R 14NS R

After advice from a few people on here and people we know who have been, we booked disney and are flying out monday week.......so excited. my other half and i are 31, our little girl is 11, will be there 2 weeks so don t want to waste our time on anything, what do people think are must do s and can miss out.

Thanks in advance.

mart360

Miss it all

fly back,

sit down & rent any disney DVD, youve seen one , youve seen them all


Mart

Nurse Gladys

Assuming you mean Florida as you're going for 2 weeks?

Apart from all the parks, you must do a late evening trip on one of the airboats on the Everglades to see the Alligators - its terrific fun & gets you away from the neon for a few hours!

Also, not sure if it's still there, but a terrific restaurant on International Drive called Race Rock (did hear it had closed) is almost opposite the Upside Down House & beside the Helicopter flight office.

Just thank your lucky stars you are not going for Christmas, we did once........................

Ninnybobs

Make sure you go to Busch Gardens in Tampa. Its well worth the 60 mile drive. IMHO its the best of all the parks.

Airboats is a must, but try and find a smaller operator (5 seater) rather than the 20 seater barges. There is Captain John based in a village called Christmas. Best there is !!!

I have done the Kennedy Space Centre a few times and enjoyed it, but there is the Police Museum just down the road where you can take helicopter rides and shoot on the police range for very little money.

If your driving, please remember that Florida State Law says you MUST carry your driving licence with you at all times.

Enjoy

Martin

FlightMan

Things off the top of my head.

Race rock is shut.
Busch Gardens is good, IF you like big coasters. Pointless if you don't.
KSC is good, and sthe huttle Atlantis is due to launch Monday 11th. You might get lucky and get a technical hitch that delays it until you're there. Go and see it. It's incredible.
Do all the fireworks shows in the parks, but especially Illuminations in Epcot.
Do World Showcase anti clockwise. 90% of people go left for some reason!
At immigration in MCO ( if your flying to Orlando international ) head far right. The queues are shorter.
If you're hiring a car with Dollar, get a Dollar Express card from Dollar.com
Get to MK for rope drop.
Use the FASTPASS system!!
Buy a $1 cool box from Publix. Fill it with ice and bottles of water and leave it in your car. When your done with a park at the end of the day, you'll be thankful you did.
Boggy Creek Airboats. No need to drive to the Everglades.
Have a wander round Celebration.
Breakfast in Sizzlers or Golden Corral. AVOID PONDEROSA!!
Visit Anna Maria Island for a day at the beach. White sand, Palm Trees and not a single building over two stories. Hire a boat from Bradenton Beach marina.
Ride Soarin'. Then do it again!
Have a look around the Disney resorts and hotels.
Don't jump the toll booths!
Don't try and cram it all in. You'll never do it all and just get stressed.
Seaworld is a must. Believe is better than Shamu Rocks. The dolphin show is better than Believe.
Go to the underwater viewing gallery behind Shamu stadium. If your lucky, your daughter will get kissed by a killer whale ( through 6" of plate glass of course )
The Rainforest Cafe is worth a visit.
Get some quarters from the trolley machines behind the car rental desks at MCO for change for the tolls on the 528.
If your heading straight for Disney from MCO, use SR 417 not 528. It's much quieter and quicker.
If you've got a villa and a pool, use it. Your daughter will remember those days as fondly as she will the park days.

Snazy

I could not agree with FM much more !
Well said mate.

Parks closes are indeed spectatular. Universal Studio's get your spot nice and early, oh and once the show finishes, take a 5 min sit down and let the crowds get on with the pushing and shoving on exiting the parks.

Again Shamu Rocks, kicks Believe's ***, but if you can squeeze them both in... DO !
Clyde and Seamore is a must lol. Just for the mime before the start, and the poor acting during. DONT make eye contact with the mime as you enter lol.

Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon I must now confess are great fun, but require good child safety. Aquatica is the next generation of water parks but fills early and closes due to this, letting no one else in. Mixing waterlife with water slides.

Busch is definatly worth it, and the fast passes are cheaper there than all other parks. There is plenty to see around too, with lots of wild animals dotted about, so its a zoo/theme park mix.

Plan your journies and days, but dont allocate X time to anything. Somethings will not live up to your expectations and other will demand more time.
Use Satnav so you arrive far less stressed.
Always keep $5-10 in quarters and dollar bills in the arm rest of the car, tolls pop up all over, and some are unmanned.

Other silly bits,
read up on "right on red" if not properly familiar with it. There are other things like constant flashing ambers on junctions to be aware of what they mean too. 4 way stops and right of way etc etc.. Screeching tyres is an offence too
Hazard lights and very low speeds are the norm on the roads when the rain becomes severe, dont be afraid to do the same.
Try and keep at least you photo drivers licence on you at all times in public (not in parks of course) Can be useful ID if stopped or when using credit cards.
Dont speed (too much) the cops can be quite harsh lol, and it can get expensive.
Make sure you tell you bank and credit card company you are travelling so your cards are not frozen the instant you try and use them in the USA.
A trip to at least one Walmart is a must, its a pilgrimage to me these days lol.
Some of the malls are complete rubbish, others are extravagant. Mall at Millenia is top end of the scale, and I can highly recommend the food court there haha. (especially the chinese at the back, the honey chicken is lovely )
Try and get to Festival Bay Mall too, im not sure if the Ron Jons surf beach is done yet, but it promises to be spectacular. Some of the shops there are naff, but the Vans skate park is also a sight for sore eyes.

Well between us all thats 2 months taken up lol

Have a great time out there mate. Personal recommendation, if you are planning on travelling long distances, I would go for an SUV. But thats just me.

PS on the food front, Denny's is cheap and cheerful with lovely pancakes. Great start to a day at the parks.

