Advice for Flordia trip

[rogpalmeruk]

Ok, me and my wife are planning a holiday at the end of September 2012 to florida for a week.
I know a week in Flordia isn't a lot of time (i've been a few times, but its my wifes first first).
but looking at some last minute trips, prices seem to be £400/500 each which includes a 3* hotel, flights and a car.

I've been thinking that we are going to do
1 day Seaworld
1 day Universal
1 Day Universal Islands of Adventure
2 days Disney hopper - Animal Kingdom and Epcot
2 days resting/shopping

I would love to do 2 weeks, which isn't so much extra for hotel/flights, but its spending money that pushes the price up a lot. I would like to do this as cheap as possible, I know its suppose to be a holiday of the life time, but I've been many times and almost want to cherry pick the best things to do.

Since we only went to Disneyland Paris back in Jan, we feel we only really need a couple of hours to go into the Magic Kingdom just to see the castle and do a couple of rides/evening show. Same really for the hollywood studios..(aka Star Tours!). Also since its only us with no kids, it means we can go pretty quickly...

I understand its usually £20 a day extra insurance charge for the car.

I'm not looking to book anything until a few weeks before we go since we want a last minute bargain and with the amount of hotels/flights (from Birmingham/Bristol) available, it doesn't seem worth booking in advance anymore for Flordia.

Regarding tickets, I'm thinking just to get a Magic you way combo topper and 2 day pass for universal. Just get them at the gates since I won't benefit from the big passes.

Any hints or tips

[AnthonyFromLasVegas]

In Sept you should consider staying on site and using the dinning plan at WDW if its happening which I think it usually is, and Universal is a waste for such a short trip, if you are doing Harry Potter land sure, the other park is eh at best. Another Disney day would be much better, and cost you a lot less.

Ok, me and my wife are planning a holiday at the end of September 2012 to florida for a week.
I know a week in Flordia isn't a lot of time (i've been a few times, but its my wifes first first).
but looking at some last minute trips, prices seem to be £400/500 each which includes a 3* hotel, flights and a car.

I've been thinking that we are going to do
1 day Seaworld
1 day Universal
1 Day Universal Islands of Adventure
2 days Disney hopper - Animal Kingdom and Epcot
2 days resting/shopping

I would love to do 2 weeks, which isn't so much extra for hotel/flights, but its spending money that pushes the price up a lot. I would like to do this as cheap as possible, I know its suppose to be a holiday of the life time, but I've been many times and almost want to cherry pick the best things to do.

Since we only went to Disneyland Paris back in Jan, we feel we only really need a couple of hours to go into the Magic Kingdom just to see the castle and do a couple of rides/evening show. Same really for the hollywood studios..(aka Star Tours!). Also since its only us with no kids, it means we can go pretty quickly...

I understand its usually £20 a day extra insurance charge for the car.

I'm not looking to book anything until a few weeks before we go since we want a last minute bargain and with the amount of hotels/flights (from Birmingham/Bristol) available, it doesn't seem worth booking in advance anymore for Flordia.

Regarding tickets, I'm thinking just to get a Magic you way combo topper and 2 day pass for universal. Just get them at the gates since I won't benefit from the big passes.

Any hints or tips

[WALL-E]

In Sept you should consider staying on site and using the dinning plan at WDW if its happening which I think it usually is, and Universal is a waste for such a short trip, if you are doing Harry Potter land sure, the other park is eh at best. Another Disney day would be much better, and cost you a lot less.

My advice is similar. Only do one day at Universal, just for the Wizarding World. And Sea Worlds not that great either, in my opinion. There is nothing like staying on site at Disney, and this comes from someone who is only one hour from WDW. It's convenient and fun and when you're exhausted at the end of the day, you're only a short bus/monorail ride away from your bed. You get maximum park time and don't have to worry about driving around everywhere. It's the most relaxing way to do Disney for sure.

[mbo516]

You only need 1 day at Universal and you can do pretty much everything- just spend the extra money on the Express option. Why do you need the Disney Hopper if you're only going to 2 parks?

[rogpalmeruk]

Thanks for the advice peeps.

