An Orlando Vacation without Disney??

[MagicalMom]

Can this be done? Will it make me physically & emotionally ill? We didn't relaly plan to even head to florida this summer. Then I found an awesome rate at an off-site hotel. I had TIVO'd the Sea World show from the travel channel & that got me thinking about how much the kids would enjoy it there. next thing I know I had accidently booked the hotel!!! It like the account numbers on my credit card just flew across the keyboard& a confirmaiton suddenly appeared on my screen. This will just be a short trip. We'd love to try Sea World & Busch Gardens. Naturally I figured we'd spend atleast 1 day in Disney. Makes sense to me. Then DH commented that it may not be worth nearly 300.00 for the 5 of us to spend the day there. And that since we were just there 6 months ago we aren't really missing anything. Now wouldn't that just be crazy?????? We're staying at a DTD resort. Wouldn't I become physically ill if I heard the fireworks from my hotel! Don't worry, I have a plan. Say it does cost 300.00 for the day. Not including food because we'd have to eat anyways right??? Say we spend 10 hours at the Magic Kingdom. Well, that breaks it down to 30.00 an hour. Which would be .50 cents a minute. Divide that by the 5 of us & you have 10 cents a minute. Disney to totally worth 10 cents a minute. I can't wait until he gets home so I can tell him the good news!!!!

 

[monarchsfan16]

We did an Orlando vacation without Disney in 2004. We did Sea World and Universal. We stayed at the Vistana. We did do one day at DTD, because I couldn't possibly be in Orlando without going to Disney (heck I'm not sure I could be in Florida without going to WDW). My stepdad didn't really want to do anything Disney because he thought we'd been enough (he's eating those words now )I think if we had stuck only to Sea World and DTD I would have been ok. But we hated Universal and that made us realize how much we missed Disney. Sea World is different enough (and absolutely wonderful) so that we don't end up comparing it to Disney. Universal was another story.

 

[MoniqueU]

I know this is the disney board but we went to orlando for part of our florida vacation last summer and went to IOA and also to Animal Kingdom. I still want my money back from Animal Kingdom. The summer before we went to Orlando again as part of a bigger trip to florida and went to IOA. It can be done!!!

 

[MagicalMom]

I guess we'll give it a try. I still have a while to whine & cry about it anyways. I just think my heart will be really broken.

 

[boomhauer]

Hold on a second.

Are you trying to tell me that there is other parts of Orlando outside of Disney World?

Just kidding of course. As you can tell, no way, no chance, no how, would I ever do it.

 

[tmt martins]

We gave it a long weekend in 04 due to vacationing at the local beach for a week(what was DD thinking).We did SW and US/IOA if was a nice time just not the same Magic.Don't get me wrong I love the rides but just a different atmosphere.

 

[Nite0wl71]

I went to Daytona last year and it was great, but a couple of times I thought of how close I was. I don't think I could go to Orlando and not go to Disney.

 

[Kimberle]

Yes, we've done this several times. Either we do a "Disney" vacation, or non-Disney vacation. There is a lot of neat stuff to see & do outside of WDW. If you can, make sure to go to the Space Center. It's only about a hour away.

<Gasp!> We were thinking of staying at a Universal resort this year, renting a car, & doing Sea World, etc. We haven't been there in about 4 years.

We do save 1 day for WDW. We generally just do the MK.

 

[swilphil]

If it's the cost of Disney that's preventing you from spending a day at Magic Kingdom, why don't you buy 10-day non-expire park passes and only use one day? It sounds like more Disney trips are in your future, so you can use the remaining days later. I personally could do a Sea World/Universal trip easily in Orlando.

 

[powellrj]

the last several trips we have done Disney for a shorter and shorter period of time. The last trip we split a day between epcot and MGM. We have been staying either on-site at Universal or in a timeshare. This trip the kids asked if we could stay on-site at Universal again and just skip the Disney part. They said they would rather spend the week at US/IOA and Seaworld. I still have a couple days left on some old parkhoppers but they still said they were tired of Disney and perfered RPR for the whole trip. If your kids are older, its easier to do.

 

[GeorgeG]

After many years of never leaving WDW property on our vacations, we have now moved to Florida and are seeing other things. We are a day trip away from all the attractions and have so far visited Universal and Sea World. Of course, as with so many others, we tend to compare everything, and I mean everything, with WDW.

There is a lot to do in the Orlando area besides WDW (I feel like a traitor just saying that). We did get annual passes for WDW and still consider it the number one place to go. As for the comparisons, a lot depends on what you like and to some extent, I suppose, you're age.

We're retired and have come to enjoy the magical atmosphere we find at WDW. For us, Universal was a disappointment and not worthy of a return visit. It was more of an amusement park with lots of noise and thrill rides. Those who like places like Great Adventure/Six Flags will probably like Universal. While there were a few attractions we liked, we're not in any hurry to go back. And, they seem to enjoy bashing Disney. They need to get over that.

We loved Sea World and will go back there in a heartbeat. The atmosphere and quality was more in line with what you'd expect at WDW. Lots of great shows and some thrill rides, too. You can easily spend a day, perhaps two, at Sea World.

From the area, you can easily day trip to either coast for beaches or stay close for a variety of water parks, including those at WDW. Drive north and you have several other attractions like Silver Springs.

Like some others have posted, you can still take advantage of multi-day passes to include WDW in your vacation for a day or two if you know you will be coming back.

There's a lot to do and see here in Central Florida, but WDW is still the centerpiece, in my opinion. Enjoy your vacation!

 

[geffric]

I feel your pain.. I am taking my 12 year old son for a long weekend in Feburary and all he want to do is Universal.. So I will have my AP with me just in case he changes his mind but since this is his special trip with just MOM.. We will only drive past WDW on this trip..

 

[golfgal]

Have you looked up the prices for Sea World? Disney is a BARGIN compared to Sea World. You can tell your DH that.

 

[laura001]

My car is on auto pilot for WDW, I am quite sure that I could not do it

Good Luck!

 

[Chris2597]

One year dh insisted that we would not do Disney during our annual trek to Fl. We did US....which was nice but I really missed at least one day at WDW....I would do US again but never again without including Disney in the mix.

 

[marlasmom]

My grandchildren - now ages 7 and 6 were here a year ago. We did SW, MK and AK. They want to go back to SW more than anything.

 

[sha_lyn]

Yes it can be done,we do it 2-3 times a yr. We visit SW and US/IOA much more often that we do WDW. Haven't been to WDW since 2002, but we've been to Orlando at least 5 times since then.

 

[Disney Doll]

I would not be able to be in Orlando and not go to WDW for at least some of the time.

I love SeaWorld. US/IOA just doesn't impress me. Great rides, but there's "something" missing for me there.

The Space Coast is a neat side trip. Riplrey's believe It Or Not Museum on I Drive is cool too.

 

[can'twait]

What?! Blasphemy! What would Uncle Walt think?

 

[simba928]

We did an Orlando trip without Disney a few years ago. We went to Cocoa Beach (saw space shuttle Columbia launch) and then went to Universal. We were in Universal for 5 days. Never again will I go for that long. I was terribly bored by the second day. I'm not big on the thrill rides and my brother was too young to do them, so we basicaly rode the same few rides over and over and over again. I enjoyed being in Florida, but I did miss Disney. I of course insisted that we go to Downtown Disney one evening because I could not stand being so close to it, but not there. I think that was a good compromise if I couldn't be in Disney. You get to be in Disney, technically, but don't have to pay.