First trip - April 2021

[Sew109]

Originally Posted by gbr78

I can understand that but, on the flip side, if we went out there and the daughter didn’t get to HP I’d be murdered! 😁

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On a first trip it’s a hell of a lot of money for something that has a few rides. Seriously we thought the same but our little one was so enthralled with Disney it was not an issue. The first time we went as a family in 2 weeks we did not even get round the lake at Epcot or make it to blizzard beach.

You can’t get FOLP passes for HP so you need to stay in the hotel to get there early or it’s so crowded as I said we all want to do everything but there is so much to do at Disney and if in summer you will get tired as it’s so hot trying to fit everything in may ruin other things for you.

[gbr78]

Originally Posted by Sew109

On a first trip it’s a hell of a lot of money for something that has a few rides. Seriously we thought the same but our little one was so enthralled with Disney it was not an issue. The first time we went as a family in 2 weeks we did not even get round the lake at Epcot or make it to blizzard beach.

You can’t get FOLP passes for HP so you need to stay in the hotel to get there early or it’s so crowded as I said we all want to do everything but there is so much to do at Disney and if in summer you will get tired as it’s so hot trying to fit everything in may ruin other things for you.

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I understand this, I really do, but HP HAS to happen. There are parts of Disney that would be missed, I get that, but the daughter would rather that than anything else. I’m not sure how old your little one is. I know at a younger age ours would have happily missed it for the Disney charm, but not any more.

[Sew109]

Originally Posted by gbr78

I understand this, I really do, but HP HAS to happen. There are parts of Disney that would be missed, I get that, but the daughter would rather that than anything else. I’m not sure how old your little one is. I know at a younger age ours would have happily missed it for the Disney charm, but not any more.

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It’s not for me to tell you how to spend your money and I am only trying to give advice based on our experience, my DD was 8 last time we went.

Sure she wanted to go to HP she has read all the books been to WB studio here and listens to them on a loop on audible but we are the parents and we are the ones that decide what “HAS to happen”.

Allowing a child to decide what happens in Orlando is a recipe for a very expensive disaster 😀

[gbr78]

Originally Posted by Sew109

It’s not for me to tell you how to spend your money and I am only trying to give advice based on our experience, my DD was 8 last time we went.

Sure she wanted to go to HP she has read all the books been to WB studio here and listens to them on a loop on audible but we are the parents and we are the ones that decide what “HAS to happen”.

Allowing a child to decide what happens in Orlando is a recipe for a very expensive disaster 😀

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I appreciate it so thank you. We've never been, we know it's not going to be relaxing and we know we're not going to get everything done. Our daughter will be 11 when we go. Harry Potter means more to her than Disney probably ever has, although she's excited about the whole experience. We will need to prioritise, and that will be a higher priority, after all, it's her holiday as much as it is ours. We might be the ones to influence what happens, but she also has a say in what we do whilst away - that's how we work. Trust me, she's not spoilt (far from it), she's very amicable and has never thrown a tantrum, but one of the things she (and the wife admittedly) are very excited by is the visit to HP. I'm not spending £5k+ on a holiday only to have her/them return disappointed that they didn't get the one thing they were excited about...

[MrFish]

Originally Posted by gbr78

I appreciate it so thank you. We've never been, we know it's not going to be relaxing and we know we're not going to get everything done. Our daughter will be 11 when we go. Harry Potter means more to her than Disney probably ever has, although she's excited about the whole experience. We will need to prioritise, and that will be a higher priority, after all, it's her holiday as much as it is ours. We might be the ones to influence what happens, but she also has a say in what we do whilst away - that's how we work. Trust me, she's not spoilt (far from it), she's very amicable and has never thrown a tantrum, but one of the things she (and the wife admittedly) are very excited by is the visit to HP. I'm not spending £5k+ on a holiday only to have her/them return disappointed that they didn't get the one thing they were excited about...

