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Monday, August 30, 2010

Travel Arrangements For Orlando Vacations


You’ve probably always wanted to go to Disney World, so you started looking into vacation packages for you and your family, so now you know where you’ll be going, for how long, and the tourist attractions that you’ll go to during your vacation. But what’s next is to finalize these arrangements so that you and your family can take that dream vacation to Orlando.

You’ll also want to make sure that your travel arrangements are well taken care of so no problems occur during your vacation, and even while going there. Finding help on how to arrange your Orlando vacation travel shouldn’t be so bad if you know where to look.

Taking air travel packages to Orlando

If you want minimal fuss and travel time while going to Orlando, taking a plane to go there is an easy option to pick. After all, travel time is significantly reduced when going by plane and you won’t have to worry about taking wrong turns and getting lost on the way. There are vacation packages for the whole family so that you can get big savings if you book your flights as a family because of discounted group rates.

You can take advantage of these savings by either using the amount on your vacation or you can take seats in business class instead, so that you’ll have premium service starting from the airport itself, all the way to the airport in Orlando.

Everyday flights to Orlando

Orlando International Airport is located only 35km east away from Disney World, and it handles roughly 32 million passengers each year, and that number is growing. The airport serves international and domestic flights to and from the city, so wherever you might be coming in from, you can find a carrier that has Orlando as its destination.

The domestic carriers that are flying in also have planes servicing this route daily. The main airlines include Continental, Delta, and American Airlines covering most of the flights there. There are also budget carriers present in Orlando International like Sprint and Jetblue. Other European carriers have frequent flights to Orlando, like British Airways who fly in daily from London. You can find everything you need at this airport like a full-service bank, a hotel, and shops and restaurants operating onsite. There are also car rental services present in the premises as well, like Avis and Budget.

Traveling within the city

If you’ve hired a rental car to take you wherever you might want to go within Orlando, you’ll just need GPS or a map to guide you on how to get there. However, you can also take the public transportation like taxis or buses to get where you want to go.

Taxis are no problem in Orlando, and with buses, you can use the free travel guides provided by travel agencies for instructions to get to tourist destinations and hotels. There are also airport shuttle services available that will take you directly to your hotel so you don’t have to get lost in downtown travel.

Of course, you’ll have to decide beforehand where you want to stay, whether it’s a hotel or renting a villa or at a resort. Planning this ahead of time can net you big savings on your vacation budget, and have some extras left for souvenirs or whatever you want to use the money on.

But the biggest bonus to planning your Orlando vacation travel ahead of time is that you’ll minimize problems and have a wonderful journey going there.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Planning Your Trip to Disney


Planning every important detail for your upcoming vacation in Orlando, Florida so that you can go to Walt Disney World Resort can sometimes seem like a daunting task. For some, arranging all those little bits about your vacation can make or break the vacation and how you enjoy it. But there are helpful guides to aid in planning your vacation so that it can be a huge success for everyone to remember.

Who to consult

When time comes to choose who you want to help you, you’ll have to pick from some pretty diverse sources so that you can make the right decisions on where to go and where to stay, two of the most important things in your vacation plans. But basically, the most reliable sources of information for deciding things would be the official website and travel sites where they have reviews on what each resort has to offer for your vacation pleasure.

Official site tours

The most highlighted trump card of the official resort site is that they have lots of information on just about anything you want to ask about their resort. And another plus is that they have call center support should you want to speak with a representative on the phone to field your queries. As well as that, you can view excellent pictures of the resort and its attractions in live colors. Other points in favor of site tours are that they can give detailed descriptions not available anywhere else along with actual data on the rides like G forces involved. This can be very informative and helpful when choosing between resorts available.

Travel sites and reviews

With travel sites catering to more and more customers each year (there is an estimated forty million visitors that go to Orlando annually), travel agencies have made it a point to get feedback from their customers as well on how they rated the resorts that they stayed in.

This type of information really isn’t available anywhere else, so when checking out resorts that you want to visit while going to Disney, you can see what other visitors think of the resort while they were there. The all important opinion of the visitor is recorded here, and there is in most likelihood no bias as to what they think of the resort.

