A question - if WDW wasn't in Orlando...

[paulh]

universal,seaworld and ioa are only there becasue of disney so no disney they wouldent be there.Busch gardens might be there but na much smaller way as it is next the the brewery
Paulh

 

[shellbell]

I don't think we would go to Orlando but would go to Florida

 

[Kevin Stringer]

As Carol said, there are better beaches etc. elsewhere.

I'm not sure I entirely agree Frances. Some of the Gulf Coast beaches are wonderful and I have seen Florida beaches mentioned many times in 'Best Beach in the World' lists and on TV.

I'm not saying I wouldn't want to go somewhere else for beaches (I'll get to the Maldives one day!) But there is so much more to Florida than WDW and Orlando.

Kev

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Good question, although having not been I'm not qualifies to answer.
Even for those who would still go, would you have went in the first place with no WDW ?

Yes , we would still have gone mainly because our 1st Florida holiday was in Miami not Orlando.
I knew nothing about WDW at that time.

As I said earlier Florida is not just about WDW - there are other things to do...
and some of the beaches for example like Clearwater and St.Petes are fantastic.
Over the years we have been to Miami/Fort Lauderdale/Naples/Sarasota/Clearwater/Marco Island etc - all over really, so it's never just been about WDW for us and never will be.
Yes things have changed now our son appreciates the theme parks more, however, he prefers Universal Studios anyway.

 

[Frances999]

I'm not sure I entirely agree Frances. Some of the Gulf Coast beaches are wonderful and I have seen Florida beaches mentioned many times in 'Best Beach in the World' lists and on TV.

I'm not saying I wouldn't want to go somewhere else for beaches (I'll get to the Maldives one day!) But there is so much more to Florida than WDW and Orlando.

Kev

We visited Clearwater in 2000 and although the beach was nice, I didn't think much of the area. We also visited Honeymoon and Caladesi Island's, which were very beautiful but there are still nicer beaches elsewhere in the world.

Maybe I haven't given the "rest" of FL a true chance (I certainly haven't explored outside of Orlando much), but I have no desire to either. We're all different.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We visited Clearwater in 2000 and although the beach was nice, I didn't think much of the area. We also visited Honeymoon and Caladesi Island's, which were very beautiful but there are still nicer beaches elsewhere in the world.

Maybe I haven't given the "rest" of FL a true chance (I certainly haven't explored outside of Orlando much), but I have no desire to either. We're all different.

I think Florida is just right as it is - Universal/Sea World/Discovery Cove/ great shopping/ nice hot weather/ great beaches/ good restaurants..oh and I guess might as well include WDW as well

 

[mark&sue]

No we would not go. However there is no WDW in Las Vegas and will go back here one day.

Susan

 

[TracyK]

I might go anyway because I love Universal but I wouldn't stay long as I'm not that keen on the area. I'd probably stay a few days and move on to one of my faves like Boston or Chicago.
Tracy

 

[tony64]

We would still go. We love Disney but we love Florida just as much

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I might go anyway because I love Universal but I wouldn't stay long as I'm not that keen on the area. I'd probably stay a few days and move on to one of my faves like Boston or Chicago.
Tracy

We love Universal too.
It's nice to see that it is popular as well as WDW.

 

[disneyholic family]

well JohnySharp2 probably can guess my answer without me writing it...

if WDW weren't in Orlando, we would never go to Orlando or Florida.....we can't stand Orlando or Florida (and yes i'm very familiar with Florida - so I know what i wouldn't be missing)....

where we live now is so much nicer, there's just no reason in the world for us to go there....

the question related to this one that we often play with in the family is where do we wish Walt had built WDW.....of course he never would have been able to buy land as dirt cheap as he bought the swampland in the middle of central florida where nobody in his right mind ever went (back when there was nothing in orlando but swamp and very few people or attractions)....
but we can never come up with an alternative that isn't too cold in the winter or too far away....

 

[Goofyish]

I don't think I would want to go if Disney wasn't there.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

well JohnySharp2 probably can guess my answer without me writing it...

if WDW weren't in Orlando, we would never go to Orlando or Florida.....we can't stand Orlando or Florida (and yes i'm very familiar with Florida - so I know what i wouldn't be missing)....

where we live now is so much nicer, there's just no reason in the world for us to go there....

the question related to this one that we often play with in the family is where do we wish Walt had built WDW.....of course he never would have been able to buy land as dirt cheap as he bought the swampland in the middle of central florida where nobody in his right mind ever went (back when there was nothing in orlando but swamp and very few people or attractions)....
but we can never come up with an alternative that isn't too cold in the winter or too far away....

oh yes Beth, I could have written it for you myself

 

[disneyholic family]

oh yes Beth, I could have written it for you myself

and i could have written yours....but you should be thankful to Walt for WDW, because without it, universal florida would probably never have been built...

 

[JohnnySharp2]

and i could have written yours....but you should be thankful to Walt for WDW, because without it, universal florida would probably never have been built...

True......probably

 

[cazzie]

Even for those who would still go, would you have went in the first place with no WDW ?

The answer is no as we originally went to go to WDW and if that hadn't been there it wouldn't have come up as somewhere to visit. We would still go now as there is so much we haven't seen and I love Sea World and Universal plus Dh would love to go to the Keys at some point.

 

[jjpenguin]

We wouldn't, well maybe once, to see what it's like and go to the everglades, but after that we would explore other area's. In fact that's our main problem, we also want to go and see other places like Yellowstone and Arizona , but always end up going to WDW

 

[Floridafriend]

I would definately visit Florida and make Orlando part of the visit. I look forward to DS being a bit older so we can go to visit Miami and the beaches on the Gulf coast.