Anyone been to orlando florida before ?

C

chris139ryan

Octane Boostaholics
Planning on going with the gf in September for 2 weeks. Never been to america before.

Looking at staying on international drive as its close to the theme parks. Anybody here stay there if so can you recommend a hotel. Anyone stay in any other areas which make the theme parks easily accessible ? if so what area did you stay in.

At the moment on the list of things to do is

Disney world
Sea world
Universal
gatorland just for the zip line over the enclosures
bush gardens maybe
aquatic water park
clearwater and maybe miami for a night

Is there any other places that i am missing out on thats a must visit when there. For the parks is it cheaper to buy the tickets here or from the hotel when you are over there ?

Will probably look into getting a car for the second week to travel around the malls and stuff. Are cars cheap to rent over there or are you better arranging this before you get to america ?

Spending money, we will probably have 1000 dollars set aside just for the parks but regards to food, shopping etc would we need much in regards to day to day spending ?

I no its a long post but I want to make the most out of our time there.

Thanks in advance :)
 
Anywhere on International Drive is well located for parks. There is a bus service (every 5 or 10mins) that runs the length of International Drive (IRIDE Trolley) and from memory costs a dollar a journey. Pretty sure you can buy weekly journeys also. This services the main parks (Universal, Wet & Wild, Seaworld, Discovery Cove). It also services the discount mall on south end of IDrive.

There is also a direct bus that runs from outside Seaworld to Disney & thats what we used as its about a 30 min spin & would have cost a chunk in a taxi. Trying to buy tickets over there for Disney is a pain in the @r$e as they want to offer you free access as long as you attend a 30min/1hour presentation for timeshare. For the sake of a $50 entry fee I'd be steering well clear of this bull$hit! We just got the bus & paid at the gate to be honest.

If you stay in any of the Universal affiliated hotels you can get a discount on park passes & they run free shuttle buses but fairly infrequent to be honest, only run 3 times in the morning & again in the evening but they do drop you direct to the door in fairness. The big benefit though is that the free bus also serviced Busch Gardens which is nearly an hours drive away so saving a fortune in taxi fare I would imagine.

Hotels are very basic by Irish standards & most are actually motels. We stayed in Embassy Suites (Jamaican Court) and couldn't fault it to be honest. There was free buffet breakfast every morning & managers happy hour every evening between 5 & 7 I think & bar was free at that time. A quick read of tripadvisor would suggest its gone downhill since we were there though (3 years ago).
 
[quote author=Dagnut link=topic=41647.msg476925#msg476925 date=1399463355]
Wouldn't bother with Miami, its a sh!thole
[/quote]

totally agree, not worth the spin/money, spend it on something better in the theme parks
 
same as heard avoid miami, can't remember the hotel we stayed in if i find out i'll stick it up here it was across from the upsidedown house on international drive, you'll be wrecked from doing the parks wouldn't bother with a car, we went in 07, 4 days in new york and the rest in florida doing the parks, we bought the tickets on the gates wasn't much difference in price that time between buying before or on the gate, september is good time for going all the schools back so the q's for the rides won't be to bad, bring plenty of single dollars they love tip's i mean they fookin love tips. international drive def the place to stay and the bus is the job.
 
Stayed at Orange lake golf resort. looking out window onto golf course is very nice. Climate is too humid though so you need aircon everywhere.
water parks were most fun part. rides over-rated. Get the multipark ticket but make sure all the parks you want are on it. We got a 5 park ticket but there are 2 or 3 not included on that. Miami has nothing only one main strip and the rest is a ghetto. One wrong turn and you get car jacked. The highlight for me was the Kennedy Space centre at Cape Canaveral. Its a 5 hour drive i think. Daytona beach is not far from the space centre either. Car rental for the week was about 800dollars for a nice top of the range Kia optima V6 auto. Prices are equal or a little more than here i found so not a bargain, but something for the bucket list for sure. My only regret was not trying the Gator steaks.
 
Great place

If your going to water park try the Stuka (think that's the name) tallest one there. Lie in a coffin and it raises up and trap door opens. Don't wear speedos

:smokin:

Try and dig out the hotel we stayed in
 
Was there a few years ago. Clearwater is a great place to go. Went for a drive around there an by jaysus when you leave the touristy spots the place is fairly run down. Oh and dont be tempted to go to them timeshares for cheaper park tickets :wall:

We went to an arabian nights show which was ok. Dinner and a show kinda thing. Very close to a place called old town, which you could guess resembles an old american town with lots of hotrods & choppers. Try a Pondarosa restaurant!! We actually had to hide our glasses as they just kept on refilling them after every sip. Just for giggles go to a McDonalds too!! Whole new experience. Kennedy space centre is a good day out, and while we were there we popped over to Daytona beach
 
I might be wrong but You might have to be over 25 and have had a full licence for more than 2 years to rent a car
Over there??
 
Cheers for all the feedback lads :thumbsup:

We have decided to do 10 nights in the rosen centre on international drive and 3 nights in the hilton in clear water to relax after all the parks.

We are paying for everything in advance. Got a flex ticket for bush gardens (handy when in clear water), universal, sea world, aquatica and 2 others can't remember for 340 for 2 of us. Probably go to disney for a day or 2.

Cant wait to try the food over there, mcdonalds is a must haha.

Booking it tomorrow can't wait and yeah heard they love their tips :)
 
To be honest the rosen centre would be situated on the worst part of IDrive from a location point of view. Its right next to the Convention Centre but little else within walking distance because of this.
 
[quote author=chris139ryan link=topic=41647.msg476995#msg476995 date=1399537947]

Cant wait to try the food over there


[/quote]

Tony Romas' is a must for a steak and ribs
 
Clearwater is nice... been there a few times for work... Ocean Drive nice views etc.

If renting... try http://www.autoeurope.ie/car.cfm ... I travelled a lot for work over the years and they are nearly always cheaper than anywhere else, including brand specific loyalty discounts. To give an idea... did a quick search for a week in Sept for Orlando... starts @ €125... however spend a little more and for €188 you will have a Dodge Charger (nice) including GPS, unlimited miles and zero excess for a week!
 
[quote author=Keadeen link=topic=41647.msg477026#msg477026 date=1399568252]
Clearwater is nice... been there a few times for work... Ocean Drive nice views etc.

If renting... try http://www.autoeurope.ie/car.cfm ... I travelled a lot for work over the years and they are nearly always cheaper than anywhere else, including brand specific loyalty discounts. To give an idea... did a quick search for a week in Sept for Orlando... starts @ €125... however spend a little more and for €188 you will have a Dodge Charger (nice) including GPS, unlimited miles and zero excess for a week!
[/quote]Sounds like a really good price man, nice one will have a look now :thumbsup:
 
We stayed in the other Rosen inn, we had a rental corolla so distances didn't matter, but sea world was walking distance. Highlight for me was Kennedy space center, but I like space stuff anyway, we went over to watch the launch of endeavour in April 2011, but it kept getting scrubbed :(

I'll bring the small one over in a few years, I'll try to coincide it with the Orion mission launch, if that goes ahead
 
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