Choosing who to believe

All in all, the final decision is still with you and your family on where you want to go when going to Disney for your vacation. It’s better to look at both pieces of information and form your decision from both. If you do this, then you can have a look at how much info official Disney sites have on their resort, and compare their attractions with the feedback garnered from visitors to their resort using the travel site you’ve selected.

Once you’re done, then you can finalize your plans as to where to go and where you’ll book your hotel for your trip. Orlando Disney vacation information can be really helpful to decide what you really want to do and where to go while on your Disney vacation.

After all, it’s you and your family that matter when going on holiday. And for Disney, the customer is always their first concern.

Friday, August 27, 2010

How To Choose A Rental Home In Orlando


So you’ve decided to stay away from major hotels and resorts while going on your vacation to Orlando because of the seemingly sky-high cost of staying there. But where should you stay instead? At a villa for the whole family? Or in condos, but those things can get pretty expensive as well. But there are other options to consider, because vacation rental homes in Orlando can reduce cost while not reducing any of the fun factor while you’re there.

Housing Units available

There are rental homes to be found all over Orlando. A quick check with some booking agencies and property management companies can reveal some very interesting homes for you to stay in while you’re in Orlando for your vacation trip. And the good thing about this is that they don’t have to be glorified shacks either, some very nice houses are up for rent, built just for the purpose of accommodating tourists, especially those on long vacations to the city of Orlando.

Since this is a whole house that you’ll be renting while going to Orlando, you can get pretty much everything that you want in a luxury hotel room, like multiple bedrooms that you can sleep in, living room, game room and kitchen, which are always valuable things to consider when looking for a place to stay. Although of course you won’t get luxuries like 24/7 room service, but you probably won’t be using that anyway. There are even driveways in each house so that you have a place to park the car you brought or rented.

Location is everything

You don’t want to spend much time traveling back and forth from tourist attractions and returning to your rental home, that’s for sure. Property management companies know this as well and they have homes that are within a few minutes away from Disney, so you can spend less time getting there and more time having fun.

You can also find that these homes just have a little bit of a price premium compared to others located farther away from where you want to go. This is sometimes more than enough to offset the travel expenses that come with farther locations. This can also be another point of savings when it comes to traveling expenses in terms of money and time, because you’ll spend less getting to places and more time seeing sights and having fun.

Pricing and availability

With these homes going for as low as $120 a night, and having standard amenities far from what you call shabby, a rental home is a good bargain to be had. Considering that the entire family will be staying in one house, this can be cheaper compared to staying at a hotel. Availability also varies because units are being rented all the time, so check if you can find a good deal in terms of price and location, and book early so that you have plenty of time to shop around.

Standard amenities like TVs, nice beds, furniture, and other items included in renting homes can be pretty good for such an inexpensive deal. As well as that, you can also keep the kids entertained during vacation downtime with the available game consoles in the houses (included standard in most), and have a wonderful time staying in vacation rental homes in Orlando.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Having Fun At Orlando Vacation Resorts


Going to Orlando, Florida, for a restful vacation is a fine idea for those looking to get away from the business of life and relax and see the sights. Not only is Orlando home to Disney World, but it is also ranked high on the top lists of places to go to for vacation. As such, there are numerous Orlando vacation resorts that cater to tourists and provide places to reside in during vacations.

Orlando has over 40 million tourists that come every year, and it’s no wonder why. With great theme parks, tourist sites, and luxurious hotels, Orlando is truly one of the nicest places to go on vacation.

Options for family vacations

There are many ways for a family to go on vacation in Orlando. Booking a hotel is easy enough, then discovering the sights and sounds of the city on your own is a fun and exciting way to get acquainted with the city and its people. And of course, there’s always Disney World, where most people plan to go to when they vacation at Orlando.

Vacation Packages

If you check out your local ticket agency, chances are good that there will be offerings for vacation packages with Orlando as the destination. Hotel accommodations, day tours, as well as meal arrangements are bundled in vacation packages. What’s cool about these vacation packages is that you won’t have to worry about not knowing where to go while in Orlando, they have your vacation itinerary planned out. You also usually go along in a group, along with others also on vacation in Orlando. You can make new friends this way, and have others along with you while you take in the sights in the wonderful city.

