Canadians, what are you doing other than Disney Parks (with details please)!

[Sillyminny40]

We would love to hear what your plans are and what passes you have for Jan to March other than Disney!
In the past we have done lots of WDW (love it) etc but need info regarding all other Orlando info. We are going Feb and are wanting univ/bush/seaw etc ... help very much appreciated.

 

[SaraMc]

For us we dont leave WDW property. No need for that really in our opinion. We do Disneyquest and a waterpark if its not too cold. Downtown Disney and enjoy lots and lots of time in the parks.

 

[Scratch42]

If you do do Universal, book a room for the night to utilize FOTL! It's great to be able to bypass and get right on the rides!

j

 

[FayeW]

If you do do Universal, book a room for the night to utilize FOTL! It's great to be able to bypass and get right on the rides!

j

Only need to go to the expense of the room if you are going at a peak time. We just got back on Saturday, and went to US/IOA for 3 days. There were no lines for anything, whatsoever. We giggled at the people who were dumb enough to buy express passes.

Now if you usually stay onsite at WDW and are paying those prices anyway, you might as well stay onsite at US for a day just to enjoy the beautiful resort, but in low season no need at all for FOTL.

For all of you reading who have never been to the US parks, I highly recommend them. We like them waaaaay better than WDW!

 

[damo]

We are going to Orlando in February and won't be visiting Disney at all. The 7 day pass at Universal is $85 and we are staying onsite in a 1000 sq. ft. suite at the Portofino hotel for $255/night (platinum upgrade through Loews hotels due to our many stays there).

Disney World is just way too expensive for us.

 

[wee-haggis]

There are a couple of great multi day passes for Universal and Sea World that cost less than a 1 day Disney pass.

 

[SandraC]

We love the ocean...so we added three days in Daytona to our March 2007 trip.

Last March we really enjoyed renting the sea raycers at CBR!

This March, we'll do the same however, at GF and do the Seven Seas Lagoon!

We also love resort hopping,

water parks,

DTD,

Sandra

 

[A&CsMom]

we are going to get the 4 park Orlando Flexticket when we go in April/May 2007 which gives you unlimited entry for Seaworld, Universal, Islands of Adventure and Wet'n'Wild for 14 days from first use. We also have 3 days at WDW left on our tickets from last time, and will use that as well. We have never taken our children anywhere except WDW and Seaworld, as we felt they were too young, and we didn't have enough time (this will be our first 2 week trip). I haven't been to Wet'n'Wild since I was in my late teens or very early twenties, but I really liked it, and my kids love the water, so I think it will be a big hit. The 4 park ticket seems like a good deal - around $150 per child and under $200 per adult, and we can come and go as we wish.

We also have never had much time for shopping, and are looking forward to hitting the outlet malls as well as possibly the Mall at Millenia, which we saw from the outside and looks very upscale and nice.

When I was younger, my family and I went to the beaches, both on the Gulf side and other side, and they are very nice if you like the ocean. What I remember is that on the non-Gulf side, the waves can get really high, which is fun big kids who are strong swimmers, but maybe not so great for small children.

We also stay offsite in a villa which gives us lots of room to relax and our own pool and hot tub, so we hope to have time just to lie in the sun and play with our kids in the pool.

 

[Disneyof3]

The first 2 years we just head to WDW for 4-5 days and then to the Gulf side where my in-laws are for the winter and then stay there for 2-3 days and do shopping and time on the beach. Last year we decided to skip WDW (baddddd idea ) and head to BG What a disaster and we won't do that again. The food was horrible and the rides all sucked and my 5 year old couldn't ride anything except the little dinky rides. I paid the same amount to go there which would of cost me 1 day at WDW. The place was a disaster and crying help me WDW. My kids were not happy at all either. We did do the Florida Aquarium and that was good but this time it will be WDW ALL THE WAY and then to the in-laws for a few days for shopping. I've heard US is no good for kids under the age of 11 and mine are all under the age of 10???

 

[jburns]

I would highly recommend Discovery Cove (Seaworld). It's a limited admission park and it's just a great day. We did a dolphin swim in the AM, stingrays in the afternoon, a awesome included lunch... It was the highlight of our trip.

 

[Blndiebby25]

My bestfriend and I are making a day trip to Daytona Beach during our September '07 trip.

