Would anyone be able to have a look at my itinery for orlando and the gulf coast? (newbie!)

[Balinesedancer]

Hello this is my second post and I would really appreciate some thoughts on my itinerary for my planned holiday with my partner end of April 2020 / May 2020 (No Children).

8 Nights in Orlando (exact location tbc) visiting the following parks:

- Epcot
- Animal Kingdom
- Universal Studios and Island of Adventure
- Volcano Bay or Aquatica

(Still determining whether a car would be necessary and I haven't even had chance to look at the minefield of how I would organize theme park tickets!)


TRAVEL DOWN TO NAPLES


4 Nights in Naples - during stay go to everglades and sanibel island!


TRAVEL UP TO CLEARWATER

5 Nights in Clearwater - during stay go to anna maria island, sarasota & siesta key beach

Does anyone have any recommendations to add to or change my current itinerary? No bookings have been made so far!

I have never been to Florida before so any feedback would be greatly appreciated

[rafjen]

Universal do a 3 park ticket so volcano bay is probably easier than a separate Aquatica ticket. The issue with mixing universal and Disney is costs of tickets add up quickly- as 2-3 day tickets can cost nearly as much as a 14 day ticket.
I'd always recommend a night or two in Universal premier hotels for FOLP passes. Maybe a few days there and then a few days on site at Disney - Uber once between them and then no need for a car.

[barryp1]

I don't understand why you intend to stay at Clearwater beach and then visit the resorts mentioned. Why not stay at one of them. They are all better than Clearwater.

[7SeasSailor]

How are you travelling to all of these places if you don't hire a car?

[MrsEgg]

Hi and welcome - you are certainly in the right place

I would suggest hiring a car for at least the second part of your holiday with all the travelling around - it is a must and so easy to drive out over there.

As Raf has said I would suggest Volcano Bay as your water park to cut down on the amount of tickets you require as you can get the 3-park universal ticket which will cover Volcano Bay.

Universal and Disney hotels in 2020 will charge car parking so it may be worth your while using Uber for this part of your holiday. Offsite places which are quiet central are I-drive/Lake Buena Vista, a lot of offsite hotels offer free shuttle buses which may be worthwhile to you.

Staying in Clearwater and traveling each day to Anna Maria, Saraota and Siesta would be looking at a 1.5hr one way trip, you'd be better basing yourself around that area and take a day trip to Clearwater if you want to visit as your going to be spending a lot of time travelling.

Something else to think about would be flying into Orlando and flying out of Tampa rather than travelling back to Orlando to flyout. Or doing Clearwater first and Disney last.

My husband loves Marco Island - somewhere for your list when your down near the Everglades.

[Guest]

I think you have picked out a lot of different parks for only eight nights in Orlando, the tickets could get very expensive. I would be tempted to pick either Disney or Universal for such a short stay and do the waterpark at whichever one.

Can’t comment on the rest as we only have interest in theme parks in Florida.

[Hank]

If you have done your research you will see that Clearwater is poles apart from the likes of Anna Maria and Siesta Key, obviously it depends on how much travelling you want to do each day. Not to mention the environment you want to stay in, busy or quiet.

Enjoy what ever you decide

Hank

[aldb]

That awful gradventure in Universal is early May , Park closes earlier and all the kids 1000s of them start turning up mid afternoon.
We left early.
3rd 10th and 17th.