Just got back - some thoughts

[grant_w]

Landed back at Gatwick today after 18 days in Florida, just going to add some thoughts on our excellent trip.

Flights with BA - BA were fine, refurbed plane on the way out, but my screen didn't work. Wasn't full so was able to move around to use another. Old plane on the way back, lots of creaking and bits falling off here and there but still got us home fine.

Car Hire with Avis - went straight to the garage as we are Preferred, went to the kiosk. Operator didn't a clue what he was doing. Told us it would be about $30 per day to add on an additional driver (which should come free with BA Executive), finally got it sorted and was given a car, only for someone else to have been given the same car. Back to the kiosk to sort it out, was given a different one, which was fine all trip, Kia Optima. On the way back when returning the car we had the same operator who didn't say 1 single word to us. Just got in the car and checked the mileage then walked off. Didn't know what we were meant to do, eventually he came back and gave us a receipt, which I checked had a 0.00 balance. The he just walked off. Was that it?

Dibb villa - Absolutely superb, the best villa and especially the best location we've ever had, went out every day and only did 900 miles as we were so close to the parks. Management company and villa owners were great in the build up to the hurricane.

Weather - Hottest we've had, we usually go at the end of Sept/beginning of Oct, and it was noticeably hotter. We were a bit worried about the potential hurricane, all news tv channels have 24 hour coverage, and in the end it just passed Florida with hardly any issues, obviously hit hard elsewhere though.

Parks - partly due to Dorian and partly due to the time of year, it was so quiet in most parks. We did all of Universal Studios before 2:30 one day. The only ride we queued for more than 20 minutes for over the whole 18 days was Hagrids. Zero queues at Busch Gardens, Sea World, and we made good use of FP+ in Disney parks.

New Rides - Hagrids is very good, different to anything else I've been on, but my favourite 'new' ride was Mako at Sea World. Went on it back to back, its just so much fun with all the negative G! FOP was really good too. Friend rode the Millennium Falcon ride and said it was OK but nothing special.

Random thoughts - America needs to catch up on a few things - carrier bags in Walmart, they dish out about 10 bags and put 2 items in each. Also there's so many people using their phones while driving. Someone nearly ploughed into the back of us because they were on their phone.

All in all an amazing holiday, can't wait to go back. I went out thinking this would be our last Disney trip and next time we'll do some different things, but I ended up liking the Disney parks way more than I did the Universal parks, and they would be the ones I could drop next time.

Parks visited: all main Disney parks, Universal, IOA, Discovery Cove, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Aquatica, Volcano Bay, Gatorland.

Any questions, fire away

[Loobylou_82]

Sounds like you had a great holiday. All went well. Would you go at that time of year again? Or is it too hot?

[grant_w]

I'd go at that time again especially for the low crowds.
One day i just tipped a bottle of water over my head as I was so hot. It was hot most of the time but we took mid-day breaks back at the villa (as it was so close) then went back in the evening.

[love tink]

We go home Friday,it’s been our first September trip as usually tied to school hols but now kids have left school we are free! Weather has been amazing only an odd shower a couple of days otherwise dry.Very hot last week but cooler today.Crowd levels so low👏🏻I agree with the carrier bag situation and the Americans don’t seem to encourage recycling😩Lyft and Uber have worked out cheaper than if we had hired a car and paid Disney parking😀

[shona]

We are also just back, never been September before but villa being so close was so handy as we couldn’t handle the heat in the afternoon. We found the refillable cups at universal a god send and preferred universal to Disney but have grown up kids that love the big rides.

[boltyboy]

Totally agree with Mako best ride ever, we are going again next year and will be looking forward to the new rides at Busch and SeaWorld. Sadly Disney has lost us as guests it just far too expensive compared to Busch, SeaWorld and Aquatica. Did you brave Falcons Fury?

[grant_w]

Yeah we did Falcon's Fury, but had done it previously as well
Didn't really rate Tigris, it hurt more than it was enjoyable

[sunnysandra]

We have booked our April holiday plus paid for the bubble we might have to bring it forward to end of January , has anyone done this ? Do you pay an admin fee ? Will I be able to transfer the money we paid for our seats ? Sorry so many questions

[grant_w]

also, forgot to say, we used the Visitor Toll Pass. It was really easy, met them at the rental car level of the airport, gave us the pass and explained all about it, and we just drove through all toll booths. After a short while, your online statement is updated with each toll you've passed. Just dropped the pass into a drop-off point at the airport on the way back.
You get a discount for all tolls, and a couple of days after your trip has ended, it takes the balance from your credit card.
Couldn't be simpler

[Sioux]

Glad youve a had a good holiday and I agree with many of the points you mention. The multiple carrier bags given out in shops brings me out in hives, and not to mention all of the plastic straws and cutlery used in all of the parks (except Sea world). Disney and Universal could really make huge difference if they also stopped using single use plastic in all of their parks. The heat has been unbearable at times - I've been in September quite a few times and can't remember it being as dry, hot and humid as this. We were also almost hit by a driver on his mobile phone and another weaving in and out of traffic on the I4 at what looked like 90 mph, he/she just missed clipping us by inches.

But that all said, we've had an amazing time and I'll be sad to head home on Sunday.