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

Original poster

Orlando - what should we do with our precious 7 days away? parks? attractions? recommendations please

29 replies

mrspink27 · 14/02/2007 20:50

Going to Orlando (not Disney!) next week with the dds (2 and 4) and I wondered if anyone had any recommendations or advice as we have never attempted a holiday like this before.

Neither DH nor I have been to the states before and any advice would be gratefully received. We will have a car, but are only there for 6 days.

Should we do Seaworld? Busch gardens or Animal Kingdom? The choice is overwhelming and as it is quite pricey I'd love to hear from experienced travellers.

Thanks x.

OP posts:
WeaselMum · 15/02/2007 19:32

when you say you're not going to Disney, do you mean you're not staying there or not visiting the Disney parks? There are lots of Disney parks, and I would say the Magic Kingdom is the one to do with two dds - they will love it. That will probably take up one or two days, and then I would go for Animal Kingdom. MGM studios and Epcot centre are great too, but prob have more stuff for older kids.

Seaworld is okay but absolutely massive and can be exhausting - if there weather is hot it is difficult as there are no shaded parts anywhere!

There are two Universal parks - the Studios and Islands of Adventure. Again, they prob have more for older kids + adults, but Islands has some nice stuff for younger ones, like the Dr Seuss ride.

the main thing is don't do too much, and plan on getting to the theme parks really early to beat the worst queues, then after lunch go back to your hotel for a swim/nap/rest or whatever, and back out again a bit later. With a 2 year old I guess you won't be out too late, but the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom are really truly lovely and if you possibly can, try and see them.

Have a lovely time!

USAUKMum · 15/02/2007 20:02

Can I recommend my friends boating and diving company?
eBoatCharters

They can arrange a boat charter for just touring, diving or fishing. As they have a now 4yr & 9yr old. But the younger one has been doing the boat trips since about 1yr old.

smittenkitten · 15/02/2007 20:14

i found seaworld a bit depressing. the Shamu show is amazing, but the enclosures for other animals seemed rather small. on th other hand, discovery cove is amazing (but v pricey - about £150 per adult inc dolphin swin), but we thought it was worth every penny. it includes a 7 day pass for seaworld as well, so you can pop in and catch the shamu show as a bonus.

can't believe you're not planning to do Disney though. why go to orlando if not? Disney MGM studios has live shows of playhouse disney - think it would be magic to see them meet Bear from the big blue house in person!

paulaplumpbottom · 15/02/2007 22:01

Go to the Kennedy Space center. If your lucky maybe you'll get a launch on the day, if you are lucky.

Orlando Magic Basketball game, if you can get tickets

The rollercoasters are better at Busch Gardens but they are too extreme for little ones.

Daytona Beach

They'll love Sea world, they are to young yet for Discovery Cove.

Wet and Wild is a water park and if the weather is warm a lovely place to spend the day. Do not go to Water Mania it is a death trap.

Retsraunts:
Cracker Barrel is good for any meal and is very child friendly. Breakfast at Cracker Barrel is a must. When we are in the States we eat most of our meals that aren't spent with family here. You will see why.
Chilli's is very good for dinner and again very child friendly
Your children will love the Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney. There is a long wait but they give you a time to come back so you can browse the shops.
You don't say where you are staying but if you need groceries you want Publix

WeaselMum · 16/02/2007 09:23

oh yes - Wet and Wild will be perfect

also agree with paula about Cracker Barrel, and Rainforest Cafe (there is also a Rainforest Cafe at Animal Kingdom)

slouch · 16/02/2007 09:32

We found SeaWorld to be the best park for young children who aren't interested in scary rides! It's a something-for-everyone type of place.

Wet n Wild is also a hot favourite - get there early and get your towels spread out on a few chairs in a place where you want to watch the kids!!

Take lots of sun tan cream and those shoes the kids can wear in the water.

slouch · 16/02/2007 09:34

Busch Gardens is lovely - lots of animals there as well the rides, but it's a long drive from Orlando with little ones.

junkinmytrunk · 16/02/2007 09:36

Busch Gardens is a must!

It was def my fav park out of all of them, we even went twice in one holiday.

Lots of animals and plenty of rides for kids and adults, our best day out by far!!!!

Ladymuck · 16/02/2007 09:46

Is Busch Gardens really that good for the under5s? I was going to wait until mine were a bit older?

junkinmytrunk · 16/02/2007 09:50

My dd1 was 3 and she loved it.
Theres a little train that will take you round the animal safari part and they can see everything really well obv depending on where the animals are.

