Florida Theme Parks Holiday

[bazzabear]

How utterly terrible an idea is this going to be in August? I'm thinking I can cope if it's hot (probably) but if it's hot and ridiculously packed too, I might lose it.

Extended family are starting to plan for a holiday there in 2023. But various limitations from different parts of the family mean August seems to be pretty much the only choice.

We'll plan to hire a big villa for us all - I think there'll be 12 of us, including 3 children.

The plan also seems to be to book now, not next year, to my surprise - despite there being no way of knowing flight costs yet. Seems that we can still book as a package with 'TBC' flights so we still have the ABTA and ATOL protections. Not sure what happens if the flights turn out twice as expensive as expected though!

Any experience, thoughts, premonitions of doom, etc welcome!

 

[bazzabear]

Cheers guys, useful stuff.

Unfortunately, as I say, I think we will have no choice about the dates - last two weeks in August I think. Nice to hear that it's doable, if uncomfortable.


This post looks like it's immensely helpful - except that I barely understand most of it, due to my lack of knowledge!

Mid-late September is definitely the time to go if you go. It’s relatively dead and you can do the Halloween events which are a must do.

Check out the crowd calendars website and you’ll get a good idea of how busy the places will be.

Ah man I have SO much to say about this and I feel I could write about it for hours... I’m pretty much a pro. Just to give a few top tips.

Top tip is to familiarise yourself with the various tips and glitches for the Disney park fast pass system. For example, I booked a one night stay for my entire family at the cheapest Disney hotel.... we never even stayed there. Why did I do this? Because it allows you to book fast pass slots well in advance of anyone who isn’t staying in a Disney hotel. We pretty much walked from ride to ride with no queues when the standard waits were +30 mins... that seriously adds up.

Also, you need to smash the app refresh glitches and you can basically do the parks on god mode. Book the three passes you can (only three allows) but space then out by a few hours. Then as soon as you check in for your first pass, you can book a third again, but you can book it before the other two. I think with this trick we walked on everything at Magic Kingdom which is absolutely insane.

Pays to be a nerd! Downside is that app management is a little ‘stressful’ and removes the magic... pros and cons.

The absolute must do in Florida this year is Iron Gwazi at Busch Gardens... the new RMC that looks that it’s looking Zadra-like in terms of its intensity. Absolutely mental downward heart line roll! Can’t wait to get on that!!! Also Velocicoaster opening at IOA.... hasn’t been an Intimin like that in ages and it’s doing Maverick’s deleted heart line roll over water -sweet.

The Harry Potter stuff is pretty much the best in all of Florida and all theme parks worldwide. Seriously impressive theming.

Mate you will have a blast!!

So the fast pass system isn't a 'pay to ride quicker' like it is at most UK parks? It's something everyone can do to some extent?

 

[bazzabear]

Thanks again, great stuff here.