Hi,

In my view you cannot enjoy your holiday to the full in Florida without a car, yes there are buses on Int. Drive but they fill up quickly as do the shuttles to the Theme Parks. A car will let you exploreIt is best to have a car however many hotels run a free shuttle service to the parks so booking one of these would save you car hire plus parking costs.

hi melanie

thank you very much for taking the time to give this much detail on florida.

we have decided not to go this year and have booked up for antigua in september as a consolation lol.... we are still really keen to visit florida though and are considering doing it next year. ive copied and pasted all the advice that everybody's been kind enough to provide into a word document and saved it so it will come in very useful when we do decide to go to florida.

thanks again for your help and i hope you have a great holiday....septembers not too far away ;-)

all the best

L

HI Lewis,

We have travelled to orlando 4 times in the last five years, and again this september; so here goes with my best travel hints:

Staying in International drive is VERY busy at all times of the day and night. Great if thats what you want, bummer if not.Whilst it is close to wet and wild and seaworld - disney etc are about a 1/2 hour drive (much longer on the shuttle bus) people in orlando dont seem to use cabs too much although you do see them. Petrol is amazingly cheap so no complaint there, and driving is very simple and safe . Get driving directions form Mapquest.com or BUY a sat nav $80 about £50, that much cheaper than renting one.

It is cheaper to stay in Kissimmee decent rooms for about $29 per room per night. You do not have to book a hotel with breakfast as you can get a VERY large breakfast at many of the chain restaurants (sizzler etc) for $3.99 - that will fill you up all day. You can then get deals in the eve from all the chains we have here - earlybirds (b4 5.00pm) cost very little and are substantial meals - so eating doesn't have to be expensive. Perkins is one of our favorites great food, even greater prices!!

Car hire - try US car hire or Rental momma.com - you can hire a car all inc for £99 a week from both of these. You can pay a deposit only for now if you wish.

Thomas cook has flights in jun/july starting at £180, thats a charter flight. Try dialaflight for scheduled about £226 with united or delta for the same time.

You can book a villa with out having to be in a group! - try VRBO.com or home and away.com. Venere.com will offer rooms or villas without payment up front - pay on checkout.

Bookit.com or Orbitz.com take bookings in dollars per night NOT per person per night - making it way cheaper!

You could try Regal palms.com - just outside the main drag of kissimmee- but is its own resort, a 3 bed townhouse(no private pool) but one onsite along with clubhouse etc - would cost roughly £50 a night (£700 for 14 nights). it offers shuttles to all the main attractions plus tickets etc, it has a supermarket next door and a takeaway service so you can eat in or out cheaply. Has a BBQ, restaurant, spa gym, web cafe and all the other things you can think of onsite.

best advice: Buy 'the brits guide to orlando (about £10 on amazon) this will let do your homework, suit yourself, and show you loads of things for free.

So, to sum up flights:£200 each, hotel £350 each, car hire £100 each = £650 each for 14 nights costs more for 2 weeks in spain!!

The dollar is weak at the moment, we had $1.67 last sept and it's $1.63 now so all things are even.

Florida is great, you can find something new to do every day and never do the same thing again. Atrip to the Keys is reccommended- but fly dont drive. It takes about 5 hours to drive and seems endless. You can get a return for about $59 with Spiritair.com (£40) not worth the hassle for that.

Right, got some screaming kids to feed now - so hope this helps you - if you need any more info etc just get back to me.

regards

melanie

Hi Lewis

It is best to have a car however many hotels run a free shuttle service to the parks so booking one of these would save you car hire plus parking costs. Its a good option to look for a hotel with free shuttle service even if you have a car as it can save you a fortune in parking over a fortnights holiday.

I would recommend international drive if you don't have a vehicle as there are many restaurants and shops within walking distance of all hotels unlike in Kissimmee where the hotels are more spaced out. Also on International there is a trolley bus which I think costs around a dollar to anywhere along the length of the street (which is a few miles long).

Food is cheap but it soon mounts up if you are buying all meals so I think it might be best to book a hotel that offers free breakfast. Many of the hotels do this.

You will be spoilt for choice for things to do and places to eat. Everything is cheap and even cheaper if you use the coupon books in most hotels. Enjoyed all the theme parks but our favourite was bush gardens. There is a free shuttle to Bush gardens ( which is an hour drive away) if you buy a combined seaworld/bush gardens tickets.