Since my wife has never been to Flordia before, she has never done anything like universal etc. While its been 5 years since my last visit to the LA Universal, its been 12 since I last went to the Flordia one, many of the rides at the original park seem to have been updated/changed and the Harry Potter area is a must see for us (though I noticed the dueling dragons have been renamed to be part of harry potter). she really likes the look of seaworld (I always thought it was cool, plus I haven't been in 12 years),
I'm trying to give her the best bits of the parks, since we only were in Paris a few months ago, we don't really need to do all the rides like pirates, small world etc but I thought getting a hopper pass means we can jump around a bit between all 4 parks, almost cherry pick the best rides/shows etc. I think if I hadn't been before, it would be tricky but there is a few rides in each park that aren't that amazing. I personally want to go to Animal Kingdom since I've only been once while Epcot I was only there a few years ago (I had a day free in Miami so took a bus up there to go to a single park, picked epcot as I had done Disneyland and Universal in LA the year before).. I'm going to look into those express passes for universal, hadn't heard of them before.

my biggest problem with staying on site is the extra cost, its almost double the price of being on international drive and since we are only planning a couple/few days in the disney parks, thought that it might not work out the cheapest (free dining sounds a great add on)...going to have to look a little more in depth at those options to see if its any better for last minute deals....

cheers for your tips guys.

[rogpalmeruk]

update: Well this afternoon me and my wife booked a week to Orlando in the first week of October.. She has never been before (we went to DLP eariler this year which was her first Disney trip) but i've been a number of times.
We are staying at the Music All Star Resort, this is the first time ive stayed onsite in Orlando so i'm looking forward to having extra access, buses and generally getting the most from my trip. We are planning on spending 3 days in Disney (1 in Epcot, 1 in AK and one mix of HS & MK since we did them in DLP) plus a day at seaworld, 1 at NASA (both of those are my wife's main things she wants to do) and probably a mix day at universal parks... read the all the resorts have a vinyl trade box, so that's a big advantage...just got to pay off the last couple of weeks worth of vinyls and start saving for my trip to get plenty of vinyls

[elemenopy]

Congrats on booking, Rog!

[Carol]

update: Well this afternoon me and my wife booked a week to Orlando in the first week of October.. She has never been before (we went to DLP eariler this year which was her first Disney trip) but i've been a number of times.
We are staying at the Music All Star Resort, this is the first time ive stayed onsite in Orlando so i'm looking forward to having extra access, buses and generally getting the most from my trip. We are planning on spending 3 days in Disney (1 in Epcot, 1 in AK and one mix of HS & MK since we did them in DLP) plus a day at seaworld, 1 at NASA (both of those are my wife's main things she wants to do) and probably a mix day at universal parks... read the all the resorts have a vinyl trade box, so that's a big advantage...just got to pay off the last couple of weeks worth of vinyls and start saving for my trip to get plenty of vinyls

Great news - I am certain you will enjoy your holiday.

At Universal make the main Harry Potter ride your focus as it is a MUST DO - probably overall the best ride at any of the parks. Check regarding the express pass before you buy it - I dont think it includes the Harry Potter ride and the pass is pretty expensive.

[Phylers]

So Disney, Universal, Sea World, and KSC, huh? Someone's going to be busy.

Sea World is fun, and if you haven't been in a while, you'll be surprised at how much more there is to do and see now. The food isn't particularly great, well, anywhere, but Sharks Underwater Grill is cool and decent, and in terms of table service, it's not that bad price-wise. The dolphin and sea lion feedings are periodic throughout the day, so check to make sure you don't miss them. The next time you'll be able to buy fish will be posted on the window of the respective snack shacks.

Universal is a blast, and you can indeed knock out both parks in a day each (if you don't want to do everything, you can potentially do both parks in one day depending on the hours). WWoHP is cool, but it's also very tight, especially for a theme park. The Forbidden Journey queue is awesome, but the ride itself is not the best ride around. It's not even the best ride in that park (The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man is unmatched; it remains the best attraction in any theme park). Don't miss either ride, but don't be let down if FJ isn't as awesome as the hype (I was let down the first time I rode it). Do not miss the show in Ollivander's. Carol is correct that the Universal Express Pass is expensive, and she's also correct that Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey isn't even covered by it. Plus, since you're coming in the off season before Halloween, you probably won't even need the Express Pass.

KSC is very cool, and it's also very educational. Do the bus tour (it's included in your admission) either early or late to avoid the midday sun, but don't miss it. If you're lucky, maybe they'll have a Delta rocket going up that weekend, which you'll be able to watch from inside KSC grounds (separate fee) or anywhere along the Space Coast. Honestly, you can see launches from Disney, too, if you don't mind being that much further away.

[rogpalmeruk]

yes its going to be a busy week...we are going to have a rest when we get back home.... lol.... KSC looks a different day out for us to get away from orlando and rides!...its all down to priorities...with just 6 days available (can't count the first & last day due to flights)...and with 8 parks to visit, we have to make cuts somewhere, we thought its better to have a week of excitment than not to visit at all.. Harry Potter world is certainly something we are interested it, but they've just opened up the studios here in the UK that you can visit where they filmed it all.

[Ale8414]

I heard that visiting those studios is a must see! Have you been there yet?