Florida in Mid September

[rich_vw]

Good afternoon all,

I'm planning (subject to both of us saving like hell) a few weeks away with the OH, and Orlando, Florida is one of the few places we'd like to visit.

Is weather any good mid september? Will it also be quieter than during the 'summer' period? I know we'd be looking to do theme parks etc and all the usual visitor hot spot!

Any advise on a half decent hotel (our budget for travel and accom. is approx £1200 - 1600 for 2 weeks)? Most seem plesent from brochers but always best to check with people who have been there.

Any other adivse would be more than welcome.

Rich

[Ynox]

Mid September is hurricane season so might be an idea to consider that. Odds are you *should* be ok, but I'm not sure if I'd take the gamble.

[rich_vw]

Ynox said:

Mid September is hurricane season so might be an idea to consider that. Odds are you *should* be ok, but I'm not sure if I'd take the gamble.

O...wasn't aware of that, does that mean there may be a bargin to be had?

[Ynox]

Possibly, or the other issue is if a hurricane did happen and you ended up in a hurricane shelter for a few days...

[rich_vw]

Ynox said:

Possibly, or the other issue is if a hurricane did happen and you ended up in a hurricane shelter for a few days...

Thats a good point, hurricane's aside any other useful bits?

[Ynox]

Probably quieter than July/August as the yanks are back in school (they go back to school in August) as are UK.

Aside from that, when I went (10 years ago now...) I stayed in the Castle Doubletree on I-Drive. It was an okish hotel but nothing amazing. Look on tripadvisor to see how good/bad hotels are before booking.

Might be better off booking flights/accommodation separately instead of a package deal as well.

[Deva Link]

Have a look at http://www.thedibb.co.uk for everything you could possibly want to know about the Orlando area in general and WDW specifically. The forums are quite entertaining (I keep getting suspended )!

Your travel and accom budget should be fine at that time of year, and food is pretty cheap there, but bear in mind that you really need a car to get the most out of it and that's going to cost, say £250-£450 depending on what you hire, plus fuel (cheap again now).

The other thing that bumps up the cost is theme park tickets. Daily prices are fairly high (say $50 per person) but the usual drill is to buy 7 or 14 day passes. If you got one for Disney and an Orlando Flex ticket (for Universal, SeaWorld etc) then you'd be looking at £250 ish each.


ETA: Assuming there's no hurricanes then Sept weather should be pretty good. Disney does free-dining for on-site guests from late Aug until end Sept (I think). That's a huge benefit and has tended to bump up the numbers, but it shouldn't make any difference to non-Disney hotels (might make them even quieter, if anything).

Edited by Deva Link on Monday 8th June 13:12

[S7Paul]

Have a look at the Travel City Direct and Jetsave websites.

[alex1982]

I went in November back in 2003 and the weather was perfect late 20's virtually every day and it only rained twice the whole time we were there. May have been luck. The queues were well short, 10 mins max apart from magic kingdon, only them longest was 30 mins for 1 ride.

[LilCat]

If you like moving around maybe stay one week in a Disney hotel then another week somewhere on International Drive?

With Disney Hotels.. The Boardwalk was convienient for us to walk to Hollywood Studios (10-15mins) and Epcot (10mins) but I love Kidani Village with Savannah View (Bit further away from the other parks but right next to Animal Kingdom.

Cheaper option to stay On Site will be either the Swan or Dolphin Hotel.

Off Site.. I have no idea.

Places to eat - Try some of the Disney restaurants.. 'Ohana at the Polynesian Resort, Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge, 50's Prime Time Diner in Hollywood Studios, Boma in Animal Kingdom Lodge, California Grill at the top of Contempory Resort etc etc..
Off Disney property you got the typical places like Cheesecake Factory, PF Chengs.. but for somewhere a bit more special Choup Choup!!

[Deva Link]

LilCat said:

If you like moving around maybe stay one week in a Disney hotel then another week somewhere on International Drive?

With Disney Hotels.. The Boardwalk was convienient for us to walk to Hollywood Studios (10-15mins) and Epcot (10mins) but I love Kidani Village with Savannah View (Bit further away from the other parks but right next to Animal Kingdom.

Cheaper option to stay On Site will be either the Swan or Dolphin Hotel.

Off Site.. I have no idea.

Places to eat - Try some of the Disney restaurants.. 'Ohana at the Polynesian Resort, Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge, 50's Prime Time Diner in Hollywood Studios, Boma in Animal Kingdom Lodge, California Grill at the top of Contempory Resort etc etc..
Off Disney property you got the typical places like Cheesecake Factory, PF Chengs.. but for somewhere a bit more special Choup Choup!!

I think every aspect of your post (apart from "somewhere on International Drive" misses the point by about a million miles that he's trying to do this on a budget!

