Why Stay On Site If !!!

real mad hatter

real mad hatter

Well-Known Member
Headache pills at the ready for this Saturday night ( first Disney party this year ) Ive just found out that a family of four from our village have booked CBR for August,no problem,they have free QS DDP and 14 day park hoppers,no problem,there using the hire car giving to them in the vacation package,no problem.Here comes the headache. They plan on doing 2 days ( overnight stay on I- Drive ) at Uni/IOA,also one full day at Sea World.Their son wants to visit NASA. ( the cape ) and their daughter wants to visit Bush Gardens,( there's more ) He wants to drive down the Florida keys and have an overnight stay,oh and Mrs??? wants to do a full days shopping on I- Drive.:eek: Someone help me before I overdose on pixie dust.Am I right in saying they should have opted for off site.I reckon 7 of their days will be off site.Should I just nod my head in agreement of their booked vacation,or tell them softly,where they've went wrong in their planning.:(
 
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Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
About the only part of that vacation where I would say staying off site would be an added benefit would be there trip to US/IOA and that is simply for the express pass.

There are however a few things that might have been done better.

The first question would be how long are they staying and did they purchase too long of a ticket. If they are staying 14 days and only spending 7 in WDW a 7 day ticket might have been a better option. However, if the UK resident 14 day ticket was less expensive a 7 day ticket, then it is a moot point. If they are staying for 21 it is less of an issue.

The other issue will be the DDP. With so many days outside of the park they are going to leave with a good third to half of their credits unused. Had they got the plus plan they could have added in a bunch of signature dining and had fewer credits left over.
 
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disneygirl76

disneygirl76

Carey Poppins - Nanny and Disney Enthusiest
real mad hatter said:
Headache pills at the ready for this Saturday night ( first Disney party this year ) Ive just found out that a family of four from our village have booked CBR for August,no problem,they have free QS DDP and 14 day park hoppers,no problem,there using the hire car giving to them in the vacation package,no problem.Here comes the headache. They plan on doing 2 days ( overnight stay on I- Drive ) at Uni/IOA,also one full day at Sea World.Their son wants to visit NASA. ( the cape ) and their daughter wants to visit Bush Gardens,( there's more ) He wants to drive down the Florida keys and have an overnight stay,oh and Mrs??? wants to do a full days shopping on I- Drive.:eek: Someone help me before I overdose on pixie dust.Am I right in saying they should have opted for off site.I reckon 7 of their days will be off site.Should I just nod my head in agreement of their booked vacation,or tell them softly,where they've went wrong in their planning.:(
Click to expand...

Most of what they have planned might not be ideal or really well planned but is doable. They need to reconsider the trip to the Keys. Its not like hopping around the corner to the Ihop. Its a long long .... long way.
 
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Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
One other thing to add. The trip to the Keys is going to be a bear. The drive from WDW to the Keys is between 6-7 hours. For a comparison they can relate to, the drive to the keys is about the same as driving from Scotland to Wales. The driving alone will blow a day. If they insist on doing this they might want to consider doing this at the end of the trip and flying out of MIA over MCO. The drive from the Keys to MIA is only around 1 hour.
 
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Skibum1970

Skibum1970

Well-Known Member
I think that one thing people from across the pond may goof up on is the distance involved. We had German exchange students that thought we could drive from Ohio to Florida in a couple hours. The size of European countries when compared to the US (not counting Russia) seems to throw off a European's view of the distance in just one state. Posters from Europe please feel free to correct me as I am basing this opinion on a limited population for observations. This is most definitely not intended as a criticism.

Hatter, you might suggest that they stay offsite to cut down on costs. I'm guessing that, even with the exchange rate, saving $50-$100/night would be a good thing.
 
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Jillie Fish

Jillie Fish

Active Member
oh I also wanted to mention that the drive from Orlando to Tampa is about 1.5 to 2hrs depending on traffic etc. And the drive to Cape is about an hour. Me personally, after traveling from another country. The LAST thing I wanna do is sit in a car for several hours. Going to these locations is doable, but sounds exhausting. There is plenty to do in Orlando as it is.
 
