Discussion
Couldn't see a thread since the last one for 24/25 (other than the boycotting USA one too).
Just back from a crazy busy 3 weeks in Orlando and booked flights yesterday to head out again over the summer - but one thing I have noticed is the price of car hire for this summer seems to have plummeted - £500 for a Wrangler for 5 weeks seemed like an absolute bargain (Dollar/Thrifty via Kayak) - I was originally only going to book it for the first couple of weeks but decided at £100/wk I may as well take it for the duration!
I have took a punt on flights though - using IcelandAir via Reykjavik from EDI - only £500 return p/p - but the turnaround is mega short on the return (35mins) so that should be interesting, but I keep reading assurances that they do super short turnarounds twice daily with minimal hiccups and it was worth a chance for the price paid!
Just back from a crazy busy 3 weeks in Orlando and booked flights yesterday to head out again over the summer - but one thing I have noticed is the price of car hire for this summer seems to have plummeted - £500 for a Wrangler for 5 weeks seemed like an absolute bargain (Dollar/Thrifty via Kayak) - I was originally only going to book it for the first couple of weeks but decided at £100/wk I may as well take it for the duration!
I have took a punt on flights though - using IcelandAir via Reykjavik from EDI - only £500 return p/p - but the turnaround is mega short on the return (35mins) so that should be interesting, but I keep reading assurances that they do super short turnarounds twice daily with minimal hiccups and it was worth a chance for the price paid!
Alorotom said:
Couldn't see a thread since the last one for 24/25 (other than the boycotting USA one too).
Just back from a crazy busy 3 weeks in Orlando and booked flights yesterday to head out again over the summer - but one thing I have noticed is the price of car hire for this summer seems to have plummeted - £500 for a Wrangler for 5 weeks seemed like an absolute bargain (Dollar/Thrifty via Kayak) - I was originally only going to book it for the first couple of weeks but decided at £100/wk I may as well take it for the duration!
I have took a punt on flights though - using IcelandAir via Reykjavik from EDI - only £500 return p/p - but the turnaround is mega short on the return (35mins) so that should be interesting, but I keep reading assurances that they do super short turnarounds twice daily with minimal hiccups and it was worth a chance for the price paid!
I'm going back over in 3 weeks, never bother with car hire though. Hopefully Magic will get through the foirst round of playoffs so I can catch a game. I always look forward to seeing how much things have gone up by since last time Just back from a crazy busy 3 weeks in Orlando and booked flights yesterday to head out again over the summer - but one thing I have noticed is the price of car hire for this summer seems to have plummeted - £500 for a Wrangler for 5 weeks seemed like an absolute bargain (Dollar/Thrifty via Kayak) - I was originally only going to book it for the first couple of weeks but decided at £100/wk I may as well take it for the duration!
I have took a punt on flights though - using IcelandAir via Reykjavik from EDI - only £500 return p/p - but the turnaround is mega short on the return (35mins) so that should be interesting, but I keep reading assurances that they do super short turnarounds twice daily with minimal hiccups and it was worth a chance for the price paid!
Im looking at going to Florida as I have a ton of Avios points which should take care of flights for the family of 5.
I had ruled it out as thought it would be horrifically expensive, but hotels look really reasonable as does car hire.
Would I be insane to think of visiting the parks one week, then Miami for a week with 3 kids? 5/6/11?
I had ruled it out as thought it would be horrifically expensive, but hotels look really reasonable as does car hire.
Would I be insane to think of visiting the parks one week, then Miami for a week with 3 kids? 5/6/11?
JimmyConwayNW said:
Im looking at going to Florida as I have a ton of Avios points which should take care of flights for the family of 5.
I had ruled it out as thought it would be horrifically expensive, but hotels look really reasonable as does car hire.
Would I be insane to think of visiting the parks one week, then Miami for a week with 3 kids? 5/6/11?
Not insane at all - you'll only scratch the surface of the parks in one week (assuming you mean Disney and Universal primarily) - but thats fine, you can always come back another time! I had ruled it out as thought it would be horrifically expensive, but hotels look really reasonable as does car hire.
Would I be insane to think of visiting the parks one week, then Miami for a week with 3 kids? 5/6/11?
Also looking at options for 2027 and see that the free Disney dining options have gone live today.
We were initially looking at Easter 2027, but the more I think about it I would rather take my chances in mid/late August with hurricane season than tackle the spring break crowds every single day. Even with some fast passes, I can't help but feel the business would take the edge off the experience.
Plus it would free up Easter for skiing
We were initially looking at Easter 2027, but the more I think about it I would rather take my chances in mid/late August with hurricane season than tackle the spring break crowds every single day. Even with some fast passes, I can't help but feel the business would take the edge off the experience.
Plus it would free up Easter for skiing
JimmyConwayNW said:
Would I be insane to think of visiting the parks one week, then Miami for a week with 3 kids? 5/6/11?
