From David Brown on February 18, 2013 at 1:42 AM
Great to see a UK perspective on visiting Orlando here.

I'd like to put in a word for car hire however as we have always hired a car and never regretted it - in fact the additional freedom it provides is well worth it. The cost is actually not that different from taking public transport - we paid less than £300 for two weeks in a mid sized car, (small cars available cheaper), and we find driving in the US actually very easy. especially out of season. yes you have to pay for car parking but that journey of an hour to the Disney parks by public transport takes about 20 minutes in a car and that frees up a lot of time, plus it's great for shopping, eating out or just park-hopping...

Sure you pay for car parking but even factoring that into the equation I'd not want to be without a car in orlando

From Zena Sharpe on February 18, 2013 at 5:58 AM
I agree, its great to see report about travelling from the UK. I will always use TCD and have never had a single problem with them. I understand your comment about when XL went under - although not on the same level, just a couple of weeks before we were due to fly over the pond, I had over £1,000 in with Crowne Currency Exchange and they was going to send my dollars out just before we were due to fly. As you may know, they went under and that was in October/November 2010 and I am still trying to claim my money back!

All that aside, great article. Thank you for this.

From 212.183.128.254 on February 18, 2013 at 8:03 AM
We booked our Florida holiday in October 2011, we have a three year old so it was quite daunting. Our whole holiday was absolutely fab, we booked through virgin and stayed at the Enclave suites on International Drive. Because we hired a car, we had early access to Harry Potter Wizarding World at 7am in the morning, and we were 3 of about 30 there and got parking free on top!! I thought this was a really nice touch for Virgin as it included breakfast as well!!

From 77.86.70.171 on February 18, 2013 at 10:15 AM
I'd agree with David. Driving was fine and does beat that hour spent on the bus. The best thing we did was to stop off at walmart, on the way from the airport to the hotel, and stock up with essentials. These being drinks/snacks etc to take into the parks, thus saving loads of money. We saved up as well a pot of money, separate to souvenir/spending money, just for food/lockers and parking. Parking is prob roughly $15 a day and lockers $8. Dump all the money on a travellers cheque card, they accept them in most places and you can use the atms - Sally

From 86.148.60.159 on February 19, 2013 at 1:31 AM
We have been to Orlando 4 times in the past 13yrs and every time the car was a real winner. Last year only my wife, 2 kids and I went, normaly we go in larger family group of 10-12. The car gave us real freedom to go to the parks when we liked and park hop as we did several times. For 1st time visitors it is worth trying to do all the parks, Disney, Universal, Seaworld & Busch. Never did Lego so can't comment. The main piece of advice I give to my friends when talking about it is be ready to try anything and everything but don't be disappointed if you don't, can't or won't. Time, the weather, tiredness and money can all catch up or run out on you so enjoy whatever it is you are doing at the time! Also take the time to do the little things the best part of our holiday was the 30mins we were stuck on Jungle River Cruise with the funiest guide. He described himself as a "fat Drew Carrey" he made what could have beena stressful half hour a real laugh.
Just remember when it comes to Orlando holidays, if you don't do it you won't miss it but once you have you always will.

From 62.249.223.233 on February 19, 2013 at 2:43 AM
Now when I went to Florida I found it cheaper to book everything seperately, compared to booking through a travel agent.

September 2010, I went for 7 nights and booked Virgin flights, double tree hotel near Seaworld and hire car all seperately and it worked out around £300 cheaper for both of us compared to booking with a travel agent in town. It was even cheaper booking flight and hotel seperate through Virgins website than booking together for some reason. Admittedly I didn't try an online package provider. Cost was about £530 each for flight, £40 a night hotel and £130 for a small car.

I would also add my support for hire car - its easy driving in America. We tried public transport 1 day trying to avoid the high parking costs and ended up stranded outside the Studios park after Fantasmic because they didnt have a bus that went back to the transport centre, only hotel ones. Had to get one of them then get an expensive taxi back that was twice the parking cost! A car was also much better for shopping and going to Nasa and Busch gardens.

From Steve Page-Smith on February 19, 2013 at 2:38 PM
Hi Everyone

I agree you need to get a car, it gives you the flexibility and freedom to mix up your day between shopping, theme park and back to the condo for a rest.

Something also worth considering is staying at a condo and not at a hotel as this can be much cheaper and you get better value for your money for a family booking.

Looking around using a site like www.holiday-rentals.co.uk you can get a condo for £275 a week which will get you a three bedroom condo accommodating a family of 6. This equates to 2 hotel rooms at around £375 for the week so worth checking this out and booking the flights separately. Over a 2 week holiday you already have a saving of £200.

Another condo benefit is you can wash/dry your cloths before you leave and that way you can come home and recover from the jet lag without the extra effort before going back to work. Also you can buy your breakfast at Wal-Mart and stay in and cook a few nights saving even more money.

Thanks
Steve