Uk talkdisney members

**lionkingfanno1** · 07-23-2012, 08:54 AM

Hey I thought I'd open a thread for any members from the uk who may be going to wdw or any other attractions in Florida at the same time. Or for fellow members to give advice and tips to anyone deciding on going on holiday

talk

**Winkster** · 07-23-2012, 09:10 AM

Best tip I can give is travel with Virgin Holidays.

Lots of extras (when we last went anyway) like...

Early entry to Universal IoA to ride Harry Potter before the park opened,

Free access to the V-Room lounge at Gatwick and, most importantly for us,

Downtown Disney Check In for the flight home - they take your bags so you get extra time at WDW (no need to be at the airport 3 hours before) and no hassle of dragging luggage around.

**lionkingfanno1** · 07-23-2012, 09:39 AM

I am going on a virgin Atlantic flight but have not booked my holiday through them

the downtown Disney check in when I read it was amazing but I am guessing that I will have to pay for that advantage as 'exclusive' to virgin holiday customers.

**Mike0510** · 07-23-2012, 04:07 PM

Hi, we use Virgin but fly from Manchester so we dont benefit from the V Room. Nor do we use the DTD drop off as we always get a car but Virgin still seem to be the best all round service. We used to use Thomson and flew to Sanford but we now get frequent flyer discount with Virgin which reduces the prices to Thomson levels.

As we can all testify, the flight is the killer. 9 hours in the normal cabin with 2 little ones is my idea of hell but it's worth it as Florida is our favourite holiday destination (doesn't help that the wife is terrified of flying either!!). Any advice on how to make the journey seem less stressful will be fully appreciated.

We get our Disney tickets through Virgin as we book the whole package through them to get the free DDP. We then buy the Universal and Sea World tickets on a site called attraction tickets direct. They price match other sites and have always been great in customer service as well as supplying actual tickets.

We go for 21 nights but buy the 14 day consecutive tickets for Universal and Sea World as we get the 21 day ticket for Disney.

**Mr&MrsWoody** · 07-23-2012, 04:21 PM

There is a v-room at Manchester and I know because we fly from there a week on Wednesday and are booked in the v-room! We have the whole thing booked with virgin, staying at SSR and have upgraded the free dining to deluxe dining! I can't wait!! :-) x

**Winkster** · 07-23-2012, 04:42 PM

Originally Posted by Mike0510

Nor do we use the DTD drop off as we always get a car...

Why don't you use the DTD Check-In?

We always get a car too but still use the check-in. We get rid of the cases early then head off for a full day in the parks without having to store luggage in car and check in 3 hours before.

We stay in the park til the last minute, wave goodbye, hop in the car and get pretty-much straight on the plane.

**lionkingfanno1** · 07-23-2012, 05:04 PM

I will use the dtd drop off when I go I think it seems a lot more hassle free then having to rush around. Plus the Disney express means nothing hopefully shall go wrong

**rinkydinktink** · 07-23-2012, 05:37 PM

We always use virgin they're the best holiday firm we've used thompson once and hated Sanford airport. We've never used car hire and got on fine with just using the taxi's, virgin do vouchers for them they're about $8 per person each way, we usually only buy 4 round trips, we've used attraction tickets direct they're excellent value for money, but next year for the first time we have the ddp so brought the tickets with virgin we're staying at por in the French quarter (we've done the Latin one a few years ago for my mums 60th, we swam with dolphins on her birthday and for a small extra fee she got a present from the dolphin and a t-shirt, picture frame with a picture from the swim in it, they were really good, Disney didn't do anything :-( !) we've decided that next year we're just doing Disney and universal as I don't like seaworld and my mum doesn't like Busch gardens
Can anyone tell me what the quick service dining plan is like? Will we need extra money for food? Can you use a credit at breakfast? Do you just get the mickey shape lollies for snacks of can you get the cone ice creams? What do they class as a snack? We usually only have breakfast an ice cream in the afternoon and salad or burger type thing in the evening it's too hot to eat! Sorry lots of questions we don't normally get the ddp! We usually spend about $500 between 3 of us on food and drink. But it was only an extra £500 to book with the plan and we got $250 free as well.

**Winkster** · 07-23-2012, 06:06 PM

Think you may be confused over the resort.

Port Orleans is divided into 2 parts - Port Orleans Riverside (POR) and Port Orleans French Quarter (POFQ).

Both are great though so whichever you're staying in, you'll love it!

As for snacks, this thread tells you all the snacks you can get on the DDP.

Best use of a snack credit?!

You can use credits whenever you want so a snack or QS credit (or TS credit if you have them) is fine for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

**Mike0510** · 07-24-2012, 02:19 AM

Originally Posted by Winkster

Why don't you use the DTD Check-In?

We always get a car too but still use the check-in. We get rid of the cases early then head off for a full day in the parks without having to store luggage in car and check in 3 hours before.

We stay in the park til the last minute, wave goodbye, hop in the car and get pretty-much straight on the plane.

Sounds great, didn't realise you could do that, I thought it was for people using the Disney Express service. Thanks for the tip.

**Winkster** · 07-24-2012, 04:13 AM

Originally Posted by Mike0510

Sounds great, didn't realise you could do that, I thought it was for people using the Disney Express service. Thanks for the tip.

No - it's for anyone.

We get there for opening so we can request emergency exit seats (you have to check-in in person to get these, not online) then go back to the resort for a quick drink and a chill-out before heading to the parks.

Love the DTD check-in!

**lionkingfanno1** · 07-24-2012, 04:45 AM

I'm travelling from Manchester airport and get access to the star lounge? Is this exclusive lounge or does everyone travelling through manchester airport get access to this lounge? Thomas cook tried to make it sound exclusive, but at same time they were quoting me over £2000 for the holiday till I told them that wdtc were quoting me £1500 for the exact same deal they were trying to sell me. Subsequently they dropped their quote by £500. So a tip I give for future travellers is to shop around and find the cheapest quote

Sent from my iPhone using TalkDisney

**Mike0510** · 07-24-2012, 07:57 AM

Originally Posted by Winkster

No - it's for anyone.

We get there for opening so we can request emergency exit seats (you have to check-in in person to get these, not online) then go back to the resort for a quick drink and a chill-out before heading to the parks.

Love the DTD check-in!

Do all members of the party need to be present or can I simply go along with all 4 passports?

**Winkster** · 07-24-2012, 08:21 AM

Originally Posted by Mike0510

Do all members of the party need to be present or can I simply go along with all 4 passports?

No - its the same as at the airport. Everyone checking in has to be present I'm afraid.

**Mike0510** · 07-24-2012, 11:41 AM

Thanks for the advice. Confirmed on the Virgin web site how to check in at DTD and also booked the V Room for Manchester airport. Productive day!

The thread is great for the UK traveller.

Thanks again