Going next week to Orlando
Anything I should know?

Watch out for the alligators...

Its a bloody nice place i want to go too!!

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Originally posted by Stuart Ainslie
Watch out for the alligators...

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There's a really cool restaurant I went to called Race Rock - the whole place is full of cars, bikes, memorabilia etc, and the people that clean the tables rush around everywhere and do everything really fast like pit crew. I went there when I was about 11 and still remember it like it was yesterday, I definitely recommend it!

LINK HERE

Pete

Just printed that out and will add it to my to do list.

Going to swim with alligators and visit the dolphins , or is that the other way around?

Got tickets for Bush Gardens, Universal studios, Seaworld,Island Adventure and Wet'n'wild. Which are he best???

I've been to Sea World, Universal and Wet n wild, and they're all very different and all brilliant, so I'd say go to them all

Pete

quote "Watch out for the alligators..."
Dont worry about the alligators -- my ex wife is down that way and she is far more dangerous than any reptile.

Depending on where in florida I am not sure where down there but he builds these
http://www.angelfire.com/biz6/stalkerv6/kitcar.html
Dale

Hire your car from the UK as CDW is included in the price by law. If you hire in the States, the initial price looks cheap, but as insurance is not compulsory, it gets very expensive when you add it all up. You don't want to be under insured in the States. They like to sue at the drop of a hat. When you pick up the car, make sure they don't charge you for the CDW again. This happened to me a few years ago, and it took me the whole two week holiday to get the money back.

Have fun!

Pop in and say hi to me...........

Daytona is not all its cracked up to be...

Space center is worth a visit, along with epcot, and clearwater. what ever you do will have good time.

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Originally posted by Dale
.......Depending on where in florida I am not sure where down there but he builds these
http://www.angelfire.com/biz6/stalkerv6/kitcar.html
Dale

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Have a good one mate. Swimming with flipper is amazing as are the female instructors. Driving is a piece of p**s as nearly everyone is on holiday and very forgiving. I only heard one horn peeping in 2 weeks of holiday. Make sure you see the late show at sea world (Shamu rocks the world) set to rock music and amazing (hairs on my neck are standing up now). Best of luck.

One tip when you're driving - keep your left foot well out of the way. My dad kept slamming the brakes on because he thought he was putting the clutch down We nearly got creamed by a huge truck!

Pete

[Edited on 12/8/05 by scoobyis2cool]

Yip about the clutch and do'nt whatever you do be a divvy like me.
After a quick demo from the care hire guy i asked where the hand brake was. I got the reply " this is florida buddy we don't got hills here boy "
But he showed me anyway

Do visit all the Disney parks. They are all "awe inspiring"

Also. Go to Wallaby Ranch. Just off the 195. http://www.wallaby.com for the ride of your life.

A truly life changing experience tandem hang gliding.

Got me hooked.

There is a place called "old town" on the 192. The last time i was over they had a car show on a saturday night it was well cool.
DITO about the car hire!!


Wish it was me

Have a good one

Wet n Wild....the stuka if its still there, awesome! remember meeting guys walking down too scared to do it!!!
Have a great time! Lucky sob.

Buy something while your there, the prices are in dollars what we pay in pounds, I'm into radio contrilled model aircraft & brought a huge box back on the flight with no problems & saved a fortune.
the best theme park has to be Busch Gardens if your into roller coasters & fantasy of flight if you are into aircraft

have a good time

I've been to Old Town too, there was a cool magic shop that I visited every time and made the guy show me loads of tricks without ever buying anything...

Pete

Looks like everybody forgot the obvious: it's HOT in Florida right now. Take (or buy when you get here) extra sun-screen. Don't get sunburned on day 1 of your vacation.

Regarding your rental car - I haven't seen any manual transmission rentals for a while. They may exist, but most will be automatic. Oh yeah, we drive on the RIGHT side of the road!

