Best way to buy park tickets???

[lord morbius]

Hi folks, it's my first time using this board so bear with me if i make any blunders. I'll be arriving in Florida from Ireland next month and need to know two things...

1/ is there a bus etc. which i can catch from Sanford Airport into orlando? The taxi prices seem expensive and i won't be hiring a car for the first few days.

2/ can someone please explain if it would be cheaper to buy my tickets to Universal and Disney somewhere in orlando or by E-Mail? Tickets seem cheaper online than the gate prices and they would mean avoiding queueing at the park entrance too, but i'm thinking they would probably be just as cheap to buy in Orlando when i arrive and also not have to pay shipping charges or have to worry about postal problems, any advice would be helpfull, thanks - Mervyn.

[florida4sun]

Hi,

As far as I know ther is no bus from Sandford. Your looking at a 50 - 60 minute journey.

Orlando Villas has great deals on tickets see here http://www.park-tickets.com You can have them mailed, delivered
or you can collect them.

quote:Originally posted by lord morbius

Hi folks, it's my first time using this board so bear with me if i make any blunders. I'll be arriving in Florida from Ireland next month and need to know two things...

1/ is there a bus etc. which i can catch from Sanford Airport into orlando? The taxi prices seem expensive and i won't be hiring a car for the first few days.

2/ can someone please explain if it would be cheaper to buy my tickets to Universal and Disney somewhere in orlando or by E-Mail? Tickets seem cheaper online than the gate prices and they would mean avoiding queueing at the park entrance too, but i'm thinking they would probably be just as cheap to buy in Orlando when i arrive and also not have to pay shipping charges or have to worry about postal problems, any advice would be helpfull, thanks - Mervyn.

[pbensur]

Most of the villas are taken care of by property managers who will often leave a binder in the villa with valuable information and also services they offer. Most can obtain park tickets at discounted rates for the guests staying there. We live in the U.S.A. and belong to AAA (American Automobile Association) and we have purchased discounted park passes through there in the past. Maybe you have a similar association in Ireland??

[Matt]

Mervyn,

Park Tickets - I would strongly suggest you buy before you go. You can probably save around $100-$150 depending on which tickets and the amount of tickets you are getting.

As already mentioned, your management company should be able to get some discounted tickets for you, I suggest you contact the owner you have rented from to find out if they do them. Alternatively, some companies will deliver the tickets to your accommodation, or you can pick them up once you arrive.

I have caught a bus before from Sanford in to Daytona so I don't see that they won't go to Orlando. Check the Sanford Airport website and they should have more information.

Hope this helps, and have a great trip.

Matt[8D]

[Lee]

Mervyn,
Why aren't you hiring a car from the beginning? You should also try to hire your car before you go. It would probably work out cheaper than bus/taxi as well.

Lee

[lord morbius]

thanks for the info folks, there does not seem to be any mention of busses from Sanford but i'm thinking there SURELY MUST BE SOMETHING, i mean it's an airport for goodness sake, thousands of people are flying in there every day, i have been on the airport site, but will check it again, thanks Matt. I intend to do Disney for the first 5 days or so, a rental car would just be sitting in their parking lot from early morning until late evening, plus i'd have to pay a parking fee so i don't see much point in renting a motor from the start. As for buying my tickets in advance, the cheapest i've seen for a 5 day park hopper for disney is around $230 which is a little under £145 and about $10 cheaper than buying at the gate(the same ticket costs around £170-£180 in the u.k.). I have been unable to find any better deals, certainly not £100-£150 dollars discount. i also need 2 day tickets for Universal/isles of adventure, but like the disney tickets, a discount seems to mean saving only about 5-10 bucks.

[fiona]

Mervyn where are you staying? Is it somewhere that has a shuttle service to Disney? If not you will rack up the spending more with a taxi than a hire car.

[janny]

www.golynx.com

This is the web site for the bus service .Itwill give you the information you want.For what it's worth I agree with Fiona -if you are not staying somewhere with a shuttle bus get a car you'll need it.

[Matt]

Mervyn,

I mentioned savings of around 100-150 on total depending on the amount of tickets your buying. (Not each ticket!)

Matt

[lord morbius]

Hi again, My girlfriend and i are visiting orlando on 26th april, yes i know what you mean Matt, if i were saving that much on each ticket they would almost be paying ME for them hehe, we needa five day park hopper for disney and a two day into Universal each, maybe this is'nt many - we also intend visiting the kennedy space centre (maybe you could explain sonething about that to me... i can buy a ticket for this for around $30 but the bus tours around the complex are extra, however, as far as i can gather, if i buy a ticket to tour cape canaveral(where i can see the vehical assembly building, crawler etc, about $55) then admission into the kennedy space centre is included. Does this mean it would be better to find tickets for the latter rather than simply paying into kennedy then paying for the canaveral tour? Maybe i've got my wirse crossed.

I'm staying on International drive and reckon i should be able to get the Lynx or I-Ride bus from here to disney, as for universal, it is very close to our hotel.

If i've learned something about the u.s. it is that you can not take printed prices too seriously(with the exception perhaps of park tickets etc. where there is only a small margin of profit for vendors). I went to Vegas last year and booked two nights advance in the Luxor hotel (you know, the big pyramid one), the price came to around $400 bucks or so. After the two days we decided to see around the place a bit and move to a hotel downtown, when checking out, Luxor asked us if we would reconsider, offering us our rooms for the rest of our stay for 60 bucks a night - now thats some reduction. We ended up staying in a hotel downtown with all mod cons, four poster bed, breakfast etc. for $27 a night haha. similarly, i have prebooked our first two nights in orlando on I-Drive, the price was $77 including tax. Over here in Ireland/U.K. accomodation is very expensive compared to the U.S. and prices are PER PERSON, so if there are two of you - then you can double it... EEK!!! P.S. you should visit Ireland, it's a different universe altogether, life is so different, but if you are looking for thrills or disney.... forget it (smile). - Mervyn Pritchard.