suprabeast

Bunch of us are going to Florida for 2 weeks in September and staying in some massive 14 person villa.. anyway we're planning to do all the parks etc and shopping and maybe some beaches (plus the bars/restaurants in the evening).

Question is, whats the best way to get around out there?? People are chatting about hiring cars.. but obviously no ones gonna want to drive in the evenings cos we'll be having a few beers. So is it worth hiring cars just for the daytime activities or not??

Whats the public transport like out there??

Anyone got any thoughts?

DCI Gene Hunt

Vast distances between attractions, a few mini bus/vans may be worth considering for the day.... and taxi's at night

Hol

iTrader: (1)

Only every been with the family, 14people all in.

You hardly every see a taxi outside of the parks and so we took it in turns to drive, from our rented villa. People carriers with multiple drivers are the best choice for this arrangement.

A lot also depends on where in Florida you are staying (Its BIG place).

Never made it to the beach (Daytona etc..) as they are a VERY long drive from Disney/Universal theme parks.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Basically mate,if you're not staying at a hotel with regular shuttle buses to the attractions e.g. on international drive, the you will need a car, or else you'll be spending quite a bit on cabs!

Amazing place, you'll have a lot of fun!
Ns04

Tobisausage

I don't understand how people manage without a hire car.

Also go to Discovery cove if you can afford it, it is 'awesome' (as they say)

suprabeast

Sweet, discovery cove is on the list with everything else.

We aren't staying far from disney to be honest so cars might be the way forward.. especially if cabs are going to be a pain to track down!

Thanks for the responses guys, just gotta find a decent rental company i suppose!

Tobisausage

It is a shame you are not going in October, I went to this last year, it was hilarious

Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights Carnival of Carnage 2007

Spoon

I had a Ford V8 DayVan 8 seater. Two of those will do you.

If you do one thing when over there it has to be to get a vehicle of some sort.

RussBoy

Bare in mind if going out at night that loads of places on International close up early and aren't into the drinking culture like we are. Those that do stay open think you're an alcoholic if you have more than 2 beers. We found one decent bar right at the far end of International and the guy who owned the place ended up drinking with us at the end of the evening and told me we were in danger of being shot at as we walked across his car lot as there had been 100 rounds exchanged between gangs the night before. That said, no more dangerous than my native south london and I didn't get shot at either!

Oh, if you have kids the animal kingdom is pretty cool as is seaworld of course!

speedking

You will not do "all the parks" justice in 2 weeks. I would recommend focussing on either Universal or Disney. If teenage or older then go for Universal.

Have a read here.

Busch Gardens, then Clearwater is really good day out.

B0DSKI

iTrader: (17)

I'm off to Florida in Spetember as well, just four of us though. We are staying in a Villa in Kissimmee, and have a hire car which we pick up @ the airport.

As people have said theres HUGE distances between all the attractions so i'd of thought a hire car would be a 100% needed.

Just keeping my eye out now to see is the space shuttle's going up whilst were there. It'll be sitting on coco beach in the sun if it is

4X4BOB

Florida is brill but you deffo need a decent motor.
Last time we got a free upgrad at the airport to a huge people carrier (thing it was a Dodge?) Was room for 8 adults and 8 big suitcases no probs.
After a near miss with one of the others driving the wrong way I elected to do the driving for the rest of the duration, not a problem.

But do us all a favour, if you get caught up in a hurricane don't start moaning on here please, Fall isn't known as th hurricane season for nothing!
Thats why we only ever go May - July

And try to find the staff driving routes into the parks as its a lot quicker than driving the official roads!



Have a great time

suprabeast

Yeah well hurricanes are something we are going to hope against!

I'm staying in Kissimmee too (no kids, just a group of mates!)

And yes we might get branded alcoholics then since we are well likely to have more than 2 beers!

AsifScoob

Been all over Florida, but just did tourist stuff in Orlando, as opposed to drinking.

Miami is fantastic for going out and drinking and the women are HOT HOT HOT!

Even made a point of going to Sloppy Joe's in Key West just in order to have a drink at Hemingways favourite bar, apparently.

Great for going out but a little bit of a tourist trap and very difficult to get drunk in I found.

Ordering a Hemingway Hammer at SJ's was interesting as they put in a couple of shots of rum, fill the glass with crushed ice and the sweetest treacle you can imagine, then just lace the top with this ultra strong rum. So when you first put it to your lips it almost physiclly burns.

So you get excited (well I did anyway) and sink it. Only to feel you've consumed a whole bag of sugar, with not a lot of alcohol in it!

After a few of these I thought 'sod this' and left, very sober, but couldn't go near anything sweet for a week!

Overall verdict for Best Place in Florida? Miami.

Enjoy.

Asif

FlightMan

As said before, hire a car. Public transport is pretty non existent. And be aware it took us 5 Hours to do the 64 miles from Titusville to Orlando. The first 11 miles took us 3 hours! We watched Atlantis go up on 8th June.

Apart from that enjoy!

AsifScoob

Get yourself ensconced in South Beach Miami and you won't need a car, and you won't want to leave!

jods

Florida car hire and rental

We use these guys - never had any problems and competitive rates - just be SURE to get ON AIRPORT Pickup and DROPOFF.

Also - Get yourself down to Oldtown Kissimmee - The best ride in the world is right there - G-Force - Sit in a drag car (3000BHP) and launch from 0 - 110 in approx 2 seconds. I guarantee that you'll be buzzing for days

B0DSKI

iTrader: (17)

See ya there M8