Key Post: Florida.

Thanks for the info lads......

Heading off in the morning so thanks for the bedtime reading guys......

MAC
 
Re: Local library - is there on on International Drive?

Hi Mac

This may be too late (I see you're heading off tomorrow morning), but the library we found was on route 192, close to the junction with route 27. We were staying in a place called Highlands Reserve off route 27 and we went along route 192 on our way to the theme parks.

If you get a map of Orlando/Kissimmee you should be able to find the library quite easily. Depending on where you're staying, there may be somewhere closer.

[broken link removed]

Hope you have a great holiday.

Regards
Homer
 
Re: Local library - is there on on International Drive?

And if it's still not too late:
[broken link removed]

Fantastic site which covers everything. Track down that Hooters bar ...
 
Thanks Garrett, Homer and Fater Dougal...

Just back - great time!

Thanks for the advise guys spend 9 days in Orlando before heading off to Clearwater. I think I am in the early stages of serious depression. Apart from the weather (aroudn 80 over there now!) little things like customer service (remember that years ago?0) make obvious comparisons with Ireland.

Also pertol @ one thrid of our prices, clothing (excellent labels @ Beltz / Florida Premium outlets... thanks Garret and Homer) marked down by 60-80%!!!. Then eating out (4 of us including a couple of beers around $80! Buying extra suitcases is a must for the extra gear you can pick up over there.......

I booked my own accomodation over the web but when over there found out you can pick up hotels accomodation for nothing (well $50 per room!)

And dare I say it housing.... really nice fully furnished villas at very reasonable prices..... this is my next piece of exercise to keep the depression at bay! Have something in mind from my visit - just wondering in any other AAMers have dipped their toe in this particular piece of water?

Overall - strongly recommend Florida after this (my second) visit. Apart from the TV and the accents it has everything to offer.

Thanks again for all the advice guys!

MAC
 
Re: Thanks Garrett, Homer and Fater Dougal...

Welcome back MAC!

Great to hear you had a good time. You're right about the post-Florida blues. Still get a twinge in my heart when I remember it all. You're right about the petrol. You could fill a tank on $15. Another thing I liked was that you rarely needed to carry cash. You could even pay the petrol pump instead of having to go into the shop. How did you get on at the parks? How did Clearwater compare to Orlando and where did you stay in Orlando?
 
Florida

"You're right about the petrol!". Yep sickening to pay €55 for a fill up this morning......

"Another thing I liked was that you rarely needed to carry cash. " and there are loads of ATMs which operate Cirrus so getting cash is no problem.

"How did you get on at the parks?" - park were grea, hardly any queues as the kids are still at school in the US now. Temperature was around 80 all the time - perfect!

"How did Clearwater compare to Orlando and where did you stay in Orlando? " Clearwater is overrated but has a great beach. Hotels are incredibly cheap, I though I had a great deal @ €110 per night for a suite but learned that there are loads of hotels offering double rooms for €45-50 per night....agggghh (still have the book if anyone needs it). Went down to St Petersburg one day - think thisis more up market than CLearwater!

Travelling around is fantastic - highways have loads of traffic but everything keeps moving. On the way to Clearwater I went 68 miles without slowing down below 60mph never mind stopping...... they just decide they are going to do something over there and they do it right....

Now I'm getting depressed again!

MAC
 
Florida

Lads

I'm aiming for this trip the year after next and from reading your reports it just can't happen soon enough.


Murt
 
Re: Florida

One thing I should throw in as well is Discovery Cove where you can arrange to swim with dolphins. Other than that, they've got a huge snorkel pool (complete with ship-wreck) where you can swim with lots of different fish. They've built beaches around the pools as well and they've got a fabulous aviary.
 
September.....

Avoid unless you fancy being put out by hurricanes. Got caught by two:

Frances: Spent 2 days under curfew ( i.e. confined to your hotel )
Ivan : Was supposed to go from Orlando to Key West. Wasn't allowed into Key West (madatory evacuation ) almost a week before the hurricane and then it missed altogether.

They take no chances in Florida so if there is a chance of a hurricane you will be affected.

