I can't stand the thought of being in Orlando and not going to WDW

[nkereina]

If you make room for at least one day at Disney, you will be aching for more. It will just be a tease. My thought would be to either allot multiple days for Disney parks or not at all. We stayed at a Disney resort for one night post cruise last year, and opted not to get park tickets. We knew if we went into one, we'd want more.

 

[KapBoy77]

If you make room for at least one day at Disney, you will be aching for more. It will just be a tease.

I agree with this 100%.

 

[ccgirl]

Hope this is the right spot for this post. We are going to be in Orlando for vacation for 4 full days and 1 1/2 day the beginning of March. It will be me, DH and our two older kids(ages 10 and 8). Our kids have never been to any of the parks in the Orlando area except WDW. So we were thinking of making this a non-WDW trip and hitting SW, Discovery Cove, Legoland and possibly Aquatica. HOWEVER, I just can't imagine being that close to WDW and not going in!!!! I love Disney. We were in Disney for 5 days last march and also did a Disney Cruise.

I guess my question is: Will I totally regret at least not making room for 1 day at Disney? Has anyone gone to Orlando and not done Disney?

Just did it our last trip and it was one of our best yet. My children (DD9 and DS4) actually preferred it. We did Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Sea WOrld, Aquatica and Busch Gardens. It was less expensive and more fun than WDW, IMHO. I know not everyone feels that way. I thought the same as you at first, my DH as well but we decided the $80 pp per day was just not worth it for one day so we didn't do WDW and loved it!

 

[RedHeadedFairy]

I agree that one day would be a kind of a tease. We're either all or nothing with WDW. Either we've got AP & it's the ONLY Orlando park/area that we visit or we only do OTHER stuff.

Honestly, we're all Disney addicts but we have fun together as a family no matter where we are & all of the other parks have a lot to offer! (Personally, I love being able to buy a margarita almost everywhere... like every 15 ft, or so it seemed, lol, .... throughout Universal's parks & shopping district.)

I think I'd stay away & really dig into all the other non-disney attractions & hit DTD if you REALLY can't do without it.

 

[DisneyFive]

I feel your pain. I presented at a large conference in Orlando last April and didn't get to ANY parks. It's tough being in Orlando (our defacto vacation spot) and not doing anything "vacation" related.

I could even see SeaWorld from my hotel!

Regarding your situation, I would consider this your exploritory trip. See the other options, and then you'll be able to figure out if you want to include them on future WDW stays. We added a SW day to our trip this last Sept and loved it, but I wouldn't spend more than one day there.

Dan

 

[sbevione]

You could always stop by DTD to get your Disney fix if you wanted. Wouldn't cost you anything either.

That is exactly what we did when we went to Universal to go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We spent a week at the Universal parks, Sea World, Discovery Cove - it was a truly magical vacation, and going to DTD was enough of a Disney "fix" for us.

 

[married2mm]

we've been to Orlando ten times and only done Disney!
in fact this year,we are finally going to universal,and I feel like we're letting Disney down- kind of cheating on wdw!

my sil has visited Orlando once,and they didn't do Disney- but didn't realise what they were missing.
I agree one day is not better than none.
dtd is a good suggestion.

 

[disfan4life1]

We tried it once. And succeeded. But not before dd cried at DTD because she just had to go to MK. Unfortunately we didn't have the funds to do it then so we planned a wdw trip for a few months later. Now if I even mention the idea of going to Orlando but not Disney I get thrown into the fire.

 

[LekiaHall]

We're relatively new to traveling to WDW, but I also can't imagine going to Florida (let alone Orlando) without some Disney time.

My husband and I are taking a couples trip this September and while I wanted to go to Puerto Rico, I also *really* wanted a Disney fix so that I'd make it to my 2014 trip. So, I switched my plans to Miami (never been, so still something new to explore) and we're going to Disney for 2 days.