Time-share vacations

Resorts offer time-share packages for value-conscious families, and offer packages that let you stay in posh resorts situated in choice real estate close to major tourist attractions. Typically these will be situated to within a few miles of major destinations like Disney. These timeshare vacation condo units or resort packages can often be way cheaper than if you were to go out on your own. Everything from first class to lower-budget, but still classy resort plans can be had. Timeshare plans provide very good value for money, and will let you enjoy your stay there at economical cost.

Renting a vacation home

If you plan to take a long and leisurely vacation in Orlando, then you can probably check out rental homes for your vacation if you intend to stay there for more than two weeks. This is because extended stays in hotels can quickly become expensive, and timeshare vacation packages will normally only offer two weeks’ use of the resort or condo at any single time.

Disney

If you really plan to go to Orlando because of the fact that Disney World is there, then it would be a good idea to consider staying at a Walt Disney World resort, where the packages are built around the plan of touring Disney. There are numerous resorts to choose from, and like the theme parks themselves, are also catered to different tastes. So when going there, you can choose to go wherever your child, or the child in you wants to go.

With the multitude of Orlando vacation resorts, choosing the right vacation for you and your family is easier than ever. Better than that, you can find one that offers the best amount of fun, and at a price that won’t break the bank.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Pros And Cons Of Disney World Hotels


Deciding on whether to stay on Disney or Non-Disney World hotels is sometimes challenging. To better come up with the best choice for a hotel accommodation, here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of staying on or off site.

Advantages of Staying Off Site

• When staying off site, the hotels usually offer more variety of amenities to compensate with its location and they also offer lower prices since staying at hotels situated near Disney World are quite costly

• Normally, hotels located outside Disney World are larger, one huge advantage for those who are traveling in large groups since these hotel rooms are good for 5 to 6 people while Disney hotel rooms are only good for four people regardless of the age of the guest.

• Most offsite hotels offer free transportation to Disney World as well as to other attractions such as Universal and Seaworld while hotels onsite only offer free transportation to Disney parks and they will not take you to the other area attractions in the city.

• Apart from Disney World, Orlando has many other tourist attractions worth exploring and by staying in an offsite hotel, there is an easier access to these smaller scale tourist spots all over the place such as shopping venues, great restaurants and golf courses too.

• A lot of these hotels also offer discounts for Disney World tickets as well as with SeaWorld or Universal if you choose to have you accommodation with them.

• As for the food, breakfast is free and last minute specials even on peak season while Disney properties have no freebies to offer and dining on these onsite hotels can be very costly for what you will get

• A lot of the Disney hotels are already a little old compared to a lot of new hotels being continually established offsite.

Disadvantages of Staying Off Site

• In terms of quality, there is a great difference between onsite and offsite hotels.

• A free transportation to and from the International Airport will be provided by these onsite hotels.

• A free shuttle service to all of the four parks in Disney World will also be provided. Unlike those in offsite hotels where some share the same shuttle services resulting to a crowded ride, there will be no difficulty finding these free shuttle services even during the busy seasons since they run for every thirty minutes.

• Disney World offers one Magical Hour as they call it to those who choose to have their stay in these Disney properties. The guests will be allowed to enter the park an hour before the guests who are not staying at the Disney World Resort gets to enter.

• Most of the employees working in offsite hotels are not very familiar with the Disney World or perhaps, Orlando in general unlike those who are staffed in these onsite hotels who are trained well to attend to your needs.

• Of course, if you will have your accommodation in these Disney hotels, you will be able to charge stuff to your room giving you a less hassle tour to the park.

• Disney guests also have the chance to have a character tuck the kids to bed before they have that wonderful slumber.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Where To Eat At Colorado


Food is what makes us get up and go. And how can we enjoy the seemingly endless park trips and nature escapades in Orlando if we do not get enough food to get us going. In Orlando, its not just about theme parks and beautiful attractions, they also have a wide array of dining places where you can find different dishes all served at their best. Of the many dining options that the place offers, every meal is surely a festive one.

The Finest Places To Dine In Disney

If you think Disney is all about the child stuff, wait till you get a good taste of the wide variety of excellent cuisine that the park offers. It hosts a huge selection of dining choices and among these dining destinations these are the finest ones where you should be treating yourself once you get there are:

Citrico’s

For guests who want a semi-formal dinner and one that is away from the hustle and bustle of theme parks, this place is definitely a great choice for dining. Located at the Disney’s Grand Floridan Resort, its specialty is Floridian-Mediterranean cuisine made out of market fresh ingredients.

