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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

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Original poster

2 weeks in Florida, What Order is Best to do Things?

72 replies

BaconAndAvocado · 16/02/2014 19:53

Have posted a couple of times re our Florida holiday 2015.

Now,it is actually booked (albeit for 18 months time!) my inner OCD is already started rumbling!

We have tickets for Disney, Universal, Sea World and a day booked at Discovery Cove.

What is the best way to do things? 1 day park then 1 day at villa or,is,it better to mix up the days with half park/half chilling by the pool.

How many days all in all do,you think the parks will take?

So,many questions and so much time

Tia

(Got a feeling I may be here rather regularly!)

Oh! Another question for all you Disney afficienados, what is best character breakfast for a 6 year old girl's birthday?

OP posts:

TheZeeTeam · 04/03/2014 19:11

Can I ask a question (without being eaten alive!!)? Why do so many Brits trawl all the way to Florida to spend their entire family vacation in theme parks? Why not just go to Thorpe Park or Disneyland Paris?

I can see why it attracts Americans, as if you're on the East, it's the nearest, cheapest place to get some winter sun. But, Britain has much closer, nicer and cheaper destinations, so what's the draw to Orlando? Which, tbh, is a bit of a hole. Is it just the draw of Mickey Mouse?!

ChestyNut · 04/03/2014 19:26

Couldn't resist bringing home a few christmas baubles shadow

ShadowOfTheDay · 04/03/2014 19:52

TheZeeTeam .... it is sunny, it is hot, there is so much fun to be had - not just the Mouse.... Universal... Kennedy... Everglades... Wildlife Reserves... shopping.... food..... water parks... beaches on the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico... If you ever saw the fireworks at Disney you would not compare it in any way to Thorpe Park or Disneyland Paris (which is an exercise in why to go to Florida in itself - have been there too)

Everything in Florida is DESIGNED to be easy - driving, eating, living, entertainment... it is a happy place to spend a holiday - we have had fun on 3 separate trips - not just at Disney...

I never spent any time actually IN Orlando... the villas are outside it, the parks are outside it, all that other stuff is too....

Some people don't "get it" - that's fine - more room for those of us who love it..... I would hate a trip to a beach resort in Spain... not my thing at all...

JRmumma · 04/03/2014 20:25

One thing ill add to all of the advice is that you might want to not over plan. When i went (on my honeymoon though so no DCs in tow) we struggled to fit everything in in each park in just one day and so went back to some of them to finish off. I found it best not to know too much about what i was missing so i wasn't disappointed.

Don't bother with aquatica or bush gdns, Imo they were rubbish in comparison to Disney and universal. Bush is only good if you are a rollercoaster junkie and the animal stuff was better at animal kingdom. Seaworld however was AMAZING. We did it first day as a warm up and wasn't expecting much and it was probably my favorite park and kids will love it. Catch all of the shows and the turtle experience is brilliant.

Wet and wild has the best water slides but maybe not so much for little ones and isn't the best looking water park by a long way.

I'm so jealous of you, i cannot wait to go back but will wait until DS is 7 or 8 so he can get the most out of it.

JRmumma · 04/03/2014 20:27

thezeeteam, you clearly haven't been. There is nothing more to add. Its an experience that cannot be described.

I know what you mean, the idea of waiting around in the heat for a few seconds on a ride sounds horrific, but its really not like that.

bonvivant · 04/03/2014 20:56

Thezeeteam, I was sceptical until I went. We're really well travelled but count our holidays to Florida as the best we've enjoyed as a family.

Disney Florida is more than a theme park - it is simply magical. The other theme parks don't share Disney's magic IMO but are still WAY better than anything in the UK. As others have said though, Florida's attractions extend beyond Orlando - we loved the beaches and the Keys.

TheZeeTeam · 04/03/2014 22:45

JrMumma I was there 2 weeks ago!! Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate the merits of Florida (although, when it comes to beaches, etc, there are many more better ones further north) and we are currently looking at buying our own villa down there as it's a great place to escape from the tortuous NY winters! But if it wasn't so handy to where we live, I dunno....

Actually, it was bad form to ask on this thread. Sorry OP! I will start my own!!

Original poster

BaconAndAvocado · 05/03/2014 10:19

Don't worry zee nothing will dampen my and my DCs mad excitement about all things Disney!