Just my opinion (we've been 20+ times on our own, with kids and with kids and grandchildren) I would say probably yes (insane). Have you been before? It's hot (possibly very hot) and tiring. Trying to do it in a week puts a lot of pressure on if the kids (or you) are having a bad day. The 14 day passes take that pressure off so you don't feel bad about doing part days.
What are the kids going to do for a week in Miami?
If you're looking at next year, Disney has the included dining offer on again (was released today, I think) and in the past that's overall been reasonable value.. Not sure how you'd get on with on-site accommodation with 3 kids but in my view staying on-site changes the holiday massively, although we've sometimes split it with a Disney focussed week on-site and a week in a (nearby) villa doing other stuff, and going to Disney some evenings.
Sheepshanks said:
What are the kids going to do for a week in Miami?
There's mountains of stuff in Miami for young kids. Water parks, national parks, the everglades, beaches, sports, etc. More than you could hope to cover in a week. They definitely won't be bored but a car is essential to move around. aussieal said:
Also looking at options for 2027 and see that the free Disney dining options have gone live today.
We were initially looking at Easter 2027, but the more I think about it I would rather take my chances in mid/late August with hurricane season than tackle the spring break crowds every single day. Even with some fast passes, I can't help but feel the business would take the edge off the experience.
Plus it would free up Easter for skiing
Success, convinced Mrs Aussieal that August would be fine, even if we had a hurricane. 2027 holiday plan now all sorted!We were initially looking at Easter 2027, but the more I think about it I would rather take my chances in mid/late August with hurricane season than tackle the spring break crowds every single day. Even with some fast passes, I can't help but feel the business would take the edge off the experience.
Plus it would free up Easter for skiing
JimmyConwayNW said:
Im looking at going to Florida as I have a ton of Avios points which should take care of flights for the family of 5.
I had ruled it out as thought it would be horrifically expensive, but hotels look really reasonable as does car hire.
Would I be insane to think of visiting the parks one week, then Miami for a week with 3 kids? 5/6/11?
Its all very misleading as flights and hotels are cheap because there is so much choice out there, but the realty is the 14 day Disney ticket is £600pp for 14 days and University is now about £450pp. Eating out is also very expensive too. I had ruled it out as thought it would be horrifically expensive, but hotels look really reasonable as does car hire.
Would I be insane to think of visiting the parks one week, then Miami for a week with 3 kids? 5/6/11?
We came back from two weeks on the 7th April. Universal only, but was still an amazing trip. The Harry Potter themed lands are amazing as is the Isle Of Berk at Epic. We stayed off site and hired a rather hideous Jeep Compass which I have no desire to ever drive again. It was about £585 for a week though, so not so bad in terms of cost. Wasn't big enough though.
I have been to Miami a good few times, although most recent was 2024 so 2 years out of date.
I would not say its any place for kids over and above Orlando. Orlando is designed for kids. Thats where I would put my time and money.
There isnt really that much to do and I have personally found a wider and wider language gap in Miami over more recent visits and as I dont speak any Spanish I actually found it quite difficult. With 3 young kids I would see that as a bad idea IMO.
Clearwater / St Petes might be a possible, but again its mostly aimed at snow birds and adults.
YMMV.
I would not say its any place for kids over and above Orlando. Orlando is designed for kids. Thats where I would put my time and money.
There isnt really that much to do and I have personally found a wider and wider language gap in Miami over more recent visits and as I dont speak any Spanish I actually found it quite difficult. With 3 young kids I would see that as a bad idea IMO.
Clearwater / St Petes might be a possible, but again its mostly aimed at snow birds and adults.
YMMV.
gotoPzero said:
I have been to Miami a good few times, although most recent was 2024 so 2 years out of date.
I would not say its any place for kids over and above Orlando. Orlando is designed for kids. Thats where I would put my time and money.
There isnt really that much to do and I have personally found a wider and wider language gap in Miami over more recent visits and as I dont speak any Spanish I actually found it quite difficult. With 3 young kids I would see that as a bad idea IMO.
Clearwater / St Petes might be a possible, but again its mostly aimed at snow birds and adults.
YMMV.
Sorry but I don't agree with several of your points. I've been living in Miami for over 10 years now and had kids and grandkids staying with us numerous times. There's loads of things to do for kids. It's not Orlando as you say so the entertainment for the kids is of a completely different type but do you really want to do two full weeks in the parks in Orlando? Sounds exhausting to me. I would not say its any place for kids over and above Orlando. Orlando is designed for kids. Thats where I would put my time and money.
There isnt really that much to do and I have personally found a wider and wider language gap in Miami over more recent visits and as I dont speak any Spanish I actually found it quite difficult. With 3 young kids I would see that as a bad idea IMO.
Clearwater / St Petes might be a possible, but again its mostly aimed at snow birds and adults.
YMMV.
Not knowing Spanish has never been an issue for me. My missus speaks gardener Spanish which is more than enough on the odd occasion we find a taxi driver that doesn't speak English. It's rare to find somebody that doesn't speak English unless you're in the depths of the areas you really shouldn't be visiting anyway.