On a brighter note Universal Studios did it for me and I'm 35. Can't remember having as much fun.

Shopping, stick to the outlet malls. The Premium Outlet Mall at the very far end of I Drive is the best. Though there is a gem of a place almost beside Belz at the other end called Ross where they were practically giving the clothes away.

Eating. There is a chain called Ponderosa. For less than $4 you can eat until you drop. Cereals, sausages, rashers, eggs, toast, pancakes and so you can blend you in the yanks doughnuts, jelly, ice cream, brownies and muffins. Amazing just watching people consume doughnuts and ice cream at 8am.

Air Lingus have just announced return flights fro 298 + extras. Would be tempted to go back.
 
Some other posts

daveg
Unregistered User
RE: Florida - car hire, accommodation

Were heading off to Florida for 2 weeks in April. I need to book car hire for 2 weeks and were hoping to get a convertable. Cheapest I can find is with www.orlandovillas.com/ for 662 Euro's including all taxes and insurance for 2 drivers. I think this is excellent but can I get better?

Also I need to book 1 nights accomodation near Miami airport. We were thinking of the Hilton. Has anyone any recomendations or advice on sites to book with.

Thanks in advance.

Oh btw any advice on Florida please let me know. This is our 3rd trip so it'd be nice to do something different other than the Parks.

hopethisisofhelp
Unregistered User
Florida car hire

Try www.yescarhire.com/ - I've found them to be quite good value any time I've been there, they specialise in just a couple of areas, Florida being one.

Other than the theme parks why not head down the quays - totally different to the rest of Fl in my experience and in April you should have near perfect weather. other places worth going to are Sarasota and Naples

fatherdougalmaguire
Frequent poster
Re: Florida car hire

daveg,

Have you looked at the forums on www.orlandovillas.com? It's chock full of veteran Orlando-ers who have discovered the world outside the parks.

www.orlando-guide.info/forums
www.orlandovillas.com/florida


I guess you've seen the Kennedy Space Centre at this stage. But it's always work keeping an eye on the [broken link removed] to see if there's anything interesting going on. We managed to catch one last year and it was fantastic. It's due to land on Mars on Sunday.

I would agree about their car hire service as well. Cheapest we could find considering they include everything that you need. It's actually done with Dollar through a chap in the UK called Tony Lowe. At the time we were advised to book through the US web site but it looks like that's the only way now.

0
Frequent poster
Re: Florida car hire

Anything useful in the index?



Boiney
Unregistered User
I used this crowd

Hi I used www.autoeurope.com/ last May for Florida and found them very cheap as they seem to throw in a lot of insurance for not too much. when I got there they were offering a half price upgrade to a convertible (might be a common way for them to squeeze a few extra bob outa you). So for an extra 100 bucks I got a Chrysler Sebring convertible, it was brill, well worth it for crusing around, great fun. So might be worth booking an intermediate and changing when you get there!!! Depends on the time of year I suppose, May is quiet so they might have had extra convertibles.

fatherdougalmaguire
Frequent poster
Re: I used this crowd

Forgot about that aspect of it. Some of the agencies can be quite aggressive in this regard. If you don't fancy an upgrade, the order the car beneath the one you really want so you're upgrading to the one that you originally desired.
 
Re: Florida

buy the tickets in walmart much cheeper than the web
 
Thought I'd add a few things to this key post as we are off again to Florida (for our 4th time) and I have a few tips...

If your bringing kids make sure to visit green meadows petting farm (. We took my son (then 6) last time we were there and he loved it.

Carhire we booked this time through carhire3000.com (http://www.carhire3000.com/). Was the cheapest I could find for the car type we wanted.

For advice and tips on things to do, where to eat, what beaches to go to check out this excellent forum http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/

Will try to add more later...
 
on the subject of orlando,has anyone used the quality inn international as their base while stay in florida,its hard to tell from the web site,price not bad,location wise is it near malls,restaurents etc,should i hire a car or use some kind of a bus service(trolly}just dont want to end up somewhere grotty,i,ve looked at tripadviser,and some say its good,others its terrible.thanks for replies.
 
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