Any hidden tricks?

I%26#39;m holidaying there next year with my family and just wondered if anyone has had the misfourtune to find out about any nasty/hidden tricks that the hotels/parks pull to try an get us poor tourist to spend more money, and if there are any way to avoid these?

I know they have great ways in making you think you have to pay for certain things when infact its just a way for them to earn a few more $!!

As you can imagine we%26#39;re spending a fourtune so any info will help!!!!

Any hidden tricks?

Welcome to the TA forums, twinkle21. As it sounds like you%26#39;re visiting the theme parks in Orlando, I%26#39;d recommend reposting this question, and any other questions about Orlando and Disney, on the Orlando forum. This general FL forum doesn%26#39;t get all that much traffic; but the Orlando forum is the busiest of all the forums in Orlando. Just enter Orlando in the upper left hand box, and you will see a link to go to a number of things associated with Orlando tourism, and one of those will be ';forums';. Just click on that to get to the Orlando forum.

Just a few things I%26#39;ll mention: stay away from the ';discounted tickets'; kiosks and desks you see around the Orlando touristy areas. They are for timeshare presentations, where you will say ';no'; about 50 times before you understand you don%26#39;t want to buy. If by chance you did end up at a timeshare presentation, and buying a timeshare, and regret doing so, there is a provision in your sales contract for how you can cancel without penalty. I%26#39;ve heard in FL you have 10 days to cancel, but I%26#39;m not sure; it will be outlined in your contract. It should be at least 7 days though. Keep copies of all paperwork, in case the timeshare company pulls a fast one (sorry for the long discourse, but so many people end up buying timeshares and regretting it, not realizing they could%26#39;ve cancelled the transaction).

Local calls: I%26#39;ve run into this at a number of places. Some places say local calls are free, or charge a certain amount. Then you make calls to Disney, etc. which isn%26#39;t far away, and all of a sudden you get a phone bill for $20 or so!! Its a trick of the way the Orlando phone system is set up; for example, even though International Drive and Disney aren%26#39;t that far away, because Disney and Kissimmee is in the ';Extended Orlando phone area';, hotels may bill these as long distance. Don%26#39;t let them; yell and scream if they do this until they take it off the bill. Or just use the pay phone in the lobby or a cell phone. (FYI, a local resident who makes the same call might get billed an extra 25 or 50 cents for the call on their phone bill, but it is never billed as ';long distance';, because it isn%26#39;t). We%26#39;ve had two hotels do this to us, one took off 1/2 the charges, the other was nicer and deleted all of them.

Gas/Petrol: (this only applies if you%26#39;re renting a car) It helps to ask on this board what the going rate for gas is in Orlando. Yes, its cheaper than the UK, but still some places gouge. The I-4/535 exit near Downtown Disney has about 3 places close to I-4 (the main highway in the area) which gouge from 30 to 60 cents higher. On the other hand, on Disney property, all the petrol stations are Hess, and are very competitively priced, sometimes even bargain priced. Its the only thing on Disney property which is reasonably priced. Also, watch out for gas stations near the Orlando International Airport (MCO, if that%26#39;s your airport; of course it%26#39;s possible something like that could happen at SFB, if you%26#39;re flying into there). There is one that has charged nearly $4.00 per gallon (on FL436, just north of MCO), when the normal Orlando rate was about $2.70 (the lowest currently I%26#39;ve seen in Orlando is $2.61; I%26#39;ve also seen $2.70 or more, but that%26#39;s normal variation, not major gouging).

Camera shops: no personal experience here, but there have been a number of posts on watching out for the ones on the major touristy drags. XR759 on the Orlando forum has made a point of this.

Tipping: Check the tipping posts on the Orlando forum. The custom in the US is that you tip a restaurant server 15-20% for good service of the cost of the meal before tax. That is done after the meal; don%26#39;t let anyone tell you its before the meal. Of course, this is a hotly disputed topic between UK travelers and US travelers. Just understand that if you hear this, its not some individual trying to scam you, but a common standard, though one that Brits often question, thinking its too high. Whether you follow it is up to you. But as always, be careful of credit card scams, yet also remember that if you tip cash at a restaurant, that does give a way for servers not to report their tips to the gov%26#39;t, whereas if you pay by credit card, they have to pay tax on it. Other common standards include tipping a maid in the hotel room $2 a night (or $5 if its a higher class place) and every night, as sometimes different maids service your room, and $1-$2 per bag for someone carrying them for you, and about 20% of cab fare, and 15-20% or so for the bartender of your drink bill.

Hotel fees: these are a fact of life now that hotels charge fees above and beyond the room rate and taxes.

Tickets: check the Orlando forum for info about theme park tickets, and www.allearsnet.com for info on Disney tickets. Be wary of buying used ones; its illegal to sell used Disney tickets in Florida.

Disney stuff: remember that everything at Disney is overpriced, except petrol.

If going without a car, make use of the I-Ride trolley, and the lynx bus system.

There%26#39;s a Goodings shopping center on International Drive and in Lake Buena Vista, but it is rather overpriced. Wal-Mart and Publix are your best bets for groceries; particularly Publix if you look for specials (the only Publix that is different is the one by Orange Lake Resort; all others have good specials which change weekly).

Any hidden tricks?

Also, you can bring food into the theme parks, though they may not let you bring a large amount. But snacks and such they generally will let you bring them in. Pockets can be utilized like this.

Also, the websites for the non-car travelers

www.golynx.com (Orlando buses)

www.iridetrolley.com (goes up and down International Drive)