Vacation Help- Orlando.

[hot blue]

I've visited Orlando every year for the past 4 years and always stayed in a place from this site. Best deal ever for a family or group or friends.

http://www.floridasunvacationhomes.com/

very close to the parks: 5 mins from disney, 10-15mins from Universal
very cheap
fully equipped apartment

[INDAVID WORKSHOP]

I completed my booking today , A stay at one of the Disney resort and tickets and dining ran me up about US$ 2800.00.

This is for a family of 4 staying for 7 days.

[DFC]

Hi guys, great info and advice.

So i spent some $$ badly and i saved some smartly.

I stayed on International Drive, and the hotel had a shuttle service to the Major Theme parks- Disney, Universal, Seaworld. oh and it cost me $75 USD per night, which i find was really reasonable.

The hotel provided complimentary breakfast, which was not to bad- toast, boiled eggs, waffles, pancakes,muffins etc. I'm not accustomed to eating so much sweet foods for breakfast, so at a nearby walmart, i bought these pre-packaged meals for $99c USD each. Just microwave for a minute and eat. It tastes really great too.

Go to Walmart and shop for supplies before you go on your theme parks.

Food is really really expensive. And it was troublesome for my crew, because 3 of them were vegans and me and my friend are meatmouths. It is very difficult to get vegan food in orlando. The whole of International drive, leading up to Disney and Universal are completely resort area, and priced that way. You will not get a cheap meal.


Also stock up on stuff to much on while @ theme parks. I bought some crackers and biscuits, and nuts. I bought a loaf of bread and some sliced cheese and hot sauce, and made sandwiches too.
Carry your own bottle water and stock up on snacks if you going with kiddies. (fill their bellies with snack so they wont ask for food)
These will give you something to munch on,and fill you up and keep you from buying food at the parks.

$8.99 USD for a hotdog in Magic Kingdom. convert that to TT @ a 6.4 rate and you get $57.50 TTD, and $2.50 USD for a Coca-Cola which is $16TT. No way am i spending that kinda $$ for a small snack like hotdogs.

When i run out of stuff to eat, i buy a fries and popcorn. Cheap and fills you up real good.

For lunch , if you're not at a theme park- Look for buffets.
Cici's Pizza have $6.99 buffet which is good, also Panda Express on International Drive, have a $9.99 Chinese buffet and its worth the price. Lots of variety and the food is good.

Punjabi Express has a $7.99 lunch menu, where you choose a dish and it comes with soup, naan, rice and dessert. Not bad.

Ihop have cheap breakfast, and Mc Donalds and Denny's have cheap burgers.


Get a Map, know your area, and keep it with you!!
I walk around with a knapsack with my maps and food and drink.

Dont travel by cab,its very expensive. I missed my shuttle once and paid $30USD to get back to my hotel, and if i was smarter then, i could have taken the Lynx #50 bus and paid $2 .

Lynx bus have different routes and they go to most parks, its very cheap $2 per ticket, if you must switch buses, then get a transfer ticket, so you wont have to buy another one. You can also buy a day pass for $4.50 and ride the bus whole day. Its very efficient and quick transport.

For Transport up and down International Drive, use the I-Ride trolley. $1.50 per ticket.

You must ride the Slingshot on International Drive. Its the world's tallest and its $25 a ride. and trust me, its INSANE.
i've skydived and done many insane things in my life...and it still did not prepare me for that Slingshot ride.
Its a MUST DO if you seek a good thrill.

Ripley's on International Drive have some really cool stuff you can check out.

I bought a 2-day , 2park and one water park ticket for disney. It cost me $200 USD. Yes Disney Tickets are expensive, but i think its worth it.

I chose to go to Epcott, Magic Kingdom and Blizzard Beach.
Epcott have some really cool stuff that you will enjoy, there is a Universe of Energy, The Space Center ride, there is also a ride called "Spaceship Earth" its is friggen mindblowing!!
In Epcott you can meet some characters, like Donald Duck and some Princesses. There are Different Countries featured in Epcott, and each country featured have monuments, food, shops, and memorabilia. And everything is damn expensive.
But the Chinese House put on an acrobatic show and performance, which was really great.

Be prepared for lots and lots of walking. Wear comfortable sneakers and bring a Hat and Shades because the temperature is above 40 degress Celc.