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You won't regret it visiting the Harry Potter areas of Universal, they are amazingly done especially if you are a fan (I'm not particularly but still enjoy it). On your first visit it will probably be a bit hectic visiting everything but you will get a feel for which parks you prefer, which will aid your decisions for future visits once the addiction starts. RIP your wallet...

[gbr78]

Originally Posted by Ambermark

Its our first trip and we're going for 8 days. Staying on i-drive and having 2 days in disney and the rest in universal/around idrive (I have a 12 year old where HP HAS to happen too lol) Maybe staying offsite would be an option? Would certainly bring the cost down.

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It's something worth considering, but there's something about staying on-site for me. Cost is what it is for me. If it's going to cost us £5k+ to do it then so be it, but what I don't want to do is book it now at this price to find that it drops considerably when all of the flights and hotels are properly released. On the flip side, I don't want to wait 2 months to find out the price has jumped...

[Sew109]

Originally Posted by gbr78

I appreciate it so thank you. We've never been, we know it's not going to be relaxing and we know we're not going to get everything done. Our daughter will be 11 when we go. Harry Potter means more to her than Disney probably ever has, although she's excited about the whole experience. We will need to prioritise, and that will be a higher priority, after all, it's her holiday as much as it is ours. We might be the ones to influence what happens, but she also has a say in what we do whilst away - that's how we work. Trust me, she's not spoilt (far from it), she's very amicable and has never thrown a tantrum, but one of the things she (and the wife admittedly) are very excited by is the visit to HP. I'm not spending £5k+ on a holiday only to have her/them return disappointed that they didn't get the one thing they were excited about...

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Great reply my daughter is terribly spoilt only child and only grandchild within 500 miles but again she is not a brat. I hope you have a fantastic trip.

We fly to Miami now far cheaper than MCO and car hire cheaper to boot

[Sew109]

I want to add we stayed 1 week POFQ last time and it was amazing great hotel not too big fab pool great being able to get the boat to Disney Springs woudl be our first choice again. For me staying on site has massive plusses and my wife thinks even stronger about than I do.

We have done both and onsite is totally different I would not stay the whole time there as we want to go other places last year we went to a baseball game in St Petes, KSC, Gator World and had a few days in Fort Lauderdale but onsite was a big plus.

For three people though I think two weeks at POFQ, flights and tickets and if you get free dining for £5k is stunning value.

We have booked one week for thsi year at Coronado Springs with QSDP 3 week tickets and that was £2.7k

[Minnie4Mickey]

We went for 10 days at Christmas in 2014, and yes it wasnt a relaxing holiday but we still done everything.

I guess we were lucky as the weather wasn't that hot we didn't go to the water parks and so missing out on these gave us extra time to spend at the parks.

We did all Disney and Universal parks and had time to do some shopping it was an amazing holiday.

As others have said I would wait until flights are actually released. Me and my partner are flying in to Miami next year for our honeymoon, as it is working out to be cheaper.

[gbr78]

Originally Posted by Sew109

I want to add we stayed 1 week POFQ last time and it was amazing great hotel not too big fab pool great being able to get the boat to Disney Springs woudl be our first choice again. For me staying on site has massive plusses and my wife thinks even stronger about than I do.

We have done both and onsite is totally different I would not stay the whole time there as we want to go other places last year we went to a baseball game in St Petes, KSC, Gator World and had a few days in Fort Lauderdale but onsite was a big plus.

For three people though I think two weeks at POFQ, flights and tickets and if you get free dining for £5k is stunning value.

We have booked one week for thsi year at Coronado Springs with QSDP 3 week tickets and that was £2.7k

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Good to hear your feedback on POFQ, thats reassuring. I'd love to get out and see other things around when we're there, but that is going to have to be for another trip (probably a cheaper one too), this one will all be about the parks.

Just to confirm, the price i've mentioned in the first post (£5500ish) is for 10 days, room only, no dining (not released for 2021 yet, but unlikely to cover this period from looking at past dates) and no tickets.