Can’t believe it but we‘ve booked Florida!

[ChoccyJules]

After years of reading threads (and goggling at the prices paid), DH decided we ought to take the kids further afield and spend a bit more than usual on a holiday. Usually we have a week in a seaside caravan or a cottage in an interesting bit of the country.

So we’re going at Easter and am so excited, even though it was him who wanted the theme parks, I can take them or leave them.

We are having 8 nights in a townhouse in Kissimmee (shared pool and clubhouse), 3 nights on the gulf coast in a villa with pool and 3 nights in Washington DC.

I have already started getting embroiled in tickets etc. Think we will do the 3 Universal parks as DD11 loves Harry Potter and we all enjoy water parks. Then 1 day at Magic Kingdom for DD7. Any advice, do say!

I have found that there’s an After Hours event at MK while we are there, so 6 hours in the park 7pm-1am with free snacks from 10pm and far less people. I really fancy it but realistically imagine the kids would fade after about 10.30pm. I hate the crowds etc. Tempting.

Does anyone recommend any of the other parks as ‚must-do‘s‘? We are going to go to the Space Centre and also have some down-time.

On the gulf coast we will enjoy the beaches and exploring (I once had a day in Clearwater and driving the coastline and loved it) and in DC we‘ll do the Mall and a couple of museums.

If there’s an obvious thing to keep in mind, can the experts let me know? Thanks!

Car park v tank the orcas live and “perform” in.

Hi bubbles I know, it has never been updated since they took the fees away last spring. Strange, you'd think they would have changed that 🤷🏽‍♀️ Throughout the summer it said $1 on the website but it's not. No charge. I double checked on TA forums and it's still free now.

Thanks for the SeaWorld info.

I am becoming addicted to watching ride vlogs on YouTube. It’s helpful to decide who will be freaked out by what ride and then make park lists.

Best youtube bloggers are Disney Food Blog and Tim Tracker, they go through lots of what you need to know. There is also a facebook group, Disney and Orlando for Brits, which you may find useful for advice, it's very active and I learned a lot from there. For example if you do get Disney tickets, and can't get fast passes for the rides you want, book the earliest fast passes you can for anything, as soon as the park opens. If you don't get there until later they will have expired and you can rebook or amend at any time - amending is better for getting cancelled or newly released passes (I don't know why but it works).

Another vote to try the dibbled again. I got so much info on everything including universal, Clearwater, car hire, places to eat.... saved us a fortune in money and time

I mean the dibb....

Whilst in DC do visit the newsium, it isn't one of the free museums but definitely worth a vist, all about the press with lots of fun things for kids to do. They have a TV studio and visitors can present the news.
We stayed in Arlington and the trains are a great way to get around, often faster than the bus because the traffic can be really bad.

Another one here to say PLEASE don't go to Seaworld and perpetuate the cruelty.

I went a very long time ago decades before Blackfish came out and I cried then.

It would be a great opportunity to teach your DC's as hopefully it is their generation that will have the power to stop this.

Does anyone have any recommendations for eating out in Kissimmee? Not the attraction-meals, just good affordable food and easy to park?

Sweet tomatoes is amazing, fresh salads, etc cheap, get a coupon includes soft drinks, tea coffee.

Cheesecake Factory is one of our faves. Tasty, fresh meals - massive menu. Good atmosphere.

I also recommend Volcano Bay if you’ve only got time for one water park - it’s amazing (trap door slides!) and queues are virtual so no spending hours standing around.

Plan your itinerary now - there are tips online for which parks to visit on certain days of the week. It’s generally advised to avoid parks that have extra magic hours on that day, as that’s the days that Disney hotel guests tend to visit them. Also people who go for a week tend to have an ‘order’ that they visit the parks, eg Magic Kingdom first on a Monday, so you visit on a different, quieter day. Once you have a plan you can download the app and start booking fast passes 60 days before for rides.

Kennedy Space Centre is a good day out and the drive there is amazing too, we saw dolphins and loads of gaters.

The food in the parks is okay, but not great. I’d visit Red Lobster and iHop if I was going again!

Classic diners - Perkins, Denny’s and Cracker Barrel.

Perkins peanut butter silk pie is a must eat.

I have been looking all of the suggestions up (can’t believe how invested in planning I am!) and have realised that DH and I discovered Perkins last time we were there (circa 2004), on the last day, and regretted not finding it earlier. So I’m glad to have been reminded of the name!

We won’t get fast passes as we are doing the After Hours for Magic Kingdom.
We can’t stretch to Express passes for Universal but our tickets last the whole hols so we can dip in and out if we need to go back to certain rides.

I can recommend Orlando DIY Facebook group lots of friendly advice. Also for tickets Deewols Orlando Park ticket updates.
This lady does a weekly update on the cheapest tickets. She does this voluntarily and is not affiliated to any certain sellers.
Busch Gardens is our DS favourite park as it is more compact than the other parks with some great rides.
It is 5 years since we’ve been to Florida but we liked Bob Evans restaurant in Kissimmee, if it’s still there.
Washington we stayed on the fringe of China Town. Walkable to The Whitehouse and The Smithsonian museums. If you’re planning to visit The Capitol building there are NO bags allowed.

There are two sorts of extra hours at WDW, which is where the confusion may be. There is Extra Magic Hours, a free perk given to onsite guests - this is packed. Then there is After Hours, which you pay for and which anyone can attend - this is very quiet.

We loved Clearwater Beach. One of the best things we did was hire Jetskis from near there. We also liked Busch Gardens. Eating out is amazing! Enjoy.

Have a look at discovery cove you can swim with dolphins all food and drink is free and with the package you get sea world and Busch gardens tickets

The best day out I have ever had was to Cape Kennedy - absolutely fascinating! Can thoroughly recommend it.

DH has been thinking more sensibly about the tickets, after seeing me trying to work out our planner...he reckons we ought to return the Busch/SeaWorld/Aquatica ones and keep the 3 Universal ones (plus our Late Night WDW ones). I also think this is much better for an 8 night stay.
The website we got them from will take them back but take off £75 of the refund. So our excitability last month has cost us quite a bit
But in the long run it feels better to know we can go in and out of the three parks and chill out more.

I would agree with returning the tickets. 8 days is short enough to work through the main parks and don't forget to schedule in some downtime.

Sent them back. Annoyed about the loss of money but actually relieved about the opportunity to have a calmer holiday.

We did a tour of the pentagon when we went to Washington. Single best tour/event I've ever done. You have to apply months in advance and they do background checks on you but it was incredible. Highly recommend, even with kids. I still quote facts about I remember from it. Highly recommend. Though you might not have enough time to apply now before Easter. It wasn't expensive, just little known about

This looks like a quite the trip. Can you give me an idea of how much we would need to save up?