Puerto Rico will be there in 2014

 

[lisagirl88]

Thank you all so much for sharing!! I never thought of the fact that 1 day at Disney would be a tease. That is such a good point and I think that would be totally true for us.

I think I will take this great advice, make this our non-Disney trip and explore all the other parks Orlando has to offer. My boys are lego lovers and so we wanted to hit Legoland this trip before they age out of it(I'm afraid our 10 year old may be a little old for it, but oh well.). So I think we will go with Legoland, DC, SW and Aquatica with a visit to DTD if we need a fix I think a monorail ride would put the kids over the edge so we would probably skip that.

Thanks again.

One more follow up question...Any suggestions for good hotels for 4 people in the SW area?

 

[jgh]

I can't stand the thought of it either. When we went for New Years we had decided to try Islands of Adventure (not near as good as Disney!) but we couldn't go to Orlando and at least not get SOME Mickey, so we went to Downtown Disney as well.

 

[DisneyFive]

This past January, we did DTD the day we were flying home from a cruise (RCL) that sailed out of Cape Canaveral. I have to say it felt a little weird. (or maybe I’m a little weird )

It was strange being at DTD and knowing that you weren’t spending any more time there or at the parks (which we like WAY more than DTD). So it was kind like a little tease with very little payoff. We mainly went to DTD to have lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express which didn’t disappoint.

I kind of prefer an all or nothing approach.

Dan

 

[lisagirl88]

Dan,
I see your point. Maybe we will just stay away all together My DH won't mind. LOL! That just means I will have to start planning another full out Disney vacation in the next few years!

 

[Jasperann]

Renaissance SeaWorld Orlando Hotel is where we stayed for our four nights. The room was huge and the hotel was amazing. They had a really nice water park type play area with a couple water slides for the kids (I went on the water slides as well, lots of adults did) as well as a huge pool and hot tub. They had a fire at night and also had some games that the kids could play like ping pong. You could take a bus over to Sea World or you could just walk across the street and through the Sea World parking lot.

I was on a budget for that trip and found a really good deal on the Sea World website that included park visits and dining plans ect. You also go the front of the line access for Sea World for free, which came in handy. Loved it. The only con about the package is that it had to be paid in full when you book.

 

[elaine amj]

We've got a Disney cruise planned in March - and right now are planning a week in Florida pre-cruise - probably just beaching it in Fort Lauderdale. I don't know if I can handle being so close and yet so far.

That said, March prices at WDW for a 6 night trip is much more $$ than our off-season (Jan or late Aug) trips. Friends we are travelling with are talking about 1 day at MK pre-cruise - but I don't know if I can stomach paying so much for 1 day tickets - just doesn't feel like good value to me. Yet, it would be fun to be at MK with them. Dunno if I can justify the ticket prices though.Plus, I think it would be a let-down compared to our usual WDW trip which is on-site, 10-12 days long, with free dining. We love the full experience and this one day thing may just not cut it.

I've been going back and forth on this as the kids have been asking to go to Disneyland this year (our first time there) and if we do that, we definitely have to skip a WDW trip.

 

[DisneyFive]

Dan,
I see your point. Maybe we will just stay away all together My DH won't mind. LOL! That just means I will have to start planning another full out Disney vacation in the next few years!

Oh yeah, nothing wrong with that! It's a lot of fun (at least for me ) planning a full blown Disney trip.

Dan

 

[pjhootch]

We vacation a lot of different places and go to Disney every 2-4 years or so. I have to say I don't care much for Orlando as a vacation destination.

We've done non-Disney trips to Universal, and we've passed through Orlando on our way to Miami without stopping at all. Once when they kids were small we intentionally drove through Orlando in the middle of the night so they would be sleeping and not see the signs! It is kind of odd to skip Disney entirely when you are right in town. We basically fell into a routine of doing at least a day at the MK if we are around Orlando. One day tickets cost a lot, but then again, we get hit pretty hard with the Magic Your Way tickets, since we rarely do more than 4 or 5 days anyway.