Newbie after some advice

[GuinnessCat]

Hi,

Just in the process of booking a holiday for next April. The original plan was to spend 2 weeks going around the parks as we have never been to Florida, and have 2 daughters who will be aged 10 and 11.

I then mage a suggestion of going on a Cruse whilst we are over there, which was more popular than I thought it would be and now DD's now seem to be looking forward to this more than visiting the parks.

It will mean that we will be stopping at Crown Plaza for 5 nights before the cruise and nights after (so just 4 whole days before and 1 whole day after)

Due to this, and also wanting to look around in general, I'm thinking the best option for us would just to buy day tickets for the parks - possibly 1 Disney and 1 Universal. Looking at the prices, I think this would cost around $1000.

Does this seam about right, and does it seem sensible. It would be good to know, if you were limiting yourself to 2 parks, which would you go to and is there anything we'd be missing out which we may regret. Also, are there any other attractions \ water parks which would be good for the days between.

Sorry - all this is new to me, never really thought about doing the Disney thing before, but the kids have persuaded me!

[khonsu]

Wow... lots of questions - love it!

No one can advise on the best parks... sorry. You'd start a Disney war in here! With two girls? My own personal suggestion (at the fear of a starting said war) - has to be Magic Kingdom for the first time. When I took my girls for the first time - Magic Kingdom was by far and away their favourite.

Even with Universal you've got Studios and Islands of Adventure to fight between.

Remember with Disney parks you have to book the Disney park visit in advance. Universal is still first come first served with reduced capacity. (At this time anyway).

Investigate "Base" tickets if you are only doing one park / one day (Magical Tickets in the UK does them). Cheapest prices. If you want to "Hop", then prices start rocketing upwards.

So many people will help you on this forum.

WELCOME!

[cornishfrogboy]

I would be tempted to stick with your 2 week, Orlando plan.. or even stretch it as you often get better flight deals when opting for 16,17,18, 19 etc nights.

Orlando is not a place where you can simply skim the surface, say “Seen it, done it” and move on. Don’t forget either that you will be tired after your initial travel day and -5 time zones, arriving in the afternoon.

As an example, I am not a Disney fan and haven’t been in a WDW park on my last 5 of 9 Orlando visits, but still have not by any means finished with Florida.. and that is after driving all the way from Alabama around the coast to Key West and then up the other side as far as Daytona (over several vacations) and also rattling up 22 US States by the end of my next vacation.

A quick, few days visit will cost you a great deal as the economies come with quantity when it comes to the parks. Prices are approximate.

Disney has 4 parks and 2 water parks. Each is bigger than Thorpe Park in its own right (as are the parks of the other franchises). 1 day = £100pp . 14 days = £435pp.

Universal has 2 parks, 1 water park and dare I say it, much better thrill rides than Disney. 1 day =£100pp and 14 days =£275pp

Seaworld/ busch/ Discovery Cove has
The wonderful Cove, 2 theme parks and a water park. A D.C. ultimate non Dolphin Swim is around £150 with free parking you get 14 days of Busch , Seaworld and Aquatica.
D.C. is invariably our best day in Orlando, even after 8 visits.

That is 13 theme park venues and then you look at an Airboat ride? Kennedy Space Centre? A day at a World Class beach on the Gulf Coast (over a dozen to choose from). Chrystal springs? Rainbow River? legoland? Disney Springs? Old town Kissimmee? The list is massive.

You can do 3 or even 4 weeks easily, staggering the start dates on the tickets of the 3 franchises to make them last throughout. I would also add that other than maybe Seaworld and the water parks, it is impossible to do any one park fully in a day due to the number of attractions within and also the queues.

Many do visit Orlando and combine with a cruise, but I suggest that pretty much all of them have already exploited Orlando before going for the option on a later visit.

What would I do?
Get hold of park maps for the whole lot, study them and then start ‘utubing’ some of the rides and attractions as a family (whilst also weighing up the likely heights of your girls at travel).

You may still go with your cruise plan, but further research may also make you reconsider.

P.S I am very much a fan of multi centre vacations. Have you considered 3 days in New York on the way in as an alternative to a cruise? Your girls might like the shopping, the iconic buildings, a river cruise, 9/11 centre, Times Square etc etc. You will be surprised to find that London to NY, NY to Orlando and then Orlando to London might cost less than direct in and out of Orlando at Easter.
P.P.S Either Boston or Washington are even better!

[halloweenbaby2]

I agree with the previous poster, you just wont do the Disney parks justice.
If your set on the cruise then it may be worth just doing Universal, they're approx £278 each for 14 days which includes both parks + Volcano Bay or Discovery Cove non Dolphin swim which includes Sea World & Aquatica for approx £160 each.
At least you'd get to see a good part of those parks

We normally do 3wks and still come back not doing everything we wanted too.
Xx

[simon]

Hello welcome to the Dibb .

[Gemini157]

I tend to agree with the previous posters. We go for two weeks and find it very hard to fit everything in plus a couple of rest days.

I would try to sell the Orlando experience as one holiday to the girls, and the cruise as another possible holiday for the future.