FlightMan

Some good stuff there Snazy. We'll have to agree to disagree on Believe and Shamu Rocks.

You going this year? We're giving it a miss this year ( been in 07 and 08 and spent more than I care to work out ) and planning a major blow out 2010.

jasey

Start with the gentle stuff (Disney, seaworld, Wet 'n Wild etc) and build up to the big stuff (If you intend doing the big stuff)

If you start off in Islands of Adventure there's a danger your kid wont want to go anywhere else

Snazy

lol I said Shamu Rocks was better. But Believe is worth seeing if time allows. Different kinda show innit And not forgetting the over kill of yank emotion lol. Nice to see the forces respected though

Yup we are off there in 49 days time lol.
Dont talk to me about spending too much, I think last year came to about 6-7k..... for the 2 of us lol. $2800 on cars ! Duh!

FlightMan

Jesus mate, do you drink Bollinger instead of tap water?

We've done that on both of our trips, but that's for 2 adults and 2kids, so well done fella, that's top spending!

Nurse Gladys

Must agree Shamu is a must - however we 'cleverly' left this til last, which was good as our daughter was wet through from sitting in the 'splash' zone.

Also, we went with a nine year old - we took the advice of friends and did one day park one day off (by off I mean hotel pool, water park etc) otherwise you might reach burnout before the two weeks are up!

Finally, we had hard suitcases & these got 'mullered' somewhere enroute. One was too dangerous to use due to sharp edges, so I asked at the hotel to borrow some packing tape to repair it. They couldn't lend it in case I used the tape to kidnap someone!!

Be prepared for the extreme & you won't be disappointed!

Snazy

Noo thats just being plain stupid really. But you are there to have a good time right, so why put a cost on it.
Last years cars added up as the missus is under 25 and wanted a Stang convertible so there was more insurance to pay.

lol I was not allowed cable ties to seal my board bag with once incase I used them to take the plane over .

PaulC72

I would agree with FM & Snazy, we have been 4 {2001, 2005, 2006 & 2007} times now twice with the 2 kids {14 & 11 now} and every time it never fails to amaze me.
Our next trip may be 2010, but we shall have to wait and see what happens.

One additional thing we thought was good was go over the skyway bridge just past clearwater {also a great beach} it is an amazing structure

Mmmmm Golden Coral - roll me out I'm done

Whatever you do you will have a fantastic time.

6-7k is about what it cost us too for at least 3 of the trips. {one we did pretty cheap}

The dollar seems to be picking up a little too so that may be of use.

FlightMan

Agree 100%. We only use 2 bedrooms, as the kids like to share when we're away, but never get a villa smaller than 4 beds. Last year it was 5! As for the cars, well we only need the one, but I refuse to have anything smaller than a 7 seat SUV.

Snazy

lol sorry the money includes house rental and flights too. Just before you think im anywhere near as rich as PSL.
We use 1 of the 3 bedrooms in the house each year lol. Just me and the missus.

7 seat SUV is the only way, last 2 years I have had one, and would not be happy getting smaller. I like presence and wasting gas

Dollar is indeed slowly picking up, hoping for another 10c to the £ by end of June when I go.

Markus

I should really go back and see how much it's changed since I was last down there in 97 (About a week after Di's death - so we had all the yanks asking how we felt about it - don't think our "meh, whatever" attitude went over too well, so we played the sympathy card a few times and got special treatment, head of the queue, cheaper meals )

A few general pointers. The first one being, ENJOY YOURSELF!

Immigration and Customs. Do not joke or mess around with them. I would make sure you have a print out of your hotel confirmation, as they will ask where you are staying and how long for, so having the print out to hand will speed things up. If they ask what seems like an intrusive or stupid question, bite your tongue and answer it. Most of them are ok, but some are really on a power trip and seem to really think the US is the best country in the world and you should be humbled that they are allowing you in.

** edit ** Don't forget you now need to go through the ESTA system due to new enhanced security requirements for the US.

Drive on right. I know, I know, common sense, but I've had a moment now and then and had to remember where I was (had bigger on back in the UK, thought my dad, who was driving, was going to get us killed as he was on the wrong side of the road )
When you see a stop sign, come to a complete stop. I usually stop for about 3 seconds before moving off. If you don't then it's known as a moving violation and they could ticket for you.

If you get pulled over, roll down window, turn off engine, put both hands on the wheel. do not get out of the car. Wait until the officer approaches and do everything he asks. If you need to get ID out of the center console or glovebox, tell the officer what you are doing, if you just lean over and open the glovebox he could think you're going for a gun.

When filling up, when you lift the nozzle off it's holder you usually then have to push that holder up to activate the pump. Not sure if it's still like that these days, was when I went. Did confuse me for a couple of seconds.

You can turn right on most red lights, it'll tell you if you cannot. Very handy thing to be able to do. Make sure you stop and check first though, it's still considered the same as a Stop sign.

School Busses. If one is stopped and has it's red lights on, unless there is a barrier between your side of the road and the bus you MUST stop, even if it's a four lane road. If there is a center barrier/median, you don't have to.

If a shuttle launch is scheduled then try to get to the space center, you won't be alone however, it will be seriously busy, moreso as the shuttles are being retired next year, so people will want to get a look at a launch.

Snazy

All good info there Markus

Also gas stations are usually prepay too, so its a visit inside first to pay. Card behind the counter usually takes care of fill ups. Credit card at pump is usually USA only.

The ESTA system is identical to filling out a green card/visa waiver, but as you say it must be done.

I agree about immigration. Most are fine and actually make you feel welcome, but some can be a little blunt and egotistical. Just get used to over friendly people. "How are you" usually means they are willing to hear you say how you actually are, rather than, "fine, you" lol