Favorite Holiday Song Memory

Just listening to Kelly Clarkson Breakaway and it has brought back so many lovely memories of our recent holiday to Orlando - it was that song that was on every time I turned the ignition on in the car.

Just wondered what songs bring to mind brilliant times in Orlando (not including It%26#39;s a Small World)?

Favorite Holiday Song Memory

libby123

Just couldnt do without my CD purchased in WDW with all the theme tunes to the rides and parades. Play it regularly and know all the words. Especially like Main Street Electrical Parade and song from Splash Mountain. Could do without Country Bear Jamboree and Tiki Tiki Tiki Room however.......

Favorite Holiday Song Memory

I won the Universal Studios rides soundtrack once and have to admit that I%26#39;ve never listened to it. Perhaps there%26#39;s a market on ebay.

Hey Littlefpc,

What is the exact name of the CD you have with all the Disney songs you mentioned?

I%26#39;d like to see if I could get a copy on my upcoming trip.

I, too, love that music they used to play during the Main Street Electrical parade. You couldn%26#39;t help but tap your feet, smile alot, and ';bounce'; a little when that music started.

When I first moved to Orlando (non-Disney related: ';Turning Night into Day'; by Nelson Rangel, and ';Tub Thumping';(';I get knocked down';) by I forget whom (just remembered: Chumbawumba)

First time at Magic Kingdom: the Spectromagic theme

Honeymoon at Disney: ';New York'; by U2, and much of the rest of that U@ album

Excellent choices Eddiek - obviously a man with taste and how fabulous having a honeymoon at Disney. If I ever get married again .......

My girlfriends favorite song on our trip to Orlando was the theme song (sung in the little kids voice) for the Wishes fireworks. ';Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight...'; She cried a little when the song came on during the fireworks. She liked it so much, she bought the Wishes soundtrack cd! We listened to it on the way home on the airplane and it really brought back that night.

Kat-cubs-Fan

The first CD I purchased in 1999. Its called The Oficial Walt Disney World Album. Consists of 19 tracks starting with Main Street Electrical Parade and ends with Tree of life Theme.

The second CD I purchased in 2003. Its called Celebrating 100 years of Magic and has some updated tracks. Starts with All Aboard Main Street Station and ends with Fantasy in the Sky. 21 tracks in all.

Worth their weight in gold to me and my kids.

Never go on a car journey without them to sing along to........

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay

My oh my what a wonderful day!

Everybody now.....

pretty much all disney songs give me a very pleasurable chill up my back and makes me think of Florida, just the general walking around the parks with that constant disney songs being played all day! its wonderfull - for some reason though the main one seems to be Just can%26#39;t wait to be king from the Lion King....that jungle sound at the begining I seem to recall being played a lot but cant say where or when its just a song I accosiate with the disney parks.

Also - Blues Brothers sound track!!!! that has to be the main one for when your entering the Universal Studios you cant help but add a little rythem and a few little jumps to your stroll into the park when that tunes playing!!!

MAN!!! I LOVE ORLANDO!!!!!!

For some reason I can%26#39;t get %26#39;It%26#39;s a Small World%26#39;out of my head....unfortunately

Brit booking a rental car on a US website

I have just been talking to Alamo Rentals in the UK, who inform me that I cannot rent a car through the Alamo.com site because I need a valid US drivers licence.

The deals on the Alamo.com website are far better that the Alamo.co.uk site so, is this true, or am I talking to a rather overzealous UK sales rep??

Brit booking a rental car on a US website

We have had this a few times so check back thru the threads to see if this is anywhere near the truth.

The rates on the web are OK and you CAN get them

BUT you will have to add insurance CDW etc and that will take it over the price that you would pay by booking in advance from the UK.

I choose to book with %26#39;Floridacarhire%26#39; or %26#39;yescarhire%26#39;. You get an all in price that includes insurance and the hire and picks up at the airport. They have always been the cheapest and have never let me down. There will be other companies but I think you will find this way cheaper if you are coming from the UK.

Brit booking a rental car on a US website

The insurance element is differant. The US web site is cheaper but will not give you (a Brit) the leval of cover you require. You will be far better off hiring from a UK supplier. And you should be able to hire a car with full cover for about 拢350- 拢380 for 2 weeks.

If things go badly wrong you will have someone to go back to . The last thing you need is to be involved in an accident and have to sell you house and have to take out a 拢20,000 loan to pay off the bill.

Thats what happened to someone i know who was a bus driver who had never had an accedent in his life and was not going to be involved with one in the US.

Although he had been warned by me and others, all of his judgments on this issue turn out to be wrong. He still has a number of years to pay off his loan and has not been able to afford an hoilday since.