I really enjoyed Epcott, there is so much to see and do, There are amazing rides and interactive stuff that both adults and kids will enjoy. Be sure to go early before the crowd gets there.
There are sea-shell rides at Finding Nemo's Aquatic Adventure thingy, and a huge aquarium with a manatee, dolphins and fishes.

Get a photopass card, and get you photos taken anywhere u see photopass people.

There is a way you can download the photo's from disneyphotopass.com for free.

To really experience Epcott would take a whole day, so reserve one whole day for that.

Blizzard Beach was a crazy crazy waterpark! There is the Summit Plummet which i think is the highest water slide in the country. I went in, and almost immediately i regret i went it, and start to panic, but the ride was over in a second! it is scary but really cool. I had to ride it a few times to really get over the fear.

I lime right at the end of the slide, because it knocks your clothes off, and that day i went had a lot of spanish women in bikini's, so it was all eye candy to see.

And Blizzard beach is a whole day thing, so much slides to go to, it is really awesome!

Magic Kingdom was flooded with kids the day i went. I had to line up for an hour and half to get a picture with Mickey Mouse.
The place is really like a fairytale land. I totally loved it!!
The Parades, and Mickey's little play, "Never give up on your dreams, always believe in yourself"

My advice, is to go to Magic Kingdom on a weekday, less people. On weekends, the parks are floooded with kids. Go early !! and take your photos before it get crowded. Use the photopass people for family and group photos.
The fireworks over the Magic Castle are on a Monday night @ 10pm. Dont miss it, its so amazing.

Oh and as for transportation between Disney parks, there is monorail to Epcott and Magic Kingdom and to the Main Ticketing Park. Disney buses also shuttle to and from parks.
Get a schedule from the info booths an find your bus.


I will update with more info another time.
Universal, Sea-world, Kennedy Space Center and Skydive Space Centre.

For Shopping, there are the premium outlets at the top and bottom of international drive, there are walgreens, walmart, and Florida mall which is the size of POS to Arima.

[francis1979]

From what I've heard about timeshares don't try to use the presentation for a free stay unless you intend to get one. People have tried to beat their system in the past and failed! They ended up being kept there for the whole day listening to presenter after presenter, who wouldn't take no for an answer, try to convince them to buy into the time share. It was a VERY frustrating experience for them.

Once you plan the "Presentation" into your agenda it can work out of you. Whatever they tell you is the presentation duration: double it e.g. if they tell you 2 hours expect 4 hours.
Word of advice is not jump on every timeshare opportunity pick it so that it will be of value to you. I used my free stay to visit Orlando and Daytona Beach. I paid "resort fees" at both locations and gave them 2 1/2 hrs. at each location and got a week of vacation inclusive of rental car and tickets for less than $300USD.

p.s. Based on research and visiting timeshare presentations. It is not worth it. But if someone still wants to purchase a property I would recommend:
(1) Purchasing from one of the good hotel chains e.g. Hilton since what you really purchase is points (although they tell you it is deeded) and you can use the points to pick location, room size and time of year
(2) Properties are excellent since they have a reputation to maintain.
(3) Do not purchase from the Resort directly; there are many sites which list persons attempting to sell their timeshare online at a reduced price to Resort Price
(4) Wait until you are on the last round of negotiation. This is when they bring the supervisor. Because it will be the lowest rate.

What kills you in a Timeshare property are:
(1) Yearly property maintenance fee and taxes (minimum $800 per year in better resorts)
(2) Properties are limited in location (Timeshare Property is different from Hotel Property. As an example 1 week in Timeshare can be equivalent to 2 nights in a Hotel)
(3) In the better locations you need to reserve the property more 9 - 12 months in advance. Even more during peak time.
(4) You can transfer to RCI; however same problems as above. You need to pay a transfer fee and booking fee. So it is not free.

Famous time share presentation trick
They ask you how much you plan to spend on vacations for the next twenty years e.g. $2000 per year. (Which includes hotel, car rental, airfare, meals, etc.)? Which equals $40,000?
Then they say won't you like to save money and buy a property for less $26,000 (as example) which you own via a Deed and you can will, transfer or sell in the future.

So it sounds good right; but what they miss out is that you still have other expense e.g. yearly maintenance fees for timeshare and non-hotel expense fees e.g. airfare, car rental, meals. Add this back into it and you no longer have any savings.
Other bait is that they will finance; but this is at a high interest rate