OWNER'S RECOMMENDATIONS

If you are planning a holiday to Florida and have little or no previous experience of the sunshine state, I hope you find these recommendations useful.  The information supplied is from our own personal family experience. 

The first thing to think about is how you want to book your dream holiday. 

Flights, accommodation, car hire and travel insurance.

All of these can be booked as a package through a tour operator, which may appear to be the easiest, but can also work out to be the most expensive option.
If you choose to go this route, make sure that you know exactly what you are getting for your money!
Does the rental car have all the necessary insurances or will you be liable for additional charges on collection?
Can you choose specific accommodation or is it allocated on arrival?
How much is the travel insurance costing in comparison to buying it independently?
Will there be additional costs added to the flight price - i.e. meals, drinks, entertainment system?

Before committing to a tour operator package, why not check out the cost of booking everything yourself?
Using the internet, you can work out the cost of compiling your own perfect holiday package!

Flights

Scheduled or charter?

Scheduled flights (possible advantages).

Flights do not have to be in multiples of 7 days as they do with charter flights.
Flights can be booked for departure/return on any day of the week. This can be an advantage if you can travel mid-week (Mon to Thurs) as flights are cheaper than at weekends.
The luggage allowance is often more generous and you are not charged extra for golf clubs.
You are less likely to suffer delays on a scheduled flight than on a charter flight.
You can usually allocate your own seats when you book.
Check-in online 24 hours before departure.
More choice of arrival/departure airports.

Charter flights

Often appear cheaper than scheduled flights, but you need to be careful to check all the possible additions to the base price which are probably included in the scheduled airline price!

Direct or Indirect flights?

Indirect flights can sometimes work out to be cheaper than direct flight.
The direct flight time from London to Orlando is about 9 hours (less on the return from Orlando to London!), but is obviously considerably longer if you fly indirect with 1 or 2 stops.
Slight risk of missing your connecting flight if your departure from the U.K. is delayed.

Immigration (visitors from visa waiver countries)

The U.S. Immigration Authorities have implemented a process whereby you have to register online AT LEAST three days before your date of travel.

Visit the web site below to register and obtain your ESTA number

Web site to register https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/

You can register at any time and the registration will last for two years or the life of your current passport, whichever is the shorter.

Registration is very simple and FREE. Do not be persuaded to pay for this service via internet sites.

Accommodation - Hotel or villa?

As a villa owner I am obviously biased, but will point out the advantages of staying in a villa. These are benefits we discovered long before buying our own Florida home.

Lots of space - not all stuck in one room and having to pay to go out just to escape! You can save money by spending some of your holiday time at the villa enjoying the pool.

Food/meals - again you can make a considerable saving by keeping soft drinks, ice creams, ice lollies, fruit and snacks in your home. Make tea, coffee or meals whenerver you choose.

Laundry facilities - wash/dry your clothes as often as you like during your holiday and therefore pack less to take out, leaving more room in your suitcase to bring home the wonderful bargains that you will find in the Florida stores.
Take all your clothes home already washed and avoid having to spend the first couple of days back faced with a pile of dirty laundry.

Noise - no problem with noisy hotel guests shouting or banging doors and disturbing your sleep.

Sunbeds - you get your own and don't have to rush out early to reserve them!

Pool - your own private pool to enjoy whenever you want - luxury!

Entertainment - many villas have games rooms, more than one TV, DVD players and films, family board games... all to keep you entertained at no extra cost!

Extras included in the rental cost (this is a sample of what our home offers, but will vary with individual villas).

All bedding, towels, pool towels, hair driers, safe, PC, wifi connection, baby equipment, phone calls (including international).

If you book a privately owned villa you will be able to contact the owner and discuss any concerns you may have or simply get some advice on places to visit or restaurants in the area. You can reassure yourself that the villa has the facilities which are important to you and your family.

Car hire

I have found the following company to offer excellent service and good value for money (I do not earn commission from these recommendations). 

Car rental (Dollar/Alamo/Budget)

No nasty surprises with this company! There are two options - silver and gold. The Silver rate includes 2 drivers with Dollar and Budget (1 driver with Alamo) whereas the Gold rate includes extra drivers and a full tank of fuel.
Both rates include all necessary tax and fully comprehensive insurance (CDW, SLI, UMP). We always choose the Gold option as we know that there will be nothing more to pay when we collect/drop off the car. They don't usually even take a credit card swipe! With the Silver option, you will be charged for a tank of fuel. *See note below.

We used to always rent our car with Dollar because we have a Dollar Express Card, which meant that we didn't have to spend long queueing! However, since a recent price increase, the difference between the rental cost from Budget and Dollar/Alamo has become very noticeable. On our last trip in January we decided to try Budget and have no complaints at all about the quality of the vehicle or the customer service. If the price difference stays, we will most definitely use Budget again.