Book on www.holidayautos.co.uk and you should end up picking up an Alamo Car at MCO Airport when you arrive. When I booked, a while ago now,with them I got Alamo and the price included all insurances too. It%26#39;s a good UK Broker site.

We have trawled the web for the best deals and we found the best deal is at 1stfororlando.co.uk. Used them last year and found them to be the best deal again this year.

We found it very annoying about the US websites being cheaper as well but not found a way to get theses deals!

Try Airline Network, I found them to be the cheapest. They provide Dollar cars, cheaper than Dollar. I got a 4 door intermediate for 拢270 for 2 weeks with all the necessary insurances. Make sure you book online it%26#39;s 5% cheaper.

Jim

Floridagirl;

You have not been reading the posts that appear above your own.

Is car hire cheaper at Orlando International than it is at Sanford airport, because the rates I%26#39;ve been getting have been about 拢370-拢390 for a 4 door intermediate with ins?

Sorry, I%26#39;m brain dead tonight- these rates I got were for three weeks not two so ignore that last post!

jim 98 and other UK posters: When you talk about ';all the necessary insurances'; and ';all insurances'; exactly what type insurance, and how much of it, are you talking about? CDW, supplemental liability, both, or something else? Just curious.

QQ2; British people are in general used to buying what is called ';A Fully Chomprensive Insurance'; back home. This coves all the costs which might be incured in an accident ie; all the dammage/ repair/replacment to vehicles, street furniture, injuries to third parties, Injuries and compensation to persons , Health care and emergancy services including fire police and ambulance. recovery services, a curtursy car to use while yours and the othe drivers car is being repaird, legal expences, fire , theift,and some others.

When Brits Hire a car at home it comes with all this included in the price of the hire.

When Brits Hire in the US they only get a small limited third party cover. When Us Citizans they often drive the car on their own personal vehical insurance. This option is not availabale to Brits. We have to buy at least the CWD, which only covers dammage done to the car which they have hired. Brits have to buy health insurance to cover them when out of the country and in the US. But this only covers themselves and not anyone they may injure. Unless they buy a ';Fully inclusive'; they will have to pay for all the rest of the costs/dammage and health care costs, compensation etc, they do to others out of their own pocket.

The health care costs alone could Bankrupt a fairly well off family if they were involved in a serious accident, and were deemed to be at fault. Court cost in the US could also be staggering as we wouldn not be able to apply for legal aid to fight any decision that they thought was unjustified.

Brits need to be aware that there is no such thing as human error in the States , someone is always at fault and has to be sued for the last cent.

zits

Place to stay with plenty of children's activites

I plan to vacation this summer in this area. We have 3 boys, ages 8, 5, and 6 months. I would like a place to stay that is within walking distance of activities, has other children staying there, has a kid friendly, clean pool, has a decent restaurant, and is within walking distance of the beach. Any recommendations?

Place to stay with plenty of children's activites

hi rcorbitt

we are also planning to stay in fmb in late sep,the place that im looking at is the neptune inn,it has good reviews and is at the north part of the beach near times sq,check out,www.neptuneinn.com hope this helps

Sunterra Daytona Beach..Anyone familiar with?Feedback...

We realize Spring Break in Daytona can be abit wild..we use to go 20-30 years ago.We thought about Clearwater..abit more subdued. However..for 199.00p/nt 2bdr.condo feel like we are getting a good deal? Any input or redirect would be appreciated.Thanks.

Sunterra Daytona Beach..Anyone familiar with?Feedback...

I have never stayed there but, I have stayed right next door at the Ocean Walk resort.The resort looks nice from the outside and i know they just redone the whole hotel.The pool area is nice and has a waterslide.The resort is in a great location by the pier and bandshell where they do spring break things.Your teens will love the location and make sure they ride the sky lift ride at the pier.They will also love the Shoppes at Ocean walk.They have some great places to eat and a movie theathre.If you have any more questions just ask.I would be happy to help.

Sunterra Daytona Beach..Anyone familiar with?Feedback...

March Break get%26#39;s pretty wild, but your teens will love it, The Sunterra is a nice place, the rooms are very clean, the service is great, they are polite. Overall A Nice place and for 199.00 it%26#39;s a good deal, I%26#39;d Take it if I were you.

Thanks for the information.

Need advise with Magical Express and Saratoga Springs......

Hi everyone. We finally booked our Disney vacation for 12/2-12/10 at the Saratoga Springs (any comments on this resort are appreciated). However, I was looking for airfare this morning, and the airline that we plan on using doesn%26#39;t fly on Saturdays. I was wondering if we should consider booking at a value resort for the night before %26amp; the Saturday after so that we would still be able to use the Magical Express. Or do you think it would be too confusing? I thought maybe we could pack a light suitcase just for those nights and have the rest of our bags delievered to SS. Anyway to get discounts on the value resorts during value season or do they usually always run around $77 a night? We may have to consider another airline, but this rate beats most by around $200. Any suggestions. Thanks!!!!