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Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
pcaudill said:
I think that one thing people from across the pond may goof up on is the distance involved. We had German exchange students that thought we could drive from Ohio to Florida in a couple hours. The size of European countries when compared to the US (not counting Russia) seems to throw off a European's view of the distance in just one state. Posters from Europe please feel free to correct me as I am basing this opinion on a limited population for observations. This is most definitely not intended as a criticism.

Hatter, you might suggest that they stay offsite to cut down on costs. I'm guessing that, even with the exchange rate, saving $50-$100/night would be a good thing.
Click to expand...
I have witnessed the same dynamic as well. My friends from across the pond seem flabbergasted that I can drive 10 hours in a straight line and never leave the state of Florida.
 
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BigRedDad

BigRedDad

Well-Known Member
In my opinion, if you go to US/IoA without staying on site, it is a waste. So much can be done with their Express Pass for resort guests. I loved Sea World and will definitely go back. BG is fun as well. I can understand the shopping for the Mrs and Nasa for the daughter. However, the keys is going to be a killer. It is about a 5-6 hour drive each way.

If they are going for 3-4 weeks, then all is good. However, 14 days is not going to be enough and way too much traveling for my liking.
 
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Club Cooloholic

Club Cooloholic

Well-Known Member
While I get wanting to explore Florida, these guys might want to limit it to central florida. I drove down to Key West from Miami and it was a long drive, the drive time from orlando might be listed as 6 plus hours but that would be with no stopping, and if your planning to do that, then why not fly down to key west. I loved the drive from miami, but I went on a Friday before the workday let out, if they get stuck in weekend traffic they are really in for a treat.
 
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got2lovedisney

got2lovedisney

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
I agree with the previous posters about re-thinking the Key West portion of the trip. I live outside Miami and it takes me 3.5 hours to drive the 265 miles to Disney World however it also takes me about the same amount of time to drive the 170 miles down to Key West. What's the difference? Up to Disney, I'm hitting 80 mph on the Turnpike. Down to the Keys, it's mostly 40mph speed zones. Mapquest puts the trip at 7 hours (not include fuel & food breaks) so basically a lot of driving.

Also, it seems like they're paying for more nights at CBR than they need to. If they're going to stay at Universal, they should check out of CBR, move over the Uni. Visit Sea World & the Cape. Then, if they still insist on going to the Keys, they should book a room down there and, as someone suggested, fly out of MIA (Although it's 3-4 hours from KW to MIA, not 1 hour as they said)
 
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HouCuseChickie

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
At the very least, they shouldn't "just" be staying in the Orlando area. I think everything WDW, I-Drive, Sea World, Universal, and Kennedy Space Center is fine. Busch Gardens is pushing it to me...I'd much prefer a stay over in the Tampa/St.Pete area for the night or two if I were going there. In fact, if they want beach- St. Pete Beach and Clearwater are very convenient to that area. As for the Keys...definitely not a day trip. They MUST book some kind of lodging down there, likely for several nights, if they want to do the Keys. If they want an island like experience... I'd suggest Sanibel on the gulf coast or Singer Island on the Atlantic coast. They'd still need a couple of nights stay in either of these spots, but it's not nearly as long of a drive as it would be to the Keys. I mean- even upper keys like Key Largo are quite the trek.
 
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Jo DeVil

Jo DeVil

Well-Known Member
Master Yoda said:
I have witnessed the same dynamic as well. My friends from across the pond seem flabbergasted that I can drive 10 hours in a straight line and never leave the state of Florida.
Click to expand...
It takes us 4 - 5 hours to go south to Glasgow, one very bad trip I had been on the road for nearly 8 hours and I was still in Scotland!!!!
We were at Homestead which is at entrance to the Everglades (it said so on the sign) and it was a long bloody drive, We set off at 6am, got there took Photos had Lunch and then had to drive back. Way too Far! TTFN Jo
 
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