holiday help

Hi

I am looking to book the Marriot fairfield inn at lake buena vista probably for november next year going for three weeks. As neither me nor my partner can drive will this be a good location for buses to get to the universal parks. Scheduled transport is included for the disney parks.

We do not mind using buses as this is what we are used to at home.

We are looking to purchase our tickets before we go, is it easy to get to the kennedy space centre, nascar, gatorland and maybe a day or two to a beach. Are there coaches that you can book to take you there and what sort of prices are they as we would like to purchase a go orlando 3 day pass for these so long as we will be able to get to these attractions ok using public transport.

We will also be purchasing the 14 day ultimate disney pass and the 5 park orlando flexi ticket.

Is November a good month to visit the parks? Are they busy or quiet at this time of the year? We are hoping to go from the 7th.

Are virgin good to travel with? We will be flying from manchester as I have not been able to find any flights from cardiff at this time of year. There will be me my partner and our son who will be 10 travelling.

Look forward to any help or suggestions anyone has.

Thank you
Yvonne

November is a great time to go, weather in the 80's and hardly any rain. Virgin are great way to fly, unable to help you in regard to coaches.

Hello Yvonne, cannot offer any help about buses and transport I'm afraid. It is a great time to be going - weather is good and queues are short. Some of the water parks may be closed (sure someone will know).

Only answered 'cos I thought you wanted someone to HELP on your HOLIDAY i.e. carry cases (if I didn't have a bad back) cook for you (but you won't be needing that), chauffer (sorry I don't drive over there) so in a nutshell I wouldn't be much help on your hols after all, but will try answer any other questions you have.

I would agree with Mary, you have chosen a great time to go and yes Virgin are good to fly with. If you have booked a holiday through them, they will be offering organised trips to kennedy and gatorland through their reps.
During the week of Thanksgiving the parks will be busy but the rest of the time will be just great.
You may find that public transport makes your day too long and you will get very tired. Even energetic 10yr olds can find the parks quite tiring. I would say you will probably need to use taxis sometimes.
Have you thought about a villa or condo instead of the Fairfield?
Three weeks is a long time to be sharing a small space.
Whatever you choose you are going to have a great time. Towards the end of November, the disney resorts will be all decked out in thier chritmas finery and are well worth a visit.

Virgin Atlantic were fine for us. You can check in on line the day before you leave, this was great as it saved time hanging around. We drove from S.W. to Manchester so as you don't drive I can't help on this. (I have some short cut directions if someone is taking you.)

I will send you a DM

Linda

Hi I can highly recommend November, we have been that time of year a couple of times, no real queues at the parks and pleasant weather. We have always travelled with Virgin and have never had cause for complaint.

You might want to look at the link on this site for your ticket purchases as I have not been able to find them cheaper elsewhere.

You will find tonnes of useful advice on this forum but I usually also get myself the latest copy of The Brits Guide to Orlando and Walt Disney World by Simon Veness as I find this invaluable, even after visiting a number of times.

Enjoy the planning, it's all part of the fun![msncool]

Due to being unable to drive we would rather stay in a hotel as at least then we can use the free scheduled transport to disney and hopefully be able to use the lynx and I-trolley to get to the universal parks.

The fairfield which we are thinking of booking also does a free continental breakfast each morning and gets some very good reviews. We do not intend to spend much time in the room so the three of us sharing one room isn't really a problem.

We will be travelling by train to Manchester from S.W and staying at my sisters overnight, she will take us to the airport for our flight.

Thank you to everyone for their advice so far

Regards
Yvonne

November is a great time to go, the weather is warm but not hot, the parks will be relatively quiet and you should have no problem with transport to the parks. Have a great time.[msnsmile2]

And of course you can do your Christmas shopping [msnwink] [msnwink]

We love Florida in November
Great time to go[msnsmile2]

Not sure about travel to Kennedy Space Centre - but you can get to Busch Gardens by coach:
"Busch Gardens Shuttle Express
Now it’s easier than ever to experience Busch Gardens’ wildlife and wild rides via the Busch Gardens Shuttle Express for only $10 per person for a round trip from Orlando. The service is always free with the purchase of a 5-Park Orlando FlexTicket! For pick-up times and locations, call 1-800-221-1339."

