Orlando Holiday Planning & Mickey Mouse Giveaway!

To tie in with my Orlando themed holiday posts, I have a lovely Mickey Mouse plush for one lucky reader. Read on for more info and how to enter...

If you read my previous Orlando blog post you'll know that we are off to the Sunshine state later on in the year and I can't wait! Florida is such a great holiday destination and it's suitable for the whole family. We've been as a couple, with a group of friends and now this time with a little man in tow!

I love to plan and organise things and this kind of holiday does take a bit of planning if you are going to be visiting the parks. First things first you need to shop around to find the holiday you want and there are SO many different options. We've decided to book a private villa - it didn't actually work out any cheaper by not going through a holiday company but I liked the fact that I could choose the villa itself. Some of the big tour operators like Virgin will just allocate the villas on arrival...and that's not good for someone who likes to plan!! We know exactly where our villa is and have been emailing back and forth with the owner so we know exactly what to expect. It's going to be lovely having our own personal pool for the fortnight!

Aside from your flights and accommodation, one of the biggest costs is going to be park tickets and again, this takes a bit of planning. There are so many companies online who claim to have the cheapest tickets and it can be a bit bewildering when you first start looking!

My top tip is to sit down and work out exactly where you would like to visit, if you plan on park hopping, if you plan on returning to the same park multiple times and even if you plan on venturing out of Orlando! It's easy to think that Florida is just Disney and Universal Studios but there so many other attractions including Legoland, Busch Gardens, Seaworld, Kennedy Space Centre, a multitude of water parks and much more.

I looked into buying tickets separately for all attractions but the best value option for us was a combined ticket. I would like the flexibility of being able to return to the parks on a different day. As we are going with a toddler, we aren't able to plan our day too much because it depends how tired he is etc. But if we can return in the evenings after a nap then this is perfect!

A few friends recommended Florida Tix and they were the best value by far. We want to visit lots of the parks, including Busch Gardens in Tampa so we are going to be buying a Magic Combo ticket. This gets us 14 days unlimited admission to all the WDW parks plus both water parks, 14 days unlimited admission to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure (Hogwarts here I come!) and 14 days unlimited admission to Seaworld, Busch Gardens and Aquatica. On top of this is includes Disney Fastpass+ (will blog about this another time), free transport to Busch Gardens and much much more. The Magic Combo ticket costs £499 per person (told you it was a bit of an expense!) but this is great value for money when you look at the breakdown and how much you'll be able to see. As a bonus, kids under 3 are free so we won't need to pay for Elliot!

Competition Time

Florida Tix have kindly given us a plush Mickey Mouse to give away to our readers and you won't want to miss out on this! Elliot is also the proud owner of one and he loves it, he's been taking it to bed with him and talking all about when we go to "Dinsey" (Disney!)

Entry via Rafflecopter, UK only please

Ends 1st June 2015


a Rafflecopter giveaway