 

[princess pooh]

I think I might try Seaworld on our next trip. I haven't been there in a really long time and I think DH would love it. US and IOA look like so much fun but neither of us are thrill ride people so I don't know if it would be worth going.

We'll definitely be hitting the outlet stores . I buy all my gifts from the disney outlet and most of my wardrobe comes from the Banana Republic Factory Store.

 

[FayeW]

I've heard US is no good for kids under the age of 11 and mine are all under the age of 10???

You heard wrong. My kids are now 10 and 12, and this was their third trip. First time, they were 7 and 9. Even on the first trip ther rode almost everything in both parks. Check the website for height restrictions. My kids still want to spend hours in Fivel's playland...it's awesome!

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

Sea World is alot of fun. It takes a day to do. We usually do it on our way down the day before. Busch Gardens out in Tampa is what we are doing after our 10 day stay this coming may. We are going to stay on the beach in St Petersburg I beleive. Then drive across to the Space center and Daytona speedway. If your looking for something to do one afternoon if the weather is bad or you want a break from the park. We head out to Old Town on 192. Lots of old shops with tons of stuff to buy. We usually go there when we head out to pick up a few things at the supermarket.

 

[MouseGirl]

In addition to a few days at WDW during our upcoming March 3-17 2007 trip, we are planning a day at Discovery Cove, a day or two at SeaWorld (7 days free admission is included for booking at Discovery Cove), and two days at Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure. We'll be staying for a night onsite at the Royal Pacific Resort during our US/IOA time in order to get FOTL passes. I swear, that was the best experience ever on our March 2005 trip - we walked on to all the rides. We also timed our stay there so the US/IOA days are near the end of our trip. It would be too hard to have to stand in lines again after the FOTL experience, (at least that was our feeling last time)!

Plus, I've been over on the Theme Parks and Attractions DISboard thread and found out that there will be not one, but two, cheerleading competitions during the first part of our trip (one on March 2-4, and one on March 9-11) so in addition to the usual March spring break crowds we'll be dealing with that extra volume. All the cheerleaders and their parents and chaperones get four-day WDW passes when they stay at the value resorts, and it sounds like there will be thousands of them there and in the parks. We're going to plan to be there for park opening on each of our WDW days and hope for the best...

Looking forward to our trip and wishing everyone else a wonderful time too,
MouseGirl

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Drive west until you reach the Clearwater area and see the beautiful beaches along the Gulf of Mexico. As Canadians, some of us don't see beaches that often. Also, after a few days at Disney, you'll appreciate getting away from the crowds and to get some rest from those full days in the theme parks.

 

[bbangel]

I just got back last night and one of the best things we did was go out to Kennedy Space Center. We actually wished we had another day there, because there was so much to see and do. There is also a wildlife reserve out the same way that we didn't have time to see, but hope to get to on our next trip.

 

[allustoms]

We went 4 years ago and stayed off site because we wanted to do more than Disney (I have a thing about refusing to give all my $$ to Disney). We absolutely loved Sea World, our daughter is 13 this year and insists we go back there.

We went to Universal Studios, I was not overly impressed, but our daughter got invited to the live show of Slime Time where we ended up in the studio for nearly 3 hours. It was great for her, she got a pie in the face and got to pie the host in return. Her cousins who live in Alberta (we are in Saskatchewan) saw her that day on tv. So that was pretty cool.

We had a car so we drove out to Cape Canaveral. It was a day or 2 before the Columbia took off. We got to see it on the launch pad, saw it on take off day in the air as we were entering Typhoon Lagoon. We were home and waiting to see the landing on tv the day it didn't return.

We did a lot of shopping at the outlet stores - got some great bargains.

This trip we will go back to Sea World, try out Islands of Adventure, driving out to Daytona for a day and shop shop shop! We are also considering an airboat tour. We have 12 days and plan on 6 or 7 Disney days.

 

[tone.def]

Personally, I'm kind of anxious to rent a car and drive to the Florida Keys...

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Isn't the Florida keys a long drive? I thought the same thing, but we only had three nights off-site, so we went west to Clearwater Beach instead. I asked a lot of locals (such as Cast Members) and the consensus is the Gulf beaches are nicer than Daytona and Cocoa Beach.