One friend of mine, when I told her of our plans, said that she couldn't imagine anything worse

JR your advice about not over planning makes a lot of sense but does fall on deaf ears........

As I've got 17 months till we go maybe my planning/obsessive research/constant grinning like a lunatic will fade.....

OP posts:

ShadowOfTheDay · 05/03/2014 10:28

When we got to 50 days before travel we always did a countdown paper chain... made it "real" for the kids that they could tear off a link every day and it got closer.... lots of Disney printable designs on the internet....

ChestyNut · 05/03/2014 13:01

564 sleeps shadow

Original poster

BaconAndAvocado · 06/03/2014 11:27

shadow that's a superb idea!

On a darker note, I spoke to my brother last night to tell him of,our exciting holiday news. When I mentioned that we were planning to go to Seaworld he told me about a documentary called Black Fish. It's about 3 Seaworld workers who were killed by an orca and how the story was covered up and basically how badly captivity affects the animals there.

OP posts:

ShadowOfTheDay · 06/03/2014 12:19

no no no .... you have to present it as ONLY 564 sleeps..... Chesty..

Bacon.. we don't do the shows at Seaworld because I really don't agree with them... or Discovery Cove for the same sort of reasons - but as with most forms of entertainment - each to their own..

but Black Fish has been widely discredited as a propaganda video full of inaccuracies, it was not a documentary presenting a balanced view from all sides, but a video produced by staunch animal rights advocates - some of whom were presented as objective neuroscience researchers! Seaworld does a lot of good in this world with it's conservation schemes - you need to look at the other side of the story too..

Original poster

BaconAndAvocado · 06/03/2014 20:33

Hmm, I haven't seen the documentary yet shadow and will make up my own mind when I have.

That said, I'm rubbish at watching upsetting stuff.

OP posts:

Coconutty · 06/03/2014 20:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bonvivant · 06/03/2014 21:26

Just a question ... how can you tell the whales are tormented at SeaWorld?

bonvivant · 06/03/2014 21:28

And is making a mouse dress up and prance about all day at Disney really any better?

ShadowOfTheDay · 07/03/2014 09:54

Bacon - you have a day booked at Discovery cove - it is owned, run and staffed by Seaworld - the same people who are being slated in the documentary, the marine mammals are shared and moved between the 2 parks - personally I would not watch the documentary if you do not want to "taint" your day at Discovery cove....

even though the documentary is out and out propaganda you cannot "un-see" what you have seen IYKWIM....

Awks · 07/03/2014 11:21

Going three weeks tomorrow and I have planned this holiday to the nth degree. All my spreadsheets are laminated, my maps annotated and the kids are microchipped

Original poster

BaconAndAvocado · 07/03/2014 11:22

shadow pathetic though it sounds, for the very reason you mentioned I won't be watching the documentary.

It's strange though as when I was looking into going to Seaworld/Discovery Cove the issue of animal welfare did occur to me but, rightly or wrongly, I presumed that the US would have strict rules about this.

Trust my little brother to ruin things!

OP posts:

ChestyNut · 07/03/2014 11:22

So jealous awks

Coconutty · 07/03/2014 18:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

spababe · 09/03/2014 15:54

thezeeteam - imagine Lidl is Thorpe Park
well Disney is Waitrose

I don't do big rides and at Thorpe/Alton etc I trail round holding coats and bags all day. I go though because I get pleasure from seeing my family enjoy themselves so much.

At Disney I really enjoy some of the rides, the shows, the parades, the fireworks, pin trading with cast members, the amazing food, the weather and the sheer sheer pleasure of it all as well as seeing my family enjoy the big rides.

To answer the OP question what we do is this: each park needs you to arrive at 'rope drop' (opening time) to get on the most popular rides with minimum wait. However some of the great things that happen in the parks are at closing time eg fireworks and also the atmosphere of the parks is different in the dark. So we aim for 'early days' and 'late days' with the early days being earlier in the holiday as it fits the body clock.

so Epcot (ED + LD)
MK (ED + LD)
HS (ED)
water park then LD at HS
AK (ED)
water park then over to the last 2/3 hours of AK
1 day at the Malls
1 day at DTD and Disney Quest (amazing especially for pre teen and teens)
3 days left for rest days or seeing Universal

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