But before you get to taste their scrumptious dishes, you have to be in business casual attire since they have a dress code there.

Boma

Another worth trying restaurant is the Boma situated at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. They serve the best buffet selection in the park. And this is probably the best option for the adventurous type since they also cater exotic dishes of Africa apart from the variety of American dishes that they serve.

Arthur’s 27

Want to have the best view of Walt Disney World? Then this dining place is the one for you. Perched atop Wyndham Palace Resort and Spa, this restaurant is well-known for the delectable seafood dishes that they offer to their customers. It is probably one of the most beautiful and romantic dining spots within the Disney World area.

Shula’s Steakhouse

Home to the famous New York strip steaks in the vicinity, Shula’s is one big hit to many tourists as well as locals having a holiday in Disney World. With their wide selection of lamb, poultry and seafood cuisine, it will truly be a feast dining here!

Victoria & Albert’s at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort

If it’s your birthday, anniversary or simply enjoying a good vacation in Orlando, dining at Victoria & Albert’s at the Grand Floridian Resort is surely one good way to spoil yourself with. A good place for celebrations, this restaurant offers a wide array of fine tasting cuisine.

Making Reservations

One important thing to remember if you want to enjoy the many dining places when visiting Disney World is to make dining reservations in advance. That is one big mistake that many visitors make which results to an hour or so of waiting for the table at their preferred dining spots.

The recommended time usually takes a month in advance to place your reservations. However, when planning to visit Orlando at peak seasons, you should try making the reservation at least two months in advance.

By making such reservations, dining matters will no longer be an issue and you will be able to enjoy the finest cuisine in your favorite restaurants.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Orlando Accomodation Options


Traveling, and choosing where you’ll be staying while at your destination, is sometimes a bit of a hassle because you’ll have some considerations in different types of accommodation arrangements. The same holds true if you’re on vacation in Disney, because you’ll still have to think about where you’ll be staying for the night after you finish your day touring Disney. Some options that you have can really just depend on your budget considerations, as well as the time you’ll be staying out or in the hotel.

Renting rooms while on your vacation or business trip

If you’re traveling alone, then you most likely won’t be too choosy as to where you’ll be staying. Since you’ll probably be spending most of your time out anyway, the most important thing you need is to have a bed to sleep in, and a place to store your stuff. This is probably the cheapest option you can find as to money, but it will also probably be the most lacking in standard conveniences.

Motels and budget hotels

Going to Disney for your vacation, if it’s just a long weekend at the most, and you’ll also be spending most of the day out touring, then you can consider renting a family-sized room at a motel, or booking at an economy hotel. Since these establishments mostly cater to travelers, accommodations are pleasing enough that you won’t feel that you’re just above camping out in a bare shelter. This is still a worthy option to consider if you can live without some luxuries found at five-star hotels.

Rental homes and villas

Staying at Orlando for an extended vacation with your family, one can feel the draw to have another home there, since you’ll probably notice that the longer you stay at hotels, the more expensive it gets when the bills start piling up. Renting out a home if you’re traveling only with your family and need only a few bedrooms for you and the kids is a good option as well.

As for villas, these are better suited for travelers who are with a medium-sized group, and need something like 6 bedrooms or more. With a multitude of choices available, you can choose a house or villa that is right for your budget. From modest houses to villas that have pools and big screen TVs, you can get something that will be just right in terms of expenses in renting it out.

Full-blown luxury

If budget is not really a consideration, and you want to live the good life while on vacation (since it’s your money and you can do with it as you please), luxury hotel accommodations at most major resorts and theme parks can be a good proposition while on travel. You’ll get the works when it comes to amenities, like a tournament-level golf course, spa services to help you relax, and vast pools to stay cool in. of course, it has levels of luxury well above other hotels.

24/7 room service and all-day-all-night restaurants to serve the needs of its guests. You’ll get the whole shebang, giant-screen TVs, game console, and even bottles of champagne upon your arrival at the hotel. A little welcome gesture, and truly best in class.

But whatever it is you choose when you’ll stay on vacation in Orlando for Disney world, you can count on it that the trip is going to be worth it.