To ask what do adults do in Disneyland for two weeks? Just go on the rides everyday? Is Florida better than California?

[Ihatemonkeysffs]

I've only been to Disneyland Paris. Would like to go to the Florida or California one but couldn't imagine myself there for any more than a few days?

What do you do all day for two weeks if you're an adult? Is there other stuff there apart from rides?

Also is Florida much better than California?

Thanks :)

[WankingMonkey]

We stayed in Orlando for 2 weeks. There are so many more parks than just Disney. From memory we went to Epcott, Universal, Sea World, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Busch Gardens and a few others that don't come to mind... Also the Everglades is worth a visit.

[Mouikey]

That's a tough one - Florida has a wealth of different parks and the amazing Kennedy space centre (if it floats your boat). Orlando is also more compact (from memory) so easier and quicker to get around.

Cali is entirely different with Hollywood, Venice beach, and all the other areas. It is hugh and can take hours to get places because of the traffic. However it has universal, Disney and six flags. I've been to both twice - I only went to Disneyland (Cali) for a day and did lots of other things during the week I was there. You could spend 2 weeks in Disney world and still mot see everything!!!

[Moanranger]

Disneyland Calif is the original & is rather small and a lot of it is dated.Florida probably better. The other places in SoCal are a long way from Disneyland, and you have to cope with dire SoCal traffic.
Disneyland does nothing for me. (I am a native Californian.) Walt Disney was a right wing fascist. We only took our kids to Disneyland, once, in Calif. Dreadful queues, hot. They were happy going to Chessington World of Adventures & Thorpe Park.
Some people love it - each to his own.

[BeALert]

I'd choose California. You can drive along the coast and stop on the beaches of Big Sur, visit San Francisco, drink wine in Sonoma Valley, hike in Yosemite. Swim in a river in the Mojave Desert where the cold water meets a hot spring. Explore the redwoods and go to San Diego Zoo.

[Moanranger]

Yeah, Be Alertand skip Dismalland entirely!

[Lorelei76]

Why two weeks at Disney? If you have two weeks in California you can do a bunch of stuff. I was last there for ten days, we did Disney one day, Universal another, couple of days around the Hollywood hills hiking, couple of days just hanging out in bars and shopping - well, okay, sis shopped! - and the rest in Santa Monica (switched hotels at that point to be near the beach). And neither of us drove. Easy to manage in spite of so many people telling us we couldn't do it without a car.

[Rumpelstiltskin143]

You do know that there are over 65,000 square miles in the State of Florida and surprise, surprise Disney ownes less than 100 of them. So yes, there are other things to do and you don't have to put up with Californians.

[whywonthedgehogssharethehedge]

Disney in Orlando is massive, 4 huge parks. Animal kingdom I loved as it has some rides but also live shows and a safari as well as some walking and hiking trails. Hollywood studios is a lot of rides but again shows as well, ditto magic kingdom and Epcot. As well as this our tickets also gave us access to the 2 water parks and the 2 crazy golf courses as well as Disney quest (although that was a big disappointment and is closing soon)

There is also the Kennedy space centre and universal studios has 2 parks as well. Local area has many malls. If you hire a car there are lots of places you can drive to that are gorgeous and petrol is uber cheap (we drove 3500 miles between New York and Orlando and it cost us under £200 in fuel and tolls)

[GeekyWombat]

We're off to Florida for 16 nights next month and will largely spend most of this at Disney, Universal, eating, shopping or by the pool.

We find going for that length of time means a good balance of park time and relaxation. Particularly now we have DC (DD2 and DS4 months) we're not planning on being in the parks for full days. Instead we can do a few hours when it opens and then as we get to the heat of the day head back to the villa for a dip in the pool and then nap time before going out in the later afternoon.

For me the real revelation is the Disney dining plan which we've got free every time we go. It entitles everyone to two free two course meals and one snack every day of the trip and not only does it save a fortune but it allows for some surprisingly amazing fine dining purely for the cost of tips. Nowadays we're eating dinners out about as early as possible but the food is incredible and the money we save (on everything from breakfast with Mickey and friends through to a whole lobster each or lush steak dinner) can run into hundreds of dollars a meal. The food is lovely.

Each to their own and I get some people don't enjoy it but I can't wait. DD in particular is going to be giddy!

[Chrisinthemorning]

I wouldn't stay on site. I would do the 4 parks for a day each, water park x2. That's 6 days. I would do Universal for 3 days. I would have 2 days shopping and 3 days lying by the pool, unless I wanted to do Kennedy/ Sea World/ Discovery Cove.
Or I would stay less time in Orlando and drive to Anna Maria Island for a few days.

[19lottie82]

Orlando is an awesome place, and I think you've underestimated the size of Disney. It is made up for 4 HUGE parks. You could spend 2 days in each one, easily.

And then there is Universal which again, is amazing. And that consists of 2 parks too. Not as big as Disney but a day each.

There's plenty of other stuff to do. But I would never go to Seaworld again, after watching the documentary on Netflix, Black Fish.
The outlets are fantastic for cheap shopping, even if the exchange rate isn't great at the moment.

You could spend 10 days in Orlando then travel to Tampa, to the beach, for 4 days?

You can rent a villa, with a pool, that will sleep 6 for about £500 a week. That's definitely the best option as you can eat in at night and have the odd chill out day by your own pool. Much better than an over priced and cramped hotel room.

I've been to Cali and Florida, California is great, but I think if you have kids, then you really need to do Orlando at least once!

[Oblomov16]

Dh plans to do lots if shopping at malls and outlets.

I do wonder about Disney dining. Is it really worth it? Is the food that good?

[Oblomov16]

Dh plans to do lots if shopping at malls and outlets.

