Honeymoon in Florida - accommodation recommendations?!

We are doing our honeymoon in Florida in June 2013, first week in the Animal Kingdom Safari lodge second week in a timeshare apartment somewhere. All Disney hotels are nice though depends what your looking for? My partner isnt majorly into disney so we went for a more understanted hotel than the new animation resort with the Cars / Toystory themes rooms!

Port Orleans French Quarter is a Disney Hotel and quite romantic (lovely garden etc). If you want to stay near Universal, the Portofino Bay Hotel is FABULOUS - the theming is amazing! It's on Universal property and they run ferry boats to the parks all day.

I would recommend getting a car the week if you stay on International Drive as it make it so much easier to get around. There are buses but it can take a while to get around. E.g. you might want to check out the shopping malls etc.

We are also honeymooning in Disney, 2 weeks in July. We chose the Hilton Bonnet Creek at Lake Buena Vista as its more of a luxury hotel as opposed to the themed Disney ones. Its apparently really close to Down Town Disney etc and has good transport to parks. It depends what you are looking for really. We havent booked a car but may do out there, i know that parking can be quite expensive.

Hiya!!

Oooh the Port Orleans French Quarter is one we were looking at and also the Bonnet Creek one - that is a good sign.

We did look at the Animal Lodge Disney hotel but because we are going out for 3 weeks we decided we wanted to have the best accommodation for our final week in Florida keys

Just trying to weigh up costs against benefits of staying in Disney / Universal official hotels as I know you get little extras like extra time in the parks and things like that

So exciting!!

xxx

I think the benefits of a Universal hotel are slightly better than Disney - your room key is a front of the line pass so you don't really have to queue for anything, whereas at Disney hotel guests get extra time at the parks instead.

Have you found a hotel for the Keys? If not I'd recommend the Casa Marina in Key West - went a couple of years ago and it was beautiful!

Hey I have been to Florida about 10 times (love the place) here is a few suggestions.

Disney has changed a massive amount, poor customer service, massive queues, far too many people in the parks which are often flooded by what I refer to as "FLAGGERS" hoards of school kids singing dancing etc who hold up the q's jump in front of you and generally make a nuisence of themselves. You can easily do Disney in 2-3 days. I wouldnt commit a whole week to Disney its really not worth it. Go for theHopper pass though as you can go between parks each day

Universal is defo the best organised park rides are great, staff are on the ball and q's move a hell of a lot quicker that Disney. Suggestion for Harry Potter ride, go on the single rider if there is a massive q, ride is pretty full on and the seats are really deep so you take no notice of people next to you as you cannot see them. Again you can do both parks easily in two days.

Discovery Cove is worth every penny and you can upgrade to the top pass so you have unlimited access to SeaWorld, Aquatica (waterpark) and Bush Gardens, you should really dothis will be a lovely thing to remember.

A villa is also a good choice as well tons of them around Kissimee,

International drive is pretty good for pubs/resturants etc if you cant be bothered taking the car as everything is within a short walk. Keep away from Howard Johnston pretty scabby. We stayed in the Enclave last year hired it through a work colleague so it was like a home, kitchen, two bedrooms, balcony, livingroom etc. I can give you the web link if you want. The Hiltons are a good choice as well Homewood suites there is a few of these on international drive. Try and pick a hotel with a bus service to disney as the parking is $15 per day, you can use the Lynx buses as well which go into International Drive and will take you to Disney, Seaworld and Universal.

I would say that the Gulf coast is worth spending a week on, Indian shores is a beautiful place we found by chance last year, Sarasota, Fort Myers are also beautiful and very relaxing.

Never been to the Keys but it sounds amazing, in regards to Miami pick a decent hotel as similar to most US cities there is a large homeless population who are pretty scary and dangerous and will not think twice about robbing people. Hollywood is meant to be lovely.

For a night (or two) during your third week my recommendation would be The Boca Resort, Boca Raton. It's based around an hour north of Miami, but it truly is one of the most fabulous hotels on earth!

https://www.thebocaraton.com/

I went to University in Boca Raton and this really is a special place.....if you are flexible with your travel on week three and want to experience something truly amazing.

Fran x

Thank you so much for your replies - I have made a big old list to get googling x

Hi,

We are also going to Florida in May 2013! Only for a week though as we are then moving on to Hawaii and then to Vegas! We have been twice in the last couple of years so have a good idea of what we really enjoy so we can concentrate on spending the week wisely as it would be difficult to get everything done in a week.

We have chosen to stay on site at Disney at Saratoga Springs. We have always stayed off site before and wanted to treat ourselves a bit (and there was a good deal on when we booked where we got free Disney Dining Plan for our stay and there was a deal on the accommodation cost that made it cheaper than the moderate hotels (Port Orleans etc) when it is a deluxe resort).

We always have a car as we like the freedom of coming and going when we please and being able to get to off site restaurants and malls easily. But we will use the free Disney buses maybe when we go to parks at night. What also swayed me on Saratoga Springs was the fact that its in walking distance to Downtown Disney so we can both have a drink some nights.

Maybe we will see you there!

There's a UK based Disney forum (covers Universal too) at www.thedibb.co.uk that has a huge amount of info on what to do / where to stay and how to make the most of your holiday in Orlando

Personally I've always stayed off-site but there are lots of benefits to staying in a resort hotel (but generally much more expensive). Without a car, this may be your easiest option.

Happy planning!

I was then going to suggest the Dibb but you beat me to it!! Couldn't praise that site enough, you'll be sure to find lots of info and advice there. I've neglected it recently as we wont be going back for another 3 years, and Hitched has kind of taken over!!