Oh - congrats fla4fun on getting local expert!

Need advise with Magical Express and Saratoga Springs......

I%26#39;m not sure I understand the question. You should be able to use the magical express regardless of the day that you arrive. 12/2 is a Saturday. If you%26#39;ve booked your hotel already for 12/2 you%26#39;ll need either a flight that arrives on Sat. 12/2 or another night in whatever hotel you wish. But magical express should not be affected by what day you are arriving on.

Saratoga Springs is our DVC home resort. We love it. Its clean and the units are lovely. The pool is very nice with a slide for the kids and an indoor playroom that offers crafts, games, video games etc. We used it when a little rainstorm paid us a visit last time. You take buses to all the parks from here. The resort is still under construction, but they are moving right along and its not noisy or a disturbance. WE are going back 3/5-3/10 so I%26#39;ll give an update on the construction and how far they%26#39;ve come when I return.

Need advise with Magical Express and Saratoga Springs......

Iowamom,

You may still use Magical Express however Magical Express won%26#39;t take you from a value resort back to Saratoga Springs. And it would confuse things a bit for luggage transportation. I wouldn%26#39;t risk of lost luggage! To double check on your question call Disney direct at 407-934-7639. The value resort prices start at $79.00 and go all the way to $127.00 a night depending on dates of travel. Early December is still considered value season rates so you should be able to book at the $79.00 rate.

Meant THE CHANCE of lost luggage!

Sorry wykelbri. I was trying to type while my 2yr old was on my lap. We are scheduled at SS from Sat to Sat, however if we fly with this certain airline we would have to take a Friday flight to Orlando and a Sunday flight back leaving us without a place to stay those two nights. One of the reason we stayed on Disney was to take advantage of the Magical Express, but if we have to fly in early and leave late it might mess things up (luggage, etc). Thanks for posting and I can%26#39;t wait to hear how things are going at Saratoga Springs. It looks beautiful! Have a great trip %26amp; I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks healin1! I would have liked to stay off property those two nights, but I figure that would mess thing up even worse. I definately don%26#39;t want to worry about having my luggage ending up lost. What a nightmare! I%26#39;ll keep my fingers crossed that maybe one of the other airlines will offer a special during that time frame. There are not many choices out of Des Moines. Thanks for your help!!!

Magical Express isn%26#39;t all it%26#39;s cracked up to be....We originally booked into Pop Century, I figured to save a few bucks, but we%26#39;ve never stayed at a place like that before. So, I ended up upgrading to Port Orleans French Quarter, and boy, did Magical Express mess it up. I had to make quite a few phone calls to get them to send out corrected luggage tags, and then when it was time to leave the resort they still had us booked into leaving from the Pop, we had to call them and get them to switch it to the POFQ...it ended up working out okay, but it%26#39;s not a ';special orders don%26#39;t upset us'; kind of deal. We rode through Saratoga Springs several times on the bus routes. It%26#39;s huge. The units are beautiful, but very spread-out. Landscaping is nice. Wear your walking shoes.

Hi Iowamom,

We are disney vacation club members and visit disney at least 3 times a year. We have not stayed at Saratoga for two reasons. It does not have a sit down restaurant which is the one thing I truly enjoy in the morning, a breakfast, and it is pretty far from most parks we enjoy with our children. I heard it is beautiful and as long as you you don%26#39;t mind the two objections I have you will have a wonderful time.

As far as staying in a value hotel the day before and the day after, that would work fine. We sometimes have to switch resorts to make our plane reserations work so we do the same thing. Just let magical express know you are changing your plans to arrive on friday into value resort #1 and leaving on Sunday fron Value resort #1. The luggage will go to that resort and when they pick you up to return home you will have your luggage at that resort. When you leave value resort #1 to go to saratoga springs, Disney will send it to the resort while you go to the parks and you just show up to check in after 4pm.

It is really great.

As far as prices, you can pretty much get a low rate at one of the value places. Sometimes port orleans runs specials also.

Have a great time!

Sandinmypants proved my point exactly. If you change resorts etc. and it doesn%26#39;t go into the computer system too late or for other reasons the transportation issue can be a nightmare with Magical Express. Our experience with ME was great and would definitely do it again.

Hi again Iowamom, When you move from hotel A to Saratoga Springs, the magical express is not involved. We have moved from Saratoga Springs on more than one occasion to save points since points on weekends are always much higher than midweek. All we do is ask the Saratoga Springs to transfer the bags right over to the Pop Century (where we usually go). I would imagaine that in your case, just have your luggage go the value resort you choose. Then ask them to move your luggage to SS and for the last night ask SS to transfer the luggage back to the value place. Actually now that I%26#39;m typing this I%26#39;m realizing that Magical Express won%26#39;t even enter into the equation (sp?) b/c you will be dropped off and picked up at the same place. Wow!! Plus you get 2 extra days!!

