Help with Florida trip!!!!!

[miriama59]

Okay, I am WAY out of my element here. When Sarah was little and I took her to DisneyLand, it was simple. You paid the cash and walked into the park. Easy.

So I am going to be in Florida from the 3rd to the 7th. I am thinking that one day at DisneyWorld, one at Universal Studios and one day at the ocean!

Then I go to one of the sites and I see I have to choose a SECTION, a park...I can't just say I am going to DisneyWorld. And I have to buy FIVE tickets at each park. Four adults and one child. Yes, Sarah will be an adult. Sigh.

Sooooo....we are thinking that MagicKingdom because of Sadie. That would be DisneyWOrld.

And I was told that I have to go to Seuss something or other...Seuss land, seuss world....LMBO at Universal Studios. Whatever part of Universal Studios that is.

My mom says that every time she has gone to Florida there are people at the airport promoting timeshares and she and my stepfather got free tickets to Universal Studios for a small amount of their time.

I am overwhelmed at the sites I have been at.

So DODers. Tell me your Florida stories PLEASE. Should I buy an Entertainment book? Are there coupons available?

I should add that the only way I can afford this is that I won Jet Blue tickets last year for Bill and I. And we are getting the girls' tickets for less than two hundred round trip per girl. And we don't have to pay for where we are staying...it is a timeshare through TrendWest.

But even so, I still don't have a lot of funds. I need EVERY bargain and money saving tip I can get. Thanks!


__________________

Check out these [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now], or go directly to [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now] EXP: 03.31.2003
Save $20 off of your purchase of $100 or more at Art.com with coupon code C171082058714.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

Check out these [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now], or go directly to [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now] EXP:
Check out the latest rebates available on great computer products at Buy.com.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[Mouse7088]

Get in touch w/ Tiggs QUICKLY....I do stress QUICKLY...did I say QUICKLY? Just making sure..LOL! She is the Disney Quenn...BIG, BIG, BIG time! BTW, remember to do it QUICKLY! LOL!

[LISA1013]

I have the entertainment book (still untouched) I can look and see what coupons are in there that you can use and send em out to you


__________________

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[cashhound]

I think Lando is another Disney freak. There are 4 or 5 *Disney* parks. From what I've seen, the best bargain is the park hopper deal. You get passes to something like 3 of the parks for a reduced fee. And you can go in and out a certain number of times...I think.

Universal Studios has 2 parks. You want to go to Islands of Adventure. That's where the Suessland is. The also have the Incredible Hulk roller coaster, and the Double Dragon roller coaster.

Don't forget SeaWorld...lol. Yet ANOTHER park.

If you decide to go to the timeshare presentation, be prepared to spend about 3 hours (or longer.) They are determined that you tour the property, and that takes some time. You have to jump through all their hoops to get your passes. We tried telling them we just did it for the tickets, but they didn't care. They were determined they could talk us into buying...lol.


__________________

Check out these [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now], or go directly to [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now] EXP:
Check out the latest rebates available on great computer products at Buy.com.

[miriama59]

Thanks! I am not sure about the park hopper deal. I only have about 100 for parks for each of the girls, hence the one day at Universal and one day at DisneyWorld. And we only have three days where we are not flying. We get in the third and leave the seventh.

Lisa, you are a sweetie for even considering such a thing! Thank you.

And yes I emailed Tiggs!!!!!

[eldo]

I know how overwhelming this all is to you right now! I am on the West Coast and have only been to WDW once 4 years ago, and after we decided to go, I had no idea where to begin planning.

"The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World" by Bob Sehlinger saved the day. I had never heard of the Unofficial series and bought it not knowing how wildly popular it's become. It tells you everything you could possible want to know about the WDW parks, such as which days of the week are less crowded at which park, where to stay, how to get around, tips on choosing attractions to ride, and has maps and advice for touring the parks based on if you have small children, have only one day to see the highlights, etc. etc. I had no idea there was so much to know about WDW! Luckily we were in Florida in March when the weather was in the low 70's and the parks were uncrowded. It was a dream vacation.

As for websites, [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now] and [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now] are great resources too.

I'm off to Disneyland later this month. Haven't been there since pre-California Adventure in 2001 so it will be interesting to see the transformation.

Have a great time


__________________

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[AndersonGal]

Havent they been advertising a video on TV to help plan your trip too? If I see it again I'll try to pay attention.

Sorry I'm not much help when I went back in the early 80's and I KNOW it has changed since then.

[NaomiMarie]

Have fun!
Give Mickey a big hug from me
<sigh> We'll get there eventually
Naomi

[cata5]

We took the 5 kids to DW in 2000 and the book eldo is talking about made our trip the greatest. It is well worth the $15 or so that it costs.

