Australians about to take over your theme parks!

[amarci87]

haha hows thats for a first post on the forum? no people we are not coming to take over but we are coming, and we make lots of noise . ok so this is my first post on the board. i have been lurking the forum for a few weeks and now have decided to join up and contribute *** everyone seems so lovely on here . So here is a little about me and why I have joined DIS so bear with me a few paragraphs

im 26years old, male and i come from adelaide in australia. where you say? think of us as melbourne's little sister city. kinda like what jersey is to New York. i have been into theme parks and rollercoaster since a little boy and most boys grow out of it once they become teenager but oh no not this little boy, he continued his fascination with all that is amusement hence why i am on this board writing this now lol. never been a huge fan of disney myself to be quite honest but have always loved the idea of one day going to DisneyWorld/Land. I am not a huge traveler, never been overseas before but work and money always seemed to play a part in that and finding people to travel with is always difficult. but this past april, a friend of mine came to me asking if i would like to come on a trip to America with her and her friends, and of course me being the over thinker i am, decided that it was not financially viable at this point in time to travel overseas, so I had to decline. So she went on her way and booked her flights and i was very happy for her. come the next day and we are going for our nightly walk and she again asks if i would like to join her on the trip because i still had till midnight to book the flight (special deal going at the time). i dont know what came over me but i thought to myself this may be the only chance i have to go overseas with friends seeing as all my other friends are now either married or engaged. so right there and then i made up my mind and booked myself in for America!!
The first thing i thought of was Disneyworld... it dawned on me that I will be finally getting to see the Magical Kingdom that is Disney, and lets just say i shed a little tear of joy at that moment. So now you have a little background info, i will now explain the dilemma i am facing

We are planning a pretty full on trip. I will give you the dates for our trip, in each city

aug 25-30 LA/Anaheim
aug 30 - sep 4 toronto/montreal
sep 4 -15 New York
Sep 14-17 Orlando
Sep 17-20 Miami
Sep 20-24 Las Vegas
Sep 24 - Fly Home

so i have roughly planned which parks i want to do in each city but seeing as this is the Disney board il stick to LA/Orlando

We have 5 nights in LA and i am looking at doing SF Magic Mountain and Disneyland for 1 day. In Orlando we are staying for 3 nights and looking at doing Busch Gardens/Universal Studios/Island of Adventure and maybe SeaWorld. Here is the dilemma, i want to do DisneyWorld!! the problem is we are only in Orlando for 3 days and i feel that i wont get to see much of it if i go for just 1 day. I know i said im not much of a Disney fan but after doing some research and reading through the forum, i seem to be getting dragged in by the magic haha. i love rollercoasters and extreme rides and I know Disney isnt known for extreme but the sheer magnitude of the place and the attention to detail at the parks is really blowing me away. Do i ditch the other 3 parks and just do a 3 day pass at DisneyWorld? i know i can get my thrills at the other theme parks on the trip like Magic Mountain and Great Adventure but i am really torn between DisneyWorld and the other Orlando park. I know at the end of the day it is my choice where i go but I kinda want someone to manipulate my thoughts and lean towards DisneyWorld haha. Please help

 

[Dan Murphy]

I don't have an answer to your question, amarci, but welcome to the dis.

And best wishes on what sounds like a super trip you guys have planned. You will have a blast, make those memories. Enjoy.

Dan

 

[Missymouse18]

First of all, welcome to the Dis boards!! Secondly, an early welcome to America!
You get several different suggestions here, as so many people enjoy Disney, but some prefer "the other" park.
If it were me, I would go for Disney and here is why: All over the world, as children grow up, at some point in their life they will say they someday want to go to Disneyworld... to me, this is just one of those things that everyone should experience once in their life. Even if you were to just do one day, you could hit the high points at Magic Kingdom and at least say you have been!
Whatever you decide to do, I hope that you have an absolute great, memorable time!

 

[disneymac000]

My suggestion is cut out Busch garden and seaworld and do Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Magic Kingdom. Those are the highlights of Orlando imo. Each has its own unique and 100 original feel that i have not found anywhere else in the world.

 

[amarci87]

And best wishes on what sounds like a super trip you guys have planned. You will have a blast, make those memories. Enjoy

wow!! thats so awesome coming from you Dan. Dunno if you realize why but here in Australia we have a liquor-store chain called Dan Murphy's haha

 

[Kate and Family]

It is not that difficult to find parks with thrill rides all over the world. You may not get that many chances to do Disney World. However, since you are not a Disney fan , I think that disneymac00 has the best plan for you. WDW and Universal. Lots of folks do both. You will just have to decide which parks within Walt Disney World (Magic Kingdom is iconic - but read up on the others) and also go to Universal.