I do wonder about Disney dining. Is it really worth it? Is the food that good?

[NameNumber2]

We haven its spent two weeks at Disney World in Florida, stayed on site and went to at least one park everyday, for 3-5 hours. The rest of the day we relaxed or did other things like water parks but never left Disney World! We by no means did everything it is a huge place! If you get the free dining plan, memory maker, use their transport and the tickets 14 days for 7 it actually works out as a fantastic value for money.

[NameNumber2]

You have to be careful about where you use the dining plan and pre-plan where you are going to eat even for the snack and counter service credits. But we had some beautiful meals and experiences by using the plan this time.

[NameNumber2]

My first post should have started we have just returned from...

[2014newme]

We did deluxe Disney dining plan. Yes some of the restaurants are very good.
I think previous post that you will be dining on lobsters on the most basic free level of the dining plan is a little misleading, you could use additional credits to go to a signature restaurant but that would leave you with fewer credits another day.
I wouldn't get the deluxe plan again though as we had 60 credits left at the end!
Tips at 20% and alcohol are not included

[NancyJoan]

So, those of you who say you spend XX days at Disney, what do you do? Is that all spent on rides? Are there other things to do for adults?

[2014newme]

There are rides, shows, parades, fireworks, films and extravaganzas of every sort plus water parks.

[TENDTOprocrastinate]

I went to Orlando for the first time this Easter. Family of 4 dd3, dd8. It was the most fantastic holiday. We spent 8 days I'm Orlando. 4 days in the Disney parks and 2 days in universal. 1 day shopping/ chilling by pool. And one day at Kennedy space centre. I would want more time if we went again. We didn't get to do any of the water parks, Busch gardens and wanted to return to certain places.
We went on a Caribbean cruise from port canaveral afterwards. I would definitely recommend that!

[Statelychangers]

I didn't think the parks were that huge - one day in each was enough for us and that was with kids!

[Hulababy]

Disneyland and DisneyWorld are very different places.

Disneyland in California - 2/3 days is all you need. There are two parks next to one another, a bit like DLP. It's the original.

We went this summer as part of a two week holiday. We spent two days in the park, though 3 nights in the hotel. To explore other parts of the region we stayed elsewhere as its a fair bit out, compared to everywhere else we wanted to go.

DW is much larger, and in an area close to other theme parks. In the past we've done two weeks a few times but not tend to only go for a week.

At DW there are four theme parks and two water parks. It is almost impossible to do all the rides and attractions of all the parks in one day. In addition there are the two Universal parks - again you can't do everything in them in a day each, not without paying extra for Express. There are other places you can go to also.

When we do a week at DW we do a theme park a day - 6 full days, 6 theme parks. We go in February generally for a week so don't bother with water parks.

When we've been for a fortnight (so 13 full days) we tend to go in the summer where it is very hot so prefer to go slower. So we do 6/7 days at DW parks, a half day at a water park with half day at a mall) 3 days at the Universal Parks, a day at Space Centre, and a free day to go to either the beach (bough often too hot for me), relax by pool with dinner at Disney Springs or something.

However we love roller coasters and theme parks. 14y dd is a huge fan and would go every year. It's also a very easy holiday when you've an only child - all entertainment is provided, she is excited and happy and wants to spend her time with us doing the rides and shows.

We go again for a week in February 2017 and taking dd's friend - she's never been long haul, never been to the US and never been to a Disney/universal park. She's very excited especially now we have our restaurants booked :)

[greynunu]

Re the dining plan, if you book a Disney hotel / package from the UK it is usually thrown in for free (along with a few other things as a PP noted). So in that regard it is worth it as it is free! You can use the credits at most restaurants across all of Disney incl the hotels & Downtown. We too were amazed at the quality of some of the restaurants, particularly those in the deluxe hotels. There are a couple of websites dedicated to Disney dining where you can find some great tips and reviews for making the best choices for your family's needs. But you do need to be freakishly organised and book three months in advance. Seriously.

However if you are unlucky with your dates and have to pay for the dining plan, then it generally isn't cost effective (again there are websites dedicated to helping you maximise your credits!).

Personally I would choose Orlando over SoCal as I think there is more to do for a family and it is more easily accessible. Two weeks is perfect for a mix of parks, chilling time around the pool and maybe a couple of days on the beach.

[greynunu]

Sorry, just re read the OP and you don't mention having kids in tow! If it is an adults only holiday then I would be more inclined to go to SoCal though I'd only spend a couple of days at Disney there (it's pretty small, not much bigger than the Paris one). DH and I did a US road trip incl. the Californian coast for our honeymoon and it was amazing. Particularly loved our days in Sonoma cycling around the wineries

[NicknameUsed]

OK. Having been to both I would choose California over Florida. We did Orlando this year and by the end of our 11 day stay there I was theme parked out.

IMO the 2 best parks were Islands of Adventure (Universal) and the magic kingdom. Hollywood Studios was OK. I liked Epcot and Animal Kingdom. Universal was only good for the Harry Potter stuff IMO.

We only spent one day in each park because we weren't interested in going on every ride. We don't even look at the white knuckle rides as we don't like them.

We also drove down to Boggy Creek for an airboat ride to see alligators and to Kennedy Space Centre.

Orlando is huge and full of traffic. I also found it quite expensive until you get away from the parks. The extras that hit you are local taxes, tipping and parking at the theme parks ($20 a day). I also found alcohol more expensive than at home.

IMO California has so many interesting places to visit other than theme parks. Also the geography is far more interesting and scenic- mountains, desert, lakes, coast etc.

Also, I prefer California weather. It is nothing like as humid so the higher temperatures are more tolerable.