We went the hopper route so we could leave the park and go to a different one when we were through. The park that was the best for all of us as a group was Magic Kingdom.

As far as saving money when you are there, things we did:

ate a big breakfast before going to the park
took our own water bottles into the park
took a few snacks
split some large meals served there (go to places that look like they are attracting families and see what people are walking away with for portions! Last thing you would want to do is spend $$ on overpriced food and then throw extra away!)
bought souvenirs at some shops away from the parks(we only bought the autograph book at the park)
brought all film, batteries, etc to not get stuck with paying higher prices


Have fun!


__________________

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[bpesch]

If you plan to spend only one day at DisneyWorld, you are going to have to decide which park you want ahead of time. The ticket is only going to be good for that park. You won't have the option of park hopping. The advantage to the Park Hopper tickets is that you can visit any of the parks during a day. They also do not expire so if you save them and go back to Disney two years later, you can still use them. The down side is that they only come in
4 day or longer tickets so they are expensive. If you are trying to save money, and only plan to be in Disney for one day, the Park Hopper probably won't be good for you.

[miriama59]

Thanks everyone.

Yes, we are going to bring our own water and snacks in the park. Bill has a backpack that he uses when we go places for the kids and all. cata5, you have some great points! Thanks.


You are right, bpesch...the hopper is not right for us.

Hey, AndersonGal I have that video somewhere...having a big DOH! moment and thanks for the reminder.

eldo, I will check out those sites and check into the book! Thanks!


<writes note to self to remember to hug Mickey, for Naomi of course>

[ILoveElf]

Do you belong to a credit union?Some sell discounted part tickets.Have you sent for and Orlando magic card/discount vistor guide?Gone to Disney discount sites(mousesavers and others)?Do you belong to cosco,price club, or other membership store that might offer discounts?AAA has discount tickets to the parks for members as do military.
Suess landing is in the islands of adventure park which is part of Universal.


__________________

Check out these [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now], or go directly to [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now] EXP: 03.31.2003
Save 10% off of your purchase at Art.com with coupon code C152566334721.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[aprilgail]

A great place to find things out is [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]
I use it all the time for my Disney Cruises. One day at Disney is not much, its hard to see everything there in 10 days, I can't imagin limiting myself to one day there! At Universal Islands of Adventure is more for the bigger kids...if you have littler ones then I would do Universal Studios. Sea World is also really nice, my 2 year old loved it there. We rented a house for a week about 10 minutes from Disney last year for 99.00 a night...it was a 3 bedroom, private pool off the living room, central air, washer, dryer,dishwasher....everything...it was great and for 99.00 you couldn't beat it. The we stayed at the Polynesian for 4 days....we couldn't afford it the whole time since it runs about 250-300 a night. On the disboards they have a board for people looking to travel on a budget so that might be of help to you.

[NaomiMarie]

Originally posted by miriama59

<writes note to self to remember to hug Mickey, for Naomi of course>

<sniff> THANK YOU

[miriama59]

You guys are the best! I checked out all the boards listed here and found lots of information.

AprilGail, I know what you mean about only going one day. But the deal is that I won two airline tickets and so Florida it was. We don't have very much money at all. Just taking the kids is more than we could handle. But they saved some money to pay their own way into two parks. So we decided.....one day at DisneyWorld to satisfy the girls and one day at Universal Studios to make Bill and I happy. Sarah's boyfriend's family belongs to TrendWest so they are letting us use their membership and we will have a hotel provided by them.

This is kind of spur of the moment...we were originally going to use the tickets for a trip for just Bill and I.

So we decided as a family that we would just fly out and do what we can do and be happy. I can NOT imagine having a thousand dollars to stay at a place for a week or anything close to that. You are very lucky. That must have been an amazing trip.

So we will do one day at DisneyWorld...Magic Kingdom. One day Islands of Adventure and just one day to go see the ocean...see Florida. I can't wait.

Oh, and ELDO! I could kiss you. I went to WDW At Large which is part of [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now] I have these "issues" with my body image and have all these built up fears of being too large for rides and things like that. BUT these people posting about their ease at DisneyWorld weighed 300 pounds and had no problems. As I am nowhere near that, I was thrilled to read their stories. It is not only nice to know they can enjoy themselves, it almost made me want to cry for being so silly. You just made my whole trip worry free. Thank you.


__________________

Check out these [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now], or go directly to [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]
[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now] EXP: 03.31.2003
Save 10% off of your purchase at Art.com with coupon code C152566334721.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]