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So I've never booked a vacation (flight/hotel/rental car) before in my life and was hoping to get some advice. It seems easy enough using Expedia/Travelocity but I just want to make sure there aren't some huge pitfalls to watch out for. While the online process of booking the stuff seems simple, the process of everything else seems a bit daunting to someone that has traveled outside of the North East region of the US twice in my life, both times as a kid being hand held by parents. lol
Anyway, I'm hoping to make the first vacation I've ever planned as painless as possible. 
Some details:
- Planned for May 2012, going to Disney World, Universal, and Sea World
- 4 people total
- 5 day trip
- Newark to Orlando is the flight via Continental Airlines
- Lake Eve Resort is the place we're currently looking at, picking a fairly cheap room with 2 beds.
- Car rental place is called "Thrifty" lol
- The total comes to about $1,600 split 4 ways, so about $400 per person.
Does all of that sound reasonable?
If anyone has any traveling tips for this nooby I'd appreciate it as well. Thanks!
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What kind of Hotel are you looking for? There's a hotel I know in Orlando that's $54 a night and brings three beds and a kitchen.
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A mistake i make often is putting on the wrong date sometimes and calling the service 5 mins later trying to fix it. My advice to to triple check all your plans make sure the flights are just as you wanted the hotels are in order .
400 is pretty damn decent for a 5 day trip of course not including food and what not.
Good luck have fun!
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United States5162 Posts
Just know it's going to be hot and sunny most of the day except maybe during the early-mid afternoon when thunderstorms sometimes pop up but usually die off in an hour or so. Mosquitoes will also be annoying in the morning/evening hours.
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I'm going to post this as an empty message right now because I'm playing a few games. I'm from South Florida, and spend the most of my time out of city in Orlando. I love the city and could give you some tips on entertainment possibilities and cheap accomodations (sp?). I'll edit it when I'm done gaming.
Edit time: So I'm wondering... are you staying in downtown Orlando, near Kissimmee for Disney, or in the Northern part near UCF? Around UCF is generally cheaper. But since you're flying, if you want to have a cheaper place to stay, you'd have to rent a car. I do personally suggest this, though. Even a cheap car, it doesn't matter. Key components of your rentacar: Air condition and SunPass. Err, they call it something else up there, but basically it's the automatic toll sticker. There are a _TON_ of tolls on every major highway in Orlando. You will need to have a "SunPass" for sure.
A club/bar/whatever you want to call it suggestion is "Eye Spy". Eye Spy is extremely couple friendly, and all around an awesome place. It's very original in the design and layout, and is nearly impossible not to enjoy. In the downtown area for partying, there are a few upscale clubs where you will get dickhead doormen, but for the most part it's really laid back and all you need to do is fit a very loose ended dress code. P.S. Get lost in Igor, leave with 7 hookers and then get shot. In other words, don't find yourself in "Igor" which is right by downtown, and is the hood. Also for the downtown area is an upscale but chill lounge called "The Monkey Bar". Depending on your budget, it's very chill and a good place.
As far as the northern part of Orlando where UCF and Valencia is, I don't think I need to give you much advice because it's around the largest (physically and student base) populated university in America. It's well... as a college should be. If anything, you have to try Godfather's Pizza. Oh... so hungry just thinking about it. Lake Mary, an entire town designed to look like a movie scene for suburban life is just North of this, so be prepared for that type of crowd to be mixing with the college students.
As far as Kissimmee (outskirt city of Orlando that Disney is in) goes... I sincerely hope you don't stay there. It's a tourist trap and generally not very fun.
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On September 30 2011 08:14 ShoCkeyy wrote:
What kind of Hotel are you looking for? There's a hotel I know in Orlando that's $54 a night and brings three beds and a kitchen.
Just looking for something to be reasonably comfortable and to rest, we probably won't spend a ton of time at the hotel. The four people going are two couples so two beds is fine with us, we wouldn't use a third bed. Pretty sure the room we are looking at has a kitchen.
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On September 30 2011 09:21 Myles wrote:
Just know it's going to be hot and sunny most of the day except maybe during the early-mid afternoon when thunderstorms sometimes pop up but usually die off in an hour or so. Mosquitoes will also be annoying in the morning/evening hours.
This is true. Orlando doesn't have typical Florida weather... it has nearly no humidity, and quite the opposite, it has dry heat like Arizona. You will feel dehydrated and like your face is going to fall off instead of sweating by just walking outside. Also, like he said, there are ample random twenty minute showers in Orlando like 2-5 times a day.
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On September 30 2011 09:49 Game wrote:
I'm going to post this as an empty message right now because I'm playing a few games. I'm from South Florida, and spend the most of my time out of city in Orlando. I love the city and could give you some tips on entertainment possibilities and cheap accomodations (sp?). I'll edit it when I'm done gaming.
Edit time: So I'm wondering... are you staying in downtown Orlando, near Kissimmee for Disney, or in the Northern part near UCF? Around UCF is generally cheaper. But since you're flying, if you want to have a cheaper place to stay, you'd have to rent a car. I do personally suggest this, though. Even a cheap car, it doesn't matter. Key components of your rentacar: Air condition and SunPass. Err, they call it something else up there, but basically it's the automatic toll sticker. There are a _TON_ of tolls on every major highway in Orlando. You will need to have a "SunPass" for sure.
A club/bar/whatever you want to call it suggestion is "Eye Spy". Eye Spy is extremely couple friendly, and all around an awesome place. It's very original in the design and layout, and is nearly impossible not to enjoy. In the downtown area for partying, there are a few upscale clubs where you will get dickhead doormen, but for the most part it's really laid back and all you need to do is fit a very loose ended dress code. P.S. Get lost in Igor, leave with 7 hookers and then get shot. In other words, don't find yourself in "Igor" which is right by downtown, and is the hood. Also for the downtown area is an upscale but chill lounge called "The Monkey Bar". Depending on your budget, it's very chill and a good place.
As far as the northern part of Orlando where UCF and Valencia is, I don't think I need to give you much advice because it's around the largest (physically and student base) populated university in America. It's well... as a college should be. If anything, you have to try Godfather's Pizza. Oh... so hungry just thinking about it. Lake Mary, an entire town designed to look like a movie scene for suburban life is just North of this, so be prepared for that type of crowd to be mixing with the college students.
As far as Kissimmee (outskirt city of Orlando that Disney is in) goes... I sincerely hope you don't stay there. It's a tourist trap and generally not very fun.
Hey, thanks for the tips! Much appreciated!
We're staying in the more southern end, between Sea World and Disney World. Puts us about 30 minutes out from Eye Spy to put things in perspective. This is where we are staying. I think everyone else on the trip was planning to spend 99% of their time inside the amusement parks but I'll certainly pass all of this info along to them. Sounds like fun times. Thanks again for your help!
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EPT