just remember, left is right, right is wrong

Just got back from 2 weeks in Florida first trip. You've already got your 5 park flexticket thats a good move excellent value if you got it on line.
We stayed in Orlando, Tampa, Clearwater, Naples, Key Largo, Key West, Fort Lauderdale and Back to Orlando.
We were pretty busy so did'nt bother with Universal Islands of Adv. but went to Disney Magic Kingdom instead- just so we had.
As said Seaworld brilliant, Wet and wild good nice for the first day. Race Rock cafe is good. Dont go to a "cheap tickets" kiosk, You can turn right on a Red Light unless signed otherwise. You MUST get a good map and have a navigator as the signs are CRAP with little or no advance warning for many junctions. Get a hat! Dont forget your driving licence. Rhino rally in Busche gardens is great fun, worth the queue, but don't pay for any other safari trips in the park, you can see it all by train/cable car. Food isnt that cheap in restaurants, as a rough guide the $price for the mains is what you'll pay in £s by the time drinks, tips and tax have been added. Don't let them force you into a car upgrade when you land, it will look like a hire car whatever you get, everyone drives 4x4 pickups! Make sure and do plenty of undertaking as well as overtaking, you'll get back and wish we did it here, except half the drivers in the UK are'nt observant enough to cope with it. Make sure you know where the nearest hurricane shelter is. Tip everone!Don't spend too much time looking for cheap jeans :-) It will most probably storm in the afternoon, do as much as you can in the morning. Take LOTS of pictures. Don't fly BA? Enjoy-you'll want to go back.
Colin

Make sure you take good foot wear in the parks you will walk for miles............ have a really good time i'm sure you will

I have been twice a year for the last 6 years and absolutely love it mate. No matter what you like theres something for everyone. I fyou are going to buy any electronics watch out for the little electronics shop you have to really haggle to get a good deal. I got a gps for about £70 last time and the cheapest they are in this country is £140.
If you want to fire a machine gun there are a few ranges about as well,there is one by the state prison which lets you fire an M16 and all sorts of other guns for about $30.

Last time I was at Busch Gardens, there was free beer on the hour, for 10 mins.!! Worth a look for sure.

And if you're in Tampa, duck across to Clearwater Beach, lots of poms and english type shops and Nigel Mansels US house , then a short drive up to Tarpon Springs, with the sponge dive boats and stuff.

Don't be put off by eating clams either. Good tucker when dipped into the hot garlic butter!!

Syd.

We had a go on a self drive fan boat, a bit like the one in the pic below.




Great fun but a bit strange to control, in the end my Dad gave up and I had to drive it, turned out I was much better than him anyway

Pete

The Kraken rollercoaster at SeaWorld is a must! You are an adreneline junky are you not?!

Universal Islands of Adventure is also a must to get the ticker ticking faster but unless you're with kids just don't bother with the Cat in the Hat area. The Spider-Man ride is very cool too.

It'll be very busy and you will queue for one hell of a long time. Make sure you have plenty of bottled water with you and wear a decent hat that affords shade but doesn't make you sweat your hair off! Try not to laden yourself down with too much stuff either. Hire a locker (at most parks) and bung anything you don't want to leave in the car in there.

Has anyone mentioned FastPass? Pick what you expect to be the busiest attractions and go straight there on opening and get a FastPass for it. It'll give you a time when you can go back and join a faster moving (and usually shorter in the first place) queue. Also get to the parks 30-45 mins before they open and go the opposite way around the attractions i.e. if it looks like everyone turns left you turn right. That way you should avoid the general "let's queue at the first thing we see" people.

KSC is very good. Take the bus tour (extended one if you can afford it). And let us know what you think of the Saturn 5 in the visitors centre! Walking out to see that thing had me gobsmacked for a good 10 mins!

Above all drive carefully. Although a previous poster said driving is a piece of p***, be aware that most traffic moves faster than it appears due to the way the roads are. Oh yeah and a really good tip here, if you're coming to traffic lights (and there are quite a few due to no roundabouts), if they turn red and you're doing 40-60mph, DON'T wham on the anchors and try to stop. The locals will not be expecting you to do that and maybe rear end you. I've seen a fair few aftermath accidents most looked like holiday makers involved.

Above all take lots of piccys but don't spend too much time behind a camera and enjoy yourself. You'll probably come back more knackered than you went but you'll probably also be hooked and want to go back many more times in the future.

Take it easy.

[Edited on 13/8/2005 by andyd]

A Big thanks to you all!

All this is very useful. Looks like loads to do. And yes I will go on ALL the rides.

The only bit I am not looking foward to is the 9 hr flight. Having not done much flying before.

With Thomas Cook. I cherry picked villas etc on the web got the best prices and they matched it. Still costs a bloody fortune as I am paying for my 2 eldest kids that are adults plus my youngest and of course SWMBO.

Almost every store in and around Orlando is a tourist trap, with higher prices ready to take your money. Often, the t-shirt shops which are all over the place have poor quality shirts for a nice high price. The attractions (Disney, MGM, etc) also have shirts for high prices, but the quality is much better. If the place you are staying at has a kitchen, you can save a LOT of money on the trip by going to the grocery store and buying what you need to cook for yourself for a meal or two per day. Most grocery stores you'll find here have everything you'll need to make it a one-stop-shop.