Next to Orlando, Miami is the best place to take kids. The gulf coast isn't really for kids IMO, they would be bored.
Heading on a job to Ft Lauderdale next week. Will have 2 days to myself, never been before, so will have to explore. But will probably spend some time on the beach and swimming. Never really had any time to myself in Miami before, but had a couple of days in Boca Raton last year. Worth heading into Miami for a day?
aussieal said:
Also looking at options for 2027 and see that the free Disney dining options have gone live today.
We were initially looking at Easter 2027, but the more I think about it I would rather take my chances in mid/late August with hurricane season than tackle the spring break crowds every single day. Even with some fast passes, I can't help but feel the business would take the edge off the experience.
Plus it would free up Easter for skiing
I did Easter 2018 with two adult-ish kids, as one is a teacher. Because we had tickets for a launch at Kennedy and a guided tour there on another day, we ended up doing the Magic Kingdom on Easter Monday. To quote Pretty Woman; "Big Mistake. Huge."We were initially looking at Easter 2027, but the more I think about it I would rather take my chances in mid/late August with hurricane season than tackle the spring break crowds every single day. Even with some fast passes, I can't help but feel the business would take the edge off the experience.
Plus it would free up Easter for skiing
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Heading on a job to Ft Lauderdale next week. Will have 2 days to myself, never been before, so will have to explore. But will probably spend some time on the beach and swimming. Never really had any time to myself in Miami before, but had a couple of days in Boca Raton last year. Worth heading into Miami for a day?
Depends what you're into, whether it's worth it or not. Fort Lauderdale and Miami are very, very different. Completely different feel and demographic. If you've got a car you could drive down A1A , alongside the beach, all the way to Ocean Drive and South pointe in Miami Beach. It's a much more interesting drive than I95 and plenty places to stop, have lunch, see the art deco district. Head West over the MacArthur causeway, past the cruise port and then back to Fort Lauderdale along Biscayne Boulevard. You'll get to see downtown from a distance, Star Island (Diddy's house), and lots of the other local 'landmarks'. Collectingbrass said:
I did Easter 2018 with two adult-ish kids, as one is a teacher. Because we had tickets for a launch at Kennedy and a guided tour there on another day, we ended up doing the Magic Kingdom on Easter Monday. To quote Pretty Woman; "Big Mistake. Huge."
I’m surprised you got in - someone told us it’s the busiest day they have.We went back end of Sept, I think same year, stayed on site. It should be relatively quiet then but it was so busy they were dynamically adjusting the park hours so they were open longer than expected.
They changed Magic Kingdom to 8AM but for on-site people it was 7AM. It was a bit bizarre getting up at 5.30 on holiday and arriving at MK before it was properly light but we had a good 2 hrs there of it being deserted as few people knew the hours had changed.
Doggleg said:
.... but do you really want to do two full weeks in the parks in Orlando? Sounds exhausting to me.
The parks are exhausting but the point of doing it over two weeks is you don't have to go at it 100% - it's no problem to do a part-day or have days for shopping, water parks, or other stuff.It can become a bit of a military operation - it's costing a fortune to be there so you don't want to be getting up in the morning without a clear plan. If you're on-site at WDW with a table service Dining Plan you'll have made your restaurant reservations six months prior anyway!
Re the car rental prices - I am in the US for a couple of weeks during May and noticed the same, just rebooked my rental for a third of the cost it was 4 months ago.
This is the norm for USA car rental - cheaper the longer you leave it, but the prices have never dropped to this level before. It's simply supply and demand, with oil prices and international tourists staying away, they just have more cars than they can rent right now.
This is the norm for USA car rental - cheaper the longer you leave it, but the prices have never dropped to this level before. It's simply supply and demand, with oil prices and international tourists staying away, they just have more cars than they can rent right now.
Last year we stayed in Bradenton to reach Anna Maria to Sarasota beach stretch and get out to the parks in 2 hours.
Busch gardens of course available and you had plenty of other options for kids around Tampa. A decent pool in the villa alone was enough for him (cheaper than Orlando). You also had some nature reserves for gator hunting, just a shame it was June and the dry season.
Couldn't think of anything worse than going to Orlando with no beach but thats us. I drove in to seaworld one day and from previous stays in Kissimmee it felt much bigger, harder to drive about and had become more like Vegas around the parks.
Absolutely fantastic with our five year old. Just a bit gutted we never got over to Cape Canaveral as we ran out of time.
Busch gardens of course available and you had plenty of other options for kids around Tampa. A decent pool in the villa alone was enough for him (cheaper than Orlando). You also had some nature reserves for gator hunting, just a shame it was June and the dry season.
Couldn't think of anything worse than going to Orlando with no beach but thats us. I drove in to seaworld one day and from previous stays in Kissimmee it felt much bigger, harder to drive about and had become more like Vegas around the parks.
Absolutely fantastic with our five year old. Just a bit gutted we never got over to Cape Canaveral as we ran out of time.
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