If you shop around you can get attraction tickets really cheap on the internet before you go

Hope this helps

Cazc

Hey Lewis,

Last year my hubby and I headed off to South Carolina for my friends wedding we spent a week there before driving down to Orlando (highly reccomended trip, was an amazing journey) My point is we had previously arranged our beach house for SC but had nowt arranged for Orlando we threw caution to the wind and just booked our hotel when we got there it was basic but very clean and had a great pool (Howard Jonson, Kissimmee)and it was cheap as chips and included brekkie!!! Fantastic!!! the only thing I would say about Kissimmee is that you really need a car, but dont worry bout the driving its fine. This probs isnt an option for everyone but IMHO if you do enough reserch before you go it can work out a really fantastic holiday on a tight budget, Infact we are doing the same this year and are planning for Orlando, Tampa, Miami and the Keys (cant wait) As for the parks which really are a must do, just look out for the best rates on the Flex Ticket, we think they are gd value for money! Hope you do go to Orlando its just brill!!

hi

thanks very much for taking the time to reply.

that is a lot of good advice so i'll investigate based on your suggestions. its great to know the more modestly prices hotels on international drive are ok and close to resteraunts, bars, entertainment!!!

i would also be flying from glasgow and will check out the prices....my dates aren't fixed so ive got some flexibility. thanks aswell for the tip on car hire.....i do quite like the idea of having a car to explore the area so will check out the website you suggested.

we are still very undecided what to do.....decision decisions lol, but florida is still very much in the running. considering flying to somewhere in america and doing a tour holiday by car. depends on how brave we are i guess....

thanks again for all your suggestions, all the best!!!

L

Hello,

We have been to Florida just the 2 of us, 4 times in the last 5 years - don't be put off by going just the 2 of you. We tend to do it on a budget too, and we have done it a couple of times without a car - which cuts the cost a bit. My best tip would be to look at budget hotels round the International Drive area that are aroung Pointe Orlando. One that we stayed in was Extended Stay Deluxe - idea for the 2 of you, as there were a couple of double beds, fridge, coffee maker etc This one also had free shuttles to Disney (which were really good, and cuts out a bit of expense). We also stayed at a cheaper one along the road from there Hampton Inn (no shuttles, but was really good). Both of these can be got for about 35ish per night, but there are ones that are cheaper around I Drive.

The great bit about that area is that you are in walking distance to loads of restaurants without the need for taxis. Bahama Breeze is a great place to have a meal and a few drinks and both of these hotels are very close - less than a 5 min walk. None of the restaurants I have been to there have been expensive, and all have been good.

We do our flights with Thomas Cook, as we are limited in the choice of direct flights from Glasgow, but depending on where you are preparad to fly from, there are bargains to be had. For our cars, we normally go to usrentacar.com, they have worked out cheaper than taking the "free" car with packages where you have to pay the insurance extra. The price of this will have gone up from what we paid last year, as the dollar is worth a lot less to the £, but they are still reasonable.

Hope this helps.

hi alan

thanks very much for your response.....a lot of useful advice and information!!!

im especially surprised that the villa prices are based on maximum occupancy. seems a bit daft to refuse a booking of (for example) £500 per week for 2 people and accept £500 per week for 10??? surely the less people the less consumables get used, the less chance for damage etc? anyway, i wasn't aware of that.

think i need to do a lot more homework before i decide if florida is for us this year. would love to visit but may not be practible with just my girlfriend and i....sounds like its best to visit florida in a larger group.

best regards

L

If there are only 2 of you a villa is not an option, the cost is based on maximum occupancy which will be at least 6 and frequently 8, so a hotel is really your best option. In my view you cannot enjoy your holiday to the full in Florida without a car, yes there are buses on Int. Drive but they fill up quickly as do the shuttles to the Theme Parks. A car will let you explore. I certainly wouldn't want to spend too long in Orlando but the west coast of Florida is brilliant to drive along, across Alligator Alley towards Miami and then perhaps down the Keys for a day or two.

Florida is not cheap, just cost the price of admission to Disney for a day let alone a week and you will see this is never a cheap holiday. You also have to realise that the £/$ rate is no where as good as it was 12 months ago so things may be a lot more than you expect just because of the exchange rate.

How to travel depends when you want to travel and to some extent your age. Under 21? No drinking at all and possible extra hire charges for cars. Under 25, you can drink but may still get stung for additional car rental and insurance charges. Assuming you are not in either category you have the choice of charter or schedued flights. As a geneal rule, charters are cheaper in low season, outside of school holidays but they will get you there in one hop(check the legroom though) Scheuled flights usually require a change of plane, the exceptions being BA and Virgin who fly non stop. Charters tend to have more children on board and may have more delays, they also fly to Sanford which is another 40 miles north of Orlando rather than to the real Orlando airport. After 8 and a half hours, that extra 40 miles can seem a long ride!

hi all

my girlfriend and i are considering options for holidays this year and after talking to a number of colleagues im interested in visiting Florida.

we are on a reasonably tight budget, however are looking for somewhere reasonable to stay which is in a good location. i have had a look into both hotel and villa accomodation and am unsure....... some of the advice ive had so far includes:

- a car is essential

- i may be best to look for accommodation on international drive for closeness to restaraunts, bars and other entertainment

- food is cheap and plentiful

was wondering if any of you helpful people could offer any further advice with regards to:

- cost for flights, accommodation, car hire, best deals etc?

- can taxi's be got easily and cheaply if we choose accommodation away from the central areas if we want to go out for a meal and a drink? (i.e. international drive)

- besides the obvious attractions any other ideas for exploring and making use of the hire car. nice drives etc?

i will be grateful for any advise you can give to help me along. thanks in advance!!!

best regards

L