Edited by Deva Link on Monday 8th June 14:32

[shakotan]

I went to Orlando mid September in 2008. I was staying with a friend outside of Orlando for the most part, but stopped in a Hotel near to Wet and Wild for the first weekend as he was busy with work.

The Hotel was full of England tops, bulldog tattoos, and screaming chav kids.

Yes, they should have been back at school at this time.

They weren't though!

Weather was mainly hot, with just one day of torrential rain (dried up within the hour) and a couple of showery days.

[Deva Link]

shakotan said:

a Hotel near to Wet and Wild for the first weekend as he was busy with work.

The Hotel was full of England tops, bulldog tattoos, and screaming chav kids.

That's the "somewhere on International Drive" bit.

[rich_vw]

shakotan said:

The Hotel was full of England tops, bulldog tattoos, and screaming chav kids.

Yes, they should have been back at school at this time.

They weren't though!

Weather was mainly hot, with just one day of torrential rain (dried up within the hour) and a couple of showery days.

Sounds like what I'm trying to avoid, although the weather (subject to no hurricane) is sounding promising.

As for hotels I don't want to be moving around so somewhere fairly central would be ideal, (probably should have mentioned that in the original post), I'm not really aware of the size of the place tbh, how does it compare to say Cardiff or Manchester. Hire car / bike is a possible, I do want to head off to Kennedy during my stay.

[Deva Link]

rich_vw said:

I'm not really aware of the size of the place tbh, how does it compare to say Cardiff or Manchester. Hire car / bike is a possible, I do want to head off to Kennedy during my stay.

Well, put it this way, WDW alone is the size of Greater Manchester.


It's a bit difficult to pick somewhere for someone else - holidays in that area are largely theme-park based. Our preference is for somewhere around the Lake Buena Vista (LBV) area. You're on WDW doorstep and not very far from SeaWorld or Universal.

Busch Gardens in Tampa is an hour or so away and the Gulf coast 90 mins or so. The atlantic coast, Kennedy etc, is under an hour away.

Downtown Orlando is some way away from the vacation areas and it's purely a commercial area - there's nothing really there for visitors.

Edited by Deva Link on Monday 8th June 15:36

[rich_vw]

Deva Link said:

rich_vw said:

I'm not really aware of the size of the place tbh, how does it compare to say Cardiff or Manchester. Hire car / bike is a possible, I do want to head off to Kennedy during my stay.

Well, put it this way, WDW alone is the size of Greater Manchester.


It's a bit difficult to pick somewhere for someone else - holidays in that area are largely theme-park based. Our preference is for somewhere around the Lake Buena Vista (LBV) area. You're on WDW doorstep and not very far from SeaWorld or Universal.

Busch Gardens in Tampa is an hour or so away and the Gulf coast 90 mins or so. The atlantic coast, Kennedy etc, is under an hour away.

Downtown Orlando is some way away from the vacation areas and it's purely a commercial area - there's nothing really there for visitors.

Edited by Deva Link on Monday 8th June 15:36

Puts it in to a little prespective. Well on that bit of info I would need to be fairly near the parks, wouldn't want to be out in the wilds of an industrial / commercial area!

[davidjpowell]

no where is that far from the parks. International Drive is 15 mins or so to the Disney estate. We stayed in the International Plaze, which is 4* and just refurbished on the southern part of I Drive for £1,100 inc. flights and car in March . Package deal with First Choice so may be worth a look.

Car hire is worthwhile IMO.

[ShadownINja]

Went there mid-September. It fluctuated between heavy rain (seriously heavy rain that the fastest setting on the windscreen wipers could not clear) and burning sunshine. Hurricane warnings were given but it didn't hit (thankfully!). I wouldn't say it was necessarily cheaper, though.

[Pvapour]

Gaylord palms (yeh I know) 20 mins away from attractions is a goody not too expensive, good Gym, few different themed restaurants inside, plus some good feeding times of the Crocs if you have kids, and a Galeon ship inside to boot.

Marriot if you want a little more plush....

http://www.marriottworldcenter.com/

great Spa, Gym and the best Lazy River can be a bit business like, check for conventions

September? best time to go IMO (going Sept 10) lul after kids have gone back equals no queues for anything, imminent Hurricane is just exciting (unless you have family)

You must try the Drag simulator on cruise night (thursday i think) at Old Town, if you haven't already.

Are Hertz still doing there Mustang Shelby? any excuse, last time at the Marriot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLOuGMIF7CY

[LilCat]

Pvapour said:

Are Hertz still doing there Mustang Shelby? any excuse, last time at the Marriot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLOuGMIF7CY

No Shelby anymore (was sooo much fun).. Although when we returned the Corvette we saw the Shelby in a parking bay so you may need to call them for that!

With the ZHZ - few tweaks here and there and we were good to go Sounded amazing!