There is a special childrens area with rides and a little water play area. DD1 wore her swimsuit under her shorts and splashed about for ages in the water in between jumping on her fav egg ride.

Ulysees · 16/02/2007 09:56

Animal Kingdom is fantastic. Your dds will be awestruck as will you.

We also liked gatorland, not as sophisticated as the others but it's fun.

Seaworld is amazing though don't get me wrong. Also Magic Kingdom obviously for that age group.

Ulysees · 16/02/2007 09:57

Forgot about wet and wild, just don't expect to get your kids off katchakiddy falls (or whatever it's called) Mine were on it for hours!!

paulaplumpbottom · 16/02/2007 13:19

Gatorland is a bit cheesy and cetainly not upmarket but your kids and your DH will love it.

Original poster
mrspink27 · 16/02/2007 13:35

Thanks everyone for your responses.

To respond to you -
We arent doing disney itself because we think the dds are still a bit young for it, they dont know about all that is disney, they have never watched any of the films and apart from reconising the Mickey sign, would be hard pushed to name any other character They have never watched bear in the big blue house either!!!(how deprived they are!)
Also because it is supposed to be a get away from it all week we didnt want to spend all our time traipsing round parks... theres supposed to be some R and R time to, for us and the girls. We will go back in a couple of years and do discovery cove and disney itself when the dds are a bit older and probably when we have 2 weeks.

We were thinking about Seaworld just because its so different to anything here and Busch Gardens not for the rides but for the animal bit. Is Animal Kingdom better?

I had imagined that Wet and Wild might be a bit too full on for them at the moment and might be better left for our next visit?

Any additional thoughts or comments would be great!

Thanks everyone.

OP posts:
Ulysees · 16/02/2007 13:40

Animal Kingdom is absolutely amazing. I have been to Busch a lot of years ago. Maybe start a thread titled Animal Kingdom v Busch gardens and see how many votes for each you get?

Original poster
mrspink27 · 16/02/2007 13:44

ok will do!!

OP posts:
slouch · 16/02/2007 16:02

Wet n Wild has a seperate toddler pool area with slides, lazy river etc, so they wouldn't be too young - although as with most places over there, there's a lots they wouldn't be able to do yet. The other advantage of Wet n Wild is that it's cheaper than the 'regular' parks.

If you do go to SeaWorld, it's worth pre-booking 'Dine with Shamu', ie a quite nice all-you-can-eat buffet meal behind the scenes of the dolphin stadium, where you get your own private show and explanation from the dolphin trainers.

Busch Gardens is nearly a 2 hour drive from the other parks, so if you're considering that, I would make sure you have plenty of in-car entertainment. (It's not in a particularly nice area either - bit scary driving away from there at night!)

wheresthehamster · 16/02/2007 16:34

Would definitely recommend Gatorland and an air-boat ride for an entertaining Florida-type experience that's not full on theme park.

Then an all-you-can-eat restaurant - we liked the Golden Corral best.

wheresthehamster · 16/02/2007 16:36

Meant to add a water park as well.

We've only been to Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach but both were a great day out.

Ulysees · 16/02/2007 18:50

Air boat ride? that's the worst thing we've ever experienced. It's way too loud for that age kids, they probably won't keep the ear protection on. We drove miles to do this and it was awful. Total rip off.

Ulysees · 16/02/2007 18:51

That's it Typhoon lagoon is the one we loved not wet and wild. Katchakiddie is there

Blimey this old age lark is no fun!

lilybubble · 16/02/2007 19:01

Animal Kingdom is fab, but that is one of the 4 Disney parks. Went last year when dd was 2.5 and she loved it. Ultimately found the Magic Kingdom to be better for her than AK, with lots of lovely rides etc, and at that time she knew nothing about Disney at all, but it is still so magical there. Probably even more so actually.

There is obviously lots of fab shopping to do, which was high on our agenda! I'd also recommend Gatorland. Also many of the restaurants are experiences in themselves as has already been mentioned.

Have a wonderful time, it's a fabulous place. I went there with a great deal of scepticism but absolutely loved it.

paulaplumpbottom · 16/02/2007 19:09

An airboat ride is great fun but I wouldn't do it with kids so small. Your Dh would love it though.

wheresthehamster · 16/02/2007 19:18

Yes, I had forgotten about the noise of the air-boat. DD3 has just told me she didn't like it - she was 4 at the time.

Original poster
mrspink27 · 16/02/2007 19:41

Tee hee, Dh was really looking forward to theh air boat... oh well next time!

What about shopping, which malls are the best?

OP posts:
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