Orlando Holiday Planning

[Matt 236]

Right, so quite a few years ago I made posts for a trip that seemed in the clouds. 

However hopefully now, I am more in a position of a trip finally happening.

I'm planning an Orlando trip for 2018. Would September be a good time to visit? 

Hoping for a 15 day trip out there, and knocking the first and last day for packing, travel and jet lag I'm hoping for the following:

2 days at Magic Kingdom 
1 day at each other park (total 3)
3 days at Universal 
2 days Busch Gardens
1 day Sea World
2 relax days, one for Volcsno Bay and something else and another for Disney Springs and one of the water parks.

What's anyone's thoughts on this and is there anything else I should do/plan amongst this?

Wondering where the best place to stay is?
Disney Onsite, I-Drive, Villa or Kissimmee? The latter sounds interesting.

Is a package holiday best for first timers In Orlando? I've booked and organised trips in Europe, but not America.

[Charlesberg]

I would recommend a villa as you won't need to worry about sharing pools/practically everything.

 

Plus, the streets that the villas are usually on are very pretty.

[Ryan]

10 hours ago, Timber Creek said:

Right, so quite a few years ago I made posts for a trip that seemed in the clouds. 

However hopefully now, I am more in a position of a trip finally happening.

I'm planning an Orlando trip for 2018. Would September be a good time to visit? 

Hoping for a 15 day trip out there, and knocking the first and last day for packing, travel and jet lag I'm hoping for the following:

2 days at Magic Kingdom 
1 day at each other park (total 3)
3 days at Universal 
2 days Busch Gardens
1 day Sea World
2 relax days, one for Volcsno Bay and something else and another for Disney Springs and one of the water parks.

What's anyone's thoughts on this and is there anything else I should do/plan amongst this?

Wondering where the best place to stay is?
Disney Onsite, I-Drive, Villa or Kissimmee? The latter sounds interesting.

Is a package holiday best for first timers In Orlando? I've booked and organised trips in Europe, but not America.

 

I wouldn't bother doing 2 days at Busch myself, it's a good park but it's a lot further out than the other parks and if you're relying on public transport that's a couple of long journey days. Maybe do an extra day at Sea World orrrr another rest day maybe for shopping?

 

I've only stayed on I-Drive but it depends what you want, I'm assuming you will be using public transport so a lot of the hotels on I-Drive do shuttle buses to and from Universal, Disney etc (Universal one is free but Disney is paid for). Seaworld can easily be accessed by the I-Trolley service with lots of stops all along I-Drive. Busch Gardens you can get a coach from Seaworld put on by your hotel probably. Then you can also use taxis, ubers etc to get around. I-Drive also has lots of different restaurants, bars and other entertainment options.

 

Disney on site would be ideal if you're spending a lot of times at the Disney parks, but then it'll probably be more expensive for the hotel and not as easy getting to the other parks. (Someone who's stayed onsite at Disney may be able to help).

 

Villa's are obviously nice but if you don't have a car I probably wouldn't bother. 

 

With most holidays it's usually cheaper to book it all yourself and cut out the middle man like Thomas Cook, but they do put on some good deals so it's best to keep an eye out. I used British Airways to book my flight and hotel and that was the best deal I could find at the time. I would also recommend skycanner and expedia, just keep and eye out for deals. 

 

For park tickets I'd always recommend attraction tickets direct, they do monthly deals where they chuck in something free with your park tickets. I booked mine at the weekend and we got free Blue Man group tickets!

 

Anything else you want to know just drop me a message and I'll try help   

[planenut]

Each to their own, but I would do Busch Gardens. You have plenty of time to research and organize, but if you have a prepaid ticket, there is a free bus service from Orlando to BG and return.

 

The major parks do get busy over the weekends, so look for alternatives, one being the Science Center, and you have Kennedy.

 

Merlin now have three attractions on I-Drive, I.e. Madame Tussauds, Sealife Centre and Orlando Eye, well worth doing, and all in the same complex. Depending on where you stay, and again, you have time to research, there are some free buses to Disney, and perhaps Universal will only be a walk away, the local bus service is cheap.

 

You can judge how to feed yourself which may be a large buffet breakfast each day, therefore not needing lunch (more ride time), and a reasonable meal in the evening.

 

Enjoy the planning stages.

[Ryan]

5 minutes ago, planenut said:

Each to their own, but I would do Busch Gardens. You have plenty of time to research and organize, but if you have a prepaid ticket, there is a free bus service from Orlando to BG and return.

 

I meant I wouldn’t do 2 days at Busch, I’d definitely recommend going there for 1 day though! 

[Matt 236]

Advice is appreciated guys. 

 

Trying to do lots of work snd and planning into this whole trip, given it would be me snd Tomb's biggest trip to date when it hopefully happens.

 

Is September a good time to visit? We are probably looking at 15 days.

[ThemeCrafter264]

Maybe wait until 2019 with star wars and maybe some Nintendo opening

[planenut]

10 hours ago, Timber Creek said:

Advice is appreciated guys. 

 

Trying to do lots of work snd and planning into this whole trip, given it would be me snd Tomb's biggest trip to date when it hopefully happens.

 

Is September a good time to visit? We are probably looking at 15 days.

Try to find out if they have any Bank Holidays during the period you're looking at as obviously there are more people in the parks, and check if school holidays are still on.

 

These prices may change in the time, but I doubt it...

http://www.internationaldriveorlando.com/iride-trolley/