called aquatica we haven't been to it as its new. Wet and Wild the original water park IMO isn't as good as the others.

Renting a villa will save loads over a disney villa or hotel. Also the further the villa is away from disney the cheaper but beware, check the location of your villa as some on older developments are looking really tatty now. Also you don't really want to be 1 hour plus away from the disney area each day. Another thing with villas is if you use an independent villa rental company you can also look at detailed photos of the villa and the a map of where it is in relation to the parks. If you use a large all-in type travel company you don't get to see your villa and have very little or no choice. We have found that although most are of a good standard there have been some which have been better than others. We had a good villa on our second visit that was in a not so good area i.e. both neighbours villas were run down.

Busch Garden - We still haven't managed to get there yet. It is supposed to be really good but be warned if you are going there go early as once the car park is full its closed and they turn people away. We had travelled there which I think took an hour or two and basically missed out on the day and didn't have enough time to go back.

As mentioned before don't over look the non disney attractions and also other parts of florida. Miami is doable in a day but make sure you are there at night when all the lights are on the hotels. Also if you wanted to do a two centre holiday places like Naples and the keys are beautiful.

For the car fans look at going to Daytona - when I went you could have a tour of the track and there were attractions to look at but I would check the website before driving there. In disney there is a NASCAR track where you can go on passenger rides with an instructor as I did or actually drive the car your self. Finally in old town disney there are car cruises throughout the week with lots of classic and new muscle cars on display.

Here are some links to help you:-

for villas we have used DJW rentals but they also do park tickets,flights etc
http://www.djwrental.com/

for tickets these were the cheapest at the time:-
http://www.mapleleaftickets.com/

The NASCAR track at disney - we didn't know it was there until our 3 trip!!
http://www.drivepetty.com/race-tracks/orlando-walt-disney-world-speedway

The cruises in old town-
http://myoldtownusa.com/car-cruises/






Celebration the town that disney created is worth a drive around the houses are something else-
http://celebrationtowncenter.com/

I hope this helps pm me if you want any specific advice.


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## andysubaru30 (May 11, 2008)

Thanks very much for taking time to write that. Yeah i agree with most of that. Wet and Wild was run down 8 years ago, wished we had gone to Disney ones at the time. I will save all the information and use it as and when. Thanks again


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## Bustanut (Jun 11, 2011)

Great write up buddy, I can confirm that this is all pretty accurate as we have been several times. If you like wildlife etc then don't forget gatorland which isn't far away from the main resorts by car. Busch gardens is fantastic and week worth the 2hrs drive.


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

Just a thought it might be worth seeing if a mod can move this to the off topic section as it will get more views there?


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## Matt. (Aug 26, 2007)

Well, I think nearly everything you need to know, tmitch has said.

One thing I think your better off doing, book the flights and car hire together, known as a flydrive. Then book your villa separate.

We have stayed in a few villas on Highlands Reserve Golf Course which is a lovely Golf Course - http://www.highlandsreservevillas.com/

If you want the direct email address for the villas we have stayed in, let me know.

It is located on the 27, which is 5 mins from the 192. The 192 is where your Ponderosas, Golden Corral, Dennys & Sports shops etc are on.

There is a big supermarket less than two minutes away, which has a Chinese, Pizza Shop and a shop that sells villas :argie:

We have done Busch Gardens. It is good, but nowhere near as good as Disney. We wanted to do it so we can say yea we've don't that.

It's worth gong to Discovery Cove, even if you don't swim with the dolphins. You can get a general admission, which lets you in for the day. You can still swim with stingrays and tropical fish, which are around the Barracuda tank :doublesho Be careful though, I broke my toe on a rock, then walked around Seaworld in agony!

Make sure you go to Downtown Disney, Disney Boardwalk, Orlando Premium Outlets, Florida Mall. I could go on...

Are you into Golf?


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## georgeandpeppa (May 25, 2009)

Discovery cove!!! Dont bother with the swim with dolphins lasted all of two minutes but what a park, Busch is well worth the drive too!!


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## Matt. (Aug 26, 2007)

Yes but Discovery Cove is worth going to.


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## chisai (Jan 1, 2009)

Cracking write up and info already given. Another wee tip we learned was at the Disney parks, go to the back and work your way to the front on the rides, most people do the rides as they get to them. What we do is a couple of days at the parks then a chill out day at the water parks.


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

chisai said:


> Cracking write up and info already given. Another wee tip we learned was at the Disney parks, go to the back and work your way to the front on the rides, most people do the rides as they get to them. What we do is a couple of days at the parks then a chill out day at the water parks.


Thats really good advice about the parks and the rest days


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

Booked our 4th trip out to the mighty Florida yesterday for June next year for a month.

Got some business over there aswell so hopefully might not come back I love it that much.


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## 3R PROJECT (Jul 14, 2012)

Do not forget , i repeat , do not foget to go to sells restaurant one of the best seafood places in the south .


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## lofty (Jun 19, 2007)

I've just come back from 3 weeks in Florida (still suffering jet lag ,got to sleep at 5.00am ). I done one week in a villa in Orlando, then five nights South Beach Miami ( never seen so many Lambo's and Ferrari's), six nights at Hawks cay on the Florida Keys (amazing) and back to Orlando for five nights.I only done five parks so just bought my tickets on the door, it's more expensive but it still saved me a load of cash over buying passes like I have done in the past, this will obviously depend on how many days you expect to go to the parks.Disney passes are the most expensive , but can include the waterparks and Disney Quest.Book your hire car separately, as the 'free' cars don't include insurance, once you add this on it will usually cost more.I've been 3 times previously and had always stayed in Condo's or hotels, Vista Cay and Lake Buena Vista resort are very nice if you don't fancy a villa.Ive only flown with Thompson and Virgin, virgin probably edge it, but both offer decent legroom and seatback entertainment.I managed to get to the Space Centre this time and it's well worth a visit, Legoland is also now open, but it's mainly for younger kids, I also got to the Everglades this time which I loved, buts it's a hike from Orlando.I took some Dollars, but mainly used my Debit card, I got a much better exchange rate using the card than I got for the dollars I exchanged, check with your bank about their charges beforehand and if they have the facility, tell them your going away so they don't block your cards while your there.


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## 3R PROJECT (Jul 14, 2012)

Grande Vista Resort is one of the nicest experiences you can have in orlando and it is right by sea world and disney park it was truly memorable . Though i do admit i have stayed at motels while chasing hurricanes to surf . Make sure you go in September 'cause the lines at the parks in the summer are horrible and eat away your time . Visit island of adventure twice ! Once is never enough .


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## Matt. (Aug 26, 2007)

Thomson have the new Dreamliner aircraft next year. Looks great.


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