Problem solved with an extra two days to play.

Have the best time. PS. The above poster is correct, there is no sit down, but there is a lovely self-serve resturant with very fresh food not stuff dropped off and left around for hours. Should be just fine with a 2 year old... :-)

Counting the days!!! 16 more to go.

Thanks everyone!! I think I am worrying too much about this. This is only our 2nd trip and last time we drove, so the magical express is new to us. Have a great time wykelbri!!! I know I will be asking more questions as things pop up, so I can%26#39;t say thank you enough for taking the time to answer all our questions here on the forums. Sandinmypants - Can I ask, did you fly out of Cedar Rapids? The airline I am looking at does fly out of there on Saturdays. Just not Des Moines. It is another 45 - 60 minutes drive for us. Is the airport there very big? It%26#39;s been a LONG time since I was over that way. Thanks!!

cycling

We are due to visit key west in may and as we are both keen cyclists we are looking to hire good cycles that we can hire for a week and use to cycle further afield. can anybody recommend a good hire shop in the town

cycling

I doubt that Key Kest itself is more than 15 miles around and parts of it are not easily biked, so the only way to go too far is to bike along US 1 off the island. I%26#39;m not sure it is worth your trouble to do this. (You do mean bicycles and not motorcycles?)

Pjk

cycling

yes we are looking for bicycles and we do intend to cycle further up us1 highway and some fitness training around north/south boulevards. last time we visited we only managed to rent the bicyles that are really just for pleasure cycling around the old town

Very interesting question... any other locals have an answer?

Conch cruisers are the rental bike of choice around here, since most people are using them for cruising around town, not serious cycling. I would think your best bests might be Island Bicycle in Key West or the Big Pine Bike Shop on Big Pine. I need to take the b/f%26#39;s bike in on Friday (darn saltwater!), so I%26#39;ll ask at Big Pine. Howver, bikes -- especially nice ones -- have a habit of going missing in KW, so I suspect you%26#39;ll have trouble getting anyone to rent you something pricey.

IMO, the best ride on a road bike would be the south end of the Seven Mile Bridge to Sugarloaf. There are plenty of good places to ride on Big Pine and Sugarloaf and the keys in between, but I%26#39;d recommend a hybrid or mountain bike because of all our rock, sand and mud.

There is a Key West bicycling Club...

http://www.caloosariders.com/

...you might want to email them and ask about rides and bikes.

Pjk

Caloosa Riders is actually the club in Lee County.

thank you all so much for the replies. special thanks to island kitty and await any further post from you. also why is it that whenever we mention to any americans living in the keys about wishing to spending some of our holiday cycling, mainly for the exercise, they think we are barmy english

I think it depends on what time of year you mention it. In summertime, people will think you a bit loony. The traffic on the road at this time of year makes me a little nervous, to be honest, but I see a lot of serious cyclists out on the highway on weekends. (And we do have decent paths along many stretches of the highway.) The Keys are a popular destination for cyclists from the mainland during the winter, when heatstroke is less of an issue. There have been several organized rides over the past few weeks.

I didn%26#39;t make it to the bike shop this morning, but I%26#39;ll make it there sometime soon and let you know what the owner says about renting decent bikes.

Waterview Inn...what happened??

We stayed 2 years ago at the Waterview Inn. Does anyone know what happened or what is up with it? We want somewhere like that to stay again...close to the beach...bed/breakfast/cottage style place. Something quiet and not big.

HELP!

Waterview Inn...what happened??

The Waterview Inn now rents as apartments. We run Westwind Tackle and had heard great things about them as an inn so they will be missed. We also hear good things about the Snug Harbor Inn. It is on Gulf Blvd. near Church by the Sea. Stop by and let us know how you are doing.

Waterview Inn...what happened??

Thanks for writing me back. I was so upset to hear that. It was a great inn when we stayed there. We LOVED it, and now it%26#39;s no more. That%26#39;s so sad. We like staying at little inns like that. Quiet and relaxing. Is there anywhere like that now around the same area??

We liked it too. The beach is changing and becoming more ';condo'; oriented rather than small motels and inns. Although Snug Harbor is not in the neighborhood like the Waterview we have heard good things about the rooms. Surf%26#39;s Inn is on the beachside and we have heard good things about it too. You may need to be flexible about the date of your vacation since they get alot of return business and fill up with the same visitors year after year. Good Luck!

I have another post up and I asked about the Surfs Inn and someone said it had been sold for condos and would be closing in September. I wrote the Snug Harbor Inn, I think that is going to be our best bet. I hate to see that area get built up, I really enjoyed our ';quiet'; time there.

zits