Welcome to the Dis. And I hope you enjoy your visit in the States.

 

[agavegirl1]

Welcome to the DIS! Here is a little different idea. Since you will be in the LA area longer than Orlando, why not try going to US Hollywood and adding a day at WDW in Orlando. The problem with this of course is the lack of Harry Potter attractions in Hollywood at this time.

Another thought, can you get to Sea World in San Diego during the LA part of your trip? You could then add another day of WDW to Orlando by skipping Sea World there. That way you could potentially see both the new Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade in Orlando, very similar Sea World offerings in San Diego and see at least Magic Kingdom and one of the other WDW parks. You could get two day park hopper tickets and see the highlights of all four if you obsessively plan and tour "commando style" (no I don't mean without underwear).

 

[minniegirl19]

Hi! welcome to DIS and America!!

I have been to disneyland once and disney world around 18 times and worked there for an internship.

Heres my opinion.

Like a PP put I would think about adding sea world to the LA trip instead of Orlando. If I didn't do it in California I would leave it out of the trip.

I would also leave Busch Gardens out without hesitation.

With Universal and Islands of Adventure… are you a big harry potter fan? If you are I wouldn't miss it… If you do do US and IOA i would just do both parks in one day. Especially with it being September crowds should be lower so you'll be able to do what rides you want no problem (besides dragon alley there will be waits)

With the other two days I would do Disney.

Now with Disney what parks you do is your preference. I definitely think you shouldn't miss epcot. But with the other day that is up to you! Magic Kingdom and Disneyland have a lot of similarities except there is nothing like seeing cinderellas castle. BUT if you do disneyland to get another experience I would do a different park. Maybe even get a park hopper and maybe do different parks. I would just look into everything and see what you like!

Good luck and have an amazing trip traveling america!

 

[mummabear]

Ok first question, you have 5 days in LA and 1 day at DL and 1 at MM? What are you doing with your other days? I would highley suggest a 2nd DL day if you can swing it.

Don't drop Busch Gardens, it is awesome!
IOA is great as well, US is meh but has a couple of good ones.
Seaworld is the one I would pick to skip in favour of wdw.
Bear in mind also that US/IOA closes much earlier than MK so you could get a 2 day pass and visit MK after closing.
Where are you staying will you have a rental car?

 

[amarci87]

tour "commando style" (no I don't mean without underwear)

awwww but i wanted to...

Ok first question, you have 5 days in LA and 1 day at DL and 1 at MM? What are you doing with your other days? I would highly suggest a 2nd DL day if you can swing it.

i will be travelling with 3 women and myself. take a guess at what they will be doing the other 3 days ha ha... shop shop shop! but my plan of attack is this in LA....

hit magic mountain on the 2nd day and DL on the 3rd. hoping that the girls love DL that much, they can sacrifice their shopping for another day at DL lol. But even still maybe half a day at CA instead? it all depends on what the other want to do. i know they all want to see DisneyLand (to them its all the same) but not sure if they keen on the length of stay in the parks.

I definitely don't want to drop Busch Garden as I think the girls would love the safari aspect so its a good sell on that park. And SeaWorld is just a possibilty as we have a SeaWorld here in Australia but would be nice to see the killer whales. And i think we are staying just outside of WDW but not in a Disney Resort and we may only hire a car in LA and NYC.

With Universal and Islands of Adventure… are you a big harry potter fan? If you are I wouldn't miss it… If you do do US and IOA i would just do both parks in one day

not a fan at all. to be honest I don't even know what the attraction is ha ha but IOA has always been a dream park for me. i love the movie style parks and Incredible Hulk has always been 1 of my must ride rides. And yes was only planning a day in both parks, that would be plenty for us. plus i heard the night life is great at CityWalk so can always hang around after the park has closed.

Magic Kingdom and Disneyland have a lot of similarities except there is nothing like seeing cinderellas castle. BUT if you do disneyland to get another experience I would do a different park. Maybe even get a park hopper and maybe do different parks. I would just look into everything and see what you like!

Thats a very good point. Is MK and DL really that similar? Epcot would be the other park of choice for me or HS.

 

[mummabear]

To me MK is essential WDW but if you were to do a 2nd, well I think your group would probably prefer HS over Epcot, but you could also have some fun drinking around the world at Epcot.
You could add a hopper and do 2 parks or buy the 2nd day and do an evening at MK.
Otherwise I would suggest heading to Poly Beach to watch wishes one evening.

To get the most out of your visits look into the line skipping passes. Busch Gardens has a great one that we only paid $15 for that gave us a single ride on each of their big coasters and a re ride on one of your choice.
US/IOA is way more expensive, the first time we bought one we felt we didnt really need it but last years wow thank god we had it, the day would have been unbearable without it.

