Non Disney what would you suggest?

[wifey]

Have you taken them to Volcano Bay? It’s different to the other water parks. You can also take a trip to any of the beaches if you have a hire car there are lots of places with clean sandy beach fronts and little cafes and things as well as wildlife spotting. How about a trip to an animal sanctuary? Maybe get the kids to sponsor one of the animals on the trip. Have a look at the new A Brits Guide to Orlando book for more inspiration.

[duchy]

Last year we did the Ultimate... with DC
It started with me looking at Busch Gardens and thinking it was worth getting the 3 park SW,BG and Aquatica as it was so little more even though my husband didn’t fancy SW it still worked out good value. We eventually added DC too . (In the end we did do SW and enjoyed it but didn’t feel pressured that we had to just because we’d paid for it)
We’d done Disney 8 months earlier and loved how much easier all the SW parks were... quieter, cheaper and more thrilling roller coasters.
It was an entirely differently paced holiday to Disney ... still loads to do but no fighting the crowds or having to get up early to beat the crowds, time to shop, eat where we fancied not just where lines were shortest.
Busch Gardens also has a water park which tickets separately and the new Margaritaville water park in Orlando looks like it has possibilities and is very reasonable compared to Volcano Bay or the Disney water parks on separate tickets.

This year we have between 3 and 6 nights in Orlando before a cruise (waiting for our friends in Vero to book the same cruise before discussing if we will stay with them before the cruise too) and I’m struggling to decide what we want to do in Orlando too. Currently I’ve booked the first three nights on I Drive but who knows what we end up doing .

[khonsu]

If you've done Universal Studios and Diagon Alley, it's all a bit the same as it's been for years which is real shame. There's even amusement arcades in there - why?

Seaworld are doing so much more on the education and sea preservation which is fantastic. The rides are spectactular. After the previous mistakes in breeding/captivity techniques, they've turned the corner.

St Augustine's is a great trip/drive (just over a couple of hours) - old world Florida.

Crystal River,home of manatees and water adventures