For the day-to-day needs (sun screen, shoes, snacks, etc) look for a WalMart or Walgreens. In most cities, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting one or both of them! Their prices should be more in-line with reality, as they aren't in business only to rape the tourists.

Tipping: if the service at a resturant is good, 15% is customary and is NOT automatically added to the bill. For great or poor service, adjust the tip from there. There is no law which says you have to tip somebody. When paying with credit card, the reciept will have a spot to add a tip. Counter service places like McDonalds obviously don't have anybody to tip.

Store & restaurant hours: If you're awake, some place is open for food, regardless of the hour. Most stores will open around 8am and close around 9 pm, depending on what kind of store it is. None of this "closed for lunch siesta" type of stuff I saw in Spain. Restaurant hours will depend on what kind of place it is. Places like "Denny's" are open 24 hours, are a bit lower cost on average, and are pretty generic for food. The places which are more theme oriented will often open at 11 am for lunch, and don't serve breakfast. Either way, you shouldn't have any problem finding a place to eat.

Exchange your money for US dollars before you leave so you don't have to find a bank here to do it (for an extra fee). Your own bank may do the exchange for free (or a lower fee). Pay by credit card where possible - almost everybody takes MasterCard and Visa now, including fast food restaurants. Obviously don't carry a ton of cash on you. I personally wouldn't carry a passport either, as long as you have a photo identification (driver license, etc.). If you run into problems, the local police have dealt with tourists enough that it shouldn't be a problem. Keep a list of your credit card numbers and their US phone numbers to call in case you lose your wallet. Traveler's checks are also accepted at most of the larger places. The last thing any business wants to do is miss out on taking your money, so they're usually pretty flexible.

Don't trust the hotel staff. If your room has a safe, use it. Lock cameras, money, etc in your luggage when you leave the room. It doesn't happen a lot, but many hotel workers are low-paid, have minimal background checks, and some even speak English. Same goes for the airlines. Carry-on your cameras and expensive items, and use a lock on your luggage. Just make sure you have a key handy for the trip through customs!

Drivers in Florida...... well.... a LOT of them are old and drive like it. Orlando isn't that bad because of all the tourists coming in, but that presents it's own problem!

Obviously, much of this is common sense, but it always bears repeating. Have a great trip.

One thing I learnt when I was in America -You are probably used to currency that has the diferent denominations of bank notes in a different colour.

In USA, all the banknotes are green.

If you buy say a drink in a crowded bar, and have an accent, the barman will give you change from a 5, no matter what note you gave him. Before you pay, look at the note, and say to the guy - Here's a twenty, or whatever note you use. Save's you bing ripped off

Cheers

Fred WB.

I was in orlando in May.

Do your research with car hire and prepared to get shagged. At sandford with the 'included car' I was told the default car was a daewoo so i upgraded. I kinda doubt they had any daewoo and that its a ploy to get you to upgrade. The full waivers and insurance worked out over a week to be about 180 quid! Im going again next year, and ive worked out its cheaper to stuff the free car and rent all inclusive on the net from Holiday Autos.

We stayed in a 4 bed villa - just the two of us - and it was bloody brilliant. Place was 4 times bigger than my 4 bed detatched house, and had a great pool too. Just as the pics in the brochure.

We have been to california and paris disney before, and didnt think it worthwhile on a weeks holiday to vist the magic kingdom as its really a bit kiddie orientated - but would go again if more time.

Best place we went to was Discovery Cove. Its opposite and belongs to seaworld. Not cheap, and you have to book in advance - 150 quid a go, and you get to swim with dolphins for about 30 mins. If youy pay about 80 quid, you dont get the dolphin swim, but you do get all day in the park, and there is a large lake with MASSES of tropical fish in it - all the types in 'finding nemo' . expensive, but a fantastic day. Seemed to be more brits than americans in that one.

I thought universal studios was pretty good - its sister park island of adventure was 'ok' but you MUST MUST MUST buy the fast pass (about another 20 quid!!) or you will seend all day in queues being held back to let fast passers in front of you, - really bloody annoying.

Epcot was interesting. To me, it was a bit of a throwback, kinda quaint in that it seemed to represent a vision of the world of tomorrow, from 1968 perspective! Still, some really neat stuff - not the least 'the world of energy' where the threatre you are in basically turns into a ride that goes throug different rooms - even thou you are still in astalls of about 150 seats in a block! The bit with all the countries in it was interesting - tho not really my bag - and the UK section is a waste of time.

Eat at the Ponderosa chain of restaurants. Good food, lots of it, and cheap.


atb

steve

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Originally posted by steve_gusEat at the Ponderosa chain of restaurants. Good food, lots of it, and cheap.

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