 

[mummabear]

Also Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party is on on either the 14th or the 16th, this would give you entry from 4pm and would be a LOT of fun.
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/magic-kingdom/mickeys-not-so-scary-halloween-party/

 

[mummabear]

awwww but i wanted to...



i will be travelling with 3 women and myself. take a guess at what they will be doing the other 3 days ha ha... shop shop shop! but my plan of attack is this in LA....

Lots of fun shopping in the States! We basically wait and buy everything we need when visiting the US, so much more choice and so much cheaper.
The girls will have a great time shopping in Vegas too.

And DL and MK are similar but different enough that it's not seen one seen them all

 

[MichiganKris]

You have a lot of time in New York, is that just to see New York City? If it is maybe you can cut a couple days out of that and add them to Orlando? I love visitine New York City, but that is a lot of time there.

 

[bumbershoot]

And SeaWorld is just a possibilty as we have a SeaWorld here in Australia but would be nice to see the killer whales.

There isn't enough wildlife in your home country that's trying to kill you...you have to find something with "killer" in the name?

 

[missesdisney]

Welcome!

I didn't read the whole thread yet - but if you are going to Disneyland you could focus on things not there like Epcot and Animal Kingdom if you do some WDW. IOA and Harry Potter if up your alley something to see as well.

A general idea - we used a "Go LA" card a few years back to get a lot of things in a wrapped up price. I'd check that for your trip to LA/Anaheim and also if the other cities have one that may make sense. I don't know for sure if they ship intl but worth checking out. We've also used in Miami - these offer deep discounts to do a number of things in the same day usually if that is your touring style. If not, still deep discounts - we did legoland, universal hollywood and the Warner Bros tour and saved a ton with it - then because we had it we added Sony tour and a bunch of hollywood blvd things that were totally free!

http://www.smartdestinations.com/los-angeles-attractions-and-tours/_d_Lax-p1.html?pass=Lax_Prod_Go

 

[pharaoh]

Wow, you have quite the trip planned. Sounds awesome.

In Orlando, just for personal reasons, I would completely skip Busch Gardens and Sea World. That company gets absolutely none of my money. But since this is your trip and not mine, I'll try to be objective, lol.

Since you like roller coasters I would leave Sea World as the must skip, because overall it's a pretty boring park with not a ton of rides. Busch Gardens has lots of thrill rides that you might like, but it is a drive away from WDW. Will you have a rental car? It's about an hour drive, or more.

I think ideally, you could do IoA and Universal in a full day. LOTS of amazing thrill rides at IoA for sure, so you might get your fill there. Then you could spend a day at WDW, MK is a MUST DO. And then you can spend your last day at Busch Gardens or do an extra day at WDW. Maybe a water park?

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

I can [mildly] relate. My sister and I want to do a west coast trip (from New York, go to California.) Our initial plan was to go to Seattle and see a Seahawks game. Now, that pipe dream is looking more like going to LA/San Diego/San Francisco.

At first, we said "well, we would not have time for Disneyland..".. but when you think about it, when will we get back to Cali... when will you get back to Orlando, or America? If you see Magic Kingdom, you can say you saw Disney World. If you only have one day - go to MK and see the classic attractions. Honestly, there's not a ton of thrills at MK, so be warned. But going to Orlando and not seeing ANY of Disney World would be like going to New York and not seeing Time Square.

Disney is as American as it gets.. so grab a cheeseburger, a watered down budweiser (not at Magic Kingdom) and head to Magic Kingdom!

 

[sethschroeder]

Can you drop Miami and add days in Orlando?

 

[johde]

Welcome to the DIS and what will hopefully be a wonderful trip to the North America. My thoughts.

L.A.

1 day SFMM
2 days Disneyland/DCA
1 1/2 days Shopping

I have only been once, but if you are roller coaster fans, SFMM has a unique set of Coasters in the world. And that's coming from someone close to Cedar Point one of the other roller coaster capitals. Just realize It's about 1 1/4 hours north of Disneyland in good traffic.

Toronto/Montrael,

New York, It's probably not possible but from a themepark standpoint, I'd try and trim a day off here. 1/3 of your trip is here.

Orlando - I'm going to agree with the other people and recommend dropping Busch Gardens. I like the park, but it's a good 1 1/2 hours from Orlando in Tampa.

I would do a 2 day Disney Park Hopper and a 2 day Universal Park Hopper.

At Disney I would "focus" on EPCOT and Disney's Animal Kingdom, but with hoppers you could hop to the MK or DHS that's similar to the Parks in California.

You could possibly get by with a 1 day park to park pass to Universal with you bought express passes that allow you to skip the lines.