Dollar, Alamo and Budget are all located on airport at Orlando International but at Sanford, Budget is off airport. This is something worth considering when you choose your car rental company. From past experience, there is nothing worse than arriving at the airport after a long trip and then having to wait for a shuttle bus to take you to the car rental depot!

*Please note:

A new Airport Customer Facility Charge has rectently been announced by Orlando International Airport authority.

The charge is to be made on all rental cars collected from on-site rental companies and will commence on 1st October 2008. The fee is $2.50 per day, with a maximum of $12.50 payable. Therefore rentals of 10 days or more will pay $12.50. The cost is included in the price quoted for Budget rentals.

This fee is beyond the control of the car rental companies as it has been imposed by the airport authority. The car rental companies are simply collecting the fee, which will be passed to the airport authority.

Attraction tickets

With this company you have the option of having your park tickets delivered to your holiday accommodation for an extra $5.00. This saves worrying about packing/losing your tickets! Also, when the tickets are delivered, you receive the park information brochure and so are able to plan your day(s) in advance. During peak season, when the parks are busy. it is really useful to have a plan of which rides you are going to visit first! It might be an idea, when entering the park, to head off in the opposite direction from everyone else!

Holiday insurance

Excellent service and extremely competitive prices.

Check out the family cover with this company as they include any number of dependant children up to 19 years of age or up to 23 if they are in full time education!

What to pack Tickets will vary depending on how you booked flights....

Clothes

The dress code in Florida is casual and shorts/skirts/trousers and tee shirts are acceptable almost everywhere.
If you are planning a round or two of golf you will need a polo shirt or short-sleeved shirt as tee shirts are not accepted on some courses.
Comfortable shoes are essential if you are planning on visiting the parks during your holiday as they all involve a lot of walking. Trainers and socks or comfortable sandals are ideal!
If you are renting a villa then you will only need sufficient clothes to last a few days as you will be able to wash/dry them as required. This means that you can pack less and buy more!
The weather in December/January can be quite cool in the evenings so it is a good idea to take a cardigan/light jacket/fleece top if you are holidaying at this time of year.

Places to visit

The Disney parks are, of course, familiar to everyone, but our personal favourite is Busch Gardens at Tampa - well worth a visit!

If you want to see the manatee in their natural surroundings and are visiting Florida in the winter months (mid November to March) then a visit to Blue Springs Park is well worth adding to your agenda. We really enjoyed the boat trip along the river.

Lowry Park Zoo at Tampa is a great place to visit for a family day out that shouldn't break the bank! Not only are there some amazing animals to see, but also a play area and some water fountains for the children to play in if it's a hot day. Our grandchildren got absolutely soaked, but loved every minute. I have never been up so close to a giraffe - you can buy crackers to feed them! 

Boggy Creek Airboat Ride. When we bought the tickets, I thought this was quite expensive for the length of time it took, but having done it - worth every cent!

If you are members of the AA (AAA in the U.S.), take your membership card with you, as some parks will give you a discount.

Dining

Eating out is a real pleasure in Florida too!  There are so many restaurants to try.  Popular family restaurants include Denny’s, Perkins and Shoney’s, but our family favourite is Manny’s Chop House (conveniently located near to our home!). 

The clubhouse at Southern Dunes also has an excellent restaurant for breakfast, lunch and early evening meals.

If you appreciate a good steak ,then you should try Charley's Steakhouse. Maybe best kept for a special occasion as it is comparatively expensive!

Shopping

There are lots of bargains to be bought – trainers, clothing, cosmetics, PC software… are all considerably cheaper in the U.S. than they are in the U.K.  We are very lucky to have a 24 hour WalMart superstore just outside the gates of our community.  Popular shopping malls worth a visit are – The Florida Mall (large and busy - good range of stores), The Mall at Millenia (very up-market, but with a great gadget store!), Eagle Ridge Mall (a smaller, less busy mall, but still has good stores including Sears, JC Penney and Dillards).  There is also a cinema at Eagle Ridge and a carousel for the little ones!

Macy's offer international visitors a discount of 11% on all purchases for 30 days.  Just go to the gift wrap counter with your passport and collect an International Savings Card.  The offer applies to all goods, even those in a sale!!

Driving

Again, for your convenience, I have compiled some useful information about driving in Florida in a pdf.file.  I recommend that you take a few minutes to read it, or preferably print it out and take it with you.  If you are concerned about finding your way around, why not consider hiring a satellite navigation system  It will be delivered to your U.K. home before your departure and comes pre-programmed with your accommodation address and all the main Florida attractions.

If there are young children in your party, I strongly advise taking their own car seats with you.  The rental cost from the car hire companies is quite high and the seats provided are not always as clean as you might like!  The rental company will provide you with an instruction sheet on fitting the seat, but will not assist in any way should you have a problem with the fitting.  Some airlines will provide a bag for your car seat(s).  I know that Virgin Atlantic do!

If there is anything I have not covered which you would like advice on, please don’t hesitate to get in touch either by Email or phone 01903 240892.