There is also the I-Ride (bus service) which takes you up & down International Drive - so you can viit any attractions in that area - Wonderworks, Pointe Orlando etc.

Hope you enjoy your holiday - I'm sure you will

Thanks to everyone for their advice.

We have booked to go 1st november 2006 for three weeks staying at the fairfield inn on international drive instead of the fairfield inn lake buena vista flying with virgin.

Yvonne

Yvonne,

If you have the time, look at the threads on Disney/universal passes that I'm sure are here. (Too new to know yet)
I notice that if you go onto Disney uk website, the range of passes is very limited and very expensive. You can go to their u.s websire and click on the us flag rather than the union jack and see what's really on offer. I'm not saying they are better for you, but forwarned is forarmed as someone once said. 14 day passes always sound extereme to me, I have my calf muscles to think about.

Paul.

Yvonne I stayed at the Fairfield Inn, Lake Buena Vista in March this year whilst I was looking for property to buy.

The location for disney is perfect if you aren't driving. Make sure you ask for your free bus pass when you check in and then take that each time you travel to the office on site and they give you a bus ticket. It sounds more complicated than it really is.

You can walk to the premium outlet mall from there (takes around 10 minutes) just turn left out of the main entrance of the hotel and its on your right. From the other side of the mall you can catch the trolley bus for international drive.

If you need a taxi any time you can get one outside the hotelor from the mall, but I doubt you'll need it much for local visits. However, not sure how you would get on going to the beach. There is a Golden Coral and Bahama Breeze opposite the hotel for eats, and the on site pizza and burger bar is not bad as a one off but wouldn't eat there all the time.

The free continental breakfast is pretty good really, muffins, bagels, milk, juice, coffee and pancakes. You can eat it in the dining room or take it back to the room. Free coffee is available in the reception all the time but I preferred to buy Starbucks coffee at the take away on site. The pool is a pretty good size too.

I have been travelling with Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays for longer than I care to remember and would always recommend them.

Hope that helps
Jill

macka

Thanks for your reply and info.

There is a link at the top of the page for tickets. Will not be purchasing tickets till after christmas but am going to buy the 14 day ultimate as it is only 10 pounds more than the 7 day one. Will also be buying the 5 park orlando flexiticket. Have found the 14 day ultimate ones for disney for £156 they are not advertised as being sold on this site yet but hopefully will be by the time we go.

jillizzy

Thanks for your reply and info.

Thanks for your info regarding the fairfield inn lake buena vista. After some advice from here we found out that there was also a fairfield inn on international drive as well so decided to book that one instead as we preferred to be on international drive as it will be easier for us to get around using public transport.

We have read a lot of good reviews for this hotel and have read that the free continental breakfast is good here also.

We are travelling with virgin and are really looking forward to our holiday.

Regards yvonne

Hi, we flew with Virgin the first time we went to Orlando and also stayed on International Drive and had a fantastic time. If you don't drive I personally think you've made the right choice to stay there. We're off for our third trip to Orlando at the end of the month and will be staying on I-Drive again.

I forgot to add, that although it's approx an hours drive away you should definately take a trip down to Busch Gardens if you have the opportunity. Thats our favourite park by along way.

hi josie jump

Thanks for your reply and info.

We will definitely be going to Busch gardens while we are there, we will be able to get the free bus with the tickets we are buying.

We wanted to stay on international drive but liked the look of the fairfield inn so were really pleased when we found out there was one on international drive.

We have still got this years holiday to look forward to, going to spain in 2 weeks with passes for port aventura for 14 days.

Enjoy your trip Yvonne, you will love BG:)